The place was pretty empty, most of the college kids were probably at the show or trying to get into some bar. A Chinese place wasn't exactly a popular hang out place for that age group. Nick offered to order the food and eat somewhere else, the beach wasn't far and he thought it would be nice to sit there.

"Like some sort of a picnic?" She looked up.

"If that's what you want to call it, but I don't have a blanket so we're gonna have to sit on the sand, or we can stay here"

"I can handle the sand" she grinned "I'm gonna check out the jukebox for a sec, ok? Maybe they have something by The Dancing Kites"

"But if they do we're not leaving" he warned and Amanda's smile widened, she touched his arm and walked to the machine.

Nick placed the order and walked over to Amanda, she was checking out the names of the songs.

"Any luck?" he asked.

"Sorry to disappoint, but looks like we are never going to hear them again" she took a deep breath and tried to look sad.

"I'm sorry to hear that, can I make it up to you?"

"I'd ask you to buy me a beer" she smiled and whispered the next words "but you don't look like the kind of guy to break the law"

Nick looked away, he didn't want to mention his profession. He felt like it would put an end to this and he wanted to spend more time with her, not less.

"You're not wrong, but I promise not to tell anyone about the drink from earlier"

"Nick!" the girl at the counter called.

"Looks like our food is ready" she said and Nick picked it up.

They walked to the beach quietly and Nick led her to an empty spot. He wanted to share this time just the two of them. The thought made him chuckle and Amanda gave him a puzzled look. What was up with him? She was pretty but that was never the only thing he noticed, he didn't know her at all but still wanted to be there with her. He had no idea what it was, but there was something.

"How about here?" he gestured at the sand and instead of talking she just sat down. He followed her and took out the boxes.

Amanda watched him checking out the writing on the containers. She was sitting in a pretty remote location, with this man she didn't know one bit. They were on this impromptu date and it was nice. She had no idea why, but it was nice.

"Noodles?" he handed her one of the boxes and she nodded and took it from his hands.

"You're not keeping the good stuff away, are you?" she looked at the box he was holding.

"Sweet and spicy chicken" he offered her the food and she gladly took some with her chopsticks.

"Well? What do you say?" he asked.

"Decent, as you said" she finished chewing.

"Good prices" he regretted saying it, not wanting to sound like a cheapskate, money wasn't a subject he wanted to discuss.

Amanda smiled at him and took more of the chicken "good prices are important, I have a crappy job and it sucks…" she looked at him "you know what, how about we keep personal details out of this, just…talk about other stuff"

"Alright" he agreed, not sure if it was a good idea or not, but he was going to humor her because maybe she had a point, tonight was about fun and it's not like they were heading anywhere.

She moved another strand of hair behind her ear and he watched as the wind blew it away again. He couldn't control the laugh that escaped his lips and Amanda gave him a mean stare but burst into a laugh herself. They finished eating and placed the empty boxes back into the plastic bag.

"Thanks Nick" she smiled and lay down on the sand "I like the ocean, don't see much of it though"

"Neither do I, it's like life takes over and you're too busy"

"So that's how real life is?" she asked.

"Ha?"

"You know, they always say that after college it's the real life and I'm wondering if real life is just about being busy, is there nothing else?"

"I'm no expert" he shrugged and tried to think of an answer.

"Funny thing is" she closed her eyes "the life I'm living now seems pretty real…not a dress rehearsal and all that"

"You're really philosophical" he lay down next to her, his hand almost touching hers.

"I have my moments" she giggled and turned her head to him. They smiled at the other and Nick wanted to kiss her. He wanted so badly to taste her lips, they looked so soft. But Nick was afraid to make the move, something inside him was afraid she'd turn him down, and why wouldn't she? It's not like they are seeing each other. Or maybe they are, after all, this is some kind of a bizarre date. Maybe it wasn't a date for her, whatever it was, the definition didn't matter.

"I don't think you should worry about what people say about life…it just happens"

"I know…it's sad"

"Yeah?"

"At least we got to see The Dancing Kites" she had to change the subject from this conversation "and if you think you're right – you are not – you're wrong…" she sang a line from one of the songs.

"You have a pretty voice"

"Thanks" she smiled "I think I'm warming up to them, maybe we shouldn't have left the concert"

"Sorry, I'm sure you could catch another show some other time"

"I wonder if they have a website" Amanda looked at him, she had a twinkle in her eyes and he knew she was kidding "I'll look for it on the internet"

"You should while you still have the chance"

"What?"

"You know, they say that next year the computers are going to crash and…"

Amanda sat up "you're talking about Y2K?" she looked at him in disbelief and laughed.

"I'm just repeating what I've heard" he felt a bit hurt.

