A/N: So this chapter came out sooner than I expected it too. The idea has been brewing in my head for quite some time seeing as I see it as the turning point of the story. For anyone who reads Life Happens, my other fic, an update is on it's way soon. I'm halfway done with it. Anyways, on with the chapter! I hope y'all enjoy! And as always, review. Those little messages really do make my day :D

Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or Maybe Tomorrow by the Stereophonics.

Chapter Five: Bargaining, Begging and Brooding

I've been down and
I'm wondering why
These little black clouds
Keep walking around
With me
With me

Panic. Why the hell was she panicking? There was nothing to panic about. It wasn't as if Lucas hadn't been here before. It wasn't like he hadn't attempted to make things right with her. So then why did she feel this overwhelming sense of panic at the thought of him being in her room. Maybe it was the fact that he was no longer with Brooke, or maybe it was that she knew it was coming whereas last time, he had caught her off guard. Or maybe it was that there was a huge part of her that always wanted to grab him by the collar and kiss him senseless. She really hoped it wasn't the last thought.

She sat down on her bed, knees tucked under her chin and arms wrapped around them. This sucked. She hated feeling vulnerable. Bitchiness was what she used to hide that but when it concerned Lucas, vulnerability always seemed to leak through. He could feel it and he thrived on it. She glanced down at her watch. He'd be here any second now.

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He stared at his sneakers as they charged up the steps. He had entered the house on his own accord, fearing she wouldn't let him in if he knocked or rang the bell. He knew she didn't want to see him. She was trying to move on and that above all scared him. It had taken so much for him to get her to open up to him, and he'd be damned if he lost all of that without a fight. He'd go to the ends of the earth for this girl and now, he'd have to prove it to her.

He approached her doorway with caution. Through the mirror on her wall, he could see her huddled on her bed. She was curled in a ball, eyes closed and hands covering her face. His heart broke at the sight of her vulnerable state. He sighed and knocked tentatively, ready to face her.

Her eyes snapped up at the noise immediately. She frowned slightly and her walls immediately rose as an angry glare settled on her face. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he wandered into her room.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Lucas." The word sounded like poison sliding off her tongue. He almost winced at it.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"I know. I got your little note," Peyton said rolling her eyes. She watched as he lingered aimlessly at the doorway. "Are you gonna talk or what? I seriously don't have all day."

"Right. I wouldn't want to keep you," he muttered under his breath.

"Are you getting an attitude with me Lucas? Because honestly you have no right-"

"Oh I know by now I have no right to be treated as a human. You've made that perfectly clear to me. I screwed up and I'm gonna have to pay for that for God knows how long."

"You didn't just screw up," Peyton said heatedly standing up, "You fucked up."

"And you didn't Peyton? You ran away from me first and then you got angry when I tried to move on."

"Move on! It had been two days since you basically professed your undying love for me. Then, suddenly you're off screwing my best friend! What happened to the boy who was looking for something more? The guy who wanted it all with someone. I'm pretty sure he wasn't the guy I found fucking my best friend!"

"There was a difference between what I want with you and what I wanted with Brooke."

"Wow! I wonder if Brooke knew you were only looking for sex."

"She did. And that's all she was looking for either."

"Well that changed fast."

"Not really," Lucas sighed, "She and I were never really a couple. We had sex once and then we just kind of hung out."

"I don't need the details," Peyton said coldly.

"Well, you should know them so you don't screw them up in that weird head of yours! Brooke and I were only 'together' because you pushed both of us away!"

"And that's my fault?" Peyton yelled, stomping her foot, "You chose her! Not me! That's not my God damn fault!"

"I didn't choose her! You don't get it."

"Then explain it to me! Explain how you sleeping with my best friend is supposed to be okay! Explain how I'm supposed to accept the fact that I wasn't enough for you! And how I'm just supposed to allow you back into my life like it's nothing. Explain it, Luke because I sure as hell don't get it."

"Peyton," Lucas said slowly as he approached her, grabbing her wrists which had been flailing around dramatically. "I went to Brooke because I was scared. You hurt me so much when you walked away from me. I wasn't ready to set myself up for that hurt again. And Brooke was offering me a chance to forget and I just couldn't pass it up. It was a moment of weakness, but you have to know…I love you."

"No," Peyton said immediately, pulling herself back from his reach though his hands still had her wrists, "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Peyt…"

"No, Luke! You don't love me!" she yelled, "You can't love me! If you loved me, you wouldn't have hurt me. You wouldn't have-"

"I love you," he said softly. She stole a peak at him, her anger rising at the intense sincerity in his eyes. This was the last thing she needed. She pushed against his chest and he stumbled slightly back, but didn't relinquish his grip on her. She pushed again and again but he wouldn't let go.

