Disclaimer: If I was the engineer on this train things would've turned out quite differently.
Spoilers/Warnings: My very own version of S5 that includes some very vague references to the S5 spoilers swirling about. Also there's a major character death because this is how I would've liked it all to turn out.
Summary: It's been four years since graduation and they're all coming home for the wedding of one of their own. In a single weekend friendships are renewed and one couple slowly begin to mend their broken relationship.
A/N: I wrote off canon One Tree Hill fic years ago, but then "The Birth and Death of the Day" happened and I was upset, to put it mildly. The writers could've gone a different direction, could've given Lucas a different path. But they didn't. And that was just tragic. So then I got this idea in my head and it was not to be ignored. The title is snagged from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven". It seemed fitting.
—
00. Like Gasoline on Flames (Prologue)
Bounding into his apartment, sweating and panting from his morning run, Lucas Scott welcomed the rowdy atmosphere, the atypical morning around the Scott house. The television was blaring from the living room, the cartoons marring any other sounds that could be heard throughout the rest of the apartment.
He toed off his shoes and pulled off his hoodie, throwing it haphazardly on the bench beside the front door. He untucked his shirt, wincing as Haley's loud voice streamed in from the kitchen. She was talking on the phone and had resorted to yelling over the roar of the TV. She pointed toward the living room and he nodded his head in understanding.
He crossed into the adjoining room, grabbing the remote control off the coffee table to turn down the volume. The volume decreased and peace was restored. The preschoolers sitting on the floor weren't pleased by his action, however. James and Lily turned to glare at him, but once they saw it was him their expressions softened, their little mouths twisting into smiles.
He fell onto the sofa, patting his sides, beckoning them. They scrambled to their feet and ran to meet him. Lucas hefted them onto the sofa with him, watching as they curled up on either side of him. "So what are we watching?" he asked, fully prepared for the rambling dual explanation that followed from both.
After the enticing and equally exciting episode of Spongebob had concluded, Lucas left James and Lily on the sofa and adjourned into the kitchen where Haley was just finishing breakfast, having had concluded her phone conversation.
"Thank you for getting them settled," she thanked him, swatting his hand when he stole a slice of bacon off the tray that she was transporting to the table.
"I told you to hide the remote, Hales." He knew that Lily especially had a penchant for turning the TV up to its maximum level. He constantly fussed at her about it, but still she kept on doing it. It had become so habitual that he'd resorted to hiding the remote control from her. Unfortunately she was so attuned to the goings on around her, she knew all of his hiding places therefore located the remote every damn time.
Haley set the tray of bacon on the table between the pan of biscuits and the jars of jellies — grape for him and strawberry for James and Lily. "I swear they're exactly like us when we were that age."
Lucas fumbled through the cabinets for a coffee mug. He plucked one out as he told her, "Hey, I was only bad because you corrupted me."
Haley poked him in his side playfully as he poured coffee into his 'Decaffeinated Coffee!! Useless Brown Water' mug. Haley had forced him to switch to decaffeinated coffee after his heart attack back in high school. For Christmas that year she'd bought him the funny mug. Her wit was astounding.
"Get the kids in here," she told him, crossing to the refrigerator to get the carton of orange juice.
"Hey munchkins!" Lucas yelled. "It's time for breakfast." As Lucas settled at the table, he heard the clicking off of the TV followed by the patter of little feet as James and Lily ran in from the living room. They took seat on either side of Lucas, quiet and waiting patiently for their juice.
"Why can't you two be that good for me?" Haley asked them, setting the carton of orange juice on the table.
James was the first to speak, holding his cup out to her. "Well cuz if we're bad for Uncle Luke it'll hurt his heart." Haley gaped while James looked at Lucas, shooting him a thumbs up.
Haley shook her head, filling the children's glasses with juice. "Unbelievable," she muttered, taking her seat across from Lucas. "Okay, guys. Dig in." She watched as the two children dug into their food, biscuits crumbs and jelly splattering on the placemats. Haley tore her eyes away from the children, looking to Lucas who was staring down at his empty plate, obviously lost in thought. She knew that he was pretty wary for the weekend reunion. She wasn't looking forward to it, either, but then again she wasn't going to be seeing an ex like Lucas was. "So…," she began warily, "do you think everyone is going to show up tomorrow night?"
