Title: The Consequences
Author: In Fair Verona
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Seth and Summer engender a 'rumor' which travels around Newport and learn the consequences of their actions when the unexpected happens.
Shipper: Seth x Summer
Disclaimer: It is all property of FOX, every last bit of it. I don't own anything in this story or related to it.
A/N: Yes, I realize there has been a long delay. This was supposed to be up at Valentine's day by the latest, but then my computer crashed. It's still getting fixed but since I had the fic backed up, and realized that it would be awhile before I got my computer back, I just went ahead and wrote it. I realized it was a long wait and I apologize, however, I would appreciate if I did not get reviews badgering me to update. I'm aware, I would not neglect to update, and if you submit a review, please actually tell me what you think. I am not your slave, I do not have to write up a chapter at your will. I would rather take time to produce a well-written chapter. I am not making this comment towards everybody, nor everybody who asked me to update. Some of them were actually polite, and I thank you. I appreciate your reviews, but I needed to get this out.
-
"I come home to spend time with my family for the holidays, and this is what I get!? This what I get!?" Mr. Roberts paced back and forth in the living room of the Cohen household furiously, his arms crossed over his chest as he muttered vehemently. Summer and Seth sat next to each other on the loveseat, having just explained to her father their situation. Not that much explanation was needed. Mr. Roberts only needed to take one look at his daughter's growing tummy to know that his worst nightmares were coming true. He hadn't brought himself to really look at her since then.
"Robert," Kirsten approached Summer's father cautiously, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Sandy and I have already gotten used to this, but we do know how you feel. But being angry is not going to help at all. They've learned their lesson, and being mad is not going to change the fact that Summer is pregnant." Kirsten told him soothingly.
"You're one to talk." Seth muttered to his mother. "Wait..." Seth looked up at Mr. Roberts curiously. "Your name's Robert? Like... Robert Roberts?" He asked, trying to hold back a grin and a slight chuckle and failing miserably. Summer and Kirsten both shot him a dark glance that clearly stated, 'time and place'.
"My parents had a sense of humor." Robert replied snappily, without any real sense of humor in his own voice.
"Nice job scoring brownie points from the parent." Summer muttered to Seth, who in turn just looked at her innocently, his flourishing brown eyes silently begging for forgiveness. Summer squeezed his hand tightly in hers, but they were broken from their gaze when Summer's father spoke again.
"Summer... Please, tell me this is just a joke. I'm on one of those idiotic reality television shows. Tell me that you aren't pregnant. You're my little girl." He said pleadingly, doing a complete 180 from angry to concerned.
"Daddy, I'm sorry." Summer said in a soft voice. By her tone it was obvious that Summer was really upset by her father's visit, and by the fact that she had let him down. Her eyes grazed the carpet floor, not willing to meet his. "I just can't help what's happened now." She added.
"You can," Robert told his daughter, getting down on his knees and taking her hands in his. "Honey, we'll get you an abortion." At these words, Seth cringed. He spent all of his energy convincing Summer not to do that, now her father had come back and demanded that they did.
"No, Daddy." Summer shook her head, looking up to meet him with a new spur of defiance. "It's too late. Even if it wasn't, I couldn't go through with it. I want to be the mother of this child." She explained. Robert shook his head.
"That's not true. Summer, don't say that. Don't say it for him." Her father told her in a strict voice, his eyes briefly drifting over to Seth with a sharp piercing gaze before wandering back to Summer.
"... It's not for him, Daddy. I want this for me."
"That's a lie. Why are you saying this? My little girl would not want to be a mother. You've always told me how you never wanted to have children. You told me every single night before I tucked you in! You reminded that you would never get married, and that you would never have children. Now this kid knocks you up and... now what?"
"Things change, Daddy." Summer shrugged. "I'm capable of thinking for myself, allright? I've been trying to tell you how I really feel, and you refuse to listen! I do want to be a mother! I know it's hard to believe, but you have to. You have to deal with it!" Summer told him forcefully.