"But do you really believe that? That the world's gonna end?" she tried to control her voice but a few giggles escaped her mouth anyway.

"Ok" Nick sat up and looked at her seriously "I read about this woman who turned hundred and since the programs couldn't handle it they turned her into a new born, what if something like this happens?"

"Then we all become young again…sounds good to me" Amanda looked at him and let her hand play with the sand while the other rested on her knee.

"We're pretty young right now"

"I guess we are, which is why we're here so late…if we were hundred years old we'd be asleep right now"

"Unless we lived in another time zone" Nick glanced at her hand, it was drawing circles in the sand.

"I guess…" she sounded a bit disinterested and Nick was afraid the conversation was dying down.

"We're probably not gonna make it to hundred anyways" she gave him a curious look "with the whole Y2K thing" he smiled and was relieved to see her lips curve into a grin.

"Are you really scared of it?" she looked into his eyes "seriously"

"Seriously?" she nodded at him "what I'm scared of is that it's unknown…it probably won't be the end of the world but what if it will change things, turn everything around"

"What's wrong with that? A change can be good"

"Sometimes, but I always saw my life going in one direction…" the kinda cool façade he'd been trying to keep up with was already gone so Nick didn't feel completely uncomfortable telling her this, even though it would probably be too much honesty.

"You look like that kind of guy, somebody who's got everything figured out" she looked straight ahead at the water.

"I don't have everything figured out, I just know what I want, in general" he said.

"What's that?" she looked back at him.

"Be someone at my job, get ahead, have a family…be happy" he replied, they agreed not to share personal details but telling her this felt very personal.

"Not too original" she looked at her feet and Nick followed her gaze, ending up staring at her flip flops.

"What about you?"

"What do you think?" their eyes met again and Nick felt like he'd been stung by something, only it didn't hurt, it felt good.

"Is that a trick question?" he chuckled but she shook her head and waited for a reply "I think you want to be happy too"

"Good guess" she took a deep breath and laid her head back down, she didn't care about getting sand in her hair, she loved the way it felt against her.

Amanda closed her eyes and Nick allowed himself to really look at her, almost exploring her with his eyes. She licked her lower lip and he watched her, almost in a trance. What was going on with him?

"Can I ask you something?" she kept her eyes shut.

"Yeah"

"Was this some kind of a bet?"

"What do you mean?" Nick wasn't sure what she was referring to.

"Me, did you make some kind of a bet with your friends?" she opened her eyes and Nick looked into the blue which was now dark due to the lack of light, her eyelids dropped down again.

"I swear it wasn't, they tried to persuade me to talk to someone, but there's no bet" he wasn't sure whether she was offended by the news "and I should thank them"

Hearing this Amanda opened her eyes, she remained silent and he couldn't read her.

"If they didn't say anything maybe I wouldn't have talked to you" no maybes, if Toby and Donnie hadn't almost made him do it, he wouldn't have spoken to her.

"And maybe you'd still be at the show, listening to my favorite band"

"I like the way things turned out" what Nick wanted to say was that he was happy to be there with her, but maybe it would sound a bit much…

"Me too" she replied quietly and he had to look away to hide his huge grin from her.

Trying to hide the smile Nick's eyes fell on the takeout bag, he noticed they didn't eat the fortune cookies.

"Want me to tell your future?" he asked.

"Wouldn't have pegged you as a fortune teller" she sat up, placing her hands on her knees.

"Not me, the restaurant" he handed her one of the cookies.

"You first" she watched as he opened it and took out the small piece of paper "well?" he kept it hidden from her while he read the short line.

"Soon the future will become your present"

"Deep" she hurried to open hers and chuckled as she looked at the paper, turning it around and revealing the fact it was empty "I guess I'm doomed" she shrugged and ate the sweet dough "maybe we switched them, this is a special preview of Y2K for you" she started laughing and Nick joined in "the computers are taking over"

"I guess I'm the one who's doomed" he took the paper from her and placed it in his back pocket.

"So how are you going to spend these last few months on earth?" Amanda leaned on her forearms and looked at him.

"I'm bad at these kind of decisions" he confessed.

"I can see that…you look like a goody two-shoes"

"You did not just say that" he shook his head "this really hurts my feelings"

"I am so sorry" her voice wasn't too sincere.

"No, you're not!" he laughed.

"You told me you're a nice guy" she reminded him.

"There's a difference though" he countered.

"This is all the proof I need" she shrugged and sat up again "it only bothers you cause you are one"

"How bout I prove it to you" Nick offered and without waiting for a response he stood up and started quickly removing the plain black shirt he had on and got rid of his jeans and sandals. Amanda was a bit shocked, was he planning on going skinny dipping? She was right only about the dipping part, he left his boxers on and ran to the water.

