Oh hey, it's 2010

A Path Less Traveled

Apparently, there was a life after Summer Roberts. It consisted of sleep-ins until dinner time, the watching of cheesy television programming, and Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticsm album on repeat. It had been one mere day since his fateful conversation with Summer, in which they yelled at one another and eventually led to the dismantling of the odd relationship they had been having. While he was still participating in his usual Seth Cohen Protocol for a Broken Heart, which involved his necessary rants to Ryan, brooding in his room and avoiding of the parents, this time around didn't seem quite the same as the others.

Maybe he had matured in the past 4 months. Or maybe this was simply a case of "been there, done that" and he was just tired of sulking over Summer. After all, when he put his relationship with her into perspective that was all it really came down to; it was all he had ever really known. High expectations only to see them come to a crashing end. Maybe that was where he was wrong in the first place. It was selfish of him to hype Summer up as this superior being incapable of fault, a being that was an actor in the play Seth desperately wanted to come to fruition in his head.

"How about we wake up and eat some dinner huh?"

"Too tired."

"How can you be 'too tired'? All you've done since Friday is sleep." Ryan gazed at the motionless lump curled in the blankets and sighed. He hated that Seth's poor mood affected him this much. But he just wasn't one to turn a blind eye when a family member was in trouble, especially a Cohen. He owed them far too much. "Now get up, you're coming with me to the pier."

"Do I have a say in the matter?"

"No." Ryan flickered the lights on and off, and backed out of the room leaving the lights on. Seth rolled out of his tightly ravelled blankets and sighed, exposing himself to the light and fixing his gaze on the slow moving ceiling fan. His current situation felt an awful lot like the Seth Cohen of old, with the brooding alone in his room listening to his music. He sat up at the edge of his bed and stared at himself in the mirror. The reflection he saw was not a pretty one. His hair was dishevelled, he had the makings of a faded stubble beard, and an overall complexion of a broken man.

He took one last look around his room, then finally rose from the bed. He tossed on his clothes from the previous night and trudged out the door to find Ryan.

How badly did she wish to swap lives with April Flannigan, lead character on the hit TV show The Valley. Her life was so perfect, so easy. As it turns out, watching VH1's Best Week Ever to shed light on your shitty week didn't do much for Summer Roberts. She spent most of her weekend holed up in her room watching her reality shows, thinking up all the different scenarios that could play out for her in the coming weeks. Boys were a problem for her, and it was seemingly a magnified problem this year. Seth Cohen had become a problem for her; funny, seeing as just last year Seth Cohen served no significance in her mind at all. But this wasn't to say that Seth was a bad problem, he was a good one if that makes any sense. The whole situation was so messy to begin with that she was beginning to get lost in it all herself.

Seth's entrance into her life had brought nothing but good things for her; he made her happy, this was for certain. She couldn't recall any of her past "boyfriends" that made her feel the way she does whenever they were around. The feeling Seth invoked in her was overwhelming, it was so powerful that it sent her into frenzy. She simply did not know what to do or how to act around Seth; he made her feel vulnerable, in a good way of course, something she had never experienced before. Seth's charm was undeniable, and she had clearly fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

Summer flicked through the channels and settled on another teen drama, her third one today. Sundays were always her leisure day, allowing her to rest up for the coming week and all of its surprises. However this particular Sunday, she was somewhat paranoid towards what the week had in store for her. Other weeks she would assume she would coast through school, hit the beach and scope out some guys, shop with Marissa, maybe a mid-week party at Holly's if she was up for it, then end the week with another party. She had a feeling this week was going to be drastically different. Senior Prom was on the horizon, and the atmosphere at the school was beginning to buzz. Yet, all Summer could think about was that she had hurt Seth, unintentionally of course but actions speak louder than words, or more correctly lack of words. Their last conversation did not end on the brightest terms: Seth let himself out in the open for her, an ultimatum which she was unsure of how to answer. Seth wanted progress, she could only offer indecisiveness. In the end, they of course ended by trading hurtful blows to one another, which lead to her weekend of seclusion.

No one had bothered her, save for the odd phone calls from Marissa and several drunken text messages from Justin. Despite the obvious warning signs which signalled in her head about Justin, more specifically about his abundant stupidity, he too had something which drew her in. Maybe it was completely a physical attraction, which was understandable as he certainly was easy on the eyes. But she had always told herself that, much like how Seth had viewed Summer, there was more to Justin then met the eye. She desperately wanted to believe this, but recent events with him told her otherwise.

