Stifling a yawn, Effy adjusted the straps of her backpack as she carried her skateboard under her arms as she strolled through the school hallways. The last place Effy wanted to be today was school but she had to keep up appearances. But regardless of her distaste about attending school today, Effy was still on cloud 9 after her date with Jake last night and according to Nathan, that goofy ass grin was still plastered on her face. Effy couldn't care less, Nate could tease her all he liked as right now Effy was the happiest that she had been in a long time, she couldn't even remember a time before now where she had felt so content. Sure her home life was still a bit dire, her and Nathan were making progress but Effy still had to deal with the Big Bad Dan and her mom was trying a bit too hard to fix things which made Effy want to spend even less time at home. Not that Effy minded too much as home wasn't really her favourite place to spend time at and it meant that she could probably spend some more time with Jake, without worrying about Dan trying to make small talk with Jake in an attempt to make everyone think that he was a normal dad instead of the psycho dad that Effy knew him to be. As she coasted down the school hallways Effy caught sight of a familiar mop of blonde curly hair and she made a beeline over to Peyton who was opening her locker.

"Hey… I heard about what happened? You okay?" Effy questioned as she stood by Peyton's side, the night after Dan's kiss my ass jamboree Brooke and Peyton went to a college party and Peyton ended up getting her drink spiked. From what Effy heard from Brooke, it was a pretty nasty experience so much so that Brooke had to call Lucas to come and help them. Effy was just glad that everyone was okay as things could have been a lot worse.

"I'm fine, just a little shaken up about it all." Peyton replied with a reassuring smile before bumping her hip against Effy's which caused her to smile, what Peyton had gone through had been a bit intense but if Peyton said she was okay, then Effy would believe her. If Peyton however wasn't okay and did need to speak to anyone, Effy knew that her blonde companion would come to her if she did help. Regardless of what Peyton did or didn't say, Effy would keep a close eye on her friend. "But enough about me, I want to hear all about you and Jake, from what Brooke tells me the two you were getting very cosy at your dad's party and you even kissed. You were always adamant that nothing was going on between you and Jake but clearly something is going on! So spill Eff."

Effy felt her cheeks tinge pink. "There was nothing going on between the two of us, we were just Effy and Jake but then he kissed me at my dad's stupid party then things changed. There was something more that to what we were and it feels right Peyton. One minute we were just talking and then Jake was being so sweet to me and he took my hand and I never wanted to move from that spot right there and then Jake kissed me. I didn't see it coming Peyton, I know I always denied having feelings for Jake but then he was standing in front of me and things went from there but it felt so right, like it was meant to happen. Then after you left Jake asked me out to dinner and we had out first date the next night."

"I am very intrigued now, so keep talking Elizabeth." Peyton prompted as she shut her locker door and linked arms with Effy and the two of them began walking down the school hallways together.

"Well Jake came and picked me up from my house and even before we had left he had been cornered by Dragon Dan and subjected to god knows what horrors. After I rescued Jake, we left and he didn't tell me where we were going he just drove us until we reached his house. At first I thought that we were having dinner with Jake's parents but that wasn't the case, Jake wouldn't tell me anything but he led me to his back garden where he had set up this picnic under the stars Peyton, there was candles and everything else that you could have imagined. It was perfect, something out of a book which I could have never possibly imagined." Effy explained with a small sigh, she was still in disbelief over the date.

"Wow…"

"I know. I was so overwhelmed by the whole thing that I cried." Effy murmured.

"You cried?" Peyton questioned.

"Yeah I know, so not the impression that I wanted to give off to Jake on our first date but I was so taken back by all the effort that Jake had gone to for me, no one had ever done something so sweet or romantic for me. I had never felt so special or wanted until that moment that I couldn't help myself, I was overwhelmed with emotions that I cried. It was pretty pathetic and I wanted to crawl into a dark hole with embarrassment but Jake thought it was funny, he said I was being silly because I thought I wasn't worth that much effort." Effy stated before pausing for a moment before turning to look at Peyton. "I have never had that before Peyton and that scares the hell out of me but as scared as I am about this whole thing, I feel safe with Jake. The whole night he looked at me like I was the most important person in the world, Jake made me feel so special, so wanted and I've never had that."

"A picnic under the stars sounds awfully romantic and you are worth it Effy, I don't care what you say but you are pretty damn special and you deserve to be swept off your feet by your own personal Prince Charming. Especially one who looks like Jake Jagelski." Peyton said to Effy who gave her friend a small smile.

"After we eat, we curled up together and looked at the stars and just talked. It wasn't about anything important or relevant we just talked and it was nice Peyton. A nice step away from everything I've had going on, it was something that normal teenagers do and I felt like that for once. When I was with Jake, I was just there in that moment, nothing else seemed to matter then except the two of us in that moment in time. I never wanted to leave…" Effy allowed herself to admit with a small smile as she thought back to her date with Jake, reminiscing about how he had walked her back to her front door once he had dropped her off. Standing outside the front door to give her a good night kiss, a slow and meaningful kiss that had left Effy giggling like a school girl and wanting to melt in that moment.

"But?" Peyton picked up on and Effy looked at her friend, there was nothing much that Effy could hide from Peyton, her more subdued friend had an ability to pick up on things that were unsaid. As much as Effy didn't want to admit any of this out loud, Effy knew that one of the few people who she could really talk to about this was Peyton. Normally Effy could turn to her best friend but Effy couldn't talk to Jake about this as it was to do with him and she couldn't talk about Nathan or Lucas either. This kind of stuff was what you talked about with your girlfriends and as much as Effy loved Brooke, she wouldn't be seeking out advice about her love life from her bruntette friend. So Peyton was the only person who Effy could talk to about this as Effy would rather swallow gravel than talk about any of this with Jake,

"I'm convinced that this won't last, this may sound silly but I know that eventually that Jake will come to his senses and realize that I'm too much trouble, that I'm too complicated without my difficult home life and family to boot. I don't understand why Jake wants me Peyton, he's told me why but I keep thinking that he deserves better but I can't walk away. I'm scared Peyton, that I'm not good enough for him and that I'll end up losing him as that is the last thing I want. Jake means everything to me but he'll eventually want someone better. Someone less like me…"

"He adores you Effy and you adore him, everyone knows that Effy. I don't throw things like this out very often but I never seen two people made more for each other than you and Jake. I know confronting your feelings is scary but I guess the risk is worth is when you feel what you feel about Jake." Peyton encouraged.

"I don't want to hurt him Peyton and I'm scared that I will but I can't walk away from Jake as he means to much to me, which is why I cannot fall in love with him…" Effy quietly stated and she watched as Peyton just looked at her for the longest time before she spoke.

"I think it's already too late…"