A/N: Stuff of note: 1) Lucas can be a total ass (see Season five) 2) In my universe, Nathan didn't hurt his back. Honestly, Naley's been through enough. 3) Thanks again for all the positive reviews, they really are a pleasure to read. 4) I still own nothing relating to One Tree Hill

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Peyton had been dreading this all day. She knew that it had to be done, sooner or later. Might as well be sooner. "I saw Lucas."

"You what?"

Peyton rolled her eyes. She knew that telling her best friend about her seeing Lucas would cause Brooke to freak out, but still.

"I saw Lucas," she repeated, keeping her voice even.

"When?" Brooke couldn't believe that Peyton was acting so calm about the whole situation.

"This afternoon."

"This afternoon? And you waited until now to tell me?" The brunette looked up at the clock on the wall. Even with the time difference, she knew that it had stopped being afternoon on the West Coat a couple of hours ago. "So, what happened? Did you guys fall into each others arms, professing your undying love for each other?"

There was silence on the other end. Peyton didn't know what to say. It was astounding how insightful Brooke Davis could be.

Brooke took her best friend's silence as confirmation. "Okay, , I want details. Are you going to move back to Tree Hill, is he going to move to LA? Or are you guys going to try that whole long distance thing again?"

"No."

"No?" Brooke asked. "What kind of an answer is that? No to what?"

"To everything," Peyton had to fight not to burst out crying. "We're not together, Brooke. He doesn't want me, anymore."

"Bullshit." There were very few things that Brooke took as fact: 1) Orange would never ever be the new black: 2) Everyone's life was a little better after meeting her; 3) Lucas and Peyton were destined to be together.

"He told me that it was too much. That I was too much." It hurt her to repeat his words, but if Brooke was going to have any chance of consoling her, she was going to need to have the entire story. Well, maybe not the entire story.

"He said that?" Damn that Broody. "So, let me get this straight. You see Lucas for the first time in two years, you tell him that you love him, he tells you that he loves you. And then what? He tells you that you're too much? Best Friend, why do I get the feeling like I'm missing some important pieces of the story here?"

"Well, maybe."

"Spill, Peyton. I'm serious," Brooke warned. "If you leave anything out this time, I'm going to kick your skinny ass cross-country."

The depressed blond had to laugh at that. "All right. It all started when we got trapped in an elevator."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not," Peyton told her. She took in a deep breath. "So, we started off yelling at each other, playing the blame game. And then he kissed me and I kissed him back. We talked about… something. Oh yeah, they're turning his book into a movie. And then he got on top of me-"

Brooke, who had been more than content to sit back and hear her best friend babble about what had transpired between the two blondes, couldn't let that last bit of information slide. She interjected, "He got on top of you?"

"It was nothing, he was just trying to find out what book I was reading and he just started tickling me for information. That's all. Well, until…"

"Oh, P. Sawyer, tell me you didn't."

"Yeah, I did. I mean, we did." Peyton had to continue the story or she was going to lose her nerve. "And then we exchanged 'I love yous' and then… And then there was nothing. He told me that I couldn't just walk in and mess his with his life. And it just went downhill from there. Anyway, there it is, okay? The whole story."

Brooke did not fail to notice the way Peyton's voice had begun to sound a little high. Something about the situation bothered her. The brunette knew that math wasn't exactly her forte, but it still didn't add up for her. Lucas had been crushed when Peyton hadn't said yes to his proposal. How could that be the same person who would sleep with his supposed love and then talk to her like that. "You know, sometimes I don't get that boy. How could he do that to you?"

"I don't know, Brooke." The tears started to flow immediately. It was useless now to get them to stop. "It was just so awful. The way he told me that he was going to call his girlfriend… it was just so heartbreaking."

Ah, there it was. The missing piece of information.

"He has a girlfriend? Jesus, Peyton…" Brooke wished she could reach through the phone and strangle her best friend. This was so typical of the blond pair. "At least tell me that you didn't know he had a girlfriend until after the fact."

"I can't," Peyton admitted. "But I can honestly tell you that I totally forgot all about her when we first started kissing."

"I believe you. I'm still disappointed in you, but I believe you." Why did Lucas bother dating other girls when he always cheated on them with Peyton? Brooke had to squash the feelings of resentment that the conversation had brought out in her. It had been a long time since their love triangle and she was completely over it. Most of the time. At least this latest development made Brooke feel better because of two things: 1) It was nothing personal against her. It would've happened with ANY girl that wasn't Peyton. And 2) Lucas and Peyton had only kissed each other back then. "Besides, as sucky as it is what you did, what Lucas did was much worse."

