Here we are again.

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. I'm happy to see people's reaction to Che. He really has nothing to do with the story, but I had to fit him in somewhere because he's so much fun.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Let the meddling begin

"Huh."

"We're still on?"

Seth shook his head and turned his attention to Che who had frozen, holding up a backpack and rope in his hands.

"Yeah," Seth finally answered.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. So are you watching this?" Seth asked, pointing to the television.

"I've seen it. It's atrocious, isn't it?"

"Sure. Did you see the size of those sticks? We're going to go protest against the people with the big sticks, is that what you're telling me?"

"They're called clubs, Seth. And someone must stop them all before they injure one more seal."

"Sure. No, I get that." He bobbed his head nervously. "But, isn't there someone we can talk to other than the men with the big sticks?"

"Summerbear would be so proud of you, Seth."

"Hm. Sure. If she knew."

Che lifted his head from where he had been concentrating on the bag in front of him. "You haven't told Summer about our adventure?"

"I haven't really talked to her lately," Seth told him, moving toward Che to help him with the miscellaneous objects that were scattered on the floor of his hotel room. "I have to call her."

"So call her."

"We'll finish this first, and then I'll call her."

Che stopped playing with the backpack and reached out to grab Seth's arm. "I sense some distress, Seth."

"You're a very perceptive man, Che."

Che bit his bottom lip and nodded slowly. "I also sense some sarcasm, but it's an aura I've learned blends well with you."

"Thanks."

"Why won't you call Summer?"

"I will call Summer." Seth shrugged, picking up a Swiss army knife and fiddling with it until a blade popped out, causing him to jump back in surprise. "Right after we're done this if I survive. I promise."

They both jumped when Seth's cell phone rang. Che watched as Seth tried to ignore it.

"Aren't you going to get that?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm talking to you; it would be rude."

Che nodded, then quickly reached out and grabbed the phone before Seth could stop him.

"Seth's telephone, hello?"

"Hello? Seth?"

"No. This is Che."

"Is Seth still alive? He hasn't already gotten killed, has he?"

"Have no fear. Otter-Seth is still alive, well, and about to call Summer according to him."

"Don't believe that. He's absolutely lying."

Che nodded slowly as he contemplated Seth. "His aura is slightly murky."

"My aura is not murky. And no one, Ryan," Seth yelled without having to ask who was on the phone, "asked you for your opinion."

"He always asks me for my opinion; I just offered it before he had a chance this time," Ryan muttered with a sigh. "So he's still hiding from Summer with you, huh?"

"He says you're hiding from Summer," Che offered.

"I'm not hiding. I'm helping a friend. Che tell Ryan that he's being a horrible brother by not supporting this crusade."

"Blood of the sea otter," Che sighed. "It's an amazing pleasure to talk with you. I send you a hug over the airwaves."

"Uh huh. Is there any way I could talk to Seth?"

"Of course. I look forward to our next conversation." Che moved forward and passed the phone to Seth who took it with a loud, dramatic sigh.

"What?"

"Stop hiding from Summer. You're going to get killed or arrested just so you don't have to face her."

"I'm not avoiding Summer."

"Then what are you doing?"

Seth looked over at Che who was packing their bags once again. He cleared his throat to be sure his voice wouldn't squeak when he talked. "Che and I are going to Canada to protest the seal hunt."

"Why?"

"They whack seals with clubs, Ryan. How would you feel if you were being whacked with a club?"

"Like I was dating Summer?"

"Hey now," Seth protested weakly, finally offering nothing more than a shrug as he imagined Ryan sending him one of his signature looks.

"It's a journey. A challenge," Che insisted as he grabbed the phone from Seth.

"No. Asking Summer to marry him is a challenge. Going to Canada so that he can delay asking her, that's procrastination."

Che grinned as he turned to Seth. "You're asking Summer to marry you?"

"Eventually. After this very important thing I have to do."

Che's mouth gaped open for a moment. "Seals have been hunted for millions of years, Seth. You and Summer's love—while eternal—is but in it's infancy. It requires more nurturing and affection. You should go to her."

"Whoa, let's not get crazy here. She's stressing out about her final days at GEORGE. She's got tons of work. She's always on the clock." Seth worked his mouth as he tried to find more excuses.

Che held up his finger as he listened to Ryan over the line. He offered a quick salutation before hanging up. "He says his taxi has arrived, but that we shouldn't do anything before he calls us back. We are to stay here until we have a better handle on the situation."

