A/N: agh, i am trying to stick to the original plot just a little bit so, here goes. Also, there's some swearing in this chapter.
Disclaimer: Danneel Harris would have been a regular in S6 if i had owned. also, Rachel and Nathan would have had cutee babies in S4 and spent all their time bickering/bantering and made me v happy. So yeah I don't own. but girl is still a HBIC and i LOVEEEEE that she and Hilarie (Queen of all HBICs of all time) are such good friends. BRIDESMAIDS people. it made me joyful. And i should stop rambling cos it's like half 5 here and i should really go to bed.
The queue for the Scott's bathroom was as long as the damn house and frankly, Peyton just wasn't a patient enough person for that. She ducked around Deb and the guy who wasn't Owen that worked at Tric and slipped into Luke's room to use his en suite.
"Busted," Lucas interrupted her overly exaggerated tip toeing and she turned guiltily. She flashed him a wide, what me? smile and he rolled his eyes, "doesn't work on me anymore gorgeous."
"You're hiding out in here too," she pointed out, pouting and putting her hands on her hips.
He smirked, "I'm avoiding anymore of my mom's friends asking me if they can arrange dates with their oh so eligible daughters."
She raised an eyebrow, "do I need to go out there and stake my claim?"
"Nah, I think they got it when pretty much all I talked about was how pretty you look in that dress."
"Hmmm," she clambered up on the bed and sat comfortably on his legs, "are you sure that was the topic of conversation? You looked pretty cosy with that girl in the floral petticoat thing back there."
He grinned at her suddenly, "are you jealous?"
"What?" She blew her hair out of her face, attempting a casual roll of her eyes, "me?"
"Yup," he ran his hands up her legs, smirking, "you think everyone wants a piece of me."
"Your brain is living in a fictitious land," she shot back, swinging her legs back off the bed.
He laughed and grabbed her hips, "hey hey, wait a minute babe-"
"I'm not jealous," she protested, trying to avoid meeting his eyes- damn him.
"I believe you," he gave her a sincere look and then grinned, "but say you were-"
"Oh shut up!" She glowered at him for a second and then turned towards the bathroom, "I only came in here to use the damn bathroom."
Lucas sighed and dropped back onto the bed dramatically, "you know those other girls actually like me most of the time, they're nice to me, they-" he didn't get any further as she tossed a cushion at his face; he caught it laughing, "I'm kidding, they were all dull as hell." He examined the cushion, "although none of them would ever inflict violence on me."
"I hate you," she shouted as she marched through the door and slammed it hard, trying not to laugh all the while. Double damn him!
"And I love you," he yelled back.
She ignored him and the tingling she still felt whenever he said that and pushed a hand through her hair. She'd straightened it for the wedding but the stubborn curls were beginning to creep back in, "you don't have a set of hair straighteners lying around do you honey?"
"Ha ha," he replied dryly just as she heard the bedroom door open.
"Dude! You can't leave me out there!" It was Nathan and she heard him collapse on the bed next to his brother.
"What, you not enjoying being sociable? Shocker." There was a thumping sound and Lucas let out a muffled groan, "I was just stating the obvious."
"Just because you've recently discovered you actually like people doesn't mean the rest of us have."
"Hey! I've always been friendly."
"Pfft, I'll bet you ten bucks you've got less than thirty numbers in your phone."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Just let me see and I'll tell you."
"No Nate-"
"Luke that actually hurts-" she could hear shuffling and a cushion hitting the floor-
"Stop it! Ouch!"
"You asked for it, stop pinching me you girl."
"Ah dammit Nathan!"
"Get off man, I'm just showing you what a loner you are- ahhhh!" There was a much louder thud and then more shuffling sounds followed by a clatter and she opened the door to check on them.
Lucas and Nathan were on the floor pushing at each other, both of them looking like they were trying not laugh and finally Nathan squirmed, kneed his brother and jumped up triumphant.
"Yes! That's what you get when you mess with the better Sco-" his words were cut short when Lucas shoved a leg out and caught Nathan's feet, knocking him back onto the floor.
"Ugh," Nathan dropped his head back, defeated, "un-cool man." He opened an eye and glanced at Peyton who was watching them both with an eyebrow raised, "hey Sawyer," he said lazily, "enjoying the view?"
She rolled her eyes, "you're both idiots."
