Token
By Alaricnomad
He found himself staring at her again. It was something inevitable, unavoidable, inexplicable, something almost magnetic that he found his eyes drawn to her.
She was beautiful and she was temperamental, she was lonely and she was precious, she was brilliant and she was witty, she was sweet and she was something real. She was a mystery wrapped inside a riddle, shielding a vulnerable, painfully gorgeous girl who pulled his heart in every direction.
She was Peyton.
She must have felt his gaze on her, but she raised her head, long curls of blond hair falling around her face, and she smiled at him. She smiled at him, just a light tugging at the corners of her lips- lips he remembered so vividly, so tangibly, what it felt to kiss- and hazel eyes grew warm with emotions he couldn't quite decipher, couldn't quite understand, yet they sent his heart hammering.
He tentatively returned her smile, trying his best to stifle the intense longing that welled up inside of him, ingraining into his very core until he was afraid it would show in his eyes, that he wanted her. That he still wanted her so badly, and he knew it was wrong, he knew he shouldn't.
She was Peyton.
She was forbidden.
She was everything he wanted.
He was an idiot.
He wanted too much, too soon.
He committed himself to another heart too soon, and found himself too late.
He missed out on something amazing.
He was left with nothing but maybe's, and could-have-been's.
His heart ached. He tore his eyes away from her, looking back down to his book, reading the same sentence for the fifteenth time. He touched the necklace around his neck, remembering it as a gift.
A gift from Brooke.
His girlfriend.
Her best friend.
He stifled a groan, and gave his best attempt at returning to his novel, knowing his attempts were in vain. For any time now, he would find himself staring again.
He tried not to wonder why the token around his neck suddenly felt as stifling and conflicting as a collar.
She was Peyton.
He was Lucas.
The space between them was taken by Brooke.
And filled with maybe's and could-have-been's.
End
