Thank you for all of the reviews, it really means a lot you take the time and review for the story. Your input really helps with ideas, and your compliments make it so much better to get more chapters out. I've put a lot of thought into whether or not to make a sequel, but I won't know until I think over the ending first.

I apologize for not updating quicker; things have been really tough the past few weeks. Nonetheless, I'm sorry. I'm also going away on vacation for a week and a half, but I promise I'll get back into rhythm with updating. Now all that's left is shaking off the rust : )

Thanks,

Read, enjoy, and review.

Dine and Dash

Things had been going pretty good for Seth, at least better than they had been recently. In the 3 days since his date with Summer, he felt as though they were beginning to become much closer than before.

Take exhibit A for instance, during school she's having more and more mental slips than usual, and sometimes she would hold my hand or even peck me on the cheek. Granted, her slight errors always occur when nobodies looking, but I'll take what I can get.

Those recent events had convinced him that Summer truly did want to give them a try, but still was too insecure and afraid of the outcome; she thought it was too big of a risk.

But she did seem satisfied with where things were at right now; Seth on the other hand, was not. He wanted things to progress she wanted to stay neutral. Eventually, one of them was going to be forced to make a decision.

If things were going to really begin to move forward between them, what was being planned today was definitely not going to help…

"Hey Sandy, can you check if we have any noodles in that cupboard?"

"Mom no…"

"Umm…Yeah we've got a couple packets honey."

"Oh good."

"Please mom, no."

"What's so bad about wanting to cook a meal for my family?"

"A lot of things actually. The edibleness of the food being one…I'll just go out with Summer somewhere else."

"No, that's exactly why I'm cooking."

"I didn't know you hated her that much mom?" Kirsten narrowed her eyes at him and Sandy just smirked as he continued eyeing over the paper. "Can't you just get Rosie to cook?"

"Very funny Seth. I have no reason to hate her because I haven't spoken to her much. Besides when she came to visit at the hospital." Kirsten cringed at the memory of seeing her son all bandaged up and pale looking from the coma. "I came to bad conclusions with her than, and this would be a good way to get to know her. We can't always depend on Rosie."

"Dad!"

"Sorry son, she's got a point." Seth sighed heavily as Kirsten began humming away and preparing the pots to cook.

"Dad, you can't let her do this." Seth whispered as Kirsten began getting cheerful and giddy with the prospect of cooking. Sandy turned away from Seth and saw his wife biting on her lip and pouting, clearly in deep thought.

"You've got to give her a chance, she's making an effort here."

"Well that effort might make me single again."

"Don't worry I'll handle chef Boyardee, you go get Summer."

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"Summer?" Seth called suspiciously as he entered her room to find it empty. He was now on first name basis with her maid, which in turn, enabled him to walk right in the house.

"Downstairs." Seth heard her call from the bottom of the stairwell.

"What are you doing?" Seth broke the awkward vibe as soon as he entered the living room where he found her. He felt like an idiot for not noticing her when he walked in.

"Shhh. The Real Valley's on."

"Since when do you watch that? Its just another timeless reality show." He cut in front of the TV and around the coffee table to sit beside her.

"Since always, plus it always helps you feel better about your own life and deal with your own inner pain." Summer replied dryly as she was focused on the TV.

"Like you know inner pain…"He scoffed under his breath. Sometimes that girl just doesn't know how good she has it.

"What'd you say?" Summer perked up incredulously.

"Errrm nothing, doesn't matter…So do you have anything planned tonight?"

"Umm, no why what's going on?" Summer asked skeptically as she fixed her gaze on Seth to see if she could find any signs of cracking. He was either hiding something, or something was on his mind and just couldn't let it go.

"My mother decided to try and cook today, so you're wondering where you fit in all of this, well her impeccable timing happens to be the same time you're invited over for a Cohen family dinner."

"Awww that's so nice of her to invite me over, of course I'll come."

"Hold on, I didn't ask you yet. How about I just say you had something else to do and couldn't make it?" Summer gaped and swung an arm freely to the side and smacked him in the chest.

"You can't lie, especially to your mother."

