I Miss You.

Summary: Seth's killed in a car crash, see how this affects the ones closest to him.

Set somewhere in season 3 after the drugs but before the collage apps come back.

Disclaimer: I don't own The O.C or anything!

...

Tears rolled down the cheeks of the people who were sat behind a smart black coffin. The coffin belonged to Seth Cohen. Sandy had his arms wrapped around Kirsten as she sobbed into his shirt. Ryan was holding onto Marissa's hand for dear life as he tried not to break down. The Nana was crying silently, all her scariness gone. Luke was sat solemnly, staring at his hands; he'd kept in touch with Seth after he'd left Portland. Even Anna was there, letting the tears roll down her face but one person in particular caught the eye...

Na na
Na na na na na

Ryan and Marissa watched as Summer made her way to the front of the crowd and up to the podium. It was the first time she'd left her room since the accident and her face was streamed with many tears already. Summer was going to start of the speeches of the day.

I miss you
Miss you so bad
I don't forget you
Oh it's so sad

"I think this is one of the first few times I'll have called him Seth, but Seth was the most amazing guy I knew, and there's so much about him that I'd like to tell everyone, like how, whenever he got nervous he'd start mumbling incoherently and he'd look so cute, or when he used to scrunch up his nose. He was one of my best friends, my boyfriend and my first love. He had his own special way for everything, Seth wouldn't have Christmas or Hanukkah, he'd have Chrismukkah instead, and he really loved Chrismukkah, it was the time of year he looked forward too must. He did all these little things which made the people around his love him that little bit more. He'd always be able to lighten up the mood using one of his comments. I'll miss him so much and it's not fair that he was taken like this, from me and from you" Summer finished before walking over to where Marissa and Ryan were sat and breaking down.

I hope you can hear me
I remember it clearly

"When the Cohen's took me in I had no idea I'd meet someone who'd become my best friend, my brother. He showed me how people could be and how good a friend could be. He was always there when I needed him, even if it involved borrowing a ti-ki hut from school" Ryan paused, remembering that day, "When I met him he was playing video games, I remember how he'd beet me all the time, until I started getting good. I had no idea what music was like and I had no sense of humour, now I have a slight sense of humour and as for the music taste, well...We were meant to be going off to college but I guess that'll never happen" Ryan looked down at the floor sadly before making his way over to Summer and Marissa, wrapping his arms around the two girls.

The day you slipped away
Was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh

Kirsten and Sandy both made speeches and soon the vicar had finished. Sandy walked over to the pile of dirt and sprinkled some onto the coffin. Kirsten followed him. Summer watched as people went by her, sprinkling dirt onto his coffin. Marissa said something softly before letting the dirt fall onto the pile. Ryan walked up to the mound of earth, picking some up and letting it fall onto the pile. Finally there was Summer. She could see some people watching but she didn't care. She let the dirt leave her hand.

Na na
Na na na na na

"I'm so sorry Sandy" Neil Roberts said to Sandy.

"How's Summer been? It's the first time I've seen her since..." Sandy trailed off and looked down into his glass of wine.

"Truthfully? Not good, she really loved him, he was her first love, when she got back from the hospital she went up to her room and locked the door. All I could hear was crying. What am I supposed to do?" Neil asked Sandy, looking helplessly over at his seventeen year old daughter.

"Be there for her, that's all you can do. We're going back to the house, you're welcome to come" Sandy walked over to Kirsten and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

I didn't get around to kiss you
Goodbye on the hand
I wish that I could see you again
I know that I can't ooooooooooooh
I hope you can hear me
Cause I remember it clearly

The Cohen house was filled with people whereas the funeral had been a lot more private and despite the fact Seth moaned about how unpopular he was, there were a lot of people. There was book placed in the middle of the room, it was made to look like a comic book but it was for people to sign. There was also a board filled with photos. Sandy walked over to it, looking at the pictures sadly, There were four main ones, one of the whole family from the first chrismukkah, one of Seth and Ryan laughing, one of the core four with their arms wrapped around each other happily and one of Seth and Summer fast asleep with Seth's arms wrapped protectively round her.

The day you slipped away
Was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh

Summer walked into Seth's room, she hadn't been there yet, she felt everything crashing back to her.

"Hey" Seth smiled one she opened the door to her McMansion.

"Hey" Summer smiled and kissed him quickly.

"So...I have a surprise date for us" Seth smiled cheekily.

"Really? Aww that's so cute Cohen" Summer grinned.

"Well I thought with everything that's happening you deserve something special" Seth grinned.

"Let's go then" Seth held out his arm for her to take.

