"The Most Eligible Bachelor"
Summary: Summer and Seth are leading separate lives now, but what happens when Summer's story for a leading magazine forces them together?
Disclaimer: I'd like to stake a claim on Adam Brody's dimples, but really, I don't own any of the O.C. characters or story lines.
Chapter Two: Returning Home
Summer sat staring out the window of the plane as she heard the pilot announce the plane's final descent into Los Angeles. As she looked down upon the familiar landmarks from growing up in Orange County, she felt a wave of sadness overcome her as she remembered how much had changed since the last time she was in California.
After neither Seth nor Summer was accepted to Brown University that year, the two decided to stick with the idea of moving to the east coast, and both were accepted and rewarded full scholarships to New York University.
On their final day of life in Orange County before heading east for school, the two went to their favorite spot on the beach and sat, gazing at the stars.
"I can't believe this is finally over," Summer sighed, breaking the silence her and Seth had maintained for an uncharacteristic 30 minutes. Seth scooted closer and pulled her to him with his arm around her shoulder.
"I know what you mean. I mean, as much as I've always wanted to get out of this place, there's part of me that will always love it. I guess mostly because it's where I found you," Seth said softly, staring out into the vast ocean.
Summer and Seth continued to sit quietly on the beach in each other's arms for the next few hours. The next morning, the two left California headed towards New York under the pretense of taking the first steps in their new lives together.
Summer shook herself out of her reverie, as she realized that the plane was almost completely empty and the flight attendant was asking her to exit the plane. Summer grabbed her bags and headed for the luggage carousel.
After getting all of her bags and finding the driver that the magazine had hired for her, Summer got into the limo that was headed for the Beverly Hills Hotel. She dug through her bag to find her D&G sunglasses to help shield the 4 p.m. California sun from her eyes.
As she arrived at the hotel, she quickly settled herself into her room and got out her computer to prepare herself for her work for the next few days. She called room service and ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio, and after it was brought to her suite, she settled herself onto the balcony with her laptop, making notes and watching the sunset.
The first interview to take place was tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. at the office building of O.S. Comics with the one and only, her one and only, Seth Cohen. As she tried to formulate a list of questions to ask Seth, she couldn't help but think back to the day it all fell apart, or more accurately, the day that she fell apart. It was February 14, 2007, exactly 3 years after she and Seth got together for the first time.
Summer and Seth had completed their first semester together at NYU, and everything had been running pretty smoothly. Seth had declared his major as Visual Arts with an emphasis on graphic novel production through the Gallatin Center for individualized studies, where he was allowed to design his own program so that he could work in time to take on the Atomic County project.
Summer, after much contemplation, decided to apply her flair for fashion and witty commentary towards a degree in Magazine Journalism. The two had lived in the dorms for the first semester, but after a couple incidents with weird roommates, they decided to look for a small studio flat in Greenwich Village where they could live together.
During Christmukkah break, they had found the perfect place, and Marissa and Ryan had made the trip to New York to help them move in and get organized. Everything was going smoothly with Seth and Summer, and it seemed like they had never been more in love with each other.
Seth would come home later than Summer most nights, as his studio art classes tended to run later, and Summer would enjoy having a meal prepared for the two of them to eat together every night. After dinner, they would draw up a bath in their old school claw-foot bathtub, and sit, rehashing the day for the other and just being together.
Everything was perfect. That is, until mid-January when Seth found a new opportunity to pitch Atomic County to a new company. Seth had met a girl in some of his studio classes that was going to help him make his pitch go more smoothly than the disastrous incident of Junior Year. As time for the pitch came closer, Seth had many sleepless nights, and would often spend entire nights in the studio with his partner, Meredith, trying to make everything perfect.
During this time, things were hard for Summer. She got the idea in her head that everything was going to be exactly like it had been Junior Year with Reid. Seth did everything he could to convince Summer otherwise, but she was Summer. Once she got an idea in her head, she stuck with it to the grave.
Seth took off from his pitch on Valentine's Day to treat Summer to a romantic evening in Manhattan, though his meeting was only 10 days away. He bought tickets for Summer and him to go to Rent and reserved a private room for the two at their favorite Thai restaurant around the corner.
He bought a ring, too. He hadn't really decided what the ring meant, whether it was more on the side of a promise ring or an engagement ring, but he wanted to quiet Summer's worries once and for all, and to show her how truly committed he was to her.
After the play, the two sat across from each other eating dinner. The evening seemed to be going ok on the surface, but Seth could tell that something was bothering Summer.
"How's the Pad Thai tonight, My little Valentine?" he asked, trying to initiate a conversation.
"It's good," she replied shortly, refusing to make eye contact. Seth dropped his forked, and reached across the table to grab Summer's hand, forcing her to do the same thing.
