Lucas smiled back at her in between glances at the road. No matter the reason, he was glad to see her. Still, he wasn't sure just how well she remembered him, or if she even wanted to remember him, so he just nodded. Before he had a chance to think of something else to saw, he had to pull the truck to a stop at Peyton's grandmothers house. They both got out of the truck and Peyton hurried around to the back of the truck to grab her carry-on and one of her suitcases.
Lucas grabbed the other two suitcases and followed her. He couldn't help but watch as she walked ahead of him. He only hoped she didn't notice as he tried and failed to tear his eyes away. Peyton did notice, but before she could speak, the front door opened and her grandmother walked out onto the porch. "Is that my granddaughter, in Tree Hill?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around Peyton.
Lucas could smell some good cooking coming from the kitchen. Peyton could too. When her grandmother let her go she arched her back as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath through her nose. She opened her eyes as she looked down at her grandmother again. "You're making lasagna," she took another deep breath. "With taco salad and garlic bread," she added. "Aw, you're making all my favorites," she picked up her bags from where she had dropped them when her grandmother had hugged her and walked into the house.
Lucas stared after her, his eyes wide in amazement. He looked over at Grace, Peyton's grandmother. "How did she do that?" he asked, awe laced through his voice. Grace followed Peyton into the house and Lucas followed the two. "I mean, I know it smells good, but how does she know exactly what you're making?" he added as he watched Peyton drop her bags in the living room and make her way into the kitchen.
Grace waited a few seconds. "Get that fork out of the oven, the lasagna won't be done for another hour," she called into the kitchen. They both heard Peyton grumble as the oven shut. A few seconds later Grace spoke again. "Stay out of the taco salad, too, or I won't make you're favorite desert," she called. The was the sound of fumbling and Peyton appeared in the entrance to the living room from the kitchen.
Lucas watched as Peyton looked at her grandmother, her green eyes lit up. "You're making chocolate pie, too?" she asked, licking her lips as she thought about it. Her grandmother made the best chocolate pie. "I've tried so many times, but I just can't seem to get it exactly right. It always tastes okay, but never as good as yours," she added.
Grace nodded, amused. "Of course not. I add a special touch to my pies. If you stick around all summer I just might teach you to make it at the end of summer," she paused. "Of course, if you invade my kitchen before dinner time, I just might stop making it. Maybe the secret will die with me after all," she admonished. Peyton's eyes widened and Grace chuckled and continued before Peyton could speak. "You're probably hungry from the plane ride, though. I guess you can have a little snak before dinner. I'll whip something up for you. You take you're stuff into your bedroom, the last one on the right, I trust you remember." She walked into the kitchen, not even bothering to wait for a reply.
Lucas looked at Peyton, who looked disgruntled at the idea of having to wait for dinner. She met his gaze and stood still for a moment. Lucas finally broke the eye contact and gestured to her bags. "You wanna show me where your room is, or are you going to make me stand here csrrying your suitcases all day. Not to say that I couldn't. It's just, your bags are pretty heavy. What do you have in here anyway?" he asked teasingly, smirking at her.
Peyton looked away as she shook herself out of her train of thought. She smiled sheepishly as she picked up her bags and led the way to the room. "Sorry, no you can set them down," she said as she walked down the hallway. She could feel his eyes on her again. Surprisingly, this didn't make her feel weird, as it usually did. Something about it being his eyes on her just made it all right. She still thought she'd have some fun with him.
Lucas watched as Peyton's hips wiggled as she walked. He felt kind of sleazy staring where he was, but he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away. He was mesmerized as her hips swayed from left to right. She opened the door to the bedroom and put her bags onto the floor, bending at the waist as she set them down. Lucas slowly dropped the bags as his eyes stayed focused on her as she fumbled with the bags. "You know, Mr. Scott, next time you plan on staring at someone's ass, you might want to make it a little less obvious," she said without looking at him.
