A/N: Chapter one. Please Read&Review!

The Way We Were And Always Will Be

The first sunrays found their way through the closed curtains and softly stroked Summer Robert's nose as she woke up. She sighed contently and rolled over to her side to face the sunrays completely. After almost four years of living in Chicago it still amazed her how warm the sun could be in the middle of February. All the horror stories she had heard about Chicago being the windy city where it's cold for ten months of the year and where there are more rain hours in one day than rain days in one month in California had proved everyone who had told her stuff like that wrong.

Sure, Chicago was cold – from the end of October until the middle of March it was cold most of the time, and it snowed more than Summer had ever seen before in her whole life, and in the summer the strong wind could ruin your hair as soon as you left a building, but Summer loved it. Chicago had given her freedom, freedom to escape the fake world of Newport Beach where everything was meant to be perfect but where people were all heavy drinkers and addicts to plastic surgeries behind the façade of glamour and glitter.

It had given her the possibility to start her own life, to grow up and take care of herself. Summer would never have guessed it when she still had been living back in Newport, but she actually enjoyed life without a housekeeper, a pool or a gardener – leave aside the fact that she didn't have a pool or a garden around here.

Summer sighed and suppressed a yawn, still not ready to open her eyes and start a new day. So she just stretched and let the sunrays warm her face a little more. When she felt her boyfriend waking up next to her, she smiled. They were just the perfect couple considering their getting up methods. After their alarm clock went off, both of them would dive back into their private worlds, hanging on to their own thoughts until one of them finally found the motivation to speak.

Today it was Summer's turn to start talking, and she turned around, slowly opening her eyes to protect them from the bright sunlight that already filled the room. He looked so adorable when he was waking up. The blue blanket was pulled up to his nose, his blond hair messy and pointing in every possible direction. His mouth was slightly opened as he mumbled something Summer didn't understand.

Summer smiled and reached out for the blonde head of hair to run her hand through it when his blue eyes popped open all of a sudden.

"Don't ruin my look." He mumbled and tried to look extra-pissed. The attempt went wrong and Summer giggled.

"You took care of that yourself." She said and stifled a yawn.

Craig Matthews slightly stuck out his tongue but smiled as well. "It's how you wear it these days." He said. "It's in."

Summer laughed and leant over to plant a gentle kiss on Craig's forehead. "Sure." She mumbled and made an attempt to get out of the bed when she felt Craig's hand around her wrist, pulling her back to him.

"Don't goooo." He lamented and gave her one of his puppy smiles he knew she could hardly resist.

Summer shook her head and smiled. "I haaave to." She said and glanced over to her alarm clock. "I'm meeting Seth in one hour, which means I'm already late."

Craig sat up a bit and shook his head. "Cancel on him."

Summer leant over to him again, this time kissing Craig on his cheek. "You know I can't. I already cancelled on him twice last week because of Jenny's so-called boyfriend trouble. And we need to start with this report, otherwise we'll both fail the finals." She twisted her wrist free from Craig's grip and tilted her head. "And I know you wouldn't wanna be responsible for that."

Craig sighed but nodded. "You're right." He said and started to crawl out from under the blankets as well. "I should probably get going too."

With a content smile on her face, Summer stood up again and went over to the window and opened it, letting some of the Chicago city noise fill the room. "What time does your plane leave?"

"Not until noon." Craig said and stood up as well, walking over to his girlfriend and hugging her from behind.

Summer closed her eyes and leant her head onto Craig's broad chest, pouting a little. "And for how long are you gonna be away this time?"

"Just for a week. They're not gonna need me for so long this time."

Summer nodded and sighed. Sometimes she really hated that Craig was on the road more time than he spend at home, but she couldn't help it. Someone needed to earn money so they could afford their living in Chicago – even if the monthly financial support that Summer's Dad sent them enabled them to have a good life. But Craig had to work.