"Brooke, I love him."

"I know you do." The brunette took a deep breath. In spite of Peyton's claims to the contrary, Brooke never doubted the fact that Peyton was still completely in love with him. "And I also knows that he loves you, too. He just needs a little time to sort things out. Don't forget, Lucas Scott sucks at processing emotional information."

"No, it's different this time. He doesn't want me anymore. It's over. We're done. So much for 'True Love Always.'" And at that Peyton completely broke down. Heart-wrenching sobs wracked her body and she could only cry into the phone.

Her best friend sat there, on the complete opposite side of the country, helpless to do anything for her. She wished she was physically there for the blond mess. Brooke wanted, more than anything, to wrap her arms around her best friend and just help her through this ordeal. Well, if she couldn't be there for her in person, she was definitely going to be there for her emotionally.

"It's okay, Peyton. It's all going to be okay, I promise."

"How can it be okay?" Peyton said. Or at least that what Brooke believed that Peyton said. It was kind of difficult to understand through the sobs and gasps.

"I don't know," was the brunette's honest reply. "I just know that I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that this gets fixed."

"Thanks, B. Davis. I love you."

"I love you, too, P. Sawyer."

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There was a shrill noise coming from beside him, waking him. What was that? He opened one eye to see where the offending sound was originating from. The phone, of course. Why was it ringing at… quick look at the clock… 2:12 in the morning? Who ever was the one calling them at this hour was going to get his or her ass kicked.

He answered the phone groggily, "'Lo?"

"Nate, hey. Oh shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. But of course I would've woken in you, it's the middle of the night there…"

Nathan was sure that Lucas was still talking as he lowered the phone from his ear. But he didn't care. At this hour in the morning, Lucas Scott wasn't his older brother. When his phone calls interrupted sleep time, Lucas Scott was his wife's best friend. He jostled his wife awake. At her sleep-drenched confusion, he shoved the phone in her hands. "For you."

"Hello?" Her voice was heavy with sleep. Oh precious sleep.

"Hales! Hey. Sorry to have woken you," he apologized.

"S'alright, Luke. What's up?"

"Why would you ask that? What makes you think something's up?

Haley sighed. Apparently this was not going to be a short conversation. She got up from her nice warm bed and shuffled down the hall. Her voice dropped down to a whisper as she passed her son's room. "If I hadn't already guessed that something was up because of the time you called, your reaction to the simply question most certainly gave you up."

Lucas knew that when he had called his best friend that he was opening himself to her intuitiveness. But he had to talk to someone. And he couldn't think of anyone who he would have preferred to spill his guts to. Well, that wasn't necessarily true, but she hadn't been an option for him these last three years. And she definitely wasn't an option right now.

"So, you know I'm in LA, right?"

"Yes. Trust me. I'm not the one in this conversation that seems to have forgotten about the different time zones."

Lucas cringed. Haley was cranky. But he knew that was something he had to suffer through if he was going to talk to her that late. Hopefully being tired would dull her ability to pick up on things that he didn't want her to pick up on.

"Well, you know who lives in LA, right?"

"Are you going to make me guess, Lucas? Seriously?" She couldn't believe it. Was he really doing this to her right now? She had half a mind to hang up on him and turn the ringer off until it was morning and she was fully rested.

"Haley…"

"What?" She took a deep breath, ready to explode a diatribe of epic proportions on him when it hit her. "Peyton."

"Yeah."

"What happened? Did you see her? Of course you did, that's why you're calling at such an ungodly hour." She was fully awake now. "So…?"

"She looks good." But then again, he always thought she looked good.

"Well."

"Well, what?"

"No, Luke. She looks well." Haley sometimes wondered at his ability to be a competent author when he so often made such glaring grammatical mistakes.

"Honestly?" Lucas asked, incredulous. "You're doing this now? Would you rather correct me or listen to my story?"

"Sorry, I'm a teacher," Haley reminded him. "You know perfectly well that we all have things within us that we can't turn off."

Yeah, he knew. But if she was looking for oral confirmation, she was out of luck. "Anyway," he pressed on. "She looks well."

"Lucas, you didn't wake me up just to update me on Peyton's physical appearance, right? So, talk to me. Please?"