"Peyton-"

"God! I hate you! I hate you! I fucking hate you," Peyton hissed violently as she banged her fists against his chest after each exclamation. His fingers bruised her wrists, as he tightened his grip on them, trying to make her stop. He could tell already that there would be bruises their within the next few hours.

"Stop it," he growled, placing her hands above her head and pinning her to the nearest wall. She tried to kick or knee him, but his legs pressed up against hers to keep them from reaching anything.

"No!"

"I'm not kidding, Peyton. You need to stop."

"Make me," Peyton whispered.

"I'm doing a pretty good job right now."

"Are you just gonna keep me pinned to the wall for the rest of our lives? Eventually you're gonna have to let go, and when you do-" Peyton challenged. However, before she could even finish her sentence, she found her mouth blockaded by his. It was an underhanded tactic, one she never expected him to use. Therefore, her shock gave him plenty of opportunity to probe her mouth with his tongue, and before she knew it, she felt herself kissing back.

He really hadn't planned to kiss her. God, he knew it was the stupidest thing he could do at the moment. It was just so hard to be standing there pressed against her, her face flushed with anger, her lips parted as she spoke in a low voice. Anger made her sexy and he knew it beforehand, but to put himself in this compromising position where he knew full well that he'd take advantage of it was stupid. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! And yet, it felt so damn good.

Peyton suddenly realized what she was doing. She was kissing the man who had broken her in pieces, betrayed her and gotten all cozy with her best friend. She immediately yanked her hands out of his grasp and pushed him away, making sure to bite his lip before they broke apart. He stumbled backwards, his hand immediately covering his bloody lip.

"Damn it, Peyton," he muttered, not looking at her.

"That's what you get for doing something stupid like kissing me."

"You kissed back," he said defiantly, and he immediately regretted it when he felt the stinging slap of her hand against his cheek.

"Burn in hell, Lucas," she hissed, "And get the fuck out of my house."

"I'm not done with you."

"I'm not your whore that you can use whenever you see fit-"

"I didn't mean it like that. I want to talk to you."

"I don't want to listen to you."

"I don't give a rat's ass. You're going to listen."

"Lucas Scott finally grows a backbone," she faked applause, a sardonic smile gracing her face, "Too bad I've lost interest."

"If you had lost interest, you wouldn't have kissed back." It shut her up, but only for a moment. Then he received another slap. They stood in silence, both trying to even out their breathing.

"You've done enough, Lucas," she said quietly. She sighed looking down at her wrists which burned from his grip.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked worriedly. Her eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Yeah, but the pain in the wrists doesn't even come close to the pain in my heart," she whispered closing her eyes, "Please leave."

"I love you."

"Stop fucking saying that!" Her anger rose as fast at it had faded.

"It's the truth," he said, "And I'm gonna fight for you."

"Don't bother," she said, "I'm moving on. I've already got a date Friday night."

"Yeah, with A.J. Hopps. The biggest jackass in school."

"Judge him all you want," Peyton said, "At least he's honest. It'll be a change of pace from the men I've been going after."

"You know what, Peyt? Have fun Friday," Lucas nodded, "Maybe you can get that no strings attached sex you were looking for." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he saw the mug hurling towards him, crashing a few feet to his left.

"You're a bastard."

"I didn't mean that," he sighed, "I'm just-"

"Jealous?"

"God, Peyt, you have no idea what it's like to watch him touch you like he does at school."

"Hmm, I think I have a little idea," she said rolling her eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Lucas asked, sitting on the stool for her vanity. His head was perched in his hands. He was so frustrated. He never imagined he would say the things he had said to her. He had always put Peyton on a pedestal, far away from the darker side of his emotions. He sheltered her from that, but now, he just couldn't hold back. She knew how to get to him, how to cut him with her words. It had become harder and harder to ignore.

"Not that I should have to tell you this, but, A.J. and I…we're just friends," Peyton sighed.

"Friends don't stage assaults on other friend's necks in the middle of the hallway."

"Hmm, I'm pretty sure friends don't fuck each other either," Peyton said, pretending to be deep in thought, "But then you claimed Brooke was your friend, right?"

"A.J. is different."

"Right. He's made it quite clear to everyone his intentions for me."

"Is that what you're stuck on? He's honest! Honesty doesn't absolve someone from the intentions they have, even if they're honest about them."

"I'm sorry, but that just confused me," Peyton said shaking her head, "All I heard was 'I'm jealous of A.J. because he's a real man and I'm not,' but I may have misheard."

"You know what, Peyt? If your definition of a real man is someone who's blunt and crude and who will treat you like an object, then you can have A.J."

"Well thanks for your approval."

