Chapter 6

There Has To Be a Morning After

Sunlight poured through the sheers along with the sound of the waves crashing on the shore as Lucas began to stir. His body ached in all the good ways it should after a night of passion like he and Peyton had just shared. Sometime between the second and third time, Peyton's elaborate lingerie outfit had been discarded in favour of full skin to skin contact, and after that the two had not been more than a few inches from each other and always some part of their bodies touching. The sun was just starting to show itself over the horizon when they had finally succumbed to sleep, their limbs fully entangled with each other.

Lucas was laying on his stomach with his right arm draped over Peyton's stomach. As he carefully removed his arm and turned on his side Peyton fluttered her eyelids open and smiled at him.

"Hi" said Peyton sweetly.

"Hi," replied Lucas as he brushed her hair back from her eyes and leaned over to place a soft kiss on her lips.

"You didn't walk out on me this time," he smirked.

"Not funny," she retorted as she turned her head to deny another kiss.

"Kinda funny," he countered pulling her face towards him again to complete the missed kiss.

"Well, you weren't a jackass this time, " teased Peyton, a smile playing on her lips as she now pulled him closer for a longer kiss.

"Hey, I was drunk and I was afraid of losing you, and …I don't want to relive that right now, 'cos this is sooo much better." He rolled on top of her, nestled in her hips and began assaulting her neck with kisses.

A few hours later, Peyton was laying on Lucas' chest tracing circles, and they were both deep in thought.

"I can't believe it took us this long to get here," said Lucas as he ran his hand up and down her arm.

"Yeah," answered Peyton simply. She wasn't sure where 'here' was, but she knew that lying in his arms in that moment felt pretty good, and she couldn't help wonder if this was really the beginning for them. After thirty years of friendship and fights and dancing around their feelings for each other, it just felt like she should have been there, that they should have been there since that first time. That first time that caused the longest period of their lives without talking to each other.

Flashback

Peyton went straight home after leaving Lucas at the party and threw herself on her bed and cried and cried. Part of her was crying because she was leaving in the morning, but mostly she was crying because she was reliving all the words Lucas had said to her and analyzing herself and her actions over the last year.

She had noticed that Lucas didn't seem to get into any serious relationships, but he didn't really sleep around either. She knew all the girls he'd slept with. A grand total of four, and one of those was Brooke.

She'd realized that she did have feeling for Lucas, and remained single on purpose through the end of senior year, just to be available to be his date for prom. She had harbored a secret hope that they would go to prom together and realize they should have be dating, just like Nathan and Haley, and it would all be great.

But then nothing happened at prom, and soon after she received the offer to start the internship at the record label in Los Angeles, and decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to start something when she was going to be leaving. The other thing stopping her was that she wasn't really sure that Lucas felt the same way. They had never talked about the kissing on the beach, and although they spent a good deal of their time together, there was never anything overt to indicate things could progress further.

It wasn't until she had announced her intention to leave after graduation that things changed and not really for the better.

Lucas was angry and mean and cold, but every time they accidentally brushed shoulders or touched hands casually, there seemed to be an electric charge pass between them.

Then the graduation party happened and Lucas said all the things she'd wanted to hear all along, but now it was too late. It was clearly the alcohol that fuelled her, but also all the pent up sexual energy she'd been suppressing for so long that drove her to do what she did. There was also something really hot about angry sex.

All those things were running through her head as she laid on her bed crying and crying and crying all night until it was time to leave and meet Brooke to go to the airport.

They stopped by Deb's house first to say goodbye to Nathan and Haley and the baby. It was tearful, but there were promises that they'd see each other soon. Brooke asked if they should go to Lucas' house and Peyton said no, he'd be at the airport, and that's when Brooke noticed the look on Peyton's face.

"Oh my god, you guys totally did it, didn't you?" Brooke said excitedly.

"Brooke!"

"No, I have a gift, I can tell these things. So, how was it? Is that weird? I mean, I know how he was with me, but he'd be so different with you and oh god, this is just…" she rambled.

"Brooke, please! It wasn't like that." Peyton said sadly. "He's not coming to the airport. I'm not going to say goodbye to him. Let's just go. Please?"

They sat in silence for the rest of the cab ride, and it wasn't until they were on the plane and in the air that Peyton confessed everything to Brooke, including the deal she had made with Lucas. All Brooke could do was listen and nod and give support to her friend. She never imagined that twelve years later they would actually carry out the pact.

Lucas had passed out after Peyton left, and when he woke up with his pants still around his ankles and the condom still hanging from his limp penis, the events of the previous night came flooding back to him.

He wished he hadn't got drunk. He wished he hadn't said those things to Peyton. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He wished he had told her sooner that he had feelings for her. He wished they had talked about that kiss on the beach. Hell, he kind of wished they'd had a double wedding with Nathan and Haley. As his mind filled with Peyton and the night before, he heard his cell phone ring. He opened it up and waited for the onslaught to hit.

