Peyton Sawyer had only been to Washington D.C. once in her entire life, before this trip. She had been in eighth grade when she had last been there, on a school field trip that was one of the biggest clichés in the book. The entire eighth grade class from Tree Hill Middle School had packed up and left for a week long trip to the capital. She hadn't wanted to go because the dates of the trip were on the anniversary of her mother's death, but after a two month battle with Brooke, and then realizing that her father wouldn't even be home, she had finally decided that she would at least go. No promises about not faking sick the entire time, but she would go. She wouldn't have traded it for the world now. Because that week, in eighth grade, was the week she really met Lucas Scott.
She had heard of him before, everyone had. He was Nathan's older brother, and Nathan, even in eighth grade, had been the one every girl wanted. And Brooke had him. And Lucas was the class joke. He was gangly, but still pretty cute, and he was nice. Always defended everyone, and he was polite and sweet, from what she could tell, and if the scandal of his birth hadn't been one of the biggest stories in Tree Hill's entire history, Peyton was sure no one would have even noticed him. But as it was, everyone knew the story of how the town hero's girlfriend had tried to trap him into a pregnancy, and the hero realized that he was making a mistake and left her for another woman. Because that's how everyone saw it when it had happened, and Karen never really cared what anyone thought of her, so that's how they kept thinking of it. He was Lucas. He was the illegitimate child of the town hero and the town whore. People didn't see the blue eyed, blond haired kid, who was really smart, and really good at basketball. Mabey even better than his so called brother. And to be fair, Luke never really gave them a chance, not that Peyton could blame him. For as long as Peyton could remember, Lucas always had been with a friend. Usually Haley and Skills, sometimes Mouth, or Jimmy Edwards, but he was never alone. But that didn't mean that he was mean, or rude. She particularly remembered a day in seventh grade when Tim and Nate had been picking on him about his fathers lack of interest in his life. If anyone would have even tried to pull that about Peyton's dad, she would have slugged him, and she could even see Haley getting a little frustrated, but Lucas just sat there and took it. And when Nate was done yelling, he politely raised his hand and asked to go to the nurses office. When he came back to class the next day, he was the same as usual to everyone else, but Peyton had a feeling that that's the day when the inherited boyhood dislike for each other turned into and adults full minded hate for the other. It was also the day that Peyton decided that mabey he wasn't as bad as everyone else seemed to think.
But Haley had gotten sick, right before the trip, and she couldn't go. And Skills' parents couldn't afford to send him on the trip, and Mouth and Jimmy were on the other bus, so for the first time in forever, Peyton had looked to the back of the bus, and seen Lucas' alone, listening to the Foo Fighters, reading a worn copy of Huck Finn. And if Brooke hadn't have decided to sit with Bevin, because Bevin's older sister was the captain of the cheerleading squad, which was Brooke's dream, and if Brooke hadn't have been dating Nathan at the time, she probably wouldn't have walked back and sat down next to him. But she was, and she was, so she did. And it had been quite a shock for Lucas to turn around and see Peyton freaking Sawyer sitting next to him, a good shock though, because even though she didn't know it at the time, he had been totally crushing on her since the sixth grade.
Not that Peyton hadn't noticed him though. She had, and she did think he was cute. And she knew her mother had always liked him. Her mother had been one of the few people to respect what Lucas' mother had done, probably because if what Ellie had done, actually, now that Peyton thought about it. And every once and awhile, along with the anthem like "that Nathan Scott is such a nice boy," a Lucas would replace the Nathan. But Lucas was Lucas, and Peyton was Peyton, and in eighth grade, that was all that mattered.
And Peyton had picked up his brand new iPod, and was scrolling through the songs, telling him that the new Foo Fighter's song was great, but the older one's were way better. And when she went to look for them on his song list and had found out he didn't have them, she immediately pulled out her iPod and began to lecture him on Foo Fighter's classics. They had spent the rest of the seven hour bus ride arguing about that, and basketball, and Mrs. Stewart's American History class, and High School, and Brooke and Haley, and Nathan, and as the bus stopped and Brooke turned to call Peyton, she promised him she would send him some of her old records, before running off the bus and leaving Lucas alone.
