A/N: So, I know this really isn't a formal introduction, but whatever. Just so you know now, this is super AU. And very cliché. But who cares, hopefully it's good cliché :) So here's part one.
Hope you like it :)
Read and Review? Kthanks :)
Title: Last Night
Rating: T
Author: xoChic.
Summary: Last night didn't happen, Cohen...Oh, but it did. SethxSummer. TwoShot.
Genre: Romance/General
--
Seth Cohen sat unmoving; on the floor with his back resting against the couch, and his laptop on the floor.
He was finished.
Finally finished.
Thank God.
His first script picked up by major motion picture company, done, revised, edited, revised again, edited again, reviewed, and sent back for more editing and more revising, and finally done. He hit control and S for the eight hundredth time in the past five minutes, and then cautiously closed his laptop; opening it quickly to make sure the document was still on the screen, and then closing it again.
He plugged the black computer into the power source, set it on the yellow-colored wood tray table next to the wall, and stood. He couldn't believe he was finally done. He was genuinely happy, more than he'd been since his senior year.
The best thought he'd had in the past year, since he'd started trying to sell the script, hit him.
This called for a celebratory drink.
Hell, this called for a decades worthof celebratory drinks.
That, he didn't have to think twice about. He picked up his coat, and tossed it over his shoulders, flicking off his lights before walking out the door.
--
Summer Roberts sat unmoving; on the floor with her back resting against the couch, and her laptop on the floor.
It was finished.
Finally finished.
Thank God.
The producers had given her a DVD. They'd told her to be proud of herself; she'd done an amazing job. But of course, she hadn't believed them. She'd just watched her first major motion picture, one that would, for lack of a better word rock the industry, hopefully in a good way. She'd barely recognized herself, the female lead, the one who caused the trouble, but ended up good in the end, the cliché, but without the cliché...
She was amazed.
And she was proud.
She was in love with herself, her on-screen self. She couldn't believe what she'd accomplished, when only a year ago she'd barely been making ends meat, living commercial to commercial. And now look. She was done with her first film.
This was insane.
This called for a celebratory drink.
Hell, this called for a decades worthof celebratory drinks.
That, she didn't have to think twice about. She picked up her coat, and tossed it over her shoulders, flicking off the lights before walking out the door.
--
Seth walked into an extremely overcrowded S Bar. He was in Hollywood.
What had he been thinking?
He'd been excited, that's what he'd been thinking.
He squeezed past what felt like eight million people, and got a booth all to himself. After a while, when he figured out no one was coming over to bring him a beer, he sighed, grabbing his coat and saying goodbye to his booth.
He doubted he'd see it ever again.
He looked over to where the bar was. So far away... He began carefully making his way through the hoards of people, being careful not to push anyone too hard.
Club people were scary when pushed. Or moved. Or tapped. Seth had learned his lessons already.
Finally, when he got to the bar, letting out a breath and slamming his fist down (much to the displeasure of the couple who were intently playing a fierce game of lost and found with each others tonsils on his left), he smiled.
He ordered a Miller on tap, and sat down, mindlessly people watching, or as he liked to call it, observing.
And that's when he looked to his right.
His breath caught.
It was her.
--
Summer walked into an extremely overcrowded S Bar. She was in Hollywood.
She let out a happy sigh, smiling.
This was her place. She belonged here, she knew it.
She squeezed past a bunch of people, used to the feeling of how close they all were, and walked into the semi-empty bathroom. Underage girls with gross looking, most likely vodka-filled flasks, smoking Merits were crowding the space near the stalls, but most of the mirrors were free, so she stepped in front of one and started messing around with her hair and her make up. After about five minutes of fussing with messy pieces that in actuality were just fine, she gave up, and smiled longingly back at the mirror as she retreated.
She doubted she'd ever see it again.
