Summary: It's her birthday, but all she wants is to escape. Escape to a place where memories don't always hurt and people aren't always jerks. Maybe she'll find that place and notice that not all people are in fact horrible. One-Shot. LP.

AN: Hello! A little one-shot here, written for and completely dedicated to the wonderful emiiix! Happy birthday, Emilie! I know I'm a bit late with my gift, but I do hope you get to like this (: You're such a great girl and you really do deserve this!

Anyway, I hope you'll all enjoy this and thank you a lot for reading!

Night Time

She storms out of the house, the wind moving through her messy curls as she walks towards her car as fast as she can.

She can hear her stupid boyfriend, or rather ex-boyfriend now, mutter and mumble, following her out of his house. It seems as if he's trying to make things right, but she knows all too well that things are broken between them and that they won't ever get fixed again.

She just wishes he hadn't been a total jerk about it.

Especially not on her birthday.

Ever since her mother died, her birthday hadn't been all that special anymore. Brooke always tried to make the best of it, but it simply had never been the same anymore for Peyton. She had never much liked it anymore.

However, that still doesn't mean she wanted her boyfriend to break up with her on that exact day.

She starts driving through town, having no idea where to go but every place in Tree Hill is better than her house at the moment. Or Nathan's house, for that same matter. Eventually, she stops at the lake, getting out of the car and hopping on top of it.

It's quiet there and she likes it.

It surprises her because all she has been doing the last nine years is fighting the silence. Listening to music and talking and doing simply anything to prevent the silence from consuming her. She hasn't been able to handle the silence ever since her mom died and she was brutally met with the quiet and the grieving.

But it's quiet at the lake and all she can hear is the soft rustling of the leaves as the wind passes them. The water is so peacefully calm and serene and to her surprise, she calms down practically immediately too.

And then the quiet gets disturbed, a little too ruthlessly. A car stops next to hers and as she turns her head to see what's happening, a guy steps out of it. She recognizes who it is and involuntarily lets out a sigh.

"Your brother's a jerk." She says by means of greeting and she thinks she hears him laugh a little.

"I know." He answers, stepping closer to her, debating whether he should take a seat too or not. "What did he do?"

"He broke up with me." Peyton shrugs and then motions him to join her.

"I'm sorry." Lucas says, though he doesn't really know why he's saying it. If he's completely honest he's not that sorry at all.

She smiles gratefully, but shakes her head a little anyway. "You can't stand Nathan."

"True." He replies, letting out a quiet chuckle. "But it sucks to get dumped, right?"

She shrugs again, "It doesn't really. I mean, I knew we wouldn't last much longer. It's okay actually. I just didn't think he'd dump me by cheating on me on my birthday."

He turns his body towards her, surprised, "It's your birthday today?"

"Yep."

"Well… Happy birthday?" He tries with a smile and before she knows it she's smiling back.

"Thanks."

They fall silent and it's okay, because she's liking the silence and she thinks he is too. It's all so peaceful and she feels like resting her head on his shoulder but she stops herself just in time because why on earth would she do that? She doesn't even know him.

"If I had known it was your birthday I would've brought you a present." He says after a while.

She smiles, "Why would you do that? We don't even know each other."

"You're Peyton Sawyer. And I figure you know my name as well so, guess we do know each other." He shrugs a little, smiling cheekily.

"Fine, Lucas Scott. But still… Don't you think it's weird? I dated your brother for months and I don't even know you."

"He's not really my brother, though." Lucas replies. He actually really doesn't like it when people refer to Nathan as his brother.

She rolls her eyes because the way he's talking right now is so much like Nathan. "Well, a little, you know. You guys do share the same father."

"Ah, the famous Dan Scott. I'd rather fall dead than acknowledge him as my father."

"Yeah, he's a bit of a jerk. Never liked him." She says and he laughs and bumps her shoulder a little with his.

"Never liked him either." He agrees with a smile.

Silence falls again and she's studying him as he looks over at the lake, wondering how she never really noticed him before. Sure, she was always aware of him, seeing as how he was her boyfriend's brother, but she never much thought of him. He was just there. In the distance. Walking around with that nerdy girl who wears things like weird ponchos. She knows his mother has a café in town and she knows the coffee is delicious, but that's really all she knows about Lucas Scott.

Eventually, she looks up at him, "Doesn't it bother you? Nathan and Dan and all of it?"

"I don't know." He shrugs and though he tries to be all casual she thinks she surprised him with her question. "They've always been there, I guess I got used to it."

Peyton nods, but she doesn't really know if she understands it all. "It's not fair, though. Having to get used to something like that."

"Nah, it isn't. But we all got things we need to get used to and it's not always fair. It's kind of just life, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Peyton answers as her mind trails back to happy memories with her mom and songs and 'I love you's' and yes, she knows all too well.

Lucas hops off of the car and holds out a hand for her when he's standing steady on the ground. "Come on," He motions. "let's go somewhere to celebrate your birthday."

