A/N – Song is City of Devils by Yellowcard, this is my first one-shot so please be nice! R/R!

Peyton fell into his arms as even more tears began to fall. Her eyes glanced from the lawn, covered in broken glass, to Lucas, her knight in shining armor. His worried expression unknowingly caused Peyton even more pain. Peyton closed her eyes tight, in an attempt to erase the events from before, yet when her eyes closed, those same events came crashing down, the only thing she could see was his face, and the only thing she could hear where her own cries for help. A single gasp escaped her throat as she opened her eyes. Only to see Lucas looking in to her eyes, holding her tighter.

"It's okay, I'm here now Peyt. He isn't going to hurt you anymore"

Man once sang to me
Look at you saving the world on your own

"You keep risking your life for me, and I love you for it, but you have to take care of yourself. Luke you can't keep saving me." Tears began to fall as Peyton looked towards the ground.

And I wonder how things going to be
As the time here it passes so slow

His finger lifted her chin, as he gazed into her eyes. "I'm always going to save you Peyton, I'll do whatever I have to do to keep you here, to keep you safe. 'Cause Peyton, you saved me along time ago, just let me repay you"

In a city of devils we live
A city of devils we live

A smile escaped her lips as Peyton rested her head against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, and soothing her own aching heart.

"What would I do without you?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Because quite frankly, without Lucas, she wouldn't do anything, he had saved her life many times. Without him she could be dead or even worse, without Lucas, she might have kept those walls around her, she might not have ever felt love, or the loss of love. Lucas had taught her so many things, and as much as she had wanted to tell him this many times, the words never formed onto her lips.

"Well you would have one less handsomely brooding friend," a smile escaped his lips as he heard a slight giggle from the beautiful blonde he was holding in his arms. He gently pushed away a curl covering her eyes, "Let's not even worry about that, cause I promise you, I'm not going anywhere Peyton"Find somebody to learn
Boy, you gotta love someone more than yourself

"Luke?" she asked, her voice small and scared.

"Yah Peyt?"

"I love you, you know that?"

Flashback

Tears formed in Peyton's eyes as she looked into his. She hated how she felt, how without even knowing it, he could have her heart, completely, and unconditionally; that if he just said "I want you" she would be his. With one look, from his piercing blue eyes, it was like he was reading her. Like he saw through her edgy and private façade, like he saw the real Peyton. The insecure, scared and hurt Peyton, that Brooke, nor could her father see. And what hurt Peyton the most, was that Lucas did not even know he had these powers.

"Hey, I love you, you know that?" He said, so casually and scripted that it made her heart break with the desire for it to be real. But he had Brooke, this gorgeous, confident girl that could bring the attention of an entire room with just one word. No one would exchange the outgoing Brooke for Peyton. She just couldn't compare.

Suddenly Peyton thought of all the moments she had shared with Lucas, from their first meeting to the school shooting, things would never be the same between them, Peyton so desperately wanted a moment, a stand-still moment in which he would feel the same about her.

"I love you too" the words escaped her lips, covered in tears of heartbreak and hopes of something more.

End Flashback

"I love you too Peyton"


I can feel the fire of the city lights burn
And it's hard to find Angels in Hell

Lucas looked down at her, and for the first time in a long time, he really looked at her. He noticed the way her curls covered her face, and the way her unshed tears lay atop her hazel eyes. He noticed her lips, and the way that she could look so broken and yet so beautiful all in one instance. For that second, Lucas saw the old Peyton, the Peyton that was so hurt and yet so determined to stay strong, and to keep fighting. The Peyton he had fallen in love with so long ago.

Flying alone
And I
Feel like I don't belong
And I
Can't tell right from the wrong
And why have I been here so long?

Minutes passed as Peyton retold the horrific story to the police and Lucas got checked out by the paramedics.

Once it was all done, Lucas walked over to Peyton, admiring her beauty as she held onto the itchy blue police distributed blanket. She looked broken, and it killed him that he could not pick up the pieces and put her back together again, and hold her forever.

"Peyt, do you want to stay at my house tonight?"

A relieved expression crossed her face, "I thought you would never ask"

In a city of devils we live
A city of devils we live

The drive to Lucas' was quite, he did not push her to talk, and she chose the Peyton Sawyer method of bottling it all up inside.

Lucas helped her into his room and cleared his bed off. "I'm just going to go talk to my mom and I'll be back, can I get you anything?"

"Water, please" she asked, quietly as she watched him nod his head and walk into the hallway.

Peyton's eyes scanned the room as she glanced at the books covering walls of shelves, her eyes finally landing on a picture of Lucas and herself, fooling around at Rachel's cottage months before.

Peyton knew she had to tell him, but before she could decide when to do it, he walked into the room carrying a glass of water and a plate of cookies.

Lucas handed her the glass of water, "My mom says you can stay for as long as you need to, I'm starving so I figured you might be too" he said, offering the plate of cookies her way. Peyton gladly accepted one of them as she broke a piece off and bit into it.

"Luke, can I ask you something"

"Sure"

Peyton took a deep breath, "What do you think would have happened between us, if- if you and Brooke hadn't gotten together"

"I don't know Peyt, why?"

"I've needed to tell you something, for a really long time, but I just haven't been able to find the words – or the courage - to tell you."

"What is it?"

"For as long as I can remember I've been alone, I mean I had Brooke and Nathan, but it was never enough, I mean there was always part of me that they could never see. And then I met you, and suddenly, my whole life became this complicated thing, and these walls that I had made where brought down, and I didn't think that was possible, yet it was you that did it. Luke, my whole life people have left, and I just thought that you would be another guy that would play with my heart and then break it or leave. But you didn't and you haven't. Two years ago I gave you my heart, and you chose Brooke, so I moved on, or at least I tried to. But you've always had my heart Lucas, you always will. I – I love you Lucas, and I'm sorry for telling you all of this and ruining our friendsh"

Suddenly Peyton was cut off by his lips crashing into hers.

Questions I can't seem to find
To the answers I already have

The kiss was long and passionate, as the feelings they had been bottling up for years came flowing through, tongues intertwining as their hands explored each others bodies.

Peyton pulled away, attempting to steady her breathing. "You cut me off!" she joked as she lightly hit his arm.

Lucas looked into her eyes, gently holding her shoulders.

"I love you too Peyton, I always have but I've been too stupid or too blind to realize it, and I'm ashamed that it took you having to tell me all those beautiful things for me to realize it."

And you can't see the sky here at night
So I guess I can't make my way back

"I want us, I want this. I want you, Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer"

They kissed again as Lucas laced his fingers through her curls, gently laying her onto the bed as their kiss deepened.

What if I wanted you here
Right now
Would you fall in the fire burn me down

Passion engulfed their senses as the simple kiss became so much more.

In a city of devils we live
a city of devils we live
In a city of...

For just one night, their worries and doubts subsided as they let themselves be truly saved by each other. Everything they had wanted for so long came into reach and it became so much more then what anyone else could see it as.