Safe With You || Seth Cohen

||51||

I walked into the kitchen to see Sandy, Ryan and Seth already there. I eyed the counter which was full of old takeout boxes and cups. I felt bad for letting it get to this level. After all, I'd promised to Kirsten I'd take care of things, but I had been so depressed this summer. 

"Hey, you're just in time for breakfast. Who wants cereal?" Sandy asked as I walked over to Seth.

"We have cereal?" Seth asked in surprise.

"Yeah, found some tucked away in a cabinet."

I watched as Ryan opened the milk, testing to see if it was sour.

"Does cereal go bad?" Sandy asked.

"Ugh, no, but milk does." Ryan stated, pouring the milk down the sink.

"I think I'll just stick with coffee." I stated and Ryan and Seth nodded.

"Come on, we have to eat together. It's a special day, you're all seniors."

"It's just registration." Ryan reminded Sandy.

"It's a coming of age moment, we Cohen's love coming of age moments." Sandy stated and Seth grinned.

"Yeah, you should've seen this guy at my bar mitzvah."

"I was excited then, I'm excited now. I'm proud of you all, and so is Kirsten even though she's not here to tell you."

I felt sad at that moment that Kirsten wasn't here. Her presence was missed this summer and it was missed now.

"How about we have dinner tonight?" I suggested, seeing that the three of them had also grown sad at the mention of Kirsten.

"Yeah, sure, just the four of us." Ryan added.

"Yeah, Ryan will even clean up." Seth joked.

"He will." Ryan joked, gesturing to Seth.

The doorbell rang then and Sandy smiled at us.

"I'll pick up the steaks."

I exchanged a worried look with Ryan and Seth. We all knew how hard this summer had been for us, but I couldn't imagine how much worse it had been for Sandy.

"Let's go." Ryan said, pulling me from my thoughts. I nodded and walked behind him and Seth to the door. I stiffened when I saw Julie Cooper was standing in the doorway. I'd never been particularly fond of Julie, but after what she'd done to Ryan, I couldn't stand her. Sandy had told us that Julie tried to pay Trey to lie to the police about Ryan. If she'd succeeded, my brother could have spent a long time in jail. 

"See ya, Dad." Seth stated to Sandy, patting him on the shoulder as he passed him to go out the door. I nodded goodbye at Sandy before following Seth out, glaring at Julie as I passed. 

~~~~

I smiled as Summer and Ben arrived at the diner. I hadn't seen Summer this summer. Her and Ben had gone backpacking in Europe. Marissa saw her and smiled too. Summer squealed and ran over to our table, where Marissa, Ryan, Seth and I sat.

"It's so good to see you!" Summer said, pulling Marissa and I into a hug. I smiled and hugged her back, happy to see my friend again.

Ben smiled at the three of us before greeting Ryan and Seth.

"So, how was Europe?" I asked Summer, who smiled.

"Amazing. I'll tell you all about it later. But first, I wanna hear about your summer." Summer stated excitedly. Ryan, Seth, Marissa and I all shared a look. Did Summer really not know about what happened this summer?