How did he end up here, in Summer's bedroom. It was everything he ever imagined. It was white and bright, with pictures of Marissa and her everywhere. It smelled like vanilla and cinnamon together, which was probably from the scented candles lit on her desk. Not only was he in her room, but on her bed. No, LYING down on her bed. Next to her. Usually, in his deepest dreams, they would be naked as this was happening, but to his dismay, Summer and himself were fully clothed. "Oh, Seth." Summer's voice moaned and then cracked into enormous laughter. "You look adorable in this one!." She said, pushing the photo album to her side. They had spent the last half hour flipping through Summer's old photo albums from third grade, where she swore she had pictures of Seth. And she wasn't lying, he thought, as he looked at the picture Summer had pointed out to him. A young boy with curly mop top hair, was sitting on the playground longingly in the corner of the picture, staring off at the main subjects of the photograph, Marissa and Summer, who were on the swings. "Adorable, huh?" He asked Summer, who was lying down next to him, propped up on her side. "More like pathetic." He passed the photo album back to her. "I guess not much has changed." Summer joked. "I'm still adorable?" Seth raised his eyebrows at her, spreading a smile across his lips. She threw a pillow at him, which he quickly darted from to escape. "Not when you're being a smartass." She concluded, sitting up. "But otherwise. . ." He let his voice linger, watching her squirm. "Sometimes, Cohen, you can be. . ." She moved closer to him, letting her arm brush his. "Mildly attractive." "Well, how can anyone be full on attractive when they are sitting next to you?" He asked, slowly kissing her again. She kissed him back, letting his tongue touch hers slowly. She slid his hand to his leg, and he slightly flinched. She pulled back quickly, licking her lips. "What are we?" She asked, demanding a valid answer. "What do you want us to be?" He asked, longing for her lips again. "I want," She frowned, not sure of what to say. "I was thinking of maybe, a friends with benefits type thing." She smiled, temptingly. "What?" Seth practically choked on her words. "You know, we can be friends in public, but behind closed doors we can have, benefits." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pushed her off. "I cannot believe you." He stood up. She looked up at him, questioningly. "I thought you finally grew up, but I guess I was wrong." "I guess so." She frowned at him, not exactly sure what he was complaining about. "Summer, I don't want to be your secret. I want to be your boyfriend." He walked briskly to her bedroom door. "Seth!" She bit her lip, leaping off the bed. "That's not what I meant at all!" She started to freak out inside. Her choice of words may have been wrong, but she was just unsure of what she wanted. "Whatever." He was angry, sick and tired of being toyed with. Maybe he was overreacting, but he didn't care anymore. "You are such a jerk, you know that?" She screamed, standing in her doorway as he made his way down her stairs. He kept walking, barely lifting his eye at her screams. "You swear that all I do is play games with you, but you play games with me too, Seth Cohen!" She saw him pause, debating whether to say anything. He turned around to her, pain in his eyes, and went out her front door. She quickly ran down the stairs, practically tripping over the carpeted stairs, grabbing something from her closet and running outside, barefoot and freezing. "Seth, wait!" She called after him; he had just placed his skateboard on the ground. "Summer, you're going to freeze to death." He said, glaring at the wheels of his skateboard. She caught up to him, breathing heavily, and threw her hand out with the jacket she had grabbed. He looked up at her, taking it from her hand. "I thought you threw it out." "I lied." She said, dropping her hand to her hip. "No more lying, ok?" He said, placing his foot on the board. "Ok." She offered him a smile, and he moved a stray hair off of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "But Summer," He said, letting his hand fall and staring into her distant eyes. "I don't like being played with. Especially by you." "I wasn't thinking." "It hurts me to think that you'll never like me as much as I like you." Summer's heart felt as if someone had ripped it out. Wasn't this exactly what she had promised herself not to do? She promised never to hurt Seth again, yet, no matter what she did, she ending up hurting him. "Maybe this isn't going to work." She said, holding in her frustration and tears. She waited for him to let her words sink in, expecting him to tell her how wrong she was, how they would find a way. "I think you're right." He said, avoiding her eyes, and skated off, leaving Summer speechless. She walked back inside her house, locking the door, and collapsing on her couch. She had done the right thing, and so did Seth. She just had to keep reminding herself of that until she believed it. Summer spent another night crying herself to sleep.

