a/n: I'm really glad that you guys are liking this story. Don't worry, everything that isn't quite clear in the last chapter will be cleared up later. A huge thanks to everyone who left a review. You guys are awesome!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything OTH related.

Chapter 5

Early the next morning, Peyton began to stir. When she finally opened her eyes she saw the faces of three girls hovering over her.

"Hey, sleeping beauty is waking up," Rachel said.

"Morning, girlie. How you feeling?" asked Haley.

Peyton let out an uneasy smile. She wasn't used to all this attention. "I'm good," she replied in sleepy husky voice.

"You had us worried there for a while," Ellie said.

"How long was a I asleep for?" "

Since yesterday afternoon," answered Rachel, "Lucas said you weren't feeling well and made you go to bed,"

"Oh," Peyton looked to the side of her bed. She saw a chair by her bedside but there was no Lucas sitting there. Maybe it was all just a dream. The three girls looked over to see what had Peyton's attention. They all let out a small smile.

"That boy must really care about you," Ellie commented.

Peyton looked at Ellie, "What boy?"

"Luuucas," Rachel taunted his name.

Peyton rolled her eyes.

The only serious one left in the room was Haley who then said, "You had us pretty worried, Peyton. Your fever went up to 102. Lucas was scared to leave your bedside,"

"Yeah, we had to force him to take a cold shower this morning," Rachel grinned.

Peyton threw a pillow at Rachel.

"What?" Rachel exclaimed, "He had to take a cold shower because we used the hot water…but if you want to think otherwise…"

Ellie and Haley couldn't help but laugh. Peyton on the other hand turned red before letting out a laugh herself.

"What's so funny?" Lucas asked when he entered the room.

"Oh, you know. Just some girl talk," Ellie covered for Peyton.

"Well, I'm starved," Rachel said as she stood up.

"Come on girls, let's get breakfast started," She quickly ushered Haley and Ellie out of the room with her. As she closed the door behind them, Rachel gave Peyton a wink.

"Hey," Lucas said as he took a seat on the bed.

"Hey,"

"Glad to see that you're better. How you feeling?" With the back of his hand, he gently felt her forehead. Then he slid the back of his fingers down to her cheek.

"A…umm…a lot better," she stuttered, "And thanks…"

Lucas nodded, put his hand back down on the bed, "Yeah. You just had me worried,"

She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes, "I mean for everything…last night, helping me find Ellie and her bracelet…You've really been there for me when I just needed someone,"

Lucas smiled, "I'm glad I could be there for you," A few seconds of silence passed before Lucas spoke up again. "Well, if you're feeling better, you must be starved. I should let you get dressed for breakfast,"

She reached out for his hand before he could get up, "Wait…can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure,"

"Do you believe in fate?"

Lucas's eyes narrowed as he thought for a moment, "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul," he quoted Earnest Henley. Lucas shrugged his shoulders, "I believe that we are responsible for our own destinies – that if we want things to happen then we should do everything we can to make it happen,"

Peyton looked away and bit on her bottom lip. Lucas read the sudden nervousness on her face.

"Why do you ask?"

"I just had these…dreams I guess last night…"

"What were they about?" he asked curiously as he got more comfortable.

"Um…the past, regrets and the future,"

"Hmm…this sounds interesting…care to tell me what they were about?"

Peyton shifted nervously in the bed, wondering how to explain them. She was about to answer when as luck would have it, her cell phone went off. She reached over to the night side table and picked up her cell. It was her father calling. As Peyton answered the phone, Lucas politely excused himself from the room, allowing Peyton to speak privately with her father.

They had returned early to Tree Hill to spend Christmas at home. Larry's trip was cut short and he was now able to be home in time for Christmas.

After settling Ellie in the guest bedroom, Peyton entered her room and dropped her bags at the foot of her bed. Tiredly, she plopped down on her bed. She kicked off her shoes and thought of a moment. She was this close to telling Lucas the truth about how she really felt, but she was stopped at the last second. Maybe it was fate intervening itself.

Peyton sighed, more confused then ever. It wasn't that she didn't know how she felt about Lucas; it was just that she didn't know how to tell him or when she should tell him. The situation just wasn't that easy for her. On top of that, she still didn't know where Lucas and Brooke's relationship stood. In fact neither did Brooke or Lucas.

Peyton let her feet back onto the ground as she got up. She then knelt down and reached under her bed. Blindly she felt the cold hardwood floor, until finally, she felt what she was looking for. Carefully, she pulled out a medium sized, rectangular case and placed it on her bed. She unlatched the buckles on both sides and then lifted the top lid. Leaving the painting in place, she just stared at it and began to remember the night she painted it.