"How are you going to raise a child? What about school? Where are you going to live?" Robert demanded, his voice rising higher and higher. Seth watched the two with a frightened expression. Now he knew where Summer got it from. "What are you going to do? Live here? You're not raising a child in my house, what would your stepmother think?"
"Thanks for the support, father!" Summer hissed, using the word 'father' for the first time over 'daddy'. "I wouldn't want to live in your house anyway, I hate living there! She's always high on valium, she didn't even notice that I left and that I've been living here for nearly 3 months!" Summer told her father defensively. "I'm still going to go to school, Kirsten and Sandy gave me the deed to one of their smaller houses, I'm going to live there!"
"How do you expect to pay them back?" Robert inquired, looming in on his daughter.
"Robert, that won't be necessary. Seth has plenty of money in his trust fund, he could-" Kirsten cut herself off at the dark gaze thrown in her direction, clearly stating that this was none of her business.
"Summer, this is crazy. You cannot go through with this. I won't let you go through with this." His voice was urgent and demanding, leaving no room for negotiation. "What will my associates think? Robert Roberts with a slut for a daughter?" At this comment, Summer's mouth dropped, her expression was painful to look at. Seth had never seen Summer look more hurt in her life, and Seth had seen all of Summer's expressions.
"This isn't about my education or where I'm going to live... is it?" Summer muttered, a trace of spite in her voice. "This is about you, and your reputation! It's always about you!" She pushed herself up, her hands instinctively circling around her stomache in a protective position. "You don't know or care anything about me. I'm surprised you can even remember that I didn't want to be a mother or get married. You were never there. If you were, you would've known that this was not... not the first time. I guess you do have a slut for a daughter, but you'll have to deal with it. The same way you'll have to deal with becoming a grandfather." With that, Summer turned and stormed out of the living room, descending the stairs as fast a pregant woman could with her furious stomps echoing behind. Robert Roberts picked up a pillow from the loveseat and threw it to the ground in act of frustration before turning briskly and leaving, slamming the front door behind him, leaving just Seth and his mother sitting there alone. Seth had never been this grateful for his own parents since meeting Ryan.
-
"Hey, can I come in?" Seth whispered softly, knocking gently on the door to the office which currently served as Summer's room. He got a muffled and enthusiastic reply.
"I wanna be alone."
"Are you sure you don't want to talk?" Seth inquired through the door. Although Summer couldn't see it, Seth never looked more concerned. He felt bad. He had always known that Summer's home life had never been perfect, but being called a slut by her own father... he knew it hurt her, and he just wanted to take her in his arms and tell her that he didn't think that. Not at all.
"I don't want to talk." Summer replied dully, her voice drifting through the door.
"Allright." Seth nodded. "Well, um, I do. So, I hope you don't mind if I um... Yeah. I'm just going to sit right down here, and talk." Seth nodded, sliding down into a sitting position and leaning his back against the door. "Um, I don't really know where to begin. Well. Actually, I do. See, there was this one time when I was really little, like 10. I wanted to become an artist, and draw comics, you know? I wanted to be able to draw SuperSeth kicking the crap out of Luke Ward," Seth chuckled, "aka the evil Lukinator. I remember drawing it during art class in school, and I didn't even draw stick-figures either. Although maybe I should have. I was really proud of it. I remember giving myself muscles that were ten times too huge, and then little spirals for curly hair. I even, geez, you're going to think this is the lamest thing ever, as well as a complete fashion crime, but I even drew myself red briefs over yellow tights. Totally stealing the Flash's color scheme, but that's besides the point. I was shooting laser beams out of my eyes, and they hit Luke and he had a little bubble that screamed, 'Ahhh, no! I am a wittle baby Luke, you are too powerful for me!' and... to me, it was like a Monet, or something. The Mona Lisa. The best piece of work I've ever done." Seth nodded. "I brought it home from school to my mother's office, and I ran so fast because I was so eager to show it to her. I finally did, and she just looked at it. She didn't smile, she just stared and then handed it back to me. She told me that it wasn't good, she actually said that. It really hurt, I went home and cried. But then my mom heard me. She came up to my room with a McDonald's happy meal, and she told me that she really didn't like my drawing because it was too violent. For some odd reason, she thought that normal ten-year-olds didn't think about blowing other people up. But that's really what it was all about." Seth sighed. "It wasn't that she was trying to say that my drawing was horrible, she just didn't want to see any more of that violence. I think your father didn't mean what he said. He just wanted it to get through to you, and hit you hard, to let you know that you were in the wrong. I don't think you were, but that's what I think he was doing." Seth finished quietly.
