Chapter Twelve: And it's love and I'm in it

Chapter Note: As always the chapter title was inspired by a song and unlike the other titles, this one was changed three times just like the beginning of this chapter. Well it's from "Mixtape" by Butch Walker.

Ring.

The one bell that always made his heart soar letting it escape from the doldrums of high school, the 3 o'clock bell. Lucas lifted his head up off of his hand that he had been resting it on as he read the latest novel assigned to him for English. It was The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. For some strange reason as he read the tattered and old book all he thought about how he changed over the year from the river rat on the other side of town that made fun of the materialistic and shallow jocks to the exact same thing he looked down upon. He was a hypocrite and the novel opened his eyes to the sight he tried to hide from. Though Lucas was slowly changing back to his old self, slowly, and the one person that also exposed his weakness was Peyton.

Lucas closed the book just as the last person from his last block left the room. He pulled his backpack up off of the ground and unzipped it to put the book in. He stood and rubbed the back of his neck as he did to exonerate the knot that had formed there while he was reading. Finally Lucas made his way out of the classroom.

When he hit the noisy and busy hallway leading out to the parking lot he heard a familiar voice that always made him weak in the knees each time he heard it. Luke turned towards its sound and found the one woman that could make the world dissolve around them, Peyton. She was only a couple yards away from him and she stood there with her stunning smile dancing across her lips. All Lucas could do was smile back.

Peyton quickened her lazy shuffle to a swift walk until she was just in front of him.

"Hey there," Peyton greeted as she gave him a quick peck and then took his hand in to hers and started leading him out to the parking lot.

Lucas smile widened, "Hi."

Peyton laughed softly and looked up at him, "You seem in a goofy mood today."

"Well, why wouldn't I?" Lucas paused to see Peyton's curiosity rising when he said this. "I only persuaded my mom into letting me off a week early so now,you're looking ata free man!"

Peyton's face brightened up when she heard the news. "That's great, Luke! Seriously, how were able to do that? Your mom really held you tight to your punishment this time around."

Lucas opened the door leading out to the parking lot for Peyton and himself. "Well let's just say early weekend mornings and cleanliness to a whole different level."

"Oh, ouch," Peyton said as they walked up to her car, "waking up early on a Saturday morning is torture."

"Yeah it is, but," Lucas started as he turned and leaned against Peyton's Mercury, "I'd do anything just so I can get to see you more often."

Peyton shyly looked at the ground trying to hide Lucas from seeing her blush. Lucas grabbed her other hand and gently pulled her up against him. He lightly picked her head up which made her look him in the eyes. As soon as her green-hazel eyes pored into his soft blue ones, he could tell that she was truly touched by his sincerity and love for her.

"I love you, Peyt, and not even early mornings will change that." Lucas whispered genuinely.

As soon as he said this Peyton crashed her lips against his. The kiss wasn't as fervent as many they had shared, but it wasn't too controlled either. So as soon as the kiss began it ended when people, namely obnoxious jocks, started shouting, "Get a room," Luke and Peyton stopped out of embarrassment.

Both of them were a little agitated by the intrusion by many of their peers and by the looks on their faces you could tell that they were.

Peyton gently pushed off of Lucas, "I guess that's it for now since rude people think it's their business to step in."

Lucas laughed slightly when he heard this, "Well, we were all over each other a little bit."

Peyton playfully punched Lucas's arm and laughed a little, too, "I guess we were." Peyton looked down at her watch, "Hey, do you wanna head over to the Tric with me to pick out some music for this weekend?"

Luke nodded his head, "Sure, I'd love to. I'll meet you over there, okay?" Lucas kissed her forehead as he gave a her a quick goodbye hug.

Lucas walked over to his truck and unlocked his door. He sat down in the driver's seat and started the ignition. All that was on his mind circulated around Peyton. He needed her more than she probably knew, probably even more than he knew.

It didn't take long to get to Tric, especially if your mind is somewhere else. He parked right next to Peyton's car telling him that she had beaten him there, after all, she did drive like a maniac. Lucas opened the entrance to the club and already heard music playing, though lightly. He looked over at the DJ section of the club to find a few golden curls just barely peeking over the top of the turn table. Lucas threw he keys over onto the nearest table and made his way over to Peyton.

Luke turned the corner to find Peyton doubled over searching with all her might for something. Lucas started laughing and the sound of his laugh made Peyton finally see that she wasn't alone.

Peyton stood up and started to sarcastically laugh along with Lucas. "Ha, ha, funny, funny."

When Lucas heard this he only started to laugh harder. Peyton had a look of disgust on her face with a mixture of amusement, though, too. Soon Peyton's laugh rang out with Lucas's.

"Gosh, shut up, Luke. I can't stop laughing if you don't!" Peyton said leaning on the turn table for support.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Lucas said finally getting a grip.

