1Together

Author's Note: So, I'm glad that whoever read this liked it so far. I know it's a little bit slow, but it's not really gonna be a long story, really the time frame in the story will only span over a few days.

Chapter 2: She Paints Me Blue

– 'Tonight I watch the lights go out in your house, wondering how I could get so deep and you could still get to sleep' –

He couldn't believe his own eyes as she sat on the beach in front of him, for so many years he had wondered, he had questioned himself on if he made the right choices in life, and there was his answer. He had picked the wrong girl. He knew it from the minute he saw her curls blowing in the breeze that he picked the wrong girl all those years ago. And even now he had picked the wrong girl, of course he loved his wife, but she had never been comparable to Peyton Sawyer.

She looked surprised when she turned around, and as she met his stare he felt paralyzed, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. The beauty that so often radiated from her in high school wasn't there the way it used to be, but from the slight sparkle in her eyes that was layered underneath the pain he could tell it was still hidden underneath.

He took close notice of the hurt that was clear in her eyes, and he wondered why she wasn't happy, and why she looked so lost as she sat alone on the desolate beach. He knew she had married Jake four years ago, he had gone to the wedding and watched Peyton give her heart away to the boy she didn't love. And he knew she didn't love him, he could read it as she glanced back at him just before she said "I do." She looked like she was pleading with him to save her, but he had made no move.

"Luke! I feel like it's been forever," she pulled him in for a tight hug, wrinkling his suit jacket slightly but he couldn't find the time to care.

"It's been like a year, Peyt," he chuckled pulling away from her, letting his eyes roam over her body that was covered in the white wedding dress.

"A year is a long time considering how much time we spent together for so long..." she trailed off as though the next words were somehow inappropriate but she forced them out anyway, "...I've missed you."

"I missed you too," he whispered sincerely, pulling her into his arms again, he felt her relax into his touch and let out a sigh as though she were finally comfortable with her life.

It was twenty or thirty minutes later that he stood with the rest of the church watching her walk down the aisle with a fake smile. She had done a pretty good job of making her smile look genuine, but he saw right through it, all of her emotions were right there in her eyes and no one had even taken the time to look.

She went through the ceremony with that smile and he was highly confused when Jake seemed to stare at her so meaningfully but couldn't even notice her eyes. The priest looked at Jake first, asking him all of those cliche wedding questions that were shown in movies so often as a sign of passionate love, but it was so clear to Lucas that their relationship had been anything but passionate over the past year.

"Do you Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer take Jacob Michael Jaglieski to be your lawfully wedded husband through..." Lucas let the words roll from his shoulders as he focused his attention on the blonde standing up there, this was it. There was no going back for her now, there was no second chance for him now and just as the priest finished, Peyton turned her head just enough so that her eyes met his. If only for the briefest of seconds he saw the pain and pleading flicker through her green eyes, but instead he watched her say "I Do" and clapped along with the rest of the crowd as another man kissed the only girl he had ever loved.

– 'In vain I blame my trembling on the cold air, and I can't hide that I relied on you, like yellow does on blue' –

Her once blonde hair had faded and darkened into a chestnut or auburn color, almost a mix of Haley's and his own color. It shocked him, but somehow he found that it suited her better. Still the curls remained but they were somewhat matted from the ocean breeze she was sitting in. Her gray sweat pants flooded down around her ankles while her toes mingled with the tan sand. She sat in a tight black t-shirt and she occasionally shivered from the wind that still blew by them.

"Do you mind if I sit?" he knew as the words left his mouth that the question was lame, but he had nothing else, hell, he was lucky he even got the words out at all.

She shook her head, watching as he positioned himself on the right side of her, just as he had done so many nights ago. The only difference now being they were grown ups, they were adults and they weren't dealing with high school drama, they were dealing with the rest of their lives and their own happiness.

"Fancy meeting you here," she joked, turning her head to get a better view of him.

"Yea, what're you doing back?"

