Hey. Thanks again for all the reviews. Here's a little more Kaitlin scheming, a tiny hint at what Sandy's not revealing and some fun banter between Taylor and Ryan (not to mention moving forward Seth and Summer's storyline). Enjoy.

Chapter 10: Home again

"How was the vacation?"

"I wasn't away on vacation," Seth said with a shrug.

"Where were you?"

"I was sick."

"You don't look like you were sick."

"Thanks."

Seth finally looked up from the drawing in front of him in order to offer his co-worker one of his least genuine smiles. The man watching him smiled back, but couldn't hide the confusion in his gaze. Seth rolled his eyes as he returned his attention to his work.

"Was there anything else, Timothy?"

"No... yes. The drawing for the lemonade ad? Do you know when you're going to have that done?"

"No."

"They need it today."

Seth smiled and nodded his head. "Then I guess I'm going to have it done today."

"But what—"

"Hold on," Seth told the intern as he dug his ringing cell phone out of his pocket. He hadn't had time to program familiar numbers into his new phone's memory yet, and so he gave a sceptical glance before answering.

"Hello?" Seth waited a moment for the voice to reply. "Dr. Roberts? How are you?"

He placed his hand over his phone and nodded in Timothy's direction. "It's my doctor. Because I was sick."

Timothy nodded and waved as he left Seth the privacy of his phone call.

"You were sick?" Dr. Roberts asked when he figured Seth was listening to him once again.

"Not exactly."

"You missed a lot of work and are pretending that you're sick."

"Bronchitis."

"Seth, if you had bronchitis—"

"I know, I know, but as long as my boss doesn't, it doesn't really matter."

"Just know that I'm not writing you a note if you need one. That's unethical."

Seth laughed as he shook his head. He'd really like to see what his boss would say if he showed up to work with a note from a plastic surgeon about bronchitis. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I was actually wondering if you were with Summer. I suppose that if you're talking to co-workers, however, that you've left her already."

"I have. I went, I saw, I—"

"Do not say conquered."

"Proposed," Seth said, his fingers nervously twirling a pencil in wobbly circles. "I was going to say proposed."

"And she said?"

"Yes. She said yes. You really haven't talked to her."

Neil sighed. "No. I've been trying to reach her to make sure everything was fine since she sounded stressed the last time I spoke with her, but now I can't reach her."

"Well, things were crazy when I was over there, and I can only imagine they're going to get busier as she gets closer to leaving."

"I suppose," Neil answered with a sigh. "If you hear from her, will you tell her to give me a call?"

"Will do, sir."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later, Seth. And good luck with that excuse of yours."

"Thanks." Seth chuckled to himself as he hung up.

"Seth."

He looked up at the sound of his name once again, cringing when the surprise almost made him extend the line he was drawing further than it should go.

"Mr. Connelly," Seth answered hesitantly, wondering if Timothy hadn't run off to the boss with his suspicion that Seth wasn't really sick.

"You're back."

"Yes, sir."

"You're ready to be back? Timothy tells me you were speaking to your doctor on the telephone. You haven't come back too soon, have you?"

Seth shook his head. "No, no I should be fine. He was just checking up to make sure I hadn't tired myself out."

"We don't want you to make yourself any sicker," Mr. Connelly told him as he took a few steps back and tightened his scarf around his neck. He narrowed his eyes at Seth suspiciously. "Doctors don't usually call patients just to check in."

"He's an old friend of the family," Seth told his boss. He cleared his throat quickly just to make the hypochondriac jump back all the same. "He doesn't treat me like just any other patient."

"Oh. Well, if you start feeling under the weather or bad for any reason whatsoever, don't hesitate to take the rest of the day off."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir."

"Good." With that, the man all but ran away from Seth and his germs.

Seth laughed and took a glance at his watch. It was still early enough in the afternoon. Maybe after this poster, he would start to feel a little under the weather…

"Um… I mean, I guess you can sleep there if you want. Or I can sleep there and you can sleep here. Or… I can go the Cohen's tonight. We're going to go tomorrow anyway, right. But there's tonight, so…."

