Author's Notes: After Season 1, Ryan left but Seth didn't. The lyrics are from Iron Wine's "The Sea and The Rhythm" which is kind of the inspiration for this fic. I highly recommend listening to that song while reading. Please R and R - it's my first OC fic.

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tonight, we're the sea and the salty breeze
the milk from your breast is on my lips
and lovelier words from your mouth to me
when salty my sweat and fingertips

The sky was streaked with pink and purple as the glowing orange sun set over the Pacific and a cool breeze blew through Seth's unruly curls. A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. He had missed his boat this past year and he was so glad to be back on it. To think he had almost sold his baby. But then again, if it could bring Ryan back, he would get rid of it in a nanosecond.

He couldn't believe his surrogate brother had abandoned him to go back to Chino. Theresa's kid probably wasn't even his. It probably belonged to Crazy Eddie. He understood why Ryan had to do what he did, but that didn't make him feel any better about it. It didn't make him feel any less alone.

"Cohen?" Summer's voice interrupted his thoughts reminding him that he really wasn't alone. He turned his head to see his girlfriend, looking at him with concern in her large doe eyes. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sure." Despite his words, Summer knew that her normally-vivacious, bantering boyfriend was silently brooding again. The past two weeks had been hard on both of them, so she was glad that they had been able to escape for the day. They had sailed to the Catalina Islands with a picnic lunch and had a really fun time. But she knew they both would have been happier if Ryan and Marissa could have been there, like they had originally planned before Ryan went back to Chino and Marissa became best friends with a bottle of Grey Goose.

Steering the boat into the harbor, Seth moored the boat at the dock, but Summer made no move to get off her namesake. She didn't want this day to end. She grabbed Seth's hand and pulled him down besides her as she dangled her legs in the water over the side of the boat. She didn't let his hand go as he did the same. They sat in silence for awhile as the sky darkened and the air grew cooler.

our hands they seek the end of afternoon
my hands believe and move over you
tonight, we're the sea and the rhythm there
the waves and the wind and night is black

Finally, Seth broke the silence. He felt the need to confess to Summer the thoughts and doubts that he had been brooding over. He needed to truly open up to her and see if he had made the right choice.

"I always wanted to get out of Newport. I couldn't stand it here until Ryan came. I can't go back to that." He paused for a second and then continued. "I almost left the night he did. I just wanted to get on the boat and sail away."

"Why didn't you?" Summer asked softly.

"You," he answered simply. "Even without Ryan here, even with Julie Cooper as my grandmother, when I'm with you, I think maybe this place isn't so bad." Their gazes met and she was overwhelmed with the emotion she found in his deep chocolate eyes. No boy had ever looked at her like Seth did, like she was something precious. Words bubbled up inside her and she realized for the first time that the thought of saying them, of feeling them no longer scared her.

"I love you, Seth Cohen."

He looked at her in shock. "You do?"

"Yeah." She looked down, suddenly feeling shy and exposed when he didn't say it right back. But then he captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

"I love you too, Summer Roberts." They held each other tightly, sharing tender kisses and caresses, as the sea breeze washed over them.

tonight we're the scent of your long black hair
spread out like your breath across my back
your hands they move like waves over me

Seth knew he had made the right choice by staying. "Maybe one day," he said tentatively as gentle waves softly rocked the Summer Breeze, "you and I, we could sail to Tahiti."

"That sounds nice," she told him, resting her head on his shoulder.

beneath the moon
tonight, we are the sea