Chapter 6 Need Somebody

Two days later, Peyton stood with her father at the train station as they watched Karen, Lucas, Deb, and Nathan load their luggage out of two cars. Peyton drew in a breath as she watched two of her own trunks, filled to the breaking point, get handed down to the two brothers. The three remaining in the station quickly went about their business; Haley and Peyton still needed to pack their own things to leave in a few short days. Seeing her room striped of most its value and memories depressed her, but she didn't have time to allow those feelings to drag her down. Brooke was leaving the day before the two of them and she planned to get in every last bit of fun the summer could offer.

By the time she sat uneasily on the train among her father, Haley, and a returning Karen, her nerves had returned in full force. She attempted to sketch, but Haley was watching her much too closely and it blocked her usual creative outlet. Arriving at the station in New York for the first time was nothing the two young girls had ever experienced. Haley probably would have been pulled down by the crowd if Karen hadn't been at her side, paying close attention as they tried to retrieve their luggage. The plan had been to go to Haley's apartment first, but realizing Peyton's nerves, the adults decided to first let her get settled. The cab left them right at the front door to a beautiful apartment complex and the doorman inside allowed them, after showing proper identification, to get onto the elevator and go up to her floor. Thirteen. She was seething. She didn't think buildings were supposed to have thirteenth floors. Karen led them straight to the apartment, not giving her much time to panic. Lucas threw open the door and hugged them all, save Mr. Sawyer, and then ushered them into the very spacious living area.

There was a kitchen to their right, a hallway behind that, and the living room and dining area to their left. Peyton was a bit suspicious when she noticed that the full sized, not queen sized, bed in the far living room corner was covered in sheets and comforters not her own. In fact, they appeared to be Lucas's. They looked around and Lucas quickly showed her the bedroom, which confirmed her suspicions.

"Lucas, I'm not taking the bedroom."

"It's gonna get a little crowded in the other room then," he said with a furrowed brow and look of complete innocence.

"I'm not going to be here long, and it's your apartment."

"Then I would suppose I reserve the right to sleep wherever I choose—"

"Lucas!"

"It's all for selfish reasons. You know how practices run. Early mornings to late nights. And I really don't like waking you up – it's not a pretty picture." She bit her lip and then sighed, not sure what else to do about the situation; she certainly couldn't argue with such an extremely valid point.

"Luke, where's the bathroom? I hope you already installed your own toilet seat, because you just don't know who's been in here.' Peyton smiled after Haley as she dragged Lucas out of the room, prattling on about the dangers of an unclean living space. Haley was always good for an impromptu lecture when someone needed a distraction. Larry followed the two, also wanting to inspect the entire apartment in which his baby girl would be residing.

"It's nice," Karen said with a soft, friendly smile as she looked around the room. Peyton nodded, still standing in the middle of the boxes and bags that had been shipped ahead of her. The walls were newly painted in a uniform eggshell color but the rental agreement stated that the walls could be further painted. Not that Peyton planned on staying long, but she imagined Luke would prefer just about anything besides eggshell; she certainly would. She laid her bag down on the bed, already made up with her soft cotton sheets and deep purple bedspread, and walked to the bare window. There was an old mini-blind, but nothing else separated them from a view of the hustle and bustle of the city.

"You'll need curtains," Karen said with a laugh. "I tried to buy them last week, but Luke was indecisive about type and color, and it's his first apartment – I didn't want to push him into anything." She walked to the window and stood next to Peyton, looking out into the foreign environment. "Not exactly something you'd see in Tree Hill."

"Definitely not," Peyton agreed with a far away, detached look in her eyes.

"Different isn't always bad," Karen said as she turned to the younger girl. "Takes some getting used to, but sometimes a change is worth it in the end. I think you're all doing the right thing."

"I hope so," Peyton said with a smile. She turned to her bags and began looking through them, trying to decide where to start with the unpacking process. She was the type completely unable to function until she had a place for everything. They all noticed that she was doing an awful lot of thinking for what she claimed was temporary organization. A major problem that became immediately evident was the lack of closet space. One of the two chestnut dressers was stuffed with Lucas's clothing while the other larger piece was at her disposal. The closet space was minimal, already a third filled with the two suits, two dress shirts, and three pairs of slacks Lucas owned.

