A/N: It takes me forever to update I know but the next one should come sooner. Anyway, I couldn't resist. I had to bring them to my home state. I know, Ohio is probably the lamest place on the planet that someone could pick to visit, let alone live, but, unfortunately, I do live here in this lame, lame state. So bear with me, I won't hit you with too much Ohio culture in this chapter but if a place or something seems weird, just know that it probably is. But I once stayed in a hotel room like the one I described and it was freaking awesome! I am exaggerating when I say it's negative 50 but it seriously feels like it. I'm so sick of winter. Also, just a thanks to YellyBelly for your comment about my writing getting better. I agree with you totally and in fact, I really hate the first 3 or 4 chapters of this story! If I could change them, I would. Kind of a lot of short parts making up this chapter but oh well.

Welcome to Ohio, Bitch!

"Thanks so much for all your help, Cohen," Summer huffed as she dragged her three suitcases into the lobby of the hotel and dropped them at her feet.

"I have a bad back," he said offhandedly.

"Yeah, okay," Summer said, as the rest of the Cohen clan entered in behind her.

Sandy headed over to the check-in area, followed by his brother-in-law. They talked with the light-haired woman behind the counter for a few minutes before they returned to the group, each with their card-keys in hand.

"Okay, we're ready to go," Sandy said, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "We're on the fifth floor."

The group headed to the elevator but it was decided that all nine of them, plus their luggage, would be too tight of a squeeze so they divided into families and boarded the elevators separately. Seth, Summer, Ryan, Sandy, and Kirsten adjusted themselves to fit comfortably in the tiny compartment.

They finally arrived at the fifth floor and, after two wrong turns, made it to their hotel room. Sandy slid the card key in and waited for the green light. When he opened the door, Summer decided that it was quite possibly the biggest hotel room she had ever seen. And she had stayed in her fair share of nice hotels. There were three rooms, not counting the bathrooms. First, they had what was called a common room, which was basically a room with a bunch of couches, chairs, and a TV. Over in the corner, there was a tiny little kitchen with a counter and a mini fridge. Then, on one side of the room, there was a door leading into a bedroom with a king-sized bed and a bathroom. On the other side, there was a room with two queen-sized beds and a bathroom.

"Sorry, guys but this was biggest hotel room they had," Kirsten said as they moved into the room. She went to drop her luggage in the room with king-sized bed and emerged a few minutes later. "You guys are going to be in here. Summer, sweetie, I hope it's not too awkward for you to share a room with the boys. If it is, we can just get you your own room altogether."

"No. No, of course not," Summer said immediately. There was no way she was going to let them pay for an entire hotel room just for her. She was already cashing in on their trip. "It'll be fine."

"Okay, good." Kirsten turned to Seth and Ryan as Summer went to put her things in the bedroom. "You guys are sharing a bed. Is that weird? I don't that a lot about teenage boys, which is probably a bad thing because I have two. But do you guys do that? Like, share beds?"

"Mom," Seth said, stopping her from rambling any further. "We'll be fine. Just get us some duct tape and we can tape a line down the center."

Kirsten gave him a blank stare.

"I was being sarcastic," he explained as he followed Ryan into the room. "But seriously dude, stay on your own side."

"Hey, you're still alive," Seth said as his mother and Summer entered the hotel room, their arms loaded with shopping bags.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" Kirsten asked she set her things down.

"Shopping with Summer can be deadly," he said as Summer shot him a look.

"No," Summer corrected. "Shopping with you is just annoying."

"So, they at least have a decent mall," Kirsten was saying as Sandy came out of the bedroom he and Kirsten were sharing.

"Yeah, Beachwood or something," Summer said, speaking up. "They had a Nordstrom and a Saks and even a BCBG."

"Well, I always love a good BCBG," Sandy said, obviously not having a clue what the girls were talking about.

Summer smiled to herself as she went to drop her bags in her bedroom. Seth followed her and sat down on the bed as she started pulling things out of the bags. "So, you want a fashion show?" she asked, stepping in front of him.

"How about we play the Guess My Lipgloss Flavor game?" he suggested.

"Your parents are in the other room," she said as she leaned over to kiss him anyway.

"So what? If they come in, we'll just tell them that I was performing mouth-to-mouth recitation." He grabbed her hips and pulled her mouth down to him before he leaned back and said, "Strawberry Spritzer."

"Nope," she said and kissed him again.

"Mango Splash?" He probably should have been ashamed that he could name so many lipgloss flavors from memory but after playing this game a few dozen times, you get to know the flavors.

"Uh uh."

"Strawberry-Mango Spritzer Splash?"

Summer laughed. "I don't think they even make that combination."

