Still don't own the OC.

Thanks for the reviews :). Don't worry, all the characters will show up as the story progresses.

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Seth POV.



"So, how do I call her?"

It must have been the thirtieth time in two days that I had flipped my phone and stared at her number. When I got off the train that day, I felt like such a fool because I knew I wanted to see her again. I did what I needed to do to make that happen. Now that it was within my reach, I was scared shitless.

"Well, the last I heard, you pick up the phone and dial the number," Ryan replied sarcastically. He rolled his eyes, got off the couch and went to the kitchen.

I looked back at the name and couldn't do it. It was one thing to dream about something and it was another to have it shattered. As far as I didn't call her, I could keep hope alive.

"What if she's not interested?" I said, voicing my concern. "What if she just gave me the number out of obligation or because she wasn't trying to be rude? What if she only gave it to me because I backed her into a corner?"

"Well, you sort of did, didn't you? Could she say no after you ran after her like Prince Charming on a unicorn?"

" Dude, Prince Charming never rode a unicorn. Besides, what are you trying to say?" Sometimes, I wanted to kill Ryan. On some days he was the ying to my yang, injecting logic at times I insisted on being irrational but sometimes he could be an ass. Of course, he'd define it as being honest but sometimes honesty is not the best policy -lie to me a little, make me feel good. Is that too much to ask?

"I'm saying that maybe the number is fake. Have you actually called it to check that it actually works?"

I frowned. "So, I should just call to make sure it's real?" Anna didn't seem like the type of woman to do that but people do change.

He came out with two beers. He handed me one. "Why not?"

"What if it's real? Then what?"

"Then you talk to her."

"Yeah, but what would I say?"

Ryan sighed. "Why are you acting like this? You've dated enough girls, you know how it goes."

Yes, I'd dated a few girls in my life but they were not Anna Stern. Well, actually, I had dated Anna Stern, but at that time, I didn't have the mental capability to appreciate her for what and who she was.

"I know, but what if she doesn't even want to date me? She said she loved me as a friend."

"Nine hundred years ago. Besides, according to you, she also said that maybe sometime in the future you'd be perfect for one another, or whatever it was she said," Ryan pointed out.

"What do you mean by 'according to you?'"

"Hey, I wasn't there, that's what you said."

"So?"

"So, it's the future - time to find out." Sometimes, Ryan made it difficult for me to argue with him.

I thought about it for a moment. "But she also said that she just loved me as a friend," I repeated. "What if that's all it is?"

"THEN THAT'S ALL IT IS!" Ryan shouted. "Look man, ever since you and Summer broke up, you've been obsessed with the idea that you let the right woman move to Pittsburgh. Every time a new relationship didn't work out you'd say, 'Maybe she's in Pittsburgh.' Well, she's not longer in Pittsburgh. You meet her on the train, she looks gorgeous, she sets your little heart aflutter, you want her all over again. It sounds like a Russian novel."

"What in the world do you know about Russian novels?"

"Comes with knowing Marissa Cooper. Besides, you think you're the only one with some culture?"

"But, I know Marissa Cooper, how come I don't know about these Russian novels you are talking about?" I teased. When I'd met Ryan, he'd been this tough carjacker from the wrong side of the tracks so it was funny to hear him talk about romance novels.

"Shut up and just call her."

"She's busy, she's probably not interested." I really wanted to call her but the idea of getting rejected didn't sit too well with me. For a while now, I'd considered her to be the girl that got away so I didn't think I could handle it if she didn't feel the same. Especially because it was partly due to my self-obsession that she went away in the first place.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Well, just do it as soon as possible." Ryan was having one of his music industry things so I wanted to invite Anna partly to impress her and partly to be with her.

"Remember, I need to know if it's going to be a boys only thing or if I should call whatshername... what's her name?" he asked trying to remember.

"What's her name?" he repeated.

"Who knows? I don't get how you expect me to keep track of all your women -especially when you can't even remember them yourself."

"Whatever, can I help it that women find me attractive?"

"Trust me dude, if I worked for a record company, they'd be all over me too."

"So, what are you complaining about.... yes! Her name is Sheila... or is it Shirley? Something sh..."

