Perfect Drug

A/N: Of course this took me so long... it's what I do. Anyway I hope you like this part and don't forget to review. :)

Seth got off the bed, touching a warm hand to Summer's shoulder. "I don't know what to tell you except, do what you need to do. Just know this though… whatever you need, anything at all, you know where to find me." He felt like he was saying goodbye. It scared him, more than it should have. "You won't be long right?" he added as an after thought.

Summer shrugged, again feeling the river of tears emptying a few drops into her eyes. She hated it. Tears were a sign of weakness and she wasn't a weak person. She was strong, or at least she hoped this was what she portrayed. But in her heart she was, she always had to be. She had survived her mother's departure, Seth's sailing adventure, her father's on-off parenting, and she would survive this. She would move on and live her life just like every other time… this time however, lacking in the get-up-and-go attitude. It would take some time.

"Look, Cohen, I just need some time by myself. I'm going home." She mouthed a sad 'bye' before turning to leave. She made it through his doorway and down the stairs but nowhere else.

Seth sank to his bed feeling dejected. He thought about running after her but restrained himself. His grandfather's death had been the only death that had personally affected him. He didn't know how to deal but he hadn't wanted to be alone at the time. It was he who called Summer to come sit with him before the funeral, he who needed to be near her. But they were obviously different people, with different coping mechanisms. Sometimes he forgot they were both separate people.

He reached for his IPod in hopes of providing a temporary distraction but changed his mind. The voices that were hushed a few moments ago had picked up in volume.

"Why? Why? Why?...," he continually heard, a hitch in the voice like a needle on a vinyl record. The voice was all too familiar, not in a good way. He had never really liked her. He descended down the stairs, now in full view of the voice.

"I miss her," he heard Summer say as she stood embracing Julie Cooper. It was truly an odd sight but still ironically heartfelt. Both women were crying, and at that moment Seth wanted to as well… accept he didn't. He only wanted to because Marissa's death had sucked the life out of everyone around him.

When Summer let go she turned with blurry eyes at the sound of Seth's footsteps. Kirsten replaced the vacated void in Julie's arms while Summer found comfort once again in Seth. Then she blacked out. She blacked out as much pain as she could. She whipped away the stray tears, and she dragged Seth out of the house with her.

Summer though attempting to block out the pain, couldn't focus away from Marissa. She thought about how Marissa would be acting if their situation were reversed. Would Marissa make a big spectacle? Would she push everyone away? Would she crawl back to Ryan? Would she drink herself into a stupor?... Or possibly feel nothing?

Back before Summer met Ryan and fell in love with Seth she had often turned to alcohol for some solace. She was never dependant on it like Marissa, and in the end she just woke up with a killer headache. Then everything changed. She no longer needed that drug for comfort when she had it in human form… in Seth. Without him she may have tipped back the bottle but now there was no need.

You are the perfect drug, the drug, the perfect drug

Without you, without you everything falls apart
without you, its not as much fun to pick up the pieces

That's why Summer took him with her. She took him to the diner and to the lifeguard tower and said 'goodbye' the only way she knew how. They walked the beach aimlessly, Seth respecting the silence for once in his life, and instead opting to hold her hand. When they had found their way back to the Cohen driveway, Summer dragged Seth to his room, intending on thanking him the only way she knew how. She wasn't good with long winded speeches but she knew of other ways to put her mouth to good use. And knowing Seth would do nothing to object, made the appeal that much sweeter. Anything was better to try and forget, especially with the funeral tomorrow looming in her mind.

Seth hadn't seen Ryan all day but when Summer pressed her lips to his he figured seeing him in the morning would be just as good. Except he was reluctant to kiss back. He pulled away even if his nether regions were cursing him. "Are you sure?"

Summer nodded enthusiastically. "Can you think of a better way to distract me?"

Seth thought about it for half a second before replying, "No."

Summer smiled slightly. "Ok then, kiss me."

And so he did. It was light and sweet and like nothing she'd ever felt before. His hands disappeared into her top, his fingers tickling her tanned skin. His tongue delicately maneuvered around and she was forced to pull back.

"What was that?" she asked in an unusually unreadable manner.

Seth crunched his forehead. "Huh?"

"You've… never kissed me like that before."

Seth brushed some hair away before making a motion to the empty bed. "And?"

Summer sat down. "Do it again."

Seth grinned before sitting beside her and cupping her face in a gentle kiss. She pulled herself up, straddling him, hitting him in the sensitive region, but in a most erotic fashion. Leave it to two kisses to get Seth totally aroused. He felt his hips making a desperate attempt at colliding with his girlfriend's. Summer smirked into the kiss, very much glad that Seth could still feel so much for her all the… all the time.

Seth found out the same was true for her when he increased the intimacy, slipping a hand down her pants. "I love you," he whispered across her lips.

"Show me," she arched into his touch.

That was the point of no return. Limbs, and sweat, and lips, and pure unadulterated sex consumed Summer's mind for some amount of time before she lay tired in a cocoon of Cohen and blankets.

"Mmmm, that was Mmmmm," Seth said sleepily.

Summer smiled into his side. "Yes, it was very mmmmm. We should mmm some more." She lifted her eyebrows suggestively, adding to it by rolling her body on top of him.

"Again?" he asked incredulously. "There's a rare treat."

"So that's a yes?" she asked tangling her fingers in his hair.

Seth cocked his head against the pillow. "Was that seriously a question? Just gimme a minute, or two."

She smiled coyly and connected their lower halves. Her lips crashed down on his, muffling his groan. They dewled for only a minute before Seth's hips jerked.

"Ok, I'm good."

They finally fell asleep at midnight after they showered together and snacked together in bed. Seth being whipped, let Summer pick out the movie and it was still on when Seth woke up a few hours later, the menu song playing on repeat.

He got up to turn it off, not being able to find the remote in a mess of sheets and Summer's sleeping form. He turned it off and climbed back into bed but couldn't fall back asleep. An hour he lay awake, his body lying on its side watching Summer sleep, thinking about what next year would bring. It scared him and excited him all at once. He didn't know what he would possibly do for four months while she was at Brown. Ever since he had gotten the acceptance letter from RISD the possibilities had been floating around in his head: get a job, get back to drawing, be lazy and get some R&R…. but none of those gave him Summer and they all forced him to remain in the town he loathed without a single friend. His other option was to follow Summer, shack up with her in her dorm room, be her sex slave and her watch dog. Now that option he could get seriously used to.

Seth fell asleep with that thought, hoping for his sanity that it could happen. It was all in Summer's hands. Her future was his future…

When Summer woke up she realized that something was terribly wrong. She sat up quickly, scanning Seth's room. He was there, and everything was in order. She let out a breath she was holding and realized, as consciousness set, that it had been a dream. She hadn't lost Seth, but the reality of Marissa's death was never more real than now, the day of the funeral.

She got up, leaving Seth to sleep, and pulled on her clothes five minutes later after she found them all. She thought about waking him but realized it wasn't necessary. The funeral wasn't till late afternoon. Summer needed to go home. It struck her she hadn't really been there since the news of the accident hit her.

She slipped on her sandals and threw her hair back into a messy bun. Her fingers danced along Seth's cheek before she replaced it with her lips for a brief kiss. She couldn't just leave him but had no choice. Instead she decided to leave a quick note on her vacated side of the bed.

Seth's room was very much tidied up and she had to riffle through his desk to find a piece of paper. She never got as far as the paper though. Not only did she not find one but she found something else to deter all thought from what she was originally going to do. She lifted the small velvet box into her hands, an invisible thrust into her gut leaving her with little doubt as to what it was.

Thanks for reading!