Hello again. Thanks as always for all the reviews and comments.

This chapters is a lot of exposition as we're moving really close to the end of this story, and as Kaitlin isn't in it (she's probably off scheming somewhere) I thought I'd clear something: Colin is just Kaitlin's friend. They didn't meet before the airport when she apparently decided he seemed interesting enough to rope into her game. I think all else is fairly clear?

Chapter 15: Making plans

Taylor sighed as she looked around the airport. She felt like she'd been living in these things lately. She was a traveller with no home and no family.

"Encore le vagabond," she whispered to herself.

She bit her lip as she tried not to cry and almost jumped when her cell phone rang. She grabbed it quickly, happy for the distraction.

"Hello?"

"Taylor?"

"Seth?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah, listen, why are you in New York?"

Taylor looked around in confusion, searching for Seth. "How did you know I was in New York?"

"My parents are leaving town and they need someone to watch Sophie. I figured you'd be around, but apparently you're in New York."

"Oh, well, I'm here to support Summer."

"You're there to support Summer?"

"Yes. I know this trip is going to be hard on her, and I want to be here to help."

Seth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right. It's going to be really hard on Summer. Do you want to talk about that?"

"What?"

"You know, get out your feelings about it, ask me for any advice on how to help her… Anything of that kind?"

Taylor smiled and shook her head. "You don't know why Summer is in New York, do you?"

"No idea. Why is she in New York?"

"Because," Taylor slowly stuttered as she looked around her for an explanation. "She has to be here."

"Why does she have to be there?"

"Well, if you don't know…"

"I don't know because you won't tell me."

"Well why do you think she's coming here?"

"I don't know…" Seth paused as he leaned back in his airport chair on the other side of the country. "Is she mad at me?"

"Did you do anything to make her mad?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Are you sure?" Taylor asked, shooing away a woman who tried to hand her a pamphlet.

"No… Well… She doesn't like this girl I work with, but that's not my fault. I mean since the proposal, we've been pretty good."

"Oh, yeah. Your grand romantic proposal with the apparently not so attractive ring."

Seth sprung up in his seat. "She's mad about the proposal?"

"What?"

"She's mad about the proposal and the ring, isn't she? It wasn't romantic enough for her. She lied when she told me it was fine. That wasn't my fault. I knew she was tired and I just wanted to ask her and that she be mine. I figured I'd have time for romance later on and if she wasn't happy with it she should have just told me. I mean, it's not like she has never refused one of my wedding proposals before and—"

"So, was that the only reason you called me?" Taylor interrupted. "To find out why I was in New York?"

"Oh, no. Summer wanted me to check if you two would be meeting up. She's calling me when she lands. You want me to pass on any message to her?"

"Oh, actually that would be great. Um, how about we meet for dinner. Let's say seven at this great little restaurant on Houston Avenue. It's called Martin's Meal."

"Martin's Meal on Houston at seven. Got it. She'll be there unless you hear differently."

"Great. Bye, Seth." Taylor hung up before Seth could answer. She gathered her bags and gave a determined nod to the air. "Right. Summer. No time for wallowing. Summer."

"Wait, how do I fix this thing with Sum— Taylor? Hello?" Seth growled and hung up his cell phone. He shuffled in the uncomfortable seat as he dialled another number. "Hey, man. Where you at?"

"Why does it say Prince of the Wonders on my caller ID?"

"I lost my phone. I had to borrow Timothy's."

"Seems like a fun guy."

"He has his moments."

Ryan nodded. "Summer's going to kill you, isn't she?"

"Definitely. So where are you?"

"Just checking out my room. I don't think I could have gotten a tinier room."

"Dude, you used to live in Chino and you now share a dorm room. Don't act like the spoiled brat; that's my job."

"Fine," Ryan sighed. "So what's up?"

"Martin's Meal on Houston Avenue, seven tonight."

"What about it?"

"That's where you're having your supper this evening."

"Yeah?" Ryan asked as he looked out the window of his hotel room at the parking lot below. "And am I having dinner with anyone?"

"Taylor Townsend."

"What?"

"Taylor Townsend, so whatever you're going to say, or whatever look you're going to give her, you should practice it now, because seven o'clock is not that far away."

"Taylor agreed to meet with me?" Ryan asked.

"Well, not exactly. She thinks she's meeting up with Summer, but I'm sure it will all work out when you show up."

"Summer? Summer's in New York?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Seth sighed loudly. "Because she's mad at me."