"Don't want me here? Is that it?" she continued to tease him, finally getting a smile from him made her weak in the knees, but she quickly denied it as he watched her.

"No, that's not it. I'm glad you're here, I wasn't expecting it, but I'm glad. I guess I was just curious seeing as I haven't seen or heard from you in oh...about four years," and suddenly she felt very guilty.

"I'm sorry, Luke. Everything's just been really hectic..."

"But you weren't too busy to call Haley every night, or even squeeze in some time for Brooke. I even heard you talked to Theresa the other day, but you know me, the one person who's always been there, you were too busy to call?" she knew he was angry, she hadn't expected him to put his anger out there so bluntly, but she had known he was angry. And she was angry at herself, but she knew why she didn't call him. She didn't call because it would've been too hard for the first year or two, she would've wanted to run away to be with him, and she couldn't do that, she was married and she had a life.

"It wasn't like that...it wasn't like that at all..."

"No? Then what was it, Peyton? You know you spent so much time when we were in high school crying about people always leaving and how no one ever stayed in your life. Well that's bullshit because I tried, and you did nothing but push me away. I was the only one who stayed and you pushed. You know we didn't lose touch because I didn't care, we lost touch because you pushed me away," he took a deep breath as she tried to defend herself.

"I meant to stay in touch, Lucas. I had every intention of staying friends with you, but just everything with Jake and my job, I haven't had time to do much of anything…" as her words lingered in the air, she knew there was so much more that she wanted to say to him, how she wanted to just cry it all out about how miserable she was and how she was so disappointed with what her life had become.

"Yea," his response was soft and gentle, something she didn't expect. "I just…I guess I missed having you around, having someone to talk to…"

"…I'm sorry…" she cast her eyes down towards the sand, unable to look at him any longer.

"How long are you here for?"

"I actually don't know. Haley called me the other day and asked me to go and here I am, we never really figured out any details."

'And you're my good feeling, I'm kneeling, inside her room she paints me blue. And you are my reason for breathing, inside her room she paints me blue' –

She laughed, really laughed for the first time in a long time. They sat at a booth in a 24 hour diner, each had a plate of eggs in front of them. Her face was red, and she could barely breathe as he told some anecdotes from over the years that they hadn't talked.

"Okay, I've told you my stories, what about yours?" he made eye contact with her while shoving a fork full of eggs into his mouth.

"I don't really have any," she took another sip of her soda, averting her eyes from his intense stare.

"Peyt, you've been gone for a while now, you've got to have some stories," he smiled at her and she meant to smile back, but something inside of her snapped in that moment.

"I DON'T HAVE ANY! OKAY? What do you want me to say to you? That my life has been boring and monotonous and Jake is never home. We don't even sleep in the same bed anymore! There's a story. We fight all the time, and he drinks a lot. Do you wanna know that I haven't been happy since high school, that I haven't been happy since…you know what no, I don't even know why I'm telling you all of this, I have to go," her rage had boiled over and from the look on his face she felt extremely guilty.

Instead of staying and apologizing, she threw her napkin down on the table and walked out of the diner, there was no way she could stay there now. He was so completely lost, and everyone in the diner was staring at him, wondering what the scene they just witnessed had been about. He stood, threw money on the table and ran out of the diner after her, he had known from the beach that something was wrong.

"PEYTON!" he ran after her retreating form and as she heard him she walked faster.

He took off running at full speed, and as he finally came up behind her he knew she was crying. "Peyt," his voice was soft and soothing, and it relaxed her slightly.

"Go away."

"What the hell was that all about? Was all of that true?"

"You think I made that up just to cause a scene?" she could feel her temper rising again.

"No…I just…I don't know why you just told me all of that, I haven't seen you in so long."

-- 'Atlanta started raining on me, and teenage love was underground, tonight I break the surface, Atlanta started raining on me' --

"I know you haven't! I made sure I didn't see you, I couldn't see you, it would of made things too hard to see you all the time. I told you all of that because you were my best friend, you were the first guy I really loved, that's why I told you all of that. I just needed to tell someone, I needed to admit to myself that I hate my life and everything I've become. Now, if you don't mind could you just leave me the hell alone!" she stalked off but he caught up to her again.

