A/N: Hey guys, this is my new story. It takes place during the flashback episode, 5x05. The next few chapters will be flashbacks to let everyone know what has happened and then it will be back to present time. This is an AU story, I hope you all like it. Some dialogue from 5x05. Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or the characters.
My Way Home Is Through You
Chapter 1
Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton Hotel; three years ago.
"I didn't know dessert could be so tasty," Lucas chuckles, licking away the remaining whipped cream off Peyton's shoulder. Lucas then, looks down at her with a smile, kissing her nose lovingly, cuddling her naked body closer to his own.
"I knew you'd like it," Peyton smirks, burying her head in his chest. "How long you staying for?" She looks up asking.
"I leave tomorrow," Lucas, tells her with a frown. He looks down at her, watching her smile fade. "Whatcha thinking about?" He asks, kissing the top of her head.
"Ugh," Peyton sighs. "I dunno… Just like… Like you know that feeling you get on a Sunday, where you just have the whole day to yourself and it's been great… and then you remember you have to go to work the next day so it ruins the rest of the night? You have to go home tomorrow. And so I've got that feeling… it's like Sunday night."
Lucas nods, knowingly. "You know, somebody once told me that every song ends… but that's no reason not to enjoy the music."
Peyton smiles softly. "Ellie told me that."
Lucas smiles with a nod. "Well she was right. Tomorrow's gonna hurt like hell. We both know that. But we're here together now." He tells her, and then places a soft kiss on her lips.
They break from the kiss, smiling. "Well, before you leave, I want you to meet my new roommate." Peyton tells him as she traces a finger around his lips.
"Aw yes, the other guy," Lucas teases. Truth is, when Lucas found out that Peyton had found a new "straight" guy roommate, he had not been thrilled. Just knowing his girlfriend, who was thousands of miles away, would be sharing an apartment with someone who was not him, made him worry.
"Stop it, he's great." Peyton laughs at the expression on Lucas' face. "You'll love him, I know it."
"I wouldn't bet on it."
"Luke!" Peyton laughs, playfully hitting his chest. "You will. He's funny, smart, and really, I mean really great in bed." Peyton says, trying to hold back the smirk forming on her lips.
"What!?" Lucas yells jumping up, causing Peyton to slide off his chest.
"Whoa! Calm down." Peyton grabs his arm to pull him closer to her. "God Lucas, it was a joke ya big nerd." Peyton laughs, poking him in the chest.
"It better be," Lucas playfully glares. "Just please explain to me why you had to get a guy for a roommate?"
Peyton raises an eyebrow at the tone her boyfriend used. "Are you jealous Lucas Scott?" Peyton asks with an amused smile.
"No." Lucas looks down. "I just…" he licks his lips, continuing. "I don't understand why you couldn't find a roommate that is… you know…a girl."
Peyton smiles softly, bringing her hand up to stoke Lucas' face. "Luke, Julian was the first friend I made in the city and he needed a place to stay. I just…I couldn't say no. He has been too good to me and plus there is no way I could afford that apartment on my own with the amount of money I make." Peyton tells him, hearing Lucas sigh. "You have to trust me Luke." She says in a whisper.
Lucas sighs, tightening his hold on her. "I do. I trust you Peyt. It's just him I don't trust."
"You have nothing to worry about." She tells him softly. "You want to know why?" He nods so she continues. "Because… I am completely in love with you, Lucas Scott." Lucas smiles as Peyton brings his face down to hers, kissing him.
Peyton pulls away from the kiss with a slight frown on her face. "What's wrong?" Lucas asks.
"I'm all sticky," she tells him causing Lucas to laugh at her and Peyton to glare at him. Peyton decides to scoop some of the whipped cream off her arm and wipe it on Lucas' nose, with a giggle.
"Peyt..." Lucas whines while Peyton laughs at how cute he looks. Lucas watches Peyton bring her face closer to his, leaning forward, and licking away the whipped cream. He shivers making her to smile. He playfully rolls Peyton over, pinning her down to the bed, tickling her.
Peyton starts to squeal with laughter. "Lu-cas! Stop….st-op, plea-se" She gets out in between laughs. "Pleeeaasee Luke!" She laughs, trying to catch her breath.
He stops. "Oh alright, you big baby," Lucas says, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Thank you." She grins, leaning up to kiss him. He immediately responds to the kiss by pulling her closer to him so that she is straddling his waist. Peyton runs her hands up his chest and into his hair, moaning into his mouth when Lucas brings her hips closer to his.
Suddenly someone's cell phone starts to ring. "It's...mine…" Peyton tells him, between kisses.
"Leave it..." He tells her as he flips them over so that he is now on top.
Peyton bites her lip as Lucas kisses his way down her neck and to her chest. "Luke...I-I can't...it...could be...work...."
Lucas stops and lets out a grunt. "Sorry," Peyton tells him. She turns on the lamp and grabs her phone off the nightstand, answering it. "Hello? Well, yeah… right now?" She looks at Lucas, who shakes his head, throwing on his boxers. "Yeah I'm… of course I like my job. Okay. Right away, sir." She turns to Lucas, who is now standing up, looking irritated.
