Title: Halo
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the O.C. characters. They belong to Josh and Fox. I do own Celeste though, and the odd characters that will make appearances here and there.
Summary: I guess this is an AU. Summer's cousin come's into town, what kind of trouble will unravel from her appearance? What kind of secrets is she hiding from Summer and the gang? S/S R/M
AN: So I found the first couple pages saved on my computer in an old folder of mine ( I have many folders on my computer it angers my mom...lol). I thought I'd revamp the couple of pages, add to it and post it. If you guys like it I'll write more. I'm not exactly sure where in the show this takes place. All I know is it happens somewhere around when Ryan gets kicked out of Harbor in the third season. Oh! For your information, if you're at all curious, the title was inspired by Bethany Joy Lenz's song 'Halo'.
"Don't you look overly happy today." Seth Cohen mused looking up at his girlfriend.
"Yea Sum, you going to share whatever good news you have?" Marissa Cooper questioned as her best friend sat down across from her.
"My cousin is coming to stay at my place for the rest of the school year." Summer grinned.
"She or he going to be going to Harbor with us?" Seth questioned.
"As far as I know she is." Summer replied.
"Which cousin?" Marissa asked Summer, as pictures of all of Summer's cousins played in her head.
"Celeste."
Marissa looked at Summer with a raised eyebrow, "The one who use to beat up boys in preschool?"
"No. When she was in kindergarten she beat up boys in grade two." Summer clarified, with a slight shrug.
"She beat up boys two years older than her?" Ryan asked Summer with a raised eyebrow.
"She stood up for herself and friends." Summer stated.
Ryan looked at Seth knowing full well they were thinking alike. Summer's cousin sounded tough... and kind of scary. If she had been beating up kids two years older then her when she was five, who knew what she was like now.
"When is she going to be coming, Sum?" Marissa questioned.
"Sometime today." Summer replied, taking a fry off of Seth's plate. "Her dad's driving her here from San Diego."
"Why don't you try now Summer?" A female voice said from the side.
The four friends turned to see a girl about sixteen, about five feet tall, with shoulder length brown hair standing there. She wore a pair of tattered jeans, and a pale yellow tank top. Sunglasses were covering her eyes.
"Celeste?" Summer questioned standing up.
The girl smiled, pushing her sunglasses up to reveal chocolate brown eyes, much like Summers. Grinning she said, "You better believe it cuz."
Summer jumped up from her seat, ran the little way to her cousin, and pulled Celeste into a tight hug. "I thought you weren't coming until later."
"My dad dropped me off earlier than expected, he was a little too eager to get rid of me. I got to your place a few minutes after you left, and got a lift here from your dad. So you going to introduce me to your friends?"
Taking her cousins hand, Summer pulled Celeste the small way to their table. "Celeste, this is my boyfriend Seth, and friends Marissa and Ryan. Marissa, Seth, Ryan, this is my cousin Celeste."
"Hey." Marissa smiled.
"Nice to meet you." Ryan said at the same time.
"Definitely not what I expected." Seth mused.
"What you were expecting something, or someone, else?" Celeste questioned. At Seth's nod Celeste smiled, "I see my cousins been telling stories about me again."
"Hey, all I mentioned was you beat up a kid in grade two, when you were in kindergarten." Summer smiled, sitting back down beside Seth. "It's not my fault they jumped to conclusions."
Celeste laughed, "Uh huh, I so believe you Sum. Now scooch over, I'm not that small anymore."
Seth and Summer moved further down their seat to make room for Celeste, who immediately sat down beside her cousin. A silence soon settled over the table, as they all sat there, trying to think of something to say.
"So Celeste-" Marissa started.
"Call me CeCe." Celeste cut her off.
"CeCe?" Summer questioned.
"A nickname that I've grown rather attached to." Celeste smiled. "One of my friends from the boarding school I was going to in England gave it to me."
"You went to boarding school in England?" Marissa questioned.
"Yea." Celeste sighed. "It was a school for the ill-mannered, as my mother so kindly put it. But it was basically a school where parents who couldn't handle their children sent them. I met some great people there."
"How did you go from boarding school in England, to Harbor here in Newport?" Ryan questioned. "If you don't mind me asking."
"My mother. She hated me not being around so after four years, she gets me to come home, which my father wasn't too happy about. He then convinced her to send me here to stay with Summer for awhile, not that I mind." Celeste replied. "Marissa you gonna finish those fries?"
"You can have them if you want," was Marissa's reply.
"Thank ya." Celeste smiled, pulling the plate towards herself, wanting the conversation to turn away from herself. "So what are the plans for today. If you guys don't mind me intruding on your plans that is."
