Disclaimer: One Tree Hill and its characters belong to Mark Schwahn, The CW, etc. I'm simply whoring them for my own amusement.
Spoilers/Warnings: I'm screwing with pretty much everything in the OTH verse. For now if you've seen S1, you're golden.
Summary: AU. A one night stand blossoms into much more than Lucas and Peyton originally bargained for.
—
06. The Past and Pending
Peyton stared at Lucas from across the table, stirring her Cheerios around her bowl, barely paying her breakfast any attention whatsoever. Lucas, on the other hand, had her undivided attention, if he'd only make use of it. Instead, he'd buried his head behind the newspaper, blind to her turmoil.
Since Haley had invaded their lives, their relationship just wasn't the same. Sure, they'd tried to get things back to where they were but she was the huge elephant in the room. Neither of them had mentioned her again yet they hadn't touched in days—and she was beginning to feel the burn.
She'd focused on her work, doing the best she could over the phone. Though getting Chris Keller to do what she wanted without being able to slap him silly just wasn't working for her. The last thing she wanted to do was to fly back to L.A. for a few days; she might be tempted not to return. She squashed that thought immediately. She was not going to give up because Lucas had a best friend who was in love with him. She'd managed to endure Jake and his groupies for years. She could do this—she would do this.
Feeling the need to broach a conversation, Peyton attempted to garner her boyfriend's attention, saying, "You know, we should do something today. It's so nice out. We should go sailing or… something." What did people do in Tree Hill for fun? She had no idea. She'd been in town almost two weeks and had gone as far as the movie store.
"It's supposed to rain this afternoon," came his reply, muffled from behind the paper.
She stared daggers at him, but persevered. "Then we'll cuddle on the sofa and watch movies. I don't think we've ever done that."
"I'm not really in the mood for a movie. I'll just go into the study and write while you watch your movie."
Annoyed now, Peyton pushed back her chair and stood up from the table. "You know... I think I'll go out."
"Out where?" Lucas yelled after her as she left the room. Frowning, he threw down the paper and pushed away from the table. He called her name as he made his way to the back of the house. He found her in the bathroom, turning on the taps in the shower. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," she replied curtly.
"It doesn't sound like nothing."
She looked at him, opened her mouth to tell him exactly what her problem was, but thought better of it. "It's nothing," she insisted. "Now, could you please leave so that I could take my shower?"
Lucas leaned against the doorjamb and folded his arms. He wasn't going anywhere.
Well, two could play that game, Peyton thought. Only she would win. She untied her robe, letting it drop to her feet. Beneath it, she didn't wear much else unless you counted boy shorts and a cami as clothing. Which she didn't. She peeled off the shirt and slid the underwear down her legs, shooting Lucas a seductive look as she stepped into the shower.
"You know that was unfair."
His voice stopped her. "I thought the playing field was leveled, actually." She shut the door and stepped beneath the spray yet she still heard Lucas approach. Before she knew it, he had thrown open the door and stepped inside. "Lucas, you're going to get soaked. Get out."
He made no move to do as she bid. He pulled the door closed and slowly backed her against the wall. They were both aware that she was naked. And that Lucas was hard. Things were about to get very, very interesting. "You're making me pay for Haley, aren't you?" he asked, not taking his eyes from hers. If he did, he wouldn't be responsible for what he'd do to her.
He'd been indifferent to her, yes, choosing to give her the time she needed to move past the whole situation with Haley. He had convinced himself that when she wanted him, she'd make the first move. In turn, Lucas had promised himself that he wasn't going to push himself on her, even though he'd been dying the last couple of days not being able to touch her. Enough was enough. This impasse of theirs ended now.
Peyton was aware that Lucas was watching every minute move she made—the rise and fall of her chest, the movement of her throat as she swallowed, her restless hands. "I'm not doing anything, Lucas. You're the one that's acting strange."
"I felt it was imperative I give you time to adjust to the whole Haley thing. I was giving you space to come to terms."
"Space?" she echoed. "I didn't need any space. I'm fine. You said that you and Haley have only ever been friends. I believed you."