Karen and Haley, after making certain the kitchen was stocked with every important gadget and being assured that Lucas knew how to use them, found her sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor, staring at the closet. "It's not going to get any bigger that way," Haley informed her with a laugh. "You've spent too many years shopping with Brooke the clothes horse." After a bit of finagling, there was only one box of clothing that Larry had to take back to Tree Hill. It took the whole lot of them almost ten minutes to reassure Peyton that she wouldn't be needing her ski suit, more than two bathing suits, more than five black skirts, or more than twenty pairs of shoes.

Peyton and Lucas stayed to finish setting up while the rest of the party trouped over to the other Scott apartment to see what damage Nathan had been able to do in a week. After dinner at a nice restaurant late that night, Karen and Larry had to leave for the train station. They had a long trip ahead, but it seemed silly to pay for a hotel when they would have still had to wake up in four hours for the morning train.

The four eighteen year olds stood silently and watched as their last two ties to childhood stepped onto the train platform and, ten minutes later, were gone. Peyton was especially quiet, fearing any conversation might cause tears to flow. She hated the feeling; she had never before been one to cry but ever since the breakup with Jake, she found herself sobbing over the silliest of things. Not that her father leaving her in the middle of a bustling metropolis was a trivial matter. She followed silently behind as Nathan and Haley walked, arm in arm, back out to the street and toward the subway station. Apparently, in his first week in the city, Nathan had spent his time figuring out how the public transportation system worked and he was busy explaining his vast knowledge to the three of them, of whom only Haley was listening. As they stepped on the subway, Peyton was pulled out of her self-pitying daze when she felt a tug on her arm. She turned around just in time to see Lucas throw a creepy-looking man away from her. The man fled before Lucas could have the satisfaction of punching him. Instead, he hurried back into the train, getting his foot in just as the door began to close.

Haley was calming a startled Peyton while Nathan stood in front of their seat, blocking them from the view of nosy onlookers. Lucas stood next to his brother; trying not to look at the shadow of the girl he had fallen in love with so long ago. He would have bet any amount of money that Peyton didn't truly love Jake, so why was she allowing the breakup tear her to pieces? Two and a half weeks prior, she would never have taken such a situation quietly.

"You guys going to be okay?" Haley asked as Nathan told her they were approaching their stop. Peyton nodded and Lucas attempted a smile, indicating that she shouldn't worry. They were only one stop from Haley and Nathan, but Lucas was paying too much attention to Peyton and they missed their stop.

"That was us," he said dejectedly as the train started up again.

"It's okay. We can walk," she said calmly. They got off at the next stop and once they were on the street level, Lucas put his arm around her shoulder, positioning himself so that her purse was between the two of them. Peyton, like most women he knew, carried her life around in her purse; she was going to have to be more careful.

"It's not like Tree Hill," he said quietly. "But I think I'm starting to like it."

"Have you talked to Jake recently?"

"No," Lucas said firmly. "I didn't think I should punch him out in front of his daughter, so I steered clear until I left."

"He didn't really do anything wrong," she protested.

"Breaking your heart isn't blame-free. I should know."

"You're pretty damn full of yourself," she said with a goading smile. "How do you know you ever broke my heart?" Lucas decided the safest answer was no answer at all. Instead, he started tickling her.

"No!" She jumped away, laughing. "Don't you dare!" He was still coming after her, grinning mischievously. "Lucas Scott! You stay away from me!" They raced the rest of the way to the door, Lucas stopping long enough to wave at the doorman, who smiled as he watched the two fall, laughing, onto the elevator. Peyton was still out of breath by the time they reached their floor and Lucas teased her about being out of shape without cheerleading the last year.

"You should consider going out for the school squad," he suggested as he unlocked the door.

"Because I just loved cheerleading," she said with a dry laugh.

"They don't call it a cheerleading squad here," he said thoughtfully as he moved into the kitchen. He took two glasses out of a cupboard and pulled out the pitcher of iced tea, planning to pour it.

"No caffeine," Peyton said from the doorway, causing him to go back to the refrigerator for the apple juice. He handed her the glass and poured his own iced tea before making his way into the living room, which she noticed already looked comfortable and lived in. "Thank you. And by the way, a dance team or dance line is the same thing as a cheerleading squad."

"Oh. It was just an idea. What are you going to do here?"

"Go to school," Peyton said with an astonished laugh. She hadn't put much thought into extracurriculars yet. After the panic she had felt over moving in the first place, she wanted to make sure she could handle classes before committing to anything else.

The title stems from the Beatles song "With a Little Help From My Friends"