Short story that would take place after season 1's The Secret.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the O.C. No characters, shows, episodes, etc, etc.

Oddest date ever

"I went out on a date with Anna yesterday."

Summer froze. Not exactly what she had been expecting when she'd taken over an hour deciding what she was going to wear and how she was going to fix her hair, and then spent more than two hours making it happen and changing her mind over and over again.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Seth nodded before ducking his head and lowering his eyes to watch his shoes scrape at the ground in front of Summer's front door.

"Why would you tell me that?"

He shrugged and looked up at her, only to quickly avert his eyes to the side. "I don't know. I guess I was trying to be honest. And she knew that I was going out with you tonight, so I thought it was only fair that you should know that I went out with her yesterday. And… I didn't want to feel bad about it all night. You know?"

"So," Summer took a deep breath and tightened her arms, crossed in front of her chest, "what did you guys do?"

"Yeah, I didn't actually want to talk about it, though. I don't really want to think about Anna tonight."

Despite herself, Summer couldn't help but smile. He was a bumbling idiot who seemed unable of keeping himself out of these awkward situations, but he was all charm. Since Tijuana—and maybe even before then when he'd walked in on her in when she was half dressed in Marissa's room and couldn't say anything but his name and where he lived—she couldn't deny that there was something about him.

"Well, what are we doing?"

"I was thinking something simple. Dinner and a movie?"

"Dinner and a movie. I thought you had more imagination to you, Cohen." She smiled at the comment and then almost winced. Not even a minute in, and she was already insulting him. Perhaps Anna was right when she said they'd never really had a conversation and—

But then whatever doubts she'd been having disappeared because he was smiling a wide grin as he shrugged and moved aside so she could make it out her door.

"Well, I figured if I went simple this time and talked up my fantastic imagination, you wouldn't be able to keep yourself from a second date to see what I would do next."

"Hmm," Summer smiled as she walked out the front door. "What could you possibly do to top dinner and a movie?"

"See, you're already asking yourself the question. I've practically got you asking me for a second date already."

She didn't answer and moved in front of him so he wouldn't be able to see the wide smile on her face. Somehow, he managed to reach the car door handle before her all the same, and he opened the passenger door to his parents' Range Rover before she could tell him she could do it herself. And then she didn't bother telling him, because honestly it was sweet and she couldn't remember the last time a boy had offered to do something like that for her, much less actually gone through with it without her insisting or threatening.

She tugged at her short skirt as he made his way around the car. It was part of outfit fifteen and had almost convinced her that she owned too much clothes before she realised what a preposterous thought that was. Now as she straightened out her shirt, however, she couldn't help but wonder if outfit nine wouldn't have been better for what he had planned.

Seth settled himself in the driver's seat then sat still for a moment, trying to remember how exactly, to drive a car. He looked over at Summer quickly who stared at her with one eyebrow high.

"You look beautiful by the way."

She smiled and he could see a faint blush creep up her cheeks, and that was enough for him to forget that he was just Seth Cohen and she was the Summer Roberts because despite the fact that that was true, she had asked him on this date, and she was the one who had initiated the first of their three kisses—perhaps more, he'd lose track of everything after her lips touched his—and she was the one who was now blushing because he had paid her a compliment she'd probably heard from countless people more times than she could keep track of.

He might still have been Seth Cohen, but for at least the night, she was his Summer Roberts.

It was the oddest date she'd ever been on, Summer decided as she couldn't help but let her eyes drift from the television and over to Seth. Dinner had been a meal at the local diner. Summer had been there before with friends, but never on a date. It wasn't a date place. It was too casual and too ordinary. You didn't bring your date to the same place you went to hang out with your friends the morning after a massive party.

She'd been surprised at the sight of the diner and wondered if he was taking her there because he wanted to show her off and this was one spot where there was a good chance most of the kids from their school would be. But then Summer remembered it was Saturday. Their fellow teenagers on dates would be somewhere much fancier than this, and those without dates wouldn't be eating at this time of day, keeping their stomachs empty so they could find a quicker buzz at whatever random party or parties would be held that night. The only people their age in the diner were those who were even below Seth on the social ladder, and it didn't matter if they saw Summer and Seth together, since no one would believe them anyway.

They'd teased each other throughout the meal, once again finding complimentary food habits as they had in Tijuana. She dipped her fries in his ketchup, and he finished her milkshake when it got to be too sweet for her after downing two thirds of it. He'd picked up the tab before she even noticed the bill dropped on the table, and he'd held out his hand to help her out of the booth.

Then there was the movie. She was already getting ready to argue with him about whatever the latest comic book flick was when she noticed that he wasn't driving toward a movie theatre, he was driving them toward his house. He didn't say a word about their destination, bantering about his choice of radio station with her as though she should already know where they were going.

Sandy and Kirsten greeted them when they walked through the kitchen to pick up their movie snacks. Summer couldn't read the smirk on Sandy's face or the tight smile on Kirsten's lips that seemed both kind and worried, but she did notice that his parents weren't subtle about saying they would be locked away for the rest of the night, or the eyebrow raise and pat on the back Sandy offered Seth on his way out of the room.

