AN: I am so, so sorry for not updating sooner! I've been so busy. But now that we're on Christmas break, I'll be getting chapters up more often. Sorry again!

Disclaimer: Yeah, this is pointless, because if I had anything to do with The O.C., I would not be writing a story about it.

All I want to do is please you, please myself by living my life too.

She had wanted to kiss him. God, she had wanted to kiss him so bad. In fact, if it weren't for him pulling away because he was "thirsty", she would have kissed him. And it would have been nice.

But he didn't want to, which had become clearer than crystals.

Summer snapped her eyes shut when light from the hall flooded her dark bedroom. She felt the weight of his body press into the mattress. He was back from getting his 'drink'.

She didn't move the whole night. Their bodies didn't even touch the whole night. The sexual tension was back; an unwelcome blast from the past.

Seth had wanted to kiss her. I mean, she was Summer Roberts, and even though that sounded totally high school, and even though they had been together before and had had a son together, she was still Summer Roberts - the girl who intimidated him.

But he couldn't. She would regret it, which would make him regret it, which would cause disastrous arguments, and probably some bruises. Summer's rage blackouts hadn't exactly cooled over the years.

And his throat was dry.

Besides that, there was still a little tension between them and they hadn't even kissed! Seth sighed. If they had kissed, it would be so much weirder. It was eight days until Chrismukkah, twenty-one days after their near mouth-to-mouth extravaganza, and still, things weren't back to normal.

Seth snapped out of his remembrance of how awkward the past few weeks had been when Summer walked in to the kitchen, swinging the refrigerator door open and pulling out a jug of orange juice.

"I am so happy we're out for a month. I was about to have a melt down," she slurred, dragging her feet to the table and plopping down in the wooden chair. She downed her orange juice quickly and let out a small yawn.

Seth looked her over. Her hair was piled on her head in a catastrophic mess. She had a pair of flannel red pajama pants on and a UCLA top. Black liquid didn't line her eyes and a glossy film wasn't coating her lips. And she still looked beautiful.

He laughed lightly. "You look a hot mess," he said, taking a bite of his cereal. She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well those lime green Scooby Doo boxers aren't really working wonders for you either."

Seth pretended to be hurt. "You really have excellent comebacks in the mornings."

Summer shook her head and stood up. "I'm gonna go get dressed. I have so much Chrismukkah shopping to do."

Seth caught her arm and she spun around. "Well do you want some company?" Summer nodded. "Sure," she said. "I'm buying Caden's presents today so if you were coming to get a peak at what you're getting, you're out of luck," she informed him.

Seth stood up. "Summer, Summer, Summer," he stared. "I'm shocked that you would think such things of me."

Summer grinned. "I have to go get ready. If you're not ready in an hour, glamour boy, I'm leaving you here to baby-sit. Oh! Speaking of, can you call your mom and see if she'd mind watching Caden today? Thanks!"

Seth waved his hand. "You're the one who spends an hour in the bathroom. And yeah, I'll call her."

Summer smiled and pranced up the stairs.

Summer strolled slowly down every Toys R Us aisle, occasionally picking things up and examining the toy. Sometimes she would toss it in the cart, but mostly, she would read the box for about an hour, see what the toy was about, and then distastefully put it back on the shelf.

Seth groaned. "Summer, we have been in this store for like five hours and there are only four things in the cart. Would you please, please hurry up?"

Summer glared at Seth. "Cohen, this is how I shop. Besides, I can't get Caden toys with small parts or anything that's violent like that King Kong thing you picked out. It would scare him half to death!"

Seth inhaled. "Excuse me, but King Kong would not scare Caden. He's a tough kid!"

"Which is why he won't go to the bathroom by himself anymore? I told you to stop scaring him with freaking Spider Man stuff and you just can't do that," she retorted flatly.

Seth put his hands up in defeat. "You're right. What was I thinking? He's your kid so I should just back off."

Summer violently slammed a toy on the floor and huffed loudly. "Damn it, Seth! When will you grow up? You're always making remarks like that when things get awkward between us, or when we get in a fight."

"Isn't it the truth? I had to grovel just so Caden could have some Converses. You don't let me make any decisions when it comes to him. You think you're the only parent he has!"

Summer bit her lip. "Why can't this just stop between us? You've been picking fights with me for weeks now. If you have something to say to me, say it. I'm a big girl, Cohen. I can take it," she stated firmly, meeting his hard gaze.

Seth exhaled. He didn't know how to go about this conversation, so he decided he'd have to be blunt. Sooner or later they were going to have to talk about it. "Were you going to kiss me?"

Summer bent down and picked the box up, placing it neatly back on the shelf for another mother to disapprove of. "Yeah," she confirmed, almost as if it wasn't a big deal.

Seth grabbed her hand softly but she refused to raise her eyes from the specks on the floor. "Summer, you said you wanted to talk about this."

Her deep brown eyes finally sought his out. "Why?" he questioned, refusing to let go of her small hand.

"I really don't know. I guess I got a little to holiday festive. But it really doesn't matter because you didn't want to kiss me, so I ended up looking like an idiot."

"Summer," he began, "I didn't think of you as an idiot. You're right; too much holiday spirit. And I didn't want to kiss you because I didn't want things to be awkward between us, which happened anyways, despite my efforts to prevent it."

Summer nodded understandingly.

"So are we okay?" he asked, playing with her class ring that currently occupied her finger.

Summer bit her lip. "Well, do you really think that I think that I'm Caden's only parent?"

Seth said no, Summer smiled, and he pulled her tiny frame into a hug.

The ding of the doorbell rang loudly through the Cohen-Roberts residence, interrupting Summer from her present-wrapping hour. She skidded to the door, hoping it was the pizza for her rumbling tummy, but was quickly disappointed at the sight of Olivia: Seth's girlfriend.

Her blonde hair rested in short ringlets on her shoulders and her enormous blue eyes sparkled brightly. She smiled through her red lips and asked, "Is Seth around?"

Summer suddenly felt walls build up inside of her. She didn't want Ms. Gorgeous Malibu Barbie in her house. Summer swallowed her hatred and jealousy, though, and plastered a weak but believable smile on her face, welcoming Olivia into the house.

"Uh, yeah," Summer muttered. "I'll go get him. Make yourself at home," she said, smiling once more at Olivia before jogging up the stairs to retrieve Seth.

Summer knocked softly on his door before pushing it open. The smell of cologne and Captain Crunch engulfed her as she walked in his room. "Barbie's here."

Seth looked up from his book. "Olivia's here? Why?"

Summer shrugged her shoulders. "How the hell would I know? She's your play toy," she remarked hastily.

Seth rose from his bed and smoothed out his shirt. "I hope I didn't forget a date or something. Was she dressed up?"

Summer smiled. "Well she sure is lucky to have you," she said sarcastically. "You can't even remember if you have a date?"

Seth walked past Summer. "Um, she is lucky because I'm irresistible."

Walking down the stairs, Seth saw Olivia waiting patiently on the couch, flipping through a magazine. Olivia was really pretty. She wasn't Summer, or anything, but no one was. Except for Summer, of course.

"Hey," he said, walking over to her. She stood and kissed him lightly. "I know this is so spontaneous and all, so if you don't want to go, just say so."

Seth stared curiously at her. "I'm listening."

Olivia smiled. "I'm leaving for Chicago on Thursday to spend Christmas with my parents…and I want you to come with me."