There it was, the apartment that she had lived in for the past couple of years, empty. She only expected to leave it when she would get married and buy a house. But now she was leaving her apartment for New York. She was going to leave everything and everyone behind so she could start a new life. It was scary to Summer, leaving everything, but she knew if she wanted to move on, then she would have to leave.

She stood in the middle of her apartment looking at the bare walls. She never imagined that she would ever just pick up and leave, especially to a place like New York. It was scary to go somewhere where she didn't know anyone, but it would also be a good experience for her. She would move to a city where no one knew her, and where someone named Seth Cohen wouldn't be. A smile formed onto her face, she was free from Seth. She was finally free from him always entering her mind, free from wishing they could be more than friends.

She walked into her closet where one lone dress was hanging. It was the dress she was going to wear to Marissa's engagement party. Ryan had finally proposed to her a couple of days ago and Marissa was throwing a party for all of her family and friends. After the party that night, Summer was going to leave Newport—for good. She didn't even have to worry about returning for their wedding, they were getting married in Seattle. She was officially leaving Newport, and she had no intentions of coming back.

She walked into the bedroom, thankful she was leaving that. The memories that she had in the bedroom were not ones that she would miss. That bedroom was something that she was glad she was closing off, forever.

She still couldn't believe she was leaving to start a new life. New York hadn't even been registered in her brain as a place to move to. She heard her cell phone ring and she quickly opened it seeing as it was Marissa.

"Hey Marissa!" she happily answered the phone.

"Hey Sum, you all packed?" she could tell Marissa was upset, judging by the way she kept sniffing every few seconds.

"Yep, all my stuff is making its way to Fifth Avenue as we speak."

"I can't believe you're leaving after the party," Marissa said while hugging her side.

"Me either. But about the party, I'm going to be a little late, so don't start without me!"

"Alright, I'll see you there Sum," she said as she hung up the phone.

Summer put the phone back into her bag and took one final look around her apartment. She took a deep breath and looked at all the empty walls. She put the keys to her apartment in her bag; she knew she would return to do one final thing.

-x-

Summer loved to drive down the highway at night. Sometimes she would leave her apartment in the middle of the night just to do that. The waves crashed against the shore, and she felt at peace driving down the deserted stretch of the road. There were barley any lights to highlight were she was going, but she knew this road by heart. They were the same twists and turns that she had taken for the past few years.

She pulled into the empty parking lot and she took a look around. It would probably be the final look of this building she would have. When she and Marissa were first picking the building out, they knew when they pulled into the parking lot that this was the one. It wasn't tall or gray. Instead it resembled a beach house; it was large but cozy at the same time. They knew that this was where they wanted their business to be.

The once red sign that hung from the roof was now gone. When she turned the key to open the door, she noticed the building was empty. It had never really hit her that the place where she spent all the years to her life was gone. It seemed like it had been a dream, and now it was definitely a reality. All the cubicles that were in the main room were gone, and the hallway to her office was boarded up. She didn't know what they were going to do with this building, but she did know the investor that bought the business was moving it to a bigger city.

When she was working at Attractions there were times that she wanted to sell it, but in her heart she knew that she never could. It was too much apart of her to do that. She'd always wanted to keep it and then maybe pass it down to her kids someday. Now she knew that dream would never come true. Although there were times that she dreamed that she would move when she had kids so that they didn't have to go to school with the superficial teens like she had to.

She took one final look around the dark, deserted building. All the dreams that she had for the business were now out the window. She would have to start all over with a new town, a new job, and new friends. She felt like she was going to college all over again, except when she went to college she at least had Marissa. She smiled as she scanned over the building once more, then she closed the door.

-x-

Marissa was starting to get impatient that her best friend had still not shown. She knew she was going to be late, but not this late. She tapped her foot repeatedly, until Ryan couldn't take it anymore.

"Marissa, she will be here any moment now. Stop freaking out!" he whispered softly to her.

"What if she took an earlier fright Ryan? What if she misses the engagement party?!" Marissa said, becoming more frantic by the second.

"I promise that she did not take an earlier flight!" Ryan was starting to get annoyed by his fiancés antics.

Just as Marissa was about to cry, Summer came walking in to the party. She couldn't believe that her friend had taken that long just to come to the party.

"Oh my God, Sum, where were you?" She asked mad at her.

"I wanted to stop by the business before I came. After this I'm going to my apartment and then I'm leaving," she said with a small tear cascading down her cheek.

"Sum, I don't know how I'm going to live without seeing you everyday," Marissa sniffled while giving Summer a big hug.

Summer wiped a tear away from her eye. "This is silly, this party is about you. Congrats, again!"

She turned to face Ryan. "Congrats to you too Atwood," she said while jokingly punching him on the arm.

"Thanks Roberts," he said while giving her a hug.

