Summary: It had been years and he had tried to move on, but it suddenly seemed as if it all came rushing back now, blowing up right into his face. He knew things were about to change, it was now only up to him to decide in what way. One-Shot. LP. Season5.

AN: Hey! Another one-shot here and I know this kind of storylines has been done to death, but I still hope you guys do like it. Once I feel like writing something I can't really not do it so yeah, guess that's what happened here. I'd love to hear what you think of it so please, leave me a review? Thank you! Also thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoy it!

Oh, and story title comes from the amazing song Fix You by Coldplay. ;)


I Promise You I Will Learn From My Mistakes

"Are you, you can't be…" She swallowed visibly, having much trouble to gather her mind around things. "You are breaking up with me." She then said, making it sound more like a statement than a question. She didn't have to question it anymore, she could see in his eyes that he was in fact doing so.

He looked regretful, maybe. He looked as if he wished he would've never had to do this. He almost looked compassionate. As if he felt so bad for her. As if he really wished things were different. If he did, then why was he breaking up with her in the first place?

"I'm, I'm so sorry. I wish –" He started with that same look still in his eyes, running a hand through his hair.

She was quick to cut him off though, "No! You don't get to say these things now, Lucas. You promised me. You promised. You said you loved me and that things wouldn't change and I believed you. You promised. What happened to that promise?" She could feel the tears, trying desperately to break through, but she wouldn't let that happen. She didn't want to cry. She wouldn't cry over him.

"I wish things were different, but –"

She cut him off once again. "You don't. You've probably always known that I was simply a replacement for what you couldn't have."

"That is not true and you know it! I was in love with you," Her heart broke at the word was and holding back those tears suddenly seemed a lot less easier than it was before. And it hadn't even been easy then. "and I'm so sorry for doing this to you, but I can't help it. I can't fight it. I'm sorry."

"I really wish I could believe that, Luke. But right now, I can't. I just can't believe anything that comes from you anymore." She said brokenly and let the tears run down onto her cheeks. She wiped them away hastily, but for every tear she wiped away, two new ones fell. "You've been feeding me these lies and I so desperately wanted to believe them. I let other people tell me them as well. Haley, Brooke, I listened to all of them as they told me I was the one you loved. I should've known better."

"I never lied to you. Nothing happened, I can promise you that."

"Promise me that?" She exclaimed loudly as more ugly tears streamed down her cheeks. She could care less though. "Did you not just hear me? I just told you I can't believe you anymore because you have been 'promising' me things, Lucas. You have. And you shouldn't have. I wish you hadn't. It would've made things a whole lot easier." She wiped away those tears quickly, hoping no more would fall and then started making her bag. She had to get out of there. It seemed like only a second longer in that room with him would kill her.

He sat down on the bed, hoping that he would soon wake up and this would turn out to just be a nightmare. He didn't want to hurt her like that, he had never wanted to. Then again, he didn't want for it to be all just a nightmare. There was a reason he was doing this. A reason worth it.

"Don't leave like this, you –"

"I'm not going to stay here with you just a second longer than is necessary. I can't do this." She replied flatly and not looking at him, fearing that more tears would show up if she did so. When she had everything packed she could think of, she made her way to the door, but paused just a little while before opening it. She retrieved something from the bottom of her handbag and put it on the dresser next to the door. "Goodbye, Lucas."

"Linds, –"

"I hope you'll be happy. I really do want that for you." Her voice broke at the end of her sentence and she knew she had to get out of there right now. Giving him a last, sad smile, she stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her. She closed the door and realized all too well how she was closing a whole lot more than just a door.

She was closing a whole chapter of her life. A chapter she had thought, had hoped, would last much longer.

She could've known though that Peyton Sawyer would always have a hold over Lucas Scott.


He walked towards the dresser and took the key she had just put there into his hand. He let his head rest on the door, trying to figure out what to do next. As he turned around his eye caught the sparkling ring lying on his desk. A ring that had been lying in a drawer for over three years now, waiting for the right person to wear it. When he had walked into his room and saw Lindsey sitting on the edge of the bed, that ring in her hands, he had known that wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

But how were things supposed to be then?

Sighing deeply, he ran a hand over his face before walking out of his house, into the night, leaving that sparkling ring lying there on his desk.

He first thought of walking to the River court. He had every reason to go there, he normally would go there. There was no other place he would normally go to in times like these. It was that one place he always did his best thinking. However, there was something holding him back this time. For some reason, he decided to get into his car and drive to the lake instead.

It was dark, maybe too dark to drive there, but he could see some lampposts in the distance and the moon was reflected in the water of the lake and everything suddenly seemed so peaceful.

As if nothing had changed and he was still living his quiet life in Tree Hill. As if he would go home now and fall asleep and wake up and still be the Lucas Scott he was yesterday.

It all kind of seemed like that, but he knew all too well that things had changed. He would still be living his quiet life in his quiet town, he'd just no longer be the Lucas Scott he had been yesterday. Because in just a matter of hours, he had changed. In just a matter of hours it was as if everything had snapped back into focus and he now knew again who he really was. What he really wanted. Who he really wanted.

As he drove closer to the spot he had had in mind, he noticed another car.

A car he would recognize no matter where he was or what had happened or how long it had been since he had last seen it.

