Disclaimer: Nope.
A/N: So I don't really have much to say. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Those made me smile. :) Hope you like this chapter – I really tried with this one because I wanted a lot of my readers to be satisfied with it.
If you do or don't like it – let me know! Read, enjoy, & review!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Summer?" Lana questioned into the phone. "Summer, where are you? It's 10:30 and you're not at the apartment."
Loud noise boomed in Summer's ears as she held her pink razor phone to her ear unsteadily and tried to balance a drink in her other hand. "I'm pre-gaming it!"
"Pre-gaming it?" Lana yelled into her phone. "Summer where are you?"
"At umm… hold on, I'm not sure where…" Lana heard muffled noises until Summer's voice came through again. "Three Clubs. It's on Vine Street. Three blocks down, on the right corner," Summer yelled back into the phone. "Come meet us here!"
Summer hung up instantly and Lana looked at her phone bewildered. "Us?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summer and Chad didn't last very long in Chad's apartment, drinking by themselves. Chad deemed it "embarrassing" to spend Summer's last night in Los Angeles in an apartment, drinking their two souls into oblivion. Summer suggested going to a bar for the remaining few hours to continue pre-gaming it with other people around so they didn't seem like such lost, pathetic souls. Chad instantly agreed.
Somehow they ended up at one of LA's hottest clubs for the non-celebrities, Three Clubs, drinking and dancing the night away.
Sometime, after 9pm, Summer was already feeling tipsy and loving it as she moved her whole body to the rhythm of the DJ's music. A few guys had made their way over to her, trying to dance up against her body in a provocative manner, but Chad had quickly shooed them away as he danced with her instead.
When Lana had arrived, it took a little while before she found Summer but when she did she was shocked by the appearance in front of her. There was Summer; with her arms snaked around some random guy's neck and the random guy's hands wandered around to her back and slid down to her ass, pulling her closer and bringing his lips to hide in her neck. Summer's head leaned back, giving him better access and just as Lana was about to stomp right over there and stop the scene playing out before her eyes, Chad came running up to Lana.
"Hey! You made it!" Chad seemed a little past tipsy himself as he held two drinks in his hand. "Do you want one of these? I'll go get another!"
Chad began to run off again, but Lana grabbed his arm. "Who's the guy?"
"What?" Chad asked, genuinely confused.
"Who's the guy Summer's dancing with?" Lana asked this time, getting a little annoyed. This was definitely not the night of celebratory Lana was planning on.
Lana pointed over to Summer and the guy and Chad looked over, sudden shock waving through him. "Shit." Chad immediately ran over to Summer as Lana quickly followed behind.
"Summer!" Chad bellowed through the crowd. "Summer! Stop!"
Summer continued grinding with the stranger, not hearing Chad's shouts, as one of the stranger's hands moved from her ass, up her chest, and then to cup her face. Before Chad and Lana were able to reach them, he had begun kissing her and was swiftly leading her off the floor without disconnecting their mouths.
With the crowd thickening in the middle of the dance floor, Chad and Lana were not able to spot her before the random guy had led her off and out of view.
"Shit! Fuck!" Chad yelled, still gripping his drinks, which were now being spilt all over due to other random people dancing knocking into him.
"Where did she go?" Lana asked loudly to Chad. "Even though she's drunk, you don't think she'll do anything, do you?"
Chad sighed loudly, suddenly becoming well aware of the situation. "I think she's horny, drunk, and missing Seth. What do you think?"
Lana held her hand to her head and shook it, closing her eyes, hoping that when she opened them Summer would be standing in front of her. When she opened them, all she saw was Chad and plenty of other slutty bimbos hooking up with wannabe jocks – and no Summer in sight. "Come on. We have to look for her." Lana grabbed Chad's arm once again, this time more forcefully causing one of the drinks to spill almost completely, while he took the one in his other hand and gulped it in one swig.
He needed another buzz for the way this night was going.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The random guy had led Summer off to another part of the club, a less crowded area, and found them both a rounded booth that was already occupied by another less-than-private couple.
Or random hookup.
It was hard to tell in clubs like these.
Summer was clearly out of it. She knew she was kissing someone and that he was touching her skin in all exposed areas, but she couldn't comprehend who it was. She wanted it to be Seth. She wanted it to be Seth so bad that in her drunken state of mind that's who she thought it was. That that's whose hand was starting to sneak up under her skirt, stroking the skin on her thigh as the fingers etched their way up to her underwear.
Summer leaned her head back against the back of the booth as the guy kissed her neck, while one hand continued its journey under her skirt and the other slid the tank top strap off of her shoulder.
"Seth…" Summer whispered breathily as the guy began placing kisses on her shoulder. "Seth, I love you so much."
The guy, upon hearing the name 'Seth,' stopped his mouth and his hands' separate journeys. "No, my name's Sam."
"Seth, I love you. I didn't mean anything I said before. I love you," Summer mumbled as she brought her lips crashing upon his.
The guy, Sam, pulled back, "No, no. My name's Sam."
