The Future Freaks Me Out-

A/N: Again thanks for the great reviews. I hope you like this part. R/R.

Summer turned around, one hand on her hip, the other outstretched in disbelief. "What is wrong with you?"

"What?" Seth asked innocently.

Summer's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Ya know your whole little jealousy show would be cute and all if we were like together. But, hey, go figure, we're not." She strongly emphasized the last part.

"Why aren't we?" he boldly asked. He threw caution to the wind. All she had to do was grab it.

Summer eyed him for longer than need be. "I'm tired of the on-again off-again on-again off-again crap. It's all too Ross and Rachel."

"Who?"

"Ya know Ross and Rachel on Friends."

Seth sighed. "Right, you're comparing us to a tv show. Why can't you just embrace the fact that we are perfect for each other?"

Summer moved to her bed. "If that were true then stupid things wouldn't keep coming between us."

Seth joined her on the bed ready to pour his heart out. "We have both made mistakes. We're not perfect. Love is not built on perfection."

"I was never the one to make any mistakes. That was all you. I'm not gonna let you make another one."

He went for her hand. "But..."

She retracted his touch immediately. "No buts Seth... I think you should go," she mouthed softly.

Nothing could describe the pained expression on Seth's face. He mustered every amount of willpower left in him and walked out without so much as a word.

Summer stared at the door long before he was gone before the tears started sliding down her cheeks.

The rest of the weekend went by at a snails pace. Summer refused to leave the room even at Marissa's constant urge. Summer couldn't grasp the fact that she had quite possibly ruined any future with Seth. Whether that meant friendship or something more it didn't matter. Summer couldn't stand to face him after knowing how much she hurt him. It was three days till October break. She was looking forward to going back to Newport just so she wouldn't have to reject dinner invitations from Marissa so she could avoid facing Seth. Four days away would give her a chance to clear her head of all Cohen-ness, granted she didn't run into him, which could very well happen. That was of no concern right now. Just three more days then she'd be lounging in the sun and shopping with Coop.

Summer checked through her email and realised she still needed to take that stupid questionnaire. She had however learned one thing about herself last week, biology was not one of her strengths, thus not one of her interests. That class was anything but easy and clearly reflected in a big fat F on the test. That meant that the rest of her grades had to be atleast C's with hopefully something better. College was nothing like high school. It wasn't necessarily harder but the lack of homework left three or four test grades deciding your fate. Studying wasn't one of Summer's strengths, not to say she was a bad student, just a procrastinator.

The questionnaire took about a half hour and proved to be quite worthless. She had not agreed to liking much of anything but figured she had to compromise and choose a few options. She never committed to saying she "liked" any of the options except those fashion related, and decided to stand "neutral" in other aspects including helping others, and watching children. That was pretty much it. The results pointed her towards fashion design but Summer knew she was not creatively inclined in the least bit. She sighed before realising there was nothing of interest in the world for her. Apparently she was destined to be some boring housewife. As a result she decided not to email back the dean and play it off as being too "forgetful" later.

The only thing to help lift her mood would be some good music. Normally it would The Valley but not today, it was getting extremely repetitive and the new season wasn't set to debut for another month. She stood on Marissa's chair as she rifled through the cd collection on her shelves. The Cramps? Still Little Fingers? The Clash? Sex Pistols? Summer hadn't heard of any of them, ever. 'What kind of music does Coop listen to?' she thought. Summer was well aware of Marissa's bad girl portrayal; alcohol, lesbianism, not listening to anyone, especially Julie. Her music had to be a reflection of this. Summer randomly pulled out a cd titled Motion City Soundtrack. She had never heard of the movie Motion City before but decided to give it a chance, she liked the artwork on the cover. She popped it into the cd player and sat on the floor. The first song was way too harsh, three seconds into the second one and that was enough, the third one however she actually liked. The third time she listened to it she started to learn the lyrics.

Betty won't stop listening to modern rock
How she hates to be alone
I try to compensate her lack of love with coffee cake
Ice cream and a bottle of ten dollar wine she says hey
I rock the Haro sport
I rock the cow girl blues
I rock too fast for love I'm footloose in my Velcro shoes
What's up with Will and Grace?
I don't get drum and bass
The future freaks me out

It kinda fit her current mood, at least the last line. The future did freak her out but the beat of the song was light hearted and fun. It made her want to dance. She started to get into it and didn't hear the knock at the door. She did however notice the person standing between the half open door as she twirled around, making her scream. She wasn't one to be embarrassed but she blushed slightly and went to turn down the music.