"I'm just going to go get a drink."

She shuffled off from Ryan and Marissa. All this engagement talk was making her sick. She was now completely jealous of Marissa. She officially had the perfect relationship. In a matter of years she knew that there would be a clan of Atwood's running around a house playing tag with one another while mom and dad sat on the porch of their picket-fenced house.

"Hi, can I get a shot of tequila? And please keep them coming," she called to the bartender.

"I see someone's looking to get drunk tonight. I don't think that that will go over well on a plane. They say one in the air is like two on the ground," a voice called from behind her.

"Why should you care Seth? No one here cares if I get drunk. Hell, I doubt anyone would even freaking notice!" She yelled as she turned around.

"I would notice," he said quietly.

"No you wouldn't. You'd be too busy doing body shots with that skanky girlfriend of yours!" She raised her voice some.

"What the hell is wrong with you Summer?"

"What the hell is wrong? What the hell is wrong? How about why can everyone on earth have amazing relationships and I get stuck with the relationshits? Why is that Seth? Why can't I have one freaking good relationship without someone cheating on me, or leaving me, or telling me it's too late?" She started to yell louder with tears staring to stream out her eyes.

"Hey can we talk privately?" he asked her quietly.

She signed and she nodded her head. She followed him into a gazebo that was in the garden that Ryan and Marissa were hosting their party at. She walked inside and didn't bother to sit down; she just stood up with her hands on her hips.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" she was becoming frustrated. She was ready to leave now.

"I want to know what's wrong with you. Why did you freak out at the bar?" he asked gently.

"Seth I have to tell you something. Just give me a second, okay?"

"Take as long as you need."

"You know I'm moving to New York right? So I'm just going to come right out and say it. I love you Seth. I've been in love with you. I completely understand if you never want to see me again since you're with Casey and everything. I just thought that I should let you know. In fact you probably won't see me again. But just so I know, Seth, do you love me?"

"Summer…I can't love you…I already told you that you were too late."

Tears started to pour once again from Summer's eyes. "Oh, that's…that's ok." She started to walk away ", but if you do change your mind Seth, I'm going back to my apartment. I'll only be there until ten, so if you change your mind I'll be there waiting for you."

She walked away with more tears streaming down her cheeks. Between this and the scene she cause earlier, she probably looked like a party crasher. She walked to Marissa to say goodbye to her, she knew that she could on her.

"Bye, Marissa," she said sniffling.

"Sum, why are you leaving so soon?" Marissa started to get teary-eyed as well.

"He doesn't love me Coop. There's no reason for me to stay, I have no one," she said as she hugged Marissa.

"That's not true Summer. You'll always have me, and it's his loss anyway. I know you loved him though," she replied as she pulled away.

"I love you Coop, I'll see you at your wedding! And remember you'll always be my best friend," she started to walk away.

"I love you too Sum, you'll always be my best friend too. No one is Seattle is going to change that. I'll tell Ryan you said bye."

"Bye Coop," she finally walked completely away.

Marissa started to cry. She scanned the crowd for any sight of Cohen. When she finally saw him standing by the bar with his head hung down, she immediately walked over to him.

"Hey Seth, can we talk?" she asked gently.

"If it's about Summer, I don't want to talk about it," he didn't look at her, he just kept looking at his drink.

"Did you tell her that you broke up with Casey?"

"No. I can't tell her that because then she'll want to stay to try to fight for me. I know that about her, she can't fight for me because I'm such a wreck at relationship. She deserves much better than me Marissa…"

She cut him off. "Do you know how much she loves you Seth? She doesn't have that kind of love that she'll get over it in a couple months. This love that she had for you, she'll never get over. And if she marries someone he's only going to come in second place. Do you love her Seth?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then you have to stop her somehow. You can't let her leave for New York if you love her," Marissa said with a smile beaming across her face.

"She said she'd be at her apartment until ten," he glanced at his watch ", and it's nine-thirty. I better get going."

He bolted out of the party. Seth couldn't remember the last time he had run so fast. He quickly got into his car and began to speed down the highway. He knew he would have to speed in order to catch her in time. He glanced at his speedometer and saw he was going easily ninety miles an hour. He kept looking all around the interstate for cops, but he didn't see any. He kept pushing the pedal father down until he felt like he couldn't push it anymore.

Finally, after what seemed like one of the longest trips he had ever taken, he reached her apartment. He smiled when he saw that it was only nine fifty. He ran up the stairs to her apartment smiling the entire way up. He reached her door and knocked on it. He called her name, but he didn't get an answer. He knocked on it once more, and the door opened.

He walked inside. The entire apartment was empty, save for the empty curtains blowing in the wind. He looked all around the apartment.

"Summer!" he called, but there was no answer.

The woman he loved had left already.

A/N: One more chapter left. What will happen?