Chpt. 8--We are Man and Wife
Luke couldn't stop smiling as he and Peyton walked hand-in-hand down the make-shift aisle. He stopped short to finally embrace his mother while Peyton handed her flowers off to Brooke. Over his mom's shoulder Lucas could see guests beginning to migrate near the back of the court, ready to greet the couple, but he was impatient. Maybe it was selfish, but he needed time alone with Peyton before he could share her with their family and friends. Thinking this, he grabbed her hand again and began to pull her down the aisle, not even giving her time to greet Karen or her awaiting dad.
"Luke, what are you doing? Luke. Luke! Where are you dragging me?"
Luke didn't respond. He just continued to pull her, past the awaiting crowd and straight into the limo, practically dragging her, squealing, across his lap and into the car, slamming the door behind them.
"Luke," Peyton continued to laugh. "Lucas Scott, what are you doing?! Our friends…oh." Her laughs turned to sighs when Luke, softer than ever before, simply laid his lips on hers. A long time later, Peyton pulled back with her hands cupped on Luke's face. Smiling at him she spoke softly, "Luke, everyone is waiting. There's a whole reception and a few more surprises. We can't just stay--"
"I love you Peyton Sawyer. Scott."
"God that sounds fantastic." She dropped her forehead onto his. "You could say that to me every day for the rest of our lives and it still wouldn't be enough."
"Then I'll say it twice a day. I love you Peyton Scott."
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"What are they doing in there Aunt Brooke?" Jamie was getting impatient. He wanted to tell Uncle Lucas that he knew the secret all along and never told! Plus he had already changed into his Ravens jersey. No matter what his Momma said, he was certain Luke would want to play basketball on his wedding day.
"Ummm. I'm sure they are just talking Jamie."
"Yeah, right. I bet Uncle Lucas is kissing Aunt Peyton all over right now!"
"So not going to go there," Brooke muttered under her breath as Nate approached shaking his head.
"Come on Jimmy Jam." His dad grabbed him by the jersey. "Let's go move those chairs off the court and give your Aunt Brooke some time to recover."
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Leaning Peyton back against the seat, Luke let his hands roam over the silk of her dress and up to the bare skin at her shoulders. "I like the dress, "he told her as one hand softly kneaded the material at her hip while the other lightly traced her collarbone with his fingertips. Letting his lips drop to her neck, he gently nipped her earlobe on his way down and smiled at her sharply indrawn breath. He could feel Peyton's heart race beneath his palm and knew when she moaned that he had to stop. Stop now or there would be no turning back. Reluctantly he pulled away and traced his thumb over her bottom lip. "I guess we should get out there, huh?"
"Yeah. But…" Suddenly Peyton was less eager. "I love you, too, Lucas Scott. You were surprised?"
"Blown away. I can't believe you actually planned a surprise wedding."
"Well, you've been pretty distracted lately, with Q and everything. And I wanted to give you something. You're always saving me; I just wanted to save you for once."
"How long have you been planning this?"
"Since the plane ride back from Vegas. Well at least that's when I got the idea that it should be at the River Court. We grew up here, you know? And when I found out this day, the day you first became a part of my life, was a Saturday, well, it all just fell together."
Lucas kissed her again. "You gave me a wedding at my most sacred place, with all my friends and family. And still it's us, our life together, our future, that makes this day so perfect." Of course this led to more kissing but it was Peyton who pulled away this time.
"Oh! I almost forgot! God! It's beautiful, Luke." Peyton finally got to look at her new ring. When the minister began the wedding band ceremony Peyton almost panicked. She couldn't understand how the minister had forgotten her explicit instructions: no rings. But when she looked at Brooke, trying to figure out what to do, Brooke just winked at her. Then Luke started to remove a box from his pocket and she realized she wasn't the only one with a few tricks up her sleeve. Now she was looking at her wedding band--God, didn't that sound fantastic?--and she didn't think Luke could have found a more perfect ring. It really was beautiful. "It's just perfect. But how did you know to get me a band? You sure you were surprised?"
"Trust me, I had no idea. Your little worker bees were on the job. I wanted to get you something Peyton. You know, anniversary. But I didn't want to replace your Mom's ring. That's too special." Luke held her hand and lightly ran his thumb over the two rings. "I was pretty undecided until Nate convinced me to buy a band. 'Stay unconventional' Haley said. Ha. Guess she knew what she was talking about, huh?" Luke lifted her hand to his lips. "And then they did this," he held up his own hand, displaying the simple silver band.
"I know." Now Peyton brought his hand to her lips. "I can't believe they got you a ring. I'm so glad. I'm so glad we are wearing these symbols. That means something Luke."
"It does. I know. Did you see that they had it engraved?" He removed his ring to show her. Carved into the ring was 'Lucas and Peyton-TLA.' Luke looked into her eyes and repeated "Lucas and Peyton, True Love Always. Pretty great, huh?"
"Perfect. It just keeps getting more perfect." When he had replaced the ring Peyton linked her fingers between his and, bringing their joined hands to his face, pulled him forward for another kiss. When Luke changed the angle and began to deepen the kiss she sighed against his lips before pulling away.
"Ok, I'm not saying it again Luke. We really need to get out of this limo. People are going to wonder.
"Ha. Let them wonder." He leaned forward to kiss her again.
"Luke."
"Ok. Let's go, Blondie." He began to move towards the door.
"Luke, wait," Peyton grabbed him by the lapels. "One more." And she pressed her lips to his one last time as they began to scoot out the car. "I love you, Luke." When he finally opened the door and pulled her back out the crowd burst into applause and Peyton burst into laughter.