August 3rd, 2013
Somewhere Over the East Coast of the United States
Obviously, an Airplane
"Let's play a game." Brooke said, and Peyton felt the seat in front of her reclining backwards. The blonde didn't have to open her eyes to see her best friend's impatient face, and her husbands amused one.
"We're on a plane Brooke. And aside from that, we're twenty eight. We don't play games." And she was tired. As happy as she was that, thanks to the miracles of modern medicine, Chaim had come home last week, she was also feeling the stress of having a new born at home. "Not to mention that there are little, tiny children on the plane, so any game that you normally play, can't be played here. Not to mention I don't what to know what games you normally play."
"Someone's cranky." Brooke muttered, sounding dejected, smiling when she saw Peyton reluctantly open her eyes.
"What game would you like to play Brooke?" Peyton asked, her voice sounding sickly sweet, a grimace on her face.
"Truth or dare." It wasn't Brooke who answered, and Peyton was surprised to turn her head and see Lindsay sitting next to Brooke, the same impatient, bored look on her face.
"I take it you already heard me say that we're on a plane. With children…" Lindsay nodded. "What dares could we possibly do?"
"We could just play truth…" Haley interjected, smirking when she saw Peyton's eyes widen in exasperation at the new addition to the conversation.
"What the hell? I go to sleep and you all conspire to think of the most ridicules way to wake me up?"
"We're bored Peyton, and it was your husband who planned this whole thing." Brooke argued, and Peyton glared at her.
"Then wake him up." She said simply, smiling despite herself when she felt an arm wrap around her waist.
"Already done." Lucas said quietly, placing a kiss on the side of her forehead. "They've been pestering me for an hour." He paused, and Peyton groaned when she saw his sheepish face.
"You want to play too. Are you all four?" She wanted to go back to sleep, not play sleep over games with her bored, soon to be ex-friends.
"No," Lucas laughed quietly, "It's just that, I mean, we call each other friends, but in reality, the last time we talked to anyone here about anything other than kids was, well, before we had kids."
"And we didn't all go to high school together." Lindsay interjected. "You guys all know each other so well, and Derek and I, and Jake and Chase too, we don't have a clue about what you're talking about half the time."
Peyton frowned, looking at her husbands pouting face, and her friends hopeful gazes, and relented. "Fine." She sighed, pausing when Haley, Brooke and Lindsay erupted into cheers. "But everyone over twenty one plays no exceptions." She looked pointedly at Nathan, who had been amusedly watching this entire transaction from across the center aisle of the jet, and then at Deb. Haley nodded without even looking back at her husband's distraught, appalled face.
"I'll start." Brooke said, far too cheerfully, after everyone had been informed of then game, and much to Peyton's dismay, had happily agreed to play. They were sitting by couple, Brooke and Chase in the first row of two seats, Lucas and Peyton behind them, Derek and Lindsay behind Peyton and Lucas. Across from Brooke and Chase were Haley and Nathan, behind them, across from Lucas and Peyton, were Deb and Jake, and directly behind them, Owen and a slightly pregnant, much to everyone's surprise, Rachel. "Okay. So first of all, you can ask any question you want, and you can either ask it to one person or the whole group, okay?" She waited until everyone, Peyton included, had agreed, before she started. "Okay. I'll start with something easy. Favorite food?"
Chase started. "Pizza, plain."
"Chocolate Chip cookies." Lucas and Peyton said at the same time, both of them laughing as they remembered Peyton's disastrous foray into cooking, and the not so disatrous night that followed, making out on her bed.
"Don't want to know." Derek said, before answering "Apple Pie."
"Vanilla ice cream." Lindsay answered.
"Chicken fingers." Owen laughed.
"Are we counting food as anything you can ingest?" Rachel asked, smirking as Brooke rolled her eyes at her, calling "Next" before Rachel could enlighten them all on her favorite thing to eat.
"Pancakes." Deb stated simply, before Rachel could make some sort of joke about pills.
