They drive for hours. The windows are down and they've got a good mix of music on. Her feet are up on the dash and she taps her - now bright red - painted toes to the beat as her hair whips around in the wind.
He loves driving with her next to him.
She dominates the radio and the CD changer, and she rarely actually sits still. She hits him if she thinks of something she deems funny. She won't stop asking him where he's taking her. She whines a little every time he says he's not telling her.
The truth is, he doesn't know.
They don't say much - well, nothing serious anyway - and when she falls asleep after a while, he just smiles at her peaceful face. She really might be the most beautiful girl he's ever seen, and to think that until just over a month ago, he never thought he'd see her again...He almost can't believe it.
He pulls into a gas station to fill up and grab a couple snacks and bottles of water, and he's standing at the register when she comes up behind him and punches him hard on the arm.
"What the hell?" he asks, rubbing the spot on his arm that's sure to bruise as the man behind the counter laughs.
"You leave me sleeping in the car at a gas station in the middle of nowhere!?" she cries, throwing her arms in the air. "You're a dick!"
"Peyton, we're the only people here," Lucas points out with a laugh.
"Exactly! You left the keys in the ignition! Someone could have...God, I hate you!" she shouts.
"Darlin', that kind of thing doesn't happen 'round here," the gentleman says, handing Lucas his change. "Not often, anyway."
Lucas and the man share a laugh and Peyton glares at them both.
"I can't believe you. You wake me up at 7:00 in the morning, tease me relentlessly, somehow convince me to come away with you, and then you abandon me in the middle of nowhere!"
"Peyton, I was 20 feet away," Lucas says, still smirking. He turns to the man behind the counter and nods. "Thanks."
"Good luck, son."
"He'll need it!" she seethes as Lucas pushes her out the door.
"Would you calm down?" Lucas requests once they're outside. "Jeez, the only thing to be scared of out here is you."
"Shut up and drive, Scott," she mutters, slamming the car door behind her after she tucks her legs in.
Once they're on the road again, she gazes out the window and turns her body away from him, and that's just no good for him. He can't let her stay mad.
"Hey," he says once it's become unbearable. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd wake up and...I'm sorry."
He's sincere and honest, and she realizes she may have overreacted.
"It's OK," she says. "I'm sorry I went all crazy bitch on you. How's the arm?"
"Seriously? Lay off the boxing, OK?" he pleads. He reaches over and takes her hand in his, and they rest upon the gearshift as they drive through...She doesn't even know where.
"Where are we right now?" she asks with a laugh.
"Somewhere in Georgia," he says, shrugging his shoulder.
"Georgia!?" she asks with wide eyes. "How long was I asleep!?"
"A while," he laughs, and she just smiles and gazes past him towards the ocean. "I got you Twizzlers."
"I love Twizzlers!"
"OK, your mood swings are freaking me out," he says, making her glare at him.
"Well, sorry the girl with the stalker isn't crazy about being left in some skeevy gas station parking lot in a classic Mustang. That's not the stuff of urban legends at all," she says sarcastically. He laughs a perfect laugh and squeezes her hand, and she has to smile.
They drive a while longer, chewing on licorice and drinking bottled water and listening to local radio stations. The sun is high in the sky, and she almost wants to stop and run into the ocean for a bit. She glances at Lucas and watches him as he watches the road.
There's something different about him from that first day on the beach. There's something different about him than even just the day before. He seems lighter and more carefree. He seems like a wonderful mix of the boy she used to know and the man she knows he is. He even seems different than the man who walked with her on that very same beach and pried and begged to know the reason for her leaving town.
It's almost like not knowing that reason had been weighing him down.
Not to mention, he looks totally sexy with one hand on the wheel and his aviator sunglasses on his face as he smiles and looks at the road. His fingers tap out a rhythm on the steering wheel to the music coming from the radio, and she finds herself lost in a daydream about those hands. A very, very vivid daydream.
