PROLOGUE
Her first sight of him was during one of Tree Hill's burning boat tradition. She saw him and immediately felt drawn to his eerie but most interestingly presence. He was new in town, and she's heard that he was the half-brother of her best friend and even though she wanted so much to welcome him sincerely, she couldn't.
Nathan hated him, and he made it clear to her that she had to hate him too in terms of best friend code. She insisted that that wasn't the right way to approach the situation, but Nathan would have none of it.
She later learned that his name was Lucas, and that he was rapidly becoming another hotshot in school, and if Nathan thought he couldn't hate him even more, he did.
It was clear for him too how much Nathan hated him, and he felt the same way if not even worse. They gave each other looks in the hallway and always hated being around one another and what made it worse was the fact that he was deemed to be stealing Nathan's reputation in the school and that was something he honestly didn't want.
Lucas became part of the Ravens and he'd definitely altered the stereotype of a jock in all terms and that infuriated Nathan even more. He was ranking first in the school and was almost voted as captain until Nathan made the winning shot in one of their most important games, altering the decision of the coach.
He was in three of her classes and her favorite was English. He became the teacher's favorite when he had to read his first essay in class and had left most girls in tears by the way he'd written and read it aloud. He was a literature geek, a basketball player and was definitely hot. She couldn't believe someone like that could've ever existed.
She'd told Nathan once that he was actually quite like his brother even if he didn't know it and he got a full on one hour rant about why she should never compare him to someone who was obviously full of himself and she resisted the urge to point out that he was the same too.
Over the summer, she'd entered a draw and although she never expected it to actually happen, she had won a trip to LA with a free stay at a hotel and given allowance. She spent most of her days on the beach if not either shopping with a few people she'd met and had about ten flings that she knew Nathan would totally be proud of.
When she came back almost a month and a half later, things had changed drastically. Nathan had told her that it started a week after she left. He was looking for a place to play other than the park and saw his 'brother' playing by himself in an abandoned court by the river.
He challenged him to a one-on-one and as hard as it was for Nathan to admit, his brother had won and what surprised him was that he was waiting for some smug satisfaction or even endless insults but none of that came. Instead, he was complimented.
He told her that since then, they'd been playing that court and eventually started sharing their life stories with one another. They bonded over basketball and their hatred towards their father after Lucas had found out that Dan had also left Nathan's family when he turned six.
When she asked him if he could introduce him to her, Nathan almost ranted about how it was forbidden for his brother and his best friend to ever start dating. She ignored him and commented instead on how he'd called him his brother. Nathan shrugged and said that Lucas was pretty cool and that he was indeed proud of the number of flings she had and that her tan was sexy as hell.
School started again and although Nathan tried his best to keep Peyton out of the way whenever he was hanging out with Lucas, it just seemed impossible because Peyton became an official Ravens cheerleader and was in every damn practice and secret parties.
She glanced at him every chance she had and she knew it was silly to have a crush at her age, but she knew she was crushing on her best friend's brother so bad. Every practice, when his shirt got a little too sweaty for his liking, he'd throw it on the bleacher and he'd play halfway without a shirt on and it would've been totally okay hadn't he had one of the sexiest body she'd ever laid eyes on.
She noticed things too, like the way he smirked around girls, the same smirk Nathan had and it was driving her crazy. She'd see him across the library reading a book and he made it really hard for her to focus on her studies when he was licking his lips and running a hand through his hair every now and then.
Her feelings got worse when Nathan told her that Lucas was dating one of her co-cheerleaders that she honestly didn't even know was in the team. She'd pass the hallways and see him pinning her on the lockers, both of them having a full on make-out session. It hurt, to say the least, especially when it was dawning on her that she would never have a chance with him due to the simple fact that he actually never looked at her since the day he came to Tree Hill.
Halfway through sophomore year, she began ignoring her feelings no matter how strong they were and focused instead on the scholarship she was trying to obtain and driving out of town with Nathan once in a while.
Nathan told her he was glad that Lucas was getting laid, and although she really wished he didn't talk about him and all the crap he's doing, she couldn't really tell him that and so she just laughed and told him that they were indeed brothers.
She asked Nathan what they usually talk about and he just looked at her as if she was crazy for asking him that.
She was walking one day and came upon a café she hadn't seen before and decided to try it out. She regretted it immediately though after she realized that Lucas worked here after seeing him serving some student in another booth.
He asked for her order and she told him she wanted the best and he told her she couldn't. When she looked up to ask him why, he just laughed and told her in a joking manner that he was already taken and she really wanted to tell him that it didn't matter, but she knew it did. She just didn't want it to.
