It's the way
That he makes you feel
It's the way
That he kisses you
It's the way
That he makes you fall in love
--"Pretty Girl (The Way) by Sugarcult

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Summer closed the door behind Seth, then lingered there for a moment. "Did I really say 'You can have me?' God, how cheesy am I?" She smiled to herself as she made her way back into the living room. Cheesy or not, she was happy. It seemed like years since she had actually been happy. Maybe it had been. Her stepmother certainly wasn't falling all over herself to make Summer feel loved, and her dad was never home. Seth was the first person to make her feel special in a long time.

Summer picked up the remote and clicked on the television. She surfed through the channels, settling on MTV. She turned the volume up and began to hum along with the catchy love song that was playing. Her appetite had come back since Seth's visit. Of course, their little make-out session hadn't hurt things. She grinned to herself as she thought about Seth grabbing her. Never in a million years would she have thought he'd get the nerve to do something like that. He was definitely turning out to be a surprise.

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Seth cranked up the radio and bopped along with the music. He was in a better mood than he could ever remember being in. By all rights, he should at least feel a little bad. After all, he had broken a girl's heart just a little while ago. Still, all he could think about was Summer. "I wonder if she'll let me say she's my girlfriend?" Seth thought about Summer's rage blackouts and shook his head. "Baby steps, Seth. Baby steps."

The tires on the SUV squealed as Seth turned into the driveway a bit too fast. "Hope Mom wasn't home to see that one," Seth thought as he killed the engine. "I might not get to drive again for years." He cautiously opened the front door and looked around. No parents in sight. "Thank God," he mumbled, pushing the door closed and heading into the kitchen.

Seth pondered going to the pool house to tell Ryan what had happened. "Probably not a good idea," Seth thought as he grabbed a box of cereal. "He probably doesn't want to hear about my couple heaven considering what he's going through." All he could find was a large mixing bowl, so Seth dumped about half the box of Cheerios into it, followed by some milk. "Got to keep my stamina up," he remarked to himself. "Something tells me I'm gonna need my strength."

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Ryan saw Seth rummaging for food and went into the kitchen. "What's up?"

Seth jumped slightly. "Ryan! Man, you scared me. I thought I was all by my lonesome in the house."

Ryan noticed the monster bowl of cereal Seth had fixed. "Hungry?"

Seth grinned. "I am a growing boy, and I need my vitamins and minerals."

Ryan grabbed the box of Cheerios. "Apparently so." He shook the box, hearing just a small amount of cereal inside. "I

guess it's Cap'n Crunch for me."

"Sorry, I just figured my lady would want me to have my strength."

Ryan laughed. "What would Anna need you to have strength for?" He raised his eyebrows and glanced sideways at Seth. "You planning on becoming a man?"

"Yes, my good man, someday I do plan to do that. Although I am frankly shocked that your mind is in the gutter, that's not what I meant." Seth scooped a spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth. "I just meant I'd need my strength for all the making out."

Ryan's eyebrows raised again. "Since when do you and Anna make out all the time. I thought all you did was read comics and watch IMAX movies."

"You have a point there, Mr. Crowe. That is all we ever did. Your big mistake was to think that Anna is who I was talking about."

"Who else would you be talking about? Summer?"

Seth nodded. "Yes. As of……" He looked at his watch. "About 45 minutes ago, the Summer and Seth train pulled into the station. And it is pretty steamy I must say."

Ryan looked apprehensive. "Does Anna know about this?" He grabbed a huge bowl like Seth's and dumped a massive amount of cereal in it. "Does Summer even know?"

Seth's hands went to his sides, holding them in mock pain. "Oho, you are quite the comedian. Of course Summer knows about it. Why do you think that I can't feel my lips?"

Ryan shook his head. ""I don''t really think I needed to hear that."" He dumped the last of the milk into his bowl and grabbed a spoon. "This isn't like Thanksgiving is it? There isn't still a Seth and Anna train?"

"No, no, no. For once I sucked it up and did the right thing," He noticed the disbelieving look on Ryan''s face and continued. "Okay, so Summer made me do the right thing, but it still got done. That's all that really matters."

Ryan took several bites of cereal as he stared at Seth. "So, you and Summer. How's that gonna work out?"

Seth shook his head. "That, my friend, is the $20,000 question. We will just have to wait and see."

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Summer sat her bowl of low fat ice cream on the coffee table and picked up the phone. She quickly dialed Marissa's number. She hummed and bobbed her head in time with the song on the television as she waited on her friend to answer the phone. Marissa answered on the 4th ring. Before she could even finish saying hello Summer was speaking. "You're not going to believe this Coop. The greatest thing just happened."

