One Surprising Meal

Lucas and Peyton were going out for there first date since they reconnected. He was more nervous than he ever was before. With clammy hands and a fast beating heart he drove to Brooke and Peyton's to pick her up.

When he got to Peyton and Brooke's house he rang the doorbell. Expecting a beautiful Peyton with her blonde curly hair in a nice dress that was perfect for a first date.
But instead, it was Brooke who answered the door.

"Lucas Scott!! Here to see P.Sawyer I'm guessing." She said in her normal high pitched excited voice.

"I'm guessing you've heard about Peyton and I already." He said laughing.

"DUHH I'm her best friend and her roommate. If she didn't tell me I'm pretty sure I would have found out anyway. Unless that rose behind your back is for me."

She was to smart at this dating stuff. He pulled the rose out and wasn't at all surprised that Brooke had known that the rose was there.

She laughed at how original he was."Peyton should be down soon. She's been upstairs getting ready for like hours." She said in exaggeration.

As he started talking to Brooke about her chances of adopting and how excited she was to be a mom he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Peyton, the girl he had wanted to be with since high school. She was wearing a classic black dress that was knee-length with a plunging back that showed off her curves. Her hair was half up and half down and curly, like always. He couldn't help but be in aw at how beautiful she looked.

"Uh, yeaaa... I'll leave you two alone." Brooke said interrupting their little moment.

When Brooke left Peyton walked over to Lucas. He took the rose out behind his back and presented it to her in that cheesy way they do it in the movies. She smiled and said thank you.

"Should we go?" Lucas said and stuck out his arm like a gentlemen.

"Of course." Peyton said with a smile and put her arm in his.

He had a surprise for her. He was taking her to a new restaurant on the boardwalk. It had just opened and was known to be very romantic.

"Lucas, where are we? I don't remember there being a restaurant here."

"Trust me, your going to love this." He said smiling.

When they got up the restaurant doors they were welcomed by a hostess who followed them to a table with a view of the sunset hitting the water and reflecting off of it.
She ordered the shrimp, her favorite meal. Which Lucas remembered was her favorite. And he got the steak, a manly dish.
They sat and talked about their days and Lucas filled her in on how Haley and Nathan were doing. And if Haley was ever going to go back to work. Then they saw a waiter coming with the food.

"Wow looks delicious." said Peyton.

She didn't see it coming. The waiter went to put the dish in front of her and instead missed the table and all the food hit the ground with a loud thud. Guests of the restaurant looked in shocked faces that the waiter had made that mistake.

"Oh my god. My dress is ruined!" Peyton said yelling. Lucas had never seen her worry about a dress. But he liked that she had changed into a more girly mature women.

"I am so sorry! Let me go get a broom and a napkin for you to clean up." Said the waiter worrying about what his boss might say.

"Hey, what happened over here?" Said a man with short brown hair in a dress shirt and slacks. They didn't see his face. But they guessed he was the boss.

"Everything's fine. The waiter just spilt all the food and it happened to get on her dress." Said Lucas.

And then the boss looked up. And it was no other then Jake Jagieski.

"Lucas. Peyton. No way! How are you guys?" Said Jake in a really surprised voice and went to shake Lucas's hand.

"Well other then the spill we're good." Lucas laughed.

"We'll get you guys cleaned up right away.

Lucas offered for Jake to sit down and chat for a bit. He sat and then talked about his success at becoming a restaurant owner. Peyton didn't say a word.

"So after I finished High School in Savannah I came back to Tree Hill with Jenny. Then my parents also moved back and I stayed with them for a bit. Then I earned a good amount of money and decided to open a restaurant. And here I am." Jake said.

"It's so weird we haven't seen you around lately." Lucas said. Wondering how if he had lived her for some long how he had never seen Jake or Jenny.

"Well Jenny and I have been spending a lot of time in Savannah still. Nikki is there and I don't like keeping her away from her mother for to long. Sounds weird now but we've grown out of that immature act." He said.

"Well I'd love to see Jenny. And we should all get together soon." Said Peyton.

"Yea, that'd be great." Said Jake with a smile. Seeing Jake and Peyton talking was good. Jake had been a big part of Peyton's life and they hadn't talked since.

"Well I'll leave you two alone to a great evening. And I'll make sure to get you guys a free bottle of wine on me." Jake said.

"Great to see you guys. Stop by more often."

With a full meal in there stomachs the two we're ready to leave. When they got to Peyton and Brooke's house Lucas walked her to her door like a gentlemen. He didn't know what else to do from there. He felt as though he was on his first date all over again. It was all so new to him yet it felt so familiar.

"Luke, I had an amazing night. It's been nice for us to be together. I've missed you." She said smiling.

"I've missed you too. And I'm glad you had a good night." He said and leaned down and kissed her cheek. He thought it was appropriate for their "first" date.

"I'll call you tomorrow she said. Bye." She said with a small wave.

Driving up to his empty house he paid the cab driver and slowly walked up to the house. He didn't know how to feel. Waking up alone, he hadn't done it for so long it just didn't seem normal. But it was something he would have to get used to, at least for now. He walked in, placed his keys on the table and walked over to the kitchen table. There was an envelope titled with his name that was printed in handwriting.

He opened the envelope to find a pair of house keys and a letter. Lindsey had been at the house. The note she left behind stated that she was sorry for all the things that didn't work out between them and wished those things could have been different.

Lucas was reminded of his first book signing. When he finally felt the happy being a successful writer. It wasn't that he missed it. He missed the joy that he saw in his fans faces when they came and asked for his autograph. And that they all said they loved his novel. He wanted that back again, if only he had another book still in him.

It was beginning to get late but Lucas just couldn't sleep. So he did the one thing that he knew he could do best, write. He went over to his desk and opened a new document.
And he started to write.
Things in life may surprise you. Like the loss of a familiar love or the gaining of something you thought you'd already lost. People have ways of surprise you. And showing you that there is something still there to be fighting for. To never give up on the ones you love but on the ones who give up on you.

It was the beginning of something new. And it was surprising to him how easily this topic came to his head. So he saved what he had and went to bed.

A/N:
So the beginning of Lucas' novel is just something I made up that just kinda seemed like it fit in.