He got out of his car and walked the small distance towards the other one, for some reason knowing she had noticed him arriving. He slid into the passenger seat, but she didn't even look up. Her face was illuminated by the lights outside and he could swear he saw wet tears on her cheeks.

"I thought about going to the River court, but for some reason I ended up here." He started quietly, looking out over the oh-so meaningful lake.

She was silent for a little while longer, but eventually she looked up at him, "Very same thing happened to me actually. Guess it's a sign, huh?"

"Maybe it is." He nodded before silence fell for a few moments. "Why've you been crying?" He asked then though he might already have known the answer.

She only shrugged her shoulders and wiped away the last of her tears. "Why are you here, Lucas?"

He opened his mouth to answer her immediately, but had to close it again before even saying anything. Because what was he going to say? He didn't know if he had all the right words for her right in that moment. He wished he had though, he hoped he had. But things had changed, not only in the last couple hours, but in the last three years as well, and even though he knew how he felt right now and how she felt, he still didn't know whether it would all be that easy now.

"When I got home from Tric tonight, Lindsey was already there. She, um… She was sitting on the bed with a ring in her hands." He started at last and though she tried to stay calm, she couldn't help but let her head snap up at those words. "It was yours. She had found the ring that had always been supposed to be yours. And as she sat there and showed me what she had found I tried to picture it, you know? I tried to picture how it'd be to see that ring on her finger, but I couldn't."

He paused for a little while and ran a hand over his face as she herself ran one through her hair. She looked up at him and he could see a new batch of tears shining in her eyes.

"I know I made mistakes and I know things are messed up, but…" He paused again briefly, "I just couldn't picture it. And I guess that means something."

"Lucas, what are you saying?" She asked then, her voice hoarse and tired.

He shifted in his seat, turning his body more towards her. "It's over, Peyton. We're no longer together."

"You, you broke up?" She said it quietly, too quietly maybe, but somehow he could hear every single thing she was thinking in that question. Every single emotion she was feeling. He could hear the pain in her voice, but also the careful… joy. He could hear how she felt terribly bad about it, but at the same time couldn't help but let herself feel just a little amount of delight, and relief maybe too.

He nodded slightly and reached out for her hand.

"Because of…"

"Because of everything." He simply answered and those three words said all there needed to be said.

She nodded as well as a single tear made its way down her cheek. He quickly wiped it away but didn't take his fingers away from her face. Instead he put his other hand on her face as well and got even closer to her. She let her eyes flutter close and felt how piece by piece her world started to feel complete again. It was the second kiss they shared that night and while the first one had made her world snap into focus again, this one simply made her feel complete and whole. It made her feel like she finally belonged somewhere again. It also somewhat simply made her feel.

They broke apart and as he rested his forehead against hers he whispered, "You still love me, don't you?" Mirroring the words she had spoken earlier that evening, he knew all too well how she felt.

She grabbed the hand that was still holding her face and silently nodded. "I really did think I'd lost you."

He chuckled lightly, "I don't think you'll ever really get rid of me." He kissed her again then and couldn't help a smile as he felt her hands wrapping around his neck.

As they broke apart again, Peyton suddenly pulled away and stepped out of the car into the dark night. It surprised him, but he followed her suit and met her at the front of the car, a frown on his face. She stood with her back to him, but as he carefully wrapped his arms around her from behind, she relaxed against his body.

"What's on your mind?" Lucas asked softly as they both looked out over the lake. He didn't let her answer though, "I know I messed up and I know I don't deserve –"

She shook her head, "It's nothing like that, Luke. I'm happy actually, it's just… It's sudden. A few hours ago you were still together with Lindsey and now you're here and I'm glad, of course I am, but… What now?"

He nodded as he breathed in deeply. "Now we'll get everything right. This time we'll get it right." He told her and wished for her to just believe him, and have faith in him. In them. She was right though, it was sudden, but that didn't have to mean anything bad.

"What about Lindsey? What about everyone?"

"I hate that I hurt her like this, I really do, and I know people will have their say about this, but I had to. I need you, and I couldn't fight that any longer. I have been fighting that for way too long now."

He could feel her nod her head as silence settled again between them and they just simply stood there, him holding her.

When she had kissed him in her office earlier that night, something had shifted inside him and he had known things wouldn't be the same anymore. It was all kind of out in the open now and it was up to him whether he decided to do anything with it or not. She had told him she still loved him and as much as he wished he could still pretend he was happy with Lindsey and not at all affected by his ex-girlfriend, he had known he wouldn't be able to anymore. Hearing those words from her had made it pretty impossible to ignore it all any longer.

Would it have been easier if he had been able to deny it all? Probably.

Would it have been fair, though? Probably not. Not to him or her, and not at all to Lindsey.

He knew he had done the right thing, made the right decision. Of course he wished he didn't have to hurt other people in the process, but he also knew it would hurt a whole lot more in the future if he wouldn't have made that decision right now. Because there was no way in denying the hold Peyton Sawyer still had over him. A hold she would always have. And somewhat even a hold he wanted her to have.

"I need you too." She then suddenly whispered and he got the feeling he had some hold over her too.

"Good." He simply answered and she turned in his arms and settled her head on his chest.

They both knew things wouldn't be easy from now on. There were still things that needed to be talked about, people that needed to be faced.

But at least they were together now again, and right in that moment, that was all that mattered.