In Ryan Atwood's opinion, lunch was the worst part of his Harbor School days. But he had to admit, things had been better of late. There had been no table-searching for weeks now, only a two-minute scan of the crowd for whatever spot Marissa had saved him. That was reason enough to date her again, wasn't it?

"I'm just saying," Seth was speaking rapidly as he and Ryan located their friends under a tree on the lawn and moved toward them. "Now that you and Marissa are back together, we should all do something – maybe a road trip? Or, Ryan, how 'bout a slumber party? Huh? That could be fun, right? Marissa and Summer in cute little pj's, snuggling under the covers while we watch horror movies and eat junk food?"

Ryan gave him the best "Atwood Glare" he could muster and shrugged. "Not really sure Marissa and I are to the "road trip" stage yet."

But Seth shook his head. "Dude, it's been, like, three weeks. That's, what? Like,co-habitation on the Atwood-Cooper Relationship Timeline."

Ryan wasn't so sure. Things were going well, they were enjoying being together, but slower felt right this time, and he wasn't sure he was ready to accelerate things just to make Seth happy. In fact, he was fairly certain that he wasn't ready to do anything just to make Seth happy. "It was," he agreed as they got closer to the girls. "But it's just different this time. We're. . ."

"Takin' it slow, I know," Seth rolled his eyes. "It's like a broken record, my friend. You say it every time. I give it a week, maybe less, until you're shoppin' for some new pajama pants."

They arrived at the tree where Marissa and Summer were seated, giggling about something together. "Hey," Marissa greeted with a smile as Ryan sank to the ground beside her and she kissed his cheek. The smile he gave her in return was enough to melt Marissa's internals. "So, what are you guys talking about?" she asked.

Seth sat next to Summer, who promptly stole a French fry from his lunch tray. "We were planning a perfect double date," he said.

Summer rolled her eyes and drank from her water bottle. "It doesn't involve movies about super heroes, does it?"

Ryan and Marissa smirked at the mock look of humor on Seth's face. "Ah, ha, ha," he exaggerated. "You guys, Summer's funny now," he addressed his friends.

She smacked him in the gut and then jumped to her feet. "I'm going to get dessert," she announced, turning to leave. She took three steps and then turned back around. "Cohen?"

With a mouthful of his cheeseburger, Seth looked up and waved a hand. "Nah, thanks, Summer. I think this'll probably fill me. . ." he trailed off as she put her hand on her hip and motioned with her head. "Right, you want me to come with you so Ryan and Marissa can be alone." He gathered his sandwich in his hand and followed willingly.

"I brought you pretzels," Ryan said as the two started to walk away.

"Awe, thanks," Marissa took the bag and leaned over to kiss Ryan. She loved being able to kiss him when she wanted, to be a couple again. "You're so sweet."

Out of ear shot, Summer stopped again and turned back to watch her best friend smile at something Ryan was saying. "See? My plan wasn't so tragic, was it?"

A weird feeling of voyeurism swept over him every time he saw a public display of affection that didn't involve him and Summer, so he looked away, blushing and addressed his girlfriend. "Sure, Summer, it's great. Except this wasn't so much you're doing as it was Julie Cooper's," he reminded, turning her in the direction of the dessert cart once again. "If she hadn't convinced Macy's dad to send her out of the country, she and Ryan would still be making with the "couplies" today. And," he raised a finger as if to accentuate his point, "she also took care of the Connor thing, if I remember correctly. She was the one who convinced his parents to send him back to Pacific, was she not?"

The "rage blackout" look was creeping back into Summer's eyes and she gave herself an inward pat on the back when Seth visibly shivered. "It was all my idea," she said, smiling proudly. "I was the brains on this one, Cohen."

His shoulders sagged in defeat. "I'm not gonna win this argument, am I?"

"Oh, I think we're all winners in this one." She turned and faced the tree again, her heart soaring as Marissa fed Ryan a pretzel and then kissed him again. They were too cute. "Look at them," she pointed, and then put her hand over her heart.

Seth purchased a pudding cup and then turned Summer back to face him, one hand on her shoulder, the other gripping his dessert. "I guess you were right, huh?"

She beamed at the acknowledgement and then narrowed her gaze, studying his eyes. "Are you just saying that to get laid?"

With a shake of his head, he denied the accusation and then smiled. "Yeah, kinda."

Summer laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "I guess you're learning, huh, Cohen?" She kissed him and then pulled back, turning her head to the side to stare into his eyes. "Ya know, I think maybe Coop and Ryan aren't the only ones that are meant to be together."

"Yeah, you think maybe we are, too?" he asked, releasing her waist from his grip and winding his fingers through hers.

Summer smiled happily. "I think maybe," she agreed, satisfied. Life was back to good. She had Seth and Marissa had Ryan. She let out a relaxed sigh of relief. The universe was balanced again. The natural order of her world was restored. Now all they had to do was make it through finals.

END

A/N: So, that's it for Hands Down. For those of you who might have made the connection, the title of the story came from a Dashboard song – they're my favorite band ever, and I was listening to their album when I came up with this idea, so I named it after my inspiration. Anyway, it was great fun to write, and to hear from all of you, but I'm afraid you've created a monster. I already have another idea for a new story, so you'll be seeing that very soon - like, by the end of the week, hopefully. I also wanted to let you know that, if you have any ideas for stories you'd like to see, get in touch with me and I'd be glad to tackle them for you. I'm just babbling now, so I'll stop, but thanks for reading.