Haley had shown up the next day with some Antibiotics, and her older sister, Taylor, and Brooke had decided that her best friend was being an idiot, hanging with Lucas Scott, of all people, so Peyton and Lucas didn't talk for the rest of the trip, and sometimes Peyton wondered if Lucas even remembered her from back then, because she had been so different in some ways. She hadn't been as jaded, sure she had still been a bit of a pessimist, but she had been a pessimist since she was seven years old, but Jake, and Ellie, Derek, and Lucas himself, they hadn't happened to her yet. But it was still one of her absolute favorite memories from her childhood, and as she and Lucas steeped off another bus, in another time, she looked at the skyline, and remembered that trip for the first time in awhile.
"What are you thinking about?" Lucas asked, pulling her out of her daydream, as they walked to the church in downtown Washington.
"Eighth grade." She admitted, smiling up at him. "The Foo Fighters."
"Yeah, about that. I don't ever remember getting that album. Some girl told me once that only morons listen to just singles." He joked, hugging her tighter as they approached the church, "Peyton. I'm just going to say it one last time. You don't have to do this. You don't need to prove yourself to any one."
"Derek wanted me to overcome my fears. I need to do this for him. Show him that he wasn't wasting his time on me." She nodded, taking a step up into the church and taking a seat in the back.
The funeral was everything she had expected it would be. A lot of people who she didn't know, telling her stories about a Derek she never knew either. A lot of crying, and all in all, it reminded her a lot of Ellie's funeral. It effected you personally, but just like most people hadn't known Ellie had had a daughter, most people didn't know Derek had had a sister, and none of them would have guessed she was the green eyed, blonde girl sitting in the back row next to her fiancée, who just so happened to write a book that probably half of them had read, about her. Actually, she saw several people send her looks that clearly said "Who the hell are you?"
And that's the way she sat, listening to the people in front of her, trying to learn exactly who Derek had been, but knowing that no one knew she cared, until the last person went up to speak. Peyton knew from they was he was dressed that he was a military personnel, but she wouldn't have needed to see that to know who he was. His name was Carson Fleeter, and he had served with Derek in Iraq, and sat in on plenty of Derek and Peyton's web chats. The beginning of his eulogy was par for the course, so far. It began with an apology, and then went on to tell what a great person he was, but it was the favorite memory part that Peyton knew she would remember for the rest of her life.
"When I came into the church today, I had an entire speech planned about how Derek Sommers was one of the bravest people I knew, but eight people have already said that, and I saw something, someone, on the way in, so if you don't mind, I'm actually going to talk about how Derek has changed one persons life. Not the thousands of people he probably saved in Iraq, but the one person back here, who he saved. Derek Sommers was a great person, not only to those who he knew, but to those who he needed, and who needed him. And I will never forget the day that he walked into my office at the base and told me he had a sister. And I looked at him like he had three eyes, because I had known his family for years, and I had never heard of a sister, well, I take that back, I knew there was a sister, but they didn't talk about her. And he must have seen the confusion on my face because he went on to explain how his father had left him as a little kid for another woman, Ellie, and she had had a daughter. The girl had been put up for adoption and went to a happy family. From what I understood though, that poor girl's life was far from happy. Her adopted mother died, and her birth mother died, and her father left to work a thousand miles away. And Derek had no reason to care that this perfect stranger's life had been this hard, his certainly hadn't been easy, but he did care, and in the end, that's what brought him to her house the day he saved her life. And after that the hazel eyed blonde became an almost permanent fixture in his life. He spent all of his spare time at her house, he painted, cooked, changed many locks and sat guard, both physically, and spiritually, and when he left she was his biggest worry. He knew his mother would be fine, and his friends would survive, but he wasn't sure Peyton, his sister would. He would check up on her once a week, and our entire troop in Iraq watched her grow from a high school girl, to a woman, and he was so proud of her. Hated Lucas for awhile, but he got over it. Especially after he got a first edition cope of Lucas' book, when he read it he knew right then that no matter what happened, Luke and Peyton would be together. But he wanted to be sure she would be okay, and that she would make it if something happened to him, while he was over here. And I talked to her enough times to get the drift that if something ever happened that she wouldn't be able to come. Her boyfriend, the Lucas I had mentioned before, was the only person who she would trust to bring, and the last time I talked to her, he was engaged to another woman. But when I walked in here today, I saw the last thing I ever expected to see. Peyton. In the last row, with an engagement ring on her finger, holding Lucas' hand. And I know it would have meant the world to Derek, to see his little sister here, happy, and I just thought that she should know that. And I thought that everyone should know what kind of person he was, because I know for a fact he saved that girls life at least two times. And he had no reason to even look at her, but he chose to. And when he looked, he saw someone who was worth helping." Carson said, sending a smile back to Peyton, as everyone else in the church turned to face the blonde, now recognizing her and her apparent fiancée. "Thanks Peyton. He would be proud." He nodded, before descending the steps. The rest of the funeral passed in a teary blur, and before Peyton knew it she was pulling Lucas behind her, over to where Carson was standing.
