"Awaiting His Destiny"
Summary: We saw a flash-forward to about six years after Seth went to Rhode Island, Summer went gallivanting cross country with GEORGE and Ryan went to Berkeley, but what happened in between? This is mainly Seth-centric with lots of SS and a little bit of Ryan and maybe Taylor.
A/N: I was surprised that I hadn't yet seen one of these up, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Just wanted to give the fans an interpretation of what things were like in the SS relationship in particular during the "gap years".
Disclaimer: I definitely do not own any of the O.C. characters or past story lines, etc. That would be Mr. Josh Schwartz and Fox…or actually, who owns it now?! Anyway…not me.
Chapter 1: Starting Anew
Seth Cohen took a final look around the dorm room that he had just set up to the best of his ability before crashing down onto his bed and grabbing Captain Oats from his conveniently placed nightstand. Though he knew that his decision to let Summer go and do her thing while he would study at RISD was the right one, he couldn't help but feel a sadness creeping through his body and mind.
He thought briefly about what life would have been like if they had come to Providence together as planned. Right now, they would probably be checking over Summer's floor plan and making sure everything was set up just as she had designed it. He let a small smile grace his features at this.
He couldn't help but think that even though they had been in a self-prescribed rut following the earthquake, he got to be in Summer's presence more than ever before, and there was something very good to be said for that. Everyday when he woke up, he would have a warm body cuddled up next to him. He had found a guilty pleasure in waking up a little before her each day, and just watching her as the sun peaked through the blinds and illuminated her shining almost black hair that was sprawled across the pillow and his chest. He knew then that he had meant what he said when he so spontaneously "proposed" on New Year's Eve. He could never imagine himself spending life with anyone else but the small, sassy brunette that he had come to love over the better part of his life.
He sighed, looking up at the newspaper clippings that hung on his bulletin board. He couldn't believe how far she had come from the snobby, arrogant Newpsie-in-training that most of Newport knew her as. She now remained beautiful and ever-fashionable, but she had grown or simply began to show this deep compassion for others and the world around her. She had become in the almost four years that Seth had known her the most intelligent, caring, and driven person that he knew. And he had her.
Well, to be technical about it, GEORGE had her now, but he knew he had her. Because she reassured him several times before getting on the bus that would take her across America.
"Just remember, this isn't goodbye. You're my destiny, Cohen."
Her words played on a repeat loop in his head. As he had stood there and listened to her, he tried to remember everything about her. Not that he didn't have permanent etchings of Summer in his head in a deep and very extensive catalog format, but he wanted to remember her right then. The way that her long, straight hair hung around her shoulders. How she tucked a piece behind her ear, and cocked her head slightly to the side, offering him the sweetest smile that he ever remembered seeing. He thought about their parting kiss. Sure, he hadn't thrown her up against the side of the bus and jammed his tongue down her throat, but it was the most meaningful kiss he had ever shared. It was soft, sweet, and full of promise.
Seth was abruptly shaken from his reverie at the sound of keys in the door. He quickly slid Captain Oats under his pillow, not wanting to completely scare his roommate away upon their first meeting. He sat up on his bed and watched as a shorter, stockier blonde made his way in the room. Seth let a half smile form on his face, as he noticed a slight resemblance between his new roommate and his brother.
"Hi you doing? I'm John McCloskey," the newcomer informed him with a thick Brooklyn accent.
"Seth Cohen," he responded, crossing the room to shake his roommate's hand.
"So, where you from, Seth?" John asked, taking a seat in his desk chair and waiting for Seth to do the same.
"Well, I've spent most of my life in Newport Beach, California, but my family recently made a move back to Berkeley, where I was born," he said, realizing he wasn't so sure how to answer that question anymore. "How about you?"
"Well, if my voice didn't give it away, I'm from Brooklyn." Both boys smiled at this.
"That's cool, man. My nana actually lives in the Bronx, so I guess you guys are kind of neighbors."
"Yeah, kind of. Only they've got the Yankees, and we've got the Mets, so it's a pretty hardcore rivalry."
