"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 Twenty-Five: A New Chapter
ONE MONTH LATER
Summer lay sound asleep in bed with Blanche at her feet. It had been a month since she left Seth in L.A., and she had finally settled into a routine as assistant Style editor at Cosmo. She and Seth had remained true to their word and had spoken for at least an hour everyday, in addition to a constant flow of ims and emails while they worked.
Because of their overloaded work schedules with Summer's new position and Seth's training of the new V.P., the two had only managed to spend two weekends together, one in L.A. and one in N.Y.
Summer was having a particularly bad weekend already on Friday night, because she found out that Seth had to cancel his visit because of some missed deadlines he had to make up for. She had bought him tickets to see a Death Cab show at one of her favorite clubs and had finally gotten reservations at her favorite upscale Japanese steakhouse. Seth's news, which had come the night before, had sent her into a downward spiral and led her to her friends Ben and Jerry and some 80s teen angst movies for support.
At the sound of "I will follow you into the dark" coming from her cell phone, Summer quickly shot up from her sleeping position, wiped her eyes, and flipped open the phone. "You're calling earlier than usual this morning," she yawned to Seth.
"Yeah, I know. I'm still feeling really bad about not making it up this weekend, and I know you were pretty upset with me last night," Seth paused. "You could have at least answered one of the 57 calls I made after I broke the news."
Summer sighed and leaned back on her pillow, letting her hand casually fall to Blanche's head. "I know, Cohen. It just sucks. I mean, the long distance thing already sucks, and the sudden cancellation of the amazing weekend I had planned--well, needless to say, sucked a lot."
Seth gave a little knowing smile, but tried to disguise it from his voice. "So what are you doing today anyway, baby?"
"I don't know now," she replied, still sounding defeated. "I guess I'll try to convince someone to see Death Cab with me tonight, and I'll probably just watch something Julia Roberts during the day."
"Well, you should probably start off the day with coffee and bagels, right? I've never known a day that started with a bagel to turn out too sour."
"Cohen, what is your deal! I don't care about bagels right now," she exclaimed, her voice sounding really annoyed at this point. "Now tell you you love me, and let me go back to sleep and wallow in self-pity."
"Summer, I know a way that you would like bagels this morning," Seth said, amusement in his tone.
"How is that, Seth?" she sighed, her exhaustion with the conversation clearly evident by her use of his first name.
"If I brought them to you," he said, appearing in her door way with Starbucks and the aforementioned pastry in tow.
Summer looked at Seth, the beginnings of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. She looked back at her phone, slowly clicked it shut, and without saying a word, ambushed him with a hug and kisses all over his face. After a moment, Seth pulled back.
"Whoa." kiss. "There." kiss. "Summer!" He pushed her back and moved to the nightstand, where he set down the contents of his surprise wake-up call. "Ok, now you may attack me," he managed to squeeze out before Summer pushed him back on the bed and kissed him passionately, causing Blanche to jump off the bed and exit the room.
The kissing progressed until Seth and Summer found themselves laying in the after-sheen of an intense sack session. Seth held Summer close as she nuzzled her head into his neck, a contented smile never leaving either of their mouths.
"Did you lie to me last night?" Summer said, a small smile playing on her lips as she looked up at Seth.
"No, I didn't," Seth said, shaking his head. "I just couldn't bear the thought of how sad you sounded on the phone, so I stayed up all night finishing drawings and took a red-eye this morning." He paused. "I may have to make a lot of phone calls to the office this weekend because I left Owen in charge, but I'm just glad to be here with you now."
"I'm glad you're here, too," Summer murmured into his chest, causing Seth to tighten his hold around her body. "But I gotta say, if I knew that me crying would work on you that well, you would be here every weekend," she quipped, catching Seth's eyes to reveal a mischievous twinkle.
"Hey, now. I can't be the only one to do the whole traveling bit. You are missed as much in L.A. as I seem to be in New York," he replied, doing his best to insert a pouty lip in between his ear to ear smiles.
