Random piece on Seth. Mostly fluff, but a different take on it. Josh is the man. Peace and love...

They said he was rich.

They said he was smart.

They said he was vulnerable.

She said he was hot.

And the fact that everyone in Portland had realized that Seth Cohen was probably the funniest guy in the world was pretty appealing. It also added that every girl who didn't want Luke wanted him.

Jane just thought he was sweet.

She loved watching him sit on the balcony that looked out to the lake where the college kids came to make out. He said he always went in when someone's shirt came off, but she laughed and muttered "sure." He faked embarrassment and laughed along with her. It made her laugh just to watch him. He laughed like it was his last chance to laugh. But sometimes he got quiet, and then not even Luke could make him laugh.

And then there was that sketch pad.

That sketch pad that was covered with the girl with soft, round hips and dark hair and darker eyes and lips. Jane had even saw a song written there once about a dance followed by the best night of his life. And she knew it was all true.

Jane knew there was a girl. A girl that had Seth Cohen's heart. A girl that had blown him off; one that he still thought about every night. He would never talk about her, and Luke always shook his head and said it was a bad idea to talk about her.

But one night, a month after he had come, Seth Cohen had told her about the girl he had named a boat after. First, he said she was beautiful. Then, he fumbled with his words and said she was more than that. More to him. He said she was the girl he would always picture in his mind as the epitome of the perfect girlfriend. Jane had wanted to know more about this perfect California girl, but Seth Cohen shut his mouth quickly. He blushed and said it was all in the past. Jane loved watching him blush.

Whenever he talked, he seemed to really mean it. She knew she had problems, if anyone mentioned his mother or father he looked like he was going to cry, but she also knew there weren't many boys like him in Portland. There weren't many boys like him in the world. Boys that beautiful, articulate, smart, artistic, and amazing are reserved for beautiful girls with dark hair dressed in Wonder Woman costumes. Or so his sketch book seemed to prove.

Jane told herself that she loved the boy she barely knew. It seemed magical to like the new boy, and after Chrissy had taken the other new Cali boy, there was only one left. But Jane couldn't have been happier. Seth Cohen was everything she could've ever wanted. More. He was everything he appeared to be, and he was so damn mysterious. He wasn't a bad boy, but he was...different. Like, she knew that she would never find another boy like him. And he didn't give a damn about many people or what they thought about him. Jane had convinced herself she loved him when he had taken her home when she was drunk. She had been in his lap, kissing his neck, but he had pushed her away and said she should go to sleep. He could've taken complete advantage of her, and she probably wouldn't even have cared the next morning. She probably would've been happy, if anything, if he had.

He loved music. She had realized that after countless times of walking in on him humming a song in his room. She had even convinced him to play his guitar for her once. He had focused so hard on the strings lying in front of him, that his tongue peeked out between his lips. He had sang too, some remake of an Oasis song. It was good, though, and he did it so it was so raw, and romantic, and coarse, and far away. Like him.

Once, she even thought he was going to kiss her. It had been a week after the fourth of July, something major had obviously happened to him but nothing she could do would make him tell her, and Luke had taken them all to a drive-in movie. Psycho. Luke and Chrissy had been making out for the entire thing, Seth Cohen not even looking at her for most of the night. But near the end, his eyes had caught hers, a grin teasing his lips. He nodded over to Luke and Chrissy and to the people in the next car staring at them. Jane laughed and leaned over to look at something else he had pointed at. When she started to slink back into her seat, her hand had brushed his chest. He had stared at her for what seemed like forever, and she had even thought for a second that he was leaning in, but after a few minutes, he said he had to get something to drink, asking her if she wanted anything.

Every day, she found out something new about him. That he hadn't had many friends back in California, that his best friend had moved away, that he had had a crush on the same girl since he was in third grade, that she hadn't known his name until a little less than a year ago. Jane tried to convince herself that if she had lived in Newport with him, then she would have noticed him. There was this something about him that pulled her in and made her heart jump with every blink of those eyelashes that went on for miles.

But Seth Cohen would never be in love with her. She knew Luke wanted him to be, probably because he was always so depressed. Like, he tried to hide it, but everyone knew it. It was probably the reason why so many girls had developed majorly intense crushes on him. He was a musician, an artist, a comedian, the perfect guy.

"Hey, Luke."

"Jane. Hi."

"Is Seth in the living room? I need to talk to him."

"Oh, he didn't tell you? He had to jet back to the O.C. I can give you his number."

"What? He left?"

"Yeah, his brother came back and took him home. You want the number?"

"Um...I don't know."

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I'm...fine. Could you just tell him I'm going to miss him?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course."

"All right. Thanks."

"You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, I just...I'm fine."

"Okay. Because if you ever need to talk..."

"Yeah, right. Bye Luke."

"Bye, babe."

She smiled weakly to Luke and walked out of the house, letting her back fall against the door. There goes another one.