Seth grabbed his phone from Che.

"That won't work. Who knows how long it will take until Ryan gets back to us? It could take a long time. Summer won't mind waiting. She's patient now." He jumped when the phone in his hands rang, looking down quickly. "And… and her father's calling me. Hello? Dr. Roberts?"

Che watched Seth move around him, then leaned forward so he could better hear Seth's half of the conversation.

"What? … No, I'm not cheating on your daughter; I'm asking her to marry me… She's what?... What do you mean miserable?... Well, I've been getting ready to ask her to marry me. It takes a lot… Yeah… No, I would be worried too if I couldn't get a hold of her after trying for over twenty-four hours… Yeah, I will… All right… Good-bye, si—" Seth's head snapped back, and he stared at his phone for a few moments before turning to Che. "The connection died. Apparently I have to go call Summer now."

"His aura is definitely orange," Che mumbled as he turned to watch the seals on the television.

"I don't want you to go."

"What?"

"You heard me. I don't want you to go."

"Summer, no offence, but I really don't think you're in a position—"

"Oh, I'm in all positions, Cohen, and you better believe it."

She couldn't see it from hundreds of miles away, but she was well aware that he was rolling his eyes at her and shuffling his feet. Well, perhaps not the shuffling part. She had missed his very belated call when it finally came, and it was only now when she was sitting on her temporary bed and he was sitting wherever Che had led him so far, that they were getting to talk.

"Summer, you're travelling across the country and have been for years, doing this great thing and making a difference. I'm talking about one trip to Canada with Che. That's hardly the drama you're making it out to be."

"Seth, the last time you and Che had an adventure, you ended up in jail. Is that really an experience you want to repeat?"

"I'm not going to end up in jail, Summer."

"Canadian jail with lumberjacks and hockey players," Summer continued, ignoring him. "You're too pretty and fragile to go to jail, Cohen."

"Aww, you think I'm pretty," he laughed nervously.

Summer narrowed her eyes despite the fact that he couldn't see her. "You do realise I'm keeping a tally of how many smacks I owe you, right? You're up to twenty. I suggest you wear a lot of layers the next time we see each other."

"Layers, got it."

Summer huffed. "So, is this Canadian escapade why Ryan was so worried when I talked to him on the phone the other night?"

"I guess so," Seth answered before he even realised he was lying. At least, he decided, he was lying for a good cause this time.

"Just…" She sighed over the phone as she let her body slouch down on the bed. "Please don't go, Seth."

He shook his head at his weakness. She had him more than whipped. He adored her to the point where he would do anything to make her happy, and obviously the prospect of him, Canada, and Che wasn't something that was going to bring any sunshine to her life.

"Fine," he sighed.

"What?"

"I won't go to Canada."

"Really?" Summer straightened at the sound of his voice.

"Really." He nodded to her, miles between them. "I promise."

"Good."

Seth rubbed his forehead as he tried to both follow the conversation and figure out what he could do next to delay having to confront Summer and possibly the second wedding rejection in his short adult life.

He sighed again. "Well, I know you're serious when you call me Seth."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and suddenly Seth took note of the tone of her voice.

She had asked him not to go. She had only threatened to hurt him once. She had sighed, she had said please, and she had used his first name.

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"Are you okay? You sound tired, or stress, or… something not good."

Summer shifted the phone to her other ear and let herself fall back against the pillows until she was on her back. She was tired and stressed and a whole lot of other emotions on top of those that were only now starting to fade as she listened to her boyfriend's voice on the line and believed that he wouldn't be putting his life in danger anytime soon.

"I am tired. And stressed, I guess. Leaving is just a lot harder than I though it would be."

"You don't want to? You want to stay on with GEORGE?" Seth asked, clearing his voice to hide the way it cracked at the thought of being away from her for another year or more.

"God, no. I can't wait to be home with you. I just… It's training the new people and making sure that all the paperwork is complete and remembering all the procedures so I can show someone else… It's hard."

"You need me over there?"

She smiled at the question. A few minutes earlier she was coercing him not to leave the country and at the first sound of a crack in her voice, he was ready to be wherever she needed him, making sure she was getting enough sleep and that no one was giving her a hard time. Thank God she hadn't mentioned anything about Matthew to him.

"No. I just need to know that you aren't going to Canada and that I can sleep through the night without worrying about you."

