Kirsten Cohen stood at the island in the middle of her kitchen, drumming her fingers against the granite counter as she listened to her husband spout off reasons why allowing a juvenile delinquent he barely knew under their roof was acceptable.

"No, Sandy. No." She said for the third time.

"They're children, Kirsten. I'm not going to kick them out on the street. They have nowhere else to go."

"What happens if this is all a scam, huh? What if he's just using you to case the house?

"Kirsten," he said, exasperated. "He's a kid, not a criminal mastermind. Come on, when did you become so cynical?"

"When did you become so self-righteous?"

"I've always been self-righteous," he said, shrugging his shoulders. She simply rolled her eyes in response before brushing past him.

"Where are you going?"

"To put my jewelry in the vault," she deadpanned. "Where do you think I'm going? They're going to need fresh sheets and a toothbrush."

Sandy smiled, clearly satisfied with himself, before disappearing out front to find Ryan and Elena. When he walked outside, however, Ryan was nowhere to be found. He knocked on the window of the car lightly, causing Elena to jump slightly.

He smiled warmly at her, as if to let her know everything was okay, before peaking his head in the car. "Where's your brother?"

"Oh," her eyes widened. "Um..I think..he went..for a walk or something."

"A walk?" He said in disbelief. "Hey..why don't you grab your bag and sleeping bag out of the car, okay?"

Elena nodded her head in acknowledgment as Sandy began walking down the driveway in search of Ryan. When he reached the end of the driveway, he spotted him approaching out of the corner of his eye. He narrowed his eyes at him, clearly suspicious.

He looked like a deer caught in headlights as he shoved what appeared to be a pack of cigarettes into his pocket.

Sandy sighed and shook his head. "C'mon," he said, clapping his shoulder. "I'll take you to the pool house. And hey, no smoking those in the house. Got it?"

Sandy, Ryan and Elena walked into the pool house side by side where Kirsten and their housekeeper were already waiting for them.

"Hello!" Kirsten said, sounding surprisingly cheerful given her and Sandy's previous conversation. "You must be Ryan and..Elena, right?" They both nodded but didn't say anything. "Welcome to our home."

"Thank you," Ryan said gruffly, giving his little sister a light shove to let her know to do the same.

She looked up at Ryan and scowled before looking back at Kirsten and shyly saying, "thank you."

"Oh, and this is Rosa - if you need anything, you can feel free to let her know."

They all stood in the middle of the room as an awkward silence settled upon them.

"Can I take a shower?" She asked suddenly, looking up at Ryan. He responded by nudging her with his elbow and whispering, "don't be rude."

"No, no, of course - c'mon, I'll show you where everything is. Do you have PJ's?" Kirsten asked, extending her hand out to the little girl.

Elena nodded in response before taking Kirsten's hand and walking into the bathroom with her.

Kirsten stood on her tippy toes as she opened up the medicine cabinet and pulled out a brand new toothbrush from the pack. She set it above the sink along with a tube of toothpaste and a freshly cleaned towel.

"I'm glad I can finally use these," she said, gesturing towards the toothbrushes. "I bought them for guests but —"

She looked down at the little girl, who looked painfully disinterested, and shook her head.

"Never mind," Kirsten sighed. "Well..there's a towel, toothbrush, and there is shampoo, conditioner and a few boxes of soap in that bottom drawer. If you need anything, you just let me know. Okay?"

"Okay," she replied meekly, taking a step towards the sink.

Kirsten scurried out of the bathroom, leaving Elena to herself. As she rounded the corner, she saw Ryan sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor. He looked sad and vulnerable - scared, even.

"Is everything okay?" Kirsten asked, her maternal instincts kicking in.

He jumped slightly at the sound of her voice, clearly a bit startled. "Yeah."

"I told your si - I told Elena that I put a toothbrush and some towels in the bathroom for you guys. And there are some freshly cleaned sheets," she said, gesturing towards the pile of neatly folded material sitting on the arm of the chair.

"Oh," he cleared his throat. "Thank you."

"Did Sandy leave?"

"Yeah."

She wrung out her hands as she looked down. "Well..I'll leave you alone. There is cereal and milk in the kitchen so you guys can feel free to help yourselves to breakfast in the morning. My son, Seth, will probably be around all day if you need help finding anything."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Goodnight, Ryan."

"'Night."

"Oh, come on!" Seth bellowed, throwing his remote to the ground. "Did I seriously just get beat by a twelve year old?"

"I'm ten," Elena corrected, causing Ryan to snort.

"Oh, even better." Seth said dryly as he shoved a spoonful of Frosted Flakes into his mouth.

"Good morning!" Sandy's voice called out from the living room entrance. "I see you three have met."

