A couple days passed and Lucas and Peyton had fallen into an easy rhythm. They each liked 'living' with the other, though neither had dared to admit it. Lucas had told her that it was nice to have another body in the house again, and she'd told him the same. The silence of their previous weeks alone had been deafening.
She'd done their laundry and tidied, and when he insisted that she didn't have to do it, she told him she didn't mind at all and that she just wanted to 'earn her keep'. He wondered how she ever could have thought she wasn't a good enough wife. Not that he thought that cooking and cleaning were the only requirements, but she just cared. She did little things because she wanted to and knew he'd appreciate them. He found himself longing for that in reality. He knew Peyton would leave and he'd be alone again, but he wanted that comfort. He wanted to take care of someone and have someone take care of him. What more could he ask for?
She'd finished the book he'd given her to read, and they had an in-depth discussion about its themes and shared their favourite passages. They talked about music as it pertains to human emotions, and the power it has to speak for you when you can't find your own voice. Her insight made him smile. The author had taken Peyton's favourite thing in the world, music, and Lucas', literature, and blended them together. Maybe that's what had drawn Lucas to the book in the first place.
Friday morning, Lucas walked into the kitchen to find Peyton in her pajamas standing at the stove with a mug of coffee in one hand and a spatula in the other.
"What's this?" he asked, sitting at the table in front of the mug she'd set there for him.
"I'm making French toast," she replied simply.
Kate used to make him pancakes every Sunday morning. He didn't like pancakes. French toast was his favourite, but he didn't have the heart to tell her. So each Sunday, he'd choke back the pancakes she'd so sweetly made him without complaint.
"I love French toast," he said with a grin.
She turned to him and smiled back. "I know."
Of course she knew.
She set a plate of fresh cut fruit in front of him and went back to the stove.
"A guy could get used to this, you know?" he teased, tossing a piece of melon in his mouth.
"Well, lucky for you, I have nothing to rush back to," she explained, trying to joke. He knew it was hard for her to have to admit that.
"Have you thought about what you're going to do?" he asked.
"Not really. I mean, there's really nothing in Chicago for me any more. Work was the only thing keeping me sane, you know?" He nodded his understanding and she flipped the contents of the pan. "I guess I could apply at other labels."
"What about that business plan you did up all those years ago?" he asked.
He'd remembered her telling him all about it - the plan to open her own label some day. It had been an assignment for one of her college courses, and her professor had given her the highest mark in the class and told her that it was the most well-thought-out plan he'd read in ages.
"Oh God. How do you remember these things?" she teased, and he smiled innocently and shrugged his shoulders.
"Peyton, you'd be great at it, and you know it," he insisted. "What's stopping you? You have the contacts, you clearly have the head for it."
"Let's see, Luke. There's the fact that my life is in complete limbo, the music scene in Chicago is a total mess right now. And oh yeah, that little thing called money." She listed off the reasons as she drizzled syrup over his plate and set it in front of him.
"Didn't you get severance from your company? And I know you've been saving for years, Peyt.," he argued. "I'm sure you could get some loans or something."
"Lucas, I don't know," she said, sitting next to him with a plate of her own.
"You could move back here," he suggested softly, looking at his plate instead of at her.
"What?" she asked, surprised.
"You could sell your place and buy an entire house here with the money from the sale," he pointed out. "You said it yourself - there's nothing in Chicago."
"You're serious," she said with a furrowed brow.
"We miss you, Peyt.," he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
She sat for a moment and watched as he put a forkful of his breakfast in his mouth. Could she do this? Was there any reason not to? Maybe he was right. But the thought of leaving Chicago somehow felt like she'd failed. She'd failed in the industry and as a wife, and had to run away from the city with her tail between her legs.
Her silence had made him think that he'd said too much or pushed too hard. He wanted her back in Tree Hill. For good. He wanted his best friend around. He knew it was selfish of him to have suggested it, but at the same time, he knew that she'd be great at whatever she did - especially owning her own label.
Luckily, the tension was broken when Brooke walked through the door toting Emma in her arms. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the scene in front of her.
"OK, you guys know you're not an old married couple, right?" she teased, making the two blondes laugh.
"What's up, Brooke?" Lucas asked, reaching out to take the fair-haired baby from her arms. He held her close to his body and pressed a kiss to her cheek, making both the women in the room's hearts swell.
"I just got a call from a really amazing bridal boutique in New York that wants to carry my line," she explained.
