DISCLAIMER – I could buy The OC from Fox, with my savings of…55 c in my moneybox. Wow, I didn't know I was so rich.

SUMMARY – We all know what Ryan's afraid of. But what's Seth Cohen's fear? Small spaces. So what happens when he gets locked in a broom closet…with Summer Roberts? A random idea that kind of popped into my head at 1.30 last night, while I lay in bed, struggling with my insomnia. Set before Ryan came to live with the Cohen's. Quite meaningless drabble, and very long drabble. And it's just waiting to be reviewed, so be nice! It's a one shot for now, but I might do a companion piece, what do you guys think?

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Summer skidded into the classroom with as much dignity as she could muster. She expected to see her History teacher, Miss Doherty, sitting at her desk alone. Instead, there was someone else sitting in front of her. That kid…the one with the curly dark hair, tall and skinny. What was his name? Cohen…Cohen…Seth Cohen. That was it. The kid with no friends, the one that sat alone at lunch, listening to his freaky emo music. He lived next door to Coop, but neither of them had ever had any contact with him. And from all she knew, he had a major crush on her, and had ever since third grade. And that was just weird. Why was Cohen here anyway? What did he do?

She carefully sat on the chair next to him, edging herself away a few inches as she caught him staring at her. What a freak.

"Miss Doherty? Mr Peters said you wanted to see me…?"

"Summer, you're very good at being late, aren't you?" said her teacher.

"Well…" started Summer.

"Why did you miss my class this morning?" Miss Doherty said without letting Summer continue.

"Well, see, there was a sale on." Said Summer simply, as if this explained it all. But Miss Doherty simply blinked at her, and the Cohen kid even looked a bit confused.

"And?" said her teacher.

"And?" asked Summer. "And? Well, it was Prada." That must explain it better, right?

"And?"

"Oh. And. Well, like, it was for one day." Explained Summer further. This woman was supposed to be smart, yet she didn't understand the importance of a Prada sale next to English? What kind of teacher was that? Well, Miss Doherty never did dress very well. Maybe that was why she wasn't married. "And, like, I needed new shoes. And anyway, I already know all this stuff."

"Oh do you, Miss Roberts? Does that explain why you failed your last quiz?"

"Well, I didn't know that stuff." Said Summer, not the slightest bit bothered by her teachers growing annoyance. "Obviously. But I know the stuff we're doing now."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah, stuff." Summer replied coolly, not bothering to remember what they were studying at the moment. She looked absentmindedly at her nails, wondering if they needed a new manicure. She should have got one when she was in town. Then she wouldn't be here at the moment. She looked over at Cohen, the confused look on his face had turned to one of amusement. He was watching the exchange between her and her teacher and trying not to laugh, but when Summer glared at him, the grin was wiped off his face. But he still kept looking at her.

"Okay…" said Miss Doherty slowly, taking deep breaths in and out to stop herself from murdering the pretty girl in front of her. Summer started tapping her long nails impatiently on the wooden desk. "Miss Roberts, stop that!" she snapped. Summer stopped and folded her arms across her chest, an indignant look on her face. Miss Doherty took a few more deep breaths before speaking again. "You two…" she said, gesturing to Seth and Summer. "Will be having detention together this afternoon. You will be cleaning out the teachers' storage room."

"What?!" exclaimed Summer, jerking forward in her seat. Indeed, Seth also looked surprised. "I'm not having detention with him! Eww." She didn't pause to notice the hurt look on his face. "Why? I have nothing to do with him! That's not fair!"

Miss Doherty smiled. She had finally gotten through to her student. "You should think about that next time."

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Seth sighed and removed another box from the long line of metal shelves. He was having detention in basically a broom closet, with Summer Roberts, the girl of his dreams.

It would be a lot better if she were actually there.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of shoes running and halting to a stop. A second later, two female voices were arguing. He could make out one of them, Miss Doherty, and the other…

"It's detention! What's wrong with being late for a detention anyway? I already have one, right?"

