A few days later, when prom fever had finally died down and everything went back to the way everything was. Lucas walked along the hallway, brooding to himself, as he was, once again, oblivious to the stares of his fellow schoolmates. Lucas hadn't seen Peyton all day, which he was partly worried and partly thankful for. For the past few days, all he did was evade her, joining the company of his jock friends and sometimes, Haley.

"Babe." Rachel said, catching up to him and clutching his arm. Some of the girls who were watching rolled their eyes in annoyance.

"Rachel." Lucas acknowledged, glancing at her.

Rachel pouted. "What's wrong?"

"Why are you so quick to think that something's wrong?" Lucas asked, suspicious that Rachel had maybe been lurking behind a bush somewhere during prom night and happened to see the little scene between him and Peyton.

"Because you're not dragging me to an empty janitor's closet." Rachel stated. Today she was wearing a flimsy white mini-skirt with a flimsy black sleeveless top, and the tattoo of the sun, moon and the stars was seen on her shoulder blade. Any person in their right mind would drag her to an empty room.

"I'm not always horny." Lucas answered.

"Bullshit." Rachel said, and pulled him into an empty classroom.

Lucas protested. "Rachel—"

"Shut up." She said, sitting down cross-legged on one of the tables. "Now you could tell me what's wrong, or I could guess loudly. That way people in the hall would hear us."

"Why would I want to tell you what's wrong?" Lucas asked, his brow furrowing.

"Because even if I repeat everything you say, they won't believe me. You don't really trust anyone," Rachel stated. "I mean, other than Peyton—" Rachel smiled, and inspected Lucas. He was still gorgeous, still dressed impeccably, still had that stance of a conceited jock, but the gleam in his blue eyes was gone. "Luke, where's Peyton?"

"What?" Lucas said in alarm, looking up. "How should, I mean, probably with Chris Keller or something." Rachel noted that it was funny how Lucas' voice turned from panicked, to cool then to venomous as he said Chris Keller's name. Rachel smiled victoriously.

"You are so transparent." Rachel scoffed. Lucas looked at her. "I wasn't really sure, but ever since freshman year, I knew."

"Knew what?" Lucas said, frowning.

"You know what I'm talking about." Rachel said cryptically. "The other people just chose to be blind to it because they wanted you."

"And you don't want me?" Lucas asked, his eyebrow cocking.

"I could have you anytime, Lucas." Rachel said, laughing arrogantly. "But apparently, so could Peyton."

"Peyton and I—"

"Idiot. Of course not in that way." Rachel said. "But maybe in that way too." She said with a wink.

Lucas stood there, speechless. He couldn't figure out how Rachel knew, or how Rachel processed it. Rachel was, well, Rachel, a good friend, occasional girlfriend and party planner extraordinaire. He sighed.

"Careful, lover boy. That Chris Keller's a heartbreaker. He's actually you, only more talented, less hot and from New York." Rachel stood up. Lucas looked impressed at her guesses. "I may be a slut, but I'm a smart slut." She walked over to Lucas and leaned over his ear. "I just got into Harvard." She whispered, smiling.

Peyton paced around her room, glancing nervously at the plane ticket atop her bed.

Peyton kissed Chris furiously as she led him towards her bedroom. There was a trail of clothes behind them, a tuxedo jacket, corsages and a prom dress strewed carelessly across the floor. Peyton tried to shut every thought out from her mind, she tried not to think, and she tried to concentrate on one thing: Chris. But her mind kept on revisiting the conversation she had with Lucas outside and the feeling of doubt and comfort she had from it. She pushed Chris away, who was now staring at her wide-eyed, confused.

"Something wrong?" He asked softly.

"No, nothing's wrong." Peyton answered distractedly. Chris smiled warmly and kissed her again, but she pulled away.

"I just want this to be special, you know?" Peyton lied, marveling at how cheesy she sounded. She just couldn't do anything without Lucas showing up in her head, and she couldn't shake the annoying pang of guilt she felt every time she kissed him.

"It's prom night." Chris said, trying to be understanding. "It's special."

Peyton sighed. "I just," she said, fiddling with the comforter, "I changed my mind. I want to go to New York with you."

Chris looked delighted. "Really?"

"Really." Peyton answered, looking happy. A part of her wanted to take back what she said, yet another part of her agreed with her completely. "I just need to get my plane ticket."

"That's no problem." Chris said, standing up. He was disappointed that Peyton refused to have sex with him, but really happy that she agreed to go to New York. He really liked her, and it's not like she would be able to resist him. He smiled as he took comfort from that thought. He picked up his pants, wearing them. "We can go to the airport right now."

A framed picture of her and Lucas just stood beside her bed. It was from last summer, she thoughtfully remembered, and they looked happy and carefree. She recalled how she bailed on her boyfriend Caleb, who just invited her to spend the summer in St. Barts, and her other boyfriend Steven, who wanted to bring her to his beach house in California. She and Lucas, drunk on tequila, bought two plane tickets to Cabo, San Lucas, after watching and laughing at Laguna Beach reruns on MTV.