On the other side of the wall, in the office, Summer was leaning against the door with her ear pressed up to it. While Seth had been talking, Summer had moved from the tear-stained pillowcase on her bed to where she was now sitting. Slowly, regaining her balance, she stood up and then reached out for the doorknob, twisting it slightly and pulling the door open. Startled, Seth jumped to his feet and turned around to face her. Summer's eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks were stained with tears. Even with her newly discovered frailty, she was gorgeous. She was always gorgeous.
"Seth..." Summer murmured, reaching out for him. Seth extended his arms and pulled her up against him, wrapping his arms protectively around her as Summer quietly sniffled against his chest. Keeping one hand around her, Seth moved his another to rest on the bulge of Summer's stomache. His hands lightly skimmed the surface of the fabric of her dress, calming and sending tingles throughout her. Summer glanced up at Seth, watching him as he watched his hands work their subtle magic. "Seth?" Summer questioned uneasily. Seth pulled his hand away and instead used it to tuck some strands of hair away and wipe her eyes.
"Yeah?" Seth replied, cradling her close to him.
"Can I tell you a story now?" Summer murmured, burrying herself against him into a more cozier position.
"I'd like to hear one from you." Seth told her, nodding his head. Summer smiled softly and took his free hand, positioning it over her stomache again. Taking the hint, Seth once resumed softly stroking her belly in a mesmirising way that seemed to put Summer at ease.
"When I was 4 years old, my mother left me and my dad. They had been fighting a lot. And now like... Julie and Jimmy Cooper arguments, I mean, really violent fighting. My mom hit my dad a lot, threw things at him. Tea kettles, dolls, blow dryers, anything she could find. I guess that's where I got my rage blackouts from." Summer shrugged, "Because of that, I wasn't as sad as I should've been when she left. My father must've thought I was heartbroken because he spoiled me so much, like to make up for it. And to make up for him not being there. He worked a lot, even before she left. It was because of him working so much that she went out and had an affair with another man. She ran away with him, and didn't even say good-bye. I remember asking my dad why, and he told me about her affair, but I didn't understand. Daddy refused to explain it fully. I didn't know what an affair really was, or sex, or anything. Then my dad started dating my step-mother, and she moved in. I asked her one day, and she just flat-out told me everything. When I was little, when my dad was still around more, I used to go into his bedroom and cuddle up beside him at night. Every night I'd tell him how I didn't want to get married, I'd never have children. I told him I didn't want to be my mom. But look at me... pregnant, violent." Summer trailed off. "That's probably why Daddy hates me so much now. I'm like her. The woman who ruined his life." A trace of bitterness could be heard in her voice. "Well, that's it... and they lived happily ever after." Summer finished sarcastically.
"Wow." Seth commented. "Thanks for telling me that."
"Is that more of your sarcasm, Cohen?" Summer asked, further curling up against him.
"No, not at all. I'm really glad that you could tell me something like that. I feel kind of priviledged."
"Well, you should." Summer murmured. "Seth? I think I'm going to go to bed now. I'm really exuasted," Summer paused to let out a soft yawn, "And tommorow's going to be a big day." She added, reminding Seth that they were all going to be moving Summer's stuff into the new house. Seth nodded and stood up, slowly helping Summer to her feet and walking her inside the office and over to the bed. Summer crawled on to it and Seth gently picked up the covers, tucking them over her and the leaning down and kissing her forehead gently. "Night." Summer told him, Seth nodded and gave her a genuine smile and then walked to the door, flipping off the lights and exitting quietly.
