Hi folks!

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, it really means a lot! I'm really glad you liked the last chapter, I have to admit that I really liked writing it :)

But for now you have to prepare yourself for some drama, much more drama than before... but I hope you'll still like it!

Oh, and some of you might have guessed the right twist of actions, but read yourself ;)

Steffi

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

After returning home from ice skating, Seth and Summer had been cuddling into bed again with some take away pizza and coke, watching some old talk shows on tv. Their perfect weekend ended when they fell asleep in each other's arms after having made love again.

Unfortunately, every good time found an end, and so Monday morning approached faster than either of them would have wanted it to.

For Seth that meant studying for his first important English exam, and for Summer it meant returning to the agency without knowing how the girls would react this time. She had achieved to ban Keira, Sarah and Macy out of her head all Sunday, but as soon as her alarm clock went off in the early morning, they popped into her mind again, their conspirational paroles of not touching Annie repeating themselves like a bad mantra.

Summer decided to give Annie a phone call before going to the agency, and when she found that she felt weak but okay, she didn't think of the girls' comments as so serious anymore.

Seth and Summer parted ways this morning swearing to each other never to fight over Summer's career again. But unfortunately, they weren't living on a tv show, and so trouble hovered over them like the sword of Damocles, only waiting to fall down.

When Summer came into the agency that day, everyone was staring at her with their eyes wide open.

Summer shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other but decided to put on a happy smile. Throwing her handbag on one of the huge glass tables, she walked over to her girls who were sitting at a table in the back of the huge checkroom.

"So, did anyone hear from Annie?" she asked and sat down with Macy, Keira and Sarah, grabbing a cup of coffee on her way.

Macy nodded. "Yeah, they say she's fine. Still weak, but fine."

Summer smiled, being content with herself. Keira, who was also sipping from the calorie free coffee, pointed out to Summer's bandage on her right hand. "How's your hand?"

Summer waved with her free hand and shook her head. "It's nothing bad. Had to be stitched six times, but I'll be fine. Maybe I'll keep a scar, but hey, it's the palm, no one cares about scars on palms, do they?"

The girls all avoided Summer's gaze but nodded nevertheless. The only one who looked directly at Summer was Sarah, and she, unlike the others, shook her head. "They won't be caring about the scar, but about what that scar has caused." She stated and inspected her perfectly manicured nails.

Summer frowned. This was too much. "What is wrong with you guys?" she asked and cracked her coffee pot on the table. "Why aren't you looking at me? I didn't stab Annie… in fact, I was the only one who was ready to help."

Sarah sighed and looked at the others. "Shall we tell her?" she asked. Keira was the only one to nod slightly, so Sarah decided to tell Summer the secret she hadn't known about Annie yet.

"You know, there's a reason why we told you not to touch her after… you know." She began. "And I kind of can't believe that she didn't tell you… I mean, you were like best friends all the time."

"Tell me what?" Summer asked, her eyes narrowing.

Now Macy jumped in to tell the story. "Annie's not as innocent as she might seem. Didn't you ever think about why she had drugs with her that night?"

Summer blinked. That was a good question. "Um… not really." She admitted, twisting the coffee mug in her hands. She had always assumed that it had been some sort of misunderstanding.

"Annie's been on drugs since she came here, and that would be two years now." Keira explained.

"What?" Summer gasped. This was unbelievable. She had been going out with Annie, had been at her apartment, had been having lunch with her… they had been together like all time! And during that time, the redhead had never seemed to be a drug addict.

"She's the master of hiding it. She needed to hide it, because Fran menaced to throw her out if anybody ever knew. Fran can't prevent us from taking drugs, but she can pressure us." Sarah explained. "And no one is such a specialist at hiding her addiction than Annie."

Summer shook her head. "Okay, but what does that have to do with me? And with me not touching her?"

Macy shook her head in disbelievement. "Come on, Sum. You need to put two and two together here. Annie's a drug addict. Drug addicts don't bother to use a new needle if they need a shot. And you know what comes with that."

Summer felt how her heart started to beat faster. She closed her eyes, and after opening them again, her gaze fell onto the bandage on her right hand. The scar that could cause all the trouble.

"You mean Annie's…" she didn't dare to ask the question any further.

Keira nodded, even though Summer didn't see it, as she was still staring at her bandaged hand. "Annie's HIV positive."

