A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your overwhelming comments on the last chapter! A special thanks to the best reviewer I ever had, Jo. You're the sweetest, thank you so much for taking the time to comment everything! hugs Also a special thanks to my lovely beta Chloe who invests so much of her own time in my story… I can't thank you enough for that honey! hugs to you too I'll leave you with a new chapter today. It's Amy's birhtday and things happen that make Seth realize the truth… please review!

The Trouble With Love

On Amy's 22nd birthday, Seth had planned to take the group out for a paintball match. Amy once had mentioned that she thought that paintball would be fun, and Seth had wanted to go all his life. And now that he finally had a girlfriend who wanted to go too he needed to take the chance that was given to him.

He had prepared a huge breakfast for Amy, with pancakes, waffles and French toast. And he had made it all by himself, which he was especially proud of. The kitchen table was decorated with all kinds of different flowers Seth had been able to find. Now that it was finally spring he loved every glimpse of a flower he could get. And that's why he had brought them into their apartment, on their kitchen table.

He had placed the morning paper on Amy's place, and his present for her next to it. He knew that she would love the present. It was a biography of her favorite singer, some girl from India no one in the States really knew. But Amy loved her music more than anything, and thanks to ebay, Seth had been able to find the book for his girlfriend.

Seth took a few steps back to admire the masterpiece of breakfast decoration on the kitchen table and smiled contently. Amy would love this. He stretched and went over to the counter to pour himself some coffee when he heard Amy's steps behind him. He turned around immediately and smiled, pointing out to the kitchen table.

"Happy birthday!" he sung and went over to her. "I hope you like this." He hugged her and placed a kiss on top of her head.

Amy didn't react at all and mumbled something Seth didn't understand.

He let go of her and frowned, watching her as she went over to the table, sat down and started to eat without waiting for him.

Seth went over to the table and sat opposite of her, looking at Amy questioningly. "Um… what-what's wrong with you?" he asked.

Amy sighed and threw her fork on the table, staring at him. "Something that should make you happy." She snapped and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Seth raised his eyebrows. "And that would be…"

"You remember that I thought I was pregnant?" Amy said and stared out of the window.

Seth slowly nodded. In silence, he prayed to God that she had taken a test, and that this test had been negative.

Amy sighed again and turned her head, looking at Seth again. "Yeah well, I got my period today. No baby. I hope this makes you happy." She snapped and stood up from the table, heading for the door.

As soon as Amy had turned her back on him, Seth silently threw a fist up in the air and grinned. Thank God she wasn't pregnant. He wasn't going to be a father. He nodded to himself. This had to be the best feeling in the world.

Due to his own little victory ceremony, Seth hadn't noticed that Amy had turned around again and was now watching him celebrate her non-existant pregnancy.

"This is nice." She said and Seth looked up, a shocked expression on his face, looking like a kid that just had been caught in a huge lie.

"You could at least have feigned a little sympathy for me here." Amy snapped and turned around again, proceeding in the direction of the bathroom, leaving Seth sitting wide eyed at the table.

When she was out of sight, Seth threw his fist in the air again, doing a little headbanging. "No baby." He whispered and grinned broadly. He couldn't help it if Amy was annoyed by that – but to him, those were like the best news ever.

Some time later Seth, Amy, Summer, Craig, Jenny and Chris were gathered on a paintball field on the city edge of Chicago. The sun was shining down on them, and the air was warm, and everything could have been a perfect birthday for Amy – if it wouldn't have been Amy herself that was in an incredible bad mood ever since Seth and her had left their apartment building.

Seth assumed that Amy was angry that the pregnancy she thought she was on turned out to be a false alarm, and he also considered the fact that he had made his little victory dance right after Amy had told him that she wasn't pregnant had kind of annoyed her.

So it was no surprise that Amy scoffed all the way to the paintball field, and that she hadn't stopped when Seth was giving everyone their equipment for the day. From the look on his friends faces Seth could tell that it wasn't just Amy who was kind of annoyed from the whole paintball thing, and after everyone had their helmets, clothes and weapons, Seth put his hands on his hips and stared at the small group of people who were gathered in front of him.

