3 Months Later

"Okay, was it just me or did that class take forever?" Peyton laughed as she watched Brooke roll her eyes in aggravation as the two girls walked down the hall. They had finally gotten around to enrolling into Tree Hill Community College and so far everything seemed to be going fine.

"I think it was just you" Peyton answered as they made their way to the parking lot. The blonde smiled as she saw Lucas leaning against Brooke's car and she immediately began walking faster towards him. They wrapped their arms around each other as she leaned up and kissed him gently. "I missed you" She cooed as they broke apart.

"I missed you too" Lucas kissed her lightly once again as a smile spread across his face. "How was your day?"

"It was alright, better now though." She couldn't help but smile widely as she got lost in his eyes. She was in love with him and there was no doubt about it in her heart or her mind. But she still felt like there was something missing in her life. She didn't know what it was but it was always there, lingering around her, haunting her almost. She would never let anyone know that though, as far as everyone was concerned life was great and she liked things that way. It was her escape for when she let herself get lost in thought about everything wrong in her life. No matter how bad she made things seem in her mind she could always go back to everyone's reality. It was almost her reality, but it was just outside her grasp.

Lucas took Peyton's hand in his as he stepped away from Brooke's car. He wrapped his arms around Peyton's waist as she leaned her head back onto his shoulder. Brooke loved seeing the two blondes happy again, they deserved it. They had had so much ripped away from them and she was glad that they finally had the chance to be together without anything getting in the way. "And how was your day" Brooke was torn form her thoughts as she felt Charlie arms slide around her growing waist.

"It was good" She responded as she craned her neck in order to kiss him. For the first time in years things were really perfect in Brooke's life, she had found a guy she loved and who cherished her in return and she had a baby growing inside of her. There wasn't anything that she would change in her life, everything was just right. "Let's get out of here you guys, its Friday and we have to meet Nate and Haley at the café this evening."

"I can't believe they'll be married in two weeks" Lucas said in awe. Everyone had been thrilled about the engagement except for Dan, but they forced themselves to ignore him.

"I know, Nathan and Haley Scott..." Peyton let out a small laugh. Haley was the last person she expected to get married first out of the group. She had always been the sensible one of the girls, the one who thought everything though to the last detail before evening considering it. Now Haley James was going to married in two weeks and as shocking as it was it just seemed right to all of them.

"Okay we're leaving now, so bye you two, and please don't be late. Keep the hormones in check, will you?" Brooke teased as she got into her car and stuck her tongue out. Peyton just rolled her eyes and turned to walk away.

"Bye Davis" Peyton yelled over her shoulder as she and Luke made their way to his car.

"So we have about 3 hours before we have to go to the café..."Lucas said as he pulled out of the parking lot. Peyton just nodded, she too busy with her thoughts to pay attention to anything else. She wasn't thinking about anything specific but her happiness was slowly fading away. Lucas looked at her and knew better then to say anything else. He had learned that if he asked her what was wrong she would snap at him. That was something they didn't tell anyone about, only they knew about Peyton's little episodes. She would zone out every now and then and she would eventually just come back to reality.

The entire ride home was silent as Peyton attempted to figure out what was missing from her life. She wanted everything to be perfect for once. She was tired of having to pretend things were good, she wanted it to be real. There was only one time when things were really okay for her, when she was truly happy with her life and now she hated thinking about those few months. She did everything she could to burry the memories of her pregnancy because they only brought pain. Deep down Peyton knew what was missing but she refused to admit it to herself.

Lucas watched as Peyton sat looking straight ahead of her. He could see her eyes glistening over with tears but he knew there was nothing he could do, she wouldn't let him in. The more he tried to talk to her when she zoned out the more she pushed him away so he had just given up. Lucas pulled slowly into Peyton's driveway and turn off the car, but he didn't move form his seat. Instead he turned just in time to see the first tear slip from Peyton's hazel eyes. She refused to look at him because she knew that if she moved the tears would fall. It took everything she had to push the tears back and not breakdown.

"Peyton..." Lucas didn't know what to say so he just let the sentence hand as he continued to stare at her. She didn't respond to him, she just stared ahead of her, refusing to acknowledge him. "Peyt...what's wrong?" His voice was gentle and all he could hope for was some kind of response. He wanted her to talk to him but she never wanted to, the time was just never right for her. He knew she didn't want to have to deal with more then she had to but she was going to have to talk about things some time and it was better not to wait. "Peyton..."

