~Sleeping Arrangements, Chapter 2~
Seth was pretty sure that was an invitation to kiss her. She even had her hand on him, warm fingers lightly stroking the back of his neck. "Come over here. I'll show you," she'd said. No girl had ever said anything to him that even remotely came close to implying that she wanted him to uh, touch her. Not to mention while in bed with him. Or maybe on a wooded path just outside the elven city of Rivendell. Or even in a cave behind the fortress at Helm's Deep, because hey, come to think of it, THOSE places were about as likely as this. Yeah.
Getting Summer to admit she liked him was a sweet victory, yes, and he had totally enjoyed watching her break. Had he not been such a gentleman would have gleefully rubbed it in far worse than when he beat Ryan at his own favorite PS2 game after an epic 6 hour battle. Ryan had been much too cocky and needed taught a lesson. It had been days before Seth let up on him. Er - anyway. Summer. He even felt oddly protective of her after her startling little-girl worry that she didn't have what guys liked. But now that their little game was over, the sparring behind them, and his status as king duly recognized, he didn't feel particularly happy. He wondered if it was just a momentary letdown - you know - like something wonderful you've wanted forever is suddenly within your grasp (don't look at her chest), hey, literally in this case, and you instantly lose interest because the thrill was all in the actual effort that went into obtaining it. To test that theory, Seth looked at Summer, lying there gazing up at him, his eyes straying from her face down her throat, to her. my.GOD. - under that thin shiny fabric - Hi again, best friend! - on down the perfect curves of the rest of her deliciously outlined through the blanket. No. And really, hell no. Absolutely no letdown happening, be it momentary or in nanoseconds. He shifted uncomfortably, that problem with his jeans again. Interest? Proven by chafing denim. He flopped over on his back, staring intently at a large crack spreading across the ceiling, and broke out in sweat. Just then unbridled terror hacked its way through the wall of denial he had handily built for himself. It was SUMMER, for the love of God! He was in bed with SUMMER! He'd been dreaming of this for about 8 years, and hey, now his mind was a complete blank with "utter panics'" signature scrawled across it. What if he did something really stupid? Cuz THAT had never happened before. What if she was just playing with him? Because she CAN? What if tomorrow he woke up and she hated him again?
"Cohen, what the hell are you doing?"
"Summer - I - uh, it's - " Oh Hey. That's brilliant. Was he gonna TELL her he was having an anxiety attack? Seth began praying fervently for a wormhole in space to open directly above him and suck him into another dimension.
Summer sat up and looked at him. He was pale, and gulping in huge breaths of air. Was he sick? He was - oh my God, he was scared! She suppressed the urge to laugh. He could have been so cruel earlier when she voiced her doubts, but he'd controlled himself, and well, his reaction was basically the same thing. And it was really kind of sweet, flattering even in a geek- boy way, that he was so worked up. It was oddly endearing, after years of slick moves attempted by practiced sexual veterans. She really wasn't very good at this, but she could at least try. To be nice. "Seth, it's ok."
He looked up at her, mid-gasp, horrified, her words proving that this really was happening. He'd almost convinced himself that he was having a bizarre, yet entirely private out-of-body experience and if he looked down at himself, that other Seth in bed with Summer would appear completely calm and on top of the situation.
"It's ok. Here, sit up." She grabbed his shoulder and pulled, so he sat up and she motioned him to turn and sit on the side of bed. He went, shooting a suspicious look over his shoulder. She pushed him forward. "Lean over and grab your knees, Seth." He turned around and tried to protest, still gasping. "Just do it. C'mon, trust me. This will help." He grudgingly leaned forward, and she sat cross- legged behind him and began to massage his back. In a minute his breathing began to slow.
He began to feel much better and then decided he would rather die. Right now. Because he could never look her in the eye again, and he wasn't sure how well that would work out with them being headed to Mexico together for the weekend and all, so maybe he would just crawl under the bed and die. If Summer didn't tell anyone where he was, it would be at the very least six months before anyone cleaned this godforsaken motel room and found him, and by then "The Saga of Seth Cohen" would be like an urban legend. Newport boy vanishes mysteriously while heading south of the border to participate in illegal, immoral fun for the first time in his life instead of going to Comic-con like he told his parents. Yeah. Pretty dramatic. Jeez, even his urban legend was lame. And how insanely ironic was this? Sometimes you really do get what you wish for. And it gives you a panic attack. At the most embarrassingly inopportune moment imaginable known to mankind. Ever. He really should call Alannis. This could only happen to him. And why wasn't she laughing? Was she off her feed? Maybe she was just circling like a vulture over road-kill, not ready to dive yet. He suddenly became conscious that her hands were lightly rubbing his back, and had been for a while.
