Season 1 Episode 8
The Search For Something More

"What do you think of Britney Spears?" Lizzie asked Kyle as she shuffled through the records,

"I don't know, I'm more of a Beyoncé fan myself." Kyle stated, making Lizzie giggle.

Kyle looked over to the entrance when he heard the bell ring and saw a familiar letterman jacket wearing guy start walking over to them. Kyle lightly nudged Lizzie which made her follow his line of direction and have her eyes land on the Scott boy.

"Do you want me to stay?" Kyle offered as Nathan came closer towards the pair,

"No, I've got this." Lizzie assured,

Kyle walked away just as Nathan approached Lizzie, "I've been trying to find you all morning."

"Mission accomplished." Lizzie mumbled, barely looking up from the records.

"Look, I had no idea that Brooke had read the note, I didn't even know there was a note until later." Nathan admitted, "I never meant to embarrass you or your friends."

Lizzie sighed, looking up at him, "Thank you for saying that."

Nathan smiled, "So we're cool? Because, there's this great movie playing tonight at the-"

"Whoa, hold on." Lizzie told him, holding a hand up to silence him, "I never said we were cool."

"You don't believe me?" Nathan assumed, his smile falling.

"No, I do. I believe that you're sorry and I'm glad that you're taking responsibility for your actions but I can't trust you." Lizzie sighed, "I'll still tutor you if you need me to, but that's all I can do. I'm sorry."

"What do you want me to do, Lizzie? Tell me what I can do to make this right. Please." Nathan pleaded as he lightly grabbed onto her hands,

Lizzie looked down at their hands and as much as it pained her to do it, she pulled her hands out of his grasp, "You wanna know what you can do? You can leave me alone."

~~~~~~~~~~

Lizzie was refilling the salt and pepper shakers as it was her first shift at Karen's Cafe and since it wasn't that busy, Karen had put her on refilling duty.

Brooke entered the cafe hoping to find her sister, she found her at one of the back tables, she slowly walked over to her with a hesitant smile on her face.

"Hey little sis."

"Go away Brooke. I have nothing to say to you." Lizzie grumbled as she began wiping down the table,

"Okay, you're still mad. I get it, I was a bitch last night. But I know how to make it up to you." Brooke claimed, following Lizzie's movements as she moved to the next table.

"I doubt that." Lizzie stated, wanting nothing to do with her sister at that moment in time, "Why don't you go and make some cheerleaders cry."

"There's that fire in you that I love." Brooke commented, "I don't blame Nathan for being completely in love with you."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, she knew that Brooke wasn't going away anytime soon so she figured that she may as well hear her out. Lizzie sat down, looking towards her sister, "Okay, I'll bite. How exactly do you plan on making it up to me?"

Brooke grinned, "I'm hooking you and Nathan up tonight. Don't worry, I remember your idea of a perfect first date."

Lizzie bit her lip as she remembered her what her idea of a perfect first date was, something simple and easy. She was never specific about it, she would always just say dinner and good conversation was all that was needed to make a first date great.

"Nathan's going to come by the house at seven o'clock, have fun!" Brooke beamed before exiting the cafe.

Lizzie suppressed a smile as she watched her sister walk away, wondering what tonight would bring.

~~~~~~~~~

It was nearly seven o'clock and Lizzie was waiting in her lounge room for Nathan to pick her up, she had added a small amount of makeup to her face and put on one of the many dresses that Brooke had bought for her over the years.

She watched the clock pass by another minute as she continued to wait for Nathan to show up. The clock now read quarter past seven, Lizzie sighed as she began to trudge up the stairs realizing that this 'date' was just another one of Brooke's setups.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang making Lizzie stop halfway up the steps. She contemplated on answering the door, she wanted to but she didn't know if he deserved the courtesy.

She stood in the middle of the staircase, contemplating her options when the doorbell was rung once again. She finally decided to answer the door, she rushed down the stairs and headed towards the front door. She breathed in deeply, preparing herself before she answered the door.

Once she did, she saw Nathan standing there in his signature letterman jacket although it seemed as if he was hiding something behind his back,

"Hey, I'm sorry that I'm late. I wanted to get you something to make up for last night and there was a line but I did end up getting you these." Nathan said, whipping out a small bouquet of dark red tulips.