"You lie to the whole school about me." Seth felt the hairs on his neck stand up and he cringed at the realization that he let too much slip. Seth averted Summer's definite steaming gaze, and instead took refuge in staring at the carpet. It was pretty safe to say she wasn't amused. "So dinner, my house…sounds like a blast. Gotta run now though, bye Sum."

He smiled nervously at her, and planted a kiss on her forehead. He gave another uneasy smile and bolted out of the room. Summer was left scratching her head and wondering what the hell was wrong with Cohen.

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"I can't keep doing this man."

"Seth, can we please wait until 9 o'clock for the self absorbed chats."

"Ha-Ha you're out throwing around hilarious one liners while I'm in a major crisis lockdown."

"That's what you always do."

"Well, its expected of me Ryan. Your role in our little friendship/brotherhood bonding is to shut up and listen; as I would do for you." Ryan sighed and glanced at his bedside clock and finally sprang up from his comfortable lying position on the bed to face Seth, who was pacing back and forth by the door.

"Fine, but I don't have much time."

"Thank you."

"Before you start though, can you sit down or something? All that pacing back and forth is eventually going to give me a headache."

"You got it…now on to the real issue…" Seth exclaimed as he seated himself on the chair near the door.

"Let me guess…Summer."

"Bingo…well I'm not saying she's the problem or anything, because of course its not, far from it actually. Its just…-"

"-You're still not okay with the dating rules she set." Ryan muttered melodramatically.

"Right on again man, now the way I see it, I can either continue to keep my mouth shut about us and enjoy being with her…but that-"

"-doesn't sound like you at all."

"Exactly, so my only other choice is to confront her about my feelings and hope I don't cross the line and say something I don't mean that jeopardizes our relationship."

"And when exactly do you plan to do all of this?"

"Haven't thought that far ahead yet, but its not going to be tonight because tonight Summer is meeting mom and dad, and I have to be sharp in order to keep any embarrassing comments away from her."

"Uh hmmm sounds fool-proof." Ryan deadpanned.

"Very funny, don't quit your day job brooding though…Anyways, nice talking to you man." Seth breathed in a sigh of relief and strode out the door.

"No problem…"Ryan mumbled drearily than fell backward onto the bed.

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"Dad, did you handle the mom situation?"

"Relax, relax its all taken care of."

"Oh thank god…"

"You can breathe easy son."

"You have no idea how much you just saved me tonight…If she were to come over, endure the mind numbing talks, AND eat the food…I don't even want to think what would happen."

"You must really like her huh?" Seth nodded, but couldn't help the small smile crease onto his lips just thinking about much he liked her. Even though things seemed a bit rocky, she would always have that affect on him, one that he would never shake.

"What exactly did you do to get mom to agree not to cook??" Seth inquired as he became curious as to how Sandy managed to solve the Kirsten-cooking issue before Seth could even comprehend how catastrophic it could turnout.

"She doesn't know anything…I asked Rosie if she could go ahead and continue making dinner for us, and we'll just switch it with Kirsten's when she's not looking."

"Hmm that's pretty risky dad."

"Oh believe me I know. She would not be too happy if she found out."

"Nope, not at all."

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Dinnertime came quicker than expected, and time definitely did fly when you played video games. Seth spent the remainder of the day relaxing and playing games.

Even from up in his room, he could smell food being prepared downstairs, and the clanging of pots and pans. The loud and sudden noises managed to shriek through the soothing music coming from his Ipod.

He slowly felt himself drifting away into a relaxing sleep, until he was shaken awake abruptly.

"Hey" He whipped his eyes open to find Summer looking stunning as usual even in just casual wear, perched on the edge of his bed, beaming down at him. All previous anger for being woken up rather harshly had quickly vanished.

"Hi…"He answered groggily and stretched out further on the bed. Summer remained content sitting on the bed, and reached for his hand and entwined their fingers together. "Why are you here so early?" Seth uttered out mid-yawn, causing Summer to giggle.

"Its ten minutes till dinner, your mom told me on the way in…"

"Hmm…must've lost track of time." He eyed his alarm clock suspiciously and began to retrace the day over in his mind to see where he went wrong. "Listen, how about you wait for me downstairs, or even go see what Ryan's up to; he seemed extra-broodish today. I'll be down in a minute."

