"Fuck you Nathan," Peyton said, rolling over in bed and pushing him away from her.

He hated when she got this way. At first he'd found the fact that she was a challenge to be entertaining, even charming, especially compared to the girls who threw themselves at him, but he hadn't expected to still be trying to win her over, now that they'd been dating for a whole summer, now that she was his.

In all fairness, she had been very clear about the rule, he just wasn't one to follow them, and she knew that.

After a few too many fights, she'd finally told him off. "You know what Nathan," she'd said, in that same bitter tone she reserved for when she was completely fed up, "if you want to go out on the weekends and play basketball and ignore me, that's just fine."

The first part had sounded good.

"…but if the first time I hear from you in a night is when you're showing up at my house trying to get laid, forget about it."

He wasn't sure if he had just not thought she was serious, or if he just thought he could get her to give in (resisting wasn't exactly her strong suit), but he'd waltzed into her room after a night of driving around town and drinking with some of the older guys on the team, and, to his surprise she had stuck by her word.

"Listen gorgeous," he said, rolling back over beside her and kissing her neck lightly, "can't you just forgive me? You know I love you."

For a second he felt her body relax, but she seemed to think better of it and tensed up immediately, climbing out of bed, flipping on the lights, and looking at him sternly.

"I was ASLEEP Nathan. You know when I wasn't asleep? A couple hours ago when I wanted to hang out with my boyfriend on a Friday night. You can't ignore my calls and then expect me to have sex with you when you finally show up. I'm not your wife and I'm not your hooker."

He didn't really know how to respond to this. From a rational point of view, she had a point, and he knew that, even if he'd never let on. Even though drunk, he took a deep breath, and decided that fighting with her probably wouldn't get him what he wanted.

"I'm sorry about that, Peyton. So, okay, you're right. But can I just sleep here with you?"

With this he got up and put his arms around her waist, "… can I just stay the night and cuddle with my beautiful girlfriend?"

Maybe she knew it was a line, maybe she didn't, but either way, Nathan knew he'd said the right thing, for once.

"Fine, Nate," she said, shutting the light back off, "but seriously… next time I'm going to throw your drunk ass out on the street."

He didn't say it, but all he was thinking was, "Sure."