A/N: Please review if you're gonna take the time to read. Thanks:)

"Wow," Peyton said softly.

Haley nodded. "I didn't come back at the end of the summer."

"Why?" Peyton asked, the disbelief evident in her voice.

"I thought that Nathan and I would never be the same. That I would be giving up my dream for a dead relationship." Haley was silent with thought for a moment. "So we aren't married anymore... And I regret it every time I see him."

Peyton nodded slowly. "So you still have those feelings for him or.."

Haley laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I do. It's stupid, I know, but I can't seem to forget what we had... what we could have been."

Peyton got a far-off look in her eyes. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Haley looked at her surprised. "You and Jake?"

"How'd you know about me and Jake?" Peyton asked, trying to avoid the question.

"Oh- Lucas," Haley told her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So you still have feelings for him or what?"

"Who- Lucas?" Peyton asked, slightly panicy.

"No- Jake. Why would you still have feelings for Lucas?" Haley asked, confused.

"I- uh- I wouldn't. No, I don't still have feelings for Jake. They faded, he never came back. I moved on," she said simply.

"So then who can't you forget?"

Peyton opened her mouth and then shut it again. She faked a yawn. "I think it's time for bed now," she said as she rose from the couch.

Haley grabbed her wrist bringing her back down. "Okay- what happened between you and Lucas?"

"What did happen between me and Lucas?" she asked innocently.

"Don't pull that with me," Haley told her. "If you keep avoiding something, then it obviously has something to do with Lucas. Do you think I'm blind? I see the way you two look at each other."

Peyton sighed. "Things got complicated."

"How," Haley pushed, just like Peyton had about her and Nathan.

"Like we started up the 'Bestfriend Death Love Triangle' again."

"Hmm. Lucas seemed to leave that out of our phone calls. And let's guess that you still have feelings for him?"

"That obvious?" Peyton asked. "I used to be so good at hiding my feelings. What happened?"

"Someone broke that down. Opened you up for all of us to see," Haley told her. "Someone named Lucas."

Peyton groaned, running a hand through her curls.

"Let's go to bed," Haley said as she grabbed Peyton's hand. "I think we've both had enough for tonight."

They both said their goodnights, and Peyton entered her bedroom, shutting the door. Still having an alcohol buzz, Peyton wasn't tired. Flipping on the t.v., Peyton surfed through the channels until she stumbled across the show Dawson's Creek. A smile played across her face as she remembered the last time she had seen this show.

start flashback

Peyton was sitting on the floor in front of the television when she heard her door open and shut. She didn't even look to see who it was, because, first of all she knew who it was, and second of all, nothing was going to make her look away from the screen.

"Hey, Peyton what are you-"

Peyton sushed him quickly, motioning for him to sit down beside her.

Moments later, a commercial came on. She turned to Lucas. "Okay, you can speak now."

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Oh are you sure?"

"Yes. It's a commercial."

"And what are you watching that's so important?" Lucas asked her as he took his seat next to her on the floor.

"Brooke called me this morning. Told me there was a Dawson's Creek marathon on."

"So..?" Lucas asked her, obviously not aware of the greatness of that sentence.

"So! Dawson's Creek is only like the best show ever made!"

"I thought it ended years ago," Lucas asked her.

"It did. But it's still my favorite show," Peyton told him with a smile as Lucas rolled his eyes at her. "Brooke and I used to watch it every week together. We'd get popcorn and sit here for an hour every week. It was a ritual of some sort."

Lucas nodded. "So I'm guessing we're not going to the movies today?"

"Oh- that was today, wasn't it? I completely forgot, Lucas."

"Uh-ha. It's good to know this Dawson guy comes before me," he told her, faking a pout.

"I thought that was always known," Peyton shot back, earning herself a frown from Lucas. "Sorry, though. We can always go tomorrow," she offered.

Lucas looked like he was thinking for a second. "I guess that's exceptable."

"Good, 'cause I'm not moving. It's on until two in the morning."

Lucas groaned at that as the show came back on. "Silence," Peyton commanded.

Although she had expected Lucas to leave, he stayed with her on his spot on the floor.

Five hours later, empty bowls of popcorn sat on the floor next to the two. The credits came on before the start of the next one. "Okay", Lucas said quickly. "Time for a popcorn refill." He grabbed the bowls and ran into the kitchen.

"There's got to be something else other than popcorn," Peyton yelled to him.

"Well it's your house! Is there or not?" Lucas yelled back .

Peyton got off the floor to join him in the kitchen.

"Hurry, we can't miss the beginning of the next one," Lucas told her as he opened up cabinets.

Peyton crossed her arms and watched him with a smirk on her face. As he noticed her stance, he stopped moving. "What?" he asked. "You're wasting time!"

