Notes: Sorry for the delay but real life is a bitch, as we all know.So am I...a feedback bitch,that is.

I often dream of a door. Sometimes the door is grey, other times the door is green or red. But the door is always half closed…or half open, depending on the way you see things. So the door is half-closed but I can see few things inside. I see my mom and my dad smiling, sometimes I see myself, riding a red skateboard. I never had a red skateboard; I had a cracked black one. A few times I've even see Haley with Nathan. They're happy and smiling, just like everyone else. And every time, I really want to be in there with them.

I start walking and as I get closer, the door starts to close. And when I'm two feet away, the door has shut and no matter how hard I try, it won't open. At first, I wanted the door to be open so I can go and join them but not anymore. Now I just want the door to be closed from the beginning, that way I'll never see what's inside.

I just want the door to be closed...to stay closed.

"So, tell me again what are we doing here, dawg?" Skillz asked Lucas for the third time. They had been in the same CD store for the past twenty minutes and although Skillz loved Lucas…he wasn't sure he loved him enough to miss lunch.

"I told you, I want to buy Peyton a CD," Lucas didn't even look up from the stack of CDs he was looking through. When Peyton's father had asked them to come for dinner, he had stand still and watched the older man leave. Couple of hours ago, Larry had stopped by the café and asked Lucas to join him and Peyton for dinner one night. Sure Lucas wanted to see Peyton, but he wasn't sure if she wanted to see him. But he figured even if she didn't want to see him, she would love to hear the new album by The Killers, and that's why he and Skillz were now hunting around the store. The only problem was, some guy had just bought the last copy of the album before Lucas had the chance.

Lucas knew that he was late and having Skillz ask him the same question over and over again added to his already tense nerves. He tried to think what of Peyton would like to hear but the answer to that question was never easy. Who knew for sure what kind of music Peyton was into these days?

"What about that?" Skillz offered to help and Lucas laughed when he saw what Skillz was holding.

"She's not dead, man. Although, I really doubt that she would listen to this even if she was dead."

"Just buy somethin'. I'm starving," Skillz said but his gaze fell to a girl wearing the tightest jeans he had ever seen.

Lucas on the other hand was so into his search that he didn't take notice of the girl eyeing him from head to toe. He didn't pay attention to Skillz comments either because he had found the perfect gift for Peyton. It was their secret…well, it wasn't a secret but not many knew about that Peyton had a thing for boys wearing makeup, so when he looked into David Bowie's androgynous face he knew that he had found what he was searching for.

He was glad to see that despite the double CD and the bonus DVD, the price was still low enough, allowing him to buy something else if he wanted to. He took a look at the time and decided that the only thing he was going to buy was flowers on his way to Peyton's house. Lucas paid for the CD, and even though he doubted it would happen, he made sure Peyton could exchange the CD if she had it already or if she didn't like it.

"Oh, man. We're so late," Lucas said as he and Skillz headed out to his car.

"So," Skillz said after a couple of minutes in silence, "You and skinny girl," he left his phrase open, waiting to see what would Lucas say, or if he would say anything at all.

"What?" Lucas looked at him for a second before turning his attention back to the road, "You asking me if Peyton and I are together? Dude, we're not. Okay? I love Brooke. I love her Skillz."

"Hey dawg, don't jump at your man here a'ight?. You say ya love Brooke and I believe ya, okay?"

"Yeah," Lucas let out a heavy sigh, "I just wish she would believe me too."

Skillz said nothing in return. He watched Brooke and Lucas and he watched Peyton and Lucas…to him the latter connection was more than obvious, but it was Luke's decision not his. If Luke said he loved Brooke, Skillz would accept his friend's word.

"You gonna win her back?" he asked when Lucas parked outside the Sawyer house.

"Yeah, I'm gonna…I'm gonna win her back, yeah. But things are all weird right now, with Peyton's attack and all that. I'll give Brooke some time to calm down, you know? She's taken this really hard Skillz," they both stepped out of the car and walked quickly fast to the house. All day the sky was dark and that moment it chose to start raining.

"Aren't you surprised that Peyton asked to see ya today?" Skillz suddenly asked and Lucas smiled before knocking on the front door.

"Skillz, I'll be surprised if Peyton knew about us coming for dinner before we knew."

Larry opened the door and the conversation stopped. Both Lucas and Skillz thanked Larry for the invitation and Skillz gave him the chocolate cake he was holding, making Larry grin widely.

"Peyton loves dark chocolate, thank you ah, Skillz?" He was truly confused. He didn't know the boy, Peyton had so many friends and Larry's job kept him away most of the time. He was better than the Pete boy, unless he had a tattoo somewhere.

"Yeah, dawg, I mean…Mr. Sawyer," Skillz said with embarrassment. He didn't want to give the wrong impression here but Larry just smiled.

"That's okay Skillz, I'm 'dude' most of the time anyway," he smiled at Skillz and then he called Peyton's name but he didn't get an answer. "I don't know if she's sleeping or if she has her headphones on. Better go see."

"My fault," Lucas said and help up the CD he had brought for Peyton as he started toward the stairs.

"By the way, you'll have to wait five or ten minutes for dinner," Larry's voice was apologetic and both boys rushed to say that they didn't had a problem with that before continuing to Peyton's room.

Skillz followed Lucas since he had never been to Sawyer house before. He could tell that they were not loaded but they definitely did well. Most of the things were new, like the TV set or the home cinema. He remembered what had happen and stopped himself from making a comment to Luke. The TV was new because someone had stolen the old one.

And hurt Peyton in the progress.

"Peyton? Peyt?" Lucas called before opening the door to Peyton's bedroom. He was surprised to find the door closed and stood there for a few moments, not knowing if it was okay to step inside without an invitation from Peyton.

"Are ya going in, dawg, or what?"

"Yeah…yeah," Although there was a part of him that felt like he shouldn't be going into her room, a part of him that felt like he was intruding, he chose to turn the knob and push the door open anyway. It had been a while since Luke last stood in Peyton's room and the first thing he noticed was that the walls had been painted a different color. His first instinct was to remark on the fact that Peyton's room was always changing, but he thought better of it when he considered the reason behind the new paint job.

"Hey Luke," he heard her voice right next to him and jumped instinctively. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you"

It was the first time he had seen her in ten days and she looked…better than before. The bruises of her face had faded to a light green and swelling around her nose had gone down drastically. Her eyes still had dark circles under them, however Lucas was glad to see that the old spark was back. His Peyton was back and he couldn't be happier about that.

"What's up homewrecker?"

"Hey Skillz, enjoying yourself?" she smiled and Lucas frowned when he saw her limping a little.

"Is your leg okay?" that wasn't the way he planned to greet the friend he had been longing to see for almost two weeks, but he couldn't stop the concern that invaded his mind when he saw her limping. For him it was just instinct to make sure she was okay.

"I'm glad to see you too," she said, and sensing that she probably didn't want him to start the investigation right away, Lucas hugged her.

"Now," he said after he pulled back from the hug, "Is your leg okay?"

Peyton laughed. "Dude, you are unbelievable."

"Ya better answer his question. The brother can be a real pain in the ass, if ya know what I mean?" Skillz walked between them, holding a record in his hands. "Nina Simone, the girl has taste dawg," and elbowed Lucas with his left arm.

"Kids, food is ready," Larry informed them from downstairs.

TBC...