Together

Author's Note: I'm glad you're all still liking this, I didn't really know about the last chapter, but I got a bunch of good reviews on it, so I'm glad you all liked it.

Chapter 3: Look After You

-- 'If I don't say this now, I will surely break, as I'm leaving the one I want to take' –

Her eyes were as vulnerable as he had ever seen them, he could read all of her emotions; the pain, the sadness, the hurt, but then there underneath he could still see the happiness she had once held, and the joy. And he wanted to help her, he wanted her to be happy, he needed her to be happy so he could live with himself.

"Wow," she spoke softly, the awe now filling her green eyes, and the moment of weakness he had seen was gone.

"Yea…we shouldn't have done that," he looked at her with sympathy, knowing that wasn't what she needed to hear, but he had to tell her the truth.

"I'm married," she spoke, still never breaking the eye contact she held with him.

"…yeah, me too…" his voice was full of regret and he watched her heart break, the look of hurt and disappointment flooded her facial expression for a few fleeting moments.

"Yeah…I gotta go," she sent him one last sad smile before turning on her heel and running off to the safety of her hotel room.

—'Forgive the urgency, but hurry up & wait. My heart has started to separate' –

She took the long route back to the small hotel that was located near the boundary of Tree Hill. She knew there was no way she could deal with Haley being up, so when she did reach the hotel room she made sure to peek in the windows. It didn't occur to her that Haley wasn't there until she went to open the door and heard someone cough from her right side.

Very slowly Peyton turned her head, she already knew who it was, but she turned to face the brunette anyway. She was thankful she was under the cover of darkness; she wouldn't have to face Haley with the tears in her eyes.

"I'm gonna take a guess and say you ran into Lucas?"

"Yea, great vacation this turned out to be," she took a seat next to where Haley's plastic chair was positioned, letting out a breath.

"Look…you needed to come back, Peyton. You needed to work things out with him, even when things were okay with Jake you were never the same when you didn't have Lucas in your life. You need to be okay with him so you can be okay with your own life."

"Well, here's the problem…we got in big fight and I slapped him and we fought some more and then he kissed me. And then told me he was married, so I'd have to say that things are definitely not okay," the brunette wiped at her eyes, making sure the tears were unnoticeable.

"Wow…I didn't know he was married…"

"Yea, he didn't really tell any of us –"

"Well, none of us really bothered to stay in touch with him…so, no I guess he wouldn't have told any of us," Haley's remark made Peyton feel worse than before.

"Yea, well I dunno about you, but I need my sleep," Peyton let a small laugh out after her words, trying to convince Haley as well as herself that she was fine.

"Sure, bed sounds good…I'll be in soon," just as Peyton went to close the door behind her, Haley added one last thought.

"Hey, Peyton…" Peyton turned to face her friend.

"Yea?"

"You suck at trying to cover up your crying," Haley flashed the girl a discreet wink before turning back to look at the street. Peyton closed the door behind her, letting out a laugh at her friend's ability to know her so well.

-- 'Oh oh, oh oh, be my baby, oh oh oh ohhh, I'll look after you' –

Peyton arose around nine that morning to find that Haley was already gone. Lazily she turned over towards her nightstand, retrieving her glasses and upon correcting her vision she noticed a yellow post-it with Haley's near writing scrawled across it.

Peyton,

I decided to go to the café to visit Karen, and afterwards I'm probably just gonna wander around town, see what's changed. Meet me at the pizza place around 1:30, see ya then.

-- Haley

P.S. – there's a note on the door for you from Lucas, try to work things out with him, I just wanna see you happy. :)

She scrunched her eyebrows together and re-read the note. Lucas had stopped by? That was interesting news, so instead of going straight to the bathroom to shower as was her usually routine in the morning, she walked to the front door. Cautiously, she took the note that was taped to the front and brought it back inside with her.

Upon returning inside, she poured herself a cup of the coffee Haley had left on the counter and positioned herself comfortably on the couch in the corner of the room. She placed her cup on the table, took a deep breath and pulled the note out of the envelope.

-- 'There now steady love, so few come and don't go. Will you won't you be the one I'll always know. When I'm losing my control, the city spins around. You're the only one who knows, you slow it down' --

Peyt,

I really haven't been able to sleep all night, so I decided to write this note. I'm sorry about the way things turned out last night, that was never my intention to see you hurt. I should of told you from the beginning that I was married…but then again I didn't really think that things between me and you would escalate to that. I can't honestly say to you that I regret that kiss, because…it's everything I've wanted for all those years you were away. I got married because I was lonely, because I didn't think you were ever coming back and I refused to spend the rest of my life alone. I did consider fighting for you, coming after you…but you married Jake, and while I knew you weren't happy and you didn't love him, I also knew that I needed to leave that decision up to you. I needed to let you decide what you wanted your life to be. You and I both know that you're not happy with Jake, that the only time in your life that we were both completely happy was back in high school, even though we were sneaking around. I haven't seen your eyes light up like that since then, and I saw the look in your eyes the day you got married, don't think I didn't.

You need to be honest with yourself, Peyton…you need to stop living in denial. If you want to be happy, meet me at the River Court at midnight, I'll be there either way. If you show up, know that things will be different, that you won't regret a single thing and that I'll spend the rest of my life making sure you're happy. And if you don't show I want you to know that I love you, that I always have and I hope that you don't spend the rest of your life miserable, and that you don't regret not coming, because I can't live with you regretting that.

Please, take this all into consideration and do whatever you feel is the best choice for you. I hope I'll see you at midnight…and if not, I'll probably be gone, so don't bother looking for me, enjoy the rest of your time in Tree Hill.

I love you.

Love always,

Lucas

-- 'if ever there was a doubt, my love she leans into me. This most assuredly counts, she says most assuredly' --

The tears were streaming by the time Peyton looked up. Her heart hurt with all of the truth that had just poured out of the letter. After all of those years he still knew her like a book, he still knew everything she was feeling.

It was at that moment that she knew there was a huge decision to be made, and after deciding that she stood and made her way to the bathroom. It took her a few minutes to get her contacts in her eyes, and with those few minutes she tried to clear her head.

If she went to meet Lucas it would change her whole life, she'd have to figure things out with Jake, Lucas would have to figure things out with his wife. It would be like starting over again, and that would take some time. But then if she didn't meet Lucas , she would always wonder "what if". She would always want to know where things would have gone, and how her life would of turned out. It would be too much to have to constantly wonder.

-- 'It's always have and never hold, you've begun to feel like home. What's mine is yours to leave or take. What's mine is yours to make your own' --

Either decision would change everything, and she didn't know if she was prepared to change everything she had ever known.

So, I know its been a little while, but I've had some trouble getting the updates out as quickly as I used to. Hopefully you all like this story though, and you like the direction it's going. This story is probably only going to be two more chapters after this, so keep reading.