"Could you guys be a little less enthusiastic about this?" he asked and made a face.

"I'm sorry Seth, this isn't… exactly what I'd call fun." Jenny said and shrugged.

Seth's gaze went over to Craig who looked quite insecure. "I… have never done this before so…"

Seth rolled his eyes and looked at Summer who inspected her fingernails.

"Cohen, this was like the worst idea ever." she said. "So help you God if I break a nail during this little adventure here."

Seth shook his head and stared into the small group in front of him. "So why are we even here if nobody wants to be?"

"Because it's my birthday, and you had this all planned. And because I'm in a war mood today. This could turn out to be real fun." Amy answered and put her helmet on.

Seth's eyes widened and he feigned shock as he looked at his girlfriend. "What, all of a sudden this could be fun? May I remind you of your scoffing and whimpering all the way here?"

Amy shrugged and fixed her helmet, shouldering her weapon. "Changed my mind."

Seth shook his head, confused. Women.

Chris interrupted their little conversation and nodded enthusiastically. "I think this is a good idea." He said and smiled at Seth broadly. "Coming here I mean." He looked at Craig and Seth and smiled even broader. "Plus, you guys look so hot in those army clothes it's insane."

"Chris, ew." Seth replied and frowned.

Craig laughed and shook his head. "You've been around Summer way too often." He said and smiled at Seth.

Seth grinned just innocently and winked at Summer who started to grin as well.

Chris, who had watched the whole smiling-at-each-other scene nudged Jenny in the side and gave her a glare that said more than words. Jenny nodded and bit her lower lip, smiling to herself. Even a blind person could have seen the sparks that were flying between Seth and Summer at that moment – well, except for Seth and Summer themselves.

"So, let's put the teams together then." Amy said and clapped her hands. "I'll be with Seth, of course…" She paused and looked over to Summer who watched her with an annoyed stare. Just like Seth was her possession, Amy grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to her. Summer shook her head and looked away again, leaving Amy content. "And Craig, you'll be with Summer. I mean that's only logical." She turned to Jenny. "And then it's just you and Chris that are left."

Jenny shrugged and put on her helmet. "Sounds okay to me." She said and took Chris' hand. "We're gonna knock you all out."

Summer smiled at her best friend and winked. "Not if we knock you out first." She said.

Amy watched the best friend scenery and rolled her eyes, clapping her hands once again. "Okay then… the rules are easy. Every group tries to shoot the members of the enemy groups. Normally, you're out when you get hit, but since we have the place rented all day we end the game after two hours. The group that has been hit the most has lost. Did everybody get that?"

The group nodded and Amy sighed contenly, looking up at Seth. "Ready baby?" she asked and Seth smiled, holding his weapon up in the air. "Always."

"Are you gonna be okay? With your knee I mean?" Summer asked and pointed with her head to Seth's knee.

Seth looked down on himself and nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna be fine. Watch out for me, you'll be dead!" he yelled and wiggled his eyebrows.

Summer shook her head and put her helmet on, laughing. "In your dreams, Cohen." She replied and took Craig's hand. She looked at her friends and raised her eyebrows. "So what now? Are we gonna talk or are we gonna play?"

One hour later the six friends were spread over the entire paintball area, some of them already decorated in the brightest colors. Seth had been shot several times right in his heart, but thanks to the changed rules he was still allowed to be involved in the game. Amy had been luckier, she hadn't been hit at all, a fact that made Seth and Amy the leading team by now.

Summer and Craig had parted a while ago to hunt more persons at a time. Right now, Summer was curled behind a bush, scanning her environment for any movements. She had found out pretty soon that she wasn't really talented for this game since her whole outfit was already peppered with loads of small colored spots. After the tenth hit Summer had actually stopped to count how often she would have been eliminated from the game if they had played according to the correct rules.

Jenny and Chris had just decided to take a break from hunting and being hunt and were sitting on two rocks in the farthest corner of the paintball area, discussing what they loved the most – her best friends Seth and Summer. After what he had seen just an hour ago before the match started, Chris saw his opinion that Seth and Summer were still in love with each other completely confirmed, and Jenny agreed with everything he was saying. The two of them knew that someday, Seth and Summer would see their real feelings as well and get together again.

