Chapter 37: Suspicions
Brooke and Chase have been having the time of their life being together, but it wasn't the same for Peyton and Lucas. It started out perfect: he'd always bring her presents; always tell her he loved her; never wanting to do anything that didn't involve her, but months passed, and Lucas would slowly spend less time with her, and time at the office. At first she didn't mind. She understood he had to work, but soon it was like she hardly saw him. It was kind of like a déjà vu of when she was with Jake.
She decided to do something she never did with Jake, actually talk about it with Lucas. She called him, and begged him to come home early that day, they needed to talk. Lucas followed her orders, and arrived home. He opened the door, and gave her flowers. "Hey." He kissed her on the cheek. Peyton forced a smile, "Thanks." She said about the flowers.
"So what's wrong?" Lucas' voice was full of concern.
"Nothing, I just wanted to see my boyfriend." Peyton told him. "It's like we haven't spent a lot of time together lately." She explained to him.
"I know, works just busy right now. But I promise, soon, I'll be all yours." He shot her his crooked smile that she adored about him.
Peyton took that answer, but she still wanted to know more. "So what's wrong with work? Is there something wrong? Is that's why you're needed so much?"
Lucas laughed at how she sounded suspicious of his actions, "No, nothing wrong. We have a lot more clients than usual, and the employees are working their asses off to complete all the assignments on time."
"What's your assignment?" Peyton interrogated.
Lucas looked up shocked. Peyton never was this interested in his work. "I have 3 accounts to finish." He didn't want to get into the specifics.
"What accounts?" She continued to push.
Lucas was soon getting annoyed of being questioned. "Peyton is there something you're not telling me? What's up with all the questions?" His tone grew angry.
Peyton shook her head. "Nothing, I just wanted to know about your work."
"Why?"
"I haven't seen you in awhile. You know how much I hate it when you stay overtime. You know what I've been through with Jake."
"You're comparing me to Jake?" Lucas was offended.
This was their first fight as a couple. "No, I'm just telling you that I hate it when you stay at work late."
"So you're telling me to just come home, and forget about work so you can feel happy."
Peyton didn't like where this was heading. "Luke, that's not what I meant."
"Then what do you mean, Peyton?" Lucas asked her, his temper rising. "I can't only please you. I need to have a job, and I'm sorry if I haven't been home lately, but please, don't tell me you hate it being alone. You weren't the one alone looking at someone you loved with another person." Lucas brought up the past.
"Why are you bringing that up?" Peyton was confused.
Lucas didn't want to do this right now, "Peyton, I just came home from a very hard day at work, and you wanna fight?"
"Fine, let's just go eat dinner." Peyton started off to the dining room.
"I just lost my appetite." Lucas said, walking upstairs. Peyton heard their bedroom door slam shut. Peyton stood at the dining table, not knowing what to do. This was their first fight as a couple, and she just didn't know how to react. She knows that fights in a relationship are normal, but this was different.
After eating her dinner, she went upstairs and went inside her bedroom. It was 9:30, and Lucas was already in bed. She took off her shoes, and changed into her nightgown. She got into the bed, and faced the opposite side where Lucas was sleeping.
Brooke and Peyton had lunch together. Brooke laid out food on her dining table. "So how are you?" Brooke asked, pouring lemonade in a glass.
"I'm fine," Peyton didn't sound convincing.
"P. Sawyer, do you know who you're talking to? I've known you all your life and I know if you're lying. Tell me what's wrong." Brooke asked her, sitting down next to her.
"Nothing, it's just…" Brooke stared at her with attentive eyes. "Me and Lucas had our first fight last night."
Brooke laughed, "Trouble in paradise?" Brooke joked.
"It was different. I mean yeah, we had our first fight as a couple, but it was more than that. I got the feeling like he was keeping something from me, and I hate secrets" Peyton said.
"Peyton, did you act upon your natural instincts, and try to rise it out of him?" Peyton looked away, embarrassed. Brooke laughed again. "Peyton, secrets in a relationship are okay. That's what keeps the ride interesting." Peyton stayed silent. Chase walked in, and saw the two having lunch.
"Hey," Chase kissed Brooke. "What are you girls talking about?"
"Peyton and Lucas just had their first fight as a couple." Brooke said. Chase pulled out a chair.
Peyton didn't feel comfortable talking about this. "It wasn't a big deal." She lied.
