His Mother's Last Wish

Author's Note: I'm glad you guys didn't think the last chapter was unnecessary. I think I needed to put it in there. Also, I did get an overwhelmingly good response to what's going on with Nathan and Haley. I'll admit even I tend to make them the perfect couple in most stories because they're very rarely my main couple. But I want to keep this story semi-realistic so I'm going to continue to bring the drama with them.

Chapter 5: You're About to Break My Fall

Haley sat in the backseat, watching her friends interact in the front. The flame was still there for them, it may be a little dim, but Haley could see it growing, even now. She could tell things were off still, something didn't click the way it used to and there was more to the story of Lucas and Peyton than either of them were telling her. But she had faith that whatever was off would fix itself in the coming months, she had faith for all of them. Things were going to get better…or she at least had to believe they would.

"Haley!" Lucas's deep voice sliced through her thoughts. She fought to focus on him, raising her eyebrows. "I've been calling you for like five minutes…" he smiled at the small girl through his rearview mirror.

"Sorry…I kind of zoned out…" Peyton watched the brunette with worried eyes. Haley never did deal well when she and Nathan fought. The blonde could recall many instances from high school that Haley had shown up in her room in tears. But then again Haley had never been good in a fight with anyone. She was just too nice and fragile, nothing like any of friends…or husband.

"Well, we're here…" they all exited Lucas's black sports car, upon the exit the two girls watching his demeanor do a one-eighty. He was suddenly the twenty-seven year old Peyton ran into yesterday, he was the man neither of them knew anymore.

"Hey, you okay?" Peyton laid her hand on his shoulder gently, but he did his best to shrug her off.

"I'm fine…" she wasn't hurt by his actions, because she knew to give him his space, they were alike in that aspect.

The hospital was the same as he left it the day before, just a bit darker now. He still hated it the way he did the day before. Peyton watched him from behind, saw his shoulders tense when they stepped on Karen's floor.

She left Haley back behind them, the petite girl already knew and understood, Lucas needed Peyton right now. She laid her small hand in his, it amazed her that they could go ten years with such a screwed up past, but even in his darkest times he let her be the one to comfort him. He lightly squeezed her hand this time, thanking her without words.

Karen laid the same way she had the day before too. Lucas's stomach felt like it might drop out of his feet, he wanted nothing more than to get out of that room. She was the only constant woman in his life, and he was about to blatantly lie to her about his whole future.

"Hey Ma," he spoke quietly, afraid his normal voice might break her.

"Lucas," she smiled at her son, but her eyes lit up when she saw his hand intertwined with a girl from his past. "Peyton," she nearly sighed of relief. He would be okay...even if he was about to lie to her. She was sick but she wasn't stupid, she knew he had been by the day before and he was alone and miserable less than twenty-four hours ago. There was no way a girl he hadn't seen in ten years was his insta-soul mate.

"How's your day been?" Lucas questioned, watching her meet his eyes. He wondered what she thought of them together again, he wondered if she was going to buy the story.

"Well, I think the food's gotten better since yesterday –"

"Mom, you should've told me. I would've brought food from the café up," he sat in the blue cushioned chair next to her, a seat that belonged to him in her time of need. Peyton took her place in a seat across the room, but Karen would have none of it.

"Don't worry about it, Luke. Peyton, pull the chair over here," she gestured to the side opposite of where Lucas was seated. "Now that you're both here, can I ask what the hand-holding was all about?"

Peyton blushed in the dark room, hoping neither of the occupants would be able to see her. She waited patiently for Lucas to begin the story, which he did after he caught sight of her red cheeks.

"Well…I ran into Peyton a few weeks ago, and we've been talking and last night we decided to make things official," he smiled at his mother, hoping and praying she would accept his attempts.

"And you decided not to tell me last month when we were having lunch at the café?"

"I wasn't sure about things yet, and as of then we were just catching up on the past ten years and we were trying to figure out if we would be able to rebuild our relationship," his story was believable enough, and Karen figured if she had been a little bit more sick and a little bit more tired she wouldn't have even picked up on how much of a lie it was.

