AN:Sorry, sorry, sorry. I did not update in months. I hope there are still some people reading my story. If you do please review and be ready. I will try to update more often.

I have been very busy with school and I kind of had a writers block. I had several ideas to start with but then there was the lack of time and I did not have the chance to write them down. I just got the new album from One Republic and the song 'All this time' inspired me so I continued writing finally. I hope you accept my apology. I am really sorry for not updating earlier.

Luknpeyton4ever: I am not saying much about what is about to come but this chapter gives you a hint considering the length of Lindsay's appearance in my story. I do intend to keep her around for a while as long as it fits for the plot.

OTHGirl24: I am glad you enjoyed it so far. Thanks for your review.

Love is The Cure 19: Well I brought in your suggestion (the spark between them). Read the chapter and you will see it. The kiss at Tric had not happened yet, but maybe I will include it, too. That depends on how the plot develops.

RJMoonspell4: Thanks for your review. I know mixing dialogs and thought can be confusing. It's just that most of my content deals with their thoughts and feelings. I used other quotation marks to make it more obvious this time.

lalez: Thanks for being my beta. You really help me a lot.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

So I will stop here now. Enjoy this chapter. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: I don't own OTH or any of its characters. It all belongs to Mark Schwahn and the CW.

All this time

by One Republic

Peyton

Peyton was driving in her Comet. The wind blew the hair out of her face. She had put on a Mix-CD.

The sound of the music was great and surrounded her.

She passed the river-court. Except for a couple of teenagers that were on their way onto the court. The group, consisting out of seven people was chatting and laughing. There were two boys, blond tall one and a smaller brunette, in the front. They were playing ball, dribbling and passing the ball to each other followed by two other guys, a small one with light brown hair and a dark skinned one. A little bit behind them were three girls. One of them had curly blond, hair and next to her were two brunettes. They had arms crossed.

They reminded her of herself and her friends when she was in high-school. They all looked like they were having a lot of fun, just hanging out together. Peyton saw that they were all close and these kids certainly still believed nothing could tear them apart. That they would stay friends forever.

If it could just be that easy. She wished she could go back there when everything was simple, well at least not so complicated. Before graduation she knew exactly what her life was like and how it would go on. Now she was not so sure anymore.

--0--

She arrived at Tric, the location for her new office space. She had opened her own record label now. She still could not believe it. She had always dreamed about this and now her dream was coming true.

The package in her hand contained records of artists she admired. She also dreamed about producing their next records. They represented her musical spectrum which spans from: The Cure over Nada Surf to Haley James and Kayne. On her wall also should find a place the Friends with Benefits album she had recorded with Ellie, also filled with great artists and friends.

All those musicians made music that mattered and that touched people's souls and changed their life's. This was her intention, the reason why music was so important to her; it had changed her life and had helped her through tough times.

Lucas had made her realize this. He had arranged that she could get this office rent free. This was amazing. But most importantly he had reminded her why this risk was worth it.

Music could make a difference . Music had helped her through some tough situations when she did not know how to handle them. Sometimes she was so twisted she did not even know what to think anymore. That's where music helped her. It made her feel less alone, understood. And then she would know what to do next.

He had made her believe in music again, believe in her own strength again. It's just the way Lucas made her feel like: confident, safe, comfortable and strong; Strong enough to fight for what she believed in, especially when it was difficult to achieve.

One the other hand she felt so dependent on what he thought about her it made her stumble over her words whenever she was confronted directly with him. He was her weak spot and everyone knew that. She wished it was not like that but she could not deny it.

She sat down at her desk and suddenly her telephone rang:

"Red Bedroom records, this is Peyton Sawyer what can I do for you?"

"Hey P. Sawyer. This is your best friend calling. I need help. My store is opening in less than 24 hours and I have not even painted the walls yet, there are no clothes , no decoration, nothing. Nothing is ready. This is an emergency. Could you come over and give me a hand?"

Brooke sounded really desperate and how could she ever say no to her best friend? There was nothing for her to do here anyway.

"Sure. I will be there in 20. Don't worry everything will be ready by tomorrow", she reassured her.

"You are an angel, you know that? See you in 20 minutes." Peyton could hear Brooke sign relieved and hung up.

--0--

20 minutes later Peyton arrived at Brooke' s new store. She read 'Clos over bros' at the entrance.

