This is record fast for me! Part of this was originally going to be in the next chapter, but then I decided to put it here. The next one will be short, but I'm almost done. Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter 4:

His head was pounding even before Lucas opened his eyes. It took him a moment to get his bearings in the unfamiliar room. Lucas started as he rolled over in bed and his eyes met the big brown ones of his nephew, who was staring at him curiously.

"Hi Uncle Lucas. I didn't know you were sleeping over." The boy said innocently.

"Hi buddy. I guess I didn't know either. Where's your Mom and Dad?"

"Momma's gone to work, Daddy's making pancakes."

"Pancakes? Sounds awesome! Why don't I meet you down there?"

"Okay." The young boy turned on his heels and sped downstairs. Lucas rubbed his eyes and, ignoring the headache, stumbled into the washroom. He felt awful. And worse, he couldn't remember how he'd gotten there. The last thing he remembered was calling a cab at the River Court.

Nathan smirked at Lucas in a knowing way as he came downstairs. "What happened last night?"

"Other than you ditching out on your nephew's party and getting smashed alone at Tric, you mean?"

Lucas simply groaned.

"Here, grab some breakfast then I'll drop you off. Lindsay's probably waiting for you."

Twenty minutes later, Lucas got up. "I think I'll walk home. It'll clear my head."

"Suit yourself. I'll lock you out."

Just as he was about to leave, Lucas turned to his brother "I didn't say anything last night, did I? When I was wasted?"

Nathan hesitated. "No. Just the usual broody crap" He said with a smirk.

"Thanks Man."

"Anytime... same clothes, ruffled hair... have fun on your walk of shame!" And Nathan closed the door.

Lucas smiled and started down the path.

Peyton woke up with a start of her own at a different pair of brown eyes. The person who these eyes belonged too was not as polite as Jamie as they fired off questions. "When did you get in last night? How did you like Aaron? Doesn't he have a cute butt?"

"Brooke!" Peyton groaned.

"Okay, okay. But hurry up and get yourself together. I made coffee and I want details." She knew Peyton, and her caffeine addiction, well.

After she had about half a mug in her, Peyton answered. "It's nothing like you're thinking, Brooke. Aaron and I just talked for a while after the party."

"Oh." She said somewhat dejectedly "Well what did you talk about?"

"Music. Basketball. Nothing really."

"Are you seeing him again?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Peyton!" Brooke moaned. "You have to give me something here!"

"There's nothing to give, Brooke." Her best friend was ready to fire back a response when the phone rang, startling both of them. It was Peyton's.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Peyton. It's Haley. I'm at work right now but can we talk later? Maybe grab some coffee?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure." Peyton's nerves fluttered as she hung up. The talk she'd been dreading.

Peyton nervously took a sip of her cappuccino as Haley took the seat in front of her and got settled. She had planned to wait for the woman to say what she wanted to but this didn't happen as Peyton surprised even herself by blurting out: "Look I know what you want to talk about."

Haley looked surprised "You do?"

"Lucas. And what happened it LA. Right?"

"Well... yeah. And no." Haley sighed in a way that made Peyton wonder if she was nervous too. "I also want to apologize."

This shocked her "For what?"

"That phone call. I just... Lucas came home and I... I didn't think of your side of things back then, you know?"

"Don't apologize, Haley. You were right to protect him... that was... I'd expect no less."

"No but..."

"Haley!"

It took the two women about ten minutes, along with a few tears and a hug to get over that one phone call and finally put it behind them.

"But seriously, I want to talk about you two, Peyton."

"There is no 'us two'. He's with Lindsay. And that's fine. I didn't come back for him, anyways."

Haley bit her tongue. She didn't believe this but Peyton clearly did, so she went on "You know he hasn't been able to write in years? Since the first book?"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

There was a pause in the conversation, Peyton seemed to be lost in thought but Haley decided to say more "Lucas was smashed last night. Nathan had to go grab him from Tric."

The surprise was clearly etched on Peyton's face. "But what about Jamie's party?"

"He left."

"And you think it's because of me?" She tried her best to keep the hurt and accusation from her tone as she finally took her focus off the empty mug and looked Haley in the eyes.

"Well, yes." Peyton's heart sank. But Haley reached out and grabbed her hand. "I don't say it to hurt you. My point is Lucas is still hurting from what happened between you back then, and Peyton, I know you are too. And I think... It may not be my place, but I think you two need to talk. Really talk. Three years of avoiding it has been enough."

Peyton didn't say anything. Haley was right, of course. They did need to talk. To at least become friendly again, if not friends. With her brain, Peyton could agree with this. But her heart screamed in protest. She didn't know if she had it in her to face Lucas after all this time, after all that had happened between them.

"He's doing paperwork at Tric on Friday." Haley said after a while, before getting up to leave. Peyton understood her: he would be alone.

Lucas lingered at the door for a moment before sliding his key in and letting himself in. "Lindsay?" He called, dropping his jacket onto the bed.

"Look who's home."

"Hi... sorry about last night."

"What was that, Lucas?"

"I... I don't know. I just needed to mellow out, I guess. With the writing and all." It was a weak excuse and he knew it.

"The writing? And that's it. I suppose last night had nothing to do with your ex-girlfriend coming back to town?"

"What? No! It has nothing to do with her! It's because of this writer's block thing. That's all. Trust me."

Lindsay was silent for a moment. Finally, she came up and gave Lucas a kiss. "Take a shower, you're gross!" she said playfully before grabbing her bag. "I have to go call my partner, I'll be back soon. And remember my flight leaves at 5 on Friday, you're meeting me at the airport from Tric." And with that she was off.

Setting his specific hangover coffee mix to brew, Luke jumped into the shower and let the water run. He had planned to try writing but there was another place he felt like visiting.

