"We can't…" She whispered unevenly into the night air. He didn't answer. How many times had she replayed this scene in her mind? Ten, twenty…a hundred? She knew how this scene would play out as soon as their eyes locked onto one another. She had thought of nothing else since then. Peyton felt the force of his lips on hers, the rough stubble from his chin grazing against her face. She could feel the heat of his body on her, around her, it was wrong how it felt so familiar. His lips moved from her lips, to the side of her mouth, to her cheek, the bottom of her jaw line, to the indent of her collarbone. "Lucas…."

Peyton woke up dazed and confused. It had been a while since she had dreamt. Her dreams had disappeared six months ago along with her best friend, her potential boyfriend and apparently her life. She sat up in her bed slowly and ran her fingers through her slightly damp blonde curls. Why was her mind so fogged over with thoughts of Lucas? So, she had kissed him that afternoon, big deal. It was just an impulsive kiss, right? Peyton yawned deeply and rubbed her sleep ridden eyes, what time was it? She turned and looked at the alarm clock on her bedside table. Two thirty? Damn it, Lucas! She cussed at the thought of his name, why did he have to do this to her? Ass!


Lucas walked into the school courtyard feeling unusually upbeat and optimistic about the day. For the past six months he had been walking around with a dark cloud hanging over his head but he was on his road to redemption; re-establishing old friendships he had let go of, finding the passion he had felt for basketball before the ominous cloud had appeared and not to mention the prospect of hope.

"Morning Broody…" Brooke walked up to Lucas and smiled up at him from under her perfectly sculpted long eyelashes. It was unlike her to be at school earlier than needed but as the run up to the cheerleading regionals approached, she found herself more dedicated to doing better, to being better. He looked happy, a genuine smile was planted on his face, a smile she hadn't seen in a while. "It's gonna be a good day." She spoke confidentially.

"I think it is," He looked down at the beautiful brunette and smiled. Lucas watched as Brooke nodded at began to walk away. He followed her, keeping pace. "You know Brooke, I know you said it was gonna take a while for us to be friends…but I was hoping…"

"That a while wouldn't be so long because you're missing my fantastic company?" She interrupted, finishing his sentence for him. Brooke shrugged and threw a grin his way, "As much as I would like to be friends with you Lucas, if only to copy your math homework, I think I need to work on another friendship before we start rebuilding our bridge" the other friendship being Peyton, the only other person in the world who had truly loved her for who she was. "Speaking of…" Brooke looked across the courtyard, into the school parking lot. "Damn! Peyton doesn't need a bell round her neck, you can hear her weird music from here." To Brooke, weird music consisted of anything that wasn't in the top 100.

Lucas watched as Peyton carefully. It was a craft he had perfected over the years, watching Peyton Sawyer from afar. Even from afar he could see that she was wearing one of her favourite AC/DC's tee's. He grinned; change was constant that was true, but to him, Peyton could never really change. Even after months of watching her give herself willingly to any guy who showed a slight interest in her hadn't changed her, she was still the same girl he had watched or more appropriately named… stalked…

"Ooo" Brooke frowned watching as Peyton's face became more visible to her. Peyton was directly at the two of them, with a scowl fixed on her face. "I hope that wasn't meant for me." She hoped aloud, how was she going to win back P.Sawyer's friendship if the girl was giving her evil death stares. Maybe she had seen her and Lucas together and put two and two together and come out with five. Not good.

"I think it was meant for me," Lucas responded, confusion filling his voice. Yesterday she had kissed him, smiled and walked away. Somehow, over twelve hours her smirk had turned to a scowl.

Brooke looked up at Lucas and bit her bottom lip, "Tough break." She patted his shoulder, as a friend would. It was a good thing for her that the scowl was meant for Lucas.

Peyton pushed on the double doors and made her way down the practically empty hallway. At her locker, she threw her things inside and slammed her locker shut, not attempting to hide her annoyance.

