it's you.
Peyton sits in her room. She knows what today is. She's been dreading it since that fateful day she showed up on that porch. She can hear Brooke get ready in the next room. Peyton thinks about just skipping it all together. Tell Brooke and Haley she's not feeling well. Well maybe Brooke. Haley's not her biggest fan right now. After having an inner struggle with herself she decides she should get ready. After all, she did tell Lucas she would let him go so he could be happy.
She gets ready. She's thinking to herself maybe he'll change his mind. Maybe he will choose me. She knows it's unfair to Lindsey, but right now she doesn't care. All she can think about is the fact that in less than 4 hours the love of her life will be saying "I do" to someone who is not her. She doesn't know if she can really get through this without saying anything at the wedding. But she knows if she stops it then he will hate her probably more than he already does. So what does she do? She plasters that fake smile she does so well and she sets about going her merry way.
As she's sitting in her pew waiting for the ceremony to start, she thinks to what Skills said before when they were standing outside the church. Should she get up and stop it? Should she go back and plead with Lucas to take her back? Should she just let the ceremony go on? She's really thinking about doing the second one, but then thinks that she doesn't want to hurt him anymore than she already has. The ceremony is beginning and she watches as Lucas and Nathan take their place at the front of the church. Then she hears the music she hates so much. She stands up along with the rest of the congregation and watches as Lindsey makes her way down. Peyton thinks that the minuets are going by slow just to prove a point to her that she should have said yes. Being caught up in her thoughts she hadn't noticed that Lindsey had made it to the front, and Brooke was pulling on her arm to sit down. Luckily the wedding party didn't seem to notice. The ceremony starts and Peyton doesn't know how much more of this she can handle. When Lindsey starts her vows she decides that before she does something she'll regret she needs to get out of there. She looks to Brooke with tears in her eyes knowing that her best friend will understand. She takes off her heels so she doesn't draw too much attention to herself and hastily exits the church. The tears are overflowing now as she realizes that after today there's no going back, Lucas will be married to another woman, and she's missed her chance. She needs to talk to someone but she knows there's only so much a best friend can tell you, the most insightful person she knows is mad at her, and the next person on the list is the brother of who she wants to talk about. So she goes to the only person she knows she can speak freely.
Lucas is trying so hard to pay attention to the person who is in front of him. He knows that everybody has gone through a lot of trouble of putting this thing together. Shoot, he's gone through a lot of trouble to be here. He knows it's wrong, for crying out loud he's fixing to get MARRIED! He doesn't know when his life got so screwed up. So with everything in him, he brings his attention to the girl who is standing in front of him. However right as Lindsey starts her vows, he sees Peyton turn to Brooke. As the light catches her eyes he notices they shine a little bit more than usual. He thinks he sees tears but he convinces himself that it's just his imagination playing tricks on him. He hears the faint click of the door as he watches Peyton exit from the church and possibly his life forever.
He's standing there and he knows that his turn to speak is coming up. As Lindsey is finishing up, he's thinking to himself about that time after the State Championship when Peyton turned and walked away. He turns and looks at Brooke and he can almost see that same question in her eyes from four and half years ago. Who do you want standing next to you when your dreams come true? In that same moment of clarity he had at the State Championship he realizes that Lindsey is not the one. It's the girl with the wild curly hair, long legs that go on for days, and an incredible passion for art and music. He hates that it took so long for him to realize it. He's going to hurt Lindsey and he doesn't like that. But he needs to do what's best for him. When the preacher says it's his turn to speak he looks at Lindsey with apologetic eyes. "It's not you," he says. At first she doesn't get what he's saying. "When all my dreams come true," she says. He nods. She looks up at him with tears in her eyes. There's a resounding thud that's heard throughout the church. He knows he deserves it, but it still stings all the same. He looks at her again, says sorry, then heads out the church to follow the only girl he's truly ever loved. As he's heading out he swears he hears Brooke say 'it's about time', but he can't be sure. He picks up his pace knowing that after a day like today Peyton's in the one place that brings her comfort.
She's told her mom everything, and she can't stop crying. She can't stop crying for her, for Lucas, for the fact that he's probably married by now, for the life that she could have had, for the word she should have said. Three little letters that make up a word that brought her whole world crashing down. She finally calms down enough to start talking again. "I just didn't know that by not saying yes, that by saying someday I would lose him forever. I'm thinking about leaving. I don't know what's here for me anymore. I don't know if I can live in the same town as them. I know I said I would let him go, but I didn't think it would be this hard. People always leave right? I guess I'm one of those people. Finally following my motto. I guess I'll head out to LA again. I just don't know anymore. I guess when he told me it was me at the state championship game I thought I would be with him forever. Guess I was wrong." Not knowing that Lucas had come up behind her when he said "It's still you. Always has been." He startled her. "I didn't hear you come up. How much of that did you hear?" "The end, when you were talking about the state championship. Look I made a mistake, that night when I kissed you I should've broken up with Lindsey. I shouldn't have let it go on this long. It's you." "Lucas, you don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that. I don't know if I can just get back together with you. I really want to get back with you but how do I know you're not just gonna go kiss Lindsey." "You have every right to think that, but I'm not going to leave. Not again. I don't want to lose you." "it's going to take awhile to trust you again, but if we go slow I'm willing to try. I've never stopped loving you. You know that. Maybe our someday is now." Lucas just smiles and pulls her into a kiss. Somewhere up in the sky Anna Sawyer is smiling down on her daughter and her boyfriend.