"Now I know it wasn't the fanciest of meals, but-" Seth was cut off by Summer as she kissed him, they were stood outside the diner.

"I loved it" Summer told him simply.

"Good, now I know how much you love ice-cream, so what about some, mixed with a walk on the beach?" Seth asked holding out his hand.

"Sounds perfect" Summer took his hand and they went over to the ice-cream stand, ordered their favourite flavour and the carried on towards the water. Seth wrapped his free hand around Summer's shoulder as they strolled under the stars.

"So was this date all your idea?" Summer asked.

"Of course" Seth replied cockily before turning serious, "I know I've been acting like an ass lately, lying to you about the pot but I just need you to know that I love you and I want to be with you now and forever, starting with the next four years"

This was one of the few times that Seth was sincere and not sarcastic and it brought a few tears to Summer's eyes, "I love you too, and that's in the past, right now I'm focusing on our future, starting with collage together" Summer leaned up and kissed him passionately.

"Ready for the next part of our date?"

I've had my wake up
Won't you wake up
I keep asking why
And I can't take it
It wasn't fake it
It happened you passed by

Summer looked at the walls in Seth's bedroom, they said so much about him, he had his posters of the bands he loved, drawings of Summer, Ryan and Marissa, and photo's of the four of them and just Seth and her.

Ryan was standing next to Marissa and Sadie, who hadn't been invited to the funeral but was at the after party. He was looking sadly at the wall of pictures, remembering his best friend.

"Have you seen Summer?" Ryan asked them, it would've been an awkward situation if everyone wasn't so overcome with grief.

"No, I'll go look for her" Marissa said softly.

"No, I'll go, there's something I need to do" Ryan told the two girls before disappearing off into the pool house.

Ryan looked through one of his clothes baskets for the little black velvet box hidden in there; it had been the last real quality time they'd spent together...

"Dude, Summer's birthday is four months away" Ryan told Seth as they walked through the main square.

"Yes, and I know that, but you can never be too prepared, you still on tomorrow?" Seth asked Ryan.

"Sure, I'll help you with this dream date" Ryan shrugged.

"Thanks man, ready?" Seth asked, looking at the expensive looking jewellery store.

They walked into the store and over to a woman at the counter, Ryan gave Seth a look that made him smile politely, "May I see your promise rings please?"

Ryan looked down at the sparkling diamond ring in the box before snapping it closed.

Now you're gone
Now you're gone
There you go
There you go
Somewhere I can't bring you back
Now you're gone
Now you're gone
There you go
There you go
Somewhere you're not coming back

"Okay, close your eyes" Seth instructed Summer grinning before opening her bedroom door.

"Wow...how?" Summer asked, looking around her room. It was filled with cute candles smelling of vanilla, Summer's favourite, and there were some fairy lights around Summers bed which had some rose petals on it. On the floor there were the seasons of the Valley spread out neatly.

"Ryan and Marissa owed us for the ti-ki hut thing, do you like it?" Seth asked nervously.

"I love it" Summer breathed and then spotted something on the bed," What's this?" She asked walking over to it, "You made us a comic book?" She asked grinning.

"It's our life so far" Seth sat down next to her on the bed. In the comic it had all the important moments that had happened, TJ, Valentine's Day two years ago, Seth making his stand, the make up after the Vegas, Seth and the hotdog stand, the list went on.

"This is amazing" Summer looked up at Seth smiling.

"I thought you might like it" Seth grinned.

"I love it and I love you Cohen" Summer lent up and kissed him. Seth then deepened the kiss and rolled on top of her...

"Hey" Ryan said walking into Seth's old room and finding Summer sat on his bed, staring at the wall with the notice board on, "how are you doing?" he asked sitting down next to her.

"Like the world's been ripped out from under my feet and I've been left to fall into a bottomless pit of a loveless life from now on" Summer told him in a hollow voice.

"Here, Seth gave it me to look after until your birthday, he figured you'd find it in his room" Ryan handed Summer over a card and the box. He stood up, figuring she wanted to be alone to open it, and walked out the door. Summer opened the card.

'Happy 18th Sum, as you have probably gathered that it's a ring in the box, it's a promise ring and my promise to you is that I'll always love you, no matter what, all my love, Cohen x'

She opened the box and gasped, the ring was stunning, it was a platinum band with diamonds in the middle going all the way around, it must have been at least four carats. Summer snapped the box shut, unable to control her tears.

The day you slipped away
was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh

"My dad will be home any minute" Summer murmured as she lay on Seth's chest, listening to his heart beat.

