Do you wake up and lie there
and think it through?
is the weight of your own life
too much for you?
But it all is a game
you forgot to play
you did
All Is A Game-Nada Surf

"Rise and shine!"

Peyton buried her head into her pillow. She knew that cheery voice all too well.

"Ugh! It's so dark in here!"

Peyton could hear the movement in her room and didn't like it.

"Don't!" She shouted as her eyes finally shot open, just in time to be met with the blinding sunlight.

"Brooke!" She whined.

"There." Brooke sighed as she adjusted the blinds. Oblivious to Peyton's protests.

"I hate you." Peyton muttered as she sat up on the bed and looked at her cheery best friend.

"What's with the glum mood? Oh, or are you trying to be, oh what's the word? You know with the guys, and they're all like dead inside? Like that band... what is the word? Oh! Nemo!" Brooke shouted with a giggle, obviously proud of herself.

Peyton rolled her eyes and stifled a laugh, "You mean emo."

"Same difference," She shrugged as she took a seat next to Peyton on her bed.

"And I'm not!" Peyton closed her eyes again.

"So best friend," Brooke drawled, "What's going on here? You don't return my calls throughout the whole weekend, it's really dark in here, and you squint at the sunlight like you're vampire... or Lucas," She joked, which made Peyton laugh a little.

"So if you're not emo, then you must be..." Brooke paused as she put the pieces together, "Oh my god, P Sawyer you're hung over!"

Peyton groaned, "Talk softer please!"

Brooke couldn't stop laughing. She loved drunk Peyton!

"This is so great!" She clapped her hands together and laughed as she looked over at her best friend.

"No it's not!" She groaned.

"Oh yeah it is!" She said with a nod, "So I guess you were partying really hard last night?"

"Try Saturday."

"What? No way!" She exclaimed as she playfully pushed Peyton.

"Ow, Brooke!" She glared at her.

Brooke winced, "Sorry."

"It happened at Rachel's party, we um," Peyton tried to tell her what happened while avoiding the truth, dare, or drink part, "We were playing a game of I Never... and I guess I kind of got... drunk."

Peyton didn't remember much about Saturday night, but she knew that in a way she felt humiliated, like she had done something wrong. She just couldn't put her finger on it...

Brooke scoffed and let out a short laugh, "More like wasted."

"Hey you should talk!"

Her eyes lit up at this, "There's my P Sawyer. Once the alcohol wears off the sarcasm comes in."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So is that all that happened at the party? Not that I wanted to go or anything." She looked over at Peyton.

Peyton hesitated before answering, "Yeah–yeah that's all that happened."

"Sounds like it was a drag," Peyton laughed at this, "It'll be nothing people will be talking about when we get to school, which is why I came over here. Well that and to see if you were still alive."

Peyton laughed and then let out a groan in pain, "Don't make me laugh... it hurts. It feels like there's a 10,000 pound elephant is dancing on my forehead. I've been asleep the entire weekend and I'm still hung over."

"A little fresh air will make all of that go away, trust me, P. Sawyer. Now come on and get ready for school."

Peyton turned her head and looked at her clock, it was only 6 AM.

"Brooke it's only 6 AM. School doesn't start for like another 2 hrs. Why are you here so early anyway?" She shifted so that she was facing Brooke.

"I told you to see if you were still alive."

"And Haley's up this early, too?" She found it odd that Brooke could get Haley to get up this early since Haley wasn't really a morning person.

"I wouldn't know. Haley hasn't been at the apartment for like a month."

Peyton arched her brow at this.

"Isn't it great? I get to have the apartment all to myself and still pay half of the rent."

"That's wrong Brooke."

"I'm just joking, and here I thought drunks were supposed to be happy."

"I'm not drunk!"

"But the point is you were." Brooke teased.

"You're never going to let me live this down are you?"

"Uh uh, nope... never," Brooke laughed as she shook her head.

Peyton slid down so that she was now lying on her bed and pulled the covers over her, "I'm never getting drunk again!"

Woke up an hour after the clock
remembered the details
and wanted to stop
the stakes in my life
are going so far up
that my fingers are like
haven't you had enough

Lucas was confused. He was lost and he was confused. Whenever he was in a situation like this, he knew that there was one person and one person only that he could go to. And that was his best friend, Haley.

"Hey Hales you've got a second?" He asked as he approached the bench she was sitting at.

"For you Luke, I've got all the time in the world." She smiled up at her best friend and invited him to sit down.

Lucas smiled at this, "Or just until Nathan comes back, huh?"

Haley rolled her eyes, "Ha, ha. Now do you want me to listen to your problem or what?"

"Good comeback."

"Ah... well they don't call me tutor girl for nothing."

He gave her a strange glance, "But what does that have to do with it?"

"Shut up Lucas and tell me you're problem!" They laughed.

"How do you know I've got a problem?" He teased. He missed joking around with her, he missed his best friend.

