Thanks again for all the positive feedback, everyone! I don't like this chapter as much as I think it doesn't flow as well. Criticism is welcome, too. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

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The next morning Summer is fiercely attached to Seth in bed. She is curled all around him and he doesn't seem to mind as they both sleep peacefully. Slowly he begins to wake up as the sunlight hits his face from the window. He notices the position they're in and gently removes her arms from around him, not disturbing her so she can sleep a little more. He grabs a shirt off the back of his chair as he heads out of the room.

***

Sandy is sitting in the kitchen nursing a steaming mug of coffee. Seth stumbles in, still a little groggy from just waking up. He walks over to the pantry and grabs a few packages of pop-tarts before tossing them in the toaster and taking a seat next to his Dad. Sandy quietly studies his son's actions and movements suspiciously and finally Seth notices and gives his father a weird sideways look.

"Dad…?

"What?"

"You tell me."

"As far as I know there's nothing to tell. Do you have anything to tell, Seth?"

Seth shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly and heads back over to the toaster, grabbing the pop-tarts and putting them on a plate.

"I think I'm going to have breakfast in my room. I'm in the middle of a really good comic book."

He starts walking past Sandy to the stairway. Before he can get too far, though, Sandy makes a sly comment.

"Eating portions for two now?"

Seth tries to gauge whether his Dad knows something or is bluffing.

"I'm a hormonal teenage male. This is like a snack to me."

Sandy shrugs his shoulders innocently and nods. Seth tries to get out of there quickly, but as he's passing his father, Sandy reaches out and slips something small onto the plate. Seth looks down and sees a small key. He looks up at his Dad, confused.

"Your mother would murder both of us if she knew about this. I trust that if you're going to have a girl stay the night that you're going to be smart and responsible about it and not make me regret giving this to you. I also trust that Summer will no longer be climbing up your balcony. Use some discretion when it comes to your mother, though."

Seth is shocked and Sandy looks smugly satisfied. Seth shakes his head before continuing up the stairs.

***

Seth dashes into his room and shuts the door behind himself, putting the plate down on his desk.

"Holy shit."

Summer groans at being disturbed while she's trying to sleep, but Seth ignores her protests and continues.

"You will never in a million years guess what just happened!"

"This had better be good, Cohen."

She sits up in bed looking more than a little pissed off. He tosses the key to her and she deftly catches it in midair. She turns it around in her hand, getting a good look at it.

"If you say that this is the key to your heart or something I'm going to gag."

"Not quite, precious. My Dad just gave that to me. Downstairs. Only moments ago. To give to you."

The color drains from her face.

"Oh God, he knows what's been going on?"

"Not entirely, but I think he has the general gist. And, by the way, I warned you about keeping it down when climbing up to my room."

"So he's giving me a key to your house?"

"I know. Who knew my Dad was such a free-loving kind of guy. Ew. Don't want to think about that. Anyway, he wants you to use this instead of taking the scenic route. Just don't get caught by my mom."

"Wow. Your Dad is cool, Seth. Does geekdom skip a generation or something?"

"Gimme the key back."

"Alright, I'm shutting up now."

She looks at it proudly before slipping it into her back pocket. He brings the plate over and sits down in front of her, placing it between them.

"I thought we could be traditional and have breakfast in bed."

"Pop-tarts? How Martha Stewart of you."

She picks one up and they both begin eating their breakfast.

***

Summer, Seth and Ryan are sitting in the pool house. The boys are playing play station while Summer mocks them.

"Ryan, first Chino, now videogames? Are you looking for ways to hit the bottom rung of the social ladder?"

"Summer don't you need to go charge something to your platinum card or wax something or anything?"

She narrows her eyes at him and glares. Seth high-fives Ryan for his burn and Summer, shocked and annoyed, kicks him and he loses his concentration, causing Ryan to have the chance to win the game. He does and throws his hands in the air in celebration. Seth turns to Summer and looks annoyed.

"See what effect your smiting me has?"