The sound of that words hit Summer like a sledge hammer. Her healthy hand turned into a fist, and her breathing became quicker as the adrenaline poured through her veins. That couldn't possibly be. This was all a bad dream. She had had so many bad dreams in the past few weeks, and just as always, Seth would be there to wake her up any minute now.

If Annie really had HIV… and Summer had touched her wound with a tissue to suppress the bleeding… and she had cut her palm before, her own blood mixing with her friend's blood…

HIV. HIV. HIV.

The three letters kept on repeating themselves in Summer's mind. She had only wanted to help. She couldn't be HIV positive. She just couldn't be. She was still so young. And she had never done anything wrong.

Well, she had done things wrong but never like illegally wrong.

And now this.

All of a sudden, Summer's breast tightened and she knew she needed to get out of the agency as fast as possible.

She cleared her throat, whispering a croaky "Excuse me" towards the girls and stormed out of the agency.

As she was down on the street, the traffic noise of the New York City morning rushhour traffic almost killed off the thoughts that were spinning in Summer's head.

But then she saw her bandage again and the spiral started from the beginning.

HIV.

That couldn't possibly be.

A few hours later, after taking a long walk through Central Park, Summer was sitting on her living room couch, sipping at a soda and staring out of the window, watching people go in and out of the new doctor's office that had opened up only a few days before.

How ironic that was – the only thing she should be doing by now was to see a doctor. But she just couldn't do it. Not now that everything was so fresh. Summer had always thought that if she would be in a situation like the people on talkshows like Oprah or something the first thing she would do was to go to a doctor to get certainty on what was going on with her.

But the only thing she could do right now was to sit there, completely paralized, sipping at some soda and not being able to move.

Well, at least she was alone. The last thing she needed right now was Seth, and his overprotective manners.

Summer closed her eyes and was just about to begin her personal HIV spiral in her head as she heard the apartment door open.

Her eyes shot up and as she turned around and saw Seth standing in the doorway, unzipping his jacket. Unnerved, Summer let herself fall down in the pillows and pretended she hadn't seen or heard him.

When Seth spotted the dark curls sitting on the couch and staring out of the windows, he smiled and walked over to her, placing a kiss on Summer's head. "What a surprise." He said as he walked around the couch to join her. "Why are you here already?"

Summer didn't look at Seth. This was not fair. The only thing she wanted was some alone time, some time to think only about herself, a thing Seth did most of the time by the way, and what happened? Fate made Seth come home, being in a cruel good mood and asking awfully stupid questions.

"I have a day off." Summer said without looking at Seth.

Seth saw that something was bothering Summer and he laid a hand on her arm, stroking it. "Are you okay?" he asked, his gaze becoming worried.

Summer rolled her eyes and pushed Seth's hand away. "God, yeah, I'm okay. Would you please stop being so damn overprotective?" she snapped and stood up, walking towards the kitchen.

Seth frowned and followed her. "Is this because of Annie? Some bad news?"

Summer put the can of soda on the kitchen counter, propped herself onto it with both hands and sighed.

"No, Annie's fine. And there aren't any bad news." Summer closed her eyes. Well, at least not for Annie, she thought.

"What is it, then?" Seth asked, making his way over to his girlfriend to try to comfort her again.

"I said it's nothing!" Summer yelled and stormed out of the kitchen, into the living room. She grabbed her jacket and put on her favorite pair of sneakers.

Seth followed her, like some straying puppy, holding out his hands as if he awaited an explanation for Summer's behavior. "Why are you so upset?" he asked, starting another try to make Summer feel better.

Summer opened the front door, and without answering Seth's question, she said, "I'm going to visit Annie."

Before Seth could say something, Summer closed the door, leaving a very confused and hurt Seth behind.

Silently, Summer walked into Annie's room and found her sound asleep on the bed. When she closed the door, Annie's eyes shot open and she looked who had come and visited her. When she recognized it was Summer, her pale face turned into a smile.

"Hey, California." She said, her green eyes sparkling.

Summer smiled and sat down at Annie's bedside. "How are you?" she asked, her gaze worried.

Annie waved with her hand. "Oh, me, no problem, I'm fine." She replied and tried to sit up.

Summer could only tell from the pained expression on Annie's face that her friend was really suffering. She looked down at her bandaged hand and bit her lip, before looking into Annie's eyes again.