Lucas shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it." Haley gave him a disbelieving look. It was a moot point lying to her and he should know better than to even try. After all she knew him best.
Yes, he was nervous about seeing Peyton again after all this time and he was doing his best not to let it show. But Haley knew him so well that he didn't have to show it; he just had to feel it and she just knew.
"You're such a liar," Haley said, sitting back in her chair. She crossed her arms in front of her, glaring at Lucas from her side of the table. He sipped at his coffee and said nothing as he often did.
But what he didn't say was said by someone else. "That's not polite, Mom," James pointed out to her, waving a slice of bacon with one hand.
"Yeah, Aunt Haley," Lily added, shaking her tiny pink polished fingernail at Haley. "You're not supposed to call someone a liar."
Haley glanced from James to Lily, shaking her head in disgust. She couldn't win for losing whenever Lucas was around. He was their hero; though, as heroes went, they couldn't have a better one, she thought fondly.
Lucas snickered from his side of the table, lifting his hands to high five James and Lily. The three of them shared a giggle to which Haley couldn't help but join in on. It was fruitless to find the three of them anything short of adorable.
After breakfast had been cleared away and the kids had been shipped back into the living room and settled with a movie, Lucas and Haley moved outside. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the weather was warm, it was hard to not enjoy it.
They settled onto the wrought iron chairs that were littered around the circular table. Lucas settled into a chair and propped his feet on the metal railing, crisscrossing his hands behind his head. "Okay. Out with it." He knew that Haley had been waiting to ream him with questions, but had only refused herself due to the children butting in during breakfast. They always had to have their adult conversations out of earshot of James and Lily; the two of them tended to add their two cents whether they knew what was going on or not.
"I don't want you to lie to yourself, Lucas," she began hesitantly, "I know that you want to see her, but I also know that you're probably scared to see her, too. You've both changed over the past few years." She touched his knee. "You, for the better." She paused for a moment, looked away. "I see a lot of Keith in you."
He smiled at that, taking it as a compliment which he was sure had been her intention. "It's not that I don't want to see her. I wouldn't know what to say to her if I did see her." He had gone over that conversation so many times in his head but he had no doubt that the real thing would be a hundred times more excruciating than what he had imagined.
"Do you still think…?" Haley began but trailed off. She didn't need to fully formulate the question; Lucas knew exactly what she was asking.
"I don't know. Sometimes. I guess on some unconscious level I have been waiting if my dating record for the past few years is any indication." He turned his head toward Haley. "But I have Lily to think of now. A reconciliation with Peyton is just…," his words caught and disappeared into the air. "I can't have her walking in and out or our lives as she so pleases. My mom didn't allow it with me and I'm not going to do that to Lily."
Haley twisted in her seat to look through the glass of the sliding glass door at the children. They were stretched out on the floor in front of the television, their eyes glued to Finding Nemo.
"I just want you to be happy, Luke and you were at your happiest when you were with Peyton. You've lost a lot these last few years and I think if you can get something back, then you should at least try." Lucas opened his mouth to say something, but Haley held up her hands, shushing him. "I know, I know. Haley, butt out. I am. You sit here and brood and I'm going to go dress the kids and get them ready to go to the park." She stood up, asking, "You're coming with us, aren't you?"
Lucas nodded his head. "Yeah. I'll be inside in a sec."
Lucas sat staring off into space long after Haley had disappeared into the apartment. She was right. He had lost a lot the last few years. First Keith then Peyton and then his mom. Lily, James and Haley were the only bright spots left in his life of darkness.
He wouldn't make a decision now. He would wait and see if Peyton would even bother to show up at the Rivercourt tomorrow night when everyone was scheduled to meet.
Then and only then he would decide if he was done waiting.
—
Peyton Sawyer stared at her empty suitcase, knowing full well that she should've been packed long before now. She was going home to Tree Hill for the first time in four years and she was scared shitless. She was scared about the memories that would bombard her being back in her hometown, around her friends, around him.
