Stranded Memories

Rating: PG-13 for language

Disclaimer: I own crap. They wouldn't even give me the bloody Lost poster at Disney, and that ruined my day. FOX owns all OC characters and OC related thingys… and ABC owns sobs all Lost related things… even my Charlie…

Summary: Little things can push people over the edge. That very thing happens to Seth Cohen. When something happens to him that sends him into a crashing situation, who knows how he will survive. Seth-centric. Lost/OC Crossover.

A/n: This is the end my friends…

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"Best Of Me"

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"Tell me what you thought about when you were gone and so alone
The worst is over, you can have the best of me
We got older, but we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up…"

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It rained the day I returned to Newport. Sawyer and I got a taxi since neither of us were no where near in the right mind to drive. Everyone else was waiting at LAX for their families to come. I didn't want to wait. I didn't want to be in that airport or anywhere near a plane… ever again.

Sawyer didn't have anyone to wait for, so we left together. Like the best friends that we had oddly become. I knew that if it wasn't for the island, that I would have never even given the guy a chance, but… yeah.

I stared out the window of the taxi. Dad would pay for it.

"You okay kid?" Sawyer asked me.

I didn't answer at first. Mainly because I didn't quite know myself.

"Cohen?" he asked. Summer called me that. Was Summer still alive? What about Aerin and mom and dad? And Marissa. I had left hating them… it felt like forever. Now I was worried. I called their cells, I called their houses, I didn't get any answers. I was worried.

And what about Ryan? Oh God, not Ryan…

"Huh?" I asked, not really paying attention all that much. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good," Sawyer said with a bit of a laugh. "Because I have no clue where the hell I'm going, and someone needs to tell the driver."

I forced a laugh out. I wanted to go home so bad, but there was someplace that I had to go first. "Turn… turn left up here."

I took a deep breath. I couldn't believe I was going through with this. Wait? Where exactly was I looking for? The taxi pulled in.

"You live in a graveyard?" Sawyer asked. I just glared at him and he laughed.

"Just shut up…" I said somewhat angrily. I was looking for something. I didn't know what, but I knew that I would know it once I found it.

"Whatever you say," Sawyer said, sarcastically rolling his eyes. The car continued to drive slowly. I hadn't been here in so long. I never liked graveyards. They gave me the creeps.

The taxi driver was driving really slowly, which was totally different than his maniacal driving habits from just a few moments ago.

Then… suddenly, I found what I was looking for. "Stop," I said almost wordlessly. I just looked. I could feel the smile forming across my face. HOLY SHIT! I could feel the tears beginning to form in my eyes.

At first I didn't wanna believe my eyes. Ryan… Summer… okay… I was gonna kill him. I blinked a few times. I was so glad that Ryan wasn't dead. So fucking glad.

"You all right?" Sawyer asked, breaking the silence. It was then when I realized that Sawyer was there.

"Yeah," I said quickly, wiping away the tears from my eyes. I thought that Ryan was dead, and that I was never going to see either of them, ever again. I just was so… happy. Happier than when we finally got rescued. Happier than when Charlie finally admitted that I was right. Happier than… I had been in such a long long time.

"You know them?" he asked, nodding his head towards Summer and Ryan.

I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah," I said almost silently.

There was a large umbrella over the two of them, and Ryan had his arm around Summer. Some things never changed.

A few moments of silence.

"Who are they?" Sawyer asked.

"Remember Ryan and Summer?" I asked, knowing I had told him about Ryan at least.

"Your dead brother?" Sawyer asked.

"That's him…"

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The next thing I knew, Sawyer had an umbrella out and had a plan. I couldn't help but play along with it. As much as I missed them, and Ryan wasn't dead… I didn't want to think about it. Sawyer got out at the same time as I did, but I stayed by the car. The rain was falling hard on my head, and I was getting soaked, but for some reason, I didn't care.

I stayed a distance away from them as Sawyer walked over to them. I couldn't make out what was on the gravestone, but I could hear every word between the three of them.