Chris and Amy were lucky that they just had a talking break when Seth crawled past them behind some rocks, on the chase for his next victim. He and Amy had just parted ways, just like Summer and Craig had done it earlier. So thanks to their little break Seth didn't get the chance to shoot any of them, and crawled further until all of a sudden, a small pair of army boots showed up in front of his eyes.

Seth adjusted his helmet and looked up to see Summer standing in front of him, looking down with a very content smile on her face.

"Looks like you'll get another shot through the heart right now." She said and loaded her gun as Seth jumped up and whimpered. "Nooo. Don't shoot me, please." He said and pouted.

Summer laughed and shook her head, holding up her weapon high in the air. "Cohen, don't be a baby. Try to die like a man." She said and aimed for Seth's heart, the only place on his outfit that had been hit several times until now.

Seth sniffed and sighed theatrically. "Please spare me. I've just recovered from a major knee injury, I can't die now."

Summer put her weapon down eventually and stood on her right leg, tilting her head. "And I thought this whole fishing for compassion thing was over the day you got rid of the cast."

Seth shrugged and smiled innocently, showing off his dimples as he did so.

Summer held her breath for a second. Those dimples always made her heart beat twice its normal speed. She felt herself blushing and looked away, finding the dirty rocks next to them more interesting all of a sudden than their actual conversation.

"But…" Seth said and pointed to Summer with his gun. "I can shoot you."

Summer's jaw dropped and she tried to play shocked. "What now? I can't shoot you but you can shoot me?" she said and frowned. "What rules are that?"

Seth shrugged. "My rules."

Summer shook her head and reached for Seth's weapon to put it down. "Nuh-uh. Don't you think you'll get away like that." She moved closer to him. "I don't shoot you – and you don't shoot me. Let's just pretend we've never met here."

Seth curled his lips and looked at her. "Hm…"

Summer tilted her head and gave him one of her angel smiles.

"Fine then." Seth said and sighed. How could he resist such a beautiful smile? "But just because I like you so much."

Summer nodded and grinned. "Sure." She looked around her. "I guess I should go look for Craig – see how many people he shot. Plus, we're kind of breaking the rules here."

"You make this sound so dirty." Seth said and wiggled his eyebrows.

Summer shook her head and rolled her eyes but laughed. "Shut up you ass." She said and stuck out her tongue. "Or I might change my mind and shoot you."

Seth grinned and turned around to head in the opposite direction of her. "Not if I shoot you first."

And with that, Seth spun around again, shooting Summer right in her stomach. Shocked from that unexcpected move, Summer jumped, her eyes wide.

Shaking her head, she lifted her gun and shot Seth two times in each of his arms, smiling contenly after she was finished. She walked over to Seth and punched him playfully in the stomach. "Let's call it quits now." She said and stuck out her tongue. "My work is done here." She announced and strolled off, her weapon over her shoulder, leaving a very amused Seth behind.

Summer was still so extremely content that she had just shot Seth twice that she didn't notice Amy following her, her weapon pointed directly at her back. Only when Amy stepped on a dry branch and it cracked, Summer spun around, holding her gun out in front of her.

"So..." Amy said in such a low voice that made Summer shiver. "Tracked you down."

Summer's eyes narrowed and she made a face. "Don't you think you're gonna get me."

Amy rolled her eyes. "This isn't about you, darlin'. If it were up to me, you wouldn't even be here today."

"So? Then why am I here?" Summer asked and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Amy bit the insides of her cheeks and shot Summer a look that showed that she was ready to kill. "Because Seth wanted to invite you. He planned this stupid paintball thing months ago. And I couldn't cancel on him."

"Really? That's funny because usually you don't give a damn about what Seth wants. Why now?" Summer asked in the bitchiest voice she had.

Amy moved closer to Summer so their faces almost met. Summer could feel Amy's breath on her nose and she frowned.

"You wanna know why, precious Summer?" Amy asked and reloaded her weapon without Summer noticing it.

"That's why I've asked, skank." Summer snapped and put on the best war face she could manage.

"Because that way I knew I could get you." Amy said and took a few steps back, holding up her weapon. "Just like I have you now."