The two spent the rest of the weekend inseparably. Seth was in awe at the Death Cab concert, and Summer could not stop smiling at how happy the tickets had made him. An intern in the promotions department at Cosmo had even managed to sneak Summer some backstage passes, and Seth was thrilled to learn that the lead singer of Death Cab was as obsessed with Atomic County as Seth was with the band.
They shared a romantic evening at Osaka, the Japanese restaurant Summer had wanted to try. They caught each other up on the minute everyday type things that they didn't always get the chance to talk about on the phone.
Saturday night ended as it had the previous two times they had visited each other: having sex, pouring each other's hearts out, crying, and eventually falling asleep nestled together.
Seth's flight was leaving earlier than usual on Sunday, because though he had made enough time to see Summer, he had to get back to O.S. to make sure that he still had a company.
After waking each other up the "right" way, as Seth called it, the two walked to the Starbucks on the corner and sat for a cup of coffee before hailing a cab to take them to JFK.
The car ride came and went in relative silence. Seth sat clenching Summer's right hand, as if to physically hang on to her, while Summer sat staring at the ring on her left finger, contemplating the state of their relationship.
When they reached the airport, Seth went around the car to open Summer's door and told the cab driver to wait ten minutes, and Summer would be back, while slipping him a $20. He then went back around the car, and wrapped his arms around a cold and lonely looking Summer.
They stood in their embrace for several moments, neither wanting to let go. Seth finally pulled back and laid a soft kiss on Summer's lips and said an "I love you." Summer responded with an "I love you" but kept her gaze fixed on the pavement.
"Hey," Seth said softly, hooking his finger under her chin and pulling her gaze to his level. "It'll get easier. And I'll see you in a couple of weeks, right?"
Summer just nodded and Seth pulled her into a final hug before making it known that he had to leave or he'd get stuck in security and miss his plane. They shared one final kiss and Seth waved goodbye and headed into the airport.
"Cohen! WAIT!" Summer shouted and ran after him.
"What is it, Summer?" Seth said, turning around to meet her eyes with half curiosity and half smile playing on his face.
"We can't keep doing this, Seth," Summer said, emotion evident in her voice. Seth's face dropped dramatically at this comment. "I don't mean us," Summer said, attempting to reassure him that it wasn't a breakup, "but this. Coming. Going. Living in different cities. We're not getting younger. I want to marry you and live with you and have kids with you and most of all BE with you. We have to figure out a way to make it work for us. And soon," she finished the desperation evident in her tone.
"I know we do, Summer," Seth said, taking her into his arms and burying his face in her hair. "And we will. But please don't give up just yet. I need you," he said, meeting her eyes.
Both of them were teared up at this point and all Summer could think to do was plant the most soul-crushing kiss known to man on his lips in front of Jesus, Moses, and everyone at JFK. After finally running out of breath, the two pulled apart and sucked in deep breaths.
"I love you, Cohen, and I need you, too," Summer said, catching her breath. She took his face in her tiny hands. "But please, don't make me wait forever to be with you. We need a plan." She half smiled at her last comment.
Seth still in awe from the kiss, almost forgot it was his turn to speaking. Taking a deep breath, he started in on a ramble. "Summer Anne Roberts, future Mrs. Cohen. I swear that next time we meet, I will have an amazing multi-phase plan on how we will make this work. Well, it does already work for the most part, but you know, work more efficiently, with the kids and the marriage, although not necessarily in that order. I mean, that is, unless you wanted the kids first, because I'm pretty flex--"
"Cohen, I love you, but if I let you ramble on any longer, you'll miss your flight," Summer chuckled.
"Right," Seth said before taking her into their final final goodbye kiss. "Ok, have a good couple weeks at work. I love you. I'll call you as soon as I land," he said, letting go of her hand and moving back.
"I love you, Cohen," Summer said with absolute sincerity, giving a slight wave before turning around. After walking about five steps she turned back, and shouted over her shoulder. "Oh, and Cohen?"
"Yeah," he said from his position at the airport's entrance.
"The multiphases sound good," she laughed before getting into the cab, leaving him to shake his head.
The end got a little cheesy, but this is definitely a good segway for what I want to do in part two. Let me know what you think please. And I'll have 2 chapters up within 24 hours. Thanks! Peace! Review.