finished, happily, before new year's. epilogue to come.

disclaimer: no ownership of the o.c. but this is a futurefic so i took a lot of shall we say, creative license.

Luckily, Summer stayed conscious long enough to get her into the front seat of the BMW. Ryan felt a little awkward searching through her purse for car keys, but he knew that if he didn't they'd be stranded til morning. The dinner and the drinks cost him left him with four dollars and change in his wallet – definitely not enough to catch a cab back to Newport.

In the driver's seat, Ryan spilled the contents of Summer's tiny black bag. He was slightly relieved that the only thing inside asides from keys were a wallet, random make up products and her cell phone.

The drive home was quiet. Ryan wondered whether to turn on the radio but decided against it, afraid that it might wake Summer.

She slept peacefully next to him, leaning against the car door with her hair strewn all over her face. Ryan shook his head sadly. He definitely had some weird magnetic attraction to women who drank. Maybe it had to do with the saying that men look for women like their mothers…? No. Ryan would never end up with anyone like his own mom.

Summer was definitely nothing like his own mom. (Well, except for the drunk thing.) Asides from that, Summer was incredible. Vivacious. Ryan smirked, he had learned the word a long time ago in an English class in Chino. He never really understood what it meant. Until he met Summer. Even when he didn't like her – for that bitchy demeanor and well, the bitchy demeanor, he knew that she embodied that word entirely.

Looking at her now, he got that weird feeling in his stomach again. It wasn't the same as the envy that he felt inside the bar – yes, he was willing to admit that it had been envy. It was something entirely different.

He had been feeling it for days now.

Was it…? Could it be…?

No. Of course not. Ryan stopped having crushes in the seventh grade. He couldn't possibly have a crush. That was such a pre-teen concept.

Ooh, you have a crush on her.

I don't, Ryan told himself. But the feeling in his stomach didn't go away. And the urge to stare at the beautiful brunette next to him, that was thickening with every mile they drove. He wanted to turn to her, wake her with a kiss and just…

"No," Ryan scolded himself out loud.

For four years there had been only one girl on his mind. Ella. She was his world and his light and his safety. And well, there was Theresa but that's because Theresa would always be his best friend. They tried the relationship thing, but even then Ryan never went through that inexplicably real feeling of a dozen hummingbirds having a party in Ryan's stomach.

Okay, so maybe Ryan liked Summer.

Okay fine, maybe he liked her a lot.

Maybe you could even call it a cru-

"No!" Ryan insisted.

"No, what?" at the sound of her voice, the car swerved slightly. "Chino, what's going on?"

XXX

The car was moving pretty smoothly, but not smoothly enough for Summer's stomach. Oh God, alcohol was bad.

"Do you have to go so fast?!" she whined, squinting at Ryan. He was driving her car, that much she understood. How she got in the car, or why she had let him drive her car, that was way beyond her.

Wait a minute, she never let anyone drive her car. Never. It was her baby. Her beautiful sleek, silver, six cylinder engine, two door baby. She never let anyone drive it. Not even Chino. Even though, he looked damned good in it.

Mmm, those blue eyes looked yummy.

"What?" Ryan sounded positively panicked. Oh, Summer, did you say the last part out loud. Was there no connection between her brain and her mouth? Bad alcohol. Bad, bad alcohol.

"Drive. Slower." She took her time letting the words come out, in fear that anything unwanted would spill into the open and add to the mess of a day. Stupid day. Stupid, stupid day.

"Sum, I'm at forty miles per hour and the speed limit is sixty five." Ryan explained, his voice smooth and even. She loved his voice. It was so sexy. Hopefully she wouldn't let that slip out of her mouth.

"Stupid alcohol," she murmured.

"You okay?"

"Fabulous. Like, how else would I be after four, eight pitchers or shots of vodka, gin, whatever that was and then stuck in the car of me to go really, really fast?" she slurred sarcastically, not fully realizing what she was saying.

He laughed. He laughed but it was obvious that he was trying not to and she thought he looked so cute like that. Laughing, driving her car and being next to her.

XXX

Summer opened her eyes to a face full of pink and purple. But when she pushed back the sheets, she quickly realized that she wasn't in her own bed.

She sat up in alarm, quickly surveying her surroundings, but with a quiet groan her head thudded back against the pillow. Oh her head. Throbbing piercing pains surged from her temples to the nape of her neck. Pain, pain, pain.

Leaning against the pillow, decorated with Barbie's bright, smiling face, Summer quickly recollected the nights before.

The dinner was still clear in her mind, as was the amusing banter she shared with Ryan. The bar was a little less clear but she did recall pink drinks with yellow umbrellas. She wasn't really sure how she got into her car, but she did have a few freeze frames in her mind of Ryan driving. Damn, he looked good driving. His hair in his face just slightly, his jaw relaxed, his blue eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

Oh, right, recalling last night's events. Well, the memories after the car were all vague. She remembered that Ryan carried her up to his apartment. Unconsciously, she rubbed the spot on her neck where his strong hands had cradled her.

She remembered lying there and dragging his face towards her. And.

Oh God.

You kissed him.

You kissed Ryan Atwood. And it was good.

XXX

Ryan had gotten up early that morning. It was Tuesday and Tuesdays he ran. He didn't really have a specific reason for doing it. He was in shape anyway. And he didn't particularly like running. But it was something he had gotten used to doing, so he did it.

