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One month later…

"Summer?" Seth walked into her apartment as she hadn't answered the door; that also had been unlocked. He was getting slightly worried as he walked through the mess in her living room; clothes lied everywhere and it all just looked very messy. Maybe she'd been kidnapped.

Seth quickly searched the apartment, that wasn't very big. No Summer.

"Sum?" No answer.

Seth saw the pot on the stove and immediately felt his heart beat faster. Everybody knew that you didn't leave without turning the stove off and locking the front door. Even Summer had to know that.

Sure, she lived in a house Seth thought was dangerous for her. But she still had to be careful; she was very vulnerable as a single woman, maybe even more in this house. Every time Seth came to pick her up or come to see her, the hallways and the stairs were crowded; and the people didn't look very nice.

How could he let her stay here all by herself?

Summer was brave and strong but never could she fight those big guys. God, he didn't even want her to have to fight. She deserved to live somewhere safe.

And this place was definitely not safe.

He opened the bathroom door, in hope that she might be in there. But all he saw was three cockroaches.

Seth frowned and quickly closed the door.

"Summer, where the hell are you?" he asked out to the empty apartment. She knew that he was coming, so where was she?

Maybe she really had been kidnapped.

Picking up his cell, Seth dialled her number.

"Hi, it's Summer. Please leave a message."

Seth was the one who'd talked her into recording that. She'd just said that no one needed to leave any messages but after some time of very annoying complaints from Seth, Summer had finally given in.

As he heard the front door open and shut Seth sighed out in relief. And as Summer appeared, perfectly fine, he couldn't do anything else but hug her.

Summer was a little taken off guard by his sudden embrace but she quickly hugged him back. By now, she had gotten used to these kinds of hugs and she needed them all the time.

"Are you alright?" Seth asked and released her from his tight embrace. His worried gaze met hers and she could see that he was really scared.

She smiled. "Of course I am."

And she was okay, as in okay from being hurt. But still she was nowhere near okay inside. Seth didn't have to know everything though; she hated to complain all the time. He'd just get tired of her if she didn't let him believe that she was okay.

And she needed him as her friend.

"I got worried when you weren't here." Seth explained. "You shouldn't leave your door unlocked and not have the stove on when you're not at home."

"And here I thought that you worried about me." Summer joked, laughing a little. She then went to turn the stove off. "Happy?"

Seth nodded. "Where were you anyway?"

Summer shrugged. "I really needed to go to the store."

"Oh,"

"Yeah. Let me just go to the bathroom and then we can leave."

"Okay."

vvvvvvvvvv

In the middle of their monopoly playing Seth's phone rang. The two of them sat at the dining room table with the game between them.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Summer asked as Seth didn't move.

He raised his hand. "I'm thinking."

She giggled; he was so into the game. As always Seth didn't want to lose. Neither did Summer but she didn't want Seth to be sad so she always let him win, even if she could beat him.

"Maybe it's important." She said but he kept focusing on the game, counting his money.

So, Summer got up and answered.

"Hello? Seth?" a female voice said, sounding very confused.

Summer kind of regretted the fact that she'd answered. "Oh, hi. I'm Summer."

She didn't really have time to say anything else before the female started to talk. "I must have dialled the wrong number. Sorry if I disturbed."

"No, no." Summer quickly said. "This is Seth's phone. He's just not here at the moment." Summer explained.

The female seemed to understand. "Oh. Maybe you can tell him to call his mother when you speak to him?"

"Sure. So, you're Kirsten Cohen?"

"Yeah. And you're Summer?"

"I'm a friend of Seth's. Nice to talk to you."

"You too."

"I'll tell him to call you back as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Summer."

Summer went back to the dining room and placed the phone next to Seth. He didn't seem to notice though.

"Aren't you going to ask who it was?"

Seth looked up, for the first time tearing his eyes away from the game. "Sorry. Who was it?"

