12 Memories

Chapter Six - Driftwood

Authors Note - So, the finale was dramatic and I just feel the need to keep writing Lucas and Peyton because he wants to be with Brooke. But frankly, I don't give a rats ass about them, so I'm gonna stay optimistic and keep going with my stories. I love this one because it gives me a chance to explore their friendship without the feelings getting in the way yet. But as we see Peyton's confusing herself and they've talked about what they could be to each other.

The sky was cloudy above them as they sat with their lemonades on the balcony that late afternoon. The day before had been a startling discovery for both of them, but today they were moving past all of it because it was their last day in Virginia. Their last day inside the small world they created for themselves, and as much as they both knew they couldn't run from their problems, neither could say they actually wanted to go home.

– 'Everything is open, nothing is set in stone. Rivers turn to oceans, oceans tide you home' –

The car engine roared below the sound of the music, and Peyton bobbed her head to the beat. Lucas concentrated on the black asphalt ahead of them as they both drowned themselves in the music. But he had to know and he couldn't put the question off much longer.

"What're you gonna do when we get back?" Peyton looked over to him slowly, her brow furrowed in thought.

"I'm not talking to either of them," she declared, crossing her arms in confirmation. He nodded, smiling at her independence and continued the long drive back to Tree Hill.

"But I will go find Haley and get some ice cream and watch some sad movies," she smirked, winking at the boy beside her while he rolled his eyes.

"You're such a girl," he teased.

"You don't say?" she cocked her head to the side, her eyes growing in sarcasm. He chuckled at her antics, turning up the music and shaking his head a few times as she joined his childish behavior.

– 'Home is where your heart is, but your heart had to roam. Drifting over bridges, never to return' –

It was nearing midnight when they finally pulled into his driveway, after deciding to stop at Wendy's before returning home they were both full of french fries and frosties.

"Well, you wrecked my ice cream retreat with Haley," she pouted, but he just continued unpacking the suitcases filling the trunk of the SUV they drove. "You know," she lifted herself to sit on the ledge of the trunk, "you're very broody when you want to be."

"Thinking," he replied tersely, momentarily letting his eyes gaze over her long legs that peaked out from her shorts.

"I saw that!" she gasped, feigning outrage and whacking him the shoulder while he smiled to himself.

"Darn...caught," he said with no emotion, but he continued watching her reactions from the corner of his eye.

"Sooooo," she sing-songed, letting her head come down to be level with where he was wiping crumbs out of the carpet in the back of his vehicle.

"You just had to have those Doritos on the way down, didn't you?"

"Uh huh," she nodded, proudly. She watched his eyebrows come back together, scowling again, forming that broody look that she constantly made fun of him for.

"You know, my dad always said if you kept one expression for too long your face would freeze like that," she giggled with her sunglasses perched on her head.

"Yea, well my mom always said...to never tease someone when they know your ticklish spots," he snapped back, grabbing her and tickling her until she was on the verge of tears.

"Lucas...stop! Please!" she begged through the laughs that stole her breath. He finally laughed for the first time since entering Tree Hill and he let her go as she steadied her breathing.

"Totally hate to bust the mood, but what about Brooke?"

"Brooke who?" he responded easily, still removing his best friend's belongings from the trunk.

"C'mon, Luke. I know you better than that," she pointed out, and he gave up denying. It was when she called him 'Luke' that she meant it - the way he called her 'Peyt' in their more personal moments.

"I know," he said quietly, lifting his head to meet her eyes from where she sat. His height gave him an advantage - as he stood on the ground he was eye level with her. Slowly, he brought his hands to either side of her, restinghis hands on the ledge where she sat,letting his weight fall against his arms, keeping his eyes locked with hers.

"It's ok," she breathed, being so close to him all the time threatened her hormones...best friend or not.

