8

She folded the letter back up and slipped it into her pocket. She took Nathan's hands in hers and looked into his eyes.

"I'm so proud of you Nate." she said. Peyton smiled as she looked at him. He looked so vulnerable right now. She kissed him. It was full of passion, and love and respect. She knew what it had taken him to finally write that letter. It was finally what she was looking for.

"Come on," Nathan said. "Let's go back to the apartment." He took her hand and together, hand in hand they started down the street.

The door banged open, and Nathan slammed it behind them. So eager were they to get to the bedroom that he didn't take the time to lock it. They couldn't keep their hands off of each other and by the time they got to the bedroom there was no turning back.

The sunlight streamed in through the window on the two of them still laying intertwined on his bed. It was complete and total happiness. When they'd made love it was different than before. She remembered the rapid removal of clothes, and the frantic , hurried sex, and then the clothes would go back on and they'd go back to the rest of the party or to a basketball game. This time was different she thought. Nathan was gently, and sweet. It was more an expression of love than of desire. And he was still right there beside her, sleeping soundly.

She glanced over at the alarm on Nathan's nightstand. 10:30am. Time to get up she thought.

"Hey," she whispered. "Nathan. Time to get up sleeping beauty." Gently she slid out from his warm embrace, and shook his shoulder. He stirred in his sleep. She could see his eyes twitching underneath the lids. Giggling softly to herself, she slipped on Nathan's t-shirt from the night before. She held the fabric to her nose and inhaled deeply. Peyton loved the scent of him. Sweat, and cologne, and laundry detergent. It was a smell she always could relate to Nathan. Standing up the shirt fell to her knees, and she laughed to herself. Nathan's clothes were always overlarge. It was part of his gangster rap side she guessed. Glancing around the room she located his boxers and tossed them on his bed. "Come on Nate." she said louder. She knelt on the bed and kissed him. He kissed her back and then rolled her over. His fingers laced with hers as he kissed her neck. She smiled, but started to push him off. "Come on you, let's get something to eat first. I need to regain some of my energy" She winked at him and started towards the kitchen. Nathan looked at her with that glint in his eye.

Nathan shook his head, pulled on his boxers, and started after her. He caught up to her in the hallway outside the bedroom and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Peyton felt him slip his arms around her tiny waist and she shrieked aloud as he began tickling her. She flailed her arms and kicked her legs as she laughed and struggled against his strong arms.

"Holy arms of steel Nate!" she choked out between laughs. His response was to tickle her even more.

"Had enough yet? Huh, Peyton, huh?" he teased. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, and looked into his eyes. He'd stopped tickling her now and looked back into her deep honey eyes.

"I could never have enough of you Nathan Scott." she whispered close to his mouth. Nathan moved in for the kiss and captured her mouth with his. The kiss was deep and intense and neither wanted it to end.

They were startled out of their midmorning kiss by the sound of the door opening. Nathan vaguely recalled not locking it the night before. And he looked up with a start. Wondering what the matter was Peyton whipped her head around at the sound as well. Together the three people there stood in shock and awe. Peyton was the one who found the words to speak first.

"Haley?"