Palm Trees and Power Lines
Chapter 18: Addicted
Summary: Sort-of future fic. Summer and Seth go through some hard times, but in the end, will love pull them through? Or will they be just another lost couple… What about Ryan and Marissa? Will a person from Marissa's past tear the two apart once and for all?
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anything… comprenden?
A/N: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all of the lovely reviews. You are all so wonderful. Keep it up, my dears. Ah yes… the song for this chapter is Addicted by Kelly Clarkson- yeah I know, a bit different from my usual genre. I thought I'd branch out. Feedback appreciated greatly. Oh, and- a shameless plug- check out my new story- an attempt at AlexMarissa- Mistakes We Knew We Were Making … hehe… anyway, review por favor (: oh oh, yeah, one last thing- again, I'm sorry if you don't like Alex and Marissa… deal for a while, kay? Note: Jimmy never moved to Hawaii… I miss him too much – so he's still here ;-)
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It's like I can't breathe; it's like I can't see anything
Nothing but you; I'm addicted to you
It's like I can't think without you interrupting me
In my thoughts, in my dreams it's taking over me
It's like I'm not me…
-Addicted
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As years go by, I race the clock with you, but if you die right now, you know that I die too. I die too. You remind me of the times when I knew who I was- still the second hand will catch us like it always does…
Marissa hit her hand around blindly on the table next to her as she heard the old Story of the Year song echoing from her cell. Why was Summer calling her so early?
She finally grabbed it and flipped it open, whispering- careful not to wake the sleeping figure next to her.
"Hello?" she spoke groggily. "Sum…why are you calling it's like… six in the morning."
"Coop, where are you? I've been to your Mom's house, your Dad's house, the Cohen's… pretty much everywhere. I really need to talk to you! Now where the hell are you?" Summer yelled into the phone, causing Marissa to slightly pull it away from her ear.
"Shhh, it's too early for yelling," she replied, flopping back on the futon she had slept on the previous night. "Now what do you want?"
Summer sighed into the phone. "Ugh, just go back to sleep. Meet me at the Cohen's around noon? But first tell me where you are…"
"At a friend's place," she said deliberately vague. "I'll see you later Sum. Bye."
Before she could receive any more interrogation from Summer, she flipped her phone shut and tossed it back onto the table. Rolling over, she decided just to go back to sleep- seeing as how she hadn't actually gone to bed until about three that morning. When she turned over though, she was surprised, yet happy, to see two dancing pools of blue looking back at her.
"Morning," the owner of the eyes whispered softly. "I've missed waking up next to you." She said, reaching her hand out to graze Marissa's cheek slightly. "I've missed a lot of things since I've been gone. You don't know how hard it was for me-"
"Then why did you leave?" Marissa interrupted her. "Why couldn't you have just stayed in Newport with me, Alex? Did you really need to go? You don't know how hard those few months were without you here…"
Alex cast her eyes downward, her heart breaking at the thought of this girl unhappy. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," she brushed it off, reaching out to pull her chin up. "It's over."
Marissa smiled; she hadn't felt like this in a while. Last night, after they headed back to Alex's office, she pulled out the futon that had been in there and the two sat up and talked- among other things- for hours on end. There was so much to catch up on- verbally and physically. The two had missed not only the presence of the other, but the feel- the touch- the chills that vibrated through their spines at the mere brushing of their skin. It was like there was an electric current running through their bodies that wouldn't work and couldn't run if the other wasn't near. It was something Marissa hadn't even felt with Ryan…
Her mind stopped at the thought of him. He was the one thing she deliberately avoided mentioning last night. There was no way Marissa could tell Alex that she and Ryan had gotten back together while she was gone. It would not only break Alex's heart, but she didn't know how sure she was about their relationship. Sure it seemed right at the time- when his brother had gone across the country, and when her best friend was lying next to death in the hospital. Both of them were at the lowest points of their life, and Marissa never expected to see Alex again. So she gave in, and took the safe way out.
Ryan had definitely become the safe choice. Other than the fact that he wasn't a girl, Julie had surprisingly grown accustomed to the boy that she once despised, and of course her father liked him. He was the first person she had ever loved too. And now he was a young, upstanding man. He graduated at the top of their class, and was accepted into Stanford- where he would be going as a pre-law major. He had a great 'family', and was her best friend's boyfriend's brother – even if they were on bad terms. It was the perfect life just waiting for her…
But it lacked something…
Alex, on the other hand, was the most unsafe choice she could make. Not only was she a girl, but she had dropped out of school and was emancipated from her parents. Julie absolutely hated the girl, because after a while, it was clearly not a "phase". Jimmy said that whatever made Marissa happy was fine with him, but you could tell it made him a bit uneasy to know that his daughter was dating another girl. Alex didn't go to college- nor did she plan on it- and owned a club in Newport. She drank, partied, and had tattoos and piercings.
But there was something there…
Marissa leaned forward and kissed Alex lightly- tenderly- on the lips, before pulling away.
"I need sleep," she grunted and snapped her eyes shut, only to receive a little laugh from Alex, and a pillow in the back of her head. Opening her eyes, she saw the other girl- pillow in hand, kneeling on the bed above her. "You did not just do that?"
Alex grinned and brought the pillow down on Marissa once more. "I think I just did it again."
Both girls burst into laughter as Marissa swiftly pulled her pillow from below her head and brought it smack across Alex's face within seconds. Still laughing, she pulled herself up to her knees, also and began an all-out pillow war with Alex. Back and forth they hit each other, ducking and swerving out of the path of the pillows. Finally, Marissa had enough and tossed her pillow to the side. Without another word, she pounced and tackled Alex down to the bed.
