A/N An extraordinarily speedy update!! Thanks for the kind words guys. Emera.

'Still not care about my past?'

Lucas' breath caught in his throat.

She looked away from him. His dark eyes had been staring, well more like burning into her for the last five minutes. His silence was deafening. It wasn't really the response she'd been relying upon, she'd expected outrage. Disgust. Not this, not this eerie quietness.

The waves broke on the shore, crawling closer and closer to them, the tide making quick work of consuming the small bay and with every passing second she felt like she was being closed in upon, surrounded with no way out.

He was stunned. He'd read the story, it was the only story out of the many that had accumulated online, that he'd dismissed immediately as ridiculous. He could vaguely remember Brooke throwing it at him when they'd discussed the model in her office at what seemed like forever ago now. He'd not cared remotely about Peyton Wolf's life choices and who she was as a person at that point in time. He'd had a different view of her entirely. His only interest had been in getting her into bed. Only now, her world, everything and anything that she said or did effected him greatly, he didn't know why, it just did. He'd read the story with great confidence that it couldn't be true because he'd come to know a girl, a girl that in his eyes wasn't capable of ever doing that. Her revelation had him questioning if he knew her really at all. Maybe she was right, maybe he didn't know her. But then who was he to judge? He'd done things he wasn't proud of, it had only been since meeting her that he'd turned his life around for the good.

He'd made it clear to her that her history was irrelevant to him and he wanted to say it didn't matter. It didn't matter. It was in the past. However, there was something about the way she was standing, the way she was holding herself that told him there was more.

'You had sex with someone so they'd put you on a cover of a magazine?' Were the words that finally emerged from his dry lips, double checking that he'd heard her correctly, a mixture of doubt and confusion lurking in his eyes.

She looked directly at him, her gaze unblinking. 'Yes'

His brow creased. 'As in you slept with someone so you could be a cover girl?' He affirmed.

'Yes Lucas' She snapped. 'Fucked my way onto a cover, seduced, blackmailed, call it what you like' She crossed her arms in front of herself, the wall around her standing tall and strong.

He suddenly didn't care that this was something that had occurred in her past. He believed that people could change the way they lived their life but he struggled to see that a person could change so dramatically, he didn't believe that someone could change their morals so significantly. His father had always been the same, he'd always been the calculating murderer that he was. It was always there brewing on the surface. Peyton wasn't so insidious. He couldn't foresee her ever having been a girl capable of such a thing. She put on a front that she didn't care, she played the part of the rebellious girl only she wasn't. Everyday she showed him that she did care, that she was actually conscientious and righteous.

'I don't believe you'

'That's your problem Lucas. You see the good in people when more often than not we're all just bad' She fired back.

He looked up at her, lit dimly by the bright moon above them. Her hair had dried naturally, leaving it curlier than he'd ever seen and her face was still completely flawless despite no make up. She was beautiful.

'I'll go get my things' She smiled sadly.

'No' He hastily pushed himself off of the sandy bed. 'Peyton, don't go'

'It's fine Lucas. Believe me, I get it. For someone like you, this is a big deal. You care about stuff like this-'

'Yes I care' He emphasised. He didn't like her flippancy over the subject, regardless of if she'd changed over the years. It was still a decision that she'd made, a decision that went against all his morals and beliefs and yet he was standing here, wanting to understand. 'I fucking care' He vented. 'It is a big deal'

She looked down. His outburst igniting a sharp pang of shame to flood through her system. 'Right' She mumbled. 'Which is why I'm going to get my stuff and leave'

'I've told you that whatever happened in your past, whatever you've done wouldn't matter and it, it doesn't. This doesn't' He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. 'But I care. I care and I want to understand why because the girl I know would never do something like that'

'Maybe that's just it. You don't know me at all' She made to walk up to the house but he stood tall before her, blocking her path.

'Peyton I-I don't want you to go. I just want to understand. You can't reveal something like that without elaborating'

'What do you want me to say Luke?' She exclaimed.

