***do not own any of the characters or affiliated with anything mentioned. Fiction.

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It's funny how fast time flies, isn't it?

It seemed like just yesterday she was sitting around the fire with her girls laughing uncontrollably at the drunken antics of Luke and the rest of the boys. Or how about all of those nights of scanning all of the sales going on at South Coast and ordering Marissa to join her. School was secondary back then, all that mattered was her friends and parties. That was never supposed to change.

But it did.

The final flame had long died out at the Holly beach kegger from 4 years ago. All of her favorite, self-dubbed "Summer's secrets" stores had become huge and relocated to LA, leaving South Coast a ghost of what it used to be to her. Most of her old friends had already moved on and were starting lives of their own.

The cold, harsh realities of life hit Summer Roberts in a way that she had never experienced before. She leaned against the bar and watched two other waitresses moving about to set up for the night. Josh the bartender nudged her hand off the bar and gave her a knowing wink as he wiped down the remainder of the bar. She rolled her eyes and grinned at him. She seated herself at the bar and asked for a glass of water. He motioned with his index finger and the disappeared into the kitchen.

Summer sighed. She had no idea why she had been reminiscing over the high school days, maybe it was triggered this morning by that damned Coop's voicemail? She hadn't heard from her old friend since last fall. She always appreciated the calls, but she was sure that Marissa knew just as well as her that the friendship they used to have sailed off along with her. Not that she was bitter with Marissa for joining her father...or maybe she was? And maybe this high school flashback was all built up in her subconscious? She smirked to herself and shook her head. She sounded just like her friend Zach, always trying to dissect her and play shrink during pillow talk.

She had slept through Marissa's call this morning. Marissa ranted incoherently about some island she just landed on and how much she missed her and Newport. Summer knew it was a lie: what could she possibly miss about this place? The checkup phone calls were more or less keeping up the appearances of their friendship, and Summer half expected the calls to stop about 2 years ago. Marissa wasn't coming back here. Why would she?

Aside from her beloved South Coast, nothing had really changed around here. There were the trust fund brats still kicking around partying it up like it was senior year all over again (Summer, too, was guilty of joining in the fun every now and then just to get her fill of fun). The Newport Group had essentially cornered all of Newport's usable land and cranked out more housing developments and another golf course. The Bait Shop remained one of the best nightspots in the area for the younger crowd and the Harbor Club retained it's elite crowd of lawyers and doctors, while the bar Summer worked at took everyone else. JT's really was a shithole. And in likeness it attracted some terrible people to it. She hated the job, yet she couldn't quit because it provided her with her only entertainment these days. To put it lightly, it was her reminder that she still existed.

There was nothing going on in her life. Her father had transferred to a hospital in Chicago right after she graduated and only managed to be in town one or two weekends a year. She had originally planned to join her father out in Illinois for school, but that obviously didn't happen. Now, it was just her and Victoria living in the massive mansion still being paid off by her father. She wasn't even sure if her father and the "step monster" were still together. It had been about a year and a half now since she had heard from him, maybe he had abandoned both of them?

Summer didn't even need the job, but her lifestyle combined with the uncertainty of contacting her father for more money made it a safety net for her requirements of booze and clothes. She hadn't been in a relationship since high school, but she still strung along a few "friends" for those times when she wanted a good lay or if she was drunk enough to let one of them take her home. She played the game, and she played it well.

"Got your water, babe." Josh placed it on the bar and walked around to join her. He placed his hand on her thigh and gently rubbed it. "So, we still on for tonight?"

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"My flight just landed...Yes, looking for it now." Seth Cohen stood at the luggage trolley awaiting his suitcase. "She'll be here in a few days mom, we couldn't get anyone to cover last minute...N-no mother she's dying to meet you, I promise there's just a thing-" he placed the phone to his side while his mother barked into his ear. He grabbed his suitcase, returned the phone to his ear and continued on his way down the terminal. "Mom listen, I gotta go...Yes, I see that big goof now...okay, talk to you at the house."

He clicked the phone shut and joined the man standing by the entrance doors that was flipping him off. "Its nice to see you too." He dropped his luggage to the ground and wrapped his brother in a hug.

"So where's this mystery lady? Sandy told me about it and I had to come down to see it for myself." Ryan turned his gaze behind Seth to the crowd of travelers walking down the corridor. Seth just smirked and picked up his bags, pushing him into motion toward the doors. "Well?"

"...I just said that so they would get off my case." They passed through the parking lot and Seth spotted Ryan's familiar range rover at the end of the row.

