I took Kaitlin home after a date. It was a lot easier with her living next door again. Marissa had started her therapy. Hopefully it would be helpful.
"Why did we see Titanic?" Kaitlin asked as we stood in front of the door.
"I've never seen it before." I replied. "I would have thought seeing Kate Winslet would be more arousing than it was."
"Yeah, she's a decent actress, but I guess she's not as attractive as we thought." She agreed.
"Well there's only one more day left this year." She reminded me. "We need to come up with our plans."
"Well we do need to make sure Marissa stays sober." I responded. "I think all things considered, it's been a good year."
"Yes if you take divorces, bankruptcy and overdoses out." She quipped. "I did meet the most amazing girl ever and I had my first job so I guess it balances out."
"And I've had a great year." I said before she gave me a kiss.
"So what do you wanna do?" She questioned.
"Let's decide in the morning." I told her. "I just want to have a normal party for a change. I'd prefer it if nothing happened."
"So Summer and Anna, I feel kind of bad for Seth." She commented.
"Well he did deserve it a little." I pointed out. "Now he needs to find a new girl to obsess over."
"I love you." She told me.
"Me too." I responded. She stared at me. "I'm trying, okay."
"Take your time." She instructed. "The three words can be the hardest ones to say."
"I mean I do feel the same, but I can't say them." I told her. At that point, Julie turned the lights on and I realized I needed to go. Kaitlin went inside of the house. At least I didn't say something stupid in response like 'Thank you.' I do love her. I walked to the pool house.
"I love you. Why can't I say it to her?" I asked myself.
"Saying it's easy. Meaning is different." A woman with curly sandy blonde hair wearing one of my tank tops and panties interrupted. What the fuck? "Who the fuck are you?"
"Long story, who the fuck are you?" I countered.
"It doesn't work like that Babe." She responded. "It's my pool house."
"Actually it's my pool house." I argued with authority, still very confused.
"So I guess this is yours." She stated before putting on a seductive tone. "Do you want it back?"
"I think I'm good." I replied nervously. I don't like cougars. I then realized who she was. "You're Kirsten's sister, Hailey, aren't you?"
"I guess Kirsten remembers that I exist." Hailey remarked.
"She didn't say that you would be here." I pointed out.
"She doesn't know I'm here." She responded. "We can talk about this in the morning. I hear the couch is comfortable."
She gave me a pillow and pushed me out. I can't believe I just got kicked out.
So woke me from the couch in the morning.
"Did you get drunk last night?" Seth inquired.
"No, your aunt kicked me out of the pool house." I explained.
"Hailey's here. Awesome." He remarked and ran off before I could get a word in. "She's in the pool house."
"What are you talking about?" Kirsten asked.
"Did you not notice Sammie sleeping on the couch?" Seth asked his parents.
"Why is she here?" Kirsten inquired as I learned over the sink. I didn't like being scene without makeup.
"Either she's run out of money or she's run out of money." Sandy replied.
"Hey guys, look who's back." Hailey stated as she walked into the house in the same state of dress as last night.
"Seth, robe now." Kirsten ordered as he wrapped his robe around her. For some reason it was okay for him to be in his underwear.
"Happy New Year everyone." Hailey remarked.
"We would have picked you up wherever you were." Kirsten told her sister.
"Yeah, it was late and my cell got shut off." Hailey responded. I guess she was out of money.
"So you're going to stay with us for some time?" Kirsten asked. She just shrugged. "I'm gonna make up the guest bedroom. Bedding, sheets now."
"Married seventeen years, the first things to go are the full sentences." Sandy quipped as he got up. He gave her a hug. "Welcome back."
"Looking good, Nephew Seth." She complimented.
"Thank you, puberty happened." Seth replied. I couldn't help but wonder why I wasn't in the pool house taking a shower right now or at least putting on some makeup. He then pulled his shirt back. "I have chest hair now."
I couldn't help but notice that she looked younger than Seth even though I think she was 27.
"Who's the new friend?" Hailey questioned.
"She's actually your new niece, Samantha." Seth replied. "It's a bit of a long story."
"So now that you're a man, what are the New Year's Eve plans? Got any girls to kiss?" Hailey pried.
"They're too busy kissing each other." I piped in.
"I'm gonna do whatever Sammie and Kaitlin do." Seth added.
"Kaitlin, I know that name, she lives next door right?" Hailey replied. "It sounds like they won't be doing much because of three words Sammie couldn't say."
"She actually told me that didn't have to same them, thank you very much." I interrupted.
"Wait, did Kaitlin say that she loved you?" Seth asked. "What did you say?"
"Me too." I repeated. "I do love her."
"And you probably don't want me around." Seth quipped as he sipped his coffee. "Looks like Seacrest and a ball dropping. Those are two images that should never be said in the same sentence."
