Karen Roe hummed to herself as she went about the daily chores of upkeeping a house. There were always dishes to be done, laundry to be folded and something to be dusted. She didn't mind. She wasn't an exact neat freak but keeping a house in respectable order was part of what made it a home. That was important to her. For 18 years she had made a home and a life for herself and her son. Now there was another child on the way. She smiled a bittersweet smile as the little baby growing inside her kicked at her belly. Her love and the child's father, Keith, was dead. But he would live on in all of them. Those were the thoughts that sustained Karen in her deepest hours of need and uncontrollable sadness. Those thoughts along with her son, Lucas, the one person who had always been her rock.

She worried about him. That's just what mothers did. He had always been there for her. When he was just five or six and business was sparse in the café and Karen was exhausted after long hours of being on her feet, she'd smile and fight back tears of love and pride as little Lucas tried to help out by drying a dish or doing something as simple as putting away the ketchup bottles. Over the years as she raised him to be a confident, caring, thoughtful young man, he had become her protector, confidant and best friend. As usual, he was always there for her, especially in the wake of Keith's untimely death. Lucas had somehow managed to hold it together, even in his own grief.

Now he was going through something of his own. Karen had never quite seen her boy like that and it was scary. The mystery of Peyton Sawyer's disappearance had taken a toll on the whole town, especially those closest to her. All Lucas' passion, time and energy had been focused on finding out what happened to her. But it was taking a bigger toll on him.

"Knock, knock", she managed a smile, standing at his doorway.

He looked up and rubbed his eyes, motioning her to come in.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hey yourself. How are things going?"

"I'm fine", he shrugged. "How's the kid?"

They both smiled. Just the mention of the baby was enough to lighten any mood.

"Your little brother or sister is doing just fine."

"Mom, you sure you don't want to do the ultrasound to find out the sex?"

"What can I say? I like surprises."

He touched her stomach, grinning as tiny feet kicked from the inside.

"I like them, too."

"You look so tired, my boy", she gently rubbed his face. "How are you?"

"Good. Larry and I talked to a few more people yesterday and the website if getting a lot of hits. I also talked to Detective Shelton again and…"

"I asked how you were", she cut him off mid sentence.

"Mom…"

"What? You know I care about Peyton as much as the next person. Any progress is great news as far as I'm concerned but I was asking about you, not the case. How are you?"

He sighed heavily.

"I'm fine."

"You sure? You don't look fine."

"Well, I am."

"Honey, you look like crap."

"Thanks, Mom", Lucas chuckled. "I appreciate the confidence booster."

"That's not what I meant. But you're so pale. You have bags underneath your eyes."

"I'll be okay."

"It's because you're tired. You're not getting enough sleep."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Mom, I got like nine hours of sleep last night. I laid down before midnight."

Karen crossed her arms and gave him a knowing look.

"It wasn't a very peaceful sleep. How many times did you get up during the night? I must have heard you pacing for hours."

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

"Lucas, don't apologize to me. I'm just worried about you. I know how important this case is but you can't get so wrapped up that you stop taking care of yourself."

"I know. It's just there is so much going on."

"Any good news?"

He shook his head sadly.

"Not really."

"Have faith", she rubbed his arms. "We just have to believe it's all gonna be okay."

"Every single day that passes with no new leads and no sign of Peyton makes me lose my faith little by little."

"You are doing all you can and that's all you can do. I'm proud of you."

"I'm not proud of me."

"Why not?" Karen's eyes widened.

"Because as much as we do, none of it is good enough if we can't find her."

"Lucas…"

"Mom, this is so hard. It's killing me. I can't help it, I think about it all the time. It's all I think about. When I try to have a normal life and eat and sleep and God forbid actually relax or try to have a little fun, my mind just goes right back to Peyton. Is she hungry? Does she have somewhere to sleep at night? Is she safe? Is she scared? Is she…man, I can't even say it but sometimes…"

"What? Talk to me, sweetie."

"That's why I can't sleep at night. I close my eyes and that thought creeps into my mind. Is Peyton even alive? I can't handle that, Mom. You don't know what that feeling does to me. I can't let myself think like that. So I get up and I try to be positive and I focus my energy somewhere else."

"I am sorry this happened. Most of all I'm sorry for Peyton but I'm sorry for you, too. I hope we find her and I hope it's soon and that she's alive and well. But I won't lie to you. That might not be the case but whatever happens, you did your best, Lucas."

"That's not good enough."

"Yes, it is. You cared when no one else did. You're the one responsible for putting all the publicity and the search efforts together. And you're so helpful to Larry. No matter what, you have done your best. You give your all and who could ask for anything more? I am proud of you. Larry is proud of you. You should be very proud of yourself. I have raised an incredible young man. You have a beautiful heart. And whatever the end result may be, I know Peyton is going to know she had an amazing friend who loved her very much and did everything to find her."

He let out a tired sigh.

"Thanks, Mom."

"What's on the agenda today?"

"The volunteers are going to do another foot search so I want to help with that."

"Okay. At least promise me you'll eat something before you go."

"I will."

"Great. I'll make you a deal. You attempt to straighten up this pig sty of a room here and I'll head to the kitchen and work on the sandwiches."

Lucas managed a smile as his mother headed out.

"As long as it's Roast Beef, you're on", he winked.

"If that's what it takes to be able to see the floor in here again. When in the world did you get so messy?"