Amanda watched him, damn this Nick was sexy. It was dark but she could see his defined muscles, his hot abs, there was no doubt he liked working out, but not too much like some guys she'd met. She did not want to look away.

"Well…" he returned a few minutes later with a smug smile, as if he'd just proven his point.

"You think that going into the water, in the summer, wearing something that could pass as swim trunks…is daring?" she giggled and leaned back again.

Nick sat down next to her, she was right, this wasn't daring at all. The wind was blowing again, messing with her hair. This time Nick moved closer and reached it, he touched the light strands and locked his eyes with hers as he tucked it behind her ear. Nick kept his hand there and with a voice barely over a whisper murmured her name.

"Amanda" he said softly and she didn't budge, didn't hide her eyes from him "can I kiss you?"

He uttered the words with his lips almost touching hers already, his eyes were glued to hers, like he was staring deep into them.

Amanda wasn't sure if she nodded, she was a bit lost in the way he looked at her. There was something so genuine there, like it was a real need, not some game he was playing. She slightly raised her chin and Nick caressed her cheek before letting his lips brush up against hers. He was moving so slow, not wanting to rush the kiss. His mouth touched her lips again and this time she parted them a bit, allowing him to gently capture her lower lips.

They kept on taking it slow, barely moving. Amanda raised her right hand to run it through his hair but lost her balance and almost fell on the sand. Nick had good reflexes and caught her just in time. She smiled, not pulling way from his mouth and they sat up to prevent any other accidents.

Amanda let her fingers trail through his wet hair and pulled him closer, parting her lips even more and letting her tongue swipe over his lip. Once he let her in she could taste a bit of the salty water from the ocean on his tongue. Nick placed his palm on her knee and squeezed tenderly.

They heard voices and pulled away, smiling at one another.

"Looks like we're not alone anymore" she saw a few people walking towards the beach.

"You wanna go somewhere else?" his hand was still on her and when she nodded he moved it so he could grab his clothes.

She stood up, not taking her eyes off him as he got dressed and even though he noticed Nick didn't mention how much he liked it.

"Come on" he brushed off the remains of the sand from his jeans and they walked away.

For a while they walked in silence, their hands brushing against one another a couple of times.

"Here's the restaurant" Amanda noticed they'd passed the Chinese food place "if you want to complain about the cookie"

"I'm gonna pass, I don't think they're open anyway"

"What time is it?"

Nick checked his watch "it's almost two a.m." he sounded somewhat surprised, time flew by "want me to walk you to your room?" it was the right thing to say, the polite thing to offer, but he regretted it, what if she says yes? What if the night was over?

"Not really" this time she tried to sound casual "we could go to yours, it's empty, isn't it?"

Damn, she must have heard the guys say they won't be spending the night there. What was she thinking of him? But maybe it didn't matter, he wanted her and from the way she looked at him it felt like she was interested too.

He wasn't really into one night stands but he wanted to be with her, really wanted to. So he nodded and they walked to the motel. On the way there they talked about things they'd done during this vacation. Not that there was much to say, it was the kind of vacation where you barely do anything.

"This is it" they stopped by the motel and Nick could see the light was off in his room. To save money the three of them stayed in the same one, getting a folding bed. Luckily Nick didn't have to sleep on it as Donnie lost the draw.

Nick took her hand in his and they walked up to the room. He unlocked the door and let her walk in front of him.

"Fancy" she looked around.

"You're staying at the Ritz?" he teased.

"Maybe…"

"How bout we go there, I've never been" he raised an eyebrow suggestively without even being aware of it and walked closer to her.

Amanda tried not to smile too widely and she scanned the room again. The beds were all made and she saw three bags. Nick sat on his bed and watched her, he wondered what she was thinking but he didn't have to wait too long to find out.

"You sure you didn't make a bet?" she moved closer to him and he shook his head, maybe she was hurt by the possibility.

"That's a shame" her answer surprised him but then she straddled him "cause you would have made some money"

Amanda captured his mouth with hers and the kiss was heated from the get go, they didn't waste time on exploring the other's tongue, right now they wanted the other's body.

Nick pulled her closer, but had to let her go so he could take off his shirt. Once his chest was bare Nick grabbed her shirt, he was dying to see her, to taste her skin. Amanda raised her hands to help him out and he threw the fabric away. His next move was to nibble on her neck, he moved up and down eliciting a soft moan from her.

Amanda's eyes were closed and she just enjoyed the way his lips felt against her and the way his muscular back felt when her palms traveled all over it. His mouth moved higher, kissing her chin and reaching her lips again. She welcomed his tongue and while they kissed he got rid of her bra, leaving her half naked on top of him.