Summer.

"Okay, okay, whatever." Her voice was getting closer as she walked towards the closet. "Yeah, yeah, okay." She was now in the tiny room with Seth. He saw her role her eyes, then look at him. "Oh," she said. "Hi Matt."

"It's Seth." He said quietly.

Summer shrugged She knew what his name was. But she didn't want him to know that. "Whatever." She wrapped her nails around the edge of the door, and started to edge it shut.

"Don't!" exclaimed Seth, and she jumped, looking at him. The door was only a few inches from closing.

"Don't what?" she asked.

"Don't close the door!" Seth said again.

A small smile overcame the girls face, her white teeth gleaming. Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "What? Don't close it?"

"Yes!"

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Okay, I won't close it. I'll just…Oh, oops! It slipped!" the door slammed closed.

"Oh, no." groaned Seth.

"Calm down," said Summer. "Geez. Look, all I have to do is…" she turned the knob of the door and pulled, expecting it to swing open. Nothing happened. She fumbled with the knob again, muttering under her breath.

Seth sighed. "I was going to say…" He said. "The door locks from the outside. You can't get in without a key and you can't get out without a key. The teachers are the only ones with keys."

"Shit!" exclaimed Summer.

"Shit." Agreed Seth. "Uh…Summer?" he asked. His voice was strangely high and squeaky, and Summer looked at him oddly.

"What?"

"Do you have a paper bag or something?" he asked in the same squeaky, high voice. Summer looked at him as if he was crazy.

"A what?!"

"A paper bag." He said. His breathing was slow and raspy. "To breath in. I can't breath. Summer, I can't breath, help me out here! I don't like small, confined spaces!"

"Your agoraphobic?" asked Summer in amusement.

Despite his lack of breath, Seth managed to shoot a look at Summer. "It's claustrophobic." He informed her. "And yes I am. Paper bag, now, please?"

"Geez, Cohen, I don't have one!"

"Ah!"

"Cohen, look around you. We're in a storage closet. There's bound to be a paper bag in here somewhere."

Seth started desperately looking for one, throwing boxes off the shelves as he went. Summer sighed and slumped down against the door, watching him. Finally he found one, and cupped it to his mouth, breathing in and out. For a few minutes, Summer watched as the paper bag moved in and out.

"So why are you here?" she asked, trying to ease some of the tension and quietness in the air. "What'd you do?"

In between breaths in the paper bag, Seth removed his mouth and said slowly. "I didn't do my homework." He shrugged and put his mouth back to the bag.

"What, did your dog eat it?" asked Summer, rolling her eyes.

Seth removed his mouth again and chuckled, in spite of his lack of air. "No. But I've been thinking about getting one, just so I can use that excuse."

Summer laughed. It felt strange coming from her mouth. Summer didn't laugh much. Seth had noticed this too. He had never heard her laugh. But she had a nice one. Silence fell over them again.
Eventually, she grew sick of the sound of crinkling paper, and moved towards him. He looked at her with curiosity, but didn't take his mouth from the bag. As he breathed in, and the paper swelled up, Summer clapped her hands around the bag and popped it.

"Ah!" cried Seth again. "Summer! That was the last one! I can't breathe now! I'm…hy…per…ven…til…ate…ing" he said, breathing out each syllable slowly, savouring the air he could taste.

"Cohen!" exclaimed Summer, grabbing his shoulders. "You would be able to breathe better if you stopped wasting your breath on useless rambling!" she then realised that she was touching him, and quickly withdrew her hands, wiping them on her skirt.

Seth sighed and took a few more deep breaths in, calming himself down as he realised she was right. "You know my name." He said finally,

"Huh?"

"You know my name." He said again. "You called me Cohen."