"I'm sorry." Seth let his body slide to the ground so he could sit with his head leaned back against the wall. He could hear Che singing loudly in the shower and tried to tune the man's voice out. "I didn't want you to worry. I didn't mean to add to your stress."

"I know. Actually, can you believe that I was talking to Taylor about you?"

"Taylor?"

"Yeah, she just showed up and I guess she just seemed like a good person to talk to. I don't know what I was thinking. The girl does not have the best relationship track record."

"Wait. Does Ryan know she's around?"

"Yeah, we were talking and—"

Seth let out a chuckled as he shook his head. "Now that makes sense. I knew something was up when he mentioned her in our phone conversation."

"He seemed a little—"

"He's worse. Trust me."

Summer let out her own laugh. "What are we going to do about those two?"

"I have no idea."

Summer sighed as she watched her roommate for the week walk through the door of her room. "I should go. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"You'll definitely talk to me tomorrow. Maybe even a few times to make up for the last few days."

"Don't make promises you won't be keeping."

"Don't make me call you every hour and annoy you to the point where you block out my number.

"Fair enough," Summer laughed. "Good night."

"Night," Seth answered, looking up at the clear sky above his head. "Love you."

"Love you too, Cohen."

They hung up before either of them could start clinging to the sound of the other breathing, all too aware that that could last much longer than they had time to spend on the silence between them.

"Ryan Atwood," Seth finally mumbled to himself, shaking his head. "What has that woman done to you?"

"Explain it again."

"Ryan, no matter how many times she explains it, it won't change what she's saying."

Ryan took a deep breath and looked over to Kaitlin. "Seriously?"

"Colin," Kaitlin quickly intervened, watching as Ryan fisted his hand next to his body, "why don't you go get us some food? Please."

"But I—"

"Remember what I said about Ryan punching?"

Colin looked over at Ryan, noticing the clenched jaw and the expanded movement of his chest with every deep breath he took.

"I'll go get us some food. What do you want?"

"Whatever," Kaitlin shrugged as she waved her hand in his direction.

They waited in silence until Colin had grabbed his jacket and left the room, sending one last wary look over his shoulder.

"Kaitlin…" Ryan warned.

"Don't get mad, Ryan. That's not you anymore, remember? You went cage fighting and that knocked the violence right out of you."

He sat next to her on his dorm bed. He rubbed the palm of his hands against his jeans, trying to wipe away the sweat that had formed there from the tight fists he had been making. "I'm not mad. I'm not going to get mad. Just tell me what happened."

Kaitlin sighed and suddenly bit her lip, looking much more nervous and awkward than he could ever remember seeing her. She took a deep breath.

"The thing is that I don't even know if you were serious that time we talked, but you did say that you would always be like a brother to me, and I know that I do have a brother now, and so do you really, but he's like this tiny kid and he can't help me and I need help Ryan and I guess I could have gone somewhere else, but I just didn't want to go to anyone else with—"

"Kaitlin," Ryan interrupted, "stop pulling a Seth and just tell me what happened."

She stared at him for a moment, then without a word, she raised her left hand.

"I know you're married. I just don't understand why."

"Neither do I. It just… There was party and then time apart and then everyone was so happy, and I'm not used to that, and I hadn't gotten in trouble in so long and—"

"Kaitlin!" Ryan interrupted. "What are you saying?

Kaitlin chuckled and shook her head. "I'm saying I'm married and that that's not all."

"There's more?"

With a tight smirk, Kaitlin reached into her bag and took out a small box. She opened it, and pointed the contents in Ryan's direction.

His jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"That's a pregnancy test."

"That's a pregnancy test," Kaitlin agreed with a nod. "I figured you'd know a positive when you saw one."

Ryan said nothing, nodding as though he didn't understand the insult; not able to process the insult as his eyes stayed glued to the test.

"You'll help, right?"

His eyes travelled quickly from the test to Kaitlin. Help? He barely knew where to start.

"Yeah," he finally answered with the shadow of a nod. "I'll help."

"Summer? Are you still up?"

"Hmm?" She looked up quickly from the papers in front of her. She barely spared Matthew a glance before she let her eyes drop back to the sheets. "Yeah, I wanted to get a little more done before I went to bed."

"It's two in the morning."

"Is it?" She glanced quickly at her watch and at the doors of the hotel. She hadn't wanted to bother her roommate's slumber, and seeing as it was a slow time for the hotel business, Summer had tried to her luck at spending the evening working in the lobby. She'd let Seth be a distraction so long, that she was behind on her work and was hoping to get as much as possible done in hopes of leaving even earlier than scheduled. "The freshmen are going to be exhausted tomorrow."

