Italics are flashbacks. Nothing belongs to me. Peace and love...
Summer stepped into the room and he immediately swept her into his arms. He kissed her hard and she kissed him eagerly back. He told her loved her more than he ever had before and she nodded, but was cut off before saying anything from his hungry kisses. He murmured against her lips, neck, and hair how beautiful she was and how much he wanted to take care of her. She nodded into his warm, wet lips kissing her jaw line and collarbone until she couldn't see. He finally looked back up at her with dark, wet eyes and told her again how beautiful she was. His Summer.
She'd started doing this a lot, recently. Dreaming while she was awake. Dreaming of things she could never have. Too much drama to be able to fixed by a single day. Dreaming of ever the wild. Seth had played that song for her once and it had been the line she had focused on.
"Seth?"
"Yeah?"
"What about you?"
"What do you mean, what about me?"
"How do you dream?"
He spun around on his desk chair to grin at her on his bed.
"Come on, Summer, I got you. What do you think?"
She smiled back.
He laughed and spun back around. "Always dream ever the wild. It's the only way anything will get done."
Summer grinned farther and stood behind his chair, bending over the back to get to his lips. He looked up at her and laughed as she tried to cradle his head with her elbows while her stomach was being stabbed with the plastic back of his chair. He laughed harder and spun around, catching her in his lap as his feet hit the back of her legs. She giggled but shook her head.
"It shouldn't amuse you when I fall."
"But you do it very cutely."
"But I could've been seriously hurt."
"I'd catch you."
"But what if you missed?"
He shook his head until his face was buried in her hair.
"Impossible, sweetheart. I'll always catch you."
She pulled into the driveway, trying to pretend nothing had been in her head to make her disappointed because of the few hellos being her only greeting. She was pissed off already; a little tenderness would be appreciated.
Summer opened the door and saw Seth walk by, a slight grin creeping to his face. She smiled back for a quick second, but realized quickly that he wasn't going to sweep her away into his arms. It had been known for three days that he and she had been hooking up, and he had done nothing about it.
Not that he hadn't wanted to.
Every time Summer entered the room, Seth started to blush and his heart broke a little bit. That's why he hadn't been able do it.
Seth tried to stand still as his feet sunk into the wet sand. Like quicksand, it was trying to swallow him whole. He could tell. He didn't look up; he didn't want to. Because he knew that if he looked up, it would be the same as that morning. Blonde and green eyed and perfect with a small waist and big boobs. But he couldn't look up. This was supposed to be a moment he couldn't forget, and he didn't even want to see it. She stood in front of him and took his hand, completely void of sweat. In fact, too dry. She didn't notice. She didn't notice anything. She was dressed in an extremely low cut white dress with a slit up to her thigh. And her parents were in the front row. Just her parents and her friends. Nothing belonging to him. But still, if he could only change one thing, he'd be getting married to Summer in front of twenty of Brittany's friends and family.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, to join Seth Cohen" He flinched subtly as the priest called out his name. "And Brittany Ronso in holy matrimony. If there is anyone who can give just cause as to why these two cannot be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Speak now or forever hold your peace. His mouth was dry. He couldn't speak now.
"Brittany, take Seth's hand."
She held his hand up to her and tried to wink at him conspicuously from under her veil.
"Brittany, do you take thee, Seth, to be your wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in holy matrimony? Do you promise to love him, to honor and cherish him, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, and to be to him in all things a good and faithful wife as long as you both shall live?"
"I do." She smiled a little too broadly, and he desperately wanted to return it, but he couldn't.
"Seth, take Brittany's hand."
He took her hand and was surprised to see his own wasn't shaking. He was cool.
"Seth, do you take thee, Brittany, to be your wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in holy matrimony?"
It occurred to him that the question of a Jewish ceremony had never even come up. He didn't even know if she knew that he was, in fact, Jewish at all. He didn't know if she would have cared if she had known.
"Do you promise to love her, to honor and cherish her, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer..."
