Chapter 4 - Monday

Rory POV…new house front yard

My date with Lucas had been great but when I had gotten back to Peyton's last night, she had been heartbroken over Jake. We ended up falling asleep after she cried for two hours. I woke up this morning to Mom dragging me and Peyton out of bed. Once we'd had coffee, Mom was practically pushing us out of the door. She drove us a couple of blocks over and pulled into a driveway. When we climbed out of Mom's jeep, Peyton had this look on her face. I turned and looked at her. "Peyt, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"I know who lives next door." She said, and I looked at her confused.

"Who?" I asked.

"Lucas Scott." She said.

"No." I said, and she nodded. I turned and looked at Mom. "Tell me you didn't?" I asked while glaring at her.

"What? I thought you'd be happy." Mom said.

Peyton and I both rolled our eyes. "That's not the point Mom." I said.

"Aunt Lor, you realize by moving next door to Lucas that you're making it too easy for her to sneak out, right?" Peyton said.

Mom glared at us. "Hey! I'm the cool mom, remember? Why would she even need to sneak out?" Mom asked us.

I looked at Peyton and she nodded. I turned back to Mom. "Okay, you may be the cool mom, but we're still teenagers…sneaking out is a rite of passage." I told her.

Mom threw her hands up in surrender. "Okay, fine. I should have talked to you about the house before I bought it." Mom said. "Happy?"

"Yes, thank you." I said. Peyton and I started laughing.

"Do you want to check out the house?" Mom asked.

"Yes please." I said. Mom led us into the house. The house was simple. It looked pretty similar to our house in Stars Hollow. The downstairs had the living room, kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom. The upstairs had two bedrooms and a bathroom. "It's nice Mom." I said after looking around the house.

"So, you like it kid?" She asked me.

"Yeah I do." I said. I turned to Peyton. "What're you thinking about paint?" I asked her.

Peyton looked deep in thought. "Red and black?" She asked.

"Checkered?" She nodded. "Sounds like a plan. You guys get the paint and I'll go get Lucas." I said. They both agreed. The three of us walked out of the house. Mom and Peyton hopped in the jeep and headed to the paint store. I walked next door and knocked on the front door. A few minutes later, Lucas opened the door. "Surprise." I said.

I leaned in and kissed me. "Hey. What're you doing here?" He asked me.

"I was in the neighborhood checking out my new house." I said.

"Oh yeah where's it at?" He asked looking at me confused.

"Next door." I said.

"Really?" I nodded, smirking at him. "Well that's convenient."

"That it does. Mom and Peyton went to get the paint. Do you wanna help now or do you have plans?"

"I can't now. I gotta go knock some sense into Nathan." He said.

"Everything okay?"

He walked outside and shut the door. We walked over to the swing on the porch and sat down. "I don't know. Haley called last night when I got home and said that she and Nathan got into a fight. She wants me to talk to him." He said.

"Well you're a good friend." I said.

He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. "I am but hopefully you think that I'm a better boyfriend than I am a friend." He said.

I smirked at him. "It's too early to tell." I said.

"Oh really?"

"Yep." He started to tickle me, so I stood up and took off.

"Oh, you're so gonna get it." He said coming after me.

"You gotta catch me first." I said. I ran down the front steps, across his yard and toward mine. Before I made to my yard, Lucas grabbed me by the waist and spun us around. The next thing I know, he is throwing me over his shoulder. "Lucas, put me down." I said.

"Nope not a chance." He said.

All of a sudden, I heard an all too familiar voice. "Now this is a sight."

I lifted my head and saw Mom and Peyton leaning against the jeep. "Hi mommy." I said.

"Hi Lorelai." Lucas said.

"Are you two done?" Mom asked. We both nodded. "Okay good. Lucas would you mind putting Rory back on the ground now?"

Lucas sat me back on the ground. "Did you get the paint?" I asked Mom. She nodded. "And you remembered to get brushes and rollers, right?"

"Hello, I went with her." Peyton said.

"Right. Should we start?" I asked. They both nodded. I smiled. I turned to Lucas. "So, you'll come by after?" I asked.