"Carson. Hey."
" Sawyer. How are you holding up?"
"Better than I though I would. Lucas it here, and that really helps." She said, smiling sadly has she squeezed Lucas' hand.
"Yeah, congratulations on that, by the way, another thing your big brother would have been proud of you for. So you're not coming to the burial?"
"How'd you guess?"
"You have the cop out look on. It's okay. I'll tell Mrs. Sommers you said goodbye. Why don't you stay here, and say goodbye to your brother, and I'll go talk to Lucas for a second, okay?"
"Yeah." She agreed, silently asking for Lucas' approval and receiving a kiss and a light push towards the casket that Peyton took as it.
"This is for her." Carson said, turning to Lucas, as he watched Peyton stand inline to say goodbye to her brother. "Derek wanted to make sure she had it, but he knew she wouldn't stick around for the burial, so he wanted me to give it to her. It's some of the CD's that we all got, limited edition, and some signed tee-shirts from a few of the artists' over seas tours. He collected them all for her, no one else had the entire collection, and they're all in mint condition. He was either going to give them to her when we got back, or now. And I'll make sure all Peyton's stuff ends up in the trash, so don't worry about that." He explained, recounting how he had noticed the duffel that Peyton had brought in to the church with as he handed Lucas a medium seized box, just as Peyton approached her brother for the last time.
"Derek." She whispered, "I love you so much. Thank you for saving my life, so many times, in so many different ways. You were right, about the no fear thing, by the way. I'll miss you big brother. The first song on the mix is I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness's The Owl, and the last one's a Foo Fighters special edition cover of The Star Spangled Banner. Enjoy it." She said, dropping a mix tape into the casket as she turned around one last time and walked out of the church, with Lucas behind her.
"Are you okay Peyton?"
"Not really. No. But I will be. Can we do something fun tonight?" she asked as they sat down on a bench and she settled into his arms.
"Actually, remember when we stopped in Raleigh. And I picked that stuff up?"
"And you wouldn't tell me what it was. Yeah."
"Well, surprise." He laughed pulling out a manila envelope, which she opened up as soon as she had gotten her hands on it, gasping when she saw what was in the envelope.
"Luke!"
"I know you could have gotten in free, but I wanted to surprise you, and I knew you would want to surprise Mia, and you couldn't do that if she knew you were coming."
"Luke! I love you! Thank you so much! But the shows in DC, and we don't have a place to stay."
"Shh." he said, putting his finger up to her lips. "Don't you worry. She's playing at Five Club tonight, and we're staying at the Hay-Adam's. We can go change, and you can look through the box of stuff. Then, we'll head up from hotel, see Mia, and we can go to a few of the museums around town, and we'll leave tomorrow night. Okay?"
"This place is gorgeous," Peyton sighed as they check into their room an hour later. The small five star hotel was right in downtown DC, and was about minutes away from Five Club, thankfully, because by the time that they got checked into their room, showered, and dressed, which took Peyton forever, because she claimed "she had to look professional" for the show, they only had about two hours to go to dinner if they wanted to make the beginning of the concert, which started at seven. "Luke! Hurry up! I'm starving!" She laughed as Lucas rolled his eyes, threw on a shirt and joined his fiancée as she walked out the door, looking every bit the part of high class manager, that she was.
"Where are we even going?" he laughed.
"We are going to the Hard Rock Café."
"You cannot be serious. Peyton. We are in Washington DC, we are not going to eat at the Hard Rock Café."
"Want to bet?" she smirked before she turned into a building, and Peyton opened the door to reveal, The Hard Rock Café. "My mother loved these places. She always used to by me a tee shirt and I had this huge collection of them at home, I think they're in storage now, but I'm not really sure, actually. This was the place where she bought the last one." She explained, as they took a table and quickly ordered, both parties ordering the same hamburger and fires meal with a coke.