"You should have ignored it," he tells her.
"They would have kept calling back," she says, softly. She gets up, wrapping the sheet around her body, walking over to him.
Lucas sighs, pulling her into a hug. "When do you have to go in?"
"I have to be at the office in an hour..." She tells him and he nods. "Which gives us plenty of time to shower?" She looks at him with a raise brow and seductive smile.
"Ugh! Come here, you," Lucas smiles, throwing her over his shoulder and making his way to the bathroom, with her giggling in his ear.
--
Later that night, Lucas wakes up to find Peyton sitting in a chair across the room.
"Hey, when'd you get here?" He asks as he looks around the bed.
She shakes her head, watching him lift the bedspread. "Oh, I don't know… Like an hour ago." Peyton answers.
He stops what he's doing, giving her a confused look. "You know, you could have woke me up."
Peyton nods while taking a deep breath. "Luke, what is this?" She opens her hands to reveal the tiny black box that he'd been searching for. He looks at her. "I couldn't bring myself to open it but I've just been sitting here thinking about how much I love you." She tells him.
Lucas smiles as he walks over to her. "Well, I wanted it to be a surprise but, um…" He kneels down on one knee in front of her, taking the box out of her hands. "Peyton I love you and I want us to be together forever."
Lucas starts to open the box, but Peyton quickly covers her hands over his, stopping him. "Luke, wait, okay?"
"I know it was a bit sudden okay, but you know yesterday was a great day. And I'm sitting on the bus and I realize that none of my great days in my life matter without you. You're the one I want next to me if my dreams come true. You're the one I want next to me if they don't. As long as I have you, nothing else matters."
Peyton gets up causing Lucas to look down. "There's… It's just not as simple as that okay, there's a lot we have to talk about."
"I know but we'll figure out the details when we get back to Tree Hill."
Peyton turns to look at him. "Okay, I know that's home for you, and I miss it sometimes, I do, but for me Tree Hill is two dead moms and a psycho stalker and some really painful memories. You know, I actually had to move out to Hollywood to get away from all the drama. So right now, this is my home and the only thing that's missing is you…"
"Then I'll move here." He tells her, shrugging his shoulders.
"No, Luke, honey. Whitey believes in you and Nathan needs you. And if I ask you to walk away from your dream you're going to wake up one day and you're going to resent me for it. The same way I would feel if you asked me to leave L.A."
"Peyton, you get people coffee and you deliver mail. You were doing more than that in Tree Hill." Lucas tells her.
Peyton nods and looks down. "Well, I love you for believing that, but I have to prove that to myself. Now you see that's the thing; we both have so much we want to do with our lives. And we're only nineteen."
"Nathan and Haley were a lot younger than that." He points out.
"Yeah, okay and we see how easy that's been." Peyton sighs. "Come on, in another year."
"Peyton, we've seen each other three times in the past year. We go days without talking. We trade a few emails. Who knows where we'll be a year from now."
"Luke, if you can't trust that our love can make it one year, I don't understand how we can be talking about forever right now."
"You're saying no." He says with a shaky voice, turning around.
"No. I am not saying, no. I'm saying not now. I want to marry you someday." Peyton grabs his arm, trying to make him face her, but he pulls his arm back. "Hey, don't do that. Don't pull away from me, okay. I want us to be together. I love you so much."
"Just not enough." He whispers, laying himself down on the bed.
"Okay. Can we take this back? Can we just pretend like you never woke up? Please?" Peyton pleads.
"I don't think that we can." Lucas tells her, sadly.
"I'm afraid that this conversation is going to end with-"
"Goodbye." He finishes for her.
"Luke, don't. Come here." She lies down next to him, cuddling his head against her chest. "Our dreams are going to come true, Lucas. My music and your novel. It's going to happen, I know it." Lucas wraps an arm around, hoping that she is right.
--
The next morning, Lucas is watching Peyton sleep. He watches as her chest rises and falls, with each breath she takes, knowing that he will never love someone as much as he loves her. He stands up, walking over to her, gently kissing her on the cheek. He places her CD on the pillow next to her, looking back one last time.
"Bye Peyton," He says before leaving the hotel room.
Peyton hears the sound of the door shutting, waking her up. "Luke?" She sits up looking around, and then notices the CD she made for him, lying on the pillow next to her. She looks sadly at the CD and then the door, wiping away a tear that rolls down her cheek. Peyton stands up; walking over to the trash can in the corner of the room.
She eyes the CD in her hands, and then tosses it into the trash can. Peyton grabs her purse and jacket, looking at the room, switches the lights off. "Goodbye Lucas," she whispers to no one, and then she leaves the room.
There's the first chapter. Let me know what you all think and if I should continue. This story has a lot more drama to it, and it starts in the next chapter. I have the next three chapters already typed out so I will be able to update quickly if this story gets a positive response.
