I know you're probably tired of reading my apologies at the begining of pretty much every chapter but once again I must say, I am so so so sorry for the long wait. I've just been busy lately and I haven't had much time to Uupdate. I'm really sorry. I don't know when the next UD will be. I'll try to get to it every chance I get. I hope you like this chapter and Please Review!!
"I don't think they're coming."
"I think that's kind of obvious Hales."
"You know, I really don't get why LUcas is mad."
"He's not mad he just doesn't want to see Peyton."
"That's not gonna be a problem considering she's not here either." Jake said. The whole gang was at the cafe for breakfast. Nathan,Jake,Haley and Brooke were standing outside waiting for Lucas and Peyton while the others were inside.
"Look, maybe we should just go inside. Neither of them are coming." Haley said.
"Yeah, you're right. There's no sense in us missing out on a good time when we've done almost all the apologizing we can." Nathan said.
"Key word almost." Brooke sadly said. Jake was about to say something when they heard a horn honk. They all looked up to see Peyton driving up. She parked her car and got out. She slowly walked towards them and stopped right in front of them. For a few moments there was nothing but silence. Then, Peyton spoke.
"4 years. You've all been lying to me for 4 years. It hurts to know that the people I trusted the most have been lying to me for so long."
"Trusted?" Brooke mumbled.
"Yeah, trusted. I can't trust you anymore. Any of you. You betrayed my trust by lying to me for 4 years. Now, things might seem ok and I'll talk to you guys and hang out with you, but don't think for a second that you are forgiven because you aren't. I came here with the intentions of forgiving you a little but as I drove here I thought about it more and more. You don't deserve to be forgiven, not yet. Since it is the holidays I'll let it go for now so we can enjoy it, and who knows, I might forgive you in the process, but as of right now the trust we had is gone." Peyton said. They all stood in silence letting what Peyton said sink in. They'd be lying if they said they didn't expect it but that didn't make it hurt any less. The silence was broken by a surprisingly happy Lucas.
"Hey. Why's everyone so glum?" He asked looking at all their faces.
"Hey Peyton." He said, looking at Peyton. He waited for her to say something but she didn't speak. She didn't even look at him.
"Peyton what's wrong?" He asked.
"I'll be inside." She said before waking past the group and walking into the cafe.
"What was that about?" Lucas asked.
"We were just wondering the same thing." Haley said.
"Yeah, what was that about? You acted like everything was ok." Nathan said.
"I thought it was. I just saw her at the rivercourt not 15 minutes ago. She didn't yell but she wasn't happy. When she left I thought it was on good terms. We talked and then she said she wanted to talk to you all. I thought she was going to patch things up with you guys. That's why I waited a few minutes before coming. By the looks of things I'd say something's changed."
"I'll say. She told us that she couldn't trust us and that she'll act like everything's ok but it really isn't." Jake told Luke.
"I wonder what changed. I'll go talk to her." Lucas said before walking past them and into the cafe. Jake looked over at Brooke who hadn't spoken since Peyton walked away.
"Hey, you ok?" He asked her. She sniffled a little before answering.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My best friend says she can't trust me anymore and I can't say I blame her. On top of that everytime she looks at me all she's probably thinking about is how much I hurt her so, yeah, I'm fine. Just peachy." Brooke said coldly and yet sadly at the same time before walking into the cafe. Jake sighed before looking over at Nathan and Haley. They gave him a sad smile before the three walked into the cafe.
Lucas walked into the cafe and looked around for the blonde, curly haired girl. He spotted her sitting with their friends. He walked over to the group and was greeted by Skills.
"Hey Luke. It's 'bout time you got here. Come on, sit your scrawny little ass down."
"I will, but first, Peyton, I need to talk to you."
"Can it wait?" Peyton asked, already knowing what he wanted.
"Not really."
"Alright then. Excuse me everyone." She said as she stood up. The two walked over to the door just as the others were walking in. They walked past them and outside.
"Where do you think they're going?" Haley asked.
"To talk." Nathan said as they began walking to the table.
