A/N: Thanks for the reviews and sorry it took me a bit longer than usual to update. Anyway, here's chapter ten; I hope you'll enjoy it!

CHAPTER 10

Someone called her name. Once. Twice. Ben? Maybe, but she didn't respond. A woodlouse wasn't exactly one of her top priorities. It was hard for Peyton to grasp that merely a couple of months before graduation, they went on a school excursion to one of Tree Hill's local ponds. Were they about the leave high school or elementary school? Anyway, the little water bug failed where a tall blonde boy succeeded. In a somewhat male movement, Peyton cocked her head as her eyes scanned him. Even with a ridiculous, wide coat and odd-looking glasses, he still managed to be hot. Since they got together a few weeks ago, they have been living in bliss. And in bed. Because Peyton wants to have sex anyplace, anywhere, anytime and that just happens to be the most comfortable place.

"Peyton?" Ben insisted. "Are you writing this down?"

Reluctantly she turned her head her biology partner's. "No, I'm sorry."

Peyton stood up.

"Where are you going?" he asked irritated.

"Ask Lucas for his notes. Back in a minute."

Upon the kiss she dropped in his neck, Lucas' body slightly jolted. With this creepy spider under his microscope, he even had to suppress a yell but he soon realized he wasn't undergoing a spider attack as blonde curls with the light smell of jasmine fell against his cheek. When a pair of soft-pink lips ran over his skin, he softly smiled but kept turning the button to bigger the vision.

"Come with me," Peyton ordered while sliding her hands over his chest.

"Peyt..." he protested "This is a class and besides, I told Theresa I'd watch this thing."

"Where's Theresa?"

Finally, he looked up from his microscope and realized he hadn't seen the brunette in twenty minutes. "Gone."

"Ugh..." Peyton sighed out and pulled him out of his chair, quickly grabbing his notes to give them to Ben "I sometimes don't know why I fell in love with you; you're such a goodie-two-shoes."

Nervously looking back for Theresa or the teacher-biologist, Lucas let Peyton drag him outside, all the way behind a tree.

"They're going to be mad at-" his sentence was stopped by her mouth and he willingly opened his lips under hers "me," he finished when she lowered her head to kiss his neck. "Seriously Pey- oh." Got it, Peyton thought. She had made her way up to that sensitive spot near his ear and brushed her lips over it before her hands disappeared under that horrendous white coat. There were no more words coming out of his mouth and he closed his eyes; his hand rose up to the back of her head and he felt her smile pleased against his skin; she knew she had won.

"Peyton..." he sighed out. If he had suggested her to go make out in the woods a year ago, she would've probably slapped him and ran away insulted. Now, she jumped on him any chance she could get; this baby had turned her into horniness in carnation. Just when she had made him completely up for doing it between the hedge hocks and squirrels, they were interrupted by high-pitched screams sounding a bit further.

"What's that?" Peyton asked.

In order to get her mind on the job again, his hand slid under her top but she pushed it away.

"Later. I want to know," she announced while walking away from the oak. "Come."

However, Lucas had to take a few seconds to de-arouse. After he counted to ten and took a few deep breaths, the urge for sex had somewhat vanished and he was able to follow her through the humid ground and green leaves. The shrieking led them to the pond where a crowd was gathered.

"Oh, my God!" Tia cried out. "Haley pushed Rachel in the water."

The blondes made their way through and saw the redhead shivering; her beautiful hair covered with frogspawn and by the looks of it, she would be attacked by a pack of ducks. Echoes of laughter resound through the air until a red-like-a-beet, furious Nathan pushed the mocking teenagers away. Caring, he stuck his hand out; Rachel grabbed it and walked out of the pond with heavy steps. Haley was lightened to death by his blue eyes and with a bowed, ashamed head, she ran away.

When the crowd had disappeared, Peyton was the only one who remained standing by the water. Under her blonde curls, Lucas saw a million-and-one thoughts brooding.

The display she had just witnessed could've given her a good laugh but instead, it broke her heart. Sure, she liked Rachel but Haley didn't deserve this. If she'd see Nathan later on, she would give him a piece of her mind. How could he do this? Why did he chose Rachel over a girl who had made him a better person and connected with him on every single level?

