A/N Okay this fic is VERY AU.

Set in a foster Home in Tree Hill. Lucas is 16, he has been in foster care for 12 years after Karen killed herself when he was three and left him with Dan who abandoned Lucas and disappeared. Lucas is a loner, he just reads and listens to music and doesn't really have any friends. Think beginning of Season One Lucas but a bitter, angrier person.

So when Peyton arrives at the foster home after her Dad is sent to prison for fraud Lucas' life is turned upside down.

This fic is basically about the pair of them struggling to get through High School, both being outcasts and both haunted by their pasts. Can Lucas help Peyton adjust to her new life? Can Peyton break through Lucas' shell and teach him to let people in

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Lucas watched through the window as the other kids shrieked and laughed, running around the garden trying to escape the cold blasts of water emanating from the hosepipe.

He sighed and rolled over on the couch, leaning his head against the arm rest and looking up at the ceiling. He was the oldest one here, the only person close to his age was 13 and a girl and he wasn't exactly going to have an in-depth serious conversation with a 13 year old.

So mainly he just kept himself to himself and he liked it that way. If he had no-one, there was no one to hurt him, no one to abandon him. People always leave.

He pulled on his earphones and turned up the volume on his walkman trying to block out the laughing from outside. This was how his life was, he was in a house with 6 other children and two adults but the whole time he just felt alone. He was alone.

He had been in the fostering system for 12 years, being bumped around from home to home practically his whole life. He'd get put into a family and then he'd get taken out of one, he was too much hassle for most people. They didn't like the way he didn't talk, he just sat and read or listened to music and he had never really fitted in anywhere so he was sent back and that was the things were for his whole life.

He'd watched most of the children around him get taken away into loving families and they had never come back. At 16, he knew there was no chance for him. Afterall, who wants to adopt a teenager? A cute baby or toddler maybe? But a 16 year old? He'd just stay here until he was 18 and then he'd hit the road and make a life for himself.

Some people called him a loner, a nerd others a badboy because he smoked and he wasn't afraid to hit someone if they were out of line but most people just thought he was just weird because he read all the time, was rarely seen without headphones on, he had no friends and rarely spoke…

As he paused the track he was listening to he heard a knock at the door. Must be the new girl he thought. They were told this morning that a new girl was coming and they all had to welcome her into the house. They knew the drill. It would be another kid that would stay here for a while before moving away and living happily ever after.

Even though he couldn't really talk to the kids, even though he didn't hang out with them all the time they did have some sort of relationship. If they needed help, he'd give it to them. If they were getting bullied or if some kid was picking on them he'd sort it out. Even though he was the older quieter one they always seemed to look to him for help and protection and he gave it to them, because he knew how it felt to be alone.

No one really spoke to him unless they needed something but he didn't mind. He was better off by himself anyway. He could hear Jack and Emily, the owners of the group home, talking to someone at the door and he sighed and started playing his music again, the new person was here then.

XxxxX

Peyton swallowed as she looked around the hallway she was standing in, she could hear children laughing and screaming outside as she looked around. So this was her new home? She thought sadly.

The woman talking to her seemed nice enough but she just didn't want to be here. She wanted to be at home, in Wilmington in her own house. She wanted her dad. Why did she have to do this?

"So Peyton, your room is upstairs. We've given you your own room because we didn't think you'd be too thrilled to have a room with one of the younger kids." The woman said with a smile and Peyton forced a weak one back, she wasn't too thrilled to be here, period.

How could things have got so messed up so quickly? Just a few weeks ago she would be sitting at home with her dad and now she was in a house full of strangers.

"Um…am I the oldest here?" She asked. She didn't think she could cope with living in a house full of 6 year olds.

The woman smiled.

"Oh no, Lucas is the same age as you. He's in the living room right now…I'll get him to show you around" She said whilst Peyton just nodded silently not sure how to respond.

The smiley woman walked across the hall and peered through a doorway.

"Lucas? Peyton is new here, I'm just sorting out her room. Why don't you show her around? Be nice okay?"

Peyton stood there awkwardly, her hands in her pockets as she heard one half of the conversation going on. This all suddenly felt so real, the past week she had been wishing this would all be a dream, wishing that her Dad would still be at home and she would be with him, not in some foster home at the age of 16. Why couldn't she just live at home alone?

The woman re-emerged and shot her a warm smile.

"He's just in the lounge right now. I'll just be upstairs if you need anything. I know this must be hard but things will be okay." She said and Peyton forced a smile.

"Yeah." She said weakly. How could they be okay? Her dad was in prison and now she had no one.

The woman smiled again and walked off up the stairs leaving Peyton alone in the hallway. She looked over to the open door, she could hear the TV and she sighed. She didn't want to do this…

Lucas sighed as he sat up. He didn't want to show some kid around the place. He barely even remembered his first stay in a foster home, the only thing he remembered was waking up in an unfamiliar room with another kid sleeping in the bed next to him and being grateful he wasn't sleeping on the floor again.

