Title: Friends with Benefits
Author: Steffie
Category: One Three Hill
Rating: PG-13
Summary: What started as a simple bet between 2 brothers turned into a bigger sexual exploration than either thought possible.
Characters: Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Brooke, Peyton among others
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

Peyton's laughter echoed off the walls, her cheerful giggles bringing life to their seemingly dead surroundings. It was odd to see Peyton like this. Sure, she wasn't always as depressed as she would let on, but giggling, no, giggling wasn't exactly her forte. But yet, here she was, giggling like an idiot while she was eating some ice cream. But then again, he was one of the few people that would catch her in that state, because frankly, he was one of the few that actually put her in that state to begin with.

"Come on Nathan, you can't be serious," she giggled again, which earned her a look of disgust from the younger Scott brother.

"I refuse to believe that that thing had to represent a woman, or anything near female," Nathan responded. The 2 of them had gone to the movies for the night, catching the 7:30 screening of Constantine. Action being their favorite mutual genre, picking the movie wasn't ever an issue, but yet after every movie they both seemed to differ on opinions and perspectives pertaining to the seen screening.

"No, Gabriel was an angel, and angels are unisex. But it was played by an actress," the curly blond responded. Nathan scrunched up his nose, an act he always did when he was picturing something of discomfort and displeasure in his mind. Quickly shaking his head of the uncomfortable mental picture, he took a lick of his own ice cream. Peyton laughed, the look on Nathan's face absolutely priceless.

"The movie was great though. Keanu Reeves was a really great choice. I actually liked how they portrayed hell. Doesn't seem so bad ya know," Peyton stated after a short silence. Nathan shrugged, thinking back at the movie. "Yeah, it was portrayed slightly different, but I still don't agree though. The bible never stated anywhere that Hell had fire and torture or any kind of pain. Makes me think the place really isn't as bad as they make it seem on TV," he responded.

Peyton's head jerked up at the response, a slightly bewildered look on her face. She was surprised by Nathan's response. Not just by his response, but the fact that he actually read the bible quite frankly had her flabbergasted. He noticed the look on her face and chuckled, shaking his head softly. "Yeah yeah, I read the bible. But you can't tell anybody, or else I'll have to kill you," he responded. Peyton snorted at the comment, a smile crossing her face.

"Well you better hire a hit man Scott, you would probably do a sloppy unsuccessful job," she joked. She ducked in time when a napkin came flying to her face and she responded by sticking out her tongue. "I can take you on chump. I can take you out blind folded with one arm behind my back AND my shoelaces untied," Nathan stated in a matter-of-factly tone, which sent Peyton in another bout of giggles.

"Oh please, you couldn't pin me down to the bed when we went at it, how are you going to kill me?" she asked, her eyebrow raised in amusement of his previous statement. Nathan seemed unfazed by the insult, rather seemed very convinced of his own statement. "THAT," he began, raising his finger to emphasize, "Is my little secret," he said and with that licked his ice cream once more. Peyton rolled her eyes at the statement, but then chuckled once more.

"I had a really great time tonight," she suddenly said. Nathan gave her a genuine smile, nodding at her. "I did too P. In all honesty I haven't had this much fun from a movie in a long time," he admitted. Peyton slightly blushed at the comment but quickly tried to conceal it. Nathan of all people, her ex and the stealer of her virginity couldn't see her blushing. No, she would rather have her head shaved then let him see that. As much as she loved and respected Nathan and Haley's marriage, she still had feelings for Nathan. Granted, they weren't as strong as they were when they were together and she wasn't losing any sleep over it, she still had a little crush on him.

"We used to have a lot of fun when we went out," Nathan suddenly said. Peyton was shocked by his choice of statement, but would not complain of it. "Yeah we did," she softly replied, a faint smile lingering on her lips. "That, and we humped like rabbits all day," she added. Nathan laughed at that, images and memories of them flying throwing his mind. He made the mistake of focusing on his memories and cold melted ice cream dripping on his hand was the only thing that brought him back to reality.

"But still, we had something special. You may not believe it Peyton, but you actually took a little childish attitude out of me and gave me some maturity. Not many girls can say that," he told her with a wink. Peyton scrunched up her nose, the action making her look absolutely adorable. She felt kind of weird though. The usually tom-boyish and emotionless girl was suddenly shy and acting, dare anyone say, GIRLY.

"Yeah, and not many girls can say they actually put up with you. Ha! I deserve a medal for that," she proclaimed and again she had to duck at another napkin that came flying her way. "Hey, this abuse is not fair and very wrong!" she yelled, which caused Nathan to laugh. Their conversation was cut short by a loud thunderclap, followed by an abrupt downpour of rain. Both of them quickly got up, but soon realized there wasn't actually anywhere they could go for dry shelter. Frankly it wouldn't matter, they were completely soaked within seconds.

"Well this shower is going to save me some on my water bill," Peyton laughed. Nathan chuckled. There was something about Peyton that had his amazed today. Her curls were still the same, her clothes were still the same, hell she looked exactly like she looked like on any given day. But there was something about her smile and those little bouts of giggles that had him smiling all night long. "Come on, let's go to your house before we catch pneumonia," he called out and she nodded. The ice creams long gone, they walked it over to Peyton's house drenched in the rain.

"If only all movie dates ended like this," he laughed. Peyton giggled again. "I'm sure the doctors would love that," she said. With that Nathan grabbed her hand as they walked. Peyton smiled at the gesture, yet she was sure Nathan didn't mean it the way she would have hoped for it. Nathan had always been protective of her, and even after the break up, he remained very close with her. If only he knew that him holding her hand was sending shivers up her spine, sending her hormones raging. Sending her over the edge.

But on the contrary.

If only SHE knew what was happening.