A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I've decided to continue this story, but only so long as I know people are still enjoying it – I don't want my story going unread. So of course this means reviews! I would love as many reviews as possible – good or bad, preferably good but I can handle anything you throw at me – to let me know if you're enjoying the story.
Thanks again and enjoy!
CHAPTER 2: DETENTE
After two weeks of living together, things were finally starting to settle down. Although no one could say things were loving and friendly, they were manageable. They sat down one day and made some more rules about living together. If one person made dinner, they made it for both of them. If one person had their music too loud, the other had the permission to smash the speakers, if they couldn't agree on the TV channel, it would go on neither.
Things like this made living together much more bearable, and the arguments were starting to disappear. In fact that night, Seth, Summer, Lena and a few other friends from their respective works were going to this great bar near the apartment.
When Seth finished work he and Lena started the trek towards Duncan's.
"So Sethy, how's the apartment going?"
"It's OK; better now we have some rules."
"I knew you'd end up getting along with Summer – she's the greatest."
"I wouldn't say that. She's a bit fucked up, if you know what I mean. She cleans the apartment more in one week than I do in a year. What kind of person does that?"
"Maybe you need someone to help clean the place. I think I saw a rat there one time."
"It wasn't a stray rat – I was taking care of it for a friend and it got loose."
"Anyway, soon you'll see that having Summer around is a good thing. Once you two get over having to live together – and I don't mean like you are now, cos I can tell things are still pretty shitty – but once you guys are friends you'll thank me."
"If that ever happens."
"If what ever happens?" Their conversation abruptly ended as they approached the bar and noticed Summer just a few feet away, so close she could hear the conversation. "I couldn't go in by myself – there were seedy guys like everywhere."
"Well I'm here to protect you now."
"Shut up Cohen, as if you'd be able to take on anyone bigger than me anyway."
They walked in together and Lena couldn't help a small smile escape as she saw the two bickering. They pretended to hate each other now but she knew both of them and knew it wouldn't be like that forever – she could tell.
They found the rest of their friends and stayed there for quite a few hours. Seth was being pretty responsible because he had gone out the previous Friday and gotten so smashed he was incognito for the entire weekend, but the same couldn't be said for Summer. By the time they decided to leave and make the walk of the five blocks or so to the apartment, she was off her face. Quite a few of the guys had left earlier on in the night, and there was only 3 or 4 left at the end. Soon everyone was gone but Summer and Seth, and Seth knew it would be his responsibility to take care of her and make sure she didn't fall down somewhere and kill herself.
"Come on Summer, it's time to go now."
"What? Cohen, I don't want to leave!"
"I have a surprise waiting back at the apartment."
"OK!" Although the surprise was a bed, and it wasn't actually a surprise because she'd seen it many times before, he wasn't in the mood to mess around.
Halfway to the apartment, Summer suddenly sat down on the sidewalk, causing others to stare at the odd behaviour.
"Summer, what are you doing?"
"My feet hurt. And I don't feel like walking anymore."
"We're so close now."
"I'm not going. Anyway, there's another pub – let's go in there."
"I want to get home."
"Stop being so boring." Summer was slurring her words and was wobbling before she sat down, and after a while, Seth knew there was only one thing to do.
"Alright then, hop on."
"What?"
"Jump on my back. I'll carry you home."
"Cohen, you're like so weak that that wouldn't even work." For emphasis, she squeezed his chicken arm and was surprised to feel a defined arm muscle underneath.
"Try me."
So she got up and clumsily attacked his back, eventually landing in a position where he was able to walk. The whole way home Summer was laughing for reasons he couldn't understand, but they made it home in one piece and were safely inside before she decided to throw up. Once she was feeling better, they sat down on the couch together, and Summer started talking.
"You know what Cohen? You're not as big an asshole as I thought you were."
"Why did you think that?"
"Because you kept acting all rude and stupid towards me, and you stole this stupid apartment from me, and you're always grumpy in the morning..."
"Only cos you wake me up with your beauty routine."
"Whatever. But you're not a dickhead, you're really nice."
"Thanks..."
"I mean it. If it weren't so weird I'd screw you right now."
"I think it's time to get you to bed."
"But I'm having fun talking to you."
"Maybe in the morning."
