The next day had arrived with the day having passed very slowly for Peyton, who was anticipating the events of the coming evening. She was dolling herself up a little nicer than usual she wanted to look nice.

"Hey honey," she heard her father say with a light knock on her bedroom door.

She came out of the bathroom still adjusting her hair a bit, "yeah," she said.

"Oh you look nice," he said, "you going out tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm going to hang out with Lucas. Help him close the café," she answered.

"Oh," Larry said with a confused look on his face. "Well I was just letting you know I was heading out to pick up Karen."

"Oh ok," Peyton said and followed him out to leave too.


Peyton arrived at the café. It held some good memories for her and Lucas. She recalled the night they finally became a couple, after the state championship game, although the events later that night were tragic the moment he called her his girlfriend made that night one of the top ranking nights of her life so far. She quickly checked herself over in the rear view mirror and straightened her clothes, then went in.

"Hey," she heard Lucas say as soon as she walked in.

"Hey," she said back at him. She walked over to the bar and sat down. The café was still a little busy for the evening rush.

Lucas came over holding Kaitlyn in one arm and some dirty plates on the other. He was truly his mother's son, "once the crowd dies down I'll be able to join you," he said to her.

"No problem, take your time," Peyton said. "Do you want me to take Kaitlyn," she asked him.

"Yeah that would be great," he said excitedly putting the plates down then handing her over the counter, "she wants attention and of course we're busy."

Things finally started getting quiet. Lucas was finishing cleaning and Kaitlyn was getting tired so Lucas took her to put her down to bed in the crib out back. Seeing Peyton with his sister didn't have the same effect on him as seeing Brooke with her, instead it reminded him of when she was with Jake and Jenny. He had forgotten how good she was with kids though and told her so. They talked a while, she helped him clean and put things away. They continued chatting a good twenty minutes after he locked up. He mentioned something about getting Kaitlyn home. Peyton took that as her cue to leave.

"Alright, I should take off anyway," she said. It wasn't late but she didn't want to over stay her welcome, especially after such a good night.

He walked her to the door. She turned around, they were very close. "This was fun," she said, "we should do it more often."

"Yeah, it was fun," he said with a smile.

She leaned in and started kissing him. He pulled away quickly, "I'm sorry Peyt, I can't," he said with his hands up.

She looked at him confused, "I thought we were having a good time."

"We were," he said, "as friends and I'm sorry if I lead you to believe it was anything more," he paused. "The distance when you're at school and my mom and your dad. It's all just too much," he finished sadly. She just nodded, looking crushed, then left.