Upon coming up behind her he grabbed her wrists as she struggled to get free, "WOULD YOU STOP YELLING AT ME FOR ONE DAMN SECOND, AND STOP WALKING AWAY! DAMN IT!" he held her wrists, but her anger continued to grow and she continued to push him away.

"GET OFF! GET OFF OF ME, LUCAS. JUST GET OFF, I DON'T KNOW WHY I CAME BACK HERE, I DON'T KNOW WHY I THOUGHT SEEING YOU WOULD HELP. JUST STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!"

-- 'But no young girl was claiming me, and naming me, and destiny got nervous and…' --

"STOP YELLING AT ME, PEYTON. IF YOU WANNA GO, THEN JUST GO BUT STOP BEING SUCH A BITCH ABOUT IT, OKAY. I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU," he still held her wrists tightly, and the fury became present in her eyes.

"I'M A BITCH? IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK OF ME?" he nodded his head at her, "THEN FUCK YOU, LUCAS," she wrenched her wrists from his grip.

"FUCK YOU TOO, PEYTON. YOU KNOW I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU CAME BACK EITHER," he shouted after her, but she didn't turn to face him, she just stood in her spot. "AND YOU ALWAYS YELLED AT ME FOR WALKING AWAY FROM MY PROBLEMS! YOU CAN'T EVEN STAND HERE TO FACE ME," she turned back, walking to him with tear filled eyes, but it didn't mean she had softened any.

"You want me to face you? Well, here I am. You're a dick, Lucas! You always have been, ever since high school, you couldn't wait for me when I needed some time to work things out, you cheated on Brooke because you couldn't make up your mind. So, don't go thinking you're this good guy who's done nothing wrong, because you're an asshole, and I'm glad I left."

He laughed sarcastically, looking back down at her, "Oh? I'm the asshole? Okay, because I'm the one who stole my best friend's boyfriend. I'm the one who took two minutes to get over "the first guy I loved" and moved on to a ready built family. I'm the one who married a guy I never even loved," it was a harsh reality when he felt the force of her hand against his cheek.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY I NEVER LOVED HIM! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, OR WHO HE WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, SO KEEP YOUR OPINIONS TO YOURSELF!" he took his hand to his cheek rubbing the area where she slapped him and spoke again.

"NO, I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, YOU NEVER LOVED HIM, SO WHY ARE YOU LYING TO YOURSELF? AND WHY ARE YOU DENYING THAT YOU STILL LOVED ME EVEN AFTER YOU WERE WITH HIM?"

"LITTLE EGOTISTICAL, HUH? YOU JUST THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING. I DIDN'T LOVE YOU WHEN I WAS WITH HIM, SO GET OVER YOURSELF," she turned to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist pulling her back so her face was only centimeters away from his.

-- 'And you're my good feeling, I'm kneeling, inside her room she paints me blue. And you are my reason for breathing, inside her room she paints me blue, again' --

"Why did you leave?"

"It was too hard," her voice was full of venom as she spoke, though she wasn't screaming anymore.

"When you dumped me the first time, when you walked away that night, I still loved you."

"DON'T TELL ME THAT, PLEASE. I CAN'T…YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" she rose her voice again and he winced under her tone.

"Fine, if you wanna go, then go," he released her wrist, setting her free, but she didn't move from where she stood. "Do you wanna go?"

"I don't know…don't leave me here," her voice was low, luring him in closer.

"I'm not going anywhere," he told her softly, he lowered his head just an inch to meet her lips, the chemistry had always been undeniable. She shivered from the cold, but he pulled her closer, knowing his whole life had been derailed from the moment he saw those curls on the beach.

Hmm, so it was kind of a dramatic chapter, but I think I liked the turn out. I don't think this was what I expected, but overall, I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you all enjoyed it & if you did give me a review and let me know.