AN: Thanks to: prettygirl33, jeyton4ever, and OTH.daddy'sgurl.06 (haha, I always love your reviews, they make me in such a happy mood. Thank you so much for all the support!) for the great reviews!

Chapter 9

Peyton's POV

I got up early this morning. I know, it's a Saturday and while everyone else was sleeping in as late as possible, I thought that then would be the perfect time to take a walk. Alone. I thought of passing by Jake's cabin. I knew Jake wouldn't have gotten mad, even though it was ridiculously early, he always seems to be just as happy to see me as I am to see him. But then I realized how badly I wanted just to have some alone time. Maybe sketch a little. The view was such a beautiful sight, I couldn't help but pull out my sketchbook right away, which, I have to admit, is pretty full of sketches of Jake. But before I could properly drown myself in my drawing, I noticed a bright pink flyer on one of the walls. When I looked closer I saw that it read:

"LustFactor Dance #1
This Friday
Sadie-Hawkens
Mandatory Attendance"

Sadie-Hawkens, I thought as I felt the insides of my stomach churn. That meant the girls had to ask the guys. Great. But her and Jake were officially together now, so it wouldn't be too awkward. But what if some other girl asked him? It's not like they had really made it public. What were they supposed to do? Tell all those random people on the cruise? For a second I consider running to his cabin and waking him up just to ask him, but I got rid of that idea right away. What am I? Insane? I just have to ask him. And he just has to say yes. That's all...

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General POV

"Where have you been?" Brooke said, the second Peyton came back in their cabin, a sly look on her face, obviously happy that she had caught Peyton.

"It's not what you think. I was by myself, just needed some fresh air," Peyton said, choosing to leave out the part about the dance. It shouldn't be long before Brooke heard about it anyway.

"Well..." Brooke said, "I was just checking LustFactor .com here and found out that we have a dance coming up!" She said clapping her hands excitedly.

"Brooke, you do realize that we are on a LustFactor .com cruise right now," Peyton said.

"Yeah," Brooke said slowly, not getting the point.

"And you're checking anyway?" Peyton asked.

"Yes," Brooke said, still not getting it.

"Never mind. Forget it," Peyton gave up, "I already knew about the dance," she said, changing the subject.

"And you didn't tell me?" Brooke said, acting offended but Peyton knew her well enough to tell that she didn't really care.

"I just did," Peyton replied, "Besides, you already knew."

"Right well it's a Sadie Hawkens dance, which means-"

"Girls ask the guys, I know Brooke," Peyton said unenthusiastically.

"Well, you know what this means right?" Brooke asked as if the answer were obvious. Yes, Peyton thought, the girls get to get all nervous and self-conscious about asking the guys. When Peyton didn't answer, Brooke continued, "We, Missy Blonde Girl, have some planning to do!"

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Jake's POV

"What the hell is a 'Sadie Hawkens' dance?" Luke asked the second we walked by one of the bright pink flyers, on our way to go visit the girls. I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"It's when the girls ask the guys," I told him and he lightly punched my arm for laughing at him. "This should be interesting."

"Not really, we already know who we're going with, man." Lucas pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess," I said.

"Unless..." He said, and I eyed him weirdly, "Well, unless Peyton just got sick of this whole waiting for the right moment thing and just decided not to be with you any more." He teased, kind of scaring me for real at the same time. But I didn't let it show.

"Shut up, dude," I defended, "She agreed to take things slow too. You know neither of us is ready for that anyway."

Luke held up his hands in defense, "OK," he said, smirking. "But seriously, a dance could be a good chance to have some fun." He said, thankfully changing the subject.

"Yeah," I said, "or a good chance to create some very unneeded drama."

---

The second I saw Peyton leaning over the bannister I began to go crazy. She looked really carefree, like she was thinking about nothing at all. Did that mean she hadn't seen the flyers? Should I mention them? Should I casually walk by them with her and accidently stumble upon one of them? I decided that this was creating way to much stress for me to just stand there and think about it. I walked up behind her and put my arms around her. She almost jumped in surprise and turned around to find me there.

"Hey you," I said as she relaxed in my arms. It felt and was so perfect.

"Hey," She said and I kissed her 'hello'. Just a peck, there would definitely be time for more later.

"What's up?" I asked as casually as I could as my curiosity grew inside of me wildly.

"Nothing," She said playing with my hair. It was something she had started doing recently, just running her fingers through my hair. It felt pretty damn good, I had to say.

"Nothing new?" I said, wondering if maybe I was pressing it a little.

"Nope," She said. I was about to ask if she was absolutely sure that there was nothing new with her, but I thankfully stopped myself.