Annie almost seemed to know what Summer was thinking. "You shouldn't have touched me." She said and looked down, ashamed.

"What, was I supposed to watch you die?" Summer asked reproachfully. "You should have told me. I told you everything about me."

Annie nodded. "Yeah, I should have told you. And honestly, I never have a problem with telling anyone. But with you, it was different…"

Annie paused and took a deep breath. "You are my first real friend, and I didn't want you to think of me as a crack whore."

Summer took one of Annie's hands and gently rubbed it. "I don't think of you as a crack whore, and I would never have. Never." She answered.

"If anything, I would have tried to help you."

Annie laughed. "You'd have been the first to help me. Everybody else who tried to help me just brought me new drugs. I'm just so ashamed." She added and lowered her head again.

"Don't be." Summer said, and she really meant it. There was no reason for Annie to be ashamed. If you didn't have a strong will, this business could eat you alive. And that's what it had done to her new friend.

"But I am." Annie replied. "You came to the agency and you took all this stress without hesitating, without complaining… and without getting tired. You're so strong, and that's what makes me feel so small next to you."

"I'm not strong." Summer said. "You should've seen me at home. I couldn't eat anymore, I didn't wanna eat anymore. I invented stupid lies for Seth why I didn't eat. I didn't sleep – I was always tired, I still am tired. Most of the time I sat at home, crying, because I was so exhausted." She confessed. Finally someone knew what was really going on with her. "And instead of talking to the one person that cares the most about me, I kept my mouth shut. Because I know that Seth would have wanted me to stop the modeling."

Annie raised an eyebrow. "But maybe you should stop. You know, before it's too late."

"Believe me, after this weekend, I'm really considering it. And I don't know if I can do the modeling anyway. I mean, as long as I don't know if I…" Summer's voice traced off as she saw the hurt look in Annie's eyes.

"You need to take a test." Annie simply said. "I waited way too long when I needed to take one… and I don't know… who knows how many people I infected…"

At that statement, Summer's thoughts wandered to Seth immediately, picturing him in front of her inner eye. The day they had together after the stabbing night at the club flashed up in her mind and she started to bite her lip. They had sex… without protection, because Summer took the pill. They had kissed. Long and a lot. Summer's fingernails went up to her mouth and she started to chew them.

Annie took hold of Summer's hand. "You need to tell him too." She said, the urgency of the topic swinging in her voice. "You know you need to tell him."

Summer just nodded and pulled her hand away. "I know." she whispered. "But I think I'm not ready yet. I mean… I could live with it when I have it, because it was my decision to help you, but… Seth being HIV positive just because of me? I don't think I could take that."

Annie nodded. "I understand that." She said. "You can take your time… but in the meantime, don't let him come close to you. You need to prevent the virus from being transfused."

"Thanks Annie." Summer said and hugged her friend carefully, trying her best not to touch Annie's wound. "So how are you gonna be? When will you be able to leave?"

"Um, yeah, I don't know… need to see how some tests turn out, I think." Annie answered, nervously fumbling with the sleeve of her nightgown.

Summer sensed that Annie was hiding something from her. "Is there anything you wanna tell me?" she asked, her eyes not leaving Annie's who tried to avoid her stare.

"Um, no… Nothing. I'll be fine, really. You know, I'm really tired. I should probably get some sleep." Annie said and leant back into her pillows. "But promise me you'll be fine, okay?"

Summer smiled, even though she sensed something was wrong with Annie. "Of course I'll be. And please remember that none of this is your fault."

Annie gave Summer a weary smile. "I'm glad I was given a friend like you." She said and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened them again, staring into Summer's deep brown eyes. "Thank you, California."

"You're welcome. Now try and get some sleep." Summer said before giving Annie a final hug. "I'll stop by tomorrow again."

And with that words, Summer made her way out of the room, letting Annie get some rest. On her way out of the hospital, she couldn't get Annie's last words out of her mind.

"I'm glad I was given a friend like you."

"Thank you, California."

Summer left the hospital with two strange feelings. The first one because she didn't know what was going on with her, the second one because Annie had seemed so strange towards the end of their conversation. And from both feelings, the worries about Annie somehow seemed to be more urgent than the worries about herself.

Next chapter: Dear God