Lizzie gasped lightly as she looked at the flowers, shocked that he'd thought of doing such a nice gesture for her, "Thank you, Nathan. They're gorgeous. Come in, let me just put these in some water."

Nathan followed Lizzie into her kitchen as she looked around for a vase to put the flowers in,

"So, Brooke set us up, huh?" Lizzie stated, breaking the silence between the two.

"Yeah, she created this sort of serial-card-date thing. One card leads to the next." Nathan explained,

Lizzie gave a small smile, "What does the first one say?"

"Convince Lizzie to go." Nathan replied, "How am I doing so far?

Lizzie's face flushed, she knew that she liked Nathan and that she was hoping to pursue a relationship with him but she didn't know if she could trust him. Would he always put his popularity and basketball before her? Would he try and change her to fit his school status? Was popularity that important to him?

"I don't know." Lizzie sighed,

Nathan's entire demeanor changed from hopefulness to sadness, "Look, I know that I disappointed you last night with my behavior but if you let me, I'll spend this night showing you the person I want to be. The person you deserve."

Lizzie's face heated up even more, Nathan had just said everything she wanted to hear from him. She wanted to believe him more than ever. She looked into Nathan's eyes and all she saw was sincerity which made her smile brightly,

"What does the second card say?" Lizzie asked, finally giving in to the temptation.

"Go to fourteen twenty three river street and find your next envelope. On the way, tell each other three things you like about the other." Nathan read out,

"I don't know, Nathan. Three things I like about you? I'm not sure that's possible." Lizzie teased with a cheeky smile.

Nathan chuckled, "Alright then, I'll go first. You're the kindest person I know, you always give me a second chance, even when I don't deserve it and you're incredibly beautiful."

Lizzie's face was now as red as a tomato from Nathan's words, she was rarely called beautiful, hell she was rarely recognized as someone other than the twin of Brooke Davis.

"I know I have no right to ask this, but every time I hang out with you, I immediately feel better, even if it's tutoring." Nathan continued, "I'd hate to waste an opportunity on doing something like this with you. Besides, it's Brooke. You can't tell me that it's gonna be boring."

Lizzie looked at the flowers that Nathan had bought her and then looked at Nathan who had a hopeful expression on his face. Seeing the smile on his face made it almost impossible to say no to.

"Alright, fine." Lizzie finally said,

"Yes!" Nathan cheered, making Lizzie giggle, "I promise you won't regret this."

"I hope not." Lizzie mumbled, under her breath so Nathan wouldn't hear.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, I said my three things. Now it's your turn." Nathan stated,

"Okay, three things I like about you..."

"My good looks." Nathan offered,

Lizzie chuckled as she playfully shoved Nathan, "That's top five."

Lizzie was shocked at her own words, she had never flirted with anyone before, she only ever watched Brooke do it. She thought she'd be terrible at it but by the look on Nathan's face, it seemed to have worked pretty well.

'Must run in the family.' Lizzie thought to herself,

"I like that you see me as someone other than Brooke's sister, I like how determined and ambitious you can be, especially about basketball and I like that you're persistent about earning my forgiveness when you do something that upsets me." Lizzie listed,

Once she finished listing the three things, it seemed as though they had arrived at their destination, Lizzie's smile immediately dropped once she saw what store it was.

"Oh, come on." Lizzie groaned as she stood in front of the window that showed off sexy lingerie.

~~~~~~~~~~

The pair of teenagers were looking through the racks of lingerie, trying to find the next card. Lizzie was looking at the lingerie dresses but didn't touch anything seeing as she was too embarrassed.

"This feels so wrong." Lizzie stated,

Nathan chuckled as he moved on to another rack, causing him to find the card, "I found it."

"What does it say?" Lizzie inquired as she looked at the card from behind his shoulder.

"Congratulations." Nathan read out, "Now, buy each other a gift and exchange them on the way to...there's another address here."

"I am gonna kill Brooke."

"You wanna bail?" Nathan asked, seeing the look on Lizzie's face.

Lizzie thought about accepting the offer but something stopped her from saying yes. Since she had started hanging out with Nathan, she found herself growing more confident in herself and coming out of her shell more. She wasn't afraid to stand up to her sister anymore and she was starting to realize her worth, (she was never one to back down from a challenge, anyway) she hadn't found her purpose in life yet but she wasn't worried, she knew that she'd find it soon enough.

"No." Lizzie decided, "But if you wanna bail, that's totally fine. There's nothing wrong with backing down from a challenge."

"Oh no, I'm not backing down from anything." Nathan replied, with a gleam in his eyes.

"Good, let's shop then."