"Okay, that's it," She said with a slight laugh as she put her hands up in the air, "I tried to be the attentive best friend, but you–"

"Okay, okay... Hales I'm sorry. I'll stop." He laughed as he pulled her back down on the bench before she could get away.

"Good, but now I'm not sure if I want to hear your problem." She joked.

"You're funny."

She nodded, "I know. Now on with the problem."

"Okay... well I don't know where to start."

"Try at the beginning, Luke. That's where all good stories start." She joked as she patted him on his shoulder.

"Hales." He pleaded with her.

"Okay... that was my last one, so what's going on?"

Lucas didn't know how else to go about the situation, so he just went with the first idea that popped into his head.

"Peyton kissed me." He blurted out.

"What?" Haley exclaimed. She was expecting something about a bad grade, an argument with Whitey, hell or even something about his HCM, but Peyton? That was so left field.

"She kissed me." He repeated.

"Well what did you do after? Wait, what did you do to make her kiss you? Was this at the party? It was the game wasn't it? I knew something bad was going to happen, I can't believe–'

"After you left, we played the game and then it was Rachel's turn and she dared Peyton to kiss me."

"And she did it?" Haley interjected.

"No, no. She ran out of the room, actually and after talking to Rachel, I went after her. She said she was fine and then she told me to go back into the party and then it got crowded and we got separated. But then she bumped into me and she was drunk–"

"Peyton was drunk?"

"Yeah... she was wasted, so I took her home and we just started talking and then she, she kissed me." He explained. He was still bewildered from last night. He replayed that moment over and over and over again. He couldn't get her or their kiss out of his head, but yet he couldn't face her.

"Wow," Haley sighed, "Well what did you do after the kiss? Or wait, did she throw up on you?"

"Haley!"

"What? I was watching 10 Things I Hate About You last night... so sue me. That was my last one, I promise this time," She swore, "So what happened when she kissed you?"

"I didn't exactly pull away." He admitted.

"Lucas!"

"I couldn't help it. Haley, you don't know what it was like in her room that night, in that very moment."

"Of course I don't." She mumbled. She wasn't upset with Lucas, and she wasn't disappointed either, but that didn't mean that she approved of what he was doing. Going back and forth between Peyton and Brooke again would only cause trouble.

"And I wanted to talk to her about it, but then she just fell asleep."

"Well you can always talk to her today." She suggested.

"Every time I get up the courage to talk to her, I just freeze up. I don't know what to do Hales." He admitted.

"Well she was drunk on Saturday right?"

"Right."

"So maybe she doesn't remember... you do crazy things when you're drunk right?"

"Right." He said once again.

"Okay then so it's settled... that kiss probably didn't mean anything." She concluded and watched Lucas nod, but she could still see the bothered look on his face.

"But you want it to mean something don't you?" She sighed as she stared at her troubled best friend.

"I don't know, Hales. I'm with Brooke now and I care about her, I do."

"I believe you, Luke."

"And Peyton, she's a great friend."

"Is that all she is? Just a friend?" That was a question both she and Luke knew the answer to.

"No... she's not." He said as he looked over at her.

"Lucas, answer me this. If you and Peyton didn't kiss that night, would you be feeling this way about her?"

"I don't know, Hales. Lately, I've been starting to think it's inevitable." He admitted.

"Yeah...me too." She whispered as she thought about the situation.

"You must think I'm the scum of the earth." He said as he buried his head in his hands.

"No, no Luke I don't think that. I just, I want you to be happy Lucas. No matter who you're with, I want you to be happy, whether that's with Brooke or Peyton, or some other girl. But you can't keep doing this to them, Luke. You can't keep going back and forth between them. It's not good for you and it's certainly not good for them either. Do you know what this is gonna do to their friendship? You just need to choose. Make a choice between Peyton and Brooke once and for all."

"You're right. I guess I'm being selfish about this whole thing, aren't I? This isn't just about me and my feelings."

"It's not and I wish I could help you with this, but this is your decision. I can't make the choice for you, you just have to follow your heart. Don't do what you think you have to, or what you think is right, do what your heart tells you, Luke." She said and then leaned over and hugged him.

"Thanks Hales." He whispered as he pulled out of the hug.

"Hey Haley, Lucas." Rachel waved as she quickly passed by.

"What's wrong with that girl?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"She's the one that started that stupid game, which led to.."

"She thought she was trying to help. She has this idea that Peyton and me belong together or something."

Haley looked over at Lucas, "It was inevitable, right?"

Peyton sighed. She loved the peace and quiet of the library. She had a free period and couldn't think of a better way to spend but reading in the library. And since she still felt a little hung over, this was the only place she could stand to be right now.

"Mind if I sit?"

She looked up and saw Lucas standing there. She wasn't surprised that he would come here, most likely looking for her. Practically every time she would look up, she would see him standing a few feet away from her, and just when she thought it was okay to go and talk to him, he would quickly walk away. It was weird.

