"It's called me being nice to you," Lucas said, wondering how the conversation became about rent.
"Well it needs to stop," Peyton replied angrily.
"Maybe you're right," Lucas said, giving up. He surrendered his hands as he walked out of the room, completely exasperated.
Peyton didn't have any energy or desire to move, so she just sat there, wishing this was a bad dream she would wake up from. After about five minute of fuming and repeating the argument in her head, she heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Peyton yelled, not bothering to be polite.
"Hi," she heard a very familiar voice say.
Peyton turned around to confirm that it was who she thought it was. There stood Jake, looking a lot older in one way, and completely the same in another, at least to Peyton. Shocked, she ran straight to him and pulled him into an urgent hug. After about twenty seconds, she finally released her grip on him.
"Hi," Peyton said, still not believing who was standing in front of her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jake asked softly, noticing her tears.
"Kind of, I just had a really bad fight with Lucas."
"Oh. I take it you two are together now?" Jake asked, trying to hide his disappointment.
"Well, we were, and then we weren't…" Peyton trailed off, unable to talk due to the rush of bad memories through her head.
"I'm sorry," Jake said sincerely.
"How's Jenny?" Peyton asked, trying to change the subject.
"She's great. She's at school already. She wasn't meant to start until next year but she's really smart for her age."
"Just like her Daddy," Peyton said, a fresh batch of tears forming in her eyes.
Jake chuckled quietly, wiping her eyes. "It's so good to see you, Peyton."
Instinctively, without thinking, she pulled him into a passionate kiss, which he returned whole-heartedly. When the kiss finally ended, Peyton felt ashamed of her impulsiveness.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Jake. I don't know what I was thinking."
"Shh," Jake said, holding his index finger against her lips. Then he repeated Peyton's earlier action.
As they kissed, Peyton wondered why she ever wasted her time on Lucas. The man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with was standing right in front of her.