My plan for the story is to get Lucas and Peyton through the summer as friends...just being there for each other and such before they admit their feelings. As for the other couple, I can't decide between Brooke/Nathan or Brooke/Jake...so any input on that would be great. One last thing, for those who are also reading Ever the Same, I'm hoping to update by Friday. I'm a little stuck on that story...

Disclaimer: I don't own OTH or the characters.

Chapter 3

"Found them," Peyton said when she found her keys at the bottom of her purse. She glanced at Lucas who was sitting next to her in her car. His eyes were narrowed and focused in a daze on the red dashboard.

When he finally snapped out of it, he saw Peyton trying to find the right key to start the car. He reached out and put his hand on hers, causing her turn her attention on him. "Thanks, Peyt," Lucas said.

"For what?"

"For coming with me and for being here for me," His eyes remained deeply fixed on hers, sending chills down her spine, "I couldn't have done it without you, Peyton,"

Flashback

"I'll wait for you outside," Peyton said quietly.

He shook his head, "No," He caught her by her hand, "Stay, please,"

Peyton looked into his eyes and saw fear. He looked as though he had become a scared little boy feeling lost and alone. She quickly nodded her head.

Lucas turned away and looked back at the man lying still on the bed. There were tubes running around all over his bandaged body. It was a scary sight to see for anyone.

Dan Scott was in a coma. He had been unconscious ever since Keith had pulled him out of the fire, three days ago. Dan's body was badly burned, however, it was no miracle that he had survived. The drugs and alcohol in his system caused him to blackout, slowing down his breathing, which prevented him from inhaling the smoke.

"I…I don't know what to say…"

"It's ok. Just take your time. The words will come when you're ready," Peyton assured him.

Minutes had past and the room remained silent. Lucas stood in the same spot waiting for the words to come and staring icily at the man who was supposed to be his father. Lucas remembered the times when he went to the park and watched fathers play catch with their sons or who taught them how to ride a bike. He remembered being the only boy at camp who never had a father show up for father and son day. The thoughts always followed him and now it was time to let it go.

"When I was younger, I used to dream of what it would have been like to have a father...someone to show me how to throw a football or even to look up to. But you couldn't do that, could you? You couldn't be there for me like a father's supposed to be…" Lucas's voice cracked. He paused, holding back his tears, "The thing I don't get is that even though you were never in my life, you were still there…haunting my mind and my dreams," He felt the tears stinging in his eyes.

"Well, I'm here now, not because I care for you, but because I realized something. You are only in my mind and my dreams because I hated you. I hated you for abandoning my mom and me...and I hated you for not being my father. But now... I am done hating you. I'm ready…I'm ready to say goodbye to you. I'm going to walk away from you, like you walked away from me. And I'm finally going to be free from Dan Scott. Even if you live or die, there's nothing you can do to change that. I'm not going to let you buy your way into my life again,"

Peyton watched as Lucas stepped closer to Dan's bedside, "There's only one thing I want to know. All I want to know is why…why couldn't you be there for me? Why couldn't you be proud of me?" A single tear escaped and rolled down his cheek, "Why couldn't you just accept me as your son?" Lucas stood there, waiting for an answer. Knowing that he would never know, Lucas's breathing became heavy with frustration and sadness. Even though he had let go of Dan, a part of him still wanted his father.

Lucas felt a hand on his shoulder, offering support. He turned and pulled her into him. Peyton held him tightly, holding his head on her shoulder and soothing his back. He needed someone to hold him and to console him. And there she was, just like she had promised him.

End Flashback

"Hi, you've reached Larry Sawyer. I will be away until Sunday night. Please leave a short message and I will return your call as soon as I land,"

'Sunday, that's one week from now,' she thought.

She finally heard the 'beep', signaling her to begin recording her message, "Larry, it's Liz…Elizabeth Schwann. I think it's time that we talked…I've already talked to Peyton," the blonde haired woman paused before continuing, "I'm staying at the Tree Hill Lodge, Room 246,"

They were driving through downtown Tree Hill, towards Lucas's house. The ride home was quiet as each of them were thinking about Lucas's hospital visit. There was something he said that was bothering Peyton.

