CHAPTER 30

Time.

It's a curious thing. It flies when you're having fun. That's how the saying goes, right?

But in truth time flies when you are unprepared for what lies ahead, when you're having trouble making decisions that will determine the path you must walk and when ultimately you don't want to face the future.

Time, in fact, flies just when you really want it to stand still.

The moment Peyton's eyes opened and she realised exactly what today meant she couldn't help the tears that fell casually down her cheeks. A thumb that she knew to be Lucas' wiped them away smoothly; she turned and looked into his eyes. She was expecting some kind of reassuring gaze, something that made her feel like everything was going to be okay… what she wasn't expecting was the look of heartache etched into his face unmistakeably, radiating from his eyes and the way they glistened slightly with tears. Before she could do anything else she'd let out a small sob and he'd tucked her into his embrace, smoothing her hair and kissing her forehead, whispering sweet things into her ears. A moment later her sobs died down and she lifted her head out of his bare chest, one look of blue on green found their lips melding together as if any second one of them was going to disappear.

Peyton zipped up her suitcase, pushing yet another tear away. What she hated about this day was that it was already a vulnerable one…and she wasn't someone who easily broke down. She'd had more than her fair share of heartache but she rarely broke down in front of anyone and yet she'd already cried more times than she had in the past year in just a couple of hours. Another thing she hated was that she was proving one of her little 'sayings' right. She hated leaving… the saying she used that ringed true most of the time was; People always leave. She just never thought that she'd be the one doing the leaving.

Looking around memories abused her brain, the amount of time her and Lucas had spent in this room, her room, was actually ridiculous. If they'd bothered to add up the time it would have probably been about a month at least. Peyton closed her eyes and took in a shaky breath once again thinking about her blonde boyfriend who she would have to say goodbye to soon. Their trip back from the beach house was a quiet one, their hands were clasped together tightly as if they feared to let go but neither of them spoke, it wasn't uncomfortable; they were just enjoying the silence…of it being just them.

She heard a taxi pull up outside of Karen's house and let out a deep breath of an emotion she knew all too well, absolute despair. The door opened behind her and Lucas attempted a smile it didn't fool her and he stopped trying. He strode towards her purposefully, her face fitting perfectly between his hands as he fused their lips together. It was fast their tongues meeting straight away, afraid of how time was suddenly rushing away in great dollops, but then suddenly the pace seemed to slow, Lucas' thumb tenderly brushing against the apple of her cheek. Peyton tried to commit it all to memory, how he tasted, the way his hands were rough and yet smooth at the same time, the way his tongue caressed hers…

A knock on the door broke the moment but she was somewhat thankful, she knew that if no-one had interrupted then they'd have probably ended up on the bed without any clothes on… ultimately, a hard one to explain. The person who knocked didn't disturb after that, but Lucas and Peyton got the point. After a few minutes Lucas broke away, her cheeks still between his two hands as he looked down at her with nothing but love. He gave her a half smile and she gave one back, all the while wishing she could just say the words she'd already confided with Brooke, Haley and to a certain extent Nathan too. Lucas picked up one of her suitcases and Peyton picked up the other one.

Peyton stepped out of the house to see Nathan, Brooke, Haley and Karen waiting by the taxi. Lucas stepped out behind her, a suitcase in his hand and the four waiting people looked around at the sound of them. All of their faces held a sympathetic but strong smile as though they were trying to be strong. Peyton wished she could have had that mentality at the start of the day. She was already a mess. She watched as Lucas lowered her suitcases into the trunk and crammed the other bags in before slamming the boot shut and dusting off his hands.

He swallowed a small lump in his throat, this was the day he'd been dreading for months, the day that Peyton Sawyer would be leaving his life forever.

He didn't know quite what to do, he was numb. Numb with disbelief that everything that had happened between them this summer was just to come crashing down the moment she stepped into the taxi and it drove off. He found himself fleetingly wondering whether it had been a mistake for them to get together in the first place. But as he looked into her face he knew that nothing that had happened this summer had been a mistake. If only he could have made time stand still for just a few more months, the ironic thing is that when you're dreading something time has the tendency to just run away with you. It barely felt like a week had passed since Peyton had joined him for the summer and yet the memories they'd formed together, some seemed like an absolute lifetime ago and with Nathan, Haley and Brooke had to have been the best summer he'd ever experienced and by looking at his three friend's faces he knew that they were thinking the same thing.

If was different for them though, he thought bitterly. They'd miss her and he knew that but they weren't in love with someone who was walking out of their life, they wouldn't have to wake up every day wishing that Peyton Sawyer was by their side. No, he would be the one to experience that, and he was dreading it already. He took a deep breath at the thought and quickly decided to put on a strong front.