"Right." Taylor nodded as she let out a deep breath. She dropped her luggage to the floor, and then bent to pick them up again. "Or I could go to the Cohen's tonight. I mean, there's no reason for me to put you out of a bed. I'm the one who's visiting."

"You're only visiting because I asked you to."

"You only asked me to because Kaitlin needed me. Besides, if I hadn't insisted that we go to the library and do all that research and talk to that priest and everything else I made us do, we'd be at the Cohen's right now and wouldn't have this problem."

"I only—" Ryan stopped himself and brought a hand up to scratch the back of his neck as he looked around the room. He almost wished he could ramble like Seth if only to fill the silence. "Look. There are two beds here, and my roommate—"

"Ryan! What'd I miss?"

Ryan's mouth dropped at the sight of his roommate. He hadn't seen the guy in weeks. He'd started doubting he would ever return. And it was only now that Ryan needed the other bed to be empty that he finally appeared at the door to their dorm room.

"Hey," Ryan said slowly. "You're back."

"Yeah. I did Europe. It was fun."

"I thought you were going back home for a while."

"I did. It wasn't all it's cracked up to be, so I took off. I see you weren't short for company during my absence." He nodded his head in Taylor's direction.

"I was actually helping a friend," Ryan answered as he grabbed Taylor's bags from her. "I was in New York and just got in."

"Cool."

"Yeah. Oh, this is Taylor. Taylor this is my roommate, Timothy."

"Were you the one who needed help?" Timothy asked as he glided closer to Taylor. "I'd be happy to help you if you need it."

"Oh, no thank you. It was a mutual friend of ours who needed the help."

"You know that Ryan isn't into relationships, right? He doesn't last more than a few dates if even that. You'll only find heartbreak hanging out with the likes of him."

"Believe me," Taylor answered, sending a crooked smirk in Ryan's direction, "I'm more than aware of the emotional capabilities of Ryan Atwood."

"Okay… Well if ever you should need help—"

"Great. Thanks."

Ryan shook his head as he stepped in between his friends. "Come on, Taylor. We'll go find a spot with Sandy and Kirsten where you can sleep for the night."

"You guys don't want to hang out for the night?"

Ryan shook his head as he grabbed Taylor's hand. "Nah. We're going to visit family. We'll see you later though."

"Bye, Taylor," Timothy called after them as they left the room.

Taylor laughed once they were far enough that she was sure Simon couldn't hear them. "Wow, that guy really doesn't believe in any kind of codes between roommates, does he?"

"Timothy and I have an agreement about what consists of getting in the way and what doesn't. It usually works except for the fact that he doesn't understand that some girls are exceptions. You would think that Summer punching him about seventy times would have gotten it through his head, but apparently he's still learning."

"So what's the agreement?" Taylor asked.

"Oh, it's… it's stupid really. It doesn't matter."

"It's stupid because it makes you look like a pig or it's stupid because it involves flipping a coin?"

"It's just stupid. Did you have any more bags than this?" Ryan dropped his head and looked at the hallway floor around them as though a new bag might suddenly appear at their feet.

"That's all of them. What was the arrangement?"

Ryan rolled his eyes and looked up. If there was one thing he had learned about Taylor early on, it was that she didn't give up until she got what she wanted, and from the look in her eyes, she seemed determined on getting what she was after.

"Until there's any clothes off, she's still up for grabs," Ryan mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Until the girl has removed an article of clothing, the person who didn't bring her to the room or who she's not with can still hit on her and try to convince her to get with him. That's the arrangement," Ryan sighed.

"Do shoes count?" Taylor asked after only a moment's pause. "What about a coat?"

Ryan laughed. "Now you're entering precedented territory. Any article of clothing put on as a direct result of climate or inclement weather does not count. So, if a girl has her slippers off, that still counts since slippers are the same as socks, but if she takes her sweater off because the heat in the room has been jacked too high, that doesn't. Timothy tried that last one once."

"And does the girl have any kind of say in this?"

"Sure," Ryan shrugged as he opened the door of his car for her. "The girl can change her mind at any time."

"And the other guy can't get mad?"

"No. Except the person who is without a date can't do anything out of the norm to get her to notice him. So, I can't come into the room and change clothes just so she can see me without a shirt."