"I'm going to take a shower in the pool house." I announced. I looked at Hailey. "I want all your stuff gone before I get out.
I stepped out of the shower wrapped in a towel and saw that Kaitlin was there.
"You're in a towel." She stated.
"I kind of think that you should leave until I'm ready because I'm not in the mood for sex right now." I told her.
"I actually need to tell you that Marissa got invited to this party and she said we could come." She replied as I started to put on a black jacket with a black tank and denim miniskirt.
"I thought we didn't get invited to parties anymore." I stated.
"It's this guy that she met in therapy." She explained as I grabbed a pair of boots. "It's at the Four Seasons."
"We I guess we didn't really make any plans." I replied. "I still don't know if we should just go to this guy's place. He could be a serial killer."
"He's probably not a serial killer." Kaitlin replied. "This is the first time Marissa's talked to me. Was there anything you wanted to do?"
"Are you upset that I didn't say…those words that I still can't say?" I questioned.
"Well I do think that, no pressure, if you could say it tonight, it would be much more romantic." She opined. "I do know that you love me. Do you have any news?"
"My never-before-seen aunt is here." I told her. "She kicked out of the pool house last night."
"I really want to go to this party." She remarked. "How about we go tonight and you can pick out our next date?"
"Fine." I agreed. "But if he's a serial killer, don't say I didn't warn you and I am bringing Seth with me."
That night, I went to see if Seth was ready while I walked in wearing my black dress. He seemed to be looking for his shoes. He only has two pairs. How hard can it be to find them?
"Is there anything that you two need?" Kirsten asked us as they walked into the kitchen.
"Sammie needs a time machine so she can go back and tell Kaitlin she loves her." Seth responded.
"This is not a big deal. I'm gonna tell her tonight." I remarked. I really hoped I would be able to.
"What are you doing here?" Hailey asked. "You two shouldn't be here."
"We were about to leave but Seth can't find his shoes." I said in annoyance.
"Then go barefoot." Hailey suggested. She seemed like she really wanted us to leave. I wondered if I should be worried.
"I just remembered I left them in the bathroom." Seth stated. He went and retrieved them before I opened the door and noticed that some rowdy people. Well my aunt is a troublemaker. I don't know if I can leave now. I at least need to lock the pool house.
"What do you we do?" I asked Seth as we noticed some guys skinny-dipping in the pool.
"We can't leave Hailey here. The place will get trashed. She's insane." Seth responded. How is it that trouble always seems to find me?
"Well tell her that she can't have her party." I suggested.
"I don't want to be the dad." Seth responded. "Telling my aunt she can't have a party is embarrassing. You tell her."
"You share blood with her." I argued.
"Yes, but the Cohens are notorious for conflict avoidance, but the Atwoods thrive on it." Seth countered. At that point, I took out my license.
"Samantha Cohen." I read it. "Okay, fuck it. I'll tell her so we can get out of here."
I decided to call Kaitlin first.
"So a party just broke out at my place because of my crazy aunt." I told her. "I don't know how to tell her to stop."
"Is it really your problem?" Kaitlin inquired. "This party is really nice."
"I don't want to leave and not have a place to come back to." I explained.
"Do you want to drive over there and help you?" She asked.
"I don't want you to drive." I told her. "While you're still on the line, there's something I want to tell you."
"It works better if you say it in person." She stated. "I can come in a cab if you want to tell me."
"Just let me tell Hailey that the party's over and I'll be right there." I promised her. I went upstairs and heard her talking about how she owed some chick three grand. It seemed like things were getting really heated in there. She walked out of the room.
"I think you need to send these people home." I told her.
"I don't care." Hailey argued.
"Maybe the cops will." I threatened.
"So now you're a narc?" She asked me. "How about we talk about this?"
"I don't want to talk about it." I told her. "I have a date with my girlfriend that I want to tell that I love and instead of wasting time here babysitting you. I want the naked people out of the pool and the rest of them out of the house or I'll call Kirsten."
"I can't get them to leave." Hailey replied. "I can't just get these people to clear out. Furthermore, I don't want to."
"Okay then you leave me no choice." I responded as I whipped out my phone. I actually just called Kaitlin. "Hello Newport PD, I'd like to report a disturbance. My aunt is throwing a wild party at my house."
"Tell her that they'll be here in 15 minutes." Kaitlin responded.
"You've got 15 minutes to get these people out of here before they show up." I told her.
"You bitch." Hailey said to me. "You don't even belong here."
"Your sister thinks otherwise." I argued. "She and Sandy adopted me. My name is Cohen and most importantly I live here."
"Okay, everyone, party's over!" Hailey shouted. "The cops are coming."
That got them out pretty quickly as people rushed to get dressed and scrambled away. Well they were giant morons. I couldn't help but smirk as they left.
