Palm Trees and Power Lines
Chapter 5: Sign Off

Summary: Sort-of future fic. Summer breaks Seth's heart and all he could think to do was leave… but will she find him again, and will he want her back if she does?



Rating: PG to PG-13… you never know.


Disclaimer: I own nada… not "The O.C." or the actors… nor do I own any song that will appear in this fic…


A/N: Thanks again for all the great reviews!!! Once again, sorry for the delay…but here you go… The song in this fic is another Sugarcult…entitled Sign Off… have fun and enjoy!…On to the story… Reviews are nice things, you know!


Wake up all alone
Sending postcards back to home
On the road

Summer stared down at her ringing phone, the number calling, and the caller. She couldn't begin to process this at the moment. There was no way she could talk to him…but she had to. She had to convince him to come back, and that she still loved him. She couldn't let him go, she just couldn't.


"Hello?" she answered, her voice quieter than she intended it to be. When no one answered, she spoke again. "Hello? Seth?"


"Summer?" a drunk Seth Cohen, questioned. "'s at you?"

Tears came rolling out of her eyes, as soon as she heard his voice. Given she was drunk, and ten times more emotional than normal, and so was he, it was understandable.


"Seth! I need to explain everything. I'm so sorry; you have to come back home. Please," she begged, without letting him get another word in. "Seth, please."

"Now why should I?" he asked, now turning into that angry drunk. He hated when this happened, but he couldn't control it. "You slept with my brother, for God's sake! Yes my brother, not some guy you met on the street, not some water polo, chest shaving jock, but my fucking brother! My best and almost only friend, Summer. You know, I don't think I could ever forgive the conniving, life-wrecking, heart-breaking slutty bitch you are." Seth spat, then on a bit lighter note added.

"I just want you to know that I loved you and, heck, I still do. I don't think I'll ever stop loving you. I always have and always will. But you know what? You ruined that. I'll never be able to love or trust again because of what you and my jackass brother did. Nope. I just thought you should know that, so you stop calling me."



If the medication works
Could I be the way I was?
In control

Tears were flooding down Summer's cheeks. Never in their entire lives had Seth said such cruel things to her. Not even the day he left. But now, she didn't know what to say. He hated her and loved her at the same time. But the love didn't matter; the hate was too strong.

"Seth, I'm sorry! I love you, please, come back. I love you more than anything and I never meant to hurt you! Seth, please!" Summer cried into the phone.

Suddenly, the realization of what exactly he was doing hit Seth. Quickly he hung up the phone, as tears clouded his vision. He was drunker than ever, just called his ex-girlfriend who proclaimed her love for him, and had no idea where he was. This wasn't good.



You painted a picture
I'm the worst type of sinner
You know

Summer closed her cell phone, after realizing he hung up. She would never get him back now, and it was all her fault. If she would have just talked to him instead of going to Ryan none of this would have happened. But she was too big of a coward and too stubborn to admit or let anyone realize that she loved him. But now she had nothing. She had nothing to live for anymore, he was her life.

Summer didn't know what to do, and in her drunk state of mind, pulled a bottle of her step-mom's prescription pain killers out of her purse. She was going to take another page from the "Horrible Things Marissa Has Done" book. Quickly she ran down the street, and stopped in front of the Cohen's house.



You painted a picture
Happier than I can afford



"Seth!" she yelled into the darkness. "I know you can't hear me, and I know you aren't here, but I'm just going to say this. I love you and I can't live without you. But you're not here, which means I am without you. I just want you to know, I'm doing this for you. Like in Romeo and Juliet, but I don't know if I'm coming back. I love you Seth Cohen, and I hope one day you can forgive me!"



She quickly scrawled this down on a napkin she found in her purse and squeezed it tight in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she dumped the pills into her hand. Could she do this? Could she end her life, or at least attempt it? She was smarter than that. She knew suicide wasn't the way out…but she was drunk and overly emotional at the moment. She had had so much to drink at that party that her common sense, logic, and morals had almost disappeared, and she was too drunk to realize that what she was doing wasn't the way out. The line between mad and depressed had been crossed from the minute her phone rang.


Taking one more deep breath, she popped the handful of pills into her mouth and swallowed. Sitting down on the sidewalk in front of the Cohen's, she closed her eyes. Never in a million years did Summer Roberts, the ice queen who was never hurt, think that she would be nothing without a boy- let alone Seth Cohen. But here she was, possibly ending her life because he didn't want to be with her anymore. When did this happen? When did she change from totally independent to…this? Her life had changed in the past few years and she never even noticed it.

After a while, she felt the pills start to kick in. Her eyes felt heavy, as did the rest of her body. Her head felt as if it were going to burst any moment, and she couldn't see straight. Her vision blurred, and she drifted off into a possibly never ending sleep…



Nobody can save me
Nobody can save me
Nobody can say what I'll do if I'm alone

Seth stared at his phone, wondering what the hell just happened. The last thing he remembered was being thrown out of the hotel. Now, he had just talked to Summer, his whole reason for coming out here and probably screwed things up even more than they already were.

As much as he tried, he couldn't forget her. Maybe what he needed to do was talk to her- when he wasn't drunk- and straighten things out… Well, right now it didn't matter. What mattered at the moment was getting out of this dark alley.

Placing his phone back in his pocket, he staggered off down the alley, searching for any sign of life or his hotel. Unfortunately he saw and heard nothing. Before he knew it, though, he lost his balance and went tumbling to the ground, gashing his head on the end of a drain pipe.

Cold and alone in a place he knew nothing about, Seth Cohen laid motionless.



Sign off
Sign off
Sign off
Sign off
Sign off
(Nobody can save me)
Sign off
Sign off
(Nobody can save me)
Sign off

A/N: So? How was it? Yes… I know, the chapter was a bit dramatic and soap opera-ish…but that's what I have to work with… I promise that it will get better in a few chapters…like happier… not the next…or after that, probably not… but maybe in about…. Chapter 8? Nine? I don't know…but stick around because I promise…it WILL get happier!!! Haha!! Be cool and review!