And it suddenly just got a hell of a lot hotter out.
"Wow," she says softly. It's barely even a whisper, and he shouldn't have even heard her, but he did.
"What?" he asks, glancing over at her.
"Nothing."
"Liar," he grins.
"I was just thinking..." she says, her voice trailing as she debates telling him exactly what she was thinking.
And she figures that he's asked her to come away, they've been flirting, he's holding onto her hand, and they're comfortable.
So she tells him the truth.
"You're just really sexy," she breathes out.
He looks at her and smiles, then downshifts as he pulls the car over to the side of the road. He's out of the car with the door closed behind him before she can ask what the hell's going on. He walks around to her side and pulls the door open.
"Get out," he demands.
"Luke..."
"Get out," he repeats more forcefully.
She places her hand in his outstretched palm and steps out of the car, and in one swift movement, he slams the door shut and has her pinned between himself and the car. He's got one hand in her hip and the other resting on the roof of the car, and his body is pressed to hers.
"Lucas," she sighs. Her breath is caught in her throat as he looks at her, and her heart is beating so fast she thinks it might just stop.
And then he crashes his lips onto hers.
She moans into his kiss, and it somehow feels the same and different than it was years ago. He's a little rougher, though she can't say she isn't loving that. His hand still caresses her hip delicately, and he still buries a fist in her curls, and he still tastes the same, though now a little like Twizzlers, too.
She's pretty sure this is the sexiest kiss she's ever experienced. Standing up against his car with him arching into her as the intense summer sun of Georgia beats down on them.
His tongue explores her mouth, and she runs her fingers through his hair. There's a thin layer of sweat at the back of his neck that only adds to how hot it all is, and when his hand moves to her bottom, she feels like he's encouraging her to wrap her leg around his waist.
So she does.
His hand comes in contact with the smooth skin of her thigh, and he moans as he arches against her again. He wonders if she finally knows what she does to him.
She throws her head back as he kisses the hollow of her throat and along her collar bone, and he can taste the salt of the sweat on her skin. He's ready to take her right then and there.
And then a truckload of teenaged boys passes, cheering and honking the horn, and Peyton and Lucas can only laugh. They rest their heads again each other's shoulders, and she takes his face in her hands, kissing him gently, and making him moan as she lowers her leg and brushes against him in all the best places.
"All that and I only called you sexy," she murmurs in contentment.
"Hmm." He brushes his lips against hers one last time, and he wonders how it's possible that until the day before she was still freezing him out.
"I need...I think we both need to take a dip," she says, laughing when he smirks wolfishly. "In the ocean...perv."
"Bathing suits are packed," he says. He's finding it really difficult to form proper sentences with her still so close and his hips still pressing against hers.
"Who needs 'em?" she asks, pushing him away and skipping off across the road towards the beach.
She's trying to kill him. He's sure of it.
He locks the car and starts walking after her with his hands in his pockets, and when she pulls her top over her head and she wears only a black bra, he has to shake his head at her. She's nuts.
And he loves it.
She shimmies out of her shorts and he sees the matching underwear she has on, and he doesn't know why that's so much sexier than a bikini, but it certainly is. He tugs his shirt over his head and steps out of his jeans, and he drops them on the sand with her things. She walks into the water until it hits her thighs, then dives in.
He's standing in front of her when she comes up for air, and he wraps his arms loosely around her waist.
"You're insane, you know that?" he asks, and she shrugs one shoulder as her hand comes to rest on his chest. "And you're just so...beautiful."
"Where is that seedy motel when you need it?" she asks, moving a little closer to him as the waves crash against their torsos.
"Girl...please. Stop," he growls. "I'm serious...there hasn't...since Brooke..."
"Not even once?" she asks delicately, and he shakes his head slowly. "Wow."
"Maybe I was waiting for you, and I just didn't know it," he says, smiling as he tucks her wet hair behind her ear. She leans forward and kisses him, and when she pulls away, he whines a little bit.
