A/N: I've moved this story to M rating but there's not really much in this chapter. However, I suspect that the next chapter needs to be there, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

11.

The butterflies in Ryan's stomach increased as the time drew closer for Summer to come home. He checked the clock again, and noted that her flight should have landed thirty minutes ago, which meant that barring traffic problems, she should be there in about fifteen minutes.

It was time to put the water on to boil for the pasta. He wanted to time it just right so that it would be ready when she arrived. She'd be tired and hungry and he wanted everything to be perfect.

He only hoped that she would like her surprise.

He had spent many hours agonizing over what to do, and had concluded that this was the only way they could continue to live together, and he knew that he didn't want to give that up.

He had to admit; a part of him was disappointed that it had come to this. But he couldn't see any other way to make it work, so he'd have to learn to cope with the disappointment. It would be better than the alternative – moving out was not an option.

--

Summer put her bag down outside the apartment door to dig for her keys. She wondered if Ryan would be home or out on another one of his 'dates'. It was Friday night, after all. She was still having trouble coming to terms with the idea of him dating, but thankfully, over the last couple of weeks, there seemed to be less and less dates, and from what he'd reported, he hadn't gone out with any girl more than once. That had to be a good thing, didn't it? At least for her it was, she thought, but probably not so good for Ryan. Finally finding the key, she slipped it into the lock and opened the door.

--

As soon as Ryan heard the key in the lock, his heart skipped a beat. He had planned on appearing cool, calm and collected, but it was hopeless. His heart was racing and he couldn't stop himself from rushing to the door and came face to face with her.

He knew that he should try to keep his distance, but there was no point in even trying. He'd missed her too much to even think about that. As soon as he saw her beaming face, he picked her up in an enormous bear hug and twirled her around, pleased that she seemed just as happy to see him as he was to see her.

"Welcome home," he laughed, his delight at having her back with him threatening to overflow.

"It's great to be back," she replied, bursting with joy herself, and holding on to him tightly, hoping that he'd never let go. Feeling his arms around her made her feel like she was really home. "Something smells good."

Ryan blushed. "That would be dinner. I hope that you like Linguini Marinara?"

Summer hesitated a moment. She actually thought it was him that smelled so good. The male scent that was distinctly Ryan made her blood rush, but she couldn't admit to that. The food was a good cover.

"I love it."

Ryan knew that he was still smiling like an idiot, but it was just so good to have her back. He put her down, but neither of them seemed in a hurry to move, their eyes were still firmly stuck on one another, almost as if they were scared that the other would vanish like a dream if they looked away.

"You had your hair cut," Ryan noted.

"Yeah. Just a little. Do you like it?" Summer asked, suddenly nervous. It had only been a trim, but if he liked it longer, then she wouldn't be doing that again.

Ryan lightly ran a strand through his fingers and said, "Yeah. I do."

Truthfully, he didn't think that there was anything that she could do that he wouldn't like.

He picked up her bag and moved towards the bedroom.

"You can unpack this later. Dinner is nearly ready. I hope you're hungry."

"I'm starving," she replied. But if he kept looking at her like that, then food would be the last thing on her mind.

She'd thought about it the whole way on her flight from Florida. Maybe tonight, when they were in bed together, she could accidentally (on purpose) roll over while 'sleeping' until she reached his side, then blame it on a restless night when he found her next to him. Because there was something else that she was starving for and he was just the guy to supply it. But how would he respond to her?

Watching him as he made the final preparations for dinner in the kitchen, she knew what she hoped he'd do. She wanted to christen that big bed of hers, and she wanted to do it with Ryan.

--

"That was delicious," Summer commented. "You've been busy with my cookbooks. But this isn't fair. You have all this time to cook, and if I keep spending all my time away with work, you'll end up a better cook than me."

"Complaining? I'm sure there are lots of girls that would be happy to have someone cook dinner for them," he kidded.

"Definitely not complaining. I just feel guilty, that's all," she explained.

"You can cook for me tomorrow night," Ryan stated and then quickly corrected himself, "That's if you have nothing else planned."

