Sorry this chapter took so long, I had a bit of writer's block, and then I was crazy busy, so I hope that you enjoy it, and I'll try really hard to get the next one up faster. I pinky swear. Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought.

Disclaimer: The characters and the song are not so much mine as they aren't mine.

"All you need is love" is a lie cause

We had the love

But we still said goodbye

Now we're tired, battered fighters

Kirsten was woken up with the overwhelming urge to throw up. She ran to the bathroom and held on to the toilet as her body shook as her stomach purged itself of its contents. Seth had been coming up the stairs to check on her when he heard her retching and ran to the bathroom and held back her hair.

"Are you okay?" He asked as she sat back and he handed her a wet washcloth.

"I'm fine," she said wiping her face and sitting back and resting against the wall.

"Are you sure?" Seth raised an eyebrow at her, and she was suddenly hit by how much he was like his father, and she wanted to throw up again.

"I'm sure Seth," she told him and he helped her to her feet.

"Are you going to work?" He asked as they walked into her bedroom.

"Yes," she said. "I need…I need to not think about it for awhile."

"What are you going to tell Grandpa?" Her father. Kirsten had not thought about her father. He would give her a smug look. That "I told you so" look that he had perfected so long ago. She really did not want to see that look.

"I don't think I'm going to tell him anything until I figure out what's going to happen," Kirsten decided. Seth was quiet for a minute.

"What is going to happen?"

"I'm not sure yet," she said honestly. "But Seth, seriously, please don't worry about it too much. Your dad and I will figure it out, and no matter what happens, we will both still love you." Seth nodded. It was the typical response from divorcing parents. We'll still love you. He hated to think of his parents as divorced.

His parents were perfect. And he couldn't imagine one without the other. He wouldn't imagine one without the other. They just…fit. Kirsten and Sandy Cohen. It was just right.

What was his father thinking?

"I know that," he assured his mother. They headed downstairs and found Ryan in the kitchen fixing himself a cup of coffee.

"Coffee?" He offered Kirsten, she accepted gratefully and took a sip. Coffee reminded her of Sandy. Everything reminded her of Sandy. The smell suddenly made her nauseous again and she quickly handed it back to Ryan.

"So, um, do you need a ride to school?" She asked as she sliced a bagel.

"No, Summer's coming to get us," Seth said. Her son kept giving her sympathetic looks when he thought she wasn't looking. She was looking, and she was sick of the pity looks already. God, she thought, what happens when everyone finds out? Will I just get look after look of pity? Oh, poor Kirsten Cohen, her husband slept with someone else. Kirsten shook the thoughts out of her head. The phone rang and Ryan picked it up.

"Hello?" There was a pause. "Hi Sandy." Kirsten's head shot up at the sound of her husband's name. "Okay. I will. Okay. Bye." He handed the phone off to Seth.

"He wanted to tell me to have a good day," Ryan said shrugging. "And that he loved me." Despite what he was doing to her, Kirsten was reminded of what a great father Sandy was. He loved his boys. And she had thought that he loved her.

Maybe he did love her.

Maybe it was just a stupid mistake. A one time thing. Could she forgive a one time mistake? Could she give up 20 years over this?

"Mom? Dad wants to know if you'll talk to him," Seth said covering the mouthpiece with his hand. "Want me to tell him to go screw himself?" Kirsten laughed a little at her son's sincerity,and shook her head. As much as she wanted to have Seth do just that, she knew that she had to be an adult about the whole thing.

"No Seth, don't tell him that, give me the phone," she said reaching out her hand to take it.

"Kirsten?"

"Hi, Sandy," she said softly.

"I just…wanted to tell you to have a good day…I just…couldn't…it's so strange to not see you in the morning or at least hear your voice, and I…needed to," Sandy sighed on his end and she could picture him running a hand through his hair. He always did when he was frustrated or upset. "I love you." Kirsten was quiet on her end and Sandy wondered if he shouldn't have added that last part.

"Thank you," she finally said after a long pause. She said goodbye and hung up the phone. "Are you guys ready? Summer should be here any minute right?" She didn't wait for an answer, just hurried back up to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

How was she going to get through today?

How was she going to get through any day?

"How is your mom?" Summer asked when Seth and Ryan got into her car. Seth shrugged and turned to look out the window.

"Not good," Ryan answered for them. "I mean…her and Sandy…I thought they were infallible."

"Me too," Summer said softly. Seth didn't say anything; he just continued to stare out the window. "No one else knows yet?"

"No, she won't even tell Caleb until she figures out what she's going to do," Ryan said, as Seth was clearly not offering up any information.

"I just…can't believe it," Summer said shaking her head. "Who did he sleep with?" Seth hated to think of his father sleeping with his mother, let alone someone entirely different. Seth shrugged.

"We don't know, both just said that it's 'a long story,'" Seth finally spoke up. "An ex-girlfriend, but we don't know her."

Summer had been in a state of shock when Seth told her that weekend. He had made her promise not to tell anyone else, and she had sworn.

"What is it?" She had said impatiently.