"It was your mother, Seth. And she wants you to call her back."

He nodded. "Okay. Thanks for answering by the way. I think I've decided what to do. I'm saving my money." He said and gave her the dices.

"Good. But go call your mother. Maybe it's important."

"No, it's not. She calls all the time." Seth said casually and was expecting her to forget about it but Summer kept looking at him. "Okay, I'll call her then."

"Good. You really should."

Kirsten seemed like a very nice mother and the fact that she called him all the time just showed her love for Seth. He shouldn't complain about how she was calling too often. He should be grateful for what he had.

"Hi, mom." Seth remained in front of Summer. She'd expected him to have the conversation in the living room; she didn't want to be in the way. But maybe Seth didn't mind.

"Yeah, that was just Summer…my friend…yes, she is…I am capable to have friends, mom…Yeah, I'm up for tomorrow…yes…love you, too….bye."

Seth made a funny face as he put the phone down. "She's so weird."

Summer was kind of interested about the conversation. "She didn't sound weird. She sounded nice."

"Yeah. Anyway, she just called to remind me about tomorrow."

"What's happening tomorrow?" Summer asked, but then got a little unsure. Maybe it wasn't any of her business.

"We're having this family dinner."

"Oh,"

Seth met her gaze. "Do you want to come?"

Summer nervously looked down. "It's a family dinner, Seth."

"But they won't care. I'm sure they'll be happy. My mom always says 'the more, the merrier'."

"Seth, I don't even know them."

"That's because you haven't met them. Just come. I promise that I'll take good care of you."

"Seth,"

"Please. I really want you to meet them. And them to meet you." Seth pleaded.

"But-"

"No but."

"Fine."

"Good. It's gonna be fun."

Summer wasn't as convinced.

vvvvvvvvvv

"Seth, I'm not so sure about this. Maybe I shouldn't come." Summer anxiously said as they were on their way to Seth's parents.

She had been nervous the whole morning and Seth practically had to drag her out of her apartment.

"Summer, I promise you that it'll be fine."

"Have you told them that I'm coming? Maybe they had planned something and don't want me to come."

"Sum, they'll be fine. They're gonna love you." Seth reassured her.

"Stop saying that."

"Please don't worry."

"I'm just so nervous." Summer almost cried.

"Don't be." Seth placed a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be fine."

Summer closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. This was not fun. How had she said yes to this?

"We're here." Seth said after a few minutes of silence.

"What!" Summer yelled and sat straight up. "Already?" she asked with a lot weaker voice.

Seth nodded. "Yes. This is the place."

"Wow. It's like a huge…I don't even know." Summer said in awe as she saw the house, for a moment forgetting about her anxiousness. "Your parents must be really rich."

"Yep." Seth just said and jumped out of the car. Summer remained in her seat though. "Aren't you coming?" Seth asked as he opened her door.

"Seth," Summer said, her voice weak like she was about to cry.

"It'll be okay, Sum. I promise." He said and gave her a hug. She hugged him back, burying her head in his neck.

"Okay," she finally said, gathering herself. God, she was being such a baby. Why was this so difficult for her? "Promise me that you won't leave me alone with them."

Seth nodded reassuringly. "I promise. I'll be by your side the whole time. Heck, I even sit next to you at the table."

"You must think that I'm such a baby," Summer started and felt like this wasn't a place for her.

"Hey," Seth forced her to look at him. "I know that this is hard for you, Sum. But I want you to do this, meet them. You'll see that they're nice and they're gonna like you. Nothing's gonna happen."

She nodded and took his hand. "Don't let go."

"I won't." Seth then helped her out of the car and they walked together up to the door. "Ready?"

Summer nodded and squeezed his hand. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Hello!" Seth called as they walked inside of the huge house. Summer almost froze from the sight. She'd never seen anything like this before; it was so beautiful.

"Seth!" A blonde woman, probably his mother, came out from nowhere and immediately hugged her son. Summer could see that they hadn't met for a while because the hug lasted for a pretty long time.