And before Summer even realized what was going on, she heard a loud "pang" coming from Amy's direction, and the next thing she felt was a breathtaking pain spreading all over her face.

Slumping down to her knees, Summer held on to her right eye with both of her hands and tried to understand what had just happened when she heard Amy's screams next to her.

"Summer? Oh my God, are you okay? Summer, look at me!" Amy screamed, terrified, kneeling down next to Summer and grabbing her shoulders.

When Summer didn't reply and just held on to her face, whimpering mixing with her cries, Amy threw her helmet and gun away and started to run for help as fast as she could.

Summer didn't know what had just happened, she just felt the pain spreading all over her face as soon as she moved. She couldn't even locate where the pain was coming from. Her hands clung on to her face automatically, and she felt how some tears were streaming down her face.

After a few minutes of having slumped down to the floor Summer managed to get her hands off from her face, and she almost fainted when she saw that she was bleeding. Not much but enough to make her only moreupset.Breathing quickly, she tried to calm herself down, and when sheheard familiar voices screaming her name, she tried to turn around, her head dizzy and spinning all of a sudden. She closed her eyes once again and waited for anyone to help her – well, anyone except Amy.

A few minutes later Summer found herself sitting on a bench near the parking lot, pressing a bag of ice on her cheek. Her wound was not as bad as it had first looked like, and she had been lucky that Amy's shot had missed her eye just for a few inches.

Summer hadn't said a word since her friends had arrived to help her, and she didn't plan on it any time soon. This was just too embarrassing and too stupid to talk about. Plus, as much as she hated Amy right now, she didn't want to blame her for what had happened – and not because she wanted to be nice to Amy, but because she didn't want to hurt Seth.

Craig and Seth were kneeling in front of her, Seth holding on to her right knee, Craig to her left. Summer didn't look at them – she preferred staring in the space that was between them.

The rest of the gang stood around the three of them, Amy as far in the background as possible. Right now she wouldn't want to be anywhere else than in the background, because it was obvious that everybody hated her for what she had done – including Seth, concerning the icy glare he had given her as soon as he had reached Summer a few minutes ago.

Suddenly, Seth started to rub Summer's knee.

"Summer, are you okay? Do you need some more ice?" he asked, and Summer shook her head in response.

"Baby, talk to us. Is anything hurting?" Craig jumped in now, and Summer shook her head again.

Craig and Seth looked at each other, and Seth shrugged and shook his head. He joined Summer on the bench and put an arm around her shoulder, almost forcing her to look at him.

"What happened out there?" he asked her and Summer turned her head to look into his gorgeous brown eyes, and all of a sudden, her mind was blank. She didn't remember what had happened out on the field with Amy. All that she knew at the moment was that she wanted to dive into Seth's eyes and never come up again.

"It was… an accident." She mumbled and forced herself to look away on the floor.

Seth stroked a strand of hair behind Summer's ear, his gaze never leaving hers.

Summer shivered as she felt how intensely Seth was staring at her, and she softly shoved his arm away from her shoulders. She cleared her throat and reached for Craig's hand that was still resting on her knee.

"I wanna go home." She announced and put the ice bag on the empty spot next to her.

Craig nodded and helped Summer get up from the bench, laying an arm around her waist. He turned to Amy and shrugged. "I'm sorry your birthday had to end like that." He said and Amy nodded, looking at Summer.

"I'm sorry too." She mumbled and looked at Summer who completely ignored her.

"Save it you bitch." Summer whispered when she passed Amy. "You're sick."

Amy looked down to the floor, embarrassed, trying to avoid Chris' and Jenny's stares.

"Summer, please-"

Now Summer spun around and brought her face close to Amy's, ready to kill her with her look. "I said save it, you bitch. I honestly don't know what Seth sees in you." And with that, Summer turned around, happy to see how ashamed and sad Amy was, and she didn't turn back until Craig and her had reached their car. When she sat in the passenger's seat she caught a glimpse of Seth and Amy, and she could see that Seth was yelling at her.

Summer closed her eyes and smiled contently. At least Amy got what she deserved.

