Disclaimer: I don't own any of it.
Marissa sat up, rubbing her eyes. It was dark, but she was sure she could see the outline of someone sleeping on the couch on the other side of the room. She jumped as the rumble of thunder shook her to the core. Suddenly aware of the fact that she was sitting in a puddle of tulle, silk and hand embroidery, it all came back to her. She closed her eyes again, not wanting to deal with the fact that he had left her. And the worst part was that it wasn't the first time.
By the time Summer reached the Cohen's front door, she was soaked. Her once perfect hair was loose and plastered to her face, and her dress was stuck to her skin. Seth had seen her car pull up. He opened the door quickly. "I left you like 3 voicemails, what the...," he started, but before he could finish, Summer had thrown her arms around him, and her lips were on his. Seconds or minutes or hours passed before they parted.
"I love you," Summer breathed, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
"I love you too,"Seth replied, a puzzled expression on his face. "Where have you been?" he asked, noticing that he was getting drenched. He pulled her inside and shut the door.
"At the beach with Ryan."
"You were with Ryan? Why didn't you call me?" Seth asked, a mixture of annoyance and anger rising in his voice.
"He asked me not to. He didn't want to see your parents. He just needs time," she replied, walking up the stairs to Seth's old room.
"Well, he can't run away from everything he does." Summer said nothing, she simply met his gaze and opened the door to his old room. "My parents brought all of our stuff here," Seth added, gesturing to the luggage in the corner of the door. Summer smiled at the sight of the room. It was going to be okay.
Seth awoke in the middle of the night, his stomach rumbling. He glanced at the clock. 2:56. He gently moved his arm from underneath Summer's sleeping form. He listened to her breathe for a minute before walking downstairs to the kitchen. He was startled to see Ryan sitting on the counter, eating a bowl of cereal. Ryan nodded to him before going back to his snack. "Hey," Seth replied, grabbing a bowl and a box of cereal. He reached into the fridge and grabbed the milk. "Mom and Dad want to talk to you," he added, putting the milk back.
"Yeah, I know. They left me a note."
"We all know how much you love notes," Seth quipped, sitting at the counter. Ryan sighed.
"It wouldn't of been fair for me to marry her. I can't love her the way she wants me to. I'm sorry I asked you to do it," Ryan said, his voice swaying with his mood.
"Are you going to see her?" Seth asked, looking up from his cereal.
"Not tonight," Ryan answered. "Night, Seth," he added before walking out the door towards the pool house.
Seth sighed, putting his empty bowl into the dishwasher. He turned the light off and walked back upstairs. He heard Summer shift when he climbed back into bed. She took his hand into hers.
"We're supposed to go back to New York in two days," she whispered.
"I know," he replied, his free hand entangled in her hair.
"Are we still going back? I didn't know if..." she drifted, a yawn suppressing the rest of the sentence.
"I think it will be better if we go."
"For who?" she asked.
"Everyone. Everyone just needs to get back to their lives. Us included."
"Okay...," she whispered, her eyes closing. Seth was sure of it. It would be better for everyone.
Marissa woke up to the shower running. For a moment, she thought it might be Ryan. And any minute, she'd have to get up. They had a flight to catch. Honeymoon. Vows. A Dress. A very beautiful dress with a very beautiful girl in it. A very beautiful girl that had no one to marry. Twenty minutes passed before the bathroom door opened. Marissa couldn't say she was surprised it wasn't him.
"Sweetie, why don't you take that off and get into the shower. I'll call and order some room service for you," Julie said, walking over to the vanity. Marissa nodded. She walked into the bathroom, the long train following her. She felt better once the dress was on the floor. Not so much pressure. She picked it up and hung it on the back of the door. It was a shame to let something so beautiful get ruined. Now all she had was a blur of expensive lingerie and a garter belt. And a ring. She left the ring on and stepped into the scalding water. She was hoping it would all wash down the drain, but things never happened the way they were supposed to.
Ryan woke up to the sun streaming through the pool house doors. He had forgotten to pull the shades the night before. He walked over to them and saw Seth and Summer laying out by the pool. He saw Seth wave and it made him sick to his stomach. He pulled the shades and went back to bed. After fourty five minutes of tossing and turning, he got up and took a shower. He got out and methodically got dressed. Just as he pulled a shirt over his head, he heard a knock at the door. He opened it and was surprised to see Marissa standing on the other side. He looked at her, unable to meet her gaze. She looked beautiful, so beautiful that it was obvious that she had made an effort for him. She threw her arms around him, and he couldn't do anything but embrace her back. She let go and smiled at him. He moved aside so she could enter the pool house. He closed the doors and she turned around. She opened the shades and he sat down on the bed. He could see that Seth and Summer were no longer by the pool. Marissa sat next to him.
"We could have waited, Ryan. We were only engaged for a year, we can take another year," she started.
"Marissa..."
"And I'm sorry, I know you didn't want that wedding. We can get married on a beach, just me, you and a priest. I promise!" she added excitedly, grasping her hands.
"Did you read the note?" he asked.
"Yes, and..."
"I can't love you like you want me to, Marissa," he said, and the words hurt him. He didn't want to think about what they did to her. He had said them to Summer and Seth, but it was different, saying them to her.