She didn't even know that when he hit twenty-five, he would become a multi-millionaire. She asked for a second about whether he minded that his parents wouldn't be there, but he shrugged and said they couldn't make it. She nodded after a second, kissed him quickly on the lips, and went back to designing the wedding invitations.
"And to be to her in all things a good and faithful husband as long as you both shall live?"
She looked up at him and grinned. He tried to grin back, but couldn't. He looked at the very Catholic minister and looked at her very plain, old looking parents sitting in the front row, looking at him.
"Seth?" Brittany looked up at him and tried to keep smiling, even though he hadn't said anything in more than a minute.
"I..." He took one hand from hers and stuck it into his pocket. He pulled it back up in front of his face and stared at the photograph for a second.
"Honey, what's that?"
Brittany had her head cocked and a light blush reaching her cheeks.
"Brittany." He looked up at her and put the picture back in his pocket. "You're a beautiful girl. You know that. I know that. Everyone here knows that. But...I mean...this isn't fair. You're such a good person, and that's why this isn't fair. It isn't fair to you. You deserve so much more than me. Someone that can love you unconditionally." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Brittany, I...have to go."
He kissed her hand that was still in his and walked slowly down the white aisle, eyes on his back; he could feel them there. It wasn't like in the movies, but it was the best he could do.
He wanted to love Summer. Say that that was his reason. Because it was. But he couldn't say it. He could, but somehow he couldn't find enough meaning inside of him to truly mean it. He'd told Brittany he loved her. She had smiled and said it back.
She didn't even know his favorite color.
Seth fell backwards onto Ryan's bed, next to Jenn. She rolled over onto her stomach and watched him breathe.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing." She blew a bubble and popped it in her mouth.
"Okay."
Ryan walked out of the closet and pulled on a black tee shirt.
"Seth, man, you shouldn't be so depressed all the time. Get a hobby."
"A hobby?"
"A pet. Knitting. Something."
Seth rolled his eyes and Ryan knocked his head with a pillow.
"Don't set a bad example for my daughter. Do something."
"Do what?"
"Something. Now."
"There's nothing to do." Jenn whined, throwing her feet up onto the bed above her.
Summer nodded down at the girl, resting her head on her crossed arms. "Play a game."
Jenn rolled her eyes. "What game?"
"Something fun."
"With who?"
"Chris. He's bored too."
"How do you know?"
"Mother's instinct."
"Sure." Jenn mumbled, but she got up anyway and walked out of the room. Summer rolled over onto her back and Ryan ran over from the bookcase. His hands grazed her jean covered thighs as he kissed her harder by the second. Summer had learned to not think. Not picture him coming home and opening the door on something she never even would've considered, had circumstances been different. She'd had dreams like that. Him walking on them and telling her that she had his blessing. Then she'd gotten married to Ryan and he had told her to live happily ever after. While he stayed alone his entire life.
But he wasn't here. And it didn't seem like he was coming home anytime soon. So screw him.
Ryan sunk his head down to her ear; she halfway expected him to whisper something to make her shiver underneath his hot breath. But Ryan never said anything. He always stayed silent. He could talk to her when they were sitting on the couch with Jenn and Chris, but behind closed doors, he didn't say anything, reminding her of when he first got here. Although maybe that was normal. Maybe she had been spoiled by a guy that whispered how beautiful she was and how lucky he was to get her. Maybe some guys just talk too much. She missed it sometimes, though.
Summer felt Ryan's head move to the center of her neck and she rose slightly closer to him. She pulled his smooth, straight, blonde hair up so his lips landed back on hers, when the door opened.
She thought the impossible had happened. He was here.
But when their heads turned to the doorway, she was slightly relieved but disappointed, for it wasn't him. Marissa.
Marissa stood still and nodded, slowly. "Oh. S-sorry. I should...knock."
She started to walk away, but Summer ran to her and held her arm. "Marissa..."
