Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the OC, but Fox and Josh Schwartz do.
Authors Note: Thanks guys for the great reviews. I agree that Seth and Summer need to be together, but I am not going to tell you when that is going to happen in this story.

Summer approached the apartment of her best friend with an ease despite the emotions boiling inside of her. She knocked twice and there was no answer. As she turned around to leave, Marissa opened the door.

"Sum…is that you?"

Summer turned around almost wishing she had kept walking, "Hey Coop, I was just in the area and I figured I would stop in."

She walked into the apartment, which she had decorated. It had been one of her first design schemes so she was quite fond of it. She did notice that on the coffee table there was a large pile of comics. She walked over to the pile, picked up one and began to scan through it.

"Coop, since when have you been into comics. That's such a …."

"A Cohen thing…I know. He was over here last night and left them here. Don't think that I read them."

"Oh…so Cohen was here last night. You guys seem to be hanging out a lot lately."

Marissa didn't catch onto Summer's subtle hint, "Well he needs a friend and Ryan has Lindsay. Besides returning here has not been any easy transition for him."

"Do you know if this is a permanent transition?"

"Nah….he is going to be going back to Boston soon. He got off from work for only three weeks. He only has a week left."

"So anyways, I was wondering if you would help me tonight with the wedding. I want to start weeding through and creating a guest list."

"Sum, I would really love to, but I am going to dinner at the Cohen's and probably won't be getting back here till late. I was even contemplating just staying the night."

Summer was hurt at her friend's rejection, but also hurt because she was going to be spending more time with Seth.

"Well then….I better get going. Another night of take out. See you later Coop."

Marissa felt guilty, "You know the Cohen's are having takeout and I don't think that they would mind one extra person. Kirsten always liked you."

Summer was caught off guard, but didn't want to turn down a chance to see Marissa interact with Seth, "If you're offering then how could I turn it down."

Seth had been pacing around the kitchen all night. He wanted to talk to Marissa about what had happened with Summer in her office today. Sandy meandered into the kitchen from a long day of work. He noticed that Seth seemed extremely anxious.

"Seth, are you okay?"

Seth continued to pace, "Uh…yeah….I'm fine. Nothing happened today. Just waiting for Marissa, that's all."

Sandy didn't believe him, "Are you sure…because you can talk to me. I am your father and there is always sage advice waiting to be handed out."

Seth couldn't hold it in anymore, "I went and saw Summer today."

Sandy now understood, "That bad."

"She wouldn't even agree to a friendship. She basically couldn't stand the sight of me."

"Can you blame her?"

"Oh…thanks dad."

"I mean you broke her heart when you sailed off to Tahiti. You came back and tried to win her from that guy she was with."

"Zach…"

"You lost your chance with her a long time ago. Then you left…for six years. You didn't just leave a relationship, you left a friendship. There was no way to communicate with you and she finally gave up."

"How do you know this?"

"About a year and a half ago Summer came to your mom and I when she had met Thomas. She realized that this relationship was headed somewhere and she wanted to make sure that everything between you two was gone. If you had called or visited at all, Summer might not be engaged right now."

"So, you're saying I did this to myself…"

"If you had shown some interest in rekindling something, she would have dropped everything to be with you. These feelings that you suddenly dug up are nearly two years too late." Sandy patted Seth on the shoulder and walked upstairs to change.

Seth couldn't believe what his dad had just told him. She had loved him for so long and he just ignored her. He didn't deserve her anymore, after what he did to her. Seth's only priority became Summer's happiness; whether that was with him or without him. It was at that moment that the doorbell rang and Seth realized that Marissa was here.

He opened the door to greet Marissa, "Marissa, come in and be prepared for the world famous Cohen takeout."

Marissa didn't know how to approach her bringing Summer, "I hope you don't mind, but I brought a guest."

"Are you bringing dates to our takeout dinner because that is a disgrace to the tradition…." As Marissa stepped in Seth saw Summer walking in behind her. He didn't know how to look at her after his conversation with his dad. He was going to read every signal she gave him and interpret it eighty different ways. All he knew was that it was going to be a long night.

Authors Note: So whaddya think? Reviews are a great thing! I give you a little hint, the next chapter is a big step in the story.