Summer break came once again and her days were spent in the river court either watching Nathan play and listening to music or going to the beach with him. She loved the beach, and Nathan did too.
Lucas tagged along one afternoon and it was all in her self-control not to jump at him and just kiss him because he looked so damn gorgeous when beads of water were trailing down his toned torso and glistening under the sun.
She didn't know how, but even though they were in the same place, he never talked or even looked at her and it kind of really bothered her. She didn't know if he hated her or just felt like ignoring her but she thought that it was really rude of him to disregard her presence when she was obviously just there.
Furious, she asked him what was his problem and he told her with confidence that it was her. She didn't know what it meant and not even sure if she wanted to so she just told Nathan she wanted to leave and she was glad he didn't question her and just told her jokingly that he didn't want to get too burned.
Several days passed, and all those days she never stopped thinking about him and what he said. Suddenly, all her feelings for him had somehow turned into dislike. Or so she'd forced herself to say.
She was on her way to the record store one day when she was just suddenly pulled in an alley. She would've screamed, had she not already known who it was just because of that damned cologne.
She was unsure why he did that very thing he just did and even more so when he apologized for the way he acted, and as much as she wanted to just brush him off, she couldn't. He told her he'd make up for it and asked her if she wanted to get a drink. She did, actually, and he was glad.
They've both had a little too much to drink that night and ended up in her house, her somehow waiting for something she wasn't sure was ever going to happen, and him, waiting for her to initiate something.
He was drunk and he felt a little extra confident that night so he thought to hell with it and kissed her and she kissed him back, and it was a blur after that. Clothes were strewn around her house, touches were needy and kisses were raw and passionate. She loved it. He loved it even more.
They woke up sometime in the afternoon and were both confused and shocked as to why they were naked and how they ended up there, but it all came rushing back to them and when he looked at her like he was about to apologize, she shook her head and asked him if she was just another girl he slept with. He told her she wasn't and left without another word.
Weeks have gone by and she was starting to get insane thinking about what had happened that night. She could still feel the way his hands caressed her body and the way he kissed her and that special spot he found on the base of her neck.
It was a month later when he knocked on her door and told her that he couldn't take it anymore. What he couldn't take anymore was something she honestly didn't know, but she let him speak and she had the biggest shock of her life right there and then.
Lucas went on about how she'd never left her mind since the first day he saw her walking along with Nathan and that every damn time she passed the hallways would be torture knowing that he couldn't even look at her because Nathan would be beside her or she would just be too busy to even notice him looking at her.
He went on and on about how it killed him when she was just right there and yet it seemed she was so far because Nathan always came to his mind and how he knew it'd ruin their relationship if he ever pursued his feelings towards her.
He also told her that those girls he 'dated' were girls that Nathan hooked him up with, and as much as he wanted to deny, he also wanted to get over her after being warned off by his brother that he could never date his best friend.
He wrapped his arms around her when she started crying and told him she's felt the same all this time and it angered him to be the cause of her tears and also because he let his fear get the best of him when the most perfect girl he's ever laid eyes on was just around the corner all along.
They both started hanging out secretly since then, always by each other's side whenever they had the chance and they became official two weeks before school started, Nathan oblivious to everything happening.
He took her out whenever Nathan would practice ball and they would spend the night cooped up in each other's arms watching movies or making out in her room. He told her that he was sorry she waited so long for him to make a move. She told him it made everything much memorable.
She learned things about him every day and the same for him. He'd commented how it was like figuring out a book, and she just laughed at him. He told her it was his favorite and just like that, the butterflies were back.
Junior year came about and it was truly a trial for their relationship, especially due to the fact that no one knew they were both taken. Lucas had girls flocking to his side and his teammates were eyeing his girl every practice and both were jealous to say the least.
They had their real first fight when she saw a girl flirting with him and he looked like he was doing the same. She told him that she was sick and tired of guys lying to her and that he was just like them.
A week later, he went to her and she yelled and was just about to break up with him when he'd blurted out that he loved her. He genuinely did, and said that girl was nothing and she was just interpreting things the wrong way. He repeated it again and again until she calmed down and they had their first make-up sex, which Lucas told her later on, was the best ever. She suggested they should fight more often, and he told her that if that meant hot make-up sex, then he was all for it.
The school year passed and their relationship got stronger and stronger. She'd admitted in one of their dates that she loved him and that she doesn't think she's loved anyone the same way and he kissed her, simply because he doesn't think anything could've made that moment any more perfect.
