A/N: Here's an embarrassingly short chapter to tide you guys over till I post a longer one (probably tomorrow!). This just gives some more insight into Kate and another fun Lucas/Peyton friendship day. Enjoy. And if you do? Press review! (Wow. Unintentional rhyme!)

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He woke up and instinctively pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to her temple. Then he opened his eyes and realized where he was and who he was with, and felt a pang of embarrassment over the simple gesture. He heard her inhale deeply and knew he'd woken her.

"Sorry," he said meekly.

"It's alright," she chuckled. She rolled over to look at the clock and he found himself staring at her midsection, where her top had ridden up to reveal her stomach. "It's 10:30!"

"Wow. Good sleep," he said with a grin when she looked back at him.

"I haven't slept that well since...." her voice trailed and she didn't finish the sentence. He knew what she was going to say. 'Since Joshua left'. "What time does your flight leave?"

He smiled at the subject change. "4 something."

"OK. What do you want to do today?" she asked.

"I'm kind of liking this," he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up, Luke," she said with a smile. "I'm serious."

He thought for a moment while he looked at her. Her hair was matted from the pillow and her top was wrinkled. She wasn't wearing makeup, but she looked beautiful to him. The only reason he spoke was to stop himself from thinking that way about her.

"Get dressed and grab your camera," he said.

"What?" she asked with a laugh.

"Just do it!" he said. She groaned and rolled out of the bed and walked to the bathroom. He heard the water turn on and he lay there for a few minutes in disbelief of how rested he felt. That was the best nights' sleep he'd had in...years.

He thought briefly about Kate and how he felt when he was with her. In the beginning, their relationship was intense and exciting. They'd steal away for weekends together, or they'd talk on the phone all night. She'd meet him halfway between Tree Hill and Charlotte on a weeknight for a late dinner at a roadside diner, just to be near him.

After she moved in, they got comfortable, but not a good comfortable. They started going through the motions, and he felt like she was acting the way she thought he wanted her to, rather than the way she really was. The first three months she lived there, she wouldn't walk around in her pajamas; she'd wear jeans or her work clothes until it was time for bed. He found it odd, and when he brought it up, she mentioned that there was always someone just stopping by the house unannounced and it made her uncomfortable. It was one of the things he loved about his home and friends and small town, but she hated it. It had been an ongoing argument between them. He wouldn't tell his friends to stop coming around, and she never let herself feel at home around them, and she did a poor job of pretending.

The night Joshua left, Peyton had called Lucas in tears, barely able to speak through her distraught sobs. He'd been on the phone with her for an hour trying to calm her and get the whole story, while Kate sat at the kitchen table, impatiently waiting for her boyfriend to join her for the dinner she'd made them. She'd asked him to sit down with her after he'd hung up, but he explained that he needed to talk to Nathan, Haley and Brooke. The three friends had ended up at his house, sitting in the living room talking about Peyton while Kate sat, trying to hide her discomfort. That was the night she knew in her heart that it was over. As it got harder and harder to hear Peyton's name come from his mouth in worried tones, she realized that he'd always loved the girl whose green eyes had hypnotized him as a teenager, even if he didn't know it yet. She had to let him go.

Lucas made his way to the other bathroom in Peyton's apartment and had a quick shower, and laughed when he was done and dressed before she'd even turned off the water. He was perched on a barstool in her kitchen when she walked out.

"Don't say anything," she warned, knowing he was about to make a smart ass remark about the length of her shower.

He raised his hands in defeat and the took the camera from her.

"Where are we going, exactly?" she asked when they got to the elevator.

"We need new pictures, Peyt," he said with a grin. He threw his arm around her shoulder and offered the smirk she'd always secretly loved.

They spent their day walking around the city taking photos of each other in front of interesting backdrops. She'd taken a few candid shots of him when he didn't notice her. In one, he was smiling to an older woman as he held the door to a deli open for her. In another, he was walking along the path in front of her with his head down.

He'd done the same for her, though a couple of his photos were less artistic and more...influenced by the fact that he was a male. She'd dropped her wallet and bent down to pick it up and he'd snapped a photo of her behind. Another saw her seductively pulling her hair up while her eyes were closed. He teased her about it while he showed her on the camera's screen, but he loved the photo. He'd taken another, more artistic picture, of her walking next to a glass building, her profile reflected perfectly in the dark surface as her hair blew gently in the wind.

"Want me to take one of the both of you?" a stranger asked as they walked through a park.

"Sure!" Peyton said with a smile as she handed him the camera. Lucas just watched her as she smiled and ran back to him. He loved that smile.

She threw her arms around his waist and looked up at him. He looked down at her and grinned his famous grin. They didn't know the man had taken a photo at that moment, and when they looked back at the camera, he snapped another.

When they got back to her apartment, Peyton began to put the photos on her computer, and noticed the one of the two of them that neither had known was taken.

"Whoa," she said with a satisfied smirk. "Pretty good looking picture."

"Yeah," he agreed, putting his arm around her shoulder. They stood for a moment just looking at the couple on the screen. "I have to get to the airport."

She turned to him and he walked to where his things were piled on a chair and began throwing his clothes into his duffle bag.

"I'll drive you," she offered.

"Peyton, you don't have to do that," he insisted.

"Stop it. I'm driving you," she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. He smiled at her and nodded. He knew that when she took that stance, there was no changing her mind. He'd learned that Senior year, and the lesson had served him well over the years. He didn't waste his breath arguing.

They drove to the airport belting out classic rock songs that were on the radio. She laughed and teased him about his voice, and he yelled at her to stop playing air guitar while driving. When they got to their destination, she walked into the airport with him and hugged him before he went through security.

"Lucas, you really didn't have to come. But I'm glad you did," she said into his shoulder.

"Anything for you, babe," he said, pulling back to smile at her. "I'm just glad I got you smiling again."

"Thank you." Her voice was sincere and punctuated with a slight nod.

He hugged her again and kissed the top of her head and promised to call when he landed. He asked that she email him the best of the photos from their day.

She watched him disappear through the doors and the smile faded from her face. It was nice having him around. It was nice to have someone else at the apartment with her. It was nice to be a goof for a while and not worry about how she looked or how she was acting. Lucas had always put her at ease, and this weekend had been no different. He made her feel like herself again. He made her believe that somehow, everything was going to work out.