"You must have her name written down somewhere..." I was already getting bored with the topic. I had much bigger problems than trying to remember some bootycall's name.

"Of course I have it written somewhere. Hmm... but where?" He sensed that I was no longer paying attention to him so he got back to the more important issue. "So what are you going to do?" he asked again.

I exhaled. I picked up my phone, said a little prayer and dialed the number.

-------

Ryan, his date and I picked Anna up in his company limo. We all sat comfortably and made small talk. At coat check, she took of her coat and I gasped. I don't think I was able to prevent my eyes from growing to the size of saucers but I managed to keep my mouth from opening. I certainly did not notice this part of her anatomy on the train that day. She was wearing a thin strapped dress and from what I could see, it was like she'd gained ten pounds with nine of them laying comfortably on her chest. I'd always found Anna attractive but this grown up version was the definition of sexy.

In addition to hosting the event, Ryan was a regular at the club so we were given the VIP treatment. Other than the constant attention, before a bottle of champagne was half-empty, we had a new one. When they noticed a glass was getting empty, someone seemingly appeared from nowhere and refilled it.

"Seth, thanks for inviting me," Anna said, taking it all in." A girl likes to feel like a celebrity every now and then."

I was pleased - I already knew that I'd enjoy making her feel special. "You're welcome. But it's Ryan's thing," I reminded her. It would have been nice to take all the credit, but I knew she'd probably see through it. I figured her for someone that'd appreciate humility.

"So, what's this event anyway?"

"Oh, Ryan's label is launching a new act. Apparently, they are the Next Big Thing."

"Are they?"

I whispered, "actually, they are just alright. Certainly no Death Cab for Cutie," I replied, remembering those times we'd spent listening to the records together. At the time, we had been so obsessed with emo music that when nobody was looking, we pretended to be onstage as we lip-synced the lyrics.

She laughed, "yeah, I was bummed when they broke up. No one ever stays together these days."

"I guess not."

"So, how's Summer?" she asked.

"Interesting segue," I observed, laughing.

She joined me, her beautiful brown eyes twinkling. "I thought it was. So...?"

"She's great. She lives in California - she's a designer now." Summer was my ex-girlfriend. At the time I met Anna, I was infatuated with her and inevitably hurt Anna in the end.

"So, that was her!" she exclaimed, something dawning on her.

"Who?"

"I was watching some fashion thing on television and thought it was her."

"Yeah, probably. She supplies several boutiques. She's really made a name for herself."

"Well, if anyone knows anything about fashion -it'll be Summer. I am so happy for her."

"Yeah."

"Continue," she implored.

"Continue...?" I didn't know what else she wanted to hear. I hoped she didn't want me to give her a blow-by-blow of our entire relationship because at that moment, all I cared to talk about was my present, not ancient history.

"Tell me about your relationship. Did it turn out to be the great romance you'd fantasized about all your life?"

"Oh... yes it did, for a while." I had to admit it. I'd been head over heels in love.

She looked at me inquiringly, "don't stop there!"

"We dated throughout high school, I moved to Illinois, she went to UCLA and it was fine for while, but I guess we were too far apart because by sophomore year, we broke up."

"Wow. That must have been hard."

"It was," I admitted. "But it had to happen. We did the whole on again, off again thing but by our senior year, we just completely gave up. We're friends now."

She looked at me sadly. "Do you think that without the distance you'd still be together?"

I shook my head. I knew what she was really asking. She wanted to know if I had any regrets. She wanted to know if I was still in love with her. Essentially, she wanted to know if she was still a threat. And I wanted to put her mind at ease. "No. Don't get me wrong, Summer was a great girlfriend and it was great while it lasted, but it wouldn't have worked - we grew apart... became very different."

She seemed satisfied with my response.

She looked at Ryan and his date talking to some people.

"Is that Ryan's girlfriend?"

"That's his girl for this week. Loverboy over there goes through them like toilet paper."

"Hmmm..." she said still looking at him. She stared at him and then his date. After a short while, she appeared to realize something that caused her to tear her eyes away from them then smile to herself.

