Title: Playing for Keeps

Rating: R - sexual content

Summary: Version 2 -missing scene (PWP? lol) from chapter 13 of "The Difference Between." (Rhyme much? lol) Forgive the sap. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Feedback: Yes, please! I think that's always implied, though.

Notes: Basically, this was the hardest part of the fic to write because I wanted it to be able to stand on its own, but still be related to "The Difference Between" and I wanted to be lazy and wasn't going to write it, but then I kinda said I would and it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but it's written and now you all can read it and judge for yourselves. lol I wrote another shorter, all dialogue fic ("Playing the Fool")just because I had to amuse myself after being a little stressed over getting this one done. Go check it out. :p

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Seth Cohen was perfect. Summer could say that without it sounding untrue, because although he had flaws -everyone did- he was untainted and still so innocent that everything he did came from his heart and not some bitter place. He wasn't like Ryan and he was not like her, because they were damaged and built walls and coping mechanisms to stop themselves from giving too much away. A person that showed their hand ran the risk of getting burned. Seth didn't know that, not really. He'd always had parents that loved him and never had to worry who was going to drop in or out of his life. He'd always been secure and happy, so making sure Summer was just as secure and happy was not a stretch.

Seth, from the moment they'd officially met, had done everything to get her attention and she'd blatantly ignored him until it was painfully obvious that she couldn't anymore.

Summer led them to her room, his hand in hers, his thumb running over her knuckles in comforting strokes.

Summer faced Seth, lifted her chin so she could look him in the eye. "Thanks for coming tonight, Cohen."

"No problem whatsoever. I'm still sorry you're so upset." Seth smiled that soft smile that made her melt and again she thought that sounded too girly, but she had to get used to weird comparisons now that she and Seth were an item.

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her forehead into his chest. "I'm not upset anymore."

"No?"

"No," she answered, shaking her head.

Looking up, she smiled seductively and pushed him into the wall and kissed him hard, falling against him like she might absorb him if she just pressed with enough force. Because she wanted some of Seth's goodness to invade her; to sink into her skin and slip into her soul.

Seth's fingers on her neck were still a little hesitant, like she might pull away and decide to clobber him. She wanted to laugh, but she wanted to kiss him more.

Seth pulled away, his breath puffing out against her cheek. His lips were red and shiny from her strawberry lip balm and made him look a little like he'd been sucking on a popsicle. "Whoa. When you said go to bed, you meant-"

"I want to."

Seth licked his lips, scratched behind his ear and shifted his weight. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he was nervous. "Summer, that isn't why I did this."

"I know, that's why I want to."

"Summer, I-"

"Seth, don't." And she knew if she gave him the chance, he would say all the right things, like how they shouldn't and how he wanted it to be special and that he loved her. She didn't want to give him that chance. For once, she just wanted to feel and let him feel everything that she could never articulated in words. She feared if she didn't, he would never know, because words were hard for her and she just wasn't ready to say them yet. Besides she was never one to believe in gross declarations of love during sex anyway. "Just...shut up."

He did.

She kissed him again, slower this time.

There was a time when even looking Seth Cohen's way would have caused the Great Summer Roberts to drop down the social latter faster than Paris Hilton wearing clothes from Wal-Mart, but times had changed. Paris had shopped at Wal-Mart during her Simple Life stay and made it cool because people were like sheep and did whatever celebrities told them to and while Summer could never make Seth Cohen cool, she could just not care what people thought, because no one knew Seth the way she did. No one would ever understand what he gave to her.

Peace.

Seth Cohen gave her peace.

And she'd been living in a war for far too long.

Dogs and wolves marked their territory. A fact that Summer really didn't care too much about. Summer was not a dog or a wolf, even though she'd been called a bitch most of her life... That was all besides the point, because in seventh grade she'd done a project and learned the difference between dogs and wolves. It wasn't just good humour to call a cheating guy a dog, because dogs were horny and they didn't find monogamy particularly appealing. They were the Wilt Chamberlain of the canine species. But wolves...wolves mated for life. All of it sounded silly and meaningless to anyone else, but not to Summer.

The point was, that in life, if she really wanted something, she had to stake her claim and make sure everyone knew what belonged to her...she had to mark her territory.

Not that Seth belonged to her, but he most certainly was her mate. And so that made Seth a wolf in this metaphor and not a dog and that meant she wasn't quite the bitch people thought.

It was all very confusing.

