Peyton smiled as she made her way towards the sofa in Bevin's living room and grabbed Brooke's purse off the table. She knew she could find her cell phone so she could call Nathan and arrange plans for later that night. She found a picture and pulled it out, her smile turning to a frown as she ran her fingers over the faces.
Lucas and Brooke. Three words that killed her. She had been so stupid, and if any other person, besides her, had looked at her current situation, they would assume she was being stupid again.
Even more stupid, because now not only were three people involved, but five. Lucas, Brooke, Nathan, Haley, and herself.
She shoved the picture back in to the purse as she felt someone plop down next to her. Did Brooke still love Lucas?
Peyton looked up to see Haley sitting next to her, in jeans and a denim jacket. Peyton rubbed her thigh uncomfortably; next to Haley she felt slightly immoral. Haley was this girl who seemed to be always happy, and the girl who always made the right decisions, and frankly, Haley was the girl who was the virgin. And, Peyton was the girl who wasn't. But, Peyton wasn't a slut either, and almost everyone knew that. She had only had sex with one guy before, and even then, she was in a serious relationship.
Yet, when she sat there in her barely there skirt, and the tank top that that showed off her slender arms and attractive collarbone, she felt even more naked, because she knew that Haley would never dress like that. Peyton sighed, she knew the outfit wasn't slutty, and she knew it had nothing to do with Haley's way too modest outfit, it had to do with the boy who connected the girls. Or, one of the boys who connected the girls.
"Nice skirt," Haley commented with a bright smile.
Peyton nodded, "Thanks."
Haley shrugged, "So, Nathan's birthday party is this Friday…Can you come?"
Peyton nodded, "Oh. Yeah. Sure."
Haley smiled, "I'm sure he'll be happy you're going to be there."
Peyton shrugged, "Wouldn't miss it."
Haley smiled again and smoothed out her jeans, "Okay. So, I'm tired. I'm probably going to go find Nathan and then get him to take me home."
Peyton nodded as she stood up, "Yeah. Good idea. Later."
Haley stared at her, "Are you okay, Peyton? You're acting weird…I ju-"
Peyton swallowed slowly, unsure of what to say. She couldn't tell the truth. There was no way.
She handed the picture to Haley.
"I don't know what to do."
Haley grimaced at the sight of the picture and shrugged, "…What your heart tells you."
Haley waved goodbye to her and went searching for her boyfriend.
Peyton sighed, as she shook her head. Following her heart was the least of her worries.
….
Nathan smirked as he walked up Peyton's stairs, realizing how it felt just like old times.
"Peyton!" Nathan yelled.
Peyton stood in front of her mirror wearing a black bikini, and holding up a green one.
Nathan walked towards her, and smirked.
"You look hot."
Peyton rolled eyes
and gave him a fake smile, narrowing her eyes, "Thanks."
Nathan sighed as he
stood up and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, "I'm sorry."
Peyton snarled, "Whatever."
Nathan softly, "I am."
Peyton continued to analyze her reflection as Nathan placed light kisses on her neck, and pulled her body closer to his. Peyton moaned softly as she felt his hands roaming her body, and eventually tugging at the strings that wrapped around her ribcage and neck.
Nathan pulled the top off her body and threw it to the floor before pulling the black bottoms off her body.
Peyton smirked as she elbowed him in the stomach and grabbed the green bikini off the floor.
"Thanks, I couldn't get it off on my own," she said slowly as she slipped the bottoms on and placed the top over her breasts, she brushed her curls off her back and walked towards Nathan, turning around.
"Can you tie these?" Peyton asked sweetly.
Nathan laughed as he fell on the bed, "Yeah. Right."
Peyton sighed, "Aw.
Nate. Please. We have to leave."
Nathan shrugged,
"Well, maybe you should be nicer. Karma's a bitch."
Peyton raised an
eyebrow, "Karma? Whoa. Nathan Scott the philosophical man.."
Nathan shrugged, a
smirk forming on his lips, "Yeah. Well, I did some research…"
Peyton smiled as she felt Nathan's hands on her back, tying the top securely.
"On what…"
Nathan laughed as he fell on to the bed and Peyton laid next to him, propping herself up with her right elbow.
"Well, for a book
report. And, I thought it would be cool to do it on a book that was
on a topic we were interested in…"
Peyton rolled her eyes as she reached towards her side table and grabbed the anklet in the drawer, "Are you guys doing it on basketball?"
Nathan shook his head, "And, I figured we could do it on the Karma Sutra…You know, that book from India with-"
Peyton turned towards him and narrowed her eyes, "I know what it is. What is wrong with you? What would you write about that?"
Nathan shrugged, "I don't know. Stuff, I guess. It's a book, right? So, I researched it online, and the first thing that came up was like what karma was…and…that whole... 'What goes around. comes around..' thing…Like the Alicia Keys song…"
Peyton smiled
softly, "That's nice, Nate."
Nathan shrugged, "Yeah. And, then we went and bought the book. Now, you wanna' know what I think is nice?"
Peyton shook her head as she hit his arm and grabbed the denim cut off shorts from the floor as she slipped them on her body.
"Okay, so is this cuter than a skirt? Or, should I wear a skirt?" Peyton asked him seriously.