He was three years older than Summer and had just been in his final year when Summer had started as a freshman on the Chicago college campus. They had gotten together a few weeks before Craig's finals had begun, and right after Craig had his college degree Summer had moved from the dorm room she had shared with her now best friend Jenny Carlton to Craig's apartment.

Summer had been studying for one year when Craig had started to work for a nationwide advertisement company. It was all he had ever wanted to do and Summer was happy for him – she was supposed to as his girlfriend, but there were days when she couldn't help but feel slightly pissed when Craig was away more than he was at home over the year.

But for now she had to live with the situation. The only good thing about Craig being away so often was that she had the apartment all to herself and she could study for her finals that were about to start in less than three months from now. If one of her Newport friends could see the Chicago Summer they probably wouldn't believe that it was really her – all grown up, taking care of herself and a hard-working young woman.

"Hey." Craig's voice interrupted Summer's thoughts and she smiled.

"Hm?"

"You alright?" Craig asked and kissed the top of Summer's head as they both stared in the distance of the Chicago city jungle.

"Sure." Summer replied and turned around to face Craig. "It's just... I'm gonna miss you."

Craig smiled and leant down to kiss her forehead. "And I'll miss you."

Summer pouted but couldn't help but smile. "I know." She said and leant her head onto Craig's chest again, closing her eyes. After a few minutes, she moved back a little. "I need to get ready." She said and forced a smile.

Craig stroked a strand of Summer's long brown hair behind her ear and nodded.

"I'll call you when I get to Seattle." He said and smiled.

Summer closed her eyes and nodded encouragingly. "I'll be waiting." She kissed Craig long and lovingly on his lips and moved away in the direction of the bathroom. This was gonna be a long long week.

It was amazing how little he had changed over the years. From everyone Summer had attended High School with Seth Cohen had definitely changed the less. Well, maybe that was because Seth was the only one she saw every day.

Her former best friend Marissa Cooper had wanted to attend Berkeley after High School but due to the attempted rape and shooting incident with Trey Atwood one year before their High School graduation it had been as good as impossible to get into any good college. And so Marissa had decided to talk her mother into letting her go, and she had moved to Honolulu to her Dad and had started to work as a waitress in a huge hotel restaurant. That had been kind of the fall of Marissa Cooper, from the rich girl to the waitress, but as far as Summer knew, Marissa was happy with her life.

Summer didn't remember the last time she had seen her former best friend. They had tried to stay in contact after their High School graduation but life had made them grow apart, and so they only saw each other for Christmas or Thanksgiving, if they were lucky.

Ryan Atwood still lived with his surrogate parents Kirsten and Sandy Cohen and their almost six year old daughter Lilly – well, he didn't really live with them, but he still lived back home in California in his own little house right on the beach and his girlfriend Kim. They both were in their final year at USC and planned on getting married as soon as they had their college degrees. Ryan stood in active contact with Seth and so Summer was filled on all the details about his and Kim's life.

But from all of them, Seth hadn't changed at all – at least that was what Summer thought. Okay, Seth had a different girlfriend now, Amy Warren, but his behavior and character were still the same than they were during their High School years. And he was still the person she trusted the most. She was aware that this role probably should have been filled by her actual boyfriend, but she just couldn't help herself with that – Seth was her best friend, her soulmate even.

There were days when Summer really wondered why Seth and her had broken up in the first place. But life had been confusing enough when the young couple had moved to Chicago four years ago. None of them had been taken by the colleges of their choice, and so the two of them had decided to attend Chicago city college instead. After a few weeks of studying their romance had kind of faded, and they had been more friends than a couple. By their first Chrismukkah in Chicago Seth and Summer had decided to take a break from their relationship in the hope of getting closer after a few weeks.

Looking back on that time that break might have been a mistake because instead of getting closer they had separated only more. And as if their growing apart hadn't been enough, Craig and Amy had entered their lives nearly at the same time, and faster than Summer had wanted it to happen she sort of fell in love with Craig. Well, she wasn't sure if she really loved him, she only knew that she cared a hell lot for him.