-
"Good morning, Mother." Seth Cohen walked into the kitchen in his robe, t-shirt, and boxers, grabbing the already prepared cup of coffee on the counter and taking a sip.
"Good morning, Seth." Kirsten replied, glancing up from the paper and her bagel. "Summer already got up and went over to the house with Sandy. You and Ryan need to get all the boxes into the Range Rover and drive them over." She told her son.
"And what will you being?" Seth asked curiously, taking another sip from the ceramic coffee mug and inhaling the deep alerting scent that rose from the warm liquid.
"...Supervising, of course." Kirsten replied with a smile. "Somebody's got to do it." She took another bite of her bagel and flicked her hazel eyes up to Seth, watching him carefully, almost scrupulously.
"Right." Seth nodded, reaching over for a croissant and then a butter knife and the cream cheese, all scattered across the island in the middle of the kitchen. He felt his mother's gaze upon him and glanced up at her curiously.
"So..." Kirsten trailed off, still observing her son, "I'm very proud of you. I'm also glad that you don't still have hard feelings about that drawing."
"What? You... you were listening? Eavesdropping? I would've expected better from you, Mom." Seth told her in a reprimanding tone. Kirsten just chuckled and waved her hand at her son.
"Hey, your father was also there. We wanted to go to bed, but we have to pass the office to get to our room, and we didn't want to intrude..." She trailed off innocently, taking another bite and polishing off her bagel.
"How noble." Seth replied with sarcasm, yet a widespread grin crossed from his left ear to his right as he said it. "And by the way, if I had been an overly sensitive child, your flaming of my artwork could've scared me for life. I could have an incredibly low self-esteem."
"You are overly sensitive, and you do you have a low self-esteem." Kirsten smiled at her son playfully, reaching over and taking the croissant that he had just buttered and taking a bite into herself. "Mmm. Delicious. Anyway, I'm very proud of you. You haven't let this whole situation with Summer go to your head, and you're still my little emo-geek." Kirsten walked around the island, planting a kiss on her son's cheek. "Now, you better hurry or Ryan will leave without you."
"Mom, I don't think Ryan's looking forward to being anywhere near Summer after your punishment, at least not without me. But, since you just devoured my breakfast, I think I'm gonna go." He told her, grabbing an orange from the bowl of fruits in the middle of the island and walking towards the door. As he did, Seth took a last glance over his shoulder and offered his mother a warm child, the type the two hadn't gotten the time to share in a long time, since Seth was younger, and then proceeded to exit.
-
Seth and Ryan both walked into Summer's new bedroom. The room was currently bare and empty, but it was spacious with a balcony over-looking the ocean. A true room with a view, and with potential. Not only for Summer and Seth, but for their family too. When the two boys entered the room, Summer was staring at the bare wall across from them, observing the wall scrupulously. Ryan offered Seth a questioning look and set down a cardboard box of Summer's things (there were a lot of them) and then went back out to get another box. Summer had yet to become aware of Seth's presence, until he carefully placed his box down to, and came up behind her, peering over her shoulder. A soft and surprised gasp escaped his mouth, and Summer glanced over her shoulder at him. She held a content gaze and then turned back around to face the drawing hanging on the wall.
"I like it." She told him, folding her arms over her chest.
"But..." Seth stared at the drawing of SuperSeth and the Lukinator. "Where did you get this?"
"I don't know. Sandy and I were unpacking some boxes when we found it." She shrugged.
"Uh-huh. And what do we tell Luke when he comes over and sees that?" Seth asked curiously, cocking an eyebrow. Summer turned around and faced Seth with a devilish grin.
"Well, I don't why Luke would be coming into our bedroom. Unless there's something you're trying to hint at." She replied innocently, tilting her head to the side. Seth grinned in response and shook his head, encircling Summer in his arms.
"I have no desire for Luke Ward to be in our bedroom." Seth told her reassuringly.
"Unfortunately, I am. So, could you not..." Ryan trailed off, looking and Seth and Summer and their closeness accusingly.
"Payback's a bitch, Chino." Summer told him, before turning back to Seth and giving him a kiss, as if nobody else was there.
