Disclaimer: FOX only owns it for about two more weeks – maybe I'll get the rights to it then? Haha.
A/N: Dwindling reviews? Yeah, they make me nervous. I'll see how this one goes and assess what to do next.
Thanks to the people who do review. I really appreciate it – even if I haven't been able to write back a response lately. (College is tough. Who knew?)
Read, enjoy, and review! Please?
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"So guess who is getting their wisdom teeth removed on July 9th and will be incapable of working until the 15th due to being heavily medicated on painkillers," Seth greeted Summer on their first day of July's phone date.
"You're getting your wisdom teeth out?" Summer answered, surprised. "I thought you had 'perfect teeth that were never to be fussed with'?" She imitated one of Seth's past self-confident phrases.
Seth laughed lightly into the phone. "Oh, I do. They should never be fussed with. Although," He added in, "I don't think 'fussed' was my original word choice if that was you trying to quote me."
"Whatever," Summer scoffed. "Doesn't matter. Either way it's not true if you're getting your wisdom teeth removed."
"Maybe I should clarify –to everyone at Peabody & Sheehan I'm getting my wisdom teeth out. To you I am coming to visit for six days."
"No, you're not!" Summer squealed excitedly in a valley girl tone. "Oh my God! Cohen!"
"So, I can't tell… are you excited?" Seth joked, laughing as he did so.
"Cohen, that's only, like, a week away! I'm gonna see you in a week? Oh my God, Cohen, I'm gonna see you in a week! What do you want to do? Anything? Like, there is so much around here to see and do and I can literally think of a million things but if you just wanna hang around that'd be awesome. Oh my God. I really miss you. You're coming in a week!"
Seth laughed full-heartedly into the phone as Summer rambled on. Sometimes nothing made Seth happier than to hear an excited Summer ramble – a habit he knowingly rubbed off onto her throughout the years.
"Sum…" Seth began. "It doesn't matter what we do. I just want to spend time with you. Doing whatever. Although, I do want to meet your new friends."
Summer's excitement died down instantly. Somehow she forgot that the whole John Deven issue would ruffle some feathers while Seth was in town visiting her. "Oh, right. Yeah… yeah, of course."
"Don't sound too enthused," Seth chuckled. "Do you not want me to meet them? Still ashamed of me after all these years?"
Summer ignored Seth's sarcasm, taking it for the question it actually was, "No, no, that's not it. I just want to spend as much time with you as possible. I see my friends around here all the time but I haven't seen you in almost two months."
"I know, and I'm thinking the same thing but I still want to meet them, Sum. Just to see who's looking after you while I'm not there."
Summer smirked into the phone, "Cute, Cohen."
"I try," Seth flirted back.
Summer sighed, as the realization of the upcoming reunion being tainted by the introduction of John began to sink in. Seth heard her sigh and tried to comfort her, not knowing what she was exactly sighing about.
"Look, I'm not saying we spend my entire visit with them, or even a whole day. Just a dinner or something."
"Yeah, that's fine."
"You sure? You don't sound fine."
Summer tried to ignore her incessant rumblings in her brain as she focused on staying happy about Seth's visit – because she was really happy that she was going to see him rather than talk to him through a six inch long metal device, "Seriously," Summer perked up. "It's a great idea. I can't wait for them to finally meet you."
"Awesome," Seth replied enthusiastically, after hearing Summer's excited tone return to her voice. "Now, what were those ideas you had in mind? Cause I was hoping for some intense bedroom action for at least the first two days…"
"Cohen!"
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Summer had woken up extremely early on July 9th to clean up the apartment. Matt had thought the apartment looked fine as it was and thus refused to help Summer clean, instead opting for a few more hours of sleep before they had to be in to work. Summer had decided that she was going into work until after lunch that day, and then suddenly come down with some sort of flu bug that would make her incapable of working for the rest of the afternoon and Friday. She still wasn't sure how she was going to swing a sickness that lasted through Monday and Tuesday that wouldn't seem fatal, but she was determined to do anything to spend more time with Seth so she wasn't over-analyzing that.
Seth was not set to arrive in New York until close to three that afternoon, so after Summer's lunch and pretending to be sick (while Matt laughed in the background realizing just how terrible of an actress Summer was), she didn't know what to do to occupy her time for the next two hours. Summer had already cleaned the entire apartment that morning, bought enough food that overflowed from the refrigerator and cabinets, and had chosen her outfits strategically to both impress Seth and make him kick himself for not coming to visit her earlier. She was completely ready and waiting impatiently for Seth to arrive, so she did the only thing she ever did when she got like this in New York.
She went to Central Park.
