A/N: Just an idea I came by accidentally...Don't really know where it came from. Meant as a oneshot, but there could be more if that's what the people want!
Summary: They were over. They were supposed to be over. The words of a stranger, and his subconscious, connect them again for the first time in 5 years. Is it too late?
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She was walking down Sunset, completely oblivious to the world around her. Part of her wondered how she could be surrounded by so many sounds and people and still feel like she was the only one there. She was wrapped up in the thoughts in her head, as she was known to be from time to time. A phone rang and it took her a moment to realize it was hers. She ignored it and went back to her thoughts.
"You're supposed to marry him."
The voice pulled her from her head and she snapped her head to follow the voice. She looked at a woman, about 30 years old, dressed in a black business suit and green top, carrying a black briefcase.
"Excuse me?" Peyton stopped and stood in front of the woman. "Were you talking to me?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. I just...do you have a few minutes?" the woman said.
Normally, she'd ignore the crazies as much as possible, but something about those words this woman had said intrigued her and she wanted to know more. Also, she had nothing else to do.
"Um...Yeah. I do," Peyton muttered.
"Let's get a coffee," the woman said. She extended her hand. "I'm Andrea."
"Peyton," she said, shaking the hand of the relative stranger before they started towards the coffee shop at the next corner. They walked in silence, and Peyton was wondering why the hell she was doing this.
Andrea bought them each a coffee and they sat at the back of the virtually empty cafe.
"OK," Andrea said suddenly. "I know I probably sound completely insane to you, but every once in a while I get these...oh, I don't know...premonitions?" She paused to gauge Peyton's response, but her face hadn't changed. "Well anyway, I just had one about you as you were walking past me. If it makes you feel any better, I actually have my own PR firm and I'm totally stable."
"Alright," Peyton said.
"Alright? Usually people throw things at me or call me crazy," Andrea said, narrowing her eyes.
"I found out I was adopted when I was 17 and my birth mother showed up on my doorstep posing as a journalist doing a story on me. Then I found out she was a recovered drug addict, then she died of cancer just after I got to know her. But not before she tucked a note into an old record telling me I had a brother, who I thought I found, but the guy ended up being a psycho stalker who attacked me. Twice. My real brother is an African American Marine," Peyton explained while Andrea nodded through her confusion. "You'd have to do a lot more for me to think you were insane."
"Good to know!" Andrea laughed.
"So tell me about this premonition," Peyton said with a smile. There was something about Andrea that she found...calming. It was as if the two could actually be friends.
"Well, right before you passed me, your phone rang but you didn't even look to see who it was and you didn't answer it. Then I saw a man's face as he put a ring on your finger."
"Oh," Peyton managed. She didn't know what else to say.
"So I don't know if you're in a relationship, or if the face I saw is even anyone you know. But you should probably know that I'm never wrong. I've never been wrong," Andrea said sincerely.
"Well, what did he look like," Peyton asked. She was a little scared to hear the answer. Would she hear a description and see that face in every man she saw?
"Well, he was handsome," Andrea said with a laugh. "Strong jaw line, kind of soft pink lips. His nose was a little upturned, but in a cute way. Dark blonde hair. But what was most obvious were his eyes..."
"Intense crystal blue? Looked like they knew too much?" Peyton finished.
"Yeah," Andrea said, tilting her head in confusion.
"Lucas," Peyton whispered.
They sat in silence for a couple minutes with Peyton trying to digest what she'd just been told.
Her and Lucas hadn't spoken in 5 years. They'd broken up when she got a permanent job in L.A. and told him she wasn't returning to Tree Hill. She didn't think he'd want to end things, but he had. According to him, there was too much distance between them and it was just too hard for him to love her like that. He wanted everything with her, and if you asked him, she was being stubborn by not returning home. They ended things less than amicably. They were both heartbroken and bitter and angry, so neither would budge and just admit that they loved the other.
But now, she didn't even know how he was, save for what she heard from Haley and Nathan. She knew he was coaching the Ravens. Any time he had a new novel out, she'd buy it, but never read it. They just sat on her book shelf, tucked among the rest of the authors she loved, most of whom he'd turned her onto.
"So who's Lucas?" Andrea asked. "The one that got away?"
"Yeah, something like that," Peyton responded with a weak smile.
"So...um...who called?"
Peyton looked into her new acquaintance's eyes and felt her own widen as she reached for her bag, rummaging for her phone. She opened her missed calls list and could have sworn her eyes were deceiving her.
Lucas Scott
She felt the blood drain from her face. Why had he called at all, let alone at that moment? Andrea must have noticed the lack of colour in her skin.
