Ten Years Later

"Okay..." She drew out nervously. She was still thinking of a hundred and one ways to kill her best friend for talking her into this. "Um... You can sit, everyone. Wow. Well, we are gathered here today before god and nature to join Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer in Holy Matrimony."

"Nice work, Hales." He muttered.

Growing up, she'd always been a walking dictionary, and he was happy to see that married life had yet to change her.

"Thank you!" Haley replied with a grin, just as quietly.

She couldn't believe the day had finally come, though it had been a very last minute thing. Her Lucas, and her Peyton were finally getting married, and in just over a month, they'd be expecting their first child.

"Now, some of you may be wondering where the word "matrimony" comes from." She continued, gesturing to her friend's growing belly. "Well, interestingly enough, the word "matrimony" is from the Latin root word for "motherhood," which I think is really appropriate today..."

Lucas and Peyton shared a look. They both loved her dearly, but Haley James-Scott was a very dry person when she got nervous.

"Well, the thing is that, uh, every, um..." Haley reached out suddenly, seizing one of the white roses she had spent all morning pinning to the trees. Peyton had been the one to suggest using song lyrics! "Rose has its thorn... Just like every night has its dawn. Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song..."

"Poison?" Peyton whispered, raising an eye brow. Haley was dying. "Of all the lyrics ever written, you're gonna go with Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison?"

Her best friend chuckled.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Oh, I just... I don't..." She stuttered, glancing back at the audience. Someone very important was missing... Again! "Really, Skills?!"

The engaged couple turned to look at the empty seat beside their basketball playing friend. He'd let Jamie Scott out of his sight, again, even after he'd attached a leash to the five year old! The last thing they needed was another Nanny Carrie scare.

Skills jumped to his feet, reaching for his walkie talkie. "Jamie Scott! Macaulay..."

Jamie looked over at him, his expression innocent. He'd just wanted to pet the dog.

"Boy, get your ass back over here." He snapped, sitting back down. The crowd chuckled. "You're killing me, man."

Haley shot Brooke a desperate look, but she shrugged. She had her own toast written, but she was going to give it at the reception. Haley was on her own.

"Okay... Oh, wait a minute!"

"Oh, ugh..."

Lucas groaned as he realized what his best friend was up to. She reached for the tin they had kept a secret for so long, opening it to retrieve a folded up piece of paper.

"'Peyton Sawyer will become Peyton Scott.'" Haley read aloud. "Lucas wrote this in the 8th grade."

Peyton looked up at him, her eyes shinning. He'd known her before she'd known herself, and she loved that about him.

"I remember him talking about her constantly, and not just in the 8th grade, in the 9th grade, and the 10th grade, and 11th grade..."

He smiled at his soon-to-be wife, though his thoughts were full of ways to get back at Haley for revealing something that he'd tried so hard to forget. If Peyton had known about his 8th grade wish while they were in high school...

None of his predictions had come true before, but he was so grateful that that was not the case for the wish made by a love-struck, thirteen year old boy.

Haley grinned at him as she continued. "And, finally, in our sophomore year, Lucas gathered up his courage and talked to Peyton for the first time right here at this lake... And she was a bitch."

First of all, you don't know me. Second of all, you don't know me.

Peyton let out a suppressed giggle. Meeting Lucas by the lake that first time, she had been a total bitch, but he wasn't real to her then.

"He said, 'Haley, I talked to her!'" Her smile only grew. "And when I asked him if the fantasy was finally over, if he could finally admit that Peyton Sawyer was human after all. He said, 'No. Peyton Sawyer is not human. She's an angel. And she's my angel.'"

Lucas squeezed her hand.

"I believe in true love." Haley muttered, glancing at her own husband. They'd defied the odds of high school relationships, getting married at sixteen, and staying together despite the hurdles life loved to throw a Scott's way. "I believe in love at first sight. I believe love conquers all. And that doesn't mean there's not gonna be hard days or difficult things to deal with, because there will be. But finding that person who does it for you and knowing, that person loves you back. It just makes everything so much easier. 'Peyton Sawyer will become Peyton Scott.' That was the dream. And here we are 10 years later, and we all get to witness today a dream come true. Okay... Luke?"

Lucas took the ring from his little brother, carefully sliding the band onto her finger. He couldn't believe he was here, marrying the girl of his dreams. Haley was right, there would be hard times. They'd fallen in love in high school and split a year later. He'd gotten engaged to another woman, but the second that Peyton Sawyer had come back to Tree Hill, he'd tried to be just friends with her, he'd told her that another guy wasn't good enough for her, he'd fought with her, he'd kissed her, he'd told her he hated her, he'd apologized, and then he had tried to say goodbye to Peyton Sawyer.

He'd called her a day later, asking her to come to Vegas with him and get married.

And here she was, pregnant with his child, even with the risk of hemorrhaging while in labor, because she loved that baby. Here she was, finally becoming Peyton Scott.

"Peyton..." Lucas began, their eyes meeting. "I've loved you since the first time I saw you. And this ring and these words are just simply a way to show the rest of the world what has been in my heart for as long as I've known you. I love you, Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer. I always have, and I always will."

She had no idea what she would do without him.

"Lucas Scott..." Peyton took a breath. We've been through so much together. And despite how confused I've been or lost I might have gotten, there was always you ... Finding me and saving me. You deserve to be adored, so that's what we're gonna do your baby and me. We are going to adore you for years to come. I am so terribly in love with you. And I always will be."

"Well... By the power vested in me by ..." Haley paused to listen to her friend's beautiful laugh. "I know pronounce you man and wife. Lucas Scott, you may kiss your bride."

"Finally!" Lucas sighed dramatically, pressing his lips to hers. Peyton Sawyer was finally Peyton Scott, his beautiful wife, Peyton Scott, and he would never let go of her again.

This is it :'( the final chapter :( But I am currently working on a sequel, so fear not, my lovelies :) Thanks for reading!

xoxo