A/N; alrightey guys! I'm back! Lol. Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed! Your kind words meant so much to me, and I do appreciate all of them. So thank you. This is about a week later than I planned, and I apologize. But, it's SUMMER! Before my senior year, too, so honey, I'm making the most of it. Plus, I have the most kick-$$ tan EVER. Gotta love jetski's and houses on the lake (: SO. I'm just redicly in love with the fact that it's SUMMMMEEERRRRR! Hope y'alls is going good!
"HALEY JAMES!" Lucas boomed out, as he saw her in the cafeteria.
"Yessssss? And don't you mean Scott?" Haley responded.
"Are. You. Freaking. BLIND?" Lucas asked, pausing after each word for emphasis.
"What?"
"THE NOTE!" Lucas said, while holding it up. "Peyton left a NOTE, in case somebody stopped by. How did you not see it?
"Ohhhh, I guess I didn't see it. I'm sorry Lucas, If I had seen it, then you wouldn't have had a freaking heart attack…" Haley said, realizing what she had, or really hadn't, done.
"Oh it's okay Haley, I really didn't see it either." Lucas said, as he pulled his best friend in for a hug.
"So when does Peyton get to come home? Haley asked.
"They're thinking tomorrow, she is ready to get out of here." Lucas said.
"Oh I bet she is!" Haley responded, while Lucas just nodded.
"Well Nathan is coming in for the weekend tonight, and Jamie is going over to Andre's for the night, and Nathan got reservations for us at Waterford's, so I better get going.
"Oh really?" Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow... "Bow chica bow wow" Lucas said, smirking.
"Hmm." Haley said, avoiding Lucas' eyes.
"Oh my word! You are so getting laid tonight!" Lucas said, shrieking like a little girl.
"Lucas! I'm married!" Haley said.
"Hey," Lucas said, raising his hands up in surrender. "At least somebody can." Lucas mumbled to himself.
"Yeahhh, that cast gets in the way, doesn't it?" Haley asked, recalling her senior year, after being hit by a car, and being stuck in a cast for 8 weeks.
"You heard that?" Lucas asked, as his cheeks became redder than Christmas lights.
"Lucas, I've known you literally FOREVER, I don't have to hear everything you say to know what you're trying to say." Haley said, as she looped her arm around Lucas' waist.
"Hmm. I better get back up to Peyton, thanks for stopping by today," Lucas said, as he pulled his best friend in for a hug. "And have fun tonight" Lucas finished, as he wriggled his eyebrows.
"Oh you're welcome, and you know I will!" Haley said, in a seductive tone.
"Ewww! Whatever. Bye Hales!" Lucas said, as he turned to head to the elevator.
"Bye Lucas!" Haley said, as she headed out the door.
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"So, you're sure you comfortable?!" Lucas asked.
"Yes, Lucas, I'm fine!" Peyton said, becoming agitated with Lucas, as every single time Peyton moved, he was asking her if she was okay, or if she needed something, or if she was comfortable.
"Okay, okay!" Lucas replied, as he raised his hands in surrender. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I know, and that's what I love about you."
And the truth is, she really did love it.
Every time they went anywhere, weather it was to go get groceries our eating at the oceanic, he was always opening her car doors, and helping her into her seat. And when the maitre d' would take too long helping her, or when the waiters would be just a little too nice to her, and she could see the jealousy in Lucas' eyes, she fell in love with him even more.
Or just the little things Lucas would do. When he would go out for a run in the morning, he would fix her coffee and put it in a thermos and sit it beside her side of the bed, so when she woke up she would have her coffee.
"Luke, I was thinking…" Peyton said.
"Yeah?" Lucas said, turning all his attention to her.
"Can we wait until I'm out of here before we tell everybody? About, ya know, him." Peyton said, as she placed her hand on her still flat stomach.
"Sure, that's fine. Just tell me when though, and I'll be shouting it on the rooftops, okay?" Lucas says, then adds, "or her."
"Huh?" Peyton asks.
"You said, 'about him'. It could be a her, too, ya know." Lucas says, and can't stop the enormously large grin from coming across his face.
"So have you done the math yet?" Peyton asked, as she intertwined Lucas' and hers fingers.
And Lucas didn't even have to ask what she meant.
Lucas looked up, and the icy blue met the emerald green.
And at the same time, they both said it. "Charlotte."
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"Peyt? Honey, we better get going if we're going to meet Jamie and Haley before the game." Lucas shouted up the stairs to Peyton, who was still getting ready.