He knew that he couldn't or shouldn't assume that she'd spend all her spare time with him. Just because he could think of nothing that he'd rather do than be with her didn't mean that she felt the same way.

It hadn't even entered Summer's mind to make plans for the weekend. She had a couple of friends that were complaining that they hadn't seen her for a while, but spending time with them compared to spending it with Ryan … there was no contest.

"No plans. I'd love to cook for you," she confirmed. "What about tomorrow? How about visiting Central Park again?"

"Sure. It was fun. I've been back a couple of times, but it's nowhere near as much fun without you," he admitted and then blushed. He wasn't sure how she would take that, but it was the truth.

Wanting to change the topic quickly before she read too much into his last statement, he stood up from the table, bowing and offering his hand to her.

"What?" she asked, grinning at his formality.

"I have a surprise for you, if you would do me the honor of accompanying me," he replied.

Completely intrigued, she stood and placed her hand in his. Trying to ignore the sparks that touching him always inspired, she followed him until they reached the closed door of the second bedroom.

Ryan turned the knob, pushed the door open and stood back for her to admire his handiwork.

No longer was it the mess that she'd left it.

The laundry and ironing board had disappeared.

A new wall unit, complete with a bookcase stood beside the desk. All the books and papers that she'd had stacked in boxes were now neatly on display. There was a television on a small stand in the corner. She couldn't help but smile until her eyes noted the new sofa along the far wall. He had created a guest room and she felt as if a shadow crossed her heart.

"What ….?" She was almost afraid to ask but she needed to know what this all meant.

"I didn't want to you to feel like a visitor in your own apartment. So I thought that I'd set this up so when you're here, I can use it and not be in your way."

"You weren't in my way," Summer insisted.

"You're just too nice to say so. I know that you didn't want me to buy another bed, and you're right about that. We don't need one. Your bed is great. So as long as you don't mind, I'll continue to sleep there when you're not here. But when you are, then I can use the sofa bed and you can have your room to yourself."

Summer didn't know what to say. She was grateful for what he had done for her, but she couldn't show him how bitterly disappointed she was. Her plans for rolling over in bed were a pipe dream now. Obviously while she had been figuring out ways to get closer to him, he'd been working out a way to get further away from her.

It brought back memories of the first time that she'd made a move on him, and he'd rejected her without hesitation. If she needed a reminder of what their relationship was to him, this was it. Thank god that it had happened before she'd done anything more and embarrassed herself. Fortunately, she was saved from having to reply because Ryan's cell phone rang.

He quickly answered and then moved into the living room for privacy, leaving Summer to quietly head to her own room to unpack. Things had definitely not turned out the way that she'd hoped.

--

"Seth? This is a surprise," Ryan commented pleasantly.

"Why?" Seth asked resentfully. "What do you mean by that?"

Ryan sighed. It seemed that whenever they spoke these days, things only got worse.

"I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that it's been a while. That's all."

"Yeah. Well, the last time I called, you didn't really want to talk to me."

"That's because you didn't want to talk to ME. All you wanted was money. And as soon as I said that I wouldn't lend you any, you hung up on me," Ryan pointed out.

"I can't believe that you can't spare me some moolah now that you're a hotshot architect."

"I'm not. I'm the new guy on the lowest rung on the ladder. Can we change the subject, or is that why you called?

"It wasn't, but you're such a shit these days. Maybe I shouldn't even bother telling you the news."

"What news?" Ryan asked ignoring the insult. He'd come to expect them from Seth. But he did wonder what was happening in Berkeley. He'd spoken to Sandy and Kirsten only two days ago and they hadn't mentioned anything. He called every Wednesday to touch base. But as usual, Seth hadn't been home.

"Your girlfriend's in town."

Ryan's heart skipped a beat. His first thought was that Seth somehow knew that Summer was back in the city, but he couldn't be talking about her. He knew nothing about Summer and Ryan; not that there was anything to know.

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"What? The classy chicks of New York City don't go for the Chino bad boy? You must be losing your touch," Seth taunted. "Or maybe your reputation was all smoke and mirrors. You're too uptight. You know a little pot could do wonders for you."