~~~~~~~~~~

Once they had both bought something for the other, they were asked outside of the store to exchange their gifts.

"So what'd you get me?" Nathan asked as he tried looking in the small bag that Lizzie was holding,

"Ah, ah, ah. No peeking." Lizzie teased, pulling the bag away from his eyes.

"Alright then. Ladies first." Nathan stated as he handed the purple bag to the brunette,

Lizzie carefully looked inside the bag and pulled out the material to take a look at it, it was a light blue silk nightgown with bits of lace surrounded around the neckline. Lizzie was speechless, she had never owned something like this, it almost felt too wrong to accept it.

"Wow, Nathan. It's beautiful, thank you." Lizzie said, not bothering to mention how she felt as if she couldn't accept it, knowing that Nathan wouldn't take no for an answer.

She handed the other bag to Nathan, "Now, I feel bad about what I got for you."

Nathan looked inside the small bag and saw that she had purchased two pairs of socks, "No, these are great. Really. I've been needing new socks for a while."

Lizzie slapped her hand onto her forehead in embarrassment, "You don't have to lie. I just didn't know what else to get you seeing as there's not many male options in a lingerie store."

Nathan smiled at her flushed face, he noticed that had a habit of biting her lip when she was nervous and truthfully, he thought it was the cutest thing he had ever seen.

"Alright, how about this? If we go to the next place and we hate it, then we can just rent a movie and pick up some Chinese from down the street. I know how much you love the fried rice." Nathan propositioned,

"Sounds good."

~~~~~~~~~~

Nathan and Lizzie had arrived at their last destination for their date, it was a candlelit dinner near the water. Lizzie looked over and saw that Brooke had reserved them a table and added a pink envelope.

Once the two sat down, a waiter immediately handed them two menus and walked off, leaving the two alone.

"Hm, almost seems too good to be true." Lizzie joked as she began to open the envelope,

"If I'm being honest, I'm a little afraid."

"Order your favorite dish for the other person." Lizzie read out, "That doesn't seem so bad."

Nathan chuckled, "Any chance your favorite dish is prime rib?"

"Oh yeah, Brooke and I have it all the time." Lizzie replied, with a teasing smile

"Wait really?"

Lizzie's smile became even wider at the hopeful expression on Nathan's face,

"No." Lizzie giggled, "I'm sorry, but the look on your face..."

Nathan smiled largely as he listened to Lizzie's laughs, it was like music to his ears. Everything about Lizzie made him happy, even when she was mad.

"I like your laugh." Nathan told her,

Lizzie quickly quieted down when she heard the seriousness in his voice, "Thank you."

Nathan cleared his throat awkwardly, "Look, I'm not very good at this whole dating thing. It's just, with Peyton-it was all parties and games and drama. We never really did stuff like this, this is different."

"Good different or bad different?" Lizzie hesitantly asked,

"No, good different." Nathan immediately replied, washing away any doubt in Lizzie's mind, "Definitely good different. I'm really glad that you decided to come on the date.

"I'm glad too."

~~~~~~~~~~

"As Brooke's sister, shouldn't you be into lobster and champagne?" Nathan assumed once they ordered their food,

"Okay, Mac and cheese is food of the gods." Lizzie stated, "Besides, prime rib? What are you? A seventy year old man?

"Well it beats having the appetite of a five year old." Nathan retorted, causing them both to laugh.

"Do you wanna open the next envelope or should I?" Nathan asked,

When the waiter came to take their orders, he also gave them another pink envelope with another task inside.

"You open it." Lizzie said,

Once Nathan opened it, a small smile came across his face, "Reveal a secret that nobody else knows about you."

"Okay... This isn't exactly a secret but the only people who know about it are Brooke and Peyton." Lizzie commented,

Her heart began to beat really fast as she thought about the secret that she was going to reveal, it could change everything between the two. It could change the way that Nathan saw her, everything that the two had built could be shattered once she revealed her secret.