"I think you're more into this show than I am, Luke," she told him, her eyes lit up with laughter.

Lucas ed his head to one side and made a face at her. "Well it's a good show. And it's your fault- you're the one who made me watch it," he tried in defense.

Peyton smiled. "Sure, Lucas."

Lucas approached her and playfully shoved her on his way to the fridge. He passed back in front of her and Peyton stuck out her foot to trip him. It was a successful trip as Lucas was caught off guard and started to fall towards the ground. What wasn't so successful was that Lucas grabbed her arm as he fell. Peyton let out a shriek as they both tumbled towards the ground. Lucas landed on his back, pulling Peyton down on top of him with a thud.

Peyton's mouth was open with shock as she lifted her free hand to smack him. "You-"

Lucas grabbed her hand before she could smack him. Now he was holding both of her hands. Peyton stopped struggling when she noticed the position she was laying in on top of him. Her stomach was pressed against his own, one of her legs between the two of his. Their hands were now clasped even with Lucas' head on the floor. Her face was above, yet even with his. She couldn't help but look into his captivating blue eyes. Beneath her, she felt the rate of Lucas' breathing increase. But she couldn't look away from those eyes. Memories from the day in the motel room washed over the two as they lay one on top of the other. From the other room, she heard the Dawson's Creek theme song. Peyton blinked rapidly and looked away and in the direction of the living room.

"The show's back on," Peyton stated in a whisper.

Lucas cleared his throat. "Yeah." Lucas released her hands.

Coming back to herself, Peyton got off of him, fixing her clothes. Lucas did the same next to her. Peyton was determined not to look at him.

"I'll- uh- I'll find something to eat. You can go back to the show, I'll be right there," he told her as he started his search in the cupboards again.

"Okay," Peyton said as she headed back to her the living room. She sat on the couch this time. She let out a deep breath, trying to shake the feelings that had just tried to overwhelm her. She thought she was over Lucas. Apparently not, she thought to herself.

In the kitchen, Lucas had stopped his search and was leaning on one of the counters, his eyes closed, trying to calm himself. He re-entered the living room a few minutes later.

"I found some chips," he said as he put them on the table in front of the couch. He then sat himself down on the couch leaving an amount of space between them.

"What no dip?" Peyton asked him.

So they were going to pretend that nothing had happened. Nothing was weird between them, Lucas thought.

"Hey- you're the provider of the house."

"That's a scary thought," Peyton said. "The funny thing is, I never thought of it that way."

Lucas met her eyes. She looked sad. "Speaking of, where had your father been lately? I thought he was taking local jobs?"

"He is- but the 'local' one he took this time is for a month. I guess local doesn't mean short, does it?"

Lucas shook his head. "Sorry."

"Yeah, I'm used to it."

But Lucas could tell that she was still upset by it. He was watching her as the show came back from the commercial.

"Oh- this is one of my favorites."

Lucas diverted his attention back to t.v., away from Peyton. Happy that his eyes were off of her, Peyton opened the chip back and grabbed a few, offering the bag to Lucas. Smiling, Lucas took it from her and pulled out his own handful.

A few hours later, Peyton was lying on the couch, curled up so that Lucas still had room to sit next to her.

"Getting tired of this yet?" Peyton asked him curiously, blinking her own eyes tiredly.

Lucas stretched and winced as his back cracked. "Nah," Lucas said. "Little tired of you, though."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Peyton stretched her legs out so that they were on top of him. Seeing the opportunity, Lucas tickled one of her feet. Peyton's legs drew back quickly and she bit back the laugher. "Okay, fine," she said. "Use tickling as a weapon, cheater."

Lucas laughed. "You look tired," he noted. "I don't think you're going to make it to the end," he teased.

"Yes I will," Peyton told him drowsily, even though Lucas could see that her eyes were already closed.

Lucas smiled slightly. "Obviously," he said as he rose from the couch.

"Where are you going, I thought you were going to stay?" Peyton asked slowly, her eyes still closed.

"I am," Lucas told her, amused. "I'm just going to the bathroom."

"Mmm," was Peyton's response.

Shaking his head, Lucas made his trip to the bathroom. When he returned, Peyton was actually asleep. He simply watched her for a moment, making note of the peaceful look on her face. Lucas looked around the room and found a blanket on the armchair across the room. Getting it, he laid it down on her softly, making sure it covered all of her. Gently, Lucas sat himself down on his spot of the couch. Turning down the television so it didn't wake her, Lucas turned his attention to the show.