Author: In Fair Verona
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Seth and Summer engender a 'rumor' which travels around Newport and learn the consequences of their actions when the unexpected happens.
Shipper: Seth x Summer
Disclaimer: It is all property of FOX, every last bit of it. I don't own anything in this story or related to it.
A/N: Yes, I realize there has been a long delay. This was supposed to be up at Valentine's day by the latest, but then my computer crashed. It's still getting fixed but since I had the fic backed up, and realized that it would be awhile before I got my computer back, I just went ahead and wrote it. I realized it was a long wait and I apologize, however, I would appreciate if I did not get reviews badgering me to update. I'm aware, I would not neglect to update, and if you submit a review, please actually tell me what you think. I am not your slave, I do not have to write up a chapter at your will. I would rather take time to produce a well-written chapter. I am not making this comment towards everybody, nor everybody who asked me to update. Some of them were actually polite, and I thank you. I appreciate your reviews, but I needed to get this out.
-
"I come home to spend time with my family for the holidays, and this is what I get!? This what I get!?" Mr. Roberts paced back and forth in the living room of the Cohen household furiously, his arms crossed over his chest as he muttered vehemently. Summer and Seth sat next to each other on the loveseat, having just explained to her father their situation. Not that much explanation was needed. Mr. Roberts only needed to take one look at his daughter's growing tummy to know that his worst nightmares were coming true. He hadn't brought himself to really look at her since then.
"Robert," Kirsten approached Summer's father cautiously, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Sandy and I have already gotten used to this, but we do know how you feel. But being angry is not going to help at all. They've learned their lesson, and being mad is not going to change the fact that Summer is pregnant." Kirsten told him soothingly.
"You're one to talk." Seth muttered to his mother. "Wait..." Seth looked up at Mr. Roberts curiously. "Your name's Robert? Like... Robert Roberts?" He asked, trying to hold back a grin and a slight chuckle and failing miserably. Summer and Kirsten both shot him a dark glance that clearly stated, 'time and place'.
"My parents had a sense of humor." Robert replied snappily, without any real sense of humor in his own voice.
"Nice job scoring brownie points from the parent." Summer muttered to Seth, who in turn just looked at her innocently, his flourishing brown eyes silently begging for forgiveness. Summer squeezed his hand tightly in hers, but they were broken from their gaze when Summer's father spoke again.
"Summer... Please, tell me this is just a joke. I'm on one of those idiotic reality television shows. Tell me that you aren't pregnant. You're my little girl." He said pleadingly, doing a complete 180 from angry to concerned.
"Daddy, I'm sorry." Summer said in a soft voice. By her tone it was obvious that Summer was really upset by her father's visit, and by the fact that she had let him down. Her eyes grazed the carpet floor, not willing to meet his. "I just can't help what's happened now." She added.
"You can," Robert told his daughter, getting down on his knees and taking her hands in his. "Honey, we'll get you an abortion." At these words, Seth cringed. He spent all of his energy convincing Summer not to do that, now her father had come back and demanded that they did.
"No, Daddy." Summer shook her head, looking up to meet him with a new spur of defiance. "It's too late. Even if it wasn't, I couldn't go through with it. I want to be the mother of this child." She explained. Robert shook his head.
"That's not true. Summer, don't say that. Don't say it for him." Her father told her in a strict voice, his eyes briefly drifting over to Seth with a sharp piercing gaze before wandering back to Summer.
"... It's not for him, Daddy. I want this for me."
"That's a lie. Why are you saying this? My little girl would not want to be a mother. You've always told me how you never wanted to have children. You told me every single night before I tucked you in! You reminded that you would never get married, and that you would never have children. Now this kid knocks you up and... now what?"
"Things change, Daddy." Summer shrugged. "I'm capable of thinking for myself, allright? I've been trying to tell you how I really feel, and you refuse to listen! I do want to be a mother! I know it's hard to believe, but you have to. You have to deal with it!" Summer told him forcefully.
