Lucas slowly turned his head from side to side, stirring in his restless sleep until his blue eyes finally fluttered open. The room was quiet, lit with the sun's afternoon rays that peeked through the curtain and blinds. For a second he thought he was alone but he quickly saw he wasn't. As always Peyton was right there. She had barely left his side and for that, he had been grateful. She worried about him and he worried about her as well but as long as they were together, they could and would overcome anything. A smile crept to his lips as he watched her looking so beautiful standing by the window.

"Looks like the clouds have disappeared," he noticed. "Maybe it won't rain today."

Peyton turned and looked over towards him.

"You're awake."

"It's after eleven," Lucas noted. "It's about time. I practically slept the whole morning away."

"It's alright. You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you up. Besides, you need your rest."

"It's the medicine that makes me really tired."

She walked over to him and took a seat in the chair directly beside his bed.

"You feeling okay?"

"I feel fine, much better now that you're here. You remember what the doctor said?"

"That if everything goes okay, you'll be ready for discharge in a couple of days."

"That's right. I can't wait. I've seen enough of this place. I'm ready to go home, get back to Tree Hill."

"Yeah."

"What about you?" he asked. "Are you ready, Peyt?"

She sighed, a barrel of mixed emotions.

"I don't know. I mean, we can't stay here forever. Knoxville isn't home. I have a lot of bad memories here but this hospital is the one place I've felt safe in the last two months. Of course I want to go back to North Carolina but a part of me is scared. That's where everything happened, that's where it started. Derek kidnapped me from my own house."

"Are you gonna be okay? Are you gonna be able to handle going back?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess. It's not like I have a choice. Tree Hill is where I live. Derek has already taken so much from me. I can't let him have that, too."

"Maybe you should talk to someone. Maybe a counselor or someone like that could help…"

"I don't know," Peyton quickly interrupted him. "I mean, I guess. They gave me some numbers of people to talk to in Tree Hill and stuff."

"And? You think that will be a good idea?"

"I don't know. I might give it a try. We'll see."

Her eyes nervously darted around the room and Lucas could sense her apprehension so he decided to drop it for the moment. He cared deeply for Peyton and her well being was his number one priority. She had suffered through and survived a traumatic experience. She would need a lot of help to get through it all and he intended to be there for her every step of the way.

"Okay. Whatever you want, whenever you're ready."

"Thanks…"

"What about your dad? Is Larry gonna be hanging around for a while?"

Peyton nodded.

"Yeah. He's on a leave of absence from work. He isn't planning on taking any jobs anytime soon."

"That's good. I'm glad he'll be around. You have a lot of people around who care and want to help take care of you. Your dad, me, my mom, Nathan, Haley, Brooke…"

Peyton smiled a real smile.

"Yeah, Brooke. I've seen her a few times."

"Me too. She visited for a while yesterday when you were gone. It was nice to have her around. Brooke really cares about you. She misses you, too. Maybe now your friendship can get back on the right track."

"I hope so."

He scooted himself up in bed wincing a little bit.

"Peyton, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Help me get up. I want to get out of bed for a while."

"Are you sure? Are you up to it?"

He smiled.

"I survived our little walk down the hall last night, didn't I?"

Peyton returned his grin.

"Yes, you did. You were amazing. You made it halfway back down without holding onto me or the rails."

"That's right. Tomorrow I'll be ready for the Boston Marathon. For now I could settle for going outside for some fresh air."

"I don't know, Luke. I know you're tired of lying around in bed and I know you're anxious to move around and get better but I want to make sure you're ready. You just had serious surgery. I don't want you overdoing things."

"Peyt…"

"What happens if you fall, huh? All that's gonna do is push back your rehab and discharge."

He sighed. She was right and he knew it.

"You sound like my mom. You two have been hanging out way too much."

"Your mom is a great lady and she's smart and she really cares about you. So do I, Lucas. I just want you to be alright."

"I'm gonna be," he pulled her close. "We all are."

They were face to face, blue eyes staring passionately into green ones. He lovingly stroked the side of her face, pulling her in for a kiss but Peyton quickly turned her head.

