Title: Will You Fall for Me?
Author: Jayta
Rating: PG18 - however does contain some coarse language
Show: One Tree Hill
Pairing: Peyton/Jake
Chapter Five: And I'm Distracted So Easily
Jake had been sitting in his parent's cherry red Acura Integra outside Peyton's house for the past five minutes. He did not know why he stomach was filled with butterflies and his palms were as clammy and moist as a moist toilette. "Just get out of the car and ring the doorbell." Jake checked his hair in the rearview mirror, taking a deep breath before pulling on the black door handle and stepping out into the warm evening breeze.
The night was clear and there was still a couple of hours of daylight left.
Jake had a difficult time focusing at school that day. He had a couple of classes with Peyton, but her renewed friendship with Brooke took her focus off of him. Whether it was a good or a bad thing, he wasn't quite sure. As he approached the front door of Peyton's house, Jake wondered whether her father was home. He had never met him before since most of the time he was out on his boat. From how Peyton described him, he was an amazing guy who had a bad go around early in life, losing his wife so early in their marriage and then having to support and raise Peyton.
Now standing in front of her house, Jake reached over and rang the doorbell. He waited a few moments for someone to answer the door, but there was no one. He pressed the narrow button once more before hearing a muffled voice yell, "Come on in!" Tentatively he opened the door, inviting himself in. "Hello?" Jake said loudly, announcing his presence.
"I'll be right down, Jake!"
Jake peered around the neatly arranged house. The layout of the house was open, with wide archways and hardwood floors. If he hadn't known that Peyton lived her with her father, he wouldn't have been able to tell anyone had lived there for months.
"What time is our reservations?" Peyton yelled from upstairs.
Jake walked over to the stairwell and peered up, but Peyton was nowhere in sight. "Uh, we've got a few minutes to spare," he said, glancing down at the corsage that he held in his hands. "No rush."
He had picked out a white rose for her corsage. It was simple, but elegant. Peyton had not been permitted to describe her dress to Jake, per Brooke's instructions. Most of their evening had been planned by Brooke. She and her date, Chad, a transfer student from a nearby town, were meeting them at the dance, where they would proceed to head to an afterparty being held at Nathan's apartment. According to Peyton, the surgery to have Brooke attached to her hip would happen most likely during the first part of the dance.
"I'm ready." Jake heard Peyton's breathless voice coming from the top of the stairs.
Peyton was already beautiful in plain blue jeans and a t-shirt, but the vision he saw at the top of the stairs left him speechless. She wore a silky, blood red spaghetti-strap dress. Her hair was upswept, with long, beaded, dark red earrings . Jake felt his jaw drop, as she slowly descended the stairs.
"Uh, wow." Jake raised his eyebrows as he admired Peyton's transformation from dry, sarcastic school girl to a stunning woman.
"You like?" Peyton smiled, raising her hands up and striking a posing.
Jake tugged on his bow tie. All of the sudden the temperature of the room raised several degrees. "Uh, yeah," he replied distractedly, somewhat shell-shocked.
"Jake?"
"Hmmm?"
"Are you ready to go?" Peyton chuckled, sliding a golden shawl from the banister and slipping it around her shoulders.
"Yeah." Jake jerked his head up, realizing how idiotic he must have looked, and shoved the plastic container in his hand towards her. "Here." He silently kicked himself for zoning out like that.
"It's your corsage."
Peyton looked genuinely surprised when she accepted the clear box from him. "A corsage?"
"Uh yeah, I hope it goes with your outfit."
"It's beautiful, Jake," she whispered, slipping the delicate rose out of the box. "You really didn't have to get me this."
When her eyes met his, Jake felt his chest tighten and found it difficult to breathe. It felt very close to the 'falling' feeling he had when he first met Nikki. And that scared him.
"Uh well, just think of it this way," he said, with a slight smirk on his face. "It saves you the trouble of having to tell my parents where my body is buried because Brooke strangled me for 'improper' etiquette."
"True," Peyton laughed. She slipped the corsage onto her wrist and admired it for a brief moment before looking up at him again. "You're always the thoughtful gentleman." She rolled her eyes as she adjusted the shawl around her shoulders.
"Are you ready, m'lady?" Jake bowed before her, as a chivalrous knight would and then offered his arm.
"You're such a ham, Jake." Peyton slipped her hand around his arm. "No wonder all the ladies like you," she teased, nudging him with her hip.
Jake turned his head slightly, enough to catch her eye, and winked. "Do you want to introduce me to these girls?" he asked mischievously. "Because lately I haven't had much luck in that department."
Peyton slapped him playfully across his shoulder. "Hey, you're my date tonight!" she exclaimed, feigning annoyance. "So don't think you'll be flirting with any girls other than me."
When the words left her lips, he cocked his head slightly and raised a suggestive brow. Peyton's usual calm exterior revealed nothing. There was a brief awkward silence.
"So shall we go then?" he asked, stifling the urge to laugh at her attempt to glance over the claim she had placed on him.
"Oh shaddup!" groaned Peyton, who had obviously not been fooled by his attempt to appear casual about the incident. Jake laughed and tugged her out the door.
-&-
"So did he just die when he saw you at the top of the stairs?" Brooke asked, rubbing her hands together with glee. "It's so cliche, that whole top of the stairs bit. Do you think you over did it?"
