"Tell me."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Just tell me!"

"No!"

"Give me a hint."

"Do you ever shut up?" Summer asked before she realized just who she was asking. "Never mind."

There was a long pause that spread over the car after that. and for a moment, Summer thought maybe she had won the argument. Not that that would be surprising, because it happened often. But just as unsurprisingly, Seth opened his mouth again and it continued.

"Come on, just give me a teensy, tiny-"

"It's not a surprise if you know about it, Cohen."

"I'll act surprised," he offered but she wasn't having any of it. "Look, I've done the math; it's not a birthday or an anniversary or a holiday. So it can't be that important of a surprise, right?"

"If this is your way of convincing me to tell you, you're doing a terrible job of it."

"I'll do whatever you say if you tell me."

"You already do whatever I say."

"True," he relented, "but-"

"I'm not telling. End of story."

"Then, I won't go."

Summer scoffed. "What are you gonna do, jump out of a moving car? On the highway no less?"

"If I have to."

"Good luck with that."

There was another long pause.

"I know what this is," he said eventually, "You're finally doing it."

Here we go, Summer thought to herself. "Doing what?"

"Getting rid of me. No one will ever find me." Seth reached down into the center console and pulled out his cell phone, beginning to scroll through the contacts. "I've gotta call Ryan to be a character witness."

Summer ignored him as she pulled the car into a particularly nasty traffic jam. They could resume the bickering later.

After a ring or two, Ryan picked up. "Seth! What's up, man?"

"Hey, buddy, just calling to say my goodbyes. I think Summer's finally giving me the ol'-" he made a sound with his tongue to indicate his demise. "I wanted you to know so you can tell the police everything once they find my body."

Ryan couldn't help but laugh. Seth, ever the dramatic one. "It's not that bad."

Seth blinked. "It's not?"

"No. I mean, don't get me wrong, I didn't wanna go either but it could be fun. I guess." He paused, realizing he wasn't very convinced to go himself. "Something crazy always happens at a Newport party, remember? And since this is our high school reunion, it's pretty much a guarantee. If anything, we'll be entertained." When Seth didn't respond, Ryan tried his hand at a little extra incentive to go. "I might even punch someone for old time's sake."

Seth was speechless. Going back to Newport was enough to give him nightmares but their high school reunion too? Jumping out of the car started to sound like a good idea. After giving Ryan a quick goodbye, Seth tossed his phone back down and turned to look at Summer. He gave a long hard glare, until they had made it onto the highway and into the clear open road.

She could feel his angry eyes on her, but she didn't comment.

Finally, he'd grown tired of just staring. "You hate me, don't you?"

"Cohen..." Summer laughed. "What?"

"You like to torture me. You like to see me squirm."

She paused for a moment, considering. "Well, maybe. What are you talking about?"

"It's the only explanation for why you would drag me, not just back to Newport, but to our high school reunion? Really?"

Summer knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. "How did you-"

"The only people who ever talked to me at that school are the only people I still talk to now," he reminded her, though she'd never forgotten. "Who could I possibly need to reunite with?"

Summer drew a blank. But she wouldn't give up. "Okay, but you get to show them how much you've grown up..." she paused, knowing that was a total reach. So she tried a different approach. "And I get to show off my husband."

"Because that's what's going to impress these people."

"I don't care about impressing them," she said and had she made that statement ten years ago, it would've been a lie. But Summer was so far removed from that person now. Even still, she couldn't help but want to go back anyway. "I just miss it sometimes, you know?"

"I know. I'm sorry." Summer never wanted to leave in the first place and though she ended up liking Jersey anyway, nothing could ever compare to where she grew up. Seth would never admit it, but some days he'd miss it too. Of course then he'd remember how utterly miserable he was and the feeling would fade almost as quickly as it crept up on him. Regardless, he figured he'd managed to live there for 18 years... coming back for a day wasn't going to kill him. At least he hoped not. "Okay, fine. I'll go and I won't whine or complain. Very much."

"Thank you!" Summer grinned and gave him an encouraging pat on the leg with her free hand. "California, here we come!"

Seth inhaled sharply, preparing himself, and glanced out the window.

"Right back where we started from."