"Whoa," Haley approached Peyton from behind and covered her ears. The noise of the locker slamming shut made a large echo sound down the hallway. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" She half joked, trying to get a smile from Peyton which at this moment she figured would be like trying to get blood from a stone. Peyton's scowl didn't lessen. "Fall out of bed this morning?" She asked taking a guess at the mood. She waited again for some kind of response but nothing, "Did you even sleep in a bed?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night," Peyton admitted. She and Haley didn't keep any secrets from one another. Over the past six months, Haley had become her replacement best friend – they shared the same taste in hobbies, music and apparently guys; Nathan being Peyton's ex boyfriend and Haley's current one. Peyton headed down the hallway, her black ankle boots tapping against the stone floor. "And before you ask, my lack of sleep has nothing to do with some kinky non-bed sexual fantasy you were thinking of ten seconds ago…" Peyton frowned again, "And no, I didn't have company last night. I was completely alone in my room… alone in my room but not alone in my dreams." Peyton's scowled deepened. Why had she kissed Lucas? He was obviously the key to some sort of emotional flood gate. Ass!

"What?" Haley's brow burrowed together in confusion. "Oh,"…She paused and her eyes widened as the realisation hit her. "OH!" A small part of her didn't want to know about Peyton's fantasies, the other part though, the larger part of her was so curious as to who she was dreaming about. "It was Lucas wasn't it…" She guessed with a goofy grin on her face. As far as she was aware, Peyton and Lucas's relationship was non-existent. Her own friendship with Lucas had only just gotten back on track, she hadn't really asked him about his relationship with Peyton, or even asked him how he felt about her…not that she needed to. It was obvious, just by looking at his face how completely and utterly in love with Peyton Sawyer that boy was. "You dreamt about Lucas last night!"

Peyton turned to her locker and entered the combination. She opened the locker and turned her attention back to Haley. Her frown remained in place as she slammed her locker shut again, this time without looking.

"Cut the dramatics, you're not a drama queen, cheerleader anymore!" Haley sighed. She couldn't understand why Peyton couldn't just move forward. Obviously she had issues and with good reason; her mother was dead, her father was never home, she had been betrayed by her best friend and the guy she secretly liked. But why couldn't she move forward and try to get past it, why did she always have to stay in the darkness? "So…" Haley grinned and stepped next to Peyton, buddy bumping her hip against Peyton's. She grinned, knowing that her optimism would break through Peyton's hardcore façade. "What does the dream mean? That you're ready to move forward? That you're not so secretly eyeing up Lucas?" She raised her brow twice, suggestively.

"The dream probably means…" Peyton shrugged indifferently, "that maybe it's been a while since I got some and I need to…" Peyton paused knowing better than to express her inner, sexual desires to Haley. As much as she liked her new found best friend, she didn't want to push the limits of their friendship. With Brooke it was different, she was more sexually aware not to mention she would be the one who usually instigated the sex conversation. Haley was more…conservative, was the best word. She didn't believe in sex before marriage, she disapproved of casual dating and she certainly didn't condone casual sex – something Peyton had been having a lot these past six months. "The kiss on the other hand," Peyton paused, knowing that would get Haley's full attention.

"Kiss?" Haley raised her brow in confusion, "What kiss?" Haley turned and looked up at Peyton. Sometimes she felt little pangs of jealousy towards Peyton for a number of reasons; her height, her natural beauty, her long slim legs and even her experience. Peyton had after all dated her boyfriend, her Nathan – and had the other Scott trailing after her too. Being the youngest sibling, meant that she had always been left out of the loop. Her older sisters clicked together and discussed anything and everything behind closed doors, not once had they invited her in to have the girl talk.

"I might have spontaneously kissed Lucas yesterday." Peyton said matter of factly.

"Miss Sawyer…"

Peyton turned her head slightly and looked over her shoulder at Principal Turner who was standing behind her. "Principal Turner…" Her tone turned confused, it was a little early to be hauling her to the principals office for something she hadn't done yet. Her attitude in class had improved lately, she was no longer arriving late to lessons or muttering under her breath when a teacher called on her to answer a question.

"I need to speak to you in my office."


The bell rang and class was over. Lucas had to sit through an hour of listening to Coach Durham talk about William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Before it had been one of his favourite plays of Shakespeare's, but after listening to the Coach slaughter the old English language with his husky, non interested tone and involuntary grunts at the romantic lines, the play had quickly lost its appeal. As he packed up his notepad and his book, he looked over his shoulder at an empty chair; Peyton's empty chair. She hadn't shown up to the class and his niggling self doubt was hitting an all time high; she had scowled at him this morning before school and now she had ditched English probably so she wouldn't have to see him, or talk to him.

