Disclaimer: I do not own the O.C.

Chapter 2: Friendships

Summer has been adopted by the Cooper's and has been living in Newport for a month. Ryan and Marissa have formed a close friendship, but he keeps their relationship hidden from his friends. Seth and Summer are becoming good friends. The four teenagers have gone to Tijuana for the weekend before school starts.

"I can't believe she's been cheating on me!" Seth said, upset as he sat down on his motel bed. "We've been together for ages and all this time she was with Luke behind my back?"

Summer stood awkwardly in the doorway. What was she supposed to do? Marissa was better at this kind of thing than she was, and she was out somewhere with Ryan. Slowly, Summer walked over to Seth and sat down with her arm around his shoulder. Seth gave her a strange look, but then smiled.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Thanks," Seth said, turning away and focusing on the Tijuana five-star-motel floor. The truth was, Seth wasn't incredibly upset about breaking up with Holly. Sure, he had loved her once, but since Summer came to Newport, Seth had started to feel something towards her instead. Something that he had never felt for Holly.

Summer put her other arm around Seth, giving him a proper hug, and was glad when he wrapped his arms around her waist. Summer was never Holly's biggest fan. She was the epitome of the Newport rich bitch, something that Summer couldn't stand. Although Summer hid it well, she was glad that Holly and Seth were over.

"Do you think that we could just go home? I'm not really in the mood to go clubbing."

Summer stood. "Yeah, sure. I'll just call Ryan and Marissa and we'll go."

Seth nodded and Summer pulled out the cell phone the Cooper's had given her, found Marissa's number, and called her to tell her what was happening. The phone rang a few times before going to voicemail.

"No answer," she told Seth, who nodded, silently – something strange for him since he usually doesn't shut up.

"Maybe we could just stay here tonight. Watch TV, just hang out and we can leave in the morning. I mean we already have a room and everything."

Seth smiled. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"Okay."

Summer walked over to the opposite side of the bed and got under the covers next to Seth, who turned on the television. He flicked between channels before settling on an episode of the Valley.

"Oh my God, I love this show! Grady Bridges is so hot! I always used to wish I lived like them."

"I guess in your case, things kinda turned out." Seth said.

Summer smiled at him. "Yeah, and it was the best thing that's ever happened, the Cooper's taking me in."

The pair sat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching the dramatic lives of the Valley teenagers. Without Seth even noticing, his arm had crept around Summer's head and was now resting on her shoulder. Summer had put her head against his shoulder and her hand was resting on his chest. They both lay comfortably with each other, before Summer drifted off to sleep, Seth following soon after.

"Good morning you two!" Marissa called, chirpily.

Summer woke, immediately noticing the position that she and Cohen were in. Seth had both his arms around her and she was lying curled up against him, resting her head on him and his head resting on hers. She felt Cohen stir and disentangle himself from her, both of them trying to look innocent.

"Morning," Summer said, not quite as cheerfully as Marissa.

"So what did you two get up to last night? We couldn't find you at Boom-Boom."

Summer shifted uncomfortably.

"Um, well…" Summer started.

"We were at Boom-Boom and I saw Holly getting all hot 'n' heavy with Luke. So I walked out and Summer followed to see if I was okay and I wanted to go home so Summer tried to call you but you didn't answer so we just watched TV." Seth said all of this very quickly and in one breath.

Marissa nodded slowly and Ryan spoke for the first time.

"I'm sorry, man. About Holly."

Seth shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. I mean if I hadn't found out last night I would have kept on dating her and she would have kept on cheating on me."

"It's gonna be okay man. It's a new school year and you will have most of the Harbor High female population all over you."

Seth laughed, and pretended to look thoughtful. "Hmm… why yes I do love the ladies… and they know they can't resist the Seth Cohen charm. That new chick from Pittsburgh looks pretty hot."

"Anna? Yeah she's cool." Ryan said.

Summer felt a bit uncomfortable but covered it quickly. "So are we gonna leave soon?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Ah… yeah I suppose."

"Okay, I'm gonna go shower first then we can leave." Summer got off the bed and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She thought there was something between her and Seth last night, but now it seemed obvious that he wasn't interested in her the same way she was interested in him.

One hour later, they were on their way back to Newport. Seth and Summer were sitting in the back, silently, facing away from each other. Marissa and Ryan sat in the front, doing the same thing. They both felt pretty uncomfortable after what happened between them at Boom-Boom. Too many shots had led to them making out on the dance floor, totally oblivious to the people surrounding them.

The whole car was filled with an uncomfortable silence, none of the four teenagers looking at each other.

"So…" Seth tried, "Anyone want anything to eat?"

"Goldfish and Kudos? Ew, what are you eight?" Summer snapped.

"Summer, what the hell is your problem? The whole morning you've been a complete bitch to me."

"Excuse me? You're the one who isn't talking to me, ignoring me and pretending I don't exist."

"No, Summer that was you. You haven't even been looking at me."

Summer turned to face Seth.

"See. I can look at you."

"What a great accomplishment," Seth said, sarcastically.

Summer gave him a cold look. "Do you have any idea how much it's going to hurt when I kick you through that window and out of this moving car!"

Seth looked taken aback and Summer explained her violence.

"I suffer from rage blackouts."

Seth nodded and turned away, finding a sudden fascination with his hands.

Marissa turned to Ryan. "Do you think maybe we should give them some privacy? Let them sort this whole thing out, whatever it is?"

Ryan nodded. "Sure, we can go get some lunch or something. Maybe we can talk?"

"Yeah, okay."

Marissa pulled into a small roadside diner and her and Ryan got out of the car. Seth and Summer barely noticed. Summer was giving Seth death stares while Seth was pretending to look busy, rummaging through his bag, when he was really sneaking looks at Summer to see if she was still looking.

Finally, Seth built up the courage to speak. "Summer. We're alone now. Can you please tell me why you're so mad at me?"

Summer looked out the window, so Seth continued.

"I want you to know that I really enjoyed spending time with you last night and I really want us to be friends." That's not what he wanted and he knew it. He wanted so much more.

Summer looked at him and smiled. "I had fun too. And I'm really sorry for being a bitch. I guess… I dunno." Summer looked him straight in the eye. "And I really want us to be friends too." No she didn't. She wanted them to be closer than friends.

Seth gave Summer a wide smile – the first genuine one since he found out about Holly.

Ryan and Marissa sat opposite each other in a booth.

"When do you think those two will realise how much they want each other?" asked Marissa, forgetting about the awkwardness between the two. It was a drunken mistake – she was sure it didn't mean anything to Ryan. It could never mean as much to him as it had to her.

Ryan smiled. "I know. They don't even see how much they flirt. You should see Seth's face light up when he mentions her."

"Same thing with Summer. But I don't think they're gonna get anywhere on their own. I think we're gonna have to give them a little push in the right direction."

Ryan gave her a mischievous smile. "What's the plan?"