Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off
Crossover: OTH/Gossip Girl
Characters: Nate/Peyton/Dan
Summary: Written for a prompt here at ampersandstars. Got a little too long to post in one comment.
She watches for a while. She's sure they don't notice her, the girl making specialty coffee behind the counter in The Beatles tee shirt and ripped jeans.
They're funny. They laugh at stupid things that really aren't worth laughing at. The sexy one is more worldly, she thinks, and the cute one is definitely more book smart.
"Thanks." Blueblueblue eyes look into hers and she flashes back to a moment she's been trying not to remember ("It's you."). "Hey, what's your name?"
So maybe he notices. She smiles, slips an extra biscotti onto his plate. "Elizabeth."
Blue eyes have always gotten Peyton into trouble.
That's the great thing about New York, though; you can be whoever you want.
-
"Are you kidding me? Phantom Planet is totally overrated!"
She laughs as she wipes down the table next to them. The cute one looks irritated for a moment. She doesn't stop what she's doing.
"I saw them in a little bar in Brooklyn. They're great live. Their albums are terrible," she says.
"You're into music?" he asks. The sexy one sips his coffee and looks at her over his cup. It's irritating how attractive he is.
She shrugs her shoulder. "A little."
The lie comes easily. Well, it's not so much a lie as an omission of the truth.
As he leaves, he sends her a smile over his shoulder. She waves back before she can stop herself.
-
The sexy one comes in on his own one day. She really needs to learn his name. He knows hers. Kind of.
His hair is a mess and he's yawning as she pours a cup of his regular.
"Late night?" she asks laughingly as he rubs his eye.
"I hate my life," he mumbles. "My classes are ridiculous."
"Columbia, right?" He nods, sips his coffee, black. "What's your major?"
"I don't even remember." He smirks at her a little and she smiles back, shaking her head. He's funny. She likes it. "Ever wish you could just, like, run away?"
She bites her lip and tops up his cup even though refills are supposed to be $1.50 and he's barely taken a drink.
"Yeah."
(She already has.)
-
Dan (cute, brown eyes, kind of perpetually nervous) asks her if she wants to grab a cup of coffee sometime.
"Make it a beer and you've got a deal," she laughs. He uses too many words and mumbles a bit to tell her that yeah, she probably sees enough coffee as it is.
They're in his loft and she's looking at the wall of records like a kid in a candy store.
"Why do I have a feeling you're more into music than you said?" he asks, handing her a beer.
She shrugs coyly and starts talking about The Cure (every record ever released by them is sitting on this shelf) and laughs when he tells her the records aren't actually his.
She lets him kiss her on the couch after they've had a few.
She tells him it's really great that he's a writer. Even she doesn't know if she means it.
She never thought she had a type.
-
"Elizabeth!" She only turns around when someone touches her shoulder. Blue eyes (Nate, she knows) is out of breath and smiling at her. "I've been calling you for, like, a block and a half."
She bites her lip, looks at him through her eyelashes. "Yeah. My name isn't actually Elizabeth."
He laughs. (She relaxes.) "What is it?"
"Peyton."
"I like it," he insists. "Why lie?"
She starts walking backwards just to see what he'll do.
He follows.
"Why not?" she asks.
They spend a couple hours walking through Central Park, until he has to go to soccer practice and she has to get to work.
"Maybe I'll come in later," he says, grinning at her. "Like, around 10:00."
"We close at 10:00."
He leans in close and her hands itch to touch him. "Maybe I'll take you somewhere."
-
Dan calls right around the time Peyton's shirt comes off.
She tells him she's busy. (Nate's pulling down the zipper of her jeans. It feels like she should be paying attention to that, not the phone.)
"Maybe we can do something tomorrow," Dan says. She bites her lip and Nate chuckles as he kisses her neck. "If you want to."
"Yeah," she breathes out. "I'll call you."
She hangs up and drops her phone off the side of the bed, where it lands on the growing pile of clothes.
"Who was that?" Nate asks. It's hard to focus on his words when he's pulling off his shirt.
"No one," she insists, reaching out for him.
(Blue eyes have always gotten her into trouble.)
-
She spends her day off on Dan's bed.
Fully clothed, but still.
She's reading his favourite Faulkner, makes fun of his pencil markings in the margins. He's listening to her most played songs on her iPod as he writes.
"I love this line," she says, then reads it out loud. He smiles, leans in and kisses her. She should stop him, but she doesn't, just laughs a little bit instead. "What?"
"Nothing. Me too." He launches into a bit of a speech (it's kind of adorable) about what he loves about that particular paragraph. "I know. I'm a total nerd," he says when he sees the way she's smiling at him.
She laughs again, shakes her head. "You're not the nerdiest guy I've ever met."
He definitely is. It's cute, though.
-
She's working the next time they come in together. They each smile at her and she knows they've probably both talked about her. She wonders why they aren't mad.
Brooke calls after Peyton's served Nate and Dan.
"So have you met anyone?"
Peyton smiles. Dan catches her eye and she runs her finger around the Post-it Nate gave her with the time and place of the soccer game she said she'd go watch him play tomorrow.
"Not really."
The lie will be easier to explain, if she gets caught in it.
The triangle doesn't make much sense at all.
-
She tells herself she'll have to make a choice sooner or later.
Maybe she can hold out a little longer. That's easier to believe.
