A Concerned MILF

Sean Tarver walked along the Wasp Lake Park trail, distracted by his thoughts. He felt regret and disappointment for his actions and those of another. Lost in this thought, he failed to notice someone had slowed down and now walked alongside him, matching him step for step.

"Hey, Sean, are you alright? You look pretty down," Rachel Stratton asked her son's friend, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess. Just thinking over some stuff," he replied unenthusiastically. "Maybe I should have stayed behind with the others."

One reason for his disappointment had to do with Ramsey staying behind at the cabin. Lacey's sprained ankle meant she would be unable to walk very far. Still feeling guilty over pushing her, Ramsey refused to go to the hot springs if Lacey couldn't. Not surprisingly, Austin had opted to stay back with his girlfriend too. What had been surprising turned out to be Jared's remaining back at the cabin. Hoping to take advantage of the quiet cabin, Ramsey had asked him to stay back so she could finally get her interview with him for the school paper. Sean's old friend had been unsure what to do but eventually gave in to the strawberry blonde reporter's pleading look.

"If this is about Gabby and I teasing you, I'm sorry. She never wanted to leave Honey Hollow, but Jeff couldn't turn down the great job offer. So when she comes back here, she's always full of energy. Gabs has been a tease since we were kids, but I shouldn't have gone along with it at your expense. It's just I miss her dearly and get caught up in it," the eldest Stratton redhead apologized to him.

"Oh, it's alright. I know how she can get. It's weirder this time since she's usually not this bad," Sean replied still in a down voice, seemingly focused on the lantern style flashlight he was carrying.

"Well, I do want you to know that our offer, a serious version of it, is still there. Your mom told me how down you've been since breaking up with Beyza. We all want to see you happy and enjoying your senior year. I know Lacey would be thrilled to play matchmaker for you," Rachel added. "Now, if it's not that, then what's bothering you? Your parents?"

"That's part of it. I can't believe my dad still is at the hospital, but then I tell myself that it is believable because of how he is. He pulls this stuff all the time. I know it hurts my mom and I don't like it," Sean explained, finally looking over to Mrs. Stratton's face.

"Oh, sweetie, your father has a lot of responsibilities as the chief resident at the hospital. It doesn't mean he's trying to hurt your mother. I'm sure he feels bad for delaying her coming here. Your mom promised to be up here by tonight, no matter what," Rachel said in an effort to soothe his feelings.

"You don't need to sugarcoat what my dad does, Mrs. Stratton. I'm old enough to realize what's really going on. Peyton's told me that he's handed off many of his chief resident duties to Dr. Mayfield. He seems to be more interested in his research and his reputation than anything else, including us," Sean told her, finally speaking his mind on his father.

"Well, I know he takes his work quite seriously; that's not necessarily a bad thing. But I don't think you should ever think he cares more about it than his family," Rachel stated uncomfortably. She didn't feel it was her place to share with him Bridget's similar complaints. I better have a talk with Bee when she gets here. Sean shouldn't get pulled into this.

"Maybe. I do know he's not happy with me. I have no interest in becoming a doctor as Peyton does. That pisses Dad off. He tells me that being a doctor is a Tarver family tradition, and I better realize it soon. That argument is going to get worse when I start college next fall," he explained in a sad voice.

"Oh, Seanie," Rachel said, putting her arm around him and giving him a shoulder to shoulder hug. "Remember it's not a Fallon family tradition, and you're half a Fallon."

They walked in silence for several more minutes until they reached the Daffodil Falls. Rachel left his side to take a few pictures of the majestic sight in the winter, to show off to her friends at work. It was at this point that Newt took her spot and made his day much worse.

"Hey," he whispered conspiratorially to his best friend. "I've been trying to get you alone for the last couple of hours. I have to tell you what I heard on the hike." He stopped to look around quickly in concern. "But you can't tell anyone I told you this. If Whitney finds out I broke the girl code; I don't know what she'll do to me."

Having no clue what Newt meant by a girl code, Sean agreed not to tell anyone. What he heard helped to ruin his mood further.

"I think Ramsey likes Jared. Lacey spent the hike teasing her about last night in the hot tub, and she got mad, really mad. That's why she pushed Lacey and hurt her ankle," revealed Newt, clearly disobeying Whitney's order to him.

"What! Why didn't you tell me this sooner? Fuck, Newt. You really fucked things up!" Sean nearly screamed, he quickly lowered his voice after noticing several heads turn to look at the two teens. "Sorry, sorry, it's not your fault. It's just Jared asked me earlier when you were on the hike if I liked Ramsey. I think he must have noticed how I reacted at breakfast. I thought he asked because he wanted to help as he did with you and Paige, so I told him no. I told him no, Newt! And now he's alone in the cabin with her."

"He's not alone. Lacey and Austin are with them," he pointed out.

"Lacey and Austin are back in a nearly empty cabin, her parents gone. What do you think they're going to be doing?" Sean asked, giving his friend a knowing look.

"Oh, yeah...this isn't good," an embarrassed Newt said, thinking of the teen couple having sex.

Fuck! What should I do? Should I make an excuse and run back there? We're almost to the hot springs, so I would need a damn good reason to leave. Then what? Tell Jared I lied, and I like Ramsey, but I want to wait for the right time to make a move? I've gone to the same school with her for two and a half years, and I never found the right time. Dammit, why couldn't Mrs. Gettinger let Polly stay behind like she wanted? Everyone knows that she has a crush on Austin. If she's there, then Austin can't sneak off if with Lacey, leaving Ramsey and Jared alone. Wait...Ramsey usually has no interest in jocks, and he's not from around here. She's not the type of girl that's just going to throw herself at a guy she hardly knows and won't see again for at least several months. She's not going to have sex with him. Everything will be fine.