"You all right, Cohen?"
He wondered if it was possible to have a conversation with her now, but still never look at her again in his lifetime. Why not? This was a night of firsts after all. "I'm OK."
"You know, that's happened to me before." She continued rubbing, working up to his shoulders now.
"Yeah?" He pictured her having a panic attack trying to choose which shoes best matched her purse. Seth closed his eyes and concentrated on not purring, because it was unmanly. Her hands were making him feel so relaxed now.
"My mom decided she wanted to see me last spring. She left us when I was 10, and I hadn't heard from her once. It was really important to me to see her and show her that I was just fine without her, didn't need her, hadn't missed her. Some of that's true, some not so much, but she didn't deserve to know that. So I got to the hotel and knocked on her door and you can guess the rest."
Seth was grateful his mouth hadn't automatically motored out what his first thought had been for once in his life. He didn't know what to say. But this was a different situation.
"It's funny how they happen when you least want them to. When something's really important," she prodded in a gentle un-Summer like voice.
Seth finally got it. She understood. He turned to look at her. She was smiling reassuringly at him.
"Cohen. I ask again about signs, hints, or just being slow." She shook her head sadly.
He had to laugh. Holding up one finger to her, he knelt by the bed and picked up the covers hanging down, looking under it. Nah. He wouldn't have fit under there anyway. When he crawled back on the bed, she had her head cocked to one side, one eyebrow raised in question. "Do I want to know why you - ?"
He shook his head quickly, matching her cross-legged position, facing her. "Urban legend."
She rolled her eyes at him and smiled. "You sure you're ok?"
He brought his gaze level with hers and smiled back. "Yeah. Thanks."
She looked down, almost embarrassed, then lifted her eyes to his again. Why did he make her feel like this? She usually never cared what anyone thought. And just when had he morphed from cute to so freakin hot it was hard to swallow all of a sudden?
Seth's hand went to her cheek and he leaned forward, kissing her gently, taking her by surprise. He tensed up, waiting for the panic to wash over him again, but all that happened was his lips met hers, and he pulled away. She blinked at him, mildly shocked. They both started talking a once. "Was that - ?" " I can't believe-" They both stopped at the same time, and began laughing. "What were you -?" Still grinning, he moved in again and kissed her mid-sentence. She smiled against his mouth. Kissing had never been so - fun. It was always drama before, some guy trying to prove how much of a stud he was.
Seth broke the kiss and leaned back, looking at her. She held his eyes with her own. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and moved forward again, kissing her a little harder this time, sliding his arms around her. He didn't worry about panicking this time, and was rewarded with sweet heat burning slowly through his body. Summer moaned a little, softly, as his tongue found hers. Hey. How about that? Judging from that response, apparently he'd done something right. Seth decided their knee-to-knee position was fun for a while, but had now lost its' relevance. Still kissing, he reached an arm out to the side and carefully lowered himself down on his back, stretching his legs out, and pulling her down with him. She landed on top of him, which he felt was an extremely good place for her to be, but she broke their kiss and grinned at him, shaking her head.
"I don't think so."
Seth was confused and wondering if he'd done something wrong when she braced one arm under his shoulder and expertly rolled them over, ending with her underneath him, their arms and legs tangled together. He immediately realized that her being under him was an equally wonderful place for her to be, and decided there was really no reason to complain about her man-handling him. This time.
"You know, Seth, with all that's happened tonight, I think we've evened our score and finished with the "one good turn deserves another" category."
"Summer, I believe you're correct. Are you saying what I think you are?"
"Yes I am, Cohen. It means that the war between us is back on." She gave him a wicked grin.
Seth smiled at her. It was good to win a battle and move on to the next, always with the ultimate goal of winning the war. And he was pretty sure this phase of the fighting would be ridiculously enjoyable. He shifted off to one side of her so he could run his fingers along her cheek and down her throat. "Let the sparring begin, " he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her.
