"Summer," he said. " And girl whose name I don't know," he said, looking at Jodie as he scrambled to his feet.
Summer whacked Seth across the back of his head.
" Owwww," he squealed, bringing a hand to his head and rubbing it. " What was that for?"
" That's for not watching where you were going and knocking me and Jodie over."
She hit him again.
" And that's for not telling me you were coming back."
Seth was looking at Jodie.
" So that's your name, huh?" he said, looking her up and down.
" Yeah, but you can call me not interested," she responded.
" Ouch, I'm hurt," he said, holding a hand to his chest. " You don't know what you're missing."
" Oh, and Summer?"
" Yeah?"
" I'm back," said Seth.
Summer looked a little frustrated.
" You were supposed to tell me that before you came back. A phone call in all that time you've been gone would have been nice, you know. Not that I wanted to hear your whiny voice every day, or anything, but you could have at least told me where you were."
" Summer, you were worried about me? Aw, that's so sweet."
" Why I'm friends with you, I'll never know," said Summer, shaking her head.
" Because I'm strong and manly and I can protect you?" replied Seth.
" Dream on, Cohen. Why are you back, anyway?"
Seth moved towards Summer, holding his arms out to take her into them, saying,
" I just couldn't live without you, Summer."
" Well, obviously. Without me, you'd be…well, still a nerd, but a less popular one. But aside from that?"
" I missed home," he said. " England just isn't all it's cracked up to be." (I'm allowed to say that, I'm English, lol.)
" Well, I almost missed you, Cohen," said Summer, her smile showing that she really had missed him while he'd been gone. " I'm glad you're back. Have you seen Marissa yet?"
"No. But I did see a new girl that I have to go introduce myself to," he said, raising his eyebrows slightly.
" Eyes off, Cohen, she's Marissa's girlfriend."
" What? How come Marissa gets all the best girls? Oh, I know, it's because she meets them before me, isn't it?"
" Yeah, because I'm sure there could be no other reasons," said Summer sarcastically.
" I know, Summer, you can go out with me," said Seth, as if he'd just had an ingenious idea.
" Cohen, that joke is so far beyond old that old is a speck in the distance to it."
Jodie had been so quiet that Summer turned to check that she was still there. She was, looking a little puzzled by Summer and Seth's conversation.
" Sorry Jodie, I was being rude," said Summer. " I should have introduced you properly."
Jodie wondered if being introduced properly would mean that Summer told Seth that they were together, or if it was a Summer version of properly.
" Jodie, this is Seth Cohen, who's been my annoying friend ever since he tried to protect me from a spider and then ran away screaming louder than I was, and Seth, this is Jodie, my girlfriend."
Both Jodie and Seth did a double take, Jodie because she had not been expecting Summer to introduce her that way, and Seth because that was the last thing he had expected to come from Summer's mouth.
" You're a le…" he began, before Summer clapped a hand over his mouth.
" Shh, Cohen, you and Marissa are the only people I've told about this."
" Wow, I did not see this coming," said Seth when Summer finally removed her hand from his mouth. " So how long have you been together?" he asked curiously.
Jodie was the one to answer him.
" Well, Summer was in denial about her feelings for me until last night, so since then," she said.
As Seth was about to answer, a classroom door opened behind them.
" Are you three coming to class or not?" asked the teacher impatiently. " You're late."
" Oops, I guess we got distracted," said Summer, before walking into the classroom.
The only space left for Seth to sit down was next to Ryan. "Damn," he thought to himself, grimacing and sitting down in the empty chair. He turned to Summer, indicating how he felt about this situation, and she just smirked at him.
" Seth Cohen," said Ryan. " I didn't think I'd ever see you back here."
" Ryan Atwood," said Seth. " I hoped I'd never have to see you again, but I guess I'm just not that lucky."
" You should watch what you say, Cohen," said Ryan.
" Don't call me that. In fact, don't talk to me," replied Seth.
" You're right, talking to you will lower my social status. And we can't have that, now, can we? I've got one question for you, though. When are you going to try out for the cheerleading squad?"
" Go screw a tree, Ryan, it's the only way you're gonna get screwed this year. Or, well, ever really."
Seth turned away from him. Ryan made him so mad. He was an irritating prick, and he interfered with Seth's friends. Marissa and Summer had the same problems with him, yet he still wouldn't get a clue and stop asking Marissa out. Apparently, he seemed to think that he could be what she needed to "straighten her out".