"I win," she whispered, mere inches from Alex's lips. She stuck her tongue out a bit, and licked at them. Before she knew it, Alex had connected their lips for what had to be the hundredth time since they saw each other yesterday. Slowly she rolled Marissa over onto her back, then pulled away.
"Nope, I win," Alex replied, then leaned back down for another kiss…
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Summer paced back and forth across Seth's room, glancing at her watch every few minutes.
Where the hell is Marissa? She thought to herself, noticing it was about quarter after twelve. She was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!
As if on queue, Marissa came bounding through the door- a huge smile spread across her face. Summer looked at her questionably, but Marissa didn't seem to get the question- so she voiced it.
"Did you stop by and see Chino when you got here at twelve?" Summer fired, seeing the happy look on her face. "Because if you made me wait here for fifteen-"
"No, Summer. I just got here. Sorry I'm late. Getting ready took longer than expected," Marissa half-lied. It wasn't really the getting ready that took very long… "So what did you want to talk about?"
"I'm going back to Pennsylvania," Summer blurted out quickly, and Marissa looked on in confusion. "I got accepted to the U of Penn. By jackass father lied to me because he hates Seth. So I told him that I was leaving, made a few calls, and was able to get some classes over at UP. It' amazing that they still let me in. I mean in a school like that…"
"You got into UP?" Marissa shrieked, enveloping her friend in a hug. "That's great, Sum! UP is like… an Ivy League college."
Summer smiled," Yeah, I know. I'm just so pissed that my dad lied to me… I mean… he was willing to jeopardize my future just because he didn't want me near Seth. God I hate him, Coop. I hate him for doing this to me," she sighed lowering her head. "But I found the papers, and I'm going- so everything is better.
"So… when do you leave," Marissa asked, now a bit sadder. Her best friend was flying across the country to go to college while she was stuck here at UCLA. She thought it would be great to have Summer here with her at the same college, and was so hyped about going with her. But then again… Summer deserved UP. She deserved it more than anything.
"Tonight," she said solemnly. "I'm sorry Coop. I'm so upset that we didn't get to spend time together. God, I'm going to miss you so much," she leaned in and pulled her friend into a hug, tears welling in her eyes.
"I'm gonna miss you too, Sum," she whispered into her ear. "But… look on the bright side; you'll be back for the holidays…and for summer. And you better be calling me often."
Summer laughed slightly, and pulled away. "I can't believe we're going off to college. It's like… so surreal."
"God, I know," Marissa sighed, then her thoughts changed quickly. "Sum, before you go… there are a few things I need to tell you…"
Summer, even though 'no one' had known about Marissa and Alex, had figured something was going on a little while into the relationship. Summer, other than Julie, was the only other person to know about it.
"Like what?" Summer questioned, a bit worried at her friends sudden change.
"Alex is back," was all she needed to say before a wave of understanding overtook Summer. But, despite the fact that she knew Summer got it, Marissa still felt the need to explain herself. "Sum, I … I don't know what to do. I mean, I know I love Ryan… but… what I have with Alex is just…. I don't know. But I have never felt the way that I feel with her with anyone – not even Ryan."
"Follow your heart, Coop. I learned the hard way that trying to make it easier just makes it worse," Summer spoke, placing her hand atop her friends in support. "Someone will get hurt- but it will all be better in the end."
"What if my heart is pulling me in two directions?" she asked, more to herself than Summer.
"You need to decided which way is pulling harder," Summer explained, then looked over at the clock. "Shit. Sorry, Coop, but I really need to get to my house and finish packing before my father or the step monster gets there. You can come if you want."
"Uh, no thanks… I have a lot to think about. But as soon as you're done, you better be calling me," she explained, leaning in to give Summer another hug. "God I'm going to miss you so much."
The two girls stood up and headed out of the Cohen house…
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Summer pulled into the empty driveway of her house, breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that neither her father, nor her step mother was presently at the house. She walked in, dropping her keys and purse onto the small table by the door. She shuffled through the mail, making sure there were no more "missing" acceptance letters in it, then rushed up the stairs to her room to finish packing. She flung open the door, and froze at the sight in front of her…
"You know, you've been gone for a while," the familiar voice spoke as Summer's jaw dropped in surprise. "But it's okay, Princess Sparkle and I have been getting reacquainted. Captain Oats sure misses her these days."
As soon as she could control her movement again, Summer took off across the room, jumping into Seth's arms. She kissed him immediately, wrapping her legs around his waist as they sat on the bed.
"It's only been a day!" Seth joked as she pulled away. "You'd think I haven't seen you for ten years! Not that I'm complaining… because I'd absolutely love to be greeted with a kiss like … that… every time you walk into a room and I'm there. Because, you know, that would be just like…wow… amazing. God, I'd be-"
"You're rambling again," Summer cut him off, placing a finger over her lips. She then turned, and changed the subject. "So why are you here again?"
"Meh, I had a few frequent flier miles to spare," he told her. "I thought that maybe I'd use 'em up and come rescue you from Hell after you called last night."
"Funny," Summer spoke. "Have you seen your family yet? You need to straighten things out with Ryan, Seth…"
Seth lowered his head at the name. He had been thinking about going home, but the fear of confronting Ryan was deterring him from carrying out the idea.
"Okay, let's go," he finally said and stood up, taking Summer's hand. He had to get this over with some time…
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A/N: Wow… I just couldn't stop writing… but seeing as how it's 2:00 AM … I think maybe I should end this 2,500 word chapter… .whoopseys… I got a bit overboard… feedback makes me smile :)