Thanks guys for the reviews! I love hearing what you all think and I'm truly grateful for you all to be reading my little story. It seems as though, since my story isn't going anywhere, that this will be the second to last chapter for "Hold On." Please don't freak out, I'm going to write many more Leyton stories after I finish this one. I've had many ideas for writing other ones and I want to know that I finished one and I won't have to worry about updating or anything on this one when I write the others. You see? Believe me; I'm not going to leave my beloved readers hanging! Oh and this chapter is the longest one in the story so far, so you're up for a treat.
Chapter Fourteen: Ready to spend the rest of my life with you…
Chapter Note: The chapter was inspired by Evan and Jaron's hit, "Crazy for this Girl."
Three years later…
The breeze was calming and soothing to Lucas' ecstatic nerves that were running on high. He never thought that this question, or subject even, would bring him this close to mental exhaustion.
He was sitting on the wooden, creaky benches of the humble River Court. Lucas didn't know how many times he came there in pursuit of clearing his head or even playing a street game of basketball with Skills and Mouth commentating in the background. This was his sanctuary more than he knew. He had missed it recently, since he had been at college now for two years.
He got a full ride to North Carolina University, the Tarheels, at Chapel Hill and Nathan did as well. Haley and Peyton ended up going there too, so that made it feel like the whole gang was able to stay together for at least a few more years until the real world would get in the way. Even though his schedule seemed to suffocate him, he was still able to see Peyton and spend time with her.
She was able to make all of his worries and anxieties evaporate like mist each time they just sat down and talked. They had grown closer than ever the past two years. Being away from home and from their protective surroundings of Tree Hill seemed to make them depend more on each other, as if they were already wed locked.
Lucas looked down at the velvet box in his hands when he thought about "wed lock." The black velvet felt smooth against his coarse fingertips and they itched to open the box for the hundredth time that day and look at the symbol of love and marriage inside. Being too weak to resist the temptation, he opened the black box and saw the diamond engagement ring. It wasn't the most extravagant ring in the world and it definitely wasn't the priciest. All Lucas knew was that it would fit perfectly on to Peyton's slim left ring finger perfectly and that was all that matters.
The sun slowly slid below the horizon was almost about to finally set. The magnificent colors that mixed together seemed as though they were creating a brilliant masterpiece, like Monet's "Sunset in Venice." Lucas' mind soon started to drift back on to a certain broody artist, the very tortured artist that appeared to be the one that could captivate him for all eternity and make him better. He needed the curly blonde, hazel-eyed woman more than he knew and he was about to make a jump that he intended to do for a while now.
A car's engine broke through his chain of thought and Lucas looked up to see the one he had been waiting for to finally arrive, Peyton, his Peyton. Lucas quickly snapped the black ring box closed and shoved it vigorously into his jacket pocket and waited for Peyton to drive up next to the bleachers. Her classic black Mercury convertible drove up slowly and she got out of her car slowly and she leaned leisurely against her door.
"Hey there handsome," Peyton said wearing a small smile and squinting her eyes to block some of the sun's last defying rays before finally setting.
Lucas smiled excitedly and stood up from his seat on the bleachers, "Hi beautiful." He made his way down to see her and when he got there he said, "I missed you," with a warm, content smile on his face as he pulled her close to him.
Peyton laughed lightly before she kissed him affectionately, "I missed you, too, Luke."
Lucas smiled lovingly down into her majestic, hazel eyes. He brushed a golden curl that the wind had blown down across her cheeks behind her ear. Her warm breath sent chills down his spine when he brushed against his skin. The chills sent nervous jitters all throughout his body, the ring lingered in his thoughts.
Lucas cleared his throat and cradled her face, "Um, how about we watch the sunset under the tree?" He looked over at the tree which its saluting shading engulfed them into the shade.
Peyton nodded, "Yeah, that's a good idea."
Lucas grabbed her hand and led them over to the tree which overlooked the river and it had the best view of the sun setting just behind the neighboring town of Raleigh on the other side of the river. Lucas sat them down right in front of the trunk of the tree so they could lean of the surface as they watched the breathtaking scene. After watching the sun slowly slip further and further west, Lucas thought of something.
He shifted slightly so he could look down at Peyton, who had been leaning against his chest as they watched. "Peyt? You wanna know what just occurred to me?"
"What?" Peyton asked quietly with a hint of humor embedded in there. He knew she got a kick out of him asking her rhetorical questions like that.
"Where are we sitting?" Lucas asked in a mysterious way.
Peyton sat up and looked at him, "Um, under a tree, Luke, and why did you ask me that way?" Lucas started to laugh when he heard this. "I know when you ask me something in that way I know it means you know something that I should know!"
Lucas laughed even harder now, "How do you know that? You're not supposed to know that!"
Peyton looked at Lucas with her 'c'mon now' type of look on her face, as if she wasn't going to fall for his crap. "We've been going out for close to four years, Luke. I think would know you well enough by now to know your looks, laughs, smiles, bad habits, and tones."
Lucas looked dumbfounded at Peyton for a minute, "My bad habits?" He said incredulously, "Please!"
