Author's Notes: This is so hard to write. But for all you Summer fans, this is where she comes into play.

PS: Sorry this took so long. I have been so busy with other things lately. But now that this chapter has been written, I can write it faster.


The mood in the apartment was quiet and dull. None of the guys had the best of days and none were in a talkative mood. Pat was baking a pizza, Brian was playing his game boy and Seth was bored out of his mind.

"You guys got any glass?" Seth asked tiredly, his head lulling back and forth. He needed a line of coke or a bowl of weed to take his mind off of his sudden and nasty break up with Cassie.

Seth had claimed that since the relationship was based on nothing but sexual attraction, there was no future. Cassie turned the claim to an accusation that Seth had used her for sex and lead her on. There had been fighting and yelling, kicking and screaming, crying and harsh words, but it was over now. And Seth needed something to calm himself down.

"None, dude," Brian grumbled, his eyes not leaving the screen of his game boy.

"Weed?"

"None," Pat called from the kitchen.

"What the hell, man? Dammit!" Seth sighed. "When are we getting some?"

"Well," Derek began as he walked out of the bedroom towards the kitchen. "The guy said he can get it on Thursday. And that's only till tomorrow, man."

"'Tomorrow? I want it now," Seth practically whined. "I really don't think I can wait till tomorrow."

"What the hell do you want me to do about it?" Brian snapped. "Fucking pull it out of a hat?"

Before Seth had the chance to say anything, Derek stepped between the two. "Seth, if you really want some that bad, dude, there's a guy that you can get it from. But its all you, man."

"What do you mean?" Seth asked.

Derek and Brian exchanged stormy looks before Derek continued. "Well, the guy is always messed up. Always. And the police around here know him pretty well, so it's not like he can just go out and sell, you know? So he gets guys to sell it for him, and then he just hands over a cut of the profit or the stuff."

"That doesn't sound too weird to me," Seth commented. "Hell, I'll do it."

"That's just it," Derek pointed at Seth. "That's exactly what me and Josiah thought last time we needed some blow, right Jo?"

Josiah looked up, his eyes blurry and glassy. "Yeah, man. That was insane."

Seth looked confusedly at Derek, who continued. "We were going to sell some smack to these guys in exchange for some cocaine, but for some reason, at the last second, we couldn't do it."

"It's because you have to front the shit and you guys didn't have money," Brian called from the couch.

Seth sat up straight. "Money is no problem, believe me."

"And the guys who went instead of us got their fucking heads blown off by these crazy Mexican guys," Josiah finished, completely ignoring Seth's interruption.

Seth's mouth dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I don't know if I'd risk it, man," Derek shook his head. "This guy deals with shady people. It's not worth it."

Seth sat back to think for a second. It was pretty apparent that if he did for some reason decide to go, that none of these guys would go with him. He'd be in it by himself. And was it really worth it?

He sighed to himself. It wasn't worth it, but he knew he would feel so much better with it.

'This is what an addiction must feel like,' he thought glumly.

Seth leaned forward and grabbed a cigarette off of the table. A nasty habit he had picked up since the beginning of school. It was just a little something that could at least hold his attention while the guys didn't have anything. Especially in times such as these. He lit up a Camel and sat back once more.

"Hey Derek," Seth called. Derek looked up from his pizza at the table. "Give me that guy's number."

Derek gave Seth a shocked stare as he pulled his phone from his pocket. "Here it is. But be careful, man."

Seth caught Derek's phone as it was tossed towards him. He copied down the number quickly, excused himself and walked out of the apartment, his phone dialing the number on the way out.


Three hours later, Seth sat on a park bench outside of Del Sandra's, the just off campus coffee house. He glanced around nervously, waiting for sight of whoever it was he was supposed to meet. The conversation he had had with "Reggie" earlier had been very simple and to the point.

"Hello?" Seth had asked, and he was met with silence.

"Name."

"Seth," Seth gulped nervously.

"How did you get this number?"

"My friend Derek. He said--"

"There will be someone meeting you on the park bench in from of Del Sandra's at six o'clock. Understand?"

