Hello! This chapter is brought to you by: "Camp Nanowrimo! And my deep-seeded, competitive need to 'win'!" Since I'm trying to make my goal for the month... I should be able to pump out another couple chapters in the next week. So hopefully I'll be able to keep up this pace. I'm excited to write stuff that's coming up! :D

Thank you to those who left reviews! They really help!

Anon. Reviews:

Melody Jane: You're totally right! He went way too far! (But that's sort of his character, so probably not too surprising haha.) Get ready for a couple Lex POV snippets!

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She had locked herself in her room shortly after Lex left. Peyton still hadn't been able to get her crying fully under control and answering questions from the house staff wasn't something she really wanted to do at the moment.

Curled up on top of her comforter she rubbed at her wet eyes and hiccuped. Every time she thought of the pill bottle her gut churned and her chest hurt.

Drugging her. He'd actually remembered that she'd stayed longer after taking cough syrup and thought of a way to use that, what was to him, years later. How could he look her in the eyes as she unknowingly sipped at the coffee he'd given her? How could he be ok knowing how unnerved she was at being stuck in another body that wasn't quite hers in a universe that she didn't belong in?

She shouldn't have trusted him so easily. He was, after all, a spoiled, selfish rich kid.

A desperate rich kid, some betraying voice in her head added. But it didn't quench her ire. It didn't matter how lonely or desperate someone was, you didn't just lie and violate someone you were supposed to be friends with like that.

Her brick of a cell phone was vibrating on the mattress beside her. It had gone off a couple times now and Peyton assumed it would continue on for the rest of the night. But she refused to answer it. She didn't want to talk to him tonight.

Consequences. There were consequences for actions, and he was going to figure out this was one of them.

She'd told him that she didn't hate him, and that was true. Despite her anger she could honestly see what fear he could be acting off of, and he would have to just believe her. Like she'd believed him until now.

Eventually she forced herself to get up and get over herself a bit and get ready for bed. Most of her day had been wasted with her staring blankly at the wall and simmering in bitter betrayal, but enough was enough. Peyton went through the steps of her nightly routine, letting the familiar actions comfort her and mentally calculated how long until she might wake up home.

Lex had given her a coffee before she'd figured him out, so she had at least until the next day for her body to work through the sleep aide.

Lord, he'd been giving her at least one pill a day. No wonder he'd been so insistent on visiting her.

She probably had one more day. One more day before she could wake up in her own adult body and try to untangle the mess her life had probably become. If luck were on her side not much time had passed in her universe. Maybe she wasn't late for work. Maybe she wouldn't be fired the minute she opened her eyes and maybe her mother wouldn't be an emotional mess kneeling at her bedside.

Peyton rubbed at her eyes again and groaned.

A knock on her bedroom door reminded her that she didn't actually live in this manor alone. She cleared her throat, glad that she'd stopped crying and her eyes weren't as red as they had been earlier.

"Yeah?"

"Miss Woods? Are you feeling alright? You skipped dinner."

"Oh. Did I?"

The clock on her nightstand read seven thirty. Stewing, she'd been stewing for the entire day and she hadn't even realized it.

"Get it together, Peyton," she muttered to herself. "This isn't you."

"Miss?"
She sighed and gestured at the door even if they couldn't see.

"You can come in."

The door eased open and Peyton tried to arrange her face into a less despondent expression. Why did she care so much anyway? Lex was only a kid she'd known for a smattering of days; and now she knew just what kind of person he was. Or could be, at least. She was behaving much too melodramatic for her own liking.

Like an actual teenager. Peyton shuddered.

It was Mary who hesitantly stepped into the room, eyeing her up and down as if already knowing there was something off. Peyton kept a polite smile on her face and didn't fidget under the inspection.

"Sorry," she said to break the quiet. "I just lost track of time. I didn't realize it was so late."

Mary tilted her head down in acknowledgement, her lips pulling a bit to the side, and Peyton wondered if her eyes might still be a bit noticeably red.