"Hey man," Nathan walked up behind Lucas and glanced over his shoulder at the empty chair which had had Lucas's attention for the past hour, "She's not there you know..".

"What?" Lucas asked, "Who?" He asked feigning not to know who Nathan was talking about. Lucas sighed and gathered his belongings throwing them into his backpack. "She scowled at me in the parking lot earlier this morning," Lucas grabbed the bag and placed it on his shoulder and began to make his towards the door of the classroom. "Yesterday she kisses me and today she scowls at me, how do those two even go hand in hand?" He asked trying to connect the dots, what had changed between the kiss and smirk she had give him yesterday and the I want to Kill you scowl she had aimed at him this morning.

"This is Peyton we're talking about." Nathan reminded him, "She's not your run of the mill, average, bitchy teenage girl…she's like the Supergirl of them, but with good reason." Peyton carried around with her years of baggage. Her mother had died a few years ago, which had left her broken and filled with guilt. Her father was never around, as Nathan knew very well from all of the late night booty calls he had at her house – and to top it all of, her best friend of twelve years had started dating the one guy she had ever truly liked. He wasn't insightful, no, she had basically told him as much when he had helped paint her room the other night. "You know when we were painting her room the other night, she kept talking about regrets, how she had more than anyone else she knew. Regret over asking her mom to pick her up from school that day, regret over not telling her dad how she really feels about him working away from home…" Nathan watched as Lucas turned to look at him, raising his brow. "You know, when Peyton and I were together she was trapped inside of a shell. Not once did we have a conversation about how she was feeling, not once did she open up to me. We dated for almost two years." He paused and thought back to their fiery relationship, he had loved Peyton but he had never truly known her. Over the past six months he had seen the real Peyton Sawyer, the broken, lost girl that she was. "How long was it before she was opening her heart to you, Luke? A couple of weeks…The girl who had never opened up to me, or even her best friend of thirteen years …opened her heart to you." Nathan walked up to his brother gently patted his shoulder, "You wanna know what one of her biggest regrets is Lucas, it's you…."

Lucas turned and watched as his brother walked out of the classroom. He mulled that over in his mind, what the hell did it mean? Did it mean that Peyton regretted opening her heart to him because of the way he had abused it. Six months ago she had knocked at his door, heart in her hand and offered it to him. But he couldn't take it, not because he didn't want to but because he was scared to. She had broken him before, he was scared that if he opened himself up to her again it would happen all over again. Not to mention, Brooke had walked out dressed in one of his tops before he had a chance to really respond. That had been game over. Peyton had turned a cold shoulder to both him and her best friend. Or…and now it clicked into place. That night she had come over to his house she had told him how she had wanted everything that he did, but she was scared. That night she confessed one of her biggest regrets to him; she had regretted walking away that night when he had offered his heart to her. Lucas wandered out of the classroom in a daze at his sudden revelation, okay, maybe it wasn't his revelation considering Nathan had basically pointed it out to him.

"Howdy ho loser," Haley walked up to her best friend and quickly buddy bumped against his hip. "So what's this I hear about a kiss yesterday with a certain blonde curly head friend of mine?" Haley looked up at Lucas and quickly took his in bewildered expression. "Hellooo?" She raised a hand in front of his face and waved at him, trying to snap him back to reality. "Earth to Lucas…."

"What?" He looked down at his short best friend with confused eyes, she had snapped him out of his trance. "Sorry, I was…"

"Miles away thinking about a kiss with a certain blonde curly haired friend of mine," She repeated and watched as a small grin touched his face. "Okay, so someone please fill me in on the details like, When? Where? Why? How?" She found it extremely hard to contain her excitement, finally there was some movement on the Lucas and Peyton front, were they both coming out of their hiding places and stepping into the light? "I mean the last thing I remember was you giving her the silent treatment over Mark and now you've got her kissing and dreaming about you? Where was I when all of this was going on?" She paused and watched as Lucas tilted his head, and his smile widen. "Right, bad Haley…I probably shouldn't have told you that." She spoke about the dreaming part, she was ninety nine percent sure that Peyton didn't want that conversation public knowledge. At least, that's what Haley had gathered from her best friend's mood this morning.