Summer rolls her eyes and gets up as the boys start a rematch. She wanders over to the side of the pool-house that looks into Marissa's yard. Through the back window she can see Julie and Caitlin helping Marissa into the house, carrying her bags.

"Oh my God. I have to go."

Summer takes off out the door of the pool-house and the boys abandon their game to go to the window and take a look at what scared her away. When Ryan sees Marissa his face is a mixture of guilt, hopefulness and anxiety. Seth looks sympathetically at his friend.

***

Marissa is in her room, unpacking her bag of clothes and various other necessities. There's a knock at her door and she looks up, startled.

"Come in?"

Summer pokes her head out from behind the door before coming inside and shutting the door behind herself. She stands near the door awkwardly, though, as Marissa just goes back to unpacking.

"You're back."

It is less of a question and more of a statement. Marissa nods her head glumly.

"Yeah, I was discharged this morning. Mom picked me up about an hour ago."

"Shouldn't you be happier, Coop? This is what you wanted."

"I know. But I came to realize that being in that hospital allowed me not to face some things I'm not looking forward to dealing with. Luke's been calling here everyday and my Mom wants to invite him over for dinner."

"Uh, no? Does she know what happened?"

"I told her after I was admitted. She told me he just made a foolish mistake and it wasn't worth flushing six years of my life and potentially many more down the toilet."

But the prospect of a future with Luke seems to only depress Marissa further. She slumps down on the bed and Summer goes and sits next to her, perching on the edge.

"Well, no offence there Coop, but your Mom isn't the poster-child for healthy relationships. Forget her and do what you want to do."

"What if I don't know what I want to do?"

"Then don't do anything for now."

Marissa considers this, but she's really stuck between a rock and a hard place right now.

"How about, instead of dinner with vile Luke, you and I go out and enjoy one of our last days of freedom before school begins? We can do anything you want."

"Okay. But would it be alright if we asked some other people to come along?"

***

Marissa, Summer, Seth and Ryan are all walking along the beach. Marissa is on one end, looking off in the distance, lost in thought. Summer stands next to her, concerned and trying to be upbeat if only for Marissa's sake. Seth wanders along following Summer's lead and next to him Ryan casts a tentative glance in Marissa's direction every so often, even though she's oblivious to it. There's a lot of tension between the four and Summer is desperately trying to lighten it.

"So I think we should go by the Crab Shack and grab some food."

Marissa doesn't even show that she heard what Summer said. She looks around for any kind of reaction from the guys but they just walk along like nothing happened. She gets frustrated and annoyed.

"Fine. Seth and I are going out."

Marissa stops dead in her tracks and Ryan chokes. They both look astonished and even Seth is surprised by Summer's boldness.

"Well, good to know your ears are still working."

Summer defiantly grabs Seth's hand and begins pulling him along.

"Now we're going to get food and you're both going to pay me a little more attention."

Marissa and Ryan look at one another, astonished, by follow behind Seth and Summer.

***

Summer marches into the Crab Shack, Seth in tow, with Marissa and Ryan following right behind. The foursome just manage to get in the door when heads turn. Occupants of the various tables look at Marissa and begins whispering and snickering. In the corner, Luke, Holly and various members of their social group are sitting at a table. They all look up at the new arrivals. Holly gets a nasty smile, but Luke jumps up and stares at Marissa, hoping to talk to her. Summer glares at everyone in the restaurant and walks over to a booth, forcing Seth in first. She ensures that they're on the side facing most of the people in the restaurant. Marissa looks embarrassed as she and Ryan slide into the other side. Luke, on the other hand, looks sad and angry at being ignored so he sits right back down. Summer hands out icy death stares all around. Ryan turns and gives Marissa a sympathetic and protective look.

"Hey, is this okay? We can go if you want to?"

"No. This is fine. I may as well get used to it before school starts."

"Ignore all of them, Coop. They're just getting off on themselves."

Marissa is not reassured, though. She begins having a panic attack and starts hyperventilating. She quickly jumps out of the booth and dashes off to the bathroom. Ryan looks worried and wants to follow after her, but Summer gets up first and follows Marissa into the bathroom.