"You don't like the movie?"

"Hmm?" Summer asked, suddenly wondering how long she'd been staring at him.

"You don't like the movie."

Summer turned to look at the screen, trying to remember what it was they were watching. "I think I just don't understand it. I mean, Keanu Reeves is hot and all that, but he's in a computer?"
"Um, no, he's in the matrix."

"Which is like a computer?"

"We can watch something else," Seth told her, already walking toward the television to take the DVD out of the player. He had opened his movie collection to her and let her pick whatever she wanted to watch, but he had to admit that he wasn't surprised when she didn't look impressed at what he had to offer. "Next time we'll stop at a Blockbuster or something on the way over and rent something you actually want to watch."

"Next time?"

"Well, you know what I mean. Do you want to go see if there might be something else that interests you?"

"It's kind of late to start another movie."

"What, do you have a curfew?"

She blushed again, the third or fourth time that night, and Seth's mouth dropped a little.

"You have a curfew?"

"My dad wants to make sure I'm okay."

Seth smiled as he walked over to her. "Are you kidding me? I thought you hung around at Holly's parties until three in the morning and stuff."

"Well, that's a party. It's different. When you're at a party you've got tons of friends around and you're all hanging out together. When you're on a date…"

"It's just you and a guy and who knows what could happen. I don't think your father quite understands what goes on at Newport parties."

Summer smiled at him, ducking her head quickly. "I don't think I want to spend our date talking about my dad."

"Good point. So, what do you want to do?"

"I thought you were organizing this thing."

"You asked me out," he said, pointing at her.

"And you told me you would work out the details and that I shouldn't worry about anything."

"Well, that's when it was working. Now it's not, so you as the askee are responsible for coming up with something for us to do."

Summer took a deep breath as she thought about it. She saw the light go on in the pool house and wondered if Ryan had come home without them noticing, or if he'd snuck Marissa into his room. Either way, she didn't really feel like sharing Seth during her date, not when she was already technically sharing him with Anna in the greater sense of things.

"Why don't we take a walk on the beach," she suggested.

"Sure," Seth finally shrugged.

"So why did you say you were going to plan this date when I asked. No offence, but you haven't really been the take-charge one between the two of us."

Seth shrugged as he bumped into her side pushing her slightly nearer the waves. They had been walking for over half and hour and he was impressed at how easily conversation was coming to them. They'd talked about Ryan and Marissa, school, television, music, movies, their parents… It had all seemed a little too easy until that question.

"Honestly?"

Summer's face softened at the question and she shrugged and nodded in the same movement.

"I didn't want you to decide we were going to one of Holly's parties or something. I didn't want to have to go somewhere where the whole student body is."

"You're supposed to say that anywhere you go with me would be wonderful. I thought you were all about being cheesy, Cohen. Don't you have that line in your repertoire?"

"Well, I suppose anywhere with you would be wonderful, but the last time I went to one of those parties, I pretty much got my and Ryan's ass kicked, so, I wasn't really in a hurry to head back."

"You went to one of Holly's parties?" Summer asked him and by the way her eyebrows scrunched and she looked up at him with confused eyes, he could tell she really didn't remember.

"Yeah, with you actually, well with Ryan. It was after cotillion. You were drunk and hitting on Ryan…"

"I remember inviting Chino, and yeah, I guess he did bring you along, but… Was I really hitting on him?"

"You were all over him."

"Oh," she simply said, scrunching her nose. "Did I say anything to you?"

"I believe there may have been the utterance of the word… what was it now… oh yeah, ew."

"Sorry," Summer said, ducking her head once again. She could feel that the blush on her cheeks wasn't faint this time as her skin burned. "And then you got your ass kicked?"

"Yep. Water polo players on alcohol, even bigger jackasses than sober water polo players."

"They aren't all bad," Summer told him with a shrug. Seth gave a sarcastic nod and looked away, shifting her shoes, which he'd offered to carry for her when he saw her take them off to avoid sinking five inches into the sand. Summer shrugged again. "They really aren't. Some of them are even funny. I don't always get it, but sometimes they're funny. Apparently they once did this thing where they peed in this guy's shoes. That's funny for guys, right?"

Seth stretched his neck as he bit his tongue for a moment. "Not if they're your shoes."

"But—" Her eyes quickly darted up to meet his as she realised what he was saying. "I never really got that one anyway."

"Yeah, but I'm sure they're all great guys."

"Maybe not, I mean, there are reasons why I'm not dating any of them. But, they are still just guys like you and Ryan. They talk about chicks and sports and video games and probably comic books though they wouldn't admit it. That's what you talk about too, isn't it? I mean, what else do you talk about?"

"You, mostly, I guess."

"Me?"

Seth shook his head as he averted his eyes from her. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this honest with anyone. "Yeah. Apparently I have a habit of bringing you up in pretty much any conversation."

"Well, that must have been fun for your date with Anna."

