Prelude
To her it seemed like everyone she knew had someone. Well. . . .everyone but her. Haley had Nathan. Brooke had Lucas. Hell, Bevin had Skills. And Rachel had Mouth - though not in a romantic kind of way. (At least, not yet, anyway.) While she. . . .she had no one. Sure, at one point in time - well, several points in time - she had someone. But at the present, there was no one she could call her own.
And maybe that was her fault.
First, she had Nathan, and, even though he wasn't the greatest guy in the world back then, he was the first guy she fell in-love with. Maybe not so deep, but she fell in-love with him nonetheless, and that kind of thing stayed with a person. She would always care about him. Always.
Next. . . .next she fell in-love with his half-brother, Lucas. Someone whom she felt a connection with. Someone who has saved her and protected her so many times. But instead of following her heart with this one, she got scared and ignored those feelings. And he went to Brooke, her best friend.
Then she fell in-love for the third and final time in her life, this time with Jake. With him, she was finally happy. . . .he loved her, she loved him and his little girl, Jenny. . . .but love just wasn't enough and he left.
Like everyone else.
'People always leave.'
So, eyes wide open and unable to sleep, Peyton Sawyer stared up at the ceiling. Lonely, depressed. She wondered why they always left, and thought that maybe. . . .maybe it was because of her. Maybe she just wasn't good enough. Maybe they thought that she wasn't worth it. No one wanted to fight for her. And that's what she so desperately wanted. Someone, anyone. . . .to fight for her. Someone to show her that they cared, that she mattered. To them.
God. . . .She just didn't want to be alone anymore.