So he put on a brave face watching from the side lines as Peyton hugged Nathan each of them whispering incoherent words to each other as Nathan swayed them on the spot, then she was hugging Brooke, who gave a weak chuckle at the words being said to her and finally Haley who had tears in their eyes when they pulled apart moments later, saying a few words to both of them in turn. Then she was hugging Karen and he briefly recalled Peyton thanking her for having her to stay and everything she'd done for her over the summer…and then when she turned to face him, his resolve crumbled away in one foul swoop. Her expression was the epitome of beautifully broken. She was looking solely at him and he'd never seen her face look so conflicted before. He took a moment to study her and trailed his finger across her soft cheek before swallowing yet another lump in his throat and reaching forward to pull his girl into a hug.

Peyton hung onto him, almost desperately, as though willing for him to never let her go, to make her stay. He really and truly wished that he could make her stay, the pressure of another lump in his throat was beginning to become too much, he couldn't seem to swallow it… and suddenly he felt his eyes water. He closed them tightly, burying his face in her hair and breathing in trying to remember her touch and her smell.

They stood in their own little world for what felt like forever, Peyton had never felt so safe in her life, here in the arms of Lucas Scott. Her face was pressed into his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him. She breathed in deeply feeling like she could never get bored of his scent. It was unique and so totally him. She hoped he wouldn't mind but she'd 'borrowed' one of his hoodies (although not the Keith Scott Body Shop one because she knew that was too important to him) and left something of hers in its place in his drawer. When he went to look for that particular clothing then she was sure he'd come across it, it wasn't anything too special but she had a feeling he'd know how important it was to her.

Lucas' face was buried in her hair, she could feel his breath against her ear and his arms were securely wrapped around her waist. Then the driver of the taxi took them out of their own little world with a sharp jolt, the beeping of the horn making them jump. Peyton raised her head off Lucas' chest and looked into his eyes, he tried to smile at her… really he did. But his lips just wouldn't seem to lift; he tucked a stray curl behind her ear before kissing her briefly on the lips, letting himself linger there for a few moments. Another beep of the horn brought them crashing once more, back to the present.

'All right, all right…' Peyton muttered distractedly.

Lucas wondered fleetingly what would happen if he just refused to let her go, point blank would not release his hold on her… she would have to stay, right? But then, before he could even contemplate putting his theory into practice, she was slipping out of his arms and getting into the taxi. It all happened so fast that he swore he'd blanked out for a few seconds…the taxi was suddenly driving and it was halfway down the road before panic gripped him… he needed to say it. He had to tell her else he'd kick himself for who knows how long afterwards. Before anyone knew what was happening Lucas was sprinting down the street after the speeding car.

Nathan watched as the taxi started to move, he'd never felt like this before. So sad, for himself, for his friends and yet mostly for Lucas and Peyton themselves. He couldn't imagine being without Haley and so he knew that this separation would suck…a hell of a lot. They had gotten so close that he would have called Peyton one of his best friends, he loved her like a friend and now she'd probably never see them again. He held Haley and saw a few tears leak down her face then looked at Brooke, tears evident on her cheeks too. Next to her was Karen who looked equally as sad, then his eyes shifted to Lucas. He was the picture of heartbroken, his face was stricken, his forehead creased and suddenly he was moving, running. The taxi was halfway down the street already as he sprinted towards it, banging on the roof when he reached it.

Nathan let go of Haley and started forward in alarm, intending to go after his brother but he hadn't gone a dozen steps before he felt a small hand pull him back. He looked into Karen's eyes and she gave him a sad smile, shaking her head,

'Leave them be.' She said softly and Nathan nodded, not moving from where he was however. Prepared to help if things got too out of control. He watched intently, Karen, Haley and Brooke a little way behind him their eyes on the car as well, as the door of the taxi slowly opened…

Peyton wiped the tears from her cheeks and said to the driver,

'I'm sorry, could I just have a minute.'

'Sure.' The driver said but Peyton didn't miss the role of his eyes in the mirror and felt the urge to remind him that she was paying his fare. Shaking her head she opened her door instead and instantly Lucas grabbed her hand pulling her out.

'Luke, what-what are you doing?' Peyton asked as she stood before her boyfriend, tears in her eyes. He was making this unbelievably difficult.

Before she had the chance to say anything the three words they'd been so carefully avoiding had fallen from Lucas' lips.

'I love you.' He said breathlessly. 'I just needed to say it, I wanted you to know. I love you Peyton.'

Peyton was speechless. Her heart was doing somersaults. But her head was a different story. This was insane. They'd avoided the words for a reason. She couldn't deal with making things so much harder than they already were. All of a sudden she felt a little angry; he coudln't just spring those three words like that on her! He can'tt tell her he loves her when she's just about to leave.