Well, that was a relief. For the time being. "Now you tell me," he muttered.
Peyton waited for him to move, for him to leave her to her shower, but he remained where he was, watching her. It unnerved her because… well, she was naked. She watched his wet his lips with his tongue, biting back the groan that bubbled in her throat.
He moved closer. "So then if I did this," he paused to brush her lips with his, "You wouldn't object?"
"N-no," she stammered, taken off guard by the action.
"And this," he added, filling his palm with her breast, "That I could do, too?"
Peyton was finding it difficult to draw breaths. She nodded her consent. When Lucas pressed his hand between her legs, she gave up talking altogether. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to let Lucas have all the fun, either. She wanted to do some touching of her own. She wanted to feel his skin, too. She wanted to make him burn as she was. His shirt went first, followed by his boxers. Then her hand was on his cock, his was between her legs and they were working in tandem to bring the other to completion.
Only Peyton's release was just out of her grasp. She was on the cusp, she could feel it but she just couldn't quite get there. She was beginning to get frustrated when Lucas dropped his hand and filled her with something far more impressive. A little yelp escaped her at his first thrust. He stilled. "Are you alright?" he panted, concerned.
She shook her head, explaining, "I should be used to it at this angle, but I'm just…not."
"I could stop."
"You do and I swear I will castrate you," she cautioned.
He snickered, "And then neither us will be able to have any fun."
Peyton wrapped her legs around Lucas as he pulled out then drove back into her. She reached for the showerhead to balance herself as he began a delicate, slow in and out motion. She accidentally knocked the showerhead to the floor when her orgasm hit her from out of nowhere, Lucas cutting off her scream with a passionate kiss and he too found his release.
Weak, Peyton slumped against Lucas, gasping, "That was…" as he disjoined from her.
"Yeah," Lucas agreed, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he pushed them beneath the spray. The water had gone cold; he turned the warm water higher.
"I'm sorry about earlier," Peyton apologized, looping her arms around his neck, her breasts abrading his chest.
His breathing had yet to return to normal, although if she kept on touching him, they might have to go again. "It's okay," he assured her, turning her around so that her back was to his front.
"Don't even think about it," she warned as he reached over her shoulder for the washcloth.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He bit the side of Peyton's neck playfully, a chuckle escaping his mouth when a growl escaped Peyton's stomach. "Hungry?"
"Starving, actually." She thought about her ill-forgotten bowl of Cheerios and her stomach growled anew. Maybe she should've been less preoccupied with sex and more with food. Her priorities were not what they should be. Then she thought about the shower sex she and Lucas had just engaged in and a wicked smile quirked her lips.
"There's somewhere I want to take you tonight."
She glanced over her shoulder at him. "You mean you're going to take me out?" The prospect filled her with glee. In all the time they had been together, they'd never been out to dinner. They'd attempted it on several occasions but had always settled for takeout and that was usually cold by the time they got around to it.
"I should've done it before now. I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. I understand. You said your first week at the dealership would be time-consuming."
He hauled her close. "Just so you know, I didn't forget about you."
She grinned, teasing, "Liar. You totally did."
"Did not." He paused. "Okay, maybe a little." He kissed her then and this time he was unable to resist the urge to take her again.
—
Karen's Café.
Peyton told herself as Lucas led her up the steps to the front door that the eatery couldn't belong to his mother because he would've told her about it. However, when they walked in and Peyton spotted Karen operating the cash register, she turned to Lucas, chastising, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted to bring you myself. I knew if I told you about this place that you would've been here with my mom everyday while I was at work."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"It is a bad thing. She would've brought out the photo albums. Need I say more?"
"Photo albums, you say."
Lucas pointed a finger at her as he saw his mother approach them out of the corner of his eye. "Don't even think about it," he told her.
"Am I interrupting?" Karen asked, obviously hesitant to interrupt them.
Lucas leaned over and kissed his mother's cheek as he told her, "Don't be ridiculous." Lucas looked around, noting the filled tables, the noise level moderate considering most of the clientele consisted of teenagers and college students. "I see it's busy in here tonight. Are there any tables open?"