FLASHBACK

The white canvas disappeared as each stroke of the paint covered brush left behind colourful hues. With an intense fix on the forming picture before her, she dabbed her brus in the palate – first in the red and then second in the golden yellow. She mixed the two until the perfect shade of orange emerged. She didn't know exactly what it was, but something inside her ignited her passion and creativity. Sure she had painted murals and portraits before, but this feeling was different. This piece was different…

EARLIER THAT NIGHT

"You're here early," Lucas said as he sat down beside her in the sand, facing the ocean.

"You too,"

By then the sun had begun its descent, already casting hues of golden yellows and shades of oranges. Although the spent much of their summer on the beach, it was never during daylight.

"Yeah, when I couldn't find you at home, I figured you'd be here,"

"I just went for a walk to clear my head…and just ended up here," she explained. "I guess it's become my second home. I can just come here and think…watch the waves roll in and feel at peace…not worry about anything else or anyone finding me because nobody knows about this place except for you and me. I feel safe here, especially with you, Lucas,"

He lifted his long arm over her and rested it on her shoulders. He pulled her closer to him, half giving her a hug and half letting her lean on him.

"And it'll stay like that…even though when that sun goes down and ends our summer…I'll always be here for you, Peyt,"

She smiled at his words. It meant the world to her and it was a moment that she would remember forever. Peyton took in every colour, every shade that the remaining sun rays left in its tracks across the darkening sky. It was one moment in her life that she wanted to capture. Peyton didn't know if they would ever have a perfect moment like that together ever again because everyone was returning home over the next few days. But right then and there it didn't matter because it was just the two of them, just as it was all summer long. And no fading sunset or summer would ever change that.

END FLASHBACK

"Wow, that painting is amazing,"

The voice startled Peyton. She turned to see Ellie standing beside her, looking at the painting.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," "

It's ok," Peyton laughed, "I was just in my own little world,"

"Do you paint this?"

The teen nodded.

"I was never able to paint. Draw, yes…but I never could capture a picture like this. When did you paint this?"

At the end of summer," Peyton shrugged and closed the case back up.

"And you keep it hidden away in this case? It's art. It should be on the wall where everyone can see it,"

"It just means a lot to me, I guess. I don't want it to get ruined,"

Ellie stared at Peyton. There was something that didn't seem right, "The painting or the moment?"

"What do you mean?" "Well, what don't you want to get ruined? The painting itself, or the feeling that inspired this piece,"

Peyton looked down and away from Ellie. Was she really that transparent?

"Something tells me that you keep it hidden because you're hiding something,"

When Peyton didn't answer again, Ellie got the hint. She was right about something and although she didn't know Peyton all that long, it wasn't hard to figure out that Peyton didn't like to be pushed. "I just came up to borrow a pair of scissors," Ellie picked up a pair of scissors off the desk, " I have a couple of things to wrap, but you want to talk about it, I'm here," she said before she left the room.

Ellie answered the soft knock on her door. She smiled warmly, knowing that it was Peyton.

Peyton finally realized that she needed someone to talk to now. The long debates in her head were beginning to drive her insane. "Um…I made some tea…do you want to join me?" asked Peyton.

"Sure, I'd love to,"

Two cups of tea later, Ellie was now up to date with the history of the PLB triangle.

"It's just that, I don't really have anyone to talk to about it…" Peyton began "I mean can't really go to Brooke about this, Haley is her roommate and I don't want to put her in the middle of all this, Nathan has enough problems of his own, Rachel…well it's no secret that she's all for Lucas and I getting together…and Lucas…well, I'd usually go to him, but I can't either,"

Ellie nodded, understanding. Although she was Peyton's last resort, albeit unintentionally, she was glad that Peyton had opened up to her. "Well, I can certainly see why you're so confused. It sounds to me that its already been decided that you're going to tell Lucas how you feel. And I think it's the right decision. But it also sounds like you don't know what to do about Brooke,"

Peyton nodded.

"You do know that things between you two may never be the same, right?"

"To be honest, I don't think things have been the same since Lucas and I had our…whatever it was…I just don't want to hurt her like that again," "No matter what you do, Peyton…someone will get hurt. But you don't have any control over that. Just remember that no matter who you tell first, Brooke is going to find out. So maybe you should tell her first,"

A/N: I know it seems a bit boring, but a bit repetitive, but I feel like Peyton is confused - she wants to tell Lucas but she doesn't want to hurt Brooke AND she doesn't want to get hurt herself because she doesn't really know how Lucas feels anyways. Also I feel like Peyton would go to Brooke first and try to make things right this time...let me know what you think.