Nathan was looking at her with complete seriousness as he waited for her to speak up again,

"So, you remember your beach party a couple weeks ago? When you and I were talking and you..." Lizzie trailed off, wondering if it was a stupid idea to bring up the topic.

"And, I kissed you." Nathan added, "Yeah, I remember."

Of course he remembered, he hadn't been able to focus on anything else. The way her lips felt so soft against his, the spark that he felt when she placed her hand on top of his, the small second when she kissed him back.

"Well, that was my first kiss." Lizzie revealed, breaking Nathan out of his thoughts.

Once Nathan began to fully comprehend her secret, his eyes widened. He couldn't believe that someone like Lizzie had never had a real first kiss, he also couldn't believe that he was Lizzie's first kiss. It made him giddy, thinking about it. Hell, he still had difficulty understanding how a girl like Lizzie even noticed him.

"Okay, okay. That's my embarrassing secret." Lizzie groaned, "Your turn."

Nathan smiled, "Alright, I-"

"Nathan!" Someone shouted, "Whats are you doing here?"

Tim and a group of guys from the basketball team walked over to them, "What's this?"

Nathan didn't know what to say, he didn't know if Lizzie wanted people to know that they were on a date so he said the first thing that came to mind, "Oh, it's nothing. We just bumped into each other and got to talking, that's all."

"Really? Looks more like a date to me." Tim said,

"Nah, definitely not. Not a date." Nathan denied, feeling his heart crack slightly when he saw the upset look on Lizzie's face.

"Right, whatever you say Nate." Tim shrugged before he walked off with the rest of the guys following after him,

"Hey, I'm sorry about that. I didn't know what else to say." Nathan apologized,

Lizzie slowly looked up at him with glistened eyes, "Are you really that embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"What? No! Of course not." Nathan exclaimed, "Why would you think that?"

Lizzie scoffed, "Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because as soon as someone from school thinks there's something going on between us, you immediately shut it down. I mean you say all these things, that you want to change and that you're sorry but it's not true. God, I'm such an idiot."

Nathan tried to stop her from leaving, "Okay, Lizzie, you're right, I'm not a good guy. But I wanna be and I can't do that without you."

Lizzie refused to look at him, she knew that if she did, she'd immediately forgive him and she knew that she deserved better than that

