Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters!
"Lauren, I'm heading over to Jake's, do you want to come?" Peyton asked through Lauren's door. Peyton heard her mumble something unintelligible and assumed that was a 'no'. She gathered up her things and was about to leave when the phone rang. She stood there a moment, hoping Lauren would grab it. By the fourth ring she knew that she had to get it.
"Hello?" She answered quickly.
"Good morning." Lucas responded. Peyton could hear the smile in his voice.
"Now it is." She said lightly.
"I was just calling to make sure that last night wasn't a dream. I would love to take you and Lauren out for dinner tonight?" He asked hopefully.
"That sounds great, but I think Lauren has plans." Peyton told him.
"No problem, I guess it's a date then. I'll pick you up at 7. Bye" Lucas said replied.
Peyton chuckled as she hung up the phone. Now all she had to do was find the strength to break Jake's heart. With a heavy sigh she gathered her things back up and trudged out to her car.
She decided on the ride over to spend the day with Jake first, before she broke the news to him. It was selfish, she knew, but she wanted to have one last day with him.
Pulling up in front of his house, she saw that he had everything out and ready for them. She smiled to herself when she saw him walk out in some ratty shorts and a sweatshirt. Even in rags he still attracted her.
"Hey." He called as she jumped out of the car.
"Hey yourself." She replied with a smile. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. The kiss was getting very deep when they were interrupted.
"Ugh, parental p.d.a is so not cool first thing in the morning." Jenny said holding up a hand to block the sunlight from her eyes as she stepped outside.
"Is Lauren up yet?" She asked Peyton.
"She wasn't when I left, but you're more than welcome to go get her up."Peyton replied with a smile.
"Dad, can I borrow your car?" Jenny asked sweetly, batting her eyes at him. Jake laughed and dug the keys out of his pocket.
"Be back later!" Jenny called over her shoulder as she skipped off.
"Now, where were we?" Peyton asked, leaning in to Jake.
"Not doing what we were. Not if we want to get our work done that is." Jake teased.
"Oh fine, spoilsport." Peyton pouted playfully. Jake grabbed a towel off of the chair and flipped her with it. Peyton put her hands on her hips in mock horror. Finally they both laughed.
"Let's get greasy." Peyton said excitedly. Two hours later they were both covered in grease, but Jenny had a functioning car again.
"You do good work, Sawyer. Ever thought about becoming a mechanic?" Jake asked as they headed in the house to clean up.
"Yep right before I decided to be a rap star." Peyton quipped. Jake shook his head with a smile. They quickly washed up and changed their clothes. Jake began rummaging through the fridge for something to make for lunch.
"Hey, didn't you want to talk to me about something?" He asked her from the kitchen. Peyton let out a long breath.
"Yeah, I did actually. Everything has just been kinda crazy lately. With Lucas and Lauren and us. I was thinking that I could use some space. Just some time to collect my thoughts and get everything dealt with before I got lost in wedding plans, you know?" Peyton said nonchalantly. She felt horrible for lying to Jake, but she really wasn't sure what she was going to do. Some space sounded just perfect.
Jake came around the corner from the kitchen with a confused expression on his face.
"So are you saying you want us to take a break?" Jake asked for clarification.
"Yeah. Um, just for a little while. It's just too much right now. Trying to plan a wedding and dealing with Lucas about Lauren. I just need to focus on Lauren right now. In fact, I've barely spoken to her since she found out about Lucas." Peyton admitted.
"Alright. I won't lie, I'm not happy about it. Just tell me that this doesn't have anything to do with Lucas, other than him being Lauren's father. Tell me that and I'll feel a whole lot better." Jake requested. Why did he have to ask for the one thing that Peyton couldn't tell him?
"Of course it doesn't. Lucas and I are in the past." Peyton lied weakly. Jake gave her a long look before nodding.
"Alright. So, do you want lunch or do you want to head home and see if Lauren's there?"Jake asked quietly.
"I'm gonna go. I really need to talk to her." Peyton said quickly. She really just wanted to get out of the house. Suddenly it felt too small, like it was closing in on her.
"So I guess I'll see you this weekend." Jake said holding the door open for her. She shook her head in confusion.
"The Classic is this weekend. Didn't Lauren ask you to chaperone? Jenny said she was going to." Jake asked.
"Like I said, I haven't really talked to her." Peyton said. Jake nodded and waved good bye to her as she tried to force herself to walk and not run from the house. She had forgotten all about the Classic. This was going to be just great. 2 days with Jake would have been great, a week ago. Now that things were awkward, she wasn't looking forward to it.
She drove home quickly, hoping that Lauren was still there. She saw Jake's car in the driveway when she pulled up.
"Hey mom." Lauren greeted her as she walked in. She and Jenny were sprawled on the couch watching a movie.
"Hey girls. Jake told me that you needed me to chaperone the Classic this weekend. Do you still need me, because I really need to get my piece done before Monday." Peyton asked. She really did need to get her article done, but it was nearly finished already and would be done long before next weekend.
"Yeah I do actually. I think we're still a couple parents short. There were a couple other girls who were going to ask their parents though." Lauren said.
"So I guess we're both going to Charlotte?" Peyton sighed. Lauren nodded sympathetically.
"I know. It's horrible, having to hang out with your fiancée and your kids for two whole days." Lauren commiserated sarcastically. Jenny laughed along with Lauren.
"Well, now actually, its just the kids. They're nightmares, didn't you know? So bratty." Peyton teased. Jenny and Lauren glanced at each other before launching pillows at Peyton. Peyton threw them right back. Soon they were all laughing too hard to aim the pillows anymore.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I'm going to dinner with Lucas tonight. He wants to talk about you and some kind of custody arrangement." Peyton said offhandedly. It was actually getting easier to lie.
"What?" Lauren screeched.
"No way, I don't even know him." She continued.
"I know sweetie. I'm sure Lucas won't have any problem waiting until you feel comfortable." Peyton said soothingly.
"I just wanted to let you know. Don't you have plans with your boyfriend tonight?" Peyton asked. She vaguely remembered Lauren telling her that some boy had asked her out, but she couldn't remember his name.
"Tyler? Yeah we're supposed to go to the movies." Lauren told her.
"What are you wearing?" Jenny interrupted urgently. Lauren shrugged.
"We've got to hurry. We only have 8 hours!" Jenny exclaimed, dragging Lauren to her room. Peyton smiled. They reminded her of how she and Brooke were at their age. The smile quickly left her face. She felt guilty thinking about Brooke when she had a date with her husband that night.