Grr… practice ACT exam tomorrow. Every other grade gets to skip school. This isn't fun. I hope you enjoy this update more than I'll enjoy tomorrow:)

It wasn't the last time she saw him.

Peyton arrived at the airport a short time after, gasping for breath as though she'd just run a marathon. Her mind was clouded with thoughts. What if he's dead? What if he finds me? What if he kills me? She was shaking so much that she could barely hold her hand steady as she handed over the cash for her ticket.

She'd been lucky. There weren't many people flying from New York to North Carolina, so securing a seat had been easy. She only had to wait ninety minutes to board her flight. Getting out of town would be much easier than she thought.

It was when she was waiting in the security check line that she first saw him. He was running around the main lobby searching for her. He looked slightly beat up- there was a cut on the side of his head that was bleeding freely and he was limping. Serves him right. Peyton prayed that he wouldn't see her. As long as she got past security unnoticed, she'd be okay.

She wasn't that lucky.

She stepped through the metal detector, her heart pounding. There was a brief silence, followed by a beeping noise above her and a small flashing red light. A guard pulled her back to the other side, and as he did Peyton looked back toward the lobby.

Kyle was looking straight at her.

She pretended like she didn't see him and turned her attention to the guard. He was busy trying to figure out what had set the alarm off. In almost an instant he noticed the cause of the problem: her heavy belt buckle. She pulled it off hurriedly and was about to walk back through the detector when she heard a yell.

"Stop her! Stop that stupid bitch! Don't let her through!"

Kyle was pushing his way through the long line, elbowing adults and children out of the way, screaming to the security guards. As he reached the front of the line he stretched his arm out to grab her, but a guard hopped in his way.

"Sir!" The guard was visibly angry. Peyton turned slightly on the spot, staring at Kyle through a tangle of hair. The guard pushed him back. "Get out of the line or we'll use force!"

Kyle struggled against the man holding him, his eyes not leaving Peyton. "No, no, no," he argued. "This one- that blonde girl- she nearly killed me. She stole my money! She's the one you want!" He was panting now, his eyes glinting madly. Peyton turned all the way around, keeping her eyes glued to the floor.

A second officer glanced at Peyton. "That true, m'am?" he asked in a gruff voice. Peyton glanced up for a moment. Everyone in the line was staring now. The officer tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "M'am?"

Peyton looked up at Kyle. He was still staring at her, looked alight with malice. She bit her lip, trying to think of what to say. After a long moment, she squeaked out, "No." Kyle's eyes widened and the guard holding him glanced between them. Peyton cleared her throat and found her voice. "I don't know what this man's talking about. I've never seen him in my life."

Kyle gave a loud grunt and trying to run at her, but the guard merely pushed him back, this time with heavy force. "You stupid bitch!" Kyle screamed, spit spraying everywhere. He continued to fight against the taller man holding him but was unsuccessful. "You lying whore!"

The second guard rushed forward and helped the other. They pushed Kyle backward, then reached into their belts and pulled out their nightsticks. Almost instantly Kyle raised both hands in defeat, his eyes still on Peyton. She dropped her head and turned away from him, her face burning.

"You've got three seconds," she heard one officer say in an angry voice, "until we get reinforcements. I suggest you get the hell out of here."

Silence, and then the sound of running footsteps.

The guards both took their places on either side of her. The one who had been holding Kyle said, "Sorry about that. There are some crazy people out there, eh?" to which she gave a small laugh and a nod.

The guard nodded his head toward the other side of the detector and she walked through. There was no alarm this time. She was fine.

A little less than an hour later, Peyton was boarding the plane to North Carolina.

--

Lucas's day at school had been nothing eventful. He had to endure almost an hour of Brooke talking about Peyton's return, trying his hardest not to bring up that they'd been sharing a room for a few days. He'd simply nodded and said things like, "Wow!" every time she gave him another interesting face he already knew. He felt wrong lying to Brooke but at the same time he wanted to respect Peyton's wishes. He was sure Brooke would understand.

Most of the day his mind was on Peyton. He worried about her through every single class. He wondered what she was doing, whether she was okay, if she felt safe… At lunch he even contemplated going home to check on her. He was halfway to his car in the parking lot when he stopped. If you don't stop protecting her she's never going to get better.