Nathan sat up and motioned for her to turn around, "Um. These make your ass look good."
Peyton rolled her
eyes, "My ass always looks good."
Nathan nodded, "Yeah. It does. So, whatever's fine."
Peyton sighed, "You
can never help me. Ever. With anything."
Nathan shrugged, "Well, the skirts you wear are shorter than any of the skirts i've seen anyone else wear…So…"
Peyton smirked as she grabbed her tote bag off of her computer chair and began walking down the stars, grabbing a grey wife beater and throwing it in the bag, "Are you calling me a slut? Or, have you been checking out other people's skirts?"
Nathan rolled his
eyes, "Shut up."
Peyton shrugged as she closed the door and walked towards his truck, "That's okay. It's not like I don't check out other guys."
Nathan turned his attention to her, "What?"
Peyton rolled her
eyes, "Just drive."
Nathan backed out of her driveway and drove to Brooke's house. She was having a "Beginning of Fourth Quarter Pool Party," and everyone knew it was going to be amazing.
Nathan turned to
her, "Who do you check out?"
Peyton sighed, "Like you don't check out other girls, Nate."
Nathan shook his
head, "No. Not really."
Peyton, "Yeah. Stop bullshitting."
Nathan shrugged,
"I'm not."
Peyton shrugged,
"Okay. Whatever."
Nathan smirked, "What do you check out Tim or something?"
Peyton laughed, "Um.
No. More like… Brad Fisher."
Peyton bit her lip, that definitely wasn't supposed to come out. Nathan turned to her immediately.
"What?" Nathan asked, obviously annoyed.
Peyton sighed, "Nathan. He has really nice abs. That's it."
Nathan rolled his eyes, "That dumbass has nice abs. Since when?"
Peyton smirked,
"Since like…sixth grade."
Nathan snarled as he pulled in to Brooke's driveway and they walked towards her red, front door.
Peyton smiled knowing Nathan was angry, over something so stupid, yet couldn't yell at her, because it would make him look like such a jealous jackass.
The couple walked through the door and people already swarmed around them. They made their way towards the kitchen, and Peyton found Brooke and Bevin, as Nathan found Tim and Jake.
"Hey Peyton."
Peyton turned around to see a hot brunette with an amazing shag and a gorgeous set of abs, wearing a navy blue pair of board shorts.
"Oh. Hey Brad," Peyton said nonchalantly.
He was absolutely gorgeous, and incredibly smart. He was the captain of the lacrosse team and Peyton had always liked him.
Brad's expression changed slightly as his eyes shifted towards a person walking towards them, and Peyton turned around to find Nathan only about a foot away, and in no time his arm was wrapped protectively around her body.
"Brad," Nathan said coolly.
"Nathan. Hey, man. What's up?" Brad asked, yet had no interest in whatever Nathan's reply was. Peyton watched as the tension between the two boys increased. Peyton felt Brad's eyes on her body, and looked towards him, seeing that his eyes were analyzing her body and she couldn't help but blush.
Brad smiled at Peyton, "I'm gonna' go. I'll uh…see you later, Peyton…Nathan."
Peyton smiled softly and could see the anger in Nathan's eyes as she looked up at him. She rubbed her lips together nervously, hoping Nathan wouldn't be mad at whatever little interaction she had just had with Brad.
She leaned forward to kiss him, yet it ended quickly when he pulled away.
"I guess Brad Fisher thinks you're hot, too. Maybe you should ask him out," Nathan said indifferently.
Peyton sighed as she grabbed his hand, yet he pulled it away.
"Go put on a shirt or something," he said condescendingly before walking away.
Peyton bit her lip as she watched Nathan walk away and sighed. He flirted with other girls all the time, and she never said anything. She narrowed her eyes, who was he to tell her what to do? She unzippered her shorts and threw them in to her tote before walking out towards the pool, walking passed Nathan as she opened the back door. She smiled as she found Brooke and grabbed a beer before talking to Theresa and Brad by the pool.
"I'm gonna' go get a drink," Brad said with a smile directed towards Peyton.
Peyton smiled back and watched as Theresa followed Bevin towards the DJ.
Peyton sipped her beer casually and shrieked as she felt a strong pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her in to the pool.
"BRAD!" she screamed laughing as she turned around, catching her breath. Yet, she frowned immediately.
"…Nathan..Oh. Sorry. I thought-"
Nathan shook his head sadly as sadly, "Sorry. I forgot you were acting like a slut tonight. Forgot that other guys may be all over you."
Peyton blinked back the tears and watched as he walked out of the pool, and all she did for the rest of the night was cry.
Nathan walked in to Peyton's room with a smile on his face that immediately changed after what he saw on her bed. There was Peyton, with a half naked Lucas on top of her. He swallowed slowly and walked quietly down the stairs, slamming the front door shut, causing both Lucas and Peyton to jump slightly.
"What was that?" Lucas asked.
Peyton sighed, knowing exactly what it was, or rather, who it was.
But, this was how she wanted it. She had already hurt Brooke, and there was no point hurting an innocent girl like Haley. And, as much as she hated to do so, she would have to push Nathan away.
"No clue," Peyton said, as she kissed Lucas.