'How about why? Why being on the cover of a magazine meant so much to you that you felt the need to give your body to some pathetic excuse of a man-'

'Enough. I don't want to talk about this-'

'Well I do' He grabbed her arm, stopping her from retreating. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

'Let. Go' She growled.

His fingers reluctantly released her but he hastily followed her quick march up to his house. 'You'd never do that' He declared certainly, desperately. He didn't want the girl he'd come to know to just be a false illusion. 'I know you, you'd never do that'

'You don't know me' She cried back in frustration.

'I do. Peyton you have a conscious'

She reached the french doors, rattling the handle. 'Can you please unlock it'

'Not until we've talked about this'

'There's nothing to talk about' She exclaimed. 'I'm a whore. You're Mr Perfect and at the end of the day those two denominators do not equal happy couple'

He squinted at her. 'How old were you?'

'What?'

'When you decided being on the front cover of a magazine warranted sleeping with someone old enough to be your dad?'

She smiled falsely. 'See you say it doesn't matter, you say you can get past my history but you really can't Lucas'

He gritted his teeth, refusing to address her statement. 'How old?' He demanded.

'Sixteen'

'Sixteen?' He choked out. Her answer tumbled down on him full force.

She watched him pace across the wooden decking, his features suddenly burdened, strained in distress. His attitude about the whole situation suddenly did a complete one hundred and eighty. The betrayal he'd felt, deception in the sense that he'd been led to believe she was something she wasn't, evaporated instantly.

'Look I know it's not exactly something to be proud of, that while you were playing basket ball I was off using sex to extort people'

'You were a kid!' He shook his head in disgust. 'You were the one being extorted. Don't you see that?'

'That's not how it was. I was never that fucking naive'

'Really?' Lucas approached her, standing over her in an intimidating stance. 'Did he tell you he was going to make you a big star? What did he tell you?'

'It wasn't like that'

'How was it then? You're really telling me you seduced the guy? That at sixteen you were that deceitful?'

'Yes'

'I don't believe you'

'Then don't. Can you please open the door'

'Peyton' He cupped her face. 'This isn't over. I'm not letting you just walk away from us'

'There is no us Lucas. I'm sorry for ever letting you believe otherwise. I just, I let myself get carried away'

His eyes narrowed as anger engulfed him. She'd never seen him really angry. Frustrated, yes but not angry. 'Yesterday I was honest with you. I told you something really fucking difficult'

Her eyes were suddenly glassy, green irises drowning in his pained admission.

'I know' She whispered hoarsely.

'So try being fucking honest with me' Despite his irritation with her, he caught the tear that fled down her cheek. 'Please' He mustered.

She pushed against his chest and a frustrated sigh past his lips. He needed her to open up. He had this innate feeling that he wasn't getting the full story and he wanted the full story. He wanted to understand what she'd been like at sixteen, why she'd been governed to do something so detrimental to herself. This was clearly something that had moulded who she was now, something that had shaped the way she acted now. She used sex as a weapon and he was certain he was the only person who hadn't been defeated, he was the only person that wanted more than just her body and her inability to see that was something painfully apparent.

'I'm just trying to understand Peyt. Right now, regardless of how long ago it was, I don't see you being able to do that'

'People change' She mumbled.

'Maybe. I've done stuff I'm not proud of but looking back there has always been a reasoning behind it'

She turned around. 'And you're a good person Luke' She shrugged. 'The truth is, I don't care. It got me what I wanted. I'd do it again tomorrow'

He squinted at her, his jaw tight.

She cowered back as his shoes clunked across the wooden decking, making the two strides over to her.

'No. No you wouldn't' He growled, pushing her back against the wooden railing of the back porch. He couldn't believe that she'd do that at this present day, he didn't want to believe that she'd hurt him like that all for the sake of a bit of publicity.

'Yes, yes I would'

She watched his face contort. His hands slapped against the rail either side of them, trapping her. 'Fine'

His tone made her heart race. He pressed himself against her, leaving her no room to breathe.

'Apparently you love being in the public eye' He husked.