"We don't exactly have plans yet." Summer stated.
"Great, that makes me feel like I'm not intruding." Celeste smiled. "As soon as you guys get tired of me, just tell me. I won't take it per-" Celeste was cut off by her cell phone ringing. Un-clipping the phone from her jeans, she looked at the call display, "Sorry guys I need to take this call."
"We'll be here when you get back." Summer smiled as her cousin got up, and headed towards the door, answering her cell at the same time.
"She seems cool." Seth mused.
"So your friends are cool." Celeste stated later that day, as Summer helped her get unpacked. "Except Ryan was kind of quiet."
"He is that way sometimes." Summer replied, going through one of Celeste's suitcases. Pulling out a picture frame she asked, "And who's this hottie in the picture with you?"
"That would be Tony." Celeste sighed, letting herself collapse on to the bed.
Sitting down beside her cousin Summer asked, "And who exactly would this Tony guy be?"
"The most arrogant asshole, but sweetest guy you'd ever meet." Celeste replied.
"You like him?"
"Not a bit." Celeste laughed. "There was a small attraction when I first met him, but after awhile it just disappeared. We were better friends."
"Friends with benefits." Summer joked.
"Summy, don't joke like that." Celeste said in a childish voice, while scrunching up her nose.
"Summy? You haven't called me that in years."
"And you know you missed it." Celeste smiled.
"Of course Celeste. I mean... CeCe. So how did you get that nickname anyway?"
"Mmm...that is kind of a long story." Celeste smiled to herself.
"We have all night." Summer stated.
"I thought you wanted to go to Seth's place when we finished unpacking."
"It can't be that long of a story." Summer mused.
Celeste sighed, "OK, so it's not that long of a story."
"Then, please, share."
"But, we're not done unpacking yet."
"Why are you trying to avoid the topic?"
"Why are you so persistent?"
"I just want to know, and once you tell me, we'll go over to Seth's place."
"But, like I said before, we haven't finished unpacking my stuff."
"We have tomorrow to do that."
Celeste sighed, "Fine, I'll tell you if you really want to know."
"I do."
Celeste lied back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "It's hared to be the new kid in a school. You've never really had to go thru that, but that's beyond the point. I was out of place, confused, lost in a way. It was on my first day that I had met Tony and his twin sister Candice. Me and Candice hit it off right away, we were the best of friends. Tony, he just had fun making fun of the two of us, but he was very protective. Tony and Candice called each other by their initials. Not their first and last initials, but their first and middle name. Tony was T.J. and Candice was C.P."
Flashback
"You need a nickname Celeste." Candice stated.
"What? Like you and your dear brother Tony?"
Candice ignored Celeste's comment. "The whole initial thing is the easiest way to give someone a nickname, 'cause sometimes their names just don't work."
"So you going to call me C.C. or C.W.?"
Candice smiled, "You'll be C.C., but it's gonna be spelt C-e-C-e, 'cause you're special like that."
"You better believe I'm special. With a big capital 'R'."
"I'm so glad we're friends, CeCe."
"Me too C.P. Me too."
End Flashback
"Now that wasn't hard to tell now was it?" Summer smiled.
"No it wasn't." Celeste sighed, getting up. "So did you want to head over to your boyfriend's place?"
"Meet me at the car in five minutes." Was Summer's reply before she disappeared out the bedroom door.
"Cohen you're so going down!" Celeste laughed, her eyes glued to the t.v. screen.
"In your dreams CeCe." Seth replied.
"You sure about that?" Celeste smiled. "'Cause there goes your head."
"Rematch!" Seth exclaimed jumping up as the words 'Game Over' flashed across the screen.
"No, I'm good." Celeste replied, standing up and stretching.
"Oh, come on. It's only fair to have a rematch." Seth complained.
"You just don't want to admit that you've been beat." Ryan stated.
"Ah! I get it." Celeste grinned. "The undefeated has just been defeated. I don't think I'm going to play against you for a bit. I need to bask in the glory for a while."
"Come on, one more game." Seth pleaded.
"Even though it hurts me to see someone of the opposite sex groveling at my feet, my answer stands at no." Celeste replied.
"Please CeCe." Seth tried again.
"Just let me bask in victory for a little while longer." Celeste smiled.
"Fine." Seth mumbled.
"Aww poor baby's pouting." Celeste joked.
"You would be too if you got your butt kicked." Seth replied.
"Probably." Celeste sighed. "So what do you guys want to do now?"
"How 'bout a movie." Marissa suggested from where she sat beside Ryan.
