Just to let you guys know, the next chapter wil be the last. So I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen: You Can Run

You can run/You can run/But you can't hide

Jake stood outside Nathan's door wondering if maybe he should knock. There's really no one else he can go to. Nathan instantly became his friend when he and Peyton got together and Jake feels as if that maybe Nathan is his only friend. Or at least one that would understand.

He doesn't feel like he's ever been this emotionally drained before. He can't help but chuckle that Peyton has him this much in a tailspin.

"Hey Jake." Nathan says opening the door, obviously surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?" Nathan opened the door wide enough to let Jake in and then closed it behind him.

"I need to talk to you."

"Alright." Nathan said motioning to the couch. The two sat down and Nathan watched as Jake fidgeted.

His hands were sweaty and it was like the temperature jumped ten degrees. He could see the grin on Nathan's face and the whole thing just felt…weird.

"It's about me and Peyton." He says wondering why in the world he started with that. Jake sighs, running his fingers through his hair, a habit that's been taking up a lot of his time these last twenty-four hours. "I got a call from my agent asking me to join this tour and I have to leave tonight."

"Oh man." Nathan sighs looking away from Jake and to another part of the room. This was bad. "That's not good."

"Yeah." Jake nods. "I asked Peyton to come with me…she said no."

"Are you serious?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"Well she said I don't know, but it basically meant no."

"Dude you're a Dumbass." Jake shoots his head towards Nathan after the last comment. He's ready to defend himself before Nathan stops him. "Save it. I've been through that whole thing to."

"What?"

"You remember Chris, right?" He asked and continued when Jake nodded. "He offered Haley a spot on this tour he was going on. When she told me about it all I did was yell and accuse and I never…listened to her."

"But she didn't go."

"Yeah." Nathan chuckled, happy that she never really did go. "But I could tell that she wanted to go."

"Well why didn't she?"

Nathan sighed, not really liking this particular moment in Naley history. "I gave her an ultimatum. I said that if she left then our marriage was over. And she didn't go."

"That sucks…on Haley's part, I mean."

"Yeah." He whispered staring down at the floor. "But I was just so angry because I didn't like Chris and I didn't want her to be alone with him and she didn't ask me to come. Later on I said I was sorry and told her to go join the tour. She didn't."

"Why?"

"I don't know." He said, not really knowing why she didn't go, but sure as hell happy that she didn't leave him. "But I realized that I wasn't the only one that had dreams to fulfill. That Haley wasn't going to be just a housewife. And I felt like an ass for being so selfish with her dreams and with mine."

"I asked Peyton to come with me and she said no." Jake repeated.

"She said I don't know and I bet you told her that if she didn't go then it was over." Nathan said giving a knowing grin when he saw that shameful look on Jake's face. "Jake if there's one thing that I've learned about women it's that they're stubborn and will do pretty much the opposite of what you ask them to do."

"I don't want to leave her, but I can't back out." Jake says, his hands running down his face in frustration. "If I do then my career's over."

Nathan reached over and put his hand on Jake's back for reassurance. "You got a great girl, Jake. But Peyton's lived here her entire life. She has friends and people here that love her. And then you come along and give her this ticket out and she's just scared of something new."

Nathan gets up and heads to the kitchen for something to drink; leaving Jake on the couch replaying this conversation and the one he had last night in his head. He never thought he would have to choose between his career and a girl.

But then he never thought he'd ever fall in love with this girl.

**

His words seemed to follow her. Having that kind of ultimatum was something she didn't necessarily want.

She doesn't want there to be a choice. She just wants him. All of him. His brown eyes and boyish smirk. Him playing guitar at two in the morning before coming to bed and wrapping his arms around her. She wants his music in her life and everything else that comes with it. It seems impossible to have any of that.

She can't understand why she can't have a decent relationship. A normal one at that. With Nathan it was all about sex. With Lucas there was romance. With Jake there's romance and sex and laughter and fun and it seems to be full of problems. This one in particular.

