I haven't yet decided whether or not it is going to be LP, or LB so please don't get discouraged. It may seem LP at the moment, because they're hanging out however, I haven't decided what I like better yet. Stick it out, and see. Thank you infinitely for the reviews!!!

Chapter Three

"Luke," Peyton said gently, "Thank you for today."

Lucas smiled, "No, Peyton. Thank you for today." He said, chuckling lightly, "If you decided to be stubborn and follow through with the not talking to me until, well, you know, then we wouldn't have done any of this."

"You know what I mean…" Peyton shrugged, her smile never faltering.

"You do realize it can't happen again? It was… it was my mistake." Lucas said uneasily.

"But it happened," Peyton coaxed, "so don't pretend that it didn't—It sure as hell wasn't a mistake."

"Peyton," Lucas said quietly, avoiding her meticulous gaze. He exhaled heavily, "I promised you that nothing like this would happen—It shouldn't have happened. I just, I don't know what came over me, Peyton…"

"So you just want to ignore it?" Peyton winced, as though he was causing her much ordeal.

"I know I'm an ass for saying it, but yeah, Peyton – I do. It's not fair."

"It's not fair to Brooke? Kinda like what I said at the beginning of this whole thing? Lucas, what did you think was going to happen? Things lead to other things, I mean, it's inevitable, right? Especially when there are two people, one of which is crazy in love with the other-"

"Peyton, uh, I haven't decided yet…" Lucas cut in impetuously.

"I meant me, Lucas." Peyton looked away, "One of which is crazy in love with the other- me. Luke, you know how I feel about you- which is why you have to stop this game. You can't choose who to love, Lucas, and if you love one of us, you can't deny it. You also can't deny it if you don't love either of us. Just make up your mind!"

"Peyton, I'm trying here!"

"But what? I'm not making it any easier?"

"Not exactly, I don't know!" Lucas said, his voice desasperated, "Believe me, I want to make up my mind, I do, Peyton. But is it horrible that with you I feel like this one person, and with Brooke I feel like someone else?"

"Well then why don't you just hook up with the both of us; it hasn't ever bothered you before." Peyton stared at him dryly, "All I'm saying, is that half of you isn't sufficient for me. And maybe I'm at fault for loving the half of you- maybe I wouldn't love the other of you, the half you share with Brooke, if you showed me it. Lucas, you have to find a girl that caters to all of you, okay? Maybe you're not in love with me or Brooke, maybe you're in love with the idea of being in love with us. Maybe we're just your options, and not your priorities."

"Peyton, don't say that." Lucas said, staring into the Blonde's eyes.

Peyton laughed, "Lucas, you gotta stop denying all of this! Open your eyes!" She said, looking around her, "If that tree over there is pink when you're with me, and I don't know, orange when you're with Brooke, then maybe you're just not seeing the green, okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He said defensively.

"I'm saying find yourself, before you find someone, because ultimately, you're going to be yourself with them—and if not, trust me, you'll get bored way too easily. It's not love when you have to be two different people. It's not love when you're not a million percent sure. It's not love when you don't consider how badly you're hurting two amazing girls, if I do say so myself."

"What if I know one them is it but I don't know which one?"

"Then it's not it." Peyton shrugged.

"Peyton, stop," Lucas said gently, putting his hand on her shoulder considerately.

"No, Luke, you stop. I am not going to worry about your decision, or care about your decision for the rest of the summer. That's my promise to you, okay? We're done with this. We are not hanging out, we are not even talking until you make your choice. Stop playing, Lucas, stop playing already! This isn't basketball – you can't win both girls. You can't." Peyton's eyes became filled with a few gentle tears, as she looked up at Lucas, "I don't know what else to say." She said in a bare whisper, "I really don't." Her voice was barely audible, "You better go." She said forcing a smile, "See you, Lucas. Have a good summer…" She nodded, before disappearing inside her house.

Lucas, obviously stunned, stood there for a matter of time, before pocketing his hands and walking back to his house glumly. He couldn't explain why such an amazing day could take such a vicious turn. The day progressed well – nothing happened – until they had to, well, kiss. What possessed him to do it? He knew very well that it wasn't fair to Brooke… he knew very well that it wasn't even fair to Peyton. And so, why would he do it?

"The sunset looks so amazing from the courts," Peyton said, making herself comfortable on the bench, "it's no wonder you're here all the time."

Lucas chuckled, "Yeah, the view is kind of incredible."

