"First of All, You Don't Know Me…"

A/N: OK…I just want to make something clear. Hayden knows basic things about her parents past…like she knows that Lucas played basketball back in high school and that his dad's a jackass. She knows her mother used to be a cheerleader (not sure if Lindsey actually cheerleaded, but in this story all three girls did) and that her parents have known each other for a long time. How long, she doesn't know. Hayden really knows NOTHING about how her parents met or about their relationship, and obviously nothing about their relationships with others. You all might think that's kind of unrealistic, but not necessarily. Hayden's just turned nine and I think it's a good age where kids really start to ask serious questions. I know I didn't really inquire into my parent's history any earlier than that. Besides…this story obviously wouldn't work if she weren't completely clueless, so work with me, ok? Also…when I do the flashback scenes for all the girls, I will use their real names in the description, but in actual dialogue…if their name is supposed to be said, I'll use the nickname because Hayden can hear that. That's all for now, I hope you guys like this chapter! – Jasmine

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"Alright. I guess I should start with the first time we REALLY met and came face to face with each other."

"How did it happen?"

"She almost ran me over with her car."

Hayden gasped. "Really?!"

Lucas smirked and nodded. "Yes. She put on the breaks at the very last second."

"And then what happened?"

"Well…we stared at each other. For a long, long time before she rolled her eyes and motioned for me to go ahead. I kept on staring for a moment, but eventually shook my head and moved out of the way and then she drove off."

"She just drove off?" Hayden asked in disbelief. "After she nearly killed you?"

Lucas nodded his head up and down.

Hayden scratched her head in confusion. "Ok…so since you didn't actually speak to each other during this first real encounter, why don't you tell me about one of the first times you two actually did."

Lucas pondered momentarily. "Ok well I guess it would be the day when that pretty little car of hers…the one she almost hit me with…broke down. She called a tow trucker, which happened to be me…"

"Can I ask you a question?"

Peyton rolled her eyes and briefly glanced over at Lucas. "It's a free country."

"Why are you a cheerleader?"

"Wait!" Hayden yelled out, cutting of her father. "Wasn't mom a cheerleader?"

"All three of the girls were cheerleaders."

Hayden nodded. "Oh, ok. Continue."

Peyton raised an eyebrow and eyed Lucas curiously.

"I mean, no offense or anything, but you're about the least cheery person I know."

Instead of responding, Peyton turned her head away and ignored him.

Lucas sighed. "I don't think Nathan's coming to get you---"

"Wait!"

Lucas sighed. "Now what?"

"When you said Nathan…did you mean Uncle Nathan?"

Lucas nodded. "Yes. He and the Dark Angel used to date."

"Well then why wouldn't he pick up his stranded girlfriend?" Hayden asked curiously. "That's not like Uncle Nathan at all."

"Well back then your Uncle Nathan was...kind of a jerk. Him and the Dark Angel…they stopped dating for good…a couple of days after this incident took place."

"Oh." said a somewhat surprised Hayden. "Alright, carry on."

"Why don't you let me give you a ride? I'll let you insult me."

Peyton put a hand on her hip and glared at Lucas. "First of all, you don't know me. Second of all, you don't know me….God, why are guys such jerks?!"

"Guys or Nathan?"

"Him. You."

Lucas sighed. "Well we share the same father."

Peyton's evil facial expression softened a bit as she directed her attention toward Lucas. "I heard about that. He's kind of an ass. That must suck…having to see him around."

Lucas nodded. "For my mom. I…I never really knew him."

"But she told you he was your dad?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, eventually. We used to play in junior leagues together, me and Nathan."

"Basketball?"

Lucas smiled softly. "Yeah. And I loved it and I was good at it. Have you ever had something that you knew you were better at than almost anybody else?"

Peyton nodded. "Sex."

Lucas raises an eyebrow..

"Joke." Peyton said, smiling slightly.

"Anyway. Guys kept teasing me about it; about how Nathan's dad was my dad too. So I asked my mom, and she said he wasn't, but I get home and I hear her crying in her room and I knew it was true. So I never went back. And I told my mom it was because I didn't want to have to see his face. But it was mostly because... I don't want her to have to."

Peyton nodded her head in understanding, but stared at him for a long while before finally speaking.

"So…" Peyton began, staring long and hard at Lucas. "Why'd you tell me all of that? I mean, we don't even know each other."

Lucas nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, well maybe that's the point."

"Hmmm…interesting." Hayden said, pausing a moment to take everything in. "The Dark Angel…she puts up this 'I'm a tough girl' front which would turn a lot of people off, but not you. Is it because you knew that deep down she wasn't as 'hard' as she pretended to be?"

Lucas nodded. "Exactly."

Hayden repositioned herself in the bed. "So you got her to open up and you two get together?"

"Not exactly."

Hayden looked confused. "How do you mean?"

"Well, you see....oh, no. Forget it."

"No!" Hayden exclaimed. "You have to keep going!"

Lucas shook his head. "No, it's not a good idea. Some of what I was planning on saying to you tonight would be…a bit too…graphic for you and you're mother would kill me if she knew---"

"No she won't." Hayden said interrupting, knowing what her father was getting at. "I already know ALL about the 'birds and the bees' Dad and Mom was the one who told me about it!"

"ALL about it?" Lucas asked raising an eyebrow.

"ALL about it!" Hayden answered back. "Don't look so surprised Dad, I'm not a baby anymore."