And she's beginning to think it's not the boy's fault…but hers.

What did she do wrong to lose Nathan? What did she say to drive Lucas away?

It seems all she can do now is ask questions. She's been doing it for the last hour while walking around this tiny town. She's been looking for any imperfection of this place she's called home just so there's a reason she can leave. But she can't. She loves this town. The beach, the pier, the stores, the people, the Rivercourt. She grew up with these people and in a few months they'll all be gone. She doesn't want to leave now.

"Hey."

She finds herself at the Rivercourt. She's not sure how or why she came here, but looking at his blue eyes she's kind of glad she did.

Before Brooke and that stupid love triangle, she considered Lucas one of her best friends. They hadn't known each other long, but he always just seemed to be there. He knew what to say and what to do and maybe for that reason she fell for this friend.

"Hey." She smiles back standing just a few feet away from him. He's wearing that red tee shirt he wore the first day they ever talked and she wonders if he knows that.

"What are you doing here?"

"Avoiding major decisions." She mumbles

"Need any help?" He asks trapping the ball to his hip. "With the decisions I mean."

She shook her head, though they both know she probably could use a little of his help. She takes a few strides over to the bleachers and sat down before being joined by Lucas. "So did you and Brooke talk?" She asks just for the sake of avoiding her own problems.

"Yeah." He nods. "We're kind of…we're trying again and taking things slow." He says before realizing what he's said. "That…that doesn't bother you does it? Me and Brooke?"

"Of course. We're over, Lucas. I've come to terms with that a long time ago."

"Clearly." He chuckles before nudging her shoulder. There was a short pause as each listened to the sound of the water in this late afternoon. "So why'd you really come here, Peyton?"

She knew he wasn't going to give up that easily. "I can't…it's just my own problem that I need to figure out." She says before getting up to leave.

"Peyton." He stops her and waits for her to turn back to him. "We might be over, but we're still friends. You can still talk to me."

"It's about Jake." She says just to warn him.

"I'm here to listen."

She shoots him a small smile before walking back over to him and sitting down. She lets out a large breath before explaining everything. She leaves out few details and all of a sudden it feels like how they were before all this drama happened. Back when they were really friends. Somewhere along the way she starts crying and his arm wraps around her and he pulls her closer so her head lands on his shoulder.

"He just left." She says through her tears. "He told me that if I don't show up then it's over. What am I supposed to do with that?" She asks looking up at him.

"Peyton, you have this amazing guy that wants to be with you. If I were you I would go."

"I can't just leave, Lucas."

"Well, what's stopping you? Peyton, this is a once in a lifetime offer. In a few months we're all gonna be gone, to college, to start careers, to wherever. Where are you gonna be, Peyton?" She looks into his blue eyes and there's not that passion for her that there used to be. She knows he's moved on and so has she. And she can't understand why she's being so difficult about this. What's holding her back?

"Peyton," Lucas continues, "school and college, it's always going to be there. Is Jake?" He waits for an answer, but they both know he's not going to get one. He knows she's over thinking this and trying to find excuses to stay. "Go home and pack your bags, Peyton. Just stop thinking."

**

She went home after her little talk with Lucas. She hates to admit it, but he's right. Or at least she wants to think he is.

These red walls seem to be closing in on her. The ticking of her clock on the wall seemed to sound like bombs dropping. It's getting closer. Her decision to leave or not. Ever since she was a little girl she's always tried to find solutions for things she didn't know.

Maybe there wasn't one for this.

For a minute she thinks she's going. She pulls out her suitcase and begins to call her father and then…she stops and she goes back to thinking that she's not going anywhere. And there are too many decisions to make and she feels as if she can't do it.

Before she knows it her red walls and suitcase and her father are forgotten. She's standing in those woods her mother used to take her to - where she took Jake – and this place doesn't put her at ease like it used to. She's crying and she thinks that maybe this is her first sign of why she shouldn't go.