"What?"

Summer laughed and shook her head as she looked up at him again. "The freshmen went out to some bar one of them heard about. They haven't come back yet."

"Do you see what I'm going to have to deal with once you're gone? You can't really be leaving me with these children, can you, Summer?"

"I am definitively leaving GEORGE, and you need to stop bothering me about it, Matthew."

"But what am I going to do without you?" Matthew asked as he moved to sit next to her on the sofa.

Summer looked up as she felt him shifting next to her. The lobby was dead at this time of the night, and there had been plenty of other seats he could have chosen without having to sit right next to her, disturbing all the papers she had strategically placed around her.

"You'll just have to find someone else to bother. Or, hey, here's an idea. Go to bed. It's late or early, or whatever… And you don't have to be up at this time of the night, so don't be."

"But there's no one I want to bother other than you, Summer."

"Well, I'm not sticking around just for your entertainment."

Matthew shifted closer to her, leaning in. "And you know there's no one I'll want to watch working as much as you. There's no one nearly as beautiful and—"

"Ew. What are you doing?" Summer asked as she pushed his slowly approaching form away from her. She couldn't even wince for him when he fell off the small couch and onto the floor. "What the hell are you doing, Matthew?"

"I'm just showing you how much I'm going to miss you."

"I don't care how much you're going to miss me. I care about how much my boyfriend misses me and how much I miss him and everyone else from back home. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to miss you. I mean you were a really good friend for a while Matthew, but ever since Collette…" Summer bit her tongue at the name.

It was no secret that when Collette had chosen to leave GEORGE to return to her studies, Matthew—who had been dating her at the time—had not taken it well. He'd had a full out tantrum, accusing her of everything from sleeping with other guys to leaving in order to sabotage their relationship and be rid of him.

"Don't say her name," he hissed at her. "She has nothing to do with this."

Summer shook her head. "There is no this. I'm with Seth, and you know it. I haven't spent the four years I've been working here being faithful to him just so I can cheat on him a few weeks before we start our life together. I love Seth."

"Fine, you can love Seth all you want. But I think we both know that there's something between us, and I think that we should pay credit to that before we part."

He swooped in on her, his hands reaching for her and his lips set on a course toward her own. Before she could go rage blackout on him and make sure he would never dare try anything close to what he was doing, however, someone else interrupted their little escapade.

"Hey."

Summer and Matthew both looked up quickly to see Jessica and Shawn—another of the freshmen—looking down at them. Shawn gave a little chuckle, a squeeze to Jessica's elbow, and then moved away toward the elevators.

"Hey," Summer answered Jessica, pushing Matthew away from her, and once again sending him crashing to the floor. "How was the club?"

"It was good. You guys weren't waiting up for us, were you?" Jessica asked, as she let her eyes travel between Summer and Matthew.

"No. I was trying to get some last minute stuff done, and Matthew was just annoying me. He was leaving now though."

Matthew gave her a wide smile. "I don't think we were done our conversation."

"I think the only addition there could be to our conversation would be a very strategically placed kick in your direction. So, do you really want to keep chatting about this?"

Matthew's eyes widened, then narrowed, looking for the truth in her words and her eyes. Finally, he seemed to decide that he couldn't find anything there that suggested Summer would not, in fact, cause him serious bodily harm if he didn't leave her alone. He shrugged and sent a wink in Jessica's direction before leaving them.

"Are you okay?" Jessica asked as she moved to sit on the coffee table in front of Summer.

"Yeah. I'm just tired and getting more and more excited about leaving this place."

"I mean with him. You didn't look like you were enjoying whatever he was trying to do or say to you, and he didn't look like he was going to give up on it anytime soon." Jessica looked back in the direction Matthew had left. "He kind of creeps me out."

Summer shook her head. "He was okay when he was dating Collette, but now… I don't know, he's just been different since then."

"And slightly obsessed with you."

Summer's brow scrunched at the thought. "You think?"

"He's always watching you, Summer. All he's been talking about lately is how he can't let you leave because you're the best and stuff. It's weird. I don't like it."

"Don't worry about him," Summer said with a shrug. "He's not psychotic or anything. And besides, in a few weeks, he'll be on a bus and I'll be in my home with my boyfriend. I can definitely scare his ass away from mine for that long."

"If you're sure," Jessica shrugged.

