Layton was standing with Jamie, Kaycee and Jeremy. Jamie and Jeremy were talking about the basketball team and Layton jumped into the conversation often, but Kaycee looked bored. She was a cheerleader and she didn't get the sport really, she just cheered for it.
Kaycee interrupted the conversation and whispered in Jamie's ear. Layton could tell it was something suggestive because the next minute they had excused themselves and disappeared into the house.
Lucas, Haley, Brooke and some lady whose name she didn't know were coming outside. Layton briefly wondered what they had been doing and who the woman was, but the next second Jeremy's lips were on hers.
Layton lost herself in the kiss, but broke away after a moment. "We can't do this here. All my family is here," she said.
"I was just wondering what you were thinking about, my Fairy Girl," he replied, placing a kiss on her nose.
Layton smiled at the nickname and put her hand in his. "I don't know. I can't really remember anymore," she admitted, but the truth was she didn't want to talk about it.
She was sure Lucas was her father. She could tell she had his eyes and she did notice the other resemblances. The only thing she was worried about was the brown haired woman who had shown up today. She wanted her mom to get back together with Lucas, but if this lady was with him already then it would be even more difficult to get them together.
It was already difficult because of Colby. She didn't want another body in the mix. She had seen Lucas kiss that woman earlier.
Layton sighed and brought her thoughts to the guy in front of her. She pulled him to the side of the house so they could sit down together and have some privacy.
She sat on the grass and pulled him down next to her before kissing him. After they broke away he looked at her quizzically. "What was that for, my Fairy Girl?" he asked.
She smiled. "I've kinda wanted to do that all day," she replied. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
She paused a minute before adding, "Since we beat you at basketball, you know," with a smirk.
Jeremy laughed. "Yeah, where did you learn to play basketball anyway?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I have grown up watching Nate teach the game to Jamie and Kyle. I was bound to pick up some moves. You know I made the girls basketball team," she said modestly.
Jeremy smiled at her and kissed her forehead as he played with her fingers. "Well, you are just full of surprises, my Fairy Girl," he said.
Layton thought about it for a minute. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked him, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.
He kissed her softly. "Definitely a good thing," he replied. After a moment he added. "You're so different that anyone I've ever dated before," he said.
Layton wasn't quite sure that was a good thing, but she leaned forward and rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
Jeremy wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. He was being honest when he said she was different. It was a good thing, though, he knew. It was refreshing to be with someone who wasn't so superficial.
He could talk about basketball with her, which he had never been able to do with his previous girlfriends. He could also just sit with her doing nothing, which was nice, too.
If he had been with any other girl they'd be making out, he knew, but while he wanted to kiss her, it wasn't just about that. The whole relationship with her was a new thing for him.
Part of him hated it when his friends teased him about it, but part of him was glad she was changing him. He kissed her temple softly.
Layton smiled, perfectly content in his arms. If this was how her mother felt in Lucas' arms then she would do anything to get her mom and Lucas back together. Her mother deserved happiness. So, she was sure, did Lucas. Even if he had left, she was ready to forgive him.
Her mother was another story, she knew. Peyton liked to build up walls to keep from being hurt and Layton knew it. She just had to find a way for Lucas to get in past her walls without either of them realizing it.
When Jeremy kissed her temple, thoughts of Peyton and Lucas were forced out of her mind. She loved that he had that affect on her. She was, dare she say it, possibly beginning to fall in love with him.
Everyone warned her against him. Haley, Jamie, who had known him for three years, and her friends at school, but she didn't listen. She didn't want to listen. She had fallen too far for him to believe anything bad about him.
She wanted to believe he wasn't going to hurt her, she needed to. She knew she didn't deserve him. It was amazing that she had him, and she didn't want to let him go.
Jeremy was thinking the opposite. Layton was so innocent; she deserved someone better than him. At the same time, he didn't want to let her go, at that point he couldn't. He was falling for her, he knew, he just hoped there was something there to catch him if it didn't work out.
It was a chance for both of them, but it was a chance they both knew they had to take.