"You're right Nathan, you're not a good guy. You're just a liar." Lizzie muttered before she grabbed her coat and stormed off as tears streamed down her face, ignoring Nathan's pleas for her to come back.

~~~~~~~~~~

The sun came shining through the window of Lizzie and Brooke's bedroom, Lizzie groaned as she pulled the duvet over her face. Brooke hadn't come home last night which Lizzie was grateful for seeing as she came home with tears running down her face and silent sobs wracking her body.

She slowly lowered the duvet from her face and looked at the sun's reflection, she was still feeling pretty miserable from last night but thought that maybe some fresh air could clear her head. She quickly got out of bed, changed into some activewear and put on her running shoes.

She went downstairs and headed into the kitchen to grab a protein bar but was quickly surprised when she saw Nathan sitting at the breakfast bar. She let out a small scream to which Nathan's head immediately turned towards her, he quickly got out of his seat and began to walk towards her.

"Lizzie, can we please talk?" Nathan pleaded,

"How did you get into my house?" Lizzie frantically asked as she slowly backed away from the basketball player.

"I found a key under the placemat." Nathan stated,

"So, you broke into my house? Do you wanna steal anything? I'm sure there are some valuables lying around somewhere." Lizzie sarcastically said as a scowl appeared across her face.

"Lizzie, please. I just want to talk to you." Nathan begged,

"What could you possibly have to say?" Lizzie asked, incredulously, "You humiliated me last night, broke into my house, I'm gonna get the locks changed, by the way and now you wanna talk?"

"Lizzie, look, if you give me five minutes to explain myself, I promise that if you still want me to leave, I will."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, she didn't want to hear him out. She had never felt so humiliated in her life and she really didn't want to listen to Nathan's excuses, especially right now. But she knew that if she didn't listen to him now, he would continually annoy her until she gave in.

"You got five minutes." Lizzie decided, flopping onto the couch as she pulled her hair out from the ponytail she had put it in.

Nathan quickly sat next to her but moved away slightly when she saw the look on Lizzie's face, "Okay, so I know that what I did last night was a really jackass move -"

"You think?" Lizzie interrupted,

Nathan looked up at her, silently pleading for her to let him finish, Lizzie sighed, "Sorry, my bad. Continue."

Nathan continued, "So I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness, especially after everything that's happened recently and all the times you've already forgiven me but I meant what I said last night, I don't wanna be the guy I am anymore."

"Well, who do you wanna be, Nathan?" Lizzie softly asked,

"I wanna be the guy who's good enough to be with someone like you. I know that I don't deserve you, I don't even deserve a second chance but if you let me, I will show you the kind of guy I'm willing to be for you." Nathan declared,

Lizzie looked back at him as her expression softened slightly making Nathan continue, "I really like you, more than I've ever liked any other girl. Every time I see you, I get this weird fluttery feeling in my stomach and my heart feels like it's about to burst out of my chest, I can't stop thinking about you, how beautiful, smart and kind you are. You deserve better, you're special Elizabeth Cassandra Davis and I know that so please just let me-"

"Shut up." Lizzie said as she placed her hand on the side of Nathan's face and moved closer towards him before she kissed him passionately,

It took a moment for Nathan to realize what was happening as he felt Lizzie's delicate hand caress his face but what really startled him was the softness of her lips on his, his heart began to race once he realized that Lizzie Davis, the girl he was falling for was kissing him. He quickly kissed her back with just as much passion as he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist while her arms wrapped around his neck as she entangled her hands through his raven black hair. They continued kissing, only ever stopping to catch their breath. Soon enough, Lizzie ended up in Nathan's lap, straddling him, before Nathan slowly lowered Lizzie onto the couch so that she was lying down and he was on top of her, Lizzie still had her legs hooked around Nathan as he peppered her neck with kisses making the brunette moan.

They were completely engrossed in one another, it was as though they were trying to make up for every time they had wanted to kiss the other. They were so distracted by each other that they didn't even notice when the front door opened, Brooke walked into the hallway and went into the lounge room revealing the sight of Nathan and Lizzie making out.

"Ewww." Brooke screamed causing the two to break apart, "Ugh, if you're going to do that, go somewhere private. And not our bedroom!"

Lizzie and Nathan got up from the couch with both their hair looking disheveled, Lizzie's top was halfway up her stomach and Nathan had to cover the top of his pants with his hand.

"I should probably get going anyway." Nathan said,

"I'll walk you out." Lizzie stated as she followed Nathan to the front door.

The two walked outside and stood on the porch, unsure on what to say after what had just happened.

"So." Nathan said, breaking the silence between the two,

"So.."

The two didn't say anything else, they didn't know what to say, "I really should get going."

Lizzie sighed softly at Nathan's comment, "Yeah, of course."

"I'll see you later though." Nathan assured, "Then we can talk?"

"Yes. Yes, absolutely." Lizzie responded, slowly nodding her head.

"Great, see you then." Nathan said before giving her a slight peck on the lips and walking away,