"You came here to eat?"
Karen sounded surprised, Peyton noted. Apparently, Lucas didn't come here to eat. She begun to think that odd, then saw the huge espresso machine. Lucas did like his coffee. She snapped back to the conversation when Lucas said, "I wanted to show Peyton the place. Let her see you in action."
"You picked a hell of a night, Lucas. You know how Saturdays are."
"If you're shorthanded, I could always help out," Peyton offered, catching both Karen and Lucas off guard. Before Lucas could ask, she informed him, "I waitressed a few summers."
Karen flashed Peyton a wide smile. "I won't take you up on that tonight but maybe during the week. Tonight you're on a date with my son so I couldn't possibly ask you to wait for me." She motioned for them to follow her. "Come with me."
"My favorite spot," Lucas said when Karen placed them in a booth right in front of the window. He waited until Peyton sat down before he took a seat himself.
"I knew you'd like it. I'll be back in about five minutes to take your orders. Drinks, first?"
"Iced Tea," the both of them said at the exact time.
"Well that's easy to remember," Karen said, foregoing her pad and pen. "Be right back."
After his mom had left them alone, he told Peyton, "You know you didn't have to do that—offer to help out."
"I don't mind. What else am I going do while I'm here? My work only takes up an hour or two. The rest of the time, I'm itching for something to do. And I am just not the type to sit in front of the television with the soap operas all day long. Plus, it'll give me a chance to get to know your mom better."
"I wish you would've told me that you were bored."
Peyton rushed to defend herself. She didn't want him to think that she wasn't enjoying her time in Tree Hill. The last few days notwithstanding, she loved being here with him. "I'm not bored. Not really. Mostly I think I'm just starved for company."
"And it doesn't help that your boyfriend is a deserter."
"Hey, I knew what I was in for when I came here. You were coming to work, to fill in for your dad. There was never a point where I thought we'd lay about in bed all day."
His lips curved into a cunning smile. "That does sound nice."
"It does, doesn't it?"
Karen returned with the drinks then, setting the glasses on the table between them. "So, do you know what you want? Or should I come back?" She had the sinking suspicion that they hadn't accomplished much menu browsing since she'd left them a few minutes ago.
Lucas presented her with a wry grin. "We haven't even looked at the menu."
Karen nodded and walked away, returning to her post at the counter. There she watched as Lucas reached over and took Peyton's hands in his, gently squeezing them. She hadn't seen her son this happy in a very long time. He and Peyton were good for each other, that much was clear. Was it love? She couldn't say for sure, but whatever feelings Lucas and Peyton had for one another it wasn't simple or easy. Nor would it be considering Lucas's past, the vendetta his brother had against him. She loved her son, but he'd done a stupid thing. Haley was like a daughter to her but the two—romantically—were ill suited. Luckily, Lucas had gone on to find someone that matched him (as far as she could tell) better.
Returning to the table to take their orders, Karen wasn't surprised that they ordered one plate and decided on it to go.
—
Peyton was returning from her morning walk on the beach when she entered the house to find Lily waiting for her. The teenager was sitting at the table in the kitchen with a bag of white powdered doughnuts—Lucas's favorite. "If you eat that whole bag, your brother is going to hurt you."
"He can buy him another," she said, stuffing a full doughnut in her mouth. Peyton gaped at her, amazed that something so small could scarf down that many doughnuts in the span of a few minutes. "Muk?" Lily inquired.
It took Peyton a moment to understand that she was asking for milk. She grabbed the half-gallon out of the refrigerator and set it beside Lily on the table, then moved to the cupboard for a glass. When she turned back, Lily had the carton upturned and was drinking straight from the spout. Like brother, like sister, she mused.
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
Lily shook her head, setting aside the milk carton and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Spring vacation started yesterday."
"And you were bored?"
She shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you."
That sounded ominous. Peyton slid into a chair; she figured she had better be sitting down for this. With a wave of her hand, she said, "I'm listening…but if this involves sex or anything illegal, I'm so out of here."
"Nothing like that. You see… there's this boy I like," Lily started.