'Good grief, it's just a basketball game, how long can she take?' Lucas thought to himself, as he sat back down on the couch.
"Okay Luke, I'm ready" Peyton said, as she walked down the stairs.
"Well it's about ti-"Lucas stopped mid-sentence, as his eyes found his fiancé. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs, putting her scarf on. She was wearing his favorite pair of dark jeans that were tucked inside of her brown leather boots, with a green top that hung on her body in all the right places, and had a cream pea-coat for the chilly weather that would be in charlotte once the sun had set.
"You, look…" Lucas tried to find the right word, but couldn't exactly find it.
"incredible doesn't even begin to cover it" Lucas growled in her ear, as he snaked his arms around her body.
"Well. You don't look so bad yourself," Peyton said, as she eyed her fiancé. He was wearing charcoal pants and a baby blue button-down shirt.
"Here's my bag." Peyton stated, as she handed it to Lucas.
"Ughhhh!" Lucas sighed, as he threw his head back. He knew this was Peyton's way of stopping something they really shouldn't start.
"Now go! Remember we have to meet Haley and Jamie before the game, and I don't want to miss kick off!" Peyton said, swatting Lucas' butt.
"It's tip off!" Lucas said, walking out the door.
"What?" Peyton responded, completely clueless to what Lucas was saying.
"Never mind, let's just hit the road." Lucas said, once their bags were in his Yukon Denali. Lucas and Peyton still had their vintage cars, and Peyton had bought him a BMW Z4 roadster for his 25th birthday, but his publishing company gave him a Yukon, and who's going to turn down a free car?
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Once Lucas and Peyton pulled into the Time Warner Cable Arena parking lot, and showed their parking passes, Lucas couldn't help but admire the view as Peyton walked in front of him.
"LUCAS!" Peyton said, as she turned around.
"What?!" Lucas responded, trying to sound innocent.
"If you don't get your *butt up here right now," Peyton said as she stopped to wait for him, "I'll take you right here in this parking lot." Peyton growled in his ear as he caught up with her.
"We have to get the tickets…" Lucas said, giving her a taste of her own medicine, from earlier at the house, as they walked into the arena and headed for will call.
"You suck, you know that?" Peyton said, as she stuck her tongue out at him.
"2 tickets for Lucas Scott" Lucas told the lady at the will call window.
"Enjoy the game." The lady said, as she handed the tickets to Lucas with no emotion at all.
"But you love me." Lucas said, taking Peyton's smaller hand into his larger hand, getting onto the elevator.
"Yeah yeah" Peyton responded, rolling her eyes at him.
"Hey Haley! Hey jimmy-Jam!" Peyton called out, as she saw Jamie and Haley once she stepped off the elevator.
"Hey guys! I'm glad you found it!" Haley said, as she hugged her 2 best friends.
"Found it?" Lucas asked Haley
"Yeah, you know, the arena and all" Haley said as she gestured around her with her hands
"Hales, it's like, one of the biggest things in charlotte, I mean, even *I*could find it." Peyton said.
"Well, you know me. I'm like, directionally challenged or something!"
"Uncle Lucasssssssss lets goooooooooo!" Jamie called out, as he grabbed his uncle's hand, and pulled him toward their suites.
"Alright alright... the game's about to start anyway." Lucas said as he ushered Peyton through the door.
The game went well. The bobcats lead the whole game, and Nathan made the last shot at the end of the game, so the final score was 109 bobcats, 98 heat. Haley had taken Jamie back to the hotel where his babysitter met them, so Nathan and Haley and Lucas and Peyton could go out for drinks afterwards.
"Hey Peyt? Your usual?" Nathan asked as the gang walked into Revolutions, the hottest bar in charlotte.
"Yeah that'd be great." Peyton replied, as she and Haley grabbed a table.
"Don't worry about me, you know, you're actual WIFE, I'll be just fine" Haley said, as she glared at Nathan.
"Oh honey, I don't even have to ask. I always know what you want." Nathan replied, as he winked.
"Nice save" Haley replied, under her breathe. "I'm going to run freshen up right quick, while Nathan gets the drinks and Lucas parks, 'kay?" Haley asked
"Okay that's fine, Lucas should be in here in just a sec anyway" Peyton said.
"Ohhhh girl you are TOTALLY fine!" some sleazy guy said a few minutes later.
"I am totally TAKEN" Peyton said, in utter disgust, as she raised her left hand showing her diamond ring.
"Not for long" the guy replied huskily, as he grabbed her arm.
