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Welcoming a new beginning

"Seriously, we're going to have to stop."

"Why?" he asked as he pulled her toward him until he could find her lips again. Taylor giggled and pushed half-heartedly against Ryan's chest.

"This is ridiculous. I wasn't even talking to you two minutes ago. It's not healthy to just jump into this without discussing our problem in the first place."

Ryan shrugged as he tilted to a different angle so his lips could find her neck. "You can keep not talking to me if you want to. Besides, we've been here for way longer than two minutes."

"We can't— Oh, my God," Taylor exclaimed as she looked at her watch. "We've been here for like an hour."

"See."

"No, Ryan," Taylor said sternly, finally truly pushing him away from her. "We have to stop this party. Kaitlin is going to tear up this house and Julie is going to kill me and then I'll be homeless."

"You'll come live in the poolhouse. It's fine."

"Cute," Taylor said, ducking away from him before he could distract her with his lips again. "But I'm not taking anything you say in this closet as reliable. We have to go face the light of—"

Ryan reached out and stopped her hand as she was about to push open the closet door. He put a finger to her mouth as he stretched his neck to listen.

"Someone's out there."

"What?" Taylor whispered as she pressed her ear against the door. "It's Seth and Summer. I think they're working something out… I think… Oh God," she sprung back. "I did not need to hear that."

Ryan backed away from the door as much as he could in the enclosed space. "I definitely don't need to hear that. I'll be turned off of sex for the rest of my life if I hear that."

"Wow. Summer is really pushy, and Seth is really weak. He just toppled over when she pushed him like he wouldn't have been able to stay standing if he'd tried. Oh wait… maybe he just let himself fall over because he knew she would do that."

"Taylor, don't watch."

"Where'd Che go? I thought Summer was finally trying something new."

"We are not going there," Ryan whined as he closed his eyes and let his head fall back.

"I did not realise Seth was that flexible."

"Taylor!"

"Shh," she insisted, her hand rising to cover his mouth. "They'll hear you. Besides, I'm kidding. They're not that far into it yet."

Ryan let out a sigh of relief as his body relaxed. "Thank God."

"Shh," Taylor whispered again.

The closet door flew open before Ryan could ask her what her problem was, and he averted his eyes at the sight of Seth wearing nothing but his boxer shorts.

"Ryan? What are you doing?"

"Seven minutes in heaven," Ryan whispered softly.

"Is that one of your Taylor fantasies?" Seth asked.

Taylor's eyes widened as she turned to Ryan. "You have fantasies about me?"

"That's… Seth…"

"What? You're in a closet while I'm making up with Summer and I'm the one who's in trouble?"

"We didn't know you were going to come in here. Besides, when were we supposed to sneak out? You kind of just rushed to the main event. Ever hear of foreplay?"

"Yeah, from my dad, thanks to no help from you when I needed it. And Summer's not really into that, if you'll remember. She kind of just likes to lay me down and—"

"Cohen!" Summer screeched from where she'd been hiding under her comforter. "What do you mean, if he remembers?"

"Like you and Marissa didn't share stories all the time?" Seth offered.

"Really? Cause Summer I could really use any kind of pointers or weak spots that Marissa might have—"

"Glad you're back, Summer. We'll just go find a closet somewhere else now," Ryan said as he grabbed Taylor by the waist and started dragging her out of the room.

"Really? Another closet?" Seth and Summer heard her ask with glee.

"So Taylor and Ryan, huh?" Summer asked when they were gone.

"Yep."

"She's… going to be a handful."

"Yeah. I have a feeling they're going to find a few closets tonight."

"From what Marissa says, Ryan can definitely handle more than one closet trip in a night."

"Yeah." Seth's brow furrowed as he thought about it. "Wait, what does that mean?"

"Just that Ryan's not a one trick pony. He makes sure to come back for the encore. He has more than one song in his set. He has more than one snake in—"

"And I?"

"Do what I tell you very well," Summer answered with a smirk and a shrug.

"That's it. Get out your abacus, Summer. Whatever number Marissa gave you, we're breaking it tonight."

"My abacus, Cohen? I can count to two."

Seth's jaw dropped before he pounced on Summer, grabbing her by the waist until he could pull her down so she was flat on the bed.

"Hey," she protested with a laugh. "I'm supposed to be on top."

"You'll get your chance. You'll get your chance multiple times. We'll just do it this way until I'm too tired to go on any longer."

"That sounds promising," Summer laughed.

"You better believe it." He stopped, smiling down at her from where he was perched a few inches above. "Welcome home, Summer."

"Yeah. I guess I am home."

Seth's smile grew before he let the expression drop from his face. "Summer…"

"No," she giggled, shaking her head.

"So many nights without you," he groaned, diving his head against her skin.


Even from two rooms down, locked in another closet Taylor and Ryan smiled at the sound of Summer and Seth bantering, lips smashed together.

"I can be louder than that," Taylor whispered.

"All in good time…"