"How are you going to raise a child? What about school? Where are you going to live?" Robert demanded, his voice rising higher and higher. Seth watched the two with a frightened expression. Now he knew where Summer got it from. "What are you going to do? Live here? You're not raising a child in my house, what would your stepmother think?"
"Thanks for the support, father!" Summer hissed, using the word 'father' for the first time over 'daddy'. "I wouldn't want to live in your house anyway, I hate living there! She's always high on valium, she didn't even notice that I left and that I've been living here for nearly 3 months!" Summer told her father defensively. "I'm still going to go to school, Kirsten and Sandy gave me the deed to one of their smaller houses, I'm going to live there!"
"How do you expect to pay them back?" Robert inquired, looming in on his daughter.
"Robert, that won't be necessary. Seth has plenty of money in his trust fund, he could-" Kirsten cut herself off at the dark gaze thrown in her direction, clearly stating that this was none of her business.
"Summer, this is crazy. You cannot go through with this. I won't let you go through with this." His voice was urgent and demanding, leaving no room for negotiation. "What will my associates think? Robert Roberts with a slut for a daughter?" At this comment, Summer's mouth dropped, her expression was painful to look at. Seth had never seen Summer look more hurt in her life, and Seth had seen all of Summer's expressions.
"This isn't about my education or where I'm going to live... is it?" Summer muttered, a trace of spite in her voice. "This is about you, and your reputation! It's always about you!" She pushed herself up, her hands instinctively circling around her stomache in a protective position. "You don't know or care anything about me. I'm surprised you can even remember that I didn't want to be a mother or get married. You were never there. If you were, you would've known that this was not... not the first time. I guess you do have a slut for a daughter, but you'll have to deal with it. The same way you'll have to deal with becoming a grandfather." With that, Summer turned and stormed out of the living room, descending the stairs as fast a pregant woman could with her furious stomps echoing behind. Robert Roberts picked up a pillow from the loveseat and threw it to the ground in act of frustration before turning briskly and leaving, slamming the front door behind him, leaving just Seth and his mother sitting there alone. Seth had never been this grateful for his own parents since meeting Ryan.
-
"Hey, can I come in?" Seth whispered softly, knocking gently on the door to the office which currently served as Summer's room. He got a muffled and enthusiastic reply.
"I wanna be alone."
"Are you sure you don't want to talk?" Seth inquired through the door. Although Summer couldn't see it, Seth never looked more concerned. He felt bad. He had always known that Summer's home life had never been perfect, but being called a slut by her own father... he knew it hurt her, and he just wanted to take her in his arms and tell her that he didn't think that. Not at all.
"I don't want to talk." Summer replied dully, her voice drifting through the door.
"Allright." Seth nodded. "Well, um, I do. So, I hope you don't mind if I um... Yeah. I'm just going to sit right down here, and talk." Seth nodded, sliding down into a sitting position and leaning his back against the door. "Um, I don't really know where to begin. Well. Actually, I do. See, there was this one time when I was really little, like 10. I wanted to become an artist, and draw comics, you know? I wanted to be able to draw SuperSeth kicking the crap out of Luke Ward," Seth chuckled, "aka the evil Lukinator. I remember drawing it during art class in school, and I didn't even draw stick-figures either. Although maybe I should have. I was really proud of it. I remember giving myself muscles that were ten times too huge, and then little spirals for curly hair. I even, geez, you're going to think this is the lamest thing ever, as well as a complete fashion crime, but I even drew myself red briefs over yellow tights. Totally stealing the Flash's color scheme, but that's besides the point. I was shooting laser beams out of my eyes, and they hit Luke and he had a little bubble that screamed, 'Ahhh, no! I am a wittle baby Luke, you are too powerful for me!' and... to me, it was like a Monet, or something. The Mona Lisa. The best piece of work I've ever done." Seth nodded. "I brought it home from school to my mother's office, and I ran so fast because I was so eager to show it to her. I finally did, and she just looked at it. She didn't smile, she just stared and then handed it back to me. She told me that it wasn't good, she actually said that. It really hurt, I went home and cried. But then my mom heard me. She came up to my room with a McDonald's happy meal, and she told me that she really didn't like my drawing because it was too violent. For some odd reason, she thought that normal ten-year-olds didn't think about blowing other people up. But that's really what it was all about." Seth sighed. "It wasn't that she was trying to say that my drawing was horrible, she just didn't want to see any more of that violence. I think your father didn't mean what he said. He just wanted it to get through to you, and hit you hard, to let you know that you were in the wrong. I don't think you were, but that's what I think he was doing." Seth finished quietly.