"Ah, I see. Well, I'm pretty sure the Nana doesn't follow hockey, so…" Seth trailed off as his roommate's eyes bulged out of his head, and he looked at him expectantly.
"That was a joke, right?" John said, chuckling a bit.
"I'm sorry, what?" Seth said, obviously confused.
"You know the Yankees and the Mets play baseball, right?"
"Oh, uh, right! Yeah, totally, are you kidding?" he replied, looking to the side and shaking his head at his own lack of sports' knowledge, while pretending to shake it off as if he knew the whole time to his roommate.
"Anyway, man, what do you think about hitting up a party tonight? I mean, I don't know about you, but I could use a little kick back before the school work starts," he said, before standing to hand Seth a flyer he had obviously picked up on campus.
Seth looked it over, and then looked back up to his roommate, unsure. "I don't know, man."
"Oh, come on, it's better than hanging out here with a toy horse, right?" Seth instantly reddened at the fact that his roommate had already inadvertently met the Captain. Seeing his look, John crossed to his own bed and picked up a really old looking teddy bear. "I'm only messing, man. This is Mr. Binky."
Seth just smiled, but as his roommate continued to look at him expectantly, he slid over on his desk chair to the bed, and pulled the plastic horse out from under the pillow. "Captain Oats," he explained, holding him up for John to get a better look.
"Alright, now as long as neither of us outs the other's secret to any hot girls or anything, we should be good," John replied, placing his bear back on his bed. "Though it looks like you won't really be worried about any hot girls. At least any new, hot girls," he said, pointing up to the collage of Summer pictures on Seth's bulletin board.
"You're not wrong," he said softly, losing himself in the various candids and sketches that adorned his side of the room.
"Is that why you're refusing to go out? Because if it is, I can't argue. Look at her," he exclaimed, moving to get a closer look. "She's hot!"
"Don't I know it," Seth breathed to himself, more than to his roommate. Realizing that John seemed to want more of an explanation, he took a deep breath. "Her name is Summer. I've been in love with her since I was ten years old. She was pretty hot then, too," he started, taking a moment to laugh at that. "Anyway, we've been together off and on, I suppose, since our sophomore year of high school. She was supposed to come with me to Providence actually, she was going to Brown and we were going to share an apartment in the middle, but anyway, she is really into all of this activism and stuff so she decided to take this bus across the country to campaign for the 2008 elections."
"Wow, man. That's deep," John replied, nodding in understanding. "So, are you two off now?"
Seth took a moment to think about this. They weren't off, but they weren't exactly on either. "Ah, well, that's a pretty good question. You see, Summer and I are both under the belief that we're each other's destinies. I mean, as many times as we've tried to fight it, we always end up back at square one, with each other. So while we may not be seeing each other quite as much, considering she's on a bus god knows where right now, I guess we're still together." He laughed after seeing his roommates obvious shock at the speed and intensity of his ramblings. "I do that sometimes, too. Ramble, that is."
John laughed at this. "Alright, man. Well, I guess you could sit here and stare at that beautiful woman while—" He didn't finish as he noticed Seth's look. "Right. Or you could come out to this party and try to have a decent time."
Seth sat for moment before letting out a deep sigh and standing to find his jacket and keys. "Well, you guilted me into it," he said, donning his jacket, "Are you sure you aren't Jewish?" John just laughed as he put his own jacket on and moved to the door. "But I must tell you, you might have to babysit me. Last time I was really wasted, I ended up in Mexico with a bunch of Marines, which resulted in me downing an insane amount of Tequila which was then responsible for some slightly embarrassing ink work on my non-muscular arms."
"Oh, dude. What kind of ink did you get done?"
Seth shook his head and smiled, before continuing to explain the story as they walked out of the dorm room towards the party.
A/N: That was just meant to be a kind of intro. I don't know what you guys think. If it's worth continuing, review like WHOA to let me know. If not, you can just tell me in a review. Oh, and I'm not abandoning "A New Edition", either. Peace.