"What?" I couldn't for the life of me imagine what she was thinking so I wanted to know. And from the way it appeared, it didn't look too good.

"Oh," she said then glanced at Ryan again. "I was just wondering... Did he get taller or something?"

I chortled. "Yes, he did." My mind resettled.

She snapped her fingers. "That's it. I knew something was different. It looks... good on him."

"But I'm still taller," I reminded her. I don't even know why I blurted those words out but I felt a little uneasy about the conversation. Why did she care about what Ryan looked like? She was sitting with me and should have been concentrating on me and no one else.

She seemed confused by my reaction but didn't say anything. I felt like such a fool.

The band started to perform.

I got up and stretched my hand, hoping to diffuse the tension that my stupidity had inadvertently caused. "Will you like to dance?"

"Sure," she said.

We immediately put our arms around one another. Being entwined in her arms, looking into her eyes as the music dictated our movement felt amazing. Usually a clumsy dancer, I felt like Fred Astaire. Anna did that for me. It was like I could read her body and my every movement was a response to a question it had asked. We danced together and got lost in our own little world. We would have stayed in that position all night if Ryan hadn't interrupted us when the music stopped.

After Sheila/Shirley was dropped off, the mood kind of lightened and it was almost like we had reverted to our Newport days.

"Anna, I'm sorry I haven't been able to talk to you much," Ryan apologized. He'd been so busy marketing his act that he'd spent very little time with us. Which was fine by me because I spent enough time with him at home. This evening was about Anna and I.

"There's no need to apologize to me for anything. I had a great time. For you it was work, for me, pleasure," she replied graciously. If I had been shaky about my feelings before that, that statement would have cinched it.

Ryan looked at us. "Funny, how you guys met," he said, looking into her eyes.

"Funny," she replied, looking back into his.

What the hell was going on? I couldn't understand what was happening. All I knew was, at that moment, I felt invisible. And I didn't like it one iota.

I put a possessive arm around Anna's shoulders. She didn't seem to particularly welcome the gesture but luckily, she didn't react negatively.

I pulled her closer to me and said, "Yes, it was great meeting her like that. Who would have thought that we could have been in the same city for three years and not even run into one another?" I had to refocus the conversation on us -Seth and Anna- and nobody else.

"There are over 10 million people in this city, Seth. Who knows, we could have lived in this city for twenty years and not have had this happen."

"And that wouldn't have been good," I pointed out.

She smiled.

-------

When we got to her apartment, I walked her to her door. She slipped the key in, but before she opened her door, she turned around to me and said, "Seth, what do you want from me?"

"What do you mean?" I was bidding my time - I had to figure out what she wanted to hear. If I expressed my true feelings too early, I was sure I'd scare her away. And that was the last thing I wanted to do.

"Seth, you know what I mean."

"What do you think?" I asked anxiously. I still hadn't come up with anything worthwhile.

"Are we going to do this all night?"

"What?" I could sense her frustration.

"Evade one another's questions? Just answer me."

"You once said that we didn't have chemistry..." I started.

"I did?"

"Yes. A long time ago, but we were just kids. Seeing you again just makes me think that maybe things can be different now."

"I see. So what does that mean?"

"It means, I would like to know what you're doing next Friday."

She thought about it. "Seth, I'm so busy, I have to grade papers, do research..."

"But you also have to eat," I interjected with a smile, "right?"

"Right," she smiled back.

"So, it's settled then, me and you rendezvous at the park at two?"

"What?"

"Oh... it's some song. I can't even remember where I heard it." When I got nervous, stupid things slipped out of my mouth. I'd learned to control it in my adult years, but Anna made me feel like I was back in high school. "I'll call you tomorrow," I finished.

"Alright."

We stood there awkwardly for a few moments. I leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. She didn't kiss me back - she just smiled nervously. I wished she had responded in a way that gave me an inkling of her feelings, but I was glad she didn't reject me either.

"Tomorrow then," she said, right before she walked into her apartment.

On the way home, all I could think was that I'd let her go once and would do everything in my power to make sure I wasn't a fool again. Seth and Anna 2012 was going to end differently.