Her hands instinctively pushed against his chest, trying to escape his intimidating figure.

'Lucas-'

'Apparently you love being centre of attention, hm?'

'Stop-'

'Isn't that right?' He demanded, mouth at her ear. 'If fame is that important to you, I'm sure I could get you a part in Raven's' He drawled.

She tilted her head away, unappreciative to this treatment.

'You could be an actress Peyt, forget modelling. You could be a famous actress'

'Stop it' She hissed more insistently this time.

'All you have to do is have sex with me'

Her eyes expanded, her fingers digging into his arms. 'Get the fuck away from me'

'All you have to do is spread your legs nice and wide for me and you can be a real star'

She was aghast. Completely appalled by the crude words coming from his mouth. While she knew he was making a point, she couldn't prevent feeling completely mortified by what he was saying, what he was suggesting. People had approached her with vile propositions before but this, hearing him saying something so distasteful left a bitter taste in her mouth.

He kissed the junction at her neck, not sweetly, not like any other kiss that he'd touched to her skin, it was artlessly administered, uncaring and rough but she stood still, numb to the bone.

He'd expected his brash, offensive words and actions would result in a reaction that so far he'd been unsuccessful in attaining. He'd tried being calm. Tried being understanding. Tried being angry but none of it was working. And now, as he breathed into her neck, as he let his hands coarsely touch her, he was filled with a sense of dread so huge that his charade was no longer a game. Her unyielding, stationary body was an invitation to him, that she would be willing to comply, to endure this all for what? Had she been this girl all along? Had he really been that blind? Was she really that self absorbed, that vain that she'd be willing to do anything for more fame?

He felt used. Betrayed.

'So this is what you want? Is this what this has all been about' His fingers clutched the material of her dress, jerking it up around her waist. 'I'm just a foot in the door to bigger things huh?'

Her head shot up, a moistness round her eyes. She looked as though she'd just been struck.

Her submissive body turned rigid.

Her hand rose.

Lucas was too consumed by the deliverance of hurt and anguish in her glowering eyes to notice.

Not even a second later the cracking sound of her palm connecting with his cheek echoed loudly in their ears. Ferocious and resilient.

His fingers instantly disengaged from her dress and the blue cotton floated back over her thighs.

Her hands flung to her mouth as she watched him rubbing his stinging face, her eyes wide with dismay at her heady action.

'See' He told her stiffly. 'You're not that girl' He acknowledged, relief apparent in his voice.

'I, I didn't mean to do that' Her body quivered.

'You had every right to'

She turned away from him on shaky legs, leaning on the wooden railing and looking down at the shore. There was only a small stretch of sand left now, the tide fully up having conquered the beach below, the sands that would prevail when the winds changed.

She prevailed. She always prevailed as people came and went from her life.

Only Lucas had broken through that wall in the last few minutes. He'd broken through that hard exterior and she was a trembling mess.

'Is that what you really think?' She whispered. 'That all I want, all I care about is being in the spotlight?'

'No' He blinked, his eyes watering from her surprisingly hard slap. 'I was just making a point Peyton. You wouldn't condone doing anything to be put on the front cover of a magazine. Now or then. You've had fame since the day you were born and I don't think you welcome it'

She swallowed thickly.

'I'm sorry' He moved to stand beside her. 'I didn't mean to scare you' He slid his hand into hers, his thumb running lightly over her knuckles.

'I'm not...' She didn't dare raise her voice above a whisper in fear of it breaking. 'I'm not sleeping with you in the hope of being in your film'

'I know that'

'I'm in the position that if I wanted that I could make it happen. I wouldn't need to sleep with a screenplay writer'

'I know that' He brought her smaller, dainty hand up to his mouth, leaving a tender kiss there. 'I'm sorry'

She tilted her head to look at him, her stubborn fortitude faltering as she watched him kiss her hand. Her Lucas had returned from the horrible part he'd just been playing. The Lucas she didn't want to loose stood beside her, sincere and resolute in his want for her. His want to be with her.

'Have, have you ever heard of Rachel Gatina?'

