Over My Head (My Heart Vs. My Soul)
Summary: A rewrite of One Tree Hill where Lucas chose Peyton in 1X09 with a slow building romance for Brucas. Brooke and Lucas have the same heart but he and Peyton have the same soul. Which matters more?
Disclaimer: I don't own one tree hill.
Lucas walked into Peyton's bedroom to find her on her webcam with her father.
"Hey, rake boy." Larry greeted. "I see you still haven't learned to use the doorbell,"
"Hey, Larry. How are you?" he asked.
Larry took a sip from his mug.
"I'm fine. What are you doing up so early?" he inquired.
Lucas shrugged.
"I don't know. Peyton just-" he started and Peyton jumped up before he could finish.
"No, you know what? You'll find out when you get home." she told Larry.
"Not even a little hint?" he questioned.
"Not even. I love you," Peyton said with a smile.
"You better. I love you, too, honey." He replied before signing off.
"So, what's up?" Lucas asked, once he was gone.
Peyton sent him a flirty look.
"Who said anything was up? Maybe I just wanted to spend some time with my boyfriend…without my dad watching," she stated, and stood up.
Lucas gave her a half smile.
"Morning Peyt," he said and gave her a peck on the lips.
Peyton surprised him by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep make out session. Neither of them noticed Brooke come into the room.
"Oh my god!" she cried, covering her eyes and the Lucas pulled away from Peyton quickly.
"Right, I invited Brooke," Peyton muttered, straightening out her clothes.
"I can come back," Brooke offered, still covering her eyes.
Lucas looked uncomfortable and wouldn't make eye contact at either of them.
"No, that's okay," Peyton said. "I called you for a reason,"
She walked out of the room leaving Brooke and Lucas alone.
"Morning Brooke," Lucas said, blushing and rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"
"Peyton called and asked me to come over." Brooke paused and shot Lucas a suspicious look. "This wasn't some secret ploy to invite me for a threesome, is it? Because-"
Lucas interrupted her.
"I don't know why she called you. She didn't tell me what she wanted either. But if she was surprising with a threesome I wouldn't be opposed." Lucas joked with a shrug.
Brooke kicked him.
"Shut up! Me and Peyton getting into some hot girl on girl action? You wouldn't know what to do with us." Brooke giggled.
Lucas sighed.
"You're probably right," he admitted.
"Anyway, I'm sorry I interrupted you and Peyton's morning fuc-" Lucas covered her mouth with his hand.
"Please stop talking." He begged.
Brooke nodded and made a zipping motion across her mouth.
"My lips are sealed," she promised, as they followed Peyton.
"So, what the surprise?" Brooke asked.
"I need your help with something," she said and pulled the sheet off the red car.
Lucas let out a slow whistle as he looked at it.
"Damn, that's nice," he complimented. "This your dad's?"
Peyton nodded, a wide grin on her face.
"Yeah, he hasn't driven it in a year, though. Do you think you can get it to run?" Peyton requested.
"Of course he can. But are you sure you want me here with you guys. I mean, he'll probably look hot in a tight little wife beater, maybe some grease smudges. You won't be able to keep his hands off of him and I don't want a repeat of this morning," Brooke joked.
"Well, I was thinking maybe you could help me wash and wax it. But if you don't want to…" Peyton trailed off, pressing her cheek against Brooke's and pulling her into a half-hug.
Brooke smiled and nodded.
"I'm glad to help."
Peyton walked over to where Lucas was checking out the car.
"I just want to do something nice for him, since he's coming home." Peyton explained and Lucas gave her a smirk.
"All right. I'll go get my tools." Lucas said, before walking off.
Brooke turned to Peyton.
"Okay, spill!" she demanded and Peyton look confused.
"What?" she asked.
"Why'd you call me over if you knew you and Lucas wanted to get all hot and heavy?" Brooke asked, with her hands on her hips.
That was not something she wanted to see.
Peyton shrugged.
"I kind of forgot I called you," she confessed, embarrassed.
"Yeah, well, next time you want to do the nasty with Lucas, warn me first, okay?" Brooke pleaded. "I'll make sure I take my time coming,"
Peyton laughed.
"Me and Lucas haven't done anything yet," Peyton said, and Brooke's eyes lit up before she could stop it.
"Seriously?" she asked.
Peyton nodded.
"We're taking it slow. We'll we were…" Peyton smiled. "I think I might be ready to take the next step,"
Brooke felt like someone punched her in the gut.
