Ryan was sat hunched over his books at the kitchen table when Seth came bounding into the room looking, if possible, a little more manic than usual. "Have you seen the ocean today dude? I swear it's totally bluer and shinier than usual!". Seth stared out of the window totally oblivious to the bemused look on Ryan's face.

"Urm…no…but you seem ramblier and scarier than usual"

Seth turned round laughing "You see… even the gentiles are funny today!"

Ryan shook his head and sighed "Are you going to explain yourself or should I just nod along as normal?".

Seth rushed over to the table and yanked a chair up close to where Ryan was sitting, causing Ryan to pull back and widen his eyes.

"You see…" Seth whispered "I was at the mall today and...wait" Seth sat up abruptly "I thought when you nodded it meant you understood me?"

Ryan just gave him one of his famous looks then nodded slowly, Seth however was satisfied and just desperate to finish his story "So anyways I was at the mall picking up some supplies for the Comic Book Club; Cheesesticks, Mountain Dew, you know how it is..."

Ryan stared at him " Actually no...I really don't"

Seth began to rock excitedly on his chair and get a bit of a manic gleam in his eye "And there they were, the answer to all my problems…well not all my problems, I mean they won't tame my Jew-fro and I'll still be Seth Cohen but…what was I saying again?"

"Honestly" snapped Ryan "I have no idea"

Seth jumped up from his chair and started waving his arms around "Oh yeah! So there they were in the Aisle right in front of me…Chilli Fries! And they were on Special…2 for 1! It's like fate really, or destiny or well it's pretty freaking awesome anyway!"

Ryan sighed for not the first time that day and held his head in his hands "So you're saying that you are seeing the ocean in a whole new light because of …Chilli Fries?"

Seth nodded excitedly "YES! Well no…obviously not just that...I'm not totally weird"

Ryan looked up " Really? You're not? You might want to make a sign just to clarify that for people"

"No Ryan listen. Do you know who loves Chilli Fries? Summer! And they were on Special...one for me and one for her! Dear Lord it really is the sort of things films are made of...You see there's no way she can reject me now!"

Ryan took a deep breath and fixed his brother with a look "So your new plan to get Summer back…is fried food"

"Yep" Seth nodded "It's brilliant really, I'm not sure why I didn't think of it…"

Ryan butted in " So she's going to forget all about you leaving her to go to Portland ... And she's going to forget all about her handsome, water polo playing, not to mention sane, boyfriend all because you give her a bag of Chilli Fries?"

Seth sat back down and slumped slightly in his chair "Hmmm, well it definitely sounded better in my head"

He lay his head on the table and Ryan awkwardly patted him on the shoulder, he knew that Seth was really hurting. Today's fiasco was just one in a long line of increasingly far-fetched plans to get Summer back (Last week he was going to build a real stable for Princess Sparkle and present it to Summer…before Ryan pointed out that it may involve tools and some heavy lifting). As far as Ryan could see, it was Summer that was missing out, because if a guy was willing to put this much effort into getting you back, then they had to be worth something.

Seth lifted his head slowly and looked at Ryan "You know what man? I seriously think you've damaged my creative aura. Before you got here all my plans were awesome"

Ryan gave him the look "Were they really? Or was Captain Oats just not as good at pointing out the flaws in them?"

Seth shrugged "He can be very vocal when he wants to be…you should hear him when he gets started on equal rights for Horses and Donkeys"

Ryan gave a short laugh and got up from the table "I'm sorry man, I just don't think the Chilli Fries are gonna work" Seth shook his head and laid it back down on the top. Ryan was just about to walk out the door when he turned and looked back at his brother, him looking sad and pathetic huddled over a work surface had become a regular feature since Summer had rejected him after he returned from Portland, and Ryan had to admit that he felt a little guilty for the part he'd played in Seth's leaving. But honestly, what could he do? Even Ryan, the least romantic man in Newport, thought they were made for each other…and Summer would figure that out for herself soon enough.

Summer stared out of the window of the diner out on to the ocean and picked distractedly at her chilli fries as the boats of Newport's elite bobbed up and down on the water. No doubt at that moment some famous people were sunning themselves on the top deck and in the past this would have excited Summer, it encapsulated exactly what Newport life used to mean to her. But now it was different. Now when she watched the waves crash on to the shore it just evoked memories of a certain tall, skinny guy with curly hair, who, over the past year, had changed Summer more than she was ever likely to admit.

For Summer, the boats represented the best and worst of Seth Cohen. Her mind drifted regularly to the conversation they'd had just after Julie and Caleb's wedding; when she'd found out that he'd named his boat after her. Just thinking about it made her smile, it was exactly the sort of hopelessly romantic yet totally genuine gesture that Seth was prone to…nobody else in her life had ever paid such close attention to her heart.

But Summer's face clouded over as she recalled the other boat associated memory…the day he sailed away. He just left…leaving a note…and a broken heart behind him. Her broken heart. Until he'd left she wasn't sure that she was capable of processing that much pain. When her mum had left her dad she was so used to presenting a hard-nosed impression to everybody that she was able to just keep that up and carry on as normal. But when Seth left, something had changed…she'd changed. Seth Cohen, Newport's biggest comic book loving, emo geek had broken down barriers within herself that nobody else had even come close to. And that's why she couldn't take him back…She wouldn't let herself become that vulnerable again. It wasn't worth it.

"…about time don't you think? Summer? Are you listening?" Summer jerked her head up and shook herself out of the reverie that had played over in her head so many times over the past few months.

"Sorry what did you say?"

Zach laughed and rolled his eyes at her vacant expression "I was saying we should go on a proper date soon, you know a movie, romantic dinner, the full works!" He looked up expectantly with a wide smile on his face.

"Urm I …I have to think about it…I'm sorry" Summer trailed off when she saw Zach's crestfallen face. She hated herself for doing this to him; she didn't even fully understand herself why she was so disinterested.

Zach was everything that a girl could ever reasonably want. He was smart, athletic and had the looks of a typical Abercrombie and Fitch model. On top of that he was incredibly sweet and so far hadn't even made a comment about Summer's total lack of commitment and long periods of staring out of windows during their conversations. It wasn't that she didn't like him; she was just not looking for a relationship. She planned to avoid any situations in which her heart could be stamped on in the way it had been recently.

And also Zach…well he was no Cohen.