Shades of Gray
Disclaimer: I do not own OTH or anything related.
Previously: Peyton accepts Lucas' marriage proposal. Peyton and Brooke prepare the nursery. Lucas gives Karen an ultimatum.
AN: Unbeta'd, mistakes are mine.
Chapter 11
While waiting for Brooke to get dressed, Peyton busied herself making tea, preparing a small amount of honey laced tea for herself and a more generous helping for Brooke's. It had been weeks since they had shared a quiet morning together that didn't involve the urgency of wedding planning or the buzz of excitement over Brooke's much anticipated new line of clothing.
Brooke's footsteps on the stairs caught Peyton's attention and she turned to greet her friend.
"Hey P. Scott", Brooke chirped, as she gleefully traipsed down the stairs and into her kitchen. "Hmm…It doesn't have as nice of a ring to it like your old nickname does, but I'll get used to it."
"Well if it helps, I still have to get used to it too", Peyton replied.
"You're a married woman now. How does it feel?" Brooke asked throwing an arm around her friend's shoulder.
Peyton leaned into her the brunette's greeting before pulling away. "Honestly, like nothing's changed and everything different at the same time. I made us tea."
"Right, I keep forgetting you're avoiding coffee. How's baby doing?"
"We're good. I'm five months pregnant today actually."
"You bitch. Are you sure you're really pregnant? You can hardly tell. You looked amazing in your wedding dress."
" I'm sure. I'm reminded almost every morning when I wake up puking my guts out."
"Thanks for the visual, Brooke groaned sending Peyton a less than appreciative glare.
"Here you go", Peyton said, turning quickly toward the kitchen counter and extending one of the two cups of tea to Brooke. "I lucked out today. The little one has been pretty calm this morning."
They walked in sync to the breakfast bar where they sat drinking quietly for a couple of minutes, both enjoying the still and quiet of the day.
"So, I know you came to thank me for helping your wedding go on without a hitch and for being the best maid of honor ever…" Brooke started.
Peyton couldn't help to instantly, but playfully roll her eyes at her best friend. She wouldn't be Brooke Davis without indulging herself and others in her typical air of conceit. However, rightly so this time. The girl wore many hats to help make such a special moment in she and Lucas' life one of the most memorable ever.
"You can thank me later. I know these are what you are really here for", Brooke finished. Peyton watched on in suspicion as Brooke, put down her tea and slipped into her living room. Opening a desk drawer she reached in and drew out a large white envelope.
"I didn't look at them yet, but I'm sure the photos are beautiful. Again, you can thank me for that."
Peyton cleared her throat, casted a suspicious eye brow from the direction of the large envelope in Brooke's hands to Brooke face. "About the photographer, you and he seemed quite the pair at the wedding. I think he spent more time with his eyes on you than Lucas and I."
"What can I say; the man knows beauty when he sees it", came Brooke fast reply, only a hint of a smile showing as she went back to sipping her tea with one hand, the photos in the other.
"Hmm…seemed like more than that to me…something I should know?" Peyton followed Brooke into the living room, tea in hand. She lowered herself slowly onto the couch.
Brooke's looked down at Peyton, her face crumpled in guilty agitation. Peyton grinned, her eyes instantly sparkling with anticipation of her friend's news.
The brunette seemed to be thinking hard wanting to get her thoughts just right. "We're still getting to know each other, but I do love the way I feel. This feels good. It feels… right."
Peyton nodded her understanding and gestured an invitation for her to continue.
"I don't want to jinx it by saying anything more so that's all you get blondie", Brooke said hesitantly, scrunching her nose, hoping that her best friend wouldn't hate her.
"Okay", Peyton conceded. She raised her cup, draining a little more of its contents before leaning over to settle it on the coffee table between them. "Well I'm happy for you Brooke. He's definitely cute."
"Hey! He's mine and you're married now", Brooke teased in good nature while ditching her empty cup onto the coffee table as well.
"So when do I officially get to meet him?" Peyton asked. She had only met the man briefly, but was looking forward to getting to know him on a more personal level.
"I was thinking next week. You aren't going to interrogate him are you?" Brooke asked.
"I wouldn't be your best friend if I didn't."
"Geez don't look so horrified", Peyton joked upon noticing the note of slight unease on Brooke's face as she took up residence beside her on the couch. "If you looove him. I'm sure I will too."
"Shut up!" Brooke shouted unable to conceal her blush and swatting Peyton on the arm.
"Well, are you going to look at your wedding photos?" Brooke asked, handing the package to Peyton all too quick to change the subject, deflecting the attention from her love life back to Peyton's.
"No", Peyton answered, fingers feathering lightly over the top of the envelope." I want to wait for Luke."
"Sucks for me I guess. How much did it suck when you told Lucas that you wanted to cut the honey moon short? "
"It was hard, but he understood. It felt nice to get away from everything for a while, but I needed to spend time with my dad. You know how rare that is."
"I bet it was hard", Brooke retorted suggestively earning an eye roll from Peyton.
"Anyways, it was a nice surprise to see him at the wedding and the look on his face as he walked you down the aisle!" Brooke exclaimed warm heartedly.
Peyton could only smile. When Nathan had gone back on his word to be the one to walk her down the aisle that day it was for sure one of the unsettling situations of the morning. Peyton's first instinct was to blame Haley, but when her father showed up a few minutes prior to the start of the wedding, dressed in suit and tie, she didn't know whether to punch Nathan for making her upset or kiss him for knowing how to keep a secret to surprise her. Having grown less optimistic as the days passed she had finally given up on believing that her father would make it when she was unable to reach him out at sea a week before their wedding for a second confirmation of attendance. She had been right in suspecting that Nathan and Lucas were acting strangely that morning and she was now more than happy to have learned why. To say she had been surprised to see her dad was simply an understatement given his track record of attendance at occasions of significance in her life.