"Yeah?" her voice came out weird and high-pitched
Peyton looked at her and Brooke forced herself to look normal.
"That's great! You know you shouldn't wait too long. Your lady business might start developing cobwebs and Lucas might have to bring a dust buster!" Brooke started babbling, unable to contain herself.
Peyton cringed.
"Eww, can we not talk about my lady business on my front lawn?" Peyton pleaded.
Brooke nodded, trying to smile but it didn't reach her eyes.
"This is good. I have a loving boyfriend, my dad's coming home, this is turning out to be a really good day," Peyton said, linking her arm with Brooke.
Brooke bit her lip and kept quiet.
…..
Lucas was in the car trying to figure out what was wrong with it, while Brooke leaned in the window.
"It's not the battery. It's probably the starter." He sighed.
Brooke looked worried.
"Well, you can fix that, right?" she asked and Lucas chuckled.
He turned to look at her.
"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem." He stated and Brooke got in the car.
"It's an amazing car." Lucas said and Brooke smiled.
"Yeah, Peyton's dad used to drive us to school in this thing," Brooke told him.
Lucas raised an eyebrow, wondering why she rode with Peyton's dad. Didn't her parents drop her off?
"So, how can I help?" Brooke asked, and Lucas shook his head.
"You don't have to do anything. I got this," he assured her and Brooke smiled.
"That's good, because I don't know anything about cars," Brooke admitted and Lucas pushed her shoulder.
"Then why offer?" he asked, and Brooke tugged on his necklace.
"It's common curtesy. If I didn't offer, that would be rude," she huffed.
"What would you have done if I took you up on your offer?" he asked and Brooke shrugged.
"Naturally, I would have pretended I knew what I was doing and you would have had to fix it later." She stated, casually.
Lucas laughed and tickled her side.
"Naturally, of course," he said, and Brooke giggled, trying to slap his hands away.
They were both laughing when Peyton came out of the house with a weird look on her face. Lucas moved away from Brooke, guiltily.
"I was just getting started," he blurted, getting out of the car.
Brooke followed his lead.
"What's wrong?" she asked, Peyton.
Peyton shook her head.
"I'm just worried about my dad." She said, looking between the two of them.
She led them back to her room.
"Alright, I just checked online and now they're saying it's a category three hurricane." Peyton announced.
"You already checked the webcam, right?" Lucas questioned.
"Yeah, it's out." Peyton stated.
"Well, maybe he turned it off," Brooke suggested.
"Or the storm did it for him." Peyton grumbled and Lucas wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Hey, storms knock that kind of thing out all the time, right? Anyway aren't fishing boats huge?" Lucas asked, trying to give her some comfort.
"He wouldn't be on the dredging boat." Peyton said, pushing him away. "If there's a storm headed this way, he'd be on this little, tiny transport headed back to shore and that's what worries me."
"Okay, Peyton, just stop. Don't do this to yourself, all right?" Lucas begged. "Just because he hasn't checked in doesn't mean something happened to him."
Peyton gave him a glare.
"It doesn't mean it hasn't either." She snapped.
Brooke and Lucas stared at her unable to think of what to say. They decided to leave her alone until she snapped out of her mood.
…..
Brooke was behind the wheel of the car trying to get it to start and Lucas was looking under the hood.
"All right, try it again." He ordered and Brooke turned the key.
It turned on and they both cheered.
"We got power!" Brooke shouted, gleefully and Lucas laughed.
"Peyton, come check it out." He called and they noticed she was crying.
Brooke was out of the car instantly.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I just got a phone call. It's the storm. My dad's transport is missing." She explained, her voice hoarse from crying.
Lucas's eyes widened.
"There were three guys on it. They recovered a body." She explained.
"What did they tell you?" he asked and Peyton glanced at him.
"I have to go see if it's him." She explained.
Brooke looked alarmed and Lucas pulled Peyton into his arms as she started sobbing.
…
"You sure you shouldn't call your grandmother?" Lucas asked as he followed Peyton down the stairs with Brooke close behind.
"No, she'd freak out. I'd rather not upset her. Besides, it's not going to be my dad." Peyton said with a fake smile.
"Of course it's not." Brooke agreed.
"Let's go ahead and get this over with. We have a four-hour drive ahead of us," Peyton stated.
"A four hour drive into a storm?" Brooke asked, disbelievingly.
Peyton glanced at Lucas before looking back to Brooke.