"That's not the only thing that's incredible, Luke." Peyton said gently, laughing at Lucas' perplexed face, "This day, I meant. It was fun, really. I didn't think I could have so much fun with someone I temporarily hated." She giggled quietly, "It was this love-hate kinda thing, Luke, don't worry."

"You hated me just a few hours ago?" Lucas asked, a little appauled at the thought.

"Well, I definitely didn't want to like you." Peyton said, smiling lightly, "But then I guess you're so charming, I don't know. You have that effect on people, Lucas Scott."

"You're quite the same, Peyton Sawyer."

"Gee, thanks. That's a real compliment coming from someone who can't make up his mind whether he likes me, or my best friend." She joked dryly, as she gazed out into the horizon.

Lucas was stumped. "Peyton," he whispered. She turned her face to look at him. For a moment, their eyes locked. The next, their lips. It was the gentlest kiss either had ever felt- it was loving, and charismatic, and sweet, and luscious… Neither wanted to pull away, however, Peyton did shifting awkwardly. As much as she yearned for him to kiss her again, she knew she couldn't.

"I think we'd better go." Peyton murmured inaudibly, clearing her throat. She started to get up again, before something seized her. She walked up to Lucas, cradling his face in her palms, releasing all that desire into that simple kiss. When she pulled away breathlessly, she began to walk home. It was nonetheless, one of the most confusing nights of his life.

Peyton sat in her room silently, gazing out the window. The dark was now starting to spread across Tree Hill, the streetlights dispersing their pools of light underneath. Her thoughts hadn't been so diffused in a while. Why had they acted the way they did? It went against everything she believed in, every promise she'd made to Brooke. What Peyton didn't tell Lucas, was what she promised Brooke when she left the city- or rather, what Brooke made Peyton promise. Peyton agreed to seclude herself from Lucas; kind of like what Brooke was doing. What Peyton didn't tell Lucas, was that Brooke was serious this time. Brooke wouldn't forgive either of them had she known Peyton had such an advantage over her.

And then suddenly the phone rang, interrupting all rational thoughts. "Hello?" Peyton answered, after the phone rang twice.

"Peyton, hey."

It was Brooke.

"Brooke! How are you? Are you okay?" Peyton said, sounding convincingly concerned.

Brooke seemed to be having a hard time on the other end. She was quiet – oddly quiet – and she was sniffling, as though she'd just finished a long bawl, "No, P. Sawyer, I'm not okay. I'm spending my summer vacation before Senior Year at my seventy-year-old Aunt's house, which is, by the way, in the middle of nowhere! I miss you guys, even that indecisive asshat scumbag."

Peyton sighed, "So come home." It was the simplest solution.

"But what if he thinks that I can't live without him? What if he thinks that I'm not surviving the time apart?"

"Well, you're not." Peyton said bluntly, "But hey, maybe we could avoid him together? Strength in numbers?"

Brooke sighed, "Have you seen him?"

"No!" Peyton said a little too quickly, before slowing down her captivating tempo, "No, Brooke. I'm trying this new thing called stealth."

"Has he tried reaching you?" Brooke asked, prodding at the subject scrupulously.

"No, well, he has, but unsuccessfully." Peyton said, dodging Brooke's questions adequately.

"Unsuccessfully," Brooke grunted as though disbelievingly, "If we were, I don't know, face-to-face, would you be lying to me like a cold-hearted bitch?" Stunned at the statement, Peyton stuttered a quick, what, before waiting for Brooke's further confrontation. "Peyton, Peyton, Peyton. I love how you think I am so totally naïve." Brooke sighed- this was evidently difficult for her, "Before I left, I asked a few people to keep an eye on you-"

"You got people to spy on me?" Peyton said, absolutely horrified.

"Basically." Brooke said angrily, "Only because I knew you couldn't be trusted, so don't you dare make me look like the bad one here. Remember our promise, Peyton? Remember that? Remember when you said you would refrain from seeing Lucas? Yeah, that tiny little thing. Now, do you remember saying that you specifically wouldn't see him? Hm, well, what happened to that Blondie? Did it slip your mind?"

"Brooke, he said it would be totally innocent." Peyton explained, speaking before she considered what those words meant.

"You mean something happened?" Brooke seemed to be steaming on the other end, "Something happened, Peyton? You did something behind my back, when you distinctively promised not to?"

"No! Nothing happened, Brooke." Peyton gulped quietly, knowing that this situation was quickly accelerating.