Summer was watching Seth and Ryan's conversation while hoping that something really bad would happen to him, like maybe the ceiling could fall in on him or something. Jodie noticed Summer's frustration, and put a hand on her leg to calm her down. Summer smiled at her gratefully, relaxing slightly.
" You really don't like that guy, huh?" asked Jodie.
" Is it that obvious? I don't like the way he treats Seth."
" You really care about him, huh?"
" Yeah, he and Marissa are my best friends. I spent years trying to get them together," Summer laughed. " And then Marissa told me she was gay and I had to give up on that."
" You and your matchmaking," said Jodie, shaking her head.
Summer just laughed. " Yeah, well I've realised that they're not always going to work."
" That's not going to stop you, though, is it?"
" No way. Now I just have to find someone to set Seth up with and we can all be happy couples."
Jodie just smiled at Summer, thinking about how cute she was sometimes.

After school ended, Summer dragged Marissa and Alex away from Alex's car, saying that she had a surprise for Marissa and that she should come see it.
" Seth, you're back!" exclaimed Marissa when she saw him, pulling him into a hug.
" Uh, Marissa? I kinda can't breathe here," he said when she didn't pull away.
" Oh, sorry, Seth. It's just I've missed you."
" I missed you too," said Seth, smiling. " Also, the weather there was horrible. I missed this place."
" Only you would come back because of something like the weather, Cohen," said Summer.
" So, are you going to introduce us?" asked Seth, looking at Marissa pointedly while gesturing towards Alex.
" This is Alex," said Marissa, smiling and placing an arm around her waist possessively. She knew what Seth was like with his wandering eyes. It didn't really bother her all that much; she was secure enough to know that Seth would never be a threat to her, but it still amused her to make it clear to Seth.
" Alex, as you've probably realised, this is Seth. He's been in England for the last 10 months or so."
" Well, it's very nice to meet you," said Seth, holding out a hand for Alex to shake. " I had to wait three months before Marissa would introduce me to her first girlfriend, " he continued.
" He's exaggerating," said Marissa. " He does that a lot."
" I only state the truth," said Seth. " I never exaggerate, do I Summer?"
" Only all the time," said Summer.
" Are none of my friends going to back me up here?" asked Seth, with a fake sad expression on his face. " You're all turning against me, maybe I should just go back to England, where I can drink tea all day instead of being mocked."
" They don't really drink tea all day in England, do they?" asked Summer.
Seth shook his head. " Nope, and some of them don't even drink tea at all. The stereotypes we have," he said, shaking his head and sighing.
" Seth, we're going out tonight. You want to come?" asked Marissa.
" I don't want to be a fifth wheel…But I'll come anyway. Me and all these gorgeous girls? The other guys are gonna be so jealous."
" That, or they're going to think you're gay," said Summer, laughing at the shocked expression on Seth's face.
" You told him about Jodie, then, Summer?" asked Marissa.
" Yep. He nearly swallowed a lot of flies."
Marissa laughed. " Yeah, I remember what that expression looks like," she said, recalling the time that she had come out to him."
" Anyway, ladies, I'd better be off," said Seth. " Family dinner, because I just got home and everything. Call me later, and I'll meet you."
" Bye Seth," said Marissa and Summer in unison.
He waved over his shoulder as he walked away.
Alex looked at Marissa.
" You want me to take you home now?" she asked.
" Yeah, I need to get ready for tonight," said Marissa.
Alex laughed slightly.
" What's so funny?" she asked.
" You seeming to think you need hours to get ready, when you look perfect as you are."
" That's sweet," said Marissa, leaning in to kiss Alex, " but I can't go out twice in the same outfit. It wouldn't be setting a good example."
Alex just shook her head. This was something that she was just never going to get, she realised. She led Marissa back over to her car, to take her home.

Jodie hadn't asked Summer if she wanted to be taken home, she'd assumed that Summer would go with her anyway. She was right; as she walked away, Summer followed her.

Outside Summer's house, Summer checked to see that no one was watching, and then pressed her lips quickly to Jodie's.
" I'll see you later," she said.
" Sum, wait a sec. You want me to pick you up?"
" That'd be great," said Summer, leaning into the car window to kiss Jodie again and then waving goodbye as she walked away from her.


I was originally gonna have Seth as Summer's ex, and have it all, like, dramatic or something. But then I started writing, and I decided that I'd prefer them all to be friends, and also, I can't write drama unless it's majorly depressing, and I didn't want to do that to this fic. Sorry that I can't do Seth's character justice, but I find him really hard to write.Hopefully he's not too disappointing.