Sorry peeps, this chapter is rated M- not exactly graphic, but more sexual than any of the other chapters I've written in this story or for this fandom. But like I said- it's not porn or anything, haha. Just Nat/Henry.

And I don't own anything, including a line someone might see from a Nicholas Sparks book.

PLEASE review this. PLEASE. Because it might be one of my favorites, cheesey as it is.

"Natalie..." he whispered against her mouth as her lips moved around his and they leaned back onto her bed. His hands found their way to the hem of her shirt, and they skirted underneath it, before his progress was interrupted by Natalie removing his own shirt. He raised his arms, and then his shirt joined their shoes on the floor. His hands went straight back to roamed her soft stomach, and then higher up, until he removed her shirt just to make it easier... She continued kissing him- his mouth, his cheeks, his neck- while he touched her.

It was early October of their Freshman year in college, a Friday night. They'd taken to spending Fridays together, since they no longer saw each other during the week. And lately- since before they'd gone away, even- things had been getting pretty heated. Natalie's roommate was out at the time, so they'd used her room for a little messing around.

But as Natalie's shirt and bra joined Henry's shirt on the floor, and there was some below-the waist touching going on, things were getting a little too far. Henry's hands trailed down her stomach and onto the waistband of her jeans, but Natalie pushed him away.

"No- not here. Not with everyone around," she said, referring to the noise coming from the hallways of the dorm. "Anyone could walk in here-"

"There's a lock on your door," Henry protested, but she put a finger to his lips.

"I'm not saying no, I'm saying not here."

He sat back, and nodded, looking sort of disappointed. She reached for her shirt and put it on, and then leaned forward and kissed him again. "Hey. I don't think either of us was exactly expecting it to be tonight, Henry... and I'm not ready."

He looked up at her and took her hands. "You're not ready? Natalie- I'll wait if you're not ready... but I thought you were, I mean, we talked about this-"

"No, I mean I'm not ready with," she blushed, "any kind of protection. I want to get something from my doctor, you know."

He nodded, understanding. "Oh. Right."

"Maybe... two weeks? If I set up an appointment tomorrow I don't think I can get anything until the end of the week, and I think it needs some time to, you know, work..."

"Right," he said again.

Why can't we just have sex? she thought, mentally kicking herself for, once again, thinking logically. Why doesn't it happen like it does in movies, where we're just automatically ready? Trust me to bring up all the necessarily details and kill the moment...

But there was one thing she wanted to get out of the way.

She bit her lip. What she wanted wasn't unreasonable, it was just going to be sort of difficult. "I don't want to do it in a dorm room, Henry."

He looked up at her this time. "Where else can we go? We don't have any money for a hotel."

She knew that. She sighed and hugged her knees to her chest. "I don't know where... but it just doesn't feel right, you know? With everyone around? It seems... cheap somehow."

Henry didn't really care either way- he thought that, provided it was with Natalie, anywhere was ok. But if she wanted something, he would try his best to give it to her. Especially with something like this- sex was a big deal, and he wanted everything to be perfect for her.

"I'll try to find somewhere," he promised.

On Wednesday, Natalie left the pharmacy holding the paper bag and feeling strangely like she was getting away with something. She'd fulfilled the prescription and paid for it herself. She was just glad she was already 18- she knew that she could get birth control as a minor without her parents input, but she wasn't up on the details. This just made everything easier.

She got back to her dorm and checked the time. Four o'clock. She decided to take the first pill.

She felt accomplished. Though she knew it wasn't working right away, she had an idle thought. I'm protected against pregnancy... I'm almost a sexually active woman.

How strange.

She excited about this- she felt like she was growing up. She was a legal adult, in college, about to have sex. But she wasn't nervous. If it wasn't Henry, she probably would have been. But it was Henry, and that changed things.

The next Friday, Henry picked her up. Her not-nervous feelings were now gone, and she felt the same feeling she got a long time ago when they'd had their first date. The feeling that she didn't want to do this at all; she needed to be brave, because she knew that as soon as he kissed her, she wouldn't feel that way anymore. Her brain was just psyching her out.

"Hey," he said, leaning over and kissing her.

"Hey."

"I, um, found somewhere to go. You're not cold, are you?"

She looked at him funnily. It was warm outside- early October was always that time when people thought it was fall, but the weather was still warm. And tonight was especially comfortable.

"No, I'm fine."

"Ok, good."

She reached for his hand, and they drove in comfortable silence. Natalie couldn't guess where they were going, but didn't quite care. After about twenty minutes, he pulled up to a park- not the kind of park with a playground, but a stretch of grass enclosed with trees. Kind of like a meadow. Only there were no houses around here, no sign of life. There was no light except the moon and the stars, but one could nevertheless see. She took a deep breath. Here we go, she thought.

Henry got out of the car, and she sat alone for a minute. When she didn't get out, he went and opened the door for her. She mechanically followed him out of the car, butterflies in her stomach. From the trunk, he retrieved two blankets and a cardboard box. She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't exactly have picnic baskets laying around in my dorm, and this was the best I could do," he explained, and she smiled, reached for his arm and leaning into him. She kissed the side of his face.

"Fine with me."