"Yeah." Seth's nervousness had escalated to the point of his heart being in his throat.

There was a click, and the conversation was over.

Now it was 5:56, and there was still no one in sight.

Just as he was about to leave, a guy almost his age sat down on the bench next to him. The guy didn't even go so far as to even acknowledge Seth's presence. Out of the corner of his eye, he barely caught the man slipping a CD case into Seth's bag while taking the bank envelope that contained the $300.

"The girl you're meeting should be here in fifteen minutes," the guy said, still looking straight ahead. Seth made careful not to look at him, either. "It's a chick, so I think you'll be okay. You never know who they'll bring though, so keep your guard up. Good luck. She'll be paying $300. Even. All cash. Just give her the case. I'll be back here in exactly thirty minutes to pick up the cash. And I'll have your glass when I get back."

He got up and walked down the street as if he had never exchanged words with Seth.

Seth sighed and sat back once more. If only his parents could see him now. Doing drugs, dealing drugs, hanging out with people who did both. He almost wished, for just a split second, that he was back in Newport, laying on the bed in the pool house, whining to Ryan about his Summer problems. And if Summer could see him now, she would probably kick his ass so hard that he would never worry about drugs again.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he was relieved to have a distraction from his worrying. 'Are you okay, man?' read the text message from Derek.

Seth nodded and smiled. Derek really was a good guy. It wasn't his fault that he was so messed up. Out of all of the guys, Seth had grown the most attached to Derek and Michael. Derek more so than Michael. He felt as if Derek always had his back and was always watching out for him. It wasn't his fault that his parents were total losers and didn't care about their son. Derek was just trying to deal with things the best way that he could. And Seth was determined not to judge him for that.

He looked up as he heard someone walk by, and immediately, all of the color drained from his face. His mouth dropped into a surprised 'o' as he viewed the one and only Marissa Cooper standing directly in front of him. She was glancing around nervously as if she was looking for something. He guessed that she hadn't seen him at all. How the hell was he supposed to make a drug deal if his brother's girlfriend was standing right there?

"Marissa?" Seth squeaked. She turned around very suddenly, almost hitting Seth with her large bag. He was even more surprised to see the expression that ran across her face to be much similar to the one on his. If not worse.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, the breeze blowing her hair around her face.

"Waiting to give something to a friend," Seth said cautiously. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Ryan. Study date," Marissa said just as cautiously.

"Funny. I talked to Ryan earlier and he said he was sick and he's staying home all night."

Marissa pretended that his words didn't affect her and she continued to play with the latch on her Chanel bag.

They continued to sit in silence before either of them spoke.

Finally, Seth decided to break the silence. "Does Ryan know that you're still doing coke, Marissa?" Seth asked very softly.

Marissa practically jumped back as if she had been burned. The look of horror on her face lasted not even a split second before it was replaced with calm, cool collection. "Does Ryan know that you're selling coke, Seth?"
"Touché," Seth chuckled humorlessly to himself. "So we have ourselves a bit of a situation."

She looked away, her eyes wide and nervous.

"Ryan has a suspicion. And I want you to make him forget that," Seth said as-a-matter-of-factly. "I don't care what you have to do, but make him leave me alone."

"I can't do that," Marissa protested. "He knows, Seth. He's just waiting until he has proof."

"Well, Marissa, you're really good at deceiving people. I mean, how long have you been doing coke without Ryan knowing?"

"I choose not to dignify that with a response," Marissa snapped.

"Your choice." Seth pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his bag, offering Marissa one before he slid his own out and lit it. She politely declined. Seth shrugged as he lit it and took a deep drag.

"You could have fooled me," Seth said after a long pause. "I had no idea you were back on."

"I wish I could say the same for you," Marissa said softly, brushing her hair back with one hand. They both stared straight ahead.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I see the people you hang out with. I see your eyes. I see the change in your attitude. Everyone can. I'm not retarded."

Seth shrugged once more as he reached into his bag.

"$300."