"I told you we were eating here." She laughed after the waiter had left.
"Do you even remember the last time we were here?" he asked, laughing, as she dug back through her memories, trying to remember the eight grade trip, smiling when she finally remembered what he was talking about.
"How could I forget? Me, Brooke, Tim and Nate and You, Skills, Haley and Faith, I think, all ended up in that hallway. And Brooke and Nate were drunk beyond belief."
"And Haley was so mad at me because I offered to come help you watch Brooke and Nate while you tried to sober them up."
"Yeah. Why did you follow me anyway? You hated Nathan and Tim on principal, Haley hated me and Brooke, ironically enough, because we were cheerleaders, and because Brooke was dating Nathan, and she hated him too."
"I followed you because three days before that you spent seven hours talking to just me. And I was already basically in love with you. You probably could have asked me to follow you off a cliff, and I would have gladly done so."
Two hours, two hamburgers and a few drinks later, the couple was rushing through the streets to make the show on time. Thankfully, The Hard Rock Café was only a few minutes from the club where Mia was playing, so they were only a few seconds late as they rushed into the club.
"Shh. Be quiet Luke. We don't want to attract attention." Peyton hissed as they tried to walk into the club and not attract any attention because they were so late, especially as they heard the announcer announce that Mia was on the stage. But they had no such luck, because just as they were walking to an empty seat, they heard Mia's voice yell out "Peyton Sawyer! What are you doing here? Hold on." She laughed, hearing Mia turn to talk to the manager of the club, saying what Peyton assumed was something along the lines of my manager just walked in and I need to talk to her, because the next thing she knew, Mia was walking towards her.
"Peyton."
"Mia. Hey. How are you doing? How's John being?"
"An ass, as always. I missed you. What are you doing here?" she asked, turning to Lucas.
"Oh, Mia, I think you know my fiancée." She laughed, smiling as Luke mumbled "Oh God." And Mia screamed "Since When?"
"Since last week, actually," Lucas cut in, "I realized that it's always been Peyton. And I love her more than words." He smiled, hugging his fiancée, as if to prove that he wasn't lying."
"Okay. But if you hurt her, I'll hurt you." She laughed, before turning back to face Peyton, I got to go play, but come backstage with me. You're my manger, and you've never even been to one of my shows. Not that there's been many but, you know."
"We'd love to." Peyton smiled as she and Lucas walked with Mia backstage. And smiling even wider a few minutes later, when she was sitting backstage on Lucas' lap, and she heard Mia begin to address the group.
"So, I know all you guys were thinking that I was going to start with Only Fooling Myself, but there is someone really special, my manger, in the crowd tonight and the first song that she ever got me to play was No Good, so I'm going to open with that, okay?" she said, and was responded to with a huge round of applause.
Three hours later, Luke and Peyton lay in the bed back at the hotel, in each others arms, Peyton sighed contently into Luke's tee-shirt from the as they lay there in the same clothes they had worn to the show, to tired to change.
"You know I really love you Luke, right?"
"Course I do Peyton. And I love you so much too. Is something wrong?" he asked, propping himself up to face her.
"No, nothing wrong, but I kind of got an idea, you know from this Derek thing, and how he was just there and then he was gone, and he never got the chance to do so many things he wanted to do."
"Okay. What do you want to do then?" he asked, expecting a donation to the army, or a yearly visit, but definitely not what came out of her mouth next.
"Let's get married Luke."
A/N: Okay, really longer chapter. And it probably could have been broken up into two shorter one's, but I like the longer on because it just seemed to choppy when I cut it, so it's one long chapter, I'll say it's to make up for the other day's when I didn't post anything. LOL. Okay, so REVIEW! PLEASE! And tell me what you think, oh and somehow when I was cutting and pasting drafts, the disclaimer kept getting cut off, so here it is for the whole story: I SO DO NOT OWN ONE TREE HILL. IF I DID LINDSAY WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN EXISTED, AND LEYTON WOULD BE ONE VERY HAPPY COUPLE, AND JAMIE WOULD HAVE A COUSIN OR TWO. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING ELSE I MENTION IN THIS FIC EITHER. NOT THE BOOKS, OR THE MUSIC, OR ANYTHING AT ALL. It's in all caps, because I forgot it so many times. Thanks. Review!
