This I Promise You Chapter 1: Like We Never Loved At All, an o.c. fanfic

Two years after Marissa's death, Summer is still at Brown in Rhode Island and Seth is at RISD in Providence. Ryan has finally gone to Berkeley, realizing it was the first step to getting over her. Summer and Seth broke up shortly after Thanksgiving the year Marissa died, because Summer had changed, no matter how hard she didn't want to, and Seth decided that he had to let her go so she could move on with life. They both still love each other, but they can't go back because they've grown apart. They haven't seen or spoken to each other in a few months, because it's just way to hard for them to just be friends with no feelings or sparks between them.

Summer isn't dating anyone, although she and Che are really good friends, and Seth is with a girl from RISD, Arielle, who is almost exactly like Anna.

Ryan isn't with anyone either. He still loves Marissa although he tells himself he doesn't. He and Theresa stay in touch and are good friends.

Sandy and Kirsten are still going strong and still live in Newport.

Julie ended things with Neil and is single, living in a house with Kaitlyn near Sandy and Kirsten.

Neil took a job in Seattle Grace and lives there now. He and Summer still have a great bond and they talk every week.

Like We Never Loved At All

Summer Roberts tried to open her dorm door balancing her purse, binders, and large French vanilla cappuccino in her arms.

"Summer," She heard a voice behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see Che running up to her. "I'll get it." He said.

Summer handed Che her keys and he unlocked and opened the door for her.

"Thanks Che." Summer said, going into her small dorm that she shared with Amber and set her purse and binders on her bed and sat down beside them, taking a sip of her coffee while Che made his way down onto the floor in front of her.

"So are you busy tonight?" Che asked, and without waiting for an answer, "Good, 'cause there's this convention thing for some comic book and a lot of us are going down there to protest."

"Protest what? That unitards should be outlawed?" Summer asked sarcastically.

Che gave Summer a look of confusion, "No," He said slowly, drawing out the 'o', "That they're comics should be printed on recycled paper." He explained to Summer.

"Oh." Summer said looking down at the ground. "I don't think I'm going to be able to make it."

"Please?" Che asked, trying to look at Summer's face which was still staring down.

"I'm really sorry Che," Summer apologized, looking at him as she said it, "But tonight's not a good night."

Che sighed and got up and sat down beside Summer. "Why not?" He asked carefully.

Summer turned her head towards Che and gave a small, shy smile. "Because today's-"

"Today it's two years since her and Seth broke up." Amber interrupted, shutting the door behind her quite loudly.

"Thanks Amber." Summer said sarcastically, sneering at the girl.

Amber returned Summer's sneer and went over to her bed and lied down heavily.

Che put his arm around Summer's shoulders in comfort, "Are you okay?" He asked.

Summer nodded gently and set her drink on her bedside table and turned to her friend again.

"It's just hard." She spoke kind of softly and Che nodded. He pulled Summer close to him and she put her arms around him and he hugged her in comfort.

"It'll be okay." He assured her.

Summer nodded, but couldn't help thinking that it should be Cohen with his arms around her, comforting her. But he had another girlfriend, he had moved on. So why couldn't she? Summer's thoughts were interrupted by the high pitched ringing of Amber's cell phone.

Amber groaned and got up and went out into the hallway, leaving Summer and Che alone.

Summer pulled away from Che but still stayed beside him and let him keep his arm across her shoulders. She wiped away the few tears that had fallen but then smiled at her friend.

"Thanks." She said softly.

"No prob. Why don't we go down to the convention to get your mind of things." Che suggested.

"Sure," Summer said, "Let me just go get ready." She said, standing up and going into her very small bathroom.

Summer quickly fixed up the makeup that had smeared just the smallest amount from her wiping her tears away, then grabbed her purse and coat and locked the door behind her and Che.

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Seth Cohen was lying on the couch reading the latest issue of People. He was reading an article about Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe getting a divorce.

"But they're the perfect couple!" He cried.

He heard his front door open and threw the magazine under the coffee table and grabbed the TV Guide instead.

"Hey Seth!" He heard a cheerful voice call, and saw his girlfriend Arielle saunter over to him, throwing her purse onto the love seat.

"Hi." Seth said, although not so cheerfully as Arielle, standing up and letting his girlfriend place a short kiss on his cheek.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, trying to put her arms around her boyfriend's waist, but Seth put his hands around them and gently pushed them away.

"No." Seth said shortly. Truthfully, this day was probably the worst of the year. It was the day that he and Summer, the love of his life, ended their relationship.

"Okay," Arielle said, not really believing him, "Well there's a comic book convention tonight. Do you want to go?"

"Sure."

"Good." Arielle said, with a smile. "Well do you want to grab dinner before?"

"I'm not really hungry." Seth told her, going over to the kitchen and opening the fridge, taking out a bottle of water and opening it, taking a long sip from it.