Peyton breathed a sigh of relief. Boys. She could talk about boys. She liked boys. She'd always wanted a sister of her own for this very thing—girl talk. She was dancing on the inside with glee and excitement. "He doesn't like you back?" she inquired kindly. Wasn't that always the case?
"No, no… he does. He's just… older."
"How much older are we talking?" Peyton asked, fearing that Lily was talking about Tim.
"It's not who you think," Lily told her. Peyton heaved a relieved sigh. "No, he's a senior. My mom would never let me date him. I thought that maybe you could…"
Peyton cut Lily off before she even complete her sentence. "Oh, Lily, I can't. It's not my place. You're her daughter and frankly, if you were mine I wouldn't allow you to date a senior either. They're older and more experienced." She stopped talking for a second, fearing that she'd scared the girl from telling her anything further; this was too juicy a conversation to pass up. "Is he cute?" she found herself asking.
"So cute," Lily answered, dragging out the O. "He plays basketball. I mean, mostly he sits on the bench. I keep telling Skills that he needs to give Adam a chance, but he tells me to mind my pom-poms."
"You're a cheerleader?" Peyton knew that was surprise in her voice. She knew she shouldn't be that shocked—the girl was all legs.
Lily rolled her shoulders dispassionately. "My mom was a cheerleader. At first, I didn't want to be a part of that scene. I didn't like the attention, guys pursuing me because I wore a short little skirt and could kick my legs over my head. But I have brothers, you know? Nathan and Lucas dated the whole team between them so the girls were always at the house doing cartwheels, practicing splits… I learned to like it."
"I was a cheerleader, too," Peyton heard herself confessing. God, why'd I say that, she wondered an instant later.
"Really?"
She nodded but said nothing further. To get the conversation back on track, Peyton prompted Lily, "So tell me more about this Adam."
"He's smart and very sweet. He seems to like me. Unfortunately he knows that my brother is his coach's best friend so I think that's why he's not asking me out."
"If he hasn't asked you out yet, why are you worried about your mom telling you that you can't date him?"
"I like to have all my bases covered," she clarified.
Peyton couldn't stop herself from asking the obvious. "There are no boys in your grade that you could date?"
Lily huffed, "Peyton, have you seen freshman boys? They're not pretty. And they're so immature." Lily visibly shivered, appalled at the thought of dating a boy in her grade.
Laughing, Peyton conceded, "Okay. Point taken. You could always get this boy jealous by pretending to be interested in another."
"Make him jealous?"
"Girls do it all the time."
Peyton watched Lily mull over the thought. "You know," she finally said, "there's this guy in my English class who might do." Then, the thought occurring to her, she asked, "Is that how you got Lucas?"
"No. Lucas and I… it was a mutual pursuit."
They both stood up as Lily told Peyton, "I have no idea what that means, but that's probably best."
"Probably," Peyton agreed. Peyton waited for Lily to start making her way to the door, but she didn't move. Apparently, she had more to say. Peyton dropped back into her seat. "What's wrong?"
"I kind of… there's something I want to ask you. It's really why I came. I just wanted your opinion on the Adam thing. Usually I talk to Haley but... Anyway."
Peyton chided herself on being the bigger person and that's what she was going to do now. She still wasn't comfortable talking about Haley but Lily didn't know that. Haley had been a part of her life forever and evidently, the two had been close. She was somewhat hesitant at this turn in conversation, and drawled out, "Okay." This talk was making her more uncomfortable the second. She wondered if Lucas knew Lily was here. What would he say? Would he be okay with her talking to Lily, giving her advice? Great time to start pondering those questions now, she thought.
"Well… Lucas said that you know a lot of people and that you have some of the best artists on your label."
"That's right." Oh, I know where this was going, she thought, amused.
Nervous, Lily pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn't want Peyton to reject her, but she went ahead and asked anyway. "I guess what I want to know is… could you get me Chris Keller's autograph?"