"Awwwwww!" Ryan laughed and entered the driver's side as Seth tossed his luggage in the back and soon joined him. Once he was seated on the passenger side, Ryan decided to continue picking at him. "So there's really no woman? Or no woman that you want to bring here?"

"What's the difference?" Seth asked, visibly annoyed and turned toward the window. Ryan smirked and began to pull out of the garage and make his way towards the freeway.

"You know what it is,"Ryan took a moment to look over at his brother, whom he could see had a faint smile on his face from the reflection of the window. "Possibly something to do with 'you know who'?"

"What do you mean 'you know who'? Voldemort?" Seth turned to face him and Ryan stared out at the road with no emotion, causing him to burst out in laughter. "Oh relax, I know who you mean. Jeez, one would think you're out of practice in my ways after all this time, looking at you right now." Ryan turned his stone look to Seth, but they both just cracked into laughter.

"Come on then , spill it. I need something to keep me awake on this drive." Seth was quiet for a moment and looked out his window. There was something about California at night that he loved. Maybe it was because he didn't have to see ay of the people that inhabited it.

"There's nothing to tell, really." Ryan turned the radio down in anticipation of a long story. But there was none forthcoming, at least not immediately. Silence and Seth was such a foreign combination that it disturbed Ryan. He knew a rant had to be on the way.

"I heard of a Cassie.." Ryan offered to break the silence, in hopes of eliciting a response from his brother. He believed he was really doing him a favor; his pestering was nothing compared to what he would face when he walked in the door at the Cohen household. Everyone was excited at the prospect of meeting one of Seth's dates.

"Well, she exists if that's what you're getting at." Ryan immediately began howling in laughter. "I actually was going to bring her down. In fact, she still thinks she's coming but I was planning to make an excuse." Seth found himself beginning to open up a little more as the drive went on. The person he was around Ryan really was quite different than what he had become out in New York. Ryan was his connection to his old, youthful side that he figured he left behind along with this place. But here he was, reunited with his great friend and brother back in a place he swore to never return to.

"I'd say that I get it...but as usual with you, I don't."

When Ryan came into Seth's life, things had been really rough. The high school days weren't exactly the fondest of memories for Seth. His mother's decision to move closer to her father in his final years (literally, a house away) forced Seth to transfer from Newport Union to the dreaded Harbor High or his junior year. Back with all of the kids he left behind from grade school, it was a hell that he hadn't seen in years. But Ryan entered his life thanks to Sandy, and his remaining high school years became bearable with the help of his friend.

"I'm just not sold on things with her. When we're together things are alright I suppose, but does anyone really want to settle for 'alright'?" he looked to his brother to see if he understood but he continued to stare out at the road. "Yet, we've broke up a few times now and every time we do, I miss her and I want her."

"So, naturally you've gone in way over your head this weekend." the Newport road sign entered their view. Ryan could sense Seth begin to tense up in his seat.

"You could say that." his phone vibrated and he checked to see who was texting him. "I thought she was done for good, i thought she was going to pick o and leave. I panicked, got her to calm down and convinced her to come away with me for the weekend. I then proceeded to panic the day after and try to defuse the trip. Making matters worse, she works for me and basically is the #2 at the shop...So now here I am, questioning what the hell I'm doing."

"If it means anything, you certainly look the part of what you just explained. You look like shit." They both laughed at this. They were stopped at the familiar stoplight before the neighborhood gates. "Do you want to be single?"

"Yeah, I think its Han Solo time for me."

"Well you know who's going to be calling once she finds out your back in town and single. So theres a potential problem." Ryan waved to the guard and he motioned for him to drive through.

"I realize that... Thank you." Seth groaned and fell silent for a moment to collect his thoughts. He began to think about the girl he left behind. He kept contact with her on Facebook every now and than, but he hadn't seen her in person since he left town after graduation. Even on his visits home since, he made an effort to keep them short and avoid contact with her. He couldn't bare facing her after all this time, knowing it wouldn't be as pleasant as it used to be. He preferred to keep the memory rather than evoking her wrath

"I have a feeling this is going to be a great weekend." Ryan grinned and signaled to turn down that old familiar street Seth knew well. He pulled into the driveway and put it in park. "Dinner is in about an hour. Quick game of Xbox after you see everyone?" He looked at Seth and could tell he was lost in his own mind. Not only had he been apprehensive about seeing the old gang again, but now Ryan had forced him to drudge up the dilemma that really hadn't left his mind since the flight landed.

"Actually, you think you can drop me off down at the pier? I need a drink before I face mom and dad."