She thought for a few minutes, thinking of how much she loved him for what he was trying to do. She had an overwhelming sense of love when she thought of all the trouble he'd gone through just so she could leave peacefully. So this time, she wouldn't call him on it, she'd let him think she believed him so he could be at peace with his own life. Besides, she had a feeling whatever he was attempting to pull off was going to backfire on him anyway.

"I'm really happy for you, Lucas. You too, Peyton…you know you were my favorite when you two were younger…well besides Haley, but that's a different story," Karen winked at the younger woman, and Peyton quickly returned the smile. She gave Lucas's mother a quick hug and thanked her for the blessing. She sat and smiled at Lucas when all she really wanted to do was cry for him.

They left the room both smiling and waving to Karen as they left. Lucas waved Haley into the room, she sent him a sympathetic smile before closing the large, white door behind her.

Karen greeted the girl she had known for over twenty years. Haley engulfed her second mother in a tight hug before sitting in the chair Lucas had just occupied.

"Okay, maybe you'll tell me what's going on with Lucas and Peyton," Haley giggled shaking her head.

"I know just as much as you –"

"It's not real though is it?"

"They told Nathan and I that it was. But I don't know, something's weirdly off between them –"

"You noticed it too?" Karen questioned, watching Haley shake her head in amusement.

They both turned their heads to look through the partially cracked blinds which gave a clear view of the two blondes standing in the hallway.

Peyton took his hands again, watching them shake in her own. She couldn't explain the hurt she was feeling for him, she knew how this felt, she had done it twice.

"Lucas…"

He moved his eyes up from the floor to meet hers. His eyes were rimmed with red, but he wouldn't let himself cry. She knew how that one felt too, she knew exactly how he was feeling, and it brought back all of the hurt and pain to her heart too.

"I'm fine –"

"You're not, because none of this is okay," she pointed out, referring to his mom and how sudden it was that she was leaving him.

"Why?" he asked, his voice had been brought down to the tone of a child's. She had never seen him like this, not in all their years together.

"There's no good reason why. There was no reason for me to lose two moms in ten years, and there's no good reason for your mom to go either. It all happens for a reason though, you know…" she tried to make sense of what he was feeling, of what he was going through. She was trying t tell him all of the things she wished someone had said to her.

"Look, Peyt, you don't have to do this. You can leave, maybe it was a stupid plan…maybe, I'll just be fine, and you can go back to the hotel and just concentrate on your aunt and work. It's been ten years and I'm an asshole, you really shouldn't be involved in this."

She knew what that was like too, pushing everyone away to avoid the sympathy.

"I'm not going, because I'm here, Luke. Not to pity you or for this plan to make your mom feel better, but because I care about you. And because you need me this time, I think it's about time you let me be there for you –"

"I'm sorry, Peyton…"

"For?"

"For being such a dick about everything. You know, you've been the one person I've been able to count on since high school, and even after everything you're still here right now, right when I really need someone. Thank you…" he didn't want to look at her after that, but he didn't have to.

She took him in her arms and made him feel safe. She made sure her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck while he rested his head on her shoulder.

"I'm always here if you need me, Luke, you know that."

The two women watched from inside the hospital room, they saw the desperation in his eyes while he searched for safety in hers. They saw Peyton reassure him that his life would be okay, that she would be there no matter what the circumstances. And they watched Peyton hug him, they watched her give him hope.

"So, what do you think?" Haley asked, awaiting Karen's opinion.

"I think that whatever they're doing is going to backfire on both of them. Because it's painfully obvious they need each other. And whatever they had in high school never really ended."

Haley shook her head taking all of that in, it seemed true enough. She just wondered if the same would prove true for she and Nathan; but she could only hope, because there were no guarantees in her life.

Okay, tell me what you thought of that one. It may not be my best work, but it's got a good place in the story.

Review!