Summer was in her room, sitting on the edge of the bed. It was four days until Christmas, and Anna had just left with the last load of her belongings. She was officially roommate-less for the next twenty-four hours. However, roommate-less didn't mean alone, and when she heard Seth's jaunty whistle, she wiped away hot tears.

"Whoa-oh here she comes, watch out boy, she'll eat you up…whoa-oh Summmmmmmer, what's the matter?" He dropped his tune and hurried to her side.

"Just saying goodbye to Anna," she sniffled with a melancholy smile. Seth tucked her under his arm and squeezed.

"What have you got there?"

Summer opened her fist to reveal a dangly earring. "I stepped on this…she must have dropped it. I just…she had such bad taste in jewelry, Cohen." She looked as if she were ready to burst into fresh tears.

Seth improvised. "Maybe this is the first step in ridding her of ugly baubles. Every time you go to her new place, you can steal another piece of her jewelry."

"That is, like, genius! I'll replace them with tasteful stuff, then she'll have no choice but to wear jewelry with class."

"Speaking of jewelry with class…my parents told me you never returned the ring," Seth commented casually.

"I know," Summer admitted sadly. "It's not like I forgot about it or lost it or anything. I just wanted to keep it for a little while." She snorted softly. "I still have it," she said as she padded over the bureau and opened the top drawer. She felt around until her fingers wrapped around a small mahogany box. Seth watched curiously as she brought it back to where he was perched on the end of her bed.

She handed the box over to him, and he opened it, finding the ring carefully nestled in the rich red velvet interior. Summer's heartbroken expression was almost enough to make him cry, too.

"Do you…do you want it back now?"

"No," Seth whispered. He clasped her thin fingers in his own and slowly slid the ring onto her finger, waiting breathlessly for her reaction.

Summer bit her lip in agony. "Don't do this to me, Cohen."

"I want you to marry me, Summer," Seth interrupted. "I've wanted you to marry me since I was nine years old. You're the only woman I've ever loved, and if you don't marry me, no one else ever will." He smiled, despite the heaviness of the exchange. "I'm not going to give up. I know you still love me," he insisted stubbornly.

"It won't happen, it can't!"

"You let my Nana put a veil on you!" Seth argued passionately.

"Oh, so now you want me to be rude to the Nana?"

"Stop twisting what I say."

Tears began to spill. "What would you do with a wife who can't see?"

Seth scooted closer, wanting so badly to take her into his arms, but knowing instinctively that he shouldn't smother her. "I would take care of you just like I would if you could see. I'm going to go to work everyday, and come home early so that we can make dinner together. I'm going to help you clean the house, only I'm going to make you unload the dishwasher because I hate doing it. We're going to have babies and maybe a dog, and I'm going to love you for the rest of my life," he promised, laying a gentle kiss on her forehead.

She gasped. "I couldn't take care of a baby!"

He framed her face in his hands, touching her reverently. The ache in her chest intensified, stealing all of her breath. "You're so capable, you don't even know it. Just because you're blind doesn't mean you'd love a baby any less. Ryan's mother can see, and she abandoned him, twice. Julie Cooper can see, and she's easily the worst mother I know."

"I can't marry you," Summer shook her lovely head. "I'll only be a disappointment. You'll regret it. I can't trap you into that. I won't."

"I could never regret anything that involved you, honey," he kissed her brow again, and then pulled back to stroke a tear-streaked cheek. "Despite the infamous Catamaran Exodus of 2004, I'm not a wanderer. You will never make me feel trapped. You can marry me. You can and you will."

"You can't make me marry you, Cohen," she narrowed her eyes at his demanding tone.

"Don't make me beg," Seth threatened, teasing. "It won't be pretty."

Summer didn't answer. Seth's heart twisted painfully.

"C'mon, Sugar. We've been apart so long because we've both been hard-headed asshats."

"Speak for yourself."

"Marry me. Marry me before I make an obscene declaration of devotion. Do you really want to be alone?"

Summer bit her lip, her eyes welling up dangerously. She shook her head wordlessly.

"Good. Me either," Seth murmured. "Don't make me live without you any longer, please," he pleaded softly, leaning his forehead against hers, breathing in her warm, spicy scent. "I've been miserable without you. And now that I know you're here, that there's not another guy…please."

"When?" she sniffed, not quite willing to admit defeat.

"The courthouse opens at eight a.m. I called."

Though he couldn't see her amused smile, he heard the slight chuckle, the shaky inhalation. He pulled back long enough to wipe away a stray tear. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging desperately.

"Don't leave me, Seth. Don't leave me again," she whispered urgently.

"No," he swore, raining kisses across her face, her hair and brow.

"I wish I could see you right now, that would be enough. Just for a minute," Summer said wistfully, her face buried into his sinewy shoulder.

Seth reached for her hands and brought them up to his face, kissing each of her palms before pressing them onto his cheeks. She felt gently with her fingers, tracing along his forehead, his eyebrows and eyelids, and then down the bridge of his nose. The pads of her fingertips brushed against his cheekbones, his jawline, his lips.

"Tomorrow is good. I don't want to wait anymore," she said softly. Seth pulled her forward by the back of her neck in to kiss her breath away. "We don't need a big wedding or family. Ryan and Anna are here, and everyone else can come later."

Seth brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, still stroking her delicate cheek with his thumb. "If that's what you want."

"Isn't that what you want?" Summer asked uncertainly.

"More than anything." He took her mouth in another searing kiss, gathering her into his arms.

Summer moaned against his mouth, and her dizzy heart ached with the very dearness of it. She didn't know when tough, sassy Summer Roberts had become such a girl, but it had happened. Maybe it was the years of self-imposed isolation, or perhaps it was the knowledge that Seth had saved himself for her, to win her back. Or maybe it was just that she'd grown up.

Independence was fine and good, but how great was it when you were alone and miserable because of your own foolish stubbornness? Maturity had brought clarity. She needed Seth, she needed him in her life the way she needed strong and smart Anna, or wise and stoic Ryan, the way she had needed the old Seth back in high school, when she had been too scared to admit it, but he was the only one that saw right through her bullshit.

"Hey," Seth broke away panting, "I know we've got to call, like, everyone we've ever met and all, but there's an Arrested Development marathon starting in thirty minutes, and I think we really need to fuck first."

"You read my mind," Summer grinned, pulling off her blouse.

* * *

Summer and Seth got married on January 12th at the county courthouse with a Justice of the Peace and Ryan presiding as a witness. Summer wore the green dress.

TECHNICALLY, THE END (though an epilogue will follow, shortly).