All the best lies are.
Characters: Nate/Peyton/Dan
Summary: Written for a prompt here at ampersandstars. Got a little too long to post in one comment.
She watches for a while. She's sure they don't notice her, the girl making specialty coffee behind the counter in The Beatles tee shirt and ripped jeans.
They're funny. They laugh at stupid things that really aren't worth laughing at. The sexy one is more worldly, she thinks, and the cute one is definitely more book smart.
"Thanks." Blueblueblue eyes look into hers and she flashes back to a moment she's been trying not to remember ("It's you."). "Hey, what's your name?"
So maybe he notices. She smiles, slips an extra biscotti onto his plate. "Elizabeth."
Blue eyes have always gotten Peyton into trouble.
That's the great thing about New York, though; you can be whoever you want.
-
"Are you kidding me? Phantom Planet is totally overrated!"
She laughs as she wipes down the table next to them. The cute one looks irritated for a moment. She doesn't stop what she's doing.
"I saw them in a little bar in Brooklyn. They're great live. Their albums are terrible," she says.
"You're into music?" he asks. The sexy one sips his coffee and looks at her over his cup. It's irritating how attractive he is.
She shrugs her shoulder. "A little."
The lie comes easily. Well, it's not so much a lie as an omission of the truth.
As he leaves, he sends her a smile over his shoulder. She waves back before she can stop herself.
-
The sexy one comes in on his own one day. She really needs to learn his name. He knows hers. Kind of.
His hair is a mess and he's yawning as she pours a cup of his regular.
"Late night?" she asks laughingly as he rubs his eye.
"I hate my life," he mumbles. "My classes are ridiculous."
"Columbia, right?" He nods, sips his coffee, black. "What's your major?"
"I don't even remember." He smirks at her a little and she smiles back, shaking her head. He's funny. She likes it. "Ever wish you could just, like, run away?"
She bites her lip and tops up his cup even though refills are supposed to be $1.50 and he's barely taken a drink.
"Yeah."
(She already has.)
-
Dan (cute, brown eyes, kind of perpetually nervous) asks her if she wants to grab a cup of coffee sometime.
"Make it a beer and you've got a deal," she laughs. He uses too many words and mumbles a bit to tell her that yeah, she probably sees enough coffee as it is.
They're in his loft and she's looking at the wall of records like a kid in a candy store.
"Why do I have a feeling you're more into music than you said?" he asks, handing her a beer.
She shrugs coyly and starts talking about The Cure (every record ever released by them is sitting on this shelf) and laughs when he tells her the records aren't actually his.
She lets him kiss her on the couch after they've had a few.
She tells him it's really great that he's a writer. Even she doesn't know if she means it.
She never thought she had a type.
-
"Elizabeth!" She only turns around when someone touches her shoulder. Blue eyes (Nate, she knows) is out of breath and smiling at her. "I've been calling you for, like, a block and a half."
She bites her lip, looks at him through her eyelashes. "Yeah. My name isn't actually Elizabeth."
He laughs. (She relaxes.) "What is it?"
"Peyton."
"I like it," he insists. "Why lie?"
She starts walking backwards just to see what he'll do.
He follows.
"Why not?" she asks.
They spend a couple hours walking through Central Park, until he has to go to soccer practice and she has to get to work.
"Maybe I'll come in later," he says, grinning at her. "Like, around 10:00."
"We close at 10:00."
He leans in close and her hands itch to touch him. "Maybe I'll take you somewhere."
-
Dan calls right around the time Peyton's shirt comes off.
She tells him she's busy. (Nate's pulling down the zipper of her jeans. It feels like she should be paying attention to that, not the phone.)
"Maybe we can do something tomorrow," Dan says. She bites her lip and Nate chuckles as he kisses her neck. "If you want to."
"Yeah," she breathes out. "I'll call you."
She hangs up and drops her phone off the side of the bed, where it lands on the growing pile of clothes.
"Who was that?" Nate asks. It's hard to focus on his words when he's pulling off his shirt.
"No one," she insists, reaching out for him.
(Blue eyes have always gotten her into trouble.)
-
She spends her day off on Dan's bed.
Fully clothed, but still.
She's reading his favourite Faulkner, makes fun of his pencil markings in the margins. He's listening to her most played songs on her iPod as he writes.
"I love this line," she says, then reads it out loud. He smiles, leans in and kisses her. She should stop him, but she doesn't, just laughs a little bit instead. "What?"
"Nothing. Me too." He launches into a bit of a speech (it's kind of adorable) about what he loves about that particular paragraph. "I know. I'm a total nerd," he says when he sees the way she's smiling at him.
She laughs again, shakes her head. "You're not the nerdiest guy I've ever met."
He definitely is. It's cute, though.
-
She's working the next time they come in together. They each smile at her and she knows they've probably both talked about her. She wonders why they aren't mad.
Brooke calls after Peyton's served Nate and Dan.
"So have you met anyone?"
Peyton smiles. Dan catches her eye and she runs her finger around the Post-it Nate gave her with the time and place of the soccer game she said she'd go watch him play tomorrow.
"Not really."
The lie will be easier to explain, if she gets caught in it.
The triangle doesn't make much sense at all.
-
She tells herself she'll have to make a choice sooner or later.
Maybe she can hold out a little longer. That's easier to believe.
All the best lies are.