Lucas sighed. "No…you're not. I suppose your mother did the right thing by talking to you. But it would have been nice if she had at least told me she planned to---"

Hayden cut him off. "Dad! Stop rambling and continue with the story."

Lucas nodded. "Ok...so the Dark Angel and I…we were at a party and we…we spent some time with each other. Towards the end of the night we decided to go and spend some alone time together and… "

"And…"

"And I instead ended up spending the night alone…"

"You don't need this." Peyton whispered as she pulled off his jacket and pushed him onto the bed.

She starting kissing Lucas up and down his neck and then pulled off his tie. "Or this."

The two continued to make out as Peyton quickly began unbuttoning his dress shirt.

"I have wanted this for so long." Lucas said in between kisses.

"Me too." Peyton breathed out as she took Lucas shirt off. "And now we can have it."

"No, no, no." Lucas said shaking his head. "I don't mean just that. I want this."

Lucas placed his right hand on Peyton's heart. "You know…I want to be here. I want to have everything with you. I want it all. I want us."

A taken aback Peyton stepped away from Lucas and shook her head.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked a confused Lucas.

Peyton sighed. "This isn't supposed to be that. Why couldn't you just leave it alone?"

Peyton walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

"She left?" asked a surprised Hayden. "Just like that?"

Lucas simply nodded his head.

"And she didn't come back to the room?"

Lucas shook his head. "No. But a couple of weeks later she did come back to see me."

"And what happened?"

"Lucas I made a mistake." Peyton said as she stared lovingly into his eyes.

"When you said you wanted to be with me I got…I got scared and I pushed you away but the truth is I want all of the same things you want and I want them with you.

Lucas opened up his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by the girl who had suddenly emerged from the next room. "Okay superstar, you ready to score?"

Peyton opened her eyes in shock and an extremely awkward silence filled the room.

Brooke looked over at Peyton. "Hey…we missed you after the game tonight."

"Yeah I…guess I just…I got kind of turned around." Peyton mumbled out as she gave them both a small smile.

She quickly began making her way toward the door to leave when Lucas shouted out to her. "Dark Angel!"

Peyton stopped moving and turned back around.

More awkward silence filled the room as Lucas stared into Peyton's eyes. He then redirected his attention to Brooke and gazed long and hard into her eyes. Brooke then shifted her gaze from Lucas to Peyton and Peyton refocused her eyes onto Brooke. The three continued looking around at each other…not sure what to say or do.

"So…" Lucas began, taking a time out from his story telling. "What do you think of the Dark Angel thus far?"

Hayden pondered long and hard before responding. "I'm not sure. Initially I thought her whole 'first of all, you don't know me bada** act' was kind of irritating. I mean…you were just trying to be nice to her and she acted like a total witch---minus the w add a b---to you! And then I thought…well maybe she puts up a front as a way to push people away. But then I was like, well why would she do that? I mean, you made it so obvious to her how much you wanted to be with her and then the Dark Angel just ran away…even though it's clear that she wanted to be with you just as badly. That was such a dumb thing to do, but then again I can sort of see why she did it…"

"Why do you think?"

"I think she did it because she was afraid. The Dark Angel's afraid of letting her guard down and letting people in because she thinks that…I don't know…that maybe they'll hurt her? Either by leaving or through betrayal. She didn't want to get hurt so she kept her heart guarded by not opening up to you. "

"Is that so?"

Hayden nodded. "Yeah. And at first I thought…she can't be Mom because Mom's not like that…afraid of letting people in. But considering the fact that the Dark Angel did eventually open up to you…telling you what a huge mistake she made and how she wanted everything that you did and more…it's clear that she was starting to shed her tough girl front and was willing to be more open and vulnerable. So who knows…the Dark Angel could definitely be Mom…but it's WAY too early to tell. I'm going to need to hear more about her. And about the other two of course! Especially that girl who came out of the next room when the Dark Angel spilled her heart out to you because I'm guessing she's girl number two? Also known as?"

"The Girl Behind the Red Door." Lucas stated without hesitation.

"Hmm…" Hayden said, squinting her eyes as she thought. "The Girl Behind the Red Door…ok, so what is she like? Is she anything like the Dark Angel?"

"In some ways I suppose so." Lucas replied. "But in many other ways…not so much. The Dark Angel well, she could be pretty dark…and twisty at times as you've seen. The Girl Behind the Red Door…she definitely had some dark moments in her life too, but normally she had this more bright and shiny persona."

"I see." Hayden said, taking in a mental note. "So tell me about your first real encounter with The Girl Behind the Red Door."

Lucas chuckled as he began to think back. "Well one night I hopped into my car to head home and there she was…naked in my backseat!"

Hayden's jaw dropped. "She was NAKED?!"

Lucas nodded. "Yes."

"That's wild." said an astonished Hayden. "So what happened after you found her!?"

"She…"

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So I hope you all liked this chapter! So…Lucas has told Hayden a bit about his past with Peyton. Hayden's not sure if the Dark Angel is her mother, as she's heard nothing about the other two, nor has she heard enough about the Dark Angel. Alright guys…please, please review with your thoughts/predictions. I'm pretty sure I know where I'm going with this, but who knows…you guys might leave a comment that'll make me change my mind. Ok all, until next time!

Next time…

Lucas begins to tell Hayden about the Girl Behind the Red Door, a.k.a. Brooke

And still to come…

Lucas begins to tell her about Lindsey

Hayden will hear more about the Dark Angel and the Girl Behind the Red Door

Hayden will guess which girl is her mother…will she be correct?