"A New Edition"
Summary: This is the sequel to "Most Eligible Bachelor." I'm not going to try to recap a lot of "Bachelor," so I suggest reading it first. Seth and Summer are trying to make sense of their lives on opposite coasts…Can they make it work?
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the O.C. characters or past storylines or anything like that…Those are all property of Mr. Joshua "I'm a Genius" Schwartz.
Chapter 11: The Party's Over
After going to the bathroom to reapply her makeup and regain her composure, Summer decided that she wasn't going to let Seth have the pleasure of thinking he made her flustered, so she went back to where she had left Adrian and Jenna at the bar.
"Jenna, Adrian, I just wanted to apologize to you both for that totally obnoxious scene. I mean, I'm not normally like that at all, but obviously Seth and I have a history. I just wanted to let you know that it's in the past, so Jenna, if you want to be with Seth, go for it. He'd be lucky to have you, and Adrian, I think you're a really great guy, so…" she trailed off looking up at the other parties expectantly.
Jenna glanced over at Adrian, who was obviously mesmerized by Summer and decided that it was her cue to go. "It was really big of you to apologize, Summer. Sorry if I hit a nerve with anything I said. Forgive me?" she pleaded, with a small smile on her lips.
"Of course," Summer said, doing her best job to act like she didn't want to bite the girls head off.
"Cool, because I was thinking, Little Miss Vixen's attitude takes a lot of work to nail. I thought if we spent a little time together, I might just be able to get it."
"Sure, though I do live in New York, so you'd have to make it sometime in the next three weeks." Jenna nodded and the two exchanged numbers, before the younger brunette turned to leave.
"So, sorry to make myself out to be a complete psycho the first time we met," Summer said turning to Adrian.
In reply he made a motion offering her the stool next to him and slid a drink in her direction. "Are you kidding me? That was the hottest display that I've seen in a LONG time. Girl, you've got moxie!"
Summer laughed at this and looking over her shoulder noticed the steely gaze of an observing Seth. "So how 'bout that dance?" She took his hand and led him out to the dance floor.
Seth, Ryan, and Marissa stood on the other side of the bar watching the entire scene. "She is one confusing woman," Seth said, almost dumbfounded.
"I forgive you," a small voice said from behind him.
Seth turned to see Jenna standing in front of him, a coy smile on her lips. "Well, that's good since we'll be working together for the next…who knows how long," he said, giving her a matching grin.
"Summer seems really cool," she said, inching closer to Seth and wrapping her arms around his neck. "And she was right, I am kind of a skank. So what do you say we get on the dance floor?" she breathed seductively into his ear.
Seth's eyes bulged out of his head and he quickly tried to regain his composure. "Uh, um, yeah, I mean, why not? Just a dance, right?" He took Jenna's hand and led her on to the dance floor where she began grinding her hips and butt into Seth.
"This night could not get any weirder," Ryan sighed, still at the bar sipping drinks with Marissa.
"Well, Oliver could show up," Marissa laughed into her drink.
"Not funny," he replied, throwing her his patented "look".
"Right, shutting up."
Two hours later, Seth and Jenna were finally coming off of the dance floor, exhausted from all of the bumping and grinding they had done. Summer and Adrian remained there, and from the looks of it, the tiny brunette had managed to get herself significantly drunker over the last span of time.
Seth and Jenna approached Ryan and Marissa, who had moved and were now occupying one of the couches to the side of the bar. "Are you guys having fun?" Seth said enthusiastically.
Ryan looked from his sleeping fiancé on his shoulder back up to Seth.
"Right, so it appears you are ready to go home. Well, we just have to gather Summer and then away we can go," Seth turned to Jenna. "I had a lot of fun tonight. I think working together on the show will be great," he said giving her a hug.
"I think we can do much more exciting things off of the set," she whispered in his ear, before leaving a soft kiss on his cheek and turning to leave.
"Man, that girl is…" Seth looked at Ryan who simply nodded. "Right, so shall you get Summer then? I think she's over there somewhere up against a wall or something."
Again, Ryan looked from his sleeping fiancé on his should back up to Seth.
"Right. So that means I will just have to go separate Summer, my ex-fiance, from the guy that she is most likely playing some serious tonsil hockey with at this very moment. Hmm, that shouldn't be awkward at all. Thanks, bro," he replied, turning in the direction of the dance floor.