"Baby, it's Valentine's Day. It's kind of like our third anniversary. I know by now when something is bothering you. Will you please. Just. Tell me?" Seth pleaded. The burning of his gaze forced Summer to look up from her plate, and tears swelled in her eyes. Seth, seeing this, quickly stood up and went to sit next to her. As he wrapped his arms around her, she stiffened and pushed away, so she could look him directly in the face.
"Seth, I don't know how to say this to you, but I need to say it. Ever since this graphic novel business has started back up, you've been away more. And then there's Meredith. And as much as I try to convince myself that nothing is going on, it's so hard. I lay in bed most nights these days, just wondering when or if you're going to come home, and so many times, I've been left. Let down. Lonely," Summer paused. "I would never ask you to choose between me and the comic book, but just so you know, lately, I feel like I'm second string in your life. And now that I think about it, I've kind of always been. I mean, first it was Anna, then Ryan and the Tahiti incident, then Reid and the comic disaster of 2005, and now, it's Meredith and the comic separation of 2007. I can't keep doing this, Seth. I can't keep doing this when you mean EVERYTHING to me, and I don't to you."
As Summer finished Seth finally closed his mouth which had fell slack after she had completed the sentence with "And then there's Meredith." Now, he felt the hot burning of tears welling up and clouding his vision and didn't know what to do. For once, Seth Cohen was rendered completely speechless.
"Summer, I don't know what to say."
"Seth, just don't say anything. I don't want your explanations anymore. You can always explain everything, but I just can't hear it anymore. It's like every time I feel like we're finally getting somewhere in our relationship another Reid or Anna or comic book comes along, and we're right back to the beginning-"
"But we're not, Summer!" Seth exclaimed, apparently a little louder than he intended as the wait staff all stopped what they were doing to look. Lowering his voice, Seth started over. "Summer, when I first 'fell in love with you,' I was ten. I saw you as the ideal woman, but I didn't even know you. Since we've dated, you've surpassed any ideal or any dream I've ever had. I'm not in love with the idea anymore, I'm in love with the person. And I can't live without that person."
Summer had to rip her gaze away from Seth. She knew that he was right, she KNEW that he loved her, she knew that he would throw out the comic book for her, because he'd done it in the past. But the insecurities she'd had since her mother left and her father basically abandoned her throughout high school arose, and she'd made up her mind before tonight that she loved Seth too much to let him do it to her, too. And she had to stick with it.
"Seth," she said, reaching out to touch his cheek. "I love you, I do. But I can't be with you anymore." At that, Seth breath caught in his throat, he quickly put his head in his hands, trying to remember how to breathe.
"Summer, please don't. Please. I'll throw away the comic book if that's what you want. I'll do anything. I need you. We're…we're…undeniable," he trailed off. Not being able to stand anymore before she would completely change her mind and throw herself into his arms, Summer rose from the table and put on her coat.
Seth looked up at her unable to believe what he was seeing: she was walking away from him. He quickly rose and grabbed her arm, pulling her to him. As he clung onto her for dear life, he could physically feel his heart breaking, he could feel his life slipping away from him. As he breathed in her scent for the last time, he reached into his pocket and took out a small Tiffany's box.
"I want you to have this," he said, pressing it into her hand. "I know that you've already made up your mind, but I love you, and I want you to have this. Summer, I want you to know that I'll never move on, I can't. You have my whole heart, and you always will. When you're ready, I'll be waiting." Seth placed one final kiss on her forehead, each cheek, finally landing on her mouth.
Summer quickly pulled away, unable to take anymore. She quietly raised her hand, mouthed a "goodbye," and ran out of the restaurant before Seth could see her breakdown.
A now very drunk Summer Roberts lay on the couch in her suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel with two empty bottles of wine next to her and a little blue box resting on her stomach. She couldn't remember a time in her life that she had ever been anywhere without it since the fateful night that it was given to her.
She took the ring out of the box, and played with it, placing it on and off her left hand, twirling it around her finger. The ring was an open ring that bent around her finger and ended in two small hearts. Each had a small diamond imbedded in it. Even to this day, she wondered Seth's intentions behind the ring. Was it a promise ring? Was it an engagement ring? She was left to wonder, because she hadn't spoken to Seth since the day that they broke up. The only things that she knew about him were things she read on the Internet or heard from Marissa and Ryan.
She knew that after they broke up Seth had dropped out of NYU for the rest of the year and had moved to L.A. to attend the Los Angeles Institute of Art. After his undergraduate work, he earned his M.B.A. at UCLA and started O.S. Comics. The first edition of Atomic County rolled off the shelves in 2012, and now in 2013, it was the best-selling comic of all time. Summer would know, seeing as she read every issue.
Still contemplating Seth's intentions behind the ring, Summer felt herself drifting off to sleep. She rose and crossed the room to her bed, and quickly fell asleep with Seth's ring on her left hand.
What will happen next? How will the meeting be between Seth and Summer? Will it dredge up a rocky past or remind them both of what they're missing?