Brooke rolled her eyes, "She's worried that Lucas is keeping something from her."
Chase smiled. "Did you talk to him about it?"
"Of course not," Brooke answered for Peyton. "Peyton innocently starts a conversation that has something to do about what she wants to know, and then she interrogates that person until they admit what she wants to know." Brooke explained as if she was there. Brooke laughed as the look on Peyton's face showed she was extremely accurate about the recent events. "Peyton, all relationships have ups and downs." Brooke stated.
"Peyton, I'd be lying if I said our marriage was all happy, and sunny, but truth be told, we have our bad days." Chase said. "But at the end of the day, I love my wife, and I know that those times that we fight, make our marriage much stronger." Brooke smiled at Chase.
"We haven't spoken since last night. When I woke up, he was already gone."
"I have an idea," Brooke started. "Why don't we all go out on an outing? I mean, I can get some time off work; I'm sure Chase can too. And this will be the perfect time to go out and get a different scenery. We can all use it." Brooke proposed.
"I'm not sure…I mean Lucas said he has all these deadlines." Peyton protested.
Brooke touched her arm, "I'm sure he'll go."
Peyton went home afterwards, and Lucas was already home. "Hey," she said quietly.
Lucas smiled at her. "Hi."
She got a smile, that had to be something right? "I just came from Brooke's," She said. "They actually had a great idea."
"I bet they did," Lucas had a tone of sarcasm.
"We should all go out this weekend. They have a cottage up north, and we should go."
Lucas stopped what he was doing, "I can't. I have work."
"I know, but…"
"What brought this idea on? Did you tell them about our argument last night? You asked them to fix our problem?" Lucas thought it was pathetic that Peyton had to go to Brooke.
Peyton was sick of defending her actions to Luke. "No, actually I didn't even tell her anything. She just thought it would be fun if we all went out." She started walking up the stairs.
"Well, I can't go." Luke repeated.
"That's too bad, but I'm still going." Peyton told him.
The weekend came fast, and Brooke and Chase were already outside her house to pick the two up. "P. Sawyer!" Brooke yelled
Peyton came out with her suitcase. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Where's Luke?" Chase asked.
Peyton didn't tell them yet. "Oh, he's not coming. He had to work."
"Don't worry," Brooke touched her cousin's arm. "You'll still have fun."
Then, Lucas came out of the house with his bags. "Sorry guys." He walked over to the car.
Brooke and Peyton exchanged looks. "I thought you had to work." Brooke said.
"I cancelled it. You were right, we need this." He looked over to Peyton and smiled. He mouthed the words 'sorry.'
Peyton nodded, and returned the smile. Chase put everyone's bags in the trunk of his black range rover. "Okay, let's go!" Brooke said enthusiastically.
Once they got there, they went into their rooms, and went to get settled in. "I'm sorry," Lucas said back.
"No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that." Peyton apologized. "I'm glad you came." She said to him.
"Well, I wasn't going to let you be the third wheel." He joked.
The rest of weekend was perfect. Lucas and Peyton seemed to get back to their old selves. They were joking with each other; all smiles. That fight was way in the past now. They couldn't wait to go back home with the same attitude.
That Monday, Lucas was getting ready for work. "I just have this one meeting, and I'll be home really quick." Lucas assured her.
Peyton nodded, "Take your time."
Lucas kissed Peyton before leaving.
Lucas left his cell phone on their night stand, and when it rang, Peyton picked it up. "Hello?"
"Luke, where are you? I've been waiting for more than an hour." A woman's voice said.
"I'm sorry. Luke's not here. Who is this?"
The woman's voice replied, "Its Lindsay. Who is this?"
Peyton was angry. "This is Lucas' girlfriend."
"Girlfriend? I'm sorry. Uh….I'll just…Uh…I got to go. Bye." The woman stuttered.
Peyton hung up the phone. She was furious. All those time he was staying at work late, he was probably with this Lindsay girl. Was Lucas really cheating on her? Lindsay had the voice of a 26-year old. She sounded beautiful. Why would she be calling him? Maybe she was a co-worker. Maybe she was over-reacting. But she sounded weird when she found out Peyton was his girlfriend. If it was just a co-worker, she wouldn't have hung up so quickly, right? Peyton's mind was swirling with questions.
Hours passed, and Lucas walked into the bedroom, looking for something. "Hey, have you seen…" He trailed off.
