A/N: So here it is…The Leyton quote unquote date! I hope you like it. Remember only two more chapters left after this (and maybe an epilogue) so please take the time to review! Thanks a bunch!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill.

Chapter Nineteen: The Confession of My Guardian Angel

February 8th 2006

Well I will go down with this ship. And I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door. I'm in love and always will be. - Dido

I'm going to be late. I can tell. It's already 11:50 and I'm still waiting for Rachel to finish my hair. I know! I know what you're thinking…we're just going to play basketball, but I have to look good. Besides, she's just putting it up in a ponytail. But it's a pretty ponytail.

"Hold still," Rachel mutters through the bobby pin in her mouth. I'm fidgeting again.

"I'm trying!" I exclaim.

"I'll be done in like two seconds and then you can rush off to Prince Charming."

"Why am I even doing this?" I sigh. I'm going into panic mode. Once again, I'm contemplating running away from him. It sounds so much easier.

"Because you're in love with him," Rachel says as she adjusts the last bobby pin in my hair, "And that won't go away no matter how much you want it to. In fact, I'm pretty sure it would only get worse."

"But-" I have a whole list of buts, but she cuts me off.

"No buts, Peyton Elizabeth!" Rachel hisses pushing me out of my chair, "Now off you go!" I sigh and begrudgingly reach for my leather jacket. It's pretty cold today surprisingly. As I drive to Rivercourt, I instinctively reach for my cigarettes before remembering I quit. Right now I'm nervous and a cigarette would be really nice. But then I remember why I quit. For Lucas.

I pull up to Rivercourt at 12:10. Lucas is already shooting hoops. I'm not surprised. I get out of the car quickly. For some reason, I'm almost afraid he might leave. Or disappear. It'd be my luck.

"Hey, Luke," I say approaching him from behind. He spins around to look at me and big smile appears on his face.

"Peyton," he says walking towards me. I notice his basketball is slowly rolling off the court and into the grass.

"Sorry, I'm late," I say, fidgeting with my hands. I could really use that cigarette. I'm extremely nervous.

"It's ok. I like your hair." I unconsciously twirl one of the pieces hanging down.

"Thanks," I say softly, "So what moves are you going to teach me?"

"How much do you know?"

"Uh, basically nothing." We both share a laugh and the tension just sort of ebbs away. I spend the next hour trying to learn how to dribble without looking at the ball, twirl the ball on my finger and shoot from the free throw line. It was really nice…ok it was amazing! Especially whenever he stood behind me and guided my hands through each shot. God, he smelled good…ok, focus.

"Can we take a break, hot shot?" Lucas asks as he rebounds a shot I took.

"What? Are you tired?" I say sarcastically. He gives me a look. "Ok, fine!" I sigh dramatically as I make my way to the bleachers. Lucas sits beside me, offering me a water bottle. I take it and guzzle half of it in one sip.

"Someone was thirsty," he says as I slam the bottle down next to me.

"Hell yeah! You worked me like a dog."

"You wanted to keep going," he shrugs. Of course, I did. I was having fun basking in his presence, feeling his hands on mine. But I don't tell him that. I just smile and take a much smaller sip of my water. There's a long stretch of silence where he and I just sort of take in the atmosphere.

"So what next?" I ask stretching out my legs on the bleachers.

"We could go grab something to eat at my mom's café," he suggests.

"I think we should steer clear of there. Chris and Rachel said they were going there for lunch."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Chris loves your mom's coffee." We drift back into silence…this time it's a bit more uncomfortable. I probably shouldn't have mentioned Chris.

"I have a confession," he says breaking our silence. I look over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What's that?"

"I'm jealous." He looks awfully embarrassed. He's trying to hide it by cleaning the imaginary scuffs off his shoes.

"Jealous of what?"

"Chris Keller," he mutters. It's so quiet, I almost don't hear him.

"What was that?" I ask with a smirk. I did hear him, but I can pretend otherwise, right? He sighs dramatically.

"I said I'm jealous of Chris Keller."

"And why would you be jealous of him?"

"Because you thought about hanging out with him yesterday before you even called me," Lucas says, "God, I'm such a girl."

"No you're not," I assure him, patting his hand, "The reason I didn't call you was because I thought you needed time to figure out what's going on in that head of yours. Then Chris called me and I was so bored, I figured why not invite him over?"

"Maybe because he's evil," Lucas mutters, apparently answering my rhetorical question.

"Luke! He's not evil," I say biting my lip, "He's actually pretty cool, in fact."

"Well, why don't you just marry him then?" He sounds like a child saying it and I can't help but roll my eyes and laugh.

"I can't marry him," I say softly, "Because I'm in love with someone else. See, Chris Keller is my friend. But you, Lucas Scott, are my…well I don't have a title for you." Lucas looks down at his hands, a soft smile still gracing his lips.

"I'm yours."

"Hmm?" I ask. I didn't quite get that…or I just heard it wrong. Because it sounded like he said he was mine. And I can't see him saying that. He places his hands on my shoulders and turns me to face him.

"I said I'm yours," he says, his hands cupping my face, "If you'll still have me after all the crap I put you through."

"That's a lot of crap to just forget," I sigh jokingly. His lips are achingly close to mine. I'd love nothing more than to just reach up and capture them, but he starts to speak again before I have a chance. He turns his head to face the court.

"This past month and a half has been terrible without you. At first, I thought I missed you as a friend. But you don't miss a friend's touch. Or the look they get in their eyes' when they're telling you about a good day. You don't get mad or nervous when you hear yet another boy asked this friend out-" I chuckle at him. "And feel your heart leap a little when yet again she turns him down. Most importantly you don't dream of kissing that friend." He pauses to take a deep breath and turns back to look me in the eyes, "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I love you Peyton. I always have and probably always will. And no matter how hard I try to hide it, it just won't quit. It always leads back to you. And I would love if you'd be my girlfriend."

"I'd like that a lot," I say. He draws closer and our lips are just about to touch when his phone rings. We both pull back a little shocked at the noise. Then, he moves closer again.

"I'll ignore it," he murmurs.

"You better answer it," I say, "It could be your mom."

"Nice way to ruin the mood," he says pulling out his phone. I watch as he talks to his mom. I'm not really listening to what he says. My stomach is busy filling with butterflies. I'm Lucas Scott's girlfriend…Do you know how long I've waited to say that?

"Bad news," he says, hanging up the phone. I'm snapped out of my trance and my eyes flicker over to meet his.

"What?"

"My mom needs me to get home now. We have to leave for her doctor's appointment in Charlotte."

"Charlotte?"

"Yeah, she found the doctor who delivered me. He's practicing in Charlotte."

"Oh, cool," I say, retying my shoe.

"I'm going to be gone all of tonight and tomorrow."

"Not cool. I finally get you to profess your love and you're leaving for two days."

"More like one and a half," he says, "I'll call you as soon as I get home tomorrow."

"Fine," I sigh.

"I can't kiss you now, huh?"

"It kind of seems rushed," I admit. I'm sure the kiss would be great, but I want it to be special because I know I'll remember it for the rest of my life.

"If she would have called one minute later," he sighs.

"Well, if you hadn't spent the last few minutes giving me a sappy love speech," I trail off jokingly.

"You know you loved it," he smirks.

"Go!" I say, "Before your mother worries."

"I'll see you when I get back, right?"

"Of course," I say, "You owe me a kiss." He plants a small kiss on my forehead before taking off. I stay on the bleachers with a silly grin on my face. This is a good day. This is definitely a good day.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So Leyton's together but no kiss...I promise you'll get one by the end...Hope you liked it :)