Brooke sat on Peyton's bed smiling at her, as the girl furiously flipped through her clothes, looking for the perfect outfit. The brunette girl was smiling to herself, then she broke out laughing.

"What is so funny, huh," Peyton said teasingly.

"Well, usually we would be switched right now, but tonight, you're the boy crazy one."

Peyton sighed, "You know what, I don't have to impress him, right? Right."

She pulled out a shirt and pair of jeans and looked it over, then lost her determination.

"Okay," she said slowly, "Brooke, just this once, you can pick what I wear, this is more your area of expertise anyways."

Brooke drove, and smiled at Peyton, "Don't worry bi-atch, we're fashionably late. Nathan is not going to leave his own party in the first hour."

As they pulled up to the beach house, Peyton just admired it. He was a spoiled jackass, but she knew that there was something more to him, she could just tell. She opened up her door and walked into the beach house.

The moment they walked in girls from school and the cheerleading team flocked to them, asking them about their summer and that sort of thing. Peyton tried to concentrate on the conversation, but she found her eyes searching the beach house for Nathan.

Out on the patio, Tim approached Nathan. "Hey Nate, you're dream girl is here."

Nathan looked up and smiled, "Hey, she's just a chick, all-right? Jealous, Tim?" He playfully punched him on the arm and walked inside, looking for Peyton. He damned himself mentally for the way he talked about her. Some part of him knew that he liked her way more than he let on. It just wouldn't cool for a guy to be whipped when he wasn't even getting laid. As he walked past the keg, a girl in the class above him grabbed his arm, and smiled. Her breath was rank with alcohol as she whispered an invitation to him. He turned her down and directed her Tim's way; the guy could use a piece of ass, and Nathan only had one girl on his mind tonight.

The girls surrounding Peyton looked up excitedly as Nathan approached. Some giggled and put on their best smiles, but others with more sense realized he was coming for Peyton and stared at her, awaiting her reaction. Everybody knew he wanted her, and everybody had thought she would always refuse him.

Peyton smiled lightly as he approached her, and wordlessly followed him out of the house. They were away from the crowd before either said a word.

As they reached the shoreline, Nathan smiled, "So you made it."

"Well, I was told their were hot guys here, so I figured i'd check it out."

"Seen any yet?"

She didn't reply, she kissed him. At first he was shocked, but he enjoyed it. He kissed her back, and they sank to the sand. They finally pulled apart and he smiled wildly.

For a moment he forgot to be cool. "Wow," he said running his hand through her hair.

"Wow is right," she said, smiling at him. "Whoa, are you allowed to just skip out on your own party?"

He looked back up at the lights from the beach house and shrugged his shoulders, "I'm sure they can manage getting wasted without me." He smiled at her, "I have better things to do."

He put his arm around her and she leaned against him. She smiled at him, "So, wow. Should I feel special that "the" Nathan Scott is taking time out from a huge party to talk to me?"

He was slightly hurt by her sarcasm but decided to ignore it. "Should I feel special that "the" Peyton Sawyer showed up?"

She started laughing, and he caught on. For a few minutes they just sat in the sand, laughing and smiling, and when it finally died down the caught their breaths and caught each other's eyes.

It was the first moment that both of them realized this wasn't going to just be a fling. There was something between them. It had to be all or nothing. Nathan was sure he wanted it all. He could pass it off as just sex to the guys, and inside he was sure he could be a good guy with her. Plus, she could be his escape from basketball and his dad.

Peyton was the one so confused. She didn't want to be caught up in some cliche Cheerleader/Basketball Player romance that was more like a soap opera then the life she wanted to live. But something about Nathan was attractive to her, and beyond skin-deep. When they were together, she felt like she was seeing a private part of Nathan that few people knew. Every girl needs to feel like she's something special to a guy.

She shivered, partially because of the skimpy outfit Brooke had got her in, and partially because of the idea of giving up her independence. Nathan looked at her, then put his arms around her, pulling her close to him. She was almost lost in him for a minute there, his body heat making her feel safer than she had in a while. She could have fallen asleep there, despite the music from the party, but a few of the guys had started screaming out to them from the porch, and they knew they had to make their way back in.

Although both of them acted like nothing special had happened, something had changed in those stolen moments at the beach, and they both knew it. Neither of them were completely sure about the other one, neither one was sure they were willing to risk so much, but both of them knew it couldn't be avoided. They were inevitable.