"I really don't want to go somewhere crowded and just, I don't like my birthday much anyway so." She protests, but she takes his hand anyway.

"I promise you it won't be crowded." He smiles and opens the door of her car for her. "Just follow me, okay?"

"You're not going to take me to the basement of your house and murder me, right?"

He laughs and shakes his head, "No. Though it is a tempting idea." He jokes. "You'll follow?"

"I'll follow."

.

"Your mom's café? Really?" She asks skeptically, stepping out of her car and making her way towards Lucas who was already opening the door.

He turns around, smiling crookedly, "It's not crowded, is it? And there's cake."

"Oh, really? Things just got a lot more interesting." Peyton laughs and follows him inside.

"I knew cake would convince you." Lucas laughs too, motioning for her to take a seat at the counter.

He disappears into what she assumes is the kitchen and she's left at her stool, looking around the quaint and warm place. It's been a while since she's been there, but she remembers times of going out with her mom and stopping at Karen's Café to get a blueberry muffin and a hot chocolate. Now that she thinks of it, she also remembers a small boy always sitting at the counter there as well.

"Chocolate cake or blueberry muffins?" Lucas calls out from behind and she's tempted to take the blueberry muffins because of her mom, but then decides to go for the chocolate cake anyway.

When he re-emerges he's holding a platter with a giant cake and some plates on it. She smiles widely and sits up a little straighter, feeling the excitement of a little kid. She's seventeen now, but it feels a little as if she's turning only eight. In that moment, her phone starts ringing, but she's having too much of a good time and lets it be.

"Not going to pick that up?"

"Nope. He can call back tomorrow."

"Nathan?" He asks and she simply nods and he knows she doesn't really want to talk about it so he doesn't ask anything more.

When he has both cut them a piece of cake, he holds up his fork as if to toast with it. She can't help but smile because he's a little bit of a dork, but also just really sweet and she doesn't know what she would be doing right now had he not shown up at the lake earlier.

"Happy birthday, Peyton." He smiles, clinking his fork against hers.

She returns the smile and there's a comfortable warmth in the pit of her stomach that she doesn't want to go away anytime soon. "Thank you, Lucas."

The cake's delicious, which doesn't surprise her, because she knows anything Karen makes is delicious. She's thinking that she might go by the café more often.

"Is this okay?" She asks after a while, almost finished with her piece.

"What do you mean?"

"Us being here. Eating cake. What is your mom going to say about it?"

"She'll be okay about it. Don't worry." He reassures her and starts cutting her a second piece. "And I'll pay for the cake."

She shakes her head, though she does think it's sweet of him. "Lucas, no. Let me pay for it."

"Consider this your birthday present." He insists, smiling that crooked smile again and making her think it's good she's sitting down because she doesn't know if her knees would be able not to buckle.

"Luke."

"Peyt." He replies, making her roll her eyes.

"Fine. But I'm buying cake when it's your birthday."

He lets out some light chuckles, "Great. I love cake."

She smiles and then her eye catches the piano standing in the back of the place. "Can you play?" She asks him, making him turn around to see what's she pointing at.

"Me? Oh, no. I'm pretty terrible at anything musical. Can you?"

"A little," She shrugs. "Really not that much. My mom used to be really good at it, she taught me a few notes and stuff." Her mind's trailing back to the times she had heard and seen her mom play and though the memories are hazy, they don't fail to make her smile. She gets up and takes a seat behind the piano, letting her fingers trail over the keys.

"You miss your mom." It's not a question, but a statement and she doesn't know what to think of that. She's not used to people so blatantly observing her.

"You know Nathan never really asked about her? Don't think he even knows what day she died." She muses and it's only now that she realizes that her relationship with Nathan was really screwed-up. "God, why are guys such jerks?"

"Guys? Or Nathan?"

"All of you."

"Hey! I gave you cake!" He protests, taking a seat next to her, and she can't help but laugh a little.

"Thank you, Lucas."

"What for?"

She locks eyes with him and smiles again. It feels like smiling is all she's been doing since he joined her at the lake. She thinks she kind of likes that. "For making my birthday somewhat enjoyable. I actually had a pretty good time."

He smiles back at her, "Anytime."

.

"Where are we going, Luke?" She asks for the zillionth time and just as any other time before, he doesn't plan on telling her.

"You'll see."

Peyton sighs, kind of desperate, "Are we going to your mom's café? Are you going to buy me cake again?" Her voice lights up as she mentions cake and he can't help but laugh. Give the girl cake and she's happy.

"You have cake there all the time. It doesn't even have to be a special occasion anymore." Lucas laughs. "No, we're not going to the café."

She huffs, "Well, wherever it is we're going, we better be there soon. I'm sick of you keeping secrets from me." She sounds a little annoyed, but he knows she's not really. She's just not all that good at handling surprises.