"Well, you really are no fun." Hailey told me before the doorbell rang. I opened it and there was Kaitlin.
"It's good to see you, Officer." I remarked. Hailey's mouth hung open.
"What's this about the cops being here?" Seth asked as he reappeared. Where had he been?
"I called Kaitlin instead." I told him. "Seth, I need you to stay here. Keep her away from all phones. I think Hailey should get the chance to watch the ball drop."
"You are becoming my sister." Seth told me.
"Kaitlin, before we go, I need you to tell you something." I remarked. "I…love you. No, that didn't come out right. What I meant was…"
She instead cut me off with a kiss.
"I heard you and that will definitely do." She replied. "I want to go to this party already. This Oliver guy, while kind of shady is actually really nice. He does seem like he's a bit too into Marissa, though."
I went to the cab with Kaitlin and got inside.
"Has she told him that she's gay yet?" I asked.
"I don't think she sees it the way that I do." Kaitlin answered. "Marissa is not good at reading between the lines. It took her three weeks to realize that Holly liked her."
"I still don't think that she should trust a guy that she met in therapy." I said as I closed the screen. "I mean does she even know why he was in therapy in the first place?"
"No." She replied. "I still think that we should give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean you haven't even met him."
"Well this isn't a good night for me to give people the benefit of the doubt." I declared. "I guess you could be right, though. So do you have money to pay the driver?"
"I was kind of hoping that you did." She declared.
"You're lucky I do." I replied. "You know maybe we should see if we can get our jobs back. You're still not high on funds right now."
"I do think that is going to change soon." She admitted. "I mean my mom probably is going to marry Caleb and we'll be rich again."
"I wouldn't count on it." I replied. "Look, I'm not saying that it won't happen, but you shouldn't prepare for something and not have a backup plan if it doesn't happen."
"We're not going to be able to work as much." Kaitlin replied. "I guess some money is better than none."
It was at that point that the car stopped and we were at the hotel. The first thing that I saw was Anna standing outside of the room.
"I can't choose." She stated. "I like Summer. I really like Summer, but I think I also really like Seth."
"I think you would be wise not to waste a lot of time like Seth did." I told her. "Have you seen Marissa by any chance? We need to talk to her."
"She's talking to Oliver." Anna answered. "So what is Seth doing right now?"
"He is babysitting our crazy aunt who nearly wrecked the place with a party." I explained.
"I think I want to go see him." She replied. "Can you tell Summer that I wasn't feeling good?"
She headed to the elevator.
"Okay, that was I like to call not being able to deal with the fact that you like girls." I told her. "Believe it or not, I went through it."
"Seriously?" Kaitlin questioned.
"I mean I was 13 and in junior high, but I went through it." I explained. "All of the other girls were talking about boys and I wanted to, but I couldn't because I just didn't like them."
"Well the hardest part for me was my mom, she was furious, but not at me, at Marissa for thinking that she corrupted me." Kaitlin told me. "We should probably go in there right about now. It's almost midnight and we need to kiss."
"I have to wonder what's so important about kissing at midnight." I responded. "I get that it is kind of romantic, but since when are we people who try to fit in and stick to tradition?"
"Alright, we won't kiss at midnight." She replied. "But that doesn't mean that we're not going to kiss. We will wait for 12:02. Right now, let's party while there are still five minutes left in the year."
"I see that finally made it." Marissa told me.
"I couldn't think of anything better to do than to spent the New Year with a bunch of people that I don't know and only a few that I do." I quipped. "You know it's actually nice to see that you're not drunk for a change. That sounded a whole lot nicer in my head."
"It's nice to be sober for a change." Marissa told me. "Sammie, I would like you to meet Oliver."
At that moment, I noticed people were starting to count down to the New Year. I really didn't care about any of it to be honest. I noticed Summer, probably wonder where Anna was, because she wanted to kiss her at midnight. I guessed that I would help Anna out just once.
"Anna went home. She wasn't feeling well." I told Summer. I had to admit that was rooting for them, even though I had shipped Seth with Anna. I guess I just prefer lesbian pairings over straight ones. I mean I really want Brooke with Haley on One Tree Hill, even though I know it won't happen. Summer walked away, probably feeling pretty upset.
It started to rain confetti on us. I had to say that it was annoying. I couldn't believe that all these people were conforming and kissing at midnight. It was very annoying to be honest. I kept an eye on the clock. Most of them were done by 12:01, but we needed to wait another minute for ours.
"Happy Late New Year." Kaitlin declared before we proceeded to make out.
"I love you." I stated. I smiled. I actually said it how I wanted to.
"I love you too." She reciprocated. "Now let's go to the pool house."
So it's Anna that is going to have to choose between Seth and Summer now. Also Sammie and Hailey did not get along. And lastly, she said it to Kaitlin. Please don't forget to review.