A/N: This is a random idea that popped into my head late last night. I could technically make it into a multi-chapter fic but I'm lazy like that so it's just going to be a one-shot. Forgive me because I don't know jack about electricity. It's all light and fluffy (and kind of sexy…hehe). Main focus being Seth and Summer. I'm sorry if it gets terribly corny but somewhere in my cold, hard heart I have a soft spot for those two. It takes place basically before The Lonely Hearts Club but while everyone is kind of in a good place because I can't stand Seth being miserable. But that's all the episode this week will be. It's just Seth wallowing in his self pity. The good stuff is coming in episode fourteen The Rainy Day Women. The rain, apparently, makes certain people second-guess some choices they made. (Cough, cough) So excited! Airport scenes are so fun! Whoa! Okay, that's all I'm saying. Sorry. Zipping my lips. Just read the story, damn it and stop listening to me ramble! Wait, just one more ramble: Valentine's chapter for Just Let Us Be Us Again is coming. It's late, I know, I apologize. It would have been up sooner but my grandmother got sick and now she's in the hospital so I was a little preoccupied. But it's coming, I promise!

"Summer, I always knew you found me irresistibly sexy," Seth said once he opened the door to see Summer and Marissa standing there.

"Trouser it, Cohen. We're here to see Kirsten," she said as she pushed past him and into the foyer. "Where is she?"

"Well, I have to say I'm not surprised that you're that type of girl, but my mom? I don't think she'll go for it."

Summer shot him a look.

"Seth, we're already late," Marissa told him.

"In the kitchen," he said, sticking his thumb over his shoulder and pointing in the general direction of the kitchen.

The girls continued into the kitchen with Seth following slowly behind. Kirsten was seated at the table with a glass of wine in front of her. She looked up when she heard the girls come in.

"Hey Summer. Marissa. I didn't know you girls were coming over. I would have ordered more food," she said.

"Thanks, Kirsten, but we're not here to stay," Marissa politely informed her.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I'm sure Seth wouldn't mind sharing his dumplings."

"Hey, thanks mom. Because, you know, it's not like I need to eat," Seth said.

"Calm down, Cohen. You can keep your dumplings. We're just here to drop some stuff off," Summer said.

"These are from my mom," Marissa said, handing some papers to Kirsten. "They're some lists for the charity auction that's coming up. At least, I think that's what she said. I wasn't exactly listening—"

Marissa was cut off as the lights flickered and dimmed, finally going out completely with a loud pop. Every stood still for a moment, waiting to see if they would come back on. The silence was interrupted though by Ryan as he came in through the back door.

"What's going on?" he asked, stumbling into a stool.

"Well, buddy, this is what I like to call fate," Seth started and everyone inwardly groaned. "For some reason, God has brought us all together on this day and shut the lights off on us. There's a deeper meaning for us being stuck in the dark. We just need to find it."

There was silence for another moment before Summer's voice was heard. "Okay, Cohen, that was the single most retarded thing I have ever heard in my life."

"I second that," Marissa said.

"All in favor?"

Ryan and Kirsten responded with a synchronized "Aye."

"Oh, that's funny. You guys are just freakin' hilarious," Seth said. "Just wait. You'll see. We were put here for a reason."

"Whatever. Coop, we should get going."

"Wait," Kirsten said, trying to stand up in the dark and hitting her knee on the table in the process. "Don't leave me alone in a dark house with the boys."

"I always knew you liked me, mom," Seth said sarcastically.

"Well, we're supposed to meet Zach," Summer started to say but Marissa interrupted.

"He can wait for a little while," she said. "I'm sure the power will be back on in no time."

"Yes, Summer. Do stay," Seth said in a mock British accent.

"Okay, fine, but only because I like Kirsten," she said, making sure to let Seth know she was doing this in no way for him.

"This'll be fun," Marissa said. "Do you guys have any board games?"