"I don't want to break up. I want to be with you forever." Summer's head fell against Sam's shoulder as she collapsed into tears suddenly. "I want to marry you."
Sam all of a sudden realized maybe he had picked out the wrong girl for a random, meaningless hookup.
"I… uh… I'm not Seth. I'm Sam." Sam lifted Summer's head from his shoulder and then made eye contact with her. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
Summer smiled brightly, forgetting the tears she had just been crying seconds before, crashing her lips upon his once again and forcing her tongue in his mouth, to which Sam didn't fully disengage. Summer then pulled back instantly. "You're my boyfriend, Seth!"
Sam's face etched in horror. Uh oh. Definitely no meaningless sex to be found in this girl. Not when she kept calling him Seth and was already referring to him as her boyfriend.
"No, no," Sam pulled away, trying to get out of the booth. "No, I'm not your boyfriend. It was nice to meet you, though." As Sam continued trying to escape the booth and Summer, a loud slap came to the side of his face. Sam looked up, holding his hand to his cheek, to see a stern looking short-haired brunette fuming while she stood next to a slightly taller blonde-haired male.
"What the fuck was that for?" Sam roared.
"Don't hit him!" Summer yelled at Lana.
"For taking advantage of my best friend!" Lana screamed back at the stranger angrily.
Summer's face immediately softened at Lana's choice of words. "I'm your best friend?" Summer's eyes began to water once again.
Lana ignored Summer for the time being and focused her attention back on the guy who began speaking again, much angrier this time. "Actually, I was just leaving. Your best friend has some attachment issues I'm not looking for."
"Seth, don't leave me! I told you I love you!" Summer screamed. Finally the other couple in the booth came up for air to at last see what all the commotion around them was about, squinting their eyes as if they were adjusting them to the dim light.
"See?!" The guy bellowed, as he pointed down to Summer. "She's in love with me! We haven't even had sex yet! And she keeps calling me Seth!" He turned his head back to Summer. "My name is Sam!"
Lana stood with her hands on her hips. "Hey, asshole," Sam turned his head back to Lana, "Her boyfriend's name is Seth. You're taking advantage of a girl already in a very committed relationship. I think you should probably get lost before he sees you because he's a pro-wrestler and I don't think he'll be afraid to show you how professional he is when he sees you exchanging wads of spit with his girlfriend."
"Believe me, I'm leaving. And not just because of that," Sam scoffed, indicating he wasn't looking for drama, as he walked hurriedly away from the booth and back into the crowd.
Summer laughed. "Cohen can't beat anyone up. He's too scrawny."
Chad leaned down to Summer's eye level. "Summer, we should probably get you back. You've had enough fun for the night."
"No!" Summer yelled again. "We can't leave without Seth!"
Chad looked up to Lana for help and Lana rolled her eyes in response and then grabbed Summer's arm, steadying her as she stood up.
"Lana, you'll help me, right? You're my best friend too you know so you'll help. I need Cohen," Summer whimpered.
Lana held onto Summer's right arm as Chad held onto her left. "Of course we'll help. But Seth's back at the apartment already. We have to meet him there." Lana lied to calm Summer down.
Summer smiled back at Lana. "I love him."
"I know, sweetie," Lana replied.
Summer turned towards Chad. "I don't want him to date anyone else."
"Summy, it's okay," Chad told her as they exited the club, walking back up the three blocks to Summer and Lana's apartment.
"It's not!" Summer yelled again, releasing herself from Lana and Chad's grips. "He thinks I hate him. I don't really. I don't even not like him. I just want him happy. Guys, do you think he's happy?"
"He won't be happy until we get you back to the apartment," Lana tried to soothe Summer but Summer shook her head, stopping in mid-step.
"No, no. I mean, do you think he's happy?" Summer stressed.
This time it was Chad to speak up. "He's happy when he's with you, Summy. He loves you."
Summer smiled as she began walking again, with both Lana and Chad reaching for her arms to balance her once again. "I love him more than me. And guys," Summer paused again to take a glance between Lana and Chad, "I love me a lot."
Both Lana and Chad couldn't help the smiles that came to their faces and Summer's face mirrored their own unknowingly. "Oh, we certainly know that, Summy," Chad laughed.
"I think about marrying him," Summer continued ignoring Chad's comment and Lana's shrill laugh that followed. "I think about having two girls and a boy. But not in that order. I want the boy first. Cohen would be so cute with a baby boy. And I know I hate those stupid comics he reads and those really annoying video games he plays instead of focusing on me but I really want him and our baby boy to do those things together. And I want the baby boy to look exactly like Cohen because it will look cute in pictures. And I think Cohen's cute. Don't you guys think Cohen's cute?"
"He sure is, Summy," Chad smiled. "He's super cute and he loves you."
"He loves me," Summer sighed dreamily, albeit a little drunkenly. "And I can totally tell when he does that thing with his tongue on my neck -"
Lana halted causing both Summer and Chad to stop and look over at her. "Okay, no details. I know you're drunk and overemotional over your break up -"
"Break up?" Summer shrieked. "There's no break up anymore! Cohen and I love each other."