"I'm sorry…" she looked away.

"Don't apologize. It's okay."

"Lucas…"

"Listen, I'll make you a deal. We can compromise, right?"

She gave him a small smile.

"Uh oh. What do you have in mind?"

"I want out of bed and you don't want me to walk so how about going for a spin in my wheelchair? It'll be fun. We can even get creative with it, you know, pop a couple of wheelies, hey, I'll even let you sit on my lap," he suggestively raised his eyebrows.

"You're too much, you know that?"

"Yeah but I'm cute."

"You are cute."

"Does that mean I win?"

She stood and sighed, hands on her hips.

"This time."

She carefully leaned over to help him out of the bed.

"Whoa," he joked. "I feel a draft somewhere. Damn these backless hospital gowns. Don't peek."

"I'm not peeking."

He frowned.

"Why aren't you peeking?"

She helped him up as he placed one arm around her and one hand on the surface of the bed for support.

"You okay?" she asked softly.

"You got me?"

She smiled and nodded, looking right at him.

"I've got you."

"Then I'm okay," he answered before letting out a little yelp.

"Oh my God! Lucas, are you alright? What just happened?"

He gave her a devilish grin.

"I'm good. Just checking to see if you were paying attention."

"Lucas Eugene Scott!"

"Yikes, breaking out all three names. That cannot be good. Sorry, just a little ICU humor."

"Ha ha. You are so not funny," she grumbled.

They were in the middle of making the transition from bed to chair when a cheery nurse knocked and entered the room.

"Good morning. Off so soon, Mr. Scott?"

"You caught us in the middle of going for the big escape."

She wheeled over a cart filled with sterile medical supplies.

"Not until we complete you're a.m. dressing change," she replied, assisting him in the proper position to clean and bandage his surgical scar.

"Um, I could wait outside…" Peyton volunteered.

"No need, dear. You're not in the way. As long as Mr. Scott says it's alright for you to stay."

Lucas grabbed Peyton's hand.

"It's okay. I want you here."

She nervously shifted her weight, squeezing Lucas' hand hard as the nurse gently opened the front of Lucas' gown. Peyton closed her eyes immediately, knowing she shouldn't look but curiosity got the best of her. And the sight before her literally took her breath away. The sutures still remained in the one inch scar from the surgeon's scalpel and near it was the opening through which the near fatal bullet had entered.

"You're healing well," the nurse commented.

Tears filled Peyton's eyes as she suddenly felt the urge to be sick.

"Does it hurt?" she asked Lucas.

"It can get pretty sore. The pain meds help. But I'm okay. I don't want you worrying about me."

"Will his scars ever heal?" she asked the nurse.

"Eventually."

Lucas looked up and saw the pained look on Peyton's face. He winked at her, rubbing the palm of her hand.

"What's the matter? You act like you've never seen a gunshot wound before. Look at it this way, now we have matching bullet holes."

Peyton jerked away her hand and fled the room, making up some excuse about needing to use the restroom all the while ignoring Lucas' apologies saying he was just trying to lighten the mood. She ran all the way to the end of the hall where she practically collided with Nathan, Haley and Dan Scott, who had just arrived.

"Is everything okay?" a concerned Haley asked.

Peyton struggled to catch her breath.

"It's fine. He's fine. He's just getting a dressing change. You guys can wait by the door and the nurse will let you in. She's almost done."

"Are you feeling better, Peyton?" Dan inquired.

"Yeah. Um, thanks for asking."

He nodded.

"I'm glad to hear that. I, I'm very sorry about everything that happened to you and I'm glad you're safe now. I wish you a full and speedy recovery."

"Thank you."

It was a much different Dan Scott post his brother's murder and Karen's pregnancy. The difference was like night and day from the selfish, ruthless man Peyton had known only two years prior when she had dated Nathan.

"Haley…" he put his arm around his daughter in law and let her lead the way.

"You coming?" Haley asked Peyton.

"What? Oh yeah. Um, yeah. I, I'll be there in a minute."

Dan and Haley proceeded down the hall as Nathan looked back to see Peyton shaking.

