The O.C

A Life Half Lived

A/N: Please don't worry, I'm still working on 'Intertwined'. I will see that one through to end. This is just a very short first chapter but it will definitely get longer. This story may not end happily but I'm not apologizing for that. I hope you like it anyway. Happy reading! Genevra xxox

Summary: "I don't look sick. I am sick."

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with The OC. Sigh.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" You look kind of sick."

"Kirsten, I don't look sick. I am sick."

"It's just the nausea, the morning sickness. We'll go outside where you can get some fresh air. You'll see, Summer, it will pass."

"No, Kirsten. It won't."

Summer Cohen sits on the back step of her Newport, California home wearing a pair of white shorts and an oversized gray jumper that belongs to her husband and she cries. She holds a white mug in her hand, which is rescued by another pair of hands before it can fall to the ground and smash into millions of tiny broken-up shards of white. The hands fall to her head and they run their fingers through her hair, which smells of watermelon and papaya.

"It'll be okay," the voice whispers, sitting down next to her. Her head is gently pulled onto the persons shoulder. "I promise you that somehow, this will be okay."

"I just don't know if it can be," Summer says, her voice breaking. "I don't know how I can get over this. I don't know how we can get through this."

"Look at me," Kirsten commands. She puts an arm around her daughter in-law and leans forward to look at her. "You may not beat this but we will get through this. All of us. We will be the whole way, Summer. I promise you. Because that's what we do in our family. We help each other through."

"I guess," Summer says, as she starts crying again. She leans her head back on Kirsten's shoulder and in a broken, hoarse voice, she whispers, "How do I tell him?"

"We'll figure it out. And when we do, it'll be okay. You won't have to keep it a secret anymore, and you'll feel better."

"I guess," Summer agrees. She sits up and bravely inhales. She blinks back the tears and holds in her sobs.

"Don't be brave for me," Kirsten says, the trace of a smile in her voice. The smile drops and Summer can hear the grief in her voice. "You've kept this a secret for so long. cry, Summer. As much as you need to, cry. I'll be here. And I'll cry too."

Summer nods and let's herself be held and comforted by the woman who loves her most. She sits and together, as they look out at the beautiful, blue-green ocean on a verandah framed by bougainvillea and hibiscus, in a setting that makes most people breathless from beauty, they cry.