"Would you like me to bring you something up, then?"
Some faint scents of bread and meat had drifted into the room with the opening of the door, and it awakened Peyton's stomach from it's dormant state. Suddenly she could feel it gnawing on itself.

"Actually, yeah. That'd be nice; thank you, Mary."

This house wasn't hers, those people downstairs weren't her parents, and she was all alone. Going down there now, pretending to be someone she wasn't, she didn't think she could handle it at the moment.

"Of course, Miss."

Mary turned back towards the door but paused halfway out and turned back. There was a buildup of anticipation, Peyton could feel vibration of the soundwaves, before the maid actually spoke.

"And the house staff wanted to say thank you for the gifts, Miss. It was very kind of you."

Peyton's cheeks heated a moment at the sincere expression on Mary's face. A pang shot through her chest quickly. She smiled sadly in return a tugged at her hair.

"It's no problem. You all deserve it."

Mary gave her one last nod as she closed the door behind her.

Peyton felt a bit more guilty that they'd have to be subjected to the other Peyton again soon.

[][] L.L [][]

Lex looked down at his phone as trepidation squirmed in his gut like monstrous tentacles. She still wouldn't answer his texts or return his calls. His fingers tightened around the device. He'd apologized! Of course what he'd done was a bit bad, and he was sorry, but it was cruel of her to leave him like this. Friends shouldn't do that, right? Had she even stopped to think about what would happen to him?
He'd be all alone again. Only now it'd be worse. He'd have to go back to seeing that other Peyton infecting her body. He'd have to see her face at school and know it wasn't her. She'd either shun him again or blindly follow after him like she did with everyone else. It'd be a worse punishment than he truly deserved.

He dialed her number again and waited until it stopped ringing and an automated voice told him to leave a message. Lex threw his phone across the room. It made a loud cracking sound as it hit his headboard and fell with a thud back onto the bedspread.

He paced a few more times across his room, running his hands over his head and grimacing. His eyes darted to his bed a few times as he walked before he finally broke and raced over. There was a chip in the plastic and a small crack in the screen, but otherwise it was intact. He dialed Peyton's number again. It went once again to voicemail.

"Peyton, please," he begged. "I get you're mad but you can't leave like this. It's not a normal fight if you disappear to another dimension. It's not fair! I might- I might not ever see you again. Please. We're friends, right? Friends get into fights and make up. So, please, call me."

Her voicemail was probably packed with various messages from him by now, but he didn't care. He couldn't let her leave like this.

He didn't want her to leave.

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The next day dawned bright with some frost still clinging to the windows. Peyton shuffled until she sank further into the plush comforter of the princess bed. She was comfortably cocooned in the warm bedding and let herself slowly wake as her room gradually became more illuminated by the cold sunlight.

"Last day," she muttered to herself. She rubbed the crust out of her eyes and then stretched. "And then I'm finally home."

Of course, she knew she couldn't anticipate when her conscious would transfer one-hundred percent, but she was hoping the previous patterns would hold true. If Lex had somehow messed up everything by keeping her here for so long, she was going to really rip into him.

The phone sitting on her nightstand had finally gone silent, no longer buzzing and chirping up a maddening storm, which she was grateful for. Later, she'd break down and look over what Lex had sent in his desperate frenzy, but not now. She could still feel her blood heat up a degree or two just thinking about what had happened.

No, dealing with Lex could probably wait until later in the afternoon.

Leaving her phone where it sat, Peyton got up and readied herself to face the day. A shower, a hot shower; that would make her feel better. And then one last delicious, professionally cooked breakfast. She'd actually miss that.

The kitchen staff actually greeted her warmly when she made it down and let herself in. The chef smiled at her and sat a plate in front of her and someone else was already pouring her a cup of coffee before she could reach for a mug. She huffed a bit, still not entirely used to being waited on, but got over it quickly when the scent of fresh french toast invaded her senses.

The staff, she realized, might be among the few of people she'd miss. She chatted easily with them as she ate, trying to brush over the thanks they flooded her with over their Christmas gifts. Once more that pang of guilt hit her. Would the real Peyton keep up what she'd started? Or would she just be whoever she'd been before? What would everyone think of the sudden personality change?