On the other side of the wall, in the office, Summer was leaning against the door with her ear pressed up to it. While Seth had been talking, Summer had moved from the tear-stained pillowcase on her bed to where she was now sitting. Slowly, regaining her balance, she stood up and then reached out for the doorknob, twisting it slightly and pulling the door open. Startled, Seth jumped to his feet and turned around to face her. Summer's eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks were stained with tears. Even with her newly discovered frailty, she was gorgeous. She was always gorgeous.
"Seth..." Summer murmured, reaching out for him. Seth extended his arms and pulled her up against him, wrapping his arms protectively around her as Summer quietly sniffled against his chest. Keeping one hand around her, Seth moved his another to rest on the bulge of Summer's stomache. His hands lightly skimmed the surface of the fabric of her dress, calming and sending tingles throughout her. Summer glanced up at Seth, watching him as he watched his hands work their subtle magic. "Seth?" Summer questioned uneasily. Seth pulled his hand away and instead used it to tuck some strands of hair away and wipe her eyes.
"Yeah?" Seth replied, cradling her close to him.
"Can I tell you a story now?" Summer murmured, burrying herself against him into a more cozier position.
"I'd like to hear one from you." Seth told her, nodding his head. Summer smiled softly and took his free hand, positioning it over her stomache again. Taking the hint, Seth once resumed softly stroking her belly in a mesmirising way that seemed to put Summer at ease.
"When I was 4 years old, my mother left me and my dad. They had been fighting a lot. And now like... Julie and Jimmy Cooper arguments, I mean, really violent fighting. My mom hit my dad a lot, threw things at him. Tea kettles, dolls, blow dryers, anything she could find. I guess that's where I got my rage blackouts from." Summer shrugged, "Because of that, I wasn't as sad as I should've been when she left. My father must've thought I was heartbroken because he spoiled me so much, like to make up for it. And to make up for him not being there. He worked a lot, even before she left. It was because of him working so much that she went out and had an affair with another man. She ran away with him, and didn't even say good-bye. I remember asking my dad why, and he told me about her affair, but I didn't understand. Daddy refused to explain it fully. I didn't know what an affair really was, or sex, or anything. Then my dad started dating my step-mother, and she moved in. I asked her one day, and she just flat-out told me everything. When I was little, when my dad was still around more, I used to go into his bedroom and cuddle up beside him at night. Every night I'd tell him how I didn't want to get married, I'd never have children. I told him I didn't want to be my mom. But look at me... pregnant, violent." Summer trailed off. "That's probably why Daddy hates me so much now. I'm like her. The woman who ruined his life." A trace of bitterness could be heard in her voice. "Well, that's it... and they lived happily ever after." Summer finished sarcastically.
"Wow." Seth commented. "Thanks for telling me that."
"Is that more of your sarcasm, Cohen?" Summer asked, further curling up against him.
"No, not at all. I'm really glad that you could tell me something like that. I feel kind of priviledged."
"Well, you should." Summer murmured. "Seth? I think I'm going to go to bed now. I'm really exuasted," Summer paused to let out a soft yawn, "And tommorow's going to be a big day." She added, reminding Seth that they were all going to be moving Summer's stuff into the new house. Seth nodded and stood up, slowly helping Summer to her feet and walking her inside the office and over to the bed. Summer crawled on to it and Seth gently picked up the covers, tucking them over her and the leaning down and kissing her forehead gently. "Night." Summer told him, Seth nodded and gave her a genuine smile and then walked to the door, flipping off the lights and exitting quietly.
