There was a sharp double rap on his door. Seth seriously considered ignoring it but he knew that would be useless. He recognized the knock. It belonged to his father. His mother's knock was always softer and she tended to knock in threes. "Come in," he said finally, before the second round of louder rapping could begin.

Sandy appeared and closed the door behind him. "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked.

Continuing to pick a few things off the floor, Seth said, "No, just cleaning up a bit."

"You're done with the purge, then?"

"Yeah, I think so. What's up?"

Sandy pulled up a chair for himself. "Sit down, Seth. We need to talk."

With great will power, Seth managed not to sigh out loud. Since more than an hour had passed after dinner, he thought he might have avoided it this time, but no such luck. It was down to The Talk. He dumped an armload of stuff onto his desk and plunked himself down on the bed. "Okay. I'm sitting."

"Your mother and I are worried about you." Sandy held up a hand when Seth opened his mouth to protest. "And don't say you're fine. It's obvious you're not. There's nothing wrong with that." He now placed the same hand against his own chest. "Frankly, I don't know how well I'd be handling this if I were in your shoes. I know this can't be easy for you. I can't even imagine. But we're a little concerned that you won't talk to either of us. We don't know what's going on with you. The last two weeks, you've just holed yourself up in your room. If Summer hadn't been here today, maybe we still wouldn't know what's been eating you. I know you've wanted your space and we've both tried to respect that but you need to start letting us in."

Seth gripped the edge of the bed, bunching the fabric between his fingers. "Can I say something here or is this a one-way conversation?"

Sandy gave him a tired look. "You know the answer to that. Go ahead."

"Why didn't you tell me about Summer? Since we're all about the talking and being open with each other, I find it exceedingly interesting that you neglected to tell me she's my girlfriend."

Sandy seemed to consider the question carefully. "It wasn't really a deliberate choice not to tell you. In fact, I wasn't really sure if she was still your girlfriend. After we gave your letter to her, we never heard from Summer again. And she never came to the hospital, so I thought maybe things weren't so great between you."

Seth had to correct him on that. "She did come to the hospital. Marissa told me."

"Oh." With a surprised look, Sandy tilted his head slightly. "I suppose that's possible. Anyway, the point is, I just wasn't sure what to say. I know you've liked her for a long time. If there was the possibility that you'd broken up, whether you'd done it in the letter or she'd decided after you'd left, I...I guess I just didn't know how to broach the subject. I'm sorry, maybe I should have said something."

Seth had to grudgingly admit that it would be tough to hold this one against his father. He could see the awkwardness of that situation. And while he was still dying to know exactly what had happened this past year to bring him and Summer together, he actually hoped his father didn't know all the details. "Point taken on that one," he conceded.

Sandy leaned forward, forearms resting on his thighs. "I want to preface what I'm going to say next with a warning. You may not like the idea, but give it a chance."

"Why not forget the whole thing?" Seth cut in hopefully. "Much more efficient."

But of course, his father pressed on. "We want you to consider seeing the therapist that Dr. Singh recommended."

"No."

"Seth, would you hear me out, please? This therapist has dealt with a lot of patients with memory loss. It might help you to talk to someone that has so much experience with this."

"No."

Sandy was visibly trying to hold his frustration in check. "You can't just give me a one-word answer. Come on, tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking that I don't want to talk to a shrink. Talking to some weirdo isn't going to help me get my memory back. We already know it might come back or it might not. Either way, I'm gonna have to deal with it. And I'm doing just fine on my own."

"Okay, first of all, a therapist is not a weirdo. Second, I don't know if you're doing so fine."

Sandy got up from the chair and sat down next to him. Although Seth considered walking away, he wisely decided to stay put. "Why are you throwing your stuff away?" Sandy asked quietly.

Seth uncrossed the arms that he hadn't even realized had been crossed. He reverted back to gripping the edge of the bed cover. "It sounds like you talked to Summer today. What did she tell you?" he countered.

"Only that you've gone through your stuff and you don't like it anymore. You don't want the reminders around."

Bobbing his head, Seth stated, "Yeah, that's basically it." Giving his father a sidelong glance, he could see that more of an explanation was expected. "I don't know how to explain it, Dad."

"Just try."

Seth finally expelled that heavy sigh. "I can't. I'm just not liking this stuff anymore and I don't want to keep seeing it everyday. I figure this way, I can start clean. Maybe I'll find some other interests. Cooking, maybe. Or kung fu."