"Right, Peyton, right." Brooke said, her anger crystal clear in her outraged voice. "Peyton, you're my best friend. You were my best friend, that is. You know why you're not anymore? Because you can't live a single day without lying to me, Peyton! One broken promise leads to another, which leads me to think that I don't need you in my life anymore. Why do you keep doing this to me?" Brooke cried out, "Why, Peyton? You wait for my forgiveness, and then you fuck up again."

"It's not like I had the intentions of seeing him today, Brooke! It just happened! He sweet talked his way into my day again, I'm sorry! I'm sorry if I feel for him just like you do, and I selfishly fell into his trap."

"That's the thing, Peyton. When will our friendship come before Lucas Scott?" Brooke asked, her voice surrendering to Peyton's helplessness.

"It's always come before him, Brooke-"

"Just not now, when it needs to, right?"

"I still value our friendship more than whatever history I have with Lucas. I want you to know that… I don't want him to come between us."

"You don't make it any easier, Peyton. I ask you to do one thing – actually, not to do one thing – and you got out and do it anyway. What's worse is that you lie to me. You know how much different the situation would be if you said yes to my have you seen him, question?"

"I know you, Brooke. You wouldn't have reacted any differently." Peyton said finally, "You would still freak out like an over-protective schoolgirl. Nothing happened-"

"Did you kiss him?" Brooke interrupted.

"Yes," Peyton said weakly, "but it didn't mean any-"

"Then something happened. And don't you tell me it didn't mean anything, because if you didn't want him to kiss you – or vice versa, because at this point I don't even know – then it wouldn't have happened. But it did, and it's a huge something, Peyton, whether or not you understand that."

"Brooke, you need to know that I didn't intent to kiss him yesterday- I didn't even intend to see him. Things just fell into place, okay? It happened. I can't take it away. You're not even together, Brooke. Why is this so important to you?"

"Why? Because while I'm trying to give him space to finally figure this out once and for all, you're just making below-the-belt moves on him, that could potentially influence his final choice. That's why. I wanted him to make his choice, without either of us in his life. And you totally destroyed that idea, because obviously I'm no longer in the picture."

"Brooke, come home. Spend your senior year summer in Tree Hill. Had you been in town, Lucas would have invited you too. But you're not, and he's not exactly going to holler you over, especially since you're so keen on pushing him out of your life."

"Peyton! I'm not pushing him out of my life!" Brooke said. Had they been face-to-face, Peyton would have seen a very teary-eyed Brooke, "I'm scared of getting pushed out again, okay? It's the least I can do- give him enough distance so he can make up his damned mind. That's all. I'm not pushing him out." She breathed, in more of a distressed sob, "One day he's going to have to choose."

"Yeah, I know that, but why do you have to sacrifice your summer? Don't force it, Brooke! He will choose, just give him time. Can't we just be friends for five seconds without having one be his girlfriend, and the other just an acquaintance? Come home, Brooke – I'm not asking again."

"I need to force it, because if that boy breaks my heart again I think I'm going to rip his head off." Brooke said, a tinge of fury powdering her usually gentle voice, after which Peyton laughed gently, "The sad thing is that I'm really not kidding." Brooke sighed, "Peyton, would you hate me if I told you that I'm already home?"

Peyton nearly choked, "A little bit! Wait, wait, wait – are you your own spy?"

Brooke was silenced, "Sort of. I drove by Tree Hill to get some of my stuff – some comfortable clothes, seeing how I wouldn't need any halters and cute stuff up there in like, the farms – and so I was driving by when I saw you two. I wasn't intentionally spying, I just saw you two."

Peyton chuckled, "Yeah, yeah."

"And then I thought about it, and I called my aunt and told her I needed to be back home, and now I'm here." Brooke said in a long breath, "I don't know if I made the right choice, but I'm here." She sighed, "What are we going to do, P. Sawyer? We're letting a boy destroy everything we've built up for ourselves. All our memories, all our good times – I feel like it's fading every time we fight about him."

Peyton nodded, "It'd only going to fade if we let it. Our friendship is as important as we make it, Brooke. If we let Lucas be more important than everything, then sure, it's all going to disappear."

"So how do we stop this nonsense? Don't you think it's time we valued our friendship more?"

"I thought it was time long ago, Brooke Davis." Peyton sighed.

"Then I think it's time we take our little friend Lucas out for a night."