A/N - Man I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, I know this chapter isn't as good as it could be, but its just a filler chapter until I can really get into it! Please R/R! By the by.. I don't own anything to do with One Tree Hill! Anyways on with the story!

As the elevator doors closed, Peyton fell to her knees, as all the harbored hatred she had so suddenly felt turned to pure sadness; tears began to flow from her eyes. He was her Lucas; he was supposed to be her hero, the one person she could always depend on, always and forever. Three amazing years, and he had given them away for one night of sex. Not just sex with some girl, but sex with Brooke. Was this Brooke's sick form of payback, or just one night to remind Lucas what he could have had? Peyton slowly stood up and wiped away the tears as the elevator reached ground level.

As the elevator doors opened, Peyton half expected Lucas to be there, heavy in sweat and gasping for breath from running eleven flights of stairs, all just to be with her, to show her how much she means to him. But disappointed tears began to form once more as she looked around the empty lobby. Taking a deep breath, Peyton walked past the row of mailboxes and the decorative fake plants to make her way to the door. As she pushed open the door she took one last look and walked away from it all, from her relationship with Lucas, from their many shared kisses in that same lobby. And most importantly, from what she hoped would be away from him forever.

Meanwhile…

Lucas ran down the last flight of stairs, exhaustedly stepping through the doorway and into the lobby, he looked around as he saw the outside door swinging closed. Lucas ran through the door and out onto the crowded New York street, only to find everyone but the one he really needed.

Peyton entered her apartment to 5 new phone messages blinking on her answering machine. She pressed play and listened for what she was already expecting.

"Peyton its Lucas, please don't end it like this, I need y-" Peyton's delicate finger pressed delete.

"Please Peyt, just call me back, I know we can work this o-" delete was pressed again.

"Um, hi Peyton, this is Brooke, I know what you saw this morning was bad but please call me back, we need to talk, my numbers" Peyton looked at the machine in disgust as she pressed delete once more.

"Peyton its Lucas, look I have to run an errand but them I'm coming over there, I love you Peyt." Before Peyton could listen to the last message, she ran to her bedroom and started packing a bag; she then wrote a few rent checks for the months ahead and dropped them off before locking up her apartment and making her way to her car.

"I have to get out of here," she said to herself as she pulled onto the highway, not worrying about where she was driving to, just knowing that it had to be far away.

Five years later…

Peyton zipped up her luggage bad as she made her way out of her Los Angeles apartment. It had been five years since she last saw Lucas, but she could still remember him vividly, his smell, his broody eyes and the way he held her. But whenever she remembered the times they shared, their last encounter popped into her head, the pain she had felt the day she had found him with Brooke. Five years and hundreds of meaningless first dates later, that pain still remained. Peyton had spent years trying to forget him, trying to forget what he had done to her, but it was no use. She never trusted guys for fear of the pain she felt from Lucas all over again, or she never accepted guys because none could reach the standard she had developed when dating Lucas. Peyton had left New York and moved to Los Angeles that day 5 years ago, and now with the death of a close friend, Peyton was about to be thrown right back into the tension and hurt between Lucas and herself.

As she walked out of the terminal and into the very busy North Caroline airport, Peyton saw two very familiar faces from her past.

"Peyton!!" Haley cried as she ran up to her best friend and embraced her in a very sudden – and very tight – hug.

"What am I? Chop liver?" Nathan Scott jokingly asked his wife before pulling Peyton into a tight and comforting hug. "Five years is way too long Sawyer" he said, lightly kissing her forehead.

"Yah, well I had my reasons" Peyton said before rolling her eyes and standing back to look at her friends. "Haley you look beautiful, Nate you look old." She laughed before lightly punching him in the shoulder. "Get me out of this airport please!" she joked as she wrapped her arm with Haley's and made their way to the baggage claim.

As they got into the car, Peyton smiled to herself as she looked at her friends, she had missed them so much. "Sorry I had to come back on such bad terms" she blurted out.

Nathan frowned as he spoke "Whitey lived a really great life, I'm sure he would have been more then happy that you came, even if his death is the reason for it."

Haley looked at her husband and then at Peyton, "So speaking of sad and stressful news, are you worried about seeing Lucas and Brooke?"

"Truthfully? I don't really care anymore," She lied, "I'm over it, I've moved on and I'm here to give respect for Whitey, I don't want any childish drama ruining this week."

Nathan and Haley both knew Peyton was lying, but for the sake of objections escalating into awkward silences, they both kept their mouths shut.

Peyton took a deep breath as the drove through her hometown, everything was just like she remembered, the way it smelled was the same, like a fall day mixed with wild flowers with that certain crispness only found on the first day after a snowfall.

Haley turned around in her seat, facing Peyton with a wide smile covering her face. "Keith is staying at Karen's tonight with Emma, so… we are totally going to go out, you need to see all the changes in Tree Hill!"

Peyton laughed to herself as she looked into all the old stores and houses, "Oh yah Hayls, it's changed a lot."