A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. It means a lot.

Nine: September 14th, 2011; St. Flora, North Carolina

"Peyton…" Brooke said uncertainly as her friend walked back into the house, slamming the door behind her and stalking through the hallway, a flurry of curls and anger. Brooke walked into the kitchen, approaching her cautiously. Peyton was standing in front of the sink, clutching at the counter with both hands. Brooke gently rested her hand on her friend's back.

"Why did you call him?" Peyton asked through shallow breaths. She needed to know, couldn't help but wonder, how much he'd actually wanted to rush to save her and how much Brooke had coerced him into it.

"I…I don't know. I was worried about you. If it was a mistake, P., then I'm sorry."

Peyton released her grip on the counter and placed a hand on Brooke's arm instead. "It wasn't." She really wanted it to have been a mistake…but it wasn't.

"That's good?" Brooke meant it as a statement, but it came out much more hesitantly.

Peyton smiled sadly, almost shyly. "Is it wrong?"

"What?" Brooke whispered back.

"That after all these years and all that's happened, all the drama that's gone down between us…I still want him here."

Brooke smiled. This time she could be much more certain. "It's not wrong, honey. It's good."

Lucas walked through the front door at that moment and both women turned toward him. "All my stuff is here," he said, explaining his presence. "I'll just get it and go." He'd known that he would mess things up, but he hadn't thought that it would be quite this soon.

"No," Peyton protested, surprising Lucas and Brooke too, by the looks of her highly arched eyebrow. "You can stay here. You…can fight Brooke for the couch."

Lucas grinned at her, immensely relieved though he was still a little annoyed with his ex-girlfriend, and with himself. "That sounds…great." He paused. "Thanks, Peyton."

When she looked into his eyes, she saw everything she was feeling staring back at her. "You're welcome," she said.

Lucas was sitting on the couch, lost in a book, when he felt Haley's hands land lightly on his shoulders. Her arms came down to rest across his chest as she perched her chin on his shoulder. "Let's take a walk, buddy," she suggested softly.

Lucas had never been so relieved to escape a house before. Every room was still heavy with loss, as if the house, too, was reeling from Derek's sudden death. Peyton had been hiding in her brother's room for most of the day. The only time she'd emerged was for supper, and that had been awkward at best. Lucas needed some space and some air. Both Brooke and Nathan radiated protective vibes when he was close to them. Haley, at least, was trying to remain neutral, but even Jamie and Lucy, with their sweet childish laughter, couldn't break up the tension in the house.

"So how're you doing?" Haley asked. They'd all been so preoccupied with protecting Peyton that she'd forgotten that Lucas didn't exactly have things easy, either.

He shrugged. "I used to be able to read Peyton so easily. Now she's so closed off to me that I don't have a clue what she'd thinking or feeling."

Haley understood, but she had other things on her mind. "Can I ask you something?" She didn't wait for a reply. "Why did you come?"

"Because Brooke said she needed me."

"Oh, right. I forgot about your hero complex," Haley said, rolling her eyes.

He chuckled, but said no more.

"Are you still with Lindsey?" she inquired.

Lucas shrugged. "Yeah…but it's really casual. She read my book, Hales. That's always going to be between us."

"Luke…what do you want to happen? With you and Peyton."

He shook his head. "I want things back the way they were, when we were so untouchably in love and we had our happily ever after right in front of us."

Haley made a sympathetic face. "I know that you've been hurt, too. I'm sorry for that."

"Thanks, Hales. But I'm being stupid, right? We can't go back to the way we were."

"Lucas…" Haley stopped walking and turned to face him squarely. "Listen to me. You know how Brooke is always saying that Nathan and I give her hope, faith in true love? Well, you and Peyton do the same for me."

He actually laughed, unable to believe her. "I really don't think we're the world's best example. We're pretty much the epitome of disaster."

"But that's just it," Haley insisted. "Through all of it, I have never once seen proof that it's truly over between you two, no matter how many times you break each other's hearts. Luke, you've adored her since we were kids, and I can see from the way you look at her that you still do." She smiled at him fondly, but her eyes stayed serious. "Yeah, Peyton's vulnerable right now; her brother just died and she feels lost and alone. But there was never a day that she didn't need you. She still loves you, Lucas. You have to know that."

Lucas was reading in the living room again that evening, lost in the copy of The Secret Life of Bees he'd found on the bookshelf. There were two copies, which didn't surprise him; he knew that it was Peyton's favourite. What did alarm him was that they sat on the shelf next to seven different copies of his novel. He didn't allow himself to think too much about what those meant, instead her grabbed the older copy of the book he was currently engrossed in, comforted by the fact that Peyton had touched those same pages many times.