Arielle sighed deeply and walked slowly over to the living room couch of Seth's apartment and lied down, turning the TV onto Gilmore Girls. Seth went into his bedroom, not looking at his girlfriend as he passed.

He went over to his bedside table and opened the drawer, taking out a framed picture and sitting down on the bed. He turned the frame right-side up and gazed longingly at the picture. It was one of him and Summer; his favorite one of the two of them. It was taking when him, Summer, Ryan, and Marissa were at the model home on the day Marissa was killed.

Seth was standing up in the large pool and was cradling Summer in his arms. There were both smiling widely at the camera and looked so in love with each other.

It was the last picture taken of them before everything fell apart. It was the last day that Fantastic Four was all together.

Seth was so absorbed in the photo and his memories that he didn't hear his girlfriend come into the bedroom quietly. Arielle went over to him slowly and sat down on the bed, close to her boyfriend but not right beside him.

"Is everything okay with you?" She asked him.

Seth turned his head towards Arielle and smiled slightly at her. "Yeah." He said, kissing her lightly on the lips. When they parted, Arielle looked down at the framed photo Seth held in his hands and bit her bottom lip, frowning in confusion.

"You and Summer." She stated, not really questioning what she was saying. She knew what today was; some of Seth's friends had told her.

"Yeah." Seth said softly. It was really hard for him to talk to anybody about that tragic and heartbreaking day, even his girlfriend. "It doesn't mean that I'm not over her or that I'm still in love with her or anything, it's just that today's really hard for me." He explained to Arielle.

"I know," Arielle assured him, "But it's okay if you still are in love with her. You loved her for so long, I can't expect you to get over it so fast."

"Arielle," Seth said, "Thank you."

"Sure." She said, smiling at Seth. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Seth said, linking his and Arielle's hands together and standing up, pulling her up with him.

This was one of the reasons he liked Arielle so much; she wasn't controlling and didn't mind a lot that he wasn't totally over Summer. Sure he probably never would be completely over her, and he would always love her, but he hoped that there was room in his heart to love someone else; someone like Arielle. He hadn't said that he loved her yet, he wasn't sure that he did, after all they'd only been dating 6 months, but there definitely was potential.

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Summer, Che, and the large group of protesters entered the large reception area of a hotel that was being used for the comic book convention. They had handfuls of signs saying things like "Superman loves the Rainforest."

"Hey Summer," Che said, handing Summer a stack of green and orange paper flyers, "Can you go to the entrance and pass these out?"

"Sure." Summer said, handing Che her signs and going over to the entrance of the room.

She began handing out flyers to random people who came past her, and she was sure that she saw a tall, familiar girl with long, light brown hair. She closed her eyes and shook her head, passing out more flyers, keeping her eyes on the girl whose head was turned slightly to the side, keeping Summer from getting a good look at her.

Summer then saw a very familiar man with brown and curly hair go over to the girl and kiss her, putting his arms around her waist and hugging her tightly. Summer had to look away to stop the tears that were starting to form in the corners of her eyes as she realized that was Seth and his new girlfriend. It seemed wrong to just think of Arielle as that.

That would have been me. She thought to herself sadly.

The couple began walking towards her and she saw Seth look at her with shock and surprise on his face. Once he came to about five feet in front of her he stopped and gave a small kind of wave, and Summer smiled back. He and Arielle began walking again and when they came right to Summer they didn't stop but Seth spoke.

"Hey Summer." He said casually.

"Hi Cohen." She said back, a little surprised that's all he said before walking away, laughing with Arielle as he went.

Summer choked, trying to keep her tears in as she ran and found Che, handing him the flyers and telling him she had to leave. She ran as fast as she could out of the hotel and onto the sidewalk outside. She took a deep breathe, trying to regain her composure. She ran her hands through her hair slowly as she walked over to the side of the hotel and leaned against the rough wall.

Summer began to let the tears stream down her face as she thought about how he hadn't even stopped to talk for a bit. How he didn't look totally devastated and heartbroken, just joyful and happy as he kissed and played with Arielle.

Because he's moved on. Summer thought to herself. Now you have to as well. Because then you'll never be happy.

You never looked so good
As you did last night
Underneath the city lights
There walking with your friend
Laughing at the moon
I swear you looked right through me
But I'm still living with your goodbye
And you're just going on with your life

How can you just walk on by
Without one tear in your eye?
Don't you have the slightest feelings left for me?
Maybe that's just your way
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall
Like we never loved at all

You, I hear you're doing fine
Seems like you're doing well
As far as I can tell
Time is leaving us behind
Another week has passed
And still I haven't laughed yet
So tell me what your secret is?
To letting go, letting go like you did, like you did

Did you forget the magic?
Did you forget the passion?
Did you ever miss me
Ever long to kiss me?

Maybe that's just your way
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall
Like we never loved at all

You, you never looked so good