Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.
Warning: This does contain spoilers for the fifth season of OTH. I found these online one day and I was like yes! I figured I might as well turn it into a one-shot.
Summary: This is what I think should happen after Lindsay leaves Lucas at the altar. Set during season 5. Contains some serious spoilers. Do not read if you don't want to find out! Anyways, Peyton and Lucas meet up at the beach after Lindsay disappears and talk.
The Comet That Lit Up His Sky
They stood together for the first time since Lindsay had left him at the altar. Neither was sure about how to treat the other. Neither was certain about how the other was feeling.
"Luke?"
Her soft voice sent shivers down his spine, just as it always did. Ever since the first time he had heard it in seventh grade, she had captivated him.
"Lucas, please, talk to me."
Her plea for him to talk made him want to open up. But he was too confused to. The emotions inside of him were mixed and confused, combined with the feeling of utmost betrayal.
"I wish I could, Peyton. I really do."
That was all he could tell her. That was all he could work out. He wanted to talk to her, he really did, but something stopped him.
"I'm sorry."
That made him look at her, a questioning look visible in his blue eyes. She shrugged, before turning to face him, her beautiful green eyes lost and despairing. The look, he could imagine, was reflected in his own.
"Peyton, this isn't your fault."
She was quiet, thinking about what to say. On some level, she knew it was. If it hadn't been for her, Lindsay and Lucas would be on their French honeymoon right now, happily married.
"Yeah, it is."
"It's Lindsay's. She was the one who made the comment about the comet."
She smiled at the memory that had taken place merely hours before. She had to hide it though, because he was still extremely heartbroken about the entire thing.
"I'm still sorry. I really liked Lindsay."
He snorted, and shook his head. Even in the faint moonlight, she could see that. This time she couldn't resist the smile.
"You hated Lindsay from the first time you met her. You acted like a jealous girlfriend."
Their conversation had taken a totally unexpected turn. Okay, she thought. Maybe not totally unexpected.
"Maybe I was."
"We broke up after you rejected me."
The hurt was back in his voice. They were no longer talking about Lindsay. They were talking about them and what had happened to them during those four years. She sighed. She thought they had already talked this topic to death, but apparently not.
"Luke, are you that boy? The boy who saw the comet and waited for it to return?"
She had to ask. She had to know if Lindsay was actually right. She had to know if there was some actual point to them being here. Because if there wasn't, she needed to get back home to make sure Jamie was okay. She was certain he did to.
"She got that quote from my book. Who knew that it would someday come back and bite me in the ass?"
He had muttered so darkly and quietly, that she had thought she imagined it.
"Luke?"
"What can I say? That what I wrote wasn't true? That I haven't been waiting for you for the past four years, even after you rejected me? Because that would be a lie, Peyton. I love you. I never stopped, either."
"I love you, too, Lucas."
There. She had said it. She had been dying to say it ever since she had seen him on the river court the night she had returned.
He turned to her, his blue eyes full of shock and amazement.
"Then why didn't you say anything, Peyton? In the church, when you saw me with Lindsay all those years ago, why didn't you say anything?"
"I was scared. I didn't want to be that girl again."
"Peyton…"
"Lucas, I completely destroyed my friendship with Brooke because of what we did when we were in high school. I didn't that happening again."
"I didn't love Lindsay then."
"Do you now?"
He was silent, his shoulders hunched nervously. He was guilty, that much she could read. The rest… his mood was too complicated for her to understand.
"I'm not sure if I can answer that, anymore, Peyton. Three hours ago, I was ready to declare my love for her in front of all my friends and family, even you, Peyton. But now, now I'm not so sure."
"Why not?"
"Because my comet has returned to my life. And her name isn't Lindsay."
His eyes were boring into her own, giving them even more meaning than they already had. She hesitated, not certain of what to say. Even though her heart longed for her to just kiss him already, she wasn't sure if it was just his loneliness talking. Lindsay had just rejected him, in front of the entire Tree Hill population. He could just be looking for a one-night stand.
But she knew that wasn't him, that he wouldn't do that to her. They had always had that chemistry… that certain spark, between them. She had been too late twice already. She couldn't be too late a third time; else she would lose him forever. Her heart couldn't bear that.
"Remember when we first met?" she asked, hesitant now. She remembered her vision in the church, when she had said it so boldly. That had been in front of a church full of people. Now, out here, when it was just the two of them, it was much harder to say it.
"Yeah."
His one word answer gave Peyton the encouragement she needed. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"It was the day you fixed my car. That day changed everything because you changed my heart, and you changed me. When you told me that my art mattered and that it got you to the game that day, you gave me hope. That hope is always going to be there, and it's because of you. If I hadn't met you, then we wouldn't have been through everything that we've been through. When you proposed to me two years ago I got scared, so I said someday. That someday is now! Please Lucas, I can't lose you again. I love you."
"I love you, to, Peyton. I love you more than you could ever know."
She smiled at him. He smiled back as he took a hesitant step forward and reached for her hand. A jolt of electricity went through both of them, the familiar spark that had drawn them close to each other all those years ago.
"Lindsay was right, Peyton. I am that boy. I was and am a boy who saw a comet and felt his life finally had meaning and that he waited his entire life for it to return. When his comet finally did return, he was with someone else. He was a stupid boy. Now, he… I am lonely and just want my comet back."
She was in tears at the end of his speech, and she could tell that he was as well.
"Lucas Scott, will you marry me?"
"Yes, Peyton Sawyer, I will."
