Another chapter up relatively close to the last posting…aren't you proud of me? I've been really trying to put more effort into this story, as I have a lot of passion and creativity…just not a whole lot of free time! I would love some reviews! Next chapter: Ryan finds an unexpected ally at the airport, what is life like at the Cooper/Roberts household, Kirsten approaches Sandy with a revelation.

Chapter XIV: A Little Late-Night Detective Work

Anna was frustrated beyond all belief. She had known when she saw that Summer and Seth were once again going to play an integral part of her everyday life, that she should buckle herself in for the second act of what she vividly remembered as being a wild, unpredictable rollercoaster. But, this was reaching all new depths. She was unsure of what had happened during her almost two-year absence that had made Summer change from the independent, boldly unabashed young woman that she had been into this reclusive, almost obsessive girl that she was now. Surely this wasn't Seth's doing, was it?

Searching for answers around her new dorm room, Anna hoped that her new roommate was okay with her late-night brooding. Glancing at Heather asleep in her hemp green and yellow comforter with peace signs all over it, she smirked to herself. How was she ever going to relate to all of these new people that it seemed she had very little in common with? Noticing all the protest signs and peace rally pictures that decorated Heather's half of the room, she quickly was reminded of how she had felt when she had first moved to Newport. Like a strange, unequipped alien in a foreign land.

She compared her roommate's earthy vibe with her quirky band posters and Detroit picture collages and Japanese anime posters. Maybe they weren't that different. Maybe everyone had some common thread that wove them all together. Maybe the changes that had made Summer almost unrecognizable to her were just a part of the natural human evolutionary process. Or maybe Seth was just a tool that had taken his beautiful dream girl for granted. She had to go straight to the source on this one.

"Hello?" a groggy voice answered the other line.

"Wake up Ironist! We need to talk," she replied, hoping that her stern tone of voice instilled fear into him enough to truthfully divulge what was really going on.

"Anna? It's like….3 in the morning? What's up? Is everything alright? Is…Summer?" Seth bolted straight up from his bed. Something had to be wrong for Anna to be calling him like this so early in the morning. His hair was sticking straight up in the back, as he ran his nervous fingers through it waiting for a response from the person on the other line.

Anna skillfully navigated inside her mind the points she knew she had to hit to get the reaction she wanted from him. Taking a breath to calm herself down, she quietly closed her dorm room door behind her, glancing one last time at Heather to make sure she was still asleep. Tiptoeing down the hall towards the door outside, Anna was annoyed to see that it was raining. Having forgotten her slippers in her dorm, she decided to sit down right by the door.

"Seth…what's going on with you and Summer? I tried to talk to her earlier this week, and she was pretty non-coherent. Normally, I wouldn't worry about that, cause we both know that Summer hasn't always been the beacon of brilliance. But, this non-coherence wasn't like the usual Summer daze. And, I could tell that it had to do with you. So…when I tried to talk to her, she finally told me that you had decided, after EVERYTHING we both went through to get you into RISD, to stay in California and go to Berkeley."

Seth knew what was coming; luckily, he had learned the way to handle rage blackouts after years of practice with Summer. Just sit back and let them get their aggressions out. Don't interrupt, but also make sure that you indicate that you are listening.

"Listen, Anna, I think I know where you're going with this…and, while I do appreciate your concern, it's really something that I'd rather not talk…"

"Oh…CAN IT COHEN! Do you know HOW HARD I…not you…I worked on getting you into RISD….only to find out that you blew it AGAIN…for what? There isn't another girl, is there Seth?"

"WHAT? No…it isn't like that. Is that what Summer told you? She doesn't think that, does she?"

So, Anna's hunch was right. If he was questioning about Summer, then he obviously still had feelings for her. She rubbed her argyle sock-clad feet together for warmth. She had already gotten enough information to reassure her that his actions weren't caused by lack of feelings. But, this enraged her even more to think that he did this for some other reason. She had to know what it was.

"Look, Seth…I'm not trying to get in the middle of this…again. God knows that I've been playing the mediator between the two of you for long enough. Sometimes, I don't even know why I bother, when you both obviously seem so hell-bent on destroying what greatness you guys have together."