"Yep." Seth replied, setting his now empty bowl on the coffee table.

"You guys gonna do something today?" Sandy asked.

"It's up to Ryan."

"What is there to do around here exactly?"

"Well..we could go to the boardwalk?" Seth said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why don't you see if Summer wants to come, too?" Sandy suggested, buttoning the cuff of his dress shirt. Seth smiled bashfully and looked down, shaking his head.

"No, I don't think so."

Ryan looked up at Sandy and then over at Seth. "Who's Summer?"

"She's just..a girl I kinda started seeing..I don't know if it's going to go anywhere but -"

"Seth, don't be modest." He said before looking down at Ryan and Elena. "He's been in love with her for as long as I can remember - it was always Summer that and Summer this and then -"

"Dad!" Seth interrupted, his cheeks bright red. "Stop."

"So she's your girlfriend, then?" Elena countered, her eyes wide with excitement and interest.

"We haven't really talked about i -"

"See? Elena wants to meet her." Sandy said with a wry smile.

He reached into his pocket and pulled his cell phone out. "Fine. You want me to call her? I'll call her right now."

Ryan and Elena watched in amusement as Seth furiously pressed the numbers on the phone and pressed it to his ear.

"Don't mind him," Sandy whispered. "It's his first girlfriend and he's just a little shy."

"Hey, Summer." Seth said sweetly into the phone. "Um, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to..you know, hang out or something. I mean, with me and my, uh -" He looked over at Ryan with wide eyes, mouthing "what are you guys?"

"Your..cousins?" Ryan mouthed back.

"My cousins." Seth said, a small smile forming on his face. "Oh. Okay, yeah..in like an hour? Alright. Bye."

Sandy, Elena and Ryan looked at Seth expectantly as a smug smile formed on his face. "She said yes."

"See, son?" Sandy smiled. "That wasn't so bad."

"Okay, I'm gonna go throw some clothes on..meet you guys out front?" He said, looking down at Ryan and Elena. They both nodded and Seth disappeared upstairs.

"Well, I gotta head to work." Sandy said, smiling at the two of them. "Have fun."

An hour and a half later, Seth and Summer walked down the boardwalk hand in hand in search of somewhere to eat while Ryan and Elena followed closely behind them. They finally settled on some dingy little restaurant about a block from where they parked. They took a seat at a booth near the window and ordered a few orders of fries and some burgers.

"So.." Summer said, taking a sip of her unsweetened tea. "How are you guys related again?"

"My Aunt..Linda..her son..and daughter..are them." Seth finished awkwardly, causing Ryan and Elena to stifle a giggle.

"Your mom's side or your dad's side?"

"Mom -" "Dad -" Ryan and Seth said at the same time.

"His mom..my dad." Seth nodded.

Summer narrowed her eyes at him as though she didn't believe him. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"How come I've never heard of your Aunt Linda?"

"Oh, look at that, our food!" Seth said, gesturing towards the approaching waitress.

The waitress distributed the food and they all ate in relative silence for about five minutes until Elena announced she had to go to the bathroom. Summer took her hand and told her she'd walk with her, leaving Ryan and Seth at the table by themselves.

"Why don't you just tell her, man?" Ryan asked, taking a bite of his burger. "It's not a big deal."

"Ugh, I don't know." Seth groaned, slapping his palm against his forehead. "She hates being lied to. She has rage blackouts, Ryan. Rage. Blackouts."

"I think you're making a bigger deal out of this than it is."

"Trust me, I'm not. Ugh, fine. I'll tell her. You're right, it's not a big deal. Just, uh.." he slid her knife and fork towards Ryan. "Keep the silverware away from h - hey, you!"

"Okay.." Summer said as she slid back into the booth. "Why are you acting weird?"

"No reason." Seth gulped nervously. "How was..the bathroom?"

"Ugh," Summer sighed, shaking her head before turning her attention towards Elena. "Wanna go shopping?"

"Oh, it's okay. I don't have any mone -"

"It's okay, I have money. C'mon." Summer said, extending her hand out to her.

"No, I couldn't do that." She said firmly, shaking her head.

"Seriously, I want to. I'm not taking no for an answer so come on."

Elena looked up at Ryan, as though asking him for permission, and he nodded his head. A toothy smile spread across her face as she took Summer's hand.

"Guys?" Summer said, putting her free hand on her hip. "Are you coming?"

"Oh. Right. We'll pay the bill and meet up with you in a few minutes."

Summer picked up a matching, plaid bikini set from the rack and studied it carefully before thrusting it towards Elena. "Try this on."

