Summary: She was hurt and scarred and he thought he could somehow save her. Maybe he should've known things weren't going to be that easy. She always said people always leave, and there are only very few exceptions.

AN: Hi! I don't know where this came from but as I was listening to the latest album of the amazingAmos Lee, inspiration hit me and I guess this is the result. It's just a little one-shot, AU. I hope you like it and I would appreciate it so much if you'd let me know what you think of it. It's the first time I wrote a one-shot, so I'm pretty nervous about it. Reviews would be more than welcome ;)

The title comes from the song 'Stay With Me', the few lyrics in the beginning from 'Behind Me Now', both from Amos Lee. If you don't know him yet I suggest you'd check it out, his songs are amazing!

Thank you for reading!

Yes, I've loved and lost again
Happy ever afters never been
And if you want love than I suggest that you not wait

"I love you, you know that." She said quietly, avoiding his eyes. "I just can't do this, Luke. Goodbye." She kissed his cheek softly before walking away, closing his back door behind her.

The door was closed now, she was gone and he wasn't sure when she would ever be back. If she would even be back.

He should've known it would end badly. But he had been too stubborn, too infatuated maybe too, and he simply hadn't been able to give her up. He had wanted to know her for so long and now that he did, there was no way he didn't want to know her anymore. Even though that seemed to be exactly the way she felt right now.

But she loved him. She had told him so, only mere minutes ago. She loved him.

Peyton Sawyer loved Lucas Scott.

In any other situation, he would be jumping around in excitement. Or maybe he would just sit in his kitchen, too amazed over that fact to actually do something.

He had never thought it possible. She was the beautiful best friend of his brother's girlfriend and from the moment he had first met her he knew there was something special about her. She was special. He had then silently longed to get to know the girl with the sad green eyes. The girl with that beautiful face that was often graced with a wonderful smile. However, a smile that never, ever reached those eyes.

And then, one day, when the power was out and there wasn't much of another option, they had spent an evening together. She had thought Brooke was at his and Nathan's place and had come to search for her, needing her for one thing or another. When he had told her Brooke and Nathan were out, she had spoken softly, saying how she could better go then as well. It was right at that moment the power went out, leaving all the houses and streets pitch black.

And so she stayed. And they sat by the fireplace, eating whatever they could find in the cupboards. Maybe it had been that moment, right then, that he had started to fall in love with her.

Weeks passed, and Peyton stayed over more often. They would talk, laugh, eat and drink. They wouldn't go out. They wouldn't go to bars or fancy restaurants. They weren't dating. They were just Lucas and Peyton, quietly getting to know each other.

Brooke told him how that was unlike her, how she normally didn't do this. That she doesn't trust easily and that it wouldn't stay as easy for them as it was right then, sitting in front of a simple fireplace. She had told him how eventually it might just blow up right in their faces. But he had been too stubborn, intending to get to know her, whatever that might bring along. Because he was sure that whatever there was to Peyton Sawyer, whatever he would have to deal with, it would be worth it. He knew that.

Weeks kept on passing, and little by little she started to open up to him. How she lost her mom when she was only eight. How she found out she was adopted. How she lost her biological mom when she was only seventeen. How she still didn't know her biological father.

And he kept on wondering just why Brooke was so hesitant about them getting to know each other and spending time together. She had gone through some awful stuff when she was younger, and she obviously still had a hard time dealing with that, but it didn't mean she couldn't properly function anymore. It didn't mean that somewhere along the way she might become fully happy and content again.

Another few weeks passed, and he only learned more about her. Like, how she lost her dad as well. Only three years ago. Her dad had died in a storm at sea, the same storm had taken the life of her fiancé as well. And that had been all she had been able to take. It was Brooke who took care of her then, not only because she wanted to do so as her best friend, but also because she simply had to. Because Peyton hadn't been able to do so herself.

People Always Leave. There was no one who knew that better than Peyton Sawyer. Every person in her life, except for Brooke, had left her. Unintentionally, but it all just hurt the same.

But she seemed okay now. And Lucas couldn't help to tell himself that she was in fact okay. He somewhat needed her to be. He thought she might just needed it herself too.

It surprised him how easily he had fallen in love with her after that. She was scarred, he knew that, but she was still there. She wasn't giving up. She hadn't given up on the things she believed in, like music and art.

One day, as they sat in front of that same fireplace, he had kissed her. He couldn't not kiss her in that moment. She had kissed him back and after that things had gone fast between them. Too fast maybe.

Eventually it had blown up right in their faces, just like Brooke had told him months earlier that it would.

He had told her he loved her, which he truly did. With everything he had. He had dated in the past, he might have even been in love, but it was all nothing compared to what he felt now for that special blonde. She hadn't said it back, she had just silently nodded and had kissed him softly. And as their lips met and he touched her cheek he could feel that lone tear making its way down her face.

He could feel how she somehow started to close herself off from him. How she little by little crawled back into that shell she had chosen to hide in after everything had become too much for her in the past. And he could only wonder why. He had been nothing short than wonderful and understanding, if he had to say so himself. He knew when she needed her space, he knew when she needed him and he had always done everything to make her trust him. Only now, there seemed to be no reason for her to need her own space, away from him. It had started sudden and it only became worse. In the end, they were far from the couple they were in the beginning.

Maybe he should've have left her to deal with it instead of confronting her. Maybe he should've been just a little more patient. But he had been too stubborn. He wanted to know why, and he wanted her to know that for whatever reason it was, it shouldn't be. There was no reason for her to pull away from him. He would always be there, no matter what.

Ultimately, it didn't matter. She had set her mind and there was nothing he could do. She loved him, and he knew that. But life had taught her that loving someone eventually leads to losing someone. And that she couldn't handle. She told him how she'd rather live without him, knowing that in some way she still had him, than living with him for however long life decided they could and then being left to really live without him. She couldn't go through that again, and so she chose not to.

As she closed the door behind her, a tear fell down his cheek. He wasn't one to cry, it had been long since he had shed some tears, but right then, he couldn't not cry. In just a few months she had become the center of his world, and now she was gone. He could only sit and wait, hoping that one day she'd come back.

Weeks passed, winter changed to spring, Brooke and Nathan got engaged, and life seemed to go on like it had done before. Everyone seemed to moved on, only Lucas couldn't.

Until one day he opened the door after he had heard a soft knock. He swung his door open and saw that beautiful face again and he could've sworn she had never looked more beautiful than right in that moment.

"I'm sorry." Was what she said before he could even ask her to come in. She simply stood in the doorway, the wind blowing slightly through her hair, looking at him with those big green eyes that somehow didn't seem as sad anymore as before. "I shouldn't have left." She continued quietly as her eyes shifted away from him, into his room, wondering if things had changed, if he had changed.

"Maybe you were right."

"No, I wasn't. I thought life would take you away from me. People always leave. I thought you would too. But I can't stay away. Maybe you will leave, but I want everything with you until you do. I can't stay away."

"Maybe I'll be the one to stay."

She closed her eyes as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. A small smile crept upon a face, as if she was hesitant to fully let herself smile. She looked up again and looked right into his eyes, seeing everything she needed to know in them. He smiled softly as well as he took a step closer to her.

"Maybe I don't want you to stay away." He almost whispered as he pulled her into his arms. They stayed locked there in each other's embrace for a long time, breathing in each other's scent and relishing in that amazing feeling of finally being together again.

She kissed his shoulder right before she looked up at him and whispered, "I love you." Then she kissed his lips and he knew that whatever would happen, he wasn't going to let her go again. She wasn't going to leave again. And he would make sure he was the one to stay this time.

"I love you, too."