"What do you want Lucas?"
"I want to know what happened between here and the rivercourt to make you act this way. I thought everything was ok."
"Well it's not ok. You wanna know what changed? I realized that I was giving in. For a second I actually did consider forgiving everyone. I guess the idea of all of us being together and happy out-weighed the anger at the time. But as I thought more about it I felt the pain again. The pain caused by you and Brooke and Haley and everyone else who's been lying to me for the past 4 years. I can't just forget that and I can't forgive either."
"Peyton, listen, they..."
"No you listen." Peyton said cutting him off. "I've been lied to for the past 4 years by the very people I held dearest to me. My friends lied to me, you lied to me. At the rivercourt I just had a momentary lapse of sanity but I'm seeing things clearer now. So I'll tell you what I told them. I'll act like everything is ok but it isn't. I'll hang out and talk to you all because it's the holiday season and we're here on vacation, things are suppose to be happy and fun. But don't for a second think that any of you are forgiven, especially you. It might eventually happen but as of now, none of you are forgiven and none of you can be trusted." There was a moment of silence between the two before Lucas spoke up.
"Fine. If that's how you want things then fine. Fine." Lucas said, no emotion showing in his voice before walking back into the cafe.
Peyton stood outside alone. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture. She looked at it and thought about how this one picture changed her mind so much. She was so set on forgiving everyone until she looked at this picture. It was of her and Lucas the night of graduation. There was a huge graduation party that they all went to. They played Peyton's favorite song and Lucas asked her to dance. While dancing, the subject of college came up. Lucas told her that he wanted her to follow her dreams. She told him she wanted to be wherever he was. He told her that she'll always be where he was because she'd always be in his heart.
FLASHBACK
"You've always been the one waiting for me. It's my turn to wait for you. I'll wait forever if I have to." Peyton looked up at him a bit shocked.
"How did you..." She trailed off.
"I didn't hear everything but I heard some thngs,that being one of them. I thought it was a dream but when my mom told me you went to visit me, I knew it wasn't. Look, I know being apart and having a long distance relationship is going to be hard but I know it will all work out in the end."
"I don't want to lose you Luke."
"You won't. You know why? Because you're it for me. You're the one Peyton. One day I'm going to marry you. I know it. We've been through so much already and we made it, we're together. Just like it was meant to be." A single tear fell down Peyton's cheek. Lucas wiped it away with his thumb before bringing his lips to hers. They heard a the click of a camera and broke apart. They looked in the direction it came from to find a smiling Brooke with a camera in one hand and a picture in the other.
"That's definitly one for the books." She said. She looked at the picture and smiled.
"Here." She said handing the photo over to Peyton. "You keep it. Put it in the Lucas box" She said before walking off.
"You have a Lucas box?" Lucas asked as they started dancing again.
"Yeah, I figured since you had a Peyton box I should have a Lucas box. Mine has a different purpose though."
"You know I didn't mean what I told Brooke. Not completely atleast. It was to help me remember how I messed up but not with Brooke, with you. I guess it was a way to torture myself 'cause I knew I wouldn't get you back. That's why I went after Brooke. Plus, you had Jake and you both seemed so in love."
"I thought we were but we weren't. Atleast I wasn't. I couldn't let him into my heart when you were still there." Lucas smiled and gave Peyton a peck on the lips. He looked at her hand and took the picture out of it.
"So, what are you going to do with this?"
"I don't know. Frame it maybe."
"You know what? I think you should keep it in your car."
"Why?"
"Because everytime you go for a drive you'll have a picture of us with you. Plus, it'll remind you that no matter what happens, I'll be with and there for you and we'll be together in the end." Peyton smiled and nodded her head before placing the picture in her bag.
END FLASHBACK
'It's funny how a single picture or memory can change things so drastically.' Peyton thought. This one picture changed her mind about forgiving everyone in an instant. To someone else it might not seem like such a big deal but to Peyton, this picture meant everything. That night was the night she decided that she was going to go wherever Lucas was. Not only that, but it was the night she realized Lucas was the one for her.