His head jerked up at her quiet question, hope filling him. Hope that she was done fighting him. That she was ready to be one hundred percent honest with him as he'd been with her. 'No'

'She was a model'

'Was?'

'She's dead. Over dosed about four years ago now' She recalled.

Lucas swallowed, trying to hydrate his dry mouth. 'Was, was she your friend?'

Peyton shrugged. 'I don't think you could really class it as a friendship. She took me under her wing. She introduced me to her world' She avoided his intense stare, her eyes lingering on the night's black sea. 'My whole life I'd been known as Mick Wolf's daughter and, and when I started modelling I was someone different. I was somebody. I was Peyton Wolf the model. I revelled in that, it wasn't connected to him. It, it was mine. It was my escape' She fumbled over her words, taking an exaggerated breaths. 'I started hanging around with the wrong people'

'Rachel?'

'She was one of them' She nodded. 'I was young and stupid and I just didn't care about anything, I let her tell me what to do' She pulled her hand from his, crossing her arms in front of herself.

'Peyton' He objected softly as she pulled away, but she didn't want to be touched and pitied, she didn't want him near her.

'I took a lot of drugs back then, I'd probably be completely dependent on them right now if it weren't for my mother' She continued. 'I, I hold so much disdain for her but, but that dislike, that need to be nothing like her has saved me more times than I can count. One day I woke up and saw her staring back at me, saw what I was turning into. That was the day I cut myself off from Rachel Gatina' She let out a heavy breath. 'She didn't like that very much' Peyton laughed humourlessly.

Lucas' brow furrowed as he waited patiently for her to elaborate.

'During the time, the time I'd spent with Rachel I did some pretty stupid things' She shook her head. 'Really stupid things'

'You were a kid. Kids do stupid things Peyton'

'I wasn't ten Lucas, I was sixteen, I knew what I was doing' She ran her hand through her hair with agitation. 'One night I was with her and some other people. I don't remember how it happened but I guess clothes were taken off and these photos were taken' She shifted her weight.

'Like nude photos?' He clarified.

She nodded curtly. 'I was high and it just happened and I didn't think anything of it. But when I stopped talking to Rachel she gave the photos to Carl'

'Carl?'

'The editor of vogue' She murmured quietly. 'It was never about getting on the cover' She looked up at him directly. 'It wasn't about the cover' His supportive hand at her back made her voice involuntarily quiver.

There it was. He'd known she wasn't being entirely truthful, he'd known there was more to this story than met the eye.

'I couldn't have photo's of me naked released to the world. They were disgusting' She grimaced.

'So you slept with him on the condition that he-'

'Get rid of the photos' She nodded. His knuckles whitened as he gripped at the wooden rail, enraged that she'd ever been put in such a position. 'He would have sold them, they would have been everywhere' She pondered. 'I know that doesn't make it okay, I know it was wrong-'

'Wrong? Peyton-'

'Don't you lecture me-'

'I'm not' He snapped, cutting her off. 'You say what you did but in reality this wasn't anything that you did. This was something that was done to you' He contended.

'I had a choice. He gave me a choice. I knew what I was doing Lucas'

'You did nothing wrong. Don't you see that?' He cried. 'Peyton, you were blackmailed. He may have given you a choice, but one that you felt you couldn't refuse. You didn't seduce the guy so he'd put you on the cover'

She frowned. 'He didn't have to do that, he didn't have to put me on the cover. He didn't have to help me'

'To help you?' He shook his head in disbelief. 'Peyton are you listening to yourself? What he did was illegal. He could have been charged. He used you'

'I used him' She stubbornly retorted. 'It wasn't part of our agreement, but after I, I did it, I asked him to do me a favour. I persuaded him to put me on the cover' She admitted.

He looked at her questioningly.