Peyton started to laugh and smile widely, "Yeah, even the Great Basketball Star has his faults."
Lucas looked mischievously at Peyton before he dove for her and tackling her to the ground. "Aw, lookey here, Miss Peyton Sawyer is powerless for the first time!" Lucas said in a teasing voice.
Peyton tried to wrest, wiggle, and tried every other possible move to get out from under Lucas, but it was just impossible for her to against his strength. Lucas, though, seemed to really enjoy it because he knew Peyton was having a conflicting battle inside her head thinking about her next attack on him or to surrender.
Lucas smiled down at her, "Just do it!"
She looked up at him and huffed, "Fine, uncle! There, I said it, now get off!"
Lucas laughed and rolled off of her. When he rolled over on his back, stars were starting to become visible in the night's sky. He baffled by how quickly one brilliant wonder could be over with and then another gorgeous wonder would show up. Lucas looked over at Peyton, she too was looking up at the sky in what seemed like amazement.
"So do you wanna know?" Lucas asked seriously, not taking his eyes off the simple beauty in front of him. He had counted his blessings daily and thanked God each night for Peyton, his love.
Peyton looked over at him instantaneous, "Yeah."
Lucas pointed downward, "What did we bury here?"
Peyton smiled in disbelief, "Oh my! Our memory box." She crawled over to Lucas and sat down beside him. "Are we going to dig it up tonight," she asked excitedly looking at him.
Lucas looked at the inky black sky in thought. "I suppose we could," he got up and went to the opposite side of the tree and came back with a plastic bag. "I guess these memories should be put down there with the old ones." He gestured to the plastic bag and sat down next to Peyton and opened the bad and fished the gardening shovel out and began digging in to the earth.
"What's in there?" Peyton questioned curiously moving towards the bag to have a peek.
Lucas stopped digging and quickly pulled the bag out of Peyton's reach. "It's a surprise."
Peyton looked up at him as though he had just stolen something of hers.
"Don't look at me that way," Lucas said playfully, "I don't want the surprise to be spoiled."
She began to put and sulk instead; Lucas went back to digging until a dull 'thud' was produced. "Jackpot," Lucas whispered to himself as he tossed the shovel aside and began to pull the shoebox from the ground.
It had been a little more than three years since they had looked through it and Lucas was sure that it will be more sentimental now than it was then. Lucas placed the dirt covered box before he and Peyton. He glanced over at Peyton and she seemed to be taking the moment just as serious as he was. Lucas could tell that many thoughts were running through her mind right then, memories were overcoming them both.
Lucas cleared his throat finally, bringing her out of her somewhat trance-like train of thought. "Ah, I guess we can go ahead and open it and look through it before we place those memories in there." As he said this, he lifted the top of the box off.
Peyton inched closer to the aged box, "I can't believe that I forgot about this!" Her eyes were wide with anticipation and incredulity.
Lucas didn't say anything, all of his thoughts and nerves were thinking about the ring in his coat pocket. He subconsciously placed his hand on top of the ring box to make sure it was still in there. Luke looked up to see Peyton already sifting through the memory box to reflect on some of their memories.
She finally picked an object and slowly began to lift it out of the box with great care. Peyton smiled and looked over at Lucas with mild humor. "You're such a hopeless romantic, you know that right?"
Lucas looked at the object in her lap, a baggy with a few welted rose petals in it. He had covered their whole apartment with red rose petals on their second anniversary leading up to the roof for a candlelight dinner under the stars. Yes, it was one of the most clichéd traditions between couples, but Lucas couldn't help himself with doing it. To him, it was the perfect gesture of affection.
"Yeah, well what can I say?" Lucas asked looking away from the baggy and into Peyton's mesmerizing gaze.
She looked down smiling at the rose petals, "That was an amazing night," she whispered.
Lucas nodded, but couldn't form any words to describe how it was to him, well, except perfect.
He moved in to look through the box, instead of choosing something near the top of the box, Lucas decided to take an object near the bottom. He finally found what he was looking for a moment later, a silk tie.
He pulled it out from the bottom and laced it through his fingers, "I forgot I put that in here."
Peyton let out a laugh and covered her mouth. "I can't believe you put that in here!"
"Well, what do you expect? That was the night of our first kiss," Lucas said with a content smile.
Peyton looked at him, "You surprise me, Luke, you know that?" She moved closer to him and kissed him tenderly.
Lucas pulled away from the enticing kiss unwillingly, but he had to keep on schedule with his plan. "Ah, how about we check out our newest editions to the memory box?"
She looked at the plastic bag and then back at Lucas, "That sounds like a plan." Peyton grabbed the bag from behind Luke and pulled the knot out with excitement. As soon as she untied the knot, she reached in there without looking and pulled out a memory.
It was a ratty and rugged old book. The spine was tearing and the pages were water-stained, but even though its appearance was ruined and ancient, the meaning was even more powerful.
Lucas wanted to speak before Peyton, so he wasted no time, "I just had an awesome time reading that book with you and your dad. It didn't matter if it wasn't only just you and me. I really wanted to add it to the box so it can show that this box isn't just you and I, but our loved ones as well."
