Patience

The Night We Shared a Kiss

Seth and Brandi stood near the dance floor, kissing. Nothing was going on in Seth's mind, he was just happy that he had made the move to kiss Brandi and she was actually kissing him back, instead of pulling him back, as he was used to.

The opposite was going on in Brandi's mind. She had a million thoughts in her mind. The guy she was totally into had decided to kiss her, and she was happy about it. But at the same time, he was always lying to her. And she hated when people lied to her. She couldn't trust him. Or could she? Maybe if they had something more, maybe he wouldn't lie to her. And maybe by kissing her, that was the Seth way to show her he wouldn't lie to her if they were to be a couple. Maybe he was just afraid that she didn't really like him. But again, she couldn't be totally sure of that.

Whatever it was that was filling her mind, stopped the minute she felt Seth's tongue entering her mouth and touching her own tongue. She pressed her body harder against his and moaned, feeling his tongue inside her mouth. His hands were going up and down her almost bare back while she caressed his curly and soft hair with her hands. The atmosphere was perfect, the song that was playing was perfect, the kiss was perfect...

Seth pulled back from the kiss and stared at Brandi. She still had her eyes closed. He smiled, brushed a lock of hair away from her neck and trailed his kiss down her now bare neck. She moaned once again with the sensation of his lips on her skin. He soon trailed the kiss back up and found her lips, deepening the kiss immediately. Everything seemed to be completely perfect, until...

"Cohen!" the voice ruined the moment and Seth backed away quickly.

"Summer. Hey!" Seth bit his lip and looked at the floor.

"Cohen, what are you doing?" Summer asked.

'Duh! Isn't it obvious? Now get out of here!' Brandi thought, regretting not saying it out loud.

"Uhm... I... actually Brandi and I were..." Brandi stared at Seth in disbelief. Was he actually not gonna say they were kissing because he had made the move? Was he gonna lie again? Right in front of her? And especially after kissing her like that?

"I'm leaving." Brandi informed them both and got out of there, not hearing another word from Seth or Summer.

"Brandi, please!" Seth called out when he noticed she was not beside him anymore.

"Cohen! I can't believe you were kissing that girl. I mean..." Summer had a hurtful look on "What about us?" she looked up at him.

"I don't know what about us, Summer. I really don't. I've been trying to get back together with you ever since I came back from Portland, but you never returned my calls, you were always rude to me when I was trying to be nice... And then Brandi showed up and she's... well, she's completely different." Seth pictured Brandi in his mind with a warm smile on his face "She likes me. She understands me. She has a good time with me. And I have a great time with her. And I like her. It's good to be with someone who doesn't treat you like garbage for once, you know, Summer?"

"But I didn't treat you like garbage."

"Not when we were together, but the rest of the time, you were always pretending I didn't exist, or like now a days, you totally treat me bad and..."

"But that's because I want you back."

"What?" Seth asked totally surprised "How can you say that you were treating me that badly because you wanted me back? That doesn't make the least bit of sense."

"I know, Cohen, I know!" Summer exclaimed annoyed "But it's just... When you left for that stupid boat trip, I felt awful. You really hurt my feelings, Cohen. And then when you were back, I wanted you to feel the same way as I did the entire summer, so..."

"I can't believe it." Seth shook his head "You wanted to hurt me on purpose."

"Well, you hurt me on purpose when you left Newport!"

"I did not! I was just sad because Ryan left! He's my brother. Did you expect me to be happy about him leaving? I'm sorry, Summer, if my live doesn't revolve around you. I had to get out of this town, because nothing made sense anymore!"

"Not even me? You were always saying how you were in love with me ever since you were like... 8 or something. And then we were in this great relationship, the first one I actually had, and you leave because Ryan left? So I meant nothing to you? Is that it?"

"No! That's not it, Summer! I was just too messed up to think about it. So I left. I had no other choice. I just knew I didn't wanna stay! God!" Seth threw his hands in the air "I don't wanna talk about it now! Not now. And especially not here! Goodbye!"

Seth left Summer trying to find the words to make him stop.

"Hey, wait up!" she heard him call her when she was already outside.

"I can't stay. I'm sorry." she apologized and didn't even stop walking.

"Please, wait." he took her arm in his hand and forced her to stop.

"Ryan, please, I don't wanna stay." Brandi had her head down and wouldn't look up at Ryan.

"Brandi, I saw everything. You have every right to be upset. Now look at me." he lifted her chin up.

"I'm sorry." she apologized for the tears rolling down her cheeks "I'm such an idiot!"

"Don't say that! You're not an idiot!" Ryan wiped the tears away from Brandi's face.

"I am. I don't know why I let him kiss me."

"Maybe because you like him?"

"But I can't like him. He loves Summer."

"He does not. You have to stop thinking that. He doesn't love Summer anymore."

"But at least there are feelings there."

"Maybe. I can't guarantee there are no feelings left, but I can guarantee it's not love anymore. Last time we talked about it, he was totally confused about his feelings for you. And if he kissed you tonight, maybe he got those feelings sorted out. Maybe he chose you over Summer."

"That's impossible..." Brandi shook her head.

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is. He would never choose me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because no one ever picks me over some other girl. Especially over a girl like Summer! She's perfect, she's gorgeous!"

"But she's not you! Have you ever talked to Summer? She can be a real bitch sometimes. Well, most of the time." Brandi giggled "And you're not. You're cool, and also, very beautiful. I don't know why you think less of yourself."

"Because I'm used to it, Ryan. No one ever picks me over other girls. I don't know, maybe the boys see me as a tomboy because of the way I dress..."

"You look nothing like a tomboy right now." Ryan smiled.

"I know I don't. But I never dress up like this. Boys see me in my regular clothes and they automatically see me as a tomboy and they never look at me twice. And that's fine with me. I'm never gonna change the way I dress for a boy. If he can't like me in my regular clothes, then he can't like me period. But Seth said something tonight that made me feel good about myself. So I let him kiss me. I know I shouldn't have let him kiss me. Stupid! But now the damage is done... There's nothing I can do and..."

"You can fight for him."

"I don't wanna fight for a boy. I never have, and I never will."

"Ok. Fine. I'm sorry I said that."

"You have nothing to apologize to me for, Ryan." Brandi said with a weak smile.

"Come here." Ryan got closer to her and hugged her tight. She felt good in his arms. So good and comforted, she started to cry again "Shh... Everything's gonna be fine!" Ryan tried to calm her down. His hands were caressing her hair. Her hands were wrapped around his neck.

"What the hell is going on here?" they heard someone yell from a few feet away and when they pulled back to look at who it was, there stood Seth.