Peyton ran the tip of her finger along the rim of her bottom lip after re-applying her lipstick. Watching Brooke ramble on with such delight made her want to roll her eyes, but she forced herself refrain, as she was trying to tone down the eyerolling on her part for moments where they truly merited it. "You do know that I wasn't waiting for him to come into my house so that I could dazzle and wow him with my outfit, don't you?"
"Of course not." Brooke winked mischievously. "You just happenened to still be getting ready, as Jake happened to be waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs," she said, describing back to Peyton what Peyton, herself, had just described to Brooke. "You're an evil genius!" She clapped her hands fervently.
"I'm not an evil genius, Brooke." Peyton knew it was par for the course to describe to her best friend the details of whether the date started off well, but this was ridiculous. "And yes, Jake seemed to approve of my outfit," she said, while adjusting her thin spaghetti straps, as she examined herself in the bathroom mirror.
"I knew it!" Brooke hopped down from the sink counter and gazed at Peyton in the reflection of the mirror. "He so has the hots for you."
"This isn't another night on the WB, Brooke." Peyton rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Jake and I are just friends. So can we drop it now?" she said, spinning around and walking towards the door.
""You're just irritated because I'm right," Brooke sang, skipping towards her best friend and resting her hand in the crook of Peyton's arm. "And you know you like him back."
"You're such an elementary school reader."
"What?" Peyton shook her head, confused at Brooke's usual backhanded comments.
Brooke knowingly arched one brow. "You're such an easy read."
Peyton groaned as Brooke dragged her out of the bathroom and into the darkened gymnasium.
--&--
"Do you want dance?" Jake asked tentatively.
"Sure, why not?" Peyton shrugged and nodded, allowing herself to be led onto the dance floor.
It was a slow song, Will You Fall for Me by Delta Goodrem. Normally she didn't like such sentimental drivel, but with Jake's arms around her waist and him so close, she could see the possible attraction to the sweet, yet haunting tune.
My head's full of thoughts
Thoughts of you
And I'm distracted so easily
Thinking what to do
So unsure
So unfamilar
Am I wrong to think that something could happen
"So are you having a good time?"
Peyton met his gaze with nervous apprehension, as the thoughts she had pushed to the back of her mind arose again while he spun her around the dance floor. The feel of his strong hands, most assuredly from strumming and picking the guitar, caressing her back through the thin material sent a shiver through her. With hint of a smile upon her lips, Peyton nodded. She slid her hands up his chest and extended them over his shoulders,wrapping them around his neck; this caused her to take a step closer, until she was only a couple of inches from him.
I'm not like myself
And I'm playing the role of someone else
And my heart's beating so fast
I can't stop it
And I'm so unsure
So unfamiliar
Am I wrong to think that something could happen
Peyton could feel his warm breath against her cheek, as she rested her head against his shoulder. How wrong would it be to indulge her flight of fancy for one night? She knew how horrible it could feel to begin falling for someone who was unavailable, and she swore she would never put herself through that again.
But isn't this different?
-&-
Will you fall for me
The way I'd like you to
Will you fall for me
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
Jake missed the feeling of having someone in his arms to hold. And as Peyton swayed with him to the music, he couldn't help wonder if tonight couldn't possibly change things between them.
The night had started off wonderfully, as they stopped and had dinner Nyah, a quaint little restaurant near the marina. It had been easy conversation - it always was with Peyton. She wasn't as high maintanence as some would imagine her to be; in fact just the opposite.
"Do you feel like staying here?" Peyton's voice interrupted his thoughts. He pulled away slightly, a curious look on his face.
"Do you want to leave?" Jake didn't quite understand why this sudden impulse to leave. Peyton seemed to be having a good time. She was smiling and laughing the entire night; she and Brooke were acting like best friends again. He couldn't see why the change of heart about seeing the evening through.
"Yeah." Peyton slowly slid her arms from around his neck, leaving a cold empty space, where there once was warmth. Her lids hooded her piercing blue eyes while she folded her arms across her chest, and they stood quietly amidst the moving, dancing figures.
He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. He had no idea what was wrong.
"Um, I'm going to tell Brooke we're skipping out on her," Peyton said, pointing to the crowd of boys flocked around Brooke.
"You sure you don't need back up?" Jake joked awkwardly.
"No, I think I'll be okay." Peyton's smile was strained as she slowly backed away from him.
Jake swallowed hard as he watched her turn around and disappear into the crowd of guys in front of him. He ran his fingers through his slightly geled hair, completely dumbfounded as to what he had done or what had just happened within those last few minutes.
So unsure
So unfamiliar
Am I wrong to think
that something could happen
Was I wrong to think I...
Will you fall for me
The way I'd like you to
--------
Author's Notes:
Naija: Here I am, and here it is. I know you are just using me for the jayton fic though ;OP But I'll overlook that part of the equation I guess...
Lenz: Hey chica. Thanks so much for the feedback babe. I hope you get your butt back over to the jayton thread soon though...tsk tsk...
Tiffany: Okay quit your moaning and bemoaning missy :oP I have updated. Satisfied? Heehee.
Aleah: I haven't seen you in ages either. Gah. Maybe this will have you come out of your lurking phase...
Jill: You rock. Wow. Two reviews in the span of minutes. Heheh. I knew there was a reason I liked you... Muffin14: I'm glad you liked the previous pinscher reference. I didn't think it was horribly funny, but ya work with what ya got, right?
klm: Even a little bit more of Brooke/Peyton friendship...that should keep you happy, no?