Summer was in the middle of the dance floor swaying with Adrian, who was doing everything he could to support her dead weight. As Seth approached he had flashbacks to a similar scene from their senior prom. This brought a slight smile to his face, which quickly vanished when he realized how close Adrian's hand was to some of Summer's untouchables.
"Cohen!" Summer shrieked drunkenly upon seeing him approach. "How's it goin', Cohen? Oh my God, it rhymed," she slurred on.
"Aw, you're just a little Dr. Seuss, Summer. But now, it is time for us to head back to the apartment, because Marissa passed out, ok?" he said, talking as if she were a small child.
"But I'm having fun," she pouted, looking up to Adrian for help.
"Well, I can take you home later, baby," he said, also slurring, while he moved to kiss Summer's neck.
Seth physically shuddered at this action, but quickly tried to recover. "Maybe you should come home with us, Sum. Since you're staying with Ryan and Marissa and all?" he pleaded with her.
"But 'e said 'e can bring me 'ome later, Cooohen," she said, her speech disintegrating by the minute.
Seth was at a loss. Summer was really demanding, but ridiculously cute when she was like this, which made him want to take her home, but at the same time, he kind of knew it wasn't his place anymore. He turned to Adrian. "Here's the deal. You're on the show, you play me, so obviously I like you. But not as much as I like her," he said pointing at Summer, "therefore, if I allow you to bring her home, if you so much as hurt her or take advantage of her in anyway, I will be forced to not only cause you to lose your job, but possibly some very vital organs for a man your age."
"Whoa, dude, chill out, ok? We're just not ready for the party to end."
Seth took a deep breath. "Alright, fair enough. Keep her safe. Sum, if you need anything, just give any one of us a call, ok? Any time."
"I know, Cohen. I know you're always there," she slurred, punctuating it with a kiss on Seth's cheek. He couldn't help but melt at how sweet she was being. Why couldn't he get her to be like this all of the time?
With a bit of sadness, he raised his hand to stroke Summer's cheek before turning and walking away. As he approached the couch, his posture visibly shrank from upright to hunchback.
"Where's Summer?" Ryan questioned as Seth came toward him.
"She has other plans for the night," Seth sighed. At the raise of Ryan's eyebrows, he added, "Don't ask."
Ryan shrugged letting it slide and shook Marissa a bit to wake her up. She shot upright rather quickly and looked around, clearly disoriented. "Is the party over?" she yawned.
"The party is over," Seth said, sadly, turning to leave and leaving his friends to follow.
It was now 6 in the morning and Seth had not been able to sleep a wink. He took the couch to accommodate Ryan and Marissa, and had been laying there since around 3 trying to go to sleep. His mind had been racing, considering the events of the previous day and night, and the fact that Summer still hadn't returned home didn't allow him any peace, either. Finally giving up, he rose from the couch, put on his sneakers and a hoody, and headed to the only place that could make him feel better.
When he got to the docks, he boarded his boat and was surprised to find some things out of place. For starters, he never left the door leading to the cabin open and he was more than certain that he didn't own any gold strappy sandals. Growing slightly concerned, he moved towards the cabin, but his panicked features grew into a lopsided grin when he saw Summer lying passed out on the bed.
Letting out a sigh of relief and his tense shoulders relax for the first time all evening, he moved to the small cupboard to get out a blanket. He gently moved Summer up on the bed a bit, so that her head was now resting on the pillows and spread the blanket over her body, tucking it in on all sides the way she liked it. He sat momentarily on the edge of the bed beside her, taking a moment to watch her sleep, a favorite pastime that he dearly missed. He let his hand ever so gently trace a line from her forehead down her cheek to her chin. She was so beautiful and peaceful when she was like this, he couldn't help but smile.
"Why do you fight it so much, Summer?" he whispered. Taking one more moment to look at her sweet face, he finally bent down to kiss her forehead before standing to go. "I love you, despite everything," he said before leaving to sit on the deck and watch the sunrise.
At that moment, Summer's eyes fluttered open to watch his retreating form. "I love you, too, Cohen, but I can't," she whispered before drifting back off to a restless sleep.
A/N: I think the end of this chapter was a little weak (like the last line—I pirated it a bit), but I did like that she ended up aboard the Summer Dream (if you remember from MEB, Seth bought a yacht when he got rich and named it the Summer Dream). Anywho, read, review. I'll get maybe one more tonight hopefully and a few more tomorrow.