Her sarcasm burned him and his eyes narrowed at her. He jumped off the stool and stalked towards her slowly. Her eyes flickered with fear and she wondered if she had maybe pushed him too far. The look in his eyes was so fierce and intense that she had to look away.

"Lucas…w-what are you doing?" Peyton stuttered as she backed away from him until she felt the wall behind her.

"Shh," he hushed. She watched him slide in front of her, his hands lingering on her waist. She tried to turn her face away from his, but he wouldn't let her. He took one of his hands and rested it on her cheek, turning it to face him. She took in a shallow breath as he rested his forehead on hers.

"Luke," she trailed off. Her breathing increased rapidly being so close to him. She didn't have enough strength to push him away or even yell at him. She was all out of anger.

"I love you," he said softly, his eyes never leaving hers. He watched as she closed her own eyes and tears built up.

"Don't," she moaned, as a few droplets edged out from underneath her eyelids, tracing a graceful path down her cheek "Don't say that."

"You know it's true," he whispered, "If you didn't believe it and feel it too, you wouldn't be crying right now." He kissed her cheek before backing away. "You can take as much time as you want. You can go to all the parties A.J. wants to take you to. Because at the end of the day, I know that you'll come back to me. And I'll be here waiting for you."

She watched with her mouth agape as he walked out of her room. She was frozen in her spot, unable to move from her position until she heard the front door close. It jilted her a bit and her hand rose to touch her cheek where he had kissed her. She was in too deep.

-----------

Haley James tugged the cuffs of her sleeves nervously. If anyone told her that she'd be here a month ago, she would have laughed in her face. But here she was at Peyton Sawyer's house, preparing to knock on her door and talk to her about…A.J. Hopps of all people. Lucas had mentioned Peyton's interest in the green eyed bad boy, and Haley's interest had been piqued. She cared about Peyton. The girl had become one of her good friends, one of her few female friends in fact.

She tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. Maybe she should just forget the whole thing. What if she was in one of her moods? The ones that Lucas had talked about. Haley wasn't good with bitchy people. She could hardly deal with Lucas's brooding. But then again, a friend is a friend. She needs you, Haley. Everyone else has abandoned her.

"Stupid conscience," Haley muttered as she rang the doorbell and knocked twice. She heard movement coming from the kitchen and the shadow of the blonde appeared at the door. The sound of the lock being undone kicked Haley's senses into high gear. There was no turning back now. The door flew open, and she came face to face with Peyton.

"Hey," Peyton said, evenly, no trace of emotion in her voice.

"Hi!" Haley's voice came out too perky too be considered natural, and Peyton saw right through it.

"What's wrong, Haley?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just you're at my house, and it's ten thirty on a school night."

"Yeah, well, are you busy? Because I can go if you're busy. The last thing I want to do is bother you when-"

"Slow down," Peyton said, grabbing the brunette's shoulders and squaring them, "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Haley nodded, "I just wanted to talk to you."

"If it's about Lucas, I've really had enough of him."

"Umm no. You and Lucas have to work those things out on your own."

"Is it about Nathan? What did the jackass do to you?"

"Nathan's been fine," Haley chuckled, "It's actually about A.J."

Peyton's eyebrow quirked, "Are you sure Lucas didn't send you?"

"Nope," Haley said, "Now can I come in?"

"Oh." Peyton shifted her weight so she was no longer leaning on the door frame and allowed the girl to pass, "Sure."

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Haley glanced around the room with a discerning eye. The drawings on Peyton's wall were exactly what she expected. Dark stuff that really didn't make much sense. The whole room gave off an eclectic feeling to it. She settled herself down on the rolling chair at Peyton's computer desk. Her eyes wandered to the camera there and she self-consciously tugged down her shirt.

"Don't worry about it," Peyton said as she entered the room, plopping down on her bed, "No one actually watches it."

"Uh, that's where you're wrong," Haley said rolling her eyes, "The Rivercourt guys are always talking about how they watch you, especially Lucas. God, I wonder if he's watching now."

"Haley?"

"Oh right! We're not talking about Lucas!" She swiveled the chair so that she was directly facing Peyton, "We're talking about A.J."

"Right," Peyton nodded, "You've come to tell me what a terrible influence he is and how I should stay away from him."

"Why would I say that?"

"Why wouldn't you say that? He's a total jerk. He's rude, obnoxious, and totally crude. He has no respect for authority of any kind. He treats women like their objects. He has a knack for pissing people off-"

"You know, I'm starting to wonder why you're going with him on Friday," Haley smirked.

"I'm just saying that someone like you would not recommend I date someone like A.J."

"What does 'someone like you' mean?"

"Nice. Sweet. Caring," Peyton listed off, "Has a soul!"