"What is wrong with you?" Marissa's voice boomed, causing Seth and Ryan both to wince. Summer wasn't at school that day, but Seth didn't think much of it. Later after soccer practice and work, Ryan and Marissa crashed in on Seth's video game parade only to make him feel worse about blowing Summer off the night prior. Well, Ryan didn't say much, but Marissa had kept screaming at him. "I mean, seriously. What is wrong with you?" She asked again, waiting for a reply. "Shouldn't you be consoling your friend, not me." Seth snapped and Marissa looked a little hurt. "I thought we were friends, too." "Friends don't usually yell at me without letting me explain myself first." Seth snapped again. "Seth!" Ryan gave him a warning look. "No, Ryan, he's right." She smiled at Ryan's jump to defend her and then looked at Seth. "Go ahead." "Summer is confused. I'm giving her time to think." "Did you say that to her?" Marissa asked him imperatively. "Yeah," He said quickly. "Sort of." "Did you tell her in terms she understands?" Marissa asked, sitting down next to Ryan, instead of hovering over Seth. "I'm not sure." Seth said, digging his hands into his pockets out of frustration. He wasn't sure of anything any more.

Summer had gone into complete break up mode. As she glanced around her bed, she saw wads of used tissues, empty boxes of tissues, an overflowing trash can full of tissues. On her bed, was an empty pint of ice cream and empty cans of sprite. She had been watching sappy teen movies all day instead of dragging her ass to school. She just couldn't see him. Yup, she was in a break up mode, but she hadn't even broken up with Seth. Not really, anyway. She glanced at her watch, which told her it was nearly seven. Marissa should be here soon. Ever since seventh grade, Summer had made Coop her own key to her house. This was useful on occasions like this when Summer didn't want to go all the way downstairs to answer the door. She heard some footsteps, and rolled over to face the door. "Hey Coop." She said, as Marissa appeared in her doorway. "Hey there, sunshine." Marissa smiled, placing her bag down on a chair and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Oh, Summer." She shook her head as she picked up some tissues, placing them in the empty boxes. Summer just huffed and rolled back over to face her window, so Marissa couldn't see her cry. "Summer," She touched Summer's side slightly, which was buried in the white blankets. "You can't avoid him forever." "I know." Summer said, sitting up to face Marissa. "Have you talked to him? What did he say? Is he upset too? You didn't tell him I was, because if he find out. . ." She stopped herself. "God, I'm rambling just like him." She smiled a little, which made Marissa smile. "I found out what he meant by all of it." Summer's eyes lit up, "And?" "He said that you are confused, and he wanted to give you time." Marissa cracked a grin, "I think you've had enough time thinking about it, how about you?" "Definitely." She perked up a little, hugging her best friend. "Summer, what do you say, you get dressed and we go see the guys?"

"I don't know, Coop." "Come on, you know you want to see Seth." Marissa squealed. "I do, but, not yet." She said sternly. "Alright." Marissa nodded and hugged her back. "You're going to school tomorrow though, right?" Summer nodded. No way was she going to shed another tear over Seth Cohen. "Good." Marissa lay down next to her, kicking a can off the bed. "You really need to clean this room up."

The next day in school went pretty smoothly. Summer was back to being happy go lucky. She looked hot in a small pink skirt and a light pink tee shirt, with pink flats. She had sashayed right up to her usual spot amongst her worshippers, none of whom called her to ask if she was ok yesterday. "Hey Sum! I saved you a seat!" Marissa called, patting a spot next to her. Summer sat next to her, showing off her best smile, which Marissa returned. "So, Summer," Kate asked, "Have any idea on who the lucky contender is to be your date for homecoming?" Marissa looked at her, admiringly and Summer didn't skip a beat, "Seth Cohen." The girls all gasped, and then burst into laughter, causing Seth and Ryan, at a nearby table to look up. Summer saw Seth watching her. "I'm not joking." She said dryly, Marissa looked at her with a expression of awe. "You must be!" Kate spilled out, laughing. "I'm not joking." Summer overly exaggerated every word, trying to convey her message to Kate and her cronies. "But, he's a dork!" Kate shouted, glaring at Seth, who rolled his eyes at the group of girls. He opened up his ears, attempting to hear what exactly what Summer's bitches were saying about him. Summer took heed of Seth's perked ears, stood up casually, and cleared her throat. "I LIKE SETH COHEN!!!" She screamed, causing not only Marissa and Ryan to jump, all of Summer's table to gasp in realization, and pretty much everyone else in the quad to come to a huge gasp of silence. "And," She turned on her heels. "He is not a dork." She spit out on Kate, who just gaped at her. Summer, content with her actions, motioned for Marissa to come with her and they both walked into the school. "Did you hear that?" Seth's jaw had dropped. He watched as everyone resumed his or her activities, except Summer's bewildered table who kept whispering and laughing, glaring at him. "Who didn't hear that?" Ryan laughed, still in shock. "What does this mean?" Seth asked, lifting his jaw back to its place. "I don't think Summer's confused anymore." "No, now I am." Seth laughed as they walked off to class.