"Let me guess: you and Seth made out."

"How did you know. What, did he tell you first?"

Marissa laughed. "No, that's just the only thing I could think of that would make you sound that excited. So……are you guys together now or something?"

Summer ate a bite of ice cream. "I guess so. I mean, we made out on my couch for like half an hour."

"Made out, huh? Did our little Seth round first base?"

"Eww. Oh my God Coop. It was strictly mouth to mouth action."" She paused. "Okay, there may have been a little butt grabbing, but that's all."

"You or him?" "What?" "I said 'you or him'. Did you grab his ass or did he grab yours?"

"Eww. Like I'd grab his. Of course he grabbed mine. It's pretty grab-able."

"Wow. I would have never figured Seth for the experienced make out man."

Summer laughed as she scooped up more ice cream with her spoon. "Please. The boy is far from experienced, although he is a fast learner. I'll have to keep working with him."

Marissa laughed. "I'll bet."

Summer sighed. "God. I can't believe that this happened. I was starting to wonder about him."

"Well, I'm happy for you." Marissa giggled. "Who would have believe that Summer Roberts would have ever gone out with Seth Cohen."

"I know……I really don't understand it myself. It's weird and freaky, but I can't get the boy out of my mind." Summer giggled. "And he does have really soft lips. Plus, he's a natural kisser. I mean, he can't have that much practice."

"It's always the quiet ones."

"I shouldn't even be talking about this. It makes me wanna go to his house and make out some more."

Marissa laughed. "You little horn dog."

"You know it. Mama needs some action."

Marissa giggled again. "I missed this Summer. It's good to hear you laughing again. You've been all gloomy and serious for way too long."

Summer dropped her spoon into the half finished bowl of ice cream. "I know. It's more fun to be happy than mopey. I still can't believe that jackass Cohen is the reason."

"The world is a mysterious place, Sum. You never know who''s gonna be the one for you."

"Please Coop. 'the one for me?' Seriously, I may not be going out with him tomorrow."

"So you're going out with him now?"

Summer frowned. "Good question. I mean, all we've done is kiss. We haven't even gone on a date."

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Seth threw down the Playstation controller. "What is that? Since when are you good at this game?"

Ryan shrugged. "Who knows man. I guess practice makes perfect."

"Since when do you practice anything?"

Ryan sighed. "Well, I don't do much of anything else since 'the incident'."

"Ah yes. Your little lapse of sanity. Marissa's not over that yet?"

"I'd have to say no."

Seth nodded. "Women can be funny that way." He stood and turned the Playstation off. "What say we talk about me for a minute, huh"

"Haven't we talked about you pretty much all day?"

"Yes. Yes we have. On the other hand, we talk about you all the time, so we really need to catch up on me."

"Okay. What else do we need to talk about?"

"Just go with me here. Do you think that Summer 'harsh' exterior is hiding a heart of gold, or do you think that I am all in love with the devil herself."

"Does it really matter?"

"No. No it doesn't. I'm just wondering what you think."

"Well, at first I would have said she was the devil, but there is something else there." Ryan picked up a can of soda and took a long swig. "I think she's deeper than she acts."

"Exactly. That's what I've always thought. In fact, that's what I've always told everyone. Well, that's what I've told my parents at least. They were pretty receptive."

"Imagine that." Ryan took another drink of his soda. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"It's just that..." Seth sighed. "We've never gone out on a date. We've never hung out. We've pretty much never done anything but kiss." Seth stood up and started to pace. "I know all sorts of things about her. What does she really know about me?"

"Apparently enough to want to go out with you."

"Ahh...there's that again. We've never gone out. I believe I covered that point just now."

"So go out."

"That's it. That's your big advice. 'Go out'."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. You say 'go out', but what do you mean? What would we do on this hypothetical date?"

"Exactly why are you asking me? I'm not really the king of dates."

Seth shook his head. "Hmm. You make a good point." He wheeled around suddenly. "Good God! Look at me. We haven't even gone on a date yet and I'm all stressed out. Imagine what I'll be like when we finally do."

"You could always just make out."

Seth considered that. "Tempting. Summer might even go with that, but I don't think that that is all I want from this, dare I say, relationship. I want us to connect. I want her to know why I like her, and I want to know why she likes me." He paused again, considering what he had just said. "Now I just have to figure out how to do that."