"Modest," Taylor whispered, shaking her head.

"But," Ryan continued as though he hadn't heard her. "If I was working out or got a stain on my shirt during my lunch, well then I can take my shirt off and if it has any effect on her, I can't be blamed for it."

"Well that's… Why don't you just put a sock on the doorknob like any other normal college boys would?"

"We like the competition." He shrugged.

She laughed and shook her head, but said nothing more about it. "So, we're going to Sandy and Kirsten's?"

"Yep."

"And we're just going to drop in?"

"Sure," Ryan shrugged.

"Don't you think that's a little rude?"

He shrugged again, but then glanced down at his watch. "We'll call them on the way. Besides, Kaitlin must have warned them we were coming over."

Ryan grabbed her bag before she could protest, and led them away from his dorm and Timothy who was watching him from the window with a knowing smile on his face.

"What?" Summer finally asked, shaking her hair behind her shoulders and crossing her arms in front of her chest. She had felt Matthew's eyes on her all afternoon and from the way they narrowed and tried to pierce through her, she imagined she wasn't going to enjoy whatever conversation his gaze would eventually bring.

"What?" he answered.

"You're staring at me like you wish I were dead. What did I do?"

Matthew shrugged, his eyes rolling along her body. "I thought you were so busy."

"I am." Summer tugged at the hem of her shirt, suddenly feeling it was too small for her body. It wasn't revealing any skin, but from the way Matthew's eyes were on her, she felt like she was wearing much less than she actually was.
"I thought you were swamped."

"I am. I've been ignoring my cell phone all day," Summer told him again. Her eyes hardened, leaving him only long enough to make a quick sweep of the room. There were a few people there, but they were at the other end of the banquet hall that would be used for that night's event. She hadn't noticed before how alone they were. She had a feeling, from the jumping in the pit of her stomach and the worry in her breath, that she would never again not notice when she and Matthew were alone.

"Really? So busy and swamped that you spent last night with your boyfriend instead of getting your work done?"

Summer rolled her eyes. "Seth just showed up to surprise me. It was nice and if anything, it relieved me of enough stress that I got three times the amount of stuff done this morning that I would have if he hadn't come to visit. There's nothing that says we can't have guests. You've had guests."

"You're not getting paid to take a vacation with your friend."

"I'm not getting paid," Summer answered. She closed her books and gathered her pencils.

"That's not the point." He rose before she could, and by the time Summer stood, he was at his full six feet, making her feel small and almost helpless yet again.

"Look, Matthew, I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but you have to understand a few things. I am with Seth. I love Seth. I am leaving this organization to be with Seth and to marry him and to start my own life. There is nothing you can do to stop that. Clear?"

Matthew's face dropped. "You're marrying him?"

"Yeah." Summer waved her left hand between them. "He asked me last night."

"You're marrying him."

"I didn't put in all these years so that he would be trained for the next girl who happened to come along and be able to look past his dorkiness."

"But… I…"

"Are delusional? That's not my fault."

Matthew shook his head. "Summer, you're making a big mistake."

"No, I'm not."

"You really are."

Summer jumped back when she saw him reaching toward her. His hand was suddenly around her arm squeezing her flesh and keeping her near him.

"Matthew, let go of my arm."

His grip only tightened. "It was all right when you were just going out and you were eventually going to realise that he wasn't the one for you and come running to me. But this… Marriage? That can't happen, Summer. You're supposed to stay on. You're supposed to realise that you hate your life without GEORGE before you leave and are miserable for the rest of your life. Can't you see that, Summer?"

"All I see is the same look that I used to see in Oliver's eyes whenever Ryan got a little too close to Marissa."

Matthew's expression didn't change. He had no idea what she was talking about, but he wasn't about to let that dissuade him.

"And that's not a good thing," she finished. Summer gave a hard tug on her arm until it fell from his grip.

She hurried down the hallway, not looking back and not wanting to hear the sound of his footsteps following her.

"No, we're fine. We'll get your room ready." Sandy's eyes travelled the room, pausing only a minute to wink at Kirsten before he concentrated once again on the conversation he was having. "Two? Why… You know what, explain it to me when you get here. We'll set something up."