—
Lucas walked into his dad's hospital room and stopped short. Sitting beside his dad on the bed was his brother. As usual, Dan's excitement at seeing Nathan was palpable; it was written all over Dan's face. "I brought you lunch," he said a little idiotically. Lucas was pretty sure his mom had called to inform Dan that he was bringing lunch. Why hadn't he mentioned Nathan being here? Did Dan want to see his two sons throw down in his hospital room?
"Come in, Lucas. Sit down," Dan urged with a wave of his hand.
After battling the impulse to run, Lucas circled the bed, glaring at his brother the entire time. Nathan had that stupid smirk on his face that Lucas was just dying to slap off. One good slap was all it would take. Just one. The night that Nathan had barged into his room and found him and Haley they'd pummeled each other senseless. Sadly, it hadn't been enough. Not nearly enough. He handed Dan the bag, inquiring, "How are you doing today?"
"Better now that the two of you are here. The only one missing is Little Bit." No one could say that Dan Scott didn't love his kids, Lucas thought glumly.
Lucas grinned at hearing his dad's special nickname for Lily. Though, he never used it in her presence. "If she ever found out that you called her that, you'd never leave the hospital."
"Don't I know it," Dan said as he dug into the bag, extracting a garden salad. Frowning, he turned the bag upside down, hoping to find dressing; sadly, his wife was sticking by the doctor's orders. Stupid doctor and his health conscious bullshit. Like salad dressing was really going to hurt. He grumbled as he set the salad on his tray and pushed it away. Lucas gave him a look, but he ignored it.
He'd tried to eat healthy after his last heart attack, but frankly, health food sucked. Maybe he should have tried harder. After all, he had a wife and three children to think about. What would happen to them if he died? Especially Lucas and Nathan. They had barely spoken in three years. At one time, they had been as close as best friends. He longed for those days back, when he had to pull them away from each other. In an effort to get them talking, he said, "Nathan's playing a charity game at the high school this weekend."
"You're a few days early, aren't you?"
Dan glowered at Lucas as Nathan said, "There's some… personal business I have to take care of."
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Of course. God… when are you going to grow up? That shit happened years ago. I fucked up, yes, but I owned up to it. When are you going to own up to the part that you played?"
With the stealth of a tiger, Nathan slid off the bed, his voice steely and low as he told Lucas, "I didn't do a damn thing."
"Yeah, you were an innocent—and I'm Anne Rice. Try again."
"You had no right to get involved, Lucas. It wasn't your place. It was between me and Haley."
"Haley came to me, when she caught you pants down—literally—with one of your hangers-on. That's not my fault. She couldn't rely on you, but she knew who she could rely on."
The two brothers were so involved in their argument they didn't see their sister enter the room. They didn't see the horrified look on her face nor how she zipped across the room to their father's side. They were completely oblivious to his distress.
"That's enough," Dan yelled, pleased when his sons ended their tirade. "You sound like a couple of girls, bitching and bickering at each other all the long live long day. Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. You're grown men. Act like it, why don't you? It's no wonder I have a bad heart, having to put up with the two of you and this shit. Drop the attitudes or hit the door," he yelled at them, flashing his daughter a quick, apologetic smile, thankful when she patted his hand and whispered, "It's okay, Daddy."
"He started it," Lucas and Nathan grumbled at the same time.
"You're both being asses," Lily piped in from Dan's side.
Lucas and Nathan exchanged a look, but it was Lucas who said, "When'd you get here?"
"Does it matter? I got to see the show. I expected this from Nathan, but not you, Lucas."
"Hey!" Nathan objected.
"I'm sorry," Lucas apologized, though it was a moot point now.
"Get out. Both of you," she ordered. "Dad needs his rest and he can't rest peacefully with the two of you here, ready to bash each other's heads in. Go."
They both started to object but saw that Lily meant business. Lucas and Nathan bid their father and sister goodbye, and walked out into the hallway. "You should stay," Lucas said when Nathan turned to walk away. "He hasn't seen you in a long time. Stay. Visit with him. It might make him more bearable for the nurses." He tried to smile but the action fell flat, then he spun on his heel and headed toward the elevator.
Nathan let Lucas get a few feet away before he called out to him. He waited until Lucas was facing him again before he taunted, "Tell Peyton I said hello."