"What did you do?"

"Apparently my proposal wasn't romantic enough or something."

"Not romantic enough? Seth, the first time you asked her to marry you was in case she was pregnant and with a glow-in-the-dark ring. She was totally charmed by that even if she did have the common sense to refuse."

"She did love it. She even told me I should—"

Ryan waited for a moment, but it didn't sound like anything more was going to come. "What? She even told you what, Seth?"

"Ryan, you're a genius."

"I don't know what I just did," Ryan mumbled as he walked further into the room and away from looking down more stories than he was comfortable with.

"It doesn't matter. You just solved my problem. Thanks, buddy. Good luck with Taylor."

"I… um… Okay." Ryan mumbled as he hung up. He looked down at his watch. "Seven, huh?"

He took a deep sigh and looked up to find himself staring in the bathroom mirror. His eyes narrowed before he shook his head quickly.

"I'm not practicing any look," he told himself, as he turned off the bathroom light and made his way back to the main part of the room where the television would hopefully serve as a useful distraction for the next few hours.

"Cohen? What time am I meeting Tay—"

"He's not here."

"Hello?"

"Yeah, hi, Summer. Seth isn't here."

"Samantha?"

The girl sighed on her end of the line. "Hey, look who's finally catching up."

"Where's Seth?"

"Not here."

"But you have his phone?" Summer swerved to miss bumping into someone she didn't recognize. The person didn't stop to apologize or make sure she was all right and Summer rolled her eyes at the slight though it was probably mostly her fault. "Why?"

"Why do you think I have his phone?"

"Because he's an ass and he forgot it at work before he left for the airport."

"He didn't forget it. He just couldn't find it."

"Ass."

"Hey, great relationship you two have going on there."

"Thanks. Do you know how I can—"

"I'm actually quite busy right now, Sara," Samantha told her as she twiddled with a few of the pencils she'd found on Seth's desk while hunting for anything interesting. "So, I'm sorry you lost your boyfriend, but try satisfying him if you want to—"

"That's great, skank. Listen. You sound like someone who will be relatively honest with me. Do you know anything about an entertainment contract and Seth?"

"You mean the contract that he's wanted since before he started working here and would bring him to live closer to his family which he's been wanting just about forever now but which he refuses to sign in case his precious princess decides she wants to live somewhere other than Berkeley? No. Never heard of it."

She hung up before Summer could say anything else.

"What are you doing, Seth?" Summer mumbled to herself and her cell phone.

"Seth? Summerbear I love the sea otter as much as you do, but it is not the time to worry about him. Your future is the one at stake, and we have to take care of that before we do anything more."

Summer shook her head, not even slightly surprised that Che had somehow found her in the crowd when she barely knew where she was. "No, Seth's future is at stake. He's refusing job offers because he's worried I won't want to follow him. Screw this. If I can't find a job, Seth can't worry. Who cares about my reputation."

"You do, Summer," Che told her as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in front of him before she could leave the room. "You need one conversation with Seth to fix this. That can wait. Clear your name first, and then you fix this with Seth and tell him that you've got such good recommendations that you'll be able to find a job wherever he's working."

"Right." Summer nodded absent-mindedly, and suddenly looked up at Che. "What are you doing here, Che?"

"I'm here to help."

"How did you know I needed help?"

"Jessica called me," he told her, waving over to Jessica who stood in the corner. Jessica waved shyly.

Summer blinked, trying to remind herself that she was once again in a hotel full of GEORGE volunteers and not alone with Seth in a comfortably-climated area of the world.

"How do you know Jessica?"

"We met at a rally protesting the use of animals as comedic distractions in sitcoms. They'll use any animals they can get their hands on these TV people. Dogs, cats, snakes, rabbits… It's just not right."

"Okay…"

"Meanwhile," Jessica said as she moved forward to stand closer to the pair. "You're up tomorrow in front of the board to defend yourself, and we have to get you ready."

"Right. Well, I was talking to my friend Taylor, and she made me realise that I am innocent until proven guilty. And there is no proof because I'm not guilty."

"But you know Matthew…" Jessica protested.

"Which I do," Summer answered, pointing her finger at the girl. "So I thought that it would probably be even easier just to prove that Matthew isn't innocent."

"You think he's guilty of something?"

"If someone is," Summer shrugged, "it's Matthew."

Che smiled and nodded his head. "We have a mission."

"Don't say mission," Summer warned with a roll of her eyes.

"Are we playing hide and seek?" Sophie asked as she looked over her brother's shoulder.