"Umm, I used to have this thing for ice cream, but Niki ruined that, so I'd have to say bananas." Peyton burst out laughing as she remembered Jake and his near addiction to the fruit. "Not funny." He said, glaring at her.
"What?" Lucas asked, looking at his wife, confused about what was so funny.
"Nothing." Jake said sternly, still glaring at his ex. He rolled his eyes as he saw Lucas' now concerned, depressed face. "Fine. Peyton I am going to kill you."
The blonde finally stopped laughing long enough to relive her husband of his worry. "Jake's parent's used to go grocery shopping for him and Jenny, and they would always buy her banana baby food, thinking she liked it or something, but she hated it, and Jake never told them, and he was terrified that if he threw it away, his parents would find it, so he used to eat it."
"No way, man." Nathan said, laughing now as well. "Even I never did anything like that. And, steak. Steak's my favorite food. And Haley's is Mac and Cheese." He laughed again as she nodded her agreement.
The game continued like that for another few hours, with one person asking menial questions, and everyone answering. Slowly, as darkness descended over the plane, the group dwindled, Owen and Rachel heading to the back of the plane to "sleep", and Deb and Jake and Derek and Chase following shortly after, Deb to check on the kids, and Jake and Derek to actually sleep.
The remaining adults, Nathan, Haley, Peyton, Lucas, Lindsay and Brooke, were soon joined by several other companions. Avery was sitting happily, curled into her mother's arms, and Chaim was in his father's arms, happily sleeping. Sawyer was sleeping soundly in the empty seat next to Lindsay, and Logan was in Brooke's arms. As far as Peyton knew, Lilly, Jamie, Jenny and Ollie were asleep in the king bed towards the back, and Brody and Bailey were situated in their bouncers on the floor, back by the bedroom. The joys of having your own jet, well, having a jet that used to belong to you husband's, mother's, boyfriend. Actually, No one had even known that Andy had had a jet, until Lucas had made the plans for the trip, and someone had asked him if he would be taking his jet, or flying commercially.
It was Nathan's turn to ask a question after everyone had settled down, and he was sure as heel going to make this interesting. "Biggest regret you've got." He said, smirking. "And there are no hurt feelings here, so no censoring." He looked pointedly as Lucas, Peyton and Lindsay.
"Hiring Carrie." Haley said immediately. "By far the stupidest thing I've ever done in my entire life." Nathan pulled her in closer to him as she said this, knowing that behind the blasé remark, she was still hurting over the damage that the nanny had inflicted on their small family. He kissed her quickly, as if to tell her that they were all okay now, and that was all that mattered.
It was Brooke's turn next, and frowned, deep in though for a few more seconds before she spoke. "Turning to my mother when I needed help. I should have known that she would never just help me, and all I got was hell for it." She thought back to the last week, and the bitter meetings that had finally ended in her storming to her lawyers and liquidating the entire company. No more Clothes over Bros. As far as Brooke knew, the last store had been shut down two days ago. Her entire life had vanished before her eyes. She and Chase wouldn't be hurting finically for it, and of course, there were jobs lined of for her, but she had been working towards that for so long, it was incredibly painful to see it just disappear, even if she knew that it was for the best. "And stealing the key to the tutor center. That was pretty damn stupid." She laughed, desperately trying to not seem as vulnerable.
Peyton saw the pain in her best friend's eyes and quickly smiled at her, clearing her throat before throwing an apologetic look at Lindsay. "Saying 'no' to Lucas the first time he asked me to marry him." She felt the tears brimming in her eyes as she thought of the missed tree years that they could have had, that they never would have had, if she had just said yes.
Lucas looked at his wife, nearly sobbing in the seat next to him, and wanted to cry as well. He hated that he left her. He hated himself for not being a man and staying. He hated that he could still cause her this much pain. He pulled her into his arms, much like he had on the plane ride out to Vegas and pressed a kiss to her temple.