They found a comfortable spot in the grass, and laid out the blanket. She was glad he brought dinner- she'd had this on her mind all day that she couldn't concentrate on classes, much less eat. And now she realized she was hungry. She sat next to him on the blanket with her legs crossed and they ate, keeping up a kind of idle conversation that neither was following. It was obvious that they both had other things on their minds. She looked up at the stars and leaned into Henry's chest, resting her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes, feeling the warm air around her and his Henry-ish scent, and listened as their breaths were almost synchronized. She felt her love for him and his love for her as he put a hand atop her head and kissed her hair, and she was completely, utterly content. No one could take this moment away.

After they finished eating, they looked at each other kind of awkwardly, each knowing what came next, but not knowing how to get there. It was like their destination lay at the other end of a crevice. A crevice, they thought, of awkwardness.

"So," Henry said, breaking the silence. She laughed.

"So..." she said right back.

"So... this," he said, and put a hand behind her neck, drawing her to him, and kissed her on the lips.

"So what?" she whispered, and he kissed her again. And again. And then she kissed him back, over and over.

Until she was on her back, and he'd laid the other blanket over them both, and their clothes lay in a pile together next to them. Until he was touching her somewhere no one had ever touched her before, and she felt like it was more right than anything she'd ever imagined, though it was supposed to be so wrong. Until he told her not to worry- if it hurt too much they'd stop. Until she was holding onto him as tightly as she could, and he entered her, finally putting them together, like two broken pieces who'd been looking for each other on a long, lonely journey.

She gasped in pain, and he stopped, but soon the pain subsided as well. It was an uncomfortable, but not altogether an unpleasant experience for awhile, until she decided to stop thinking about it. Once she relaxed, breathing deeply, she realized how truly beautiful it was.

She raised her hand up and drew Henry's face to hers. "I love you," she said, kissing him passionately.

"I adore you," he answered, breathing heavy, and she smiled, leaning her head back against the grass as Henry's lips traveled down from her own onto her neck and shoulders.

Afterwards, they lay intertwined beneath the blankets, with their eyes closed. It seemed as though they were asleep, but they were not- they were just feeling, without the added distraction of sight. They felt their arms around each other, felt the others breath brush their skin, felt where their bodies were touching.

Eventually, they did fall asleep, completely alone in this park, but absolutely supremely happy in this alone-ness.

When Natalie awoke, it was still dark. She was laying on her stomach when she shivered and tugged the blanket around her, and looked to her left. She remembered Henry was laying there. He was awake, too, she saw, and staring at her. He reached over and brushed some of her stray curls from her face.

"I'm going to marry you one day, you know," he whispered with the air of finality in his voice. She looked away, feeling put on the spot.

"Is that a promise?" she asked, still not looking at him, trying to decide if this ruined the night or made it more romantic.

He shrugged. "Only if you want it to be."

She looked away, not answering.

"That's ok," he whispered, kissing her shoulder blade. "I wasn't asking you tonight." He laughed softly, almost imperturbably. "We have loads and loads of time..."

She smiled at that. "Days and days..."

"Years...?" he added, and she just sat up a little, tugging the blanket around her again, and kissed him on the lips.

"Years."

"What time is it?" she asked, sighing. She didn't want to leave, but she knew they couldn't stay all night. And she was getting cold. Well, she was naked but for the blanket. That might explain something.

Henry reached around and found his jeans, taking his phone out of the pocket. "Four thirty."

She sighed. "Wow."

He rolled back over. "Does 'wow' mean it's time for me to take you home?"

"No. 'Wow' means I don't want to go home, and I wish I could stay here with you forever."

"I'll take it," he said, kissing her again and enfolding her in his arms securely. "Then... wow."

"...But it also means that, no matter what we feel, we still have to go."

"Oh," he said, frowning. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

He sat up and found his jeans, slipping them on, she fumbled around, and then he handed her her shirt. As if on a second thought, he found his sweatshirt. Instead of just handing to to her, he slipped it right over her head. She wiggled her arms through the sleeves, and then smiled.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

As he pulled up to her dorm, they both sighed. He cut the engine, and she leaned over to him.

"I don't want to go inside."

"I don't want you to go inside."

"I'll miss you," she said.

"Me too... When can I see your face again?"

She smiled at his wording. "Um... well, I suppose we could go out tomorrow night-"

"Good. Great. I'll be here. We'll do whatever you want." He answered fast, obviously over joyed to be seeing her again so quickly. She couldn't say she didn't feel the same way.

She kissed him again, but this time did not stop for a long, long while. When she pulled back, it was only far enough to speak. "I love you, you know."

"I know that. And I love you right back."

"And... thank you. For making this night special. I know I'll remember this forever."

He looked into her eyes- the eys he loved so much- and answered. "I will too. Forever."

She reached for his hand, and intertwined their fingers. "Forever and forever..."

"Goodnight," he said, getting out of the car and walking her to the door of her building. "Goodnight, my love."

No one had ever called her that. Usually they just said 'I love you.' She realized she liked it.

"Goodnight right back, Henry." She decided to try it herself. "My love."

He laughed, ruffling her hair.

"Do you need you sweatshirt back?"

"No, keep it as long as you like."

"Good- because you aren't getting it back," she said, teasing.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He put his hand on the small of her back and kissed her again. Her lips were getting chapped from all this, but she didn't care. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, she thought of how she never wanted this to end. She wanted this with Henry, forever.

Remembered what he'd said tonight made her smile against his lips. She easily could have him, forever and forever. All she had to do was ask.

But for now, she'd take it one day at a time.