"Sounds good to me." Summer agreed. "How about we watch 'The Notebook'."
"Sorry, we don't have that one." Seth replied quickly.
"Oh come on Cohen I know you guys have that one." Summer smiled. "Your mom bought it for herself. You even sat down with me and watched it awhile back."
Celeste looked at her cousin, "Please don't make me watch that Summer. I have seen that movie one too many times. Why don't we go with something funny? Like...'Without a Paddle' or 'Pirates of the Carribean'? I haven't seen that one in a long time. Or we could just, not watch a movie. It doesn't matter to me. I'll just stop rambling now."
As her cell phone started to ring Celeste sighed and looked at the call display, "Not again," she mumbled, before looking at the group of friends and saying "I'll be right back, gotta take this call."
Celeste headed for the doors leading outside to the pool as she answered her cell phone, "What do you want Candice?"
"We need to talk." Celeste's friend replied.
"And I've already told you, I'm sorry."
"That's not what I need to talk to you about now."
Celeste froze, she only now realized how upset Candice sounded, "What happened?"
"Tony...Tony isn't doing to good anymore."
"Wh-What do you mean? We only talked a few hours ago, and he was doing fine."
"They don't know if he's going to get better."
"I...I gotta go Candice." Celeste said quickly before closing her cell phone, and walking back into the house. Celeste put on a smile as she walked into the room everyone was.
"What's wrong Celeste?" Summer immediately asked.
"Nothing's wrong Summer. What makes you think something's wrong?"
Summer gave Celeste a pointed look and said, "I'm probably one of your closest cousins Celeste. I can tell you're hiding something."
"I'm not hiding anything Summer." Celeste replied.
"Don't lie to me Celeste." Summer stated.
"I'm not. So did you guys think of a movie you wanted to watch?" Celeste questioned changing the subject.
"We decided not to watch a movie, and just hang out." Marissa replied, leaning back into the couch, against her boyfriend.
"And so what exactly do you guys classify as 'hanging out'? I only ask, 'cause everyone has different ideas of hanging out." Celeste mused.
"Just sitting and talking." Summer clarified.
"Oh..." Celeste trailed off sitting down on the floor, "That's cool, I guess. So what do you guys want to talk about?"
"What was England like?" Marissa questioned.
"It was amazing." Celeste grinned. 'The people I met there, were wonderful. The school was supposedly for the ill-mannered, like I said before, but the people I met there were everything but ill-mannered. They taught me a lot, and helped me see the error of my ways."
"Like Tony?" Summer immediately asked, with a small grin.
Rolling her eyes Celeste replied, "Yes, like Tony."
"Oh... who's Tony?" Marissa smiled looking over at Celeste.
"A guy I met in Britain. Me and his sister, Candice, were best friends. I miss the two of them. The three of us hung out quite a bit. I actually shared a room with Candice." Celeste smiled to herself, remembering the good times Candice, Tony, and herself had shared. She wished that she could go back to those days. That's all she wanted to do.
"Celeste you ok?" Summer questioned, her worry for her cousin evident in her voice.
"I'm fine, Sum, just getting tired." Celeste replied. "It's been a long day. You think we can head back to your place? My energy is finally draining."
"No problem," Summer replied standing up.
"Catch all of you guys later." Celeste smiled, before heading out of the house ahead of her cousin.
Summer gave Seth a quick kiss, "I'll call you later Cohen."
Celeste lay on her side, on her bed. She'd been staring at the wall since Summer and herself had gotten home. As soon as they had walked in the door Celeste had said goodnight and headed up to her room. That was two hours ago.
Everything seemed to be catching up to her now. Hurting her closest friends, having to leave England, pissing off her father, upsetting her mother, and lying to her cousin. Celeste didn't know how long she could take it anymore. Her father didn't want her to let Summer and her uncle know what had happened in England. It was probably because her father was afraid of his brother-in-law finding out.
Rolling onto her back Celeste stared at the ceiling. How was she going to keep up this act? She didn't know how much longer she could lie to her cousin, especially if Candice kept calling. If Candice called and gave her worse news, Celeste didn't know what she'd do.
Celeste closed her eyes, and tried to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. She still had to unpack a few things, and go shopping for new school stuff. Monday she'd finally be going to school with Summer. How she had gotten into Harbor, she wasn't exactly sure. With her 'permanent record' she was surprised any prestige school would take her. Then again her father had money, lots of money. He probably payed them to let her in. That wouldn't surprise her at all.
"Ryan?" Seth started, as he walked into the pool house. "You awake?"
"Yea." Ryan mumbled, as he sat up.
