Chapter Nine: Atlas Allotted

It was amazing- and more than a little disconcerting- how it was Peyton could make him forget anything and anyone else existed in the world. It was that exact forgetfulness that had him in its grasp when standing in the kitchen, suddenly tense and alert as he heard the jiggling of the door handle opening at the front door, grabbing a knife from the counter and startling poor Nathan into a near heart-attack.

"Luke!"

Lucas relaxed, casting his brother an apologetic look as he let the knife fall to his side. "Sorry, man."

"Jumpy, much?" The younger Scott smiled wryly. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you wanted me to come by 'cause you wouldn't be here."

"Oh…that…" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Err, I forgot all about that."

Nathan raised his eyebrows speculatively, taking note of his brother's appearance. The older man looked tired, paler than normal, sporting a five o'clock shadow and disheveled hair, shirtless and barefoot in only a pair of blue jeans. He met Lucas's eyes questioningly and Lucas shrugged uncomfortably, turning away to return to the kitchen.

Nathan's jaw unhinged then with pure, unadulterated shock. Against the tanned complexion of his brother's bare back, bright red scratches, some of them deep enough to have broken skin, were blatantly evident along his shoulder blades. "Yeah, I see how you could forget."

Lucas flushed, placing the knife back in place and downing a full glass of water sitting on the counter before him, what Nathan could only guess was his original purpose for being there. Nathan stood in the doorway, silently observing his brother as his eyes closed, face looking pained for a moment, as if he was bracing himself for something.

"Luke? You okay?"

"Hmm…yeah…" Lucas sighed, craning back his neck to stretch out sore muscles, consequently presenting to Nathan's sight a set of lovebites bruising the skin between neck and shoulder. Nathan sighed, "Luke."

"Hmm?"

"Whatever's going on between you and Peyton, it's none of my business. Just…just be careful, okay?"

"I will. It's Peyton, Nate."

"Exactly. It's Peyton. That's what worries me."

Lucas shot his brother a bemused look and then shrugged it off, setting his empty glass in the sink. "Listen man, can you still wait for me? I need to get home."

"Yeah, sure. I promised, didn't I?"

"Thanks." He smiled wanly, a forced gesture that had Nathan frowning after the blonde-haired Scott as he ascended the stairs, his brow furrowing with worry.

When he re-entered the bedroom, Lucas found her where he'd left her, nude and languorously sprawled out beneath the sheets of her bed. She absently traced her fingers along the hem in her comforter, not bothering to acknowledge him as he watched her from the doorway.

"Are you going to anything but stare?"

"What would you prefer I do?"

She shrugged indifferently, though the look in her eyes as she looked in his direction spoke volumes. "You can't be serious," he murmured incredulously.

"Why not? We both know you've got the stamina. Though…" her eyes lazily trailed his body, from his feet up, lingering at his groin area and the toned contours of his chest, "I'm not sure how much more that poor heart of yours can take."

He snorted, "So says the woman determined to drive me to an early grave, since apparently three times isn't enough."

The corners of her lips lifted, involuntarily and most likely would have been smothered if she'd noticed. It wasn't quite a smile, but it wasn't resentment or anger or bitterness, so he took what he could get, not daring to say a word in reply.

A light glint of amusement in her eyes, and she shifted in the bed, the sheets falling away to reveal her bare torso. His breath hitched painfully, his throat tightening as he fought to swallow, unable to tear his gaze away from her. Beautiful…beautiful…beautiful…beautiful girl…

He was unabashedly staring, and making no qualms to the contrary. "That was a long time to get a drink. Parch your thirst, Luke?"

"Not even close." His eyes were dark, glittering as they locked on hers, and she smiled, cocking her head slightly to the side as she regarded him.

"Now who's insatiable?"

There was nothing teasing in her voice, despite the light tone, and he stiffened, something in him inwardly freezing as he recognized her efforts to force distance between them once more. This time, he could not begrudge her for it. "Don't."

The aroused look disappeared from his eyes, their dark dilation originating more from pain now than desire. She sighed, looking away from him…not liking the guilt that welled up inside at hurting him.

"Nathan's waiting downstairs. I assume you're coming back with me?"

"Yeah."

"All right."

She turned back in his direction a moment later, only to find an empty place where he had been standing. He was gone before she could catch up with the thoughts racing through her head, emotions she did not dare to analyze- and it was with a strange numbness that she slid out of bed, dressed, then made her way down the stairs to face down the Scott brothers.

Said brothers were standing together in the front foyer as she came down into the ground level, engaged in quiet conversation unintelligible to her hearing from her distance away. As the last stair creaked beneath her wait, both boys' attention was drawn in her direction.

Nathan's expression was warm, glad to see her, his head cocked slightly to the sight as he greeted her with a light smile. Lucas was stoic, his eyes hard and his stance unyielding as he deliberately refused to acknowledge her. Nathan's smile faltered as he looked between the two of them, and then shrugged, being the first to speak. "Nice of you to make an appearance, Sawyer."

"You know me, Nate. Can't disappoint my adoring public."

He grinned, stepping forward with his arms extended as if to embrace her. Peyton froze, panic closing off her throat, his hands just barely brushing against her arms as she snapped out of her paralysis, leaping out of touching distance. Nathan's face fell, taking on a look she affiliated with a kicked puppy, guilt overcoming panic as she opened her mouth to apologize, her efforts thwarted as Lucas stepped between them.