After she'd divested her interests in Clothes Over Bros, Brooke had been asked to design a wedding dress for one of her friends in New York. The dress had been such a hit that she was asked by two other people for custom dresses, and now she was successfully running a brand new company, with her bridal designs in boutiques across the country. And Clothes Over Bros had gone out of business 8 months after Brooke had left.
"That's awesome!" Peyton exclaimed.
"Well, yes. But, they want me to go to a meeting, and I have to bring Emma to New York and I don't know how I'm going conduct a meeting with no one to watch her," Brooke stated.
"Don't be stupid! Leave her with me. I'll watch her for a couple days," Peyton offered.
Brooke looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"
"I'm not doing anything else. I'd love to help you out," the blonde explained with a shrug of her shoulders. She reached out and the little girl grabbed onto her thumb.
"Come on, Brooke. It'll be fine," Lucas said.
"Peyton, what do you know about babies?" Brooke asked, putting a hand on her hip.
"A lot!" she cried indignantly. "Jenny Jagielski ring a bell?"
"Oh yeah. Have you heard from Jake?" Brooke asked curiously.
"No. Not in years," Peyton said with a laugh. For some reason, Lucas felt relief wash over him when he heard her say the words.
"I don't know, guys. I've never been away from her over night," she explained, taking the baby into her arms again.
"I understand," Peyton nodded. "But we're here if you need us. You know we're capable."
Brooke took Emma's hand in her own and stared at her daughter for a moment.
"I really should go to this meeting," she admitted. "OK. You guys can watch her. But I'm leaving you with my car, because neither of yours are equipped for a car seat, and I'll leave you with all her things and a key to the house so that if you need anything, you can just go pick it up. And..."
"Brooke," Peyton interrupted. "It'll be fine."
"OK. I'll call you with the details. They mentioned Monday morning, so I'll probably fly out Sunday. I mean, if you're OK to watch her for that long," Brooke said.
"Of course. Just let us know," Lucas said with a grin.
They said their goodbyes and Lucas and Peyton were left to their breakfast. They sat silently for a few minutes, each contemplating the undertaking they'd just agreed to. But, there was two of them and one baby.
"Sorry I kind of dragged you into that," Peyton chuckled. She hadn't even asked him if it was alright to bring an infant into his home.
"It's OK!" he insisted. "It'll be fun." He shrugged his shoulders and ate the last of his French toast and cleared their plates.
Peyton couldn't get the image of him holding the blonde baby out of her head.
---
Brooke had dropped Emma off at Lucas' house Sunday morning, having set up a couple meetings in New York. Lucas had plans with Skills, so he had offered to drive Brooke to the airport, then he wouldn't be back until later that afternoon. Peyton was relieved; she wanted some alone time with the little girl to connect and make up for all the time she'd lost by not being around.
Things had gone well all day. She'd fed Emma and changed her and put her down for a nap, and everything was going smoothly. Until she started screaming and Peyton couldn't figure out why. She'd tried feeding her, changing her again, stuffed animals, holding her, leaving her to cry. Nothing was working.
She'd put the radio on in the background earlier that day, and a Prince song came through the speakers. Peyton hadn't heard it in ages and began to shimmy around the kitchen while Emma screamed from her high chair. She was fixing a bottle and spun around to sing the lyrics to the baby.
"You don't have to be beautiful..." For some reason, Emma stopped her crying the more Peyton sang. Peyton clapped and squealed her relief and kept on singing and dancing, complete with hand movements and using the bottle as a microphone. A smile broke on Emma's face, and it was the best thing that had happened to Peyton all day. She lifted the smiling girl out of her chair and placed her on her hip while she spun around the kitchen singing Kiss.
Lucas walked up the steps to his house and heard the music flowing out through the open windows. He laughed to himself - he'd never taken Peyton for a Prince fan. He walked into the house and made his way to the kitchen, where he saw the Peyton holding Emma and shaking her hips to the music. He chuckled quietly enough that she didn't notice him, and he grabbed his camera from the bookshelf in his living room. He snapped a photo of Peyton with her head thrown back singing, and Emma laughing in her arms. The flash called their attention to him.
"Lucas!" Peyton shouted, her face already reddening.
"Nice moves," he laughed.
"Delete that picture right now!" she said, walking towards him. Emma was still cooing in her arms.
"No way! You look great," he said seriously, trying to convince her. "I'm just sorry I missed Purple Rain."
"Shut up!" she shouted, slapping him on the arm. "She was crying and dancing made her stop."
He laughed at her again, but secretly, the sight of her dancing with a baby in her arms had made him a little weak in the knees. It looked natural to see her holding Emma. He knew she had experience with babies - Jenny, Lily, and Jamie - but he saw her differently this time. She was more maternal. She wasn't just a babysitter.
