The O.C

A Life Half Lived

A/N: Here's your next chapter. I hope you all like. It makes me so happy when I get yoru reviews. You all really seem to like this story. I have to admit, I don't know how I feel about this chapter, but oh well!I wanted to getsomething up.Happy reading! Genevra xxox

Setting: (Important-ish) For the purpose of the story, I'm changing the timeline a little. It's been two month since Summer started Chemo and she is therefore, seven months pregnant.

Summary: "I don't look sick. I am sick."

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with The OC. Sigh. I do however own any characters or scenarios you don't recognize. Yay!

Chapter Eight: Final Destination

Seth walked carefully and silently into his wife's room. She stirred as he tiptoed to her bedside. He leant down and brushed his lips against her forehead. She opened her eyes and turned up to look at him.

"Hi," she whispered up, offering something that resembled a smile.

"Hey," he whispered back.

"Your back," she said.

"Yeah."

"Where did you go before?" she asked. He noticed that she was blinking back tears, tears he had caused, and he hated himself for putting them there.

"Just out for awhile. I needed to get away for a little while," he replied, brushing her cheek tenderly. He looked at her and started to sob. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me."

"It's ok," she whispered futilely. Seth was resolute. He had failed his wife. "It doesn't matter, Seth. It doesn't matter. You're here now."

"You don't hate me?" he asked, sounding more unlike Cohen then she had ever heard him sound.

"Of course I don't hate you," she said. "I don't blame you either. No one ever asked you how you were feeling. The attention was all on me. And I for once, didn't love it."

"I find that hard to believe," he mocked. "Why are you so good to me?"

"I'm not good to you," she retorted. "I just can't seem to find anyone else to be obsessed with."

"Interesting. I'm obsessable," he retorted. He became morose again. "Why don't you hate me?"

"Seth, why don't you get it?" she cried. "You didn't leave me. You have been there for me except for the times you had to leave like work. You have been by my side almost constantly. It just got too much for you. Believe me, if I could just leave, I would too."

He nodded at her and she saw the recognition in his eyes. He finally understood. She wasn't angry with him because she understood.

"Seth, how are you?" she asked. The sheer simplicity of her question astounded him and he found he could do nothing but answer truthfully.

"I'm devastated, Summer," he said, the full extent of everything dawning on him. "I feel like the odds are stacked against us."

"Have you talked to a doctor?" Summer asked, her lips trembling. Seth nodded. He didn't blame her for the quick change in conversation, he knew how hard this was. "Is everything okay?"

"Not exactly," Seth answered. He couldn't bring himself to say anything more but, "Your body had a reaction to the Chemo."

"And the baby?" Summer asked, her voice breaking. She bit her lip and focused all her energy on a spot on the wall.

"The baby was affected too," Seth said, his own voice breaking. She looked at him, startled and then turned her attention back to the wall.

They were silent for a moment.

"Is the baby going to be okay?" Summer asked eventually. Seth thought her voice sounded pitiful and weak. He turned to face her.

"Summer, they're going to stop Chemo," he said. He closed his eyes, wanting to block out the sight of her paling face but he found that even then it haunted him.

"Stop Chemo?" she stuttered. "Why?"

"I'm not a doctor," he replied. "I don't know why. What I do know is that if they don't stop Chemo now, you may as well not have a baby."

"I have to have this baby," she said, resolutely.

"I know," he whispered.

"If I die or if anything happens to me, I need to leave something behind," she explained.

"Don't say that, Summer," Seth ordered. "They're going to start Chemo again as soon as you've had the baby."

"It'll be too late for me then," she said, shaking her head. Her eyes were wide and the corners of her mouth were down turned.

"No. Don't say that," Seth pleaded. He looked at her with fierce determination. "It won't be too late. You're going to be fine."

"No, Seth," she said, a calm, eerie smile crossing her face. "I'm not."

Seth looked at her and appraised her appearance. Her brown hair was up in a messy bun, her face was pale and her eyes were bloodshot. Black smudges lived under her eyes and yet, through it all, she had a calm, determination about her. A kind of peace.

"No, no," Seth said, starting to cry. "You're going to be fine."

Summer was crying now herself. She shifted herself in her bed, her large stomach making it harder. She pulled Seth towards herself and he awkwardly leaned his head on top of her stomach. He cried into her chest and she cried into his hair.

"You're my final destination," Summer whispered quietly. Seth laughed lightly. It was a private joke of theirs. The two always found themselves drifting back together and despite anything and everything, together they would stay. They were each other's final destination.

"Summer, please don't leave me," Seth whispered, starting to cry again. They stayed in their positions for the longest time.

A knock came at the door and Kirsten quietly stuck her head in. She saw the two in their embrace and automatically left the room.

"Kirsten, are you ok?" Ryan asked, coming up to her. She is pale and is leaning against the wall for support.

"I don't want to do this anymore," she said. "I don't want to lose her and I don't want this to be the end."

"Can't you for once pay a little more attention to me?" Summer pouts. She is standing in the middle of the Cohen's lounge room wearing a black and white striped top and white pants with a white scarf tied around her head, just like the one she wore to Tijuana.

"Summer, please," Seth pleads. "Just let us finish this round."

"I swear to you, Cohen, if you don't stop playing that stupid game right now, I'm walking out," she insists, stamping her foot.

"She doesn't mean it," Seth remarks, looking at Ryan sideways. Ryan shrugs, his fingers never stopping.

"You're going to lose," he points out to his friend.

"Right," Seth says, raising an eyebrow. He focuses on his game intently for thirty seconds and when he looks up, Summer is stalking towards the front door.

"I think she means it," Ryan deadpans as Seth throws the controller at him and runs to Summer. Ryan looks up at Marissa and hands her the controller. "You game?"

"Game?" she asks, raising her eyebrow. "I'm gonna kick your ass."

They play silently for a while until Ryan turns to Marissa.

"What's with Summer?" he asks, his curiosity getting the better of him. They can hear Summer and Seth's voices in the distance.

"Nothing really," Marissa answers. "She just likes to be the center of attention."

"Figured as much," Ryan answers. He looks at watch and holds a hand out to Marissa. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she sighs, standing up. "Who let them pick the DVD anyway?"

"You," Ryan points out.

"You want to see Final Destination, don't you?" Marissa accuses.

"I saw it a hundred years ago when it first came out," he says, confusion crossing his face. "You've never seen it?"

"Never want too," she shoots back. they make their way across the backyard and into the Cohen's kitchen. Marissa holds an arm out to stop Ryan before he enters. "Look."

Seth is holding Summer. Her head is cradled on his chest. She looks up at him and smiles and says something. He smiles back at her and kisses her. They stand, looking up at each other for a good thirty seconds before they realize Ryan and Marissa standing there.

"You two are disgustingly gooey," Marissa says, walking past them.

"Says one half of the couple most likely to display affection in public," Seth shoots back.

"Snap," Ryan says, and everyone laughs.