She couldn't help but think back to the time she had showed up at Lucas', with hope and joy in her heart. Those feelings disappeared when her half-naked best friend strode behind him. That was the first time. In the intermezzo, he slept with Nikki and made her feel like she was just one of the many. Then he turned to Brooke another time. The memories they had made together were meant to remind him how much he had screwed up with Brooke. That's what he said before he kissed her. She had to watch and hear it happen; she put on a bright, extremely fake smile and pretended it was alright. But it wasn't.

"Come, Peyt," he said and softly touched her arm.

"Don't touch me," she snapped before leaving Lucas with the killer-ducks.

When another shiver ran down her spine, Nathan softly laid his hoodie over her shoulders. He had taken her to his car and put the heating on the highest stand.

"You should probably put on some dry clothes," he said.

"Yeah..." she shook her head and a few little branches fell out. Nathan bit his lips but when they locked eyes and she burst into laughing, he couldn't help but laugh along.

"Those ducks were out to get you."

"They were determined," Rachel confirmed after her laughter had died out.

His head was bowed. The redhead gazed at him; his thick brown hair, those piercing blue eyes and lingering smile and decided to go for it. In a swift motion, she captured his lips.

"I'm in love with you," she admitted as she pulled back. Off course, she had dropped 'subtle' hints concerning what she wanted from him -more than friendship- but she had never explicitly said how she felt about him.

Nathan blinked. What had just happened? Had she kissed him? The moment had gone by too soon; by the time he realized Rachel was kissing him, she had told him she was in love with him.

His fingers slid in her moist, red hair. He looked at her: her beauty but also the nervous movements of her deep-browns , her slightly trembling lip and realized he had Rachel Gattina in her most vulnerable state in front of him. A state he had never seen before with her. If he'd kiss her, he would be one of the first ones -maybe the first- to evoke a feeling with her different from lust. Love. Was he in love with her though? Even now, in this very moment, the petite, pretty brunette with enchanting bambi eyes flashed in front of his eyes. The vision hurt him. So he looked into the equally beautiful browns in front of him, bowed over and brushed his lips against hers. However, it didn't take the pain away; it didn't make him forget.

When she was about to cup his face, Nathan pulled away; he had been in denial long enough, he realized. The vision wouldn't disappear; it had lingered in his mind ever since she had explained the basics of goniometry to him and it would stay there as long as maths existed.

"I can't."

Rachel didn't look surprised. Somewhere, she knew.

"It's OK."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, up to the next one, I guess," she coolly stated. She didn't mean it. She will have to recover from this disappointment.

"You're better than that, Rachel. Really. I could've loved you i-"

"If it weren't for Haley?"

He bowed his head.

"Right," she said with an eye-roll. "Well, I won't hold you up any longer. Go see her."

"I-"

"You can't reject someone as hot as me and then stay alone. That's just all kinds of wrong."

With a faint smile, he stood up and began walking towards the door.

"You're a good person. Special." She bowed her head and bit her lip hoping not to cry. Everything she had ever done was to make herself stand out. However, most labeled her a slut or barbie doll, others a bitch. 'Special' was a first. "And any guy who says otherwise will be facing me," Nathan half-jokingly added. She briefly smiled. Why were the good ones always taken?

"Go."

When he pulled the door behind him, a first tear fell on the floor. Nathan Scott. Her first heartbreak.

Upon stepping back into the nature, Nathan came to stand eye in eye with the girl whose image kept lingering in his mind. Her eyes were filled with tears but he couldn't quite make out if they were out of wrath or sadness. When he remained standing opposite her with a sheepish look on his face, Haley turned around with an angered sigh.

"Haley!" he shouted as he followed her.

"Why are you following me?" she shouted back. "Go back in there for round two."

"I don't want to."

"Why not? You'd expe-"

"I want you..." he said while finally stopping her tread. He could see her anger was disappearing but the sadness remained. "Look," he began "I suppose you've heard about my behaviour when you left. And after, I ignored you...Now Rachel. I know I've been stupid and that I don't deserve you but you have to know that I'm past all of that. I just want to be with you."

"Nathan..." she shrugged. "I can't. I can't put myself out there again like with Rachel an-"

"You don't have to."

"You're right. I don't have to and I shouldn't have. Look Nate," she explained "I made a mistake, yes. But we were married; I fought for you for weeks and then you kissed her. I wish I could just, you know, accept your explanation but I just think..." she paused "I just think that would be really bad for my self respect."