Seth was pretty sure that was an invitation to kiss her. She even had her hand on him, warm fingers lightly stroking the back of his neck. "Come over here. I'll show you," she'd said. No girl had ever said anything to him that even remotely came close to implying that she wanted him to uh, touch her. Not to mention while in bed with him. Or maybe on a wooded path just outside the elven city of Rivendell. Or even in a cave behind the fortress at Helm's Deep, because hey, come to think of it, THOSE places were about as likely as this. Yeah.
Getting Summer to admit she liked him was a sweet victory, yes, and he had totally enjoyed watching her break. Had he not been such a gentleman would have gleefully rubbed it in far worse than when he beat Ryan at his own favorite PS2 game after an epic 6 hour battle. Ryan had been much too cocky and needed taught a lesson. It had been days before Seth let up on him. Er - anyway. Summer. He even felt oddly protective of her after her startling little-girl worry that she didn't have what guys liked. But now that their little game was over, the sparring behind them, and his status as king duly recognized, he didn't feel particularly happy. He wondered if it was just a momentary letdown - you know - like something wonderful you've wanted forever is suddenly within your grasp (don't look at her chest), hey, literally in this case, and you instantly lose interest because the thrill was all in the actual effort that went into obtaining it. To test that theory, Seth looked at Summer, lying there gazing up at him, his eyes straying from her face down her throat, to her. my.GOD. - under that thin shiny fabric - Hi again, best friend! - on down the perfect curves of the rest of her deliciously outlined through the blanket. No. And really, hell no. Absolutely no letdown happening, be it momentary or in nanoseconds. He shifted uncomfortably, that problem with his jeans again. Interest? Proven by chafing denim. He flopped over on his back, staring intently at a large crack spreading across the ceiling, and broke out in sweat. Just then unbridled terror hacked its way through the wall of denial he had handily built for himself. It was SUMMER, for the love of God! He was in bed with SUMMER! He'd been dreaming of this for about 8 years, and hey, now his mind was a complete blank with "utter panics'" signature scrawled across it. What if he did something really stupid? Cuz THAT had never happened before. What if she was just playing with him? Because she CAN? What if tomorrow he woke up and she hated him again?
"Cohen, what the hell are you doing?"
"Summer - I - uh, it's - " Oh Hey. That's brilliant. Was he gonna TELL her he was having an anxiety attack? Seth began praying fervently for a wormhole in space to open directly above him and suck him into another dimension.
Summer sat up and looked at him. He was pale, and gulping in huge breaths of air. Was he sick? He was - oh my God, he was scared! She suppressed the urge to laugh. He could have been so cruel earlier when she voiced her doubts, but he'd controlled himself, and well, his reaction was basically the same thing. And it was really kind of sweet, flattering even in a geek- boy way, that he was so worked up. It was oddly endearing, after years of slick moves attempted by practiced sexual veterans. She really wasn't very good at this, but she could at least try. To be nice. "Seth, it's ok."
He looked up at her, mid-gasp, horrified, her words proving that this really was happening. He'd almost convinced himself that he was having a bizarre, yet entirely private out-of-body experience and if he looked down at himself, that other Seth in bed with Summer would appear completely calm and on top of the situation.
"It's ok. Here, sit up." She grabbed his shoulder and pulled, so he sat up and she motioned him to turn and sit on the side of bed. He went, shooting a suspicious look over his shoulder. She pushed him forward. "Lean over and grab your knees, Seth." He turned around and tried to protest, still gasping. "Just do it. C'mon, trust me. This will help." He grudgingly leaned forward, and she sat cross- legged behind him and began to massage his back. In a minute his breathing began to slow.
He began to feel much better and then decided he would rather die. Right now. Because he could never look her in the eye again, and he wasn't sure how well that would work out with them being headed to Mexico together for the weekend and all, so maybe he would just crawl under the bed and die. If Summer didn't tell anyone where he was, it would be at the very least six months before anyone cleaned this godforsaken motel room and found him, and by then "The Saga of Seth Cohen" would be like an urban legend. Newport boy vanishes mysteriously while heading south of the border to participate in illegal, immoral fun for the first time in his life instead of going to Comic-con like he told his parents. Yeah. Pretty dramatic. Jeez, even his urban legend was lame. And how insanely ironic was this? Sometimes you really do get what you wish for. And it gives you a panic attack. At the most embarrassingly inopportune moment imaginable known to mankind. Ever. He really should call Alannis. This could only happen to him. And why wasn't she laughing? Was she off her feed? Maybe she was just circling like a vulture over road-kill, not ready to dive yet. He suddenly became conscious that her hands were lightly rubbing his back, and had been for a while.
