12 Memories

Author's Note: Thanks so much for all your reviews! I love getting them and I'm glad you all like the way the story is going. I'm hoping I can find a way to fix Nathan and Haley, because I like them together too. Anyway, here we go.

Chapter 11: Follow the Light

– 'Nobody really knows where they're supposed to go. Hiding behind a wall, afraid that they'll lose it all' –

She groggily opened her eyes, the late afternoon light peering through her open window. Slowly, Peyton raised her arms above her head, and in the process of rolling over she bumped into someone else. She gasped quickly before she noticed the head of blonde hair, she smiled slightly, snuggling back under the warm covers.

"Mmm, I want food," he said lazily from his side of the bed.

"He's alive, he's alive," Peyton remarked, imitating an old movie they'd watched years ago.

"Haha," he replied sarcastically. She giggled, flipping over to lay on her back.

– 'But it's alright, just follow the light. And don't be afraid of the dark in the moonlight' –

It was nearing six o'clock that night when they finally got out of bed. Having spent the previous night with no sleep she had decided she desperately needed to be in her bed. She also invited him to stay to which he graciously agreed, also in need of some shut eye. They had slept until five, only having the energy to face the world an hour later.

They both walked up to the café, and things seemed to be back to what they used to be. They were joking around, laughing, just being friends, something she could deal with for right now.

"Hey, Mom," Karen smiled at the two teenagers, noticing their closeness – but there was still something missing. There was still some form of emptiness – something that wasn't there before – and she couldn't help but see it now.

"Hey, you two. Burgers and fries?" she asked, though by now she wasn't sure why she continued to ask. They always got the same thing.

"Do you even have to ask?" Peyton teased. "He doesn't eat anything else anyway," and Karen laughed at Peyton's observation. He really didn't eat much else when they went out.

They sat across from each other at their normal booth, Lucas was quick to start a conversation. He had missed her, he had missed having someone to talk to, Nathan and Jake weren't the same. They weren't his best friend.

"So, what happened with Nathan and Haley?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with wonder.

"I only got some information from Brooke after she talked to Nathan. She said he told her Haley tried to apologize and get back with him, but he was pissed and blew her off."

"Is she ok?" he asked, obviously concerned with Haley's state, she thought it was cute.

"Haven't talked to her. I offered to help but Jake was with her at the time and then Brooke went over sometime after to stay with her for the rest of the day. Then when I said I was coming Brooke yelled at me and told me to spend time with you. So, apparently, I'm stuck you, Scott," she grinned as Karen came over to place their food in front of them.

"You know you like it," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively to which she just laughed.

"Yeah, okay," she continued to inhale her food.

"Hmm, ya know there are kids in like Ethiopia who haven't eaten in days who do not enjoy their food that much," he pointed out. She glared at him while he sat smirking.

"Like you're one to talk. When the six of us used to go out for dinner on Friday's you were the one who took everyone's plates scouring for the leftovers."

"That's because the portion sizes were so small. They were trying to starve people there," he defended.

"Mmhmm, whatever you say," she shook her head before focusing her attention back on the food. It was good to be okay with him again. Though she couldn't place her finger on it, something was different and she didn't know what.

– 'You'll dance till you fall, and always be here in my heart. But nobody wants to know, cause nobody even cares' –

Though many hours had passed, Haley couldn't sleep. She laid restlessly on her couch while Brooke wandered through her kitchen looking for something to eat. She already knew she had nothing so she made no attempt to find anything. Her mood had quickly gone sour after Nathan walked off, things were just too complicated. Maybe they weren't meant to find their way to each other, maybe he wasn't supposed to be a part of her life that way. But did fate really matter if she wanted him in her life?

"Haley, you should get some sleep," Brooke walked through her doorway and back into the living room. She rolled her eyes, it was nice of Brooke to stay but nothing could put her to sleep at that point. The only way she was going to shut her eyes was for someone to just hit her over the head with a sledge hammer and knock her out for a few days - which at that moment didn't sound like a bad idea.

"I'm not going to sleep," she declared, lifting herself from the couch, "I need to go for a walk," she decided. Not waiting for Brooke's approval she slammed the door behind her.

It was six o'clock already and she had accomplished nothing but shedding a hell of a lot of tears and hurting her brain by thinking so much. Who knew a tutor and straight A student would get sick of thinking? – But she was.

She knew by now she wasn't running into Nathan, he was guaranteed to be home and while she wanted to talk things out, maybe it was a good thing he wasn't around. Maybe she needed a few hours to herself so she didn't have a nervous break down in front of him.

Her walk took her to the one place she didn't want to be, she looked up to stare at the Scott Mansion, her heart raced before she walked away. She didn't know Nathan stood watching her from where he stood in the backyard, he didn't know how badly she wanted to stay.

– 'Everyone's on the make, yeah and everyone's out for themselves. Me, I'm on the longest road, where everything's overload' –

The day seemed to be passing quickly as she marched her way up to Nathan Scott's house. After spending two hours with Lucas his mom sent him on an errand run which she had opted out of. The last thing she felt like doing was spending an hour driving all over Tree Hill trying to find some type of baking sugar Karen needed, plus she had some of her own things she needed to accomplish.