"He started it!" Lucas protested, "he tried to steal my phone!"
"Whatever dude, it's just a phone, what you got on there that's so private anyway, your diary?"
Lucas narrowed his eyes at him and then put his phone safely in his pocket, "maybe I just don't want you going through my stuff."
"Prude," Nathan said in disgust before standing up, dusting his hands off and nudging at Luke with his foot, "come on ladies, cake time."
Peyton's eyes lit up, "oh finally!"
Nathan turned to look at her affectionately, "I knew there was a reason you were cool."
"Do you think they'll let me have two pieces?"
"I'm gonna tell my ma not to let either of you have any," Lucas grumbled crossly as he stood up, "throwing cushions at me and beating me for no reason."
Both Peyton and Nathan scoffed and Nathan patted his shoulder, "dude, she likes us more than you."
"That is not true!"
Nate slung an arm over Peyton's shoulder, "is, she told me so," he said loftily.
They made their way through the tent, Nathan scowling over at Chris who waved cockily from the bar, lifting his drink at Peyton, "can I punch him?"
Peyton patted his arm, "tomorrow. Not in front of Karen."
"But it'd be so much fun," he whined.
"I'll hold him down for you man," Lucas muttered.
Nathan beamed and ruffled his hair, "I guess you're alright sometimes kid."
Lucas pushed his hand away, trying to frown, "I'm older than you!"
"No-one would believe that."
"I hate you."
"Or that."
Peyton rolled her eyes at both of them and they headed over to where Rachel, Jake and Brooke were sitting. Both Rachel and Brooke had two pieces of cake in front of them and Jake was watching with an air of incredulity.
"Where do you put it?" He was asking in an awed voice as they sat down.
"Mostly on my thighs," Rachel replied easily, licking at icing on her fork. "But then I go to the gym more than all of you put together and I look like this so, I'm ok with it," she smiled wickedly at him before continuing to devour her first piece.
"Babe," Jake leant forward to speak to Brooke but she held up a hand.
"Jake honey, you keep talking, which is distracting and it's going to end ugly if you don't leave me alone with the cake ok?"
He turned to them with wide eyes, "my girlfriend is ignoring me for sponge!"
"Sad day," Nathan said shaking his head pitifully and smirking.
Peyton smiled gratefully at Lucas when he put a piece in front of her, "I love you," she sighed happily.
"Thank you, I love you too."
She shot him a look, rolling her eyes, "I was talking to the cake fool."
Nathan snorted, "burn."
"But-" Lucas began to splutter indignantly.
Jake nudged him sympathetically, "better to just let them be my friend, trust me."
Peyton giggled before taking her first bite and closing her eyes, "oh my god this is heavenly!"
"I know right!" Rachel beamed at her, her own mouth still full of cake and icing on her cheek- Peyton chuckled and motioned to her own cheek to let her know, "I'll get it later," she replied, waving a hand dismissively.
"Mmm, yes... oh so good! Mmmhmmm," Peyton crooned. She caught Luke's eye and stopped, self conscious suddenly, "what?"
He shook his head, mouth dry and Nathan rolled his eyes, "you're making sex noises Sawyer and frankly I'm finding it a little disturbing."
She glowered at him, "this cake is totally worth the noises."
"Oh god I agree," Brooke chimed in, "in a battle between sex and cake, this cake is so the one going home with me."
Jake rubbed his chest, "I'm gonna try not to take that too personally."
She smiled sweetly at him and patted his hand, "I knew you'd understand sweetie. What about you Rach?"
Rachel looked up from where she was trying to get the exact right ratio of icing to sponge on her fork and didn't hesitate, "cake."
Nathan stared at her in shock, "what, cake or sex and you'd pick cake? Liar."
She shrugged, "the cake is reliable and delicious, it's a win win."
"Yeah but-"
"But nothing, I'm eating."
"Oh come on-"
She stood up suddenly, gritting her teeth and clutching her fork tightly, "I'm trying to eat my cake Nathan, and you're stopping me. Do you not think that for once in your life you could stop pestering me and give me five minutes alone with the cake?" Her voice had gone shrill and there were the sounds of clattering silverware and dry coughs before the entire tent fell silent. She scowled at her new audience, "what? It's good cake!"
"Here here," Keith called out, waving his own plate happily and kissing Karen's cheek at the same time.