At hearing this, Seth began to calm back down. Anna was right; they could always count on her to fix things between him and Summer. But, he couldn't ask her to be that person for the rest of their lives, could he?

"But, I need to know why you're not going to come here…why you're throwing away the dream that you have worked your whole life for? The girl you have worked your whole life for? What gives, Cohen?"

Seth stayed silent on the other end, only rustling to get his General Tso sheets off his heating body. Anna had always been the girl that he had never felt any pressure to lie to. So, even though he had promised Ryan that this wouldn't come out of his mouth ever again, Seth felt the strong urge to spill his secret. But, the image of Ryan in his mind getting beaten to a bloody pulp by Volchek and his buddies, that was enough to keep his mouth shut. If he told Anna, the chain reaction would eventually lead back to Marissa in Greece, and he knew that was not what Ryan wanted to happen.

"Listen, Anna….you know usually I can't lie to you. Well, I can't really lie very well period…but, especially not to you…but, this time, I'm gonna have to plead the 5th on this one. I'll just say that you're right, it's not about Summer. And, believe me, if I could, I would still be headed to RISD in the spring…but, I can't."

Seth quietly crept down the stairs, hoping that he hadn't woken anyone. He had given up any possibility that he was going to sleep tonight…not that he had been really sleeping that well anyway. He bee-lined straight for the coffee maker, adding an extra shot of espresso for the extra jolt he knew he was going to need to get Anna to understand.

"Cohen…what is it? Even for you, this is weird. Why would you give up everything that it sounds like you still want for yourself to stay on the west coast with your bro…wait a minute, where does Ryan fit in all of this?"

Anna could sense immediately that she had exposed the root of the issue. What could Ryan possibly need from Seth? And, where was Marissa involved in all of this? Seth was still keeping mum on the other end of the phone, trying instead to focus on the proper amount of sugar that he needed in his first cup of morning brew. Anna shivered to herself, missing the warmth of California herself at that minute.

"Cohen? SETH?"

Seth snapped back into the moment, realizing that he had yet to answer Anna. Not surprisingly, she was already inferring herself into an answer, and while he secretly wanted her to figure out what was going on and swoop in to rescue his relationship once again, he was worried about the repercussions that Ryan could potentially face if he was left at Berkeley by himself. No, he had to stay resolute.

"Sorry, Anna…working on my first cup of coffee…you know how I get without my morning brew. And, since it was YOU who decided to call at this ripe hour, you'll just have to wait til I'm done."

Anna pulled the phone back from her ear to make sure that she had just heard that correctly. How did he go from being so worried and scared to trying to exert his still non-existent power? Oh no, he may be able to play mind games with Summer, but he wasn't doing it to her. Standing up still hurdled under the rain gutter of her dorm, Anna took charge.

"No, COHEN, YOU are going to listen to me. I don't have to be doing this…to save you from once again ruining your relationship, but I am. And, you know, this time it isn't even for you. It's for Summer….Seth, she's in bad shape. You have to tell me what's going on…you know I'll come back to California and BEAT IT OUT OF YOU IF I HAVE TO!"

"Okay..okay, look…this probably isn't the best place to talk," he muttered, scanning the still-empty room before he walked out the front door of the Cohen house into the crisp, but still pleasant night air. Seth looked up at the stars for a moment, instantly wishing that he was sitting with Summer on the hood of her car eating French fries and spilling their most secret dreams. Maybe salvaging that was worth whatever repercussions Ryan could enforce upon him. It couldn't be any worse than he was feeling now, could it? "Okay, we're good now. So, listen, if I tell you what's going on, you have to swear that you won't say anything…and, not like a Seth Cohen promise, which everyone knows by nature is bound to be broken…but, like an Anna Stern promise, one that will be kept until death. Okay?"

Anna smiled to herself, remembering a little bit of why she had fallen for this guy so long ago. Sitting back down outside the door, she concurred with his request.

"Okay, I can do that."

"Alright…well, right after Marissa left for Europe, Ryan was going through a pretty broody period, which was to be expected because he doesn't seem to function without that girl. He never told me exactly what happened at the airport when he dropped her off, but I could tell that it wasn't good. So, then a couple weeks ago, I walk in from getting the new Cav and Clay, which, by the way, IS AWESOME…really, could they have topped themselves after Clay morphed himself into that fog and rescued Cav from the Greyling?"

