"Hey." She mumbled still half lost in his kiss.

"Hey."

"What are we doing?" She asked as he traced her cheek with his hand.

"I don't know, but I'm not sure we have to."

"We have to know what we are doing. One can't just go running headlong into something before figuring out if it's the right thing."

"Shh---yes you can." He kissed her again, pressed his forehead against hers and opened his eyes, meeting them with hers.

"Why did we---"

"Shh---don't talk. It doesn't matter. We're here now, aren't we? Don't over think it, Abs." She nodded her head slightly smiling and moving his along with it. He closed his eyes again and lingered near her lips for a few excruciating seconds before pressing them forcefully but lovingly against hers.

-------------------

He couldn't get her off his mind. Her blond--- no almost red hair and delicate features kept flashing themselves in his mind. God, she was so annoying. She was persistent and stubborn---and so damned attractive. In every meeting they had, he had this terrible urge to get up from his confining leather chair and ravage her lips with his. It was insane though, Lindsay Gardner was a client. There was just something about the way she looked at him, and talked to him that hinted that maybe she felt the same way.

"Ryan," He looked up at his name being called. "What do you think I should pick for the color scheme of the ceremony, light or earthier?" Anna pondered.

Anna, he thought. How could he have forgotten about Anna?

-------------------

She stirred and nuzzled into the safety of his broad arm. Seth just watched her as he had been for so many minutes now, quite awestruck. There was just something about her, something that made her head and shoulders above every other girl regardless of her sometimes terrible attitude. He couldn't put his finger on it, but then that was a good thing because she was still a mystery. Her eyes fluttered open and she began to process where she was, remembering last night.

"Hey," he began, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Seth---" The way she said his name was like it rode on the wind. A murmur or a whisper filled with passion. She never called him Seth.

"Good morning, Summer." He smiled at her sitting up a little straighter to see her better.

"Déjà vu, huh?"

"We've been here before, but not quite like this." She embraced her tighter.

"We were so different then. So young, it's almost hard to believe it was us."

"It was." He turned his focus to no particular place, somewhere else in the room.

"I know, but we can't be. We've got separate lives now, Cohen."

"I want to stay here with you." He admitted reflectively.

"What about NYU, and photography?" She asked.

"I lost you once; I'm not willing to lose you again. I've seen other girls, Summer. Believe me, I know you're---"

"---the one?" She finished.

"Does that scare you?" He asked. "Does the possibility of me someday asking you to be my wife, scare you?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

-------------------

The morning light spilled in across the window pane and through the sheer drapes of Abby's room. Beams scattered across the acceptance letters she had finally received from all the colleges she applied to. They all began the same way:

Dear Ms. Abigail Cohen,

We at insert college name here are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for admission-----

There were so many that all said the same thing, so many to choose from. At the bottom of the stack was a letter she hadn't really remembered getting. Vaguely she remembered visiting and liking the campus. She'd gone there to humor David. Remington College, the brochure made it look beautiful. It wasn't Harvard, but suddenly it had a bit of charm that she had not previously noticed. She set it on top and picked up the telephone.

"Hello, Mike? Yeah, it's me. Can we talk?" She began. She muttered words to him, words that we only surface so that he would not feel injured as she picked up her letter from UCLA and watched it ascend into the wastepaper bin.

-------------------

"First, let me congratulate you on finally cutting a deal with me. I know I can be a bit hard to handle. I didn't get to be where I am, without hard work and lucky breaks. I had my suspicions about you at first Mr. Atwood, but you have proven me quite wrong." She smiled and picked up the small menu provided by the restaurant.

"How so, Ms. Gardner?"

"Well, our first meeting was not all together splendid. Your presentation was sloppy and you seemed entirely inexperienced. At first blush, there was no way I was going to stay another minute."

"What changed?" He said looking up from his menu.

"You did. You're plans were excellent, your breath of knowledge uncanny and your humor quite charming." She smiled and her face lit up and her eyes sparkled. She was doing it again.

"Well, a gentleman does his best to make a deal. I'd recommend the cheeseburger if you are wondering what to order."

"The cheeseburger? Really, a girl tries to have more refined tastes than that."

"Just a suggestion," He shrugged. They sat in silence for a moment and soon the waiter approached.

"For you sir," He asked.

"The cheeseburger." He replied.

"And for you, ma'am?"

"---the same." She replied after and awkwardly long pause. After the waiter had left, Ryan spoke up.

"So, more refined feminine tastes?" He stifled a laugh.

"If you can't trust your builder, who can you trust? Right?" She smiled.

She trusted him? This was getting interesting, very interesting.

