She walks slowly down the deserted street, letting the wind blow through her hair and make her curls fly around her face. She pulls her leather jacket tighter around her thin frame hoping to ebb the chill that's running through her body; it barely makes a difference and she wonders if it's because her shivers have nothing to do with the temperature. As she crosses the bridge that will bring her closer to her final destination, she closes her eyes in an attempt to mentally prepare herself for the conversation she's about to have. The conversation she would give anything to not be a part of…but that's not an option. She knows that she has to tell him, even if her legs are itching to sprint off in the opposite direction.
She tells herself that he's nothing like Dan Scott. He's responsible. He has a good heart. She won't once again find herself relating to Karen Roe. Lucas might be scared out of his mind, but he won't leave her alone and stranded. She's sure of it…at least that's what she keeps telling herself as she forces her Converse clad feet forward.
Pregnant at sixteen was definitely not how she saw her life playing out, and she suddenly thinks of her father and the fact that he's going to kill her when he finally gets home. She'll be showing by the time he comes back from his next trip, and she's not sure whether she should tell him via web cam and give him time to cool down, or just avoid the conversation all together until her protruding stomach makes it entirely impossible. She wishes that the latter was actually an option, but she knows Karen won't let that happen. The raven haired woman would probably start trying to get in touch with her father right away, especially with how close the two of them seemed to getting recently.
The thought actually stops her in her tracks for a moment. The grandparents of her child might be dating…something about the thought just seemed so…wrong. Sure her dad and Karen would just stay grandparents, but in the words of her ex best friend, that would make her some weird version of a mother-aunt. She shakes her head and shudders at the thought, a small laugh escaping her lips at her suddenly random train of thought.
She balls her hands into fists as she buries them in her jacket pockets and keeps moving. She walks around the park until she reaches the basketball counts, and although she's not surprised to see Lucas staring out over the water, she is a little put off by how tense he looks in a place that's always seemed to bring him calm. She takes a deep breath, trying to once again prepare herself for what she's about to do…what she has to do. She bites her lip and takes a few steps closer to him.
But she stops less than 5 steps later and all the courage she had been building up suddenly vanishes when she see what Lucas is actually looking at, and it's not the reflection of the sky against the water like she originally thought. There, sitting on the table in front of him was Brooke. She can hear their conversation and she wishes that she was further away, that there was more noise around them. She wishes that she had never come here at all and because it's not too late to pretend, she pushes back her tears and turns around.
"So this is why you showed up here in the first place…why you looked so startled to see me show up." Peyton spins around at the sound of Brooke's suddenly enraged voice. She looks at the brunette whose suddenly got an accusatory fingers stabbed in her direction. She watches as Lucas turns around and catches her eye, both of them looking like some pathetic version of a deer caught in headlights.
"Brooke…" Lucas turns back towards the brunette whose grabbed her bag off the picnic table and is on her feet and ready to storm off. She doesn't belong there, in this moment…in their moment. She wanted to back away slowly and give them back the privacy they had only a moment ago, but her feet seemed to be glued to the pavement.
"Don't even say anything, Lucas. You can forget that I ever said anything. I hope you and that backstabbing whore have a happy little life together. I don't need anything from either of you." There's venom in her voice as she jabs her finger into Lucas's chest. "Just stay the hell away from me. Both of you." Brooke turns to leave, but Peyton finally manages to make her legs move, and she's by the brunette's side in just a few seconds, her hand grasping her former friend's arm to stop her. Brooke tears her arm away and shoots a glare at the blonde. "Do I know you? Oh, yeah…you're that lying bitch who tried to call herself my best friend."
"Lucas didn't come here for me." She ignores Brooke's bitter words and murderous glare. "He didn't even know I was coming. I was looking for him…to tell him that there's nothing between us…that there's never been and never will be anything between us." She watches as Brooke shots her eyes towards the boy who's driven a wedge between them. Peyton keeps her eyes trained on Brooke, she can't bear to look at Lucas; she's too scaredof what she'll find on his face. "It looks like I got here just in time because apparently you two have a long road ahead of you." Peyton nods her head towards Brooke's flat stomach and the brunette darts her eyes back to the girl in front of her. "Look, I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you…both of you. Lucas, Brooke really loves you, so trust the fact that she's the one for you and be there for her because she's gunna need you. You're gunna need each other. Just make sure that kid doesn't wind up with a million and one issues like the rest of us did. Tree Hill's had enough drama for two generations."
Peyton forces a smile as she spares a glance at Lucas before looking back at her former best friend. She waits a moment for some kind of response from them…either of them, but they give her nothing. She can't say she's surprised…she's pretty sure she just threw them both for a loop. She bites her bottom lip as she moves forwards and wraps her arms around Brooke; the brunette tenses in response, but doesn't immediately pull away. "Don't give up on him, Brooke. He's one of the only good guys in this damn town and you deserve him. Take care of yourself, Davis." She pulls away from the brunette who looks utterly confused and can't seem to decide whether to keeps her eyes on Peyton of Lucas.
She'd kill to be able to give Lucas a hug, but she doubts she'd be able to leave this park the way she needs to. So she settles for a nod in his direction and the smallest of smiles. She walks towards him and stops a few feet away, refusing to get too close...it's too dangerous. "She loves you and she needs you, so don't hurt her again, okay?" It takes everything in her not to let the tears break free as she whispers the words. She spares one last look at Brooke's face before she turns and walks away, her hands buried back in her pockets and her eyes glassy. She steels herself against the cold that's suddenly surrounding her and continues on her lonely walk home, her heart shattering into smaller and smaller pieces with each step she takes.