The Choices We Make

Author: Jag-Fel

Genre: Romance/Drama

Era/Setting: Season 2

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Notes: SS, RM/A A little OC Alternate Universeness starting from Chrismukkha.


I never could understand why Seth made so many stupid decisions regarding Summer (choosing Anna, leaving for the summer, taking her for granted, etc.), so I decided to try my hand at rewriting instead of inserting an original character.


Fighting an oppressive sigh, Seth Cohen sat back on the sofa in the little room Summer had led him to for his 'gift'. Man, Summer had been Wonder Woman, but then, Anna had hand-written a comic book. Somehow both gifts reflected the girl who had given them; Summer showing off her bold personality and Anna showing off her intellectual flair. Summer had just finished stripping out of her party dress and into the comic book outfit and roped Seth into a kiss when Anna had walked in, effectively ruining the moment.

Seth lay down and rested his arms behind his head. The girls had given him an ultimatum; he had to choose one of them before someone got hurt. Part of Seth wished that the answers had come to him earlier, that there had never been a conflict of sorts between the two women in his life. But no, life was never that simple, not even for a guy who'd had nobody in his life just months earlier. Now, here he was, overwhelmed by the scale of it all.

The whole night had been a surrealistic nightmare. Both girls were pulling in every possible direction. Ever since they had caught him running between them, everything had been a mess. He'd been foolish to try and be with two girls at once, but seriously, could he be blamed? They personify everything he wants in a woman, except there's two of them, so women.

So here was the debacle, the no-holds-barred, for-all-the-gravy, over-the-fence, just-gotta-make-a-damn-decision issue. There was Anna, the seemingly female version of himself, who could almost be his sister… eww, much?; and Summer, the girl he'd been crushing on for as long as he could remember.

Remember the squirrels, Seth? And the mermaid poem?

But Anna's like a refuge from the Newpsies. She's into comic books, for Jesus' and Moses' sakes!

Yes, but Summer is Summer. You know, short girl, gorgeous dark hair, eyes like puddles of mud that you could just drown in?

Tell me you didn't just analogize Summer's eyes as puddles of mud.

I'm afraid I did, but wait, am I talking to myself? Or worse, arguing with myself!

Yup.

Oh dammit. Must. Find. Ryan.

Go for it, Casanova.

Surged on by his divine purpose – and desire to escape his own eccentric mind-ramblings – Seth burst forth from the small room where he'd just minutes ago been confronted by Summer and Anna, desperately trying to find his closest friend. He emerged just in time to witness the minute squabble between Ryan and Marissa, the latter no doubt slightly inebriated from something other than eggnog.

Great, no Ryan. Seth couldn't turn to his parents, and neither Summer nor Anna was anywhere to be found. This Chrismukkah was definitely one that would not soon be forgotten.

The party was quieting down by midnight, but many guests hung around for a few hours after. Seth tried to keep to himself, avoiding most everyone who neared him. His dad walked by, offering a look of knowing sympathy, as if he'd been privy to the night's events. Sandy Cohen sat down beside a distraught looking Seth, leaning into the patio chair.

"How'd it go, son?" Sandy asked.

Seth looked up from the ground just briefly to fix his dad with a look that resembled something between blunt irony and trauma. "Magical, father, just magical. Can you believe I started this night out with two, count them, two women, but I sit here now with a number somewhere below zero?"

"Is that even possible?"

"It seems so," Seth huffed wearily.

Sandy sighed for them both. "Well, we're heading home. Maybe things will look different in a new light tomorrow."

"We can only hope."

By morning things only seemed more distant. Seth lay in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling, just trying to find the motivation to get out of bed. But it wasn't coming. He rolled over onto his stomach so his face was buried deeply into the pillow and groaned. He still hadn't come closer to a decision, even after the conversations with himself and his father.

Resolving on at least asking Ryan before he contacted the girls, Seth rolled out of bed and marched downstairs to the kitchen. As reliable as always, Ryan was seated at the island, but Seth walked by and looked out the window onto another perfect Newport day.

"Hey man," Ryan greeted, turning his spoon in his cereal. "Rough night?"

Seth spun around. "Ryan, buddy, the Punisher had a rough night when his family was killed. Spiderman had a rough night after he fought the Green Goblin. I, Ryan, have had a terrible night."

"So the girls confronted you, eh?"

"They did at that. An ultimatum was given."

"Choose?"

"Yep," Seth muttered, suddenly afraid that this conversation with Ryan was eerily similar to the brief exchange his mind had created the night before. Seth wasn't quite sure, though, whether he was more scared of the fact that he'd been talking to himself, or that one of his 'mental voices' sounded not unlike Ryan.

Ryan tipped his orange juice glass back. "That must have been interesting."

"It was," Seth admitted. "And you? Any Chrismukkah miracles heading your way?"

"Well, Marissa got drunk, there was a cop, broken tail light... y'know, the usual."

Seth blinked spasmically for a few moments. "Ryan, what should I do?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "About the girls? Uh, pick?"

"You know it's not that easy. I mean, well, it is, but there's the whole subliminal unconscious peoples' feelings thing that lies beneath the whole surface of this matter. Like, if I choose Anna, it'll upset Summer, but if I choose Summer, then Anna's getting hurt."

"Man," Ryan muttered. "You're making this too difficult."

Seth threw his hands up in the air, waving them around frantically. "But it is too difficult, Ryan."

"If you can't choose, don't then."

The ganglier of the two froze for a moment. "You mean like keeping leading them on and enjoying the company of each?"

"No," Ryan fixed a significant glare on Seth. "I mean just ask them to be friends. Aren't two friends better than nothing?"

Seth hefted himself up onto the counter to take a seat, twirling his hands in front of him. Could it really be that simple? Could he, Seth Cohen, who had never had a girlfriend before really just be friends with the two girls he liked so much, who liked him so much?

"Nah, it'll never work," Ryan muttered after a moment.

"What – Ryan, whaddya mean it'll never work?" Seth was perplexed.

Twirling his cereal around again before taking a bite and swallowing, Ryan cracked a small grin. "I forgot for a moment who we were dealing with. Summer and Anna? Definitely don't want to just be friends."

"Ryan, sometimes I hate you. That means I have to choose. But who?"

"Well, you've always liked Summer."

"And this is true."

"But Anna's into some of the same stuff as you."

"As is that. Oh drat."

Ryan stood, rinsed his bowl off in the sink and set it in the dishwasher. "You're just going to have to decide which girl you like more. You already know someone's feelings are going to be hurt, so decide who you can't possibly stand to hurt. Which girl means more to you."

"That must be the most words you've ever strung together into a coherent sentence I've ever heard from you," Seth said after blinking a few times. "I'm going to meditate."

As soon as Seth stepped into his room he collapsed on the bed. A quick roll brought him near the edge, so he reached over and grabbed the first comic that came to his fingers from the bedside table. He held it in his hands, feeling a small smile tug at his mouth. Who would have thought a few pieces of paper could hold all of his answers.

Without another thought, Seth Cohen pulled out his cell phone and dialled a number. While he waited for an answer, Seth cursed himself for not seeing the answer all along and for the trouble his puzzlement had caused.

Another tense moment, and the phone picked up at the other end. "Hello?"


I'm not giving up on my other story, but this demanded attention after watching the OC on DVD. Seth was irritating me.