She looked over to the bar as she stood outside the door to the bathroom, and smiled. About that drink...She brushed her way past another crowd of people, and tried to get to the bar. Her shortness was to her disadvantage, sadly, and she couldn't quite reach around some of the taller guys. Finally, she found an empty seat, and sat down, laughing a little to herself.
She might have been a queen back in high school, but here, she was just another face in the crowd.
But hopefully, not for long.
She ordered a vodka and cranberry, and patiently waited as the guy fixed it for her, mindlessly people watching...observing, if you would. Just research for her next role.
And that's when she looked to her left.
Her breath caught.
It was him.
--
For a minute or so, the two just stared at each other.
Just stared.
Astonished.
And then, Seth's head decided it was time to talk, and his words practically fell out of his mouth, all in a jumbled mess, "I seriously can't believe you're here."
She grinned, feeling oddly comfortable around him, "Wow, Cohen. Poetic, really. I didn't think you'd be one to frequent S Bar...or any place with...I don't know, a cool factor?"
"Is that even an expression?" He wanted to slap himself. What kind of idiot asked the girl he'd been desperately and begrudgingly in love with since he was...probably ten, if she basically knew how to speak?
"Nice talking to you, Cohen. Really, a pleasure." Summer started to get up, a sort of accomplished, sort of dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach. She'd gotten the answer to her question. He hadn't changed at all. She felt something latch onto her arm.
"Summer, wait," he said, and grasped her forearm. She turned, raising her eyebrows slightly. He let go of her arm, letting it drop back down to her side. "I'm – I'm sorry. I seriously don't think I've ever been this...this nervous to talk to you before. I mean...it's you. It's...Summer."
"Wow, Cohen, you really know how to make a girl feel special," she said, a grin finding its way to her mouth, and her eyes. Her vodka and cranberry finally arrived, and she stirred it a little, and then took a sip. "So," she said, pushing her dark hair out of her face and behind one ear, "how have you been?"
"...Good," he answered truthfully, "I just finished my first screenplay. That's- that's actually why I'm here. Celebrating..." he raised his beer, "Whoo-hoo..."
"Wow...who knew Cohen could make the big Hollywood dream come true?" she said, laughing at herself, "Good for you. What's it about?"
"…Not important," Seth answered, after a pause.
Summer looked at him quizzically. He ignored it.
"What about you?" He asked, smiling softly, "what brings you out here?"
"Just wrapped on my first big movie, actually," she said, grinning proudly, "That's why I'm here too. Celebrating." She sipped her drink, then raised her eyebrows, sarcastically adding a, "Yum."
"Sounds...riveting." Seth remarked, and she smiled.
"It is...really." She answered, "You...you live out here, now?"
"Yeah," he said, "Kind of a ways from here, but I'm around. It's nice…not as quiet as home, but…it's good."
"Maybe you haven't changed," she laughed, "still babbling along, aren't you?"
"That," he said, a smirk gracing his features, "well, that could be left up to interpretation…"
"Ah-ha, couldn't seem to find a comeback…I'd say that means I win one, huh?" she said, smiling broadly. She was sincerely happy to see him now, which to her was kind of weird, considering if you'd asked her an hour before what her reaction would be if she saw Seth Cohen later, she'd probably have smacked you…
"Finally," he remarked, snidely. "The least I could do, Roberts. You never did get to win anything, huh…" He ended openly, a sort of hush to his voice.
"Never," she didn't mean to whisper, but it ended up that way. They each took a minute to think, to regroup, and then she started up again, "So, you here with anybody?"
"Nah," he answered, "you know me, never the one for big groups. What about you?"
"All by my lonesome tonight. I know, hard to believe," she said, laughing a little at her old self. "I'm different, you know." She finished. He looked up at her, a little confused by the deepness of it all. The complexity of her words. "I'm not the queen bee anymore…and at first, it was just really weird not to be the center of attention…but now…Now I kind of like it. I like that nobody's coming to me and asking what to do, or say…I'm being to open, aren't I?" she panicked, "I should've stuck to the basics…we aren't supposed to talk to each other like this."