At first there was silence. I was getting cold. I hated the rain.

"So here lies Seth Cohen…" Sawyer said. That was when the two noticed that he was there.

"Who are you?" Ryan asked, his arm visibly tightening around Summer.

This was cruel.

"Sawyer," he answered simply. The man had first name issues. "You must be Ryan and Summer," he added after a few moments of silence. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out my wallet. I thought I had lost it.

"How do you--" Summer said at first, but Sawyer cut her off.

"Island, wallet, thought you'd like it," he said, thrusting it into Summer's hand. If I could have seen her face I would have seen that she was crying.

By now I was totally soaked, and there was no point in going back in the taxi. It wouldn't keep me from getting any wetter. Besides, I wanted to hear this.

All I heard was the sound of rain falling on everything. Ryan broke the silence.

"So you knew Seth?" he asked.

"Why else would I have his fricking wallet?" Sawyer snapped.

More silence. This was just weird.

"Look, why don't you say what you really want to say and just get out of here," Ryan said angrily.

Sawyer sighed loudly, and looked toward the stone that was obviously my gravestone. Gee, this is weird.

"How much did that stone cost?" he asked, his southern accent really coming out.

"None of your fucking business," Ryan snapped without even a millisecond wait.

"I was just asking man, he's my friend too." I was starting to get cold. Cold, wet, and sick. Wow, this seemed so wonderfully familiar.

I could see Ryan glaring at Sawyer, Summer was oddly quiet, but she was the one that broke the silence.

"Did you ever get to talk to him?" Why were they talking about me like I was dead? I didn't like it. I didn't like it one little tiny bit.

"Yeah," Sawyer said. What was she getting at?

"Was he mad at us… when he… when he died?" Wait, they thought I was dead. Hence the gravestone. I hated this.

Sawyer burst out laughing. And I mean uncontrollable laughter.

I could tell Ryan was getting angry. "It isn't funny!"

"Yeah, it is," Sawyer said between the laughs. "Because Cohen isn't dead…"

Dead silence. Dead… graveyard… not funny.

"You're lying." Summer said plain and simply.

"Wanna bet?" Sawyer asked, I could tell he was enjoying this.

"We just met you, why the hell should we believe you?" Summer asked. Crap, Sawyer didn't know about the rage blackouts. I could tell just by her tone of voice that one was coming.

"Fine then, don't believe me," Sawyer said. I couldn't help but feel horrible. Summer thought I was dead, and obviously Ryan did too? It hadn't been that long, had it?

He then said something that I couldn't make out but almost suddenly I felt two pair of eyes on me.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I heard Ryan say. I didn't move. I was too cold, to wet.

Summer was the first one to actually move as she ran over to me, leaving Ryan holding the umbrella. "Cohen?" she asked when she got over to me.

I could feel the warm, salty tears mixing with the cold rain on my face. I took a few seconds to study Summer. She hadn't really changed much. It was then when I first realized that she was crying. Her mascara was running, or maybe it was the rain. Who the hell knew, and who the hell cared.

The second thing I noticed was the beautiful ring on her finger.

Before I got to look at her anymore I felt her hand collide with the side of my face.

It hurt.

"What the hell was that for?" I snapped.

"THAT WAS FOR LEAVING!" She shouted before she just looked at me. Then it was as if someone flipped a switch in her head. She shook her head. "You aren't Seth…" she said, I could hear the unbelieving tone in her voice. "Cohen wasn't this skinny, and wouldn't be caught dead with facial hair…"

"Sum, I was stuck on Shit Hole Island for… oh I don't know how long anymore…"

"One year, one month, six days…" Summer said quietly. "Since the plane crashed."

I just looked at her, shocked. When I left I was being the biggest asshole in the world, and yet she knew at the exact moment how long I was gone… how long it had been since the plane crashed.

Sawyer and Ryan walked over towards us, now both of us were soaking wet.

I was going to be sick.

The first thing I did was grabbed Ryan and hug him. Neither of us were huggers, but it seemed appropriate. I didn't matter that he was perfectly dry and I was soaked to the bone. All that mattered was that he was alive and that I didn't hate him anymore.

