A/N: Again, thank you so much for your reviews and continued support. The story's coming to a close now, the chapter after this one will be the last. I've decided to just update as I've been writing, no one likes to be kept waiting. And the final chapter will be added by tonight too, just writing it now. Rest assured I have come up with a really cheesy, but totally Leyton, ending to this one. Some of you may pick up on some clues somewhere along the lines...?

Peyton opened her eyes and was met with Jamie's face. She scrunched her nose and he smiled.

"Morning, Aunt Peyton."

"Morning, buddy. What you looking at me for?"

"You're pretty when you sleep." Peyton smiled amazed at the little boy who sat in front of her.

"Thanks." She looked down and smiled when she remembered what she was wearing.

"Uncle Lucas had to go to practise. He said…um" Jamie took a second to make sure he could remember what Lucas had told him. "He said, he hopes you slept okay, to call Aunt Brooke because he's sick of hearing her voice-" Peyton laughed. "And that he'll be back later. Did you know that the Ravens are only one game away from going to the State Championship?" Jamie's face lit up.

"I sure did, buddy. Think they're gonna get there?"

"Hell yeah!"

"James Lucas Scott, do not say hell." Haley walked in and scolded her son. "Sorry Mama." Haley passed the phone to Peyton.

"It's Brooke. I'll be upstairs getting Jamie ready. Do you mind taking him to the school later to meet Nathan? I've got some errands to run."

"No, of course not. I need to thank Lucas anyway." Haley smiled as she picked up her son.

Peyton put the phone to her ear.

"Hey B. Davis."

"P. Sawyer! Are you okay?" Peyton winced at the worry in her friend's voice.

"I'm fine, Brooke."

"Are you sure? Cos I'm going to have to stay in New York for a few extra days."

"Of course. Haley and Nathan have been amazing and so has Lucas. I'll be shaky for a few days but I'll be okay. If it's cool with Hales I'll just stay here. "

"Or you could stay with a certain broody blonde." Brooke rasped.

"Oh yeah, that'd go down great with Lindsey."

"Screw her."

"Brooke!"

"No, seriously. After what she said last night, she can go Broo-"

"What did she say?"

"Crap. Uh, she might have, maybe, suggested that you planned the whole thing to get Lucas back." Peyton was shocked.

"Oh well that's just great. And Lucas had to all hero on me and come to my rescue in the middle of the night. That's only going to make everything worse."

"Here's to hoping," Brooke laughed. Peyton groaned. "How did it feel, Peyton?"

"How did what feel?"

"To know that Luke still loves you as much as you love him?"

"Brooke." Peyton smiled sadly. "It was nice to know he was here for me. To sleep against him knowing he was going to keep me safe, but this whole thing is so messed up."

"You can't seriously be feeling sorry for Lindsey right now? Everyone is angry for what she said Peyton, even Lucas from what I've heard."

Peyton sighed. "Look, we'll talk about this later. I have take Jamie to the gym."

"Okay P. Sawyer, but this conversation is not over. Just promise something okay?"

"Sure, anything."

"If Lucas realises what his heart wants, please don't run from him. I know he hurt you when he left you but please Peyton, stop hurting yourself." Peyton was touched with the sincerity with which Brooke spoke.

"Okay. I gotta go. I'll call you later. Bye."

"Bye P."

Peyton placed the phone on the table and ran her hands through her hair. The way Lucas had taken care of her the night before left her overwhelmed with emotion. In part she did feel bad for Lindsey although she was extremely hurt by what Lindsey had said. A part of her knew that she felt Lucas' love with every fibre of her being but she didn't want to be that girl again. And she was still picking up the pieces of what was left of her when Lucas left her. But the Lucas she'd seen in the last few weeks, let alone last night had shown her a glimpse of the man she used to know. The man who would never leave her.

"Aunt Peyton, lets go!" Jamie broke her from her thoughts. Haley was smiling at her.

"You okay, Girly?"

"Yeah, getting there, thanks. Listen, Brooke said she'll be in New York a little longer than expected, do you mind if I stay here for a bit longer?"

"You don't even need to ask. Although, if you keep punching my husband…" she laughed. Peyton joined her.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. He frightened me and I freaked out-"

"Hey, it's okay. I was kidding. We understand. Anyway, I'll see you later. Get a key from Nathan when you get to the gym and make yourself at home."