Why wasn't this an easy decision like it appeared on paper? Seth Cohen, the good guy, was head-over-heels attracted to her, polite, respectful, handsome, was there for the taking, yet she still had a fear. Her current life was all she had ever known. What Seth wanted to start with her seemed so real, compared to her past boyfriends whom had all come from the same group of friends as her. Meaning, if things went south between the two (which often they did) she remained unaffected socially and things would quickly go back to normal. But with Seth, there was serious potential for this to spread outside of high school. Summer dreaded the end of high school, it meant entrance into the real world of hard labour, bills, responsibility…she just couldn't do it.

Yes, life in The Valley would be just perfect.

"You understand how bad of an idea this is, right?" Seth grumbled as he bent down to pick up the ball yet again. After therapy along the pier failed, Ryan rummaged through the range rover for his football. They had just begun to toss the ball around, Seth had managed to drop every pass thrown to him. It wasn't as dumb as it sounded. For Ryan, if he were ever in a situation which appeared utterly hopeless such as Seth…well, he could always take his frustrations out through hammering away on a punching bag, or if this failed, a fight. For Seth, this wasn't such a lucrative option. Sure, sports were not his forte but it was the next best option to doing something stupid like fighting Justin or one of the water polo players, which was still possible to happen on Monday. Ryan couldn't stand seeing Seth go through the social struggles which he did. The thought of what it must have been like to be in a coma like Seth had been was chilling.

Getting out of the house on a beautiful day like today could be just what he needed, as well it didn't hurt either that there were plenty of women to gaze at on the beach. Seth headed no attention, as he struggled to master the art of Catch. "You act like its rocket science, anybody can do it."

"Actually, I think I would be better off if there actually were a formula to it." Ryan smirked and awaited the pass: a wobbly spiral which landed no where near him and at foot level. He laughed and shook his head, while Seth could only throw is hands up in defeat. "I was built for the lab room, my friend." Ryan collected the ball then approached Seth. They stood in silence for a few seconds, Ryan waited for Seth to break it as he customarily did but this did not occur. Silence with Seth was uncomfortable for Ryan now, it just was not natural.

"So, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that my secret calling all along had been football, huh?" Ryan laughed and shook his head, but gestured his hands for Seth to continue. He knew what he had meant. "Well, what should I think about all of this?"

"I can't say I know what you're going through, but it must be hard."

"I prefer not thinking about it," Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out his sunglasses. He fixed his attention on the shoreline. "As soon as I think about it I get mad, I'm tired of being mad." Ryan nodded in understanding and turned to face the shoreline as well. The surfers cruised through the waves with articulate ease, people splashed around in the water and crashed into the waves. Who knew such a calming setting could provide the template for such a sticky situation. "Enough about me, what's been going on with you?"

"Seth Cohen?" the boys turned on a whim to the direction of the voice and found a small blonde, Anna Stern.

"Hey, Anna." Ryan announced, he had a strange feeling Seth had forgotten her name again. Sure enough, he looked over and saw Seth shot him a knowing look.

"What are you boys up to?"

"Oh you know, playing some good old American football." Seth attempted to steal the ball away from Ryan's grasp but to no avail, his grip on the ball was solid. Attempt number #1 to impress had failed for Seth. Anna just laughed and shifted her sunglasses up to her forehead. "Ahh, what are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking."

"Family from Pittsburgh flew down so we decided to take them to the beach for the day." Anna seemed distant, and so she should. In fact, Seth was shocked that she was even speaking to him. He had treated her like shit; in his pursuit to win Summer's affections, he had stomped all over Anna in the process. He was so fixated on Summer that he was unaware of this; guilt instantly seeped through him at the thought. That just wasn't him, he never acted like this, but I guess people do the strangest things for love.

"Oh, well that sounds fun." Seth was keeping the chat light, there were far too many Sterns at the beach for him to drag up his past behaviour and try to apologize for it. Worst case scenario, it would stir up her old hatred, and he pictured the result as him running down the beach strip with thousands of Sterns in hot pursuit…exaggeration, of course but you get the gist of it.

