This is basically an introductory chapter, and as long as I get some good feedback, I'll continue it. (:
Disclaimer: I don't own LP, or One Tree Hill (except for my DVDs).
Whoever said silence had to be awkward? Sometimes it can be calming. A relief. And even speak louder than any amount of words. Silence is not always a terrible, uncomfortable thing. Like now, for example.
He hadn't seen her in three years. Three long years. Even though he hadn't seen her physically, she would always be there. Always be haunting his mind. Causing a dull ache deep within his flawed heart. She would always be there. He had tried to replace her with his editor. Lindsey Strauss was a wonderful girl. She may even be some people's definition of brilliant. She was the smart, preppy, beautiful editor of his first novel. They had been on dates. Several, actually. Somehow, the conversation usually managed to land on Peyton. Lindsey always wanted answers on why Lucas was no longer with her. The answers to her curious questions never seemed to come. The awkward silences would set in. This is where the dates usually ended.
He had nothing but work in common with her. He managed to say that was the reason their dating attempts were never successful. In the back of his mind, he knew the real reason. The reason that his relationship with Brooke never became a fairytale romance. The same thing happened with Lindsay. The chemistry was missing, was wrong. He didn't feel as though his soul had been set on fire, like his world had finally grasped at the piece it had been longing for since the beginning of his existence. More importantly, neither of them were Peyton.
Since that life-altering day three years ago, he hadn't been able to put his heart into his writing, or even really write at all. This was the reason he needed to clear his head that night. He looked towards the door, saw his basketball, and knew how he would achieve this sudden clarity he was looking for. The rivercourt.
As he slowly dribbled the ball, with the intention of playing for an hour or so, he spotted a long-legged blonde figure. He could spot that curly hair out of any crowd. It was almost as if a part of his body had been amputated, and now someone had handed it back to him, just like that, and told him to figure out how to put it back on. His basketball dropped from his roughly textured hands, and Lucas stopped, froze. Froze like when he was little, and would play freeze tag, and desperately wanted to win at the game so he stayed as still as possible. Seeing as how his muscles seemed to also be frozen, it wasn't that he didn't want to move, it was that he wasn't sure if he could.
Having heard the ball drop to the blacktop pavement, she turned her head around. Only one word came from her soft, perfect lips.
"Lucas."
She walked over to him with a fast step. Maybe this was because she thought if she didn't walk quickly, he would disappear. Or maybe she just wanted to be near to him again. The blonde haired beauty slowly extended her arms to embrace him. He seemed to have regained the ability to move, so he took a tentative step towards her. Seeing the nervous expression on her face, all of his repressed anger and doubts about her melted away. This was Peyton Sawyer. He too extended his arms, accepted her embrace, and reached his hand up to stroke her hair.
Being back in each other's lives wouldn't be easy. It would painful, heartbreaking, and maybe even a little tragic. But they both knew they were meant for each other. Maybe it would just take some time for each of them to accept that fact. Peyton knew when she left Los Angeles what the consequences would be. She would have to face Lucas. She had been fearing this, going over it in her head, imagining how it would play out, for three long years. Nothing had prepared her for this. The way it felt to be in his arms again.
This was Tree Hill. This was home. Who knows what direction their paths would lead them on next. In that moment, all that mattered to them was each other. Neither blonde spoke. They simply held each other, afraid of what would happen if they let go. There was a certain clarity in the silence, a silence that all too calmly spoke the words Lucas had been trying to write, and the words Peyton had been trying accept. Of course these next few months would be painful. All they could think about was what would happen after they let go of each other, but right now, none of that was really important.