He shrugged as she closed the door behind her. He didn't feel like cleaning up but he had given his mother his word. Sifting through the massive piles, one by one he separated the items. Within 20 minutes, significant progress had been made and Lucas was quite satisfied with himself as he made his bed. The hamper was overflowing but there were still some socks under the bed. Bending down, he cleaned up the mess, taking notice when his hand brushed against something that wasn't clothing. Frowning, Lucas reached until the tips of his fingers grasped it and he pulled it out. To his surprise, it was a hand held digital audio recorder. It was in his room and under his bed but he hadn't remembered ever having one. Shrugging, he started at the beginning to listen. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for what he was about to hear.

He listened in shock. At first, it was just the sound of her voice. It was like hearing from a ghost. His throat went all dry as a lump formed in it. Suddenly it was hard to breathe and his knees felt weak. Sitting down, he listened intently. He could almost see her face as the words tumbled out. She talked about the present state of their friendship. She talked about the long and rocky road it had taken them to get there. The times they made out. Did he remember them? Hell yeah. But the physical part had never panned out into anything long term and meaningful like he had originally wanted. At first Nathan stood in their way, then Brooke. It was like time and circumstance would do anything to keep the two blonde star crossed lovers apart. She talked about all the times he had been there for her. Lucas closed his eyes and literally relived every memory as she explained it.

…Okay, now that I have taken you down two years of memory lane, I guess I can get to my point. What is my point? Yes, I do have one but it's hard. I have something to say to you, something I feel every day that has taken two years to express and I still can't find the words. Gosh, you have no idea how hard this is for me to say. It took a real long time for me to even admit this to myself, so how do I tell you now? I suppose it's a lot easier talking into a recorder instead of your face so I may as well blurt it out.

I, I love you, Lucas Scott? Okay? There it is. I love you. And I know you have that really confused look on your face right now and you're thinking that yeah, you love me too but I think we're talking about two different types of love here. I love you. I'm like in love with you. I said it. I am crazy, head over heels, googly eyed, doodling your name in all my text books, in love. And you know that's totally not me but it's the truth. You make me feel that way, Luke. I love all the things about you. I love the person you are. Your consideration and your thoughtfulness. I mean, who has a bigger heart than you? The way you stand up for what's right and the way you take care of me. It's really something else.

It's hard enough to put your heart on your sleeve and be vulnerable enough to admit this to one of your best friends but it's more than that. I'm scared, Lucas. I mean, I am scared of everything. What if you don't love me back? Where will that leave us? We've had our awkward moments before. What will it do to our friendship? Then I get even more afraid if you do feel the same way. People always leave me, Luke. You know that. Or maybe it's that I'm always pushing them away. You know, I used to get so upset because I felt like everybody in my life had disappointed me. One day I woke up and out of the blue realized, that hey, maybe I'm the disappointment. It sucks. It's a tough reality but one I have to face.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to lose you. That scares the holy hell out of me. It always has. It scares me to open up and let loose and just feel. I don't know how to do that. I don't know if I can be that person. I'm afraid to love and trust and be secure and just let my guard down. What if that isn't enough for you? What if it is too much?

A long time ago you told me you wanted me. Not just sex but a real, committed relationship. I looked at you like you were crazy and in classic dramatic P. Sawyer style, I stormed out. Pretty stupid, huh? When I came back to your house, the night that Brooke was already there, I came to tell you the truth. All those things you said you wanted? Well, I wanted them too and I wanted them with you. For the first time, I wasn't scared anymore. I was just too late.

The question is, is time finally on my, on our side? What's it gonna be? This is me. This is Peyton. This is how I feel. I take that back what I said before about always being disappointed by people because you're the one person that has never disappointed me. You always do the right thing and I respect that. So I'm wanting, I'm asking for our second chance. I don't know if it's still there but this is my shot and I figure it's worth it. I know you're worth it. I want you, Lucas Scott, with your broody, blue eyes and your sweet smile. I hope you accept me, Peyton Sawyer with my pure heart, flaws and all.

Well, I just dropped the bomb of all bombs and this is very unexpected and I have babbled entirely too much so hopefully you're listening to this while I'm on a plane or chilling at some industry party drinking Margaritas with P. Diddy and passing the salt to Justin Timberlake. I hope you listen to this and I hope you think about it and I hope we can talk about it. No matter what, you are still a great guy and no matter what happens, as long as the friendship still remains, as long as we are still in each other's lives someway, I'll be satisfied. Know what? This is a cliché and a half but I feel better already. It's good to get all these bottled up feelings off my chest.

Well, I'm gonna go now. About time, right? Take care and just have a great summer. I know I will. And now it's on to party and just live the rest of our lives. So I guess I'll be talking to you soon and even though the very thought makes me so nervous I want to puke, I really can't wait. So, um, I guess I'll be talking to you, Lucas. Bye.

And just like that, it was over. Holding the recorder in his hand, Lucas listened to it over and over again. Each time he felt surprise…he felt happiness. Based on the timeline she had eluded to, he could only guess she had brought it over the last time he saw her, the night before she was to depart. Had she left it on purpose? Had she chickened out at the last minute and dropped it accidentally? That would certainly explain the location in which he had found it. But the hows and the whys and the wheres didn't matter. The only thing that did was the words he had heard straight from her mouth. But Lucas couldn't react. He couldn't think or talk or even feel. All he could do was sit there absolutely stunned.