***

Marissa leans against the bathroom sink, breathing deeply. She braces herself for the panic. Summer flies into the bathroom looking concerned. She rushes over to the paper towel dispenser and pulls some out before running them under the tap and applying them to Marissa's forhead.

"Just breathe, Coop."

Suddenly the washroom door opens again and Holly walks in looking arrogant and pleased.

"My, my, my…"

Summer spins around and stares daggers at her former friend.

"Holly, get the fuck out."

"Slummin' Summer, like I'm really going to listen to a word out of your mouth."

Marissa is trying to cover up her anxiety and discomfort, but fails miserably. Summer is hyper-alert and ready to get into it if need be.

"So Seth Cohen… What, you screwed all the guys in Newport so now you're having to resort to dorks in order to find fresh meat?"

"Gee, Holly, as much as your opinion is dear to my heart, I'm comforted by the fact that I got my boyfriend of my own accord and didn't have to go trailing like a lost puppy after someone else's."

"You don't know the half of it, Summer."

"What I do know is that you may have been screwing Luke in private, but as far as his public personae was concerned, he didn't want to be linked to you. Guess you're only good enough for closed doors, huh?"

The remark stings Holly and she kicks it up a notch, attacking Marissa because Summer doesn't take her bait.

"The funny thing about closed doors is that they have a way of opening… Looks like Luke isn't waiting for the Prude Princess anymore."

"Good score, Holly. You only had to wait on the back burner until his actual girlfriend dumped him first. Good to know your self-esteem hasn't taken a blow from being second choice."

With that Summer ushers Marissa out of the bathroom and back into the restaurant.

***

Summer and Seth are sitting up in his bed. Both are wearing their pajamas and are under the covers, but Seth is reading a comic book and Summer is idly flipping through a magazine. The appear completely normal and comfortable around one another and it is as though they've been together forever.

"So everyone knows we're a couple now."

Summer tosses her magazine aside and looks at him, trying to read a reaction. Instead he just flips the page and looks unfazed.

"Yeah, so I heard."

"Gee, don't overwhelm me with your enthusiasm, Cohen."

"Okay."

He flips the page again and she is annoyed by his indifference. She snatches the comic book out of his hands and hurls it across the room. He watches it fly, looking shocked and devastated.

"The was a first print, mint condition…"

"Spare me the geek-speak."

It's now his turn to look annoyed.

"Well, you've got my attention."

"Do you even want to have sex with me?"

His eyes bug out for a second and it's apparent he wasn't expecting that kind of comment.

"I'm a guy whose had the hots for you since grade school. What do you think?"

"Well, you hide it really well."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Want to have sex?"

She looks uncharacteristically vulnerable and shy.

"Yeah."

He looks a little panicked.

"Now?"

"No, Cohen. Not now."

"Okay. Then what's the big deal?"

She sits back and thinks about it.

"Nothing, I guess. I'm just not used to it. And I don't get you."

She looks pouty and confused and he has to laugh.

"Summer, we've been together for less than a week. Believe me, I want to have sex with you. And I have no idea when we will. But that's kind of appealing too. The not knowing. And my cousin, Rita, is the only girl who has ever seen me naked before and we were three. So there's a bit of, y'know, performance anxiety."

She smiles at him, thinking it's incredibly cute.

"Oh God, don't look at me like that. I know that look. That's the wuss look. I hate that look."

"I guess I'm going to have to call Rita up for the details."

"I knew telling you was a mistake. I knew the moment the words left my mouth."

She rolls her eyes and lies down in the bed. He looks defeated and does the same after turning the light out. He sulkily turns over on his side away from her. She sees this and indulges him.

"Come on, Seth."

"No."

"It wasn't the wuss look."

"I know the wuss look. It was the wuss look."

She rolls her eyes at his sulking and pulls his pants down under the covers.

"Hey! Summer!"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

"Really?"

She smiles sweetly and kisses him.

"Not likely."

Then she turns over and faces away from him, leaving him hanging. He gets frustrated with himself for being duped.

"Damnit."