Disclaimer: You know what I own, and what I don't.

A/N: Don't you just hate it when your creative muse runs away with your inspiration? I sure as hell do. Think mine goes off to the Caribbean every so often with my inspiration. Don't know why the Caribbean, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my watching a certain movie too much had something to do with it...Just had to get that out. Anyways, back to the task at hand: the author's note! I figured out already that there will be a sequel to this story, and that this story will probably only run to about 20 chapters, 30 at the most. All depends on what I feel like doing. I have couples figured out within the rest of the group, and I can tell you this: THERE WILL BE A WEDDING IN THIS STORY. Who it is for, I will leave up to you to guess. Now, on with the story!

Chapter Nine: The Sunset and Beyond

"HEY AMANDA!" Lexi screamed over the noise of the club. The three of them-Lexi, Lucy, and Amanda-were at work behind the "bar" of the Sunset Club, and the noise level was at what the girls referred to as "Toxic."

"WHAT?"

"YOUR CELL PHONE IS RINGING!"

Amanda picked up her purse. Sure enough, the sounds of "We Are The Champions" by Queen could be heard from within. She dived into her purse and picked up her phone. She ran into the back room as she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Amanda. Rough night so far?"

Amanda smiled. It was Peter. "Well, we're not even full yet, but it's already Toxic out there."

"Toxic?"

"In English, that means: really, really, freaking loud," Amanda said. "I had to go in the back storage room to answer this, and I probably wouldn'tve even heard the ringing if Lexi hadn't told me."

"Well then, it's a good thing she was listening, or I would've never gotten a hold of you."

"Speaking of which, why did you need to get a hold of me?"

"Just wanted to tell you to be ready to go in about 10 minutes, 'cause I'm almost at the club."

"Cool," Amanda said. "See you then." She listened for the click, and then hung up herself. Amanda smiled to herself, then went back out into the Toxic noise of the Sunset Club.

"HEY LEXI!"

"WHAT?"

"JILL HERE YET?" Amanda looked around for their friend Jill, and finally spotted her just coming in through the storage room door.

"YEAH, I'M HERE. WHADDA YA NEED?" Jill shouted.

"COVER FOR ME, OK? I GOT A DATE IN TEN MINUTES."

"SURE THING. WHAT'RE OLD FRIENDS FOR?"

"THANKS! I OWE YOU." Amanda shouted.

"NO PROBLEM. I'LL WAIVE THE FEE THIS TIME." Jill yelled with a laugh.

Amanda laughed, and the four of them went back to work.

The first thing Peter noticed about the club was that it was LOUD. The second thing he noticed was that the bar was stocked with various types of soda, as opposed to beer. And the third thing he noticed was Amanda. She was sitting at the bar, talking to her friends, and she looked great.

"Well," he thought, "here goes nothing."

He made his way through the crowd to the bar, taking in more of the club as he went. He saw a stage at the other end of the club, along with what appeared to be a tech booth above and to the left of the stage. Finally, he reached the bar, and Amanda.

Lexi was the first one to spot him. "Amanda, you might wanna turn around sometime this millennium."

Amanda turned around and saw Peter weaving his way through the crowd. She turned back around to her friends, quickly. "Oh my god," she said. "He's here."

"Well, well, well," said Jill, who had just caught sight of Peter. "Nice choice Amanda, very nice choice. A for presentation."

"Oh my god Jill," Amanda said, thoroughly embarrassed. "Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT start the rating scale again...I'm begging you."

Jill laughed. "Don't get so uptight Amanda. I was only kidding. Besides, from what you've told us, it sounds like you didn't have much choice in the matter."

"What do you mean by that?" Amanda asked.

"What the simple creature here means is, it's obvious he's had his eye on you from the first," Lexi said, thwapping Jill on the back of the head. "So it was only a matter of time."

"Amanda, just calm down," Lucy said. "Besides, he's gonna be at the bar any second now, so you definitely want to be ready. And being calm wouldn't hurt either."

Just as Amanda got herself semi-calmed down, Lexi said "3...2...1." Amanda turned around and said, "Hi Peter."

"Hello yourself. Ready to go?"

"Definitely," Amanda said, grinning.