"It hurt...to see her with him in that bed. I've known her for so long, and maybe it wasn't love, but it was the closest thing I had. I've screwed up with so many other girls that I was so determined to do right. I was ready to be everything to her. I would've given her everything, Peyt. I would've done whatever she wanted...but she didn't give me the chance...she didn't even let me try to prove it to her," he finished, letting his vulnerability shine through for moments - something she saw about as rarely as he did of her soft side.

"I know," she replied, echoing his earlier words. She let her head fall to rest against his own forehead, he smiled a genuine smile for her. Not his smirk or a plastered piece of him - it was real, genuine and meant for her. This had always been her favorite side of him - the one that wasn't tainted by the pain in his life, the one that was meant for her and it melted her heart when he was as gentle as he was right at that moment as they sat in the dark, supporting each other.

"Thanks," he whispered, still un-moving in the stillness of the night.

"You don't have to thank me. I love you, Luke, you know that," she insisted as he opened his eyes, looking at her in their close proximity. His feelings pushed him forward, to her lips that laid so close to his own - her heart raced, her eyes closed as she radiated in beauty. Just a few centimeters more and their friendship would be cemented as more...but he never got the chance to make his mark as the sounds of Jimmy Eat World played through the speakers of his cell phone, Haley's name flashed in color.

– 'Watching bridges burn, you're driftwood floating underwater, breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces. Just driftwood, hollow and of no use' –

She ran all the way to Haley's door, knocking in her state of shallow breaths. She shook from the emotions pouring out, unable to find a place for such feelings. And when she thought of how close they were - it made her want to feel like that again. To feel so alive...she never felt that with anyone before, and now that she was without him she felt a piece of her missing.

"Peyton?" Haley answered the door completely confused with her friend's sudden appearance.

"I've got a major problem, Haley," Peyton was completely shaken and rattled. Haley could see it so easily as she ushered the blonde in.

"Your parents home?"

"No. They're gone for the weekend...you're safe," Haley waved the girl to the couch that sat in the middle of her living room. They sat together. "First off...what're you doing here at 1 AM?"

"What're you doing up?"

"...cleaning," Haley replied, embarrassed that Peyton knew what she did when she was home by herself. She had never been a bad kid, and at times she got in the mood to clean...especially when everything else in her life seemed to have spun out of control.

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hales, I'm not stupid. The only time you clean uncontrollably is when something's wrong. Nathan?" Haley shrugged once, falling into her thoughts for a few minutes.

"It doesn't matter right now. You came over here because something's obviously wrong...what happened?" For a moment she pushed away her own problems for the girl in front of her. It was a chance to escape anyway.

"What happened? A hell of a lot happened. For starters...I almost kissed Lucas...or well he almost kissed me," Haley was shocked, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"Okay, whoa...details!"

"It's nothing big, really."

"Yes, Peyton, it is! This is huge...this is...my dream come true!"

"You know," she squinted at the brunette, "it really is sad that your dream come true is me hooking up with my best friend," she teased.

"Shut up! Just continue. You can't come here and tell me you two almost kissed and not tell me exactly what went down," Haley clapped once, grabbing a gallon of ice cream and two spoons. She flopped back onto her cushion and urged the girl in front of her to continue what she's started.

Half an hour later, after much questioning and laughing on Haley's part, Peyton had recapped up to Haley's phone call. She still had trouble comprehending exactly what had happened, but she refused to let it change what she and Lucas shared. They had something special, something most people never find in anyone and she had no intentions of letting him go anytime soon. Even if it meant pretending like nothing had ever happened.

"So, you called and he backed off immediately. He answered the phone, said you were wondering if we made it home ok. He got real quiet, and grabbed his bags. I thought maybe he was mad or something, but he came back out, hugged me and offered a ride home. I just don't want this to change anything."

"Well, that might be inevitable," the brunette said seriously. Peyton shook her head, somberly - change was the last thing she wanted when their relationship was the only thing that remained unchanged in her unstable world.