"I love you! Don't you love me?"

Her fingers softly rose to his cheek and shortly stroked it. "Off course I do. But I love me too. Maybe this divorce...Maybe it was for the best."

"Haley," he desperately said "I'm so sorry; I know I should've cherished you but I promise I will never hurt you again."

"I'm sorry too." Nathan had never seen her this certain about anything before. She pulled her hand away from his face and walked away. It appeared that -to Haley- their story was over.

After she had seen Nathan fishing Rachel out of the pond, Peyton had released her wrath on Lucas, who was in complete and utter confusion. Why was she so angry? What had he done wrong?

The rest of the pond-day, she had avoided him. When he dared to merely look at her, she melted him with her hazels and during the ride back, she had walked straight passed him to plump herself down next to a depressed Haley. Lucas' strategy was to let the blonde cool off. An angry, non-pregnant Peyton he could handle, but approaching her in this state equalled signing his death sentence.

"Peyton?" His head followed the furious girl as she stormed in through his back door and threw her purse somewhere in a corner.

"Where's that box?" she yelled. Her face was deformed with anger. Larry-like anger.

"What box?"

"That box, that 'Peyton'-box!" she spat out.

"How do you kn-"

"Brooke told me! Now give it! It has my name, it belongs to me!"

When she opened his closet, he jumped up. A bad idea because she immediately realized it was there somewhere.

"Peyton," he said in a warning voice "That box is none of your business. It's entirely mine."

Off course she didn't listen. Her arms stretched out to the white box that quickly caught her eyes and she clutched it between her arms.

"Peyton!" he now too yelled. "Give it back!"

They both tugged at the box but Peyton had the advantage of being pregnant and Lucas didn't want to hurt her or the baby. It was quite easy for her to hold onto it but she still had to get outside. However, there was no way out; he blocked the door so she backed away and threw the lid off.

"Here!" she screamed and turned the box around; the content falling all across the floor. "This is for sleeping with Brooke and Nikki!"

He could be sad or angry right now but he was mostly completely bewildered and stared at the pictures laying on the floor. The one were they lay together by the bed sat on top, her body resting on his. She was so calm there. He looked up into her fire breathing face. Not so calm.

"This is for completely forgetting about me!" Before Lucas realized what was happening, he was firmly slapped across the face. The sound was comparable with someone falling flat on his tummy in the water and it hurt like hell.

"And this is for calling me a mistake!" She put the box on top of his head. It wiggled a bit when he turned his head to the door, where Peyton was heading for.

Her eyes glimmered even heavier with temperament when he put his hand on the door knob faster. Quickly, he also removed the empty box from his blonde locks.

"Let me through," she ordered.

"Peyton, where is this all coming from?"

"Let me through," the blonde stubbornly repeated.

"No. Tell me what's wrong."

"You want to know what's wrong?" she again shouted.

"Yes!"

"The problem is that every time something goes wrong between us, you screw the first girl you find!"

"Pey-"

"Who says that if I'd manage to get out of this fucking room now, that you won't just do it again? And I'll be left alone with a baby!"

"Hey! I did those things because you hu-"

"Yes, because I hurt you. But you hurt me too and I didn't immediately jump on some random guy!"

"You had Jake!"

The anger that was splattered across her face just a second ago changed in complete disbelief. How could he compare her relationship with Jake with his Brooke/hot tub adventure or Nikki?

"Unbelievable," she sighed out and again reached for the knob but his hand wouldn't budge.

"I'm sorry," he sincerely said. "You're right...I treated you badly. But there's a difference now."

"What? The baby?" she asked in a scoffing voice.

"No. Those nights that I went to Brooke or Nikki, I had lost you. I have you know and I'm not letting you go. Baby or no baby; you're mine either way and I'll do anything to have it stay like that. I've learned from the past."

"But you called me a mistake, Lucas," she cried out with glazy eyes. "It hurt!"

"It wasn't the truth."

"You still said it!"

"I've said so many things I didn't really mean," he admitted. "What was I supposed to do? You had Jake, Nathan had Haley and I had no one. Yeah, Anna, but she'd rather make out with you than with me," he made a faint attempt to joke. "Then there was Brooke," he continued with a shrug. "She broke up with Felix and I'm not saying that I wasn't in love with her because I was. I had gotten to know her and found a beautiful person."

