Drunken Confessions

Summer walked quickly up the stairs but Seth remained at her heels. "What's the matter? You trying to get away from me now?" he asked with a confused expression etched on his face.

Summer turned at the top of the stairs facing him. "No... why?" She turned back around to procede down her hallway.

"What do you mean why? You're acting weird all of a sudden."

Summer's mind was racing trying to figure a way out of her current predicament. She slowly opened her door to gather more time. Seth pushed it open wider so she could get through. She went straight to her computer and sat with her back to him.

"Not trying to be blunt... but who was that guy?" Seth sank into her bed, boring his eyes into the back of her head.

Summer sighed in defeat, closing her eyes. That was very blunt, something he usually didn't do. "Um just a guy I was hanging out with last night." She continued to stare at her computer screen instead of getting lost in his chocolate orbs.

Seth stayed silent trying to absorb this new information. Summer surfed through her buddy list stopping on IronistAndOats06. She would normally smile at his choice of screen name (the Ironist as in his character from Atomic County, Captain Oats, and 2006, the year he would finally get out of Newport), but not today. She slyly checked his away message as he was sitting right behind her.

"If you feel discouraged
That there's a lack of color here
Please don't worry lover
It's really bursting at the seems
Absorbing everything
The spectrum's a to z

This is fact not fiction
For the first time in years
And all the girls in every girlie magazine
Can't make me feel any less alone
I'm reaching for the phone"

She recognized the Death Cab lyrics almost instantly. It was one of Seth's favorite songs, and one he had her listen to so often when they were together.

Seth had never had Instant Messenger until Summer came along. He wouldn't have had any buddies having never had any friends in Newport until Ryan came along. Summer had set him up with an account and put a bunch of random people on his buddy list. It was mainly so when she came over she could check up on what everyone was doing. He didn't understand why she even cared. The only person she still hung out with was Marissa.

It had been several minutes before Seth got the nerve to say anything in response. Summer had almost forgotten he was there, having gotten caught up in the past, and jumped slightly at his voice. "Hung out?... Um, so what did you do?"

Summer finally spun around. "Cohen are you jealous? We are not together anymore, partly because of your insane jealousy."

Seth hung his head and for once was speachless. It was obviously a stupid idea to come up here. He stood to leave but couldn't help looking at Marissa's collage of pictures taped to her side of the room. Several were of the four of them; at Chrismukkah, the beach, prom, graduation. And there were a few of Seth and Summer hugging and laughing. It hurt to know they weren't like that anymore and he needed to find a way to make it up to Summer.

"I'm just gonna continue on my bike ride," he said softly. "I'll probably see you at dinner." He waved weakly before slipping out the door. Summer just stared with her mouth agap ready to say something.

"Sum, you almost ready?" Marissa was channel surfing while she waited for Summer to finish putting on her makeup.

"Yup," she said standing up from her place on the floor. Since living in a dorm the girls had to adjust immensly from their OC rich days. Neither of them could afford to bring any furniture since the room was already quite small and already furnished with beds, desks, and bureaus. With the huge TV that Summer had to have, Marissa's large CD collection, both of their enormous wardrobes, not to mention their heaping shoe collection, makeup, hair products, and mirrors, the room was packed full. They arranged a mirror leaning against a wall and put all of their makeup and hair products on the floor to get ready by. It wasn't ideal but they made do. They were just happy to be out of Newport, away from Julie and the evil Stepmonster.

There was a knock at the door as Summer was putting on her shoes. "Come in," she called. Marissa sprung from the bed at the sight of her boyfriend. She gave Ryan a quick hug but he deepened the exchange with a kiss. Seth trailed slowly behind. He met with Summer's eyes but she looked away. "Let's bounce," she said grabbing her purse.

"Gangsta Summer's finally ready," Marissa smiled, pulling away from Ryan. "I got the keys."

After walking almost a mile and listening to the girls moan the whole way, the foursome finally made it to Lambda Chi. People were making their way around to the back in hopes of the cops not noticing. It was a five dollar cover charge at the door in exchange for all the free alcohol they could imagine.

"We're in trouble," Marissa whispered to Summer. She just laughed.