"Yeah, because being stuck in the dark is always a party," Ryan said sardonically, speaking up.

"Cohen, stop touching me."

"Summer, I'm not touching you. I swear. My hands are at my sides."

"I can feel your hand right on my—"

"Sorry, Sum." Marissa's voice cut her off. "That was me."

"Oh."

They stood in the dark as an awkward silence enveloped them. It suddenly occurred to Kirsten that they should probably find some flashlights and a few candles. At least something to light up the place a little bit.

"Ryan, there should be a drawer right in front of you. You know the one I'm talking about? With the junk in it?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's right here," he said and she heard him slide it open. "What am I looking for?"

"There should be a flashlight. It's a little one."

She heard him moving stuff around before, finally, a tiny little light clicked on. "Found it."

"Good," she said. "There's a fuse box in the basement. You know where it is?"

"Yeah, right behind the staircase," he answered.

"Exactly. Do you know how to, like, check it or whatever?" she asked and Ryan smiled in the dark.

"Yeah."

"But I don't want you going down there alone," she said, worrying like a mother.

"I'll go with him," Seth volunteered.

"No," Kirsten said quickly. "Seth, no offense, but I don't want you anywhere near that fuse box."

Seth pretended to look hurt but she couldn't see it in the dark.

"Ryan, take one of the girls while I check for candles in the cupboard."

"I'll come, Chino," Summer said. "We don't talk often enough."

"I thought that was because you hated me."

"Now why would you think that?" Summer asked as they left the kitchen, taking the flashlight with them, and leaving the kitchen in complete darkness once again.

"Okay, Seth, Marissa, come with me to get the candles," Kirsten ordered.

"Mom, we can't see anything."

Kirsten managed to get over to where Seth and Marissa were standing causing as little damage as possible. "Follow me," she said, reaching out and taking the closest hand to her, which she recognized as Marissa's. "Marissa, take Seth's hand."

"Ew," Seth said. "She might have cooties."

"God, Seth. What are we? Fifth grade?" Marissa said as she grabbed for his hand.

"This is kind of hokey, don't you think?"

"Oh, Seth, shut up," Kirsten said, getting fed up. "We're in a dark house. We need some candles. I don't think it will kill you to hold Marissa's hand for three minutes so you don't get lost. Because I know you and, yes, I believe you will get lost in your own house."

Seth smartly decided to keep his mouth shut as he followed Marissa's lead into the hallway where Kirsten felt along the wall until they came to a closet. Opening it, she felt along the shelves until she came across the candles she was looking for. Taking them down, one by one, she handed them off to Seth and Marissa. She searched a little more and found the lighter that was stored with them. She lit one candle so they had a light to lead them back.

They carefully made their way back into the kitchen where they set up the candles. Kirsten handed the lighter to Marissa and excused herself to make a phone call. Marissa began to light the candles that had been spread out across the counter.

"At least the house will smell good," Seth said, leaning against the back counter.

Marissa stayed quiet as she lit the candles. When she was done, she set the lighter on the table and leaned up, turning to face Seth.

"She still cares about you," she said, completely out of the blue.

"What?" Seth asked, not sure he had heard her right.

"She won't admit it so don't try. But you know, she only started dating Zach to get over you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Seth said. "Back it up a second. What?"

"Look, I shouldn't even be saying any of this," Marissa told him. "It's not something Summer said to me, okay? It's just something I noticed. I can tell. But I'm not saying that it means anything because she's with Zach. I'm just letting you know that you're not nothing to her."

Seth was about the respond when Kirsten reappeared. "I called your father but he's still at work," she informed them. "He said he probably won't be home for another few hours and that we should just wait because he's positive we paid the power bill this month."

"What do while we wait?"

-

Meanwhile, down in the basement, Ryan was checking the fuse box with Summer at his side. She was currently asking a lot of really annoying and pointless questions.

"Why don't you just stand over there?" Ryan said after she had asked something particularly stupid.