Peyton stopped by the florists on her way back to Brooke's place. She got some elegant roses as a thank you for Brooke and some simple daisies. Leaving the roses on the counter for Brooke to find when she got home, Peyton grabbed her sketchpad and headed out again. She was finally going to the place that had been at the back of her mind since she'd come home.

Lucas placed the single white Lily at his Uncle's headstone and sunk down. He was silent for a moment. "I talked to Mom. Her and Lily are doing great... she misses you."

A few minutes later, Lucas said "She's back, Keith."

Lucas didn't say anything else. He just felt the need to let his Uncle know. He sat there for a few minutes in silence before getting up and turning around and being surprised to see Peyton coming up the path. She was wearing jeans and a sleeveless top and had daisies in her hand. It wasn't until she was two feet away from him that she finally looked up and saw him. Peyton stopped in her tracks.

After a moment, she half smiled. "I'm not stalking you, I swear."

Lucas made the same awkward smile. "I know... I was just here to say hi to Keith. I... I went by your Mom's stone too, I hope you don't mind."

The surprise was clear on her face. "You did?"

"I do whenever I come... I figured someone should while you were away. I should go." Her going to LA. Even when he didn't try the conversation seemed to swerve in that direction.

He had already started to walk away when he heard her call his name "Lucas... Thank You. For..." She pointed in the direction where her mother lay. There was so much emotion in her voice that he simply nodded before turning again. This time he was a couple feet away when she spoke again.

"Hey, Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Umm...Haley told me you're having trouble writing."

Lucas was a little offended that Haley had told her this. It was common knowledge sure, but something about Peyton knowing made this failure seem greater. "Yeah" He said gruffly.

"Do you remember what you said to me after you submitted my sketches to Thud? God, that seems like a million years ago!"

Lucas was confused. He didn't know where she was going with this. "Your art matters... it's what got me here."

Peyton nodded but she wasn't looking at him. Her mind seemed to have traveled back to those simpler days, just like his. "It was like... like you touched my soul. And...Just a few weeks ago, I was ready to give up again. But then I read the words you wrote about me in your book, and they literally saved me. That's how powerful they were. I guess... I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're struggling to write your next book, you should know... your art matters, Lucas. It's what got me here."

Peyton gave him a squeeze on the arm and walked away, towards her mother's grave. Lucas watched her go, before turning and walking back towards his car. He drove home with Peyton's words playing over and over in his head. He didn't know what to think, or feel.

"Your art matters, Lucas. It's what got me here."

Peyton didn't know if she'd overstepped her boundaries in saying this but since Haley had told her Lucas couldn't write, she needed him to know that. Luke deserved that much.

She slid down beside the familiar tombstone, gently placing the bouquet beside a single white lily. "Hi, Mom."

"I guess I'm a Tree Hill girl at heart, like you. LA didn't really work out." A tear rolled down her cheek, "Oh, Mom. He's been coming all this time? I never even knew... We're not together anymore, but you probably knew that. He's with someone else now, Lindsay. She's really nice. And I'm over him anyways... I was seeing this guy in LA for a bit. Julian. But it just didn't click, you know? He's a nice guy, though." She was quiet for a few minutes.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Mom. A record label? I'm looking at some places on the weekend. Brooke's giving me start-up money, but it just feels wrong, she's done so much already... this wasn't how life was supposed to go, you know? I guess I should know that by now..."

"Haley wants me to go talk to him. She says we need to work through this, one way or another. I know she's right, but still… I guess I could've said something now, but I chickened out. I wasn't ready. But when will I ever be? I'll go talk to him on Friday anyways, so it's fine. What am I going to say to him? What is he going to say to me? It's all I'm going to be thinking about for the next two days." After another pause, Peyton whispered "I miss you, Mom."

Peyton pulled out her sketchpad and settled down. She sat, thinking quietly, all the while absentmindedly drawing a pair of squinty dark eyes.

The next day, Peyton spent most of her time unpacking more of her things to distract herself from the realization that Haley was right. She would have to go talk to Lucas the next day. When the unpacking became medial, a call from Aaron became a welcome distraction. Peyton decided she liked him; he was easy to talk to and seemed like the type of guy that didn't complicate things. Dinner at the new Mexican place sounded pretty good so Peyton said yes, inwardly thinking of how Brooke would have a field day when she found out. Though they were just going as friends.

An hour later at the restaurant, Peyton was surprised to run into Lindsay. The woman seemed marginally less friendly than she had at Jamie's party, but Peyton brushed it off as paranoia. "Hey!"

"Oh. Hi, Peyton. What are you doing here?"

"Oh I'm here with a friend for dinner. Aaron- Lindsay. Lindsay- Aaron."

"Nice to meet you." Aaron said, politely, all the while looking for a table in the busy restaurant.

Lindsay smiled in response and held up the bag in her hand. "Well have fun! I just came to grab Lucas and me some dinner, he's been writing all day. I'll see you around."

"Bye"

Peyton smiled to herself at the fact that Luke was writing. She was glad.

Lindsay was a lot cheerier than she had been all day as she got into the car and drove away. She hadn't known Peyton was seeing someone.

"Dinner's here!" she said as she walked into the room where Lucas sat with his laptop, typing furiously. He didn't look up as she entered.

"Good. Let me just finish this paragraph."

"I'll serve us in the meantime."

When Lucas finally emerged ten minutes later, Lindsay couldn't resist for a second longer. "I ran into Peyton at the restaurant." She looked at Lucas as she said this.

There was a brief pause but his face didn't reveal anything. "Oh."

"Yeah, she was with some guy. The same one from the party. Aaron, I think."

Once again, Lucas didn't say much of anything. "Oh... pass the hot sauce."

Next one's all Lucas and Peyton. I'll try updating soon.