"So, let's get out of here. The noise is getting a bit too Toxic."

The girls behind the bar laughed and clapped. Amanda turned around, gave them the "shut-it-now-on-pain-of-death" glare, then followed Peter out of the club.

"So, what did you think of it?" Peter asked Amanda. They had just gotten out of the movie, and were walking down by the harbor.

"It was awesome. I can't believe they still have theaters that show the old movies here in Boston. We didn't even have one in Wisconsin."

"You've really never seen 'Psycho' before?"

"I tried once, when I was about 13, but I ended up watching 'The Graduate' instead. Somehow, that ended up being scarier for me than 'Psycho' would've been. Still haven't figured that one out..." Amanda said, trying to look thoughtful.

Peter laughed. "That's not really the kind of thing a 13-year-old should be watching, when you really think about it. How'd you end up watching it anyways?"

"Well, Lexi, Lucy, and I were at our friend Jill's house, and her mom had fallen asleep, but we hadn't yet, and we decided to watch TV. It just so happened that the movie was on, and it was either that, 'Psycho,' or 'Carrie,' so since it was about 11:00 at night, there was definitely no contest," Amanda said with a laugh.

"What'd your mom say when she found out?"

"Better now than later," said Amanda. "I still can't believe she wasn't pissed at me."

"Well, from what you've told me, your mom's family is pretty lenient," Peter said.

Amanda laughed again and said, "Yes, they definitely were lenient. I mean, by the time I was 8 years old, I already knew how to play Penny Ante-and I wasn't too bad at it, if I do say so myself."

"You were playing poker at age 8?" said Peter with a look of complete disbelief on his face.

"Yeah," Amanda said. "Don't look so surprised. We weren't REALLY betting anything. My great-grandmother wouldn't let us. It was always pennies, or we didn't play at all. I think that was her way of teaching the younger generation how to count by twos and threes."

Suddenly a cool breeze blew through the harbor. Amanda rubbed her arms with her hands. "Damn it," she thought. "The one time I don't bring a coat..."

Peter looked over at Amanda and noticed she was shivering. "You cold?" he asked her.

"A little," Amanda replied, obviously more than a little cold.

"Want my jacket?" Peter asked.

"Then you'll be cold," Amanda said, knowing it was a lame-ass thing to say. But being as she was cold, she couldn't really think of any other reason.

"I think I can stand it," Peter said with a grin. He took his jacket off and put it on Amanda's shoulders. "Better?" he asked.

"Yeah, better. Thanks," Amanda said faintly. They walked for a while in silence. "What time is it?" Amanda asked when they reached Peter's car.

Peter checked his watch. "Almost midnight. We better get going. The last thing I want is your dad to shoot me for not getting you home on time."

Amanda laughed as she got into the car and buckled the seatbelt. "He told me that he'd only do that if you brought me home drunk, so I think we're safe."

"Here's hoping," Peter said as he started the car and drove off towards Amanda's apartment building.

"I had a great time," Amanda said. They were standing outside the door to her father's apartment.

"Maybe we can do it again sometime," Peter said after a moment's thought. He waited to see her response.

Amanda smiled and said, "I'd like that."

"So, how about next Saturday? Maybe I could come down to the club that night and check it out. That is, if you're not already working that night."

"Sounds good to me. Usually, the nights I don't bartend or work the tech booth, I'm there anyways; and I have Saturdays off, so it'll work perfectly."

"Great," Peter said. They stood there in silence for a minute or two. Finally, Amanda said, "Um, here's your jacket back. I think my dad might get weird ideas if-well, um..." She took the jacket off her shoulders and handed it back to Peter.

Peter took the jacket, laughed, and said, "Thanks."

Once again, there was silence. Then, it happened. They were standing mere inches apart, and as Peter leaned his head down, Amanda lifted her head up. In a split second, their lips met in one single, perfect kiss.

A/N 2: While I was writing this chapter, I was listening to these different songs I had downloaded from Kazaa Lite, and I got bored with listening to "California Dreaming" and decided to change the song. I ended up changing it to "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin, and ironically, it happened just as I was writing the last part of this chapter. Funny how music can inspire you...