Thanks so much for the reviews! Sorry this took so long to update, but we're in midterm weeks at school. The bright side - my last set of undergraduate midterms ever -) Anyway, thanks for reviewing and I hope you like the next chapter:

Chapter 15 Takes a Little Time

Haley entered the room quietly and found her friend sleeping, thanks to the fairly strong sleeping pill that had been prescribed at the hospital. After realizing that Peyton wasn't about to wake up any time soon, Haley went back into the living room to confer with the Scott brothers. They spent the rest of the evening sitting around in Lucas's apartment, feeling unable to leave one another. It had been a close call that morning and they would not soon forget that they could have lost Peyton. She was still sleeping when Nathan and Haley left just before ten that night. Lucas didn't have the heart to stay in the living room while she was alone in the bedroom but didn't want to invade her personal space either. That left him with no choice but to curl up in the armchair in his room. He was barely beginning to nod off when she awoke at five in the morning.

Not immediately remembering what had happened, she sat up quickly and cringed; the broken ribs were obviously hurting her. Lucas was immediately at her side, gently pushing her back down. "Careful," he warned. She mumbled something incoherent and closed her eyes once more, this time staying asleep until well into the afternoon.

Haley was sitting at Lucas's desk balancing a chemical equation when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that Peyton was beginning to stir. Mr. Sawyer had been contacted by the police and it had been all they could do earlier that morning to convince him and Karen that they didn't need to come to New York. If Karen hadn't been there to reason with him, Haley believed they would be contending with the father at that very moment. Instead, Lucas promised that Peyton would be moving back in with him; the only problem was convincing her of the arrangement. After ending the call with Mr. Sawyer, the Scott brothers headed over to Peyton's apartment to pack things. They wanted to have her moved out before she was strong enough to put up any sort of fight.

"Hey," Haley said when she noticed that Peyton's eyes were open.

"Hi. What's going on?"

"You don't remember?" Peyton shook her head slightly and Haley moved from the chair, perching herself instead on the edge of the bed. "What exactly don't you remember?"

"What happened?"

"Someone broke into your apartment—"

"My phone—" she said, suddenly returning to the terrifying previous morning.

"But it's okay now."

"I couldn't find it—"

"Peyton, it's okay now," Haley repeated gently as she moved closer and wrapped her arms around the other girl. "It's okay," she cooed, stroking the other girl's hair gently as they both began to cry. Haley, realizing that she was not being very helpful, quickly dried her own tears and then attempted to comfort the other girl. Lucas found them both still a soggy mess and, much to Haley's surprise, looked like he also had tears in his eyes. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gently stroked Peyton's hair, remaining silent as the two girls struggled to calm themselves. Eventually, the sobs died down and Lucas handed Haley a few tissues. After giving them a few minutes of much needed quiet, Lucas finally spoke.

"Dinner's ready, if anyone's hungry."

"Not yet," Peyton said softly.

"That's okay. It'll be ready whenever you are," Lucas offered gently. "Hales?"

"In a little while." She sat back against the headboard and kept her arms around Peyton and they both lay there, silently thinking about how lucky they were not to be in a much more terribly position that day. After Peyton fell back off to sleep, Haley crept from the room and accepted the chicken and dumplings that Lucas had somehow figured out how to make. The stew-like concoction was soothing; the perfect comfort food for the weather outside and the mood inside.

It took a few days before Peyton was ready and willing to leave the bedroom. Her first venture was out into the living room where she found Lucas working diligently on a paper for one of his English classes. She apologized immediately and started to turn around.

"No, It's okay," he insisted. "I'm not busy."

"You're sure."

"Yeah," he said as he moved a few books to the floor and moved over to give her room on the sofa. She smiled weakly and made her way across the living room. She was exhausted by the time she reached Lucas and gratefully allowed him to help her get situated. He sat at one end of the sofa while she lay against him and attempted to watch the old black and white version of "Meet Me in St. Louis." She was fast asleep before the Halloween scene. Haley arrived after her classes and found them that way. She was making dinner when Peyton woke up, at first surprised as to her position and location.

"I should go home soon," she said weakly.

"All your stuff is here," Lucas answered nonchalantly. She realized that he was right; they had moved everything back into his apartment and unpacked up, leaving the apartment looking almost identical to what it had been prior to her original move.

"Why?"

"We moved it," he answered easily. "You're not going back there."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not," he repeated with a bit more firmness.

"I am too."

"No," Haley said sternly as she walked out of the kitchen. "You are not going back there. No matter what else you do, you're not going back to that place. End of discussion." Peyton turned away and faced the back of the sofa as hot tears sprang to her eyes; she softly cried herself back to sleep in minutes.

"That went well," Lucas said to Haley.

"She can cry all she wants. She's staying here. Better safe than happy."

"That's an interesting way of putting it."

"I'm not willing to lose her."

"Neither am I," Lucas agreed. He sat with her while she slept and worked sparingly on his paper. After Haley left for her night class, Lucas was just about to nod off himself when the phone rang. He didn't grab it quickly enough and Peyton awoke too, sitting up with the same surprised look in her face. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lucas."

"Brooke. What's up?"

"Let me talk to Peyton."

"Hold on a sec," he said immediately. He looked over at Peyton, who was stretching and blinking her eyes, trying to bring herself to some sort of lucidity. "It's Brooke. She wants to talk to you." Peyton nodded and took the phone.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey back," Brooke replied. "What trouble have you been getting yourself into?"

"That's not funny," Peyton objected.

"No, I don't think anything is right now," Brooke agreed. "How are you holding up?"

"Alright."

"You never were a good liar," Brooke said warningly.

"I'm okay," Peyton replied. "How's school going?"

"It's hard," Brooke whined playfully. Her voice quickly became flirty and Peyton could imagine that she was batting her eyelashes in mock-innocence "But luckily I've found myself a tutor—"

"And you actually study with him?"

"Of course! Well, After the sex."

"Is it serious?"

"Maybe," Brooke said uncertainly. "It's new. What's going on with you? Is Lucas being an ass? Why are you so set on leaving? Lap up the attention, P. Sawyer. And the free rent."

"I can't talk about this now."

"I guess I can wait."

"I'll see you in a few weeks for Thanksgiving."

"Well, I hope you're in a better mood by then. Because I don't want to travel thousands of miles just to sit around and mope. We're going to have fun, Peyton. Even if it kills you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Peyton said wryly. She and Brooke spent a few more minutes before her eyes began to droop again. Lucas took the phone and told Brooke he would talk to her later.

"Do you want to go back to bed?"

"No," Peyton said tiredly. "I've had enough sleep."

"Apparently not," he said with a teasing smile as she fought a yawn. "Don't rush it." Peyton didn't answer but she did eventually agree to go back to bed. She did not mention leaving again until she was able to stay awake and concentrate for more than 15 minute at a time. During her recovery stage, Haley and Lucas were far too able to overpower her suggestions. Therefore, the next week or so was fairly insignificant and uneventful, filled only with makeup work and preparations for midterms.

The title of this chapter comes from Amy Grant's "Takes a Little Time."