"Motion City Soundtrack. I love them."

Summer rounded on him. "Don't you know how to knock?"

"I did knock, but I figured you couldn't hear over the music."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well I could have been studying... naked... or something."

He laughed. "Mmm too bad, but hey speaking of studying, do you want to study for Soc with me?" Dave asked.

Summer was rather taken aback. "I totally forgot about the test tomorrow. Ahhh sure. Now?"

"Umm yeah. Is that alright? I'm sorry for just barging in on you."

She shrugged. "It's ok. Let's do it." She went and fetched her notebook out of her bag. They settled themselves on the floor and began swapping notes and going over the essay questions. Dave kept blatantly staring at her as he had done on their first encounter. Being alone in her room was much different then a packed classroom and it made her on edge.

"So you like Motion City Soundtrack huh? I saw them live last summer. It was great."

"What is Motion City? I've never heard of the movie."

Dave immediately cracked up. "It's ah not a movie. That's just the name of the band."

"Ohhh yeah I knew that," Summer chuckled trying to play it off. Dave just smiled longingly at her. Summer quickly broke it by turning back to her notes.

"Hey listen," Dave said, scooting closer towards Summer. He bravely put his arm around her shoulder. "Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night?"

Summer looked up into his face. She had not expected such an advance and it only escaladed as he got the wrong idea. He began leaning towards her lips and she violently backed away, skidding along the rug. "Whoah whoah. What are you doing?"

"What?"

"I barely know you," she retorted. "And I have a boyfriend." It came out without warning and even caught herself a little off guard.

"Ummm you what? You told me you were single." Dave's face was contorted in confusion.

"Um well my ex and I just got back together," she quickly thought up.

Dave sputtered out a groan of some sort. "Was it that guy that was here the last time I tried to ask you out?"

"Um yes." Summer swallowed hard. She wished he would just leave. It was getting very awkward.

"That guy? He's a tool. What do you see in him?" He started advancing on her again.

"Excuse me you have no right to ask that. I think you should go." Summer stood up and showed him to the door. Dave shook his head, grabbed his stuff and gave her a dirty look as he left.

"God. What a nightmare." That was the second time Summer had kicked a guy out of her room in the past few days. This one however would never again set foot in her room.

"Things with Summer are murkier now than they ever were," Seth mumbled. Ryan had actually been the one to strike up the conversation and wanted to kick himself except he was in the drivers seat on their hour long ride home. And he bet he would have to listen to the incessant Summer rambling for well over that hour.

"Maybe you could stand on a coffee cart and profess your love for her... oh no wait you already did that."

"Dude don't try to be funny you can't pull it off." Before Ryan could counter Seth was back to obsessing over Summer. "She told me she loved me. I mean I can't just ignore that. Granted she was smashed but still. I mean that's still gotta count for something. A drunk man speaks a sober mind... and ya know..."

Ryan looked out the window as the ocean came into view. He had stopped listening to Seth for a few minutes now but doubted he would notice. He was way beyond rambling at this point. He was just talking to hear himself talk. Despite his supposed efforts to change, he was still the same old Seth Cohen and he would undoubtly be the same Seth Cohen forever, even if Summer decided to take him back.

When they finally pulled into the driveway Ryan realised that Seth was still talking but ignored it as he climbed out and made his way to the front door. Sandy and Kirsten were already at the door, eagerly anticipating their arrival.

"You're home," Kirsten cried as she went to hug the boys. "It's good to see you. The house has been so empty without you two."

"I'm sure you're relieved to have us off your shoulders. I mean no more worrying about Ryan getting into fist fights, burning down houses, crashing black tie events, and well my sarcasm."

"It sure is good to have you home son," Sandy said giving Seth a hug.

"So I made a special dinner. I know it's not college food but hopefully you'll enjoy it," Kirsten announced.

"Ugh anything is better than college food, even your cooking Mom."

"Thank you for the inspired confidence Seth," she said leading them into the house.

