So, its been 2 years, sorry about that. Life really got in the way of writing and pretty much everything else. My hope is to try to update at least once a month, I figured that should be obtainable even with new life changes to come.

Thanks again for reading Enjoy!

Chapter 4

When Peyton made it to the front porch of the house, she sat on the steps needing a moment to get herself together before she went home. She decided that she would just text Brooke later to tell her she left the party early and that she would see her when she came back to her house.

As she was setting on the stairs thinking about how she was going to get home because Brooke drove, Peyton heard someone come out of the house.

"Please just leave me alone Nathan, I really don't want to talk to you right now," Peyton said thinking that Nathan came to try to convince her that they should get back together.

"Glad I'm not Nathan. Are you alright?"

Peyton turned around shocked that it was Lucas who came to see if she was okay.

"Lucas why'd you come out here? Your supposed to be on the deck with Brooke."

"I kind of heard the whole thing that just happened in there with you and Nathan. I wanted to make sure that you were okay after that fight with my jerk of a brother."

Peyton sat there staring into the night sky. She figured that people heard the argument, but she was hoping that only the people in the room heard them.

Peyton let out a heavy sigh. "I honestly don't know if I'm okay. Not only because of what just happened with Nathan. I just want to be happy, my version of happy, not what everyone else thinks happy is supposed to mean for me. Do you get what I mean? Why would you, I probably sound like an idiot that doesn't want to accept the good things in her life."

Peyton was rambling just trying to process what she was really feeling. She didn't even know why she was telling Lucas this, it wasn't like they were really friends. They only ever spent time together with Brooke.

"I actually do understand what you mean. You just want to do what you love and not have to worry about other people thinking that something is wrong with you because you're not always sunshine and rainbows."

"Sunshine and rainbows?"

"Yup, shiny and shooting colors all over the place."

Both Peyton and Lucas laughed at that. Their laughter settled and they both sat on the stairs in silence.

"You know its okay, to not want to live by what other people expect of you." Lucas said thinking about his own life.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just that sometimes people's expectations of you are not based on the real you but what or who those people think you are."

Peyton was confused about why Lucas even thought this, let alone why he thought that it would apply to her.

"You're going to have to explain that more, or specifically where this thought came from."

"Okay, maybe I'll give you an example from my life. For a longtime everyone expected me to be this great basketball player because Dan is my father. I'm not saying that I'm not a great player, but I tried to avoid playing because I hated being compared to him. I honestly didn't even want to play basketball in high school because I knew it would happen."

"So then why did you join the team?"

"Keith convinced me that I should do it, not because it was expected of me but because I love the sport. Plus, I like telling people that I get my athleticism from my dad, everyone always assumes I'm talking about Dan, and I love seeing their faces when I say no not him, Keith."

"Wow, so you just decided to embrace the expectations by throwing it back in peoples faces. That's so amazing." Peyton was being sarcastic, Lucas clearly didn't understand what she was going through.

Picking up on her tone, Lucas continued. "What I'm trying to say is everyone, your friends, want you to be happy because we all know what you went through when your mom died. But unless you tell us, we don't know what makes you happy. That's why people are pushing what they think is happy onto you. You always just go along with it even if its not what you want."

"So, your saying I should learn to tell people what I want and what makes me happy. And if it doesn't make me happy just say no?"

"Basically."

"And you couldn't have said that 10 minutes ago before you gave this long sob story about your hatred for your father." Peyton was slightly annoyed that she listened to Lucas' story when he could have just gotten to the point.

Just then the door opened again to reveal Brooke. Lucas began talking again, "Well, I thought that the story added more meaning to what I was trying to tell you."

"It didn't but thanks for trying to help, although I'm not sure you helped at all." Peyton said while getting up to talk to Brooke.

"Sorry, I walked out. I just needed to clear my head, but I promise I was going to text you as soon as I figured out how I was going to get home."

"P. Sawyer, you know I would take you home. All you had to do was tell me."

"I didn't want to stop you from enjoying the party. I figured I would just go, and you could come back to my house after the party."

Brooke looked sad for moment, then she really looked at Peyton and realized that Peyton didn't seem to be happy.

"Are you okay, like besides everything that happened with Nathan? Were you enjoying the party?"

Lucas gave Peyton a look over Brooke's shoulder. He mouthed "Just tell her."

Deciding that maybe she can try this thing out with her best friend and see what happens.

"I don't know, before arguing with Nathan I didn't really want to be here. I just wanted to stay home and listen to music while I draw this weekend, but you wanted to come, and I didn't want to ditch all of the plans you made."

"P. Sawyer. You could have just told me. I was only doing all of this because I thought that it would cheer you up. Lately you've seemed so sad and isolated. And I don't want you to see you that way. But if all you want to do is stay home, draw and listen to music, don't let me stop you."

Brooke finished saying of this with a slight frown, she didn't realize that she was forcing her best friend to do anything.

"I didn't –"

"As long as you let me be there sometimes." Brooke said.

"You want to sit in my room and watch me draw?"

"No, but I wouldn't mind just hanging out in your room with you. I can read magazines, try to actually do homework, or anything else while you're in your element drawing."

"B. Davis! You would do all of that just to hang out with me?"

"Of course, you're my best friend. And physically spending time with you is more important than how we spend time together. So, what do you say?"

"Definitely."

Peyton looked up and saw that Lucas was smiling at her from behind Brooke. He was glad to see that Peyton was finally able to express what she was really feeling to her best friend and that Brooke understood what Peyton was saying.

After a short pause the girls hugged and then began to talk about whether they should go back to the party or leave.

"I think you girls should leave, this party kinda sucks. Plus, Nathan is still here, and I doubt your going to want to talk to him again Peyton." Lucas said hoping they would leave so he could go have a serious conversation with his idiot brother.

"He's not wrong, I really don't want to be around Nathan anymore than I have to right now." Peyton says looking at Brooke hoping that's enough of a reason to leave the party immediately.

Brooke takes a moment to think. "Okay give me 5 minutes to tell the girls we're leaving. Since its still pretty early maybe we can grab snacks, and some magazines on our way to your place. Get ready for a night of music, drawing, and me complaining about the terrible fashion choices of celebrities."

Peyton laughs, "Alright Brooke, I be waiting right here for you."

Brooke pauses and decides to give Peyton a big hug before running back into the house.

Lucas still standing on the Porch looks on at the entire interaction smiling, happy that his girlfriend and her best friend found a way for them to both be content…away from the party…where he might strangle his brother.

When Brooke comes back out, she hugs and kisses Lucas. As she and Peyton leave Brooke shouts, "I'll see you on Monday Scott, don't you dear forget about me."

Lucas laughs and yells back, "Its only one day, I'm pretty sure I couldn't forget about you in such a short time even if I tried. See you both later."

Once the girls get in the car and drive off, Lucas walks back into the house ready for a fight.

"NATHAN!"

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