"Hey, you want to swing by and hang with me?" she looked down at her shoes and avoided his gaze. "Everyone's just telling stories I've heard millions of times and it would be nice to have some company." Seth awkwardly looked between Anna and Ryan. Was this a date or a friendly hangout?

"Sure, that sounds good." He looked at Ryan again, then back to Anna. "Well, can Ryan come too?"

"Of course! I'm sorry, I should've made it clear. You're both welcome." Seth shifted his gaze to Ryan and tried to telepathically indicate to him that he needed him there. But in typical Ryan fashion, he knew alternative plans were on the horizon.

"Thanks for the invite but I promised Marissa I would help her out with her Prom preparations." Anna began rambling about her dress she had picked out and how she had been counting down the days until Prom. Anna said her good-bye then stepped back so Ryan and Seth could say their good-byes

"Of course you have plans with Marissa, it never fails."

"Actually I just didn't want to go. I'm done third-wheeling with you and your women." he whispered which caused Seth to laugh. "See you at the house." In an instant, Ryan turned and began trudging back to the pier. Anna rejoined Seth at his side as watched Ryan walk away.

"So, Mr. Cohen…what do you say we try this again?" Seth wasn't sure if they were on the same wave length. But he agreed, it couldn't hurt.

Mrs. Stern, I would love to." he smiled at her, and she smiled right back. Seth was taken back by how pretty she truly was. She grabbed his hand and began to lead him back deeper into the beach toward where the rest of her family were. Maybe, he had had something special all along and just couldn't see it…

"Go away, I don't want to see anyone." the knocking on her door persisted and enraged Summer. Whoever was keeping this up must've had a death wish. Maybe it was Seth? Summer got excited at the thought and rushed to the door, swinging it open. Her smile dropped quickly when she saw who it was: Justin. "Oh." the boys previous smile had fallen as well when she answered the door. He stood there holding a single flower pedal, she looked at him confusedly. "What do you want?"

"Hey Summer," he was very quiet, very un-Justin like. "Could I step in for a minute?" she reluctantly stepped aside and allowed him inside. However, he didn't walk in far and remained by the door. "So listen, I know I haven't been the greatest person lately…"she laughed and shook her head. " And there is no excuse for the way I've treated you, and I know that our relationship has never really been the talkative type…but I want you to know that I really do care about you…a lot actually." Summer broke into a small smile, she couldn't help it. "And well, you see I was at the mall today and you know the Mr. Kelly's flower shop at South Coast?" she nodded her head. "Well, I found this on the floor just outside of his shop."

"Eww, if you think I want it you've got another thing coming." she shooed the pedal away from her, yet he never had offered it to her.

"I know this isn't for you, its for me. It reminded me of you."

"…oh my, how romantic." she couldn't help but be sarcastic with him. She was trying to peel through this new act of his that he had going on. Romantic Justin just did not exist. He shook her words off and continued.

"I know it seems weird, but I couldn't help but think of you when I saw it." he smiled sheepishly to himself. " Something as beautiful as this pedal, once belonged to a beautiful flower not long ago. And yet, here it was stomped on, kicked around…" he paused and looked at her. "Beautiful things do not deserve that Summer, and this is how I've treated you…" Summer was speechless. "Jeez, look at me…I sound ridiculous huh?" he smiled and shook his head. Summer was froze by the door, trying to look at Justin in the same light which she had held Seth. She had never seen this side of Justin before, it was shocking. "Well, that's all I wanted to say…thanks hearing me out." he began to move toward the door but was stopped by Summer's hand tugging on his wrist. Her eyes were teary from his words and she smiled at him, for the first time in a long while.

"Want to stay for awhile? Its lonely here." he smiled at her and nodded, finally entering fully into the room as she closed the door behind him.

2 years later I update. Hello again, I actually had to re-read this whole thing to get familiar with it again, which took like 2 weeks haha…but sure enough I did it, and here's this chapter. I'm sure it wasn't what I had planned 2 years ago lol, but I had to do this to set-up my new vision for the remaining final few chapters.

For those that have read my stories all this time thanks and I hope you enjoyed them.

It would be nice to get some reviews, and criticism is always fine, constructive or not. I want to hear what you think. Anyways, thank you once again and I hope you enjoyed this.