"Oh. Yeah." She said, as she became aware that she had been caught out. "Duh. You're Seth Cohen. You're Caleb Nichol's grandson." Seth nodded. "Caleb Nichol is like, the richest guy in Newport. And you're his grandson. Yeah, I know your name."

"So why don't you ever talk to me?"

"I said I knew your name, it doesn't mean I want to talk to you!" snapped Summer quickly. The small smiled that had been on Seth's face was wiped off as his face fell in disappointment. Summer felt a small pang of guilt at the sight of his sad face, but chose to ignore it.

"Summer." Said Seth.

"What?"

"Talk about something."

"Talk? About what?"

"I don't know! Something! Uh, people, parties, music, movies…the weather!" he said desperately. "Anything? I need to get my mind off the lack of oxygen."

"Oh…okay." She looked at him for a second, before opening her mouth again. "So, Cohen, you're still a virgin, right?"

"What?" Seth exclaimed, his eyes bulging. "Why the hell are you asking me that?"

"Because you told me to talk about something." Said Summer. "And I'm talking about something. So, you are, right?"

"What makes you think I am?" asked Seth.

Summer snorted, her eyes flickering up and down over Seth. She said nothing, just looked at him with an "Are-You-Kidding-Me?" look on her face.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to explain. So, yeah, I am."

After that there was an awkward silence that hung in the air, along with the short supply of oxygen. Summer looked at him expectantly, and he stared right back.

"Well?" she finally said.

"Well? Well what?" asked Seth.

"Aren't you going to ask me?" said Summer.

Seth stared at her. "No." he said. What a stupid question.

"Why not!" asked Summer angrily, her eyes glinting.

"Come on, Summer." Said Seth, shaking his head. "Don't be stupid. Why would I ask you if you were still a…a virgin? Just so you can mock me?"

Summer pursed her plump lips so that they were barley a thin line. "What?" she asked, her voice dangerously sharp.

Seth wasn't put of my her change in demeanour, and said, in the same voice, "I know your not, Summer. So why bother asking?"

Summer was becoming ever angrier. "What do you mean? You think that just because I'm Summer Roberts, I'm automatically some slut that's slept with the whole Water Polo team?!"

"I don't think you're a slut, Summer." Said Seth. "But…"

"But I have slept with the whole Water Polo team? Is that what you think?"

Seth was now confused. Summer seemed genuinely angry. "You…You haven't?"

"No!"

"But…"

"But what?" she asked.

"Everyone says you have."

"What do you mean, everyone says I have!"

"Well…It's Guy's Locker Room stuff, Sum." He said. "All anyone can ever talk about is the party the previous weekend. And there's always someone saying that he banged Summer Roberts."

"WHAT!" yelled Summer, jumping up from her spot on the floor. "They WHAT?"

"Summer, Summer, sorry." Said Seth instantly, jumping to his feet. "I didn't mean to upset you it's just…that's what they say."

"All of them?" asked Summer.

"Pretty much."

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Summer. "I never…Not one…I'm still…"

"You're still a virgin?"

"Yeah, so what!" snapped Summer angrily, her face flushing. The heat in the tiny room was getting to her.

"It's just…I…Sorry…I just…I never expected it. They all went into so much detail…"

"Oh God." Groaned Summer. "They did?"

Seth nodded apologetically. "It was pretty demeaning. Not all that nice."

Summer looked as if she just might cry, but Seth knew she wouldn't. "Do…um…Do they say that I'm, uh…Good?"

Seth raised an eyebrow. "They say your great."

"Oh." She slumped down against the door again. "Well. If I'm going to be a slut. At least I'm a good slut. Right?" she said, looking at Seth. Seth, just to surprise her, sat down next to her, and she didn't object.

"I don't think you're a slut." He said softly. She looked at him, suddenly aware that even when they were sitting down, he was much taller than her, and she had to look up at him. His eyes were a very nice, deep brown. "I…I think your beautiful." Summer blushed.

