Disclaimer: Anything you don't recognize from the show is mine… everything else… I wish!

Note: I thought it would be cute to do another one of my favorite songs as the titles for the chapters.. this time I picked a Greenwheel song that has always touched me because it reminds me of all the things in my life that have changed but made me change for the better. It's called, as the title of the story already explains, Regardless.

Regardless takes place tentatively two months after Spin

I'm starting out slow, so the first few chapters are going to be pretty short. Comment Please!


Time Goes By as the Day Moves Slow

She woke with his breath on her neck.

She smiled contently, turning to face him. His arm still draped over her waist, he stirred a little but did not wake up.

"Jake." Jilly whispered into his ear. Still he did not move.

Jillian gently tugged on Jake's earlobe with her teeth, kissing him. A smile appeared on his face.

"A guy should be so lucky to wake up like that everyday." He pulled her closer.

"You need to go back to your room before anyone notices that you're not in there." Jake made no attempts to move. "I don't want your parents to think we were doing anything last night."

"They know that you didn't get pregnant by Immaculate Conception." She couldn't help but laugh. Only Jake could use big words while half asleep.

"But they don't know we are together. And I care about what they think."

"It's been close to two months. We should just tell them." Jillian ran her hand down Jake's arm. He kept mentioning telling his parents, more lately than usual. She wasn't ready to let the world know they were together, even if Jake was.

"It's kind of fun sneaking around, don't you think?" He nodded, though he looked like he was falling back asleep. "Though if your parents find us in here, they will not be happy with us."

"We could just tell them the truth. We haven't done anything." Jake sounded exasperated. He was a little tired of Jillian not wanting to have sex.

"I'm not ready for it right now. It's still nice to wake up in your arms." He smiled none the less.

"Sure is." He pulled her closer as he closed his eyes. "How about just five more minutes?"

Even if he didn't admit it to Jillian, though he was ready to move back into that part of their relationship, he was worried about the consequences they knew all too well could happen no matter how careful you were. He missed the closeness they had before in their relationship but it seemed that they were gaining that back, even with the absence of sex in their lives. He never thought they could be as close as they currently are without it.

He could feel Jillian lifting her head off his shoulder.

"Just another five minutes."

He really did love waking up next to her.


He woke with her breath on his neck.

He loved the way that somehow, in the course of the night, if he tossed and turned in his unrestful sleep, she would find her way back to curling up beside him before morning.

The sunlight was coming in from the window to the side of the bed. Bright and filling the room with golden rays, he could see her sleeping peacefully beside him, her blonde hair turned golden in the light.

He turned to face her. Even in her sleep she had a slight smile on her face. He moved the curls out of her face to kiss her closed eyelids.

"Hi." She opened her eyes and slowly closed them again. She was now use to waking up with Lucas by her side.

Luke stood and pulled his jeans on in one motion. He stepped into the bathroom, still shirtless, and splashed water on his face. He ran his hands over his thin hair cut, looking at himself in the mirror. Things had changed so much he barely had time to account for it all.

He pulled a Scott Repair Shop shirt on that was sitting on the edge of the bed. Taking a walkman out of his book bag, he started for Peyton's bedroom door.

"You're not trying to sneak off are you?" He looked back to see her still facing him, though her eyes were closed.

"It's not sneaking off, it's letting you get some sleep. It's still pretty early." He came closer and sat on the edge of her bed, kissing the top of her head.

"Then stay longer." She pulled on his arm.

"I'm going to go for a run so when my mom wakes up she thinks that I was got home last night and left early for a run."

"She probably thinks we are already..." She smiled at the obvious remark. "Is that the real reason you are leaving?"

"What are you worried about?" He kissed her again, but on the lips this time. "I need to help out at the Cafe, too. Haley asked for the day off."

"What's going on? She never misses a day." Peyton sat up as Luke went for the door again. "She shouldn't make you work after what happened last night."

"Not a big deal. You win some games, you lose some games."

"Yeah, sometimes the games that count big time."

"Only the championships. They will still be there next year."

"But will you?" Luke didn't bother to turn around to look at Peyton. He knew how she felt; she was worried about him more than anyone else was.

"I already got one woman telling me not to play, why do you have to go and make it two?" He dropped his head and sighed.

"I'm sorry that I care about you. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

He could hear in her voice how much she cared for him. Every time he looked in her eyes, he could see it. Her kiss revealed so much that she cared about him. It made him feel almost happy.

He moved away from the door and laid back down on the bed, holding her. She closed her eyes and let him snuggle with her, his nose against her cheek. Nothing else needed to be said.

Peyton's thoughts of all the bad things that could happen slowly left her consciousness. She thought only of the two of them in this moment, at this time, and how much it meant to both of them to hold each other in the early morning sunlight, without needing words to end what they termed one of their "civil arguments".

Luke's uneasiness he felt when people mentioned of his fading basketball career washed away just as Peyton's thoughts did. He didn't even think about the accident, the arguments that ensued after the fact, or about how much it hurt him to not be able to get back into the game. All that entered his mind was how much he found himself loving Peyton, although he could never tell her so.

He loved waking up next to her.