It didn't matter now. None of it mattered, because she was going to prove something to herself for once. Seth Cohen was good enough for her whether he was cool or not and maybe, just maybe, she was good enough for him, too.

Seth was talking again and she silenced him with a kiss. Words were too precious now. She couldn't risk letting him talk because that would inevitably lead to a conversation and he made her say things she would never confess to anyone else and he was doing some pretty amazing stuff with his tongue. She wanted to get back to that. And his hands were definitely skilled, too.

She wasn't fat by any means, but she wasn't super-skinny like Marissa was, either and while the rest of the girls at Harbour took pains keeping themselves so thin, she embraced her curves. She wasn't sure where the rest of the girls were getting their information from, because from her experience, boys enjoyed a healthy girl. Point and case: Seth Cohen. His fingers slipped under her shirt and strummed the slight curve of her belly that wasn't supermodel tight. The other hand slipped down her back and cupped her ass, pressing her into him. Heat began to spread over her body. Sinuous laps of pleasure began to hum inside and radiate outward.

Instinctively she had closed her eyes, when she opened them, Seth was staring at her and she could see her reflection. She looked whole and sort of like herself, only she was different than what she had always been, changed from the person she was even an hour before. And maybe it was from the sense of completion that Seth gave to her or maybe that, in his arms, she didn't have to hide, even though she was at her most vulnerable. She wouldn't hide. Not anymore.

Seth's mouth was agape and the tips of his ears were blazing red. And she knew what he was about to say "Summer, I-"

"Shh,"she whispered, cutting him off. Her tongue flicked over his bottom lip, getting a taste of strawberry and Seth.

Leading them to the bed, she pushed Seth down and straddled his thigh. Her hands slid under his t-shirt and pulled it up, her mouth fusing to each inch of skin as it was revealed.

Seth looked like he was fighting the urge to stay absolutely still or touch her all over. She took sympathy on him, guiding his hand to the base of her shirt. He smiled, a little crookedly and then she resumed her torture.

It was sweet, really. When was the last time a boy had actually respected her enough to need permission to let himself touch her? Oh, that's right, never. Seth Cohen was different and it was why she had allowed herself to fall in love with the guy, even if he was a dork. She knew it meant she was going to have to teach him...well, everything. There was nothing like shaping a young, impressionable mind. But lucky for them both, she was always up for a good challenge. And by the bulge in his pants, it looked like he was too.

She traced letters on his abdomen with her tongue and kept it up until he was squirming beneath her. "God, what are you doing to me?"

She laughed.

"I didn't see anything funny about that," he chastised, but it lacked any real scorn.

She sat back on his thighs and ran her fingers over the planes of his stomach, his skin quivered and seemed to heat under her inspection. "You know, your abs aren't that bad."

"I've been doing sit-ups, you know," he said and he sounded proud.

Summer bit her lip to catch herself from laughing again. She kissed the corner of his eye where he still had the remnants of a bruise.

She felt his eyes on her and her cheeks began to heat. "What?" she asked, looking at him through a veil of eyelashes.

Seth shrugged, reaching out a hand and cupping her cheek in his lithe fingers. "You're beautiful."

Smiling, she bent down and caught his lip between her teeth, gave it a light tug before she released it and speared her tongue into his mouth. Seth made a noise that sounded halfway between a moan and a whine. Summer continued to kiss him, a little more urgently, a little desperately. Clearly she'd found a way to shut him up.

One minute her shirt was on and the next it sat in a pile at the foot of her bed beside Seth's novelty tee and her black bra. Seth didn't seem to know what to do with all the freshly revealed skin. His eyes were wide, his pulse racing so fast she could see the pulse point in his neck jump. Laying over him, she let their skin just brush before she allowed her full weight to rest on top of him. His skin was warm and he smelled a little like soap and Cap'n Crunch and it just reminded her of who he was and that it was all right to want him as much as she did. That he was safe and she could trust herself with him.

Her fingers skimmed his nipple and his hips rose from the bed, his eyes closing tightly and she knew he was all ready overwhelmed, but she did it again and again until he opened his eyes and looked at her and when he did she smiled like a vixen.

"Summer," he panted and she liked how it sounded low and raspy.

She bit his chin very lightly and snaked out her tongue, lapping at the hollow in his throat and further down until her tongue was running over his nipple and his knuckles turned white where he was gripping the bed sheets.

"Relax," she whispered, her mouth close to his ear.

