A/N: Peyton is not the bad guy, and I'm not trying to portray her as such. I happen to like her, but when it comes to Lucas, she can never make up her mind. I don't think any less of her. Just hope that's clear.

Title: This Love
Pairing: Lucas/Peyton
Rating: PG

He's tired of this.

This love has taken its toll on me
She said goodbye too many times before

The back and forth is becoming too much to bear. This is a dance he doesn't know how to execute properly, and one he's not sure he wants to learn.

Her indecisiveness is her own burden.

Or so it should be. It's not his responsibility.

Somehow he makes it his.

She smiles, and it's rare. He holds onto it, because it's all he can do to keep himself sane.

And while he's trying not to, he is exhausting himself. Part of him wonders how she has the energy to do it.

Runarounds are her specialty.

She wants him.

She doesn't.

She loves him.

And suddenly, she's not so sure anymore.

What she's giving him isn't enough. He needs a little more certainty than this.

But he does try. Above all else, she has to know he tries. Her happiness is his first priority.

I tried my best to feed her appetite
So hard to keep her satisfied

For as long as they've done this tango, he always looks out for her first.

Peyton doesn't know what she wants. She needs options, more than what he's offering.

It's all or nothing with Lucas.

Kept playing love like it was just a game
Pretending to feel the same Then turn around and leave again

It's always something with Peyton. One logical excuse after another. They keep piling up and she finds that she can't see underneath the dust anymore.

She forgets why she's running away from him, and then she runs faster.

While it may not hold much worth, she does love him.

Maybe.

She thinks.

Sometimes.

And he loves her. He really does.

What he's learning is that it's not enough. The way this works, it's never enough.

His heart is hers for the taking. It's the thing he offers the most.

She shies away from it again. It's the thing she does best.

With a sigh, he relents.

Lucas isn't one to give up, but he's too tired to keep going.

This is how Peyton is given up.

She finds herself breaking more than she expects.

Suddenly, she realizes what she should have known. There are times when she undermines herself, and it isn't until afterwards that she sees it.

And her heart is breaking in front of me
I have no choice cause I won't say goodbye anymore

Lucas is what she wants. She loves him.

She thinks.

Possibly.

On occasion.

Maybe it's the runaround she misses.

Either way, Peyton breaks a little bit more.