Seth kissed her again, a little longer this time and said, "Grape?"

"Ew," she said. "Who wears grape lipgloss?"

"Well, all my other guesses were wrong. I figured I had a pretty good shot if I started naming random fruits."

"I see," she said as she kissed him. "I'll give you a hint." She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "I'm not wearing lipgloss."

"Cheater!" he said. "That's totally cheating! There's no way I can win."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Getting to kiss me isn't winning enough?"

"You know, I have no idea why anyone would call you conceited," he said as he pulled her to sit in his lap.

"Jerk!" she said, smacking him across the chest.

"You know you love it," he said, burying his face in her neck.

Seth's head shot up and Summer jumped off his lap as soon as the door opened. "You guys are getting pretty good," Ryan said, as he entered. "But you still need some work. I don't think either of your parents would buy the mouth-to-mouth recitation excuse. Or mouth-to-neck," he said as a second-thought.

Both blushed at Ryan's comments as Summer tried to nonchalantly wipe her mouth. "I was just going to show Cohen some of the clothes I got," she said weakly.

"Let's see 'em," Seth said, turning and picking something up off the bed. "What's this?"

"It's a dress," Summer said, planting a hand on her hip.

"It's, like, a yard of fabric!"

"Is not," she defended, yanking the dress from his hands.

"There's no way you're wearing that to the wedding," he told her.

"Calm down," Summer huffed, stuffing the dress back in its rightful bag. "I bought a different dress for the wedding. And, you don't have to be so controlling," she added as an afterthought.

"Me? Controlling?" Seth said, looking shocked. "Look at yourself. You're, like, the most controlling person I know!"

"I'm so not controlling," she said, glaring at him. "And, it's not like it's my fault that you listen to everything I say."

"Maybe I wouldn't listen to everything you say if you didn't threaten me with bodily harm!"

"Um, guys," Ryan said, interrupting. "You might wanna lower the volume just a little."

"You still choose to listen," she said, going back to placing things in their proper bags. "I'm not controlling."

"Yes, you most definitely are. 'Seth, get me a magazine,' 'Cohen, buy me some coffee,' 'no, I want to be on top,'—"

"Whoa, okay. That was way too much information," Ryan said, standing up. "I'm just going to leave now because, um, wow."

Summer glared at Seth as Ryan left the room. "Way to go, Cohen. Just tell the whole world about our personal life."

"Like he cares," Seth said, motioning to the door as it shut behind Ryan.

"Why do we do this?" Summer asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning up.

"Do what?"

"Fight. All the time. It's all we ever do anymore," she said.

"It's not," he defended quickly. "Look, we're not seriously fighting," he said as he moved to stand in front of her, putting his hands on her waist. "It's just how we function. I'm not mad at you." He kissed her on the forehead. "Okay?"

She nodded and he kissed her lips. "Okay."

"Can I see the dress you're going to wear to the wedding?"

Summer smiled and reached behind him for a bag. She pulled out a dress and held against her body. "You like?"

The dress was two different shades of pink silk chiffon and hit her just above the knee. It was trimmed in black piping with black spaghetti straps and a back-tie halter strap, which was connected to the beaded brooch in the middle of the chest.

"Try it on," Seth commanded and Summer stripped her shirt over her head. She tugged off her jeans and removed her bra and then pulled the dress over her thighs and onto her shoulders.

"What do you think?" She twirled around in it for him and he smiled at her.

"I think you look amazing," he said.

"Thank you," she said, doing a little curtsey.

Someone knocked on the door and Kirsten appeared. "Hey guys," she said. "We were just talking about dinner and I think we're just going to order up some room service. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course," Summer said.

"That's fine," Seth said at the same time.

"Summer, sweetie, that dress looks fabulous," Kirsten commented as she was about to leave.

"Thanks," she said as Kirsten disappeared. "I love your mom," she said, turning back to Seth.

"You're weird," he said to her.

"Thanks, but I think you beat me on that one. Like, majorly."

"You just, like, warm my heart with your niceness," he said.

"Summer, come on!" Seth called as he pounded on the bathroom door. "What are you doing in there?"

He was met by silence. Summer had been in the bathroom for over an hour and Seth knew if they didn't get going soon, they would be late to the wedding. He also knew that the same scene was being played out in the other bedroom between Sandy and Kirsten. Ryan was settled on the couch, ready to go, and waiting for everyone else.

"She's taking forever," Seth said, coming into the common room.

"Your mother's doing the same thing," Sandy said, emerging from the bedroom.

"Women," Seth said and plopped down on the couch.

A few minutes later both bathroom doors clicked and the girls appeared. "What are we waiting for?" Kirsten asked, grabbing her purse from the table.

