The Beautiful Dance

A/N: I've finished this fic to the point where I had imagined from the beginning. So I should be feeling like it's finally finished, but a part of me wants to keep this story going. I could take them so many places now, which is why this story isn't ending here. All your reviews and praise have meant so much to me, and that's really what keeps me writing.

Chapter 8

The drive from the river court to Peyton's house seemed longer than usual to her. Most of that feeling had to do more with her nerves than actual time or distance measurements, in truth her nerves had been running rampant since Lucas had agreed to come home with her. She couldn't understand why she was so nervous, it wasn't as if she hadn't imagined being with him dozens of time before. But this time it was for real

Peyton was so caught up in her thinking that she missed the turn in to her house, and failed to notice her mistake until Lucas casually pointed it out. She laughed it off, blaming it on her mind being somewhere else as she turned the car around. When he asked where her mind had been she just looked at him, which seemed to explain everything. Lucas could tell she was nervous, maybe as nervous as he was.

She finally pulled the car into the driveway and was quick to exit to her seat. Lucas was soon at her side, holding her hand tightly as they walked up the stairs of her front porch and into the front door.

"Do you want something to drink?" she asked, leading him into the kitchen.

"Water would be good." Peyton pulled two bottles from the fridge and handed him one.

Almost a full minute passed without either of them speaking. The more time that passed, the more frustrated Peyton was becoming with herself. This was Lucas, she thought to herself, it shouldn't be like this.

"Uh, so the kitchen looks different." Lucas said, trying his hardest to sound casual. He couldn't handle the silence any longer.

"I repainted it a few weeks ago, mostly of out of sheer boredom. I figured I'm the only one living here most of the time so I might as well paint it the color I want."

"And this is the color you picked?" he asked gesturing at the walls.

"Why, you don't like it?"

"No, it's not that. I just never pictured you painting any room yellow."

"It's not yellow, it's called lemon frost." She smiled.

Peyton looked over at him and gave a look that told him everything. She was done with the small talk. Lucas inched towards her slowly, eventually coming to pin her against the counter. He leaned in and kissed her. She tried to respond by wrapping her arms around his neck, but her attempt was foiled when she knocked her open bottle of water to the floor spilling it's contents all over.

"Dammit." She groaned pulling away from him. Things were finally going right and she was sure this misstep would kill the momentum. Peyton grabbed a dishtowel from the counter and knelt down to clean the mess, mumbling out loud about how clumsy she was.

Lucas couldn't help but smile at her rambling. She was cute when she was nervous. "Peyton," he grabbed her gently by the elbow and helped her to her feet, "forget about the water."

"I'm really nervous." She sheepishly admitted.

"What are you nervous about." He already knew the answer.

Peyton just looked at him. "We are about to take a major step in our relationship."

"Oh, so that's what we're doing here." Lucas joked. His humor was lost on Peyton. "I'm sorry, not the right time for jokes. Peyton we don't have to do anything you are ready to do. I'm not going anywhere, I promise you that."

"Not many guys would offer to wait, especially any of the guys I used to date."

"I don't want to be that guy who disappointed you before."

"You're not." She said simply, coming closer to close the gap between them and kiss him. "But it's not that I'm not ready, I'm just really nervous which seems ridiculous."

"It's not that ridiculous." He held out his hand in front of her. His hand was trembling. "It's been doing that since we left the park."

Knowing that Lucas was as nervous as she was actually seemed to calm her a bit. Whatever doubts she might have had in her mind slowly vanished. She knew in her heart that Lucas wasn't going to hurt her, he really cared for her, loved her even. She wasn't going to let him go again.

Peyton grabbed his still trembling hand and pulled him close. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers and kissed him. "Let's go upstairs."

Lucas mumbled a reply against her lips. He didn't want to pull away, everything felt with her in his arms. But he reluctantly broke away from her as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the kitchen. They climbed the stairs together, and Lucas took each one slowly in an effort to keep himself from running right to the top.

She fumbled with the doorknob, which got a laugh from Lucas since it was his fault she was having a problem with it as it was hard to concentrate on anything when he was holding her from behind and kissing her neck in just the right spot. With the door finally open she walked over to the bed and sat down, kicking her shoes into a pile. Lucas followed suit, dropping his own shoes near hers.

Their hearts raced as they lay back on the, Lucas lying next to her propped up on his elbow. She noticed him staring at her and gathered her arms across her chest self-consciously. He looked down at her and ran his fingers along her jawline.

"You're beautiful Peyton." He whispered softly.

She felt the sting of tears forming in the corners of her eyes, which she let roll slowly down the side of her face. Lucas looked concerned, but she smiled letting him know everything was ok. "No one has ever said that to me before."

"I'm going to tell you everyday." He promised her.

This is how it was supposed to be, she thought to herself as she leaned down and kissed him. Her hands moved under his shirt and up his stomach. She took her lips from his only long enough for her to get rid of his shirt, hers was next, tossed into a heap on the floor.

As he fiddled with her belt buckle, Peyton suddenly felt the urge to tell him something she had been holding back for the longest time.

"I love you Lucas."

He looked up from her buckle and stared at her, unsure of what his reaction should be to those words. He had waited for so long to tell her that he loved her, but held back because he didn't want to scare her or pressure her. But she had said it first, which made his heart skip the slightest beat.

"I love you too." For him it was that simple, loving her was that simple.

Hands down, this is the best day I can ever remember, always remember

The sound of the stereo, the dim of the soft lights,

The scent of your hair that you twirled in your fingers,

And the time on the clock, when we realized it's so late,

And this walk we shared together.

They lay together afterwards with the blanket pulled up under their arms and Peyton's head resting comfortably on his shoulder. His fingers wrapped up in her blonde curls that he loved so much.

"I meant it." She said softly, breaking the easy silence between them.

"You meant what?"

"When I told you that I loved you? It wasn't just something that I felt in the heat of the moment. I just want you to know that I meant what I said. I do love you."

Lucas knew what it meant for her to say those words. Peyton Sawyer hadn't had much experience with love, she never allowed herself to trust people or let anyone get too close.

"And I love you."

He looked over at the clock on her nightstand and instantly regretted it. It was getting late and his mom had no idea where he was, which was never a good thing. "It's late, and the last time I broke curfew I was grounded for month."

"Well as your girlfriend I don't want you to be grounded, I want to spend as much time as possible with you."

"I better get going then." He got out of bed and began to gather his clothes and dress.

Peyton pulled on a pair of pajamas and followed him down the stairs. She opened the front door and he leaned over and kissed her sweetly goodbye.

"I'll call you tonight." He waved bye as he walked down the steps and into the darkness.

"Hey Lucas," she called after him, causing him to turn on his heel "I love you."

And you stood on your door,

With your hands on my waist,

And you kissed me like you meant it,

And I knew that you meant it

A/N: I must have rewritten this chapter a dozen times, and it still doesn't feel right, but that's life. Lyrics by Dashboard Confessional "Hands Down"