Thanks for the reviews – it really helps speed up the inspiration for writing. And it's nice to know that others like the story. Here's the next part… I tried to make it a little longer! Enjoy!
Chapter 3 We Can Work it Out
Twenty minutes later, when she still hadn't reappeared, Lucas left the meal in the oven and climbed the stairs to check on her. Very rarely had he ever seen Peyton Sawyer cry but now he had witnessed the phenomenon half a dozen times in twenty-four hours.
"Hey, what's going on?" His voice was gentle as he entered the room and sat next to her on the bed. She refused to look at him, focusing instead on her bare feet as she hugged her legs to her chest. "Peyton, did you call that woman back?" She nodded. "What happened?"
"Its just another sign that I obviously shouldn't be going to school. I'm evidently supposed to be stuck in Tree Hill alone forever."
"That's a pretty drastic forecast of the future. What's going on?"
"I no longer have an apartment to go to in New York," she said angrily. "The deal fell through."
"Don't you have a rental agreement?"
"Either party can pull out until August 15, the day the contact goes into effect."
"Did she give a reason?"
"She doesn't have to," Peyton answered.
"You'll find something else."
"I'm supposed to leave in a week, Lucas! How am I going to find something that quickly? It took me and my dad three months just to find this place!" With each word of despair and defeat, her breathing became more shallow and hurried. Lucas moved to her side and rubbed her back in a circular motion, trying to calm her quickly. She was on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Peyton, calm down," he ordered in a firm, even voice. "It's going to be fine. We'll figure something out. You need to breathe. Come on," he urged gently. "Deep breaths." Eventually, after Lucas thought that he too had stopped breathing, the quick heart rate slowed and her breathing again approached normal. Her eyes lids closed as she exhaustedly laid down on her side, Lucas still rubbing her back and whispering calming words. "I know it's been a bad day, but you can't do this to yourself," Lucas chided.
Three hours later, well after the sun had set over Tree Hill, Lucas sat with Peyton and his mother in the kitchen. Lucas hadn't known what to do about the apartment situation, so he called the one person in his life who always seemed to know what to do. Karen had made a few dozen phone calls before exhausting her list of possible realtors in New York. With school starting in less than two weeks, all the decent apartments to be had were gobbled up.
Lawrence Sawyer was no longer a stranger to coming home and finding one of the Scott brothers in his home. In fact, it was a pretty rare occurrence to find Peyton alone. "Hi honey. Lucas, Karen." Larry nodded to them as he dropped his bag in the doorway and moved to hug Peyton. "What's everybody doing?" It didn't take long to see that the visit wasn't a friendly or celebratory one; something was plaguing his daughter.
"Dad, we'll talk later—" Peyton started to say, but was interrupted by a well-meaning Karen.
"Peyton lost the lease on her apartment for school."
"What? How did that happen?"
"We're not sure," Karen informed him while ignoring Peyton's protesting glares. If she left it up to the eighteen year old, no one would ever have the chance to help. She would gloss it over and allow her dad to think that she hadn't wanted to leave in the first place. "I spoke to the realtor, and it seems that she has the legal right to revoke the contract at any time before August 15."
"It's the twelfth," Larry said incredulously. Karen nodded, well aware of what an awful stunt had been pulled. "What about the deposit?"
"In the mail," Peyton said softly. "A check should be here in a few days. At least we didn't lose the money."
"I'm not worried about the money sweetie. I just can't believe they can take back the rental agreement after they cashed our check."
"Apparently, it happens all the time," Karen said with a disdainful look. "I have a friend in real estate in New York, and she's looking. But with school beginning any day, it's going to be hard to find somewhere near the school with the same quality amenities and security."
"Security's not negotiable," Larry said firmly. "I don't want you living in a building without a doorman and a security system. It's just not safe." Peyton grumbled, but was inwardly happy for her father's insistence. She wasn't sure how comfortable she would have been in an apartment by herself with no security. Karen nodded; it had been one of the first things she'd looked into when Lucas and Haley had both been offered the scholarships to Columbia.
"School starts in two weeks, you have to find something," Lucas said insistently.
"It's okay daddy," Peyton said. She was obviously attempting to ignore the other two currently in the room. "I'm sure my scholarship is transferable. I can start in January. We'll just keep looking and I'm sure we'll find something by then."