Lucas moved his gaze up to look at her face as she straightened, brushing a curl out of her face as she smirked at him before brushing past him to leave the room. Just as she was walking by she paused. "Not that I mind, really. Just offering some advice in case I'm not the only one you stare at," she whispered, her breath hot on his ear.
He just stood there as Peyton left the room. He was too shocked to move, and he felt his cheeks reddening. After a few seconds he followed her and found her in the kitchen, sitting on the counter, talking to her grandmother. Grace looked over at Lucas. "Are you going to stay and eat?" she asked him from her post at the counter. She was mixing some tuna to make sandwishes.
Lucas looked at Peyton and then back at Grace. He shook his head. "As much as I would like to spend some time catching up with your granddaughter, I promised my mom that I'd come back and help her at the Cafe some after I dropped Peyton off," he answered with regret. He tried to keep his gaze off of Peyton, but he kept glancing over at her to find her eyes glued firmly on him.
Grace nodded as she mixed the tuna. "Well, you should come back for dinner. I need you to change a lightbulb upstairs, andI need some things from the store. There's a list on the coffe table," she lifted the spoon out of the bowl and pointed in the direction of the living room. "Could you take it and go to the store before you come back," she paused, thinking as she went back to stirring. "Oh, and my garbage cans need to be brought to the curb," she added.
Peyton looked from her grandmother to Lucas. "Grandma, I can do those things. I do know how to work around a house, you know," she said as Grace finished stirring the tuna. She hopped off of the counter to ger the bread out of the bread box for the sandwiches. Her eyes were on Lucas, wondering why he didn't seem to be confused that her grandmother was asking him to do these chores.
Both Lucas and Grace laughed and Peyton's eyes darted back and forth between the two as she set the bread on the counter. Lucas was the one to reply. "Were you just ignoring me earlier?" he asked. Peyton shot him a glance with one eyebrow raised. "As I said before, I've been working for your grandmother. Why would you do something that she's paying me to do? Even though I said she doesn't have to pay me," he added.
Peyton nodded and opened her mouth to speakd, but Lucas was already backing out of the kitchen. "I'll be back for dinner. 6:oo, right?" Grace nodded. "I'll see you ladies later," he said, knowing that he had to get out of there to meet Lindsey. He had said his mom, and he wasn't sure why, but he really had to meet his girlfriend, Lindsey. Right now, for some reason, he didn't want Peyton to know about her. He knew that she would find out eventually, probably soon, but not yet.
Lucas looked at his watch as he got into his truck and started the engine. It was only 3:00. He found himself wishing it was already 6:00 so he could spend more time with Peyton. He really hadn't gotten the chance to hang out with her as much as he would have liked. He wanted to find out how life had been treating her since he had last seen her. They had been so close as children, and he missed that. He had missed her. He tried to tell himself that was the only reason he wanted to spend more time with her.
Lucas was just pulling into a parking spot at the Cafe when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and, when he saw that it was Lindsey, flipped it open. "Hey, I'm here, where are you?" he asked after he had scanned the parking lot and saw that her car wasn't there. He turned off the car and unbuckled his seatbelt as he waited for her answer.
"Hey, babe, I'm sorry, but I can't make it. I got called in to work this afternoon and I need to get down to the office now," she said apologetically as Lucas got out of his car. Lindsey worked as an intern for an editing office in the next town. Usually she only worked on the weekends, but sometimes when they were having big issues they called her in to do something. She had been working there since her sophomore year, so she had just a bit more pull than an average intern. As a result, she was also needed more than an average intern. Her hours weren't supposed to increasefor the summer until the next week, but since they were already out of school, it wasn't that big of a problem, except when she had to ditch Lucas for work.
Lucas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He knew he should be feeling more exasperated with her, but for an odd reason he didn't. What he was actually thinking about was that he now had time to get to Grace's house a little earlier. He knew she was waiting for a response and he tried to think of the right thing to say. "That's fine, babe, I can't come between you and your job. Besides, you're good at it. We'll get together tomorrow or something. No big deal," he said.