"I'd really just prefer take out," he said.

"Right there with ya buddy," Ryan piped up behind him.

Summer slept in till almost one Thursday. She could have laid there all day if the sun wasn't streaming through her windows. The house was empty, luckily. Even though she was lonely the company of her parentals would hardly cure her loneliness. She grabbed her IPod and decided she'd drowned out an afternoon laying in the sun by the pool. Marissa was off galavanting with Ryan, leaving her all by herself. Marissa had promised a day of nothing but shopping tomorrow though, so she had to respect her alone time with Ryan. As she laid out in her lawn chair she tried to keep her mind clear and just absorb the music but pretty soon the music morphed and faded into memories of the past. The beginning of high school brought memories of parties, booze, Holly, and her "popular reputation." Then Ryan came and everything changed. She finally met Seth Cohen even though they had been going to school together since forever. With the birth of that relationship brought so many wonderful memories flooding to her mind.

Seth and Summer finally broke apart after a long lingering kiss. Summer looked around at the wandering jealous eyes of the girls below. After his grand romantic gesture, Summer didn't really care that his reputation was one of degradation, as long as he continued to kiss her like that.

"I guess we're official," Seth smirked, noticing the crowd they had drawn.

She sighed. "Yeah, already starting to deal with scrutiny in the spotlight. If last year someone would have told me I'd be kissing Seth Cohen on a coffee cart you know what I would have said?"

"Ahh Seth who?" he ventured.

Summer smiled. "See this is why we are so good together, we think exactly alike."

"Well, you know what I'm thinkin?... I'm thinkin the sex ban is officially whiped out soooo... ya know if you're not busy...?" Seth whispered in her ear.

"Meet me at my house in 10 minutes," she breathed into his ear only succeeding in turning him on. She hopped off the coffee cart and was out the door in a matter of seconds leaving Seth to find a way to get himself down.

Summer ended up thinking about Seth a lot when she was alone. She realised this was partly due to the fact that when they were together it was Seth that was the one to cure her loneliness. Marissa could never really compare, but she figured that was because she wasn't about to make out with her best friend. Summer found it incredibly hard to be by herself and not have feeling of depression. She knew her father and Marissa loved her to death but they weren't always there to supply her need for attention. Seth was always pretty good for that, not so much lately though.

Seth suddenly pulled away from her lips and turned towards the food. "I'm kinda hungry. You want to eat?" He failed to notice her look of disappointment as he handed her a burger and bit into his own.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

Seth continued eating in silence, staring ahead of him, obviously deep in thought. Summer's burger was still neatly wrapped, sitting in her lap. When Seth finally came to he looked over to an unenthusiastic Summer. Her expression was deadpan. "Hey, you not hungry?" he asked.

She placed her burger into his lap and slid off the hood of her car. "No I think I'm ready to go home."

"It's 7:00 on a Friday," he said checking his watch.

"Well I'm not really in the mood." She pulled out her keys and opened the door.

Seth immediately saw through her facade. "Hey, what's the matter?"

Summer placed her hand on her hip with the other holding the door open. "Well ya know I'm tired of hearing you talk about your ex-girlfriend. If you're still into her then what are you doing with me?"

He finally put his food down and joined her at her side. "Hey look at me?" He decided to take the initiative and angled her head to look into his pleading eyes. "Anna is just my friend, that's all she ever was... you are my girlfriend. You my little Summer are irriplacible."

"What would you do if it was me who was leaving?"

"I would probably have a major meltdown before I decided to kidnap you and sail away together."

Summer finally let loose a grin. "Well that's good but I would never leave you."

Seth just smiled before he leaned into her lips. "I'm sorry about before." Summer said nothing but pulled his head down to her mouth.

Summer would never leave Seth but that's exactly what he did to her. He sailed away on his sailboat without her. She couldn't remember ever feeling worse in her life. It ranked right up there with her mom leaving her. They were both too much of a coward to stay and face reality. Summer teared up at the memory and cranked her music to rid of it. Her mind wandered from that faitful summer but the good memories were gone. She couldn't help reliving last year, senior year. Although the beginning of the year had no doubt started off rather rocky, it turned full circle and ended up being "all-time" in the sense that they would be leaving Newport together, all four of them embarcing on another chapter as one. The only thing that hadn't remained "all-time" were her and Seth. And that really was the only thing that mattered.