"You're not waiting until January to go to school," Lucas insisted in a voice that made him sound like a little boy whining for candy.
"Luke, it's none of your business," Peyton said coldly.
"It is my business," he countered before either parent could intervene. "You're a friend. And I can't let you stay here and mope about Jake for six months. It's not worth it, Peyton. You're going to regret it if you let yourself fall behind because of him."
"It has nothing to do with Jake!" Her trembling hands betrayed her otherwise cool and vapid exterior. Karen and Larry were both beyond simple curiosity at the subject of Jake and Peyton, but they let it drop after noticing how it was effecting both teens.
"I have an idea," Karen said meekly. All eyes turned to her, except for Peyton's, which were currently fixed on the surface of the kitchen table. She wrung her hands under the table, trying to decide whether or not to broach the solution that had immediately come to her. It wasn't the best of ideas, especially from a parental perspective, but she hated to think of Peyton allowing herself to be stuck in Tree Hill.
Karen knew, all too well, the dangers of allowing dreams to pass you by. "Lucas has been given an extremely spacious apartment—"
"No," Peyton said quickly, earning a glare from Lucas and an exasperated sigh from her father.
"Peyton, listen to what she has to say."
"I think," Karen said slowly, "that it would be foolish to believe that there wouldn't be risks involved with you two living together. But it might also be a good thing."
"We're listening," Lucas said, intrigued by the idea. The thought had occurred to him, but had left as soon as he realized that his mother would never go for the idea. Apparently he had been wrong.
"I don't like the idea of Luke living by himself in a city as large as New York. I like the idea of Peyton doing the same even less."
"Hey! I'm your kid."
"All the same, conservative thought or no, the world is significantly less safe for single women. And the thought of you two at least having one other person to count on in the city would certainly help me sleep at night."
"What about the thought of them sleeping together? How will that help you sleep?"
"Dad!" Peyton was shocked. Her father usually had a much cooler and easy-going temper. Exhaustion from a long trip and surprise at the newfound conundrum left him with thinning nerves.
"Whether we like it or nor," Karen said calmly, "they're adults. And I don't believe they'd betray our trust." She was right, Lucas thought bitterly. After hearing his mother's speech, he wasn't sure he could ever have sex with a clear conscious again. Peyton was having similar thoughts.
"I'm willing to give it a try, if it means Peyton going to school," Lucas said.
"No." It was quieter this time, almost inaudible, but they all heard the authority and stubbornness behind it.
"Peyton, this is your chance to get out of Tree Hill. That's all you've talked about, it the time we've been friends. This is it." Lucas had gotten out of his chair and was crouched in front of hers, imploring with both his words and the expression in his eyes. Having long before lost count of the times she had burst into tears that day, Lucas had developed a sense of when they were coming. He handed her a tissue, causing her to laugh a bit as the tears began. He pulled her into his lap and hugged her, trying to think only of what she needed and not of the parents staring at them in amazement. Over Peyton's curls he looked at her father and said, "it's been one of those days." Haley arrived then to break up the chaos and add a bit more to it. She and Nathan walked through the kitchen door with an ease of someone who lived there and Larry simply shook his head.
"Doesn't anyone knock on our door?" Peyton and Lucas, still hugging, began to laugh. Haley raised her eyebrows at the situation and smiled guiltily at Karen. An hour later, they were in the living room sharing a dinner that Karen whipped up for a 'starving' Larry. Haley and Nathan never ate much at his parents' house as a result of nerves and Lucas and Peyton had forgotten, in all the craziness, to eat anything. The food and accompanying hot chocolate calmed everyone's nerves but no one was quite able to shake the image of Peyton's outburst.
"I think it's a great idea," Nathan said after swallowing a mouthful of rice. "I've been telling you to get a wife for two years now, big brother." Nathan gulped as he realized there were five sets of eyes glaring daggers in his direction. "I'm kidding! No one in this family can ever take a joke." Haley was not alone in realizing that Nathan had just referred to all of them as family but she was the only one to be startled by it. True, at least half of them were, but Nathan obviously already thought of Peyton as part of that whole. She smiled slightly and turned her attention back to the emotion-filled conversation.
The Beatles song "We Can Work it Out" is the source of this chapter's title.