Rachel sat back down and quirked an eyebrow at Nathan, as if to say see, before focusing her attention on her plate and ignoring them all.
"Think we've all learned a lesson here boys," Jake said quietly.
Lucas lifted his water glass in response and they both grinned at each other; Nathan was still sitting in shock, shaking his head in disbelief as he watched the girls clean their plates.
"So," Brooke sat back five minutes later and beamed at them all, "we still heading over to Tric?" She looked at them all expectantly and then elbowed Jake, "yes, no, maybe?"
"Oh," he grinned, "are we allowed to talk now?"
She rolled her eyes, "you're so dramatic baby."
"Are you kidding? I was afraid for my life!"
Peyton chuckled and then threaded her fingers through Luke's, "you wanna stay here for a bit, stay with your mom and Keith or you wanna go?"
He looked away from where he'd been watching the happy couple twirling on the dance floor, laughing softly with one another and raised his eyebrows, "you think I wanna stay here with a dozen empty cake plates in front of me?"
"As if people would actually think you could handle all that cake," she scoffed, glancing pointedly at his flat stomach, "you're practically a rake."
"Really twigs? You wanna go there?"
"Ok," she stood up, "let's not. I gotta get changed though- this is not the kind of dress I like to wear on a normal occasion."
"Heaven forbid people actually think you dress nicely ever," Rachel added from across the table.
She narrowed her eyes back at her, "well to be honest I'm surprised people didn't have coronaries when they saw you wearing floral."
"It's Karen's wedding," Rachel said firmly, "I wasn't going to wear any of my normal dresses just for the sake of not looking like a garden party frump."
"I don't understand," Jake said frowning, "you both look perfectly nice. So do you babe," he added quickly to Brooke.
Brooke beamed and squeezed his hand, "I raised you right," she said happily, before glancing at her phone, "we should just drop home to check on Jenny before we meet you guys."
Jake nodded, standing and keeping Brooke's hand in his. He turned to explain to the table, "my parents have got her for the night but we just wanna make sure they don't need anything."
We, Peyton was sure she saw Brooke flush with pleasure at the use of the word and she smiled softly over at her. Brooke smiled sweetly back.
"Sure man," Lucas stood to shake his hand- doing that strange mix of hand gestures that Peyton always found kind of hilarious- they must have sat down at one point and decided which ones they were gonna do so that they never got tangled up. She and Rachel just did the Parent Trap routine when no-one else was around and settled for a casual nod and a smirk when they were with their friends; as cool as they thought being able to perform the epic routine was, she doubted Nathan and Lucas would ever let them live it down.
As if her friend was reading her mind Rachel stood and grinned, "I'm gonna go change."
"Where's the dress with a significantly shortened length hiding?"
She smirked, "in the car."
"You got room to change in that thing?"
Rachel reached down to pat her on the head, "though the force is strong, this one is yet still young at heart."
Peyton slapped her hand away, "shut up, I was just asking!"
"Of course there's room," Rachel said easily, "it was the first thing I checked before I bought it. My backseat is awesome." Then her face fell as she seemed to remember something and she swallowed and looked away from them. Nathan was staring determinedly at the table cloth, picking at the edges with shaky fingers. "I need more cake," she muttered before stalking away.
When Rachel had vanished from the tent Peyton leant forward and grabbed Nathan's hand, "she's gone you girl."
He looked up, his eyes unreadable, "I'm gonna go find Haley."
She bit her lip in concern, "Nate-"
"I'll come to Luke's room in a minute ok?" He walked away awkwardly and she sighed, today was supposed to be uncomplicated.
Lucas draped an arm over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow as she turned to him, "you ok babe?"
"Our friends hurt my heart," she said pouting.
He laughed, "yeah? Mostly they just hurt my head, or in Nate's case, my back, or any of my limbs, depending on which of them he's kicking or punching at the time."
They wandered back to his room and she pulled jeans and a black and white Aerosmith tee shirt out of her bag. She could feel a knot of tension twisting and turning tightly in her stomach and it was making her feel sick. It hadn't been there for a while and she hadn't missed it but now it was back and she couldn't totally put her finger on what-
"Peyt?"
She blurted the words out before she could stop them, "do you think this is all gonna be ok?"