"What?" she asked worriedly.
"It was him," Peyton said. Their eyes met over the table. "We haven't spoken in 5 years."
"Oh," the woman replied. "Well go call him back! Here's my card," she said, sliding the small piece of paper across the table. "Let me know how it all turns out."
"OK," Peyton said with a smile. She got up, said thank you, and raced out of the coffee shop.
A million things were running through her head as she made her way back to her apartment. The least of her worries was how Andrea's mind picked up on the premonition just as he had called her. More important was why he was calling? She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Not calling for 5 years, then calling out of the blue? She was certain it was bad news.
She sat on her couch with her phone in her hands for about a half hour, afraid of what was about to happen when she finally got the nerve to dial. She went through a checklist in her mind of all her friends and what had to be wrong for him to call, not someone else. She realized that the more she sat and thought about it, the more worried she got, so she finally just dialed the number. Her heart almost stopped at the first ring, but she willed herself not to hang up.
"Peyton. Hi."
The sound of his voice made her breath catch in her throat.
"Hi," she said softly.
"I uh...I know this is going to sound nuts, but I just had a really weird dream and I had to make sure you're OK," he said, worry apparent in his voice.
"What?" she asked confusedly.
"I know we haven't spoken in a long time..."
"5 years," she offered.
"Yeah," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I just...had a really bad feeling and I had to call."
"It's OK." This was turning out to be the strangest day on record. "What was this feeling?"
"I don't really know, Peyton. I just had this dream and all I saw was your face and you were crying," he explained quietly. "I woke up feeling like...like I had to call you."
She couldn't speak. She wondered if his dream was the same as Andrea's premonition. She knew that if she ever married Lucas, she'd cry like a little girl, though she'd never admit that to any one. While she sat thinking, she completely forgot she was on the phone until his voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Peyton?"
"Yeah. Sorry. I just...today's been a really weird day and then you call and we haven't spoken in 5 years and...yeah, I'm just a little overwhelmed."
"I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have called," he said sincerely.
"No! No, it's great to hear your voice, actually." Suddenly all she wanted was to be standing in front of him, looking into those blue eyes, and smiling at him, thanking him for worrying about her.
"Yeah, you too," he said. She could hear him smile.
"So how are you?" she asked. "Nathan told me about the State Championship. Congratulations, Luke. That's great."
"Yeah," he laughed. "It was pretty cool."
"Did it feel as good as the first one?" she asked. She had a flashback to that moment; the feeling they all had when the buzzer sounded and the confetti rained down on them in celebration.
"Nothing feels quite as good as the first one," he said softly. The line went quiet, as though he was remembering that moment too. "I've been thinking about you a lot, Peyt."
She froze at the use of her nickname. She hadn't heard it in so long that it almost took her to another life time. When she didn't speak, he continued.
"I miss you," he whispered, almost as though he was admitting it to himself, and to her, for the first time. "All these things keep happening that I wish you were here for."
His admission made her rethink everything. Staying in L.A., coming to L.A. in the first place, breaking up with him, letting him be so angry, not talking for 5 years. All these things suddenly felt like all the worst possible choices she could have made. There was nothing in that moment more important than him. Maybe there never was.
"I miss you, too," she said softly.
"You do?" he asked. There was shock in his voice, as if he didn't believe that she'd ever miss him like he missed her.
"Of course, I do, Lucas." She looked over to her bookshelf where his four published novels sat untouched. "I miss how we used to be."
"We were happy, weren't we?" he asked, needing her confirmation that she felt the same about them.
"Yeah, we were," she admitted with a smile. She missed that. She missed this. Just being able to talk to him and feel 'them' again.
"I want that back, Peyton." His statement shocked them both. He didn't know where it came from, but he knew it was the truth. There was a moment of silence on the line and he felt he'd made a mistake by blurting out his feelings. "I'm sorry."
"No," she said, maybe too quickly. "Don't be."
"I know it sounds crazy, but...I don't know," he said, shaking his head. He didn't know. He didn't know why all of a sudden he was feeling the way he was feeling.
"What about your girlfriend?" she asked. Haley had told her that he had been dating his editor, Lindsey for the past two years. She had been happy for him, but there was a part of her that was jealous that he'd moved on and she still hadn't been in a serious relationship since they'd broken up.
"You um...you haven't talked to Nathan or Haley in a while, have you?" he asked with a slight laugh. "Or read my new book, apparently."
"No, I haven't. What?" she asked. She looked to the bookshelf again. The Comet sat there, the photo of the River Court at night staring back at her. Where they grew up. Home.
"Lindsey left me," he said.