"I'm sure." Summer took a look at the papers scattered around her and let out a loud breath at the prospect of all the work she still had ahead of her. "So, tell me about you and Shawn…"

"Sandy Cohen, don't even think about it."

"Hi, honey," Sandy said as he turned to smile at his wife, his hand not leaving the doorknob it was firmly holding. "I just noticed that we were out of milk and bagels, and since we really can't start our mornings without those, I'm just going to slip out and—"

"You are not leaving me alone with that woman."

"Honey, she's your friend."

"I love Julie like a… a…"

"Stepmother?" Sandy offered.

"Like a sister," Kirsten corrected, as she moved forward to remove Sandy's hand from the doorknob and push him away from the door. "But she is driving me insane. I don't know if I can stand an entire week of this. Plus you were gone most of yesterday. You have to help me with her at some point."

"Can't we just kick her out?"

"No, we can't. She has no one to be with right now and she's worried because Frank's been distant lately… Which," Kirsten said as she reached out to pull Sandy's face towards hers when his eyes seemed to waver, "I told her was passing, it would seem."

"I haven't been distant."

Kirsten raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to find out what's really wrong with her and why she's here. I'm not buying her alibi."

"She has… Wait." Sandy grabbed Kirsten's arms as he moved around her, looking one way and the other, trying to search through the house without moving forward. "Where is she right now?"

"She's around," Kirsten told him with an awkward smile.

Sandy's eyes narrowed. "Where's Sophie?"

Kirsten smiled again.

"You left my daughter alone with that woman?

"I couldn't take anymore, Sandy. She was driving me crazy and she kept complaining. Did you know that apparently our water is too chlorinated? Yeah, she can taste it. It doesn't taste right. Neither do our ice cubes, apparently."

"I feel your pain, but you met her before you met me, so you can't blame me for her coming into your life and just staying there like a roach or something. I would have warned you about that woman if I had been around."

"Yes, well, now you have to pay for not coming into my life sooner, I guess."

"That's not—"

"Daddy, look at me!"

Sandy's eyes widened as he looked down at Sophie. "That is not my daughter."

"Aren't I pretty?" she asked, twirling around. Her face was made-up, her shirt had been tied on the side so it only reached midriff, and she wore high heeled shoes from Kirsten's closet. "Aunt Julie did it."

"Aunt Julie?"

"Well she can't call me grandma, Sandy. I'm not nearly old enough for that," Julie said as she sauntered into the room, placing a hand on Sophie's head.

Sandy sent a quick look in Kirsten's direction who returned his worried gaze. "Julie, I was just about to head out to pick up some food. Why don't you come with me so we're sure I don't get anything you don't like?"

"Fabulous," Julie cheered with a quick clap of her hands. "Because, honestly, your ice cream selection is severely lacking. And let's not even get started on the types of bread…"

Sandy gave his wife one last helpless look as he followed Julie out of the house, only to have Kirsten mouth him a thank you before pulling Sophie away to get cleaned.

"Where are you going now? I can't imagine Summer will let you tag along while she's traipsing around the country like a savage."

Taylor bit her tongue and reminded herself that she had almost shot her mother once before she finally spoke.

"I'm going to visit some friends in New York before deciding. I might go back to Europe or stay here for a while. I haven't decided yet whether or not I'm done studying."

"I suppose that is a luxury you have when your mother keeps paying for your education."

"I haven't—"

"It doesn't matter whether or not you took the money, Taylor. I still offered and that's what counts. You know if you had more than one friend, you could make this work. It's your own fault for dating that boy from Chino. If you had just been his friend, he and Seth would still be talking to you."

"They're not—" Taylor stopped herself again and refolded her sweater before putting it in her suitcase. Her suitcase, she sighed, which was resting on the couch because her mother hadn't bothered to get a room with two beds despite the fact that she knew Taylor would be coming to the shower. "Thanks for the advice, mom. I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"Seriously, you are sadder than you were before this episode with those three. I bet you haven't even been on a date since you last saw Ryan. You need to move on, Taylor. I'm sure he has. You left. Why wouldn't he?"

Taylor took in a deep, shaky breath. She turned to face her mouth. She stopped. She'd been down this road one time too many.

"You're right. I'm sad, and I don't see how being around you is going to help. So, goodbye mother. I'll let you know where I've landed when I make up my mind."

She left with a quick wave before Veronica could stop her. She cringed when she heard the door slam behind her. She had no idea where she was going.