"The storms passing through. By the time we get there, it should be gone." Peyton reassured her.
Brooke nodded but her expression didn't change.
"Okay, wait a second. Shouldn't somebody stay here by the phone in case your dad call?" he asked, seeing that Brooke looked nervous.
"I will." Brooke said, jumping on the offer. "You go with Peyton."
"You sure?" Peyton asked and Brooke nodded.
"Lucas is good in a crisis, not that there's going to be one. But I would end up falling apart, and you'd end up taking care of me which is not the point…" Brooke shook her head to get back on track. "Besides, Lucas is your boyfriend and he's the one you want there with you when you get bad news,"
Peyton made a face.
"Or good news. It will definitely be good news," Brooke added in a rush.
She hugged Peyton.
"I love you. It's going to be okay," she promised then turned to Lucas.
"Take care of her for me." She pleaded and Lucas nodded.
"I will," he swore and hugged her.
Lucas and Peyton headed out the door.
"I'll call you guys if I hear anything!" Brooke yelled at the backs.
…..
Lucas was driving Peyton's car when he noticed Peyton shivering.
"You warm enough?" he asked.
"I'm okay," Peyton assured him. "I should probably get the heater fixed in here,'
They smiled at each other.
"I could have Keith take a look at it for you. He's really good at that kind of stuff." Lucas offered.
Peyton nodded and went back to looking out the window. Lucas watched her, wishing he could do something.
"You want me to stop and get some coffee?" he inquired and Peyton shook her head.
"I'm fine, thanks," she mumbled, before glancing at Lucas out of the corner of her eye.
"Thanks for doing this for me, Luke." She said.
Lucas smiled.
"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't help my girlfriend when she needed me?" he asked, before turning back to look at the road.
Peyton nodded, but her eyes were sad as she watched him.
They reached a roadblock.
"Now what?' Peyton complained, as they got out of the car.
The road crew members headed over to them.
"What's going on?" Lucas asked.
"The bridge is up because of the storm," the construction worker explained. "It'll be open in the morning."
The guy turned to leave.
"Hey! We have an emergency. We have to get across the bridge." Peyton yelled.
The guy shook his head.
"I'm sorry, miss, but it's not safe," he apologized.
Peyton scoffed and looked at Lucas.
"Okay, is there another way though?" Lucas asked.
"Only the ferries. But the channel's too rough, so they're not running." The guy informed them.
"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Peyton questioned.
The guy shrugged.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to lower the bridge in the morning. 6:00 a.m." the guy pointed somewhere behind them. "There's a motel right down the road. Might want to grab yourself a room before they're all gone."
Lucas and Peyton looked at each other before getting back in the car.
It was going to be a long night.
….
Lucas and Peyton were heading inside their motel room.
"All right, let's just try to get some sleep," Peyton said, taking off her jacket. "Then we'll be at the bridge as soon as it opens up. What'd he say, 6:00 a.m.?"
Lucas nodded.
"We'll be there at 5:00 a.m." he promised, taking off his coat.
Peyton groaned as she made her way over to the bed then laughed.
"What?" Lucas asked, setting his coat on the chair.
"I'm in a hurry to find out of my dad is dead." she shook her head. "It's just kind of surreal."
Lucas sat down in a chair and looked at her, sympathy in his eyes.
"Yeah, it's pretty messed up." He agreed.
Peyton turned to look at him.
"You know in dreams, you're always trying to get to some place you need to be but you never really get there?" Peyton asked, her eyes welling up.
"Yeah?" Lucas stated, confused.
Peyton sat down on the bed with her back to him.
"I wish I could wake up." She admitted.
Lucas wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"Maybe we should try to get some sleep. You think you can?" he suggested.
Peyton nodded.
"Okay," Lucas said, standing up then he looked at the only bed in the room.
"I'll just sleep on the floor, all right?" he said, not wanting her to think he was going to take advantage of her while she was vulnerable.
"Don't be stupid." Peyton told him, laying down.
Lucas turned off the light and hesitantly made his way to the bed, sitting down.
"Look, Peyton. I wish there was something I could say or do to help you through this." He confessed.
"You already have," Peyton told him as he slipped up the covers beside her.
"Thanks Lucas," she said, curling into his side.
"Goodnight," Lucas said, wrapping his arms around her.
"Good night," Peyton said, laying her head on his chest.
They both stared at the ceiling, listening to the other breathe.
Lucas thought of Brooke at home, all alone, waiting and sighed.