Seth was the one to pull away first. "Hi, mom."

Kirsten then noticed Summer and gave her a welcoming smile. "Hi!"

"Mom, this is my friend Summer. Summer this is my mom."

Summer managed to utter a 'hi' and smiled uncomfortably.

"We talked over the phone." Kirsten smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Summer."

"You too. I hope its okay-" Summer started but was almost immediately interrupted by Kirsten who seemed to know what Summer was trying to say.

"Of course. It's so nice that Seth brought a friend."

"I told you," Seth mouthed, only for Summer to see. He then placed an arm around her waist and led her into the kitchen.

The kitchen was just as nice; very homey and big. She couldn't even imagine how it would be like to live in a house like this. Everything was just so fancy and huge.

Three new people stood by the counter; one older who she figured was Seth's dad. He looked nice although Summer couldn't help but notice his eyebrows. They were a one of a kind. It made him look a little scary.

Summer mentally kicked herself. You did not think badly about new people, especially not Seth's dad.

Next to the man where two younger people; Ryan and his girlfriend. They looked good together; like one of those perfect couples.

"Hi, everybody!" Seth said and waved. "I want you to meet Summer."

Summer suddenly felt very uncomfortable, like they were all watching her. She hated that; she felt so out of place. "Hi," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

Summer was terrified, but polite. That was just one thing that she always wanted to be; she did not want to be rude.

"Hello, Summer." Seth's father extended his hand, which Summer accepted. "I'm Sandy, Seth's father."

"And, Sum. This is Ryan and Marissa." Seth introduced them. Marissa immediately said hello, smiling brightly.

She was beautiful. Tall, slim and with a pretty face. You could really see that she was rich; she looked like a movie star in Summer's eyes.

"Nice to meet you. Seth's been talking a lot about you." Ryan said and shook her hand. Summer worriedly looked over at Seth.

"Oh, don't worry. I only told him what a great friend you are." Seth quickly said and went to hug his family.

She smiled; he was adorable.

vvvvvvvvv

The visit had gone pretty well. At least this far.

Summer had talked some with them all, mostly Kirsten and Marissa. They were both so nice, almost too nice for Summer to handle. She felt a little awkward around them but they didn't seem to think so.

Seth had kept his promise and didn't leave her side, except when she told him it was okay. Summer wondered if his family noticed how instable she was.

She tried her best to hide it all, she always did. She smiled a lot and tried to talk, be interesting. But somehow, she always felt like she couldn't hide it; like the rest of the world always knew.

"So, Summer, how did you meet Seth?" Kirsten asked after dinner, when the three girls sat in the sofa while the boys were somewhere in the backyard. Summer had let Seth go spend some time with his brother and father. She didn't want him to feel like he had to be by her side the whole time, even if she would want him to.

"You didn't meet in a comic store, right?" Marissa asked and laughed.

Summer nervously spoke. "No, we met at the pier actually."

"The pier?" Both Marissa and Kirsten seemed very interested.

So, Summer had to explain. "Yeah. He asked me what time it was and then we went for coffee."

She couldn't tell them the whole truth. That had to stay between her and Seth. She didn't want them to know.

"That's so romantic." Marissa exclaimed and leaned back into the cushions.

Summer quickly spoke, maybe sounding a little harsh. "Seth and I are just friends."

"Oh, I just thought that…" Marissa started, obviously embarrassed. "Sorry."

Kirsten had probably believed the same because she stayed quiet.

Awkward silence.

"So, I thought I'd go shopping tomorrow. Do you want to come?" Marissa said, breaking the ice.

Kirsten nodded. "Sure. I could really use something new."

"Summer?" Marissa asked.

"Um," she started. She couldn't go. She didn't have any money to go shop with these two; they probably went to all the expensive places. "I don't know."

She then quickly stood up. "Will you excuse me?"

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