He remembered this book in her hands. Friday evenings as the day faded away, stretched out across his bed at fourteen years old, her shirt riding up to expose the skin of her stomach, completely oblivious – or perhaps choosing to ignore – the fact that the boy throwing a basketball again the wall in a steady rhythm on her left was hopefully in love with her. Monday mornings curled up in his bed at eighteen, setting the book down as Lucas opened her eyes, snuggling back down into the blankets to kiss him. Saturday afternoons in her own kitchen, reading at the table while Lucas made nachos and Haley patiently explained the concept of the binomial theorem to Nathan yet again, making faces at the smell of Brooke's nail polish. Days when loving her felt like the way it was supposed to be.

Brooke was currently in the kitchen, cleaning up after she'd caused Peyton's blender to explode in an attempt to make a strawberry smoothie for her depressed friend. Peyton was moping upstairs again. Nathan and Haley were sitting on the floor with Jamie, happily talking over his ehad as they helped their son with a puzzle.

Lucas felt the pressure of someone's gaze on him, and turned to see that Lucy was curled up on the opposite end of the couch, pensively studying him.

"Hey," he said quietly.

She smiled at him, though she appeared a bit guarded. "Hi. You read a lot."

He grinned. "Yeah, I guess I do. Do you like to read?"

"Yeah," she whispered, as though it were a secret. "But I like it better when somebody reads to me." She bent her head, letting her hair hide her eyes. "Will you?"

Lucas blinked, surprised, but quickly said, "Sure, of course. What would you like me to read to you?"

Brooke walked into the room before Lucy could answer him. "Okay, people, the kitchen's spotless. You're welcome," she added pointedly when they failed to acknowledge her.

Nathan grinned up at her from his spot on the floor. "Thanks, Brooke," he sighed.

Jamie looked up at her, too. "But you made the mess, Aunt Brooke."

Brooke stuck out her tongue at him, launching him into laughter. She turned and smiled at her daughter, "Time for bed, honey bug."

Lucy stuck out her lower lip. "Lucas was going to read to me."

"Was he?" Brooke asked, arching an eyebrow in Lucas' direction. "Tomorrow night, okay? It's time for you to go to sleep."

Lucy continued to pout, and something about the set of her chin alarmed Lucas – it reminded him distinctly of himself.

"Don't give me that," Brooke scolded lightly. "You know I can't resist those eyes. C'mon, honey bug, move it up those stairs."

Lucy sighed dramatically, and for the first time Lucas saw Brooke Davis in her sweet little face. "G'night, Aunt Haley, Uncle Nathan, and Jamie. Goodnight, Lucas."

"Goodnight, kiddo," he replied faintly.

Brooke caught Lucas staring after her daughter and frowned, glancing at Haley to see if she'd noticed as well. She had. "Hey, bud," she said, whacking Lucas' arm. "I would love to battle you for this couch and everything –"

He smiled and cut her off. "It's okay, Brooke. I can crash on the floor."

"How noble of you," she said dryly, "but the couch is yours. I'll sleep with Peyt."

"Will you?" Nathan asked, sitting up and lifting his eyebrows playfully.

Brooke rolled her eyes and chucked a throw pillow at him. "You're still holding on to that fantasy, huh, Nate?"

"You know it, B. Davis."

"Okay, ha ha," sighed Haley as she stood up, holding her arms out to her son. "I cannot believe that you still find that funny. Come on, Jimmy Jam," she added to Jamie. "It's bedtime for you, too."

Each of the women took one of Jamie's hands, lifting him up and swinging him forward. They giggled with him, their laughter fading away as they headed up the stairs.

Nathan got up from the floor, stretched, and sat down on the couch next to Lucas. Both men sighed at the same time.

"So," Nathan said.

Lucas closed his book. "Yeah."

"This sucks for you."

"Yeah."

"Really sucks for you."

"Yeah."

Nathan couldn't help it. He started to chuckle. He tried to stifle his amusement, but he just couldn't.

Lucas shot him an irritated look. "It's so nice that you can laugh at my pain," he said dryly.

"I'm sorry, man," he said through bursts of laughter. "It's bad, I know it is, it's just…you've seen both of your ex-girlfriends for the first time in years…and they are sharing a bed while you are stuck on this old, uncomfortable couch."

Lucas shook his head, sarcastically commenting, "You're such a good brother."

Nathan shot him an untroubled smile. "It's going to be okay."

"Maybe from where you're standing."

The darker Scott studied his brother out of the corner of his eyes. "Haley told me you're still seeing Lindsey…?"

He shrugged. "On again, off again."

"Friends with benefits?"

"No. Linds isn't that girl."

"But you can't be the guy she needs you to be." It was an open-ended observation.

"Yes, Nathan, you know that. And you know why."

"Lucas, can I ask you something?"

"If I say no, will you shut up?"