"Surfing?" Sandy piped up.

"Why not," Seth agreed. "What could be more Newport than surfing?"

His father snorted a little at that comment. "I'm not sure if I should be insulted by that or not. Are you sure you won't consider the therapist? Would it be so terrible?"

Seth rolled his eyes upwards, as if contemplating the question. "Hmmm, let me think. Why yes, I think it would be so terrible."

"You're still a minor, you know. We could insist on it."

"Dad!"

"But," Sandy said loudly. "We won't do that. Yet. You just have to promise to keep talking to us like you have right now. Don't shut us out. Is it a deal?"

Seth felt thoroughly backed into a corner but he supposed it wasn't all that bad. He could live with this compromise. "Deal," he muttered.

Sandy patted his knee. "Good man."

Seth expected the parental talk to be over at this point, but his father was making no move to leave. "There's one more thing," Sandy stated, sounding rather hesitant. "Your mother isn't so sure we should be telling you this, but in the interest of being so open with each other, I think you have a right to know. It might help to explain some of the things you've been going through. Or it may have nothing to do with it at all. It's hard to say, I think."

Seth regarded him through narrowed eyes. "So, yeah, I think we can safely say which side of the family I inherited my rambling gene from. Could you possibly say this in a more roundabout way?"

"Sorry. Well, you remember the tests that you went through after you came out of the coma. All of your senses are intact. You don't have any speech or language problems. Other than the amnesia, everything seems okay, right?"

"Right." Seth had no clue where this was leading but this wasn't a promising start.

"One thing we haven't mentioned to you is a discussion that Dr. Singh had with us. He advised that we should watch for changes in your personality. It happens sometimes after head injuries."

Starting to read between the lines, Seth slowly said, "Sooo...you think that's what's happening to me? My personality is changing?"

"Maybe. I don't know if anyone would have a cut and dried answer on that one. But I just wanted you to know it's a possibility. And if that's the case, it could be permanent or you could regain it back. Maybe somewhere in between."

Seth found himself embraced by one warm, strong arm. "I know this must be confusing as hell for you," his father continued. "But hang in there. Whatever happens, memory back or no, personality change or not, we love you anyway."

"Please, no mush," Seth mumbled. "I already had dessert."

Sandy laughed as he got to his feet. "Okay, the talk is over. Why don't you come down and watch some TV with us?"

"Maybe later."

The door was gently shut and Seth was left alone once more. Jeez, this had been some eventful day. Calling Summer crossed his mind but then he remembered her father's dinner. He didn't want to take the chance of interrupting.

Summer. That had been quite the whirlwind encounter today. In his mind, he recalled a bright, courageous, and fiery young girl with a zest for life that he'd always envied. It seemed she'd lost none of that spark.

Unconsciously, his fingers touched the curve of his lip. He could still feel the kiss. The memory of that moment alone would last him for quite a while.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Reality show. Reality show. Hey, another reality show.

Ryan flipped through a couple more stations before finally settling on one. At least for as long as it could hold his attention.

"Ryan?"

Startled, his head snapped up to meet Kirsten's gaze. "Sorry," she apologized. "Didn't mean to scare you."

He picked up the remote and hastily turned down the volume. "No, it's okay. Was it too loud?"

She waved a hand. "No, not at all. But I did want to talk to you for a minute."

His brain immediately went into high gear, going over things he'd done recently. Things he hadn't done. Before he could delve too far, he forced himself to stop. Old habits died hard. Wasn't that the saying? He reminded himself he was in the Cohen household.

After pressing the mute button on the remote, he slid over on the couch to make room. Kirsten sat gingerly beside him. "I was wondering if Seth has started talking to you yet?"

"No."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"Yeah, a few times. But he asked me to give him space."

She nodded. "And I'm sure you've been respectful of that." She said this quietly, almost to herself.

"Shouldn't I be?" he asked, a little confused.

"Yes, of course. Just...Sandy and I have been worried about him. I think it would be helpful for Seth to get to know you again but I guess he has to do it on his own. When he's ready."

Ryan wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he said nothing and waited for her to continue. When she did, it wasn't what he'd been expecting. "You know, in all the fuss over Seth, I haven't talked to you lately. You've been quiet." She chuckled softly. "More quiet than usual, I mean. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," Ryan replied, hoping she'd take that at face value.

She regarded him closely. He felt an urge to start squirming but managed to keep still, all the while maintaining her steady gaze.

