House of the Scotts
Something was wrong, I immediately noticed Lydia's strange behavior. She had come with me after the cheerleading training, which she only attended as a visitor, and had asked me to help prepare my birthday party. We had just arranged some paper streamers and balloons in the living room, when she suddenly broke her silence.
"Can I stay with you for a couple days?"
I lowered the balloon that I was about to inflate and looked at her confused. "Sure you can," I said slowly. "Did the Bakers banish you from the house?" The question was meant as a joke, and I was shocked when she suddenly burst into tears. Feeling worried, I led her to the sofa, where we both sat down. "What's going on?" I asked softly.
"I told you I had the appointment with the doctor," she said in a halting voice.
I nodded. "Yes, you wanted to find out about the baby's gender."
"When we got there, Davis changed his mind. He suddenly said he'd rather be surprised," she continued in her story. "But I wanted to know it anyway. The doctor told me that it wouldn't work if one parent knew and the other didn't."
I frowned and tried to understand what she wanted to say. "Okay, let me get this straight, you wanted to know it and he didn't?"
She nodded. "Yes, but in the end I told the doctor that I didn't want to know either. Davis and I had a bad argument after that. And since then we don't talk anymore."
I looked at her in shock. "You texted me three days ago that you had the appointment," I said.
"Yeah, and we haven't talked with each other since then," she said, sighing. "But that's not all. He has moved out of the bedroom and is now sleeping in the guest room."
I looked at her incredulously. The two had been so close. How could that happen, that they were now separated? "Did you ask me if you could stay with me because you wanted to avoid him?" I asked hesitantly.
She nodded. "That's one reason and also because I don't know how to deal with it." She caressed her rounded belly. "I talked to my mom about it and she told me that my dad and her didn't want to know the sex of the baby either. It was only after Jamie was born that they learned it was a boy."
"It's even nicer to be surprised," I said.
"Yeah, that's Davis's opinion too," she said quietly. "And I understand him now. I had a lot of time to think about it. And after talking to my mom, I now know that I was just selfish. I should have understood his side as well. But instead, I avoided him. And now I don't know if we'll ever talk to each other again."
When she started to sob again, I took her in my arms. "If you really want to reconcile with him, you should go and talk to him."
"I'm really sorry what I said to him. And I hate it when we fight!"
"It's not good for the baby anyway," I said thoughtfully and touched her belly gently. "You have to talk to him," I said urgently. "Otherwise you can't clarify your misunderstanding."
"Can I stay just one night," she begged. "Or maybe two. Then I have time to mull it over what to tell him as an apology."
"Two nights," I agreed reluctantly. "It's my birthday then and I invited Davis too. So you'll meet him again at my birthday party."
"Thanks, Sawyer! Then I'll go and get my travel bag out of the car."
I looked at her stunned. "You have your travel bag with you? You couldn't know if I would agree."
"That's true, but I was hoping for that." She wiped the tears from her cheeks and left the living room.
I looked after her with mixed feelings. For a moment, I wondered if I should call Davis to let him know that Lydia would stay with me for a few nights. But I immediately rejected the idea. It was better if I stood out of it. It wasn't my business. I got up, grabbed the next balloon and continued with my work to inflate it.
House of the Scotts
Two days later
Make a big gesture. Those had been my exact words to Davis, and now I was standing here at the doorstep to Sawyer's house, wanting to do just that. I had left L.A. to be with her. Therefore, it was time to finally admit my feelings for her to the public eye. I was fed up with hiding. Davis had openly professed to Lydia and the baby. I wanted to do the same. Everyone should know that Sawyer and I belonged together, and that should be a first step in the right direction. Still, I was nervous when I knocked on the door. It was Sawyer's mom, Peyton, who opened it and looked at me with wide disbelieving eyes.
"Justin?!" she exclaimed in astonishment. "I thought you were in L.A."
I ignored her comment, but looked over her shoulder. "Hi, Mrs. Scott! Is Sawyer here?"
She nodded and let me in, while her gaze followed me.
"Did you want to come to the party? It will start in two hours," she explained.
I shook my head. "Not exactly... I mean, of course... I wanted to go to her party, but I wanted to see her first," I stammered.
"I think she's in her room. Do you want to go up?"
I could feel that my appearance was a surprise for her. Apparently Sawyer hadn't told her mother about us. As I walked upstairs to Sawyer's room, I felt her questioning gaze. I hesitated for a moment, then tentatively knocked on the door. It wasn't long before she opened. I'll never forget this very moment. The way she looked at me; shock, surprise and joy were reflected in her face at the same time as she stared at me in disbelief. "Hey," I said softly. "Congratulations..." I couldn't finish my sentence because she uttered a scream and then literally flew into my arms and pressed her mouth onto mine. Apparently it didn't bother her much that Lydia was watching us with a broad grin on her face. I tried not to deepen the kiss, because I had actually come to talk to her. Gently but determined, I freed myself from her arms and took a step back. "Congratulations!" I repeated again and smiled.
"You didn't tell me you were here to visit," she said sulkily.
"It's not a visit," I said, looking quickly at Lydia, who winked at me. "Um... Sawyer, I think we need to talk," I began hesitantly.
"I'll leave the two of you alone."
Lydia wanted to pass by, but I grabbed her arm. "Davis is coming, too," I told her.
"I don't care," she said coolly and then quickly ran down the stairs.
Shaking my head, I watched her go. "Hasn't she still forgiven him?" I sighed.
"She is just playing cool," Sawyer said. "She was crying all night. She is unhappy that they had the fight."
"Didn't look like that to me." I frowned skeptically. "If they are already arguing about silly stuff like that, what else might happen when the baby is born?"
"You didn't stop by to talk to me about Lydia and Davis, did you?" She asked, grinning. "I think we can use our short time better."
When she took my hand and pulled me into her room, I went with her. As soon as she had closed the door, she put her arms around my neck again and looked deep into my eyes.
"You don't know how much I missed you," she said softly, leaning her forehead against mine. "How long are you going to stay in Tree Hill?"
That was the moment that I had been looking forward to all this time. Gently, I stroked her cheek, slipping my hand through her blond curls. "Forever," I whispered. "I left L.A. for good. You were right, texting can't replace a real relationship. That's why I came back. And this time, I'll stay in Tree Hill." Her lips felt soft and warm as she lowered her mouth to mine again. And this time I didn't resist, as her kisses became more and more passionate.
"You stay... forever...?" She gasped, as she interrupted the kiss for a moment.
I nodded. "I can't live without you. I know that now. And I don't want to." I cleared my throat before continuing. "I want us to make our relationship official. But only if you want that too."
"Of course I want that," she said and laughed happily. "That's the best birthday gift you could ever give me!"
I had to smile involuntarily when Izzy's words came to my mind. "Actually, I intended to surprise you at the party. But then I thought it might be better to talk to you first."
She looked at the clock. "We have two more hours until the first guests arrive. I think we can do something better with our time than talk. Don't you think?"
I saw the glow in her eyes and laughed. "Yeah, I think that too," I said, pulling her back into my arms to pick up where we left off.