Nathan grinned. He'd missed this brotherly banter. "Not a chance."

"Then go ahead."

"I know you and Peyton have been through a lot. I know. And I know that you've both made some pretty big mistakes. But did you honestly believe that you could ever be happy with anyone else?"

Lucas groaned. He had asked him that very question many times. "It's not about finding happiness with someone else. It was just that we couldn't take being unhappy with one another anymore."

"That's stupid," Nathan said bluntly, but he regretted his words when Lucas turned to look at him with honest devastation in his eyes.

"We had to let go of one another before there wasn't anything left."

"Luke," Nathan tried again, softening his tone considerably. "There's a hell of a lot left. Peyton hadn't had any semblance of a serious relationship since you two broke up."

Lucas squinted at him disbelievingly. "Are you telling me that we should…"

Nathan shrugged, refusing to commit to any advice. "If you break her heart again she won't be able to take it, and I don't know if I can forgive you for that." At Lucas' nod, he continued, "Follow your heart, man. But make sure to think it through."

Lucas gave him a half smile. "Thanks, little brother."

"Haley, stop," Lucas scolded her as she began to make him a bed on the couch. "I'm not Jamie's age. I love you for caring, Hales, but I can make my own bed."

She blushed, smiling. "Okay. Sorry. So, the kids are asleep in Peyton's room, Nathan and I are in the guest room, and Brooke is with Peyt in Derek's room. If you need anything, you know where to find us."

He grinned. "Thank you, Haley. I'll be fine."

"I know. Okay." She threw her arms around his neck in a warm hug. "I'm glad you're here, Luke. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night," he said fondly as she slipped out of his embrace and made her way up the stairs.

Lucas grabbed his toothbrush out of his bag and headed upstairs to the bathroom. Just before he reached the door, Brooke, dressed in a short black nightgown, bounced in ahead of him, calling, "You snooze, you lose!" over her shoulder.

He just shook his head. For all the ways that Brookes had changed, there were just as amny in which she had not.

He wandered to the other side of the hallway, leaning against the doorframe of one of the rooms. It had been Derek's room, that was clear from the neatness and the limited decoration. Peyton was curled up on her side in bed, gazing sadly at a photo she'd taken with her brother. He was away so often that she knew it would take a bit more time for it to sink in that he was truly gone forever.

Lucas stayed quiet, but his presence must have startled her, because she sat up and looked at him with wide eyes. "Sorry," he muttered. "I was just waiting for the bathroom. I'll go."

"Lucas, wait…" Her instincts were screaming at her not to let him leave her now, not to let him leave her ever again. He turned back around and she said, "I…I'm sorry."

He frowned, quietly asking, "For what?" There were probably about six hundred answers to that question, and he was curious as to what hers would be."

Peyton was going to apologize for hiding away and avoiding him all evening, but in the end truth won out. It had always been difficult for her to lie to him. She shrugged, trying to keep her shoulders from trembling, and looked him directly in the eye. "All sorts of things," she whispered.

He nodded, his heart racing. "Me too."

"It was just…"

Lucas took a couple steps into the room, waiting for her to continue.

"It was just that…we were so young, and I was so scared. You always made me feel so safe, and for a while it seemed like we…like we had it all. When things started to fall apart, I was scared because I didn't know what to do and you couldn't save me anymore…sometimes it felt like you were what I needed saving from. I know that I wasn't…always a good person, and I know that I didn't try as hard as I could have, and I know that I got really angry with you…" She sucked in some air. "I'm not proud of how I acted. But I loved you, Luke, and it just hurt so bad. It was…it was just that everything hurt so much after…" Her eyes clouded over with tears. "After we lost the baby," she whispered, her voice cracking.

As always at the mention of the child they never had, Lucas' heart and throat constricted in a painful moment of memory. He closed the distance between them, gently tucking her hair behind her ear and cupping her face in his hand, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I know," he whispered back.

She placed her hand on his wrist, gazing up at him. "I wanted to be your wife; I wanted to have your baby. This is so far from where I wanted us to end up."

"I know, babe," he said softly, brushing an escaped tear off of her cheek. "I wanted all of that too, just as badly as you did."

"I want to hate you," she choked out.

Lucas smiled gently. "That one I can't agree with you on."

She smiled back weakly, pulling his hand away from her cheek and taking it in her own, tugging it toward her, hesitantly yet forcefully. "Lie with me," she requested.

He didn't need to be asked twice. He crawled into bed with her, tucking her into his arms, wishing that he could save her, wishing that half of her grief was not his own fault.

Peyton clung to him like he could still save her, like he was her one and only lifeline. "Thank you for being here."

He hugged her tighter, pressing his lips against her temple in an effort to comfort her, to show her how he felt. "Thank you for letting me be here."

A/N: Let me know what you think! (Pretty please.)