"You know, he told me that he initially had some objections to the wedding. You know the part where the officiant says something like 'speak now or forever hold you're peace'? He said he had dreams about protesting". Peyton laughed lightly to herself upon recalling the conversation.
"Thank god they don't do that at real weddings anymore."
The expression on Peyton's face changed to that of a serious one." I know. He would never do that of course, but I know he had built up some pretty strong feelings towards Luke after everything happened… "
"But he showed up, because he loves you and he trusts the decisions that you make", Brooke pointed out.
"Funny, my dad said the exact same thing."
"Good. It means we're on the same page. Speaking of parental approval, I really thought Karen would have made an appearance", Brooke voiced as she dropped her hand to Peyton's thigh and moved her thumb comfortingly.
Peyton nodded her head in agreement, but avoided looking directly at Brooke. She and Lucas had agreed to keep quiet about the matter, figuring that their small town of Tree Hill would find out soon enough. Not only had Karen skipped out on the wedding, but she'd left town, the country actually. Peyton didn't need Brooke to worry about that or them. She reasoned with herself just then that Brooke had better things to invest her energy into like her new clothing line or this new photographer boyfriend of hers.
"It's a sore subject for Luke", Peyton admitted.
Brooke shook her head sympathetically.
She had given up on trying to interpret and then rationalize Karen's every behavior months ago. It grew exhausting, more of a hassle than what it was proving to be worth. She wasn't so sure if Lucas was completely ready to do the same.
"I need to get going", Peyton stated regretfully as she finished the last of her tea.
Peyton smiled softly at Brooke's exaggerated frown, her attempt to get her the blonde to stay a while longer.
"I have to track down Mia for a photo shoot. Peyton wriggled into her jacket suited for the morning cold and headed for the door. "With my luck she's probably still hung over from the wedding."
"Hey, pregnant Peyton is hard person to please. Peyton the pregnant bride was even worse. Give the girl a break. We were the best bridal party ever."
It was back to the real world all too fast. The wedding and the honey moon were over and although Lucas was more than willing to continue to forget the world while indulging fully into marital bliss with Peyton there was a real world to get back to.
Inside their home, chaos reigned. He could find some type of distraction in just about every corner of the house. There were wedding gifts that still needed to be unwrapped and placed into their proper places, belated baby shower gifts to be sifted through and unopened bills strewn somewhere across the kitchen counter to be taken care of.
Lucas felt his attention wandering, or rather, diverted. He turned back to his laptop, trying to regain his focus on the task at hand. With the publication of his first novel long since completed, and the purchase and sale of those books in stores in high demand, he was beginning to feel the pressure to push out another novel from his editors.
But there were boundaries, places Lucas told himself that he would not go in print. He prided himself on being careful and meticulous when writing about those he loved. He didn't intend to change that for fame or because of it.
His story about his sister Lily was his story and no one else's and he wanted to keep it that way despite his editor's warnings to end the novel in such a fashion more fitted for a light hearted suspense or mystery novel than for what it really was, for what he really wanted it to be.
Now that was summer rolling in, and he would have more free time he expected to be participating in a lot more book signings and press releases much to his dismay, because it would mean time spent away from home, from his wife, from his family.
If his editors wanted a happy novel, he could spend hours writing about Peyton and all the hopes and dreams he had for his little girl.
His daughter's first smile, her first steps, her first word, Lucas had imagined it all the moment they had found out the sex of the baby- a wedding present to themselves. He envisioned her beautiful and strong like her mother; her temperament mirroring the similarities and differences in both he and Peyton's personalities.
He imagined her being athletic or passionate about the arts because they'd teach her the beauty of them; their abilities to inspire, to move, and to comfort. Perhaps she would be nothing like them, and it wouldn't matter at all. As her parents, he knew that her happiness and health would be all that would ever matter to them.
It was thoughts such as these that propelled Lucas forward on hard days when he thought too much about Lily or the about the situation with his mother.
It had now been almost two months since he had last heard from his mother, since she had ambushed him with an overseas phone call detailing her arrival in New Zealand; her return unbeknownst to him and to herself.
They hadn't been prepared for that.
The hopelessness of it all still astounded Lucas. For the first time in his life, there was no smooth argument, no tender plea, or winning smile; he could exercise to turn this hand to his favor. There would be no winning his mother back.
It hurt. Over the last several months she has been more distant, withholding from him the parts of her he valued most, but at least she had still been in Tree Hill. There was some small comfort in such physical proximity.
He hoped his mother regretted not sticking around to witness all of his dreams come true- his wedding, his first book signing and now possibly the birth of his daughter. At the same time he hoped that his mother was using this time away to take care of herself. That was the one hopeful spark he found in all of this. For too long he watched helplessly as grief robbed her of her motivation and her wellbeing. A fresh start for his mother might be exactly what she needed, the best thing for her, for everyone.
Lucas' cell buzzed in his pocket, signaling a photo text. A candid image of his wife and Mia in a location he was sure wasn't Tree Hill. Their silly pose and gestures made him laugh for sure, a welcomed distraction he couldn't ignore.
Another photo, this one of only Peyton had him desperately hoping that she'd come for lunch and hoping to god that it had been Mia that Peyton trusted to take such a photo.
Lucas couldn't help but smile. He had often reflected that it should trouble him that he was so far gone, so in love with the woman he was proud to call his wife, but it never did. He could live off the feelings she ignited in him, even we he had tried to deny it. Deny her. Deny them. He was immersed in her.
So when he called her to say a quick I love you (and thank you), just like they had always been and will continue to be he infused the words with everything he felt for her.
This story is driving me crazy , but I am determined to finish it. Let me know what you think.
-Jess