Title- Aftermath

Author- Monica (Still)

Disclaimer- All I own is my little DVD of the O.C season 1 (which is awesome by the way!)

Summary- Post Season Finale

Spoilers- Dearly Beloved

Genre- Drama/angst

Rating- PG-13

Author's Notes- Thank you to all those who reviewed, and everyone who read it and chose not to, because you still supported it! A note aside to millstone1005 I do realize it is probably silly and very unlikely but so is a long lost half-sister, right? Also in my school we've had plenty of cases where all the kids start rumors and everyone talks about it but the teachers are clueless. If you heard about a murder, is your first instinct to think to call the cops? Just something to think about ;)... And to others who were curious, Sandy didn't have to report it (at least according to Law and Order), so he built a case instead of going to the police. Also the story is still unraveling so some of your questions will be answered!

Chapter 4.

" To protect Marissa."

" You're under arrest-"

Summer shut the television off in disgust. The Valley had finally disappointed her. The wounds were still too fresh for her to think about any of this. There was a sharp knock at the door which Summer ignored. She really couldn't put up with her rents drama quite yet. The knock came again.

" Sum, it's me."

Summer jumped off her bed and threw open the door. Marissa stood in front of her, with disheveled hair and her shoulders stooped forward in defeat.

" Oh, Coop!" Summer cooed as she pulled her into a hug.

" Thanks." Marissa whispered into her shoulder. " It's just with my parents- and, and school... I just can't deal! Can I sleep here tonight?"

" Sure. You need pajamas or something?"

" Yeah. Thanks." Marissa sat on the bed as Summer burrowed through her drawer. She pulled out a light green and pink tank top and pink boy shorts. " Thanks." She said again.

" No problem." As Marissa changed, Summer looked at her pants skeptically. " Can I try those on?"

" Go for it," Marissa laughed, not really caring. Summer eagerly pulled the pants up and then sighed as they didn't button.

" Ugh, I hate you," Summer complained to Marissa. Marissa laughed again and shrugged. Summer changed into an over-sized t-shirt and snuggled under the covers." Night, Coop."

" G'Night." Marissa mirrored, shutting off the light.

" Do you think Mr. Cohen is going to call the cops?" Summer asked through the darkness.

" He can't. I mean what about that whole lawyer/patient confidentiality?" Summer could hear how frightened her voice sounded.

" I don't know," Summer slowly admitted. " What do you say we just skip school tomorrow? Go shopping or something."

Marissa smiled because she knew Summer was trying to cheer her up. " I can't. My mom is "buckling down" now." You could hear the disgust in her voice. " My grades totally sucked this year, and if I miss a day I'll be grounded for, like, the whole summer."

" There's like two days left of school though." Summer pointed out.

" I know," sighed Marissa. Summer decided to drop it, and quickly fell asleep.

oOoOoOo

Summer woke up with a hand clamped over her mouth. She tried to scream but the hand tightened, not enough to hurt, but was still uncomfortable.

" It's me," someone breathed into her ear. Her first instinct had been to cry with relief, but instead she lashed out her right arm. " Oww!" The voice complained.

" Cohen, don't you ever do that again or I swear-!" Summer ranted but Seth placed his hand over her mouth again, placing a finger on his lips.

" Ryan and I went over to Trey's apartment. It's a huge crime scene. The police are everywhere." Seth whispered.

Summer hit him in the chest again. " What the hell were you two doing over there?" Summer lectured, her voice as loud as a whisper could be.

" That's not important. Wake up Marissa."

" Right." Summer agreed and went back to the bed and shook Marissa's shoulders.

She wiped her eyes slowly, thinking it was morning. Then she looked at Seth incredulously. " Am I sleeping in your spot?" Marissa teased.

" Ha, that's real funny. Really. Except I'm too busy trying to save your ass to laugh."

" Yikes, Mr. Testy," Marissa griped.

" The police found Trey," Summer explained.

" So?"

" So?" Seth exploded.

" Well, did you really think this was going to keep quiet forever? I mean all of Harbor knows. How long did you think it'd take?"

Seth and Summer stared at her dead-panned.

" Marissa, you may not realize this, but like all of Newport PD was there. How long do you think it will take them to find you?"

" What do you expect me to do?"

" Flee the country!" Summer shouted spontaneously.

" I like it," Seth said, pacing around the bedroom. " Ok, let's see, we fly you to Austin-"

" That's where Ryan was supposed to go," Marissa reasoned.

" Right. Okay, we're brainstorming, tossing ideas about- Tokyo!"

Summer stared at Seth this time too. " Tokyo? How about, like, Milan!"

" You guys-" Marissa started.

" Paris! Your mom has been there, like, a hundred times. Plus you can become a model-"

" And you take French-"

" Exactly!"

" You know this whole finishing each other's sentences isn't really cute." Marissa pouted. " And I'm not fleeing the country!" She laughed despite herself.

" Marissa, you don't really have a choice," argued Seth.

" I'll go to jail." Marissa surprised herself. Summer looked like she was going to cry.

" You mean I spied on Trey's apartment, broke like thirteen laws racing over here, dashed across two yards; one with a sprinkler on, and climbed a tree up two stories all for nothing?" Seth shouted, outraged.

" You have a twig in your hair, sprinkler boy." Summer told his harshly.

" I mean come on! Who the hell waters their lawn at three in the morning?"

" Step-monster's restless," Summer shrugged.

" Listen, it doesn't even matter anymore. Let me go to jail. I've lost Ryan, my parents, my life is over."