His run today hadn't been that great. It didn't help that he had gotten home well past midnight last night. And it certainly didn't help that Summer, the curvaceous, vivacious, doe eyed dark haired, Summer was asleep in his apartment.

They had kissed.

He had carefully cradled her out of the car and carried her up to his apartment. She was surprisingly light. Not that it was that much of a surprise considering how short she was, but the last grown woman Ryan had carried was Theresa's mother when she broke her hip. And Mrs. Martinez didn't exactly have a model physique.

After placing her on Ella's bed, pulling off her Jimmy Choos, awkwardly stripping of Summer's skirt and replacing it with sweats, that was when Summer regained consciousness.

"Chino," she smiled, her eyes misty and her voice melodic. And before, Ryan could find the words to tell her to go to sleep, she snaked her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to meet hers.

Her mouth was soft. Salt water taffy soft. Cotton candy soft.

And there was that feeling in his stomach again. This time there was no denying it. Maybe it wasn't exactly a conventional crush, but titled or untitled, Ryan liked Summer. A lot. And thankfully, the kiss proved that the feeling was mutual.

XXX

"Chino?" Summer called out as she stepped into the kitchen. He was standing at the counter with a bowl of Cheerios in front of him and the carton of milk by his hand. It was obvious that he had just had a shower. Wet hair was plastered to his scalp and he stood in just a wife beater and jeans.

"You okay?" he asked, looking up from his food.

No, my head hurts like a mother. And my stomach is in knots. And I think I kissed you last night. Summer wanted to say all of that. It was the first thing that popped into her head and decidedly the most honest, but she didn't.

She just nodded.

"Chino, we…" she trailed off, the throbbing in her head was getting to be a little much.

"You're hungover." Man, he was great at stating the obvious. Maybe next time he could try something like Summer, you're a brunette. As if she didn't already know.

Okay, she was crabby in the morning. But she didn't snap at him when he offered her a cup of coffee. Even though she never took it black and usually never drank it unless she knew exactly where the beans came from. Instead, she just smiled and sipped.

"Sorry about last night," she mumbled into the cup.

"It's really okay," he replied. "You had a rotten day."

"Yeah, but like, I didn't want you taking care of me and all that," she shot back. Her face softened before she added, "I can take care of myself."

"You probably can. I just helped." He was pouring milk into his cereal. His muscles rippled nicely with every movement. There was a familiar flock of butterflies in Summer's stomach. He looked so good.

"Uh, Chino… When I was, you know, last night.. Did I..? Did we…"

"Kiss?" he filled in the blank, as a slight pink flushed over his cheeks. She had never seen him embarrassed like this before. He looked a lot younger. Well, not really younger. He looked her age for once. It was a drastic change from the forty year old face he carried around.

"Yeah," she could feel her cheeks heating up as she replied.

"Yeah." He spoke with little emotion, but as he did, his eyes searched for reaction in hers. Doubting himself once again, he wanted to be reassured that she had kissed him because she wanted to. That it wasn't just the alcohol acting out.

"Oh." There was a slight twinkle in her eye, then a tinge of embarrassment.

"Yeah."

And the huge blanket of awkwardness and tension fell upon their shoulders.

XXX

They finished their breakfasts slowly. Spoonful after spoonful of cereal seemed to take an eternity. But finally their bowls were empty and they ended up side by side at the sink. It was a whole new sort of weird for both of them.

Ryan knew that being around Summer was good for him. Even his four year old daughter could see that. Summer was fun and relaxed and Ryan needed to be around fun and relaxation a lot more. She was also gorgeous. The hair, the legs, the eyes, the lips. Given the chance, Ryan would stare at her forever. He stared at her for a good portion of the night, even when she did nothing but sleep. And then there was that feeling, the one in his stomach that he couldn't control. He liked her; there was no doubt.

Summer had always thought Ryan was sexy. He had that bad boy attitude and the telling eyes. And in the past few days, he became her friend. Sure she had lots of friends in Newport, but Ryan wasn't like any of them. When she told stories of San Francisco, he listened. Really listened, not just pretended to hear and nod and smile. He seemed interested. And he cared. He was just so… caring. Be it with Ella or with Summer, he honestly genuinely cared. And she liked that about him. She liked so many things about him. She just… She liked him.

Now, they didn't know what to do. There was quiet surrounding them and the thoughts of the night before still lingered in their minds. Did the other feel the same? Which one of them had the courage to speak first? In the end, it was Summer.

"Look, Chino," she tried to sound confident and self assured. "Last night, I was pretty drunk,"

Ryan could feel his heart going a thousand beats a minute and his stomach twist in knots. This was the part where she told him that it had all been one big mistake.

"But the, uh, the… kiss," she continued on. "That was real."

"Real?" he echoed, staring at her. She was chewing on her bottom lip but she looked up at him through her eyelashes and in her eyes, he could see she was telling the truth.

His stomach was doing that funny thing again. She liked him. She really honestly liked him.

"Real."

Summer took a step in closer to him. He could smell the lilac scent of her shampoo along with vague traces of last night's alcohol. It was an odd combination, but because it was Summer, he didn't mind. In fact, it made him smile.

He wasn't quite sure what to say, so instead he ran his hand along her arm. She broke into a smile, relieved that she wasn't the only one feeling the attraction. Her smile didn't last long, because soon his lips found their way to her mouth. As he kissed her, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in even closer.

"Wow," he murmured, finally pulling away. She broke into a grin. Wow, indeed.

FIN