I was going to post last night but the document manager wouldn't let me so I'm sorry for the even further delay!
Sorry it took so long but I'm back and here's the next chapter I have finished. Things are going to unfold and begin to play out in the next few chapters. Feelings will be revealed; relationships tested and there will be some hooking up (But who will be hooking up is the question). This chapter is sort of a transition chapter to bring everyone back together and expose the secrets that lie between the gang plus Madison and Shane. Keep reading and reviewing
Some things I've got to clear up about the couples. Brooke and Lucas are obviously married with two kids. Haley and Nathan are still engaged and planning to get married after college. Jake and Peyton broke up because Peyton wasn't ready to take the responsibility in being a mother. If there's anything else you need cleared up just ask in your reviews, which everyone should be leaving!
Another thing to clear up is that Lucas and Brooke bought a house. I'm not sure if I said they lived in an apartment or not but they bought a house. If you ask how then Karen and Keith helped Brooke and Lucas out with a loan so they bought a house. Sorry if there was any confusion in any of my explanations; I'm just trying to get this chapter out as quick as I can!
"I never expected her to do anything like this. She was doing so well with me." Shane finally said after driving a while in silence.
"This isn't your fault." Peyton lightly touched his arm in reassurance, "If anything it's mine."
"I thought you'd say that." Shane squeezed out a slight smile.
"Oh and why is that?" Peyton's cheeks brightened with pink.
"You seem like the type of person who blames themselves for everything." Shane glanced over, stealing a glimpse of this beautiful girl sitting next to him. He could see he had a giant chip on her shoulder, probably from holding the weight of the world.
"Maybe because everything's always my fault." Peyton turned to face the window, watching the silhouetted trees whiz past.
"I really messed up Hales." Brooke whined following close behind Shane and Peyton.
"You've been saying that a lot lately." Haley laughed. Why was she always the psychologist of the group? Maybe it was her excellent advice and outstanding listening skills.
"This time I messed up big time." Brooke glanced quickly at Haley to show her seriousness on the issue at hand.
"Peyton will forgive you." Haley reassured Brooke for the like hundredth time since they got in the car.
"How do you know that?" Brooke said rather rudely.
"Because you forgave her after what she did to you." Haley thought, "Plus, I think what she did was much worse than what you did."
"Did you have to remind me of that incident?" Brooke hated thinking about the whole horrible ordeal. In a way she really hadn't forgiven Peyton and probably never would.
"Well I do have a point." Haley James was never wrong.
"Haley," Brooke smiled sweetly, "Shut up."
"Okay." Haley giggled, "Where's Peyton taking us anyway?"
That's when the familiar sign came into view. The roads at night had changed from the roads in daylight.
"Tree Hill?" They asked in unison.
"So this is where you're from?" Shane asked as they drove down Man Street.
"Sadly yes." Peyton said flatly no happy that she was home. She knew that she needed to get out to do bigger and better things but she just couldn't; her whole life was here in Tree Hill.
"It can't be that bad." Shane coaxed Peyton to open up.
"Trust me it is. Lots of bad memories are hiding around every corner." Peyton was not willing to share her life story with Shane. He would judge her just like everyone else does and she doesn't need to go through another judgment day.
"Bad memories, eh? Like what?" Shane pried at her, hoping the walls she had built would come crumbling down.
"You don't want to know." Peyton said and focused her stare back out the window, "Make a left up here."
"Ay, ay captain." Shane mocked a pirate, hoping that Peyton would laugh.
"You're such a dork, you know that?" Peyton chuckled a bit. Shane knew he had made some headway with this intriguing girl he just had to push her a little more to get the whole nine yards.
"So I've been told." Shane smiled, "You're beautiful you know."
"So I've been told." Peyton's cheek once again brightened, this time becoming a deep red. She praised the mask of night because without it Shane would've noticed.
"Well maybe after we sort this whole thing with Madison out you could show me around this town full of bad memories." Shane wanted to learn more about this girl and her friends. They were obviously not you're normal group of teenagers.
"Maybe," Peyton replied softly. She didn't know what to say to this or how to answer. Shane was different than the guys she had gone out with. He wasn't a player like Nathan, taken like Lucas or preoccupied like Jake. With all her relationships she hadn't been as lucky as Haley and Brooke had been in finding their one true loves and in high school no doubt.
"Really?" Shane asked sounding surprised. He never would've thought she'd give him the time of day.
"Why do you sound so surprised?" Peyton eased back into his company and decided to be a little more open.
"Well a pretty girl like you would have to check with her boyfriend before she agreed to hang out with another guy." Shane knew how to work a girl into telling him exactly what he wanted to hear.
"Well this pretty girl doesn't have a boyfriend and if she did she wouldn't have to check in with him." Peyton stated firmly. Who said a girl needed a boyfriend to be complete, which she really wasn't, but it's the principle that counted.
"Really?" Shane wanted to know why she was single. He wanted to know every detail. It was normal for him to meet a girl that wasn't all for the sex. He wanted something new and he hoped he'd found it in Peyton.
"Don't sound so surprised." Peyton laughed out loud, offended by his sexist assumptions," Pull in that driveway right there."
"I'm not as surprised as I am relieved." Shane just found his job that much easier. Shane found that he always got what he wanted especially as a kid just to get him out of the way so his parents could get Madison all the help she needed. His greedy ways had followed him into his manhood and when he wanted something he always found a way to get it and right now he wanted Peyton.
"Relieved because a girl you asked out said yes?" Peyton was going to mess with this kid's head for a while; a trait she had learned from Nathan.
"Ouch." Shane grabbed his heart in mock pain as he parked the car in the designated driveway, "But you never said yes, only maybe. Does this mean you're saying yes?"
"Yeah I guess I'm saying yes." Peyton smiled softly thinking about how she'd make this relationship different than all her others. She had to because all her others hadn't worked out.
"So," Shane cut the ignition, "Where are we anyway?"
"The Scott residence." Peyton said as she climbed the steps to the familiar porch. She heard three doors slam behind her as she waited for her entourage to catch up.
"You really think she came here?" Brooke asked thrusting her key in the lock. She knew that if she rang the bell she would wake the kids.
"I'm sure she came here." Peyton nodded her head as Brooke pushed the door open.