A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They, of course, are always welcome. :)

Peyton reached her car and looked back at the door of her house. It didn't open. She threw her bag in the back of the car before opening the door, flinging herself in, and slamming the door shut. She looked at the door again. It still didn't open. Well what did she expect? For Lucas to come chasing after her..leaving Brooke in his wake? Truthfully? Yeah. Which was the sad part of all of this. The tears threatened her again and she bit her lip to try and stop them. All she wanted in life was to be loved, to be taken care of. Since her mother died...Peyton had lived alone. She knew her father loved her, she did..but he was rarely there to show it. She was alone, forced to fend for herself all the time..and her heart ached for something that she was missing. But she found it in Lucas. Somehow, he always managed to fill that void..that empty feeling that she had carried around with her for so long. And now it was back. That feeling. The second Lucas had turned his back on her to follow Brooke up the stairs...the second he left her standing there mid-conversation to follow his girlfriend up the stairs- in her house, nonetheless, the feeling returned in full force. The tears started to fall as sobs took ahold of her body. Was this how she was going to live her life? Alone...? Was she always going to want what she could never have? The intensity of the sobs increased as she covered her face with her hands. She hit her steering wheel in frustration. It was time to stop crying. Time ot stop focusing all of thoughts on what she couldn't have. Time to move on from Lucas..from Brooke...from this town..from everything. At least for a little while. Maybe the rest of her senior year. She could always come back for graduation...There we go, she even had a plan now. She turned the key in the ignition, ready to go. Nothing stopping her. But she still didn't move. Her eyes were drawn to the door again. It didn't open like the other times. She looked down into her lap and sighed. There really was nothing here for her was there? Nathan and Haley had each other..and she had even lost Haley to Brooke now. And Lucas had Brooke. And he loved her. And it was about time she stopped getting in their way..she knew that Brooke was still threatened by hers and Lucas' past. If she left Brooke would have nothing to worry about at all. Right. Taking a breath, she moved the stick from park to drive...her foot remained pushed down on the brake pedal for a second. She refused to look at the door again. She let her foot off of the pedal and her car started to move out of the driveway slowly. She came to the end of her driveway, pressed her foot on the gas and pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. She was on her way.

But suddenly the door of the passenger seat opened and she jerked the car to a stop in surprise. "What are you doing?" she asked him, her eyes wide.

Lucas shut the door behind him. "Stopping you."

Her car was in the middle of the road. She was on her way to a new life..one without the drama of the Tree Hill...one without Lucas. And now the person she was running from was in the car next to her. "Lucas...please. Just get out of the car," she said softly, without looking at him.

"You might want to move out the middle of the road," Lucas said, ignoring her, while looking behind them for other cars.

She didn't move the car and turned her head towards him. Lucas stopped looking in back of them and brought his eyes to meet hers. She felt that jolt in her stomach and wanted to look away. But she forced herself to keep looking at him. "Please..Luke..." she pleaded with him. "I just...I need to do this...I need to just get away."

"Then drive."

"You have to get out."

"I'm not moving," he said, shaking his head. "Come on..we'll take a trip together."

"Lucas you don't understand...I...I can't take let you come with me."

"Why?"

Peyton sighed and looked away from him. "You don't understand. Please...just get out."

"Why wouldn't I understand, Peyton? You've always been so..open and honest with me. I feel like we've really gotten to the point where you can tell me anything..I can do the same with you."

Peyton's mind flashed back to the summer they had been alone together for. He had told her about his HCM then...and forced her to keep it a secret all this time. The two had become..unseperable over those few months..that was until Brooke had come back. Then...things changed. Brooke had come back..and within days Lucas had refocused his attention off of her and onto Brooke. The pair from the summer had been resolved and Lucas only reappeared into her life when she needed him to be there. When she needed saving...and she was thankful for that, she was. But..it wasn't the same. They didn't joke around anymore..didn't just talk about music, or art..or what book he was currently immersed in. He had been the source of her happiness for so long...that when she lost then when the summer ended, it hurt her. Brooke had taken that spot in his life. And that's how they had gotten here. The only difference between then and now was that Peyton was desperately in love with him now. Was that a difference? Or had she really been in love with him all this time? Has she ever fallen out of love with him, through Jake and it all? These were the questions and the thoughts that scared her. How could one boy break down those walls that she had worked so hard all of her life to fortify..and get her to open up like she did with him? He was just one boy. No..he was Lucas.

"I don't want to do this Lucas."

"Fine then answer my question from before...and I'll get out of the car. That's all," he said smoothly. "What were you and Brooke fighting about?"

Peyton lifted her foot off of the brakes and the car lurched forward as she stepped hard on the gas. "Then we'll drive."

"Fine," Lucas said with a shrug.

Brooke watched the car pull away from the house..with Lucas in it. Their final words continued to spew around in her head.

"I can't let her go, Brooke. I can't let her leave."

"So you're choosing her..over me?"

"No.." he said. "I love you, Brooke. I...but.."

"You love Peyton," Brooke supplied.

"I do..I love Peyton...but I'm in love with you, Brooke," he told her, reaching for her hand.

But she backed away from him so he couldn't touch her. "Go...go save Peyton. Like always."

"Brooke.."

"Lucas you have to know..deep down..she's still in your heart. Okay? She's always been there. I can see it in your eyes everytime you look at her...you're just..different around her. You're softer, more caring...you smile more. And I've tried to ignore it all this time...but I don't want to ignore it anymore. So you're free, Lucas. Go love Peyton, without anything in your way.."

"I'm not in love with Peyton!" Lucas shouted.

Brooke smirked. "Little defensive about that?"

Lucas' eyes were drawn to the window as Peyton's car made in onto the street. He started to panic. "Just let me go stop her..and then we can-"

"No we can't. I'm done. I know you love me..but I know's there's someone else in your heart. And I don't want to be with someone who doesn't give me their whole heart- unconditionally...with someone who doesn't let me all the way in." She paused a minute to let her words sink in. "So go. Please."

Lucas swallowed and sighed. "Fine." And with that, he was out the door and after Peyton.

And she watched as the car disappeared down the road from her view.

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