No, no. That wasn't for her to worry about. Hopefully wherever the other Peyton's consciousness was, it was doing ok.

Around noon she finally decided to give Lex's messages a listen. Although she still tensed when thinking about his betrayal, she'd gotten enough time away that she could handle whatever came next with a more level head. Or, at least that's what she told herself. She had no doubt that all of Lex's messages would wind her back up again to some degree.

Tentatively, she opened the voicemail option, the password was incredibly still 1234, and listened. And despite how mad she still was, his broken tone managed to tug at her heart all the same. After the first couple messages, Peyton opted to delete the rest, all their content was more or less the same, and she didn't have the patience to listen through ten of them.

"Just get it over with," she said to herself. Luckily there was no one to overhear her back up in her room. "You'll feel bad if you don't and the kid will probably be even more traumatized than he already obviously is."

Still, she groaned as her finger hovered over the dial button.

Kid, he was still a kid, and that's how she saw him. But realistically he was almost legally an adult. He'd known what he was doing. She couldn't underestimate him anymore just because he was younger than she was. After seeing the sorts of books on his bookshelves and seeing him whip through their schoolwork, she wouldn't be shocked to find that he were actually smarter than she was even now.

"Just be on guard. Let him have closure."

She could do that. One last good deed before she got her reward.

The phone rang only twice before it was answered.

"Hello!"
"You blew up my phone."

"You weren't responding!"

Peyton sighed audibly and she heard Lex shuffle through the receiver.

"I really am sorry," he hastily added. "I can't undo it, but I'm sorry."

Sorry he did it or sorry he was caught? Peyton wasn't entirely sure but she decided to leave that fire unfed.

"I got that hint by the fourth message," she said dryly. "It still doesn't excuse what you did. I just- I really hope you understand how wrong that was? You don't just...take people's choices away from them like that."

"I swear, I'll never do it again."

Peyton clenched her eyes shut and rubbed at the bridge of her nose with her free hand.

"I'm still mad," she said. "But... I forgive you."

Lex sighed and she could hear footsteps on hardwood move more rapidly.

"So can I come over now," he asked. Peyton felt a spike of unease in her stomach.

"Lex, I really don't think that's a good idea. I may be- tonight might be my last night. And I really think you need some dist-"

"But what about the other Peyton?" His tone was high and expectant. It gave her pause as she considered his words. "What if she comes back confused or scared; shouldn't there be someone there who can explain things to her?"

Mulling it over, she couldn't avoid admitting he had a point. There was no way of knowing what happened to the other girl whenever Peyton spent time in her body. It certainly didn't seem like they traded places. And that was assuming the other girl would wake back up in her own body at all. What if being here for days did something medically to her? The girl could need immediate treatment.

Peyton grit her teeth.

Why her? What was this crazy world? Forget doctor; when she got back she was going to set up a meeting with a theoretical scientist. Perhaps one that specialised in String Theory. Or that Multi-verse thing.

"Fine," she finally managed to utter. "But only for the sake of the other Peyton. I'm warning you, Lex. You're still on thin ice. I don't trust you."

"No coffee," Lex promised. "I'll be on my best behavior."

She heard the chirp of a car unlocking and knew he'd already been walking to his garage. The insufferable know-it-all.

Peyton hung up after that, knowing she'd probably done the best she could for the other girl, but still not feeling great about it. Her arms and legs felt twitchy, like there was too much energy zipping through her limbs and too many fearful thoughts circling her head. She decided to go for a quick run around the property before Lex showed up again and she had to face him.

And who knew; maybe some exercise might wear off the effects of the sleeping aide faster?

It was worth a shot.

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Peyton was complimenting Randall on some of his homemade hummus as she snacked on it when another member of the staff approached to let her know that Lex was at the door. It'd taken him longer to arrive than she anticipated, and she wondered if he was nervous about showing his face again so soon.