"Yeah, let's go," Summer said, on her way to the door.

Seth and Sandy both opened their mouths to comment but smartly shut them a minute later. Ryan and Seth got up off the couch and the three boys followed Summer and Kirsten into the hallway.

"My sister is waiting for us in the lobby," Sandy said as they approached the elevator.

They arrived in Ohio on Friday night and allowed themselves a day before the wedding on Sunday. After the wedding, they would be flying back to California on Monday while Sandy's sister and her family would fly back to New York.

"Are you going to bring a jacket or anything?" Seth asked, eyeing Summer's spaghetti straps.

"No," she said, continuing to walk.

"You do remember that we're in Ohio and not California, right? You know, Ohio, where it's like negative 50 degrees out."

Realization passed over Summer's face before she came up with a solution. "I'll walk really fast to the car."

Seth looked at her blankly for a minute but she just turned around and kept walking, mumbling what he was sure was, "What kind of people have weddings in February anyway?"

His mother came up next to him and said, "So, how's Summer?"

Seth turned to look at her and said, "Wait, you too?"

"Me too what?" Kirsten asked.

"You're not wearing a jacket either?"

"I'll walk quickly to the car," she told him and then moved back to the subject she actually wanted to discuss. "She's been spending a lot of time at our house lately. Things okay at home?"

"Yeah," Seth said, shrugging. "They're fine."

"How's her dad? Better?"

"He's alright," Seth said, keeping his voice low.

"And you and Summer are just friends?"

"Yes, mom. We are friends. Exactly the same as we have been since I got back. Why are you asking me so many questions?"

"I'm just trying to get involved in my son's life," she said as they came upon the elevator.

"Yeah, well, go get involved with Ryan's," he told her, stepping inside.

Kirsten frowned before stepping in after him.

"Dance with me?"

Someone was standing in front of Summer, a hand outstretched, waiting for her to take it and follow them.

She looked up, slightly surprised but smiled when she saw Seth looking down at her. She grabbed his hand and he led her to the dance floor where he placed a hand on her lower back and clasped the other to his chest. She placed a hand on the back of his neck as they began to sway to the music.

For once Seth was quiet and she lost herself in the moment. Before she knew it, the song was ending and Seth was being tapped on the shoulder.

"May I cut in?"

"Yeah, man," Seth said, clapping Ryan on the back. "Be careful with her," he said in mock seriousness as he walked back to the table.

"I thought you didn't dance," Summer said as Ryan took the same position as Seth just moments before.

"You have to dance at a wedding," Ryan explained. "It's like a rule or something."

Summer laughed. They danced a while longer before Summer peered over Ryan's shoulder to look at what Seth was doing. Instead of seeing him sitting alone at the table, waiting for her, she now saw that he had company at the table. One of the bride's blonde, big-boobed friends was sitting with him.

She felt the immediate flush of jealousy creeping up her spine as Seth said something to make the girl laugh. Ryan must have felt her tense up because he turned his head to see what she was looking at. When he saw the girl at the table, he rolled his eyes and turned his head back around.

"He only wants you," he said.

"What?" Summer asked, being pulled out of her trance.

"Seth. He loves you."

"Yeah…I know," Summer said quietly. She and Seth didn't usually discuss their relationship with anyone and, in the beginning, it was meant to be kept a secret from everyone. But, obviously, Ryan knew. And there was something trusting about him that she didn't feel the need to act for him. She could see why Marissa had loved him.

"So, why do you guys keep doing this to yourselves?"

"Doing what?" Summer asked defensively.

"You guys are either dating or you're not. You have to realize that there isn't any in between."

"Look, Ryan, Seth's going to New York for school. I'm not. I'm not going to get all…attached or whatever." Ryan was talking an awful lot for such a quiet boy and she kind of wished he would stop.

"You guys could make it work," he tried to say but she stopped him from going further.

"This whole 'Save Seth and Summer's Relationship' campaign is sweet and all but we know what we're doing."

"Okay," Ryan said but his tone clearly indicated that he didn't exactly believe her.

The song came to a close and Seth was by their side. "So, can I have her back?"

"Yeah," Ryan said, smiling and handing her over to Seth. He went and took his seat at the table as Seth's hand came to rest on Summer's back.

"Have fun flirting with your new friend?" she asked sarcastically.

"Ah, Summer, always so subtle."

"Yeah, well," she said, shrugging and looking away.

"Hey," he said, putting a hand to her chin and turning her head back to him. "You're not seriously jealous are you?"

"No," she said. "Not seriously."

"Then, what is it?"

Summer shook her head and looked at him, forcing out a smile. "It's nothing."