Lana rolled her eyes and tried to continue walking with her arm still linked with Summer's, "Okay, Summer. There's no break up."
"Might want to inform Seth though," Chad muttered to himself.
"Seth knows," Summer replied confidently, overhearing Chad's quiet comment. "He knows this break up isn't real. We'll be back together when I get back to Providence tomorrow."
"Okay," Chad answered nonchalantly as they finally reached Lana and Summer's apartment. "Alright, well, can you take it from here?" Chad asked Lana, switching the subject.
"Yeah, I can," Lana replied. "Thanks for your help."
"No problem," Chad smiled and then kissed Summer's cheek. "Good luck, Summy. I'll call you in a few days."
Summer nodded and waved as Lana pushed her gently into the apartment building. "Bye Chad!"
"Chad's a good guy, isn't he? He's one of my favorites," Summer talked as Lana led her up the stairs. "He's not a Ryan and he's definitely not a Cohen but he's good… Lana?"
Lana looked up at Summer before searching for her keys in her purse, "Yeah?"
"He'll forgive me, right?"
Lana looked back up at Summer from her purse to see she had tears forming in her eyes. She knew immediately that the 'he' she was speaking of was Seth. "Oh, sweetie. Of course he will."
"I didn't mean to do it. Any of it. I just wanted him to be happy," Summer mumbled as the tears fell down her cheeks.
Lana quickly opened the door and led Summer in as Summer collapsed on the couch, soaking one of the couch pillows with her tears.
"Sweetie, it's going to work out. Shhh, Summer. It's okay. Here, I'm gonna get you some water. Just calm down, sweetie," Lana rubbed her back and then got up to retrieve some water from the refrigerator, coming straight back to Summer's side. "Here," Lana nudged her gently, "You need to sit up."
Summer sat up slowly and took the water bottle from Lana, chugging the water. She then leaned against the couch and looked at Lana. "You know," Summer began, "The only reason I broke up with him was because Bethany kept saying all these things. And I believed her. I shouldn't have though. She's such a skank."
Lana didn't bother questioning Summer about who Bethany was and instead continued nodding and rubbing her arm in comfort, letting Summer continue.
"It's just, all those things she said kept popping into my head and then Seth was saying things and I just didn't think he was happy. We were arguing so much. And there were all these girls. Do you think he still has other girls?"
"I don't think he ever had any girls except for you. Seth's a one woman type of guy," Lana smiled.
Summer reciprocated the smile. "See, I know that. I do. I just got scared. I wanted to be the one to leave him before he left me. But he won't do that, will he?"
Lana shook her head, still smiling, "Not a chance."
"Because he loves me, right?"
Lana nodded again.
"I just wanted to fix things before we hurt each other. Or he hurt me."
"I know Summer," Lana told her, "But I heard this saying once and I've always remembered it: 'Destiny is often found on the road you take to avoid it.' Which I take to meaning in this situation that even though you tried to fix things by ending your hopes for a future with Seth, you've realized, through avoiding it, that to fix things all you needed to do was be with Seth."
"You know, you're good at this," Summer switched subjects. "You give good advice."
Lana laughed. "Well, thank you, Summer. I try."
"When Cohen and I get married I want you to be my maid of honor. Will you be my maid of honor?"
"Summer…" Lana sighed.
"No, really! I mean, I always said Marissa was gonna be mine but she died and I don't have anyone else. I mean, there's Kaitlin but she's such a pot head she'd probably forget or something. And truthfully, you've been a better friend to me for the past month than Coop was to me all through high school. She was really boy crazy. And she was so into Ryan – it was, like, sickening. Not that you want to hear that or anything cause he's totally your boyfriend now and he loves you lots and all that was so high school… What was I talking about again?"
Lana let a little laugh escape her lips, followed by an unnoticeable eye roll at drunk Summer. "Your wedding day with Seth."
"Right. I love him, Lana," Summer sighed dreamily and then after a beat, "Hey! You should be my maid of honor!"
Lana laughed outright, thinking how ridiculous Summer was being with her now repetitive statements. Summer gave her a slightly horrified look, as if trying to decipher what was so funny. Lana's laughs eased a bit and she let a smile play upon her lips before she spoke up again. "Absolutely. I want you to be mine too, Summer," Lana told her sincerely.
Summer giggled again, with her head starting to throb, "Oh, this is awesome! But, my head is really starting to hurt so I better go to bed."
"Yeah, me too. You know," Lana started as they both made their way into their rooms, "This is the last night you'll be my roommate."
"That's really sad!" Summer squealed. "I'm going to miss you!"
"I'm going to miss you too!" Lana replied as they both went to hug each other.
"Okay, my head really kills," Summer pulled back.
"Yeah, night roommie."
"We should have totally called each other that more often."
"Better late than never."
Summer smiled, walking into her room. "Night roommie." And Summer immediately buckled onto the bed, letting all the events and emotions of the night slip her mind as she faded into sleep.