Summer sat in the Range waiting for Seth to get out of his meeting with Dr. Kim. Being the nosey girl she was, she decided to search through his things. The center consol was filled with CDs ranging from Death Cab to Journey, loose change, and reciets galore. She picked up a handfull of them. Midtown music, Hannaford, Bait Shop, Midtown Music, nothing exciting. She picked up his cell phone and searched through his pictures, half of them were of her and it made her smile. She was going through the short list of contacts when it started to ring. She looked at the caller id. Taylor? She decided to answer it. "Ah hello?" she said into the phone.

"Hi, who's this?" the voice asked tentitively.

"Summer. Who the hell is this? It better not be Taylor Townsend." Click. The line went dead. What the hell was that skank doing calling her boyfriend? When Seth finally came out, Summer was seething. Seth noticed her face.

"What's the matter?"

"What the hell is Taylor Trash doing calling your cell?" Summer threw the phone at him and crossed her arms.

"Huh? She called?"

"Why? Were you expecting her?" Summer's voice rose with a fiery force.

"Before you freak out..."

She quickly cut him off. "I'm not freaking out," she said just as loud.

Seth's eyes widened. "Clearly... Listen you have nothing to worry about. You can trust me." He went to reach for her hand but she retracted it.

"OK well why is she calling you?"

"She's ahh she's my friend."

"You're friend?" Summer completely lost her temper, on the point of a rage blackout. "She only slept with the dean, got Ryan kicked out of school, back stabbed me in so many ways, and tried to steal you away from me! And now she's your friend! You are unbelieveable." Summer gave him no time to explain. She was out the door in a second, slamming it as hard as she could in her wake. Seth covered his face in frustration.

Summer recalled that fight like it was yesterday. She completely ignored him the next day at school and when he tried to talk to her she yelled in his face again. She was evil, cruel, and ruthless. She wanted to get him back. The only way she could get through to him was to bring back Zach and that's just what she did.

Summer knew she was being a completely horrible person by calling Zach and asking him out after losing all contact with him for almost 4 months. She was a total tease but pathetic Zach fell for it and was at her heals in no time.

"It's so good to see you," he cooed giving her a big hug.

"You too. I guess the graphic novel is coming right along."

Zach beemed. "Oh yeah it's great. And George Lucas? I mean wow."

"Mmm yeah," Summer uttered not really paying attention.

"So I guess you and Cohen didn't work out huh?"

"Let's not talk about him right now. Want to go to the diner?" She was positive Seth would be there and smirked evilly.

Summer wrapped her tiny arm around his waist as they walked through the diner. Sure enough Seth and Ryan were perched in their usual booth. Summer gingerly made her way in their direction acting completely aloof. Zach noticed them and spoke up excitedly.

"Cohen! What's going on man?"

Seth turned around, clearly very shocked. "Zach?... and Summer..." His expressioned morphed from shock to hurt. "I thought you were off discussing ewoks with George Lucas?" he asked Zach.

"Oh I was but then Summer here called me up and thought I'd check back into Newport."

"Mmmm perfect timing," Seth said eyeing Summer. "You know man, as much as I would love to stay and chat about my graphic novel... I have loads of homework just awaiting me." Seth didn't even look at Summer as he squeezed out of the booth and pushed past her towards the door. Summer watched the door swing shut... and ultimately on her heart.

The next time she saw Seth was something she never ever hoped to see. Seth was pressed up against the gym wall with Taylor plastered to his lips. Summer broke down in tears and ran out of the gym, her heels clicking along the floor. She never again wanted to relive that moment but that's exactly what she was doing right now. Seth had found her at her house, hiding under the covers of her bed, sobing openly, 10 minutes later. He had tried to explain himself but she threw him out with little explanation. He called out one last time from the other side of the door. "I love you. Taylor came onto me." Summer only cried harder. His voice got softer and she only made out a few words of his last sentence threw her sobing before his voice was gone for good. "... helping you... social... Summer." She had still remembered everything about their break up clearly but she had never analyzed what he been trying to tell her. Helping you? Social? What did that mean? Then it hit Summer like a tsunami. Her headphones were out of her ears in a second, as she sat bult upright.

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