'It was meant to be Rachel, not me' She pinched the bridge of her nose. 'It was childish but she's the one that put me in that position, she was that malicious, she knew what he'd want from me, she knew what I'd have to do to get myself out of it and at the time I'd thought she was my friend' She pushed her tongue to the roof of her mouth. 'After that cover everyone wanted me. Not her and even though it was minute, it was my reprisal' She closed her eyes. 'Without work, she went on a downward spiral, she'd still be here if I hadn't been so cruel'

'She'd be dead' Lucas shook his head. 'If she wasn't already I'd put her in her grave' He told her gruffly.

'Lucas, I'm the one that-'

'You did nothing wrong' He exclaimed fiercely, hands cupping her face. 'Look at me'

Her confused eyes found his.

'You didn't do anything wrong' He repeated. 'Why didn't you tell someone?'

'Who? My mum or dad?' She scoffed. 'There was no one'

His heart clenched. 'Well, there is now' He kissed her forehead. 'And I'm not going anywhere'

Tears inevitably formed, obscuring her vision. 'Lucas' She exhaled sharply, her shuddered breaths hitting his lips. 'I, I'd rather you walked away now. You should walk away now. I'm not the girl that you thought I was. She needed help, just because she hurt me doesn't mean I shouldn't have helped her. I could have got her help'

'Peyton, yesterday you told me Keith's death wasn't my fault and you're right and I'm right that Rachel's isn't yours'

He kissed her then, before she could argue, his thumb stroking across her cheekbone, catching the tear that dared to race down her porcelain skin. 'I'm not going anywhere' He reiterated for perhaps the umpteenth time, tucking a runaway curl behind her ear. He met her weary eyes and his lips curled into a small, reassuring smile. 'I love you' It came out with no thought what so ever, his judgement wasn't impaired by the false apparitions that surrounded her life, it had never been so clear to him. He'd thought about saying those three little words for some time now. He'd perhaps over thought it, so much so that it had become a big deal in his mind. Perhaps that together with her anxiety and hesitancy over their whole relationship had stopped him from saying it sooner. But this wasn't an intended declaration, it was natural.

'You what?' Her voice was thick with the restrained sobs she'd kept forcibly suppressed.

'I lov-'

Her hands flung to her ears. 'Don't say it again' She all but screeched. 'Don't say that'

He bit his bottom lip, despite the sombre matter that had been exhaustively deliberated since they'd arrived back, laughter built in the back of his throat at her face. Her alarmed expression was nothing but comical and not unexpected. Lucas was prepared to say the least that she wouldn't jump up and down with a declaration of her own.

He gently took her hands, tugging them away from her ears. 'I'm sorry. It just came out. I think it's time you know though' He smiled. 'I love you'

'Lucas!' She whined, closing her eyes and shaking her head. 'No, stop it. Don't say that'

'It's the truth sweetheart. I'm not expecting you to stay it back. In fact I'd rather you didn't' He had a teasing glint in his eyes. Her saying it back would be a completely insincere reaction, of that he was sure. She was knew to being in a relationship, her concept of love wasn't exactly accurate, but he was confident that with time he'd be able to redefine what love was to her.

'God Lucas' She groaned, side stepping round him and trying the locked doors, whimpering her frustration when they didn't magically open this time round.

'It's locked'

'I fucking know that' She stomped her foot, waltzing past him and down the steps, shadowing the path they'd walked up nearly an hour ago now.

'Where're you going? I'll open the door Peyt' He jogged a couple of paces to catch up with her.

'I'm trying to get away from you jackass'

'Nice. A guy tells you he loves you and you call him a jackass'

'You don't love me' She argued, her breaths increasing as they reached the little patch of beach left, feet working with more force to push through the sand.

'Actually I do. I really fucking do' He laughed. 'And it feels so good to say it'

'This isn't funny!' She abruptly stopped, forcing him to come to a halt. He stumbled, bumping into her. 'You don't even know what you're talking about' Her forefinger jabbed at his chest with every syllable. 'I don't need your fucking pity Luke. I'm not a broken little girl-'

'That's not what this is' He told her evenly. 'I'm not taking pity on you. I'm in love with you' He held her forearms.