"No thanks. I might end up like you," Ryan returned. He could only take so much of Seth's snideness without retaliating.

"Yeah. Whatever. Then how about 'the girl that you were going to propose to'?" Seth rephrased, knowing how to twist the knife. He knew how shattered Ryan had been when he'd returned from Paris and he enjoyed reminding him of it, knowing that it would still hurt. Seth had become one nasty dude.

Ryan cringed at the mention of Taylor.

"You know that's over."

"Not for her it would seem," Seth replied cryptically.

Ryan didn't want to bite, but he wanted to know what Seth meant.

"What do you mean?"

"It seems that she transferred across to Berkeley to finish her degree. She came here earlier looking for you. You've been a naughty boy. You didn't tell her you moved to New York. She would have transferred to NYU."

"It doesn't make any difference where I'm living," Ryan retorted. "It should have nothing to do with where she finishes her classes."

"But it would seem that it does," Seth informed him. "She wants to know when you'll be back in town."

"I promised Kirsten that I'd be back for Thanksgiving, but you already knew that."

"That's a long time away. Are you sure you won't be back before then?"

"I'm sure."

"You know. If you could float me a loan, I could fly out there and spend some time with you. I hear that the Big Apple can be a pretty cool place to hang out," Seth suggested, looking for a way to get his hands on some spare cash.

Ryan cringed. There was no way that he wanted Seth in NYC. It would blow things with Summer completely. Never mind the fact that he knew better than to send Seth cash…..

"So if I sent you a plane ticket …" he offered.

"Better just to send the cash. That way I can look around for a good fare," Seth explained, knowing that he'd never buy a ticket. There were too many other things that he'd much rather do if he could just lay his hands on some more money. They were all preferable to wasting it on seeing is 'brother'.

"I'm not sending you cash. The money would go straight to your dealer," Ryan said firmly.

Seth couldn't believe that Ryan had him pegged so easily.

"Fuck you, Ryan," he said and hung up in his ear.

--

Summer was watching TV when Ryan returned from his call. She could tell that the call had upset him.

"Not bad news I hope," she inquired.

"No. But not good news either," Ryan replied cryptically.

"Care to share?" Summer prompted. She thought that he looked like it might do him good to get 'it' (whatever 'it' was) off his chest.

"Seth's still a prick and Taylor's back in town," he replied succinctly.

"Okay, the first one I already knew, but the second is a surprise," Summer admitted.

"For me, too," Ryan agreed.

"What's she doing there?"

"She transferred to Berkeley, according to Seth," Ryan explained.

"Well, we know that Seth isn't known for his honesty, but I can't see what he'd gain by lying about that," Summer commented.

"True."

"So why do you think she's there?"

"I don't really want to think about it," Ryan replied and then corrected himself, "I don't want to think about her."

Summer hesitated, wondering how he would react if she asked what was on her mind. But she really wanted to know the answer and decided to plunge ahead and ask.

"Am I allowed to ask what happened between the two of you?"

Ryan was surprised by her question.

"I would have thought that you already knew," Ryan said.

Summer and Taylor had been close ever since Marissa died. He imagined that they still kept in contact and that Summer just chose to keep it to herself, knowing that anything to do with Taylor was a sore point with him.

"I know the Taylor version. But I've learned over the years that she's pretty good at pretending to smell like a rose when she actually smells like stinkweed; you know, turning lemons into lemonade?"

Ryan smiled. Summer always had such a great way of putting things.

But did he really want to go over it all again? Tonight of all nights? He'd looked forward all week to spending quality time with Summer and he didn't want anything to ruin it, especially not talk of Taylor.

"Do you mind if we don't talk about it tonight? I promise I'll tell you, but just not now. I don't want to spoil our evening. Maybe tomorrow. Okay?"

Summer nodded.

"Sure, whenever you're ready," she replied.

But she was disappointed. He obviously still had feelings for Taylor and he needed time to pull himself together. That wasn't what she had expected.

But he did say he didn't want to spoil 'our' evening not 'the' evening. If that was true, there might still be hope for them.