(Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all. So don't sue me. Please.)

A Note from the Author: Ooh. The thot plickens. I'd just like to thank everyone for their reviews so far! I'd been scared that this story would be one of those that was left forgotten with like 7 reviews and then I wouldn't have a reason to finish it, but wow. 44! That's good enough for me (hee). And, I'm going to stop rambling now… onwards (okay, so I need a new catchphrase)!

Chapter Nine

Summer couldn't hold back her tears. Secretly, she'd always been a really emotional person, and normally it would get channelled into rage blackouts. However, this time was different. She was breaking up with the first person who ever really gave his heart to her, and there was a time when she had felt the same towards him.

Seth just stood there, stunned at what he had just let slip. But Summer had to know what he had inevitably realized on those lonely nights when he pictured himself sailing to Tahiti. That he loved her. And he was never again letting her go and doing something stupid like leave her all alone for two months to fend for herself.

Her whole idea to break up must have been something she dreamed up to get back at him. Deep down, underneath her snarky exterior, he knew she really loved him, too. Right?

Regaining control of herself, Summer hastily wiped her face with her sleeve, uncaring that she was taking half her makeup along with it. "I'm sorry," she whispered for the last time before opening the door and escaping to her car, leaving behind a very broken-hearted Seth.

He didn't miss the irony in the fact that this would be the first and last time she would ever apologize to him.

He contemplated going after her, but decided he was too exhausted, so instead he just sat on his bed and stared dully at the floor. He couldn't understand what had just happened. It wasn't supposed to be like that. It wasn't supposed to have ended the way it did. Seth suspected that there was something influencing her decision other than his leaving for the summer.

And for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why he would want to know what it was.

Maybe he was just a sucker for punishment.

In the meantime, Ryan brooded in the pool house. After the day's turmoil of seeing Seth, then Summer (especially Summer), he felt a little beat up inside, a little worse for wear. It would be better if he could deal with it with the companionship of his old friend Jack Daniels, but Ryan was better than that now. He would just have to imagine that the shot glasses in front of him were actually brimming with alcohol, then.

If anything, Ryan mused, what he really wanted was a sense of normalcy. Because for someone who moved to Newport and into the Cohen's pool house as an alternative to his turbulent violence-ridden past, well, he was getting into a different kind of drama here anyway. What he needed to do was leave Summer alone, so she could make up with Seth, and the poor boy from Chino could be alone again. Being alone was a bitch, but at least Seth would be happy, and that's all that really mattered to Ryan. He owed Seth. A lot.

And he'd be damned if he'll let himself get carried away with his feelings for Summer.

And so, with his back turned to the window, he didn't see her stumble out of the mansion and into her car, then drive away.

And if he had looked, and seen her there, it would have been the last time he would ever see her that summer, because Seth was his 'brother', and you didn't hang out with the girl who broke his heart. And you especially didn't still think about her, even though you couldn't help it.

When Luke returned, they hung out together in the pool house, just them guys. Sometimes Marissa would stop by and make an occasional pass at Ryan, but nothing really came of it. Summer avoided everyone else, of course, even Marissa, because it was hard for her to look her in the eye.

Seth was usually moody, and Ryan pensive, and Luke just had to wonder what the hell was going on with his friends. He didn't know whether it was the school year, or girls, or what. He had hoped it wasn't too serious, because now that all of them were single, he wanted to hit the party scene. With Seth's adorkable good looks, Ryan's mysterious good looks, and his all-American good looks, the three would be an unstoppable force!

But with the others moping around like that, well, there was no chance for any action at all.

Then Caleb Nichol broke up with Julie Cooper (through Kirsten, no less!), and Luke began to realize how wrong he really was.

And so, he had a little romantic tryst of his own.