She knocked loudly on his wood door, knowing his parents were away for the weekend. He answered with a disheveled look, his eyes blood shot from lack of sleep and his white t-shirt was wrinkled as though she had just woken him from his restless sleep.

"Peyton?" he was puzzled, here she was standing on his doorstep, waking him from the first five minutes of sleep he'd gotten in 24 hours.

"Hi, Nathan," he winced, she obviously didn't show up for a friendly visit.

"Um, so, what's up?" he tired to keep things causal, he was in no mood to be yelled at, he already knew what he cost himself.

"Don't play dumb, you know why I'm here."

"Well, I thought I could lighten things up a little so you don't come in and start yelling. I haven't slept in a day, you just woke me up and I feel bad enough. Can we do this calmly?" her eyes softened at his words, she couldn't stop herself from feeling sympathy for him too. He was just guarding himself from getting hurt again, the same as she was.

She nodded, expressing her agreement as he motioned for her to sit next to him. She did so before taking a deep breath. She had to do this, she couldn't let Haley hurt because Nathan was afraid of letting his guard down.

"What happened last night, Nathan?"

"What happened was I put my heart out on the line for her and she turned me down for no reason. Then she came back and tried to apologize and I turned her down. She deserved it-"

"She did not. She's been hurt before, that's why she was so scared of letting you back in, but she was ready. Maybe you should've just given her a chance to explain and let your guard down for a minute. She didn't hurt you purposely, Nathan, and she would never hurt you otherwise. Why didn't you even give her a chance?" to her surprise he began to laugh, she stood bewildered in his living room.

"What are you laughing at?"

"So, I should give her a chance because she wouldn't hurt me?" his face turned serious as he spoke again, "Give a chance because I won't get hurt the same way you gave Lucas that chance?"

– 'But I've got my heart and my soul, so don't throw me overboard, cause it's alright just follow the light' –

She promised Lucas that she would see him at nine that night, sharp. It was 8:55 and she was on her way to his house. They were just planning to watch movies as they usually did on the nights they could find nothing better to do. She walked into the small house finding him in the kitchen rounding up the popcorn, skittles, sour patch kids and two bottles of Coke.

That was the usual array of food on those nights, he took the skittles and a bottle of Coke, she took the sour patch kids and a bottle of Coke and they shared the popcorn. It had been the same ever since she could remember the only difference was the movies got a little gorier and the serving sizes of the snacks got a little bigger.

"Hey," he smiled contentedly, tossing the sour patch kids to her.

"Hey. Need help?" she watched as he struggled with all the food.

"Nope, I got it. Just go have a seat and get the movies ready," he nodded his head toward the couch and she followed his instructions. Pulling the Blockbuster bag from the side of the couch she began to read off the movies he'd picked up.

"Hmm, let's see we've got The Ring, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Serial Mom?" she questioned his last choice, he just laughed while preparing the DVD player for their movie night.

"It's funny, believe me, I have a feeling you'll like it," he smirked as she chucked Serial Mom to him.

Twenty minutes later they were both seated on the couch, Peyton was nearly in tears as she laughed hysterically at the actions on the screen.

"Who is this?" a character asked.

"Mrs. Wilson from the telephone company. We understand you're having some trouble with an obscene phone caller?" Kathleen Turner's character played nice for a few minutes as Peyton tried to take a deep breath.

"Oh, Mrs. Wilson, I'm so sorry. These calls are driving me crazy..."

Peyton immediately bust out laughing a minute later as the serial mom went ballistic during the prank call. Lucas was laughing at Peyton now, just the sight of her in tears as she couldn't control herself made him laugh. He always loved seeing her happy.

Many hours later as the movie night ended, Peyton had begun to doze off on the couch. Lucas rolled his eyes, picking up a few bowls to clean in the morning. His mom was spending the night with Keith, they had gotten together a year before though neither wanted to rush things as they continued to date. He had the house for the night and probably the next day as his uncle informed him that he would be taking Karen to the beach for the day.

– 'You'll dance till you fall, and always be here in my heart. Cause it's alright, alright now. And you're alright, yeah we're alright now' –

He gently lifted Peyton from the couch, carrying her into his room, placing her on her side of the bed. She sighed happily as her head hit the pillow and she pushed herself farther under the covers.

"Thanks, Luke," she whispered in her semi-conscious state.

"No problem. G'nite, Peyton," he crawled into bed beside her. He knew she was drifting in and out of sleep as she faced him, her eyes still closed.

"God, I love you," he whispered so quietly that the sound barely left his mouth.

"I love you too, Luke," a smile formed on her gentle features, he smiled warmly at her sleeping figure. If she only knew how serious he was when he made that statement. He wanted her in the worst way, but she wasn't his to have and it killed him. He wasn't sure if she'd ever give into her growing feelings for him.

Okay, I think this chapter was needed, I needed Peyton to see her mistakes with Lucas and I needed Nathan to point that out. I also wanted to see Haley's distress. And personally, I just really loved the last scene so we'll see how all of that turns out. ONLY 3 CHAPTERS LEFT SO REVIEW NOW! Thanks.

"Follow the Light" - Travis

The more reviews I get the quicker I work to update!