Alright, FINALLY the next chapter is done….It took me about 3 rewrites to get it the way I kinda wanted it…and even now Im still a little skeptical…..so please be kind… Let me know what you think, what you liked, what you didn't like…..
Enjoy..

Fix You

Summer awoke the next morning, her eyes sore and feeling heavy. Without opening them, she rolled over to her other side and began to stretch out. She felt around the bed noticing the emptiness. She sighed in disappointment, having the worst thoughts run through her mind in regards to where Seth was and where he had slept.
'Great way to start the morning' she thought to herself and continued to stretch, expanding her arms as wide as they would go, along the width of the bed. Suddenly, she felt something knock over and land with a 'thud'.

Summer paused and slowly pealed her eyes open one at a time. She turned her head and looked to see what she had accidentally knocked over. She smiled and held back a giggle as she saw Seth's body hunched to one side, his forehead resting on the nightstand next to the bed. He was in a deep sleep, breathing slowly and deeply. His body looked like that of a rag doll which had been thrown and just landed in the most awkward position possible.

Summer got out of bed as quietly as possible and knelt down to where Seth was on the floor. She refrained herself from smiling at his cute awkwardness. She looked over at the corner of the room where all of her suit cases her stored. The thought of leaving still lingered in her mind. She looked back at Seth.

'I owe it to the both of us' she thought and put the whole leaving thought on hold.

Summer looked over Seth's entire body. The way he was sprawled out on the floor looked, in no way comfortable. Summer wanted desperately to move his from floor to the bed but she did not want to wake him. She didn't want to disturb his sleep, but she also was not ready for their inevitable confrontation.

She looked intently at Seth's face. Smiling, she thought of the enormous red line imprint from the edge of the nightstand that would be on the side of his forehead when he woke up. The smile quickly faded as she looked closer at his face. He looked terrible. Definitely worse than Summer looked. Seth face was ridden with exhaustion. His hair although naturally messy, was beyond messy. Seth expression hadn't changed since he had been asleep. Still, he had the look of extreme guilt and despair.

"Oh Seth" she sighed at an almost inaudible volume and slowly raised a hand to his face, ever so softly grazing the tips of fingers against his skin.

"What happened?" She questioned, refusing to change her volume.

The only part of Seth that moved was his chest slowly rising and then falling seconds afterwards.
Summer looked from eyelid to eyelid, as if Seth's eyes were open and she was staring into them.

"I'm sorry" she again whispered. She had no idea what she was apologizing for, but she felt somehow, it was the right thing to say. Summer had the all too familiar feeling of tears starting to form in her eyes.

She took her hand away from his face and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Seth legs were the only normally positioned part of his body so Summer lay down, resting her head in his lap. The rest of her body was curled up between his body and the nightstand. Somehow, she managed to squeeze in and into a comfortable position. She just laid there, basking in the comfort and safety he offered even in his subconscious state. She stared at the opposing wall with nothing but calm thoughts of happier times. Summer would need the feelings they gave her before Seth awoke.

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Seth finally allowed himself to awake from the calm thoughts of happier times in his dreams. He would need these feelings they gave him before Summer awoke.
The first thing Seth felt as he slowly came into consciousness from his sleep was the pain on his forehead. Slowly lifting his head, he tried stretching but noticed that something was anchoring him down. He opened one eye and surveyed his body. Every single muscle from his waist up ached as he tried to sit up straight.
Rubbing both eyes and feeling his forehead, he looked down in his lap realizing what …or rather who, it really was.
He watched Summer's torso rise and fall quickly, for some reason she always had a much faster breathing rate than him. He smiled tenderly at her and pulled her hair away from her face. Seth raised his hand and softly ran it along her cheek. He was pleased to see that it was no longer red and puffy and had returned to its normal size and colour.
He took in the comfort and calmness she always brought him and sighed quietly.

"What happened?" He questioned, his voice just below a whisper and his hand still stroking her cheek.

"I'm sorry" He whispered into her hair and kissed it lightly. He felt compelled to apologize but somehow the whole situation felt bigger than him just missing dinner. Seth then carefully wrapped his arms around her small frame and gently pulled her closer to him. He sat there staring at the far wall mentally preparing himself for when she awoke again.

Summer had never fallen asleep in Seth's lap. She calmly had her eyes closed the entire time, just enjoying the feeling of being lost in her own little world. She was mindful of Seth's delicate stirrings as he woke up.

Summer was about to speak when she heard Seth's muffled words. She listened intently, trying not to give away that she was awake. She held back the urge to turn around and wrap her arms around him, but quickly remembered what had started everything in the first place. That slut from the street whom he just had to kiss….but somehow the whole situation felt bigger than just the kiss.

"Cohen…" Summer whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

Seth's concentration was broke has soon as he realized Summer hadn't been sleeping.

Summer remained still, not moving while Seth continued to subconsciously gently make small circles on her arm with his fingers.

"I saw you outside the hotel last night." Summer softly let the word fall out of her mouth, reminiscing the previous night. The night that filled her heart and mind with so much doubt and fear. The same night that overflowed her eyes with a continuous stream of tears. The night that seem like it went on forever, never letting morning come.

Seth stopped the circular motions on her arm and suddenly all his questions were answered. Once again he found himself at odds with Lady Luck, for this predicament could only happen to Seth Cohen. He had a sour look on his face and just shook his head as he looked down at the floor beside him.

