It belongs to FOX. Peace and love...

It was strangely humbling to see everyone changing and growing up. Everyone's drama seemed to be muffled by changes. Ryan was a different person; nothing Seth could tell himself changed that. It wasn't just that he had grown up, though, he had adapted to a new life. He was a grown up. Not that he hadn't been thirty when they were all sixteen, but Seth had always thought it would've been weird to see him as a dad. But Ryan snuggled into the role as closely as he slept with Jenn whenever she saw a horror movie and couldn't turn off the light. And it made so much sense to see him like that, that Seth couldn't remember what he had been like before.

After an endless bout of his mother's pleading, Seth slept in his old room. They hadn't changed a thing in it. That was the weirdest part. From the Ben Folds Live poster on his back wall, to the documents on his computer, everything was the same. It haunted him, because this life was really a different one. Everything was so different. Except for Summer.

But that was even a lie. While she had found a way to remain dramatic and angry and beyond beautiful, she had to fit herself around being a mother. So she grew softer. She talked a little less and watched a little more. Usually watched him. He'd been back for a little less than three days, and they hadn't gotten more than a minute alone. But she watched him.

As for the kids, Jenn fell in love with him; everyone could see that. She was constantly asking him questions about his vacation, as Kirsten and Ryan firmly called it, and telling him about the boys at her school and the books she was reading. He soaked up every minute of it. She was his niece. Just the word made him feel older. He had a niece. On the second day, when she was still bombarding him with attention, he gave her a shell. He said he had found it on the beach the day before he came back, and he wanted her to have it. She had Ryan push a hook into it and she wore it around her neck. And he loved watching her eyes sparkle when she was talking about a dream she had or the times Ryan would take her to the beach and how he was teaching her how to surf.

Chris was kind of different. Summer assured him that he didn't trust people he didn't know that well and that after a few days he warmed up and then you couldn't get him to shut up. But Seth kept remembering how when he had first met him, the kid wouldn't stop talking. He thought it was probably because he had 'made Mommy emotional.' Chris knew that Summer watched Seth all the time, because he watched her all the time.

Seth woke up on his second morning and got dressed. He supposed that he had changed too, because he wasn't comfortable in his own house. He wouldn't walk downstairs in his pajamas and bathrobe, and he didn't make fun of everyone and everything like he used to love doing. He left a light five o clock shadow on his chin, but didn't let his hair grow out too much. Not that his hair style mattered, but it was true.

He walked down in jeans and a brown tee shirt with his hair already combed and his teeth brushed. He came into the kitchen and smiled at his mom at the counter in her bathroom, a coffee cup firmly in her hand. She walked over and hugged him like she usually did whenever he entered a room, or left a room for that matter.

"Oh honey, would you take Summer out her coffee? She has this interview that she's all scared about, so I know she'll forget it."

"Um, yeah. Sure."

Kirsten handed him another cup and kissed his cheek. He smiled and went out into the sun. The pool house probably won the award for most changed, because Summer had gotten her hands onto it. Chris took half of it, so there were two beds instead of the one big one in the middle. Summer had had the whole thing redone in dramatic blues and purples and pinks. The only thing that remained the same were the curtains, which when you were inside, completely clashed with the whole room. But Summer said she liked it that way.

Seth knocked lightly on the door and it opened into a slit. Chris stood in the middle of it.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, Grandmom thought your mom would want coffee."

Okay, so he really was intimidated by a seven year old.

A voice came from inside the door. "Chris, open the door all the way. Don't be rude."

Chris sighed and pulled the door all the way open to reveal Summer shuffling through dress shirts in her bra. She smiled at Seth and held up a pink button down over a knee length maroon skirt and brown boots.

"Do these match?"

Seth blinked several times and shook his head.

"What?"

"Do they match? Like color and cut and stuff."

"Uh, no idea."

She squinted down at the outfit and shook her head. She put the shirt down and picked up a black one instead. She unbuttoned it and pulled it over her shoulders. She straightened out the cuffs as she walked up to him with a smile on her face.

"So, what's up?"

"Um, right. Mom thought you'd want coffee. And you-you wouldn't think you had time to get it."

"She's probably right."

Summer took the cup from him and threw her head back, just to cough slightly and dip her head back.

"Dang, that's hot."

"You okay, Mom?" Chris touched his mom's arm and she nodded shakily.

"Fine, sweetie."

Summer sipped carefully at the cup and inhaled the steam.

"Thanks."

"Uh yeah. What's the interview thing for?"

"Oh, god, you're going to laugh at me."

He shook his head seriously as she laughed.

"Um, well, I'm kind of a wedding planner."

"Oh. Really?"

"Yeah. This woman's going to be the end of my life though. She already hates me and I've never spoken to her in person. I think her fiancé likes me though. Him, I have seen in person. So, you know, have to cross my fingers. The guy's gorgeous though, so I have a good feeling that she'll do whatever he tells her."

"Oh. So that's good."