"Sorry. I didn't know fuse boxes were so complicated," she said, crossing her arms over her chest but not moving from her spot.

She let Ryan work for a while but there was something she wanted to ask him. And she had a feeling that she wouldn't be alone with Ryan again any time soon. So, after shifting her weight from foot to foot as she silently debated, she decided to ask.

Quietly, hoping he wouldn't get mad, she said, "Why can't Seth let me go?"

Ryan's movements stilled as her words broke their silence. He appeared to be thinking, probably of the best way to answer. Finally, "Because, Summer, whether you want to believe it or not, you had a huge impact on his life. When you came around, you changed a lot of things for him. Hell, you changed him. You did things for him, showed him things. You were a big part of his life for a long time. It's hard to let something like that go."

Summer had never heard Ryan use that many words in one turn. She was about to say something else when he turned around, shutting the door on the box.

"It's not the fuse box," he said and she knew he was also saying that they were done talking about this. Then, he headed for the stairs. "If you have anymore questions, I think you should talk to Seth."

Summer hurried after him, not keen on being left in the dark basement all alone. They headed back into the kitchen, which was basked in a soft glow from all the candles that had been set up.

"It's not the fuse box," Ryan repeated to everyone in the kitchen. "I think the whole grid might be out."

"I think you're right," Kirsten said and pointed outside. "No one else seems to have power either."

"What does that mean?" Marissa asked.

"It means that we wait for the lights to come back on," Ryan explained.

"Will you excuse me for just a second?" Summer said, stepping out of the kitchen.

She made a phone call to Zach, explaining that she was stuck at the Cohen's' house and there was just no possible way she was going to be able to make it tonight. It might have been a bit of a white lie, considering she wasn't technically stuck here. But it wasn't her fault that she liked spending time with Seth's family. It had happened to both her and Marissa when they started dating Sandy and Kirsten's sons. Not only did they form a strong liking for the boys, but they seemed to have fallen in love with the family as well. It was like a package deal. Awesome boyfriend and a home-away-from-home all rolled into one.

"Want to play some Jenga?" Seth asked from where he was perched on the counter.

Marissa shrugged. "Why not? We have nothing else to do."

"It's in my bedroom," he said, hopping off and starting in the direction of the staircase.

"Take the flashlight," Kirsten said. "And Summer."

Summer looked a little alarmed at the thought of going upstairs alone with Seth.

Kirsten caught onto this and said, "Or Marissa."

"No, it's okay. I'll go," she said in an effort to prevent looking like a baby. They were just going to get a stupid block game.

Seth didn't say anything, just grabbed the flashlight from where Ryan had set it on the counter and left the kitchen with Summer in tow. They headed up the stairs and followed the path they had taken many times before to Seth's bedroom. Summer tried hard not to think about what they used to do after they made it to his room because it usually involved their lips and, if no one was home, some other parts of their bodies.

Summer stood there as he went to his desk, searching for the game. It was dark in his room, especially where she was because he had the only light and she was standing by his nightstand. She waited patiently as he rummaged through various drawers.

"I can't find it," he said.

Summer navigated her way as carefully as she could towards his closet because he tended to keep a lot of stuff in there. She opened the door and it was pitch black but she ran her hands along the top shelf anyway because she knew she would recognize the box. They had played this game many times, even inventing a new version.

Summer had complained one day about how incredibly boring Jenga got when she thought of the idea. She presented it to Seth who immediately liked it, urging her to take her turn. It was decided that, by removing an item of clothing after you took out a block, the game became much more interesting. Of course, they never actually finished the game. The tower was always knocked over to make room on the bed for a different kind of game. One of Summer's favorites, in fact.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt her hand hit the long narrow box. "Cohen."

"Did you find it?" he asked and she heard him coming over to where she was.

"It's right here," she said and she turned around, slightly surprised to find him right there.

