Chapter 11: City of Blinding Lights
Peyton Sawyer paced through the terminals of LAX airport with a glaring lack of urgency, surveying her surroundings and taking everything in. There was something about her new quarters that made her feel unhurried and patient, an odd sensation for the small town girl in a voluminous city of blinding lights, with millions of patrons and millions of opportunities.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Peyton walked towards the baggage claim with Larry following closely behind her, doing his best to dodge the speedy airport inhabitants. He felt like a fish out of water. They found their bags and headed towards the exit, where there were a crowd of people gathered, holding up signs with names written on them. It didn't take Peyton long to spot the "P. Sawyer and Papa Peyton" sign held up by a chicly dressed Brooke Davis, beaming from ear to ear as Peyton and Larry approached. Once they were close enough, Brooke dropped the sign and ran towards her best friend at a faster speed than someone wearing 4 inch heels should be able to.
"Peyton!!" Brooke squealed loudly and threw her arms around her best friend, who met her halfway, dropping her bags in the middle of the terminal.
Peyton sighed loudly, "I've missed you so much B. Davis."
"I've missed you too.
Peyton examined Brooke's appearance, "You look good."
Brooke looked at her audaciously, "Good? I was thinking gorgeous or stunning."
Peyton laughed, "Good to see you haven't changed."
"You mean in the three months we haven't seen each other?"
"Three months…really? It seems longer than that."
Larry finally caught up to the girls. "Hi Papa Peyton," Brooke pulled him into a hug, "Hey Brooke. It's good to see you again."
"So are you our chauffeur for today?"
"Goodness no…I am way too hot to be a chauffeur. But I will show you around LA," she winked.
Larry carried the suitcase to the car and they all hopped into Brooke's red Range Rover. Peyton wanted to check her new apartment out before Brooke took them around LA, so Brooke took them to the apartment complex located in Culver City on the west side of LA. It was a standard size one bedroom apartment, not extremely spacious but not tiny either. It was already furnished with a kitchen and one and a half bathrooms. "Wow this is perfect," Peyton said as she looked around her new domicile. "Plus it's not far from downtown LA where I'm going to be working."
"Are you sure you like it sweetheart?"
Peyton nodded and thanked him.
Brooke was still looking around, "this is a perfect spot to crash after a girl's night out or some weekend club hopping."
Larry raised his eyebrows. "Or not."
"I definitely need to spruce it up a bit…maybe some art will add some life to this place," she looked around, making a mental picture of where things should go.
"We'll work on that later," Brooke said hastily, "let's go get some dinner and catch up."
The three of them headed off to Ruth Chris' Steak House in Beverly Hills, Brooke's favorite restaurant. Peyton really enjoyed reconnecting with her best friend and spending time with her father. They ate delicious steak and spent hours talking and laughing about the olden days: sleepovers, burnt cookies and Brooke's "hot dad" crush on Larry. Peyton was thoroughly enjoying her brief time in LA, so much so that she hadn't thought much about Lucas or Lily…until she plopped down on her new bed later that night and closed her eyes. They were all she saw.
---
Lucas woke up Monday morning with a terrible headache. He didn't sleep much, Lily was fussy all night and no matter what he did, he couldn't calm her down. Today was the first day without Peyton and Lucas felt an array of emotions he couldn't begin to understand. But he didn't waste much time processing it all or allowing those emotions to torture him, Lily needed him and he had to start focusing on preparing for his assistant coaching job in September and finding a steady babysitter. Whitey gave him a roundabout figure of how much he'd be making as an assistant coach so Lucas was well aware that he was going to have to eventually find another source of income if he was going to have a babysitter for Lily. His job started in couple weeks, so he would have to start looking for a babysitter soon.
Although he already informed the Fullers that he would be keeping Lily, they still wanted a relationship with both he and Lily. Lucas was so surprised and warmed by their kindness, that he was determined to keep that family in his life and Lily's life. It was strange, even though the Fullers were initially Lily's adoptive suitors, Lucas felt them taking on a similar role with him. There certainly wasn't an abundance of parental type figures in his life and he wasn't going to pass on spending time with such a warm family.
"So Lucas, how you holding up?" John Fuller asked Lucas before taking a swig of his beer and flipping over a steak he had on the grill.
"I'll tell you if you give me one of those beers," Lucas joked.
"You got an ID?"
"Nevermind."
"So…?"
"I guess I'm doing okay. I talked to Peyton this morning and she seems like she's having a good time." Lucas smiled a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. John was quite perceptive and picked up on Lucas' sullen attitude immediately, "Basically you miss her a lot and now you're going to try to keep yourself busy in order to deflect the excruciating pain you're feeling because Peyton is the most important thing in the world and life's not fair," he said with feigned dramatics. Lucas couldn't help but laugh at how goofy John looked pretending to imitate an overly dramatic high school teenager.