"Is this some kind of intervention you and Nathan cooked up trying to get me back with Peyton?" Lucas asked stupidly. Back with Peyton? He had never been with Peyton to begin with, but with all of their history it felt like he had. It felt like she was a part of him that had been broken off and had gotten lost somewhere and now he was searching for it, trying to reattach the broken piece of himself.

"No, why?" Haley raised her brow confused. She hoped that Nathan hadn't said anything she had told him in confidence. Over the past six months, with Lucas being AWOL, Haley had opened her heart to Nathan in a big way and had confessed all of her thoughts and secrets with him, most of her thoughts surrounding Lucas, his superficial romance with Brooke and his inner desires to be with Peyton. "What did he say?"

"Nothing really…" Lucas looked around distracted, trying to find Peyton. Nathan had basically told him to stand up and be a man, go after what he wants and have no regrets. At least that's how he was interpreting part of his conversation with his half brother, "He basically opened my eyes and showed me something…which I think I've known all along."

"Which is?" Haley asked intrigued.

"That Peyton wants to be with me…"

Haley tried to think of a witty response. Of course she does, you moron? What are you blind? Where the hell have you been for the last six months? All of which were incredibly ill suited for the moment, so instead she opted to go for clichéd one which just spoke volumes, "Um, I think the phrase is no S, Sherlock!" She reached up and slapped the side of his head.

Lucas couldn't help but grin at his best friend's inability to swear. Whenever she was made she would always use an abbreviation of a cuss word, she was never one to be crude, rude or ignorant, it was one of her finest qualities. "You know sooner or later Hales, you're gonna learn to cuss properly…just hang around with Skills long enough and you'll be cussing every other sentence."

"Please," Haley scoffed, "I'm with Nathan almost twenty four seven and with him comes his little package, Tim and the rest of the basketball team who all swear like sailors." Haley shook her head, "Nope, I've been vaccinated against everything and anything juvenile!" She looked up at Lucas and smiled; he was boyishly handsome, he always had been – but his eyes only ever shone like that when he was seeing, thinking or talking about Peyton Sawyer.


It was lunchtime and Peyton hadn't been in any of her classes. Brooke frowned, today was a fresh new beginning she had told herself. She was determined to become her old happy self again which included one feisty curly haired best friend. They had barely spoken to each other in the past six months and a few weeks back they had almost got into a cat fight at one of Nathan's post-basketball parties, but that was then and this was now. Brooke had secretly wished that by breaking up with Lucas, the two former best friends would miraculously reunite. Obviously that wasn't the case.

"What's up Brooke?"

Brooke looked across the table at one of her fellow populars and shrugged, she could hardly get into a hearty conversation with any of them about how her life for the past six months felt so shallow. They were all in the same boat – only none of them had experienced the kind of friendship she had had with Peyton. Brooke smiled, putting on her happy face. "Nothing, I was just thinking about some new routines to jazz up our cheers." She lied convincingly. Brooke watched as the girls around the table all broke out into different conversations, adding their inputs on how they could jazz up the cheers. Brooke found herself once again searching the courtyard for a set of blonde curls but instead she found herself starting over at Haley James. "I'll be right back…" She muttered before standing up and leaving the table and her posse behind her. She strutted across of the courtyard, with all the confidence of a femme fatale, she knew she was being watched, it wasn't arrogance, just facts. "Hi…" She said as she stepped closer to Haley's table. "Mind if I sit?"

Haley looked up from her book up at Brooke Davis, head cheerleader for the Tree Hill Ravens. She peered around confused, was Brooke really asking to join her in the courtyard where everybody could see? "Um, sure.." She answered hesitantly, "Knock yourself out," She added. Haley watched as Brooke sat down opposite her but said nothing. "I have to ask, is there a particular reason you wanted to sit here…" She asked confused, "with me?"

"Honestly?" Brooke let her body relax as she leaned on the table in front of her, "Two reasons, firstly I needed to get away from everything over there…" She said tilting her head ever so slightly in the direction of the table she had been sitting at, "And secondly, I was hoping that by sitting here with you, it would mean that when Peyton came out from whatever hole she's been hiding under all day I could finally talk to her…" Brooke bit her bottom lip, the last part didn't exactly come out the way she had intended it to. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous…" She admitted.