Summer waited for a reply but knew it would be hard to get anything out of Seth. He had a tendency to freeze up during important conversations or worse, back out and take the verbal beating without defending himself. This, Summer hated above all other things that Seth did. The mumbling she learned to live with for there was hope for him there, but after years of being picked on and ridiculed he developed this sort of self defence mechanism. Every time Summer had thought he had been making progress, Seth would do something to prove her wrong. She felt terrible that this was something that she couldn't directly help him with.

Seth looked quite foolish darting his head around in various directions as he fought with himself. This was one of those times where he needed to be strong….but he was sick of being strong. For the past couple months Seth had been the strong one whom his friends went to. He had put all his own problems on hold. His mother's drinking, his father's semi-abandonment, and the realization of Summer leaving for 4 months. He had put these feelings off and now they were returning to him with full force.

Seth let his older self win, allowing himself to be enveloped in silence.

"Seth" Summer knew he wouldn't respond. She knew she had to do something to get him to be open with her.

She slowly sat up and faced his. She cradled his legs, sitting on her knees, having one leg on each side of his. She brought her face closer to his stopping just a couple inches from his.

"Seth…" she repeated looking at him, trying to get him to raise his head.

"Look at me" She said with such softness and delicacy. Summer knew Seth had to do it himself, for this was not a situation where he should be forced. This he had to find the strength to do himself.

Seth knew Summer was looking at him. He could feel her piercing gaze that was mixed with so many different emotions, it was hard to pick them all out. Again, Seth began to fight with himself. This time he very slowly lifted his head, pausing along the way.

When he finally looked into her eyes it was like he could see straight into her. The feeling was so intense for him that he had to look away.

"Seth…." Summer whispered once more, trying to catch his eyes again.

"Why?" She looked at hurt as Seth did guilty.

Seth sighed softly and finally formed words in his mouth.

"I…I don't expect you to believe me…or even listen for that matter…but…" Seth returned his eyes to Summers, sincerity poured from his eyes.

"It wasn't my fault."

Summer, in her mind, rolled her eyes. Normally she would have laughed at this statement coming from Seth, for it was used time and time again but this time she fought to remain optimistic. She just sat in silence, knowing that interrupting Seth could shatter his confidence.

"I met her when Ryan and I were at the beach this morning…" Seth words were basked in fear and uncertainty.

"We uh, went back to their house for a party they were having…" His eyes never left hers. He could feel the same fear and uncertainty that he had. Seth could tell that Summer was not liking the direction of the story even though she was trying hard not to show it.

"I…I lost track of time. When I realized what time it was, I searched frantically for Ryan but he was busy hooking up with Sam's sister." Seth immediately regretted using her name, for that small detail wasn't something that Summer needed to hear right now.

Summer's glare became more intense at the mention of the girls name. That was a small detail she did not need to hear right now. Regardless, she kept her composure and waited for Seth to continue.

"She offered to drive me home and…and when got here, I rushed out so fast I forgot my towel. She brought back to me before I got inside the hotel…and then when she kissed me." Seth quickly looked away and down at the floor after finishing the last sentence, ashamed and full of doubt that she would even consider a single word truthful.

"I pushed her away as fast as I could…..but I guess I wasn't fast enough. Seth's voice trailed off, hating himself that he let any of this happen.

Summer knew Seth had always been a real sucker for a pretty face. He would practically throw all his inhibitions to the wind and wind up in a dilemma such as the one they're in now. At the realization of this, Summer's facial expression lightened as she was no longer mad, but plenty frustrated. Not only at herself but everything that had happened. For the first time in eight hours, Summer had no doubts in her mind. This was simply because she knew every single word Seth spoke was the truth.

"I…I just started yelling at her…I don't remember the last time I was that infuriated."

Summer was shocked. Never had she heard about Seth fly off the handle, let alone actually witness it.

She cocked her head to one side, faintly smiling at him, as his eyes returned back to hers.

"Cohen…" she whispered, her voice beginning to break.

"I just want to know, you know, how bad I feel about it." All doubt and uncertainty was flushed from his voice, it was now full of relief from her understanding…. even though Summer was yet to say anything but she didn't have to. Seth could tell right away that she believed him.

"Me too" Summer frowned with the saddest look upon her face. She felt so imprudent and almost completely responsible for the whole thing…even though it was clearly 'Slutty McSlut's' fault.

"But if you're going to Providence soon, you have to have more trust in me."

There was a time where Summer would be making this argument and not Seth.

"I know…" she looked down, ashamed that she didn't return the same level of trust as Seth gave her.

They both smiled at each other, happy with the fortunate turn of events.

"You're not gonna hire some creepy private detective to follow me around are you?" Summer narrowed her eyes at Seth.

"Well, not anymore" Seth quickly shot back.

They both grinned at each other before finally closing the small gap between them and pressing their lips together for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.

"We're good now right?" Seth needed a direct confirmation just to ease him over.

"Yeah" Summer nodded before pulling him into her for another long, deep kiss.

Summer pulled away and rested her head against his chest. She sighed, happy to be back to they way that they were.

Seth rested his chin on her head as he held her tight, not wanting to let go.

"You have a big red mark on your forehead." Summer said with the biggest grin imaginable on her face and began to giggle.

Seth's smile immediately dropped, not finding the humour in the statement at all.