When you say nothing at all
Seth found Summer sitting on a bench a short bit from the school building. She had her back against him and seemed sad or something.
"Hey," he said as he approached her. He touched her shoulder and then went round the bench to sit next to her.
Summer forced a smile again, even though she was tired of doing that. "Hi,"
"I've been looking all over for you." Seth said and gently caressed her cheek. She kept her gaze in front of them, looking into the distance.
"Sorry. I know that we were gonna meet but I needed some air." she said, quickly looking at him before returning to the previous spot.
"It's fine. I've found you now. Are you okay?" He could see that something was wrong and he guessed that it was school.
"It's not going so well." she admitted and took his hand. She began to play with it and kept biting her lip. Seth let her take his hand and do whatever she wanted with it. He knew that this day wasn't going to be easy for her.
"Did something happen?" he carefully asked, not wanting to push her.
She shook her head. "Not really. It's just…all these people." Summer said and Seth saw tears form in her eyes. He knew that she didn't want to talk about it now and here; she was too sensitive and emotional right now. He knew that she hated to cry in public.
"I know. What do you wanna do?" he said, trying to make her feel better and placed his hand on her thighs.
"I don't know. I don't want to do this anymore." She did a gesture with her hand, so he got that she meant school.
"Then we'll leave. We only have a few more classes. We can go do something."
"But I don't want you to miss school. I don't think your parents are going to be very happy about that." Summer explained.
"Don't worry about that. They'll understand and besides, I don't want to stay here without you." She smiled slightly and looked at him now. Her eyes were a little watery but not watery enough to let tears escape.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. But it's not a problem for me. I want to be with you and I want you to be okay."
"I am now. It was just that when I…"
Seth didn't let her finish. "It doesn't matter. We can talk about it later. But now," he paused and intertwined their fingers. "…now I want you to come with me and we'll do something fun, okay?"
Summer nodded and let him lead her to the car, smiling slightly.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Seth and Summer walked hand in hand down the pier. They both had an ice cream in their hands that weren't intertwined.
"Cohen?" Summer asked after they had been walking in silence for some time.
Seth turned his head towards her. "Yeah?"
"What would I do without you?" Summer said and smiled, placing her arm round his waist and leaning her head on to his shoulder. Seth fallowed her example and wrapped his arm over her shoulders.
"I think the question is; what would I do without you?" Summer giggled by his reply and as she felt Seth place a kiss on her temple, she smiled even brighter. He had the power to make the shittiest of days turn out to be the happiest of days. He always managed to put a smile on her face.
"Can we go home now?" Summer asked as they had been walking for maybe ten minutes.
"Sure, if you want to."
Summer nodded and threw her ice cream away. "I do. Can we go to your house?"
"Yeah. Let's go." Seth said and threw his ice cream away as well.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
"Seth?" Kirsten asked as Seth and Summer walked into the house. They were both surprised that she was home. And Kirsten was probably surprised that Seth and Summer were home.
They looked at each other quickly before walking towards the kitchen hand in hand; Summer a bit behind Seth, letting him drag her with him. She knew that Kirsten never would get angry at her at a time like this openly. But Summer was afraid that Kirsten would think that she was making what she'd gone through go out over Seth. And that wasn't Summer's intention, at all. But she was just too selfish to handle things on her own. And Seth was there; he was the only person that she really trusted.
"Seth, it's good that you're home. It is a bit early but I bet you have an explanation." Kirsten went on before Seth and Summer had entered the kitchen area. As they walked in though and she saw Summer, Kirsten regretted her words. "Oh, hi Summer. I didn't know that you were here too. It's good to see you though."
Summer, standing next to Seth, nodded and felt weird. It was obvious that Kirsten had wanted Seth there alone and not together with her. Seth, seeming to know what she was thinking, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his own body. Even though they were in front of his mother, Summer felt better knowing that he was there and things were okay.
"I wanted to talk to Seth alone but I guess that now that you're already here I better tell the both of you." Kirsten said and made a gesture for them to sit down the kitchen table. Seth and Summer sat down at one side, neither of them knowing what was going on, and Kirsten sat in front of them.
"So," Kirsten started and placed her hands together on the table. "The police think that they have found someone that was involved in your kidnapping, Summer."
They it was; the words they all had been waiting for. Finally, the man would get what he deserved. If it was him. 'The police think that they have found someone that was involved in your kidnapping, Summer.' It didn't mean that it was the one they were looking for. It only meant that it could be.
