Author's note- Okay this is my first One Tree Hill fanfic. It's just a one shot ( but a long one) but if you guys like my writing, I might continue with more of these kinda stories. This takes place at the end of Season 2 when Brooke goes off to California leaving a very confused Lucas behind. And he has no one there except Peyton. (starts out from her P.O.V and then changes) This is the night Lucas saw Peyton on the beach and hugged her. This is how I would have played it out. And this is also before anyone knew Haley was in town. I hope you enjoy it.

p.s. I don't own OTH, but Mark is a Genius! Or the song 23 by Jimmy Eat World.

I know life is not perfect. No one who actually lives can possibly think any part of their life can be completely perfect. And I'm saying this because I, myself, am full of imperfections. But that's not the point. The point is we all make mistakes… just some of us need to know how to fix them. And this is where I come in. I knew from the day I met Lucas he was not like any other guy I met. And that could be considered good…..or bad….

Lucas sat down next to Peyton on the beach and looked out onto the ocean.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me this summer."

Peyton nods with a sad look upon her face. Lucas notices this and pulls her into a hug. He assumes the reason she has that look on her face was because Brooke left. And part of it was because she left, but the other part was because she didn't know what to do with this new found information of a birth mother she had.

Lucas pulled away when he heard her sniffle. He saw tears welling up in her green eyes.

"Hey," he said softly touching her face, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just, it's been a long night. Lucas, can we talk about something?"

"Yeah, anything, Peyton you know I'm always here for you, no matter what." he said wiping a tear away from her face once again.

"Well, this woman, came to my door. She- she said she was my real mom, and I don't know whether or not to believe her, Lucas. I had a mom, a great one, and now that Ellie is here everything just got even more messed up. I don't know what to do."

"Well, you could talk to her. That's about all you can do right now."

"Yeah, but Lucas, I'm scared, what if everything I knew, everything I know, is a lie. What if she is my mother?"

"Then she is." he said as she looked away wiping more tears away. "But Peyton, you need to know for sure."

"I know, I'm just scared."

She started crying more as he pulled her in for another hug. They sat there just quiet for a while. Until he took her home.

No one else will know these lonely dreams
No one else will know that part of me
I'm still driving away
And I'm sorry every day
I won't always love these selfish things
I won't always live...
Not stopping...

A few weeks had passed and Lucas and Peyton were hanging out a lot more, she hadn't gotten the courage to go and talk to Ellie yet, but she had been thinking about it.

He had been contemplating calling Brooke for two months and he finally sat down and decided he would do it. He would call her and tell her he wound wait for her, and that he loved her.

"I'm sorry I haven't called sooner, I just- we left things so weird and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. But I'm calling now, and I guess all I wanted to say was, I love you, Brooke." he practiced before he got the courage to dial the numbers. When he finally did it rang 5 or 6 times before a voice he didn't recognize answered.

"Uh, hello, Is, uh, Brooke there?" he was so confused, who was this guy answering her cell phone?

"She's busy, what do you want?"

"Who is this?" Lucas said, getting angrier.

" This is Mark, who the hell is this?"

"Mark, are you coming back to bed?" he could hear Brooke's laugh faintly in the background and then he heard the phone hang up.

Lucas took his phone and threw it against the wall. How could she have done that to me? After what I told her?

He decided he wasn't going to sit around and brood about the situation. He grabbed his coat and left his empty house.

A few hours later Peyton was sitting at her computer sketching. It was a picture of the beach that night her and Lucas were there. They were sitting in the sand hugging, and below it in bold, black letters it said, "I wish you would have waited forever."

Just then a knock on her door caused her to jump. She turned around to see Lucas standing there.

"Lucas, hey…it's late, what are you doing here?" she said closing her sketchbook, trying to hide the drawing.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see you. I'm sorry for coming so late. I just needed to talk." he was slurring his words rather badly.

"Lucas, are you okay?" she said as he sat on the bed next to her. She could smell the whiskey on him.

"Oh yeah, I'm perfect. Just great. The girl I love is halfway across the country, and apparently already over the concept of….me." he said as a bitter laugh escaped his lips.

"Lucas, I'm sorry." she said placing her hand on his. He then looked at her with his piercing blue eyes. Suddenly this feeling of passion washed over her.

The next thing she knew he leaned in and placed his lips lightly on hers.

She sat there for a minute and took it all in. She could smell the mixture of Jack Daniels and his cologne. She then pulled away from him standing up.

"Lucas, you're hurting right now, and very vulnerable, I don't want you to do something you will regret tomorrow." and with that he stood up and once again placed his lips on hers, only with a little more force this time.

He then pulled away and wrapped his arms around her.

