Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters!
Peyton's stomach was in knots. She had changed clothes four times before settling on a simple black dress. Now she had been pacing and watching the clock for the past fifteen minutes. Finally the doorbell rang.
"Do you want me to get it mom?" Lauren called from the kitchen. Peyton had been hiding out in her room to avoid Lauren's questions. She was sure her daughter would wonder why she had gotten more dressed up for diner with Lucas than she did for a date with Jake.
"No, I'm coming." Peyton called, quickly taking a deep breathe and one last look in the mirror before hurrying to the door. She noticed Lauren's jaw drop out of the corner of her eye as she pulled open the door. Peyton giggled when she saw that Lucas's expression mirrored Lauren's.
"Wow, you look amazing." Lucas finally said.
"Thanks. You look pretty good yourself." She replied. She grabbed her jacket and waved good bye to Lauren and followed Lucas down the steps to his car.
"So where are we going?" Peyton asked as they took off.
"Well, first I thought we should go out, but then I realized that had the potential for awkwardness, should we run into anyone. So then I thought we could go back to my house and I would whip up my world-class pasta and we could watch a movie. Is that alright?" Lucas asked, glancing at her in the dark.
"Sound just perfect." Peyton said with a smile. Truth be told, she had been worried about running into Jake.
"Let's just hope this time we don't have any surprise visitors." Peyton joked wryly. Lucas chuckled as he pulled the car into his driveway. He hurried around to Peyton's door to open it for her.
"Huh, you're mom must have raised you right." Peyton teased as she got out of the car.
"That she did, but Keith said to only open doors for the pretty girls." He replied, winking at her. Peyton shook her head with a smile.
Soon they were laughing and sipping some wine while Lucas cooked dinner.
"So what do you do for a living?" Peyton asked.
"I write. I've had a couple short stories published, but right now I'm working on my first novel. What about you?" He asked curiously. Peyton wasn't at all surprised to hear that he was published. He had been writing since she had known him.
"I profile up and coming artists for a small magazine out of Charleston. I review new shows and galleries as well." She told him proudly. She really loved her work.
"Do you still draw?" He inquired as he added some spices to his pasta sauce. Peyton took a large drink of her wine before answering. If she had to name a regret in life besides leaving Lucas, this would be it.
"No. I haven't drawn anything since Lauren was born. At first I didn't have time, then when I did, I just couldn't. Nothing felt right about my drawings anymore. I guess I realized that I would never draw something that meant anything to anyone other than myself, so I stopped trying." She explained quietly. She was thankfully when he only glanced at her and didn't press her. She had already told him more about it than she had discussed with anyone else.
"Dinner will be done in a few minutes. Why don't you go in the living room and pick out a movie. We can eat and relax at the same time." He said, showing her to the living room.
"Anything?" Peyton asked with a grin. It sounded like payback time for all the gory horror films he had made her watch.
"I'm going to regret this I'm sure, but yeah, anything." He answered with a knowing smile. Peyton clapped her hands with a sly smile.
Turning to survey the movie selection, she caught a glimpse of a photo in a frame on the bookcase. She walked over and picked it up. It appeared to be a recent photo of the Scott family. Peyton traced Lucas's face with her finger. Then she glanced at Brooke's smiling face, but quickly turned her eyes to their daughter, Charity. Peyton had never met her, but judging by the photo she'd have known who Charity was at first glance. She was nearly a carbon copy of Brooke Davis at 16. Dimples included, Peyton noted dryly. Finally Peyton sat the picture down and grabbed a cheesy romantic comedy.
"Dinner is served, Milady." Lucas said in a very bad British accent. Peyton giggled and hurried to help him as he struggled with their plates and their wine glasses.
"So what torture, I mean movie, did you pick out for us?" He teased after they had gotten everything sat down.
"Oh, you'll love it!" Peyton said brightly, slipping the DVD in.
"Oh, I'm sure." Lucas deadpanned. As the movie started and they began to eat, Peyton realized she hadn't thought about Jake, or felt guilty, at all this evening. Well, that was, until now. Peyton bit her lip as Lucas leaned over to kiss her softly. Peyton returned the kiss and ran her hands through his hair. It seemed like they couldn't get their clothes off fast enough.
"Are you sure?" Lucas whispered as he kissed her neck. She moaned with pleasure and he took that as a yes.
"That was a good movie." Lucas remarked playfully as he realized the had missed the whole movie. Peyton smiled and curled up closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and they drifted off to sleep.