What the hell was this? Another love declaration? Her hand again tried to remove Lucas' from the door.

"But mostly," he said and firmed his grip "I needed to get into that relationship with her; I needed someone to make me less lonely. That wouldn't have worked out if I had told her I kept that box because I never stopped loving you."

"You still shouldn't have said it."

"Peyt," he began "I was in a dark place back then."

"You didn't come to me."

"Because you had Jake. And I saw that you were happy with him. I've always just wanted the best for you."

"Brooke had Felix."

"I always knew she didn't love him as much as you did Jake. I couldn't get in between you guys, you s-"

"Stop," she ordered and bowed her head.

"Peyt..." he softly cupped her face "Believe me...Other girls don't pale next to you; they disappear."

Tears ran down her cheek while she softly wrapped his arms around him. "I'm scared, Luke. We're too young to be parents," she finally came to the real reason of her outburst. Their future would be hard and their past mistakes only fueled her fear. What if she'd get afraid again. Afraid of commitment? Would he be able to handle her? Would he want to? What if...What if love wouldn't be enough? It hadn't been before.

"I'll be there," he said and pressed a kiss onto her curls. "I promise."

"What if we break up?" she expressed her anxiety.

"Peyt..." he pulled back a bit "We've waited so long to be together. Can't you just, you know...enjoy? "

"B-"

"If you really want an answer...OK, there's always the possibility but it wouldn't be because I didn't love you or because of somebody else. I wouldn't do that to you. But with the way I feel about you I haven't even thought about breaking up."

"I don't want to think about it either but we have to be able to. It isn't just about us anymore" she briefly looked down and bit her lip "Aren't you scared? We're having a baby and it's not only that we're young but we're so...different from the rest. I don't know if we'll be good p-"

"We'll be great," he said and softly stroked her cheek with his thumb "And off course I am a bit scared, but I know you'll be there for me like I'll be there for you."

A few seconds, they just stood in the middle of the room, in their hug. Peyton cocooned herself into his arms and lowered her head to rest on his chest.

"You know I love you, right?" she asked, mumbling into his shirt.

"I know."

After a while, they slowly broke apart and Peyton walked to the corner where she had smashed her purse to pick it up. Then she kneeled down by the former content of the 'Peyton'-box and began to put everything back. With puppy eyes and an apologetic smile, she looked up at Lucas who went to sit down next to her.

Together, they put their memories back where they were shielded. They laughed, kissed and almost cried as they went through her love letters, their pictures and the occasional CD. At the end, Peyton opened her purse and pulled out a picture of her ultrasound; she placed it on top. Lucas' glazy blue eyes were answered with a soft smile and he wiped it away with a deep kiss. "I'm so in love with you," he whispered against her full lips and tenderly captured them again.

It was evening and Peyton was going through her music archive when a deep male voice called her. Walking out of her special spot, she came face to face with Nathan. All the judgmental, maybe bitchy, things she had wanted to say to him got stuck in her throat when she saw his sad face and beaten posture. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her whilst battling against the tears.

"I've lost her. She doesn't want me anymore."

"Yes, she does," she soothingly objected.

"I told her I loved her and she just walked away."

"You've hurt her," Peyton said "Saying you love her isn't enough; you have to show it. Fight for her."

Then Nathan pulled back and the blonde led him to the bed where she caringly stroke his back.

"Will you help me?" he asked.

"Huh...I don't know," she hesitantly replied "Brooke and Luke know her bet-"

"Brooke called me a dirty pig and when I stopped by Lucas', I saw Haley through the window."

"Oh, so I'm third choice?" Peyton asked a bit insulted.

"Please?" he insisted with a pout and puppy eyes which begged better than Lucas', and that's saying something.

"OK," she sighed out.

He hugged and thanked her before his pretty head began to gaze at the floor depressed. Peyton stared at him uncomfortable; somewhere she wished Haley hadn't gone to Lucas. Like that, she wouldn't have had to deal with this mess; she wasn't very good at handling her own emotions, let alone someone else's. Then she thought back about the night where Nathan had found out about her pregnancy and how he had soothed her. It hadn't been a deep psychological conversation but it had nonetheless helped.

"Do you want some hot chocolate?"