"Well then I guess we should grab a quick shower and then get dressed" Seth suggested, kissing the top of her head.

Ten minutes later they heard the front door open then close and footsteps walking up the stairs,

"Summer, I'm home" They heard her dad call as he knocked on her door.

"Hey dad" Summer grinned before turning back to the episode of the Valley her and Seth had been "watching"

"Hey sweetie...Seth" Dr Roberts tone was sort of strained enthusiasm.

"Hi...er...sir. How are you?" Seth mumbled.

"Fine thank you, shouldn't you be going it's getting late?" she prompted Seth.

"Dad!" Summer whined, half annoyed at her father.

"He's right, my parents will be wondering where I am" Seth stood up and Summer quickly followed. As she walked past her dad she gave him a glare.

Dr Roberts watched them as they walked downstairs and stopped at the door, he could also hear them.

"Thank you for an amazing night" Summer lent up and kissed him.

"I love you" Seth told her, somehow producing a single red rose from behind his back, "and don't you forget that" he handed in her.

"I love you too, see you tomorrow" Summer waved as he walked out the door and towards the black range rover.

"Night my snow angel!" Seth shouted from the driveway, causing Summer to laugh...

"Do you remember this?" Sandy asked Kirsten as they looked at the wall of photos, pointing at a particular one of Seth and Summer that they'd taken.

"It was last summer when they'd fallen asleep on the tanning chair, Ryan then went on to ruin the moment by throwing a bucket of water over them" Kirsten laughed slightly at the memory of the stunned look on her sons face when a bucket of ice cold water landed on him and his girlfriend.

"Summer got him back in the end; it was one of the few times Ryan laughed that summer"

The day you slipped away
was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh

Sandy Cohen let the phone drop out of his hand as he turned to his wife, "its Seth..." he started telling Kirsten, "There's been...there's been...an accident"

Ryan, Sandy and Kirsten all arrived at the hospital frantically. They ran over to the doctor who was in charge of Seth and began throwing questions at him, "Is he alright?" Sandy asked, taking charge of the situation.

"Firstly there's significant damage to the skull and his left lung has been punctured. We're trying our hardest to stop all the internal bleeding but right now there's a very slim possibility that he'll pull through this," The doctor shot the family sympathetic looks before returning to the room, leaving them to stumble into some seats.

"I should call Summer" Ryan said in a horse voice walking over to the pay phones in a sort of daze.

"Summer?" Ryan's cracked voice asked the girl on the other line.

"Ryan...what's up?" Summer asked, her tone cheery from having such a good night with Cohen.

"It's Seth...He was coming home from your house when a truck driver ran a red light...we're at the hospital now...please hurry" Ryan begged down the phone, trying his best not to break down on the phone.

"Yeah..." Summer's voice was hollow.

Summer arrived at the hospital five minutes later and ran over to Ryan and Seth's parents, "Where is he?" she asked her face already tearstained.

"It there, we can't go in yet" Sandy walked over to Summer and placed a comforting arm around her, "He'll be okay kiddo" Sandy told her, reassuring everyone.

"How about you two go get some coffee or something, we may be here for a while" Sandy suggested, Summer looked as if she was going to protest, "There's nothing you can do for him here" Sandy told her sadly.

"Come on, Sandy's right" Ryan placed a friendly arm around her shoulders, hoping to allow her to feel a little safer.

When they made their way back with four coffees in their hands, Summer saw a doctor come out and talk to Sandy and Kirsten.

"I'm sorry, it was too late to stop the bleeding, we lost him" The doctor looked down at the floor apologetically. Summer watched as Kirsten collapsed into Sandy's arms, crying. The grip on the coffees loosened and they hit the floor, Summer brought a hand up to her mouth and turned swiftly, getting ready to run out of there but Ryan stopped her.

"Ryan let go of me!" Summer half yelled half sobbed.

"No, come one, sit down" Ryan tried to calm her down as she continued to throw punches at him.

"No!" she continued to fight until she gave up and collapsed into his arms...

Na na
Na na na na na

Sandy saw Summer coming down the stairs and he excused himself from the conversation and made his way over to her, "How you doing kiddo?" he asked sympathetically.

"I don't know if I can...move on...my whole life was with Cohen, my friends, school, how am I supposed to go back to it all...without him?" Summer asked sitting down on a step.

"Hey, nobody expects you to move on straight away" Sandy told her, sitting down next to her, "But if Seth were here he'd be the first person to tell you to be happy he'd want you to just be you, it's not like you'll forget him, he was your first love"

"I...I just miss him...so much"

I miss you

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