Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters!
Peyton shut the door to Charity's room and leaned against the wall. She knew that Brooke would swoop in, in normal Brooke fashion, and take over. She hadn't counted on her bringing Jake along, though. Peyton hadn't spoken to Jake in months. The pain she felt when she heard his name was sharper than she had imagined it would be.
"Peyton, are you okay?" Lucas asked, rushing over to her. His sudden presence surprised her, she hadn't even seen him coming down the hallway.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling a little light-headed. I think I'm going to go and get some air." Peyton lied, pushing herself away from the wall and away from Lucas.
"Oh, Brooke's here." She added, before she turned and walked away. She didn't want to hang around and be forced to watch Brooke and Lucas together.
What she really wanted was for life to be just a little less complicated. She still hadn't sorted things out with Rich yet, and here she was, getting nostalgic for another past relationship. She wished that she and Lucas could take their children and go away, somewhere where ex's and former best friends didn't exist. Peyton sighed, knowing there was no where on Earth that they could go, when what haunted her the most were her memories.
The ringing of her cell phone startled Peyton. She let out a low groan as she read the name on the caller ID. It was Rich. She wanted to leave things in a better place between them, but she didn't want to do it right now. Right now, she wanted to get out of this building without running into Jake Jagelski. She quickly turned the phone off and shoved it down to the bottom of her purse. She glanced around the corner, making sure the coast was clear before she tried to make a break for it.
"Peyton? I didn't know if you would be here or not." Jake called, coming out of the waiting room at the worst possible time. Peyton froze in mid-stride and tried to figure out how to proceed.
"Hey, Jake." She replied, sure he would recognize the fakeness in her bright tone. The silence grew awkward, as neither of them felt comfortable taking the conversation past pleasantries.
"So, I haven't talked to you in awhile. How is everything going?" Jake asked, staring beyond her shoulder.
"Um, yeah, sorry about that. I've been pretty busy. Things are good though. I have some of my art displayed in a gallery here." She rattled on, nervously. She tried to discreetly wipe her sweaty hands on her pants, but she was sure Jake noticed.
"Wow, congratulations. I always knew that someone would discover your art someday." Jake nodded with a smile.
"Thanks." Peyton replied with a shrug. She was dying to ask about Jenny, and to ask if Jake could ever really forgive her, but it seemed like too much and she didn't want to scare him.
"Well, I guess I'll talk to you later." Peyton finally said and reluctantly turned and continued walking out of the building. She realized, as she sank down on the bench beside the door, that she was actually shaking. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Peyton couldn't understand why talking to Jake had that affect on her. Their relationship had ended a long time ago. She didn't feel that he should still have that much power over her. Seeing Jake made her remember all the things that she had once loved about him. It made her wonder why she had ever ended their relationship in the first place. Peyton felt like she had come so far in the past year. She had gone from being a scared shell of her former self, to a happy, content person. These feelings she had now were threatening to destroy the new life that she had built.