It always amazed her that hundreds of people, no matter what time of what day, were scattered throughout the Park. Whether they were running to the own beat of their iPod music or walking a dog with a plastic bag in tote, she never really realized the amount of leisure this Park saw day in and day out.
It wasn't until Summer first came to New York that she saw the real New Yorkers of Manhattan – not the tourists that flowed through mid-town and downtown. Uptown was different. Uptown was filled with both Park Avenue penthouse apartment owners, living life at ease, and graduate students, living like sardines in a tiny studio apartment. Uptown Manhattan showed the side of New York that people only saw when they were given the chance to live there themselves – the real, working, and completely laid-back visions of the upper west and east side.
Summer hadn't noticed the amount of time that had gone by as she walked on Central Park East – the street bordering the calm tranquility of the Park and colliding it with the loud, busy street that was 5th Ave – until she heard many honks from a quite a few number of cars and a faint voice that seemed to be shouting her name.
As Summer twirled around in recognition of hearing her name, she saw Seth bounding towards her – and also noticed his car being stranded on the side of the street, blocking on-coming traffic from getting through at a timely pace.
"Summer!" Seth yelled as he ran, picking up his pace as much as he could without falling as a result of the cobblestone sidewalk.
"Cohen," Summer spoke quietly to herself, smiling in response. She walked quickly towards him, very aware that cobblestones would make her fall in the flip-flops she wore on her feet that morning.
Seth, who also wore a huge grin across his face and was breathing erratically, held his arms open as he approached Summer and she jumped into his waiting arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck for support. Summer kissed Seth all over, not just limiting herself to his mouth, refreshing her memory of Seth's skin and contours of his face. Seth seemed to be thinking the same thing as his lips searched Summer's entire face, finding a new area to caress with his kisses.
"God," Seth mumbled, still trying to catch his breath. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."
Summer pulled away, keeping her hands steady on either side of his neck, looking deep into his brown eyes that matched her own, which were now glistening with tears. "Oh, I think I do. I've missed you, Cohen."
"You don't have to miss me anymore. I'm here now," Seth beamed as he continued to hold Summer up by her bottom, with her legs wrapping around his waist.
"I know," Summer replied, leaning her forehead against his and ignoring the mumbles and grunts of random passer-bys. "I love you."
"I'm here two minutes and we're already that sap happy couple. What are we gonna do with ourselves?"
Summer laughed and then, as if letting it dawn on her, she stopped and quickly asked Seth, "How did you see me through this mess of people?"
Seth only smiled in return for a few moments, making Summer's lips to continue to curl in a confused manner. "Come on, Sum. Any time, any day, anywhere. You know I can always pick you out of a crowd."
Summer crashed her lips upon Seth's, savoring the love she felt in the heat of his mouth, hardly analyzing the amount of time she went without feeling this way.
The honks grew louder and fiercer, and with the addition of a police siren, Seth and Summer broke apart unwillingly, directing their attention to the noise that interrupted them.
"Fuck," Seth swore under his breath when he saw two police men standing at the front of his car.
Summer jumped down from his arms, locking her left hand with his right one, as Seth guided them towards his stranded car.
"Hey!" Seth shouted at the police men. "Hey!" Seth let go of Summer's hand and made his way to his car, standing next to the police men. "What's going on?"
"Is this your car, sir?"
"Yes."
"Then here's your ticket." One of the police men ripped the piece of paper off of the pad and thrust it into Seth's hand. "You have thirty days to contest it or there will be a warrant out for your arrest. Have a good day."
The police men walked off back to their car, as Seth muttered to himself, "Oh yes, have a fucking good day to you too." Seth then looked down at the price on the ticket while Summer looked on from his side. "Holy shit! Seven hundred and fifty dollars! How the fuck am I gonna pay that?"
Summer wrapped her arms around Seth's right one that was holding the ticket to comfort him, "It doesn't matter, Seth. You're here." Seth looked down at her smile and instantly his angry demeanor faded. He kissed the top of her forehead and Summer leaned into his body further as people continued to honk all around them.
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"Well, hey there, man!" Matt got up from his place next to Hannah on the couch. "We were wondering when you were gonna get here!"
Seth and Summer entered the apartment and, much to Summer's dismay and shock, all of her friends were stuffed into the infinitesimal apartment's living room.
"What're you all doing here?" Summer looked on at the five people's faces incredulously – John Deven's face the most – then directing her glare at Matt. "Matt?"
"I… umm… well, I just thought…" Matt began to get flustered. "It was Carly's idea!"
"What?" Carly asked surprised. "Oh, well, I mentioned it but…"
"Hey," Seth interrupted the tension. "It's okay." Seth looked towards Summer with a smile and squeezed her arm in comfort, "It's really okay."