"I'm just kidding around Lucas. I could tell that Peyton was important to you and in the short time we spent with her, she seemed really great. When is she coming back?"
"I don't know."
John raised his eyebrows, "Wow that's tough Luke. It would be so much easier if there was some kind of fixed target you could set your sights on."
"I can wait for her," Lucas said indubitably.
"Does she want you to wait for her?"
"I don't…probably. I mean she was the one who suggested that we take some time apart romantically while she's in LA but…I can't imagine dating anyone else right now."
"What about in a year or two?"
A frown formed on Lucas' face, "hopefully she won't be gone for multiple years."
"But you don't know?"
"Nope."
"Maybe you should ask her."
"But that's the thing…if she's doing well in LA, then I don't want her to come home on my account no matter how long she's there."
"But don't you think you would be asking too much of yourself to wait for years and years. I hope I'm not out of line here, but I'm just trying to play devil's advocate. You're a good looking kid, and you're only 18. Take it from an old man like me, you've got plenty of time."
"Old man? I mean you look old, but aren't you only 42?"
"Yeah he is, but he's about to hit that mid life crisis stage," April Fuller jibed as she walked past the two men, clutching Lily to her chest to protect her from the smoke. "Luke where is your diaper bag, I'm going to go change her."
"I left it on the kitchen table."
Once April left Lucas spoke continued with the conversation, "So you think I should play the field?"
"I think you should keep your options open," he winked.
John Fuller was the typical male. He smoked cigars, he loved football, basketball and hockey, he loved beer and he loved a good chat over grilled steaks. He had a way about him that made everything he said seem wise or worth at least some kind of thought.
"So you mentioned earlier that you need to start looking for a babysitter. When are you going to start?"
"As soon as possible I guess. My job starts in 2 ½ weeks."
"Well I have a niece who's coming up from Florida to go to UNC. She got a scholarship to go there but the scholarship doesn't cover room and board. When I talked to her on the phone last week, she said that she needs a job up here. Maybe she could babysit for you."
"Has she ever babysat before?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen her in a few years."
"When does she get to North Carolina?"
"In a couple of days."
"Well just give me a call when she gets here so I can meet her."
"Sure thing. You like your steak well done right?"
"Yeah," Lucas confirmed. "It looks great."
---
Peyton spent the first two days of her stay in LA, getting her apartment together with the help of her dad. They got a lot done and Peyton was really happy with how everything was progressing. Larry left for the airport after many hugs and thank you's from his daughter. They were as close as they've been in a long time. Peyton couldn't have made the transition from Tree Hill to LA without her dad. She was sad to see Larry go, but she promised Brooke she would have dinner with her later that night.
"Brooke, who is coming to dinner with us tonight?" Peyton was trying to balance the phone between her neck and her shoulder as she painted her toenails.
"It's a surprise."
"Okay so obviously you're bringing Jake," Peyton rolled her eyes at Brooke's attempt to be stealth.
"Don't roll your eyes at me. I can see you rolling your eyes through the phone."
"You know me so well."
"So what are you wearing tonight?"
"I don't know…clothes, maybe shoes. Why?"
"Because it's kind of a fancy restaurant and you're going to need shoes."
"Okay I'll wear shoes," Peyton said plainly.
"Nice try. Wear that green dress I made for you."
"Brooke that dress is way too short. What's the big deal about me dressing up?"
"Like I said it's a nice restaurant."
"I'm not dressing up for Jake, Brooke. I don't know why—"
"Okay fine, where one of those ugly ass flannel shirts for all I care. Just be ready by 7:30."
"Alright bye."
Peyton hung up the phone and walked to her closet. She picked out a nice black dress that covered her ass a little more than the dress Brooke made for her. He smiled at her best friend for a second. She was about to pick out some shoes when her phone rang. It was Lucas.
"Hey Luke. How are you?"
"I'm better now. I've been interviewing possible babysitting candidates all day."
"That sounds fun. But are you really going to trust someone to watch Lily for hours and hours without you being there? Remember how you acted when we left Lily with Haley for one night? And that's your best friend."
"I wasn't that bad. But I have to admit that I had a lot of fun that night pretending to be your boyfriend," he said wistfully.
Peyton sighed at the memory, "That was quite the dinner. I'm actually getting ready to go to dinner with Brooke and Jake at the moment."
"Jake huh? Whatever you do, don't wear that velvet dress," Lucas warned her jokingly.
