The Ghost of A Good Thing

Chapter 3

She had wrestled with the decision of whether or not to track down Lucas, not really knowing if he would even want to see her. But Peyton eventually went against her better judgment and decided to find him. She secretly swiped her father's phonebook and was surprised to find that Lucas still lived in the apartment they had once shared.

It felt silly lying to her father about where she was headed, especially considering that she was a grown woman of twenty-four. But Peyton wasn't ready defend her decision especially after all of the warnings he had given to her, so she lied and told him she would be at the movies with Haley. But a movie was the furthest thing from her mind as she headed towards the Palm Vista apartment complex.

Pulling into the parking lot, she noticed the old complex had begun showing its age. Paint and stucco had chipped away from the exterior walls and oil stains, trash and rundown cars littered the parking lot. Time had been bad to the place.

As she climbed the familiar steps to her old apartment it took all that she had not to turn and run straight back to her old convertible. But something kept her moving and she pushed passed the doubts and the fear and knocked on his door.

He didn't answer after a long series of knocks and Peyton was frustrated by the outcome, she'd wanted to get things over with as quickly as possible and it needed to be in person, this wasn't a conversation she wanted to have over the phone or through a clumsily worded e-mail. As she pulled her car keys from her pocket she realized that the ring still held her old apartment key.

With one last look down the empty hallway to make sure no one was watching her sneak into her ex-husband's apartment, Peyton slipped her key into the door and was surprised to find after all the time that he had never changed the locks.

Whatever she had been expecting when she opened the door was forgotten once she had snuck inside. The first thing she noticed was how messy the small place was. From her spot in the living room she could see takeout containers spilling out of the trash can and dirty dishes stacked too high in the sink. The kitchen alone looked like every stereotypical bachelor pad.

As she walked through the living room, she subconsciously moved towards the t.v. stand. When they had been married, the small shelves had been filled with pictures of them. Lucas had thought it would make things easier, that maybe they would remind them of the good times they had shared and that things would eventually get better again. Those framed pictures were now gone, replaced by a thick layer of dust, a few empty beer cans and an old issue of a cheap men's magazine.

The small glimpse into his new life had begun to make Peyton feel uneasy, she hadn't even seen him yet but it already felt like he had become a stranger. As she turned to look around the rest of the room she noticed a cardboard box peeking out from behind the beat-up couch. Curiosity got the best of her and she pulled the box from its spot. Inside the box she found the missing picture frames. The frames still held the pictures of them, but they weren't in the best condition. The glass had been broken out of them and the frames were dented and cracked. It looked like someone had thrown them.

Rummaging deeper into the box, she found what must have been things she had left behind when she left. A few t-shirts, bracelets, a few books and some music filled the rest of the box. He'd cleared out any reminders of her, but never gone through with getting completely rid of them. But from the looks of the broken frames, he must have hated her after she took off. Peyton found herself questioning whether or not she wanted to see him after all of this. And then she noticed the bottles.

Tucked behind the armchair near the sofa was a small collection of glass bottles. Vodka was apparently his weapon of choice, two empty bottles and a third was half full.

Her discovery shed some light on the warnings that Larry given her about Lucas. The state of the apartment, the box full of her stuff, the broken frames, the bottles; all evidence that Lucas had changed. Suddenly feeling the need for air, she pushed the box back behind the couch and left the stifling environment of the apartment making sure to lock the door behind her.

As she headed down the dimly lit hallway the last person she expected to run into was Lucas.

"Peyton?"

"Hi." They weren't the first words she had imagined saying to him after all the time that had passed, but she was at a loss for words.

Time had been good to Lucas. The skinny, baby-faced boy she had fallen in love with had been transformed into a strong man with chiseled features. His wardrobe of jeans, yellow work boots and a tool belt slung over his shoulder answered any questions she might have had about his current occupation. If possible, he was taller than she remembered and the years of construction work had been good to his body. She couldn't help but notice the way the sleeves of his shirt clung to his arms and the way her mind wandered as she looked at him.

"What are you doing here Peyton?" Aside from the initial shock of seeing her, Lucas stood stone-faced in front of her as if she hadn't disappeared for six years and he'd just asked if she'd seen any good movies lately. He refused to give her any sort of reaction.

"I'm back in town to spend Thanksgiving with my dad."

"But what are you doing here?" he motioned towards his apartment door. "I'm surprised you could find your way back after all this time."

She ignored the baiting remark he had thrown at her. "There are some things I want to talk about you with, clear the air about." He didn't say anything so she kept going. "I was hoping maybe we could meet somewhere and talk."

"There's a place two blocks from here called Hennessey's. We can meet there tonight at 8. Now I've got to go get cleaned up from work." He brushed past her without another word.

"God what are you doing Peyton?" she muttered under her breath as she walked back to her car.

She spent more time than necessary getting ready for what she wouldn't dare call a date, with Lucas. It shouldn't have mattered what her hair looked like, or if the top she was wearing hugged her curves in the right places, but no matter how much she resisted it did matter. She was putting the finishing touches on her lip-gloss when her cell phone started to ring.

"So how's small town America treating you?" the light-hearted voice on the other end brought a smile to her face.

"I was just thinking about you." It wasn't entirely the truth, but it felt like the right thing to say.

"I just called to let you know how lonely it is in this house without you. How much longer until you come home?"

"Come on now Kyle, desperation is never a quality a woman finds attractive in her boyfriend." She could hear him laugh on the other end. "But I miss you too and it won't be much longer without me."

"So what do you have planned tonight?"

Telling him the truth would have had messy consequences. Peyton had never fully disclosed her entire history with Lucas to Kyle. He knew that she had been married and that it hadn't lasted, but he didn't know about the baby or the way she had left. So she lied.

"I think I'm just going to stay in tonight, maybe go to dinner with my dad."

"Well I just wanted to see how you were doing, so I'll let you go."

"I'll be home in a few days." She reassured him.

"I know. I love you."

"Me too." She had always answered his declarations of love in the same way. He had always been patient with her and never pushed but Peyton knew he couldn't wait forever for her to feel the same way.

She pushed aside and lingering thoughts of her faithful boyfriend back at home and headed out to her secret meeting with her ex-husband.