Cabin Fever, Summer Flu

By: In Fair Verona
Rating: T / PG-13
Pairing: Summer x Seth
Summary: Ten years after their fallout, Summer and Seth are reunited when both are seeking an escape from the stresses of their adult lives. In a strange turn of events the two end up staying in a cabin together but with a wager and tensions running high, their contempt for one another could either heal or grow worse.
Disclaimer: I do not own Summer Roberts, Seth Cohen, or anything else affiliated with the O.C.

Author's Note:
monster-in-the-closet - Thanks! Though I did take a two year break in updating the Consequences. That aside, I guess you could say I update regularly.
Somebody's-Dark-Angel - Thanks, and actually the Consequences is now finished, which is why I've started this story

Day One

Summer Roberts leaned back against the worn brown leather couch in the cabin's expansive living room, the texture of the furniture was cool and refreshing against her hot skin and the blistering humidity. Seth Cohen relaxed himself into the matching arm-chair across from her, rolling up the sleeves of his plaid shirt to relieve him from the heat. The two stared at each other with locked gazes for a moment in an unspoken battle to see whom would speak first. Naturally, Seth lost.

"How's Zach?" He asked with faux enthusiasm in his inquiry, tilting his head to the side as he examined the woman sitting across from him.

"How's Anna?" Summer countered, her eyes never wavering from his as she intensified her gaze with a facade of interest.

"We're engaged."

"We're divorced." Summer replied nonchalantly as she slid her white jacket off, revealing a professional black tank top that fit snugly against her. She crossed her legs and uncrossed them, desperate to find a place or position of comfort around Cohen. "So... congratulations."

"You too." Seth offered, raising his hand at her in acknowledgement.

"Have you set a date yet?" Summer inquired, this time with sincere interest seeping through into her question. She tucked a few dark curls behind her ears, waving a perfectly tanned hand at her face in an attempt to cool herself, creating the picturesque image of an upper-class woman straight out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

"No... no, not really." Seth replied, shaking his head. He scratched the light stubble on his chin in a thoughtful manner. "We thought it was best to take our time. Just to make sure..." He paused, daring himself to continue, "We didn't want to rush into it and then end up divorced." He explained with cunning innocence.

"How considerate of you both." Summer replied, unaffected by his remark. "You wouldn't want to wait too long. Knowing you both, your insecurities will get in the way." She refrained from adding 'the way it did before' to her sentence and instead flashed the man opposite of her a quick and confident grin. "Tie the knot now before you're too old to. It's better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, right?" She inquired in a light tone.

"Well, I was never the rash type. I don't rush into things." Seth explained simply. Summer narrowed her eyes, giving a particular look.

"Right. So... how long were you and Anna broken up before you came to me?" Summer asked, not intending for him to answer but rather to prove a point, and she suceeding in doing so.

"You haven't changed, you still love proving me wrong." Seth commented off-handedly, turning his gaze away from her.

"Au contraire, Cohen, you've just always set yourself up to look like a fool. I just point it out." Summer retorted, flashing an innocent smirk as she tilted her head to the side mockingly. "So..." She folded her hands on top of her lap, looking at him in a way that was strictly business and pushed all jest aside. "Since we're here and being near civil, we should probably discuss sleeping arrangements." Summer suggested.

"That's a great idea. Here's one I'd like to put on the table - Since I booked it first, I get the bed and you can have the couch." Seth said simply, causing Summer to scoff as she folded her arms over her chest and glared at him with her dark brown daggers for eyes. "Allright, joint custody then. You can have the bed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and we'll both sleep on the floor on Saturdays." This idea didn't bode over very well with Summer either, as she found it distasteful to be on the floor at all. "So, what do you want to do? Pull another Tijuana?" Seth asked her sarcastically.

"Ugh, please. Don't bring back painful memories." Summer mumbled, rolling her eyes at him.

"How was that a painful memory? You're the one who took all the covers, princess."

