Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the characters Alexia & Chris.

Chapter 5: Homecoming

The Cooper phone rang early on a Sunday morning, during breakfast. Julie answered it.

"Hello?... Yes I'll accept the charges…" Julie was silent for a while, then held the phone out to Summer. "Summer, it's your sister."

Summer got up and took the phone from Julie, going into the living room.

"Hey Al… You want me to visit?... Ah okay… Has mum been to see you?... Okay, I'll be there later today… Bye."

Summer hung up the phone. Her sister wanted her to visit her in jail. Summer didn't particularly want to go back to Chino, but Alexia was her family. Summer walked back into the kitchen and found all the Coopers looking at her, hoping to hear about her call.

"Ah… Alexia wants me to visit her today. So I suppose I'm going to Chino."

Jimmy nodded. "How is she doing in jail?"

Summer shrugged. "Okay I guess. I mean I suppose she's doing as well as she can do in a place like that."

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence.

"So I'll go get ready and leave in about an hour."

Summer was getting dressed in the poolhouse, in her 'Chino clothes' as Marissa called them. This referred to ripped jeans and a tank top. If she was going to Chino, she should dress like a Chino.

There was a knock at the door and Marissa entered the room.

"Hey," she said, sitting down in a nearby chair.

"Hi."

"So, when are you leaving?"

"Soon."

Marissa was quiet for a second. "Can I come?" she asked hopefully.

"I think I should just do this on my own."

There was another knock at the door, this time by Seth.

"Hey Summ wanna go down to the beach?" Seth asked, then stopped, "Why are you wearing the Chino clothes?"

"Because I'm going to Chino. To see my sister."

"Oh… Want some company?"

"No thanks." Summer said bluntly.

Summer could tell from Seth's expression that he was a bit hurt by her tone.

"Sorry, I just want to do this alone."

Seth nodded.

"Hey Seth, do you want to come to the beach with Ryan and me?" Marissa offered.

"And spend the day watching you two make-out? No thanks." Marissa blushed at this comment. "I'll just have a little me time, maybe do some skate-boarding, a little Magic: The Gathering." He walked over to Summer. "Have fun in Chino," he said and kissed her forehead.

"Yeah, I'll see ya later tonight Summ," Marissa said, leaving the poolhouse.

Summer drove along in silence, not even turning the radio on. She looked out the window as the beautiful scenes of Newport turned into the rundown streets of Chino. There were so many memories in this place – some were good, but most bad. Summer was passing her old neighbourhood. She went past her old house and stopped the car. She sat in the car and looked at the home she grew up in. The whole house was about the size of the Cooper's living room. It was rotted away in some places, and was almost completely dilapidated on one side. She and Alexia had had some good times there, but the bad memories were the ones that stood out.

Flashback:

A fourteen-year-old Summer walked home late from school. She had gotten a detention after school for skipping one of her classes. Summer put out her cigarette before turning on to her street. She was dreading arriving home, as usual. She hated being home, and she hated being at school. It seemed like there was nowhere she didn't hate being, she just hated her life altogether.

Summer walked through the broken gate and down the cracked path that led to the front door. She could hear the yelling before she got inside. Summer took a deep breath and opened the door. Her mother and her new boyfriend Rick were in the middle of a drunken/stoned fight. She tried to sneak past without being noticed.

"Where the fuck were you?" Rick started, turning his attention from Summer's mother to her.

"I got detention."

"What the fuck did you do now?" he asked.

"Skipped class."

"Again Summer? Don't you want to do something with your life?" her mother said.

"How the fuck can I do anything with my life? I'm from fucking Chino! Everyone here ends up as either an alcoholic or a coke-whore. No-one ever gets anywhere so I might as well quit."

Rick stood up and walked over to Summer, who he towered over. He slapped her across the face, hard.

"You ungrateful little bitch. Your mother pays for you to go to school and get an education and you skip school. We could have used that money for other things."

"Like what, weed?" Summer muttered, but Rick heard her.

He punched her in the stomach and Summer doubled over in pain. Her mother looked on with a blank look on her face. Rick punched her again, this time in the face and she fell onto the table, cutting her cheek. Blood poured from her face.