"OK ... Love you Cohen."
"Whatever. Have a good sleep."
Seth went to bed that night with the odd feeling that things were about to change. He didn't know how, but he was pretty sure that he couldn't go through this – witnessing drunken Summer in all her glory – and then have things go back to normal.
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The next morning the bags under the eyes and the groan as she entered the bright room were enough to tell that Summer was extremely hungover, and probably would be for a while. She opened her mouth and it stunk of alcohol, and Seth felt so bad he went and got her an aspirin just to make her feel better.
"Thanks Cohen, I needed that."
"No problem."
"This is a bit of an awkward question, but... did I do anything, you know, really embarrassing last night? I don't remember a patch right in the middle."
"Well, I piggy-backed you home, do you remember that?"
"Oh my God, I thought it was just some random guy I found in the bar. I haven't been that drunk in so long – like since college."
Seth decided not to tell her what else she said that night, because he wasn't sure if she would be embarrassed or remorseful or whatever, and quite frankly he didn't want to know. Life was already complicated enough without this weird roommate tension between them to screw things up even more.
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As Seth arrived home that afternoon after running errands around town, he was greeted by a delicious smell from the kitchen. There was Summer standing over the stove making spaghetti bolognaise, Seth's favourite. They sat down at the lounge to eat together, and for once they were both completely silent, no bickering or fighting, just complete quiet.
Afterwards Summer casually remarked, "There's a saucepan on the stove that needs washing. You should probably do that before it gets baked on."
"Me? Why should I do it?" Seth was in an especially lazy mood and was willing to argue his way out of work.
"Because I spent like an hour cooking for you and I've still got a raging headache."
"Which would be worse if it wasn't for me dragging you out of the bar."
"You did not!"
"Did so, you might not remember but I did. And I'm not cleaning up."
"Me neither."
"Fine."
"Fine."
There was a few minutes silence before Summer spoke up again;
"Seriously though, you should clean it soon or the crap'll never come off."
"Seriously, I'm not doing it."
"You're such an asshole Cohen!"
"Well you're the one who's cleans for fun. Do some cleaning then."
"I don't clean for fun – I clean because you're such a fucking prick and don't do anything for yourself!"
The voices were getting higher and higher, and eventually Summer stormed off to her room. Seth, not willing to back down, filled the pan with water but wasn't giving her the satisfaction of winning.
He too stormed off to bed and both were icy towards each other for the next few days, even though there wasn't any real reason – it was only a saucepan. They both obviously had very strong personalities that clashed when they argued. When they were nice to each other things were great, but as soon as things got hostile, it was a different story. They brought out the worst in each other, and neither would back down.
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Seth arrived to work the next morning in a shitty mood. He still wasn't talking to Summer – even if he couldn't quite remember the reason – and he had too much work to do that he couldn't look forward to going to work to escape her anyway. He grumpily ran into Lena on the stairs, and when he didn't apologise, she knew something was up, and she had a pretty good guess of what it was.
"What did she do this time?"
"Just being a bitch. I think she's going to have to move out."
"Tell me what happened."
After Seth finished his tale, Lena started laughing. It was ridiculous. Even she hadn't imagined this much tension early on.
"Seth, there's nothing to be mad about. Stupid misunderstanding. Get over it already."
"You don't understand Len, I'm going crazy. I can't stay home, I can't come here, I can't even go out without seeing her or having to talk about her. I can't stand her."
"You're fighting over nothing. I know you both – you're both awesome. And you'd love each other if you got it out of your heads that your life is ruined. Fair enough, you got stuck in this situation that you hate. You both have to share when you want your own space – I get that – I know you love having your apartment to yourself. But it isn't Summer's fault you have to share, just like I told Summer that it isn't your fault. It's just bad luck – or fate, whatever you call it."
"Wait... you were talking to Summer about this?"
"You think you're the only one who gets to complain? I know exactly what you're both thinking. The sooner you stop thinking of each other as the enemy, things will work out."
As Lena said this, Seth knew it made sense. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they walked towards the office together.
"When did you get so wise?"
"For always. Now after work, go home and sort things out."
"Whatever you say."