They've become so good at hiding their relationship to Nathan that they forgot that he was having a fling with one of their school's gossip freak and so when that skank told him that his brother was fucking his best friend behind his back, he was raging.
It's understandable because he treated her like a sister and protected her like one, and so when he found out through someone else, it drove him crazy and even lead to punching Lucas when he found out that they'd also kissed during sophomore prom.
He ignored the two of them the whole summer and she hated every day that she couldn't go to him and ask him how his day was. Lucas tried his best to amend the situation and apologize but Nathan would hear none of it and closed the door on his face.
Those three months did well to the younger Scott, making him eventually realize that his brother indeed loved her and was hell bent on making sure he knew it. He'd admitted to Lucas the day before school started that he was a little mad that he took away the only girl he loved aside from his mother and assured him that if he made her cry, he'd get more than just a punch in the face.
Lucas related it to her later on and she immediately drove to her best friend and spent the whole day with him, making sure he knew how much she loved him and would always be his best friend no matter what. He told her he was happy for her, and he really truly was.
The three of them were inseparable after that and by the end of their high school year, Peyton was giving her valedictorian speech, Lucas was being awarded as salutatorian and Nathan accepting his award for MVP of the year.
They even won the state championship.
They got scholarships to Duke and without even as much a second thought accepted it, ready to start another chapter in their life.
They all moved out of their own houses three weeks after school ended and relished in the fact that they were going to be having so much fun. Due to Duke's requirement that they live on campus, they had no choice but to appease to their wants. Nathan and Lucas turned out to be roommates and her with another blonde girl who openly admitted to her that she got admitted just because she was very rich and pretty.
They became Duke's headline immediately and were considered 'popular' by most students after two months. They reined the halls, and loved every college party they attended so far.
That was too early to say, since after a week, they'd been invited to another party where she was drugged and was about to be raped by three men had the two brothers not come to her rescue sooner. Had the campus police not come, Nathan sworn he could've killed them.
Lucas wanted to transfer after that, and Nathan, although loving the attention they were getting was starting to realize that Duke was getting a little crazy indeed. Hazing was in town and Lucas and he had gotten frequent beatings from frats across. She was worried, and even more so when she would be the one trying to clean their wounds.
Nathan hooked up with her roommate and after three weeks told her he didn't like her anymore and the girl wasn't quite happy about that and blamed everything on her. She, just like the two of them got into quite the turmoil and was beaten by psychotic sorority girls.
The news broke out during their finals and to say they were happy would be an underestimation to the face-splitting grin they all wore when they were called to the principal's office that day.
Lucas and Nathan were called in due to the fact that their athletic performance were getting so much attention that a certain basketball team wanted to take them on for early preparation and start playing pro as soon as possible. They were thrilled, and she was crying when they told her.
She got a letter from NYU from the arts faculty and was offered yet another scholarship and it was perfect because Lucas and Nathan were going to New York to train and she was too. She doesn't really know whom to thank, but she looked up and smiled, thanking whoever it was that listened to her for making everything turn out okay.
They moved out once the semester had ended and flew to New York where a four-bedroom apartment waited for them, provided by NYU for her scholarship. She doesn't know why it had so many rooms, but she figured it was good since she was going to be with the love of her life and her best friend. Perfect, Lucas had said.
She loved NYU immediately and wondered why she hadn't chosen to go there in the first place. Lucas and Nathan decided they'd see where the road takes them before admitting into NYU to continue their studies.
Within a year, Lucas and Nathan were playing pro for the New York Knicks and she was student body president of NYU and selling her art like she was Leonardo Da Vinci. Their paychecks were bomb.
So now, at 19, she was living the dream with the only man she's ever loved so sincerely with all her heart and the best friend she could ever ask for.
Nathan told her one night that he finally found out what he and Lucas had and common and she laughed, wondering how it was that he remembered that when she had forgotten it already. She asked him what nevertheless and he'd told her it was her.
When she asked him to elaborate, he explained that all his life, he'd cared for only one girl like family other than his mother and that was her. He said that Lucas told him the same thing one day and both agreed they'd protect her no matter what.
She started crying and Nathan teased her about it endlessly until Lucas came home with dinner and went on and on about how stupid Nathan was for bringing that up.
She claimed that it wasn't stupid and started crying again when Nathan left the living room, saying he was going to set the table. And just when things couldn't have been any more perfect, Lucas dropped down on one knee in front of her and popped the question.
'Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, will you marry me?'
A/N: Short summary of their life before. Story continues on after the proposal. Tell me what you think :)