Chapter 18 – Just something else to think about

Seth walked into the hotel room. It was dark and quiet, but the hotel manager had told him that Summer still was in. He figured that she might be in the bedroom.

And he was right; he spotted the silhouette of his wife on the bed in the dark room. He turned a small lamp on, which stood on a drawer.

Summer lay on her right side with her face turned to the bed. She had no blanket or no sleeping clothes. She just lay there in black trousers and a pink sweater, looking very small and vulnerable. Her dark hair was a bit messy and a few stripes were in her face, but she didn't seem to notice. On the bedside table, there was an almost empty bottle of wine.

Seth walked closer, sitting down next to her body, which was a little curled. He took the hair away from her face with a gentle touch. Her cheeks were still a bit wet, so he guessed that she'd fallen asleep pretty close to now.

As he watched her, he wished that he had been there from day one. Summer couldn't handle close to as much as she thought. Even though she was strong, she was the strongest person Seth knew, she still couldn't handle everything, as she sometimes thought she could.

During the years, he had made her open up and now Seth knew her better than anyone else had ever done and would ever do. Seth knew that Summer never would confess that she needed him enough.

The wall that Summer had created her whole life practically didn't exist around Seth any more. Part of it would always be there, but that part was so small that Seth could see over it.

He lay down next to her and kissed her forehead before he pulled her closer to him. He knew how deep Summer slept and he knew that he wouldn't wake her up; she needed to sleep. Seth held her close and buried his head in her neck and breathed in the smell of her. He had really missed her; she seemed more beautiful than ever before as she lay in the dark next to him, completely unaware of him being there.

Seth pulled her away a little bit and just looked at her; he knew every detail of her by heart. He leaned closer again and kissed her cheeks, nose, eyelids and finally her lips; the soft lips he'd touched so many times before. He could feel the taste of alcohol, but the taste of Summer was more powerful.

"I love you Summer." He whispered in her ear before he fell asleep with her tightly wrapped in his arms.

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Summer slowly woke up; feeling very comfortable and yesterday seemed to have vanished. She snuggled closer to the person next to her and realised that it was Seth. She could hear his special sound he had when he slept and she could never feel more secure than when she was in his arms.

Summer smiled for the first time in days and wrapped her arms around his body and hugged him like never before. She pulled her body on top of his and rested her head on his chest, feeling as it went up and down as he breathed. Seth began to move, but Summer stayed in her position until Seth's arms went round her body tighter. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Cohen." She said in a low voice and leaned down to kiss him. Seth was able to say mumble her name before she deepened the kiss. Their tongues played with each other and the kiss was filled with love and felt more perfect than ever.

They had to pull apart after a while to breath and they were both met by the other ones brown eyes. Seth's filled with happiness and love and Summer's went wet and tears started to dropdown on Seth's face. Seth immediately took his left hand and pulled her head down to his chest as he mage circles on her back with his right. Summer didn't sob like she used to, this time she cried silent tears.

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Seth had taken Summer out for some fun, something that would make her stop thinking about all the hard things she would have to deal with later. He wanted them to have a great time, just like they used to when they were seventeen.

"Where are we going?" Summer asked excitedly.

"I'm not telling you, it's a surprise." Seth replied and put an arm round her shoulders. Summer had no idea where they were going. She didn't recognize this city. Neither did Seth, but he'd made a few calls and found the perfect place for them. They had taken a taxi, but they were now walking.

"I can hear people screaming. It sounds as a carnival. Cohen?" Summer playfully said and he could see that she was excited.

"Well, you're right. Giant Wheel, rollercoaster, puking people; the whole thing." They both smiled as a huge carnival appeared.

"Wow, this is something else than kick off carnival." Summer said, already feeling ten years younger.

"It is, so what do you wanna do first?" Summer crossed her arms and pretended to be thinking hard.

"That was a hard one. The first thing I want to do is….kiss you." Summer placed her arm around Seth's neck, feeling him grab her waist. Summer leaned up to Seth's level and passionately kissed him.

She then took his hand and they started to wake toward the Giant Wheel, both smiling.

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Many hours later, Seth and Summer entered the hotel room, feeling very pleased about the evening. They'd had such a great time, laughing and making out, probably looking very much in love. Seth had obviously succeeded with his commission.

"I've had so much fun today, thank you." They sat down at the couch, Summer snuggling close to Seth.

"I'm glad to be for some use." Seth joked, pulling her closer and making a little laugh.

"Cohen, I'm serious. Before you came I was a wreck, but now…now I've…you've made me forget about it. I didn't think about it once tonight. My mind was too absorbed by you." Summer played with his fingers, but looked up as she spoke.

"Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being you."

Seth was speechless. Summer could say the most beautiful things. There was nothing he could say so he just kissed, tried to show her his feelings.

To be continued…

So, what did you think?

In the next chapter they will meet Francesca. What do you guys think should happen? Seth meet her first? Summer meet her alone? They meet her together?