-------------------

There was just something about David that made her life feel so in place. There had been a time when she hadn't had that feeling with him, but there was much more to their relationship than she had seen before and she regretted it. For some reason she had just felt in the mood to toss it out the window like yesterday's newspaper.

She tore off the previous day on her day to day calendar. July 4th. She hadn't realized it but a good chunk of her summer had gone by already. She bounced down the stairs in an unusual state of happiness, finding Seth and Summer in the kitchen.

"Incoming Bagel!!" Seth yelled as the bagel careened toward her head. She caught it just before it hit her in the head.

"Thanks Seth." She smiled.

"Do mine ears deceive me? No yelling, no anger? What is wrong you Abby?" He rushed over to her and felt the temperature of her forehead. "I could have killed you with that bagel, and you smile and thank me? You can break the news to me, I can handle it. How many months do you have to live? Three, two? A week and a half? Oh God, I'm sorry!!" He threw his arms around her.

Laughter broke out across the room. They both shot a glance at Summer who was giggling uncontrollably.

"What with her?" Abby replied.

"We had a good time last night, and we figured some things out." Seth smiled biting into his bagel.

"I figured some things out myself, isn't that a coincidence?"

"Well, isn't everything just falling into place for the Cohen's? What are you doing tonight?"

"I don't really know yet. I'll give David a call." She bit into her bagel as well.

"David?!" He looked at her confused but excited.

"Yep. I'll tell you about it later." She smiled and ran back upstairs.

Summer came up beside him and took his hand. They stood there comfortable for a moment.

"It's amazing how much they grow up, isn't it? She's changed so much since I've seen her."

"They grow up SO fast nowadays." Seth smiled as he finished has last bite of bagel.

-------------------

"Thanks for throwing this together on such short notice, Anna." He came around the corner carrying a tray from the caterers and gave her a soft kiss.

"While business is booming at the boutique, it's really not like I have to be there everyday." She stopped talking as he left the room. He returned and she finished. "It was no problem. Sometimes it's fun to plan a party."

"Especially a spur of the moment independence day, client soirée." He joked, waving a tiny desert flag. He returned to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He smiled, his lips close to hers, and the doorbell rang. "Duty calls." He pouted leaving her lips waiting there.

Ryan came into the entrance hall and opened the hard wood door. "Lindsay, how are you?" He smiled.

"I'm doing well, Mr. Atwood, yourself?" She smiled. Her dress was beautiful and it just flowed off her in the most elegant way. It wasn't too formal, but not too casual either. Her hair was beautiful and her makeup with nothing different than the rest of her.

"Well, Ryan. Don't make them stay out on the step all night." Anna came around the corner and stopped by his side.

"Right, I'm sorry. Anna, this is Linds--Ms. Gardner. Ms. Gardner, this is Anna my---"

"Fiancé, it's nice to meet you." She gave Ryan a confused look and then offered her hand to shake. "Please come in."

"Can I get you a drink, Lindsay?" Anna continued.

"Yes, just water would be excellent. Thank you." She nodded and Anna returned to the kitchen.

"Well, come in and sit down. You're early, but that's all right." He showed her to the living room and they sat down. "So---" He began.

"Beautiful house you have. How long have you been here?" She asked.

"I rented it a year, almost two years ago."

"I love what you've done with it." She attempted to be civil even in the midst of the awkward situation. "Where were you before that?"

"I had a place, a little small a bit south of here. Still in Newport though." He smiled uncomfortably. 'His pool house.' He couldn't exactly have said that. Anna returned with Lindsay's drink thankfully, and the doorbell began to ring again.

The night went smashingly after that, each guest enjoying the time talking to other clients some of which happened to be old friends. It was an Independence Day festival to remember.

-------------------

Abby lay lengthwise across the hood of David's car in an empty beach several minutes south of her home. Covered in a blanket to ward off the slightly unseasonably cool, July night, she nuzzled her head into his shoulder and sighed.

"I love fireworks." She replied. "They're so beautiful. They always reminded me of---well, happy times. I know it sounds stupid, but this was always one of my favorite holidays."

"It's not stupid. I knew it was one of your favorites. We've spent it together before." He kissed the crown of her head and continued to watch the bright colors. "I really can't believe I got to spend another 4th of July with you. That night, when I came to your house, I didn't know if you'd want me back. Something just told me that it was the right thing to do."

"Until yesterday, I really wasn't sure it was either. But you're right; I can't over think things all the time. This just feels right." She smiled looking up at him. He took her hand under the blanket and laced his fingers through hers.

"I love you, Abby." His words lingered in the air a minute.

"I love you too." She mouthed back.

-------------------