"What?"

"Who's hiding?"

"No one's hiding." Seth's brow scrunched in confusion. His face suddenly softened as he watched his sister staring up at him with wide, eager eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm not being much fun, am I?"

"Nope," Sophie told him with a shake of the head.

"And Ryan is totally your favourite brother right now, isn't he?"

"Yep." She nodded.

"All right, saving my relationship with Summer is on hold until your bedtime. You, little lady, are my priority for the rest of the afternoon. What would you like to do?"

"I don't know." Sophie shrugged. "What's wrong with Summer?"

"She's mad at me," Seth sighed as he took his sister's hand and led her to the living room.

"What did you do?"

"Now why do you have to assume that I was the one who did something wrong?"

"Because Summer told me that she's always right and you're always wrong in the relationship and that I should remember that when I'm in a relationship because even if I date a big dork who listens to whiny rock and likes animé, that he might really be a sweet and romantic guy on the inside and my Prince Charming."

"Summer told you all that?"

"Yeah. She's said it a lot. I know it by heart."

"I see that," Seth chuckled. "Well, apparently I wasn't as sweet and romantic as she made me out to be, so now she's mad at me."

"What happened?"

"I'm not quite sure."

Sophie shrugged. "How are you going to fix it?"

"By going back a few years," Seth sighed as he let his eyes wander the room.

"And you're looking for that?"

"No. See, a long time ago, I gave Summer a ring, and she gave it back to me, telling me that I should give it to her again some day. I'm just not quite sure where that ring ended up when we packed all our stuff and moved to Berkley."

"So you want to find your old ring to give it to Summer?"

"That's right."

"Seth," Sophie told him with a deep sigh, placing her hand on his knee. "I know Summer is your girlfriend and you've known her longer than I have, but I have to tell you, I don't think Summer wants an old ring. I think Summer wants a new ring."

"I think she wants this old ring. But I'll tell you what. After we've found the old ring, we'll go shopping together for a new one. How does that sound?"

"I'm a really good finder," Sophie told him with a determined nod.

"I know. But this afternoon is all about you, remember?"

"I only have one sister, Seth. Don't screw that up."

Seth laughed as he helped Sophie off the sofa. "What else has Summer been telling you?"

"Okay, well by—" Kirsten started back at the dial tone that came over the line. "Okay…"

"Julie?" Sandy asked as he walked out of the bathroom and into their room.

"Who else?"

"What's going on now?"

"She had a breakdown. Apparently the kitchen suffered, and a little of Frank's head if the frying pan made any contact."

"Julie was handing a frying pan?"

"She was making herself a peanut butter omelette."

Sandy's mouth scrunched in distaste. "She was making what?"

"Peanut butter omelette?"

"Is she pregnant?"

Kirsten shrugged and looked away.

"Oh, honey, you're a horrible liar."

"That's why I didn't say anything."

"Is that why she came to see us?" Sandy asked as he took a seat next to his wife on the hotel bed.

"That, and she's nervous because she thinks Frank is pulling away. Apparently he hasn't been himself lately, and Julie is convinced he's about to end things with her. She doesn't want to raise this child alone. She was so afraid she would have to raise Kevin alone, and so relieved when she didn't have to…"

"Well, if it makes anything better, Frank is only being distant because he's nervous about asking her to marry him."

"Marry him?" Kirsten asked with wide eyes.

"Apparently."

"Wow."

"That's right. No meddling or matchmaking required on your part."

"That's good, because I'm a little preoccupied here." Kirsten rose from the bed and patted her thighs. "Are we going?"

"Not until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Sandy, we don't know what could happen in a day. She might not be there tomorrow. She might—"

"Tomorrow," Sandy told her, pulling his wife down so she would sit next to him again and he could wrap his arm around her, "when he's going to be at work and I can get Hailey out of there without risking him hurting her because I show up. I'm going to talk to him, but I don't want to let him use her as ransom. Getting Hailey out safely is first priority."

"Okay," Kirsten slowly relented.

"Everything's going to be fine, you know."

"I'll know tomorrow," she answered, with a tight smile.

"Then let's go to bed. It'll bring tomorrow that much more quickly."

They shuffled under the covers until they were holding on to each other and offering strength where the other was lacking.

"What do you think the kids are doing? I mean, Seth with Sophie and Ryan running off to New York."

"Huh," Sandy huffed as he tightened his grip on his wife. "Hailey first, then we can worry about those other ones."