"Summer, calm down," he said, resting one of his hands on her shoulder, "We can be however we want to be. And no, you aren't being too open. I kind of like knowing that you've become…yourself, if that makes sense."
Summer let out a deep sigh of relief, "Thank God," she said. "I kind of always felt different around you, I think."
"What do you mean?" He asked, confusion lacing his expression.
"…Whenever I was around you, or Ryan and you, or anyone and you…I'd just be me, you know? But when I was around people who I wasn't close to…I'd sort of become this…alter-ego-me. It was always still Summer, but it was like Summer in a Summer Mask, with a different personality. I was so fake…and I really didn't realize how entirely fake I was until…" she trailed off, not wanting to admit the time she'd really thought long and hard about that.
"When we broke up?" he asked, amazed at his own courage. He was done with his second beer now. The bartender refilled it.
"I guess so," she said, playing with the red straw in her glass, her second. "I think after we broke up, and when I got here and realized I didn't have anyone to be me around, I figured maybe it was time for me to be me…all the time."
"Never thought you'd be so deep, Summer Roberts," Seth answered, looking right at her, finally taking in her appearance.
She was drop dead gorgeous-er.
"A lot of things you probably don't know about me now, Seth Cohen." She answered, coyly.
"There's one thing I definitely do know," he said, a rush of adrenaline running through his veins.
"And what exactly would that be?" she asked, a small smile forming on her lips.
"Your favorite flavor of ice cream is Mint Chocolate Chip. And you could probably live off of it if you had to." He grinned.
"That's still true," she laughed. "I honestly doubt there will ever be a time when it's not."
"If there is, I'll have one less thing I know about you." He said, though it kind of didn't fit with the flow of the conversation.
"Well, I did always like a little mystery." She remarked, and he smiled. "So, what's your movie about?"
"…Nothing, really," he said, looking down to his shoes. She had to ask him that didn't she…
"What, is it Seinfeld?" she grinned, silently complimenting herself on her wit. "I see I've dazzled you completely with my wit, I've practically rendered you speechless?"
"Not quite," he laughed, "Really…don't worry about it."
Summer shot him a small look a small smirk flitting across her lips. He raised his eyebrows at her, smiling back, and she bowed her head, a laugh bubbling over the surface. He grinned triumphantly.
No, no, NO, it wasn't allowed to be flirty…they weren't allowed to be flirty.
She looked back, smiling again, though. She couldn't seem to help it at all. It was like some kind of weird magnetism they had.
She was drowning in him…she was losing herself in him. She shook her head, mumbling a quieter than quiet 'no'. She couldn't do this. This was Seth. They'd broken up in high school. So what if she still kind of sort of had major feelings for him. So what if she really didn't want to stop talking to him. She had to. She couldn't do this again. She couldn't be Seth's again. God, why was she even thinking this way? They were sitting at a bar together, not at a wedding planner's office. "I…I have to get out of here," she said, and then without thinking, "you want to go somewhere with me? Get ice cream, maybe? We could go to Pinkberry…it's only 10:30."
"…Sure," Seth said, not even able to wrap his mind around the fact that she'd even asked him that. Go somewhere? With Summer? That was new. …Or old, depending on how you looked at it. Either way, it was weird, and he was…kind of excited. More than kind of…really excited.
--
The pair walked out of the packed club, and down to Seth's car. Summer smiled, it was the same car he'd had back in High school. The same crap all over the floor, and everything. She sat in the passenger seat, the smell of his cologne washing over her, and she was at home. She sighed happily. Home. Something she hadn't fully felt in quite a while. She reached into the small pocket in the door panel, and felt around.
There it was.
The folded up piece of paper was creased in about eighty places, and a little yellow and worn looking, but as she carefully unfolded it, a huge smile adorned her face. She didn't even realize he was pulling out of the parking lot until he swore under his breath about a car in front of him. "You kept this?"
