Hi everyone!

A new chapter today! Let's meet Summer's new colleagues and Annie, some sort of her closest NYC best friend. But first of all, the Fantastic Four need to say goodbye :( And thanks a bunch to you who reviewed after reading! Please review again, you know that your comments keep me motivated ;)

Steffi :)

An End Is Always A Beginning

„Do you realize that this is the last time in like forever that we're hanging out like this?" Summer asked, looking into the three faces around her. She had never had better friends in her life, and she knew that they would always be her best friends.

Summer felt Seth's arm tighten around her shoulders, as if he wanted to comfort her. Marissa and Ryan who sat opposite to Seth and Summer looked both sad, Marissa a little sadder than Ryan.

"I know," Marissa said, "and although this should be a reason to celebrate, it's still sad."

"Yeah, growing up ain't easy." Seth said, trying to sound wise.

Summer punched him playfully in the ribs. "Don't you make fun of all this. Aren't you at least a little sad that the Fantastic Four are gonna be split across the whole country?"

Seth shrugged. "I get outta Newport, that's all I ever wanted. So I see this as a happy day."

The group fell silent again, each of them picturing the months that laid ahead. It was one week before college life would start for all of them, and tomorrow each of them would be moving to their new places on the new campuses or cities. Marissa and Ryan would both move to Berkeley, and Seth and Summer had would be moving into their very own apartment in New York City.

So here they were now, Summer waiting for her modeling career as a short-lengthed model to start, and the rest of the gang looking forward to college life.

"I still can't believe that there really exists such a thing as a mini-model-company," Ryan said.

Summer frowned. Ryan had always made fun of her at that issue. "It's a model company for short women. If the tall women can be models, why can't we tiny persons, too?"

Ryan shrugged. "Cuz I've never heard of a thing like that."

Marissa nudged him in the side. "Wait until Summer makes the whole company popular. Short is the new tall, you'll see." she said.

Summer grinned. "Thanks, Coop. And to you, Atwood: you're just jealous because you haven't been given such a chance."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, cuz I'd really love to be a model."

Seth grinned and waved his hands in the air. "I can almost see it: Ryan Atwood, roughing up the catwalks all over the world, always smiling and being nice." He stopped and looked at Ryan's dark gaze. "Right, just the perfect job for you."

The group laughed. And almost at the same time, Marissa's and Summer's faces became sad, and their eyes teary. Summer reached over the table to take Marissa's hands. "God, I'm gonna miss you so much, Coop."

Marissa swallowed, trying to stop the tears that were about to come. "And I'm gonna miss you." she replied.

Seth and Ryan just looked at each other. Ryan raised his eyebrows as if to show Seth that he was afraid a huge goodbye-crying thing was about to come up. The boys had been used to things like that the last couple of weeks, because everytime Marissa and Summer saw each other, they would start to cry about the fact that they wouldn't be seeing each other anymore.

"Good thing we're so cool," Seth whispered and winked at Ryan.

Ryan smiled. Even though Seth tried to be casual about the whole splitting and moving away thing, he knew that deep down inside, Seth was probably sadder about the college thing than the girls. "Yeah, good thing." he answered and grinned.

Suddenly, Summer sighed. "Guys, I hate to say this, but I really need to do some more packing, and I also need to say goodbye to my Dad and stuff. The plane's leaving early tomorrow." she said.

Marissa nodded sadly. "Yeah I should probably finish packing, too." she replied.

The group stood up and hugged. Marissa and Summer burst into tears as they laid their arms around each other. "I'm gonna miss you so much, Coop!" Summer said, holding on tightly to Marissa.

"And I'm gonna miss you!" Marissa replied, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Ryan and Seth looked at each other. "Not again," Ryan said and sighed.

Seth smiled and grabbed Summer at her waist, trying to pull her out of the embrace. "Come on, time to go."

Summer wiped away her tears and gave Marissa a final hug. Marissa managed a sad smile. "Good luck in The Big Apple, Sum. And don't forget to call when you're famous."

Summer laughed through her tears. "I won't, I promise." she replied. Seth pulled her further away towards her car. The girls waved at each other, and Summer didn't turn around until Marissa was completely out of sight.

Sighing, Summer stared into the distance. She was afraid of what the future would bring, but she was also curious about it. Summer turned around and looked at Seth who drove. She smiled as she saw how the warm summer breeze played with his brown curls. She softly laid her hand on Seth's thigh.

Seth turned his head, looking at her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Summer smiled. "As long as I'm with you, nothing." she answered.

"Cohen, did you see that view?" Summer screamed as she jumped on the living room couch of their brand new NYC apartment. "I can see across the whole Atlantic straight into Europe!"

Seth came out of the kitchen and wore a broad grin on his face. "So Dad was right when he said that the apartment had a stunning view." He commented and thoroughly examined the living room's furniture.

Summer had stopped jumping on the couch, but she was still amazed by the spectacular view she had over half of Manhattan when she looked out of the ceiling-to-floor lengthed windows.

Seth grabbed her waist from behind and caused her to slump down in the huge white pillows. "What do you think you're doing?" she said and tickled him in the side.

With a broad grin, Seth started to stroke Summer's back, lifting her top as he did so. Summer pushed him back a little. "What, the first thing we do in our new life is gonna be sex?" she asked and smirked.

"Sounds good to me." Seth answered and lowered his head to kiss Summer's neck.

"Nuh-uh, Cohen." Summer said and sat up. "This can wait. We have to stop by the model agency, say hi."

Seth raised an eyebrow. "We?" he asked.

Summer grinned. "Yeah, we. You wanna see where I'm gonna earn my wages, don't you?"

Seth shrugged. "Well, as long as you don't want me to go shopping with you." He mumbled and got up.