"Thanks, I will do. Come on, kiddo, let's go find your dad." Peyton grabbed her keys from the table and took Jamie's hand.

Lucas and Nathan were in Lucas' office. Lucas sat behind his desk, staring out the window.

"Did you go see Lindsey this morning?" Nathan broke the ice.

"Uh, well I went home to shower quickly so I saw her, yeah."

"And how are things?"

"Tense. But they've been tense for a while. She's been crazy since Peyton came home. By the way, I'm sorry for how she spoke to you last night."

"Not your place to apologise, man."

"I'm just getting tired of the arguing. I know it's going to be hard to accept Peyton being back, but Peyt is trying really hard to push all her feelings aside, just like she always does and she's trying to be a good friend to both of us and for Lindsey to turn round and accuse her of something like that knowing well enough that Peyton went through hell with Psycho Derek."

"I know, man, it totally sucks. Haley's pretty angry about it too. You did good with Peyton though. Without you she'd still be sitting in her office staring at the wall waiting for Brooke to get on a plane back here." Lucas shook his head.

"I know, Peyton. Better than anyone, no offense." Nathan waved a hand to show he hadn't taken any. "I was there with her through those attacks you know. I used to be that guy for her, I still want to be that guy for her." Nathan scrunched his nose.

"Can I ask you a question?" Lucas nodded. "Do you still love her?"

Lucas remained silent and went back to staring out the window. "I never stopped. But a part of me knows that I love Lindsey too."

"Okay, look at this way. When you were with Brooke…" Lucas looked at him, confused. "Just listen to me, man. When you were with Brooke did you ever think about Peyton that way? Did you ever regret that things turned out the way they did." Lucas looked uncomfortable and stared at the floor. "Just be honest, Luke. It's me you're talking to, I'm not gonna verbally kick your ass like Haley might."

"Yes, from time to time, I did. Especially after the shooting."

"Okay. And has there been a day since you left Peyton in that hotel room, even though you're with Lindsey, that you haven't thought about Peyton?"

"Not one."

"Okay, last question. When you finally got it together with Peyton, did you ever think about Brooke, or any other girl for that matter?"

"No, of course not. Peyton was all I saw."

"Then do you not realise that the answer's right in front of you? And that you owe it to yourself to stop running? Pull your head out of your ass, Luke. Anyone that saw what you did last night knows where you're heart is at."

"Okay, so say I go home and break up with Lindsey. What then? I hurt Peyton, Nate. I did the one thing I told her I would never do. I left her in that hotel room because of my own selfish pride and I didn't wait for her. It's going to take a lot for her to trust me again, if she ever will."

"Dude, yeah what you did sucked but are you really telling me that you think Peyton doesn't trust you? You were the only person that could get through to her last night, Lucas. I've known her longer than anyone that was there last night and she still flinched if I got too close. She couldn't sleep happily just because I was there. But you show up and she's out like a light. She might have been hurt by what you did but she still trusts you."

Lucas looked up at him trying to figure out when Nathan became the smarter of the two Scotts.

"I don't know, man. I don't think she's just going to walk straight back into a relationship with me."

"Then fight for her." Lucas looked confused. "You've never had to before. She watched you fight for Brooke back in high school but you never had to fight for Peyton back then. You need to show her that you're sorry, own up to your mistakes and make her feel like she's the only one you want. Fight for her, man."

Before Lucas could say anything they were interrupted by the sound of Peyton's laughter coming up the hall. Jamie ran into the office and hugged Nathan. Peyton walked in after him, looking refreshed and a lot calmer than she was the night before.

"Hey, Haley asked me to drop him off for you. And, you've got yourself a house guest for a little longer. Brooke's staying in New York for a couple of extra days."

"No problem." Nathan looked down at his son who was staring at him intently.

"What do you want, you menace?"

"Why do you have a black eye?"

"Cos your Aunt Peyton punched me!"

"Oh. Cool!" Everyone in the room laughed.

"Okay, well Lucas thank for you last night." She smiled at him and he nodded his head. "I'm going to head to Tric to make sure Junk was okay with everything last night. I'll see you back at yours later, Nate." She looked back at Lucas one last time and left.

Lucas got home that night to find Lindsey putting dinner on the table.

"Hi, how was your day?" She was acting like nothing had happened and it wasn't making Lucas any happier.

"Good. Listen, we need to talk."

"After dinner, okay?" He could tell that she knew what was coming and was trying to put it off.