Lizzie couldn't contain the smile that overtook her face as she watched Nathan walk down her street, she was completely overwhelmed by everything that had just happened and even though she was elated, she was feeling other sorts of emotions.

Because she didn't know how far she would've gone with Nathan if Brooke hadn't interrupted them, and that terrified her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Once Nathan had left, Brooke demanded that Lizzie tell her everything. Lizzie smiled as she repeated everything Nathan had said to her and laughed as she listened to Brooke gush about how she was going to start planning their wedding. Now Lizzie wouldn't admit this, but the thought of marrying Nathan made her heart skip a beat.

Brooke told Lizzie that she was heading down to the river court to talk to Lucas about last night, (to which Lizzie responded, saying that she couldn't wait to hear all about last night) but then remembered that she should probably talk to Lucas as well considering she seemed to be starting a relationship with his brother.

The two drove over to the river court to find Lucas, Skills, Junk and Fergie playing basketball with Mouth suiting by the sidelines, the two sisters got out of the car and each gave a small wave before sitting next to Mouth.

"Hey." Brooke greeted, "What's your name again?"

"Mouth."

"Really? That was my nickname at summer camp." Brooke grinned,

Lizzie snickered once she saw the look on Mouth's face, she patted his shoulder lightly, "Because she slept with her mouth open, doofus. Get your head out of the gutter."

Mouth relaxed, a smile taking over his place again, "Right."

Brooke looks back at mouth, "You know, you're really cute. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Mouth sighed softly and shook his head,

"I've got a real knack for hooking people up." Brooke stated, "Right, Lizzie?"

Lizzie smiled bashfully, "It's true."

After another ten minutes of watching the guys play on the river court, they finished up causing Brooke to walk over to Lucas and talk to him

Lizzie smiled as she walked over to Skills, "What's up, Skills."

"Hey girl, what's happening? Yo, you gon tell me why your sister is out here on the river court?"

Lizzie chuckled, "I'm not sure, she said she needed to talk to Lucas about something."

Skills crossed his arm as he saw the two laughing, "Mhm... and what are you here for?"

"I've been meaning to talk to Lucas as well." Lizzie stated, not wanting to reveal anymore.

Soon after, Brooke and Lucas finished up their chat causing Lizzie to head over towards the blonde,

"Hey Luke, how's it going?" Lizzie greeted with a bright smile.

"Not much. Brooke said you wanted to talk to me? What's up?" Lucas questioned, motioning over to the now empty table,

The two headed over and sat down before saying anything, Lizzie smiled hopefully before she spoke up again, "So you and Nathan don't seem to be hating on each other as much anymore."

"I guess..." Lucas trailed off, suspiciously. "Haley told me how you're tutoring him though, how's that going?"

"Yeah, about that..." Lizzie uncomfortably smiled, "Nathan and I have gotten quite close these past few weeks..."

"Yeah...?" Lucas said, not understanding where Lizzie was going with this.

"When I say getting closer, I mean romantically closer." Lizzie revealed,

Lucas sat there, shocked. He couldn't believe that Lizzie and Nathan seemed to be somewhat of a couple, he didn't know how to react to the surprising news. He wanted to be upset but he also didn't want to stand in the way of Lizzie's happiness, even if it was caused by Nathan. Besides, it would've been pretty hypocritical for him to have been angry at her for having a relationship with his brother, especially since he was considering on starting one with her sister.

Lizzie looked over at Lucas, unsure of what to make from his expression seeing as it was pretty emotionless. She didn't expect him to be thrilled about the news but she also hoped that he'd try to understand and be happy for her.

Lucas scoffed playfully, "So, if you and Nathan get married, you'd be like my sister, huh?"

Lizzie laughed, not saying anything. She was just so grateful that Lucas was willing to put his issues with his brother aside and be happy for her.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Wait, so how steamy was it?" Peyton asked as she walked down the hallway with Brooke and Lizzie on either side.

"It was not steamy." Lizzie denied as her cheeks turned red, "We just made out for a few minutes."

"Oh please, you two were about five seconds away from ripping each other's clothes off." Brooke stated, causing the three girls to giggle softly.

Peyton and Brooke had planned to go to the mall but Lizzie was unable to go since she was working at Karen's cafe that afternoon, so they parted ways at the end of the hallway.

Lizzie walked out the front door and saw Nathan exiting from another door,

The two began to head towards each other but were interrupted by Nathan's friends who quickly crowded around the Scott boy, she smiled sadly as she saw Nathan begin conversation with them.

She started to walk away when Nathan quickly excused himself from his friends and jogged towards the brunette, calling out her name.

He stood in front of Lizzie, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her hair and softly placed his lips on top of her forehead.

"I missed you today." Nathan whispered,

Lizzie smiled shyly, "I missed you too."

"Come on, let's get out of here." Nathan stated, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they walked away.

Lizzie looked up at him and saw him smiling at her like a lovesick fool,

Lizzie tried to suppress the identical smile that began to form on her face but it was no use.

They were both lovesick fools.

~~~~~~~~~~

AN: Okay, so idk how I feel about the ending but I wanted to end it on some sort of cliffhanger like I always do.
I apologize for the cringe fest from their kiss scene but it was my first time writing a steamy scene. But Lizzie and Nathan are finally together ! 🥳
Pls vote and comment
-Amber <3