"No ones ever said that to me before." She said breathlessly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. All those jerks, they're all "Oh hey babe, you're sexy, I wanna get in your pants!""

"They say that?" he asked.

"Pretty much. They like to be straightforward. Not really the romance every girl wants."

Seth had loved Summer since the third grade. He had loved her when she was that little girl, wearing pretty pink dresses with her hair in braids, laughing with her friends and always ignoring him. She ignored him even after all the girls had decided that boys weren't icky anymore. He soon got used to it. She would always be a girl that he could admire from afar, but never really get to close to, because girls like that pushed guys like him away. But, right now, he was so close to her. He was sitting next to her, locked in a broom closet, and she was pouring her heart out to him about her virginity. He could give her the romance that she wanted. He couldn't tell her though. She might think that was freaky.

"You deserve someone good, Summer." He said slowly, and carefully.

Summer looked at him. "You're sweet, Cohen." She said finally, and Seth smiled. "You're nice. You're not like all the other jerks I know. Cohen, why haven't you ever had a girlfriend?"

"I'd like to know that too, Sum." Said Seth. "If you ever figure it out, tell me, 'kay?"

Summer smiled. "Don't worry, Cohen. You can't stay single forever. You know what? If you're still single by the time you like, 30, I'll go on a date with you. Even if I am married to Justin Timberlake."

"Wow, Summer, you're so nice." Said Seth. Summer laughed, and he smiled. He liked that he could make Summer Roberts, Reigning Ice Queen of Harbour laugh. "I don't see you laugh much." He said. "I don't see you smile much either."

She shrugged. "When you live like me, Cohen, there's not much to smile about."

"What do you mean? When you live like you? You have the perfect life."

"No, I don't! That's what everyone thinks. They think that I have the perfect life, just because I'm popular and pretty. Did you know that my mother left when I was six? Did you know that my father ignores me? Did you know that my stepmom's a pill-popping drunk? And, I just found out that the whole school thinks I'm a slut. It's not perfect, Cohen."

Seth blinked. "Wow. Summer. I…I didn't know."

Summer smiled weakly. "No one does. Not even Coop. Coop could know, but she doesn't care. No one cares, no one knows. Except for you. Now. I guess we have a special bond, huh?"

"You are the last person I ever imagined I'd have a special bond with, Summer."

"Yeah, well, same to you!" laughed Summer. "It's kinda funny. I hardly even know you. But you can make me laugh. And you're like, the only one."

"I feel special." Claimed Seth.

Summer smiled again. She could feel her cheeks getting sore from the movement her lips had taken. She hadn't smiled so much for ages. But maybe she could get used to it.

"You know what?" she said. "I kind of like you, Cohen. You're sweet. You're nice. You're funny. And…" she blushed slightly, even before she said it. "…You're even kind of cute."

Seth's eyes bulged. "Uh…what?"

"Keep in mind I said kind of!" said Summer warningly. "So don't go and get a huge head or whatever."

Seth smiled cheekily. "If I do, it's your fault."

Summer suddenly noticed something. "Hey!" she said. "You've stopped hyperventilating! You can breathe!"

"I…" started Seth, and sucked in a big breath of air. "Hey! You're right."

"Aren't I always?" asked Summer, smiling smugly.

"You cured me, Summer!"

"My pleasure." She said, grinning.

The two teenagers surveyed their surroundings. When they had originally entered the closet, the plan was to clean the shelves and sort the numerous boxes. The shelves were now definitely clean…the boxes, however, were tossed in messy heaps on the floor, chucked there while Seth was looking urgently for a paper bag.

"I think we're in trouble." Said Seth.

Summer shrugged. "Whatever. We got locked in. That's a good enough excuse."

Seth looked at her doubtfully. "We got locked in a room that we were supposed to clean, therefore we couldn't clean the room? You really think they'll fall for that?"

"Why not?"

