Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own the O.C., nor will I ever.

Life, Love, and Coming Home

Chapter Two

"Holy shit! I don't have a ring!?" Summer let out a slight scream of panic.

"Hey it's not my fault, you didn't tell me we were getting engaged. Otherwise, I would have been happier to get you one," Matt said in a sarcastic, annoyed voice. Summer turned and gave him a glare, which in turn made him smirk broadly back at her. It was fun to piss Summer off when you knew how. But of course you have to know when to stop too, or you would become one of the unfortunate victims of her rage blackouts.

"Just put that ring on your left hand," he said as he pointed to a small, squared-shaped diamond on her right hand.

"I guess," she let out a sigh as she took the ring off and slip it on her left ring finger. She held her hand back to examine the effect the ring had on the hand.

"It doesn't even look like an engagement ring, it's too small," she sighed loudly.

"Well, tell them I'm poor and didn't have enough money to buy you a ring, so I sold all my stuff, and with all the money I had, I bought you that ring," he said through a huge smile.

"You're having fun with this, aren't you?" Summer said in a thoroughly annoyed voice.

"You have no idea. And I'm just getting started too. You never told me being engaged to you would be so much fun," he grinned widely.

"Marissa's coming over, let's try to act like we're in love," she said with an emphasis on the word 'love'.

"Hey, there you guys are, we were just about to make our toast and announce the wedding party," Marissa announced enthusiastically as she walked over to them. "We're going be announcing the best man and maid of honor," Marissa smiled widely.

"Great, can't wait!" Summer said somewhat enthusiastically. The reason is, she knew she would be seeing Seth again, for the first time in three years. She could just imagine, Ryan would announce Seth as his best man and Seth would go up and make some quirky remark to make everyone laugh. He would be standing there, looking perfect and happy, and smiling at everyone, with a hot girl in his arms. Ughh. And she would be looking afar with her "fiancé".

"Great, I'll see you guys over in the living room later!" Marissa leaned in gave Summer a quick hug before making her way into the living room.      

"So, are you Marissa's maid of honor," Matt asked as he took a sip of his champagne.

"I don't think so, I think it will be Kaitlin, her little sister. I wouldn't be the best person for the job anyway," she said while staring aimlessly at the drink in her hand.

"Why not, you two seem pretty close." Matt had stood up from his stool and lend his hand out to help Summer up as well.

"Yeah well, things change," she replied back quietly.

They made their way into the living room, and Summer made sure to position themselves at the back of the crowd. It looked like the entire Newport area was here. This had to be the work of Julie Cooper. Summer was certain, that like her, Marissa hardly knew half the people in the room right now. She also noticed the amount of plastic surgeries people were getting had doubled since she last attended a social event in Newport. The sound of glass clanking, which was the signal for a toast, quieted everyone in the room.

"Hi, Ryan and I would like to say thank you to everyone for coming and sharing the night with us. Everyone in this room is very close and holds a special place in our heart." Even Julie Cooper's plastic surgeon apparently, Summer thought. "Thank you so much for showing us so much support and love over the years. I'll shut up now so we can take this time to announce our wedding party. So I'll let Ryan announce the best man first," Marissa spoke all the while smiling. She had never seen Marissa smile as much as she did tonight. Doesn't her cheek hurt?, Summer wondered.

Ryan went up and gave Marissa a sweet peck on the cheek before starting on his little speech, little because Ryan was never the type of guy with much to say or much with words. "Umm, okay," he started off and took a sip from his champagne glass. "It's wasn't a hard decision figuring who would be my best man. He's family and he's been a great friend through the years. You probably know who I'm talking about, so....Seth Cohen get your ass up here," he concluded with a grin.

Summer made and effort to back even further back to avoid any sudden eye contact with Seth. He still looked exactly the same. Nothing has change about him. He still had the same curly 'fro, and still that same geeky and lovable smile. Seth made his way to the front of the room with a huge smile plastered on his face. "I just wanna say that I've always admired Ryan's ability to say so much in just a length of a couple of words. He is truly a man of words," Seth quipped. There was the quirky remark, and of course, everyone in the room laughed. "And Ryan," he continued "I'm gonna throw you a bachelor party that you will remember for the rest of your married life together with Marissa." And the room laughed again. He was still the same guy she knew back in high school. They never left on bad terms or anything. They just sorta grew apart from one another. High school ended and so did their relationship. They had promise to keep in touch, but they never actually did. And as the years went by, it grew harder for Summer to return back to Newport, especially now that she have grown accustomed to city life in New York. 

"Well, okay, I guess it's my turn now," Marissa spoke as she made her way to the center of the room again. "My decision wasn't hard to decide upon either. We have been best friends since kindergarten, and she has been with me through all my ups and downs..."

"Oh shit," Summer muttered under her breath. Shit. Summer had lost her span of attention and was now stuck in a surreal daze. This can't be happening, she was just so suppose to show up and show her face to make Marissa happy, and leave and come back in a few months for the wedding. She can't be involved in the wedding, she's a horrible planner. And with Seth involve also just makes the whole situation even more complicated. She has to back out, make up some lame excuse. But then it would break Marissa's heart.

She felt someone shake her and whispered something in her ear. She snapped back from her daze and heard Marissa calling her name. And then she heard Matt whispering, "Summer, go, you have to go up," she felt him nudge her to go. She looked around the room and let out an "Oh." Summer walked up to the front of the room and was engulfed in a hug by Marissa. "You look surprised," she heard Marissa say. "Yeah," was the only reply that came out of Summer's mouth. "You know I would never pick anyone else to be my maid of honor," Marissa said with a warm smile. Summer smiled back, "Thank you."

"Hey, no problem. Just promise that you're gonna throw me a kiss-ass bachelorette party."

"Of course, you deserve the best," Summer said with a genuine smile. She caught a glimpse of Seth and saw him give her a small smile, or what looked like a smile. She looked away quickly, "I'd better go find Matt," she said, hoping to get out of the room

"Yeah, okay." Summer turned to walk away and then heard Marissa call her back, "Summer, we're having lunch tomorrow at The Lighthouse around noon with everyone, can you make it?"

"Yeah, of course, we'll be there," Summer replied back. Perfect. This time, there was no possible way to avoid Seth. 

"Great! I'll see tomorrow then."

Summer let out a sigh and made her way through the crowd to look for Matt. She spotted him by the mantle looking at some pictures

"Hey," she spoke.

"Hey, what happened to you up there, you turned all pale and stuff," he asked worriedly.

"Nothing. I'm fine"

"You sure?" he ask again.

"Positive. Let's go find someplace to sit," Summer said, in an effort to change the subject.

He had known Summer long enough to know that she was not fine. But not wanting to push for any more information, he let it go.

"Summer. Now that we're engaged, I think we need to find a way to be honest with each other, don't you agree," he said behind a smile.

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes at him and let out an annoyed smile.

~to be continued~

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