"Now Summer my princess, what do you say?"

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"Good. Now go clean yourself up. You look like a fucking mess."

End of Flashback

Summer was teary just thinking about it. That wasn't even the worst she had been hurt. Summer had been every type of abused; physically, emotionally and sexually. She had numerous scars on her body that would always remind her of her upbringing. Summer sighed and started the engine of the car. She headed off in the direction of the jail, a place she knew all to well.

The security guard at the jail led Summer over to a table where Alexia was seated.

Alexia and Summer looked a lot alike – same dark hair, same nose, same build. The biggest difference between the two was that Summer had deep brown eyes, whereas Alexia's eyes were green.

"Hey Al," Summer said, giving her older sister a hug.

"Hey Summ, its good to see you."

Summer sat down. "So, how have you been?"

Alexia shrugged. "I'll live. At least I know I'll get fed everyday."

Summer nodded.

"Have you seen mum?"

"I went back to the house the day after I got out, and she was gone. Left a note saying she couldn't handle it anymore. Haven't seen her since. What about you?"

"No. I wouldn't want to see her if she came to visit anyway."

Summer always knew of Alexia's dislike of their mother. The two never got along and were always arguing, but Summer just preferred to stay out of Maria Roberts' way.

"I heard you'd done pretty well for yourself, living in Newport, going to private school."

Summer nodded. "Yeah."

"You're so lucky. You have a chance to do something with your life instead of rotting away in Chino."

There was silence after this, which was broken by Alexia.

"Remember Chris? He came here asking for you."

Summer remembered. Chris was her ex-boyfriend. She left without telling him she was going. She never liked him anyway; he was just like her mum's boyfriends – abusive and a drug addict.

"What did you tell him?" Summer asked.

"I told him to fuck off and never to talk to you or touch you again."

"Did you know about that?" Summer whispered.

"I'm your big sister Summer. Of course I knew about that asshole. I wish you had of said something though. They would have thrown his ass in jail for what he did to you."

Flashback:

Summer and Chris were making out in the back of Chris's car. Chris reached down to undo Summer's pants when she stopped him.

"Chris, don't."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to right now."

"We've done it before."

"I don't care," Summer said, as she tried to push Chris off her. "I don't want to."

"Summer what the fuck is up with you? Are you fucking cheating on me or something or did you just not do enough coke tonight?"

Summer rolled her eyes, sat up and tried to crawl into the front seat of the two door car. Chris pulled her back roughly.

"Chris let go of me!"

Summer started to attack him, and kicked him where it hurts. Chris cried out in pain and Summer scrambled into the front seat and opened the door. She ran out, half dressed, into the cold night. Soon, she could hear footsteps pounding on the ground behind her. She looked back and saw that Chris had recovered and was chasing her. He was fast compared to her and caught up to her quickly.

"You bitch!" he screamed at her, as he punched her in the face, sending her to the ground.

Summer reached up and touched her face, finding blood on her hand when she drew it back. She saw Chris draw back his arm again, ready to beat the shit out of her.

"Chris, please don't." she begged.

"Are you going to behave now Summer?" he threatened.

Summer nodded and began to cry.

Chris pinned her down on the ground and took off her pants. He had sex with her in the middle of the street.

End of Flashback

Summer drove away from the jail, back through the old neighbourhood. She had begun to cry when Alexia brought up what happened with Chris – it wasn't something she wanted to remember, and unfortunately for Summer, it wasn't the first or the last time someone had taken advantage of her. Her mother's boyfriends had been the same. Thinking that because they were dating her mother, they could do what they wanted with Summer.

Summer once again stopped outside her old house, but this time she got out of the car. She had to see if maybe, her mother had come back. She walked up the cracked stairs and knocked on the door. A teenage girl a bit younger than Summer answered the door with a baby on her hip.

"Does Maria Roberts still live here?" she asked.

The girl shook her head. "Nope. She left and we moved in."

"Okay, thanks anyway," Summer said and walked back down the familiar pathway and back onto the streets.

Summer heard someone coming towards her. "Summer." That person grabbed her wrist and Summer turned to see who it was. She gasped.

"Chris?"

A/N Any thoughts or ideas? R&R