Chapter 5

"Where did you say you wanted to move the dresser?" Nathan yelled from the bedroom.

"Across from the window," she yelled back from the kitchen.

Boxes and boxes were scattered throughout the small apartment style dorm room. Nathan and Haley had arrived earlier that morning and spent most of the day unpacking and moving in. Although, she was tired, Haley was excited. In a couple of weeks she would be starting classes at the school of her dreams: Stanford University.

As she put the dishes away in the kitchen cupboard, she imagined herself walking across the Oval, donning on a traditional crimson red Stanford sweatshirt. Nathan, in his Stanford Letterman jacket, was running across the lush green lawn towards her.

"Hales, can you get that?" Nathan yelled, snapping Haley from her daydream, "I think it's the pizza,"

Smiling and starving, Haley blissfully skipped down the hall to answer the door.

"Nate, where's your wallet? I don't think I have enough for the tip," she yelled as she opened the door.

"Here's a tip: I like my pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese,"

Haley blinked and her jaw dropped when she didn't see a pizza delivery man.

"Oh my God! Peyton!" she exclaimed. She grabbed Peyton by the shoulders and pulled her in for a suffocating bear hug.

"Hey, Hales," Peyton choked out.

"Hales?" Nathan said as he emerged from the bedroom, wondering what the commotion was about. "What's…"

Haley released Peyton from her death grip and turned to face her husband. "Look!" she pointed at Peyton.

Nathan smiled happily when he saw his blonde friend. He greeted her with a hug. "It's about time you showed up, Sawyer,"

Haley and Peyton looked at him with confused faces.

"You knew where she was?" Haley asked.

"The wind of freedom blows," Nathan repeated Peyton's clue she had given them a few weeks ago, "Its Stanford's motto, Hales,"

"You mean you, Miss. Stanford-is-my-dream-school, didn't get that?" teased Peyton.

"Well, if you would have said it in Latin…" Haley tried to defend herself but decided to change the subject entirely. "Have you been in Palo Alto all this time?"

Peyton nodded, "Talk about a coincidence, eh? I mean what are the odds that my car decides to break down in the same town you guys decide to go to school,"

The three reunited friends were too busy catching up to notice that another figure finally walked out of the bedroom.


Flashback

"Lucas, come on, man. Hales and I could really use the help and who knows, maybe getting out of Tree Hill for a while will do you some good," Nathan said to his brother.

Lucas continued to wipe the counter at the café clean. For the past few days Nathan had been coming by everyday trying to get Lucas to change his mind.

"Look, if you're staying behind because you're waiting for Peyton to come home, you're wasting your time. She's not coming home any time soon,"

Lucas threw the rag across the counter. His hands leaned against the counter and he let out a sigh. "It's not about Peyton,"

"K, well than what is it?"

Lucas shrugged, "My mom…"

"Nah, you can't play that card. I asked her already, remember? Your mom already told you that you can go,"

As Karen entered the dining room from the kitchen, she caught the tail end of their conversation, "Lucas, go and help your brother,"

"Mom…"

"I'll be fine, Lucas. It's only a week," She set a plate of fries in front of Nathan.

"But you need help here at the café. You can't work all day on your own,"

"Honey, I'm pregnant, not incompetent. Besides all you do is mope around anyways. A little vacation will do you some good," Karen picked up the dish rag and playfully whipped her son with it, "So go. No if and or buts,"

As Karen made her way back to the kitchen, she couldn't help herself but to give a smile and a little wink at Nathan.

End Flashback


Lucas slowly made his way down the hall towards them. The mere sight of her curls caught his breath. He suddenly felt nervous and wasn't exactly sure how to make his presence known. Unfortunately for him, a lone box sitting on the floor did.

"Ow," Lucas hopped on his good foot and grabbed his stubbed toe as the box noisily slid a few feet across the floor.

The excited chatter ceased and gave way to the all too familiar and clichéd awkward silence. Nathan and Haley didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Instead they both watched Peyton cautiously peer around Nathan.

Their eyes instantly met and he stopped hopping. He stood up and straightened himself.

"Hi," Lucas said softly with a smile.

She tried to reply, but nothing came out of her cotton dry mouth. His angry words echoed loudly in her ears.


Flashback

"It doesn't matter anymore, Peyton. I get it now…you want to run and do this on your own, than go ahead. You want that clean break, well here it is; Don't bother sending that letter and don't bother calling me. Goodbye, Peyton,"

End Flashback


She cleared her throat and finally replied. "Hey,"

They hadn't spoke to each other since that day and she wasn't going to find out if he still meant what he said, at least not that night. She wasn't ready to deal with it yet. Peyton kept her focus on Nathan and Haley, "Well, I just came by to say hi and to see if you needed help moving in, but looks like you got it all covered…so I guess I'll see you guys later,"

Peyton quickly turned towards the door but not before giving Lucas a quick glance. She opened the door but jumped back. A startled pizza delivery man, who was getting ready to knock, was standing in her way.

"Peyton, wait," Haley said, "Why don't you stay for dinner? I mean the pizzas already here and we want to know what you've been up to," She gently took Peyton by the arm but as she spoke, she looked at Lucas, "We really missed you, Peyton,"

Silently Peyton groaned but made her rolling eyes known to Haley. "There better be pepperoni with extra cheese,"

Peyton turned to the delivery guy and took the two boxes of pizzas from his hands. "Give 'em a sec to find their wallet…they're gonna give you a big tip," Peyton smiled curtly at Haley and walked into the living room with dinner.


It felt like old times and it made Peyton feel like home again. Staying wasn't such a bad idea after all. After dinner, the four of them remained seated on the floor and talked the night away. There was so much to talk about, from life back in Tree Hill to Peyton's journey across the country. But there was something that surprised her.

She had expected Lucas's demeanor towards her to be hostile or bitter. But he wasn't either of them. Instead he was quiet – the way he used to be before sophomore year began; scared to say something to her; frightened to gaze at her for too long, in fear that he would get caught; and nervous just being the presence of her. It really was just like old times.

"Well, as much as I want to stay, I should get going…I've got work in the morning," Peyton yawned, "Thanks for the pizza,"

As he followed Peyton to the door, Nathan looked at his watch. It was nearly midnight, "Hey, it's late. Why don't you stay the night? We can have a little slumber party," he laughed.

Peyton scrunched her nose as she looked back at the room where they had just eaten. Two cardboard boxes served as their dining room table, while the dusty floor made their chairs. Without a sofa or an extra bed, she knew that someone would be sleeping on the floor that night and it wasn't going to be her.

"Thanks, but it's alright. I don't live that far anyways,"

"You sure?" Haley asked as she tiredly leaned against Nathan.

"Yeah," Peyton replied.

It would have been so much easier had she just kept going and walked out the door. She didn't have to look back at him but something inside her decided to. Her eyes caught Lucas's who was shyly standing behind Nathan and Haley with his hands in his pockets. For the first time that night, he didn't look away.

"If it makes you guys feel any better, Lucas can walk me home,"


A/N: Thanks for all the great feedback! This chapter might have been a bit slow, but it pretty much just sets up the LP talk.