"You think what?" I shrieked, sitting up from my laying position on the bed, eyes wide and mouth wide open as I stared at him incredulously.

Gabriel shrugged like he hadn't just suggested the impossible. "I think you should talk to Seth...and work things out," he said nonchalantly.

"Work things out?" I repeated. "Gabe, we weren't dating or even friends! I just slept with him when I got drunk and lost my common sense. It doesn't make us anything...he's just an one-night stand," I said, trying to make him see that what he was saying was ridiculous.

Shaking his head, he pulled out the chair from under my desk and sat down on it, spearing me with those blue eyes. "Melanie told me that he talks about you a lot...can't get you out of his head. I think he likes you," he told me.

"He likes me?" I laughed shakily. "Gabriel, just stop playing matchmaker. There was never a Seth and Rachel and there never will be...it's ludicrous. He's going off to college in a few months anyway," I said, calming down enough to rationalize my thoughts.

Pressing his lips together, he stubbornly shook his head again. "Come on, Rachel...please do this...for me and Rachel." He gave me irresistible puppy dog eyes. And as I stared into them, I was completely lost.

-

"Rachel?" The complete look of shock on Seth's face made me almost turn around and run off to my car. His brown hair had grown since the party and was just curling over his ears, thick and soft. I bit my lip as I shifted nervously on my feet. Hazel eyes looked me over. "What are you doing here?" he asked, opening his front door wider and leaning against the frame.

I wrung my hands, not knowing what to say. "I...," I started, trying to conjour up some words in my mind that would satisfy his question. But there were none. "I don't really know," I said quietly.

"Did your sister send you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes on mine.

Flushing, I was quick to shake my head even though it was partially true. "No, of course not...I just...I know it's been a long time since that night...but I just...I wanted to apologize."

Seth's eyebrows shot up. "Apologize?" he echoed, sounding doubtful. "For what?"

"For running off on you," I whispered, feeling like my face was the color of a ripe tomato already. "And calling you a mistake." The last word was barely audible.

Something that resembled a smile touched the corner of his lips before fading as he leaned against the doorframe. "You don't have to apologize. I shouldn't have freaked out on you for not wanting me," he said, shrugging nonchalantly. But through the invisible walls, I could tell he was tense. Just a little.

I sighed, linking my fingers together in front of me. "It's not that I didn't want you," I told him softly. And it was true. I couldn't deny the attraction between us I could clearly see in those pictures. It was all over my face. But glancing at him through my hair, I saw that he had a raised, disbelieving eyebrow. "It was just a really bad time. The wound from Ben dumping me was still fresh and when I slept with you...I felt like I cheated on him." I laughed a little. "Ironic, right?"

Seth shoved his hands in his pockets, watching me with his hazel eyes that looked more green in the light. "So what are you saying? That you wouldn't have reacted the way you did if it happened a month later?"

The truth was, I didn't know. So I just shrugged my shoulders, dropping my eyes. It was silent for a few minutes, but it wasn't awkward. It was one of those comfortable silences that you didn't have to fill in with random conversation. 

I glanced over my shoulder at my car and then back at Seth. "I...should go. I just wanted to apologize for what happened and....yeah," I trailed off, not knowing what else to say. I turned around, starting to walk down the steps.

"Wait." I was surprised when Seth's voice called out to me and slowly shifted to look at him. 

"Yeah?"

Seth held open his door. "I'm babysitting my two cousins. They're both asleep...you want to come in and hang out?" he asked hesitantly.

I was ready to say no. He was going to leave soon. We had no future. We didn't know each other. This thing between us had started because we slept with each other at a party where both of us were drunk. But then I thought of Gabriel, of Ben and Holly and Mel and everyone else who had contributed so much to me moving on and I smiled up at Seth with a nod of my head. 

"Yeah. That'd be great."