She pressed on her answering machine for the fifteenth time that day, expecting a message from him. He had been avoiding her for the past few days, and she would be lying if she said that she didn't avoid him as well. It was just so weird and so awkward, and she hated weird and awkward confrontations, even if it is with her best friend. Or boyfriend? Or something, she wasn't really sure what to call him now.

She turned her attention back to the plane ticket. Berating herself for being so indecisive, she grabbed her luggage from the closet and started to pack.

Lucas continued on brooding on the circumstances, which he knew was not appropriate now that he was with Haley. She was laughing and talking animatedly about her friends and her experiences in New York, trying to be cheerful since in a few hours, they would be saying their goodbyes.

"Oh, and I remember last Tuesday, me and Chris and Peyton were buying some souvenir things for New York, when Chris slammed into a wall." Haley said, laughing. "It was so weird, his face was so red, and Peyton couldn't decide if she was worried or amused. Good luck taking care of that when she's in New York."

"Oh." Lucas said, bothered. "She's still going?"

"Yeah. It's pretty cute, actually." Haley said, oblivious to Lucas' reactions. "They act like an old-young married couple. The people in school (which was Tree Hill high, she was just accustomed to saying that it was her school) said that they never saw Peyton like this with a guy. Well, except for you, since you guys are like, best friends. And she's only with one guy, too, not like her usual two boyfriends." Haley noticed Lucas' reaction. "I'm sorry, am I gossiping? It's bad, I'm sorry, but I'm really happy for their happiness, you know?"

"No, uh, it's not." Lucas answered, smiling lightly, on the verge of a realization. "She's really happy with him?"

"Yeah," Haley said, taking a sip of her iced coffee, "she is."

Lucas nodded, gazing at the window and the horizon. Haley continued on talking. He never noticed that her being with Chris was different. He was selfish, he knew, to keep her for himself. He was selfish, he always was, but now he won't be anymore.

Lucas decided that the only way to act unselfishly and to mend their broken friendship was to say goodbye properly. Gathering all of his courage, he gave Peyton a visit. When he peered inside her room, he saw that she was sitting on her bed beside a plane ticket, her half-packed luggage on the floor, and a sad, RnB ballad playing on her computer, which was very unlike her. The state of her things mirrored her state of mind; undecided, confused, and afraid.

"Peyton?" Lucas said, stepping into her room.

"Lucas." Peyton said, looking up.

"Listen," Lucas started, walking towards the bed, "I—"

"I can't do it, I can't leave." Peyton interrupted, her voice breaking. "I am so afraid of changing everything. When I was with Chris, I knew that it was something different, that maybe I can stay with just one guy. But that changed everything, so I ran to you. But when I was with you, it was," Peyton moved to the edge of the bed, her hands holding on to the comforter, "I knew it changed our friendship and my feelings for you, so I ran away from that too. And now I'm going to New York but I don't want to. I wasn't afraid of college because I'd be going with you. But now, with the change, I just, I don't know. And I miss us, Luke. I miss us as friends, not as whatever you call us now. I don't know what to do anymore, I'm just—"

Lucas leaned down and gave her a kiss, an action he didn't really think of. He was glad that she was having doubts, but he was so upset seeing her this broken. He wanted so much to make her smile again, he wanted to make everything better for her, that he didn't really think anymore and just acted on his feelings. When he pulled away, she looked at him, locked in the gaze of his blue eyes.

"Please don't leave." Lucas said softly. "I won't be able to handle it. I love you, and I'm selfish, but I need you here with me."

Peyton smiled and leaned in for another kiss. Her cell phone was ringing in the far corner of the room, but she chose to ignore it. "This is going on my cheesy list." Peyton said, her face still leaning on Lucas' face, "I love you too, Luke."

"So, what did Chris Keller say when you told him that you weren't leaving?" Lucas asked as he took a bite of pancake. It was their early morning, cut-school-to-eat-breakfast ritual.

"Didn't say anything, really. Just an 'oh' and he walked away." Peyton answered, sipping on glass of orange juice. "Honestly, I think he expected it."

"Why? He thought he was no match for hunkier, more talented me?" Lucas asked smugly. Peyton threw a crisp string of bacon at him and stood up.

"I have a meeting with the principal." Peyton said, straightening her shirt.

"What about?" Lucas asked, still eating.

Peyton couldn't hide her satisfied grin. "Being valedictorian."

"Shut up," Lucas said, smiling.

"Now you better drive me or he might take that away for cutting classes with you." Peyton said, kicking his chair. He stood up and pocketed his car keys, leaving a bunch of bills on the table. He hooked Peyton's waist with his hands and gave her a deep kiss.

"I'm proud of you, girlfriend." He said, as they walked out of the restaurant.

"I know you are, boyfriend." Peyton replied, laughing.

They walked down the street, oblivious to the stares of a group of lowerclassmen late for school. The news that Peyton dumped Chris for Lucas spread like wildfire after they were seen kissing and holding hands. Trish, one of the girls who was totally in love with Lucas, broke into sobs. Her friend Jessica comforted her, rolling her eyes. She thought that it was about time that the two most beautiful and perfect people in the school got together.

A/N: Tada! Hope you liked the ending. Thank you so much to my wonderful reviewers, you guys are the super duper best!