"Lucas Eugene Scott, where the hell are you?" came the familiar voice.

"Not so loud please Hales," croaked Lucas groggily.

"Brooke and Peyton just left and you missed them. How could you?" she yelled down the phone.

"Well, Brooke and I are really not on great speaking terms, still, unfortunately" he began.

"Yeah, ok, I get that, but Luke, Peyton has gone and you didn't say goodbye." She pleaded.

"Yeah I know, we kind of…" his voice trailed off.

"Oh god Lucas! You slept with her didn't you? Just because she was leaving?" Haley could tell just by the way he said it and she was now livid. Lucas could hear Nathan in the background saying 'He did what?'

"Hales, it wasn't like that…we got in a fight…and I said things and she got mad, and it was all just a mess. I don't think we'll be talking for a while," he sighed defeated "Oh yeah, but if we're both single when we're 30, we'll be having a kid together, so that's something to look forward to." He added sarcastically.

Haley finished up their conversation by telling him to get his butt over to their house. She wanted more details and he was going to need friends and a good hangover remedy. and it was going to be a tough road ahead.

Peyton raised up on her elbows over Lucas' chest and smiled at him. He could tell she was getting ready to say something.

"I know that the whole point of this weekend means we should probably stay in bed, but I'm kind of hungry," she said. "I'm going to make some French toast." She started to grab for Lucas' dress shirt on the floor beside the bed, when he grabbed her and pulled her back again.

"Peyt, we both know that the point of this was…" he was interrupted by Peyton's phone in her purse. She reached to check who it was, and when she saw it was Brooke, she knew she had to answer.

"Hey best friend!" she answered cheerily.

"So, how was it?" Peyton should have known that would be Brooke's first question. She looked over at Lucas who was watching her while she was talking.

Peyton's silence let Brooke know that Lucas was listening.

"Ok, so cough once if it was good, and twice if it was better than that." Brooke instructed.

Peyton looked at Lucas again and went into a frenzied coughing fit. Brooke squealed down the phone and Peyton had to move it from her ear.

"That's all I needed to know," Brooke said excitedly. "Call me with details when you get back." As quickly as she had been there, she was gone. Peyton closed her phone and looked at Lucas.

Wanting to return to the serious conversation they were starting to have, Peyton began.

"Luke, I want you to know…" and then they were interrupted again by Lucas' phone. He rolled his eyes and checked quickly to see it was Haley.

"Hey Hales, what's up?"

"Don't, 'Hey Hales' me Lucas. Where are you? Nathan went by the house this morning to get you to go to the rivercourt and he said it was all locked up and you clearly hadn't been home. Are you ok? You know we worry about you."

"Haley, I'm fine. I just needed to be away for a couple of days." Peyton crawled over him and began kissing his ear and he tried to swat her away. Haley heard the commotion.

"Lucas, are you with someone?" she asked almost excitedly. He hadn't been with anyone since his divorce.

"Uh, yeah" he pushed Peyton back gently and asked a question with his eyes that Peyton understood and she nodded. "Hales, I'm with Peyton."

"Seriously?" she exclaimed, and then the realization hit her. "Lucas! You're both 30 and both single and childless and oh…my…god…" the implication hung in the air.

"Yes, Haley, I'm aware of that, and so is Peyton. We will call you when we get back to town." Not wishing to have a conversation with Haley that he had yet to have with Peyton, he hung up.

It was his turn to begin again. He sat up in bed with the sheet draped over his lap and faced Peyton taking her hands.

"Peyton, I have to say this now, or the timing will be all wrong again, and I'm not going to risk that. I went into this willing to be the sperm donor, because that's what you wanted, and I really would do anything for you. But the fact that I would do anything for you, should tell you something. I've been denying it to myself for years and it's caused me to do some pretty stupid things. After last night, I know I can't deny it anymore. I won't deny it anymore. I want everything with you. If you're pregnant now, that's fantastic, but all I really want right now is for you to be my girlfriend. I love you, Peyton. I'm in love with you." He gently rubbed her hands and tried to read Peyton's reaction in her eyes.

She sat silent for a moment playing with his hands and then began to laugh.

"Not quite the reaction, I was hoping for" he chuckled.

"Maybe this is…" she said as she lunged at him and gave him one of the most passionate kisses he had ever had. She pulled away slowly and stared into his mesmerizing blue eyes.

"Luke, we've been dancing around each other for years, and yeah our timing has always sucked. But this whole thing, the timing is all right. You do realize that we could have had a baby through IVF. But that wouldn't have been what I wanted with you. I want a baby and I want one with you, but more than that…I want you. I can't believe it took some stupid deal we made when we were drunk and pissed off at each other years ago for us to come full circle. But we here now, and yes, I would love to be your girlfriend." She leaned in and kissed him more gently this time.

"And…?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah…I'm in love with too" she giggled and they fell back together into bed again, thoughts of French toast forgotten.