"It was painful because my best friend nearly killed herself, jack-ass."

"Right." Seth recalled slowly, nodding his head. "I'm thinking that for that insensitive comment alone... I'll be taking the couch." He mumbled, more to himself than to Summer, who merely scoffed in an attempt to hide the satisfactory smirk that appeared on her golden face.

"Isn't this supposed to be a five-star camping resort? Where the hell is the food?" Summer asked, looking at the open refridgerator which sported nothing but a six-pack of Budweiser, much to Summer's distaste. Seth ran a hand through his already disheveled hair, peering over her shoulder. His bemused smirk was illuminated by the white glow of the fridge as he patted his house-mate on the shoulder.

"Summer, Summer, Summer." He shook his head. At his condescending tone Summer turned around adruptly to face him as the refridgerator door closed itself behind her. "You're really getting in over your head, aren't you? Maybe this lifestyle is just too rough for you... You know what? I'll call you a cab and get you a room at the Four Seasons, my treat." He offered with a cocky grin.

"I don't think so, Cohen. The only thing you can buy me is something edible."

"And some company on the long, cold, lonely nights." Seth said teasingly, earning himself a glare. She would never know how much satisfaction he received from seeing her like this, all hot and bothered with her fists curled up and yet unable to harm a hair on his head. The day he never thought he'd lived to see had come and he was milking it for all it was worth. "Summer, you don't rent a cabin so you can have P.F. Chang's. The whole point is roughing it. You have to go out there, in the wilderness, and catch yourself a fish. We can worry about cooking it after that."

"Well... why don't you go catch me a fish?" Summer asked, placing her hands on her hips and looking at him expectantly. Seth laughed at the thought of doing man-labor for Summer, he laughed and it he did it loudly before turning around and walking off into the living room. "How about another wager, Cohen?" Summer asked, arching an eyebrow. "We fish. Both of us. We'll eat whoever's is bigger and whoever does catch the bigger fish... can have the bed for tonight."

"Hmm... considering how you have absolutely no experience with fishing, I think I'll have to take you up on that bet." Seth replied with a grin, taking her hand in his and giving it a good firm shake.

"Don't forget that you're the pansy who cried during a movie and is scared of the hardware store." Summer reminded him, pushing past him as she made her way upstairs into the bedroom to change into something more appropriate for their newly spurned competition.

Fifteen minutes later the pair were sitting back to back in a rickety old rowboat, each with a fishing pole in hand and with a bored expression on their sunbathed faces. Summer sat there elegantly, sporting an old red tank top and a pair of over-alls and Armani shades. She tapped her foot impatiently.

"Whoever decided that this was an entertaining sport was clearly insane." She muttered. "I mean, what's the point?"

"I think the whole reason people enjoying fishing isn't because of the fish, it's because of the bonding time." Seth responded dully. Summer merely shrugged.

"Well, I'm not having fun doing that either."

"That's because you're not doing it. You could make an effort, you know, 'Hey Seth, how was your day?'"

"How about you just shut up so your loud mouth doesn't scare all the fish away?" Summer suggested, at which point Seth found himself falling silent. The silence extended for the next several minutes, creating an awkward atmosphere. There were many points at which one of them would open their mouth, as if to say something but then seemed to decide better of it and remained quiet.

That is, until a gentle tug at Summer's fishing pole startled her and she let out a small squeak as she grabbed onto the pole with both hands, "S-Seth!" She exclaimed worriedly.

"What?" Seth asked in a mumble, his head resting against his hand and his elbow positioned on his knee.

"I think I caught something." Summer explained, looking at him over her shoulder. Seth glanced over his shoulder at her in surprise. He hadn't been expecting Summer to catch anything but they both knew that she always got what she wanted, so it shouldn't have been that surprising. Seth got up and carefully walked to Summer's end of the little rowboat, getting on his knees behind her. "What do I do?" Summer asked him, gripping the rod tightly.