He sat on his bed. The big empty bed that reminded him so much of the one that he had left Peyton sleeping in so long ago. "I'm trying to, Hales, I promise."

"I know."

A deep breath. "We got trapped in an elevator."

"Sitcom, much?"

"No kidding." Lucas had to laugh. It really had been a bizarre occurrence. "And of course, we were the only two in the elevator when the electricity went out."

"Of course."

"So, we talked. Well, most of it was arguing, if you want to get all technical."

Haley was quiet for a moment, waiting for Lucas to continue the story on his own. When he didn't, she gently prodded, "And then?"

"She told me she came."

"What do you mean?"

"Peyton. She came to my book signing. She came and she saw me with Lindsey and thought that we were together. She thought that I had called her just so I could rub my new relationship in her face, so she just left."

"Oh, Lucas." Haley didn't know what else to say. She knew that he had been crushed when he thought Peyton hadn't shown up. "But does that even matter now? You're with Lindsey-"

"I know," he cut her off fiercely.

She was shocked at the force in his voice. Something had happened. "Then what?"

"Then nothing. I'm still here with Peyton in the elevator. Wanna say hi?"

His sarcasm did nothing to assuage her fears. She knew how weak he was when it came to Peyton. "What happened?"

"We had it out and we went our separate ways."

"Lucas," she warned. Haley was getting tired of him dodging the subject. She knew he couldn't have done anything too bad, but she'd feel better once she knew what happened.

"What do you want to know? That we kissed? Okay, fine! We kissed and it was like the last three years never happened?" He was shouting at her. He knew she didn't deserve that, but he couldn't help it. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"You kissed her? What about Lindsey?" Haley gripped the phone so tight that her knuckles were going white. "You remember Lindsey, right? Your girlfriend?"

"Jesus, Haley, get off your high horse for a second. I didn't call you to be scolded like a three year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar."

"Then why did you call me, Luke?" Haley was growing more and more upset with her best friend, but she had to keep reminding herself to keep her voice down. "I'm not going to congratulate you for cheating on you girlfriend with Peyton. Again."

"It was only a kiss," he lied. He hated that he was lying to Haley, but if she was reacting like that over a kiss… He didn't feel like starting World War III over something he couldn't take back. Not that he wanted to. "Besides, you're not exactly faultless. Or did you forget that you kissed Chris Keller?"

"Luke, that was ONE time. You can't keep throwing my one indiscretion in my face every time you cheat with Peyton."

"I know," he said wearily. "I just want you to realize that people make mistakes. And you can't go back and change it."

"You're right," she agreed. "But Lucas, you can learn from your mistakes. My issue is that you keep making the same ones over and over again."

"She was reading my book," he said as if that would explain everything.

It didn't, but Haley knew that it was an important fact. "Really?"

"Yeah, and she told me she loved me."

"What?" Haley was surprised. Not at the fact that Peyton still loved Lucas. Of course she did. Haley knew that the blond girl would always have feelings for him. She was surprised that Peyton had admitted it to him like that.

"God, Haley. You should've seen her. She was all vulnerable and honest and she told me that she still loved me."

"What did you say, Lucas?"

"I told her I had a girlfriend." Great, another lie. But he couldn't tell Haley the truth. Because if he did, then it would have major repercussions in his life. Lucas couldn't handle change right now. He was complacent with his life. And he liked it that way. Besides, he didn't have the courage to disclose that information. He couldn't admit to Haley that he still loved Peyton. After all, he was still struggling to admit it to himself.

Haley's heart went out to Peyton. She knew that Lucas words had crushed her. "How did she take it?"

"You know Peyton. She took it as well as could be expected. She's tough, that one."

Yeah, Haley knew Peyton was tough. But she also knew that her friend (could she still call Peyton her friend?) had a soft heart and a sensitive soul. "I'm guessing that the revelation put a stop to everything, right?"

"Right. And then the electricity came back on and we went out separate ways. We didn't say another word to each other."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Hales." What's another lie at this point? "I'm just tired and dying to get back to Tree Hill."

"Well, Tree Hill misses you."

Lucas chuckled at that. "The actual town or the people in it?"

"Both," she answered matter-of-factly. "Seriously, though. Come back soon, we really do miss having you around."

"I miss you guys. A lot. Thanks for this, really."

"Anytime, Lucas. I love you."

Lucas took a deep breath and he said, "I love you, too…"

… Peyton.