"Hey! Let go of me!" Peyton cried, as she tried to snatch her arm back, but with no avail.
"I think you, pretty lady, are coming with me." The guy said, as he went to pull Peyton up.
"I said let GO of me, you douche bag!" Peyton said, as most of the bar was now looking on at this situation that was arising.
"what did you call me? You, *itch, are coming with me" the guy growled out, as he straightened up to his full 6'2" height, showing Peyton that he was bigger than she was, and snatching her harder in the direction of the door
'Lucas, where are you?' Peyton said to herself, suddenly becoming afraid, as she realized this guy wasn't going to be buzzing off.
"I think my friends and I are going to have fun with-"his sentence was cut short as he was thrown up against the nearest wall.
"WHAT did you call her?" Lucas screamed, as he threw a punch into the guys face.
"I just thought-hey, it's chill..." the guy stammered out.
"First off, no, you obviously DIDN'T think, and second, it's NOT chill. You do not mess with any girl, especially MY girl!" Lucas said, as he continued to hold him up by the lapels of his shirt.
"What happened?" Nathan asked Haley, as he walked up with the drinks
"I don't know! I was walking out of the bathroom and I heard Peyton shout 'let go of me!' and by the time I got here Lucas was punching this dick" Haley responded.
Lucas was ready to give that guy another round of punches, but when he saw Peyton trembling in the corner of the booth, he threw the guy down and muttered something to him under his breath, and ran over to Peyton.
"Peyton, baby, are you okay?" Lucas asked, as he took a shaking Peyton into his arms
"He, he gr-grabbed me and, and, and, he was trying to ta-take me" Peyton stumbled out, clearly shaken up by the whole experience.
"Here, c'mere, I gotcha" Lucas said, as he stroked the back of her hair, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "Shhh, it's okay." Lucas said, trying to reassure her.
"The bouncers just threw that dick and his group of friends' outta here" Nathan stated, as he wrapped his arm around Haley protectively.
"Hey Luke?" Peyton asked, looking up at Lucas.
"Yeah?" Lucas asked, picking up Peyton's hand and kissing her knuckles
"Could we just go back to the suite and, just, relax a little?"
"Sure thing, Peyt." Lucas said, standing up and helping her up. "I guess we'll see you guys later, in that case" Lucas said, as he helped Peyton with her coat.
"Okay, I'm back in town next week, maybe we can try this again then?" Nathan said.
"Yeah, that sounds great. I'm sorry, I really don't mean to bail on ya, I know you got a babysitter and all …" Peyton said, hugging Haley.
"Hey, girly, don't worry about it it all. I'm so sorry this happened to you, if I hadn't have gone to the bathroom I would have been here to help you!" Haley said, as tears tickled her eyes.
"Oh no Hales, this is not your fault." Lucas said, hugging his best friend good-bye. "Hey little brother, can you do something for me?"
"Sure thing, bro. whatcha need?" Nathan asked, as he cracked his knuckles. If Lucas wanted him to punch somebody, he was going to be ready.
"Beat the living crap outta the LA Lakers, this weekend, okay?" Lucas said with a chuckle.
"You got it." Nathan said, laughing. "Alright Sawyer, you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. We'll see you guys later!" Peyton said, as her and Lucas walked out of the door.
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"Can I get you anything Peyt?" Lucas asked, as he held the door open to their hotel suite for Peyton to go in.
"Well, I'm going to take a hot bubble bath, but after that, I was thinking maybe we could do a little of this," Peyton whispered in his ear, and placed a kiss on his neck. Lucas immediately gasped for breathe, as Peyton pulled away.
"Mmm, I'm beginning to like this 'relaxing' thing," Lucas said, as he pulled Peyton in for one more kiss.
"Oh please" Peyton said, while rolling her eyes, as she walked away, with Lucas' hand falling across her stomach.
"Hey Luke? I love you, you know that, right?" Peyton called out, standing at the door to the bathroom.
"Yeah blondie, I know. And I love you too." Lucas said, and winked, as he flopped down on the bed, after removing his shirt.
"Good" Peyton said, as she slipped in the bathroom, with a smirk on her face.
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"You know, besides of high school psycho Derek, that was one of the scariest nights of my life. But it turned out to be fantastic, didn't it daddy?" Peyton said, emphasizing the word daddy, as she leaned back onto the hospital bed.
"Yes it did, didn't it?" Lucas said, as he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
"Mmm, I missed that." Peyton said, with her eyes closed.
"Well did you miss this?" Lucas asked, as he placed another kiss on her other cheek.