She thanked the messenger and got up from her stool, making sure to put away all evidences of her snack before leaving. None of the staff tried to stop her this time and she smiled at their quick ability to adapt.

Her smile died down as she neared the front foyer. Although she did forgive Lex, she was honest that she still didn't completely trust him and it would have been nice to have a few days of distance to think and heal. But that did not seem to be her luck, so she tried to accept what was.

For the real Peyton of this universe, she thought to herself. For the sixteen year old girl who may be spoiled, but still deserves to live in her own body.

Lex was waiting in the foyer. He was standing unnaturally still with one hand shoved into his slacks pocket and his face a serious mask. When he heard her approaching his eyes dropped to meet hers and he stiffened up even more as she greeted him with a silence and a raised brow. After a moment he shrugged his shoulders loose and flashed her a grimace of a smile.

"Hopefully I caught you in time."
Peyton breathed out a bit of her hostility and rolled her eyes.

"Seeing how you drive, I'd be shocked if you didn't."

He grinned a bit more easily at the jab before the quiet settled in again. Peyton rubbed at her arm lightly as her eyes left Lex to dart the the ceiling, over to a decorative vase, and anywhere else. She hummed lightly in the back of her throat as she fought to find something to say or think of somewhere to go.

It was a bit more awkward, their situation. It seemed like Lex's flub had removed some sort of fog that had been settled over the situation. She knew him a bit, and cared about him, sure, but she obviously didn't know him incredibly well. And he wasn't a child, that was clear. She'd gotten caught up in the age difference after meeting him when he was small and had kept that view of him until the previous day. That was wrong of her, she knew now. Lex might need a lot of things, but to be coddled and underestimated wasn't one of them.

"How about we go to the, uh, parlor room?" Peyton offered. She hadn't more than glanced into that room before Christmas, but it was a truly neutral zone and she didn't think it'd be appropriate for Lex to be in the girl's room when she came to.

Peyton led him back to the room she'd opened Christmas gifts in. It was a prim room, all deep woods and haughty reds that didn't help the somber mood.

Dropping onto one of the antique couches, Peyton eyed Lex wearily.

"Well, I hope you're prepared to wait. I have no idea how much longer I have."

Lex dropped in the chair opposite her in a similar fashion. He looked just as tired.

"I can wait," he insisted. "I don't mind."

The message Peyton could read between the lines was 'I hope you stay longer anyway', but she decided not to bring it up if he was aware enough not to actually say it.

A clock on the mantle of the fireplace on one wall ticked loudly and Peyton picked at her nails. Lex merely watched her.

"I'm sure it's going to be a shock to everyone," Peyton finally said. She laughed dryly as she pulled her feet up onto the couch cushion. "I mean, from what I've gathered, we have very different personalities. Hopefully no one gets suspicious."

Lex flinched and looked away. He clasped his hands together tightly and he took a quick breath before facing her again.

"That's one way of putting it."
Peyton winced in return and inwardly chastised herself for bringing the topic up. She'd said she'd forgiven him, no use rubbing salt in the wound.

"For what it's worth," she said lowly, "I'm sorry that you have to go through all this. I should've never told you in the first place."

"I'd rather know," Lex cut in quickly. His gaze was level, serious. Peyton chewed at the inside of her cheek. "It's better knowing," he continued. "I'm glad you told me."

She rubbed at one of her temples and shook her head, brushing some blonde strands of hair out of the way as she resituated herself. There'd be no convincing him that he was wrong on this. Whatever made him feel better, she supposed, even though she could only see it as added stress. But even then, she was glad that there was someone to confide in. She couldn't imagine going through this all alone, or with people telling her she was crazy.

Sometimes she still wondered about that.

Her hand drifted from her temple down to the locket from him that she'd forgotten to take off. She fiddled with it a moment, still taking a moment to breathe before readying a reply.

"Lex-"

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Peyton jerked, finding herself suddenly laying horizontal, something strapped over her face and people crowded around her and talking quickly.

"Peyton? Peyton can you hear me?"