Lucas heard a jingling noise and glanced down to see Peyton messing with her bracelet.
"Hey, what you got?" he asked.
Peyton sighed.
"To my heart, Love Dad," she read, stroking her bracelet. "He gave it to me on my last birthday,"
Peyton pulled away to look Lucas in the face.
"What if it's him, Lucas?" she asked.
Lucas stroked her cheek and smiled.
"It's not going to be." He swore.
Peyton closed her eyes.
"I don't know what I'd do." She confessed.
"It's going to be okay," Lucas promised.
"I just keep trying to picture walking into that room and seeing him lying there, but I hit a wall. Why does it seem like every time things are finally going to be okay something terrible happens?" she asked, looking at him.
"You don't know that it has," Lucas protested, before touching her hand that had the bracelet. "Keep him close to your heart, Peyton."
Peyton nodded.
"Get some sleep, okay?" he asked, and Peyton turned away from him facing the wall.
Lucas reached out, his hand inches from her shoulder, before sighing and putting it beneath his head.
He fingered the necklace Brooke gave him with the other and wished there was a way to help Peyton.
'If Brooke were here, she'd know how to make Peyton smile.' Lucas thought, he waited a few minutes then once Peyton breathing was even he slid out of bed and left the room, making sure to grab his cellphone.
…..
Brooke was waiting in the living room, glancing at the phone every few seconds, wishing that someone would call with good news.
She tried watching TV but quickly gave up on that in favor of pacing the floor.
"Come on, come on," she muttered to herself, gripping her phone tight in her hand.
"Ring Damnit!" she snapped and tossed her phone on the couch.
Her phone started ringing the second it touched the couch. Brooke snatched it up.
"Hello?" she said, breathlessly.
"Brooke?" Lucas's voice called from the other line.
"Is everything okay? Was it Peyton's dad? How is she?" Brooke asked, firing off questions too quickly for Lucas to answer. "I should have come. Oh god, Peyton's crying, isn't she? Oh no-"
"Brooke? Brooke? Hey? Brooke!" Lucas shouted, to get her attention before she hyperventilated.
"Right, I'm here," Brooke said, calming down.
"Good, now everything fine. The bridge was up because of the storm so we couldn't go see the body yet. We're spending the night at a motel and heading out in the morning." Lucas explained.
Brooke frowned.
"Isn't there another way for you to get there?" she asked.
Lucas shook his head, even though she couldn't see him.
"No." he stated before sighing. "I don't know what I'm doing, Brooke. Peyton's falling apart and I don't know what to say."
Brooke felt a pang in her chest at the thought of her best friend.
"Okay, here's what you do?" she said, then listed off things that made Peyton feel better when she was worried.
Lucas listened attentively and smiled.
"Thanks, Brooke. You're a good friend and I feel better after talking to you," he admitted.
"No problem, Luke. Do me a favor and have Peyton call me tomorrow." She said, "And don't forget the snacks."
Lucas nodded.
"I will, bye Brooke."
"Bye, Lucas. See you tomorrow."
Lucas hang up the phone before heading to the vending machine, like Brooke told him to.
Peyton always craved sweets when she was sad.
….
Peyton was awake when Lucas came back to the room.
Lucas sat the snacks on the table.
"What's all this?" Peyton asked, sitting up.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Lucas apologized.
"I wasn't asleep," Peyton said, with a lift of her lips.
It wasn't a smile but close enough.
"I hit the vending machine." Lucas explained. "Hungry?"
He tossed Peyton a can of soda and she gave him a full smile.
"I thought you should probably eat something." He said, opening up a bag of Nacho cheese Dorito's.
Brooke told him that those were Peyton's chips of choice when she was sad and he pocketed a pack of rasinettes to give her later, before sitting beside her on the bed.
"After my mom died, my dad couldn't cook. So we lived on frozen pizzas for the longest time." Peyton laughed at the memory. "I could live on pizza. He'd buy these cheese pizzas and then he'd put his own toppings on. Pickles, bologna, pineapple, whatever."
"That's nasty." Lucas laughed.
"No, actually, they were really good." Peyton protested. "I think he did it mostly just to make me laugh. You know, to help me forget for a little bit."
The alarm went off letting them know it was 4:45.
Peyton smile faded and Lucas shut the alarm off with a sigh.
"You ready?" he asked.
"No," Peyton said, bluntly.
She and Lucas stared at each other, knowing that this could end horribly.
"Let's go," Peyton finally said, sliding off the bed.
