Summer's Voicemail.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Uh, yeah, this is Summer's voicemail. Who the hell calls people anymore? Just text me. But I guess if you insist on being weird and living in the dark ages, go ahead and leave me a message. And I'll text you back, like normal people do. Okay? Cool. I mean, the government is probably tapping all of our conversations anyway, but whatever."

*BEEEEEEEP*

Comments

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Be a whole lot less cool," Summer supplied without missing a beat, "and hopeless, too. And I don't think anyone expects to wind up in a situation like yours, but it could be worse. I mean, at least it seems yoi've gotten over that whole Steven thing."

Followed by a very important, weighty pause.

"You have gotten over the whole Steven things, right?"

Summer figured either she had or Liz had just gotten smart enough to not bring it up.

[flamesburned]

Liz was kind of hoping Summer had forgotten what an extremely terrible mess she’d made over the whole thing and winced when she mentioned it.

“I have … I - I was confused, I - I mean I still care about him but not in a romantic way … I - ” she hesitated, “ … I do still want to be friends with him, I - I haven’t told Steven yet about the pregnancy, I was going to tell him when I got back,”

[somethingwithturquoise]

Oh, what, a complete cringe cudgel like that? Liz. Honey. Summer was never going to let you forget it.

"Yeah, well," said Summer, cradling the phone against her shoulder as she picked idly at a hangnail, "when you do, make sure to watch his face and see if he starts salivating. Like, I know you like this guy or whatever, but he was giving me some major vibes of the serial killer variety the other day, and he seemed to get particularly weird about two-for-one specials."

As a friend who was at least now glad that she didn't have to worry about having Barry trace that last text she'd received from Liz to make sure it hadn't been coming from inside the house, so to speak, she felt obligated to at least mention it.

[flamesburned]

Liz was suddenly very glad that Summer couldn’t see her expression because it suddenly looked very guilty.

“That - that doesn’t sound like him, I don't know why he would get weird about two for one specials,” Liz tried to go for a casual approach but knew she didn’t sound very convincing, because she totally knew why Steven would freak out at that, “maybe he was just having an off day? He did say he was having memory problems that day, he mentioned he forgot to wish you happy birthday"

There was a pause and then, "even though I think I might be the one with memory problems, I - I completely forgot it was your birthday, I'm so sorry,"

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Whatever," said Summer, and you could practically hear the shrug in her voice. "It's not a big deal, but he should really go see someone about that memory loss thing. He totally avoided it and tried to word-salad me until he could make a hasty exit when I brought it up, which definitely wasn't helping. But maybe he'll be more receptive hearing it from the vulnerable pregnant lady he definitely didn't conveniently latch onto during her big fat moment of weakness."

[flamesburned]

Liz bit her lip as she listened to Summer describe what happened, the guilty expression deepening particularly at that last part.

"He said he was okay the other day when he texted, just a bit tired," she paused, "but I'll definitely follow up and make sure there's nothing wrong," she promised.

She wasn't sure if Steven would even tell her that there was something wrong but she figured it wouldn't hurt to try.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"I mean," said Summer, "there is definitely something wrong with that guy, Liz, there's no if about it. It's just a matter of how wrong we're dealing with. And I just feel you should know so you can, you know....be careful. And maybe actually listen to me this time."

[flamesburned]

Liz wondered what Summer would say if she did know the truth, not that Liz knew the complete truth herself since she didn’t know about Jake but to be fair neither did Marc or Steven.

“I’ve definitely learnt my lesson from not listening to you,” she said softly, “I’m not making that mistake again, I will be careful though,” she promised and paused, “especially since it’s not just me I’m looking after now,” she added quietly.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Not gonna lie," said Summer, as if anyone in this conversation was worried about her having an issue with being truthful right now, "it's a little concerning to me that it would take having someone else to look out for before you start being more mindful and taking more precautions, but, hey, if that's what it takes to get you there, then I'll take it. Please take care of yourself, Liz."

And Summer wasn't even mentioning the fact that she honestly felt like it was a goddamn miracle that half the town hadn't wound up in flames through half of this ordeal so far.

[flamesburned]

Liz felt a bit guilty at how bad all of that did sound, the last month or so had just been a mess but she was trying to get herself back on track.

“I - I haven’t really been in a good place,” she admitted, even though she knew that was rather obvious now, especially after talking to Marc yesterday, “I - I guess it’s been the hormones to why I’ve been feeling this way but I - I was spiralling and I think I would have hit rock bottom but I - my daughter ..I I want to keep going for her,” she bit her lip, “I - I will be more careful,”

[somethingwithturquoise]

"And remember," Summer said, because she really felt, at this point, it could not be overstated, "if you need anything, anything at all, you have a support system. And I know a few things about rock bottom, too."

Not, like, personally, but her family was not exactly known for its extreme highs and lows.

[flamesburned]

“I’ll remember, thank you,” Liz said softly, “I - I talked to Marc yesterday as well, he wanted me to reach out as well if I got in trouble,”

The fact that Marc was the person Liz chose to tell first aside from Dr. Lecter really said a lot about her current mental health.