As custom, the last few songs of the night were the slow ones, when the couples would sway to the music, lost in each other's arms. Mouth McFadden and Shelly Simon were no exception. They fully took advantage of the minutes to hold each other to some of their favorite slow songs. Then Tric's lights came on, the cue that it was time for everyone to clear out. Even with no music and teens filtering out the exits on both sides, Shelly wasn't ready for the night to end. She rested her head on Mouth's shoulders and sighed.

"I had a really great time tonight."

"Me too," he smiled, but then again every time they were together was a nice time. "Come on. You ready to get out of here?"

She looked around, noting they really didn't have much of a choice. He placed a kiss on her forehead and they headed out to the parking lot. Brooke and Chase were hanging out, using his vehicle so being the friend she was, Brooke had loaned the Bug to Mouth for his date with Shelly. They hopped in and he started the engine, neither of them ready to go home.

"Where to now?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"There's a great place by the lake and the golf course I know of. The view is pretty awesome at night."

She nodded with a smile.

"Okay. That sounds nice."

They drove in content silence, the hum of the radio playing music softly in the background. Within minutes they were at their destination and as promised, the view was breathtaking. The moon was full with a cherry tint to it and had cast a beautiful reddish glow across the water. Mouth parked and put an arm around her.

"Want to walk around for a while?"

His heart was pounding for some odd reason and he was sure she could hear it. His throat also felt dry. For some reason he felt nervous but one smile from his girlfriend was enough to melt away all the nerves. They got out and joined hands. The sweet sounds of nature were their soundtrack as the crickets and frogs chirped about.

"This is really nice, Mouth," Shelly sighed. "I've been living in Tree Hill my whole life and I've been here plenty of times but never like this. At least not at night. It's so pretty, so peaceful. I feel like I could stay here forever."

He knew exactly what she meant and the feeling was more than mutual. The feeling of being a senior and being in love and holding Shelly was the best. She was so beautiful and she smelled so good. He closed his eyes, trying to capture that moment forever as he felt her tremble in his arms.

"You okay?" he asked. "You cold?"

She rubbed her arms together.

"It's a little chilly."

Like a true gentleman, he shed his jacket and wrapped it protectively around her arms. Looking around, there would only be one more thing to make the evening even more perfect. Just one thing was missing and if he knew Brooke Davis like he thought he did, it wouldn't be missing for long.

"Just a sec," he said, pecking her cheek.

A grin came to his lips when he looked in the back of the Bug. Sure enough there was a blanket. He pulled it out and spread it close to the water's edge, prompting Shelly to sit down beside him.

"When I was little in the summertime my cousins would come over and we'd lie on a blanket at night and just look up and count the stars," she happily reminisced.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," she gently tugged his arm, pulling him down with her. "See? Look up there."

"What is that?"

"It's Orion the Hunter."

Mouth frowned.

"How do you know?"

"You can totally tell. Just look right there."

"I've never been good at this, Shelly. All those trips to the planetarium when I was a kid were a total waste. I could never see any of that stuff."

She took his hand in hers, using his index fingertip to trace an imaginary shape in the air.

"See? There's his belt and his sword. Just look at how bright the stars are. It's beautiful."

Mouth smiled and looked over at her.

"You're beautiful."

"Mouth…" she giggled, blushing as she sat up on her elbows.

A breeze came from out of nowhere, softly blowing a stray strand of hair into her face. Tenderly he removed it, tucking it behind her ear.

"I mean it," he said in a throaty whisper.

Their eyes locked and he lovingly touched the side of her face.

"Mouth…"

"I love you," he blurted out.

He hadn't meant for it to happen that way. When the time was right, it was supposed to be planned and romantic. He had thought about it for a long time because deep in his heart, the more time they spent with one another, Mouth knew he was already falling in love with her. The next step was to tell her.

"What did you just say?" her eyes grew wide with surprise.

"I'm sorry it just kind of came out like that but I…I can't help it, Shelly. I can't help that I said it and I certainly can't help that I feel it because I do. These months with you have been the best of my life. I mean that. Part of me never thought I would ever find anyone special. I always had a knack for falling for pretty girls who thought of me more like a friend or a little brother. I was so unlucky with relationships I used to think I'd never find somebody who'd really want me. Then you came along. We have fun and it's great and I just…I don't know, I guess I feel whole. I know we're young and it's probably way too soon to talk about forever but I know right now, right here for this moment…it's perfect. No matter what happens, in 50 years if I can look back and remember how good I felt tonight, then life would have been worth it."

Tears filled her eyes.

"Oh Mouth…"

"Shelly, I…"

He looked so sweet and vulnerable at that moment. Mouth McFadden was a hell of a guy and there were so many little endearing qualities that attracted her to him. He was a beautiful young man on the inside and out. He had given her friendship, confidence, happiness and above all love. She knew she was a lucky girl and at that moment, it just felt right. It was different than with the other guys. Mouth was different.

"Come here," she beckoned, attacking his waiting lips with her own.

The kiss was more aggressive than usual. They threw their shyness as well as caution to the wind. He was stunned by the sudden almost forceful act of affection but he quickly pulled her closer and returned the kiss wholeheartedly. Finally they broke apart.

"That was nice," he croaked.

"You're nice," she whispered, taking his hand and placing it on her breast.

Immediately Mouth recoiled. It was a moment he and his raging teenage hormones had been dreaming about since puberty but he dared to think about when fantasy would become an actual reality. Now it was actually happening, a real live beautiful girl wanting him. It was almost too much.

"Shelly…"

She looked into his eyes.

"What's the matter? Don't you want me, Mouth?"

He swallowed hard, stomach churning, hands sweating, knees knocking.

"Of, of course I want you, Shelly, it's just that…I don't know. I want you to be sure. I mean, what about Clean Teens?"

"Sssshhhh," she put a finger to his lips. "Let me worry about that."

She gave him another reassuring kiss on the lips.

"I, um…I, I don't have much experience," he muttered, embarrassed, looking away. "In fact, I kind of don't have any experience."

"It's okay."

"I love you, Shelly. I love you and I want to make love to you but I don't want to disappoint you either."

She bit her lip.

"You have no idea just how amazing you are," she murmured. "Mouth, there is no way you could ever disappoint me."

"Shelly," he whispered as they began to kiss again.

"Touch me," she practically begged.

His hands trembled as they reached out awkwardly for her body.

"Like, like this?"

She nodded.

"Like that. It feels good. Your hands are so gentle."

He relaxed hearing her compliment, reluctantly allowing nature and human instinct to take over. They kissed and touched and she talked her nervous young lover through the act. There were moments of awkwardness but it was still a beautiful, wonderful moment. For Mouth it was the moment he had waited for and dreamt about all his young life. And the end result had more than measured up. For Shelly, it just felt right. Although she couldn't bring herself to utter the words just yet, she loved him, too. The night he lost his virginity had been special but for her as well. In his inexperienced arms, she too felt like a virgin. If sex was an act of true love, in that case she was losing her virginity too because none of the other guys before had loved her, at least not the way Mouth McFadden did.