"They want you to come down to the station as soon as possible." Kirsten continued as Summer kept fumbling with the line of the chair. She did look up though and even managed a smile. "Of course you can go whenever you are ready. Take all the time you need, sweetie." Kirsten said and got up from the chair. "I think I'll leave you two alone now. Let me know if you need anything, okay?" she looked at Summer who nodded. Kirsten then turned to look at Seth. "I'll go pick up Sandy at work." she said and before she left she gave Summer a warm hug and Seth one as well. "Take care of her." she whispered into his ear as quietly as she could before she left Seth and Summer alone in the kitchen.
Their eyes met and they both smiled slightly. Then, Summer rose from her chair and went to sit in Seth's lap. She was doing it very easily and didn't even bother to see if he was okay with her position. To sit in his lap was by now something she did all the time.
Seth carefully studied her. He wasn't sure what she was feeling. "Are you okay, Sum?"
"Yeah. Well, I think so. I mean its good news. It could be him." She said, not really knowing herself how she was feeling or how she was supposed to be feeling. Though if it was something Summer had learned from all this it was that it took time to figure out your true feelings and it took time for them to come out, to show.
"Yeah, it could be and let's hope it is." Seth said and hugged her close to him. "Do you want to go upstairs?" she nodded and they walked up the stairs to his room where they sat, or more lay, down on his bed like so many times before.
Once they had gotten comfortable in each others arms they both stayed quiet. Seth was waiting for Summer to say something because he was sure that whatever he said to her at the moment would be the wrong thing. He was so scared of pushing her because he never, ever wanted to do that. He wanted her to feel comfortable around him and he wanted her to tell him things by her own choice when she was ready. He just wanted to be there and he wanted her to know that she could tell him and he was okay with that and she could not tell him and he would be okay with that too. So he kept quiet for once.
Summer didn't break the silence either. She was pleased to lay with her head as close to Seth's neck as possible and have his arms wrapped around her. There was no other place than this where she could ever feel safer. She had her hand on top of Seth's chest and felt as he breathed in and out. "Seth?" she said softly after a while. He stroked her hair in reply, showing her that he was listening. "I…I am scared." Her voice was almost in a whisper and Seth kept stroking her hair and he took her hand that was still on his chest. Summer was trying to tell him something without him having to ask and that was a big step, a huge even.
"I want it to be him so that he'll get what he deserves but the hard part is that it isn't over then. Now, I have to go there. I have to face him again. I will never forget how he looked and what he said and what he did." Summer actually kept talking for a while and even though her voice was shaky and unsteady she kept talking, knowing that if she broke down she couldn't tell him what she wanted to say. It wasn't just about telling Seth. It was also about her, she had to sort her feelings out. She had understood that today at school. "At school I walked out of class. I felt so weird, like I was going crazy or something." she confessed and pulled herself even closer to Seth.
"Where did you go?" he carefully asked as he moved his hand that had been in her hair to her cheek and continued to caress her hand.
"The lady's room. I got all shaky and I had all these feelings." Summer paused and swallowed. It was so hard to talk about and the whole time the lump in her throat grew. "It was horrible. I hate this." she said while her voice broke. Though she continued, almost desperately. "I don't know what's happening to me. I've never felt this vulnerable before in my whole life." Summer was crying know, Seth could tell. Her voice was racked with sobs and he felt her bury her head in his neck, wetting it. He didn't care though but just wrapped both of his arms around her back and rubbed small circles on it as she cried. Summer had never been this open about anything this hard before.
"It'll be okay, Summer." Seth said, trying to calm her down. He hated to see her like this; all confused and small. But, still, he was glad that she didn't shut him out anymore. She told him, even though she couldn't say much before she broke down. But it was the first step and a very big one. He was proud of her; she was trying.
Summer kept crying; not heavy crying, very soft and kind of quiet. Maybe it was because she was pressing her face into Seth's neck and shoulder. Seth tried to hold her as hard as she held on to him as he whispered comforting words into her hair. He knew that even though Summer was a strong girl, never wanting to be weak and vulnerable, she wanted to be treated just as preciously as a baby sometimes.
To be continued...
So, that wasn't really the ending I was going to write but it just came out that way.
I know that the whole mystery around the kidnapper wasn't solved or anything in this chapter but it soon will be, promise.
Tell me your thoughts, please!
So, review!