-
"Good morning, Mother." Seth Cohen walked into the kitchen in his robe, t-shirt, and boxers, grabbing the already prepared cup of coffee on the counter and taking a sip.
"Good morning, Seth." Kirsten replied, glancing up from the paper and her bagel. "Summer already got up and went over to the house with Sandy. You and Ryan need to get all the boxes into the Range Rover and drive them over." She told her son.
"And what will you being?" Seth asked curiously, taking another sip from the ceramic coffee mug and inhaling the deep alerting scent that rose from the warm liquid.
"...Supervising, of course." Kirsten replied with a smile. "Somebody's got to do it." She took another bite of her bagel and flicked her hazel eyes up to Seth, watching him carefully, almost scrupulously.
"Right." Seth nodded, reaching over for a croissant and then a butter knife and the cream cheese, all scattered across the island in the middle of the kitchen. He felt his mother's gaze upon him and glanced up at her curiously.
"So..." Kirsten trailed off, still observing her son, "I'm very proud of you. I'm also glad that you don't still have hard feelings about that drawing."
"What? You... you were listening? Eavesdropping? I would've expected better from you, Mom." Seth told her in a reprimanding tone. Kirsten just chuckled and waved her hand at her son.
"Hey, your father was also there. We wanted to go to bed, but we have to pass the office to get to our room, and we didn't want to intrude..." She trailed off innocently, taking another bite and polishing off her bagel.
"How noble." Seth replied with sarcasm, yet a widespread grin crossed from his left ear to his right as he said it. "And by the way, if I had been an overly sensitive child, your flaming of my artwork could've scared me for life. I could have an incredibly low self-esteem."
"You are overly sensitive, and you do you have a low self-esteem." Kirsten smiled at her son playfully, reaching over and taking the croissant that he had just buttered and taking a bite into herself. "Mmm. Delicious. Anyway, I'm very proud of you. You haven't let this whole situation with Summer go to your head, and you're still my little emo-geek." Kirsten walked around the island, planting a kiss on her son's cheek. "Now, you better hurry or Ryan will leave without you."
"Mom, I don't think Ryan's looking forward to being anywhere near Summer after your punishment, at least not without me. But, since you just devoured my breakfast, I think I'm gonna go." He told her, grabbing an orange from the bowl of fruits in the middle of the island and walking towards the door. As he did, Seth took a last glance over his shoulder and offered his mother a warm child, the type the two hadn't gotten the time to share in a long time, since Seth was younger, and then proceeded to exit.
-
Seth and Ryan both walked into Summer's new bedroom. The room was currently bare and empty, but it was spacious with a balcony over-looking the ocean. A true room with a view, and with potential. Not only for Summer and Seth, but for their family too. When the two boys entered the room, Summer was staring at the bare wall across from them, observing the wall scrupulously. Ryan offered Seth a questioning look and set down a cardboard box of Summer's things (there were a lot of them) and then went back out to get another box. Summer had yet to become aware of Seth's presence, until he carefully placed his box down to, and came up behind her, peering over her shoulder. A soft and surprised gasp escaped his mouth, and Summer glanced over her shoulder at him. She held a content gaze and then turned back around to face the drawing hanging on the wall.
"I like it." She told him, folding her arms over her chest.
"But..." Seth stared at the drawing of SuperSeth and the Lukinator. "Where did you get this?"
"I don't know. Sandy and I were unpacking some boxes when we found it." She shrugged.
"Uh-huh. And what do we tell Luke when he comes over and sees that?" Seth asked curiously, cocking an eyebrow. Summer turned around and faced Seth with a devilish grin.
"Well, I don't why Luke would be coming into our bedroom. Unless there's something you're trying to hint at." She replied innocently, tilting her head to the side. Seth grinned in response and shook his head, encircling Summer in his arms.
"I have no desire for Luke Ward to be in our bedroom." Seth told her reassuringly.
"Unfortunately, I am. So, could you not..." Ryan trailed off, looking and Seth and Summer and their closeness accusingly.
"Payback's a bitch, Chino." Summer told him, before turning back to Seth and giving him a kiss, as if nobody else was there.