A/N - I want to thank everyone who reviewed, they totally made my day, and as always I do not own OTH or any of the characters.
The last two hours had been a complete blur for Peyton. The last thing she fully remembered was sitting at Karen's kitchen table picking her fingernails, waiting for the kettle to boil as silent tears streamed relentlessly down her face.
Karen seem to understand that they weren't going to stop anytime soon, so after making coffee and checking on a sleeping Lily on the way past, she had dragged Peyton to the sofa. Setting the two cups down, she sat at one end of the sofa, before indicating for Peyton to rest her head against her lap. Karen knew what week it was, and why Peyton was home without her even saying a word. She also knew the majority of the incident that had happened, a couple of months ago between the broken hearted girl and her son, and that it was causing half of the tears.
Cuddling one of the sofa cushions into her chest, Peyton felt the pain ripping through her heart, and she felt the protective hands of Karen as she brushed her hair away from her face. This was what she was missing. This is what she had missed since she was eight years old, with the exception of three weeks in her senior year.
Eventually the months of not sleeping properly caught up with Peyton, and she drifted off into a fitful sleep. Karen watched as her breathing evened out, and like she does with Lily, she rested her fingers to her cheek for a moment, wiping away the final few tears, before stretching carefully for the phone. She knew what the girl on her lap really needed, and she was going to get it for her.
Dialling the number she had memorized, Karen sighed when he didn't pick up, and she realized that he was either busy with school or practice, and the date hadn't even occurred to him. It some point she made a mental note to kick his ass about how poorly he had been treating the girl on her lap, and for breaking his promise to her. Yes she knew about the promise and the look on her son's face as he said those words was something that was engrained into her mind. The sheer look of determination and love had taken Karen's breath away.
The shrill ringing of the phone broken through her thoughts, and she moved to grab it before it woke the sleeping girl. Moving her free hand onto Peyton's back, she rubbed gently to lull her back into a deep sleep, whilst hoping that she wouldn't unconsciously hear the conversation she was having.
Three quarters of an hour or so later Peyton began to wake up, but she was fighting it with all her remaining strength. She hadn't slept that well in a long time, and her body was screaming that it wanted more. Stretching out slightly, her eyelids fluttered opened and she was met with Karen small smile.
"Hey," Karen whispered, wondering if she was fully awake or about to roll over and fall asleep again.
"Hey," Peyton replied her voice still groggy from sleep and her throat sore from crying. Tucking her bare feet under her, she sat up on the sofa and kept the cushion hugged to her chest, a move Karen quietly noticed. "Sorry about that earlier," Peyton mumbled.
"Don't be silly. You have no reason to apologize," Karen instantly told her, twisting slightly to face her. "I told you ages ago that you could always come to me, and that hasn't changed."
Peyton nodded slowly, uncurling her legs and sliding her feet back into her high heeled shoes, which must have dropped off her feet as she slept. "I'm just gonna go and get my bag out of the car, and then clean myself up a bit," she forced a small smile before rising to her feet and heading back out to the garage.
Using the side door she slipped back into the dark garage, pulling off her heels as she walked and tossing them into the back of the car, before carefully sliding over the side to join them in the mess. Peyton couldn't help but smile for a split second at the symbolism, and a lone tear made its way down her cheek.
Running his hand through his short blonde hair, Lucas walked through the hallway to the kitchen. His mom was cleaning up in the living room, collecting the used cups to be washed and straightening the cushions. She paused for a moment to give him a pointed look as he dawdled by the fridge to grab a bottle of water, and he sighed, pulling the garage door open. The bright beam of light fell across the dark garage floor, and Lucas felt like his breath had been ripped from his body.
There parked in the centre of the floor, like it belonged, was Peyton's Comet with the roof down and the bonnet up to reveal the engine. The sleek black paint and shiny chrome bodywork gleamed in the shaft of light, but that is not what Lucas had the reaction to. Hanging over the side of the car was its owner's long skinny legs and bare feet, and the hint of a grey skirt could be seen just above her knees.
Lucas felt the air inside the garage change, and he was hanging by the moment. Should he stay, or leave quietly? Considering his mom had pulled him away from college he knew that leaving wasn't an option as she would kick his arse, plus with the way that his heart was beating painfully inside his chest he doubted he would even make it two steps backwards. He was staying... but what next?
A quiet ragged breath cut through the silence of the garage, and Lucas felt his heart breaking. He knew that sound, it was ingrained into his heart and mind, and he knew that it was his fault that she was crying. His heart wanted nothing more than to climb over the side of her car, pull her into his arms and take away her pain, but his head slammed on the brakes. The last time he was that close to her she had ripped his heart out, and with it taken away all of his dreams of the future. He couldn't face that kind of pain again.
Dragging his gaze away from her legs, Lucas instead focused on the open bonnet of her car. She loves her classic car, but Lucas knew that it was a constant problem, and in fact it was the reason they had first spoken. Refusing to think about that moment, or the fact that his Uncle Keith had been the one to send him out on that call out, Lucas shuffled across the distance separating him from the car, ignoring that his heart was beating painfully in his chest.
Grabbing a wrench from the nearby tool box, clunking the pieces of metal together and inadvertently alerting Peyton to his presence, Lucas leaned over the engine, searching for the problem. He was aware of her movement in the back of the car, but he refused to look up because he knew that if he looked into her green eyes then his resolve would crumble.
"Lucas?" he heard her question quietly, and out of the corner of his eye he could see her stood barefoot on the cold garage floor. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice breaking off at the end.
"Fixing your car so you can drive it back to LA," Lucas replied, fixing his gaze firmly onto the engine, refusing to let his eyes wander up her long legs.
"What?" she breathed out confused.
"Well I guess that's why my mom called me, so I can fix your car and you can take it home back to LA," he retorted, ripping his eyes away from the engine to look at her properly for the first time. Her hair was longer than he remembered, but it was still the tangled mess of curls that he was used to, and if possible she looked even thinner than usual, with her grey skirt clinging to her legs.
"I never asked her to call you," Peyton replied, and Lucas' mind flickered to the 22 missed called on his phone. For a split second her eyes met his and he saw the haunted look deep inside, which she had been trying to hide.
"Well why else would she call me then?" he couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth, as he tried to protect his heart. "It's not like you need me for anything else."
"God Lucas, you're such a dick," Peyton yelled at him suddenly, causing Lucas to recoil slightly as he felt her anger crackling through the still air of the garage. She whirled around, striding past him with her bag slung over her shoulder, slamming the garage door closed behind her.
Throwing the wrench back in the direction of the tool box and missing completely, Lucas ran his hands through his short blonde hair, mentally kicking himself. He never thought that his first encounter with Peyton would occur like that, and he was still reeling in shock when he heard another door slam from inside the house, and the quiet cries of his sister could be heard through the walls.