"Lucas?"

Lucas slowly awoke from his daze, "Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course,"

"Back in the hospital you said…you said that you weren't going to let him buy his way into your life again…what did you mean by that?"

Lucas sighed and asked, "Remember the night on the beach when I told you about my HCM?"

She momentarily took her eyes off the road to look at him. Peyton nodded her head.

"Well, since I found out, I've been on medication to control my condition. And at first, I couldn't afford it,"

"So Dan paid for it," Peyton pieced together.

"Right, but there was a catch…"

She thought for a moment, "Is that why you moved in with him?"

Lucas nodded his head, "Yeah,"

When she had first heard the news of Lucas moving in with Dan, earlier that year, she thought it was a joke. She knew how much Lucas despised Dan, "I knew there was a reason why you moved in with him…So…who's paying for your medication now?"

Lucas shrugged, "No one,"

Peyton slowed to a stop as the light changed to red, "What do you mean, no one?" One look at him and she knew he had stopped taking the medication.

As soon as the light turned green, Peyton stepped hard on the gas and quickly spun the wheel to the left. She made an illegal u-turn in the middle of the intersection, cutting off an oncoming car to finish off her erratic driving.

Lucas held on to anything he could get his hands on, trying to prevent his body from being thrown around during her wild turn. "Hey, I have a heart condition, remember?" he yelled over the screech tires.

Peyton ignored his remark and looked in the rearview mirror, making sure the driver behind her was ok. A block later, she pulled her car into an empty spot that was conveniently in front of the pharmacy. Her stop was abrupt, causing the both of them to be thrown forward and then back against the red leather seats.

"If you're trying to give me a heart attack…I think it's working," Lucas felt his heart pounding against his chest.

"Get out," Peyton said as she shut off the engine.

"With pleasure," Lucas was relieved to be on foot again.

"How can I help you?" the pharmacist greeted Peyton, who was standing at the counter.

"Hi, I'd like to get a prescription refill for Lucas Scott,"

The pharmacist nodded her head and disappeared into the back to check her computer files for the prescription.

"Peyton, what are you doing?" Lucas demanded when he finally caught up to her.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting you your medication,"

"No, Peyton, it's way too expensive. I'm already working something out,"

"So what are you taking in the mean time?" Peyton had made her point, "That's what I thought,"

"Peyton, I can't let you do this. It's too much,"

"Look my dad sends me money every month and I hardly use it. I mean it's not like I need designer clothes or the shoes of the week, so believe me, I don't mind. Besides, vintage is in," she said with a smile.

"But still, you don't have to,"

"You're right…I don't have to but I want to. Lucas, it's not about money," she put her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating, "You are important to me and I don't want to lose you again," their eye contact was intense. For a split second they both felt something that they hadn't felt since the beginning of the school year.

"Lucas Scott?" a voice interrupted.

As soon as their eye contact broke, an awkward feeling arose between them. Peyton quickly took her hand back. They both nervously tried to avoid it and each other, as they looked anywhere but at each other.

"I'm Lucas," he finally said.

The pharmacist smiled and handed over the prescription and Peyton handed over her credit card. The pharmacist disappeared again to charge her account.

"Thanks, Peyton. I promise that I'm going to pay you back every cent,"

Night quickly fell over Tree Hill. Everything seemed to be working properly, keeping him alive. The ventilator slowly deflated, supplying his weakened lungs oxygen. The slow steady beeps of the monitor kept track of every beat his heart took. It was the second time in a year; Dan Scott was in the hospital, trying to recover from death.

His body was burned badly during the fire, but he wasn't in any pain. Just the right amount of morphine dripped into his IV and flowed into his body, relaxing his sensors. One drop every two hours kept him comfortable - Any less, then he'd be in pain – Any more, then he'd be dead…and the figure standing over Dan knew that.