After an uncomfortable pause, she said, "You know you can talk to me or Sandy anytime. About anything. Right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay."

She started to get up but he stopped her, surprising himself. "Kirsten?"

"Yes?"

He'd been thinking about this for the last few days. "Do you think it would help Seth if I left?"

Looking truly horrified, she stared at him. "What? No, I don't. Why would you think that?"

He shrugged, trying to act as if this was unimportant. Somehow, he didn't think he was fooling her one bit. "I just thought...I don't know. He kind of seems to resent me being here. I thought it might be easier for him."

"No." Her tone was firm and held no room for doubt. "You are family, Ryan. You belong here as much as Seth does. It will not help for you to leave." She was speaking crisply, enunciating each word. "Am I making myself clear?"

Her intensity was making him nervous. "Yeah, it's...it's clear."

"Promise me you're not going to...take off or something. Because it was really...really..." She turned her head slightly, as if she didn't want him to see such emotion. But it was plainly obvious in her voice. She got herself back under control and met his eyes again. "It was just hard for me when both you and Seth were gone. I have both of you back now and I want to keep it that way." She cleared her throat. "So, do I have that promise? No taking off."

"I promise."

"Good." She patted his hand lightly, three times. "Don't give up on him, Ryan. He'll come around."

She got up from the couch and left him in the semi-darkness of the room. Jesus. For a second, he had been sure she was going to start crying. He wouldn't have been able to handle that. So, it looked like he was staying. So much for that idea. And in all honesty, he was greatly relieved. He didn't want to leave. But he would have. For Seth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lounging on top of her bed, Summer idly flipped through the magazine. Hmmm, very cute skirt. She scanned the fine print to find out who the designer was.

"Summer?"

Her door was open and she looked up to see her father leaning on the doorframe. "I just wanted to say thank you for coming to dinner. I think it was a great success."

"Sure. No problem."

"Where were you earlier?" he asked casually. "You were almost late."

Lying was her first impulse but she saw no reason to. Yet. "At the Cohens."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how is the boy doing? What was his name again?"

"You know his name, Daddy," she murmured. "And he's doing okay, considering the amnesia."

"I see." Pause. "I assume you went to visit him as a concerned friend only."

Her index and middle fingers crossed of their own volition, unseen behind her magazine. "Concerned friend," she parroted.

"That's all?"

"That's all." The fingers remained tightly crossed.

"Good."

With her doorway empty once more, Summer tried to get back into the glossy pages in hand. Now, what had she been looking at? Oh yes, cute skirt. But instead, her gaze fell on Captain Oats. He was now standing proudly beside Princess Sparkles on her bedside table. An unlikely but striking couple.

When Seth had left on his solo sailing trip, she'd told her father that it was over between them. It had helped to ease her humiliation. He had never liked Seth and while she knew it wasn't fair of him to have formed that opinion over one disastrous lunch, it was a fact. She saw no reason to let him know it might not be so over yet. Mainly because even she didn't know where all this was leading. She hadn't lied to Seth today. She did intend to help him through this ordeal. She just wanted to be careful, that's all. Maybe everything would be wonderful and she would get a fairy tale ending with her prince. It could happen. But the cynical side of her warned her to take this slowly. Less chance of getting hurt that way.

Closing her eyes, she could still taste the intensity of the kiss. Damn, Cohen, anyway. Why did he have to be such a great kisser?

A/N: Sorry this update has taken so long. I swear, I have some valid excuses. This chapter, with the parental talks, wasn't going to originally exist. I thought I could work around it and just make reference to it. But it wasn't working so I had to back up and write this one out. Hope you like the result. In case you're thinking the next chapter should be really quick since it's partially written, that may not be the case. Hopefully I can salvage some of it, but it may very well be entirely tossed out. Oh, and I was also sick for several days with a lovely fever and, well, you don't want to know the details. Yes, I'm just asking for your sympathy now :-) One more thing. I promise to continue to update as quickly as possible but I think Real Life is going to start getting in the way. I don't think I can maintain the 2 or 3 days between updates that I had going in earlier chapters. Sorry for that in advance.

So, before this becomes the longest A/N in history, thanks for every review. A special thank you to the group from TWoP for their especially thoughtful and balanced reviews. Now, if someone could kindly tell me what TWoP is, I would be grateful. Really. I have no clue. LOL! Also, has the first name of Summer's father been revealed? I don't think it has but maybe I'm wrong.