"Yeah. See you later." He said, kissing my cheek. "Bye Peyt, Lorelai."

"Bye Luke." Peyton said. Mom just stood there and shook her head.

Haley POV… Karen's Café…

Nathan was such an idiot. How could he think that I wouldn't be bothered by the fact that he still had a bunch of half-naked pictures of Peyton on his phone. I mean he had to know right?

I was working my shift at the Café when Lucas walked in. "Hey Luke." I said.

"Hey. You got time to talk?" He asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. Give me a minute." I said. He nodded and walked back to the kitchen. I walked over to a table where a customer had just sat down, and I took their order. I walked into the kitchen and handed Mike the order. I found Lucas standing by the back door. I walked over to him. "Hey what's up?" I asked him.

"What happened with Nathan?" He asked.

I let out a sigh. "I found a bunch of half-naked pictures of Peyton on his phone that he kept from when they were dating." I said.

"Hales. You know that it's gotta be an oversight, right?" He asked me.

"Seriously? Your taking his side right now?" I asked. I couldn't believe this.

"I'm not taking his side. I'm just wondering if you've completely thought this through."

I shook my head. "I have to get back to work." I said.

Nathan POV…river court

I needed to clear my head. I hated it when Haley and I got into a fight. She was right though. I should have deleted those pictures when me and Peyton broke up. I mean, hell, they were even friends now. I was shooting hoops when I looked over and saw Lucas walking towards me. "Haley send you?" I asked.

I tossed the ball to him. "Yep. Pictures dude?" He asked me.

"I know stupid." I said.

"Yep. You know, I'm missing out on valuable time with my girlfriend cause I had to come down here." He said with a smile.

"Girlfriend? You asked her out?" He nodded.

"Yeah, and she's moving in next door." Lucas said.

"Huh who knew?" I said as Lucas took a shot and the ball bounced to me. "So, any idea how I fix this with Haley?" I asked him.

"Delete the pictures, apologize and tell her that they were from when you guys dated."

"Yeah maybe."

Meanwhile back in Stars Hollow…Dean POV

It's been three days. I haven't seen Rory around town like I normally would during spring break. I figured that we would be back together by now. I mean sure, she caught me cheating on her with Lindsay…but I mean what else could I do. Rory had been distant and ignoring me. Sure, I could've broken up with her, but I loved her.

I was walking past Lane's house on my way to the high school to play football with some of the guys, when I saw Lane standing outside. Maybe she would know where Rory was. "Hey Lane." I said.

"What do you want Dean?" Lane asked me.

"Have you seen Rory? I have seen her around lately." I said.

"She's gone." Lane said.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I mean, she can't stand you. You're a lying, cheating bastard who doesn't deserve her. You never did." Lane said. "Now go away and leave me alone." Lane turned around and started walking toward her house. "And stay away from Rory."

I needed to find her. I needed to convince her that we're supposed to be together.

Rory's Room new house…Rory POV

Mom had gone to the café to get lunch and coffee. Peyton and I were in my room painting. "You okay?" I asked her. She shrugged. "I mean I know your not okay, but do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Still trying to process everything I guess." Peyton said. "I don't think that I've said this but I'm really glad you're here."

I smiled at her. "Me too. I wasn't exactly thrilled about coming when mom told me that we were coming here." I told her.

"Why?" She asked.

"I guess it was because I didn't know much about your life here. I guess I was kinda scared that I'd get here, and I wouldn't fit into your world. I mean for years, you've told me about how close you and Brooke are and I … I just didn't want to interfere." I told her.

Peyton stopped painting and turned toward me. "Hey, listen to me. You and me…we've never been like typical cousins. We've always been more like…"

"Sisters." I said, finishing her sentence.

"Yeah. And I mean yeah, Brooke's my best friend but your more than that to me. You're my sister. We're stuck with each other…for life. You and me we're blood." Peyton said. She was right. We had never been what you might consider typical or normal cousins. "I wouldn't change it for anything."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Peyton said.

A/N: And that's chapter 4. Rory's moving next door to Lucas. Jake and Peyton broke up. Dean's on a mission to find Rory. Oh well, wouldn't be Tree Hill without a little drama.

Till next time.