'I don't believe in such a thing' She whispered. 'I think you can love someone, but love love, being in love with someone' She shook her head. 'We all just settle for someone we get on with and then five years down the line we get a divorce or we force ourselves to remain unhappy just to prove that a marriage can work' She rambled. 'There's no such thing as soul mates'

'I think there is'

She snorted. 'Of course you do'

'You know I think you're scared'

'Scared?' She scowled.

'Yes, you're scared because what I'm talking about you're feeling too' He squeezed her hand. 'You don't have to be scared though Peyton. We're doing this in baby steps remember?'

'Telling me you love me isn't fucking baby steps'

'Right but you have this inconceivable notion that you're not worthy of having this' He gestured between them 'I don't think you don't believe in love. I think you don't believe in yourself, I think that you don't think anyone could ever want you'

Her lips thinned and her nostrils flared, trying to contain the lump in the back of her throat.

'But I want you Peyton. I want you good and bad. Although, I'm beginning to think you're more good than bad'

The sob that had been diligently restrained, finally escaped her parted lips. He embraced her tightly and she didn't fight. She was done fighting. Done trying to withstand Lucas Scott. She wanted him. She wanted him and he wanted her. She'd felt so certain that her past would stop him from wanting her. That he couldn't possibly want someone that had committed such awful sins but here he was, immovable as he'd sworn. With her tears, tears that had been due for going on seven years, came release, a liberation. Guilt, shame and anger that had become instilled deep in her soul, that had moulded her every thought and action over her early adult years, dispersed.

He rocked her, holding her tightly, working as the anchor that she'd been deprived of for far too long. Her feet stumbled over the sand but he kept her stable until she could stand solidly on her own.

Her sobs finally subsided, her breaths shaky as she inhaled violently to get oxygen to her starved lungs. His fingers stroked through her hair, his slow, tranquil motions, soothing her back to her normally composed self.

She stayed in his arms, unwilling to depart from the safety that they ensured.

'Shit' She murmured, voice scratchy with her tears.

Lucas looked down, seeing the water lapping over both their shoes, only his more durable sneakers proved to be more water proof than her navy pumps.

He chuckled, effortlessly lifting her up to avoid her flimsy shoes being submerged once more.

'Luke' Her hands joined round his neck.

'I've got you' He took a little step back and then sunk to the ground.

'We're going to get wet' Her hands tightened round him, pressing herself closer in case the water did in fact reach them.

'No, the tide's about to turn' He told her knowledgeably. She rested her head on his shoulder, exhaling shakily due to the tears she'd shed. 'You want to go back up to the house? It'll be getting light soon'

'No'

'Are you cold?' He rubbed her arms.

'No. I just want to stay here' She looked up at him. 'If that's okay?'

'Anything you want' He laid back, bringing her with him. 'Peyton?'

She snuggled her head into the crook of his neck. 'Hm?'

'Promise me something'

'What?' She rubbed her bloodshot eyes.

'No more lies, no more skittering around the truth, okay?'

She fiddled with his shirt, her eyelashes flickering shut. She'd been brought up in a household where lying was the norm. It wasn't lying, it was merely keeping quiet about things that could potentially hurt someone. You kept quiet about the alcohol you saw your mother drinking at breakfast. You kept quiet when you saw your father kissing another girl. You kept quiet.

'Being in a relationship, is being honest, through the good and the bad'

'Even when it could hurt the other person?'

'Even more so then' His hand found the bottom of her crinkled dress and slid beneath, running soothingly up and down her spine. 'Don't you feel better for telling me the truth? I'm still here aren't I?'

'I've never told anyone before'

'I know' His forefinger drew circles on her lower back.

'Do you think Rachel would forgive me?'

'Has she got your forgiveness for what she did to you?'

Peyton hesitated. 'Yes'

'Then you needn't worry about hers'

'Luke' She muttered sleepily.

'Yes?'

'I kind of like you'

'Yeah?' He smiled, kissing the top of her head. 'I kind of love you' She garnered enough strength to whack him to which he rolled them over, laughing. 'I love you, I love you, I love you'