Patience

Friendly Help

"I love her?" Seth stood still in the middle of the beach. He looked around and no one was there to tell him he was crazy, that he did not love Brandi. That it wasn't possible to love Brandi. Not within a week it wasn't. But again, he was Seth Cohen, the boy that loved a girl that ignored him for almost a decade. It was totally possible for Seth Cohen to fall in love with a girl in a matter of a week "I love her!" suddenly it hit him hard "I love her and I'm here, in the middle of this beach, declaring myself to what? The sand?" he turned around "This isn't right!" he turned around again, now staring to the sideways and headed that way.

"Ok, wait a minute, wait a minute." Colin pushed gently away from Brandi's kiss.

"What? What's wrong?" Brandi was confused.

"I don't think you're doing it for the right reason."

"Doing what?"

"Kissing me."

"What do you mean?" Brandi sounded a bit offended.

"You're not kissing me because you want to kiss me. You're kissing me to see if you forget that emo kid."

"That's not true." but deep down, Brandi knew pretty well it was absolutely true.

"Come on, Spring, really, tell me, looking straight into my eyes, that you're not kissing me to try to forget the emo kid."

"I'm not kissing you to..." Brandi started but then something inside of her made her stop talking. She couldn't lie. She couldn't lie to her best friend "I can't." she started sobbing.

"Sh... That's alright." as harder as it was for Colin, Brandi was his friend first. He had to be there for her. He had to put his love feelings aside. It wasn't easy. He wanted to punch Seth for stealing her away from him, but he had to comfort her now that she was confused.

"No, that is not right, Colin. I still love you, but how can he make me feel so... I don't even know the word for it!"

"Bran, it isn't gonna help you to try and blame it on him. Or on you, as a matter of fact. It's no one's fault. I wish I could blame it on someone so I could go and kill that person, but we can't."

"Don't try to be cool about it, Col. I know you're not cool about it. Why do you have to be so nice to me?" the tears wouldn't stop falling from her eyes.

"Sh... I'm fine." he lied and he had no idea it would be this hard to try to control this situation.

"Well, I'm not! I'm not fine. I'm anything but fine! I hate him! I hate him for doing this to me."

"You don't. You've fallen for him. That's why you're mad. Because you let yourself fall for someone you didn't want to. I can relate to that, because I let myself fall for you when I didn't intend to."

"Col, please, I'm so sorry. Forgive me, please."

"Of course I forgive you, Spring! I know this isn't your fault, I just told you that. I wish you'd feel differently about me, but..." Colin looked down.

"Colin... I know you're trying to be nice to me. I know you're not exactly comfortable about this situation."

"Oh, no, it's just..." Colin got interrupted by Brandi.

"That's ok, Col. I've been there. I remember when you were dating Samantha and I couldn't tell you I was completely in love with you. I know you're not completely in love with me, but I can understand what you're feeling. So, I'm just asking you to forgive me for hurting you as I am. I really didn't intend to hurt you, Col." Brandi had tears in her eyes. She was trying hard not to let them fall.

"B, please, I understand you. Now, just come here." Colin hugged her tight and inhaled her scent. He did love her, but he was not gonna let her feel guilty for not loving him back. He had to understand the situation. It wasn't gonna be easy, but he had to "Ok, now I'm gonna help you get Seth."

"No! I won't let you do this." Brandi didn't want Colin to meddle thinking he would get even more hurt than he already was.

"I insist. I'm not gonna let the girl I so like get hurt by an emo kid."

"Look who's talking. You're all alternative too!"

"Yeah, but I'm much better."

"Oh, come on." Brandi smiled.

"Now, seriously, you're gonna get Seth. Now I want you to be with him, if that's gonna make you happy."

"Oh, it is. It's gonna make me so happy. And it's gonna make my stay here in Hellifornia a lot easier, Col." Colin looked at Brandi with a sad face, but then it was starting to hit him that he had to help his friend. She needed him to help her become less miserable in that city. He couldn't leave her being sad in that city.

"Ok, then that's what I'm gonna do before leaving. We'll get Seth for you."

"Oh, thank you so much, Colin. I love you so much." she hugged him tight and they stood like that for a while.