"You all right, Cohen?"
He wondered if it was possible to have a conversation with her now, but still never look at her again in his lifetime. Why not? This was a night of firsts after all. "I'm OK."
"You know, that's happened to me before." She continued rubbing, working up to his shoulders now.
"Yeah?" He pictured her having a panic attack trying to choose which shoes best matched her purse. Seth closed his eyes and concentrated on not purring, because it was unmanly. Her hands were making him feel so relaxed now.
"My mom decided she wanted to see me last spring. She left us when I was 10, and I hadn't heard from her once. It was really important to me to see her and show her that I was just fine without her, didn't need her, hadn't missed her. Some of that's true, some not so much, but she didn't deserve to know that. So I got to the hotel and knocked on her door and you can guess the rest."
Seth was grateful his mouth hadn't automatically motored out what his first thought had been for once in his life. He didn't know what to say. But this was a different situation.
"It's funny how they happen when you least want them to. When something's really important," she prodded in a gentle un-Summer like voice.
Seth finally got it. She understood. He turned to look at her. She was smiling reassuringly at him.
"Cohen. I ask again about signs, hints, or just being slow." She shook her head sadly.
He had to laugh. Holding up one finger to her, he knelt by the bed and picked up the covers hanging down, looking under it. Nah. He wouldn't have fit under there anyway. When he crawled back on the bed, she had her head cocked to one side, one eyebrow raised in question. "Do I want to know why you - ?"
He shook his head quickly, matching her cross-legged position, facing her. "Urban legend."
She rolled her eyes at him and smiled. "You sure you're ok?"
He brought his gaze level with hers and smiled back. "Yeah. Thanks."
She looked down, almost embarrassed, then lifted her eyes to his again. Why did he make her feel like this? She usually never cared what anyone thought. And just when had he morphed from cute to so freakin hot it was hard to swallow all of a sudden?
Seth's hand went to her cheek and he leaned forward, kissing her gently, taking her by surprise. He tensed up, waiting for the panic to wash over him again, but all that happened was his lips met hers, and he pulled away. She blinked at him, mildly shocked. They both started talking a once. "Was that - ?" " I can't believe-" They both stopped at the same time, and began laughing. "What were you -?" Still grinning, he moved in again and kissed her mid-sentence. She smiled against his mouth. Kissing had never been so - fun. It was always drama before, some guy trying to prove how much of a stud he was.
Seth broke the kiss and leaned back, looking at her. She held his eyes with her own. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and moved forward again, kissing her a little harder this time, sliding his arms around her. He didn't worry about panicking this time, and was rewarded with sweet heat burning slowly through his body. Summer moaned a little, softly, as his tongue found hers. Hey. How about that? Judging from that response, apparently he'd done something right. Seth decided their knee-to-knee position was fun for a while, but had now lost its' relevance. Still kissing, he reached an arm out to the side and carefully lowered himself down on his back, stretching his legs out, and pulling her down with him. She landed on top of him, which he felt was an extremely good place for her to be, but she broke their kiss and grinned at him, shaking her head.
"I don't think so."
Seth was confused and wondering if he'd done something wrong when she braced one arm under his shoulder and expertly rolled them over, ending with her underneath him, their arms and legs tangled together. He immediately realized that her being under him was an equally wonderful place for her to be, and decided there was really no reason to complain about her man-handling him. This time.
"You know, Seth, with all that's happened tonight, I think we've evened our score and finished with the "one good turn deserves another" category."
"Summer, I believe you're correct. Are you saying what I think you are?"
"Yes I am, Cohen. It means that the war between us is back on." She gave him a wicked grin.
Seth smiled at her. It was good to win a battle and move on to the next, always with the ultimate goal of winning the war. And he was pretty sure this phase of the fighting would be ridiculously enjoyable. He shifted off to one side of her so he could run his fingers along her cheek and down her throat. "Let the sparring begin, " he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her.