"Kept wha—Oh…" he smiled, blushing. "Yeah. That."
"Seth," she said, in an 'awe' tone, "I can't believe you kept this! That's so cute!"
"I, uh…yeah." His cheeks flushed, along with his neck. He looked like a ripened-to-perfection tomato. He looked at the paper, and warmth surrounded him. "I didn't…"
"Oh, shut up, you knew it was there. I seriously cannot believe…ohmygod," she said, then smoothed it out, reading over it.
May 15, 2003
Summer,
I kind of sort of have been in love with you since…forever. Okay, later.
Seth
June 17, 2004
Hey Seth?
I kind of sort of love you too. Kthanks.
Summer
July 19, 2005
Sum,
Where did you even find this? I hid it from…everyone.
Seth
Seth,
Under your bed. Duh. You have such BAD hiding places. Retarded.
Summer
Summer,
Nice mouth. :)
Seth
December 21, 2005
Seth,
I've been getting it from you :) It's tough being loved, huh?
Summer
June 19, 2006
Summer,
I guess so. See you…when I see you.
Seth.
"Summer, we're her—" Seth started.
"…Were you going to give this to me?" Summer asked, breathlessly. "…After we broke up, before we went…wherever we were going. Were you going to somehow give this to me?"
"…I was going to try." He said, "But it never ended up happening. I could never quite work up the nerve to do it…I wanted to just…knock on your door and cheese-ily leave it on your doorstep, and then somehow run away to my car before you got there to find it. But…I was never fast enough a runner."
She started laughing, pulling open the door, and tucking the note into the pocket of her jeans.
--
About an hour later, the pair, intoxicated enough to wobble a bit, and fed, walked back into Seth's empty, small apartment. Summer was nervous enough that her legs were shaking, and Seth's palms were sprouting little ponds sporadically.
They both didn't know what to do with each other.
They silently sat down on the couch, exchanging smiles every few seconds, then turning away when they caught each other. "Are we in high school again?" Seth asked, loudly for how silent it was, "all scared to talk to each other, all…quiet and nervous?"
"…It feels like it," Summer whispered.
"Well, you know what I'd do if we were still in high school?" he asked, and she turned his face, so they were centimeters apart.
"No," she murmured, not wanting to break the mood.
"This." He said.
And he grabbed her chin gently.
And he pulled his face towards hers.
And he kissed her, like he couldn't be bothered with anything else in the world.
Like if there were bombs going off around, it wouldn't matter, because he was kissing her, and she was kissing him, and they were all that mattered.
She was kissing back.
She was confused, yes.
She was drunk, semi.
She was kissing him back, though.
She was kissing him back with all she could.
She grabbed the back of his head, kissing him more than forcefully, ravenously, hungrily, headily.
All the other –ily's that existed, she was completely and utterly performing.
And he was giving it all back, just as everything as she was.
They pawed at each other, animalistic, and just felt as they hadn't done in years. It was like they were eighteen again, young and wild and free, no responsibility, just loving each other. They were both liking the feeling a little more than they thought they should.
She almost felt like she wanted to tell him she loved him.
Almost.
And he almost felt like he wanted to tell her that he'd loved her since they'd broken up.
Since he lost her.
But they just kept at each other, intensely, passionately, giving it everything, because they knew it wouldn't happen again. She knew she wouldn't be courageous enough to just tell him that she missed him. And he knew that if she didn't do it, he couldn't do it. He was depending on her, and she knew
there was know way that her right mind would pull through. She couldn't. She just couldn't. And as they kept themselves attached at the mouth, fumbling into his bedroom, falling back onto the bed, ravenously tearing at each others clothes, both of them knew that this thing they had for each other didn't come along often.
And they would make it last as long as they possibly could.
--
A/N: Please review with more than "loved it update pls"? I mean, you can say that if that's your only thought…but if you have any thoughts? That'd be much appreciated ;)