"You have to reel it in." Seth explained simply. Summer shot him a helpless look and with a sigh and the roll of his eyes Seth leaned forward, reaching around Summer's petite body. He placed a hand gently over hers, moving it to the reel and turning it with a steady hand. Summer focused on their hands carefully, though her body had frozen up from the close proximity. She didn't want Seth Cohen this close to her, but under the circumstances it seemed inevitable. Plus, she wanted to win this little bet. It might make her feel better when she lost the other one because with each minute it got harder not to murder Seth with her own bare hands.

Suddenly with a splash of water a riggling fish emerged into the air, attached to the end of Summer's fishing rod. "Ew!" Summer exclaimed, looking up at the poor fidgeting creature. It looked as if it were having an epileptic seizure and Summer almost felt sorry for it. But it was a big fish, had it been a measley sized creature she may have thrown it back into the water. "I don't think you're going to beat that, Cohen." Summer said breathlessly and Seth released her hand and stood up, unhooking the fish from the hook and holding it in his hands.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." Seth said, looking at the size of the fish, a trout, with wide eyes. He was definitely impressed. "You did a good job for your first time fishing." He told Summer.

"I couldn't have done it without you." She replied, dusting off her hands.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've said to me in ten years." Seth replied with a cocky smile. Summer didn't know exactly how to respond to that so rather than saying anything she gave him a timid smile as she rolled her eyes.

"Now you can row us back to shore." Summer ordered, looking at him expectantly. She crossed her legs and motioned to the oars.

"I knew it was too good to last." Seth mumbled, sitting down and grabbing both of the oars as he began their descent back to the dock.

"So, are we going to eat this thing raw or are you going to get off of your lazy ass and cook it?" Summer asked, leaning over the couch and looking down at Seth's resting form. Seth groaned, pulling a pillow over his head.

"It's your fish, you cook it."

"Exactly. I did the catching part, now you can do the cooking part. So," She reached down, yanking the pillow away from him, "Let's hop to it."

"Well, considering you're the woman, why don't you hop to it?" Seth asked, looking up at her. "You belong in the kitchen." At his remark an eerie pause filled the room as Summer's eyes filled with venom. Seth looked up at her with a fearful look. It had been so long since he had been at the receiving end of a rage blackout and he was in no hurry to experience it again.

"Excuse me, Cohen?" Summer asked, climbing over the couch and landing on him, straddling his waist and smothering his face with the pillow in an attempt to cut off any source of oxygen. "I can't believe you just said that, you pig!" She exclaimed, pressing the pillow down harder.

"Shmr!" Seth exclaimed through the pillow, his arms flailing madly in an attempt to free himself from the pillow. He blindly felt around, first touching Summer's leg and then moving upwards to the side of her hip to get her in a well-known ticklish spot. Summer fidgetted and let go of her death-hold on the pillow with a squeal.

"Why you little-"

"You just broke the bet!" Seth exclaimed, gasping of air. "You tried to kill me!"

"I didn't lay a hand on you." Summer responded coldly. "I used a pillow. It doesn't count." She reached for the pillow again but Seth grabbed her wrist with his hand, preventing her from trying to murder him again. In a few seconds she should calm down and that would be the end of her rage blackout. He held his breath, hoping she wouldn't try anything fast. She didn't, instead she swung her legs over him and stood up, wrangling her wrist out of his grasp. "Kitchen. Now, Cohen." She demanded, crossing her arms under her chest and glaring at him. Seth was a smart man, and he knew what was good for him and what wasn't. He obediently got up from the couch, meekly making his way into the kitchen under Summer's intense gaze.

After a decently cooked meal which was eaten quietly yet tensely, the two parted their ways. Summer went upstairs into the bedroom, closing it with a defining thud, on purpose. Seth mosied into the living room, plopping down onto the couch and pulling a blanket over his head. It was only the first day and already the two had gotten on each other's last nerve. It was going to be a long so-called vacation.