"No, seriously, you can't tell anyone," Seth said.

"I promise Cohen, okay? Tell me."

"My dad cheated on my mom. He's moved out for right now. I don't know what's going to happen." Summer had been speechless. Sandy had cheated on Kirsten? It was impossible. They were perfect. Kirsten was perfect. Why the hell would he want to sleep with someone else?

Cohen had been inconsolable as he placed his head in his hands and sobbed.

"They can't divorce," he had managed to choke out. "And my mom…she's so upset…and I can't…I wish…I hate him, Sum, I hate him for doing this to her. To us." Summer wanted to tell him that it would be all right, that even if they divorced it would be okay, but she couldn't find the right words, and so she had wrapped her arms around him and let him cry into her shoulder.

Kirsten sat at her desk and stared at the picture of her and Sandy. She wanted to pick it up and throw it across the room, but she couldn't. She couldn't even place it in the drawer. Her stomach had finally stopped doing the somersaults it had been, and she was trying hard to focus on something other than Sandy and Rebecca, which always just started the somersaults once again. Sighing, she rested her head on the cool desk and she was still in that position when the door opened and she heard Julie's voice.

"Kirsten? Are you okay?" Julie actually seemed worried and Kirsten lifted her head up and plastered on a fake smile.

"I'm fine," she said. "Just tired. Do you need something?" Julie didn't look exactly convinced, but Kirsten didn't really care.

"Just wanted to go over some things about the magazine with you," Julie said. "Are you sure that you're okay?" Kirsten nodded, and bit her lip to stop the tears the threatened.

"I'm sure," she lied.

"And you and Sandy okay?" Julie asked remembering the conversation that she had Kirsten had over drinks that weekend. She had a strong suspicion that something was up with her stepdaughter. Kirsten tried nodding again, but she couldn't and she began to cry.

As much as she wanted someone to confide in, she knew that confiding in Julie probably wasn't the best idea. The last thing that Kirsten needed was for everyone in Newport to find out.

"No," Kirsten finally decided to go with the truth. The overwhelming need to talk tosomeone other than one of her sons wasoverriding the need to keep it a secret."He slept with her."

"Rebecca?" Julie asked closing the door and sitting down across from Kirsten.

"Yes," Kirsten said. "The night of the rain storm."

"I'm so sorry," Julie said, and she surprised both herself and Kirsten by how sincere she sounded. How sincere she was.

"Could you not tell…anyone about this? But especially my dad? I haven't…we haven't…we don't….I don't know what I'm going to do yet, and I'd rather not have everyone knowing until I do know."

"Sure," Julie promised. "Your father and I aren't exactly on speaking terms anyway."

"Thank you," Kirsten whispered.

"No problem," Julie said reaching across and taking Kirsten's hand and giving it a squeeze. "It's going to be okay."

"How do you know?" Kirsten asked in a small voice.

"Because it has to be," Julie answered with a small shrug. "But hey, let's get out of here. Get some food or something?"

"I've been craving a cheeseburger with mushrooms all day," Kirsten admitted.

"Then cheeseburgers with mushrooms it is," Julie grinned at Kirsten. "Let me just go grab my purse and then I'll meet you back here."

"Great," Kirsten said. She pulled out a mirror and checked the damage. She was so sick of crying.

She was sick of wondering what was going to happen.

She was sick of wondering what she had done wrong.

She was sick of thinking of the ways that she hadn't been enough for Sandy.

She couldn't have been enough, if she had, he wouldn't have cheated on her. Wasn't she pretty enough? Wasn't she smart enough? Wasn't she just enough? What was it about Rebecca?

Kirsten couldn't think about it anymore. It made her nauseous. She would just go and enjoy a meal with Julie and not think about Sandy or Rebecca, or what would happen to her marriage.

Sandy was very grateful that he had started his own practice, because that meant there was no one to call and have to tell that he couldn't come to work that day because he had cheated on his wife and was currently in the middle of becoming very, very intoxicated.

All he could see was Kirsten's face.

Kirsten's face when she smiled, and when she laughed. That look that she got when she thought he was crazy, or when she was excited about something. The way that her eyes lit up and she couldn't contain the grin that would spread across her beautiful face.

The look on her face when he told her that he slept with someone else.

Sandy grabbed another bottle from the case that he had bought and took a long drink.

He missed her so much that it hurt him. Rebecca had called. She had been calling at least once every two hours since he had left her in the motel room. She was hiding out there for a little while before running away again.

"Sandy, it's Rebecca…again. We need to talk, please call me back at this number.,." The message was the same every time. And he ignored it every time. He kept picking up the phone to call Kirsten at work before chickening out and hanging up. She had been warmer to him that morning than she had been since he had told her about Rebecca. It gave him the smallest glimmer of hope that they could work things out.

He held onto that hope as he drank another beer. He couldn't lose her.

Not without a fight at least.

Okay so there's the next chapter, please let me know what you thought. I'm off to start a philosophy paper that I had been avoiding for some time now. Oh well. Make me feel better and review, please? This philosophy paper is going to be the ruination of me, I can tell already.