"No, Lindsey. I'm sorry but I don't think this is going to work."

"Look, Lucas, I'm sorry that I've been such a crazy bitch recently okay," she was fighting back tears. "But I just got a little paranoid and jealous. I mean Peyton was this huge part of your life-"

"She still is."

"Excuse me?"

"She's still a huge part of my life, Lindsey. I've been pretending it isn't true just as much as you have but it's time for me to stop running." Lucas winced as Lindsey slammed the casserole dish into the sink.

"So, that's it? Peyton Sawyer gets into trouble and you realise that you never loved me?"

"It's not that, Lindsey. I did love you, a part of me still does. You're intelligent and beautiful and would be perfect for me in a world where Peyton Sawyer didn't exist. But you deserve someone who can give you their whole heart and I'm not that guy for you. Peyton doesn't just have a part of my heart. She has most of it. She took it when I was sixteen years old and she's never given back because I've never wanted her to. And I'm sorry that it's taken all this time for me to see it but there's no going back now, Lindsey."

Lindsey nodded. She was angry and she was bitter but she had been waiting weeks for this day. She saw the way Lucas looked at Peyton and knew that he would never feel the same way about her. When they first met she had told him that she'd been rooting for the couple in the book and for that reason alone, she would willingly step aside and let Lucas be happy. She wiped the tears from her face.

"Okay. Let me grab my things and I'll go."

"Lindsey, you don't-"

"No, I do." She turned and walked towards the bedroom. Lucas closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

It didn't take Lindsey long to collect her things. Most of her belongings and clothes were still in New York. She walked back into the kitchen with an overnight back in her hand. She stepped forward and laid her key on the table, kissed Lucas lightly on the cheek and walked out of his life.

Haley opened the front door and smiled when she saw Lucas.

"Hey buddy. You okay? Peyton's fine by the way, did she call?"

"No, she didn't but I do need to speak to her. I, uh, I broke up with Lindsey."

"Oh."

"Oh? You're not at all surprised by this?"

"Not really, I mean she was nice and everything, well she was until last night, but she's not Peyton."

"Right. Was I seriously the last one to come to this conclusion?"

"No. You were just the last one to admit it."

"So, is she here?"

"Yeah, she's outside by the pool. Go through."

"Thanks."

Lucas walked through the house and into the backyard. He smiled as he saw Peyton laying on a sun lounger flicking through a copy of B. Davis magazine.

"Hey Blondie."

She looked at him, shielding her eyes against the sun. "Hey Luke."

"How you doing?"

"Better, thanks. Are you okay?"

"I need to speak to you."

"Sure, shoot."

Lucas pulled another lounger closer to Peyton's and sat down next to her.

"I just broke up with Lindsey."

"Oh, Luke. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen, you shouldn't have come last night."

"Peyton it's not to do with that. Things haven't been good for a while and I finally realised something and put an end to the whole thing."

"Okay?" She invited him to continue.

"I made the biggest mistake of my life when I left you in that hotel room. You were right, I was scared and insecure and did something I swore to myself and to you that I would never do. And there hasn't been a day since that I haven't regretted it. It's taken me this long for me to push my ego aside and accept that I'm still in love with you. I always have been and I always will be."

Peyton took Lucas' hand. "Luke, listen-"

"No, Peyton, just hear me out okay." Peyton nodded. "I'm going to prove it to you. I'm going to fight for you the way you deserve. I'm going to show you that I will never leave you again. You're it for me, Peyton and I'm not going to lose you again. Just wait and see. I love you." He pressed his lips to the side of head and left before Peyton could say another word.

"He said all of that?" Haley asked in disbelief. Peyton laughed and nodded.

"What did you say?" Nathan asked, trying to act surprised and hide how pleased with himself he was.

"He wouldn't let me say anything. I tried to tell him that it was okay and I wanted to be with him and we could move passed all past mistakes but he kept going on about fighting for me and didn't give me the chance to tell him that he doesn't have to."

"What are you gonna do?" Haley was ecstatic that this was finally happening for her friends.

"Well, I was thinking of leaving him to squirm for a while but I don't think I can handle that. I just want to be with him again y'know. I waited so long for this, it's what I came home for. Besides, I promised Brooke I wouldn't push him away."

"So you're going to call him tonight and tell him?"

"Hell no, I'll tell him tomorrow." All three of them burst into laughter and Nathan raised his hand to give her a high five.