Tangled Webs

Pairings: Lucas/Peyton, Lucas/Brooke, and Peyton/Jake

Disclaimer: I don't own OTH.


She pretends not to notice that he's only happy when she comes to visit. She tries to make herself care, but at the same time, she tries not to care. Maybe she's trying to get to the point where she cares, but she thinks she shouldn't. To the point where she has to convince herself that there's nothing to worry about. That he's only happy because she's happy whenever her friend is around. To the point where she has to remember that he married her. Peyton Sawyer Scott. Not Brooke Davis.

But even as she sees his eyes light up at the sight of Brooke's shining, dark hair, she can't make herself care. And she can't help but wonder if she made a huge mistake.


He pretends not to notice that she's only happy when he comes to visit. He tries to make himself care, but at the same time, he tries not to care. Maybe he's trying to get to the point where he cares, but he thinks he shouldn't. To the point where he has to convince himself that there's nothing to worry about. That she's only happy because she loves Jenny, because Jenny is like her own daughter. To the point where he has to remember that she married him. She's Peyton Sawyer Scott, not Peyton Sawyer Jagielski.

But even as he sees her eyes light up as they meet Jake's laughing ones, he can't make himself care. And he can't help but wonder if he made a huge mistake.


She sits up awake at night, and just watches him sleep. Sometimes he talks in his sleep. Nothing much, generally, just unintelligible mumbles. The only thing she can distinguish is the moan of "Brooke" that sometimes escapes from his lips. She tells herself that she heard wrong, that he said "book," or "took." She thinks of all the words that rhyme with her best friend's name, more to reassure herself that she loves Lucas than to reassure herself that Lucas doesn't love Brooke.


She talks in her sleep, and it wakes him up sometimes. It's never unintelligible, it's never gibberish. She acts out her dreams, and she enunciates almost perfectly. As he listens to her tell Jake that she'll come back to him someday, or tearfully wish him good luck finding Jenny, he wonders if she dreams of things that actually happened to her. He decides that he only wakes up during her dreams of Jake because his subconscious is worried, and she dreams of him, or Brooke, every night that he doesn't wake up. He's happy with that decision, more because it helps him to reassure himself that he loves Peyton, than because it helps him to reassure himself that Peyton doesn't love Jake.


She knows that Lucas isn't having an affair with Brooke. Brooke would never allow that to happen. She knows all too well what it feels like on the other side, and she wouldn't wish that on anyone, especially her best friend. Brooke wouldn't risk their friendship over Lucas, not after it had almost ended twice over him.


He knows that Peyton isn't having an affair with Jake. Jake is the best man he has ever met, and he would never get involved with a married woman. Especially not his friend's wife. Jake knows heartbreak, and he wouldn't wish that on anyone, especially one of his closest friends.