"Look Lucas I'm fine. There is nothing wrong so stop asking me that. If something was wrong I'd tell you so just leave me along!" She screamed bitterly as she got out the car and walked down the road, away from her house and away from Lucas. Lucas stepped out the car just in time to see her back turn the corner, and she was out of his sight. He leaned against the car and threw his head back in frustration before looking back in the direction Peyton had disappeared in. Lucas pushed himself off the car and walked into Peyton's house, letting the front door slam behind him. He was going to go upstairs but stopped when his eyes found something more appealing. He made his way into the dining room and over to the far wall. He opened the top cabinet and let his hands rest of the half filled bottle of whisky.

Lucas hadn't drunk since his incident with Nikki. He had learned from both that time and his first date with Brooke that he couldn't hold his liquor. As he grabbed a shot glass from the adjacent cabinet he stopped caring about right and wrong. He poured himself a drink and prepared to drown his problems. This wasn't the first time Peyton had gotten mad and just left. The first time she snapped on him she disappeared for the entire day, leaving a note saying that she would be back when she felt like it. He had spent all day looking for her but it was to no avail. She had returned home around 1 that morning and without saying anything to him she went to sleep.

Lucas took the shot and poured himself another glass. He gripped the small glass in his fingers but he didn't drink it. There was nothing appealing about the bitter taste that now resided in his mouth and he knew that all he would obtain from dinking was a hangover. The blonde felt tears slide down his face as he contemplated his life. Lucas walked into the kitchen and poured the whisky down the sink as he dialed Haley's number. As he walked out the door her told her that Peyton wasn't feeling well and they were going to stay in for the night. After hanging up the phone he got into the car and took off down the road.

Peyton wandered around town hoping to get lost. She knew Lucas would eventually be looking for her and she didn't want to be found, not yet. The blonde eventually found herself in front of a bar. She could here all the people screaming inside, enjoying themselves, but she wasn't interested. She had never been a drinker because it never did anything for her. Getting drunk didn't make anything better for her and it never helped her escape, there was only one thing that had been able to do that for her. She tired to erase the thought from her mind but she couldn't, she wanted her pain gone and she wanted a needle. She hated the fact that she felt so weak, that her mind was pushing her back in that direction but the more she thought about it the more appealing it sounded.

Peyton jumped as the thunder roared about her and she looked towards the sky just as it opened up. The cold water slowly soaked through her clothes as she sat on the curb. She let her head fall onto her knees as the tears finally danced down her cheeks. She felt empty inside and she didn't know how to fix it. Her family was that one piece of the puzzle that was missing and there as nothing to fill that growing hole in her heart.

When Peyton finally looked up it had gotten dark and the rain had stopped. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there and she didn't care, it wasn't important. She could feel her body shivering as her clothes clung to her skin and her drenched hair seemed black as it stuck to the sides of her face.. "Peyton..." she looked up to find her favorite blue eyes gazing down at her. She forced a smile before looking back down at the wet pavement under her feet. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders as her body pressed into his side.

"Lucas can we go home?" she asked in a cracked voice as she looked up at him with teary eyes. He simply nodded yes as he helped her up. He kept her tucked into his side as they walked to the car. She didn't bother trying to hide the tears as they drove home and she stayed close to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Lucas didn't ask her anything, he just held her, keeping her safe. Peyton had changed so much from when he first met her, she was nothing like she used to be, but he loved her all the same. In fact he could guarantee that he loved her more then he ever had. He knew she would talk when she was ready to and as much as he wanted to he restrained himself from pressuring her. Peyton let herself fall asleep against Luke's shoulder as the salt dried on her face and tainted her parched lips. Luke just held her tighter and closer to him, praying for tomorrow to be better.

She sits alone by a lamp post
Trying to find a thought that's escaped her mind
She says dad's the one I love the most
But Stipe's not far behind
She never lets me in
Only tells me where she's been
When she's had too much to drink?
I say that I don't care
I just run my hands through her dark hair
Then I pray to God you gotta Help me fly away
And just let her cry
If the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing
If it eases all her pain
Let her go
Let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow
Let her be
Let her be
This morning I woke up alone
Found a note standing by the phone
Saying baby, maybe I'll be back someday
I wanted to look for you
You walked in I didn't know just what I should do
So I sat back down and had a beer and felt sorry for myself
Saying let her cry
If the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing
If it eases all her pain
Let her go
Let her walk right out on me And if the sun comes up tomorrow Let her
be Let her be
Let her cry
If the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing
If it eases all her pain
Let her go
Let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow
Let her be
Oh... Last night I tried to leave
Cried so much I could not believe
She was the same girl I fell in love with long ago
She went in the back to get high
I sat down on my couch and cried yellin'
Oh momma, please help me
Won't you hold my hand and...
Let her cry
If the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing
If it eases all her pain
Let her go
Let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow
Let her be
Let her cry
If the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing
If it eases all her pain
Let her go
Let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow
Let her be
Oh, let her be


okay the song was "let her cry" by hootie and the blowfish