Seth laughed softly as Summer continued, "And if not, we'll just get another detention. Together. And what's wrong with that?"

The two were now very close to each other. Closer then they had ever been before. Their lips were only centimetres apart and Seth could taste Summer's warm breath on his. She moved her head closer to his and closed her eyes. As her lips moved towards him, a million thoughts ran through his head. This was what he had dreamed of almost his entire life. Was he doing it right? How did he know? What was wrong? He would be a really bad kisser, he knew it. What would she say? What should he do? Finally, he did exactly what she did…Closed his eyes and moved his head closer to his. Then, their lips touched. Soft at first, and Seth wondered when she would pull away. When she didn't, and instead she parted her lips slightly, nudging his open, he raised his hand to cup her face. When she slipped her tongue into his mouth and he ran his own over hers, she felt her knees go weak. She wasn't sure if he felt it too, but he must have, because he put his other arm around her waist to hold her up. This was different then she had expected. She had thought that he would just stand there and let her do all the work. But he was really took control. Finally, when she was becoming short of breath, she broke away, sucking on his bottom lip softly.

"I…I…Oh, God…" he panted. She smiled. She had such an amazing effect on him. Something that she had never had on any other guy. She had effects on guy's before, but nothing like what she had over him. Other guy's wanted in her pants. He…wanted her. Just her. She hoped so anyway.

"If that was your first kiss…" Summer started. Seth opened his mouth to say something, but Summer beat him to it. "…And don't deny it, because I know it was." Seth blushed slightly, but she continued. "If that was your first kiss, then I feel sorry for every girl that's ever missed out on it." Seth beamed, and Summer saw how his face practically glowed at her words. "And you know what…" she leaned closer to him. "If I had to choose anyone to be my first…" she paused, biting her bottom lip. "I think that there's a good chance I'd choose you."

Before Seth could say anything to her amazing proclamation, the doorknob turned, and the door opened. Seth and Summer instantly jumped out of each other's arms, and where faced by Miss Doherty. She didn't cast a second glance to their flushed faces, laying it down to the condensed moisture level in the room and not two hot bodies pressed against each other, lips touching.

"Why was the door closed?" she asked.

"Uh, it slammed shut." Lied Seth.

"Oh, well…What happened here?" she exclaimed, looking at the boxes littered over the small space.

"Well, we got locked in, so we couldn't clean." Said Summer.

"What do you mean you couldn't clean? It was the perfect opportunity to clean!"

"Do you know how hard it is to clean when you're trapped in a room this small for God knows how long?" shot back Summer.

Miss Doherty's face went from white to red back to a slightly pink colour in between. "Okay." She breathed. "Fine. For that, you two have earned yourself another detention. Maybe this time, we'll lock you in a bigger room! Same time next week." She said, before turning and stalking out of the room.

Seth whistled lowly. "Whoa, we sure pissed her off."

Summer laughed, and turned towards him. "Don't…" she said, pointing her index finger square between his eyes. "…Don't you dare tell anyone about this, okay? Or I swear, I'll kill you."

Seth looked at her, amusement visible in his face. "So your going to pretend it never happened?"

Summer smiled. This time it was a small smile, the left side of her lips turning up further then her right. A tiny dimple appeared in her left cheek when this happened, but Seth had never been up close enough to observe this before. She moved closer to him, standing on her toes so that she could whisper in his ear, "Not completely. See you next week."

Without another word, she turned and walked out of the open door, leaving Seth, standing still and breathless. That was the best afternoon of his life. He had been trapped in a room with Summer Roberts, Teen Beauty Queen, girl of his dreams. She had poured her heart out to him, he had made her laugh more then he had ever seen her laugh. He had kissed her, and he had even overcome his fear of confined spaces.

He had never found himself wishing for his next detention to come so quickly.

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Soo…What do you think? This is like the longest thing that I've ever written in a one shot, is it any good?

Should I do a companion piece? Please review and tell me what you think!