Ah, season six. Here it goes. Oh, and don't worry, the following chapters will be much longer. I just wanted this particular one to end at a certain spot.

xXx

Peyton dropped the phone. She certainly knew she was dreaming. After all of the torture the last year had been, Lucas wasn't calling her to tell her he wanted to marry her. She wasn't awake. She needed to stop staying up so damn late and try getting some sleep. She needed to seek help or something, because she could almost swear this was actually happening.

"Peyton!" a voice called faintly. "Peyton!"

She stared down at the floor and slowly retrieved the cell phone, her hand shaking. She glanced at it, making sure the call was really from Lucas. She carefully placed it back to her mouth.

"Y...yes?" she questioned, her whole body weak.

"Peyton, did you hear me?"

"I...I think so," she began dumbly. "But...but I think you just asked me to marry you."

She heard a faint giggle on the other line. "I did."

Her mind was buzzing. She couldn't process the words leaking into her ears. She couldn't believe that what she had always wanted was right there for the taking. It was too good to be true.

She pinched her thigh in one last hurried attempt to end this dream and blink herself back into reality.

"Ow!" she screamed.

"Okay, Peyton, this wasn't quite the reaction I was hoping for here," Lucas admitted.

"Luke I...I pinched myself," Peyton said matter-of-factly.

"Uh, you what?" Lucas questioned.

"You know, I pinched myself. And it hurt. Oh my god, it hurt," she said excitedly, suddenly beaming. "Oh, my god, you're real."

Lucas laughed. "Of course I'm real." He paused. "So what's it going to be P. Sawyer."

Peyton grabbed her purse and rushed outside. "Don't you dare move," she demanded, hanging up the phone.

xXx

Peyton rushed through the bustle of people crowding her way and preventing her from getting to her destination. "Move it!" she yelled, pushing past a group of teenagers.

"Crazy bitch," one girl remarked.

Normally Peyton would have stopped to explain, but she didn't care about anyone else. She had to get to him soon so that she could accept what was happening. She was shaking with nerves and anticipation and all she could do was keep running.

"Luke!" she called out, spotting him twenty feet away.

He spun around, smiling as she rushed into his arms, her lips colliding with his. She squeezed his arm and pulled away, tears streaming down her face.

"Whoa, whoa, Peyton, what's wrong?" Lucas asked, confused.

She punched his chest meekly, unable to stop herself from crying. "You can't just do this Lucas," she started. "You can't just call me up and do this to me if you don't mean it. You can't just..." She stopped, tiny sobs erupting from her mouth, and she buried her face in Lucas's chest to sustain her cries.

"Shh," he whispered, stroking her hair. "God, Peyton, of course I mean it. Are you kidding me? How could I not love you?" He pushed her head up, forcing her to look at him. "Hey. Stop. You believe me right?" he asked. She nodded quickly, still crying. He kissed her forehead and used his sleeve to wipe the tears from her cheek. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

Peyton smiled, her face brightening. "That's okay," she insisted, latching her arms around him. "It's okay. You're here now. And Lucas...I never wanted to not marry you," she began. "I didn't mean it the way you took it. I just wanted to wait until we had a chance to have our own dreams come true, you know? Your book, god, it was just too important, Luke. And me, I had to learn the ropes in California in order to start my own label. I just...I didn't want you to pick me over your dream Luke. Because...because I know you, and I knew you would in a heartbeat. And I didn't want you to look back and begin to resent me for stopping you from doing what you love, and..."

"Shh, it's okay," Lucas said, hugging her tightly. He ran his hand through a strand of her curls, trying to calm her. "I know, Peyton. I know that now. I was just so convinced I was doing the right thing by proposing, and I never dreamed you'd say no..."

"Lucas, I didn't say no..."

"Peyton, I know. But I convinced myself that that was what you meant," he said, holding her tightly. "But it's okay now. We're back where we belong."

Peyton kissed his shoulder and looked up at him. "But Lindsey..." she began, starting to doubt herself.

Lucas shook her head. "Are you kidding me? She called this from the start. She knew how in love I was with you. She knew what she was getting herself into. That's why she wouldn't marry me. Come on Peyton, even when I'm not writing about you, I'm writing about you."

Peyton smiled. "Was that story really about me?" she asked.

"Of course it was. I just didn't want to admit it," Lucas replied. "Lindsey called me on it and I didn't want to admit she was right, because that would have meant admitting I wasn't over you. And I can't honestly say that there weren't times when I really wished I was, because there were. But it's impossible Peyt. I could never be over you."

Peyton exhaled loudly, kissing Lucas once more. She pulled away, smiling. "I didn't think it was possible to be this happy," she remarked.

"Me neither," Lucas agreed, kissing her back.

"Now boarding flight 251 Tree Hill to Las Vegas," the speakers boomed.

Peyton and Lucas pulled apart and stared at each other.

"You still want to do this?" Peyton asked.

Lucas studied her, his blue eyes suddenly igniting.

"No," he said suddenly. "No, I don't."

xXx

Okay, you know the drill. R/R!