Author's Note: Thanks so much for all the awesome feedback. I love hearing from you guys. Just for those worried out there, it is a Seth/Summer fic, I wouldn't let some interaction with Anna worry you guys. Hope you enjoy. Almost done with it =)

I Believe In Love

The expression a kiss is just a kiss meant nothing to Seth. He couldn't stop thinking about the kiss he had shared with Summer a few days before. He hadn't seen her since, except in his memories. The kiss had lasted only a few seconds, but within those few seconds Seth had felt like it could never end. It didn't want it to end. It was his first kiss, and it was a great first kiss.

"Seth? Seth you didn't eat any of your dinner?" Kirsten asked looking up from her plate of food.

Seth pushed the food back and forth with his fork, "Yes please."

Sandy looked over and Kirsten with a small smile growing, "I think you're food is just that good honey."

"What?" Seth asked, snapping out of his daze.

Ryan chuckled and nodded his head with an approvingly smile, "That good?"

"Definitely. I can't wait for a second." Seth said with a huge smile.

Sandy laughed and looked down at his food, "We were talking about the food here Seth."

"Oh. Yeah. I knew that, me too." Seth shrugged his shoulders look at Ryan for help.

Ryan smiled and went back to eating his dinner. Seth knew he hadn't exactly been himself for the past few days. He was in and out of daydreams. He had told himself he wasn't going to get caught up in Summer Roberts. He wasn't going to get his hopes up. But that was easier said than done. That was for sure.

After dinner, Seth and Ryan headed outside and sat by the pool. The day was hot and humid, they rested their legs in the pool water in hopes to cool themselves down.

"So, has Marissa said anything about Summer to you? You know, any inkling of anything?" Seth turned his head to Ryan who was rolling his jeans to put in the pool.

Ryan shook his head, "I haven't, ah, exactly spoken to Marissa lately."

"Lovers tiff there my friend?" Seth asked swatting off flies that were close to his face.

Ryan shot Seth one of his usual looks, Seth had come to learn the different meanings behind the looks. This one was his shut up look.

"Forget I asked." Seth replied looking over at the house next door. He saw the light in Marissa's bedroom was on and wondered if Summer was there. He laughed to himself, his crush was turning into a stalkerish obsession.

"You kissed him?" Marissa gasped, while making a French braid in Summer's hair.

Summer smiled, "Ew, don't like scream it Coop."

"I knew it was going to happen." Marissa exclaimed, searching for a hair band.

Summer shrugged her shoulders, "Well I certainly didn't."

"Oh my god. You like him don't you?" Marissa called out excitedly.

Summer shook her head, protesting, "Ew Coop, stop, I just ate."

"You do!"

"No."

"He likes you!"

"So!"

"So, Seth and Summer, sitting in a tree."

"How old are we here Marissa?" Summer asked turning around to face her, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Marissa smiled, "Granted I'm immature, but I know you like him."

"Okay, so maybe, I like him like a little."

"I knew it."

"But, he's like, Seth Cohen."

Marissa laughed, "So what?"

"I don't know." Summer replied turning back around to let Marissa finish doing her braid, "I'm just like not used to having guys like me."

"Oh please, you've been with like half the grade." Marissa replied giggling.

Summer rolled her eyes, she hated this pre-notion that she was the grade slut because she had gone out with a lot of guys. She hadn't done more than kissing, Summer never found the guy that gave her the butterflies like Seth did. She never found the guy that looked at her like Seth did right before they kissed, a look that he was only thinking about her, no one else.

"Whatever." Summer answered, she didn't want to have to clarify herself to Marissa. Those guys didn't like her, they just wanted ass, and Summer knew that all along. But, it was better than being alone. Sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince.

Summer walked along the beach the next morning. She felt like an early walk on the beach, she grabbed herself coffee and a bagel and decided she was going to try and catch the sunrise. She walked to her favorite spot on the beach. It was closer to the boardwalk than the water, it was right next to a big stone. When Summer turned 13 she was at the beach constantly, she would come every morning and not leave until the lifeguards did. It was when she was 15 that she found this big rock, she thought it was massive at the time and was such a unique silver color. She would spend her days just sitting curled up on the rock, watching the kids run around, people surfing. One day when she came back she saw something engraved on it, 'Love is out there somewhere, you just have to go and find it.' It was then that Summer decided dating was the only way to find love. She couldn't just sit around home waiting for it to suddenly come, she'd need to go and get it.

With Seth it was different. She was used to be being approached by the guys. When it came to Seth it was just like this secret dialect that they just understand. Summer could just look at Seth and couldn't help but smile, or know what he was thinking. There was this powerful chemistry that was between them and it was becoming more and more apparent. Even to outsiders that hardly knew Seth.

Summer was surprised when she saw Chris Michaels running down the beach this early in the morning. She tried to hide herself but it was hard. She saw him running towards her and knew that she was noticed.

"Hey Summer." Chris said with a big smile on his face.

Summer forced a smile, "Morning Chris."

"It's been awhile." Chris replied shrugging his shoulders, as if he didn't realize why.

"Unfortunately." Summer said sarcastically.

Don't sit down, don't sit down, don't sit down, Summer repeated in her head as Chris looked to be moving towards her. And there he went, taking a seat next to her.

"So I heard about the Cohen." Chris said softly, as if it was a taboo and sad topic.

Summer looked at him blankly, "What are you talking about?"

"The bet he made." Chris told her, "Oh you don't know? Man, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this. He made a bet with a bunch of us the other night at the banquet that'd he get with you."

Summer felt like she had been stabbed in the heart. She just looked at him emotionless and unsure of what to say. She took a deep breath and softly said, "No he didn't."

"Summer, I know its hard, he's scum. Don't even let him upset you." Chris told her, putting his hand on her knee, "If you need anything, and I mean anything, I'm here for you."