"I wish you were here," she said earnestly.
"And I wish you were here to see some of these poor excuses for babysitting candidates," he laughed. "I'm actually about to meet with John's niece. She's coming up from Florida to go to UNC and she needs a job."
"That sounds promising. Tell the Fullers I said hi whenever you get a chance. How's Lily?"
"She's getting bigger every day. And she misses you."
There was a stubborn silence that passed between them that made Lucas regret telling Peyton that Lily missed her. "It's okay Peyt."
Peyton picked up a picture of the three of them that was sitting in a frame right beside her bed.
"Well I better let you get ready for your dinner. I'll talk to you later."
"Good luck with the babysitting interviews. Kiss Lily for me please."
"I will."
They never ended their phone conversations with "I love yous". They didn't really need to.
Peyton hung up the phone and slipped on her dress and heels. Brooke would be there in 20 minutes and she hadn't even begun to work on her hair. Oh fuck it I'm not doing my hair, she thought.
Peyton was standing outside when Brooke showed up in her SUV. She jumped out of the driver's seat to greet her and Peyton could see the back seat door open as well. Jake hopped out of the back seat and approached her. "It's so good to see you Peyton," he hugged her. "It's good to see you too Jake."
Brooke watched them from a few feet away, "Aww I'm having flashbacks to junior year." Peyton rolled her eyes as they pulled away from the hug.
"So you didn't wear the green dress?"
"Brooke, who is sitting in the front seat?" Peyton craned her neck to get a better view.
"He's my date."
Jake looked at the two best friends uneasily as if he was intruding on their conversation, "I'll go wait in the car."
Peyton looked at Brooke incredulously, "He's your date?! Brooke this looks a helluva like a double date."
"That's because it is."
Peyton placed her hand on her forehead. "Did you tell Jake that this was a date?"
"No, but I'm sure it won't be that hard for him to realize that it is," Brooke laughed.
"This isn't funny. Why did you have to drag me into this? Why couldn't you just go on a regular date?"
"Because this is much more fun. Plus I just met the guy so a double date is much safer."
Peyton sighed loudly. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"You better." They both climbed into the truck and headed off to the restaurant.
The car ride was pretty weird. Peyton kept noticing Jake subtly staring at her out of the corner of her eye. She finally faced him and attempted to make the car ride more comfortable, "what's going on Jagielski?"
"Nothing…you just…you just look different."
"Yeah I grew my hair out."
"I'm not just talking about your hair. You're like…glowing or something."
Peyton laughed, "it's probably just the city lights blinding you."
"Are you and Lucas together?" he forced out.
Wow he was being bold, she thought. "It's complicated," Peyton said diplomatically. Jake looked as though he wanted to ask another question but the car stopped and Peyton could see the valet parking guy signaling at Brooke. They all got out and headed inside. Apparently Brooke's date was some famous athlete's agent and they were getting some moderate celebrity treatment because of it.
They walked into the restaurant, each "couple" walking side by side with each respective male "date" pulling out the chairs for their respective female "date". She was going to kill Brooke.
---
Lucas sat on his couch with Lily in his arms. Sometimes he felt as though he held her too much. So much that she'd never learn to crawl or walk. It was silly, but Lucas often thought of crazy and weird things, and he was pretty sure that with some of their recent conversations, Haley probably thought he was even weirder than she's always thought he was. They talked about everything from ghosts to what it would have been like if they were conjoined twins. They also had a nice long conversation about clones and how creepy it would be to have a clone of themselves walking around. Lucas couldn't help but think about how nice it would be to have a spare Peyton that he could spend time with while the other one was in LA. Sure he was in desperate of sleep and maybe some of his bizarre thoughts reflected that, but he really did wish that he knew when he would see Peyton again. He sat and thought about this until the doorbell interrupted his thoughts. That must be John's niece, Claire, he thought.
He opened the door and nearly fainted when he saw the sight before him. A girl stood in front of him holding out her and introducing herself as Claire Fuller. She said some other things, but Lucas didn't hear a word. He was too busy wondering if he was dreaming or if someone was playing a cruel trick on him. The girl had curly blonde hair, brilliant green eyes, and lips that held a naturally petulant pout. She looked at him with confusion and he mirrored her look, although there might have been a little more awe in his gaze in her direction. This complete stranger, this girl that he'd never met, looked strikingly similar to one Peyton Sawyer. The resemblance went far beyond the typical claims of seeing someone that looks remotely similar to someone you know. Lucas couldn't find the words to speak, so he just stood there and gazed at her until she started to wonder what kinds of crazy people her uncle was associating with.