Summer smiled uncomfortably back, "No, I know. It's just… it was unexpected that's all."
Seth nodded in response and then refocused his attention back on the group, "So… hello." Seth waved. "I'm Seth."
"Hey," Mark stood up, with Carly following closely behind. "I'm Mark and this is my girlfriend, Carly." Seth smiled and shook both of their hands as Summer stood to the side of Seth, gnawing nervously on her fingernails.
"John," John looked up from the couch to introduce himself and held out his hand for Seth to shake. "How you doing, man?"
"Awesome, thanks," Seth replied. For a few short moments Summer closed her eyes, anticipating the worst, but nothing came. When she opened her eyes, she noticed a faint look of thought etched across John's face but Seth's only held happiness as he turned to the other girl he had still yet to meet.
"I'm Hannah, Matt's girlfriend," Hannah held her hand out to shake Seth's.
"I'm glad Matt got a girlfriend here," Seth told her, laughing. "It made me less nervous." Seth took a quick glance at Summer, who gave him an anxious smile in return, still chewing on her left hand's nails.
All of Summer's friends laughed and Seth beamed ear to ear, grabbing a hold of Summer's waist, pulling her closer. Summer smiled, starting to feel at ease about neither Seth nor John recognizing each other when John jumped up from the couch, pointing at Seth.
"Seth! Seth Cohen!" John bellowed. "No fucking way!"
Everyone turned around in astonishment at John's proclamation as Summer groaned quietly, putting her head in her hands. Seth, frighten slightly at John's declaration, blinked and took turns turning his head between John and Summer.
"Umm… excuse me?" Seth questioned John.
John ignored him and went over to stand next to Summer, catching her eyes. "Wow. Never in a million years would I have thought you'd turn to geeks. I sure did a number on you back in the seventh grade, huh?" John winked, slightly punching Summer in the arm.
"What?" Seth spoke up.
"Hey, I'm John. John Deven," John held out a hand for a bewildered Seth to shake. "And you're Seth Cohen."
Seth's face wore a look of befuddlement as he took it all in, realizing who exactly John was. "You're John Deven? From Harbor Junior High?"
"Yeah, you remember me?"
"Umm, yeah," Seth answered, disorientated. "I'm actually surprised you remember me."
"No one forgets Caleb Nichol's grandson. You're… like… the heir to Goddamn Newport Beach!"
"I guess that's one way to look at it," Seth mumbled to himself as he felt his confidence backing down.
John turned his attention back to Summer, "Well, now I understand why you turned to him. Gotta find someone with money to fall back on."
Summer scrunched up her face in disgust, "Ew! I'm not shallow, John! I love him!"
"Yeah, yeah…" John waved Summer off, looking back towards Seth. "What was that name people used to call you?" John snapped his fingers and looked towards the ceiling. "Damnit, it's on the tip of my tongue!"
"I don't know what you're -" Seth started but John immediately interrupted him.
"Death Breath Seth!"
Seth looked at John with a blank stare, finally able to form sentences after a few lingering moments, "Wow. Okay. No one's called me that since… like… the eighth grade."
John's eyes protruded out of their sockets showing his shock, "You sure? Cause everyone used to love that nickname!"
"Yeah. Pretty sure," Seth sneered.
"John," Summer spoke up once again. "Can you just, like… lay off?"
"What?" John asked unfazed.
"It doesn't matter," Seth told Summer a little bitingly. "Just like it didn't matter if you told me that you were hanging out with John Deven." Seth pushed himself through the silent, small crowd of people gathered in the undersized living room towards the bathroom, slamming the door shut.
"You're such an asshole, John," Summer told him tartly as she moved swiftly to the bathroom. "Cohen! Open up!" Summer banged on the door. "Cohen!"
"Dude," Mark shook his head at John. "Completely unnecessary, man."
John rolled his eyes as he returned to his seat on the couch, ignoring Summer's shouts. "What does everyone want to watch on the TV?"
"Cohen! Open up this fucking door right now or I'm gonna kick your ass!"
"Right," Seth scoffed loudly from the other side. "Cause right now you're in the perfect position to be threatening me."
"Seth Cohen! Now!"
Seth opened the door with a stern look upon his face, letting Summer in, and slamming it shut once again. More shouts were heard from the bathroom as everyone returned to their seats, shrugging their shoulders.
"Anything's fine by me," Hannah finally replied John's unanswered question. "Just… you know… turn up the volume a bit."
John did so willingly, drowning out the yells from Seth and Summer that were protruding through the thin walls of the apartment.