"What? She left you? Lucas, I'm so sorry." And she was. She wanted with everything in her, for him to be happy. "Tell me what happened."
"It's um...it's a long story," he chuckled. She read and edited the book without a question about its content. Until she found a photo in his drawer of him and Peyton locked in an embrace next to her car. She'd told him that she couldn't be with him when he was still writing about someone else - the girl he'd vowed to always love, all those years ago.
She knew that was his way of sidestepping the request for information, so she didn't push the issue.
"So you don't even read my books?" he teased, laughing at her.
"I buy them, Luke. They're all on my bookshelf," she informed him. "I just...can't bring myself to read them. But I'm so proud of you, Lucas."
"You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say those words," he said with a sigh. "I'm proud of you too. Haley's told me about all the great stuff you're doing. I bought the Low vs. Diamond album the other day, and there you were in the liner notes, head of A&R. Peyton, that's great."
"It should be, shouldn't it?" she said, trying to convince herself.
The truth was, she'd had a lot of great things happen. She'd made a lot of great things happen. Yet she still felt completely unfulfilled. Like there was something missing. And it became evident then, that this was what was missing. This feeling. Lucas.
Another moment passed before either of them spoke, but it wasn't awkward. It had never been awkward for them when they were together but not speaking. They just existed in the silence.
"Are you happy, Peyton? he asked. He felt he already knew the answer.
"I miss you," she repeated softly. She knew he'd hear in that phrase what she really wanted to say. That she hadn't been happy without him for the last 5 years. That she couldn't be happy without him, and that hearing his voice now was bringing a calm to her soul that she hadn't felt since the last time they spoke.
"If I told you to come home, would you do it?" he asked quietly. Tentatively. Hesitantly. He was terrified of what her answer would be.
"Are you telling me?" she asked.
"I think I need you, Peyton."
"You think?" she inquired with a laugh. She tried to lighten the mood, though her heart was beating rapidly in her chest at his prior statement.
"Why did we break up?" He asked the question knowing he was to blame for their split. He knew that if he'd just swallowed his pride that they would still be together. He knew that.
"I've been trying to figure that out for 5 years, Luke," she said. She knew it was an accusatory statement, but he'd been the one to end things. He was the one who couldn't understand her need to forge her own way.
"I'm so sorry, Peyt." He was defeated. He knew he'd been wrong. "I just...I didn't know how to do it, you know?"
"So you just decided not to?" she asked. It was a terrible thing to say, but she didn't care. She wanted him to know that he'd hurt her as badly as he had.
"I was young and stupid. I thought you were picking your life over me," he explained.
"You were my life, Lucas. I needed you, and you just...you walked away from me."
"And you think I don't know how selfish that was?" he asked. He tried not to get angry, but he was. He was angry at himself, not at her, but he knew it was coming out in his voice. "I spent two years in a relationship with an amazing woman. She was perfect, Peyton. But she wasn't you."
"You know, Luke? I've heard that before," she spat back.
He didn't say anything right away. He knew she was right.
"That was a long time ago, Peyton," he finally said softly.
"Yeah it was," she agreed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to sound..."
"It's OK. I just...You remember the summer between junior and senior year? Everyone else was gone and it was just you and me."
"Of course I remember," she said.
"We were best friends, Peyton." He reminded her of the fact, though he knew he didn't have to.
"I also fell in love with you, Lucas," she countered.
"I know," he said quietly. She'd told him that before.
Suddenly the space between them began to feel heavy. Weighed down by time and distance and feelings felt so long alone. She wished she was 18 again and he was only a few short blocks away, and that she could tell him to come over and he'd be in front of her in a matter of minutes. She realized that this conversation, talking to him and hearing his voice, brought all the feelings she'd been searching for, for the last 5 years.
"You never answered my question," she said after a few moments.
"What question?" he asked.
"Are you telling me to come home?" She held her breath waiting for a response. She wasn't sure what he wanted him to say. If he said he wanted her to go back to Tree Hill, she'd have to quit her job and start her career all over again. But if he told her that he'd been kidding, or that she couldn't risk her job, her heart would break all over again.
"Well, I know you, so I know there's no telling you anything," he said with a laugh. "But I need you. And I'm sick of feeling like letting you get away was a mistake. I want to fix it."
She could hardly believe his words. He'd just voiced exactly what she'd been feeling.
"Fix what?" she asked.
"Everything. Us. My heart..." his voice trailed. "I bet that sounds lame."
"No, Lucas, it doesn't."
He was quiet again. There was an unspoken connection between them in that moment, that they both felt the same.
"Come home, Peyton," he said quietly.