Nathan and Lucas walked up Haley's table, both of their faces mirroring one another's; confusion. Nathan bent down beside Haley and smiled, pecking her quickly on the cheek before taking the seat next to hers. Lucas on the other decided to stay standing for now, he hadn't decided whether he was going to spend his lunch eating his lunch like every other high school student or whether he was going to try and track down Peyton and finally have it out with her. Then again maybe he didn't need to track her down, he looked past Brooke and saw Peyton storm out of the school, slamming the one of the double doors behind her. The door slamming echoed in the courtyard and had captured everyone's attention.

Peyton strolled across the courtyard to what was her usual table; well what used to be usual table. At lunch for the past six months it had been her and Haley or sometimes her, Haley and Nathan. Her frowned deepened as she saw not only her former best friend sat at her table but also the root of why they hadn't been friends any more; Lucas. She could have turned around and just walked away, she could have done that, but after the day she was having it would have been one more thing to turn a blind eye to. "What's this, the cheerleader outreach programme?" She asked accusingly at Brooke, bitterness ringing high in her voice. "What are you doing here Brooke?"

Brooke turned and stood up, she was shorter than Peyton which meant that she had to look up to her friend, her friend who was apparently in no mood for anything other than honesty. "I wanted to talk to you…"

Peyton had spent the better part of the last three years in the guidance councillor's office trying to convince him that she isn't a psychotic orphan Annie who is hell bent on destroying the football team by slandering one of the town's brightest young football players. "I'm really not in the mood to talk, Brooke…" Her voice trailed off, she was tired, just so tired of everything. She just wanted to go home and be by herself, where she could do whatever she wanted without being scrutinized. Peyton looked up and saw Mark Davidson walk across the courtyard like he owned the place, he reached his jock table and they all high-fived one another. It made her sick.

Brooke looked at Peyton and saw the sadness in her eyes. She turned her head and looked over to the football table and raised her brow, "What the hell? I thought he had been suspended from school for a week?"

"Oh come on, they would never really suspend the star quarterback just because the high school slut accused him of being a little rough with her, she probably asked for it right?" She watched as the table all turned to look at her, "Or at least that's what the school board thought so last night when they held an emergency meeting over the future of Mark Davidson, high school asshole."

"Oh Peyton…" Haley sighed.

Nathan shook his head, "Unbelievable…" He pushing himself away from the table and stood up. He stormed across the courtyard without thinking, without hesitation. His hands reached out and came into contact with Mark Davidson's back and he gave a hefty shove to him, knocking the football jock forward over the table. "Come on tough guy, what's the matter you can get rough with a girl but you wont with a guy. That it?" Nathan pushed him in the back again as the guy tried to straighten up and stand. Suddenly a set of arms were wrapped around his neck, dragging him back. "Get off me,"

Lucas let go of his brother, "He's not worth it, Nate…" He shook his head at the group of football players who were all preparing to gear up for an unfair fight. Lucas walked around and stood in front of him, pressing his hand against Nathan's chest, restraining him from moving forward.

"You're honestly going to let this jerk off get away with what he's done?" Nathan spat the words out; he couldn't believe that of all people Lucas would just sit back and not do anything. At the start of the year, Lucas and he had come to blows over Peyton, Lucas didn't like the way Peyton had been treating by Nathan – but he had never been overly abusive to his then girlfriend and he sure as hell had never laid a hand on her.

"Yeah, trust me…she's not worth it." Mark spat back at the dark haired basketball player.

Suddenly without warning, Lucas's fists clenched together and before anyone could stop it he spun around and threw the first punch, followed by throwing himself at Mark. The two collapsed on the table and they scuffled around, both throwing punches and elbows at one another. The guys who had been sat around the table all stood in unison and were about to give their fellow football player a helping hand, when Nathan threw himself at all four of them.

"NATHAN!" Haley screamed running over to the fight. It was getting out of control. Every football player who hadn't been sat around that table were now there, as well as every other basketball player. They were two different opposing team, they both looked at one another like they were the enemy. When the game was on, you worked as a team. When there was a fight, you got your hands dirty. At the end of the day, they were a team. It didn't matter who they were against, they fought together.