"If we keep feeding Rach cake," he said with a grin. She narrowed her eyes at him in warning and he held up his hands, "I don't know sweetness, it's Rachel; she's a freaking mystery to all but herself." He kicked his shoes off and replaced them with battered converse, "you know her better than anyone I guess, what do you think?"
Peyton sighed and tugged at her dress, "can you get this for me please?"
He stood up, brushing his hand gently across her back and kissed her shoulder before pulling on the zip, "you avoiding the question?"
"No, I just don't have an answer."
She twisted to look at him and his hands fell to her hips, "of course it'll be ok Peyton, it's my ma's wedding day you know- it's a good day."
"Ever an optimist," she said smiling widely at him.
"Hey, somebody in this crazy town has to be."
She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by her phone blaring out Konstantine and she snapped it open, "you get lost on the way to your car red?"
"Ha ha, just checking that Luke hasn't had a personality transplant, learned how to be smooth and convinced you to ditch Tric and stay home with him."
"I resent that," Lucas said down the phone, "I'm always smooth."
There was a snort from the door and they both turned to see Nathan grinning, "are you kidding? You got elbowed in the face by your own girlfriend."
"She was drunk! And she's currently half naked so do you mind?" Lucas stepped in front of Peyton, scowling at his brother.
Nathan rolled his eyes, "nothing I haven't seen dude, too often if I'm honest." He fake shuddered and Peyton flipped him off, tugging on her tee shirt with one hand.
Rachel interrupted, still on the phone, "is that Nathan?"
"Yeah." There was a silence, "Rach you still there?"
"Yeah yeah, don't fret blondie I'm still here. Just getting changed-" she could hear Rachel shuffling and the sound of an elbow hitting the window followed by a large amount of swearing.
She chuckled, "you need a hand?"
"Bite me Sawyer I was doing this kind of thing long before you even knew what back seats were actually made for."
"Ladies and gentlemen exibit a, class act Rachel Gattina," she said grinning as she tugged on her jeans and kicked her dress away.
"Oh shut-" there was the sound of the door opening and then Rachel exclaimed, "Chris what the hell?"
She stopped moving and adjusted the phone, "Rachel? What's going on?"
"It's just Chris," she could hear Rachel rolling her eyes, "Chris get out of my car- no don't touch my interior!"
"Rach?"
Nathan stepped towards Peyton frowning, "what's going on? Put her on loudspeaker," he demanded.
She obliged and then said again, "Rachel?"
"Yeah I'm here, but can you come get me? This ass won't get out of my car."
Chris's voice was slurred as he snapped back a reply, "I just wanna talk Rachel. And we need to go somewhere quiet for that."
"We are somewhere quiet Keller, this is my car! Oh man, is that vodka leaking out of your pores?"
"Be quiet, I'm concentrating!"
"Chris what are you doing? Chris stop-" she could hear the engine starting and Rachel climbing through the car, "Chris stop!"
Peyton turned to look at Nathan and Lucas in shock and then put the phone to her ear again, "Rachel, get out of the car!"
"I can't right now Peyton, it's moving. It's ok, I'll just meet you at Tric ok?"
"No!" Nathan said vehemently, "tell her Peyton, tell her to get out."
She waved a hand to shush him so that she could hear properly.
"Wait Chris this isn't the way-" there was a beat and then Rachel's voice came on the phone again, much more quietly, "ok I'm officially freaked out Peyt can you just come pick me up, please?"
"We'll be right there. Get your keys," Peyton said sharply to Lucas and marched out the door, "it's ok we'll come get you- just get Chris to pull over."
She could hear Rachel breathing hard, she sounded panicked and that made Peyton feel panicked- it wasn't often her friend got majorly upset and this- sounded bad. Nathan was practically running to the car and he pointed at Lucas, "hurry your ass up Luke. Tell Rachel we're on our way."
Peyton tugged on her seat belt and then picked up the phone again, "you still with me Rach?"
"I'm uh- I'm just- where are you?"
"We're on our way."
Nathan snatched the phone off her suddenly, "Rachel, get the hell out of the car."
"You think I'm stupid Nathan?" Rachel's angry voice filled the car, "what do you think I'm trying to do? Chris pull the hell over!"
"Keller I swear to god if you don't pull that car over-"
"Sorry Nate- I just wanna talk to Rachel here about a few things. You can stay on the line if you want; it's mostly about you anyway and why the hell she thinks you're worth pining over."