Nick turned them around carefully, he let her mouth go and smiled at her before moving up to take down his jeans and sandals. He realized there was some sand stuck to him but he hoped she wouldn't mind. Since he was standing up Nick took the opportunity to remove her shorts, she raised her thighs to help him out and he looked at her, lying there wearing only her underwear.

He got on top of her and kissed those soft lips again, she looked so beautiful and he told her that, whispering it in her ear.

"You're kinda hot yourself" she hissed and he laughed against her skin.

"Thank you" he looked into her eyes, he wanted to travel down her body, let his lips meet every inch of that smooth skin and then bury himself inside her.

She raised her head and kissed his shoulder before looking up at him "condom?" she asked.

Oh crap.

The realization hit him hard and he felt the excitement leaving him at once, making room for many, many curses. He never planned on doing anything like this so he didn't bring protection.

"You serious?" she didn't even need him to say anything, it was written all over his face "damn it" she looked away "don't your friends have any?"

He gave her a confused look and moved to sit beside her.

"Check their things" Amanda gestured at their bags.

Nick gave her another look before doing what she'd asked. He ignored his, knowing there was no use to even go through it, and moved first to Donnie's things, almost throwing everything on the floor. Amanda watched as he was looking for the condom. With the worry written on his face he still looked cute and Amanda tried to hide a giggle.

Nick had to search Toby's bag, Donnie's wasn't helpful and he could only guess that he had taken them with him. Same went for Toby's.

"No luck?" she asked, he looked a bit defeated.

"Sorry" he stood up and leaned on the wall, trying to calm down, she'd already covered herself up with the blanket.

"Me too, but no risking it, don't wanna get pregnant and…" she stopped talking.

"No, you're right" Nick looked away and got up "how about" he threw her a bag of chips from the table and she looked at him with a mixture of fear and confusion in her eyes.

"This isn't some weird New York thing, is it?" she asked.

"What, eating?" they didn't have to sleep together, but she could stay longer.

"I don't know, maybe it's some kind of a sex thing I don't know about" she shrugged and put on his shirt.

Nick chuckled and they both laughed, easing up the disappointment they both felt "I just thought that maybe you don't have to go"

"It's late…" she figured it must have been after three now.

Nick nodded "I can walk you back or you can sleep here if you want to"

"You won't mind?" she was a bit tired and her motel was far.

"Of course not, I wasn't going to kick you out if we'd…"

"How about that snack" she raised the bag and opened it after he nodded at her.

The chips helped to lighten the mood even more and they both leaned against the headboard and talked about food. Nick mentioned, again, that he was a fan of Chinese and Amanda said she always had room for pizza. By the time they emptied the bag the two of them were sleepy and Nick didn't offer to sleep in another bed, he just wrapped his arms around her and they drifted off without even saying goodnight.

As often happens after a late night, morning came way too soon, eliciting a frown and a curse from Amanda.

"Mmm?" Nick mumbled as he opened his eyes.

"I don't know what time it is, but it's way too early" she didn't sit up, Nick's arms were still wrapped around her and it felt too good to end.

"You're right"

"Always" she mumbled against his chest.

They heard noised from outside and Nick recognized the voices of his friends. How long were they out there?

"I should probably go" she sat up and got out of the bed a moment later. She took off his shirt so she could quickly put back her bra. She didn't want her nakedness to be a reminder of what didn't happen, even though they both were thinking about it.

"Hey" she turned to him after zipping up the shorts "how about we put a little show for your friends?" she figured they were thinking Nick got some and he would have, so why not?

Nick wasn't sure what she had in mind, he wasn't going to say a word either way. Her conniving smile convinced him, not that she shared the plan with him. He followed her to the door, the voices were louder now.

She smiled at him before opening the door and he wanted to stop her, ask her to stay, they could just talk the entire day. But it was too late. Amanda opened the door and Donnie and Toby turned to look at them.

Amanda ignored them and turned to Nick "last night was…" she didn't finish the sentence and just kissed him, really kissed him. Her tongue almost attacked his but he had no time to recuperate, it was hot but so short. She touched his stomach, gave it a quick squeeze and turned away.

"Bye…" he whispered, a little taken aback.

Toby and Donnie exchanged a look and stood up.

"Good for you Nicky" Donnie said and almost pushed him into the room "apparently Toby here has something to share with us"

Nick wanted to run after her but then Toby spoke up.

"I'm moving to England" he said.

"What?" Nick looked at the guys, not sure he heard right, not really sure of anything at the moment.

"He's moving to England" Donnie said "the bastard didn't say one word the entire vacation…"

Nick looked away, trying to find Amanda, he could hear more about this later, right now he wanted to get her phone number, email, anything. Where did she go?

But he couldn't spot her. She was gone.

And all he knew about her was her first name and the fact she was from Atlanta.

That was it.

That was it.