"Good." Seth stated, sitting on the edge of Ryan's bed. "What do you think of Celeste?"
"You came to ask me this at..." Ryan looked over at the clock, "... midnight?"
"I couldn't fall asleep," Seth replied. "But what do you think about her?"
"Reminds me of Summer in a way." Ryan shrugged.
"Really?" Seth raised an eyebrow. "I don't see it. But I think she's hiding something. Her whole attitude changed after her cell phone rang tonight. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but decided against it."
"She just misses her friends." Ryan shrugged.
"But I don't think that's it." Seth replied. "I think there's more to it then that. And who's parents let their kid come home, and then just send them away again?"
"Some parents are just like that I guess." Ryan shrugged again. "I don't know. Why are you so interested in Summer's cousin anyway?"
"It's Summer's cousin." Was all Seth said in reply.
"Uh huh..." Ryan trailed off. "Do you think you could possibly let me get some sleep?"
"Oh, right." Seth stood up, "See ya in the morning."
Ryan shook his head as he watched Seth leave the pool house. Lying back down on his bed, he found himself thinking about the things that had taken place in the last few months. Trey, his older brother, almost dying. Marissa getting kicked out of Harbor because of the 'Dean of Discipline'. He himself getting kicked out because of the Dean. Then there was Marissa's new friends, Johnny and Chili. Ryan sighed, and here he was getting tutored.
He felt like he was letting the Cohens' down. They had taken him in, and given him a second chance. No. They'd given him many chances. They took him in after Sandy and himself met. They took him back after the whole Theresa incident. If they really wanted to they could of kicked him out, but they didn't.
Ryan had to make the Cohens' proud. They'd become his family, and he was thankful for it. Without them, who knew where he'd be. Most likely on the streets.
Celeste rolled over, only to land on the floor. "Oww," she groaned sitting up. She sat there for a few seconds, not bothering to get up. What time was it? When Celeste was about to get up, she heard a knock on the door. "Yea?"
"You ok in there?" she heard her Uncle Neil's voice ask on the other side.
"I'm fine." Celeste replied, "Just rolled out of bed."
"OK, breakfast is ready downstairs."
"I'll be down in a minutes."
Celeste sighed and looked around the room, she almost felt out of place. She was still use to waking up in a small room with two beds, two desks, two dressers, a closet, and a small bathroom. Celeste was use to waking up to her Candice blaring her music at seven in the morning-yes on weekends too-to get her up.
Standing up Celeste threw her blanket back onto the bed and looked in the mirror hanging above the bed. She looked like crap. Shaking her head, she threw her brown hair up into a clip, and put on a small zip up coat. She was surprisingly cold.
Making her way down the stairs, the scent of chocolate chip pancakes caught her nose. A grin formed on her face, that was her favorite. Walking into the kitchen she looked at her uncle, "Did you cook for little ol' me?"
"No," Neil laughed, "Summer did."
Celeste turned to her cousin, and then looked at Neil "Summy? Summy cooked? Should I be scared?"
"She's an amazing little chef." Neil replied, with another laugh.
"I will be the judge of that." Celeste grinned, sitting down at the table.
As Summer put a plate down in front of Celeste, and sat down with her own, Neil looked at his watch. "I hate to do this, but I have to get to work."
"You going to be home for dinner?" Celeste questioned tilting her head to the side. "I was hoping I could cook dinner tonight."
"I should be home." Neil smiled.
"Good."
Standing up Neil said, "The two of you stay out of trouble."
"Of course dad." Summer smiled at her father.
"You know me," Celeste started, "I'm a little angel."
Neil shook his head, and gave Celeste a quick hug before kissing Summer on top of the end. "I'll call you guys if I'm not going to make it home for dinner."
The two cousins watched as Dr. Neil Roberts disappeared out of the kitchen. Celeste turned to her cousin and asked, "So what kind of trouble are we going to get into today?"
"How much trouble can we possibly get into shopping?"
"Oh, you'd be surprised what I can do." Celeste joked. "No, what are we going to do today? We just gonna go shopping and unpack my stuff, or are we going to go hang at your boyfriends place?"
"All of the above?"
"I see..." Celeste trailed off, finally deciding to try her cousins cooking. "Hey, this is actually pretty good."
"See," Summer grinned in triumph, "I can cook."
"And tonight I'll show you how talented I am in the kitchen."
"What are you going to make for dinner."
"That's for me to know, and you to find out."
AN: If you got to here, give yourself a pat on the back. I'm glad you got threw that... sad attempt of a start for an O.C. fic. Tell me what you thought about it, share your ideas, I'm almost open to anything..lol. I've got quite the plot twists planned.