"Good." Peyton said decisively and she turned around and started to search for something again. "Luke, have you seen the Keane vinyl lately?"

Lucas shook his head, "No, I haven't. Umm, did you look in the back yet?" He asked this as he pointed to the storage room in the back of the club.

Peyton stood up slowly as though she were deep in thought. "No, good idea, I haven't looked in there yet." She grabbed the keys from her back pocket and moved towards the door, "C'mon, help me look."

Lucas followed as told and went into the back storage area for the misplaced Keane's "Hopes and Dreams" vinyl. After an hour of searching and no luck, Lucas was tired of working.

"Peyt? Can't we just find a different song to play?" Lucas asked whiningly rubbing the back of his neck in pain because the knot from earlier was back.

Peyton turned around looking disappointed and agitated at the same time. "No, I really want to play this song, Lucas!"

Lucas nodded his head, "All right, all right. We've been through all of the boxes and we still haven't found it, so maybe it's still out there in the DJ booth."

Peyton let out a huff and then slowly nodded, "Yeah, I guess it could be out there. I might've accidentally skipped over it since I was in a hurry."

They made their way back out to the club and began to look through the vinyl out there. Only a couple of minutes later Peyton shot up in the air with the Keane vinyl in her hand.

"Ah ha! I found it!" She said in a very happy voice.

Lucas was relieved that she finally found the record because he didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to take it. "Great job, Peyton!"

"Thanks," Peyton looked around them, "now we've just got to clean up our mess."

"Woo." Lucas said sarcastically when he started to pick up the disarrayed pile of records from various artists. Cleaning was the easy part compared to finding the Keane record. It was like finding a needle in a hay stack, but now they were just placing the rest of the hay stack back into the pile. They were done cleaning before they knew it.

"Ah, well that's the last one." Peyton said with a hint of tiredness in her voice.

Lucas leaned his back against the booth, "Yeah."

"Ugh, do you wanna listen to some more music over at my place or do you just wanna head home since it's-hold on-8:23?"

Lucas looked up at the ceiling in thought, "I'll listen to some music over at your place."

Peyton's eyes lit up slightly when she heard his answer. "Okay, then you better call your mom and tell her that you're coming over since she won't think of the worse and ground you instantly as you walk through the door."

Luke smiled, "Yes ma'am, Miss Sawyer."

"Shut up, Scott!" Peyton said playfully as she slapped his arm lightly. "I'll see you soon over at my place, then?"

"Uh-huh," he answered. Lucas grabbed his cell phone from his back pocket and called his mom. She okayed it and said that he had to call every two hours. He hung up in another five minutes and Peyton was already clear blue out of the club.

Lucas went out the front way and saw that Peyton's car wasn't there either so she must have rushed home to prepare some music for them to listen to. Lucas hopped in his car within a minute a drove over to her house. He got there right when it turn nine and got out of the car. He walked up to her front door and opened it. Right away music flooded his senses with each step he climbed up the stairs to Peyton's room. The music stopped when he reached the landing so he quietly made his way over to her door. He reached her door and saw her standing over the stereo in her room. She was placing CDs into the disk holder and as soon as she hit play another rush of music began to play.

"Hey," Lucas said smiling in on her at her door.

Peyton turned around with a gorgeous smile playing across her lips. "Hey, Luke. I just put in some new CDs for us to just mellow to."

Lucas nodded and came into her room more. He stopped when Peyton started to look through her records over at her shelves. He couldn't help but watch her because she was so graceful and beautiful. His heart yearned for her touch and for the feel of her breath again his skin which sent electric shocks throughout his body.

Then, the song came on. Lucas knew the song very well; it was one of his favorite songs at the moment, "Run" by Snow Patrol. He loved it so much because it reminded him of their relationship. Just thought of the song melted his heart and now hearing it and being able to listen to it with her was amazing.

Peyton was still busy shifting through her records to not notice Lucas quietly closing in on her. Soon his arms were around her waist and he was tenderly kissing her neck. Gentle and affectionate Lucas's kisses were. Slowly Peyton turned around to face Lucas. Her eyes gazed into his and made his passion for her grow even more until he was unable to control his emotions and pulled her into a fiery and heated kiss.

Both of their emotions were exploding and experiencing new limits. They loved each other and they needed each other. Everything just made sense and added up correctly when they were in each other's presence. The kiss was so powerful that neither one thought of anything except about the other and how much they meant to each other. They were in love. Such a plain and simple concept, but also a complex and difficult one at the same time.

As the kiss deepened, Lucas started to slowly shuffle them over to Peyton's bed.

Author's Notes:

Dun. Dun. Dun. My signature cliffhanger. Anyway, umm… next chapter will be from Peyton's point of view so don't get confused when I start describing Lucas from a girl POV. Okay? Okay. Well thanks for waiting and I hope to hear from y'all soon!