Despite himself, Lucas's protective instincts kicking in had a habit of overcoming all sense of rationale and his stance was defensive as he faced his little brother, his eyes steely, fists clenching and heart pounding as he regarded the other man turned more threat than blood kin.

"Luke…Lucas…" Peyton edged closer to the tense figure before her, delicately placing a hand on his forearm, her chin coming to rest against the blade of his shoulder. "Luke, it's alright."

He relaxed ever so slightly, and Peyton took note of the change, taking things a step further. "Luke," her lips brushed against the crook of his neck, her hand moved upward, rubbing against the contracting muscles of his bicep, "Baby, let it go."

The words she whispered weren't audible to Nathan, but the lack of discretion to her touches was blatant, drawing a sad smile from him as Lucas visibly relaxed, mumbling a few words to the girl beside him before turning apologetic eyes on his brother. "Sorry, man. It's kinda…conditioned…"

"Don't worry about it, bro," turning his attention back to Peyton, his eyes were sad but understanding, "So just him, huh?"

"Just him," she agreed, her eyes closing as he leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, his hand resting momentarily against her shoulder. They both pretended not to notice the way she tensed beneath his touch.

xx

The ride back to Lucas's house was silence, the tension not easing between them in the least as they stepped into his room, Peyton ignoring him in favor of going to the drawer he'd cleaned out for her what seemed like long ago in order to fish out a clean set of clothing.

It was not until she began unfastening the buttons to the over-sized workshirt she wore, a hand-me-down of Larry's, and Lucas forced himself to look away, that she finally paid him any mind. "It's not like it's anything you haven't seen before," she reminded him gently, glancing his way over her shoulder as she let the shirt fall away from her frame, reaching for the button holding together the denim shorts she wore.

Lucas's eyes locked not on the subtle curves of her body revealed to him, not the way her back arched and long legs stepped out of the shorts and into a pair of faded jeans. Instead, they locked on the pair of large bruises darkening her lower back. He approached her with careful steps, his hands gentle but trembling as they traced along the wounds, his eyes falling mournfully on the dark speckled patterns along her hips, just in the right place to be imprinted fingermarks. He took in a shuddering breath, burying his face in her hair as his arms embraced her, so gently his touch was almost ghost-like.

"I'm sorry, Peyton…I'm so sorry."

"I know, Luke…its okay."

He shook his head vehemently, "It's not, it's not okay. I don't want to be him," a stifled sound rose in his throat, broken and thick as it released from his vocal cords, something a startled Peyton realized closely resembled a sob, "God, Peyton…I don't want to be him."

She turned in his arms, brushing her fingers against the sharp definitions of his shoulder blades; places she knew bore the marks of her own. "You're not. You're Lucas. I didn't tell you no, baby. It's okay."

Hearing the endearment, something accompanied earlier with his own mumbled love confession, had his stomach lurching, his heart dropping as he squeezed his eyes closed and abruptly pulled away from her, taking off down the hallway.

A few moments later, Peyton could make out the unmistakable sound of retching in the bathroom down the hall.

xx

It took a couple of hours, monitoring the man that came and replaced the window in Peyton's room, locking up and securing the Sawyer house before he made his way back to his apartment, walking into their home to find his hopeful comfort to the strangely straining day.

Haley stood before their bedroom mirror, having drawn her shirt up to just beneath her breasts as she regarded her abdomen in the reflective glass. Nathan smiled as he watched her from the doorway, liking the expression she had a habit of adopting when she was deep in thought, a little wrinkle appearing between her eyes, biting her lips in contemplation. He found it utterly adorable.

She watched him approach in the mirror, cocking her head slightly as their eyes met through the glass, hers thoughtful. "I can't even wrap my head around, Nate. Nothing looks any different."

He wrapped his arms around her, his hands splaying against her bare stomach. "It's there, babe. Our baby."

She smiled, turning her head to press her lips to his neck, resting her head back against his shoulder. "You won't think me disgusting when I get all fat and heavy?" her tone was playful, worry non-existent. If there was one thing he had always loved about Haley, it was her lack of concern for physical image, and more what lay in a person's heart. It was that warmth that won him her heart in the end, after all.

He kissed her temple, "I think…when you finally start showing, you'll never be more beautiful."

"How did things go with Luke's errand?"

"Okay. I ran into him and Peyton at the house, actually."

"Hmm…how are they? Both of them?"

Nathan sighed, his eyes downcast as they met hers once more through the glass. "Not so good."

"How bad is it?"

"Lucas is so protective he's getting neurotic, and Peyton can't even stand for me to hug her. Luke's the only one she trusts," his voice dropped, his tone solemn, "Did I mention it's more than obvious they're sleeping together?"

"Oh, god, Nathan…"
"I know."

"Lucas knows better…neither of them are ready. Where's his common sense?"

"I think it flew out the window with the stalker."

"I talked to Brooke earlier…she tried to talk with Luke after school, to apologize about Peyton…but he completely blew her off."

"Well," Nathan commented wryly, "She did kinda deserve that."

"I know what she said to Peyton was uncalled for, but that's not my point. It's what she said about Luke…she said he seemed mad, fidgety…like every part of him was screaming to get out of there."

"To get to Peyton…" he trailed off, leaning his head against hers, "what are we going to do, Hales? They're in this way too deep."

"I don't know. I don't know if there's anything we can do."

And the silence echoed their uncertainty.