Summer grabbed Seth's hand and pulled him out of the apartment. "We'll see."

"Wow, look at all those dwarves here." Seth stated as he and Summer entered the model agency. Being among so many small women made Seth almost feel like a giant.

Summer gave Seth a slight punch into the ribs as she saw how Fran was approaching them. Here in the agency she looked even younger than she had back in California. Summer stretched out her hand for Fran to shake it, but instead of doing so, Fran gave Summer a smacking kiss on the cheek and hugged her.

"Here you are, California girl. Welcome!" Fran said and gave Summer a warm smile.

"Hey Fran, how are you?" Summer asked politely while her gaze was wandering around the huge checkroom.

"Oh, I'm fine." She stretched out her hand to Seth. "I suppose this is your Prince Charming?"

Summer's eyes wandered back to Fran and she smiled, grabbing Seth's hand. "Yeah, this is Seth Cohen, my boyfriend."

Fran shook Seth's hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you. Must be exciting to have a girlfriend who's becoming a model."

Seth nodded and was just about to answer when Fran grabbed Summer's hand and pulled her away from him. "Come on darlin', let me introduce you to your new colleagues."

Glancing back at Seth, Summer shrugged in apology and motioned Seth to sit down and wait for her. Feeling pretty lost, Seth sat down at one of the huge glass tables that were situated across the room and took one of the magazines that were spread across it.

"Vanity Fair. Cosmopolitan. Glamour. Vogue. Elle. In Touch." Seth mumbled the names of the paper's and felt even more bored than he already was. "This is gonna be great." Closing his eyes, he leant back into the chair and tried to bridgeover the time until Summer would be coming back.

Fran had led Summer into a much bigger checkroom where some girls were putting dresses on.

She clapped to get the girl's attention, and pointed towards Summer.

"Girls, this is your new friend, Summer Roberts from Newport Beach, California." Some of the girls waved at Summer, some smiled, and some didn't bother her presence at all.

Politely, Summer waved back.

"She's gonna be one of the new faces of the fall collection, and starts her new job tomorrow." Fran explained.

"Annie, why don't you show Summer around? Tell her how this all works here." Fran asked a tiny redhead who wore her long curls in a bun.

To Summer, she seemed to be the friendliest of the girls in the room.

"Sure Fran." Annie smiled and walked over to Summer, giving her a hug. "I'm Annie, nice to meet you." She said.

"Hey, I'm Summer." Summer said. "But I guess you already know that."

Both girls laughed and Annie linked her arm in Summer's. "So let me show you how this all works here." She said and pointed with her hand around the whole room.

"This… is the major checkroom. We're putting on our new dresses and suits here. And the room where you entered the agency is the make-up room. Well the name says everything. That's where make-up, hair, and all that stuff is done."

Annie guided Summer towards the make-up room where she spotted Seth sitting at the table, sound asleep. She pulled Summer's arm tighter to her body. "Gosh… this guy is HOT! Aww, I'd love to show HIM around here." Annie said, staring lustfully at Seth.

Summer suppressed a giggle as she saw how Seth's jaw had dropped and he started to snore a bit. "I'm afraid he wouldn't bother about anything here." She said and had a dreamy look on her face.

Annie saw the look on Summer's face and started to smile, too. "Oh, now I get it. He's your Prince Charming."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't the word 'boyfriend' exist anymore around here?" she asked.

Annie laughed. "Sure it does. You're not here long enough to understand." She replied and smirked.

After watching Seth for some more seconds, Annie guided Summer towards one of the benches that were next to the huge windows and motioned her to sit down.

"I think I need to tell you something about the girls." Annie started, putting on a serious face. "They're jealous. Especially of Newpsies around here."

At the word "Newpsies" Summer jumped a little. She hadn't been away from home for less than one day, and such a familiar word already caught her ear.

"Just don't act like you want to take over the agency because you're much better or something. Then everything should be fine." Annie added and smiled. "They only try to defend their territory."

Summer nodded. If she had felt insecure before, this litte tip from Annie didn't help at all to make her feel better.

Suddenly, Annie clapped her hands and jumped up, yanking Summer out of her dreams. "Need to go now. So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. Tomorrow." Summer replied, her face looking stressed.

Annie saw Summer's expression and bent down again, bringing her face ner hers. "You don't need to be nervous. This is gonna be fun, trust me." She said and smiled again. "And if you have any questions or problems… I'm here for you."

Now Summer smiled too. "Thanks, Annie."

Annie gave her a broad grin and disappeared into the back checkroom where she had been before the little tour.

Looking out of the window, Summer sighed. Had she really been doing the right thing, giving up college for this life?

Well, at least she had Seth. Summer turned around to see a tiny line of drool running down her boyfriend's chin, and decided that it was time for Sleeping Beauty to wake up. He shouldn't embarrass her the day before she even started working here.

On tiptoes, Summer went over to Seth and brought her face to his ear. "Sleeping Beauty… the manicure's done!" she said into his ear. At the word 'manicure', Seth jumped up and looked at his hands, his face totally shocked.

Summer stood next to him, holding her stomach from laughing. "God, this was the best joke today!" she giggled, wiping away some tears of laughter.

Seth's face darkened and he grabbed Summer's wrist, pulling her tight to his chest. "You think you're funny?" he asked.

Summer nodded. "Yeah, I am." She said and gave him one of her broad happy smiles.

Now Seth cracked up too, not able to stand his own seriousness anymore. "You are." He admitted and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Ready for take-off?"

Summer nodded. "Yeah, let's go home."

Their hands intertwined, Seth and Summer left the model agency. Part one of entering the world of adulthood was done.

Next chapter: Real Life