"Peyton…I want a yes or no answer." He moved down to her level and looked at her green eyes. "Do you want to come with me?"

Her throat choked up and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. She tore away from his eyes to the ceiling. "I don't know." Her voice cracked and he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Okay." He nodded, walking to the doorway. He turned back and stared at her. "I'm leaving tomorrow night on a bus to New York. If you don't show I'll have my answer."

"Peyton." She turned around to see Jake leaning against a tree in his jeans and black button down. She saw his crinkled face and knew that he's been giving the situation a lot of thought too. "You weren't home."

She nods turning back to the water, mostly to hide her tears.

"Peyton, we need to talk." He said taking a step closer to her, his arms wrapping around her like they used to. She turned in his arms and tried to push away.

"No, we don't." She said with a shaky voice. "I want to go, Jake, but I can't just leave. I have everything here. And I want to be with you, but if I can't go then I can't have you, right?"

"No." He shook his head. "I was being an ass and I wanted things to go my way and I never considered your thoughts. If you don't want to go, Peyton, it's okay."

"No, okay, it's not okay. It can't be." Her restraints on her tears were no longer a worry to her and soon they were falling where they may.

"And why not?"

"Because you're leaving Jake."

"So?"

"And what about us?" She said not looking up at him. Her hand landed on his chest and distracted herself with his buttons.

"What about us?" He said causing her to look up. He was smiling and she just knew that the past twenty-four hours had been forgotten. "Peyton, I found out today that I'm not the only one that needs to fulfill their dreams. You got things that you're meant to do, Peyton, like that internship and college and…everything. I'm not gonna hold you back from that."

"Jake, you're not doing that."

"I would be if you come with me." He sighed, only taking his eyes off her for a split second. "Peyton, I need you to know that that night I first saw you at TRIC I fell for you…I've never fallen this hard for someone. And I'm happy that it was you that I fell for. I love you." He says with a shaky voice. She doesn't say anything, but they meet in the middle. His lips hit hers and everything stopped.

They break away and they're still smiling for reasons they're not sure they should be smiling for. He's leaving tonight and she's staying and the future in their relationship seems to be written in the stars for them.

His phone starts to ring and deep down they both know who it is. He doesn't want to answer and seriously thinks about it, but Peyton tells him it's his career on the line and he laughs at the double meaning.

"It's Dave." He says although she already knew. He flips open his phone open, tearing his eyes away from Peyton, because it's killing both of them. "Hello…Yeah I'm still in Tree Hill…I'm heading to the bus station right now…" He pauses to catch a glimpse of Peyton and he can tell she's dying over this "Alright…bye."

He shuts his phone and turns back to Peyton who's facing the water again. "I got to go."

"I know." She says quietly, not bothering to look at him.

"Look Peyton…" He grabs her arm and turns her around to face her and she's crying. He wipes away the tears and gently places a kiss on her cheek. "You know…I could have held you in my arms forever, and it still wouldn't be long enough. I'm not gonna say goodbye. I'm not…because…I'm gonna come back to you someday, Peyton. It might not be tomorrow or next week or next month, but I swear to you that I'm gonna come back to you."

"Someday." She confirmed.

He nodded. "You believe that. And then we can be together." He pauses, watching her, waiting for something to happen. "So just…say something. Please."

"I love you." She blurts out.

He smiles because those three words always make him do that. They seem to solve everything. "I love you too."

She kisses him not because he's leaving or the fact that it's someday, but because she loves him and he's here now and she's not sure when he'll be back to do it again. His phone beeps again and they both it's no longer just a warning for him to leave. He really has to go now.

Jake breaks away from her, gripping her arms, staring her down. "I need you to believe me, OK? I need you to believe in someday."

She nods. "Someday."

He kisses her one last time before taking just one last look at her. And then he's gone.

"Someday." She whispers, not so he can hear, but so she can believe it.