"Yeah, you know."

"But isn't the outfit a little dark for a wedding."

"Yeah, you're right. But I'm meeting her at a big trendy new club thing. So, you know..."

"Actually I don't. Fashion never makes sense."

She laughed and pushed her hair back. Chris looked at Seth with his arms crossed. Summer looked at his stance and laughed again.

"Honey, are you okay?"

He looked back at her and nodded.

"Fine."

"Do you want breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to go to school. It's Monday. Of course you're hungry. Go ask Ryan to make you something."

"Are you sure, Mom?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? Ask him to put some of it in the fridge too, because I'm going to be hungry when I get back."

"Okay, Mom. Good luck with Mrs. Linter."

"She's not Mrs. yet. Stick with Ms."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye sweetie. Give me a kiss."

She bent down and he kissed her cheek obediently. He took another look at Seth before leaving the pool house. Seth watched him go and looked back at Summer.

"Okay, he really doesn't like me."

"I know; it's so weird. Usually he likes everybody."

Seth shook his head and smiled.

"You really do look beautiful, by the way."

"Oh, thanks. That's sweet. You look...like someone I remember."

He extended his arms and crossed them on his chest.

"Yeah, you know. I really need to go shopping."

She laughed.

"Oh my god. Did I just hear Seth Cohen say he wanted to go shopping?"

"No, you didn't. I need to go shopping. That leaves room for you to do it for me."

Summer giggled and tucked her hair behind her ear again.

"Play your cards right, and I just might. How did you get by without me?"

"I have no idea."

She grinned and looked past his shoulder to the door.

"Can I actually ask you about something before I go?"

"Yeah, sure. Anything."

She walked past him and quickly shut the door all the way, before turning back around. She smiled with half her mouth and looked at him.

"You really haven't changed that much, have you? I mean, you're all serious every now and then, but besides that you're the same person."

"Yeah, well, I don't know about that. But being cut off from people that don't have constant tans leaves little room for improvement on the loser I came in as."

"You never were a loser."

"Yeah, well, I can't say I'm not jealous of you and Ryan. You're so old."

She laughed again and walked toward him.

"I don't know about that. I mean, we really haven't changed that much either. Except, you know, most of our company now consists of people that aren't supposed to go to PG-13 movies instead of ones that are supposed to star in NC-17 ones."

"Right."

"And Ryan hasn't had a date in, like, two years."

"Yeah? He and Marissa never got back together?"

Summer shook her head. "They tried, but it wasn't the same. Marissa got married, so we don't usually see that much of her anymore."

"Who'd she marry?"

"Some investment banker. Ironic, right? That was the type I aimed my life after marrying."

"Things change."

"Yeah, I guess. But it does seem weird to have one of the most, I dunno, in love couples not be together. So sometimes change isn't always the best thing. Sometimes you just want things to be like that year."

He nodded. "That was a great year. It was the only year in twenty five where I actually knew you."

"You know me now."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"You could learn about me again."

"I want to."

"Mm-hmm."

She was now so far into his personal space that he could smell the shampoo in her hair. Slowly, she curled a hand around his neck and leaned in even closer. She spread her lips, but he turned his head.

"Um, you should probably go."

She pulled her hand back from his neck and nodded.

"Yeah, right. Um, sorry about...that."

"No, it's-it's okay."

"God, um, I'm kind of embarrassed."

"Don't be. It's just that, you know, I want to get to know you again first. Before, you know, anything happens."

"Right. That makes sense. So I should—I'm gonna go. Bye."

"Summer..."

"No it makes sense. Bye."

She started to walk away, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her. She sighed as quietly as she could and hugged him back. She'd gotten a lot of hugs.

He inhaled her shampoo again and spoke into her ear. "I'm sorry. Don't feel bad or mad or sad or anything that rhymes with that. It's not that I don't want to."

She pulled out of the hug and nodded. "Things change."

"They don't always drastically change."

"But, I mean, nine years ago, you would've been the one to kiss me. And on top of a coffee cart even."

"I'd do it again."

"But you wouldn't kiss me alone in a pool house."

"I don't want you to regret anything that happens with a guy that's practically a stranger to you."

"Nice of you to look out for me. That's what everyone's been doing. Kirsten, Sandy, Ryan, even Chris. Because I don't know what I'm doing. They need to tell me what to do. Because I haven't grown up at all. I'm still sixteen, right? So if I'm sixteen, I get to take risks."

She leaned forward not nearly as slowly, and pressed her lips against his. He stumbled backward slightly but his hand found her waist nearly as quickly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss even farther. She was pressed up so close against him, that he barely thought he could breathe. Not that he wanted to. Some things really don't change.

Summer brought her arms back in front of her and gently pushed him backward onto Chris's bed. She fell on top of him, but their mouths got separated in the process.

"Summer, are you-are you sure you want to do this?"

"You haven't forgotten how, have you?"

"Aren't you going to be late?"

"So what? The bitch already doesn't like me."