H heard someone walking through the door and swallowed as his gaze fell on the girl in front of him, her golden blonde girls framed her face as she looked down, her hazel eyes shining slightly, her black t-shirt clung to her tightly and her hands were shoved into the pockets of her jeans. She looked up as he entered and their gazes immediately met. He stared at her for a few seconds, both of them just staring in silence before he looked away and cleared his throat.

"Hey." He mumbled

"Hey" She replied looking the guy…Lucas…up and down. If she weren't in these circumstances she would have thought he was cute but that was the last thing on her mind right now.

"I'm Lucas." He said and she nodded silently.

"Peyton."

She stood there for a while in silence, not sure of what to do next before Lucas cleared his throat and looked back up.

"You can sit down you know." He sat motioning to the couch and she nodded and walked over, sitting down on the large, rather battered old couch.

He looked away and picked up the remote not sure of how to start a conversation. At least there was someone his age around here now he thought as he began to flick through channels, searching for something to watch so he could have an excuse to sit there in silence without having to talk.

Peyton watched as the boy flicked through hundreds of channels, never settling on a particular show. She looked away and sighed. Well this was a great start. She thought darkly. As he continued to flick she could feel herself growing more and more irritated.

"Can you stop that?" She asked, annoyed. Lucas stared at her before frowning.

"Whatever…there's nothing on anyway." He said tossing the remote to her, she glared at him…great now she was living with a dick. She switched the TV over to Kerrang and set it down..

She looked up at the ceiling and sighed to herself. She just wanted her Dad…She didn't want to be here.

Lucas stared at her and sighed. She was pretty quiet, well she wasn't exactly going to be talkative on her first day here…and he wasn't the most sociable of people. He sat up and looked across at her, aware of him looking.

"Yes?" She asked. She didn't mean to sound so rude but honestly she didn't care right now, she was pissed off that she had to be here. Lucas swallowed.

"So why are you here?" He asked

She blinked and stared at him, slightly taken aback by how forthright he was.

"Sorry, what?" She asked.

"Why are you here? Everyone has a reason."

She stared at him and he sighed, sitting up.

"Okay, take Tom…that boy over there." He said gesturing out the window.

"He's here because his mom was a crack addict and he got taken away from her, no one knows where his dad is so he was put here. Amy, that blonde girl to the left of him, her parents died in a car crash two years ago…So, why are you here?" He asked suddenly realising this was the most he had talked for about a month.

Peyton frowned and looked away. Should she tell him? Of all people she was probably safest telling someone here, afterall they all had similar backgrounds right? Maybe it would be good to get things off her chest, actually talk about things? She thought.

"Um…well my mum died when I was 7, in a car accident and my dad always took care of me. We had money problems and he couldn't pay the bills or the taxes so he ran some scam to put food on the table, he got caught and now he's doing 8 years just for trying to make ends meet. The judge wouldn't let me live alone because I'm a minor so now I'm stuck in her." She said trying to cut things down as much as possible, it still hurt to talk about things, especially about her Dad.

She looked at Lucas, watching for a reaction but she received nothing other than a nod, almost as if her whole story was nothing out of the ordinary.

"I'm sorry about you Dad." He said sounding as if he actually meant it. She smiled slightly.

"Thanks."

Another silence lingered in the air and Peyton watched Lucas curiously, this guy was weird, she thought. There was just something off about him, something different. He seemed arrogant, cocky but that was nothing out of the ordinary with guys.

"So, what's your story then?" She asked, leaning forward. He looked at her before looking away and sighing. He swung his legs around and stood up.

"I need a cigarette. Don't tell Jack or Emily I'm smoking, they'll hit the roof again." He said avoiding her eyes and pulling a cigarette from the packet in his pocket, he quickly left the room before she could ask anymore questions, leaving Peyton alone.

She watched him leave in confusion, why had he just completely dodged that question? So she had told him everything but he hadn't told her anything about him? What was up with this guy? Why was he so defensive?

She sighed. She had to go to a new high school in a few days, make new friends and start everything all over again. She felt her eyes prickling with tears but she blinked quickly, she wasn't going to cry. She was stronger than that.

XxxxX

Lucas took a long drag on the warm cigarette in his hands and leant against the wall.

There was something different about the new girl. She's his age but he knew she would probably talk to him here but as soon as they went to school she would ditch him like everyone else and he would be alone. But if he distanced himself, didn't let anyone in then there was no one to abandon him. He wouldn't get hurt. If he didn't let her in he'd be okay.

A/N Loved it? Hated it? Let me know, drop me a review and tell me if you want me to continue!