"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 Seventeen: Movie Night
"Summer, I'm amazed that you chose an independent film," Seth said between bites, referring to her choice of 'The Machinist.'
"What can I say? Being in New York has made me appreciate the smaller features a lot more. Plus, you can never argue with Christian Bale," she smiled.
"I knew there had to be some shallow reason why you chose this movie," he commented dryly, only to receive a sidearmed whack by Summer. "Hey, Ow! You have to admit that IS pretty shallow reasoning."
"I was kidding, Cohen! Can't a girl just appreciate a fine cinematic masterpiece for what it is?" she asked, attempting to defend her honor.
"Sure, Summer, but when you find the need to insert comments about the lead actor, it makes one wonder, if that's really why you got it," Seth said.
"You always have to have the last word, don't you, Cohen?"
"No!"
"Yes…"
"No…"
"Yes…"
"Look at you, Summer. Isn't that a bit like the pot calling the kettle black?"
"Cohen, you better watch what you say."
"Why, Summer?"
Summer thought for a moment, and a mischievous grin took over her face. "If you don't let me have the last word, I won't have sex with you. EVER." Seth's face fell deadly serious, and his mouth closed to form a straight line. She watched him for a moment with a completely straight face, but not being able to hold it any longer, burst into a fit a giggles. "I win! I win!"
Seth moved to pop in the second DVD, Good Will Hunting, as Summer went into the bedroom and got out a blanket. The two met back at the couch, and laid down in a spooning position. Just as the movie was about to start, Summer turned over and faced Seth. "Can we not watch this movie?" She asked.
"Sure," he replied, quickly movie to turn of the DVD player and TV. He moved back over to rejoin Summer on the couch, and they lay in silence for a few minutes, looking into each other's eyes and cuddling. Summer's hand moved up to caress Seth's stubbly face, and he noticed the feeling of cold metal. "Hey, you're still wearing this," he said, taking her hand is his and examining the ring.
"Yeah," she said softly, keeping his eye contact. "Seth, I want to tell you something, but I don't really want a lot of feedback right now. I just feel like explaining the situation to you, ok?" she asked.
Seth looked into her eyes and nodded in understanding. "Whatever you need, I'm here. I can listen."
"Good," she said, clearing her throat to begin. "Ok, well before I came back here, I had kind of moved on with my life. Not relationship wise," she quickly clarified as a worried expression covered Seth's face, "but just mentally. I mean, I never stopped thinking about you or loving you, but after six years, I never really expected for us to be like this again," she said, motioning between their bodies.
"So, I came here for this assignment, and the moment I saw you, I felt like I was taken back to six years and two months ago, when things were perfect between us, and we were invincible. I couldn't even remember why we broke up, or what had gone wrong. It was like all I could remember was how in love I was," Summer paused and Seth gave her a soft smile, to assure her that he felt the same way. "Charley didn't just come to California for a visit," Summer said softly, looking down. After several minutes of silence, Seth moved his hand to tilt her chin upward.
"Summer, whatever it is, you can say it. I love you, and that's not going to change," he assured her, both with his words and with the love that was evident in his deep brown eyes.
Summer nodded and continued. "She came to offer me a job as assistant editor of the style pages. It's our biggest section, and I would be the youngest person to ever get an assistant editor position. It's a pretty huge deal."
Seth smiled widely. "I'm so proud of you, Summer, that's great."
Summer raised an eyebrow of confusion at Seth. "Don't you understand what I'm getting at here, Cohen? I'm in love with you. I realized that I can never go back to the way life was without you. But the biggest opportunity of my professional life is waiting for me—3000 miles away!"
Seth tightened his embrace around Summer's body and snuggled his head into her neck. "I get it, Summer, I do. But you have to know that everything will work out. We'll find a way to make things work," he said, calmly trying to reassure her.
"I don't know how we can, Seth. You run a multi-million dollar company that is based out of Los Angeles. You can't just up and leave. And I have a job opportunity that would pave the way for me to be an executive editor on the biggest women's magazine in the world…in New York. How can that work?" she demanded.
"I'm not saying it would be easy," Seth said, bringing himself and Summer up until they were seated face to face, "but if anyone could do it, it would be us," he finished, stroking her cheek.
"I know, Cohen," she said, covering his hand with hers. "I know it could work. But I don't want us to just be a weekend thing, or a couple of days a week. I can't live without you anymore," she cried, finally letting her wall come all the way down.
