Take Me as I Am

Summer opened the door to her apartment to see Jonathan and Patrick standing outside. “Liv, Jon’s here,” she yelled as she began walking back to her bedroom, ignoring Patrick completely. It had been a week since the party at Burish’s house, and Summer refused to listen to anything Patrick tried telling her.

Olivia walked into the living room to see Jonathan and Patrick standing there. “Summer, get in here,” she yelled.

Summer slowly walked back into the living room. “What?” she asked.

“Listen, you did this for me, so I’m doing this for you. You and Patrick are going to talk. You refuse to even listen to what he has to say, and I’m sick of it. You two are going to sit here and talk,” Olivia told her, walking over to block the front door, just as Summer had done to her and Jonathan.

“Liv,” Summer warned.

“No, I’m not going to hear it. Just talk!” Olivia told her.

“Fine,” she said sitting down on the couch as Patrick sat in the chair opposite of her. She looked down at the floor, refusing to look at Patrick.

“I guess I’ll go first,” Patrick joked. “Summer, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I hurt you by sleeping with that girl, but in my defense, I was completely wasted.” Summer looked up and glared at him. “Not that that’s an excuse,” Patrick added quickly. “Summer, what I told you wasn’t a lie. I really do like you.”

Summer continued to stare at the floor. “Please, Summer, just say something. I really am sorry, and I never meant to hurt you. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you,” he said. She remained silent, and he said, “Summer, say anything!”

Summer looked up at him angrily. “Merde, Pat,” she cursed. “Que veux-tu me dire? Que je suis entièrement tombée amoureux pour toi, et tu as cassé mon cœur? Parce que tu as fait, Pat. Parfois, dans ces derniers mois, je suis allé de la haine à l'amour avec toi. Et puis tu es allé et couché avec cette fille! Sais-tu combien il tué moi de toi voir monter avec elle? Merde, Pat. Je suis furieux de moi-même. Parce que tant que je ne veux pas, je t'aime quand même,” she yelled.

Summer stood up quickly, tears forming in her eyes, and she began walking back towards her room. She immediately turned around and looked at Jonathan. “Jon, I swear, if you tell him one word that I just said, I will never speak another word to you again,” she threatened as a single tear leaked through and began trickling down her cheek.

“I’m sorry, Pat,” Olivia apologized.

“Don’t worry about it,” Pat told her sadly. “You tried. Listen, I’m going to head home, okay?”

“Bye, Pat,” Olivia said.

“Bye, man,” Jonathan told him as he left the apartment.

“Come on,” Olivia said, taking Jonathan’s hand and leading him out onto their balcony.

“What?” Jonathan asked as soon as Olivia had shut the sliding door behind them.

“I want you to tell me exactly what Sum just said,” she told him.

“Olivia, you heard her. She doesn’t want me saying anything,” Jonathan argued.

“No, she said not to tell Pat. I’m not Pat. You can tell me,” Olivia told him. When she saw that Jonathan was still reluctant, she added, “Jon, she’s my best friend. I need to know what she said.”

“Fine,” Jonathan finally said. “But if she gets angry, this is all your fault.”

“Whatever, what did she say?” Olivia questioned.

“I believe her words were something along the lines of ‘What do you want me to say? That I fell for you and you broke my heart? Because you did. Over the last few months, I went from hating you to falling in love with you. And then you slept with that girl. Do you know how much it killed me to see you go upstairs with her? And I’m furious at myself. Because as much as I don’t want to, I still love you,’” Jonathan translated.

“Oh my god!” Olivia exclaimed. “She loves him!”

“Yeah, she does,” Jonathan nodded his head. “But, she’s not going to do anything about it because she’s still hurt by him sleeping with that girl.”

“Pat said he was drunk. I honestly don’t think that he did it while thinking clearly. He doesn’t want to hurt her,” Olivia said.

“Are you taking Kaner’s side?” Jonathan asked.

“I’m not taking any side,” Olivia told him. “I just want to see my best friend happy again, and I think Pat’s a big part of that. I definitely understand why she’s upset, but if she’d just forgive him, both of them would be so much happier.”

“I know,” Jonathan said. “But I don’t know what to do.”

“I’ll think of something,” Olivia said with a smile.

The next day after practice, Olivia sat in the locker room waiting for Jonathan to get finished with his interview. Patrick came over and sat down in front of his locker. “You ready for this?” she asked him. Olivia had come up with a plan to have Patrick win Summer over, and it was about time for him to try it out.

“I have no choice,” Patrick told her, as he put on his shirt.

“Come on, Pat. This is going to work.”

“I just wish you could promise me that,” he said as he tied up his shoe laces.

“Pat, it will. Trust me,” Olivia told him with a smile. “Okay, here’s your chance,” she said as she saw Summer get finished translating the last interview. “Summer, come here,” she called.

“What?” Summer asked as she walked towards her.

“Pat needs to tell you something,” Olivia said smiling as she looked at Jonathan who was coming towards his locker.

“Pat, I’m really not in the mood right now to hear more of your apologies, okay? They mean nothing to me,” she said harshly as she turned around and began walking out of the locker room.

“Attends!” Patrick yelled. Summer abruptly stopped and turned around when she heard him yell out for her to stop in French. She looked at him, and he continued. “Summer, je suis désolé que je vous blesser. Je ne veux plus jamais te voir pleurer ou de perturber un autre larme à cause de moi. Je t'aime,” he told her.

Olivia looked on from a distance, hoping he had said the right words. Jonathan had taught him how to say I’m sorry that I hurt you. I never want to see you upset or cry another tear again because of me. I love you. She only hoped that he hadn’t said something wrong and completely offended her.

She watched Summer just stand there, and she couldn’t figure out if it was because she was upset, shocked, or happy.

Then, Summer stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Patrick’s neck, while leaning her forehead against his. “I love you, too,” she said as she kissed him passionately. All of a sudden, the entire locker room broke out in yells and cheers. Summer and Patrick reluctantly broke apart, and Summer looked around, pink spreading across her cheeks.

“It’s about time!” Burish yelled, while all the guys started congratulating them.