He was about to open his mouth and tell them, mostly his wife, that she may have said no, but that was okay. He asked a question. She answered. That was why he asked. He should have known that she still loved him more than anyone. He should have known his girl well enough to see how scared she was. And more than any of that, he shouldn't have let his pride get in the way. He shouldn't have left. He was about to say that, until he heard a sift yawn, and instinctively looked down to his daughter, and saw her rolling over trying to get as close to Peyton as possible.
"Mommy." The little said, barely able to be heard. "Wuv woo." It had been her first words, her infant version of "love you," and she had started by repeating it every time Lucas or Peyton said it, now however, she used it on her own, and only when she was talking to either her mother or her father.
He watched silently, in complete and total awe, as he always was when he watched how good a mother Peyton was, as his wife picked up the infant and cradled the little girl to her chest, holding her as close as she could, without hurting her.
"Love you too baby girl." His wife near whispered, as she looked at her daughter with one of the most loving, and breathtaking, looks he had ever seen.
"I don't regret anything." Lucas said, his voice filled with awe and wonder as his looked up from his wife to the astounded faces of his friends. "I don't regret anything. If I could go back in time, I can't think of a single thing that I would change. Not losing Keith, or my mom, or dating Brooke or Lindsay, not Niki, not leaving Peyton in that hotel room. I don't think I could possibly regret a single thing that has ever led me to this exact point in my life, with the four most gorgeous kids in the world, and the most amazing, beautiful, loving wife I could want. Not a thing. Leaving Peyton in that hotel room after I proposed was undoubtedly the biggest mistake of my life, and the most idiotic thing I've have ever done, but I wouldn't take it back, because losing you, living without you, it made me realize what it was like, not to breath. Not being able to love you Peyton made me realize exactly how much I loved you, and I was stupid and I was scared, but Peyton Scott I do love you, and I am going to love you forever Peyt, I really am." He was talking in a near whisper, but everyone in that plane heard him perfectly, and not even Lindsay's eyes were dry by the time he was done.
"Lucas…" Peyton trailed off, not sure how to respond. It still took her by surprise that he could possibly love her that much, that anyone could possibly love her that much. It caught her off guard every time he called her Peyton Scott, and she realized all over again that she was his, forever. "I love you too." She said simply, smiling up at her from her position, comfortable in his arms.
The entire cabin sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, until Lucas saw a look of complete horror cross his wife's face. Before he could even ask what was wrong her head shot up, and she turned to face Lindsay.
"Oh my god, Lindsay, I am so sorry. I completely forgot. I should have told him to shu-" Peyton said, looking at her husband's ex-fiancée.
Lindsay cut her off before she could ramble any more, her voice still thick with tears. "No, Peyton, he's your husband. He's allowed to tell you how much he loves you, and you're allowed to tell him too. What Lucas and I had wasn't real. I wanted to believe it was, and he needed to believe it was, but it wasn't. I was his rebound girl, and I made him feel safe. You never marry your rebound girl, especially when she makes you feel safe. You don't have to worry about offending me ever. We're friends now, and I don't hold Lucas against you. I wanted to, at first. I wanted to believe that he was mine, and I had given him to you, and I could take him back, but then I realized that he was never mine. He was yours even when we were together, kissing in Manhattan, he always belonged to you. I'm happy now. I'm married to your brother, with a kid that I love more than anything, and you got what you wanted. You got love, and the fairy tale. I would never hold that against you."
"You could, if you wanted to." Peyton admitted, frowning. "I was a bitch."
"I would have been too, if my ex-had come back to town, told me he loved me, and then proposed to someone else later that, because he felt threatened and scared, especially if it was my ring."
"It wasn't my…" Peyton started, but then paused. It had been her ring. But Lindsay didn't know that. "How did you…?"