'You can't just say something like that to me Lucas.'

Lucas seemed fully equipped for this kind of answer. 'Why not?' He said defiantly. 'I love you and I'm tired of denying it.'

'Because-because…' Peyton blustered and all of a sudden her anger dissipated as quickly as it had come and before she could fathom another thought the words had stumbled out of her mouth too,

'Because…I love you too.'

Lucas's face stretched into a wide smile and his lips found hers quickly afterwards. Peyton wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around her lower back pulling her flush against him as their kiss deepened. He tasted the salt of her tears a moment later and his hand skimmed around her back, up her arm and cupped her cheek. He kept their lips close together but swept his thumb over her cheeks brushing away the tracks her tears had made before pressing his lips to hers once more.

Peyton stood on her tip toes while Lucas rested his hands on her hips to steady her as she pulled on the collar of his jacket pressing them together more forcefully. Neither wanted to stop this very public display of affection, not even to draw breath, afraid that when they did it would all be over so they kept it going longer and longer, delaying the inevitable. But as their lungs felt like they were about to burst they drew apart panting for breath and foreheads together, hands clasped desperately holding onto each other.

The driver of the taxi however seemed to have finally had enough and papped his horn once again, reality came rushing in once more and Peyton realised they'd been standing on the sidewalk for about five minutes and very little was used for talking. Cringing slightly at the intimate embrace they'd been in seconds ago with Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Karen watching Peyton bit her bottom lip slightly as she looked into Lucas' eyes. They stared at each other for a second longer then Lucas kissed Peyton's forehead, Peyton squeezed his hand and turned getting into the taxi and closing the door once more.

He watched as she shut the taxi door behind her, he could see the tears falling again thick and fast and tried hard not to breakdown as well. He rested his fingers against the glass and she half smiled, then all too soon the taxi was zooming away and he wanted to run after it again, anything to keep her in Tree Hill…with him.

Instead he watched until it rounded a corner and then ambled back to the others. He didn't look up; expecting to see his mother's disapproving face due to their passionate farewell. He looked up slightly when he felt someone take hold of his shoulder tightly. Nathan looked at his brother and realised that he'd never actually seen him break down before but was sure he was perhaps seconds away from doing just that. He slung an arm around Lucas' shoulders as a brotherly gesture before walking back to the others.

When they got closer Karen saw the tears in her sons eyes and her heart broke for him. He looked at each of them in turn. Both Brooke and Haley steadily had tears running down their face after witnessing Lucas and Peyton's last interaction. They hadn't heard what was spoken but the rest pretty much spoke volumes.

The two brothers reached the group seconds later and no one knew what to do or say. They just stood there for at least a minute before Karen wrapped her arms around Lucas. That did it, Nathan realised. Lucas' body shook as he wrapped his arms tightly around his mother.

'I love her.' He choked out and Haley's heart broke just a little more.

Brooke let out a little noise half between a sob and a chortle.

'Great timing Scott.' She answered and Lucas couldn't help but let out a weak smile,

'I'm a right piece of work aren't I?' He said with a grimace.

'Come on Luke, I'll make some tea.' Karen responded gently and wrapping her arm around her son's waist steered him back inside the house. Nathan wrapped an arm around Haley's shoulders and kissed the side of her head and then he beckoned to Brooke before putting an arm around her shoulders too and steering them both towards the house. The emotions that Nathan was feeling were strangely conflicting. He felt a sense of heartbreak for his brother and the blonde heading towards the airport, sadness for himself and protectiveness over Brooke and Haley. It looked like he was going to have to be the rock of the group from this moment on, he blinked rapidly…clearing the blurriness of his eyes. He wasn't crying, his allergies had just decided to kick in right at that moment, obviously…

At least that's what he told himself.

The five sat at the table in complete silence all nursing a mug of hot tea in their hands. The silence was complete and exhausting; it was heavy as though all the happiness had been sucked out of the room. Tired of sitting in the same position for so long Lucas pressed his palms into his tired eyes.

All he seemed to see was Peyton Sawyer. He didn't see that changing anytime soon and with that thought he realised that the next few months at least were gonna suck.

I have everything mapped out in my head for what's going to happen next but I need to actually get it down in some sort of structure but still, i hope you like what i've got planned!

Sooo Chapter 30... quite a big one right?... love it or hate it? I'd love to hear/read your opinions on this one :P Thank you for all of the reviews so far, they make me extra happy! And someone (i'm not going to say who :P) got the end of this story pretty much right lol. But still, i'm open for suggestions... Thank you once again :D.

P.S I know this might have been pretty hard to read cuz there wasn't a lot of dialogue but there was a lot of description, but still i hope you liked it and it wasn't too hard to read!