It was the third week of October when Peyton moved into her new apartment, taking her soft purple comforter and her abstract paintings with her. Lucas and Nathan joked about the basketball posters looking better than the flowery landscapes and somewhat blurry portraits, but they both knew that a bit of hominess left the apartment with the blonde artist. Since nothing she brought was very heavy, Haley and Peyton were able to do most of the moving themselves. This was a blessing considering the fact that Lucas and Peyton were still not talking, let alone looking at one another.
"This is it," Peyton said as she opened the front door to a building wedged between a drug store and what Haley feared to be an adult bookstore. She hoped that's all it was as she neutralized her expression and followed Peyton inside.
"Are you sure about this, Peyton?"
"What do you mean?"
"Luke doesn't want you to leave."
"I can't depend on Lucas forever. I need my own place," Peyton said, almost sharply. Haley heard the change in her voice and realized it might be a good idea to drop the subject quickly.
"You're still in for Sunday dinner, right?"
"Sure," Peyton agreed after a moment of thought. She knew the dinners were important to Haley. It didn't matter if they had dinner together every other night of the week; Sunday was an all-out feast with the good plates, ironed tablecloth – the whole works. While Peyton and her father hadn't put much stock into fancy dinners over the past few years, she still realized that it was a nice tradition to uphold. If it helped Haley feel more at home, then she could deal with Lucas once a week. It took them less than half a day to move Peyton's things but the remainder of the day was consumed cleaning and organizing; mostly cleaning. Haley was personally appalled at the discovery of strange animal droppings under cabinets and dead insects in corners. If it bothered Peyton, she didn't allow her friend to see.
"Are you using dial-up, or having cable Internet installed?" Haley asked as she sat on a chair, plugging various cords into Peyton's computer.
"Not sure yet," Peyton said, her voice very dismissing. It obviously wasn't high on her list of concerns. Currently, she was working on hanging heavy drapes on the windows. Haley had noticed that she was insistent on making sure the blinds and drapes were of the highest quality. No amount of city chaos and lights were going to cut through those panels of violet fabric or cherry wood.
"I don't like the thought of Peyton all alone," Haley said later that night as she crawled into bed next to Nathan.
"Peyton's a big girl. She knows what she wants," Nathan said nonchalantly. He wanted to close the topic as soon as possible; he didn't think Haley talking about Peyton was the best way to set the mood for his idea of a good night.
"What if this isn't what she wants? You know she does that whole self-sacrificing thing if she thinks she's interfering with anyone. She and Luke are more alike than they'll ever realize."
"I personally don't like the idea of being self-sacrificing," Nathan said with a sigh.
"You wouldn't," Haley agreed with a laugh as she swatted at him. "You know what I mean. I just get the feeling that Peyton left because she felt like she was in Luke's way. And that's just not true. And the apartment she rented – it's awful. There's no doorman—"
"Wait a minute—" Nathan interrupted. "Are you telling me that you helped Peyton move into a building without security and you wait until now to say anything—"
"You were at practice all day," Haley accused. "It looks pretty secure otherwise. There's an alarm and a few door locks, but no doorman."
"I don't like the sound of that—"
"Neither did I," Haley said with a frown. "But I tried to talk her out of it all day. And she wouldn't listen."
Nathan and Haley were not alone in worrying about Peyton's first night in her new apartment. Lucas walked around his now-seemingly empty apartment and looked at all the signs of the girl who had just left. He still couldn't get his mind around it; Peyton was gone. He knew she was angry with him, but he never thought she would go as far as to move out. Actually, he was still a bit foggy on what he had done wrong. They'd never before discussed bringing friends into the apartment so he hadn't thought it a big deal when he asked Lila over to work on a project for their American Lit course. Apparently it had been a big deal to Peyton because they spent a better part of that evening arguing over stupid incidents until she admitted that she was irked about Lila's earlier presence.
He sat down with an old tattered copy of The Fall of the House of Usher and read the first page twelve times before settling for watching a mindless game show instead. It was well into the morning before he fell asleep on the sofa, his neck cricked and his mind not at all restful. The following nights were little better for any of them. Haley called Peyton every morning before class, just to reassure herself that nothing had happened over night. Brooke called every night under the pretense for chatter but Peyton knew better; her friend was a poor liar. The residents of Tree Hill, under Peyton's insistence, still believed that she lived with Lucas in the nice, safe apartment building in a good part of the chaotic town. She did not think that telling her dad about the move was the best idea if she wanted him to stay in North Carolina.