"Cohen…focus here, it's late, and I'm hoping to get out of here some time before dawn."

"Right…so, I go back to the pool house to check on him…give him the usual offer of Seth-Ryan time, which he usually declined in favor of silence in the dark…and, there he was. His face was all swollen and bloody…I could see his black eye shining in the moonlight. I knew something had happened…so, I asked him. He said that he had run into some friends of Volchek's…"

'Volchek,' Anna thought, remembering that name sounding vaguely familiar.

"Volchek?" Why does that sound familiar?"

"He was the guy that Marissa dated after Ryan…the one she took to prom."

"The one that stole all the prom money?"

"Yep."

Anna remembered his face now. Yes, she should have known that he would not be gone forever. But, what did this have to do with Seth deciding to stay in California?

"So, okay…Ryan got jumped…what does this have to do with you deciding to stay in Newport?"

Seth shrugged to himself, proceeding to walk down the stone pathway towards the ocean near the end of their gated community. He saw the security guard reading a book at his usual post, and waved to him to let him know he was leaving. God, what he wouldn't give to spend this beautiful night with Summer.

"Well, Ryan made me keep this from the parents…so, I did, surprisingly…but, a few days later, Ryan went to Volchek's apartment, and he found Caitlyn Cooper there."

Anna's eyebrow raised at the admission of Marissa's little sister hanging out with her creepy ex-boyfriend. It wasn't possible that they were…

"They weren't?"

"I'm pretty sure that they were. And, she covered for him, telling Ryan that he had found a way to get into Berkeley…and to watch his back…Ryan came back, and even though he didn't admit it, he looked pretty scared. He started talking about transferring or dropping out…and, I just…I couldn't let him do that, not after how hard he worked to get into that school. You know? So, I just did what I thought would help. I didn't want him to be alone there."

Now, it was all clear to Anna. Any anger that she had previously been harboring towards Seth was now gone. He was trying in his own way to protect the brother that had always defended and protected him.

"Oh, Seth…I'm sorry. I guess when I heard Summer's version of the story…I just didn't know what to think. And, you have known to make rash, quick decisions in the past. But, I mean, why didn't you just tell Summer what was going on? She would've understood. Instead, you lied to her…again, and this time, I don't think she's gonna get over it. Seth, I'm worried about her. You have to tell her the truth…Ryan will understand."

Seth reached the waterfront, quickly slipping off his shoes and socks to feel the sand between his toes. It always helped to calm him down whenever he was upset. And, there was nothing that upset Seth more than the thought of the love of his life being miserable because of something he had done. He shuffled through the tides, hoping the water would give him the courage to do what he had known all along would eventually have to be done. He would have to tell someone…Ryan was going to flip, but what could he really even accomplish by going to Berkeley? It wasn't like he was going to scare off Volchek and his buddies by himself.

"I know…I just hope it isn't too late for Summer to understand."

"Well, you'll never know until you try. Look, Seth," Anna said, standing up and shaking her legs awake, "I gotta go. It's late, and I have a quiz tomorrow. Talk to her…soon."

And, with that, Anna hung up. The rain had begun to calm down, and Anna stuck her head out from under the ledge that had been saving her from getting wet, allowing her face to be softly covered in water. She ran her hands through her hair and blinked her eyes rapidly, hoping this would refresh her and wake her up. There was no way that she could get any sleep now.

Letting herself back into her room, Anna was taken aback to find that when she sat on her bed, someone was already occupying it.

"Summer?"

Summer was huddled under the covers, eyes stained from what Anna could only guess was tears. Her eyes were fixed on a picture on Anna's darkened room wall, one of her, Anna, and Seth back when they had first started hanging out. She could not take her eyes away from that picture. Sensing that she was not in the mood to talk, Anna slowly climbed into bed with her and put her arms gently around her. Summer dug her face into her friend's chest, no longer able to contain her despair. Anna soothingly ran her fingers through Summer's hair, both of them staying silent but understanding what the other was going through.

'Seth, you better tell her…soon.'