Peyton lovingly held the tattered book and smiled down at it, but she didn't speak. Lucas knew it meant a lot to Peyton to see the book, after all, she wasn't able to see her dad as often as she would like with him traveling about the seas for the majority of year at a time. Even his new job kept him working for long hours and days at a time. Nothing really changed, but Peyton still loved and needed her father all the same.
Peyton finally looked up at Lucas and smiled affectionately at him. "Thanks, Luke, this really means a lot to me," she said trying to hold back her tears.
Lucas moved toward Peyton to hold her, he knew she needed to be held. "Shh, no problem, Peyt."
She laughed and wiped away some of the tears that had rolled down her cheeks, "I'm acting like a big baby right now, aren't I?"
"Nah, you're just living life," Lucas said soothingly, trying to console her.
Peyton turned slightly and looked up at Lucas, "You always seem to say the right things, like you know exactly how to make me feel better."
Now, it was Lucas' turn to laugh, "No, it's just I know what to do when it comes to women crying. Remember, I grew up only with my mom so I know what to do when the time rolls around."
This comment made Peyton laugh and she sat up, "How could I forget?"
Lucas smiled; he loved how Peyton could joke her way out of feeling sorry for herself. Recently, she had gotten a little better with not building up her wall to block off her emotions. She still had her broodiness, but he loved that about her. That's what made him fall for her in the first place, her ability to guard herself. Though when he started to break down her wall, he saw Peyton, the real Peyton; she was so much more beautiful when she let him in to see her heart and soul. Lucas knew when he saw a glimpse of each that Peyton was the love of his life, that was about four and half years ago, but the images still reign high in his heart.
Lucas softly wiped some of Peyton's stray tears away with his fingers. "Are you up for some more memories?"
Peyton nodded strongly, showing she was up for the experience.
Lucas smiled warmly, and caressed her cheek lightly, "Good."
He turned back to the plastic bag and reached in there for an object to pull out. This time, he pulled out a folded up piece of paper. Lucas slowly opened it and looked at it before showing it to Peyton.
Her eyes grew wide in exasperation, "Luke, I didn't know you could draw so well!"
Lucas laughed softly, "Me? Draw? You've got to be kidding me. I took a picture of you while you were sleeping and I took the picture to an artist to draw a sketch for me."
"I should've known; I've seen some of your drawings!" Peyton joked playfully.
Lucas feigned Peyton ripping his heart out, "And the artist rips her love's heart out and shreds it!"
"Shut up," Peyton said slapping his chest. "But seriously, Luke, it's amazing."
"I know, you are beautiful when you sleep." Lucas said looking at Peyton with love in his eyes.
Peyton looked down at the ground shyly, "Stop."
Lucas finally knew that this was the moment, the perfect moment to ask her to marry him. Luke cleared his throat trying to get rid of the nervous jitters that had just started to take over his ability to speak. "Ugh, Peyt, I have something to ask y-you," he said rather shakily, reaching for the box inside his coat pocket.
Peyton immediately looked up, "Sure, what is it, Luke?" He could tell that she was worried with him because of the tone he unintentionally used when he asked her.
"Well, I," Lucas finally pulled out the black velvet box and held it tenderly in his hands. "I love you Peyton, more than anything else in this world and for sometime now, I've been thinking about something very, very important for both of our futures."
When Lucas said this, Peyton covered her mouth and tears began to form in her eyes. Lucas knew that she knew what he was about to ask her.
"Peyton Sawyer, will you marry me and be my wife?" Lucas asked with tears starting to sting his eyes as well.
Peyton lunged for Lucas and crashed her lips against his for a breathtaking and mind-blowing kiss. She pulled away a moment later with tears streaming down from her beautiful hazel eyes, "Of course I would be your wife, Lucas!"
Lucas stood up and picked Peyton up, hugged her, and kissed her fervently. He broke away from the kiss breathless, but that didn't stop Lucas from screaming at the top of his lungs, "SHE SAID 'YES!'" After he yelled that at least three times, he finally opened the ring box and exposed the diamond engagement ring and slipped the ring onto her left ring finger.
"I know this isn't much, Peyt, but-"
"I love it!" Peyton said cutting him off looking up at him with her eyes desperately telling him how much he means to her.
Lucas kissed her more tenderly this time, showing her that he understood what she was trying to tell him. "I love you, Peyton."
Peyton looked up at him wearing a bright smile, "I love you, too, Lucas Scott."
Well, I hope you all liked this chapter… hopefully it wasn't cheesy and if it was, I'm sorry! I didn't want the engagement to be that way and if it was, please accept my apology. Also, hopefully you weren't confused with my three year gap/jump forward. If you were, go ahead and tell me and I'll try to find a solution for that. Thank you so much for reading and please tell me your thoughts!
Um, since the next chapter will be the final one, I'll tell you right now that I'm already planning on writing another Leyton story. I might tell you the summary or at least the story line so then you can know what I'm up to. Toodles!