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Seth was sitting on the couch when he heard keys rustling in the lock. A second later, Summer walked into the apartment, looking every bit as put together as when she had left. Her hair was perfectly in place, her clothes were perfectly clean and pressed, and her make-up looked like it was freshly applied.
Seth, on the other hand, had his tie loose around his neck, a large coffee stain on his shirt and creases everywhere from Seth didn't even know when. His hair was all over the place – his Jew-fro was extremely susceptible to getting bigger and harder to manage throughout the day, and this was definitely the case today.
Summer walked in and dumped her handbag on the counter.
"Hey Summer, I think we should talk."
"About what?"
"Us living together."
"I'm not leaving – get it out of your head."
"No, not anything like that. I know I've been blaming you a lot for this situation we've gotten ourselves into..."
Summer was intrigued, and sat down at the other end of the couch, waiting to hear what he said.
"...but I know that it isn't just your fault. It's as much mine as it is yours. We were both stupid and irresponsible in not getting things worked out and on paper, and not even meeting before I left. I keep blaming you but it's only because I know deep down that I should blame myself."
"Wow."
"I know, deep wasn't it."
"You said exactly what I was thinking. The reason I'm being such a bitch is because I hate you for stealing my apartment."
Seth looked hurt, but she continued.
"But I don't really hate you, I just have no one else to be mad at. I am prone to rage blackouts you know."
"So I've heard."
"Sorry Cohen."
"I should be the one saying sorry. Can we try and go a little easier on each other?"
"That sounds like a plan."
"And lets change the topic now – we're sounding a little too much like a cheesy Hollywood chick flick."
"I love those movies."
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When things were back to normal, a group of their friends decided to go to Duncan's again and of course Seth and Summer were both in. The last time they went there it was one of the funnest nights on record, if not a little awkward at the end. Anyway, the bar was known for the cheap alcohol and nice atmosphere, and if they weren't going to take advantage of that, what would they do?
Later in the night, after everyone had been there for a while, Seth was over making out with some drunk girl over in the corner, and Summer wanted to leave. And she wasn't going to walk home alone through the streets of New York in the middle of the night, so she needed Seth to go with her. When he showed no signs of leaving anytime soon, Summer decided to take matters into her own hands.
She walked over to Seth, and literally pulled him away from the slurring girl, who was obviously not very happy with her.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"What are you doing? Get your hands off my boyfriend you skank."
Seth was obviously confused, but Summer kept up the act.
"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend! And in the bar!"
"What, she's not my-" Seth was stopped by a forceful pair of lips on his own, and not the ones that were just there.
To stop Seth from ruining her genius plan, Summer was attacking him with her lips. A few seconds later the girl stormed off, and Seth and Summer was left alone.
"What the fuck was that for?"
"Sorry. I just really wanted to leave, and I needed you to come with me."
"What if I really liked that girl?"
"She was a little skank. Anyway, come on." She linked her fingers in his and dragged them out of the bar.
"What's with the manhandling Summ? You're going to jerk my arm out of its socket."
"Stop being such a baby."
They walked back to the apartment in comfortable silence, and when they got back, Summer walked in and lay on Seth's bed.
"So I was thinking – that's a good idea."
"What is?"
"If we're ever wanting to bail in the bar, let's use each other."
"Like if I'm making out with a hot chick and I want to leave? When would that happen?"
"Or if you're getting stalked by some random and you want to get out of there. We can use each other."
"If you want ..."
"Awesome."
Summer swung her legs over the side of the bed and said, "Ok, goodnight Cohen. Thanks for tonight. I don't know what I would have done without you." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she walked past.
After she left, Summer went into her own bedroom and started thinking about the night. It was so much fun, again, but she realised she was seriously starting to not hate Seth Cohen. When she looked at him she didn't see an arrogant tool, but someone who was just as nice, if not nicer, than all her other friends.
Seth was also starting to see Summer in a different light. She wasn't so crazy and neurotic as he thought she was, but someone normal. Was he starting to be able to not mind her, even like her company? If so that was the craziest thing he'd heard in a while.
A/N: I've pretty much written the next chapter, so if I get enough reviews, it could even be up tomorrow. And just to let you know the story is going somewhere – in the next couple of chapters stuff happens, the first few chaps are just sort of introducing the story. And I'm open for any ideas!