"Chris shut up and pull over!"
Peyton pushed forward, snatching at her phone, "Rach just get out of the car, we're coming to get you, just please- get out of the car ok?"
"Jesus you guys think I'm gonna jump from a moving vehicle? I'm not Bruce Willis!"
"Rachel now is not the time to be making jokes," Nathan pushed his hair back looking distraught suddenly; "I hate it when you use that as your m.o."
"And now you're criticising me? Jesus Chris stop the car I'm not even kidding- or at least turn it around so I can go back there and kick Nathan's ass! I hate you, I hate you so damn much-" her words were punctuated with what sounded like kicks and Chris was yelping.
"Rachel?"
"One sec Peyt-"
"Rach stop-"
There was a shout from Chris suddenly and Peyton could hear wheels screeching and then Rachel yelled "shit-" there was a bang and the line went dead.
She could hear the blood pumping in her ears so fast she thought maybe they'd explode. "What the hell was that?" She shrieked at Lucas and Nathan, looking up at them expectantly.
Nathan stared back at her, ashen faced and Lucas waved the phone at him, one eye on the road, "Nathan, Nathan try it again- try the number again."
Peyton snatched the phone off him when all Nathan could do was stare at his brother blankly and held down five for Rachel's cell. There was no answer, just a lame sounding unavailable message. She threw it to the floor impatiently and leant forward, "can't you go any faster Lucas?"
"Peyton I don't want to bloody kill us!"
"Just do it, please Luke!" She barely had time to answer when they spotted fence debris from the bridge over the main river strewn across the road ahead. "Oh jesus," she whispered.
"Stop the car," Nathan said hoarsely.
"Yeah Nate just let me pull over-"
"Stop the damn car Lucas!"
Nathan was out of the car in a second and racing across to the gap on the bridge fencing where Rachel's car was just visible in the water and sinking fast.
"Holy shit, Peyton call nine one one-" he pointed at her as she came towards him, "no, don't come any closer- stay back."
She ignored him and pushed forward, "no I-"
Nathan caught her roughly and twisted her round, "don't even think about it Peyton."
"Get off," she snapped; attempting to break free, "I need to-"
"Wait!"
"No!" She tugged away from him, her head swimming and her heart in her mouth, "oh god," she knelt down on the side of the bridge and yelled, "Rachel!"
There was steam billowing from the car and there was a clunk before a hissing began and more water seemed to sweep down with the suction the car was creating. There was no sign of Rachel or Chris.
"Rachel!"
In the background Lucas was gabbling information to the emergency services people- she hadn't even noticed him take the phone- before he hung up and looked over at her, "they're on their way."
"They're not gonna be in time," Nathan shouted, backing away from the edge suddenly, his eyes trained on the fast disappearing car.
"Nathan-" Peyton began to get up, "Nathan what are you doing?"
His eyes flashed as he looked at her, "she said she hated me, that can't- I can't- it can't be the last thing Rachel ever says-" his voice broke and he dropped his jacket to the floor.
"Nathan-"
He turned and tried to smile crookedly at her, "you know me Sawyer, I'm a sucker for trynna be the good guy right?"
She was caught between the desire to throw herself in front of him and the one to tug off her shoes and join him, "Nate, please-"
"Tell Haley I'm sorry ok?" And then he was taking a running jump off the edge of the bridge.
"Nathan!" She dropped to her knees, watching in horror as he disappeared under the water.
Lucas ran up beside her yelling, "Nathan!" He looked around wildly and then took a step backwards, "stay where you are and wait for the ambulance."
She scrambled up, her jeans ripping on broken glass, "what, why? Where the hell are you going?" There was smoke beginning to cloud the air around the bridge and she could barely see him, "Lucas." She waved it away desperately and stumbled towards him. "Don't even think about it-"
"It's our family Peyt."
"I know but-"
He kissed her hand roughly and then muttered, "love you," before throwing himself off the bridge after Nathan.
"Lucas!" The water covered him immediately and she fell to her knees in the debris, not caring that the skin on her hands was tearing across the splintered wood and staining the bridge. She wiped at her face, trying not to cry, trying not to black out. All she could think about was that three of the most important people in her life were six feet below, immersed in murky water, surrounded by tons of metal and glass, and had left her alone with no-one to help and nothing she could to do about any of it.