Instead he'd spent lunch listening to Brooke tell Haley and Nathan all about Peyton's return. There was one moment where Nathan sent Lucas a fleeting look, but for the majority of the time he listened intently to everything Brooke said. Haley seemed absolutely ecstatic to have one of her best friends back.

"Maybe all three of us can have a girl's night?" she offered happily as Brooke recounted how Peyton hadn't been up to it. "I can bring free food from the Café!"

By the end of the day Lucas was exhausted. Between worrying about Peyton, lying to Brooke, and struggling to pay attention in math, he was ready to collapse in the middle of the hallway before he went home. But the thought of seeing Peyton again, of know for sure how she was holding up, gave him the energy to drive home. He was just climbing into his car when he heard footsteps. Turning, he saw Nathan walking toward the car.

"Hey man," Lucas grinned.

Nathan nodded at him. He stepped close to Lucas and leaned in, obviously not wanting to be heard. When he spoke, his voice was low. "So how long has Peyton been back?" he asked.

Lucas felt his stomach drop. He looked up at Nathan, his forehead creased. His heart was pounding. Nathan simply smiled.

"Dude, it was pretty obvious," he laughed. "When I saw you at the drug store, you were going down an aisle for hair care products. You haven't talked to anyone in three days. And now we find out that Peyton's back, staying at some mysterious motel that nobody knows about."

Nathan paused for a moment, crossing his arms, while his brother gaped. After his mom found out, Lucas had tried to be more cautious. He hadn't expected anyone to figure out that he'd been hiding Peyton. He wondered how much Nathan knew.

"Look, Nate," Lucas began awkwardly. "I know I should've told you guys. It's just that Peyton didn't want me to and I didn't want to disrespect that-"

Nathan held up a hand to stop him. "Luke, I really don't care," he said simply. "This doesn't affect me. And I can understand why you kept it from Brooke. If Peyton didn't want anyone to know she was back, it wasn't your place to tell." He took a step back from Lucas, shifting his backpack from his right shoulder to his left. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm not going to say anything. This can be between me and you. See you tomorrow."

--

When Lucas arrived in his room Peyton was sound asleep on his bed. He noticed that she looked slightly sweaty and that her shoes were thrown on the floor, along with his i-Pod. He assumed she'd gone out for a walk, maybe even a run. As far as he could tell she looked fine.

"Guess you can do okay with out," he murmured as he walked past the bed. Peyton rolled onto her back and gave a small snore.

Lucas entered the kitchen and immediately hurried to the pantry, his stomach growling. Karen would be working all day but had left him money to order a pizza. He wanted to wait until Peyton woke up to order, so he could give her a chance to choose what to put on it. Maybe pineapples and bologna, he thought, remembering their discussion about how she'd lived on pizza after her mom died.

It wasn't until he was halfway through making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he noticed a red light flashing on the answering machine. He walked to the machine, taking a large bite from his snack. There was one new message from an out-of-area call.

Feeling curious, Lucas reached down and hit play on the machine. For the first few seconds he could hear what sounded like a car driving and someone grunting. Then a harsh voice cut in.

"Peyton? Are you there? Listen, I found this number in your phone book. Some guy named Lucas Scott. If you're there, pick up the phone! You can't keep running away from me after what you did. Stop being a coward and get your skinny ass back home, or so help me God I will hunt you down and do it myself."

It didn't take three seconds for Lucas to realize who was calling. He quickly hit the 'Delete' button on the machine. If Peyton's ex-boyfriend wanted to hunt her down, he'd have to get past Lucas first. Making sure the message was completely erased, Lucas stepped away and began to put the peanut butter away. He was just closing the cabinet when the phone rang. The shrill sound caused Lucas to jump. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw that it was once again an out-of-area call.

He picked up anyway.

Lucas didn't say anything at first and didn't hear anything on the other end. It was complete silence for a few second, and then he heard a heavy breathing. Seconds later, a man's gruff voice spoke.

"Peyton?"

Lucas swallowed. He could feel his heart pounding, his temperature rising. Anger was surging through every part of his body. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to speak.

"Leave her the hell alone, or so help me God I will hunt you down."

And he slammed the phone down.