– 'Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you. Nobody is an island, everyone has to go. Pillars turn to butter, butterflying low.' –

And so he walked. He didn't know where he was going or when he was going to be back, but his feet kept moving down the empty Tree Hill streets where all was quiet and all was still. He felt the need to talk to his little brother, but Nathan's own world was in shambles as he and Haley hit a rough patch already. There was no way he was going to load his problems on his brother. And while he would've loved to go to talk to Jake - that wasn't an option anymore.

"What do I do?" he mumbled out to the dark sky.

"About what?" Jake stood behind him, his nose was swollen and under bandages to hold it in place.

"Why would I tell you?" he turned bitterly to the boy.

"Look, I know you're mad at me. I'm not happy with what I did - but I did break things off with Peyton. I never once cheated on her...I never even thought about it. So, don't look at me in that respect, Luke. I loved her, but I got possessive. I wanted all of her, not just the piece she was willing to give up because the rest of her was with you."

"Why would it be with me?" he questioned the brunette.

"Because you've always had her heart. There's no question about it. And I thought maybe we could make it work, but she's always loved you. The same way you've always loved her, no matter what you think I can see it, we all can. We're not stupid, and I think somewhere in there you know it too," Jake was always good with advice, something Lucas was always able to go to him for.

"I almost kissed her," Lucas confessed, shocking himself with what he was revealing to the boy in front of him. Jake laughed the information off, while inside it tore at his heart. Lucas knew it hurt, he watched it unfold in his friend's eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Why didn't you finish?"

"Haley called."

– 'Low is where your heart is, but your heart has to grow. Drifting under bridges, never with the flow' –

"So, the cosmic forces made me wreck the one thing that I've been waiting for?" Haley was outraged with her behavior. "Why the hell would I call Lucas to ask if you guys got home ok?"

They sat with the ice cream between them, Peyton laughed. She shoveled in another spoonful, licking her spoon clean, before pretending to think.

"Maybe it was a sign?" she suggested, but Haley shook her head vehemently.

"No, you two are supposed to be together...it was definitely not a sign. Or at least it wasn't my sign," she persisted, leaving Peyton shaking her head at the girl.

– 'And you really didn't think it would happen, but it really is the end of the line. So I'm sorry that you turned to driftwood, but you've been drifting for a long, long time.' –

The two boys left the fights behind, everything that happened only days before was forgotten for a few moments. Just to show that Jake would be there, friends or not he was always first to help.

"So, Haley called and you backed off...hugged her and let her go?"

"Yea," Lucas nodded with a smile at Jake's priceless expression.

"Dude, you've got serious problems. Get some balls, Lucas," he laughed, along with the boy beside him.

"I know, I know. But I didn't know what to do...the moment was over."

"You are so cheesy. Uh, the moment was over," Jake poked fun, imitating his friend in a deep voice, making faces at the blonde.

"Dude, shut up. It was intense, you can't just jump back into something like that."

"Yeah...I know what you mean," they nodded in mutual agreement as the silence settled around them.

– 'Everywhere there's trouble, nowhere's safe to go. Pushes turn to shovels, shoveling the snow. Frozen you have chosen, the path you wish to go. Drifting now forever, and forever more' –

"What should I do?"

"You need to talk to Lucas."

– 'Until you reach your shore, breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces. Just driftwood, hollow and of no use. Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you. And you really didn't think it would happen' –

"So, what do I do?"

"You need to talk to Peyton."

– 'But it really is the end of the line, so I'm sorry that you turned to driftwood, but you've been drifting for a long, long time. You've been drifting for a long, long time. You've been drifting for a long, long - drifting for a long, long time' –

I can't say this chapter was too exciting, but I think you all might like it ;-). Anyway, I know I tease a lot, but they'll be apart for a while longer - for drama and story purposes. The song was "Driftwood" by Travis - not off 12 Memories, but I need to save the other songs for some other plot lines in this.

Spoiler - Lucas and Peyton will talk / A little later things will come between them...