The four of them split up and did some mingling all the while meandering over to the bar quite frequently. Ryan and Marissa were pretty much all over each other the whole night, grinding on the dance floor and making out like they were the only one's in the room. Seth felt awkward at first because of Summer's presense but after downing a few beers he started to relax. He joined in on a game of Asshole at the bar but not before a tall, beautiful, blond had to show him how to play. Summer ripped Marissa away from Ryan several times to drag her to the bathroom and the bar. They both downed two shots of Jägermeister and turned into a mess of giggles. Ryan had been pretty conservative, just now finishing his third solo cup of beer. He stayed away from the hard alcohol having learned quickly from his mother not to mix the two. The girls however didn't care.

On about their fifth trip to the bathroom the girls were clearly very intoxicated. Summer clammered in first and had to hold onto the counter to examine her appearance. Her cheeks were rosy red, her eyes bloodshot, and her hair a bit frizzy. She got her lipstick out of her purse and began clumsily applying more. Marissa had wondered into a stall. "Coop, did you see that chick all over Cohen? What a tramp!"

"Ahhh, no," Marissa replied from in the stall.

"Well, look when we go back out, she's disgustinnnng."

After a few minutes of silence had passed Summer turned to look at the stall. "Coop what's the problem? Let's go." All Summer heard was laughter.

"I can't... get... my belt... back on," she managed to get out between giggles.

"Open the door," she said. Marissa swung the door open, almost smacking Summer which caused them to laugh even harder. "Ohhhh Coop. Let me try." Summer was obviously a bit more sober and managed to get her belt fastened after a few attempts. The girls linked arms and stumbled back into the party. Marissa was drawn back to Ryan the moment she spotted him and resumed making out. Summer, seeing Seth getting smothered by another girl walked straight to the bar and ordered a shot of Tequila followed by a Rum and Coke. She sat down at the bar with the straw never leaving her lips. Half way through the cup Seth meandered his way in her direction.

"Hey Sum," he yelled over the music.

"Cohen," she said rather coldly and turned back to her drink.

Seth planted himself in the seat beside her and got another beer. He seemed not to have noticed the coldness in her voice. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, of course," she somewhat lied. "You obviously are with tall, blond, boobs over there," she said pointing to the girl down at the other end of the bar.

"Who?" Summer pointed more fervently in her direction. "Oh her, she was just teaching me a card game." He eyed her skeptically as she refused to make eye contact with him. "Are you jealous?"

"Nooo," she answered rather quickly and sharp.

"You are soooo jealous," Seth teased.

"Cohen I am so not jealous of a tall, beautiful, blond girl who had her hands all over you for most of the night." She still hadn't faced him, instead opting for staring straight ahead or into her quickly diminishing drink.

Seth smirked. "For someone who's not jealous, she seems to have watched me closely all night."

Summer finally looked him in the eyes. He had a big goofy grin all over his face, his dimples completely evident. "Ha... yeah right."

Seth glanced over his shoulder to the dance floor. "You want to dance?" he asked. It had to have been the alcohol talking, for a sober Seth would not have had the balls to ask her that. It definitely helped that Seth had been jealous that same morning and now late into the night Summer was the one that was now jealous.

"I need a few more shots if we're gonna do that," she replied with the smallest hint of a grin but Seth picked up on it immediately. She did in fact grab another shot. But as soon as the shot glass hit the bar again Seth had grabbed her hand and pulled her out to the floor. Being caught off guard, Summer clumsily stumbled backwards, luckily right into Seth. They were both a bit awkward at first but after a few minutes they wraped their arms around each other and slowly moved about the floor. By now the alcohol had gone straight to Summer's head and she was leaning heavily into Seth's chest. Seth pulled back a little to purse his lips to the beer still clutched in his hand. Summer stumbled back a step. Seeing what he was doing she assisted him by tilting his cup up which only succeeded in making it spue out the sides and all down his face, coating the front of his shirt. He pulled the now empty cup off his lips and let it fall to the floor.

"Thank you very much for that," he said as seriously as he could but Summer saw right through the facade and started giggling. Seth only escaladed her giggles by tickling her. She screamed, falling backwards and flat onto the floor.

"Coooohhheeeennnn, my dresssss." He put his hand over his mouth to keep her from seeing his laugh ridden face. He watched her struggle to get up and fall back down. "Cohen! Be a genblman," she slurred. He finally gave in and helped her to her feet. She immediately fell into his chest. "I... am... so... waaaaaasted."