She handed him an envelope out of her own bag.

"It's all right there." She stood up from the bench and brushed the imaginary dirt from her lap. "I'll see you around, Seth. Stay out of trouble."

"Same to you, Cooper. I'll be seeing you soon," he called after her as she walked down the street.


"I hate the cold!" Summer cried, kicking a pile of clothes as she came in from the balcony. It was only October and the weather was already almost to negative numbers. And the crazy part was that no one in Rhode Island seemed to care. Everyone just bundled up in heavy coats, pretty much ignoring the little California girl shivering in the midst.

"I hate the cold, I hate Rhode Island! I hate apartments! I hate laundry!" Summer could honestly feel a rage blackout coming, but she didn't care. She had never been more homesick than she was at that exact moment. She missed everyone back in Orange County. Any familiar face would be a pleasure to see at that moment, even someone like Holly. Or even Taylor.

Most of all, she missed Seth. She hadn't seen or heard from him in what seemed to be forever, and she missed him more than anything. The only thing that kept her from calling, though, was the pain that she felt whenever she thought of how he was probably just sitting at Berkeley, being stoned or drunk.

She knew all about Seth's little excursions into the drug world. Ryan and Marissa had done a very good job at keeping her posted and informed without his knowledge. Ryan hadn't been the one to tell about the marijuana, though. Marissa had told her about seeing Seth stumbling around with boys that were not notorious for good behavior. Summer could honestly say that she wasn't surprised, but that didn't make her any less disappointed.

Both girls were almost completely positive that Ryan had no idea that he was on drugs of any type. He had his suspicions, sure, but he had never caught Seth under any sort of influence and he had never smelled anything on him. And if anyone would know if drugs were present, it would be Ryan. Unless he was in some sort of state of denial.

She preferred not to go with the latter of the two.

Fortunately, she was planning a trip back to Newport for that weekend. It was fall break and school was recessing for an entire week. When she had first looked at her calendar, she had considered what a good opportunity that seven days would be to catch up on studying. But then she had received a call from Marissa urging her to return home as soon as she possibly could. She hadn't made it clear, and it was obvious she was not willing to talk about it over the phone. But she said it was serious. And it had to do with Seth.

Reluctantly, Summer had booked a flight back to Newport Beach for three hours after her last class on Thursday evening.

Which was in precisely 23 hours in counting.

Her mind was reeling and she couldn't stop thinking about what could possibly be so important that she had to fly thousands of miles to discuss. What could possibly not be handled over the phone. Seth was in trouble, no doubt, and Summer was willing to bet it was the moral or legal kind. And she couldn't decide which was worse.


"I talked to your mom today," Ryan told Seth later that evening as they relaxed in the dorm. Ryan was folding his laundry and packing, while Seth had just woken up from a nap. "She said she was really excited to see us tomorrow."

"I'm sure she is," Seth mumbled from his place on the couch. "Listen, Ryan, I was thinking that I really don't think that going back to Newport tomorrow is going to be a good idea."

Ryan looked up, obviously shocked by the news. "What? I thought we would all go back together. You, me, Marissa. It will be fun! Why aren't you coming?"

Seth winced at the obvious disappointment in Ryan's voice. "You know, dude. Midterms are in like, two weeks and I am already falling behind in my classes. If I do really well on these, I can really do okay this semester. I just need to stay here and concentrate on school."

Ryan set the shirt he was folding into his suitcase. "Dude, your mom, seriously. She was really looking forward to seeing both of us."

"Well that doesn't mean that you can't go!" Seth practically snapped. "I'm sure she will be very excited to see you!"

Ryan looked as if he had been slapped. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Seth said, his voice a littler slower and calmer, "that you should go to Newport. Just because I am not going doesn't mean that you should sacrifice your weekend of fun."

"I just expected us to go together." Ryan's voice was cold. "But I will call Kirsten and Sandy today and let them know that you have more important things to do here."

With that, Ryan walked out of the dorm, slamming the door in his wake.


So now I have this written. So expect an update later tomorrow.