Marissa turned around and bit her lip. Summer hugged her and whispered words of reassurance into her ear. She started to nod and Summer let her go. She brushed a few strands of hair out of Marissa's face and smiled. Marissa just nodded again. Summer took her hand and walked her out of the room, and into the bathroom. Marissa apparently found how to work her mouth.
"Sum, what the hell are you doing? Do understand what you're doing? You're...trying to replace Seth with the closest you can find, but you can't just do that. I know you miss him, but this is just...you can't do that."
"Marissa..."
"You know that. Come on, Summer, you don't love Ryan. You know that. I...you're taking the easy way out. Deal with losing Seth, you don't have to...it's Ryan. You don't...Ryan. I mean...you know."
"Okay. Okay. Relax, Riss. Breathe."
Marissa shook her head and sat down on the floor. Summer slid down next to her and leaned her head on her shoulder.
"It's okay, Riss."
"Do you really think you like him like that?"
Summer shrugged. Marissa turned her head and kissed the top of Summer's.
"He still might come back."
"Who?"
"He might."
"Riss, what are you talking about?"
Summer pulled her head up and Marissa just shrugged back. "You never know."
Summer opened the door and Seth sat up. Ryan looked from her to him and shook his head.
"You guys really need to work all of this out." He pointed to both of them, grabbed Jenn and pulled her over his shoulder, and walked out of the room, ignoring her "Daddy!"s.
Summer crossed her arms and pivoted to one foot. "Cohen..."
He walked over and leaned in the doorway across from her. She wanted him to say something, anything, but he just watched her.
"Cohen, I, um, I don't think we have to really involve everyone else into our problems. I, uh, I think we should either learn to be friends who are comfortable with each other, or..." She left the sentence hanging in mid air. He nodded.
"Yeah. Um...so which do you..."
She shrugged. "I think..."
Suddenly, his arms were uncrossed and were instead wrapped around her back and his lips were on hers and her hands were still crossed across her chest and he was pulling her in closer and closer to him. And she still wasn't sure exactly what this meant, but she didn't really care. Because it was Seth. And she was willing to let him get away with most things in the world. Still.
His breath was harsh, when his lips finally ripped away from hers. She was looking up at him, her lips still slightly parted, and he wasn't exactly sure what to say.
"Um..." He started. " 'Or' would probably be the, uh, my, anyway, preferred...choice."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
It was awkward, but she was okay with that. Because he was grinning now and it was because of her.
"So, should we, um, shake on it or something?" He looked at her, his grin seeming contagious.
"Yeah. Okay."
He held out his hand and she slipped her own inside. They were still staring at each other, their hands slowly moving up and down.
"Now what?" She murmured, afraid to take her eyes away.
"Now we...finish this." He held her hand closer to his chest and kissed her again. They heard footsteps, and Seth almost pulled away out of habit, but Summer had her hand on the back of his head. She pulled slowly away from him and turned her head to the little boy at her foot, grinning nearly as much as Seth had been.
"See? I told you." Chris tried to not laugh as Summer nodded.
"I should listen to you much more often."
"You should."
Seth nodded too and clapped Chris's shoulder. "Good call, Chris."
"Yup. Mom, I need to find that book that Grandpa gave me."
"Okay. Bye, Seth."
He nodded and she grinned again. She started to walk away, but he called after her.
"Hey Summer?"
She turned around for a second and he said, "What's my favorite color?"
She looked at him a little strangely, but replied, without thinking, "That fruity light teal thing. Like a robin's egg."
Eesh, that took a long time. I'm sorry for putting y'all through all that pain, but I have to say I'm probably one of the happiest people after that last chapter. I hope the flashbacks explained a bit more, remember them. They might be important later on...And I know most of this chapter was filler, but I'm kind of setting it up for a complete other part of this story. So please leave a review, because I love you guys so much. And kay.note? Damn, you always have something interesting to say, so please keep that up. You usually are the one that gets me through my blocks. And have faith in our man. He's pretty confused. Peace and love...