This place used to be like a second home to her. It was where Karen' s Cafe used to be. She had so many pleasant memories here. During High-school she had spent many afternoons and evenings at this place with her friends. And now it looks like she would be here more often again.

"Some things never change." she thought smiling to herself.

She was standing at the front door and saw that the store was already full of people. She saw several

handyman, maybe five who were working on the light at the ceiling and the left side. Two of them were building up some closets.

Skills, Mouth, Junk and Fergie were painting the right wall. Obviously they had already painted the left wall purple. She could not spot Nathan anywhere but Haley and a big brunette with glasses, who she assumed to be Millie, Brooke's assistant, carried boxes from the back room which surely contained the collection and decoration. And then she saw him. Lucas was behind the counter installing a light below a shelf of a white closet. He had his back turned so she could not see his face. He wore a light blue jeans and a cream-colored t-shirt. Peyton stood there for a moment hesitant about what to do.

OK she had expected him to be here, too. But even if their relationship seemed a little bit better now than after her arrival she still had no idea if it was permanent. She knew she had hurt him deeply by not accepting his proposal and even if she had regretted this decision ever since this fateful day she did not know what Lucas thought about it now.

He tended to hide his feelings and he was not a person who got over something like that easily.

She knew that he was with Lindsay now and he seemed happy. She did not know her but Luke would not be with her if she was not a great person.

Brooke approaching from another room at the left side broke her string of thoughts abruptly as she saw Peyton standing a few steps away from the entrance. She quickened her pace and she was in front of Peyton in a few seconds. Peyton gave her a wide grin and hugged her. Brooke wore a knee-long red dress and had her hair in a ponytail. Her glorious smile lightened up Peyton's mood immediately.

"So what do you want me to do? I see everyone is busy around here. I don't want to stand here and do nothing.", Peyton said.

Brooke looked around the room, considering the possibilities. She frowned for a moment and it looked like she got an idea. She had that impish grin. Peyton knew that grin. It showed up when she had some plan. And this grin indicated that there was something in her mind she would not tell her.

"Well Skills and the guys seem good and Haley and Millie are, too. Maybe you can help Luke over there. I need the counter as soon as possible to arrange my stuff and four hands get more done than two, right?", she said, trying to hide her impish grin but she could still see it.

This was it. She wanted to see Peyton and Lucas working together to see how their status was. She should have known. She had already assumed that the others have been here for a while. The effort it took to get all of this done proved her point. So Brooke waited until everyone had their task and the only thing left for her to do was to support her ex-boyfriend. She had tried to hide her feelings toward him, but Brooke knew her better than that. She knew Peyton better than she knew herself. It was almost frightening. She could not hide anything.

Well discussing Brooke's suggestion was futile. Once Brooke set up her mind there was no changing it. So she had to go there. Go over there to confront her insecurities. It was inevitable so she could as well do it now.

She took a deep breath and walked over, around the corner until she was standing directly behind the blond. She could feel Brooke's gaze behind her so she tried to sound confident.

"Hey Luke, Brooke asked me to help you here so her desk is ready soon. She thought you might need some help.", she said, trying to really sound indifferent.

Lucas turned his head and looked at me. His expression changed. At first it was surprised, then calculating and at last it turned to delighted. I could still see hesitance in his eyes but the delight overshadowed it.

"Good timing. I could indeed need some help. Besides I was the only one working alone here and I was wondering if this was some kind of punishment. Not that I mind but everyone has a partner and it gets kind of boring after some time.", he said shrugging his shoulders.

Peyton could not help but smile at his comment. He was still the same relaxed yet perceptive guy. So he had recognized it, too. Everyone was working in teams but him. She wondered if he had assumed Brooke's set-up plan ,too. She prayed he didn't. In any case she wanted him to know she had not been aware of her task.

"Well maybe Brooke just had realized this. Just after my arrival she send me here. Plus she was in some back room and hadn't had an overview. Anyway now we are working together. What can I do to help?", she asked.

He answered after what seemed only a few seconds.

"I was going to install this tube lamp. You could hold the other end while I screw this one in.", he suggested.

She nodded and went to kneel beside him. He handed her the lamp and she held it level while he put it in the already installed device on both sideboards. When one side was done they continued like this until they reached the last shelf. The top of the closet was to high for them to reach it even on their tiptoes which would have made it difficult any way or another.

