A/N: Ok, for all of those you want to know what's happening, cool your jets. It will all be revealed in due time. And who didn't understand the countdown thing? I think it was pretty obvious at the end that it was counting down to the exact time of Seth's suicide. And I do not need to explain my story more, unlike some, I actually do write because I like writing, not for reviews. Though I do love reviews. Anyway, for all those who want Ryan back I can't promise anything, even though this is a RM story. The RM will be told mainly through flash backs and Marissa's thoughts though.
The phone rang.
Riiiiiiiiiiing
Marissa picked it up. She closed her eyes as she answered the phone and blocked out the pain.
"Hi sweetie" she said softly. Summer just concentrated on breathing.
The blood was staining her clothes. Innocent blood. Or maybe blood of lost innocence. Blood of a broken heart.
"She doesn't know,"
Marissa hadn't moved in over an hour. But Seth had. They had taken him away, so pale he was almost translucent. The blue of his veins cocooned him and him eyelashes made dark half moons under closed eyes. After they had taken his brother away Ryan threw up. And Marissa slowly felt ice spreading from her heart. She was beyond numb now. And so was Kirsten. She sat numbly between her only son and husband as sobs wracked their bodies. And her daughter-in-law sat in her son's blood.
Marissa stood up. Blood dripped from her skirt. It stained red flowers on the tiles.
Drip. Plop. Drip. Plop.
"Summer," was all she said. Kirsten nodded.
She walked though the restaurant, and her skirt swung with the weight of the blood. It rained flowers.
Summer was sobbing too hard to speak. And what was even worse was how she could hear her best friend's tears. Even though she was trying her hardest to keep them silent.
Marissa felt her aching heart take more punches as Summer fought to breathe through her tears. Her tears rolled down her cheeks, and she didn't make a sound. She cried flowers.
The pay phone was at the other end of the restaurant. She passed their table.
The table.
The Last Supper.
Diners who hadn't been put off by the screaming of the ambulance and the still, still body of a snow white boy stared as a girl walked past them, white skirt swirling around her, dripping the boys blood.
She wiped her hands on her skirt before picking up the phone. But as she dialed her fingers left pale red prints on familiar numbers.
She had almost blonde hair. Some people called it dishwater blonde. Some people didn't like it. But he had.
He had loved it.
He loved her.
She was sure that she'd know if he was dead. But Summer hadn't.
She picked up the phone after the third time it had rung to voice mail. She knew it had to be important if Marissa didn't leave a message. She knew it was something terrifying when the only message was tightly controlled breathing. She picked it up after the first ring.
"Marissa, what is it?" the only reply was the same tight breathing. Marissa's grip tightened on the phone. Her fingers slid. There was no blood in her fingers. The tears started falling again.
"Why are you crying? What happened?"
"Summer. You need to come back to the restaurant."
"Why? So you can all beg me not to leave? To tell me that you'll be there for me? That I'll pull through?
"I don't want to tell you this over the phone,"
"Just tell me. It's not like I have anything to live for anymore."
"Summer…Seth, Seth he's dead." She had to move. The flowers were turning into a puddle. She couldn't look at puddles. Summer didn't say anything. Marissa knew she had run from the phone. She could hear retching. But she didn't need to. And Summer didn't need her now. She hung up.
She had to stop crying. A puddle was forming on the couch. She wiped it away. Summer was in the bathroom. The sound of her retching echoed down the phone.
Verity's hair wasn't almost blonde. It was dusty blonde.
Seth's hair was curly. Curly and dark. He would've said Verity's hair reminded him of the camping trip they had gone on before going to college. When he and Ryan had a dust kicking fight. And they had found "Smelly Joe's secret stash". Gold sparkles had swirled up with the dust and sparkled in the sunshine. He would've called his niece Smelly Joe. And Ryan would laugh and change her nappy.
Ryan's hair was sandy. Marissa used to complain that his hair had a better name than hers. And it wasn't fair. Especially since her hair looked better. He used to laugh. And say it wasn't anything like dishwater. It was almost blonde. And he loved it. She often wondered why her love wasn't enough. Enough for him to stay with her.
Wondered if he didn't love her enough to be there.
To share the pain.
To be the only son.
But in truth she knew that wasn't the reason.
The way Summer had known it wasn't the reason Seth had left that summer.
But Summer hadn't been able to forgive him.
And that was the hardest thing in the world. Not living without him. But living with herself.
Marissa waited for Summer.
She had hung up five minutes ago.
Summer would be there in 56 seconds.
Two minutes to finish throwing up.
16 seconds of screaming.
10 of sobbing.
15 of cursing.
7 of kicking.
3 of hitting the wall.
And 5 of silent tears.
And three minutes to drive to the restaurant.
Verity squirmed as her mother's tears started falling on her face. They rolled down Marissa's cheeks, then down her daughter's. She was crying for both of them.
For all of them.
Summer pulled up right outside the restaurant.
Marissa was standing there, as she knew she would be. As soon as Marissa saw Summer her face crumpled.
It was like watching a piece of paper be screwed up in slow motion.
The crumpling made way for the huge suffocating sobs she had been smothering. Summer just hugged her. And Marissa hugged her back. Their tears stained each others clothes. Mascara clung to each tear.
Black flowers fell on their shoulders.
Hindsight hurts.
It scars your heart and mind as you pick over events.
What you could've done.
What you should've said.
Summer had torn and bloodied her self so many times.
She hated herself.
For not forgiving him.
But sometimes, it was ok.
Sometimes she could forget.
Forget he was gone.
Forever.
They walked through the restaurant together.
Another stroll down the catwalk.
When Kirsten saw them she collapsed against Sandy. Crumpled like a wet face cloth. And he slowly sank down next to Ryan. The Cohen's were huddled together in the corner of the men's bathroom.
Next to Seth's blood.
As she saw this Summer broke down.
She clung to Marissa and wailed.
And opened to gates for the flood of tears.
And Marissa stood frozen and dry eyed as her family crumbled and crumpled.
And she watched their tears become puddles.
And she closed her eyes.
And ever so slowly, they began dying.
Like flowers.