"Luke and I sat down and talked one night, right after I moved in. He sat me down and explained everything. How he had proposed to you, and you had said no, and he had left you, which was an asinine move by the way, and then how he came home, and saw you on the river court, and wanted to be friends, and then that night at Tric. He told me that he kissed you, and you told him you loved him, and then he left you there, and came home and found me holding your ring. He didn't know what to do, and he was too afraid of getting hurt to leave me, so he proposed. He told me about the River Court, and the phone call he made at the airport. He told me everything, and then he told me that if I had any intention of fighting for him, I should get the hell out of his house, his town and his life because he loved you so much that it scared him. It scared him that the thought of losing you made him want to die, and if I was going to mess things up for you, or make your life any harder than it already was, that I needed to leave now. Then he handed me a spare key to the house, and went back upstairs."
"You didn't." Peyton said, looking up at her husband, frowning. "Lucas."
"I'm sorry." He said, kissing his wife, "We were both tired because of the triplets, and we fought sometimes, and I didn't want Linds to think that we weren't okay, or that she had a fighting chance." The entire cabin was silent once again as Lucas held his wife.
"I think I get to go." Lindsay said, laughing. "Sorry to break up your cuddle time, but I think Nate and I still have to tell our biggest mistakes." Lindsay laughed as Peyton turned her head and stuck out her tongue. "The biggest regret I think I've got is probably being Brooke. I edited Lucas' damn book, and as I was reading it I hated the girl that constantly was getting in the way of them, and then all the sudden, I was her. And I knew it, but I didn't back off, and I know that Lucas thinks that everything worked out for the best, but I think that if I could, I would change that. Nate?"
Nate seemed to know exactly what he wanted to say, not pausing to think as everyone else had. "High Flyers. I've made a lot of mistakes, being such an ass to Lucas, and the way I treated Peyton, I won't ever be able to look her when she cries and not remember the nights I sent her home, sobbing, but High Flyers, leaving Haley when she wanted to put us back together, that was the thing I regret most." He answer stunned them all, especially Peyton.
"Nathan, you don't have to feel bad about us." She said, smiling at him. "You were an ass, but you didn't really know any better."
"I should have though. I used you for sex and then dumped you, not ever caring about enough to see who you really were. I made fun of your music and your art, I tore you down, again and again, and I sucked."
"You were mean to Aunt Peyton?" A shocked voice said from next to Nathan, and he looked down to see his son staring up at him with a mix of confusion and horror on his face. "Why?"
"Jamie." Peyton answered, rolling her eyes at Nathan. "Your daddy was a little confused when he was in high school, before he met your mom. He thought was okay to be mean to people that he didn't know."
"But daddy knew you in high school. There's pictures of you two kissing, like mama and daddy now. You're not my mama, right?" Peyton burst out laughing, at both Jamie's question, and Nathan's shocked face.
"No, baby, I'm your Aunt Peyton. And your daddy knew me in high school, but he really didn't understand me. I was kind of sad, and lonely."
"And then you met Uncle Lucas, and you weren't lonely, right?"
Peyton smiled. "Yeah Jamie." This seemed to satisfy his curiosity, and he nodded kissing both his parent's goodnight, and then heading back to bed.
"Thanks." Nathan said meekly, his head hung low.
"Anytime Nate. You really should watch what you say around that kid." Nathan nodded back at her, and once again the plane was quiet, this time until the co-pilot came out and said that they would be touching down in about a half an hour. As soon as he had said this Lucas got up, pulling Peyton, Chaim and Avery up with them. He quickly handed Chaim to Lindsay, and gave Avery to Haley.
"Peyton Scott, we were talking about regrets earlier, and I kind of lied, because I do regret one thing. I regret that you never got your dream wedding. You wanted to get married on the beach your parent's got married on, with your closest friends around you, with your father walking you down the aisle, and instead, you got a cheesy chapel, and even though that day will always be the happiest of my life, I know that you deserve better. So, Peyton Sawyer, will you marry me again? On the beach, with your dad, when he finally gets here, with a maid of honor, and bridesmaids, and everything, perfect, just like you."
She didn't hesitate before she answered, muttering a yes as she pulled him in and pressed her lips to his. "Yes, Lucas Scott, I will."
A/N: Once again, I apologize for the lack of updates. I actually have a legit excuse this time. My internet has been down. Okay, please review. 120 would be great…