"I can definitely see that."

"Weeerre's Coop?" Seth pointed against the wall where Ryan and Marissa were making out on the couch. "I'm sooo ready to leave." Summer stumbled over to Marissa and Ryan on her own free will with Seth trialing close behind just in case. "Coop!" she yelled to get her attention.

She lazily broke from Ryan's mouth, her cheeks a deep shade of red. "Hey."

Summer slumped down beside her. "I am sooo fitchased."

"Fitchased," Seth piped up from behind her. "You mean shitfaced?" he said laughing. The others joined in with him.

"Oh shut up Cohen. I'm ready to goooo Coop," she said with a pout.

"Well I'm going back with Ryan. Do you want us to walk you to our dorm?"

"No, you guys go ahead I'll look after her," said Seth. He smiled down at Summer but she didn't reply. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on Marissa's shoulder.

"Come on Sum," Marissa said standing up and dragging her best friend to her feet. "It ain't time to sleep yet." She turned to face Seth. "Good luck," she said.

He chuckled. "Don't worry I'll be alright." The four made their way to the exit. Seth had is hand around Summer's shoulders to keep her stable. Marissa and Ryan were ahead of them hand in hand. Having drank so heavily in high school, Marissa had gotten pretty good at being able to conceal her drunkeness. They split up when they got to the street.

Marissa leaned over to give Summer a hug. "You're gonna feel like shit in the morning hun."

"Noooo I won't," she protested. She kissed Marissa on the cheek and said, "Ryan you take good care of my Coopster."

"Seriously good luck man," Ryan said patting Seth on the back.

"Oh, Seth, here," Marissa said handing him their room key.

It took Seth and Summer almost twice as long to get back to her dorm. Summer's legs had turned into jelly and Seth had to try his best to hold her up with his chicken arms. After struggling with the key Seth finally got the door open. Summer rushed in and immediately collapsed on her bed.

"Mmmm," she groaned. Seth flicked on the light but got yelled at so he turned it back off. He went to Summer's side and took off her shoes. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna get you some water." Summer didn't reply. Seth grabbed a cup off her bureau and went to find a water fountain in the hall. When he came back in Summer was passed out with her arm laying off the bed, her head slumped down off the pillow. Seth placed the cup on the floor and went to turn on her desk lamp. He noticed a picture of the two of them embedded in a mix of other pictures on her bulletin board he hadn't seen until that very moment. He smiled. He turned back to Summer's side kneeling on the floor beside her. He brushed her hair away from her face and examined her every feature. Her makeup was almost all washed off, eye liner smeared on the sides of her eyes, her hair had seen better days and he was sure if she was conscious she would be fixing it. But despite that she still looked absolutely beautiful to him. He pushed her further onto the bed and parked himself beside her. He stroked her cheek a few times whispering her name. She wasn't responding too quickly. After shaking her a bit she finally flicked her eyes open. She was completely out of it.

"Here sit up and drink this," Seth said collecting the cup from its spot on the floor. He pulled her into a sitting position with his free hand after realising she hadn't really comprehended what he had said. When he forced the cup into her hands she got the point and guzzled it down as if she had been deprived of it for a weeks time. She pulled it away from her lips and some was dribbling down her chin. She handed him back the empty cup and slumped back down on the bed. "Alright Sum, I think you'll be ok. I'm gonna put a trashcan beside the bed just in case and I'll head back to my room." Seth moved the trashcan to the side of her bed and bent down to give her a kiss on the forehead. Her eyes were closed and he thought she had passed out again. When he turned to go she had grabbed a hold of his hand.

"No. Stay with me?" she asked in a pleading voice. Seth couldn't resist her even if he really wanted to. She pushed herself closer to the wall so he could sit down. "Thank you," she weakly replied as he made contact with the bed once again. She pulled him down onto her pillow next to her and pushed her head up against his. He turned onto his side facing her, in heaven that she had asked him to stay and started rubbing her back. "Mmmm, I love you Cohen," she murmered before she passed out again. Seth stopped his movements completely taken aback.

Let me know what you think... please! And again feel free to give me suggestions for scenes you want to see. Thanks for reading!