"You two go in. I'll catch up in a second," he nodded towards his father and wife.

"I'm fine," Peyton said when he walked back towards her.

"You don't look fine."

"Well, I am."

He chuckled in spite of the situation.

"All these years later and I can still tell when you're lying. What's up, Peyton? You know you can talk to me."

She exhaled, wiping at her eyes.

"I don't know. I guess I kind of got freaked out in there. I, um, I saw the nurse take care of Luke's wounds and it really got to me."

"I know what you mean. Not everybody can handle that kind of stuff. After my car accident when they did my surgery it was weeks before I could look at the scar. It grossed me out."

Peyton shook her head.

"It was more than that."

"What do you mean?"

She couldn't stop the tears.

"It just hit me all of a sudden. I thought back to that night at the motel. I sent Lucas that text because I knew that if he got it, he would come. I mean, that's just what he does, right? Derek used to call him the hero, the savior, the white knight in shining armor. He was right. Lucas is a good guy and he always does the right thing. He always saves me and I knew in my heart he would that night."

"Okay. What's wrong with that?"

"It was selfish, so incredibly selfish and stupid of me. I was afraid to call the police because I knew Derek was a walking time bomb and I was so scared of this massive shoot out or whatever but it was just as dangerous to call Lucas. I did and he came and he showed up with my father and you. Derek had a gun and he was crazy. You nearly got your brains bashed in and Luke took a bullet for me. All three of you risked your life to save mine. That wasn't fair."

"Peyton…"

"No! Don't try to make me feel better because you can't. I am racked with guilt, okay? I put you all in a horrible position. What if something had happened to my dad? Or you? What if Derek had killed you? How in the hell would I explain that to Haley? You're her husband and you're about to be a father. I already lost two moms and I almost caused that little boy Haley is carrying to be born without a dad."

"Peyt, slow down. Look, all that stuff you just said? Yeah, you're right. You're exactly right. It was dangerous and it could have been a lot worse. But it wasn't. I don't know if that is luck or fate or God or whatever but for some reason, it turned out the way it did. I'm glad I was able to walk away and I'm glad Larry wasn't hurt and I'm glad my brother is going to be okay. But I'm also glad you're alright."

"But…"

"Listen, we all came after you because you were in need of saving. Derek kidnapped you and beat you and was planning to take you God knows where. All summer we looked for you, putting up fliers and talking to the papers and the news. We just wanted you home safe. When we got that text, it was like some kind of miracle. Time was running out and we did what we had to do. We knew it was dangerous but at the time, nobody really gave a shit either. And nobody twisted my arm or Lucas'. We just wanted to do the right thing. Thank God, we're all alive to talk about it because yeah, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. But it wasn't. You can't spend the rest of your life feeling guilty about that. You've got enough to deal with."

"When Jimmy brought the gun to school that day and you ran back into the building, you did it because your wife was inside. That's understandable. Lucas was just my friend and look what he did to find me. It's the same thing."

"It's like you said. That's just the kind of guy he is."

"I don't get it. I don't deserve it."

"I'm always telling Haley to quit playing match maker and stay out of other people's business but I have to say this. You're not stupid, Peyt. Lucas loves you. He always has. The reason I ran into that school for Hales is the same reason he did it for you and the same reason he came here to Knoxville. He did it for you. He had too because if he didn't and something had happened to you, that would have been on his conscience for the rest of his life. I don't think his heart could stand that. I know mine couldn't."

She shook her head.

"I saw that nasty scar where that bullet ripped into his stomach and it I knew it was all because of me."

"I know how you feel. I know you're scared. You were with that psycho for over a month and a half. I was only there that last night and I still have nightmares. It's probably gonna bother me for a long time but we're all just gonna learn how to deal with it, live with it. I know I can't tell you what to do and I know the last thing you want to hear is that it's gonna be alright. All I can do is be here for you and be your friend. All our wounds are gonna heal and eventually so will our hearts."

Peyton began to sob.

"I don't know how to handle this," she cried, collapsing in Nathan's arms as he held her close.

"Neither do I," he sighed. "We just do it the best way we know how. We just try to do it together."