" You can't think like that Coop. You still have me," Summer felt tears welling in the back of her eyes.

Marissa closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. " I think... I think, I should turn myself in."

" What?"

" NO!"

The next voice belonged to neither Seth nor Summer. " Is there someone in your room!"

Summer muttered something incomprehensible and ran over to her door. " Five, four, three, two..."

" SUMMER ROBERTS!" The door shuttered behind Summer, but she kept it closed.

" No one is here, nothing is going on... Go to bed!" Summer shouted back.

" Let me in!" Pushed her step-mother.

" No!" Summer shouted back, very loudly.

" What is going on?" came an annoyed voice.

" Dad, tell her to go away!" Summer whined. There was a light argument on the other side of the door.

" Summer, sweetie, she is just worried about you. Can we come in?"

" No, I'm-uhh.. I'm naked! God, is there no privacy?" Seth almost laughed but Summer gave him a death glare.

" Ok, good night, honey." You could hear someone stomping away. Marissa through Seth a confused look and he shrugged. Summer walked past Seth who started to say something but she cut him off.

" Not a word, Cohen!" She walked over to her open window and looked down. " You ready?"

" Where are we going?"

" To talk to your Dad," Summer said as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

" Sum, I already-"

" No, Coop!" Her voice softened, " no."

" Where's Ryan?" Marissa asked suddenly.

" I told him that we should go talk to you, well get Summer, and then you, but he said I should go and he'd see me later." Seth stated, hesitantly.

" Oh." Marissa sat on the bed and stared at the floor. " Ok, let's go."

Summer nodded and looked down at the ground again. She started to climb out the window but Seth pulled her back, and insisted on going first. She looked at him strangely, but let him go first. He slid out the window and was running across a roof. Summer started to follow him but Marissa stopped her. " Um, you might want to put on pants."

Summer looked down and then shouted out the window, " You're an ass, Cohen!" He laughed and then began climbing down a tree.

Marissa looked up at Summer, " He ran."

" What?"

" Never mind."

oOoOoOo

" Seth, I'm not kidding anymore, get up!" Sandy Cohen called from the bottom of the stairs. He returned to the kitchen and poured himself some coffee.

" Hi, Dad," Seth greeted, coming in from the back yard.

" You want breakfast? Is Ryan up?"

" Well, um," Seth steps aside as Marissa and Summer come in.

" Hey, Mr. Cohen," they say together.

" The police found..." His voice died off.

" Well, we knew it was a matter of time," reasoned Sandy. " You should probably wake up Ryan."

" He's gone," Seth said. " I didn't think anything of it. I left last night and I guess he ran."

" Shit." Sandy muttered under his breath. " Seth, go upstairs and change. Marissa, you should probably go call your parents." Marissa and Seth scurried away but Summer hung back.

" Uhm, are you okay?" She timidly asked Mr. Cohen.

" I've been better."

" I know. I just mean with all that's been happening and you helping Marissa, and then with Mrs. Cohen-"

" I'm fine, Summer. Actually, quite frankly I'm worried about you kids. How is Marissa?"

" I don't know. She's been avoiding her parents and crying, but I guess that's to be expected? I think right now she needs Ryan."

" Yeah, well he seems to be in short supply these days." Summer nodded and began to go off to find Marissa. " Thanks, Summer."

" For what?"

" Asking."

oOoOoOo

" We're going to look for Ryan," Seth explained as he buttoned up a polo. " Do you want to come?"

" Duh." Summer responded. " Marissa's dad is coming to pick her up and take her home."

" Why would he run?"

" Huh?"

" Ryan. Why the hell would he run? He didn't actually do anything this time." Seth vented.

Summer chewed on her lip and thought. " Why does Ryan do anything?"

Seth slammed his fist down on his bed. " To protect Marissa."

oOoOoOo

Marissa and her father drove in silence for awhile.

" Are you hungry, kiddo?" Jimmy finally asked.

" Sandy gave me a bagel," Marissa said breezily.

Jimmy pulled over to the side of the road. " I know this isn't going to be easy for you. These next few months are going to suck for all of us. But you can't run like you did last night. We have to work it out."

" Why?"

" Your my daughter-"

" When did you ever care about this before? When you went behind my back and got divorced? When you had an affair with Mom? When you moved to Hawaii-"

" Look, I've made some mistakes. And I'm sorry. I don't want to lose you-"

" You think I don't know what's going on? The first chance you get you're going to ship me off like Kaitlin!"

" That's not fair, Marissa! Do you want to know why we sent her off? Do you? I wanted her away from the money and drama and have a chance to grow up normal!" Jimmy's hands were shaking on the wheel.

" You didn't want her to turn into a drunk and psycho and murderer, like me?" Marissa yelled.

Jimmy started the car back up and they drove away in silence.

oOoOoOo

Marissa had ran past her mom and shut herself in the bathroom. Her head felt like it was going to blow and all she could think about was what she had said before.

Drunk, psycho, murderer

She tried splashing water on her face but could still hear the voices.

Psycho, murderer, drunk

She threw everything off the counter and began crying. She hadn't cried like this in awhile. The tears were blocking her vision, her nose was flowing just as quickly. Her whole body was shaking in pain. She turned on the water again and drenched her face. She opened a cupboard and saw where her Dad had began to stash his toiletries. She grabbed a package and ripped it open. Marissa rolled up the sleeve of Summer's sweatshirt and raised the small blade to her wrist.

TBC...