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Peyton's eyes were glued to the clock. It currently read 6:42 pm. She had been watching the numbers tick down for the last hour.
"Peyton?" Brooke called, barging into Peyton's office.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Brooke apologized, seeing the way that Peyton had jumped when Brooke had called out.
"It's okay, I was just thinking." Peyton replied, trying to breathe deeply and calm her racing heart.
"So, I was thinking, why don't we do something tonight? Instead of moping around at home, we could go out and have some fun." Brooke said pointedly.
"Uh, that would be great, but I have plans already." Peyton admitted slowly. She dreaded telling Brooke exactly what those plans were.
"Okay, Peyton, you can't spend another night locked in your office. Those are plans that can be broken." Brooke stated. Peyton could see that Brooke wasn't going to take "no" for an answer tonight.
"I'm not staying here. Uh, actually, Lucas asked me to go to dinner with him." Peyton mumbled softly. Brooke's eyes flashed over Peyton, seemingly unable to determine if Peyton were joking or not.
"You're kidding right?" Brooke asked, staring daggers into Peyton. Peyton shook her head slightly.
"What are you thinking Peyton?" Brooke exploded.
"Peyton, I love you, you know that, but you have got to let Lucas go. He has a relationship with Lindsey!" Brooke continued softly.
"I know all this. He's the one who asked me to dinner." Peyton replied defensively. Brooke arched an eyebrow, taking in Peyton's words.
"He asked you? Does Lindsey even know?" Brooke asked, narrowing her eyes. Peyton turned, leveling her gaze at Brooke.
"I don't know, why don't you ask him." She replied, matter-of-factly, nodding her head at Lucas, who had slipped in quietly behind Brooke.
"Ask him what?" Lucas questioned, swinging his gaze from Peyton to Brooke.
Brooke gave Peyton one last dirty look, before she turned and gave Lucas her patented 100-watt smile.
"Nothing important. Have a nice night and be good." She called over her shoulder, strongly emphasizing the last two words."
"Anything that I should know about?" Lucas asked Peyton, motioning in the direction that Brooke had exited. Peyton shook her head as she quickly gathered her things together.
"Nope, just Brooke being…" She trailed off, at a loss for a good way to describe her best friend.
"Brooke." They stated together. They laughed for a few moments before an awkward silence settled over them. Lucas cleared his throat and Peyton fiddled with her purse straps, as she searched for something to say that didn't involve her growing need for him to be back in her life.
"Alright, well, let's go." Lucas said, finding his voice. Peyton nodded and followed him out of Tric. The ride through town was done in silence. Peyton passed the time by forcing herself to stare out the window, instead of across the car. They had arrived at the restaurant, been seated and had ordered their food before either of them spoke.
"So, I wanted to talk to you, about us. Well about us and Lindsey, I mean about Lindsey and I, and you." Lucas began, stumbling over his words.
"We've been friends for a really long time. I just don't want to lose that." Lucas finished, staring across the table at Peyton.
"I don't want to lose our friendship either, Lucas. Hell, I didn't want to lose our relationship, but that didn't stop you, did it." Peyton replied, her tone growing hateful. She sighed and dropped her head into her hands, fighting the emotions that were threatening to pour out. When she raised her head, she saw that Lucas had turned away from her.
"Lucas, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up." She admitted. Lucas nodded, but didn't turn back to her.
"You're right; you shouldn't have brought that up. Don't you think that I've beat myself up enough over that? Don't you know how much it hurt me to hear that you didn't want to marry me?" He replied, through gritted teeth. Peyton felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she heard the raw emotion in his voice.
"I wanted to marry you Luke! For goodness sake, we were just kids! For once in my life, I didn't want to rush into something, because I actually cared about the consequences. That day was the happiest day of my life." She finished softly. Lucas turned to her, the tears visible in his eyes. Peyton covered her mouth, in order to stifle the sob that was fighting to escape.
"Mine too." Lucas nodded. He stood, and ran his hand down her arm and squeezed her hand, before walking out of the restaurant.