Seth didn't remember the last time he had been so angry. He had been angry when he found out that his parents had kept his grandfather's disease a secret, but the anger from that time couldn't be compared with the fury he felt today.

He and Amy were walking for the elevated train station next to each other in silence, Amy her arms crossed in front of her chest and Seth staring in the distance. Seth knew that if he had to look Amy in the eyes right now he would lost his temper completely, and he didn't want half of Chicago to witness their fight.

And if it had been up to him, he would have remained walking in silence, but obviously Amy preferred to be yelled at in the street since she started talking all of a sudden.

"Seth, I'm sorry." She said and kept staring on the ground.

At that comment, Seth stopped and closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Why don't we discuss that at home?" he asked, trying not to lose his temper.

Amy stopped as well and put her hands on her hips. "Because I can't stand it when you're ignoring me."

Seth took a deep breath and counted to three. "Keep cool Seth, stay calm" he told himself. He put on an angry smile and looked at Amy. "Well, maybe you deserve to be ignored, have you ever thought of that?"

"What for? It was just a stupid game, and I didn't shoot Summer on purpose." Amy said and shrugged. "She kind of got in the way."

Seth gritted his teeth and shook his head. This was unbelievable. "It's a shame that I don't believe in fairy tales anymore." He said. "Because this one's probably the best I've ever heard."

Amy's eyes widened in shock and she gasped. "Excuse me? What do you mean, "fairy tale"? I tracked Summer down and she lost, that's all."

Now Seth couldn't hold his anger back any longer, and he gripped Amy's arm tightly. "Don't you think that I believe a word you're saying." He mumbled through gritted teeth. "You've hated Summer from the very first moment, and you've always been jealous of her. Always."

Amy shoved Seth's hand away and took a few steps back. "Yeah, and have you ever wondered why?" she yelled, ignoring the people that started to watch them. "Because every time she calls you forget everything else. Every time her precious boyfriend abandons her for his job, you're the first one to keep her company. Don't you think I haven't seen the way you look at her? Like she's the most precious thing walking on this planet?"

Seth opened his mouth but wasn't able to say anything. Amy's words echoed in his mind, and he found himself realizing that she was right. But that didn't give her the right to hurt Summer the way she had today.

"Wow, the rambling king has lost his words, huh?" Amy spat and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "That's amazing, I couldn't make you love me, but I actually achieved to shut you up."

"Who do you think you are?" Seth shouted now and took a few steps in Amy's direction. "You expect me to care for our relationship, to care for you, and you don't visit me when I'm in the hospital for weeks. You didn't take care of me when I came home, and I couldn't walk for days. When my grandfather died you told me not to be a baby about this, and you were actually fuming at me when I told you I'd take Summer to the funeral with me." He laughed and shook his head. "And to top all of this – you tried to get pregnant even though I told you I don't want a baby. You didn't take your anti-baby pills because you wanted to get pregnant without me noticing it. So tell me, how could I possibly fall in love with a witch like you?"

Amy stared at Seth with her eyes wide open. This time it was her who didn't know what to say.

Seth grinned broadly. "Well, now I achieved to shut YOU up, didn't I?" he asked and raised a forefinger, bringing his face close to Amy's. "Oh, and you know what? On my birthday, when you were busy throwing up in the bathrooms…" he paused to give Amy some time to let the information sink in. "Summer and I kissed."

Amy blinked twice and her jaw dropped. "You did what?" she whispered, tears dwelling up in her eyes.

"I kissed her." Seth repeated and stood straight again, nodding for emphasize. When he saw the tears in Amy's eyes he shook his head. "Not this again." He mumbled. He knew that reaction only too well.

Angrily, Amy wiped her tears away and sniffed. "This is too much." She said and started to run down the street without looking back once.

Seth sighed and looked up to the sky. Should he feel bad about what had just happened? Or had it been right to tell Amy all those things? He sat down on a nearby bench and nodded to himself. Of course it had been right to tell her what he felt. He hated it that Amy thought only she had the right to feel hurt about how he treated her. What was about his feelings?

And right then, as he was sitting on that bench, Seth suddenly knew that he and Amy couldn't go on like this anymore.

Next chapter: Dare You To Move – Seth makes a final move… as does Craig.