She was going home for good this time, though no one knew that yet. Not even Brooke. She was hesitant enough to return for Skills and Bevin's wedding, but going home to go home? That was scaring her the most.
Peyton chewed on her fingernails, her eyes shooting between her bare travel bag to her bedside clock to take in the boxes littering her apartment. Her plane was leaving in less than two hours. She needed to get a move on.
Yet, she procrastinated.
Her eyes shifted to her nightstand, focusing on her beside clock. Then they slid to the framed photograph that had sat by her bed for the past four years, the one that she stared at every night when she climbed into the bed, the one that was a constant reminder of the life that she left behind in Tree Hill.
She crossed the room, plucking up the silver plated photograph, staring down at the happiness etched on their faces.
Things were supposed to be different for them. They were supposed to be like Nathan and Haley. Together, and happy.
But then she'd gone to Los Angeles and the distance had taken a toll on them. They'd agreed that it was for the best and parted on good terms, though that wasn't to say that they had stayed in touch the last four years.
She remembered him telling her that he would wait as long as it would take. She wondered if he had. A part of her hoped that he had, but then there was that other part, the part that hoped that he hadn't. Lucas deserved so much more than she could offer, but yet she still hoped, still wanted.
Sighing, she plucked her cell phone from off the bed, speed dialed four and waited. The line was picked up on the second ring; she must've been waiting. "Okay what is your trauma now, P. Sawyer?" Brooke spat into the phone.
Even though her relationship with Lucas had crashed and burned her friendship with Brooke was stronger than ever. Brooke had been there to mend her broken heart after she and Lucas had ended their relationship and had stuck by her side through the later events, the events that had kept her from returning to Tree Hill and to Lucas.
Peyton fell down onto her bed, huffing, "I don't know what to pack."
"Unless you plan on seducing Lucas while we're home, I'm gonna have to suggest clothes," Brooke teased, busily packing her own suitcase. "Honey, why are you freaking out over this so much. It's just a weekend. It's not like he's gonna…," Brooke trailed off, her words catching on her tongue. The last thing that she wanted to do was upset Peyton anymore than she already was and talking about It would only do that.
Peyton silenced for a moment, realizing what it was that Brooke was going to say. They rarely talked about what had happened after her breakup with Lucas. It was still painful to think about; it was even more so to live through. "It's Lucas, Brooke," she pointed out wryly as if that explained everything. Which, now that she thought about it, it pretty much did — or, well, it should.
"The Lucas that you're still in love with?" Lucas and Peyton had agreed mutually that breaking up would be best for the both of them since they were on opposites sides of the U.S. However, that didn't mean that their feelings for one another simply went away. Hell, even throughout her relationship with Lucas their feelings for each other had never changed. Then again there was always some part of her that had known (even unconsciously) that Lucas belonged with Peyton; it had taken Peyton a little longer than everyone else to realize what everyone else had known all along.
Peyton sighed, ignoring her best friend. Yes, she still loved Lucas. However, that didn't mean that she was ready to jumpstart a relationship. Her life was in L.A. now and Luke's would forever be in Tree Hill. That was the cold reality that she had spent the last four years coming to grips with. Their lives no longer meshed therefore how could they?
"Look, Peyton, this is something that you have to face head-on. Once you see him it'll all be clear."
"What will be?" Peyton asked, confused as to where Brooke was heading.
"You. Him. Your relationship. You can deny it all you want, but you love him and you miss him and all you want is for him to tell you that he wants you back."
Peyton gnawed on her bottom lip as she stared up at the ceiling, Brooke's words ringing true in her head. As much as she hated to admit it, Brooke was right. She loved her work, but who was she kidding? It all meant naught if she couldn't share it with Lucas. He was the one person that had always believed in her, who always forced her to tackle her dreams head-on.
She sat up and slid off her bed. She crossed her bedroom toward her closet, pushing the doors open. She reached for the light on the wall, flipping it up. Her closet flooded with light as she said into the phone, "So I was thinking of bringing that little black dress that you made me…," she said, grinning to herself, despite the nervous flip of her stomach.