Summer felt like she was about to throw up, right there, she didn't believe Chris; she didn't want to believe Chris. Seth wasn't like those football jocks. He wouldn't make bets on her, would he? It just all made her head spin. She pushed Chris' hand off of her knee.

"Get off of my rock." Summer stated hurt.

Chris' mouth moved into a small smile, "You're rock?"

"Yes." Summer said quietly.

Chris laughed, "Wow Summer. Just wow. First kissing that loser, now making it seem like this rock is yours. You are losing it."

Summer shrugged her shoulders, "I may be crazy, but you're the ass Chris. Seth may have made the bet, but he's more a man than you will ever be. Always has been, always will be."

Chris shook his head, "You're loss Summer. You're loss."

Summer tucked her knees into her chest after he left, she rolled her eyes trying to prevent the tears from falling down. She couldn't stop them, they flowed gently down her cheeks. She quickly rubbed them off and ducked her head into her knees.

Summer didn't want to believe what Chris had said, that wasn't the Seth Cohen she kissed the other night. Did he just make up all that stuff? She shook her head to get rid of the negative thoughts. Even if Seth hadn't said it, may she wasn't ready for him or any guy. Maybe she needed to try just being alone for awhile. Because being alone would be better than meaningless flings and getting her heart broken. Summer tucked her zipper up jacket in tightly. She brushed away her tears. She wasn't going to let herself cry over some boy. Except this time, it wasn't just any boy.

Seth skateboarded by the boardwalk early that day; it was usually peaceful on the boardwalk during the mornings and the perfect time to skateboard. It had turned into almost a daily ritual. He'd wake up during the summer, skate over to the beach, and get breakfast and just chill at the beach for awhile. It was relaxing.

Seth took a walk down by the beach after skating on the boardwalk. He watched the waves crash into the sand. He dug his hands and feet into the sand and was reminded of that night at the bonfire with Summer. She was so open and honest with him.

Seth felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Summer sitting on a large rock near the back of the beach. He rubbed his palms against his shorts and decided to walk towards her. He couldn't believe the effect Summer had over him. She made him feel so good yet so completely nervous. As he made his way up to her, he could tell from her eyes that she was sad.

"Hi." Seth said softly.

Summer nodded her head and gave him a small smile, "Hey."

"Having fun?" Seth asked unsure if he should sit down next to her our just stand.

"Loads." Summer replied dryly.

Seth scratched his head, he had no clue what to say to her, "Uh, I had fun the other night."

"I have to go." Summer answered quickly. It was to hard for her to sit and listen to him, it was tearing her up inside that he would do that. Even if it wasn't true, she couldn't deal with it right now.

Seth shrugged his shoulders, "Did I, uh, do something? Say something?"

"Its not always about you Cohen." Summer hissed.

Seth's forehead scrunched up, "I never,"

"Don't even bother. I'll spare you the trouble." Summer stood up from the rock.

Seth called out, "What? What are you sparing me?"

"Look, I know, okay? You don't need to pretend anymore. I thought you were different, Seth. Not the first time I was wrong." Summer stormed off without letting Seth say a word. He just stood there in total shock of what had just happened. He was speechless but wanted to call out after her. He held back and just kicked his feet into the sand.

Seth had been trying to avoid any contact with people for the past few days. He was so angry and confused how him and Summer could go from the corner of possibility to absolutely nothing. He knew that it was too good to be true. He just didn't understand what she was referring to that day at the beach.

He knew that he'd needed to get out of the house, he was going crazy being trapped up in the house. He hadn't showered or changed out of his pajamas in at least 2 days. He was miserable. Seth's days consisted of video games and sleeping.

He went to a local comic book store in hopes to find some rare comics. He wasn't even really in the mood to read comics but needed to get his mind off of something else.

Seth moved lifeless down the aisles looking quickly at the titles, unsure of what to get.

"Sorry." Seth muttered as he bumped into someone.

The girl smiled and nodded her head, "Seth right?"

"Good guess." Seth scrunched his forehead.

"I'm Anna from the banquet the other night."

Seth nodded his head, remembering a brief conversation they had, "So, you're into comics?"

"You could say that." Anna said shrugging her shoulders.

Seth tried to act interested but his mind just wasn't on anything except for Summer, "That's cool."

"Things didn't go so well with the girl, huh?"

"Am I that transparent?" Seth asked, bowing his head down.

Anna shook her head, giving a reassuring smile, "Call it woman's intuition, what happened?"

"No offense but you don't really know me and I don't think you want to hear about all my girl problems, and I have been told I have a habit of rambling on." Seth stated.

Anna laughed, "I understand. If you need a girl's opinion or anything, you can tell me."

"She just blew me off, saying I didn't have to pretend anymore, like pretend what? I've never pretended with her. I've been myself, which trust me, is not something I would boast about. And she just walked off before I got a chance." Seth rambled on.

Anna nodded her head, "Did you say something to someone?"

"No, well, I told my friend, but nothing bad. Just about how happy I was."

"Maybe someone else told her something?" Anna suggested.

Seth shrugged his shoulders, "I seriously doubt anyone would take that much interest in my love life, see most people here hardly know I even exist."

"Well, I just wouldn't be so sure to count that out. You never know what the person's intentions were in doing it. Like, I don't know, maybe they liked her too?"

Seth nodded his head, "Do you know something I don't?"

"No," Anna said with a small smile, "I've just read a lot of books and watched enough TV shows to make it sound like I know what's going on."

Seth smiled, "Thanks. For listening and for, uh, making it sound like you know what's going on."

"No problem."

"I'll see you around." Seth replied while walking away.

Anna watched Seth as he walked off, "Yeah, see ya."