Something flashed brightly in her face, and she could feel the strain of her pupil reacting to the light. She groaned as she fully came to, taking in the space around her and processing what had just happened.

It had happened. She was finally back. But her gut sank a little as she tried to sit up on the gurney she'd be laid on.

Ambulance rides weren't exactly cheap.

[][]L.L.[][]

Lex waited a moment after she said his name, but her voice trailed off and she didn't pick the thought back up again. She slumped slightly against the couch, her head lolling to the side a moment, before she slowly blinked her eyes open. Something in Lex's stomach churned and he swallowed thickly.

"Peyton?"

She turned her head towards him and slowly blinked again. Her eyes drifted down taking him all in and her lips spasmed, almost as if she couldn't decide to frown or smile.

"Lex," she said flatly. "You're in my house."

He couldn't stop staring at her eyes as she looked at him. He had been with her the last time she'd left, but he was younger then and he hadn't really understood quite what was happening. But know he could see it. Now that he had seen the real Peyton again he understood what it was about this Peyton that disturbed him so much.

Her eyes were dead.

A shudder ran up his spine and he grit his teeth, neither of which the other Peyton seemed to pick up on.

There was nothing behind her eyes. No sparkle, no hint of clever thought. They were just flat. She didn't quite blink as often as he thought was normal which left her looking doe-eyed and lost.

"Yeah," he eventually managed to say. "We're dating, remember?"
He waited to see her response. From the last she'd remember, they had never been together and she said he was a loser just like all the other kids who hung around Oliver Queen and his gang. But instead of her adopting a frown and calling him a liar, her head jerked sharply to the side and her lips curled up until she showed teeth.

"Right! Of course. We're together."

Lex tilted his head to the side in horrified curiosity.

"How long," he asked, "have we been together?"
The Peyton blinked twice, the awkward pulling of lips supposed to be a smile still in place. "You know. A-a-awhile."

Ditzy, clueless, flaky, a drone. He had heard all sorts of descriptions from people talking about this Peyton behind her back, and he had always silently agreed with them. But now he finally understood that they weren't even close to the truth. This was beyond a personality quirk. This was more than just being an air-headed heiress. It was more like a situation from The Body Snatchers.

Perhaps before he had wished for it, but now he could actually confirm it was true. This was not the real Peyton. Whatever it was, whatever kept her body moving, it was not supposed to be there. It was, at best, a place holder to make sure her body stayed alive until the real Peyton got back.

Lex stood and began pacing behind the chair he'd previously occupied. The Peyton's eyes blankly followed him, the smile slowly sinking off its face as if it'd forgotten to hold it up.

"You're walking," it said. Lex cast a glare in its direction.

"Yes."

"Should I walk with you?"

"No."

He made two more passes by the chair before he abruptly stopped and openly glared at it, his breath picking up pace slightly as he fought to organize his thoughts. It took a moment, but the Peyton's expression inched down into a mirror of his own.

"What?"

"Do you really not remember anything," Lex asked. He couldn't quite mask the irritation in his tone, but the Peyton didn't even flinch at it. "What did you do this morning? Do you even know? Where do you go when she's here?"
It lifted an arm, turning the wrist in circles like people do when they're trying to explain something, but it didn't just stop after the first turn.

"I- I -I do remember- I don't. Nothing happened!" It let out a high-pitched, girly giggle as if he'd asked it why they'd been seen with Oliver and not where its consciousness had been the last few days. He stepped back further, starting to feel a bit nauseated.

"Forget I said anything," he said. "I should go."

"Said what?"

Lex pushed through the parlor door and practically sprinted for the front doors. It was good to know, he reminded himself. It was better to know. Knowing brought insight. Knowing brought power. He could do something about this if he knew.

Next time, when she came back, he'd be ready. He'd convince her of the truth.

This was her true world. She belonged here with him. Next time, he'd convince her to stay.

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I feel like this chapter is a bit short... but it seemed like a decent place to end things. More characters will be making appearances in the future though!

What did you guys think of the "other" Peyton? I was excited to get to write from a POV that interacted with her. :)