Summer liked to be in charge. She liked to have control over everything around her, it allowed her to keep her sanity since she couldn't control much else, but having control over Seth Cohen, like this, was insane. And she knew it must have been how he felt at rehearsal on that fateful day when she allowed -made- him to do...things to her.

She didn't have time to overanalyse because Seth's fingers were on the nape of her neck guiding her up to him and her hips mindlessly pushed against his and created the most wonderful, spellbinding friction and she couldn't think anymore. She was a blank canvas and slowly Seth was painting stripes of bright pink all over her body, gorgeous, intoxicating shades of magenta and white heat behind her eyes. Seth was the true artist. They made the most beautiful colours together. She took a snapshot of the moment; a picture she could keep in her mind and dredge up whenever she wanted. Something for later to let it all sink in.

Her hands found the buckle of his belt and unfastened it, along with the button and zipper of his jeans. He lifted his hips and she helped guide his pants and boxers off and let them land on the floor. Reaching for her, his hands shook and she had to help him with the buttons on her slacks. Once again her heart expanded and she felt like she might just start to cry, instead she layed down, stretching out under him.

His mouth was hot over her breast and his tongue was doing this thing that it just shouldn't know how to do. After it was all over, she was really going to have to talk to him about his experience level, because some things he did, did not coincide with his virgin status. Maybe he was just a quick study and Summer knew she was a good teacher.

She was wriggling around and murmuring nonsensical things she expected to hear from Seth and not herself and she realized she'd been without his mouth on hers for too long, so she corrected the problem. His lips were swollen, bruised, and his hair was a little damp, sticking up all over the place and she just wanted to touch it. Running her fingers through his curls, she kept his mouth on her while the lower part of their bodies were involved in their own dance.

She could feel him right there. Hot. Heavy. Hard. And she wanted him inside her with a desperation she had never known and she couldn't wait any longer. Urging her hips against him, she pulled back remembering protection.

"Wait," she said and she felt Seth watching her as she leaned over the side of the bed and opened the drawer to her night table. She reached into a box of drawing pencils and pulled out a box of condoms she had stuffed there so no one would be the wiser. Taking one out, she tossed the rest back in the drawer. Surprise was etched on his face when she rolled it on him with her small hands, so damn slow. She told herself she was just being efficient, careful, and that she was not trying to torture him. When she was done he looked about ready to explode. He bit his lip so hard, he drew blood and Summer winced for him.

The sadist in her would have drawn it out, made him wait a little longer, but the less domineering part, the part that was less rational, just wanted it too damn bad to wait. Pulling him back down, she urged him inside and he slid in tentatively, she rocked her hips to help him along. Letting out a strangled moan, he let his head fall to her shoulder, air expelling form his lungs in warm puffs against her neck.

"Jesus and Moses," he whispered.

Summer laughed and he met her eye. "It's okay," she encouraged, running her nails down his back and he shivered. Taking the hint, he began to move.

Seth was tender, slow. She didn't know how he was keeping up the pace because sweat was rolling down his cheek and she'd never met anyone with that much self-control before, especially not a first-timer. It hit her hard that he was trying desperately to make it good for her and she didn't know how to tell him that it was great just because it was with him, so she showed him.

She smiled, leaned up and kissed him once, wrapped her legs around his ankles and flipped them over.

She took him all the way inside, releasing him slowly until she couldn't stand it anymore and she had to ride him fast. He was staring at her, his eyes wide and alert and stormed over with lust and heat and love and it sent her toppling over the edge, her muscles gripping him like a vice and milking him as she shuddered and collapsed onto his chest.

They stared at each other for a long minute and Summer could once again see her reflection in his eyes and something else, something deeper and purely Seth that she had never experienced before. They were connected, both literally and figuratively, and Summer had never felt more at home in her own skin.

The next time Summer looked at Seth, his long eyelashes were resting on his cheek and his breathing was even. He tossed in his sleep and stretched out on his stomach. The only thing she wanted to do was be close to him, to draw the goodness from him. She pressed the naked warmth of her breasts against the length of his torso, spooning into his back, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his shoulder blade that jutted out sharply. Letting her head rest in the wings between his shoulder blades, Summer closed her eyes.

So maybe Seth Cohen wasn't perfect. Maybe he talked too much and liked comic books more than what was considered heathy. Maybe Seth was never going to be mistaken for a pro wrestler, and he was never going to look intimidating with his slender form, but she kind of liked that about him. Liked that he wasn't perfect.

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end.