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Chapter Eleven: If I could bottle up the chills you give me
Chapter Note- The title of this chapter was inspired by the infamous and ingenious band, Maroon 5. "Woman" was the song that inspired me for the title this time around.
Crickets were singing their lullaby and it coincided beautifully with the warm breeze that danced softly across their skin. It set a perfect scene and the most romantic one at that.
Lucas finished lifting the top of the box to reveal the contents of his memories of them. Peyton moved closer to him when she must have seen what lay on top, one of the fuchsia peonies he had given her the day that she broke him.
Lucas picked up the peony and cleared his throat. "Uh, I found it in my truck after…"
Peyton just shook her head in understanding and he could tell that guilt was starting to creep back in to her senses. Lucas lifted the wild pink flower, "Here, this should be given to you properly." He offered the peony to Peyton, who looked shocked and also had mild disbelief written all over her face. She slowly took the peony from his hand; she trembled slightly when she first touched it.
Lucas wanted to end the awkward tension so he moved on with the rest of the memory box. He shifted some of the parcels trying to look for something else to pull out. Something caught his eye when he moved a receipt; it was one of her sketches, one of her quiet masterpieces. It wasn't actually one of actual sketches; he photocopied it before he gave her art book back. The sketch that was his favorite was the "They Are Not You" drawing.
He picked it up and held it dearly in front of him. Lucas then tried to smooth the creases and wrinkles with his hands. He looked at Peyton; her mouth was open in amazement. Lucas smiled, "I told your art matters."
She laughed in incredulity and smiled all at the same time, "You photocopied my art?"
Lucas shrugged his shoulders and laughed, "What can I say? Your art truly does matter!"
Peyton looked down, trying to hide a small smile that had started to play across her lips. She was also blushing, but Peyton being so humble and insecure about her art would never accept a compliment about them. "Yeah, well…" she said softly.
Luke knew that he shouldn't keep on the subject since it was very touchy and personal matter for her. So he, again, started to look through the box, but stopped when Peyton's hand touched his. He pulled his hand back and let her take the object that captured her eye. Peyton picked a room key out of the box and looked surprised at seeing it.
She looked at Lucas, who was picking grass out of the ground trying to hide his embarrassment. "I-I can't believe you kept the motel key!" She said with a mixture of humor and astonishment.
Luke finally got the courage up to pick his head up and look her in the eye. "Well, what can I say?" He smiled shyly, but it slowly became an affectionate. "That was the moment I knew you were meant for me and I was meant for you, but we couldn't be together." He looked back down trying not to show the emotion he felt of their final moments in that room together. Lucas knew then and there that he had fallen for her, that he was in love with her. He had to keep that key as the symbol of finally finding and unlocking his heart's truest and deepest feelings. "I just couldn't let the key get away from me and I didn't want to forget how I felt exactly at that moment in my life."
"Luke," Peyton whispered and Lucas looked up only to find Peyton's lips against his. It was a passionate kiss that was just like the motel one. Though this one was not done out of reckless comfort or solidarity, but out love, the love they had for one another. Gently and tenderly they kissed each other, they never rushed or became uncontrollable.
Slowly Lucas lays Peyton down on the soft grass, never breaking from their affectionate kiss. All his heart was content on was having her in his arms and feeling her heart beat as quickly as his. Chills went through his body, but felt hot at the same time. It was just like the time in the hall at school when their elbows brushed each other except this was more, this was so much more.
The kissing was deepening with each passing second, but it stayed steady. Nothing was worth more than their love for each other and the kiss proved that. They needed nothing more than their love because they thrived and lived off of it. They were the reason why they both got up in the morning and without them, they would be imperfect.
Soon, the kiss ended, but Lucas and Peyton stayed out the rest of the night just looking through the memory box, searching for reasons why they fell for each other. They got the answers by just a few little objects that brought back real memories that meant more to them than the world itself.
After they reburied the box and promised not to open it until they accumulated more memories. They set home right when the sun was rising and the thought only occurred to Lucas when he and Peyton were on her front porch.
"Hey, Peyt, look," Lucas said looking out at the horizon.
Peyton turned and did the same thing, but with an awed expression. "It's beautiful."
Lucas looked at Peyton and pulled her into a hug, "No, you are," he whispered after he kissed her on her forehead.
She looked up at him and stared into his soft blue eyes and said sincerely, "I love you."
Lucas looked deep into her eyes, "I love you, too." He then bent down and kissed her sweetly. When their lips broke, Lucas just thought of something. "Oh crap!"
"What's the matter?" Peyton asked anxiously while backing away from him. Her eyes were searching his for an answer.
"My mom, I didn't tell I was out and I didn't call her so she's probably going to flip out." Lucas said in a disappointed manner.
Peyton started to laugh when she heard this. "Good luck, Luke. You're going to need it this time since it's your second time!"
Lucas smiled, "Yeah, I know! I just hope she won't ground me for too long because then we wouldn't be able to do anything."
Peyton stopped laughing instantly when she heard that last bit of his sentence. "Now that will suck!"
"Gotcha!" Lucas said playfully while pulling her back into a hug.
"That was not funny, Luke!" Peyton exclaimed as she slapped his arm lightly.
Lucas started laughing, "Why? Are you afraid of the make-out sessions being cut short?"
Peyton started to laugh as well when he said that. "That and not being able to be with you."
Lucas stopped laughing, "Well, don't worry about that. I'll tell my mom that I was out with someone else or I went out for a walk or something." Lucas lightly pushed some of her golden curls out of her eyes that had fallen there. "I better get going."
Peyton nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I don't want you to get into too much trouble."
Lucas gave her a good-bye kiss and left. He walked slowly home just thinking about everything that had happened that night. All of the emotions he had gone through; it was amazing! It's hard to think that you can be so low one moment then high the next. Lucas knew that, for the first time, he wouldn't be able to live or love without Peyton. He needed her, he loved her.
Okay! Thanks for all of the reviews and compliments everyone! I love hearing what you all think—it's amazing that you all are still around giving me encouragement! Thanks for reading, it means a lot to know that you all are! Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter and that it wasn't too mushy for you. Anyways, thanks for being patient for the updates… I sometimes have to wait for inspiration to come along for the next chapter. Thanks so much for everything, guys!