"Peyton, I want you. You have always been the one I want. I l-"

She put her finger to his lips. "Shh, no you don't. You love Brooke and you need to talk to her, rationally, when you are sober. Go home, sleep this off. You'll feel better."

She pulled his arms off of her and placed her hand on his cheek.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride home. You don't need to be walking home right now."

The ride to his house was more then silent, it was deafeningly silent. He looked over at her every now and then to examine the look on her face, she could feel his eyes on her as she drove and this made the passion in her heart want to kiss him right then, but she knew, she couldn't have him again, not the way she wanted.

You'll sit alone forever
If you wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
I'm here I'm now I'm ready
Holding on tight
Don't give away the end
The one thing that stays mine

She pulled up to the back of the house as it started to rain. She didn't say anything as he went to get out of the car before he stopped.

"Okay I'm sick of this! I know you Peyton. And I know that kiss meant something to you. I know. Because it meant something to me too. So tell me. Look me in the eye and tell me you have no feelings for me!" he grabbed her chin lightly and looked into her eyes. She said nothing. She couldn't, she did love him.

"That's what I thought." he said as he got out of the car. He slammed the door and ran onto the porch to escape the rain.

She drove off with tears in her eyes. She kept trying to get home, to be in her bed. But none of the roads would take her to where she wanted to go. She finally pulled over when the tears and rain was blurring her vision.

She cried harder then she had cried for a while. She wanted to tell him all the things he wanted desperately to hear. But she couldn't, she couldn't have him anymore because his heart, no matter how much she tried not to believe it, belong to Brooke.

It was my turn to decide
I knew this was our time
No one else will have me like you do
No one else will have me, only you

He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it in the laundry basket. He then laid back on his bed thinking about what he just did, in just a few hours he had ended things with one love interest, and tried to rekindle things with another.

Just then there was a knock at his back door. He got up and opened it and saw Peyton standing there, soaked from head to toe.

"Peyton?"

"I tried to drive home, and none of the roads would take me there. All of them….lead me to you. Lucas, I love you. I always have. I could wait forever for you. You're the one."

And with that she wrapped her arms around his bare back and placed her lips on his. He returned the kiss more passionately. She opened her mouth and let his tongue slowly slip inside and she massaged her tongue with his. He removed her wet jacket. She kept kissing him as they moved towards the bed. As she sat down he slipped his hand under her shirt slowly taking it off and continued to kiss her.

She then unbuckled his jeans, allowing him to do the same for her, while also removing her bra and underwear. All the time placing slow sensual kisses on his neck and collarbone. She shivered both from the cold of the rain and from the love she felt for him. She knew what was about to happen next and she didn't push him away.

He slowly entered her with ease and moving back and forth in slow, sensual movements. She then looked deep into his eyes and smiled. She moaned slightly as he deepened himself more inside of her. She kissed him passionately as he pulled away again as his lips found their way to her neck. Blowing warm air onto her collarbone made her moan even more.

The sun was coming up through the window and Peyton was laying awake watching Lucas sleep. She smiled to herself about what had happened last night. This was what she had wanted all along.

She looked at the clock and it said 5:45. She then noticed a few pictures on his wall. She then got up and walked over, trying not to disturb him while he was sleeping.

She smiled when she saw a picture of him and Haley. They had to have been about 10 years old and were both holding miniature golf clubs and had the biggest grins she had even seen. Then she noticed the picture of the team, and beside it was a picture of Lucas with Brooke. They were kissing and below them looked like Brooke's handwriting, it said "True Love"

That's when it had hit her. She had done the one thing she had promised herself she wouldn't do. She betrayed her best friend. Again.

Lucas woke up and looked at the clock, 9:45. He had a terrible head ache, but still managed to remember what had happened last night. He then turned over to expect Peyton there, but all he found was a note. It read…

Hey Sleepy-head,

I couldn't stay today because I know what we did last night was wrong. You know it and I know it. We just got carried away again. I'm sorry.

He then noticed a picture underneath the note. It was of him and Brooke. His face fell. He continued to read.

Call her, Lucas. She loves you. And she needs to know you love her too. Just call her.

And with that his cell phone rang. It was Brooke.

"Hey" she said sadly.

"Uh, hey"

"Lucas I made a mis-"

"Brooke. I love you. And I'll wait for you."

Back to Peyton POV

I guess what I am trying to say is, Lucas will always be in my heart, and I will always love him. But sometimes you just gotta let things go. I don't regret last night. Not one minute of it. But it's my turn to fix things. We all make mistakes… just some of us need to know how to fix them.

"You want to know a secret, love is all it's cracked up to be, broken hearts included."

Well tell me what you guys think! Please Read and Review.