The 205

Anna, Seth, Summer...

PG13

After the season finale, Anna is waiting for Seth on his return from Tahiti.

A/N- written in a desperate attempt to get me far away from Slash.

Her heeled boots stood firm on the hard wood of the dock. It was worn and wet in places; the water kept leaping up and spraying, making her skirt and heels damp. She loved the feeling.

Peices of her hair had escaped from the clip which she had used to hold the strands in place, and were now whisping around her face.

The sun was going to go down soon, Anna thought to herself, but she didn't mind.

It's rays were casting a golden glow across the water; starting at the far side, and then making their way toward her, playing and dancing on the clear blue waves. She watched it as she waited; the sun sank lower and lower.

Finally she saw it on the horizon; coming toward her, and she smiled. As it came closer, the white sails came into view, and Anna could just barely make out the black words sprawled across the side. The Summer Breeze. The Summer breeze. The name was like a knife to her heart, even though she had known what it was going to say. She'd known, but now she remembered.

Anna almost turned around and got back into her car, as a million memories flooded back. A thousand regrets.

As she spotted him, though, things came back into clear focus, and she pushed the shaky thoughts to the back of her mind; the equivelent of balling them up and throwing them into the ocean.

There he was. He pushed the tiller hard to the opposite side, and Anna watched as it tacked perfectly to the starboard side, making his way towards land. Making his way towards her.

His hair was unruly, and he was more tanned than he had been the last time she'd seen him. Beautiful. Absolutely amazing, and he didn't even realize it. No one did, really. That was their loss.

He still hadn't seen her, but seeing his face pulled on Anna's heartstrings. She was surprised that after all this time, he still had this effect on her.

He's too busy docking the boat to see her, as her boots tapped gently on the worn, damp wood as Anna walked closer to where he was.

He's not expecting her. Not at all; in fact, a familliar face was the last thing he expected to see there, let alone hers.

"Mrs Cohen? I'm sure you don't have to worry about Seth. He's a great sailor, and Tahiti is really not that far away..."

She had cried, Kirsten had, and Anna had almost broken down too, when she'd heard.

She had made the descision to move back to Newport. Even if she couldn't be with Seth, she still wanted to be near him. He was, afterall, in everyway her equal, her best friend, her...

But she had arrived, and found nothing. A grieving Kirsten, an apathetic Sandy, a back-to-normal Summer and a broken down Marissa. Ryan was gone, and Seth... Seth had taken off.

It was weeks after he had left, when she came back. No one had called her to tell her, because really, who would have? Summer? No, she chuckled to herself, thinking about it, not Summer.

Seth, the Cohens had informed her, had set his course for Tahiti.

They had gathered her up for the tightest hug she had ever recieved, when she told them she knew where he was. Seth had discussed his plans for the trip with her. In detail; but that was so long ago, and surely he'd changed them...

But when Sandy had dialed the number of the local Motel that Anna had given, the lovely deskman told them that Seth had been there recently. Tension went down about fifty points. He was safe. Kirsten and Sandy could rest peacefully. Well, somewhat peacefully, considering.

But Anna was still shook up. She knew that he wouldn't stay in Tahiti long, and she wanted to know where his next stop would be. She wanted to know, and she wanted to be there.

And so here she was, standing silently, waiting patiently for Seth to be finished docking.

Tossing a curled up length of rope back into the boat as he stepped onto land, Seth finally looked up.

Anna took a shaky breath. Maybe he didn't recognize her. It had been a long time. Her hair was longer, and she hadn't worn these clothes before. He had spent quite a while at sea...

"Oh, fuck, Anna!" All her fears vanished with his exclaimation, as her pulled her into his arms and held on.

He smelled like salt and sweat and sea, and a billion other 's' words that Anna was sure she knew, somewhere in her brain, but was too overwhelmed to think about.

She clung to him; tears came to her eyes.

They stayed this way for a moment, getting used to eachother again. Finally, reluctantly, Seth pulled himself out of her arms.

"Hi." He said, grinning, and sticking his hands in his pockets. Anna laughed, and nodded at him.

"Hi."

Seth grinned some more, laughing too, shaking his head in disbelief.

"So, uh, not that I'm complaining, because trust me, I most definately am not, but, um... what are you doing here? How'd ya find me?" Anna smiled, coyly. Touched his arm lightly.

"You don't cover your tracks, Cohen." Seth kept grinning, and shook his head in disbelief. In denial, but with amusement and awe in his eyes.

