For more details & information on anything underlined, refer to the bottom of the page.

Peyton stepped out of the shower, beads of water dripped down her legs. She towel dried her kinky curls and as she was drying off her body, she fingered through her albums and chose a Travis vinyl. Placing the needle carefully onto the record, her entire body was ignited by the chords and vocals echoing throughout her room. She slipped on a pair of low-rise jeans, a black t-shirt with a "save the tatas" logo in the center, in memory of Ellie, and her black converse. She spritzed on a perfume that Luke had got for her as a gift. She loved the mixed scents of calla lily, gardenia, lotus, iris and mandarin flower. The scent had always drove Lucas crazy and she knew it. Her creamy, milk colored skin was flawless and the redness in her eyes had started to dissipate; there was no need for makeup. She threw on a quick coat of water-proof mascara and grabbed her sketch book. She turned off her turntable, slipped on Ellie's jacket and headed downstairs. She had a quick bowl of cereal, grabbed her keys and headed back to the hospital. As she walked through the automatic doors, her nerves kicked in and her heartbeat quickend. She was nervous, but a good type of nervous. So this is love, she thought. She passed the nurses station and headed straight towards Lucas' room. Lately, Peyton had the urge to start drawing again but was having difficulty finding inspiration. She hadn't touched her sketchbook since the real Derek helped paint her room and she designed a protective bulldog to put on her wall; then she thought of Lucas. Their love was certainly inspiring and Lucas loved to watch her draw. She had so much talent, she just couldn't see it. Even though she gave him a hard time she appreciated Lucas sending her sketches to Thud.

As she stood in the doorway of room 203 she noticed it was missing something, her boyfriend. She felt the presence of someone behind her and had a flashback to the fake Derek. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists. She wasn't scared anymore, the real Derek taught her to have confidence and to fight back. As she was opening her eyes she felt an arm grip her waist and reel her in close, she pulled away until she realized it was Lucas.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know where you were"

"Yeah I got bored. I can't be expected to spend all day in bed, without you that is". Peyton flashed her million-watt smile and grabbed his hand. She pulled him into his room and shut the door. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist, intertwining his fingers.

"Thanks for the mix, I don't even have any words to describe it. I'm not sure if you realize how powerful it was." Peyton's lips curved upwards into a shy smile as she leaned into Lucas. She turned her head to the side and their lips met. Lucas brought his hand up and swept the bangs out of Peyton's eyes. Lucas had gotten the chance to change into a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt, he was much more comfortable. "No more hospital gown with an open butt? Too bad, you looked totally hot". Lucas laughed and led her to the hospital bed where the sat on the edge. "Those songs you chose... they were really meaningful. Here, I want you to really listen to this one" he said as he handed her an earbud. They each put one in their ear as Lucas pressed "PLAY".

Flashback: Lucas fell asleep to the beginning of Peyton's mix and woke up to Butterfly Boucher's "Another white dash". There is something exciting about leaving everything behind... something about having everything you think you'll ever need sitting in the seat next to you and I watch another white dash... fly beside us. That's when Lucas concocted a plan for the summer after graduation.

"Another white dash, another white dash, another white dash; I drift off for ages". The lyrics reverberated through the tiny speakers in the earbuds, leaving them both feeling electrically charged. "Peyton, listening to this song... it gave me an idea. You're the everything I need sitting in the seat next to me. So what are your plans after graduation?"

Peyton was speechless, it was such a sweet plan. "My plans are your plans. You could whisk me away to any destination and I would be happy."

"Great", Lucas nibbled on her neck. "we don't even need a destination, let's go where the music takes us".

"Let's do it." Lucas noticed Peyton's sketchbook peeking out of her bag. "You're drawing again? Great!"

"Well not exactly, you give me the inspiration to sketch, so I figured I could hang out and draw. Is that alright?"

"Go right ahead, you know - I love watching you draw".

They spent the rest of the night talking and watching the television mounted up on the wall. She didn't feel any pressure to create anything, she just let the pen flow. Unaware of what exact feelings she was transferring onto the paper she put her pen down and dropped the pad to the floor. She stepped back to look at it farther away. It was perfect.

Flashback: State championships, the ravens are victorious. Lucas and Peyton catch each other's glance and he knows. They kiss and it's as if the entire world stops and it's just them.

It's about 1 in the morning and Lucas suggests that Peyton goes home to get some rest. Neither wants to let the other go but Lucas will be released in a few hours anyway. Peyton hands Lucas her masterpiece as she grabs her jacket and gets ready to go.

"Peyt..." Lucas scoffs. "I've never seen anything like it". As Lucas further examined the outstanding piece of art, he fell a little bit more in love with her. It was him and Peyton after the championship. Their arms enveloping each other. Forget the game, it was a championship kiss. She had such a talent for making the drawing come to life. Surrounding them were thousands of pieces of confetti decending around them and spelling out the phrase "it's perfect".

Save the tatas is a company which gives a portion of every sale to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I just picked up mine last night.
For more information, visit: www . savethetatas . com / mission . htm (without the spaces, of course).

©Greene 2006-2007