Sorry it took a little longer guys. I wanted to post a chapter last night, but my town was hit by storms, and even a tornado touchdown. My house is fine, it was the other side of town, but my power was knocked out. I have my laptop, but the battery's running low, so I can only be on for small amounts of time since I don't know when my power will be back on. So I'm sorry this chapter's a bit shorter than the others. I threw it together really quickly during school.

I'll update as soon as I can.

Love, Emily


"Lucas…wake up." Her hand ran through his hair gently, brushing her smooth skin of her hand across his cheek on occasion. "Good morning…" her voice was soft, her stand still grazing across his face as his arm remained securely around her from the previous night.

"Morning…"

"You should probably go see your mom before school, she's probably worried about you. I called her after Nathan dropped you off yesterday, but haven't talked to her since." He nodded in response, thanking her with no words; he didn't have to speak, she already knew. "So go grab a quick shower, and I'll go find something to eat, alright?" They both got up from her bed slowly, leaving the mess behind them. "Towels are in the cabinet under the sink."

"Hey Peyton?" She turned her face back toward his. "Thanks…really."

"What'd I tell you about thanking me?" He smiled slightly at her before disappearing behind her bathroom door.


"You know, if you need a shirt to wear for now, you can borrow one of my dad's." She laughed as she saw him walk into the kitchen with just a simple towel wrapped around his waist. "Anyways, I guess my dad got an early start this morning…" Holding a note for him to see, he nodded before walking behind her.

"By the way…" He leant down close to her ear, "I don't need a shirt. I'm sure you want to see me half-naked anyway…"

"Not like I haven't seen it all before…nothing special," she teased back, gently shoving him backwards with her left hand, her other still stirring the pan on the stove.


The two share a brief smile, her hand cradling the side of his face, before leaning his lips down to hers, trailing his lips from hers down to her neck. Her neck arched slowly, mouth opening in ecstasy, accommodating him nicely. He nestles his head forward, gliding his lips over her beating pulse point before pulling himself upward.

"Ow…" He brings his head back toward hers slowly, "Ow, my hair."

"Sorry…" He rests his head, quite uncomfortably, near hers as her arms loop around his neck, searching for the clasp on the necklace.

"There…" she smiles slightly as she puts the necklace in front of her, beginning to untangle her own curls out of it.

"Brooke."

"What?"

"Brooke gave me that necklace." She stared at him, wide-eyed, finally realizing what they had just done. The same guilt was in his eyes; the guilt that was nowhere to be seen ten minutes ago. "You know, we, um…we probably should get going…"

"Yeah…" She nodded, nervously.

"Okay." He awkwardly moved off of her, leaving her laying on the bed, unsure of what to do.


"Alright, so I've got eggs and waffles…" She grabbed her crutches lying by the stove and went toward the table where he was sitting. "What?" She saw the smirk on his face.

"Weird combination don't you think?"

"Well I didn't know what you wanted, so I figured you'd at least like one of the two." He smiled before placing some food on the plate in front of him.

"So who would've thought Peyton Sawyer could cook…"

"I kind of had to learn." She looked down slowly at the table, "After my mom died, since my dad was never around."

Idiot. "Pey, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking…" He tried getting her to look it up, but it didn't work. She shrugged it off, playing with the fork on her plate gently.

"So are you ready?" He nodded as they both stood up from the table. Handing her crutches to her, he held her steadily as she situated them securely under her arms.

"Got it?"

"Uh-huh, thanks."

"So you can thank me, but I can't thank you?" He joked, walking with her toward the stairs. They reached the foot of them, "Peyt, what are you doing?" he asked as she began placing her crutches to the side.

"Could you carry these u-LUCAS!" She screeched as he lifted her up, beginning to climb the steps.

"What?" He held her close to him. "Just make sure the towel doesn't fall okay?" A laugh escaped her lips just before they reached the top.

"Alright, um, I'll change in the closet, you can change out here." She made her way toward her closet and shut the door behind her. "You done?" She called out after a few minutes.

"Yeah, just need to get my shirt. You can come out though…" she walked out, a white tank top and a simple pair of jeans with a button-up shirt in her hand.

"Hey Peyton do you need a ri-," the brunette appeared in her doorway, freezing in her tracks when she saw what was in front of her. It was her ex, shirtless, her best friend, buttoning up her shirt, and the disheveled bed in front of her. "Never mind…" She left back down the stairs, avoiding conflict, avoiding tears.

"Great…"