She attempted to make the apartment as homey as possible but it wasn't as easy as it had been with Lucas's apartment. There was no one to comment when she painted something along the border of a wall or on the bleached kitchen tiles. She was the only person to appreciate the flowers she placed weekly on the windowsill and the battered Formica kitchen table. About a week after she moved in, Haley brought the Scott brothers over for a visit. Nathan was clearly suspicious of the building because he jumped at every sound and looked around like something might jump out of the walls. Lucas, on the other hand, was more uncomfortable with the prospect of spending time with Peyton; he was still too confused to deal with her.
Peyton and Haley were in the kitchen making dinner while Nathan and Lucas tossed a paperweight back and forth across the fairly barren living room. Apparently Peyton hadn't had time to hook up the television yet and they were not used to having to amuse themselves with technology.
"We need tomatoes," Haley said as she came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "Come on Nathan. Help Peyton," she ordered Lucas as she tossed him the towel and picked up her coat. "We'll be back." The petite brunette did not give either brother the chance to answer; she had Nathan out the door before he could shrug into his coat. Lucas slowly stood and cautiously made his way to the kitchen.
"Hey," he said as nonchalantly as possible.
"Hey," she answered back uncomfortably. There was a terribly awkward moment before she decided to speak again. "I'm okay in here. You don't have to help."
"I want to," Lucas responded quickly. "I mean, if you want me to."
"I want you to," she answered softly. He picked up a spoon and began to stir the pot of spaghetti sauce Haley had left unattended. She turned back to the salad she was making and avoided his sideways glances by appearing to be incredibly interested in shredding the lettuce.
"Listen, Peyton, what happened with us?"
"Lucas, there is no us," she said harshly. "We have our own lives."
"Mine sort of sucks without you."
"You can't say stuff like that," she said angrily, turning her sad gaze on him. "You just can't."
"I don't understand why you're mad at me."
"I'm not mad. I just wish this could stop being so hard."
"What's hard about being friend?"
"I don't know," Peyton answered in a whisper. "It's not supposed to be. I just can't do this," she added in a hoarse, tear-filled voice. She threw down the knife she was using and disappeared into the tiny bedroom town the hall, leaving Lucas as upset and confused as ever. Haley and Nathan returned ten minutes later to a strangely set table; Haley knew right away that Lucas had done it. No one else put the silverware right on top of the plate.
"Where's Peyton?"
"In her room," Lucas said in a frustrated voice. "I think I'm going to head home. I just don't get her."
"What did you say?"
"Absolutely nothing," Lucas said defensively.
"Yeah, I believe that," Haley said sarcastically. "I'll go talk to her."
"Do you want me to wait?" Nathan asked. "If you're going to be here a while, I'll walk back with Lucas. You take a cab."
"I might just stay," Haley said uncertainly. "I'll call and let you know. Love you." She stood on her toes and kissed Nathan and hugged him. She turned to Lucas and pecked him on the cheek. "Love you too, doofus."
"Hey!"
"Just saying," she said innocently. "You guys be careful."
"You too," Lucas answered emphatically, motioning toward Peyton's closed door.
"I'll be fine," Haley answered with a glare. "I can't really say the same for you. But I'll talk to you tomorrow." After the brothers left, she fixed two of the plates and carried them into Peyton's bedroom where the blond was curled up on her bed, pretending to sleep.
"Get off it," Haley said as she entered. "I'm not leaving. And I know you're awake."
"I just want to be alone."
"And I wanted to marry Brad Pitt," Haley answered. "I'm stuck with Nathan. You're stuck with me."
"I don't want to talk about Lucas."
"Lucas who?" Peyton smiled a bit and sat up, gratefully accepting the plate Haley handed her. They ate in relatively silence and then Haley called Brooke and the three talked for hours, never touching the subject of their favorite basketball player but always skirting around the elephant that was prominently sitting between them. They talked well into the night, not falling off to sleep until they finally breeched the subject they had been avoiding all night.
"So what happened with Luke? Did he say something stupid?"
"He just gets to close for comfort sometimes," Peyton answered. "He doesn't realize that it hurts me to be around him and not be with him. Why is it so hard being friends with him? We've been friends for years."
"Maybe you're not just friends anymore," Haley said seriously. "And would that be such a bad thing?"
"Yes. No I don't know," Peyton said in exasperation. " I need time to think."
"I think you've got it. You've got Luke so confused that he's not going to have time to look at other girls." They both started giggling at the thought of Lucas being completely confounded over the whole thing. He was the only person more upset and confused than Peyton.
The chapter title is from Avril Lavigne's "Complicated."
Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm glad that the friendship between Haley and Peyton is liked – I always loved it on the show and wanted to see more of it. I also am a fan of Jake and Lucas's friendship but I'm not sure if that will fit in to this story. We'll see. Well, hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think!