"You forgot your cell phone." Peyton held it in her hands, keeping her voice even.
"Oh, thanks." He took it from her.
Peyton needed to ask him. "Was she mad at you for being late?"
"Who?" Lucas asked.
"Lindsay. Was Lindsay mad at you?" She repeated.
Lucas stopped what he was doing, the look on his face implied she wasn't supposed to know anything about Lindsay. He walked to her. "Peyton."
"Get away from me," her voice cracked. She walked to the other side of the room. "Who's Lindsay?" She choked back tears.
"No one." Lucas tried to assure her.
"No one? She sounded pretty upset that you had a girlfriend." She stared at Lucas with accusing eyes. "Are you sleeping with her?"
"What?" He couldn't believe she was asking this. "Peyton I told you I was in love with you. Why would you think something like that?" Lucas defended.
Peyton was finally connecting the previous events. "That's why you didn't want to tell me about your work. Because you were never at work. All those late nights at the office, all of those going to the bars with friend; you were with her weren't you?" She broke into tears. "How could you do this to me?"
"Peyton, you're over reacting."
"Am I? I love you, Lucas. I broke off my engagement to be with you. I moved in with you because I believed you loved me."
"Peyton, I'm not cheating on you. Lindsay is someone who is working for me." Lucas tried to tell her.
Peyton continued on shaking her head, "No." She didn't want to believe it. "You're lying! I can't – I can't do this!" She couldn't breathe. She took her purse, and left.
"Peyton! Peyton! Peyton!!" But Peyton already left.
Peyton called Brooke, and begged her to meet her at a restaurant. She started telling Brooke everything that happened. It was passed midnight, and Peyton still didn't come home. Lucas kept calling her cell phone, but no one answered. Each passing minute, each passing hour, Lucas grew more and more worried. Knowing Peyton, she was probably with Brooke. He called Brooke a couple of times, but again, no one answered. Lucas called Chase, and the two went after them.
Chase continued to call Brooke's cell phone. Finally after the 10th try, Brooke answered. "Hello?"
"Babe, where are you?" Lucas looked relieved when Chase finally got an answer.
"I'm at the cellar with Peyton. Why?"
"I've been calling you. Why weren't you picking up the phone?" Chase asked with worry shaking in his voice. He told Lucas where they were, and Lucas started driving in that direction.
"Sorry, I turned my phone off. It was low-battery." She told her husband.
"Look, Brooke. We're coming to get you. Don't move." Chase ordered her.
"Okay," Brooke agreed. "I love you." Then she hung up her cell phone. "Chase is coming." She told Peyton.
Not long after, both Chase and Lucas got out of the car. "Are you okay?" Chase went straight to Brooke. Brooke nodded.
"C'mon, let's go." Lucas grabbed Peyton's arm, and forcing her into the car. Chase opened the door for Brooke, and shut it once she was inside. Chase went into the passenger seat. Lucas started driving. "What's wrong with you, Peyton!? Why didn't you call?"
"Oh, I thought you'd be waiting for a call from Lindsay." Peyton said bitterly.
Lucas sighed. "Peyton, I'm not cheating on you!" Lucas said for the final time. "She's someone who works for me. I had a meeting with her today."
"Then why did you lie?"
"I wasn't lying! We had a meeting. I was late, she called my cell phone, and you picked up. End of story." Lucas explained to her. "You're overreacting!"
"I don't think that I am." Peyton said to Lucas angrily.
"Peyton, stop." Brooke said quietly.
Peyton started hitting Lucas from the backseat. "Stop!" Lucas said, using one hand to shield himself.
"Peyton!" Brooke said, trying to stop her cousin. "Stop it! He's driving!"
Chase kept looking back, noticing a pair of headlights behind them. "Luke, did you guys notice that car has been on our tail since we left the restaurant?" Chase pointed out.
A/N: Hey readers. I just wanted to start off by saying that I'm sorry it takes me awhile to write chapters. I try my hardest to catch up with the plot as soon as possible but it's hard with school, and work. So please forgive me if it takes two week for the next chapter to come up. Next thing I want to say is that please don't give up on this story. If you like this story, trust me it'll get good. In the next couple of chapters, there's heartbreak, death, new life, forgiveness, and happy endings. Please stay tuned. I'm so excited to keep on writing. Please continue to read, and reviewing. Thanks!