"I get it! I get it!" Haley sighed, "but honestly, A.J. isn't really that bad of a guy."

"Are we talking about the same A.J.? You know the one who locked our English teacher in various rooms around the school?"

"Yeah. He's not as terrible as you'd think."

"All right, Haley James, spill! Why do you think he's such a nice guy?"

"Well, let's just say I've seen a different side of him," Haley said cryptically.

"Go on," Peyton said slowly.

"I used to tutor him in Math…"

"And?"

"And what?"

"I'm gonna need details here."

"Right, well, he was a total jerk most of the time, but he really took it seriously when push came to shove, you know? I mean he did the work I asked him to do and eventually, he stopped failing. He thanked me profusely because he wouldn't have to do summer school. Anyways, one of the days we had been doing homework and I happened to mention how I'd learned to play guitar on my dad's old one and that it got sold at our garage sale and I was devastated-"

"I hate to interrupt, but can I just ask how you playing guitar had anything to do with Math?"

"Oh, Peyton you know me by now! I tend to ramble! And I'm even worse when I'm tutoring."

"Figures. Go ahead."

"Okay so, I was devastated about my dad's guitar. I guess he remembered it because he bought me a guitar as a thank you present for helping him pass Math."

"Wow," Peyton said, "I would've never-"

"Expected it? I know! I didn't either," Haley said, "It was definitely an 'aww how sweet' moment for me. Anyways, I didn't tell anyone about it because I knew A) no one would believe me and B) I didn't want to discourage his behavior by letting word get out. The point of the story is…from my dealings with A.J. I've learned that he's a jackass but he has his good moments. Deep down I don't really think he's that bad."

"Okay," Peyton said, "Thank you for your input." There was a pregnant pause where Haley just swiveled back and forth on her chair.

"So may I ask how serious you are about him?"

"Not very," Peyton shrugged, "I'm just going because he asked and he seemed nice enough."

"Or are you doing it to piss off the-boy-whose-name-we-cannot-mention?"

"I don't know," Peyton muttered before letting out a loud groan, "Ugh! I don't know anything anymore! It's all so fucked up."

"Well hang in there, kiddo. I'm sure it will all make sense eventually."

"Thanks."

"And for what it's worth, I know Lucas is truly sorry for what happened between him and Brooke."

"Yeah well, it doesn't make the pain go away."

"I told him to let you cool down for awhile. Hopefully, he'll listen."

Peyton couldn't help the hearty chuckle that burst forth at her words, "He didn't listen to you. He came over tonight." Haley's jaw dropped at her words.

"That little…" Haley trailed off in frustration, "What happened?"

"Oh the usual. He told me he loved me, made me cry, I threw a mug at him."

"He said he loved you? That idiot!"

"Gee, thanks!" Peyton said sarcastically.

"I don't mean it like that! I just mean that was probably the last thing you needed to hear."

"Yeah well, whatever," Peyton shrugged, "It doesn't make a difference."

"Sure it doesn't," Haley said, hiding her amusement, "Well I better take off! We do have school tomorrow after all."

"Thanks for stopping by Haley," Peyton said, "I haven't seen you lately."

"You've got enough to deal with now. I'm sorry I didn't call you after all that happened. I had to deal with brooding Lucas and all," Haley said as she walked to the door, "But if you ever need anything, I'm just a phone call away, okay?"

"Same here."

Peyton watched the brunette exit her room, with a small smile on her face. Haley always did have a way of cheering her up. She still didn't trust A.J. all that much, but it was nice to know he had some good in him. Haley approved of him, somewhat. She didn't know really what she was looking for with A.J. anyway. She was still so hung up on Lucas. His love confession had startled her more than anything. His words were chilling and caught in the back of her mind.

I love you.

She slipped under the covers of her bed, turning her night lamp off. She curled herself into a ball. All of the anger and heart ache and pain, all of that emotion coursed through her veins and she found her breathing increase painfully. It started as small tears. Eventually though, she felt herself sobbing softly.

If you didn't believe it and feel it too, you wouldn't be crying right now.

She tried to pretend like it didn't matter. She tried to tell herself that tomorrow was another day. It was one more day closer to acceptance. One more day toward getting over Lucas and working through the pain. However, once again his words stuck in her head just like they were designed to do.

At the end of the day, I know that you'll come back to me. And I'll be here waiting for you.

He'd wait forever if he had to. And that's what scared her most.

So maybe tomorrow
I'll find my way home
So maybe tomorrow
I'll find my way home

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Okay, so the Paley conversation was not intended when I wrote my outline. With shorter stories, I tend to stay away from adding characters into the storyline. However, I think Haley was necessary here. Let me know what you think of it all.