Lindsey was on the freeway, already driving, so she had to get off the phone fast. "How'd I get such an amazing boyfriend?" she asked rhetorically. Lucas started to protest, thinking of his earlier thoughts of Peyton. "No, babe, it's true. You are so amazing and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have you. I love you, and I'll talk to you later, or tomorrow, okay? I have to go," she continued.
Lucas sighed again, but said the proper goodbyes. He shut his phone and slipped it into his pocket as he walked into the Cafe. He walked over to a booth in the corner and sat down, his thoughts on Peyton. He remembered all the times they had shared when she had lived in Tree Hill. When her mom had died, before she had moved away, she had turned to him for comfort. They had shared a lot of memories, good and bad. She had always had a special place in his heart. There was a time, about a year ago, when all he thought about was her, and if she had come back then, he could have seen a futre with her.
Now, though, he had Lindsey. He had been with Lindsey for almost six months now and things between them were great. He was in love wigth Lindsey, right? He couldn't be thinking of Peyton as anything more than a friend. Besides, he was sure Peyton probably had a boyfriend where she lived now. He hadn't even gotten a real chance to talk with her. He barely knew her anymore. He tried to convince himself of this as he sat at the booth.
Haley spotted her best friend and slid into the booth with him, even though she was supposed to be working a shift right now. The Cafe was pretty much empty so she figured she could take a break. Lucas hadn't noticed her yet. Haley genttly nudged his shin with the toe of her boot. "Hey, Broody, whatcha thinking about now?" she asked, wondering if he had really picked Peyton up from the airport today or if he had just been bluffing. "So, is she here?" she added before he could answer her first question.
Lucas broke out of his reverie as he realized Haley was sitting next to him. He tried to remember what she said, but he couldn't, so she repeated her queation. It took him a few seconds before it clicked in his head what she was talking about. "Oh, Peyton. Yeah, she's here. I'm going over to her grandmother's for dinner, but I will tell her you want to see her. I forgot earlier, but I promise to tell her later," he said.
Haley nodded and was about to ask him something else, but the door opened and some customers walked into the Cafe. "I've got to get back to work, but you give her my number, or something. I still can't believe Peyton Sawyer's back in town," she said as she got up, leaving Lucas alone with his thoughts, again.
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Rachel knocked on the front door of a house she hadn't been to in a while. She stood back and waited for it to open. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, it opened, and there was a man standing in the doorway. Rachel smiled. "Hey, Mr. Sawyer, is Peyton here? I kind of need to talk to her," she asked.
Larry studied her for a minute. He hadn't seen Rachel around the house in a really long time. The last he had heard, Peyton and Rachel weren't even friends anymore. He shook his head. "Sorry, Rachel, but she's not here. She's in Tree Hill, for the whole summer," he finally answered. He had never figured out what exactly happened between Peyton and Rachel. All he knew was that they were friends and then they just weren't.
Rachel thought for a minute, and when he was about to close the door, she looked up and stopped him. "Wait! I'm actually going to Tree Hill for the summer, too. My parents have a cabin near there, and that's where I feel like going. Anyway, could you give me her number, or address there or something. I'm supposed to be flying in a couple days, even though I'm scared to death of planes," Rachel realized she was rambling and stopped herself.
Larry studied Rachel for a moment, thinking. There was a plan forming in his mind. A plan that would get him out of driving the Comet and Rachel out of flying all at once. He had one question first. "How do you feel about Comets?"
A/N: Okay, so here's the next chapter. I don't think it took that long to write. For you Leyton fans, don't worry, they will be together eventually, but it might take a while. They have a few obsticles in their path right now, but Leyton always works out in the end. At least in my fics. Anyway, leave a review and tell me what you think, even if you hated it. Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed and, please, keep reviewing. Your feedback helps.
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of One Tree Hill.