So Lucas went to get a two-sided ladder. Peyton took two steps on the left side and Lucas did the same on the right side. They rested the tube lamb on the shelf underneath and installed the device supposed to hold the lamp. When that was done they went to pick up the lamp itself and balanced it before leading it in. At first Lucas did and then Peyton already had it almost done when she heard Brooke yell loudly: "Stop!"

Everything happened in a few seconds. Peyton turned around to look at Brooke and find out what made her yell like that. She had automatically turned her foot, which balanced her on the ladder, and her head so that she was stumbling now to hold herself and avoid falling. That was when she felt two soft but strong hands wrap themselves around her waist and at the same time she heard a loud crack and several people gasping for air.

She realized that she had had her eyes closed to not see herself falling down and those strong arms wrapped around her felt oddly comfortable. She smelled a familiar scent. The person, it was a guy she recognized smelled like old leather, gum and wood. She could stay like this forever when she heard a soft, male voice ask: "Peyton are you OK? Peyton? Answer me!"

It was that that she realized what had happened. She had lost her balance on the ladder. Luke saw that and he had instinctively caught her. The loud crack had been the lamp Lucas had let go of in order to catch her.

She opened her eyes and looked into Luke's beautiful blue eyes. His face was just inches from hers. She could not turn away. It almost felt like it used to be. She was in his arms, only involuntary, and he was so close to her like he had not been since they had fallen asleep in this hotel room in LA three years ago.

She noticed everyone starring at them and blushed. She tried to push herself from his chest, softly but he held on to her firmly.

"Luke let me go.", she begged.

"Not until you put your right foot back on the step. Otherwise you are going to fall and I am not going to let that happen.", he stated.

It was then that she felt her right foot hanging loose in the air and her left foot was on the step only inches from thin air, too. She transferred her weigh and looked up at Luke who was still holding her tight.

"Better now?" , she asked hopefully that his answer was yes. But her subconscious told her that she should have just stayed unstable there so she could stay in his arms for a little while longer.

He looked down at her foots and after surveying them he nodded. He slowly let go of her and when he was sure she could stand on her own he let go of her completely.

She got off the ladder. Back on the ground she saw that everyone was standing in a circle around them. She saw Brooke, Haley, Skills, Mouth, Fergie, Millie, the workmen, and...Lindsay.

She glared at her furiously and looked back and forth between Peyton and Lucas. Lucas tried to look indifferent and soothing at the same time.

How much had she seen? Peyton did not know what to say. She tried to hide her grin. Lucas was not with her anymore. He was with Lindsay now. She had to remind herself of that over and over again.

Yet she could not get rid of his intense, attached gaze at her when he had had his arms around her. She could not forget the comfortable feelings she had felt that moment. It was like she was finally whole again. After so much time she had found what she was looking for: Lucas.

She turned to everyone and said so that everyone could hear:

"I am fine, really. You can go back to work now."

The workman sighed relieved and turned to continue on their assigned task. Junk and Fergie turned, too. They pulled Skills and Mouth with them, who were resistant, but gave in. They nodded towards Lucas. He nodded back.

Brooke and Haley looked curious at Lucas and Peyton and Lindsay looked like she was trying to make sense of what she had just seen. All the while she seemed furious.

"Peyton what happened? I just heard a loud noise like something bursting into pieces and then Lucas holding you as if you could fall any second.", Haley asked concerned looking questioningly at Peyton and Lucas.

"I got distracted and lost my balance but Lucas caught me just in time.", Peyton said in a low voice and turned her head to Lucas, who nodded.

"What got you so distracted?", Brooke asked.

"You! You yelled 'Stop!' so loud it made my ears hurt so I turned around to see the reason for it.", Peyton explained and added, "Why? Now that I am save on the ground you, could you tell me?"

"I wanted to save this." , Brooke said and pointed at a piece of a wall broken out.

Peyton eyed it and saw that it was the quote that once belonged to Karen's Cafe:

'Somebody told me that this is the place where everything' s better and everything' s safe.'

AN: So this is it. What do you think? I wrote more detailed than in the previous chapters, as you might have recognized. I just read a lot of Twilight and Twilight- fan fiction lately so this influenced my writing. Should I continue like this or stick to my writing of the previous chapters? Please R&R.

New Moon is in the Cinema, finally. I look forward to see it. Maybe it is better than the first movie. I am currently listening to the audio book of New Moon. BTW how do you like the movie(s)? I prefer th books. A movie based on a book can simply never reach up to the book. That's my opinion. What do you think? Can the movie compete with the book?

TrueLoveAlwaysLP