It's her birthday again, a year after the monumental one when Nathan broke up with her and she became friends with Lucas. She spent the whole day with Brooke and Haley (who's not really that nerdy now that she actually has gotten to know the girl), but Lucas insisted on spending the evening with her. She happily obliged, wanting nothing more herself. She just wishes he would tell her where they're going already.

Finally, she notices where they're heading and a wide smile spreads over her face, being more than happy with their place of destination. She's almost out of the car before it has even stopped and Lucas can't help but chuckle at her silly excitement.

"Did you… Did you do this for me?" She asks, stunned, when she notices that all the lights she had seen from in the car are actually candles and then she sees the blanket and it's all so beautiful and the lake is perfect and she can't believe he did this. For her.

"Well, unless you know someone else whose birthday it is today, then yes, it's all for you." He nods with a small, kind of insecure smile. He really hopes he didn't overdo things.

"Thank you, Lucas." Peyton smiles sincerely.

He smiles back, taking her hand in his and leading her towards the blanket, "You're welcome."

They sit down and Lucas starts unpacking some things and even though Peyton loves all of it, she also doesn't really know what to think of it. Ever since her birthday last year, they've been great friends. They grew closer and closer and eventually, they kind of became inseparable. And she'd be lying if she said there wasn't that feeling in the pit of her stomach, asking, demanding even, for more. She's never told him any of it, trying not to mess up their friendship, but she's not really sure how to handle all this without blurting out that she might just love him.

He's done unpacking things when she looks back at him and her eye immediately catches the giant cake standing in between them.

"You brought me cake!"

"Chocolate cake even. The exact same one." He says and has to chuckle at the way her eyes just completely light up. "You are so easy to please, you know that?"

"Shut up." She laughs. "Are we going to make a tradition out of this now? Chocolate cake on my birthday?"

He smiles at her, that oh-so sincere smile she sometimes thinks is only reserved for her, and says, "If that's what you want."

If only he knew what she really wants.

The evening passes and she's having a great time, like she always has when she's with him (expect for that one time he couldn't understand for the life of him that she still wanted to be friends with Nathan and they fought about it and then didn't speak to each other for a few days), but she's also feeling the tiniest bit awkward because she still can't believe he did this for her.

And she can't help but feel like thanking him all the time, "This is really amazing, Luke. Thank you so much."

"Better than your last birthday?" He asks with a chuckle.

"Well, no one's dumping me today so yeah, pretty much."

His brow furrows a bit when she mentions the fact that she got dumped last year, as if he's still trying to wrap his head around that, "I still don't get why Nathan ever did that to you. You're amazing."

Her breath hitches in her throat a little and she's not really sure what she's supposed to answer now. Eventually, she goes with the safest thing, "We did agree that Nathan's a bit of jerk, didn't we?" She smiles because even though she and Nathan are friends now, he's still kind of a jerk.

"We did." He laughs lightly as he nods.

They fall silent for a few moments and Peyton's brain is racing and before she can stop herself her mouth has betrayed her mind and she's talking, too fast and too incoherent, but well, she just can't stop herself.

"Okay, this, all of this, is amazing and great, but also slightly weird, and I don't know what to think of it and I don't know what to think of myself and just… God, I don't know how to figure this out and I don't know what I'm saying and I don't know, someone should probably make me stop talking but… I think, I don't think I even know what I'm thinking anymore. It's just… I think… I think I'm in love with you."

He's silent for just a little too long for Peyton's liking after she blurted that out and she really wishes she could disappear but eventually, he answers, "Lots of 'I think's' and 'I don't know's' there." He says and she's halfway through rolling her eyes when he says something that makes her heart skip a beat, "And you totally stole my line."

"I, uh, what?" She asks because she thinks she didn't hear him right the first time.

"You stole my line." He says as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "I think I'm in love with you too."

Her face lights up a little and she's biting her lip, insecure, but there's a smile tugging at her lips too and it seems just a little bit too perfect.

"Really?"

"Well, I'm not putting candles and blankets and cake around the lake for Haley or Brooke, am I?" Lucas answers because yes, of course, it's real. Did she not notice anything the last few months?

"But it's my birthday. I mean, that's why you did all this, right?" She mumbles even though she doesn't know why she's so insistent on not believing him.

"I wouldn't do this even for their birthday, Peyt. It's just, you know, for you."

She closes her eyes for a moment, as if she just needs a second to let it all sink in. Eventually, eyes still closed, she whispers, "You're in love with me."

He sighs, contentedly it seems, "Yeah."

She opens her eyes and he's suddenly much closer than she expected him to be and pressing her lips to his seems like the most natural thing in the world. His one hand gets tangled in her hair while the other one pulls her closer and when they break apart, she sighs happily and absolutely blissfully, resting her forehead against his. It's all perfect and he's perfect and she knows they will be too.

And not to mention, it's her best birthday ever.