One Month Later…
"Hey Lucas! She's here!" Keith yelled as he walked towards the front door of the small bungalow house.
"Alright, I'm coming," Lucas replied.
Keith turned his attention back to the knocking door. With much excitement, Keith swung open the door to let Karen in.
"Hi, Karen," Keith greeted.
"Keith! Hi," Karen replied as she dropped her suitcase and gave Keith a hug. "It's so good to see you. I missed you,"
"Yeah, me too,"
They pulled away from each other as Lucas appeared from behind Keith.
"So, Uncle Keith, you gonna let my mom in or are you just going let her stay outside?" Lucas said teasingly.
"Well, are you gonna say 'hello' to your mom or are you just going to keep insulting me?" Keith joked back.
Karen laughed, "Come here and give me a hug Lucas," Lucas happily obeyed his mother, giving her a loving hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Hey Mom. I missed you so much,"
"I missed you too, honey. Now Keith, are you going to let me in?"
"Me casa es su casa," Keith said with a grin on his face.
"Here let me get you bags," Lucas offered.
"Thanks, honey. Oh and before I forget, there's a package in there somewhere for you,"
"Aw mom, a present for me? You shouldn't have,"
"Oh, don't worry. I didn't. It's not from me,"
Lucas looked at his mother as he thought, "Haley, right?"
"Actually, I don't know. Guess you'll have to see for yourself when you open it,"
Once inside, Keith closed the door and Lucas set the suitcase down.
"Here, let me get that package for you. I'm curious to see what it is too. It actually arrived the day you left you know and believe me, it took a lot of will power not to open it myself,"
Lucas rubbed his hands together in anticipation for the mysterious package. After a few moments, Karen finally fished the packaged out of her bag. She handed the parcel over to Lucas. Lucas curiously but eagerly took the package. The package was medium sized, but wasn't very heavy. He could feel something hard, but flat inside. Lucas turned the package over to see who it was from. Instead of a mailing address, he saw his name written on the front. Immediately he recognized the handwriting. Confusion clouded Lucas's head, which seemed to freeze him in place.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you going to open it?" Karen asked.
"Uhh, yeah," Lucas replied "Hey, you mind if I opened this in my room?"
Lucas's response puzzled Karen, but none the less, she respected Lucas's privacy. "Yes, sure go ahead. It'll give me time to talk to Keith to see if you've been behaving" Karen said with a wink.
Lucas sat on his bed as he continued to stare at Peyton's handwriting on the package. "Peyton," Lucas whispered to himself. He traced his name with his finger before opening the envelope. He reached into the envelope and pulled out a black, hard-covered sketchbook. With his soul attention on the book, Lucas set the empty envelope onto his bed.
Lucas opened the first page of the book. He always knew Peyton was a talented artist, but the picture still blew him away. Lucas stared at the detailed picture of him, standing by the red tow truck and her watching him hook up her broken down car. It captured the first real conversation they ever had.
Turning the page, Lucas saw a sketch of the two of them standing
on the white bridge in Tree Hill.
Flashback
"I
would gladly erase my dad if it would bring back your mom" Lucas
said sincerely to Peyton.
Peyton, touched by
Lucas's heartfelt words, made her grievance for her mother fade
away for that moment. She showed her emotion through a small smile
before turning to walk away.
"Peyton," called
out Lucas.
Peyton turned around, but kept walking
away from Lucas, "Don't ruin this, OK?"
End
Flashback
The next sketch amazed Lucas even more. It
was a picture of him and Peyton sitting on the swings in Nathan's
backyard. Every detail of that night was captured in that single
sketch; the trees, the moon and the stars. Lucas tilted his head
slightly to the right as he stared at the stars. He noticed a picture
hidden within the stars. A smile emerged from his face as he realized
that the stars actually made up another picture. The stars pictured
their first kiss that happened earlier that night.
Lucas continued flipping through the book. It was as if he was reliving his past with Peyton. At the last page of the book, Lucas found a folded piece of paper. But before opened the letter, he noticed the last sketch. He didn't recognize it. It was a close up of Lucas with his arms wrapped around Peyton. Her back was leaning into his chest and she was smiling happily.
Lucas carefully put the book down beside him, leaving it open to the last page. He then turned his attention to the letter, which read:
Dear Lucas,
This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to write. I mean, we both know that I'm not good with expressing how I feel with words, which is probably why I'm writing you this letter and not saying it face to face.
I know that you're leaving Tree Hill after breakfast today, Haley found me last night and dropped the "bomb". When she told me that, I was so relieved because it means that I have the chance to change your mind about leaving.
Before Haley found me, I was thinking about my life. I thought about everything…from my mom dying to never having my father around to you leaving. It's like my life was filled with nothing but sadness and loneliness. That's when Haley found me.
After she left, I just kept thinking about you. I never felt sad or lonely when you were with me. And I realize now that I miss that; the way you held me; the way you brushed my hair out of my eyes; and the way you looked at me. But most of all, I miss the way I feel when I'm with you.
That's not the only thing I realized. I realized that I was the one responsible for ruining those moments. I was the one who wouldn't let you in my life when you came to get me and my car. I was the one who pushed you away when we were getting closer to each other. I was the one who never let US happen.
Lucas, I'm not going to stop us anymore. I want to give us a chance. I may have been scared of getting hurt or being left alone, but not anymore. I know I screwed up royally and may not deserve the second chance, but I want to make things right. I want to keep drawing these moments of us.
If it's not too late for us, please meet me at Rivercourt after breakfast. If you don't come, I'll understand.
I will always love you, Lucas Scott.
Peyton