That night was the best night of her life. She felt like she had everything. She felt that her future was set. She didn't know it would be ruined only weeks later.
Peyton still couldn't help but think that she still could've had that life if she knew Lucas was awake. If her friends would've only told her when he woke up maybe things would be different. Just thinking about it got her upset. 'How could I ever even consider forgiving them so fast.' She thought. 'They lied to me for nearly 4 years. My life could've been better. I could've been happy. No, I am happy. I think.' She was so confused. Before she found out about Lucas she was happy. Atleast she thought she was. Now all she can think about is what she missed out on. Now, she feels like nothings right and she's mad at her friends for it. Atleast, that's what she tells herself. It's easier than admitting the truth.
Lucas walked in and over to the group with a fake smile on his face.
"Hey guys." He greeted.
"Hey." They all said. Lucas looked to Lauren and Michael.
"I don't think we've met. I'm Lucas." He said, extending his hand.
"I'm Michael. Peyton's boyfriend." Michael said, shaking Lucas' hand.
"I'm Lauren." Lauren said, shaking Lucas' hand as well.
"Well it's nice to meet you both." Lucas said as he sat down. "Peyton told me to tell you all that she'll be in a minute. She just needed some air." Lucas said.
"Is everything ok with her?" Michael asked, worriedly.
"Oh yeah. She's fine. So, did you guys order?"
"No. We were waiting for you and Peyton." Haley said.
"Oh, well we can wait for Peyton. So, where are the kids?"
"With your mom. She said she'll bring them by later." Nathan said.
"Right."
"You know, I think I'll go check on Peyton. She's just been standing there for a few minutes. I'm gonna make sure she's ok." Michael said as he rose from his seat and began walking away.
Peyton's thoughts were interrupted by Michael.
"Hey babe, you ok?" He asked softly. Peyton quickly stuck the photo into her pocket before answering.
"Uh, yeah. I'm fine."
"You sure?" Peyton put on a fake smile and said "Positive. Now let's get inside, I'm starved."
"Ok." Michael said disbelievingly before following her back inside.
The two walked over to the table and sat down.
"Is everything ok?" Lauren asked.
"Yeah. Everything's good."
"Good 'cause I'm starved. Let's order."
The waitress came over and took their orders. They sat and talked as they waited for their food.
"So Lucas,we haven't really heard much about you. Actually, we've heard nothing about you. Peyton never mentioned you." Lauren said.
"Well that's probably because it was too hard for her to. You see, I was in an accident a few years back and I was in a coma for a little over a year."
"Oh my God, are you serious?" Lauren asked.
"Yeah. It didn't look good. It looked really bad actually. Peyton was there for the first year but then left to fulfill her dreams. It must've been hard for her to talk about me so she didn't. Things got better for me over the next few months. Then, one day, I woke up. I figure Peyton didn't tell you about me because not only did it hurt but, she didn't know I was awake until she saw me at the club."
"That explains the faint. Why didn't you tell her?" Michael asked.
"Well, I wanted to surprise her. I guess it worked."
"I'll say." Lauren said. They all shared a laugh, Peyton only smiled.
"So Lucas, tell us about yourself." Michael said.
"Well what do you want to know?"
"How about...what do you do?"
"Well I..." He began to say but was interrupted by the waitress bringing them their food. Once they all had their food the attention was taken off of Lucas, which he was thankful for. They all engaged in different conversations amongst themselves whilst they ate. Lucas looked over to Peyton. It would seem to anyone else that everything was ok, but Lucas knew better. So did Brooke,Haley,Nathan and Jake. They all knew she was pretending. They could tell by the look in her eyes that nothing was ok.
There it is. Chapter 10. I didn't even see that coming. I just wrote it down and when I read it I was shocked. lol. I know it may seem a little unreal that one little thing changed her mind but I think it was more unreal that she considered forgiving them so easily. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and you keep on reaidng this story. I enjoy reading your reviews and I hope you all continue to R&R.
Thx for Reading!!