They were inches apart, being separated only by the Jenga box in her hands. She wanted to touch him but immediately cursed herself for thinking those thoughts. Memories were okay. You couldn't erase a memory. At least, not completely. But thinking about making new memories, especially with Seth Cohen, was not okay.

"I forgot I left it in here," he said and his voice had dropped an octave so he was now speaking very quietly, almost whispering.

He was staring down at her and she looked back, not wanting to move. A part of her knew she should stop him, to just say something random and run out of the room. But there was something about being in the dark. Something that made her feel like anything could happen and no one would ever know. There were so many secrets in the dark, she didn't see the harm in creating a new one.

So he leaned down, the inches changing to centimeters, and the centimeters to millimeters, before finally, there was no space left at all and it was just his lips on hers. He parted her lips with his and she kissed him for a while before the box slowly dropped from her hands, hitting the floor with a loud thump.

One of his hands came up to cup her face as he deepened the kiss and the other wrapped around her waist. She had her arms crushed between them, holding onto his shoulders and she was kissing him back.

He pulled away but he was still close enough that she could feel his breath though she sure as heck couldn't see any of him. "I've always liked Jenga," he whispered.

"Me too," she agreed and kissed him again, pulling her arms up and wrapping them around him.

She pushed him back towards the bed as she felt him pulling her shirt up over her head. They rolled over so now he was on top and she took this opportunity to yank his shirt off. His mouth traveled down her collarbone as she ran her hands along the bare skin of his back.

She stopped him suddenly, sitting up a little and wiping the smeared lipgloss from her bottom lip.

"What are you doing?" he asked, still hovering over her.

"I just…I need to know that this is real," she said.

"What do you mean?" He rolled off of her and sat up beside her.

"Seth, I have a million thoughts racing through my head right now and—"

"It's okay," he said, interrupting her.

"No, let me finish," she said, putting a finger to his lips. She took a breath before slowly saying, "I have never felt as strongly for someone the way I did you. I need to know right now that what we have is real."

"Summer, if this isn't real, then I don't want what is."

She nodded and responded by pulling him down to her, catching his lips with hers. She reached for his belt buckle and just as things were about to get heated, they heard shuffling noises in the hallway and, all of a sudden the lights flicked back on.

Seth blinked in the bright light and as his eyes adjusted, he was able to see Marissa and Ryan squinting at the two of them. They didn't say anything, just kind of looked at them for a minute before anyone spoke.

"We were, uh, looking for…" Seth stuttered.

"The game," Summer finished, looking around for her shirt which was lying in pile by Ryan's feet.

"Yeah, cause I bet it's in Seth's pants," Marissa said, trying to hide her laughter.

"The lights are back on," Ryan said, staring very obviously at the ground.

Seth sat up and Summer followed suit. "Hey, Ry? Wanna toss me Summer's shirt there, buddy?"

"Oh, uh, right," Ryan said, his cheeks flushing a bright pink as he bent down to pick up the t-shirt.

He tossed it to Summer who managed to pull it on just in time for Kirsten to join everyone in the room. "The lights are back on," she said, repeating Ryan's earlier statement.

"I couldn't tell," Seth said.

"Sweetie, what happened to your shirt?"

Marissa covered her mouth with her hand, waiting to see how Seth was going to talk his way out of this one. The embarrassment of the situation had passed and even Ryan was cracking a bit of a secret smile with Marissa behind Kirsten's back.

"That is a good question, mom. And there's a really good explanation for why I'm not wearing my shirt right now. You see, it was very dark up here and I ran into the dresser and I was almost positive that I was bleeding because, really, that dresser is vicious. I've pinched my fingers in it way too many times. But so, I wanted to make sure I wasn't bleeding so Summer was checking. For blood. And it looks like I'm not bleeding so I guess we're all okay."

"Mmhmm," Kirsten said, standing with her arms crossed over her chest and not believing a word he said.

Marissa bent down and picked up the box at her feet. "Jenga anyone?"