One hour, twenty two minutes and forty three seconds later they had all been excused from the gymnasium. The principal had no option but to hold the meeting inside of the gymnasium for it was the only place which could hold the students responsible for the fight. Both the basketball and football teams had been lectured endlessly about how they were supposed to show leadership and set a tone for the rest of the school to follow, younger students looked up to them, they were in a way role models. Principal Turner had then opted to change tactics and go for the method which he knew would break through to them; to threaten their places on the team. He didn't want to know who had instigated the fight; he didn't want to know who the ring leaders were. In his eyes they were all guilty for not stopping themselves from turning into cavemen. Then they had all been suspended for the rest of the day. The principal had assured them that it wouldn't go on their permanent records, but that in the future any such violence would not be tolerated and that the punishment would be far more severe.

Haley waited outside of the gymnasium and scowled at all of the football players who passed her by. She watched as Nathan and Lucas left the gym in unison. Nathan was sporting a small little bruise under his eyes which by tomorrow would be one heck of a black and blue shiner, while Lucas had a cut down the side of his cheek probably from when he went all Rambo and threw himself and Mark onto the table. She shook her head in disappointment. "What the hell were you thinking?" She asked the both of them.

"Not right now, Haley…" Nathan responded coolly. He had just listened to an hour long lecture; he really didn't need another one.

Haley sighed and turned her head just as Peyton turned the corner.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She shouted at the two Scott brothers. She stormed up to them and put her hands on her hips. "Do you think I'm that pathetic girl who needs an ex boyfriend and…whatever you are," She said glaring at Lucas, "To fight my battles? Because I don't!" She hissed. She wasn't the damsel in distress, she didn't need saving by a white knight let alone two white knights.

Lucas was the one to shake his head in disbelief this time. He grabbed a hold of Peyton's arm, not roughly but so that he had a good grip on her and dragged her unwillingly body through the double set of doors and into the gymnasium. He turned around so that his back was to the set of double doors, blocking her exit route. He let go of her arm and frowned, "You know what Peyton, just stop okay…just stop."

Peyton shook her head and made a move to step past him. He side stepped her and got in her way. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes, she didn't have the patience or the time to play games. Taking a step in the other direction she went to move towards the door but once again he stepped in her path. "What's your problem Lucas?"

"What's yours Peyton?" His tone reflected her harsh one, he was annoyed – annoyed that she had scowled at him this morning for no good reason whatsoever, annoyed that she was playing games with him; one minute she was yelling at him to stay out of her life the next she was kissing him, annoyed that instead of saying thank you for standing up for me she was having a bitch fit.

"You wanna know what my problem is," Peyton looked directly up into his baby blues and grinned, "You want a list?" She asked sarcastically. "Okay number one. Six months ago when you said you wanted to have everything with me, you quickly changed your tune and hoped into bed with my best friend." She watched as that brought a flicker of emotion to his face. "Number two, my former best friend never really knew me, she thought my pissed off antics in a cheerleading session was because I had broken up with my boyfriend when in fact it was a combination of mourning my dead mother and hating myself…" She continued. "Number three; I have no family whatsoever to go home to at night to complain about my day to, mom's dead and dad's never there." She closed her eyes and bit down on her bottom lip, "Number four; the first time I stand up for myself in what feels like forever, the first time I finally take a stand...and people would rather call me a slut than believe that a football god like Mark Davidson would ever lay a hand on a girl like me." She felt the tears starting to well up in her eyes, so she kept them close hoping that by doing so, it would stop them in their tracks. "Number five," She said, her voice breaking. She stopped feeling a set of warm hands on her cheeks, cupping her face. She opened her eyes slowly and as she did a traitor tear escaped. "I'm not worth it…" She said quoting Mark from earlier. His little statement had pretty much summed up how she felt.

Lucas's eyes searched hers as he wiped away the single tear that fell down the side of her face with his thumb, "You're wrong Peyton," He smiled gently, "You are worth it." And that was the moment that the wall Peyton Sawyer had been fronting for six months, possibly longer finally cracked. She collapsed in his arms and cried, he wrapped his arms around her waist bringing her body closer to his so that there was no gap between them. He stroked the back of her head with his hand and whispered into the blonde curls, "You mean everything…"