"I don't know." Elena said uneasily, eyeing the flimsy piece of material. She then checked the price tag and practically threw it back at Summer. "This is a hundred dollars, Summer!" She whispered harshly.

"Trust me, that's nothing. It's fine. Try it on." In the short time Elena knew Summer (roughly two hours), she quickly learned just how stubborn Summer was. She knew if she didn't at least try the bathing suit on, Summer would buy it whether she liked it or not. And while the thought of being somebody's charity case didn't sit well with her, to Summer, Elena was just the daughter of Seth's very rich (albeit imaginary) Aunt Linda. And if Elena was being totally honest, she kind of liked it that way.

"Are you even allowed to try on bathing suites? Isn't that like..super unsanitary?"

"Just keep your underwear on," Summer stated simply.

"Okay." She took the bathing suit and hugged it to her chest. "Where's the changing room?"

About ten minutes later, Summer poked her head in to see what was taking so long.

"Oh my god, you look adorable. I love it. We just have to find some cute short -" She suddenly stopped midsentence. "Elena, how did you get that?" She pointed to the large, now fading black and blue mark across her ribs.

"Nothing. I mean, it's not - trust me, it's not a big deal." She stuttered, quickly attempting to cover the bruise with her arms.

"Sweetie," Summer said softly, taking a step towards her. Elena looked down, clearly ashamed.

"I fell, it's not a big deal. Can you just - keep this between us? Please?"

"Does it hurt?"

"A little." Elena admitted.

"Who did this to you?"

Elena looked down, making it perfectly clear she wasn't going to talk about it. Summer sighed and rubbed the little girls arm with a sad smile before turning around. "Put your clothes back on and then meet me by the counter. I'm totally buying that for you, by the way."

The little girl giggled and nodded as Summer disappeared behind the dressing room curtain. She slowly began making her way towards the front counter with an armful of clothes. She knew what she had to do.

An hour later, Seth sat in the front seat as everybody piled into the car.

"Seth," Summer whispered to Seth as Ryan and Elena climbed into the backseat. "There's something I need to talk to you about..in private."

He looked over at Ryan and Elena in the backseat and then back at Summer.

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna drop you off at the house first and then drop Summer off after, okay?"

They both nodded in response. Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the Cohen driveway.

Summer sifted through the large bag of clothes and put Elena's clothes into a separate bag, handing it to her. Elena smiled and gave Summer a small hug, thanking her profusely before climbing out of the car.

"They're nice, Seth. I like them a lot." She smiled fondly at Ryan and Elena from a distance as they disappeared into the house.

A small smile appeared on Seth's face. "Yeah? I'm glad. I like them, too."

She paused. "They aren't your cousins, though, are they?"

"What?" His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he stuttered, "Of c-course they are. Why would you ask that?"

"Don't lie to me."

"They ar -"

"Seth." She snapped, her patience wearing thin.

"How did you know?" He sighed.

"You're a horrible liar," she says, laughing a little. "Who is he? Really?"

"He's sort of..one of my father's cases."

"And the little girl?"

"His sister."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" She asked softly, putting her hand on his arm.

He froze, unsure of how to answer that question. "I just..know how you can be sometimes." Shit, shit, shit. Wrong answer.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Summer, c'mon.. I didn't mean it like that. I just think you would've been more..reluctant to tag along, had you known Ryan's past."

"Do you really think I'm that judgmental?" She looked more upset than angry, which made Seth feel ten times worse.

"What? No! It's not just you..I mean..I would've been the same way, probably." He finished lamely.

"Right." She huffed, crossing her arms. "Whatever. We need to talk, Seth."

His eyes widened. Is she breaking up with me already? Shit. Grovel, Seth, grovel!

"Seth." She hissed, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Hello?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'll never lie to you again. It was stupid. I just—"

She had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing. "You're pathetic, you know that?"

"Yes, I'm aware." He admitted.

Her face turned serious. "It's not about that. It's about Elena."

The relieved look on his face was instantly replaced with one of worry. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know how to say this," she said quietly. "There wasn't any..history of abuse at their house, was there?"

"I don't know. My dad hasn't told me anything. Why? Did she say something to you?""

"When she tried one of the bathing suits on, I saw..some bruises. Like, across her ribs."

"Wait..seriously?"

"Yes." Summer confirmed, nodding her head.

"Do you think Ryan knows?"

"She told me not to tell anyone so my guess? Probably not."

Seth let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hand through his curly brown hair. "Shit. We have to tell him, right? I-I mean, we have to tell him."

"We? You're on your own for this one, buddy. I have dinner with my dad tonight."

"But Summer." He whined.

"That's what you get for lying to me." She said, poking him in the arm.

"Never again," he muttered as he put the keys in the ignition. "Never again."