He hung up and raised his eyebrows at Kirsten.

"Who was that?"

"Ryan. He and Taylor are on their way just as Kaitlin had predicted. They need a place to stay for the evening."

"I'll put fresh sheets on Ryan's bed."

"They requested two rooms."

"We don't have… Well, I'll get Ryan's room ready, anyway."

Kirsten patted Sophie on the head and left the kitchen. Her daughter was quick to follow.

"So he called you last minute and now he's just going to show up? That's a little rude, don't you think?" Julie asked as she grabbed the last bagel from the bowl on the counter.

"Yeah," Sandy scowled. "Imagine, someone just showing up uninvited and expecting to be fed and housed for God only knows how long."

"That's funny. I'll be sure to pass the message along to my daughter and her husband." She grabbed the glass of juice Sandy had just poured himself and moved over to a chair at the end of the counter. "So, you were out early this morning."

"I'm sorry?"

"I was making an observation to the fact that you were out early this morning."

Sandy shrugged. "Yeah, well, some of us do work around here. Someone has to pay for the food that's feeding all the unexpected guests."

"You're just a riot today, Sandy. I didn't realise there were classes to be taught at six in the morning."

"There aren't. But there are quiet offices where a man can correct essays without being bothered by the sounds of his household."

"You couldn't find a quiet corner of this house at six in the morning when everyone else was sleeping?"

"Working in this home just invites people to wake up and make some noise."

Julie sighed and moved around the kitchen island so she could stand next to him. "Listen, Sandy. I know infidelity, and I don't think for a second that you're cheating on Kirsten. But I also know lying and scheming, and there's no way that you aren't up to something. Even Kaitlin can smell it, and she's only been around a few hours now."

"You're just trying to create drama that isn't there, Julie. Concentrate on your own problems and your own lies so you can keep them straight, and you can worry about me later on, though there's really nothing to worry about."

"Really?"

Sandy rolled his eyes at Julie and quietly thanked his lucky stars when his cell phone rang to interrupt the conversation.

"Hello?"

Julie leaned forward.

"Excuse me."

"I thought you had nothing to hide."

"I don't have anything to hide, but that doesn't mean that I want to share news with the gossip queen and have everyone know within minutes what's going on in other people's lives."

"Fine. But I'm on to you, Sandy Cohen." Julie told him as she walked out of the room. She walked backwards, her eyes on him and a finger pointed in his direction.

Sandy shook his head, but dropped his smile as soon as she left the room. He brought his attention back to his telephone. "So? Did you find her?"

"We're lying to more people?" Colin asked as he took a bite of his ice cream bar.

Kaitlin shrugged. "I guess."

"Is there anyone who can know the truth?"

"You can tell Kevin," Kaitlin answered with a smile.

"Who's Kevin?"

"Kevin is the reason we're going out of town tonight."

Colin smiled as he sighed and shook his head. "I swear, it's a good thing that I don't need to study or anything."

"No one studies during study break. Besides, I'm sure your life could use a little spicing up before you met me. I'm just here to oblige."

"So, who is Kevin?" Colin asked as he got into the passenger seat of the Mercedes that had taken them to the ice cream shop. "Are you really married to him? Carrying his child?"

"No, gross. I told you I was single and definitely not pregnant."

"But you have a pregnancy test on you?"

"Not mine."

Colin's face scrunched together at the thought. "That's gross. You're carrying someone else's pee around with you."

"Well what was I supposed to do? Ryan wouldn't have believed me if I didn't have it. He knows better than to trust anything that comes out of my mouth unless I'm being brutally honest to prove a point."

"All right, so who is Kevin?"

"Kevin is my little brother," Kaitlin answered with a shrug. "We're going to go pick him up at my aunt's."

"In Berkeley?"

"In Newport."

"Great."

"Come on. Stop complaining. You're riding around in a Mercedes with a hot girl. What's there to whine about?"

"This is a hot car," Colin slowly conceded.

"I know. That's why my mom never lets me drive it."

"What about now?"

"She just doesn't know I have the keys yet."

Kaitlin offered him a smile before she changed gears and sped up a few more ticks over the speed limit.