"Ohhhhh myyyyyy, yes" Peyton said, grabbing onto Lucas' lapels to pull him in.
"Hey buddy what's- OH MY EYES!" Brooke said, as she walked in the door and saw what was happening, or about to happen, on the bed.
"Brooke! What great timing you have!" Lucas said, sarcastically, as he got back in his chair.
"Whatever broody," Brooke said, as she brushed by Lucas. "How's my best friend doing today?"
"Well, I'm about the same as last time you asked, 20 minutes ago on the phone." Peyton said, with a frown on her face, but her eyes said that she was glad to see her.
"Okay broody, time for you to go coach your basketball team or work out or write another beastly novel or whatever it is you do, P. Sawyer has to help me with my wedding, and you can't be here." Brooke said, as she dropped the 3 bags and 2 notebooks onto the floor, and flopped down in the nearest chair.
"Oh really?" Lucas said, as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Now SCOOT!" Brooke said, flailing her arms around for effect.
"Hmm, well I guess Miss Davis- "
"Soon to be BAKER" Brooke cut in,
"Yes, miss Davis SOON TO BE BAKER, always gets what she wants. I do need to run to my office right quick, so I'll see you girls later." Lucas said, as he leaned down to kiss Peyton goodbye.
After Peyton deepened, or attempted to deepen the kiss, Brooke cut in.
"Hey! Hey! Keep it PG!" Brooke cried out.
"You, telling US, to keep it PG?" Peyton asked her friend skeptically.
"Well, you know. If you two get going, there's no stopping it, and I REALLY need some help here!" Brooke said.
"I'll see you later miss Sawyer, soon to be Scott." Lucas said, as he winked, and headed out the door.
"So what is so important that I have to help with Brooke?" Peyton asked Brooke, with a look of annoyance on her face.
"Oh, nothing too important for my wedding. But what are you going to do about yours?" Brooke asked.
"Mine? What's wrong with mine?" Peyton asked, completely dumbfounded.
"Well you know, with your, condition, and all" Brooke says, slowly and delicately, as she looks at the floor.
"My condition? Who told you?"
"P., honey, nobody told me, I can look at you and tell." Brooke says, taking Peyton's hand and holding it.
"Oh, am I that obvious?" Peyton said. She had heard, and seen pregnant ladies when they were 'glowing' but she didn't think she was that obvious.
"Babe, it's kinda hard to notice your lack of hair." Brooke said delicately, afraid that Peyton might blow up any second.
Once Brooke said that, Peyton let out a huge sigh of relief. It's not that Peyton didn't want to tell her, after all, she was her best friend, but she really wanted Lucas there with her when they told everybody.
"Well," Peyton begun, "Lucas said he didn't have a problem with it, and I don't so hey! One less thing we have to worry about on my wedding day." Peyton said with a shrug of her shoulder.
'Yeah, but this baby bump might be a slight problem' Peyton thought to herself.
"Oh goody! I was afraid of how that might go." Brooke cheerfully replied.
"Afraid? What were you afraid of?" Peyton asked.
"well, I was afraid you would get all Cosmo girl and not want to get married when you didn't have hair, so then you would have pushed back your wedding like a billion years and then you and Lucas might have a fight and call it off and then I wouldn't' have any God children named after me!" Brooke cried, becoming louder with everything she said, until she was almost squealing.
"Brooke, honey, all of this and you're worried about my children named after you?" Peyton asked, with a look of amusement on her face.
"Well, kinda not really though. But hey, you're Lucas and freaking Peyton! Nothing comes between y'all, not even that slutty, whore-ey, hoe, skank of an editor he has." Brooke said, using her arms for effects.
"Brooke…." Peyton said.
"Peyton! Seriously! I've never seen a chick flirt with a guy MORE!" Brooke cried out.
"I know, but hey. Look who's got the ring?" Peyton said, mischievously, as she raised her left hand.
"dang straight!" Brooke said. "Now, which frames do you like better for the table numbers? I was thinking these with the silver but…"
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Lucas was rummaging through his desk, when he heard his name called out.
"Hey coach!" Ryan, a rising junior on the team, with a tremendous amount of potential, said.
"Oh, hey Ryan." Lucas said, taking a seat.
"How's Miss Sawyer doing?" Ryan asked, as he took a step inside of his coach's office.