"Sure." She watched as he sat down in the seat next to her and began to play with his hands.

Even though this was the library and she appreciated the silence, if Lucas didn't start talking in the next minute she was going to go insane. She had something to say to him, and she knew he had something to say to her, but he just stayed silent.

A few minutes of silence went by, and every now and then Lucas would look over at Peyton, but would quickly look away once he would see her head lift up. Much like his conversation with Haley, he didn't know where to begin.

He cleared his throat, "So um, how do you like the book?"

He was keeping it casual since he couldn't think of any other way to approach the situation. Hopefully it worked.

She gave him a look of confusion before looking down at the book she forgot she had in her hand. His question caught her off guard. She had stopped reading it minutes ago and had resorted to staring at the pages instead. Her mind was clearly on something else.

"Oh! You mean the, the book that I have, right with me, um..." She began to ramble. What was she doing? She was sure she was making a big fool out of herself in front of him. That was the last thing she wanted to do, especially after getting drunk at that party on Saturday. That was probably one of the only things she remembered from that night. Everything else was just a blur.

So that he wouldn't see that she was embarrassed, she covered her face with her book. When she peaked out from it, she was surprised to see Lucas laughing at her.

"It's not funny." She mumbled.

"Nah it isn't," He reached out and moved the book from her face, "But it is kind of cute."

She couldn't help but smile at this even though she wasn't sure if he should be saying something like that to her anyway.

"I'm sure it is, but it's not really your place to say now is it?" She regained her nerve with a sarcastic comeback.

"Ouch." Luke winced.

"Yeah... Brooke says I'm bitchy when I'm hung over, too." She said. It was her own way of apologizing, since she wasn't exactly good at that sort of thing.

He nodded, "So you're still hung over from Saturday?"

"Oh yeah, but if you think I'm bad now, you should've seen my this weekend. I was a mess, but uh, thanks for driving me back home... or at least I think that was you that drove me back home. I can't really remember."

Lucas suppressed a laugh at her obvious embarrassment, "I take it you're never getting drunk again."

"No, no. Never again." They both shared a short laugh at this.

"So I'm sure you saw me a few times today less than a few feet away from you and then turning the opposite way." He awkwardly brought it up.

"Yup." She nodded as she began staring at the book.

"That's because I was trying to figure out a way to talk to you about what happened Friday."

She averted her attention from the book, to him, "Lucas the whole thing was stupid."

"It was?" He admit he was taken aback by their kiss, but to call it stupid? He didn't think it was stupid, careless maybe, but not stupid.

"Yeah. It was out of line and completely insensitive, but at the same time she was just trying to help."

"Wait... what?" Now he was lost.

"Rachel," She clarified, "She was just trying to help," She continued on with her explanation, completely unaware to Luke's change in demeanor, " and I know you're probably thinking that she was trying to do the complete opposite but she wasn't, or at least she said she wasn't; and in some strange way, I believe her."

She waited for Lucas to say something, but he just sat there, unresponsive, with a pensive look on his face.

"But that doesn't mean I agree with what she did," She continued, "But um I just wanted to make that clear, so is everything cool between us?"

Again, she waited for his response, but he remained silent.

"Lucas?" She gave him a soft tap on the shoulder, which seemed to take him out of his thoughts.

"Peyton, do you remember anything after I took you home?"

She paused to think, "Let's see... you took me home, I tripped up the stairs a couple of times, oh and I can't forget almost falling out on the lawn, and then–"

"Do you remember anything happening in your room?" He was running out of patience. How could he sort out his feelings for her if she didn't remember the one thing that practically changed everything?

"No, but Luke you're starting to creep me out. Is there something I should know?"

What could he possibly say now? If he brought up the kiss, chances are she'd freak out or reject him, and he wasn't sure if he could face rejection again. How could she not remember what happened between them? Had it only meant something to him? He was crushed; he felt crushed.

"Because if this really is about the game, then I'm asking you, as a friend, to just let it go. It was a stupid game–"

"Are you sure you don't remember anything?" He glanced at her contemplating if he should tell her what happened or not.

She shrugged, "Everything's a little hazy now, Luke. I'm still in hangover mood," She joked with a slight laugh, but immediately stopped when she realized that he wasn't laughing, actually he was completely silent.

"You know you're right," He said while standing up.

"I am? Luke where are you going?"

"It's all a game." With not another word he walked away, leaving a confused Peyton sitting there. His words were true. Everything was all a game in more ways then one and he was quite sure that he wasn't winning this one, not this time.

Well it all is a game
Yeah, you forgot to play
You did
It all is a game
Yeah, you forgot to play
You did...

Now that was a pretty fast update. Oddly enough, things are actually just getting started with this story, but it's almost over. I guess I'll just leave you guys at that. Thanks for the reviews; they're great!