Anna raised an eyebrow and turned around to walk back toward land. She stopped a few feet away and turned back.

"Pancake tour?" She asked quietly, challenge in her voice and a smile in her eyes.

"Thought you'd never ask." Seth insisted, as he grabbed his courderoy bag out of the boat and followed her.

They'd been on the road for almost an hour, and they had covered every topic...except one, and Anna knew it was coming, so when he asked her, she was ready.

"Anna, how is..."

"Haven't seen her." she cut him off before he could say the name. He nodded, maybe in agreement, and started stammering, and blushed. She usually loved it when he did that. Usually.

"Right, yeah. Why would you? I mean, it's not like you two kept in touch, or anything..." he trailed off, and turned to watch the scenery fly by in a blur. Trees melded into houses and then feilds.

The radio was off, and the only sound was the wind, creating a roar in their ears and messing up their hair. Seth drummed his fingers on the side. Anna tightened her grip on the wheel.

"Anna..." Seth started slowly, after a silence that was too long to count. She glanced at him quickly from the corner of her eye, before flickering her gaze back to the road ahead of her.

Seth gulped, narrowed his eyes, before starting again.

"I'm not going back."

She didn't respond at first, but eventually nodded slowly.

"Does it look like we're headed back?" She asked, with a sad little smile. Seth sighed, and settled into the seat, leaning his head back.

"I don't know why you left, Seth. but if you say you had to, I believe you. And there's nothing I want to do more than go with you. So we'll leave it at that for now, alright?" Anna finished, her voice shaking.

Seth grunted his approval, but didn't open his eyes.

"When's the last time you slept?" she asked him, pulling into a garage parking lot.

"Can't really remember..." he muttered, already almost asleep. Anna smiled softly.

Anna watched him wake with a jolt, and winced.

"Sorry." she muttered softly, pulling the keys out of the ignition.

"Did we stop?" Seth asked, squinting out the window. It was dark.

"Gas." Anna offered, by way of explaination, and swung the door of the car open.

A few moths fluttered around the glow of a street light, as she walked passed it and pulled out the gas nozzle. A tired looking man looked on warily from the station window; nervous, maybe, about drivers at this time of night.

Confidence, Anna, she told herself, as she replaced the nozzle and stepped forward to enter the store and pay. She knew she shouldn't be worried, but places like that gave her a strange feeling.

Almost before she could hesitate, a hand was in hers. She glanced up to see Seth smiling down at her.

"Want me to go in?" his question was almost mocking, but for the gentle smile. She grinned back.

"We'll both go." she decided, squeezing his hand tighter.

Anna yawned.

"Pull over here." Seth declared suddenly, after a long period of silence.

"What? But I..." her yawn had barely ended, and the words came out hollow and ringing.

"You yawned."

She shut her mouth.

"No I didn't"

"Anna..." there was warning in his voice. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine." she relented, with a grin.

The car slowed to a stop with the crunching of gravel and rubber. Silence once again took over. Slience and crickets.

Sleep was expected, but for Anna it didn't come right away. Glancing out the window, she felt so far away from everything. Alone and isolated, and even though Seth was there, she was a little scared. The first night, and already I'm whimping out, she thought to herself, letting her drawn breath out in a long sigh. Damn.

"Anna," she heard Seth say, and she turned to look at him. There was next to no light, but she could see him, sitting there. His eyes glowed, and his lips were glossy. "You look cold."

Anna blinked.

"I'm fine..." she insisted, folding her arms around her, and laying her head back against the seat.

Seth shook his head.

"No, you're not. Come here." He held his arms out to her, and, for a moment, Anna hesitated.

How could he know that this was exactly what she wanted? He didn't want it. She didn't want to be his charity. She didn't want to need him to protect her. But she did.

She clamoured over the division between the two seats and dropped herself into his lap, resting her head on his shoulder and throwing her arms around his neck.

After a few minutes of getting comfortable, Anna was calmed by his slow, steady breathing.

She was almost asleep, and she wanted to thank him. The words wouldn't come, though.

"You talk less now." Was all she could manage to mutter, as his strong arms kept her warm, and she snuggled into him. He chuckled softly.

"Yeah... months by myslef on a boat. That'll do it to ya. Though I did do alot of talking to myself. And this really cool sea turtle that kept following me..."

Anna smiled into his shirt, before she fell asleep to his voice.