"She's doing great, actually. They both are. She's supposed to come home tomorrow if everything goes okay tonight." Lucas said, not even catching himself before he said 'they'. Peyton would kill him if the first person to know about the baby was a kid on his basketball team. But Ryan's greatest strengths were in basketball, not social skills, Lucas reasoned to himself.
"Oh that's great. So when are you going to come back? Coach Taylor and coach Gibbons are running us to death!" Ryan said, as he sighed.
"I'm not sure actually, probably the beginning of next week. So only a few more practices with them. I appreciate you stopping in and asking about Peyton, but I need to get a few things and then head back to the hospital, so I guess I'll see you next week?" Lucas said, trying to usher the boy out of his office.
"Yes sir, you will. Take care!" Ryan said, as he walked out of the office.
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"Good afternoon, Peyton!" Jessica, Peyton's nurse, said as she walked in the door.
"Oh, hey! How are you?" Peyton replied.
"I'm great! I see you've had your share of visitors today; I hope you've been getting your rest…" Jessica said, skeptically.
"Yes, Miss Jessica," Peyton said, while giggling.
"Good. I just need to check your stitches, and as long as your vitals and everything stays stable through the night, you'll be able to throw ya out tomorrow!" Jessica said, as she put on the sterile gloves to examine Peyton's cuts and stitches and all.
"Oh, great! I haven't seen the outdoors in the past, I-don't-know-how-many days! The sun does still shine, doesn't it?" Peyton asked, and tried to hide the laughter about to roar out of her throat.
"Yes, yes it does" Jessica said, joining in the laughter that had escaped from Peyton's mouth.
"So do you have any plans for this weekend?" Peyton asked, trying to keep her mind off of the pain that was coming from Jessica picking and probing at her cuts.
"Yes, I do actually! My granddaughter is coming to spend the weekend with me, and I'm really excited to see her. I declare, every time I see her, she has grown another foot!" Jessica said, with a shake of her head.
"Awh, that's sweet. She's a very lucky girl to have you as her grandmother. How old is she?"
"Annie, that's her name, is 5. Her birthday was last month, and her party was adorable. She just adores Mia Catalano, and she wanted a Mia party. The poor thing, she threw a fit when we went to a party store and they didn't have Mia plates, so we just made our own. Thank goodness for Google images!" Jessica said with a laugh.
"Really? Well, I'll have to get your address; I have something that she might enjoy." Peyton said, with a smirk.
"Awh, that's sweet of you. Well, looks like everything looks fine, the red-ness from your head cut has gone down, so any fear of infection is gone now. Looks good kiddo!" Jessica said, as she took off her gloves.
"Oh, that's great. OH, now THAT is great!" Peyton said, enthusiastically.
"What?" Jessica asked, but as she turned and saw Lucas walking in with a bag of French fries from French's, a pizza from Chubby's, and a milkshake from Cook-out.
"Ya'll kids have fun now" Jessica said, as she walked out of the room.
"What is all of this?" Peyton asked, as she dug into the French fries.
"Well, you couldn't go out, so I just brought your favorites in. I know we always celebrate today, no matter where we are, so… I thought this would have to do." Lucas said, as he took his hands into her.
"Today? What's so special about today?" Peyton asked, completely clueless.
"Honey, today's our 6th year anniversary. Well, not our technical one, but for the first time we met..." Lucas said, and Peyton could see the hurt in his eyes.
"Oh. Where did we first meet?" Peyton asked, and cocked her head to the side.
"By the river, remember, your comet broke down and I came and towed you in. remember the first thing I said to you?" Lucas said, with a smirk, as he remembered himself.
"Hi, my name is Lucas Scott?" Peyton tried, but as soon as she said it, she realized that it wasn't right.
"Peyton, baby, are you okay?" Lucas asked, all of a sudden becoming consumed with worry. "You don't' remember?"
"I'm sorry; I guess I just don't…" Peyton said, as she looked down. She couldn't meet his eyes, for the pain in his eyes was too much for her to see.
"Okay, then, what do you first remember about us?" Lucas asked, taking a deep breath, to keep from exploding.
"Well, I guess… hmm. Just, you being around, at school and all, and you on the basketball team and just, I don't know really." Peyton said, finally being able to look him in the eye. "I have a question." Peyton continued.
"Okay, go ahead."
"Okay, now my dad is on a boat somewhere in Alaska, and your mom has been by, and all of our other family and friends, but where is MY mom?"
A/N; ohhh! Cliff-hanger! The more reviews I get, the quicker the other chapter comes up, &maybe we'll see what's going on… [I know, I'm mean! Haha sorry.]
REVIEW!
XOXO