"Oh, honey," she says, "we need to get you laid."
They both laugh and he grips her a little tighter. That actually sounds like a pretty damn good idea.
They make it back to the car, and he's wearing just his jeans with his tee shirt tucked into the back pocket, and she's got her shorts and shirt back on, and he doesn't like that one bit. Once they're driving again, she unbuckles her seat belt and reaches into the back, her hips right next to his face as she fishes for something in her bag.
"Stop it," he warns.
"I'm getting a shirt!"
"You're wearing a shirt," he reminds her.
"Yeah, but it's all wet," she tells him. She laughs when she hears him take a deep breath.
Her knee is resting on the center console, and her tanned legs are just too close not to touch. So he hooks his arm around her leg and runs his hand up the back of her thigh.
"Stop!" she cries.
"I will if you will."
She swats him with her tee shirt as she flops back into her seat, and she glares at him for a moment as he smiles smugly next to her.
She pulls off her tank top and throws it into the back seat before pulling the dry one over her head. She pulls her hair up into a ponytail before she buckles her seat belt again, and he feels like he's completely under her spell. He can't say he's surprised by that at all.
She sings softly to a song that comes on the pop station they're tuned into, and she holds out licorice for him to bite, and she laughs when the candy falls into his lap. He looks between it and her expectantly, and she scowls at him before they both start to laugh. He swerves a little bit when she reaches over, picks the licorice up off his lap, and takes a bite. She smirks to herself.
She's thinking this road trip is getting really fun.
A little further down the highway, just inside the Florida border, they see a sign for beach side resort cottages, and when they glance at each other, they know that's where they're headed.
----
They pull up to the little resort community, tucked away in a secluded area of a seemingly deserted beach, and Peyton steps out of the car and stretches her arms over her head. Her back arches, and she stands on her tip toes, and Lucas catches a glimpse of a few inches of her skin at the small of her back as he walks up behind her with their bags in his hands.
He's thinking this road trip is getting really fun.
"What?" she asks when she turns around and sees him staring. He just tilts his head and looks at her to let her know she doesn't need to ask. He was just admiring her.
"Come on," he says simply as she tries not to laugh at him.
She can't say she hates the attention.
They step into the office, and Lucas immediately bristles as the young man behind the counter eyes Peyton up and down. She doesn't like it either. She slips her arm through Lucas', and he has to resist the urge to smile smugly at the dark haired guy who's getting the message loud and clear.
"Welcome," he says.
"Hi," Lucas says with a tense nod.
"One bed or two?" the guy asks.
"One's good," Peyton says, locking eyes with Lucas as he looks to her for confirmation.
His hand is shaking when she takes it in hers.
Lucas hands over his credit card and Peyton looks at him admonishingly. He waves off her concern over him paying for everything; after all, this trip was his idea. They get their room key, and the young man wishes them a nice stay, and Lucas walks directly behind Peyton as they leave the office, so the guy can't watch her walk away. She's smiling though he can't see it. She always did kind of love that jealous streak.
They walk up to their secluded little cottage, and Peyton pushes open the door open. It's really kind of perfect. A little porch with a swing and an ocean view. The living room has a large window and leather furniture, and there's a kitchen they both know they probably won't really use. The bedroom has one queen sized bed, and the bathroom has a full bathtub and shower. There's a loft area upstairs with a television and sitting area.
Peyton heads straight for the bed.
She flops down on her back and Lucas sets their bags down on the floor, then crosses his arms and leans against the door frame.
"I'm so tired," she says, closing her eyes.
"Peyton, it's 2:00, and you slept all morning in the car," he points out.
"Well, someone woke me up at the ungodly hour of 7:00 a.m., and then someone interrupted my nap by abandoning me!" she proclaims, and he just laughs as she props herself up on her elbows.
"Admit that you're having fun," he demands playfully.