"Sure." She stood up from her seated position and pranced out the door and through the hall. As soon as she left the room, he sighed heavily and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. He didn't know why, but for some reason all he been doing today was dissecting his relationship with Summer and picking out any flaws in it.

It was almost as if he wanted it to fail, crumble, fall apart; all of it. Obviously, the situation had more of an affect on him than it did on her. She still felt she could have her cake and eat it too, while he was leaning more towards getting a solid answer; one way or the other.

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"Is everything okay?" Seth entered the kitchen to find Summer and Kirsten chatting away about some article one had found in a magazine as they set the table, while Sandy was cautiously moving food in and out of the kitchen.

"It's all going along smoothly, without a hitch. It's a good idea we did get Rosie to cook, because I'm starving. As much as I love your mother, I just can't be experimenting with her food today."

"Amen to that…"Seth answered wearily as he was more focused on the interaction between Summer and his mom, and how good they seemed to be getting along even after rough beginnings. He turned back to face Sandy, and found him slowly walking in a rather large pot of pasta.

"There…" He uttered out in relief and clapped his hands together in a job well done. "I sure hope Ryan knows what he got himself into when he agreed to take the leftovers from dinner and store them in his fridge in the poolhouse."

"Ouch, hate to be him." Sandy chuckled and began to walk away toward the dinner table but felt a tug on his shirt. "Wait dad, one more thing…. could you maybe…ease back on the childhood talk? Too much might just be enough to keep me without a girlfriend for the remainder of my high school days."

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises about your mother."

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"Oh my god Seth, I can't believe you went to camp too. So did I. That is so cute."

"Those were the best days of his life…"

"Oh really?"

"That's a bit of an overstatement wouldn't you say mom?" Seth chimed in quickly, than shoveled more Kirsten-less food.

"How about you What were the best days of your life?" Summer questioned and shifted her gaze around the table. She was more intrigued than ever to find out all she could about Seth and his past experiences. Even if it meant uncovering some embarrassing details.

"Oh boy, dad you don't have to answer that."

"What, you kidding me? Of course I am…hmmm I'd have to say it was back when…"

30 minutes, 3 brief show tune acts, 2 law preaches, and 1 mail truck incident later, it was safe to say Seth had all but lost his appetite. He'd zoned out about a quarter way into his dad's rambling reminiscing speech about the old days, instead focusing on what one quality he had that would be able to shine through and prevail after these horrifying events. Ryan definitely had it right by sleeping through dinnertime.

"-But Summer, you have to see some of the photos from his Camp Takaho days, it used to excite him so much…" Seth snapped back into the conversation to find Summer propped up on one elbow gazing at Kirsten, intrigued by her Seth memories.

"Oh I'd love to see them." Summer smiled and redirected her attention to Seth, who was not pleased at all. She pouted her lip, but couldn't hold it long as she broke into a smile and reached across his lap to grasp onto his hand. She squeezed it tightly, smiling at how adorable Seth looked even when wishing he were anywhere else on the planet.

"Wait a second…as a matter of fact I think they're just over on the shelve by the phone." Kirsten rose from her chair and made a move to prance across the kitchen to the shelving unit.

"And that's our cue to leave…Mom, dad, thanks for dinner. Lets go Summer." Seth made his exit quickly, while Summer lingered around longer.

"You've got to send me those Takaho pictures, he probably looked so cute."

"I sure will Summer."

"Alright bye, thanks for dinner." She gave them both one last smile, before dashing down the hall and out the door to find Seth. Kirsten and Sandy were left in a comfortable silence, one that each embraced with ease.

Kirsten finally began to really focus on the food she was eating, instead of eating blindly away while Seth and Summer were there. She took into count how neither Sandy or Seth made any smart remarks about her cooking, a fact that made her all the more happy. She looked down at her plate, and something odd struck her eye.

"Hey, I never made any corn!"

So theres an update, I looked at is as kind of a filler, but nonetheless I'm happy with it I guess. Don't expect another update soon as I'm going on vacation as I mentioned before.

Please review and tell me what you think. It really does help with the writing and coming up with ideas.

Review.