Of course Summer couldn't read minds and she didn't know how Seth felt about Amy, but everytime she saw the two of them together they looked very much in love, and Summer was happy for them. And after all the growing apart and finding new boy/girlfriends Seth and her were finally best friends.

Summer smiled when she approached the entrance of the campus library where Seth was sitting on one of the steps, his right leg stretched out, a pair of crutches laying next to him.

When Seth saw her coming up to him he stood up, a little clumsy during the process, but that was what a cast on your right knee brought with it.

Summer smiled and placed a kiss on Seth's cheek when she greeted him. "Hey you. How's your knee doing?"

Seth smiled and shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Doctors say the cast can be removed in a few days."

Summer patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, that's good news. You've been wearing that thing for long enough now." She said and winked.

Seth smiled and nodded. "Tell me about it."

His mind wandered off to the day of the accident. In an unlucky attempt to go ice skating with his girlfriend Amy in the time before Chrismukkah he had slipped on the ice sheet and broke his cruciate ligament during the fall. Summer had been visiting him in the hospital every day after his surgery, something that couldn't be said about Amy who had dropped in every now and then when she felt like it. Summer didn't want to interfere in their issues, but she found it unbelievable that as his girlfriend, Amy hadn't visited Seth in the hospital regularly.

"So are you ready for Shakespeare?" Summer asked and crossed her arms in front of her chest, narrowing her eyes to shut out the bright morning sunlight.

Seth tilted his head and studied Summer's face. He had known her for far too long to not notice that something was bothering her, and he laid one hand on her arm, trying to hold his equilibrium as he did so.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Summer looked away from him and shrugged, studying the people that were coming in and out from the library. "Nothing." She said and took a step forward. "Come on, let's get in there."

Seth whimpered and turned around as good as he could on his crutches. "Suuuuummer!" he yelled and smiled a little when she turned around. "Don't run away, I'm a disabled person!"

Summer smiled and walked back over to Seth, her arms still crossed in front of her chest. "Boy, I'm so glad when you get rid of that cast." She said and pointed to Seth's right knee. "At least then you won't have an excuse for your lameness."

Seth made a face at her and took his crutches, making his way up the stairs into the library, Summer next to him.

"So will you now tell me what's wrong?" he asked and looked down on Summer who still avoided his gaze as best as she could.

Seth stopped and held out one of his crutches to stop Summer from walking any further.

"Roberts."

"Don't call me Roberts, Cohen."

"Why not? You've been calling me Cohen all my life, why can't I call you Roberts?" Seth asked, smirking.

At the expression on Seth's face Summer had to laugh. "Simply because." She replied. "It's an unwritten law."

"Okay then Miss Roberts," Seth said, "I know something's bothering you, and I want you to tell me."

Summer grinned and looked up to Seth, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. "You're such a pain in the ass sometimes." She answered and paused. "It's Craig."

Seth tilted his head once again. "He's going away?"

Summer nodded and pouted a little. "Yeah. Again. For one week. Like he hasn't been away for too long the last few weeks."

Seth sighed and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry." He said sincerely and gave her one of his famous puppy looks. "Wanna hug?"

Summer giggled but moved closer to Seth who held out his arm for her to crawl under. She noosed her arms around his torso and inhaled his aftershave. That was another thing on him that hadn't changed over the years. Ever since Summer knew Seth Cohen he had always used the same aftershave, and everytime she smelled it she immediately felt at home.

Seth pulled Summer as close as his crutches permitted it and held her until she moved away from him with a big smile on her face. "Thank you." She said sincerely and tilted her head. "Sometimes a girl just needs a hug."

Seth returned her smile and nodded toward the entrance of the library. "So, are you ready for Shakespeare?" he mimicked her phrase from before and winked.

Summer nodded and grinned. "Course. Let's get this thing started."

As they walked the stairs up to the library's entrance, the disappointment of Craig's departure slowly faded away and Summer actually started to feel better again.

Yes, being with Seth was still one of the best feelings existent.

Next chapter: The Pain Of Being Left Behind