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Peyton's POV

I had to say bye to Jake, telling him that me and Brooke were going to catch up and have a girls-day today. Which basically meant that the whole day we would be planning creative and cool ways to ask the boys to the dance. At first Brooke was really the only one into the idea, really excited about it, but later I kind of caught on. It would be pretty cool to do something special for Jake. Why not?

"Alright, when do you think we should have it all prepared by?" Brooke asked me.

"It'd probably be good if we could ask them tonight." I suggested.

"I thought so to. And that means that we don't have much time. We need to start brainstorming ideas!" She said running around and coming back with a piece of paper and a pen. Let the madness begin...

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Finally dinner-time had arrived and Brooke and me were both ready to go. My stomach was turning around and upside-down and I couldn't keep still, and even though I hated that feeling, I kind of loved it at the same time. It was so thrilling and exciting, I felt like a little girl. Brooke had arranged for the four of us to meet up for dinner, than afterwards we would go our separate ways to have our 'alone-time' with our guys and ask them to the dance. Brooke and I were standing out in front of the boat waiting for Lucas and Jake to come. Every now and then Brooke would insist that we go over the plan just once more to make sure we got it right. The fluttery, nervous feeling in my heart multiplied the second I saw Jake and Lucas coming near us and I couldn't help but smile. When Brooke noticed Lucas there, she squealed and ran over and jumped into his arms. A little extreme, but that's Brooke for you.

"You look beautiful," Jake said when he got to me and put his arms around my waist. I looked down at my jeans and halter-top. Did I really?

"Thanks," I said, "You don't look too shabby yourself." I kissed him and then we went to join Brooke and Lucas.

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General POV

Right after dinner, Lucas and Brooke announced that they were leaving to go to the boys' cabin. Brooke winked at Peyton and Peyton stuck her tongue out. While Brooke and Peyton "went to the bathroom" during dinner, they had gone to prepare everything in the boys' cabin. Everything was set.

Lucas opened the door to his cabin, excited for him and Brooke to get some alone time. When he looked inside he was surprised to find multi-colored streamers hanging everywhere and the hugest banner he had possible ever seen with the words "Will You Go To The Dance With Me?" written on it. Lucas was pretty shocked. In-fact, he didn't say a word for a very long time. Brooke walked them into the room and shut the door. Smiling at Lucas's expression, she knew she had succeeded in surprising him. She slowly pulled her shirt over her head, so she was only in a bra. Lucas's eyes widened even more. Brooke ignored him and turned around so he could see that on her lower back was written: "Please Say Yes". How sexy is that? Lucas asked himself. Before he knew it he was spinning Brooke around and attaching his lips to hers. They got lost in each other and for a moment Lucas forgot what he was thinking and then remembered and pulled away.

"Brooke Davis, you are the greatest, sexiest girl I have ever met. I would love to go to the dance with you," He said and kissed her again.

---

Jake and Peyton walked to the girls' cabin. Peyton was growing more and more nervous and Jake was too, but for different reasons. What exactly was going to happen in that cabin?

"Wait here," Peyton said as she went inside and left Jake out there. As she closed the door Jake saw that a small blue envelope was attached to the door-nob. He wasn't sure if it was his to open but then he turned it over and saw that it said "Jake" on it and figured that he should open it. Inside he found an index card saying "Wait ten seconds, then come in and find the next envelope on my night-stand." Jake smirked, wondering if Peyton could get any cuter? He didn't think so...

He counted to ten and then slowly turned the door nob and entered the room. It was pretty dark, but illuminated with candles here and there. Some soft rock was playing in the background. He immediately looked on the night-stand and found the next blue envelope and opened it finding another index card, "Go into the bathroom. And no, this probably isn't what you think..." He smirked and followed her orders. His smile broadened about ten times as much when he opened the door to the bathroom to find "Will You Go To The Dance With Me?" written in red rose pedals on the floor and another blue envelope next to the message. He wanted to laugh out loud he was so happy. But he contained himself and opened up the envelope. The message read: "Please say your answer out loud."

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Peyton had her eyes tightly closed shut as she sat cross-legged in the bathtub, not sure how long she could take the suspense. She heard Jake laughing, which meant he probably read the final card. He's laughing, she thought, that could either be a good sign or a very very bad one. She hoped for the good one. "Yes," She heard him yell, and she could practically hear the smile on his face. She rushed to get up and pulled back the curtain in one swift instant.

"Aahh!" Jake screamed clutching his heart for dear life and jumping back against the wall. Peyton couldn't contain her laughter for very long. "I'm so sorry!" She said in between laughs. "God, you scared me half to death," Jake said, laughing a little now, too. "Come here," Peyton said grabbing his head and pulling him down to her, not wanting to wait any longer. From the second he said 'yes' she had been needing to kiss him fully, and meaningfully.

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AN: OK thanks guys so much for reading! I hope you liked it! Please review!