Hey peeps I'm back! I'm still feeling a little down but I figured that I couln't leave my readers with nothing to read, right? Nah, I'm just playin. Anyways here's chapter 39!

Nathan POV

After the bell rang for lunch... well... I was a littledissapointedthat I couldn't go and look for Mercedes but I did tell Lucas that I would shoot hoops with him. I met him in the gym and we got changed and started shooting hoops. After a while we decided to take a break. We grabbed a few water bottles and sat on the bleachers.

"So... how are you Nathan?" Lucas said taking a drink of his water.

"Alright. Except for the fact that my dad knows about Mercedes being on the team now."

"I bet that was fun. How did he find out?"

"I told him. Whitey called him and told him about the fight. He also told him that Mercedes got hurt. He thought she was a cheerleader. Can you believe that?"

"That's Dan for ya."

"Tell me about it. I went home, he yelled at me for a while, and then I listened to him and my mom fight about it."

"I'm sorry Nathan."

"Whatever. It's like their ritual, you know? It's like they can't go a day without yelling at each other." He shook his head and took another drink of his water. "So what about you? Still crying about Peyton?"

"Shut up Nathan!" Lucas said almost choking on his water.

"I'm just playin." I said laughing.

"Yeah you better be." He said sarcastically.

"No... but really... how are you doing."

"I'm alright. It hurts less now."

"It'll get better Lucas."

He was about to respond when the gym door opened. We both turned to see Mercedes walk through the door. I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips when I saw her.

"Well.. What do I have here?" She said as she stepped in front of us. "Were you having a brother moment?" She said teasingly.

"Maybe." I said getting up and wrapping her in my arms, and spinning her around.

"Eww... Nathan you're sticky." She said giggling and trying to push away.

I put her down and she hugged me.

"I thought I was sticky." I said teasingly.

"Fine." She said letting me go. "I won't hug you."

She stood there and crossed her arms across her chest.She lookedaway from me and frowned.I looked at her for a second and smiled. I pulled her close to me and she looked up at me and smiled and hugged me again.

"Too much love." Lucas said getting up. "You two should seriously think about getting a room or something."

"I love you too Luke." She said playfully.

"Yeah, I know you do." He said picking up his towel. "I'll catch you guys later." He said walking towards the locker room.

"Bye Luke!" She yelled out.

After he was gone she turned back to me and kissed lightly on the lips.

"How was the meeting with the girls?" I asked playfully.

"It was good. Oh! That reminds me.. I need to get your measurements for your suit."

"My suit?" I asked confused.

"Yeah. Brooke told me that Q arranged for us to go to dinner after the photo shoot so I asked Alex to get us something to wear. But she needs your sizes."

"Who's Alex?"

"She's a friend."

"Oh. Ok, I'll give them to you later."

"Ok. What do you have next?"

"Umm... I have P.E. Why?"

"What do you say we skip the rest of the day, and go do something together?" She said running her fingers up my arm.

"Is it my surprise?" I asked kissing her

"Maybe."

"Ok. Let me just go take a quick shower."

"Alright." She said kissing me lightly. "I'll just wait here."

"Unless... you wanna join me." I said hopefully.

"Ha, ha,...no."

"Damn. And I was hoping you'd say yes."

"Hurry up." She said laughing and pulling away from me.

"Alright." I said as I pulled away from her and ran into the locker room to take a shower.

After I got out of the shower and got dressed I walked out into the gym to find Mercedes laying with her stomach on thebleacher reading a book.She heard me come in and looked up and smiled. I walked over to her and held out my hand to help her up.

"You ready to go?" I asked helping her up.

"The question is are you?" She said taking my hand in hers.

"Yeah." I answered looking her in the eyes.

"Well... then, let's go boyfriend." She said reaching up and kissing me lightly.

We walked out to her car and got in. She started the car and we drove away from the school.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I put my seatbelt on.

"It's a surprise. It's nothing big but I think you'll like it. Or... at least I hope you do." She said turning on the radio and turning it up.

She turned and smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back. I don't know what it is about her but.. Whenever I'm around her I felt like a completely different person. I can just let everything go with her. Just being in her presence brightens my spirit. And no matter how much shit is going on with my parents or my game... I can escape with her. We kept driving until she pulled into her driveway. She turned off the car and got out. I followed her and she opened the door and we walked inside.

"What are we doing here?" I asked as I followed her up the stairs.

We walked into her bedroom and she closed the door.

"I know that your still upset about what happened yesterday with your dad." She said sitting me on her bed. "So... I thought we could just watch a movie together. Just the two of us. What do you think?" She said lighting the candles and closing the curtains in her room.

"Sure." I answered laying back.

"Umm... what movie do you wanna watch?" She said heading to the TV.

"I don't know... you pick one."

"Come here."

I walked over to her and looked through her DVD's. We finally picked one together, it was a cheesy chick flick but what was I gonna do? She put it in and climbed into bed with me. I pulled her close to me and she cuddled up closer and rested her head on my chest. I kissed the top of her head and she looked up at me and smiled. Usually, in a situation like this... if I would have been with any other girl... this would not be what I would be doing with her. It would usually be what I was doing to her. But this was so much more than that. Just holding her... taking in her sent... at that moment I didn't let my hormones take over... it wasn't about sex... it was just about her... us... just the two of us... and surprisingly I'm ok with that. After a part of the movie we heard the door downstairs open and heard Peyton, and Brooke walk in.

"I'll be right back." Mercedes said getting up and walking to the door.

I got up and listened out the door.

"Brooke, I swear if you come up there at all..."

"I got it, don't bug Nathan and Mercedes tonight, blah, blah, blah. Just be sure to use protection alright?"

The girls laughed and so did I. You could always count on Brooke to lighten the mood.

"Brooke! We're not gonna have sex!"

"Yeah, whatever."

I heard footsteps on the stairs and I closed the door quickly and climbed into bed. Mercedes walked back in and climbed in again.

"Who was that?" I asked casually.

"Brooke and Peyton. Although it'll be only Brooke soon. Peyton's going home to talk to her dad."

"Oh."

She started the movie again and we lay there watching.

What do you think? Did you like it? Did ya? Did ya? Hu? Hu? HEHEHE I hope you did. Thanks to... OTH-Mrs. Broody... I'm glad that you like the way that Nathan and Lucas' relationship is going. I think that they do need to have a strong relationship... afterall... they are brothers.And if you think that it's cool that Mercedes has a personal shopper... just wait... it get's better. Also... thanks tobrathanfan... I'm glad you loved it and I'll try to update as soon as I can... Newyorkchicka... I can't wait for the party either! It's gonna be in future chapters tho cause I'm not there yet but... I'll try to get it done as soon as I can. Also... the party at Tric is gonna be bomb but the party in LA is gonna be bitchin'! I can't wait for you guys to read it and tell me what you think. And last but most def not least... jeytonlover... I'm so happy that you're still here and reading! AndI promise that things with Peyton and Jake will start to heat up soon. I think you'll really like the relationship that they have because unlike the show... it's mostly happy if you know whatI mean. Thank you guy's so much for reviewing! You're the best!Ok... well... later guy's! I'll post up as soon as I can!