Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews – it really means a lot to me, knowing what everyone thinks of the story so far. Here's the next part – I know it's short, but the next part should follow closely.. For those of you reading my other OTH story "Happy Families are All Alike," it should be updated in the next day or two. Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 5 Stand By You

"Hello?" Lucas was confused by the silence on the other line. It came up on his caller ID as Peyton's home number, but no one was answering. "Hello? Peyton?"

"Luke?" Her voice was rough from all the tears she had expelled that day, but he recognized it immediately.

"You should know, you're the one who called," he answered jokingly.

"It was Haley," she answered.

"Oh," he said uncomfortably, his hope deflating a bit. "Hales still there?" Peyton shook her head and then realized that he couldn't see her.

"No, she left the room. I don't know where she went," she said as she looked around her empty bedroom.

"Did you want to talk?"

"Yes." Lucas grimaced, wondering if the conversation was ever going to get easier than pulling teeth.

"Do you want me to come over?"

"I think so."

"When I get all the way over there, you promise to be decisive and actually let me in?"

"Yeah," she answered with a genuine smile that he could hear in her slight change of tone.

"See you in a few."

"Okay." She hung up the telephone and looked into the mirror next to her computer; she looked awful. Quickly jumping out of bed, she found a prettier pair of pajama pants and a matching tank top and then began work on her untidy curls. She was applying cover-up and lipstick when Brooke and Haley barged back in a few minutes later. They were confused by the scene, but quickly gathered that Lucas was on his way.

"Does this mean you want us to go home?" Brooke asked with eyes squinted, pointing to the door. Peyton looked at them both, smiled a funny smile, and nodded. "Come on, tutor girl, I'll give you a ride." They both wished her well and made her promise to call the next day with a divulgence of all details.

A mere ten minutes following the conversation, Lucas appeared in her bedroom, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his sweatshirt. "Hey," he said softly. "Your dad let me in. What a night to come home." Peyton simply nodded, uncharacteristically holding a pillow in front of her instead of a sketchbook. "What's the verdict?"

"It's not you I'm worried about, you know that, right?" It was probably the longest string of calm words she had spoken to him all day. He nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed, facing her with his back against one of the posts. "It's too much—" she said with a frown as she tried to work the emotions out in her own head. "There are all these things, going wrong. What if it means that I'm not supposed to leave?"

"I never knew you were superstitious," Lucas said with an amused chuckle.

"I'm not, usually," she said softly as she commenced picking at the beaded fringe of the dark purple pillow.

"Peyton, I don't believe that you are meant to stay here in Tree Hill and work some menial job for the rest of your life. I just can't believe that. You're different from the people who never leave this town – and I can't imagine you being happy never seeing what else is out there."

"This is safe."

"Yeah." Lucas nodded as he looked around the room; it's recently turned-green walls hung with strange, abstract landscapes that she had painted herself and with beautiful but bizarre frames filled with pictures of so many family members and friends. She had it her own way in Tree Hill, the popularity and the obscurity; and now she was afraid to lose herself in a much bigger world. The loss of the apartment had given her the opportunity to sit back and watch the rest of the world move on without her. Lucas couldn't allow that to happen.

"It is safe here. But it's also safe here." With those words, he had taken her hand and placed it over his heart. "Peyton, we all love you. And we're not leaving you behind, no matter how hard you push. If that means dragging you on a train and forcibly moving you to New York, I think I can deal with that." She raised her eyebrows, wondering if he realized what a scene he had just created in her imagination. They were silent for quite a while, Peyton trying to decide what to think after his speech and Lucas not wanting to rush her.

"I'm going to need my own place. So this deal would just be temporary, until I could find a suitable apartment of my own—" The room grew silent and she closed her eyes, wishing the long day would simply end; she didn't think she could remember all the things that had happened if she tried.

"If that's what you want," he finally assented. "I'll help you look."

"Okay," she said with a hopeful smile.

"Okay."

The Pretender's "I'll Stand by You" supplied the title to this chapter.

"Oh, why you look so sad? Tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now.
Don't be ashamed to cry, let me see you through
Cause I've seen the dark side too.
When the night falls on you, you don't know what to do,
Nothing you confess could make me love you less
I'll stand by you, I'll stand by you, won't let nobody hurt you,
I'll stand by you."