A/N: Takes place in 6.11 (The 40's Episode), at the very in, back in present day
The ringing of his phone, unfamiliar to him as he held Peyton's wet, cold body as the rain poured down on them, was what finally woke Lucas from his nightmare. Nightmare was all he could call it, because holding a dead Peyton in his arms was nothing but.
"Peyton?" He probably wouldn't have answered the phone, but the picture on it, of a living, breathing, smiling, Peyton, was exactly what he needed. He knew he sounded groggy, but he hadn't realized it was so noticeable, until he heard her guilty tone.
"Hi, did I wake you up?" He could almost picture the way her face would contort in guilt, and she would run her hand through her hair. Moving, breathing.
"No." He let his eyes drift around, getting his bearings as he adjusting to laying on his bed, as opposed to sitting on cold street. "Well, maybe."
"I'm sorry. I'm still at TRIC, I'm going to home soon though, okay?" That was fine. Soon was fine. Any longer than soon though, and he would have been at TRIC himself.
"Oh, no worries, no worries." He paused, "I just had the craziest dream. I'll you about it when you get home, okay?"
"Sure. I love you." She knew he sounded weird, off, and his tone only made her more anxious to get home. "I'll be home as soon as I can."
"Alright. Okay." He paused for a second, the image of her, dead, cold, gone, still fresh in his head. "Don't ever leave me, okay?"
"Okay." Never again. "Bye."
They both hung up at the same time, Lucas falling into the bed, Peyton back to her work. All Lucas could think of was his dream. It was just a dream. It wasn't real. It didn't even take place in this century. But it still had a hold on him. Nathan and Haley, they had just been so Nathan and Haley, and Brooke and Dan, and Julian and Owen. And Peyton. Peyton. He was still lost in his dream, replaying her death, their love, and her death again almost as if it was on tape, unable to stop playing in his head, when he heard the door open.
Silently, he got up and walked into the kitchen, where he found her, trying desperately to be quiet, not to wake him again, probably, and attempting to take off her coat. She failed, to be quiet, anyways. Something had her shaking so badly that she couldn't even get the coat onto the hanger. Still without making any sound, her walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, silently savoring the feel of her body against his, warm and breathing.
He didn't know how long he held her for, just feeling her breathe, and listening as her heartbeat steadied, but it was long enough to make her slightly anxious. As soon as he felt her start to move in his arms, he let his arms lessen their grip around her waist, and her arms dropped his neck.
"Is everything okay, Luke?" She sounded genuinely worried, and the fact that Lucas still had one hand locked onto her waist probably wasn't easing her worries.
"Just that dream." He admitted, watching as her eyebrows furrowed and she leaned back into his touch, knowing, as she always did, that he just needed to be with her.
"What happened?" She left his embrace and walked over to the kitchen. She was starving, she hadn't gotten a chance to eat lunch.
"There's pizza in the fridge. Leftovers." That what he had been eating for dinner, before he had turned on Casablanca, and fell into his own personal hell. Before she could even turn around, Luke had her favorite, one piece peperoni, one piece plain, in the oven, reheating.
"Thanks babe." She turned around and looked at him again, and sighed when she saw that he was still looking at her as if she was going to disappear any second. "That dream really got to you." She smiled at him, and then walked over to him, throwing her arms around him, pressing her lips to his. "What happened?"
The way he looked at her as she asked that let her know that he was serious. His dream hadn't been a crazy dream. It had been a bad dream. "It was just a dream baby, it wasn't real."
"It felt weird." He was whispering, and he felt his voice almost break. "It felt weird."
"Well, what was it about, Luke?"
"Us. All of us." He admitted, pulling her down into his lap, "Nathan, Haley, Brooke, Julian, Dan, Owen. Me." He paused. "You." The last word was a whisper, and Peyton let her hand reach out and stroke his hair.
"Baby, it's okay. I'm still here. You're still here. You don't have to go into it if you don't want to. You don't need to tell me." She paused for a second. "It was just a dream, baby."
"You know how I was watching Casablanca, while I was working on the script tonight?" She nodded, her hand on the nape of his neck. "Well, I fell asleep while I watching it, and the dream was weird, it was like everyone we knew, in the 1940's." Peyton looked up at him, confused. "I owned this club, Karen's Café," He paused, laughing. "There was this sign over the bar, People Always Leave, But I Say, Stay Awhile, Have a Nightcap."
"Even your dreams, I'm there." She laughed. She really didn't see how it was that bad. At little odd, but not horrible.
"No, you were there for real. Like I said. I owned this bar, and Nathan was the bartender, and Haley was the singer. But she used to work at this club downtown, I got the impression that it was like a brothel, or something like that. Dan owned the club, and he hated me because Haley was working for me now, and he didn't have a good singer. In my dream, it was nighttime, and Haley was singing at the club, and he came in, and started to cause this big scene. And you and Julian were with him. The entire town thought that you and Dan were together." Both Peyton and Lucas visibly shuddered at that.
"Baby, I can promise you that that will never, ever happen. Even if he wasn't such a creep. No one but you. You don't have to worry."
"That wasn't bad part of the dream. It turned out that Dan and your mother had had an affair that no one knew about, and after she died, he felt compelled to watch over your every move. You were like his daughter, but he wouldn't let you out of his sight, unless you were with Julian."
"Well, I can see how that would freak you out babe, but it was just a dream Luke."
"He shot you, Peyt." He felt her tense in his arms. "He was mad, because I spending time with you, and a few other things, and he was aiming for me, but he missed, and he shot you in the stomach." His voice was soft, and he help Peyton close to him, letting her head rest on his chest. "it was raining, and god, even in the dream I loved you so damn much. And you were gone. It was pouring out, and we were in the middle of the street, and you were in my arms, you looked gorgeous, and Dan was just standing there, and Brooke was there, horrified, and you were gone." He trailed off. "God, I love you. You can't, you can't ever leave me."
"Lucas Eugene Scott, you don't have to worry about that. I'm here, and I'm here to stay." She knew that it was completely possible that that wasn't true. The pain in her stomach from earlier flashed into her mind, but she knew that they would make it through. Because she loved him. "I love you to damn much to lose this now." And then she brought his lips to his, wiping away his tears as she kissed him, one hand in his hair, the other on his neck, keeping him as close to her as he could be.
A/N: Okay, so this is the first one-shot I've posted. Feedback would be great. Happy 2009!