“So, what do you think?” Summer walked out of the changing cubicle in GAP sporting a bright pink 60s style dress and did her best pouty catalogue pose in front of the mirror. Marissa tried not to giggle, smirking instead. “You don’t like it?”

“It’s, erm…. Interesting.”

“Nah, I don’t like it either.”

She vanished back behind the curtain. She was in a much better mood now, both of them were. Shopping cures all guy problems. At least, it does when it’s your Dad’s money you’re spending.

“How do you feel about a mid morning coffee and pastry?”

Summer zipped up her jeans and turned to fix her hair in the mirror. “I don’t think I could eat anything after breakfast, I’m feeling a little sick.”

Marissa rolled her eyes and rummaged around him her purse for her lip gloss. “You didn’t eat that much!”

Summer emerged from behind the curtain and gave her friend a look. “Not compared to you! Still brooding over Ryan?”

Both girls turned to walk out of the shop, struggling with the masses of bag’s they’d acquired. “I wouldn’t call it brooding.” Marissa tried to defend herself but she’d never been a very good liar.

“Oh, really?” Summer shot her friend a suspicious glance. “Any way, we made a pact didn’t we? No guy talk.”

“Um… Yeah.” Marissa didn’t sound too convinced. She sighed. “Ryan told Kirsten he’d call me today, I’m just…”

“So you’re not over him then. I knew it!” Summer nodded satisfactorily.

“And you’re not over Seth, I know that!”

Summer’s expression immediately changed. “This isn’t about us.”

* * *

Seth had been walking around the village all morning, taking in his surroundings. He didn’t know why, he wasn’t really planning on staying here that long, but something about the place made him want to stay here forever and never leave. It was so different to Newport here, nothing seemed the same. Even the ocean, the vast, monotonous ocean made a different sound, had a different feel to it. He just felt relaxed.

He wasn’t even thinking about…

Dammit. He knew that wouldn’t last long. He’d left Newport to try and forget her, so far his plan was showing no signs of kicking itself into action. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned around.

“Hey.”

It was Natalie. Seth smiled despite himself and exhaled. “What are you doing here?”

“Dad gave me half an hour off before the lunch time rush, I thought I’d come and find you.”

Seth sat down on the sand and motioned for her to join him. They stared out to see for a minute before Seth broke the silence.

“You always treat your guests this well?”

“Only the cute ones.”

Natalie seemed to turn away shyly at that last comment and Seth wondered briefly whether it was just a slip of the tongue, but when he looked up she was looking at him straight in the eyes. She had a shy, innocent aura too her but Seth could see now that she wasn’t afraid of saying what she though, or perusing what she wanted.

Now it was his turn to turn away. “Natalie, I have a girlfriend. At least I think I do…” Seth stopped with a jolt. He didn’t mean to say that, that wasn’t meant to come out. He hadn’t talked to anyone about Summer sinse he left. Granted, for a large portion of his trip he only had himself to talk to and a few noisey seagulls, but he didn’t really want to talk about it anyway.

“Never mind.” He said and stood up, “I need to check on my boat.”

He strolled back up to the path to the marina, not looking back at Natalie behind him once. He was embarrassed. He was still the Seth Cohen of old. At least on the inside, with his feelings. He still couldn’t understand why people would want to talk to him. Years of teasing in junior high had conditioned him to be wary of everyone.

All the time he and Summer were together he couldn’t believe that the gorgeous girl he’d been pining over most of his life was actually interested in him. He never took her for granted; at least he tried not to. Maybe that’s what went wrong. He stopped being grateful for a second and it was all snatched away.

Down the sea front, Natalie stood and watched him. There was something not quite right about this guy, some hidden mystery that she felt compelled to uncover. This ex-girlfriend, she had a feeling Seth’s description of her would go a lot deeper than that when pushed. But she could tell he wasn’t in the mood, and she wasn’t one to piss people off intentionally by delving into their love lives.

But still, she was intrigued. Something told her he wasn’t the usual sea-loving tourist who stopped by every now and then for a bit of relaxation, and he definitely wasn’t a fisherman. Seth had an uneasy air about him, it seemed to convey a sense of sadness, hidden behind his cute grin and quirky comebacks. He didn’t mean to stop here, the fact that he appeared at her Dad’s hotel in the middle of the night told her that.

This ex-girlfriend. He was running away.

“Too nosy for your own good, you’ll get in trouble soon enough.” Her older brother Jeremy took great delight in trying to wind her up whenever she got a sniff of something to ‘investigate’. She didn’t like the word nosey. Natalie preferred ‘Inquisitive’. And his irritation techniques didn’t work anyway. It was normally the other way around. She'd just mention his budding relationship with Christa and he'd shut right up. She kept that piece of ammunition for special occasions though, mostly she just ignored him.

A few minutes later she returned to The Harbourside Hotel to find said older Brother slumped behind the desk reading a magazine. The electric fan was working frantically to cool down the small foyer but was failing miserably. Jez had obviously been sweating and greeted her at first with only a halfhearted nod. She waved back at him.

“Where’s dad?”

“Dealing with some delivery. I wasn’t really paying attention. Where’s lover boy?”

Natalie had began to head up the stairs but swiveled round, her blonde hair flicking her in the face. “Pardon me?”

Jeremy had a smirk on his face. “You know who. That posh guy. Am I right in thinking that room he booked isn’t just going to be for the night?”

Natalie shrugged. “You’ll have to ask him when he comes back.”

A door somewhere near the kitchen slammed shut and Mr. Murphy appeared carrying a cardboard box filled with vegetables. “Ah, great. You two can give me a hand with this lot.”

“Someone needs to man reception. Off you got Natty.”

Richard rolled his eyes. “Jeremy, a bit strong lad like you will shift all this in no time. Stop teasing your sister.”

Natalie watched them both vanish out the back and slumped down in the office chair, turning the fan up a few notches. She smiled. She hoped Seth was staying for more than one night. But she wouldn’t give her brother the satisfaction of knowing she felt like that.