He walked over to where she was finishing filling Emma's bottle. He stood behind her and placed a hand on her hip and a kiss on her temple. He hadn't realized what he was doing until after he'd done it.
"I'm sorry," he said, holding up the camera and trying to redeem himself by implying that the gesture was part of his apology for taking the photo.
"It's OK," she said, still blushing, but now from the kiss she could still feel on her skin. She waited until her face stopped feeling hot, and turned around to face him again. "How was your day?"
"Ahh it was alright," he said nonchalantly, taking Emma from her and reaching for the bottle Peyton was holding. He lay the girl in his arms and began feeding her while walking into the living room. He sat on the couch and Peyton leaned on the door frame and watched him.
She grabbed the camera from where he'd placed it on the table and took a photo.
"Hey!" he protested.
"Not anywhere near as embarrassing as the one you took of me," she said with a raised eyebrow.
He laughed and motioned for her to sit next to him. She took a seat and ran her hand over Emma's fine blonde hair. They sat like that for a few minutes in silence, together on the sofa.
"She's gonna fall asleep any second," Lucas mused, watching the little girl's eyes flutter open and closed slowly.
"Here," Peyton said, reaching for Emma. "I'll go put her down."
Lucas smiled again as he watched Peyton walk towards her room, where the baby was going to be sleeping while staying with them. He was still shocked at how maternal she was being. He knew she'd always wanted to be a mom, but her husband hadn't wanted kids. He asked her once why she'd marry someone who didn't want children when she did, and she had simply replied that she loved him.
Lucas grabbed his book and started reading, waiting for Peyton to come back and join them so they could idly chat like they'd done almost every evening since she'd been back. He must have lost track of time, because when he looked up at the clock, almost an hour had passed since she'd retreated into the bedroom with Emma.
He stood and walked to the doorway, only to see the two of them sleeping on the bed, with Peyton holding Emma close to her side. His heart swelled and he placed a hand on his chest. The front door opened and he turned his head to see who it was. Nathan was walking towards him with a puzzled expression on his face. Lucas held his finger up to his mouth and looked back to the room. His brother joined him and chuckled softly at the sight, then looked back at Lucas and shook his head.
The two of them made their way outside to the front porch and sat on the steps.
"What's up?" Lucas asked.
"Don't 'what's up' me, Luke. You two are looking pretty cozy," Nathan said with a smirk.
Lucas rolled his eyes. He should have expected it. All their friends knew that there was nothing going on between he and Peyton, and there hadn't been in almost 10 years, yet they still always faced questions about their relationship.
"I just wanted to come over and check to see how things are going," Nathan said.
"Brooke sent you, didn't she?" Lucas asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, she did," Nathan chuckled. "She didn't want to bombard you guys with calls, so she asked me to check in."
"Typical Brooke," Lucas said, shaking his head.
"Obviously things are OK, though," Nathan said, gesturing towards the house with his hand.
"Things are fine. I was out all day, but Peyton has things under control," Lucas explained.
"She's good with kids, huh?" Nathan asked, smiling at his brother.
"Yeah, she's great," Lucas smirked, remembering what he'd come home to earlier. He felt his brother's gaze and knew he had to elaborate. "Kids love her."
"Do you?" Nathan asked, his tone serious. He looked at his hands and spun his wedding band with his right thumb and index finger.
"What?" Lucas asked, shock evident in his voice.
"Hey, I'm just asking," Nathan said in defense of his question. "You and Kate broke up, then you went to see Peyton and when you came back you were...I dunno, man. Just seems like you and her are different."
"Different how?" Lucas asked incredulously.
"Like, calmer or something. She should be a disaster, Luke. She just got divorced. And yet, when she's around you, she's fine," Nathan explained.
"She's not fine, Nathan. She's having a really rough time. But you know her. She doesn't show anyone that."
"She shows you that," Nathan pointed out, smirking.
"It's not like that," Lucas argued.
"Alright. Just be careful," Nathan warned.
"Careful with what?"
"Your heart. And hers." Nathan stood and began walking back towards his SUV. "And try not to watch her sleep any more," he laughed.
Lucas sat for a while on the front steps of his house, thinking about his brother's words. Of course he loved Peyton, but it was strictly platonic. She was one of his oldest and closest friends. They'd lived through a lot together. Yes, their relationship was a little bit different than the rest of their friendships, but that didn't mean that there was anything more going on.
But that didn't stop him from loving having her there.