Hours later, almost near the end of the marathon, Lucas' own eyes were drooping from sleep. Already half asleep, Lucas laid himself down on the couch in back of Peyton. Good thing she was skinny, he thought has he wedged into the space that Peyton had left between herself and the back of the chair. Peyton moved slightly and mumbeled something in her sleep, but did not wake. Satisfied and comfortable, Lucas closed his tired eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Then next morning, Peyton's eyes fluttered open, and she was immediately blinded by the bright sun coming in through the windows. She screwed up her face against the light, wondering why, when never before was there sun in her face when she woke up in her bed. As her eyes focused, Peyton realized that she wasn't in her bed. In front of her, the television was still on. She was lying on her stomach on the couch still, with a blanket on her that she knew wasn't there before. Groaning, she stretched and started when she felt something move on her back. Looking around quickly, she saw Lucas waking up from her movements, his hand was on her back. Seeing her stare, he smiled tiredly and moved his hand quickly.

"Good morning," he said in greeting.

Peyton tried not to think of the fact that she had wanted to hear that out of his mouth so many times before, but in different circumstances obviously. " 'Morning," she replied with her own smile. "Looks like I didn't make it through the marathon after all, huh?"

Peyton got herself off the couch, trying to calm her mass of curls down.

On the couch still, Lucas sat himself up, shaking the slumber off. He was faking his own sleep when she had woken up. Even though he had put his hand on her back while he was sleeping, he hadn't moved it when he woke. The same feeling had come over him as every time he touched her lately. The same excited feeling in his stomach, the same aching desire to do more than touch her. And he knew he couldn't. It was getting to be too much, and Lucas knew that he had to learn some kind of self control soon, or he was going to ruin his renewed friendship with Peyton once again.

"Luke?" he heard Peyton's voice ask.

"Hmm?" Lucas said as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"I just asked you if you made it to the end?"

"No... I think I fell asleep during the one where Jen is dying and everybody comes back.."

Peyton nodded. "That was the last episode of the show."

Lucas' eyes widened. "I didn't get to see who Joey picked- Pacey or Dawson," he blurted.

Peyton raised her eyebrows and held back her laughter. "Who do you think she picked?"

"Well it's obvious that she picked Pacey."

Peyton stopped trying to put her hair into a ponytail and looked at him strangely. "Why's that obvious," she asked him.

"Because they were meant to be. She was his first love and she sacfriced her friendship with Dawson to be with him."

"After Dawson's persmission, of course," Peyton reminded him. "That way their friendship really wasn't ruined."

"True. But I think they would have been together anyways, in the end."

They both got the feeling that they weren't talking about the show anymore. Peyton connected what he was talking about to real life. Peyton was Joey, having to pick between hurting her friendship with Brooke, in this case Dawson, and the boy she loved, Pacey, possibly in this case Lucas. At least that had been the situation between the three of them. Was it again?

"Well, I guess that's how it works out on a television show," she replied.

Lucas nodded, looking oddly distracted. "It's not reality," he stated.

Peyton nodded herself. "I'm going to take a shower," she decided and she disappeared up the stairs before either one of them said another word.

end flashback

Peyton woke the next morning with a major headache. Groaning, Peyton got grudgingly out of her bed and stumbled into the bathroom where she found the Advil for her headache. She looked in the mirror and almost laughed at her reflection. Not a good look for her, she decided. Not even bothering to fix it, Peyton made her way slowly into the living room and stopped short.

"What are you doing here?" Peyton asked the figure on her couch.

"Came to ask you something," Lucas replied. "Nice hair by the way," he added with a smirk.

"How did you even get it here?" Peyton asked, ignoring his last remark.

"Grumpy too," he added. "Haley let me in."

As though taking that as her cue, Haley walked back into the room not only fully dressed, but fully awake. Seeing the look being directed towards her from Peyton, Haley made an attempt to smile at her. Peyton rolled her eyes and Haley shrugged her shoulders innocently.

Peyton let out a sigh. "Okay.. what do you want to ask me," she asked Lucas as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Well I was wondering if you'd let me take you out to breakfast this morning," he asked her, a hopeful expression on his face.

"Breakfast?" Peyton asked. The last time the two of them had been left alone together they had gotten into an argument.

Sensing the tension rising, Haley excused herself quickly from the room. Lucas waited until she was gone to speak again. "It's just breakfast," Lucas replied calmly. "We can't argue in a public place. I just want to... lessen the tension we've got going on. Just have a normal meal like we used to."

Peyton thought it over in her head, sadly enough finding nothing wrong with what he was asking. Lucas watched as the hard expression on her face faded, and she let a slight smile through. "Okay. Breakfast."

An hour later, Peyton and Lucas were seated in Lucas' car on their way to a resturant of his choosing. Trying not to regret this decision, Peyton continued her thoughts from the night before, which just happened to involve a breakfast themselves...

Please review!