"Oh, I totally am," she readily admits. "I'm just sleep deprived, so if I'm a bitch, it's not my fault."
"Right, because your personality is so sunny the rest of the time," he mutters, looking away from her.
"Do you like sleeping on the couch?" she asks with a raised brow.
"I'm sorry," he laughs. "Come on. Let's get some food."
"Not yet," she insists.
"I'm starving."
"OK," she says, "but I've been laying here on this bed for, what? 3 and a half minutes now, and you're not even making a move."
"I was...I didn't..."
"Lucas," she says softly, "come here." He takes a deep breath and pushes himself off the door frame, and she laughs a little. "Is it that torturous?"
"Hmm," he says, sitting down beside her with his arm on the other side of her body. "It might be. But not for the reason you're thinking."
"Lucas, If you don't want to do this, then..." she starts seriously before he interrupts.
"No," he breathes out, shaking his head. "I want to. Trust me. I've wanted to since...I want to."
"Since when?" she asks coyly, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him closer.
"Maybe since the beginning," he says, repeating her words from the night before.
She closes her eyes and smiles before he leans forward and presses his lips to hers gently.
"Lucas Scott, you are...when you're not busy pissing me off, you're quite the romantic," she says, making him chuckle before kissing her again.
"Need food," he mumbles, standing from the bed and reaching for her hand.
She sighs dramatically, but plants her feet on the ground anyway. She pushes him out the door, insisting that she's going to put on a bathing suit, and he just smiles as he waits for her on the porch of their little cottage.
He loves Tree Hill, and he knows she loves it, too, but neither will deny that this little getaway is exactly what they both needed.
And sure, now that they're kissing, he's pretty sure it's the best idea he's ever had.
They walk down the beach together towards the pier they can spot in the distance. She doesn't hold his hand, and he doesn't reach for hers, and maybe the beauty about this...whatever it is...is that they both realize that they don't need that. She doesn't need to be grasping onto him all the time for him to know where she stands, and he doesn't need to have his arm around her to let her know that he wants her.
She's not wearing a top. Well, she's wearing a bikini top, but not an actual shirt. He lets her walk a few paces ahead of him when they come to a narrow boardwalk over a little creek, and he notices the little dimples at the small of her back that he forgot where there. He used to love those dimples. His hands would always naturally come to rest so his fingertips would sit in those little crevices. He really really wants to do that right now.
So he places his hand at the small of her back when they're walking side-by-side again, and he rubs her smooth flesh with the tips of his fingers as he leans down to speak into her ear.
"This always drove me crazy."
She takes a deep breath, and she swears it's 100 degrees hotter in an instant.
"Stop," she whispers.
But he doesn't.
She reaches behind her and clasps her hand with his, and brings it down so their hands are joined between them as they walk. And though they each thought they didn't need that, it certainly feels nice when they finally do.
They find a little seafood restaurant, and he sips beer while she drinks a strawberry daiquiri. She eats fish and chips and steals shrimp off his plate, and when he playfully glares at her, she just raises a shoulder and looks at him innocently, and all is forgiven.
"This is crazy," she says as she laughs. "I feel like we've been gone for weeks. When really, you just kidnapped me this morning."
"You came willingly," he says, smiling at her as she rolls her eyes.
"What if I had a job?"
"Why don't you have a job?" he asks.
"Because I don't know what I want to do," she says simply. "And I have some savings, and I got severance, and...I'm OK for now."
"But...what next?" he asks timidly before taking a sip of his beer.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...are you going to leave town again when you need a job?" he asks.
She wants to be mad, but she realizes that she doesn't have a reason to be. He's just asking a simple question. It's not an accusation, and he's not trying to make her feel bad for how she left the last time.
There's something in his tone that's just telling her that he doesn't want her to leave again.
"Tree Hill is home," she states. Her legs tangle with his beneath the table, and he wonders briefly if that's all the promise he needs. "I'm not leaving again."
