At lunchtime they had realised that Peyton had next to no food in her house, this was not an odd occurrence when her dad was away working on the oil rigs. Consequently, Lucas has insisted they go over to his house, though in all honesty not much eating of food had happened there. Now, both Peyton and Lucas were naked beneath his bed clothes, her head on his chest as their hands glided over each other's bodies. Occasionally they shared kisses, but their more amorous activities had calmed now out of exhaustion. They were both fit, so it wasn't the movements that wore them out necessarily, it was more that they came every time they connected fully, and that they were both more emotionally invested than either were going to admit.

"I should go before your mom gets back," Peyton said reluctantly, she really didn't want to leave, Lucas' arms had quickly become her new favourite place to be. Lucas turned to check his phone for the time. He sat up quickly as he read a text he'd been too busy with Peyton to realise he'd been sent.
"Mom's going to be a while, but apparently Haley's going to be here in five," he said as he reached down for his and Peyton's strewn clothes, "Stay, but maybe get dressed," he smiled before quickly sucking on her exposed nipple, "I really wish you'd stay naked though…" he murmured. Peyton giggled.
"It's ok, I'll leave you guys to it," Peyton reasoned as she dressed, "Is Haley ok?"
"Your ex boyfriend's an ass," Lucas explained.
"So's your brother," Peyton returned with a laugh that Lucas matched. After a moment, Peyton added seriously, "I'm sorry he's hurting your friend." Lucas smiled in appreciation for Peyton's caring towards Haley. He walked over to her and cupped his hands around her face so he could press a meaningful kiss to her lips.
"I'm sorry he's hurting her too, cos I had all sorts of plans for us," his hands laced around her back and happily found the skin between her t-shirt and jeans, "I was thinking shower, then dinner…"
"Mmmm…" Peyton murmured against his lips before they began kissing passionately until they were interrupted by an awkward cough from Haley who had just arrived in Lucas' room. The two young blondes quickly broke apart, Peyton remained shy for a moment while Lucas was the first to look to his best friend and smile apologetically.
"I'll be going," Peyton said awkwardly, she smiled at Lucas and Haley as she passed her to leave through the door the evidently uncomfortable brunette, had just entered through.

"Coffee?" Lucas asked after an awkward moment. Haley nodded and he put his arm around her shoulders supportively as he led her into the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. When the coffee had been poured and some of Karen's fantastic homemade cakes had been sourced, Lucas sat opposite Haley at the kitchen table. He waited patiently for her to speak first.
"He asked if I'd keep tutoring him," she explained.
"And you being the kind person you are, and the person who loves tutoring, said yes," Lucas finished with a knowing smile, but his eyebrows were questioning.
"I actually said I'd get back to him," Haley corrected. She played with a colourful plastic bracelet on her wrist, avoiding Lucas' piercing blue eyes.
"It's ok to say yes Hales," he encouraged, "But be careful." She rolled her eyes, she'd heard 'be careful' constantly, and Nathan had proved to her why, but she still couldn't get rid of the niggling feeling that Nathan could be better.
"Well…maybe I will," she looked at her best friend with a smirk. Lucas studied her curiously.
"You still like him don't you?"
"No," Haley shook her head, trying to convince herself more than Lucas it seemed, "I…I don't want to."
"I know," Lucas assured her with a smile, "So what do you fancy doing today?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Erm…" Haley wondered, her mind was mainly focused on Nathan, but she knew thinking of her friend was a better idea, "Go see what's in lost property at the mall?"
"Sounds great."

The next morning was a Monday; Peyton drove her black Mercury Comet into her usual parking space in Tree Hill High's lot. Her best friend's pale blue VW Beetle wasn't next to her as it normally would be, in fact Peyton was unsure of when it next would be. She had driven over to Brooke's house that morning, her knocks on the red front door and calls to the open window were ignored. Brooke's car had been in the drive, so Peyton had known she was in. She had also known that had she and Brooke seen each other that day Brooke most probably would have given her the cold shoulder, so she didn't let being ignored upset her too much. However, Monday was one of the days they had cheer practice, and Brooke never missed cheer practice.

When Brooke was still not in school by lunchtime Peyton was beginning to worry, her texts and phone calls were being ignored so she decided to shut herself off in the library and draw.
"Hey Blondie," Lucas smiled as he sat next to her. She removed one of her earphones and smiled at him weakly. "Y'ok?"
"Brooke's not in school," Peyton explained quietly, "And she's ignoring me."
"She'll be taking her time, it'll be ok," Lucas tried to reassure her with a quick kiss to her temple.
"She never misses practice," Peyton mumbled. She replaced the bud in her ear, allowing the music of The Get Up Kids to wash over her. Lucas knew not to push her. He took the book of 'Julius Caesar' that his mother had given him out of his bag and began to read it quietly. With one hand holding the book, he placed the other under the table on Peyton's denim clad thigh and squeezed gently and supportively. Peyton showed her gratitude to him for his actions by walking to their next class holding his hand and pressing a kiss to his cheek before entering the classroom.

Peyton shared that class, History, with Haley. Haley, for the first time Peyton could remember, was late and seemed very flustered. What Peyton didn't realise was that Haley had a very good reason for this. Haley had been stood at her locker, putting her lunchbox away and collecting that afternoon's books, when a strong hand had found her arm and pulled her into an empty classroom. It's owner lips had crashed onto hers, before his eyes locked on hers.
"Go out with Saturday night Haley," Nathan insisted, "I'll show you I'm sorry."
"Nathan..I…I…don't," Haley stumbled, completely taken by what had just happened.
"Please," he almost begged, "Just say yes. One night, then after that you never have to see me outside of tutoring again." Haley stumbled over her words.
"Yes." She finally said with a nod and a half smile before she left the classroom quickly to head to History.

Neither Peyton or Haley acknowledged each other in that class, the double period that would take them to the end of the day. Both were absorbed with their own thoughts, Peyton was still worried about Brooke, wondering if she'd turn up to school just for practice, while Haley's head was buzzing with Nathan related thoughts. She knew that she had Lucas' cautious blessing, which meant a lot to her, but she was also scared to trust the raven-haired Scott. She guessed only time would tell.

Peyton's worries were proved true when Brooke wasn't at practice. She was so distracted that she failed to pick up the new routine they were learning for their upcoming cheerleading competition, and barely noticed when Lucas appeared at her side.
"Nice legs," he whispered in her ear. He could feel Nathan's unimpressed glare burning the back of their heads. Yes, Nathan was very much occupied with pursuing Haley, but still Lucas was his half-brother and Peyton was his ex-girlfriend.
"Hmm?" Peyton pulled the bobble out, releasing her golden curls as she turned her head so her green eyes could meet Lucas' blue ones.
"I'm guessing Brooke doesn't usually miss practice?" he asked, Peyton answered with a shake of her head. "How about I come home with you? We can spend the night talking it through, deciding what to do next," he suggested supportively.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Peyton shook her head, when her eyes met Lucas' once again they now had a glint in them, "I want space away from it, and you and I both need a shower."
There was no way Lucas was arguing with that. He had begun to figure out that he and Peyton taking it slowly basically meant him going along with whatever she wanted. That was fine with him, at least for now. He wanted and needed her to be as comfortable with him as possible before their relationship had any chance of going deeper. It was going to take time, but Lucas Scott had no doubt that Peyton Sawyer was a girl worth waiting for.