He froze. He had talked about her during his date with Anna. It had only been once and the sad look he'd gotten in return was enough to shut him up about Summer for the rest of the night, but still, he had been thinking about her all along, and Anna… well, he supposed this was the first time he thought about Anna since he confessed to Summer that he'd seen the girl the night before.

"I'm sorry," Summer told him. "I wasn't supposed to mention—"

Seth shrugged and smiled down at her a crooked smile that tugged up the right side of his lip. He took a deep breath and looked around them, squinting as he noticed something in the distance. "Is that your house?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, that is."

"We walked all the way to your house?"

"I guess we did," Summer shrugged, then reached over to grab his arm. She took a quick look at his watch. "And a good thing too, because my father would kill me if I'm not home in the next twenty minutes."

It would be a lie to say he wasn't disappointed, Seth admitted to himself as he walked down Summer's driveway. After all, she'd already attacked him with her lips three times, and now that they were going on a real date, nothing. She'd simply opened the door, let herself in, and left him outside to decide for himself what he wanted to do as she screamed to her father she was home. And to think that Anna had—

"Cohen."

He turned at the sound of her voice. "Summer."

"Where are you going?"

"Well, I thought… I… Home?"

"I was getting my keys and telling my dad I would be right back. You're not going to walk all the way back, are you?"

He laughed and shook his head. New Summer, he reminded himself. "I guess not."

He was by the car before she was thanks to his head start, and he opened her door for her before making his way around to the passenger's side. They drove in silence for a few minutes as he fiddled with the radio and she didn't complain.

"You changed your shoes," he finally said after having landed on something that he thought they could both stand to listen to.

Summer laughed at him. "You noticed. It's not as easy as it looks driving in those big heels. I always end up going way over the speed limit without meaning to."

"Can't say that's my problem."

"That's because you drive like a grandmother, Cohen."

"Yeah?" He smiled as he turned to look out the window. "Maybe I was just trying to make the ride last."

Summer smiled at the comment, but after a night of bantering and compliments, she was all out of blushes. They talked quietly for the rest of the ride, enjoying the silence until something would pop into their heads and need to be said.

"Well," Seth said, looking out of the window to see if his dad was watching them from inside the house or something. "Thanks for the ride home."

"Thanks for the date."

"Ditto."

"I had fun," Summer hurried to say when she saw him reaching for the door handle.

Seth turned back to face her. "I did too."

"So, I guess I'll see you in school Monday."

"No. I'll see you in school Monday. You won't notice me."

Her face dropped and he felt bad. He'd meant it as a joke—they'd been arguing all night—but apparently she hadn't taken it that way.

"People are really mean to you, huh."

"No, it was a joke… I didn't." He shrugged when he couldn't find any words that would make it right. "It hasn't been that bad since Ryan got here."

"But that doesn't mean it's better."

Seth nodded to the side. She was right and there was nothing he could say to make her believe otherwise or to get rid of that sad look in her eyes. From her end, Summer was all too aware that there was nothing she could say that would bring back the smile he'd been wearing all evening, or the sparkle in his eyes at their banter. So, she did the only thing she knew how to do and the thing that had worked so far each of the times she'd done something to either disappoint him or that made herself feel bad. She leaned over, grabbed his neck to pull him to her, and kissed him.

But then it was different than every other time, because she supposed he'd almost been expecting it now from all the times she'd attacked him. And suddenly, it was soft. It was slow. It was his lips moving away from hers to hover a breath from her face so that he could move back in and set his own tempo. It was comfortable and familiar and passionate and fireworks all at the same time.

He pulled away first and Summer wondered why until she realised that she was panting, out of breath from concentrating on him rather than on keeping herself alive. She licked her lips, her eyes fixed on him before she could finally look up to meet his eyes.

"You're wrong, you know."

"Good," Seth nodded, not knowing what she was talking about and caring even less.

"I will notice you. I won't say anything because if I do one of my stupid friends will just say something mean to you, and then I'll have to laugh along or they'll say something meaner… and… well, it won't show, but I will notice you. I can't not notice you anymore."

"Well, that works out well, because I've always noticed you."

She ducked her head to once again hide a smile. When she looked up at him again, he was so close she could feel his breath against her skin. "I guess I just wasn't that lucky."

"Because I noticed you all along?"

She laughed at him, her teeth shining through her smile. "No. I mean to not have noticed you."

"I think the politically correct adjective for that would be slower. As in, you, Summer Roberts, are slower than Seth Cohen."

"I guess I would be. At most things," she told him, before leaning forward for another kiss.

This time it was a loud laugh from the Cohen household that tore them apart. Though Seth could only imagine that his father was laughing at him from some window, he was also thankful for the interruption as he breathed in deep gulps of air to make up for forgetting to breathe. Summer, for her part, was doing the same, but seemed to be missing the suspicion in his eyes as to what had made his father laugh.

"Good night, Cohen."

"Night, Summer." He moved forward this time, brushing her lips quickly and letting his nose graze hers before leaning away from her. He offered her one last smile before exiting the car.

Summer watched him walk through the door. She smiled to herself.

"Oddest date ever," she whispered with a shake of the head. She started the car and sent one last look at the house, smiling widely. "Best date ever."