We both broke away at pretty much the same time. "So, when'd ya propose?" I asked.

Both him and Summer looked shocked. "I was on an island in the middle of nowhere for over a year, but I didn't lose my mind."

I hear a cough coming from Sawyer. "You shut up!"

Nothing could ruin my mood. Well, almost nothing. My eyes went over Ryan's shoulder and I spotted the gravestone once again, and my mood was automatically ruined. I pushed past Ryan and walked right over to it. I read it and sunk down to my knees.

Sethela Ezekiel Cohen

September 22, 1987 - August 15, 2005

Beloved son, brother, friend

My fingers grazed over the lettering. It was almost surreal. It was surreal. Nobody should have to go through something like that. No one. I could hear the silence. I could feel it. I didn't like it. But I couldn't force myself to break it. I was subconsciously biting my lower lip and tears were once again mixing with the cold rain.

I felt a firm grip grab my shoulder. But I couldn't tear my eyes away from it.

"Come on kid," I heard Sawyer say, but I couldn't move.

I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was drowning. Why did this feel so familiar?

"Let's go…" Sawyer said, now picking me up and setting me on my feet.

My eyes never left it.

"Do something," I heard Sawyer say.

More silence. Sethela Ezekiel Cohen. But I wasn't dead. I was looking at my own gravestone. How? Why? I could feel myself getting sick.

September 22, 1987 - August 15, 2005… That was over a year ago. I wasn't dead. No. No I wasn't…

Beloved son, brother, friend… Was I really alive? Or was this all some sort of sick dream…

"Seth," I heard Summer's soft voice. Where was Aerin? Where was mom and dad? I felt my eyes breaking away slowly. "You have a son…"

There was no way… They… no… holy… oh god…

Darkness.

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The next thing I knew I could smell my bed, something I hadn't smelled in what felt like forever. I could feel a pillow underneath my head. A pillow. Amazing.

I must have passed out or something. The last thing I remembered was… "You have a son…"

A WHAT? I tried to open my eyes, but I was just so comfortable.

"Honey, you can't just wake him up, he's had a rough… year…" I heard a voice say. I could feel my heart seize. That sounded like my dad. I hadn't heard his voice in so long…

"But after all he put us through, I wanna wake him up and I WANT TO KNOW WHY!" my mom said, more and more anger in every word. I felt worse and worse.

I could feel the tears threatening to slip from my eyes.

"He survived honey, and that is all that matters. We have time to ask him why later." My dad said.

Time. Yes. Time. I had time. But I wasn't alone anymore. I wouldn't be alone again, not for a long time. Not if I had anything to do with it.

I was home.

I felt safe.

Nothing mattered anymore. I finally got home.

And best of all, they forgave and remembered me.

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"We're sitting on the ground
And we whisper
Say what your thinking out loud

Tell me what you thought about
When you were gone and so alone
The worst is over
You can have the best of me
We got older but we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we wont give up"

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Fin.

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A/n: Thanks to the reviewers, this ends the actual story… For Stranded Memories that is. After I finish "Misunderstanding" I am going to write the sequel to this which is going to be called Discovering Memories and takes place (probably) a little less than two years after this one. If you liked this story then you will probably like Discovering Memories as well.

Okay, for those of you Lost-savvy people, here are the people who survived: Seth, Charlie, Claire, Sawyer, Jack, Sun, Jin, Walt, Hurley and a few red-shirts…

paige fan - Unfortunately, that didn't happen in this story, but it will happen in the next one. I'll figure out a way!

The Pirate Illusionist - Yayness!

megan - I never said he wasn't… he was just being a poop…

IY-ROX - Well, it could change, but I have the proof. Rolling Stone would not lie to us! And yes, I am finishing my other OC fic, and then starting another one… if I ever get the push. I always stop right before the last chapter. xD… but I will try…

alexis - Haha… I couldn't kill Seth… I did it beforeish… actually I never have before..

Abby - Finally?