Fix You
Author's Note: Thank you guys for all your reviews and kind words. I didn't think that there were very many people who 'shipped Seth/Marissa out there. Well, I'm glad you're all enjoying the story thus far and I'm sure there's a twist or two up ahead for you all. Including who Cassandra really is. Keep reading and drop a review to let me know how I'm doing with all this!
Chapter Two: Secrets
When the tears come streaming down your face.
When you lose something you can't replace.
Cassandra walked into her small house, closing the door lightly behind her. With any luck neither of her parents would notice she was home just yet. Tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, she looked around carefully.
The house was silent.
Creeping into her room, she threw herself on her bed, wondering about the scene at the mall. All the recently turned fourteen and half year old wanted was to go to work, get paid under the table, and have a normal day serving the wealthy and snobby of Newport, Orange County. What she didn't want was to run into a man her dad's age with two young kids and his crazy mother who somehow knew her name.
It was creepy. Creepier thing has happened in her life before, but nothing like some stranger calling her by her name with some weepy kind of look that one would save for a relative you haven't seen since they were sucking on their thumbs and spitting up all over you. It didn't look like her son had any idea of what his mother was talking about either.
Maybe the woman belonged in a mental institution or something. Cass, as she was more formally known by, sure would commit her to one as soon as possible if she were her mother. For all she knew, the woman thought she was some psychic.
It was just a lucky guess. Maybe she looked like a Cassandra to the woman.
"Cass?" She heard her dad come home. Quickly, she jumped off the bed, and headed towards the back door. If she could avoid "the talk" that her parents wanted to have with her, she certainly would. A talk never meant anything good in Cass' eyes.
"Cassandra Dawn Atwood!" he tried again. This time Cass stopped. When her father used her full name, she knew he meant business.
She turned, facing him, smiling her innocent 'I didn't do anything' smile, "Yeah?"
"I thought I made it clear we needed to talk," he nodded towards the table. Ryan Atwood was not a man of many words, but Ryan Atwood when acting as dad was a different story.
"Well, you made it clear yeah," Cass shrugged, "You never said when though."
"Now," Ryan was firm in his tone, "Sit."
Cass sat down.
"Okay, before you lecture me," she jumped in, if she was going to get out of whatever lecture she was going to receive today, for whatever something wrong she'd been caught doing, she was going to find some way to distract her dad.
The crazy mall lady seemed the perfect way to do that.
"What?" Ryan sighed, knowing he wouldn't win with his daughter.
"There was this crazy lady at the mall who knew my name," she mentioned casually, "She was with this tall dorky dude your age and two little kids! It was weird."
Her dad's expression changed. Suddenly, Cass knew she wasn't going to be getting any talk today, but if anything, the look her father had made her curious. Maybe the mall thing wasn't as much as a coincidence as she thought it was.
Before she could ask any questions though, her dad was out of his chair, and heading towards his room. Cass knew there was a telephone in there, and both her parents only used it for special things. Things they wanted to keep secret from the rest of the family. This was something she had found out when she was eight; she'd heard her mom yelling at her dad about it.
She knew though, that if this had gotten her out of a big lecture on how she would end up in juvie like her dad did when he was just a year or two older than her then this was big. This was definitely worth investigating. Cass knew just the person to go to for the information too.
When you love someone, but it goes to waste.
Could it be worse?
When Seth walked into the house, he expected to find Marissa camped out in the kitchen eating bagels. After all, he'd gotten a call from Julie saying that Marissa had unexpectedly up and left in the middle of an important meeting regarding a memorial service for Caleb.
Not that Seth could blame Marissa for walking out on that. He would have too.
She wasn't there though.
His mom had gone up to put Allie and Kurt to sleep, she had insisted because for some reason unbeknownst to Seth she didn't want to go home just yet. Seth had a sneaking suspicion it was because Kirsten missed the days when Seth was that young. When he was reliant on his mother, when he needed her to put him to bed and give him a bath. She'd only gotten to go through that once. Not that Seth would complain if his mother decided she wanted to help him and Marissa out.
Yet, right now, Seth was more concerned about where his wife was. Usually, when something went wrong, him and Marissa could be found using the solution that was almost a golden rule in the Cohen house. Bagels solve everything. Seth knew that Marissa had other ways of drowning her problems, but she had put the habitual habits of a Newport wide behind her when she was pregnant with Allie.
Wandering through the house, Seth found his wife. She looked distant and detached, sitting out by the pool, her feet treading the water. He wondered what had happened to make her look like that. He hadn't seen her like this in years. Walking out, he approached carefully, taking a seat next to her.
"Do we need pancakes?" he wondered, the Seth-Marissa patented solution to problems. Bagels and pancakes, food was the eternal solution to everything according to Seth. After all, when they were on their road trip, he always managed to break Marissa being mad at him with sarcastic remarks or food.
"I'm not mad at you," Marissa said, quickly taking his comment as a hint of what he was really thinking.
"So, if this isn't pancakes or bagels kind of problem," Seth pondered, "What kind of food will fix that unhappy look on your face? Ice cream?"
Marissa smiles, "No."
"All right," Seth paused, "Care to share what's on your mind? Or do I need to get one of Allie's carebears? Perhaps Share Bear?"
"I was just thinking," Marissa looked at her husband, moving closer to him as her put his arm around her shoulder, "about what would've happened if Summer had never left Newport. If she had stayed here, do you think you guys would've ended up together?"
Seth shrugged, replying honestly, "I don't know."
They were always honest with each other.
"Oh," that was all Marissa could said, all she could say. She wasn't sure what she wanted to hear Seth say, she wasn't sure herself what she wanted to hear. Maybe that he could never imagine his life with anyone but her, but Marissa knew it would be a lie.
"I'm not disappointed I ended up with you though," Seth grinned slightly, "The queen of Newport."
Marissa looked at him with a small smirk, "Does that make you the king?"
"No, just a lucky court jester," Seth joked, leaning in and giving her a light kiss, "The luckiest court jester in all the land."
"You got that right," Marissa nudged him playfully, leaning in and kissing him again.
Summer's return was a secret, for now. Seth and Marissa didn't keep secrets from each other, but right now Marissa didn't want to know how Seth would react. All she wanted to do was hold onto the moment she had right now. This perfect moment with her husband, with Seth, with the man she loved.
The secrets could wait.