She kissed him again and let her legs fall against his. His hands slipped down her back and untucked her shirt. He ran his hands up her bare back and she moaned gently into his mouth.

"Seth, man, Jenn and I were going to...whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa." Ryan held his arms up in front of his eyes and ducked his head.

Summer jumped off of him and tucked her shirt into her skirt all around. Seth stood up too and scratched his head. Ryan slowly lowered his arms and sighed exasperatedly once he saw they were both fully dressed.

"Sorry about-about that."

Summer ran her fingers through her hair as her cheeks reddened. "Yeah, um, I have to go. I'll see you guys later."

She slipped past Ryan and out the door. Ryan raised his eyebrows at Seth and let out a weak laugh.

"I really should learn to knock."

Seth shrugged. Ryan's fake smile went away and his worried face came on.

"Dude, what are you doing? She's a different person now, just like you. And I mean, you've seen each other for forty eight hours. I didn't know you were the kind to jump into the football bed as soon as you met a girl."

"But I didn't just meet her, and it wasn't like it was my idea."

"Still, dude, have some strength to say no. I mean, yeah, she's Summer, but you still have some self control, don't you?"

"She kissed me."

"So? Did you bring into the fact that her son could walk in? How much do you think Chris would like you less if he saw you getting ready to bang his mother?"

"I wasn't going to 'bang' her. But speaking of which, since when does Summer say 'dang' and you say 'bang'?"

"Since we had kids, man. The nine year olds usually shouldn't hear about people fucking people."

"Point taken. Now, I should probably go back to see my mother because she probably wants to give me yet another hug."

"What about this, man? I thought we were talking."

"What do you want to say?"

"I want you to say you'll take your time. Get to know her again. Make sure, you know, that you still love each other. Because, dude, sex isn't exactly meaningless."

"Since when did you become an ABC Family special?"

"I thought we went over this already. I had a kid. You don't seem to understand that well."

"Summer had a kid too and she was still pushing me back onto her bed."

"Her son's bed."

"Whatever."

"Not whatever. You don't understand. Summer has responsibilities. She has something she has to do. And then you come back and confuse her, because suddenly she's feeling things she felt nine years ago. And her responsibilities seem to go away, and the only thing she's worried about is being sixteen. But when she was sixteen, she didn't have Chris. But she does now. And she has to realize that. And you have to help her. Say no, man."

"Don't you think that maybe I want to be sixteen again too? And that Chris could fit in there somewhere?"

"Do you remember that year? You guys fought and cried and broke up and made up and slept with each other one night and were kissing hookers the next and that maybe that doesn't go over so well with seven year olds. Don't you get that?"

"Ryan, calm down. We've grown up. It won't be like that."

"Exactly. It won't be like that. You've grown up. At least, you have to grow up. And things are different. You don't know what's going to happen. And I don't know what Summer's been thinking, but I do know that she wouldn't want Chris to get hurt because things are different."

"Suddenly you know more about Summer than I do?"

"Yes, Seth! That's what I'm trying to tell you. I'm sorry, but yes. I know her better than you do. I've been here for the past nine years. You haven't."

"Whatever. You don't know as much as you think you do."

"Seth, come on. Come with me. I have to drive the kids to school. We can talk. Without raising our voices."

"I'm going to stay here. Maybe some other time."

"Seth..."

"I have to see my mom."

"She went to work a few minutes ago. She left a note for you in your room, though."

"Then, I have to go see my dad."

"He has work too."

"Damn, what did I use to do?"

"Go to school. Hang out with Summer. Two things you can't do right now, because Summer has work and you don't go to school. You didn't even graduate."

"I know, okay? Fine. I'll go with you."

"I'm going to have to go to work too, though. So I'll drop you back here after we drop them off."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a waiter during the day. I go to classes at night."

"Classes?"

"College. You know, that thing that comes after high school?"

"Oh. You're twenty five; didn't you finish that?"

"A kid usually delays that process a little. Summer took a few classes when she was twenty one, but the only one who actually got the full education was Marissa."

"Where's she?"

"Probably somewhere over the Atlantic. She went to Paris. Something to promote her new line. She's coming back today."

"Oh. So what do I do here until you guys come back?"

"Get a job? Get your high school diploma? Grow up?"

"I grew up. Just differently than you did."

"You know what, man? I have a nine year old and I barely make enough money for the two of us. But my life isn't that bad. Can you say that about yours? Let's go."

Ryan opened the door and walked out, leaving it open for Seth, who was realizing that maybe he didn't grow up as much as he thought he did.

I'm glad so many of you seem to like this story. I guess I like it too, so that encourages me to write quicker because I want to know what will happen next too. I hope I'll answer all your questions in future chapters, and I hope I explain everything so you can see it all how I do and you can see my reasons for all of it. As for couples, I'm still not sure, I think I'll be hitting most couples at some point, so just bear with me. All right, thanks for reading, please leave me a review. Peace and love...