"OK," he says with a nod, smiling at her as she sips her drink.
He doesn't need to say anything more, and neither does she.
Because he believes her.
She pays for dinner, though he glares at her and they argue while the waitress waits and laughs at their playful banter. Lucas finally gives in when Peyton runs her foot up the outside of his calf and raises an eyebrow. It's like she's asking him if he really wants to risk them really arguing. He holds up his hands and Peyton smiles triumphantly as she hands over her credit card.
They stop some beer and some food for their breakfast the next day, and when they make it back to their little cottage, Lucas' phone is ringing. He answers, and talks to Haley while Peyton steps out of her shorts and walks away from him and towards the door again.
And basically, all he hears in his ear are sounds, and no real words.
"I've gotta...Haley, I have to go," he says quickly. "I'm not hanging up on you!...No. I've..." Peyton pulls her hair up messily - the way he told her in passing he liked - and she turns around and walks towards the beach. "Fuck...Hales, I'm...I'll call you tomorrow."
He hangs up and changes as quickly as he can into his board shorts.
Peyton's waiting on the porch, the late afternoon sun beating down on her already-glowing skin, when he steps outside.
"You were rude to her," she points out.
"You were teasing me!"
"Doesn't matter. That wasn't very nice," she says, trying to hide her smile.
"You can't just...you can't walk around like this and look at me like you did," he insists, shaking his head.
"Whatever," she scoffs. "I'm going swimming."
He just lets out a laugh and shakes his head. This girl is too much. And the thing is, she's just as sexy when she's not trying, as she is when she is trying.
She's just always sexy.
They swim and laugh and play in the water until Peyton insists she just saw a shark. Lucas shakes his head and swears up and down there's no way she did, and she shoves him backwards and 'stomps' off towards the sand. He catches up to her and hooks his arm around her waist, making her squeal when he lifts her up and carries her.
They sit on the swing on their little porch and let themselves dry off, and she tells him that swimming in the ocean in Malibu isn't the same as swimming at the beach at 'home'. She goes on to tell him exactly why, and he teases her and asks if she ever saw a shark there. She shoves him and he reaches for her hand, intertwining their fingers and holding her hand against his thigh.
"We always end up at the beach," she says after a while.
"I guess we kind of do," he says softly.
"Today has been good, Luke," she admits, knowing he's just dying to hear her really say those words without him prompting her.
"Yeah," he says, running his thumb over her knuckles. "It has."
She lets out a content little sigh that sends a shiver down his spine. It really blows him away that they didn't speak for four years. Four years and not so much as a call or an email. He feels like they somehow haven't missed a beat. He feels like he's still the conflicted son of the town's prize jackass, and she's still the almost orphaned girl with the beautiful heart she only ever lets him see.
"OK," she says, standing from her place and stepping towards the door. "I'm going to get changed. You want a beer?"
"Yeah." He nods his head, and she winks at him, and the smile she gives him just before she steps inside has his heart racing.
He realizes that he's not repeating the mistakes he made in his youth. He's not gawking at her. OK, he's not solely gawking at her. He's not making up his own idea of who she is and who she might be and who she could be to him. She is who she is, and she just seamlessly slips into his life. She fills a role that hasn't ever really been filled in his world, and he's pretty sure that has to be fate or destiny or something along those lines.
She's beautiful in all her imperfections. She's incredible and graceful in everything she does without even realizing she is. She'll go from joking about ice cream toppings to passionately arguing with him about the underlying themes of some of his favourite novels. She's hilarious and adorable, and even when she's yelling at him, he finds her the sweetest person in the world. She has a laugh she only lets him hear, and her eyes only really get those flecks of gold shining in them when she's with him.
And he thinks he's falling in love with her.
----
A/N: Just have to say...I wrote my 'leaning between the seats of the car/give Lucas the good view' scene before tonight's episode aired! I swear.