Lucas grabbed the keys off the table and Peyton put on her coat then they were off.
…..
Lucas and Peyton were at the Coroners.
The coroner lifted the sheet and Lucas waited for Peyton to say something.
"It's not him," Peyton said, and Lucas hugged her.
After they left, Lucas turned to Peyton.
"You did good." he told her.
"I felt like my heart was going to explode." Peyton admitted.
Lucas pulled out his phone and called Brooke.
"Peyton's place,' Brooke answered.
"Hey, it's me." Lucas said and Brooke smiled.
"Hey! I was just dialing you. That's freaky." She laughed.
"It's good news." Lucas said, smiling and Peyton glanced over at him.
"Yeah, I know. The Coast Guard made contact with the boat. He's fine." She explained and Lucas let out a sigh of relief.
"They found your dad. He's okay." He told Peyton.
Peyton hugged him and Lucas held her for a second before pulling away to say bye to Brooke.
"All right, we're headed home."
Brooke nodded, still smiling.
"Okay, I'm waiting. Tell P. Sawyer I love her." Brooke said.
"Will do, Bye" Lucas stated and hung up.
"Oh my god. That's-" Peyton started with a smile then realized she was missing something.
"Wait?" she said, rubbing her wrist.
"What?" Lucas asked.
My bracelet. I must have left it in the motel." Peyton said, before taking off.
Lucas followed her.
"All right. Let's go." He said.
…..
Peyton and Lucas arrived back in the motel and Peyton started tearing the room apart looking for her bracelet.
"It has to be here." She said, searching the bed.
She pulled the sheet off and there it was.
"Got it?" Lucas asked and Peyton nodded.
She looked at her bracelet and started crying.
"Hey. It's okay. Everything's okay now, okay?" Lucas said, brushing her hair out of her face.
He rubbed her shoulders and pulled her into hug. Lucas pulled away to say something else and Peyton surprised him with a kiss. Lucas stood frozen for a few seconds before his brain finally caught up and kissed her back, cupping her face. Soon they were making out. Lucas paused to peel Peyton's jacket off and then they were kissing again. They fell back onto the bed and shirts were removed. They were about to go further when-
"Ouch," Peyton suddenly cried.
Lucas paused.
"Sorry," he said and Peyton laughed.
"Hair. It's in your necklace." She said and unclasped it.
"Brooke," Lucas blurted, looking at it.
"What?" Peyton asked, confused.
"Brooke gave me that necklace." Lucas said and he realized he couldn't do this.
"You know we uh… we probably should get going." Lucas stuttered and Peyton nodded, looking hurt.
"Okay," Lucas said and he got off her and put back on his clothes.
Peyton continued to lay there for a minute, her mind racing.
It couldn't be…
…..
Lucas was driving back home, when he looked over at Peyton.
She hadn't said anything to him since they left the motel.
"Look, Peyton-" he started but she cut him off.
"Don't." she snapped and Lucas flinched.
Peyton took a deep breath and forced herself to relax.
"It just wasn't the right time. Besides, Brooke's waiting right?" she asked and gave Lucas a hard look.
"Yeah," Lucas said, nervously.
Peyton forced a smile.
"We just got carried away. Everything's fine," she said.
Lucas glanced over at her.
"Is it?" he asked and Peyton's smile fell.
"Of course it isn't." she admitted and Lucas shot her a worried look but didn't say anything.
They drove in silence the rest of the way home.
…..
When Lucas and Peyton got back to her house, Brooke was waiting for them.
Peyton got out of the car and slammed her door angrily and Brooke ran to her. Lucas got out of the car while Brooke hugged Peyton.
"It's okay," Brooke said, while holding her.
She pulled away to look Peyton in the eye and smile. Then she hugged Lucas, who couldn't help but relax and smile once her arms wrapped around him.
He rubbed her back, while Peyton watched then with dread in her eyes before looking away.
When Brooke let him go, Lucas looked at Peyton and tried to smile but it came out more as a grimace. Brooke smiled brightly and linked her arm with Peyton's tugging her into the house. Lucas reluctantly followed them, absentmindedly touching the necklace Brooke gave him.
What was wrong with him?
He sighed and wondered if he should just go home.
Brooke was smiling and chatting with Peyton though every few seconds she would send a happy look in his direction.
Peyton was frowning and responding to Brooke with short response though every few seconds she would send a suspicious look between him and Brooke.
Lucas stayed quiet and wished that he never left the river court.