a/n: wow it's been a while since I updated this! I couldn't think of any ideas…I think the two hour special must have helped me last night. Lol. So here y'all go….r&r! let me know what you think…ideas….w/e. -nic
Chapter 3- Explosions
"Seth don't ok?" Summer said as she drew away from his hand.
"What happened?" he whispered.
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it, it was nothing…"
He scoffed at her reply. "That's not nothing! Summer your face looks like a finger paining I did when I was four!"
Summer rolled her eyes and started to walk away.
"So…" he trailed off following her inside. She didn't say anything to him as they reached the kitchen. She got out some tea, slammed the cabinet and looked back at him as she leaned against the counter.
"Why are you here?"
"I wanted to see you…"
"Newport, Seth. Why did you did you come back here?"
He shrugged. "Time to come home."
"That's sweet Cohen. Real sweet. You just decided to make an appearance now?"
Seth wasn't following her. "What are you talking about?"
"You took off on a sailboat Seth! After two years we thought you were dead! Now you think you can just waltz back in and think everything will be the same?" she exploded.
"Summer…"
"No! Do you know the hell you put us all through? Good Lord Cohen I hope you feel damn special!" she said slamming a coffee cup down on the counter. He winced at the force of her putting the object down and backed up a little. He remembered those rage blackouts a little too well.
"I just wanted to say I was sorry," he said softly. "I never meant to hurt you Sum. I just had to get out…"
"And you couldn't pick up a phone? I thought you were slow yeah but retarded never entered my mind…" she shot back.
He sighed. "I'll just go ok? It's obvious this was a mistake," he said turning to go.
"I think you better!" she replied. When he was halfway out of the kitchen however she thought better of herself. Cohen might be an asshole yes but he was still the one person that knew her better than anyone else. Before she could stop herself she found herself saying, "I married Zach you know."
He stopped. "Water polo boy?" he said with a hint of distaste.
She shook her head. He looked back at her and saw tears in her eyes. "Did he do that to you?"
"No! He would never! I mean he loves me…."
Seth just nodded. Even if she didn't want to admit it, the answer was there. And the answer was yes.
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As the screen door shut behind him, Summer collapsed on the couch in a fit of tears. After fifteen years of no letters, thinking he was dead, he shows up out of nowhere! She was married now…she was happy. At least she used to be… A door slammed in the driveway and Summer shot up anxiously. She wiped her eyes and ran to the kitchen and poured herself some tea and sat down at the table with a magazine just as the door opened.
"Summer?" a voice called.
So far so good….he sounded as if he was in a decent mood today…
"In here!" she called out trying to sound cheerful.
He walked in with a bouquet of flowers. "Hey baby," he said as he walked over and kissed her.
"Hi," she greeted him. "What are you doing home so early?"
He shrugged. "I just decided to take the day off and spend it with you."
She nodded. "Why, did you have plans?" he cocked his head at her.
"No! Nothing that I know of," she forced a smile on her face.
"Good."
She swallowed hard. "Actually tonight though I was going to go out with Ryan…"
"No."
"Zach come on. We go way back and-"
"I said no," he said firmly.
She shut her mouth and didn't say anything.
"I'm so tired of hearing about Ryan. Ryan this and Ryan that. Are you sure you're not having an affair with him?" Zach accused watching his wife's face.
"What! No, I would never! He's married…he has kids!"
He shrugged. "Like that matters. The truth is Summer, I think you're bullshitting me," he said calmly as he stood up.
Her mind raced as her eyes followed him. It was times like this when he got mad and then calm all the sudden that the worse always happened.
"Zach! I would never lie to you!" she defended herself.
He snorted. "You also said you stopped going to see Ryan…" he said.
"I have!"
"Then explain today."
"What?"
"Today…I know you were over there."
Her eyes grew wide and a lump in her throat formed. "You had me followed?"
He chuckled and her blood ran cold. "No. I followed you. I saw that nice little embrace that you had…" he said bitterly as he drew closer to her.
"Zach I swear!"
"Your words are shit," he muttered as he raised his hand and brought it down to her face.
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Ryan got out of his car and started to walk along the beach. He hadn't heard from Seth since he took off earlier that morning. And if he knew his brother, he would be here. Sure enough, in the middle of the beach he was sitting there by himself, just looking out into the ocean. Some things never change…
"I shouldn't have left," he said softly as Ryan approached.
Ryan shrugged. "You did what you thought you had to do. It was wrong yeah, but what's done is done."
Seth just looked up at him. "Marissa died, Dad died, Summer married Zach and he paints her face like I used to finger paint," he said bitterly.
"What?" Ryan said not getting the last part.
"He beats her Ryan! Ok? And if I stayed here, it never would have happened."
Ryan sat down on the beach next to his brother. "You can't blame yourself for this. Zach wasn't like that until after they married. Even I didn't see it."
Seth just shook his head. "If I stayed she never would have gotten with him in the first place…"
"Who's to say that you would have stayed together forever?" Ryan asked quizzically.
"I'm just saying Ryan-"
"And I'm just saying that it wasn't your fault Seth," Ryan said, making his voice louder than Seth's.
Seth just grew quiet. "Everything is just so different," he mumbled.
The blonde nodded his head. "That I will agree with you on." The boys sat in comfortable silence for a little while just staring out at the ocean.
"Hey I thought you had plans tonight," Seth brought up suddenly.
"I was supposed to go out with Summer but she called to cancel. Which means Zach found out. Which means she said no to remain alive," he said bitterly.
"I'm surprised he's still alive with you knowing," Seth remarked.
Ryan just shrugged in the night air. "She told me not to do anything. And you don't know how hard it is… But I'm not going to be another guy to let her down."
Seth just looked at him. "Thanks Ry. Thanks."
"I didn't mean that…"
His brother just rolled his eyes and looked out at the water again. Ryan's phone went off and he answered it.
"Hello?"
a/n: ok so I know that Zach wasn't in the picture at the time that Seth sailed off but I just can't stand him so I had to make him the villain. And I might incorporate some other things from the second season as well…just an FYI.