Seth pulled her to his chest and rubbed his fingertips up and down her back. Despite the broken woman he held in his arms, he felt somehow relieved to hear the truth behind Summer's problem. He thought that it would be something much worse, like Summer didn't love him anymore but this problem, it just seemed so minute in comparison to what he had been thinking. Seth finally broke the silence that they had sat in for many minutes now.
"Summer, I have a proposal for you," Seth said, trying to comfort her by wearing a smile on his face.
"What's that, Cohen?" she asked, feeling herself fall prey to his cute dimples.
"How about we cross this bridge when we get there? Because right now, all I want to do is enjoy the time that we do have together," he took her hand in his. "We've missed six years of life together. I don't think we can afford to worry about the future right now. We just have to enjoy what we have, and when we get to the day that you have to make a decision, you can make it knowing that we haven't wasted any time that we've spent together.
Summer just smiled in amazement, tears threatening to fall at the rims of her eyes. "How do you do that, Cohen? You always know exactly what to say to make me smile."
"What can I say, it's a gift," he said cockily, earning another smack from Summer. "You always know how to bring me back down to earth, woman."
"Well, somebody's got to," she teased, before he reached in and started tickling her.
It was now 2 a.m., and Seth and Summer sat, sharing a bubble bath in Seth's huge Jacuzzi. They sat face to face, legs intertwined each with huge champagne induced smiles on their faces.
"Let's play that one game, where you say two things, and then the person has to say which they like better. You know, like they do in all those cheesy romantic comedies?" Summer said drunkenly, sinking her body further under the water to combat the draft.
"Ok, so which do you like better, Coke or Pepsi?" Seth asked, starting the game.
"Neither, Dr. Pepper, you know that!" Summer exclaimed.
"Yeah, me too. I just thought it would be fun. Ok, so Vanilla or Chocolate?" Summer just rolled her eyes. "Right, Chocolate, me too. Wow, Summer, we really have a lot in common," Seth said with a cheeky smile. "Ok, um, Death Cab or Bright Eyes."
"Definitely Death Cab," Summer replied without hesitation, "Same for you?" Seth confirmed with a nod. "Ok, what about Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson?"
"Definitely Jessica. She's hotter and doesn't appear quite as trashy," he reasoned. Summer just chuckled. "Ok, for you Summer, Chanel or Prada?"
"Whoa," she replied, unsure of what to answer. "Well, I typically like Chanel more for evening or formal wear, and Prada more for the everyday. So I'm going to have to go with both," she said after tossing it around for a minute. Seth just sat with his head back and eyes closed, a cute smile on his face. Summer gently moved her legs from around his and pushed her way across the tub, landing on top of him.
"Wow, hey there, Summer," Seth said as his eyes shot opened. Summer began lightly kissing his neck and making a pathway up to his lips. Small moans escaped his mouth, until she finally reached her target and eagerly began covering it with kisses.
Though the water continually got colder, things heated up between Seth and Summer, until they were unable to take it any longer. Seth scooped up Summer's dripping wet body and carefully exited the bath tub, carrying her towards the bedroom. When they got there, he set her down on the bed and straddled her, trailing soft, sensual kisses all over her neck and upperbody until she was begging him to go inside of her.
After they had thoroughly exhausted themselves, they lay in bed wet, a combination of tubwater and sweat covering their bodies. Seth closed his arms around Summer's shoulders as she lay with her head resting sleepily on his chest. Careful not to wake her, he reached down to pull the duvet over their bodies and clicked off the bedside lamp in the process.
Seth lay for awhile staring at the ceiling eyes wide open. He thought back to the game they had been playing earlier in the tub before Summer had decided to take advantage of his relaxed state. A question had formed that he had wanted to ask, but couldn't and now it played over and over in his mind.
"Which do you like better, Summer, L.A. or New York?" he thought, really wishing that he could know the answer, before drifting off to a comfortable sleep.
A/N There you have it, folks. It's the weekend so I'm back to being fast paced. I hope you are enjoying these chapters. I figured it was about time for Summer to tell Seth, and for them to get busy again. LoL. Keep sending me reviews! If you have any questions/suggestions/comments, I always like to take them into consideration. I'll update again real soon (hopefully twice more today and twice more tomorrow, we'll see). Peace.