"Yes you can, Ryan. I know you can. You used to," Marissa pleaded. Then sun hit her engagement ring, and the glare caught Ryan's eye. He stared at it. "I was so afraid you were going to ask for it back."
"It's yours."
"I know. I wore it here, because I was hoping we were still engaged," she added, a determined gleam in her eye.
"I can't be engaged to you," he said, noticing the tears in her eyes. "I can't be with you, Marissa. I'm sorry." she looked at him before standing up.
"I love you, Ryan," she whispered before turning and walking out of the pool house. Ryan sighed and laid back on the bed. Every word he had just said had burned his mouth. But he couldn't lie to her. He was her white knight.
That afternoon, Seth had gone to the grocery store with his father, who had hoped to cook a big dinner that night. Summer was enjoying June in California, swimming in the pool. Ryan walked out of the pool house, headed for the kitchen when he spotted her. He walked over to the deep end and sat down, dipping his feet in the water. Summer swam over to him, kicking her feet to stay afloat. She looked up at him and his eyes clouded. "What are you doing?" she asked, resting her arms on the edge of the pool.
"I was going to the kitchen to see who was around but then I saw you. I figured I'd come and say hi. You weren't around when I got in last night."
"Seth and I went to bed, it was a long day," she replied, still kicking her legs underwater.
"Yeah, Marissa came by today."
"Yeah, we saw her leaving. I'm going to see her later," Summer stated.
"I'm sorry about yesterday, Summer. I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to tell you."
"You don't love me."
"Yes, I do. And I know you could love me," Ryan replied, staring at the ripples in the water.
"No. I love Seth. Your brother. We're friends Ryan, that's all."
"I don't believe that."
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, and Ryan took his legs out of the water and stood up. He looked at her.
"It should've been me, Summer," he said, before turning around and walking into the house.
Seth walked in the door, his arms full of groceries. He found Summer sitting at the counter, a magazine in front of her. He set the groceries on the counter and kissed her forehead. She smiled up at him, but then her face turned serious.
"I want to leave tomorrow, Seth," she whispered.
"Why?" he asked, setting things out on the counter. She stood up to help him.
"I don't want to be here anymore. It's too much," she elaborated. He was about to ask what was too much when Sandy walked in, arms full of groceries.
"Hey, Summer!" he greeted, smiling. "Kirsten should be home in about an hour, we can all start cooking then."
"Great!" Summer returned. She looked over at Seth, and her eyes let him know that she would tell him later. They finished putting the groceries away in silence.
"I'm going to talk to Ryan," Seth said, walking towards the door.
"He's in your room. He said he wanted to talk to you, I guess he's waiting up there," Summer shrugged, even though she had a feeling she knew what Ryan was going to tell him, and the thought of it terrified her.
Marissa sat by the beach, a blanket wrapped around her. Even with everything that had ever happened to her, she had never felt so lost. In high school, or maybe even college, she would've had a bottle to keep her company, but she was past that now. She was alone. She had never felt this alone in a really long time. Ryan had left her, for reasons he made clear, but she still didn't understand. Her mother was caught up with her new husband and her new house and her new everything. Seth and Summer were in New York. They were back for now, but that wasn't going to last forever. She was guessing that Ryan was going to move out of their apartment. She wondered where he would go. She figured that forgetting him would be hard, but she would do it. But she didn't want to forget him. As she touched the ring on her finger, she wanted to remember him forever. Marissa Cooper was 23, and she was alone.
Summer sat at the counter, drumming her fingernails on the marble surface. She was waiting for someone. For Sandy to come in from the patio so she could ask him what movies he rented for later on, for Kirsten to come home from shopping so they could start dinner, for Seth to come downstairs so she could have someone to play with her hair and make her laugh. For Ryan. Maybe she was waiting for Ryan to realize that it would never work out. She could've been waiting for him to remember how much he really does love Marissa. How her temper tantrums and shopping sprees with the rent money aren't really that big of a deal. She was waiting for him to remember how much he doesn't love her. How she has rage blackouts, which Seth was already an expert at dealing with. She was a bitch some of the time, but Seth knew that some chocolate and The Notebook could take care of that. Ryan didn't. She had a lot of flaws, but Seth loved her anyways. Ryan didn't know, but she was sure that by the time he figured them all out, he would have run back to Marissa. She was sure that she was waiting for him to realize how uneasy he made her. How whenever he looked at her with that longing, a sick feeling would creep up from her stomach. She had known about his feelings for about four months. She and Seth had flown to Newport for Kirsten's birthday. Ryan and Marissa had planned a surprise party at the house. When Kirsten was leaning over the cake, making a wish over the candles, Summer met Ryan's gaze. It was a gaze that she usually got from Seth. And it was a gaze that she didn't want from Ryan. Later on that evening, she watched Ryan get bored with Marissa. As he noticed her watching him, his eyes lit up. And Summer got that same sick feeling that she was getting today. Summer knew Ryan was telling Seth that very second. She could only imagine Seth's perfect eyes clouded with anger, his hands curled into fists. Ryan would let Seth hit him, she knew. He wouldn't fight back. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sandy walking into the kitchen. She smiled at him as he pulled a water out of the fridge. She pretended to be engrossed in the magazine in front of her, but her fingernails were keeping rhythm on the countertop none the less.
As promised, part two. I hope you like it. And as always, please read and review!