"How are you feeling?" Jake asked sitting down beside Peyton on her bed. Peyton just stared at him in confusion. She had ruined things with Jake. How could he be sitting here in her room like nothing had happened?

"How are you here?"

"You don't remember last night," he stated. He didn't think she would. Peyton was in horrible shape when he found her last night. He'd decided against taking her to the hospital just in case this was a drug relapse. He knew it may not have been the smartest thing to do, but he didn't want to ruin her life a day before she got to graduate.

"Peyton, Jake found you last night passed out on the side of the road. He brought you home," Haley explained, still standing by the door. Peyton wouldn't allow herself to go back there. It hurt too damn much to revisit last night.

"I thought-Well I thought maybe you relapsed," Jake went on. "Did you?"

"No-no, no, no. That's not…..that's not what happened." Peyton shook her head. Damnit. The tears again.

"Hey, hey, hey." Jake gathered her in his arms and looked up at Haley with worry. "It's okay Peyton. Whatever it is. It's going to be okay."

No it's not, both girls thought. "Jake, you're like my guardian angel, you know that? I don't deserve to have you in my life."

"Hey, don't say that. The Peyton Sawyer I know deserves everything."

Peyton laughed bitterly. He was right. She deserved every bit of pain she was feeling right now, she thought. The Peyton Sawyer he knew did nothing but stomp all over people's hearts and she couldn't believe that after everything she'd done, Jake was still here. He always seemed to be there when she hit rock bottom.

"Why are you here Jake?"

Haley looked at Jake, curious as well. She knew what he'd told her downstairs, but she knew there was more to his visit than just "wanting to watch his friends graduate."

"Well graduation is tomorrow. I wanted to watch my friends graduate and maybe see what you were up to. I'm glad I came back when I did."

Peyton looked down and nodded. "Yeah me too," she replied. Maybe Jake was what she needed right now to take her mind off of Lucas. "Can you just do me a favor and not ask me about last night? I don't want to talk about it."

"I'll only agree to that if you tell me you weren't hurt in anyway, Peyton. When I found you last night….you weren't drunk and I knew in the back of my head that it wasn't the drugs."

"Please don't ask me again Jake. No one physically hurt me. I just can't talk about it now," Peyton pleaded, feeling tears well up in her eyes again. Jake and Haley shared another look.

"Okay," Jake relented. "I won't ask. But you know if you need to talk I'm here and so is Haley."

He stood up and Peyton looked up at him. "You aren't leaving are you?"

"No. I'm gonna walk Haley out. Can't have her giving birth on your stairs can we," he joked. Peyton's mouth formed the first genuine smile in two days.

"I'll be back," he said before walking out with Haley. When they got out of Peyton's earshot he turned to her.

"Was it Lucas?"

"Jake, I honestly don't know. She won't tell me and I haven't heard from Lucas at all today. If he was the reason she's this way he would have told me."

"Are they together?" Haley was taken aback at how blunt Jake was being and shook her head.

"It's complicated," she replied. Jake all but rolled his eyes.

"It's always complicated with them. For such an epic romance I never understood why it was always so hard for them."

"Me neither," Haley admitted. "Why are you really here Jake?"

"I told you. I want to watch my friends graduate. There's no ulterior motive here, Haley."

"I know. It's just that…Lucas is my best friend, Jake and he-he really loves her."

"Then why isn't he here? Where was he last night when the woman of his dreams was lying in her own tears on the side of the road in the middle of the night?"

Those were all good questions Haley didn't know how to answer. Questions Haley intended on finding the answers to later.

"Look, Haley, I only want what's best for her. I think that's what we all want. I like Lucas and I consider him a friend, but he isn't here. And someone needs to fight for her."

"You think he doesn't want to fight for her?" Haley asked this with incredulity. You don't have all the facts."

"Maybe not, but all I know is that girl up there is in some serious pain and her Prince Charming isn't here. I'm not here to fight or to complicate anything. I'm just-here. If Lucas has a problem with it then that's a personal problem and it has nothing to do with me."

Haley sighed. He was right of course. She knew Jake didn't come here with mischief making in mind. He was just a guy who loved a girl. A good guy, who like Brooke seemed to get caught up in the whirlpool that was Lucas and Peyton.

"I didn't hug you Jake," she said. Jake smiled and hugged the smaller girl as tightly as her belly would allow.

"I didn't come here to cause trouble," he said again.

"I know. Go on back up there. I'll see you tomorrow at the graduation ceremony."

"Okay, miss valedictorian." Haley smiled back at him and then paused.

"Hey Jake."

"Yeah?"

"It's probably Lucas, but don't blame him. He wouldn't hurt her if he could help it. I think he'd hurt himself first. But she does need someone so, thank you for being here."

Jake nodded and turned to make his way back upstairs to Peyton. When he got there, she was sitting at her desk, drawing. She didn't hear him come in and when he looked over her shoulder he saw her drawing a heart with a woman building a wall around it. He knew the woman building the wall was Peyton. With a heavy heart he sat down on Peyton's bed, alerting her to his presence.

"Hey," she greeted, sadly. Jake sighed.

"I promise that I won't ask you about what happened Peyton. I just hate seeing you like this."

Peyton looked down at her drawing and then back up at Jake. "I'll be okay, eventually. I just need time."

"Okay. As long as you need."

"You are way too good to me Jake. I don't deserve you in my li-"

"Well that's enough of that," Jake admonished, with a friendly roll of his eyes. "Now tell me, what are you gonna do after graduation, Peyton Sawyer. I seem to remember you applying to an art school down in Atlanta. No pressure," he added throwing his hands up in surrender.

Peyton managed to smile. Jake always had a knack for getting her mind off of what was bothering her by abruptly changing the subject.

"Well now that you mention it I was accepted by a few places. Atlanta being one of them," Peyton replied with a small smile. She glanced down at her drawing and back up at Jake. Suddenly the graduation that was looming seemed like a Godsend, because at that moment there was nothing she wanted more than to run as far and as fast away from Tree Hill as she could.

It probably wasn't the sanest or healthiest thing to do, but she had wanted to go to Atlanta before everything had hit the fan. Those plans had been made before she realized she was still in love with her best friend's boyfriend.

She paused a moment before saying with finality, "I think I might accept their offer and come down to Georgia."

Jake was doing cartwheels on the inside. His head was telling him to calm down though. He knew Peyton's decision was fueled primarily by what had happened the night before and whatever happened caused Peyton's walls to go back up faster than ever and listen to her instinct to run.

"I know what you're thinking Jake and this isn't some hasty decision. I wanted to go down there to school. I just-I have my extra push. You know what let's not talk about me. How are you? How's Jenny did she come with you?"

"No, she's back in Georgia with my mom. I came here on my own and I'm doing good, but don't change the subject Peyton," Jake knelt in front of Peyton and took her hands. Aside from Lucas Jake was the only other person who could see straight through her.

He looked up into her eyes. "I see you."

Peyton inhaled loudly and let the air out of her lungs in one big puff. "There's nothing left here for me Jake. What do you want me to say, huh?"

"You don't have nothing. What about Haley and Nathan and Bevin….what about Brooke?"

Peyton shook her head. And when she spoke again her voice was thick with tears. "There is no more Brooke. She and I…..we're done."

Jake looked down and decided to drop the L word. "Then what about Lucas?"

At the sound of his name Peyton stood up abruptly and all but hissed, "What about Lucas," spitting out his name like it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Jake raised his eyebrows in alarm. Oookay, he thought. So it was Lucas. What else was new.