Her green eyes found his baseball bat before they found the comfort in his face. Consequently, a scream escaped her peach lips. Lucas dropped the bat immediately and attempted to calm her with gently comforting strokes on her arm but she would not be silenced. Lucas did the one thing he could think of doing, the one thing he had wanted to do for so long. He kissed her. It was not the urgent kiss he would have expected to be emitted from his lips, but a deep gentle kiss that let her know that he did not intend to harm her.

"Who are you?" she asked softly with shock evident in her voice, "Why would you do that to me?"

Her voice was so delicate, so fragile with that beautiful southern twang playing music in Lucas' ears. "My name is Lucas Scott, my family and I, are staying in your house, this house," Lucas told her softly, leaving a hand resting on her shoulder, he was glad when she did not attempt to shrug it away.

"How do you know that this is my house, my name? Why did you kiss me?!" Peyton asked confused, her voice rising.

"My younger brother's dating your best friend, Brooke and I've talked to her about erm dreams I've been having," Lucas tried, he really did not want to come across as perverted but there was no way he was going to lie to her. She was broken enough. "I kissed you because those dreams have made me want to and also because you were screaming and I wanted you to stop," Lucas finished sheepishly.

"You talked to Brooke. I take it she's changed, I mean the Brooke Davies I knew only went for older guys, never younger," Peyton looked to the floor, almost as if she was ashamed but Lucas laughed at her feeble joke, if only to stop himself from crying.

"No, Nathan's in our age. We are only half brothers, same father. His parents died about ten years ago and he has been living with my mom and our uncle ever since. Their married and pregnant," Lucas offered.

"Why would you tell me that? You do not know me or what I could do with that information, yet you told me. Why, Lucas?" she spoke softly and his heart soared at the way she spoke his name.

"I trust you."

Those three words, just three words, not even the three most go on about. Those three words, 'I…trust…you' they were Peyton's golden trio; they were the words that made her want Lucas to kiss her again and again. This boy, Lucas Scott, whom she had known a mere minute, was already becoming the person she had always wanted Dan to be, the person he never was. Realising this she raised her head from her lap but kept her hood firmly covering her face, "Thank you," she began and it was one of the most heartfelt 'thank-you' she had ever said in her life. She raised a hand of long fingers to Lucas' cheek and rested it there for a while. Lucas closed his eyes so her soft touch could be imprinted upon his mind forever. "Will you tell me about the dreams, please?"

Lucas adored the innocence in her voice, he had so many questions to ask her but knew that just because he trusted her did not mean she trusted him. That was what he wanted so badly, her trust because only with that could she ever love.

"Of course," he began with a smile, he took her hand in his and the two played with one another's fingers aimlessly, as he told her of the dream. "The first was you and I sat on 'our' bed, you were wearing a blue Ramones tank and very short denim shorts." The two of them laughed at this. "Brooke was stood at the wardrobe doors, writing names on them."

"I remember that day," Peyton drifted into her world of memory, "You weren't there, of course, but the rest is pretty accurate except that I had just woken up and it was about 6a.m." she laughed a laugh that Lucas knew he would never forget, so genuine, feminine and musically beautiful.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have you down as a morning person," Lucas joked and Peyton slapped his chest playfully. Her light touch sent tingles coursing through his hidden spine.

"Oh yeah, what kind of person would you have me down as?" Peyton teased.

"The kind who sits all alone, listens to great music and draws amazing art," Lucas pondered then noticed the shocked look on Peyton's face, "What? You hang out with friends too," he offered.

"You went through my personal art, how could you?!" Peyton demanded.

'That's why you're mad? Peyton, it is really good, it obviously matters to you and it mattered to me. If you shared it with more people it could matter to them too," Lucas informed Peyton simply, taking her hand in his again. It made him smile as she continued not to pull away.

The two sat together for a while and continued to talk to one another. It was as if they had known each other inside and out for years. As they, conversed Lucas attempted to look into Peyton's eyes. From his dreams, he knew the irises to be the most immensely beautiful green eyes he had ever had the honour of falling into but Peyton continued to cover her face, especially her neck on the right hand side. He wanted to gaze at the features he had come to know, touch them and kiss them, but for a reason currently, unbeknownst to him he could not.

Suddenly, his moment came, he told a joke that he had repeated so many times he no longer found it funny but Peyton burst into a genuinely amazing laughter that forced her hood to fall away revealing her eden-esque features. Her green eyes glistened; her blonde curls fell lavishly past her shoulders, her peach lips opened wide as she laughed the laugh she had not laughed in ages.

That was when Lucas saw it, the red lines and markings lacing her pretty neck, her burns; physical scars that had barely healed. Lucas wondered about the mental scars, where they anywhere near as small, they were still noticeable.

"What are you looking at?" Peyton's slim hand flew to her neck and she looked strangely at Lucas. He felt guilty, he had not realised he was staring so obviously. Lucas did not respond with words but instead he did so with actions. He firstly removed Peyton's hand from her neck before he lent in gently and placed five kisses on her neck. Peyton closed her eyes and tears leaked from her closed lids.

Lucas raised his head and left a hand by Peyton's face and wiped away each of the tears that were breaking his heart before he spoke softly, "What happened Peyton?" She shook her head, so Lucas pressed her gently, "Please, Peyton?"

"I can't Luc," Peyton shook her head again, "It's too hard."

"You can, I'm here," he reassured her confidently and looked her deep in the eyes, "I am here."

"We were driving back from a trip out, it was dark, a rabbit or something jumped out, my mom swerved the car, and it crashed. There was fire and flame…everywhere," Peyton stopped before looking Lucas hard in the eye, "I called to my mom and dad to wake up, but they didn't wake up…they wouldn't. I didn't know what to do I ran and I ran until I ended up here again. I wasn't sure if I wanted to come back, I thought everyone would hate me."

"Nobody hates you Peyton, no one," Lucas assured Peyton. He pulled her fragile shaking body into his strong chest and held her tightly. She cried hard for at least fifteen minutes. Lucas could feel the pain in the tears she sobbed and wanted nothing more than to remove her of the pain, to save her.

"Lucas!" Karen's voice rang through the house, "Nate! Anyone home?!"

Lucas looked at Peyton apologetically, he really did not want to leave her and she did not want him to go.

"It's ok Luc, I'll see you tomorrow," Peyton assured him before wiping away her remaining tears and standing to leave.

"Why don't you come with me? Stay awhile, have a meal?" he intended to ask but it was said with a pleading tone.

"Not today, maybe someday," Peyton touched his face and laid a kiss to his lips before walking to the window Lucas had not realised was open and sliding out. The blonde haired boy sighed deeply and covered his blue eyes with his lids as he called, "Coming, ma!"