A/N: GUYS! I LOVE LONG REVIEWS! Don't ever apologize for a long review, because they are like food for my muse. I cheese and get excited and feel the urge to sit down and write. That's why I try to respond to your reviews in the A/N's, even though sometimes it gets a little long, because I want you to know you aren't writing in vain. I read each and every one!
Sooooo, either Mark is in my head or I am in his, but how perfectly did his story from last night's epi fit into this story? Brooke was with Chase the night before, they left in the morning, Lucas and Peyton spent their last day together? I mean, even the jokes about eating for two had me rolling on the floor laughing, just because in my fic she was pregnant, she just didn't know it.
I don't know about you guys, but the flashbacks were great, except for several things.
One, the wig was not so great.
Two, towards the end Leyton talked about being married one day and Peyton told him how her dreams were wrapped up in him. So that just makes me madder about him leaving her in that hotel room a year later because she said someday. Ohhhhhhh!
But anyways, back to how great my genius is, and how P. Sawyer is hilarious. I mean, did she play stir-crazy well or what? She wouldn't say a word and I would bust out laughing just from her expressions of boredom. And the kicker is when she spoke and said 'ohhhhhh myyyyyyy Goooooooddddddd! LMAO! I have def said that before- just not from boredom.
Anyways, onto the chapter, which was written this morning because I wanted to talk about last night's epi, and how awesome and into the One Tree Hill psyche I am, and because you guys are so wonderful and spoil me with reviews, so I spoil you with UD's.
The length of this chapter is dedicated to DKnAK, who asked why I couldn't make a chapter longer. The answer is, "good question!" I usually say a chapter has to be at least 5 pages (4 is the lowest I've allowed myself to go, but I feel bad about it later), so they usually end up being between 5-7 pages. But that doesn't mean I can't roll out a 10-11 pager every once in a while. So here you go!.
TreeHillLove23- Bonnie will be called Bonnie until she knows she is Peyton. I cant wait to go back to Peyton either. No offense to anyone with the name, but I dont like the name Bonnie.
LPlover- Breyton were back to being best friends. I would suggest going back and reading chapters 1,2, and the first half of 3. Lindsay doesn't show up until like the last third of 3, so you wont run into Lindcas.
Lwrnld- I didn't even recognize the brunette connection! You are soooo right! High five! Brunnette's make kick ass friends! (lol. Im a brunette, could you guess?)
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Chapter 8 When Past Catches Up to Present
Tonya offered to watch the kids so that Bonnie could take Lucas in the living room for a moment of privacy, herding the twins away from Lucas' legs with groans of disappointment and an extra "Awww man!" from Keith.
Bonnie showed Lucas to the living room and sat on the couch, surprised that he sat next to her there instead of across from her, on a nearby love seat. She clasped her hands tightly, all of a sudden not ready to hear what he had to say. She didn't think she could bear her last lead about her past heading into another dead end.
"You said you have the answers Im looking for." Bonnie began, when it appeared that he wouldn't. "So, I take it you know where I can find Clyde Scoyer?"
Not sure where to start, and relieved she had taken the initiative to begin the conversation, Lucas nodded in response. "Yes, I do."
Bonnie sank into the couch, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, only to sit back up when he continued. "But before I tell you, can I ask you why you want to find him?"
He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her first.
She looked at him for a moment, then, appearing to come to a decision, got up and began to pace. "I guess to answer that question I have to start from the beginning. After all, its only fair that since you are about to give me my life back I should tell you a little about mine."
Lucas leaned forward and listened, trying not to appear too eager about what she had to say. He had always wondered about what happened to Peyton.
"4 years ago, I was found in a field outside a little town called Lubbock, Texas, with a broken leg and a huge concussion. The men who found me said that I had a parachute on, and since there was a skydiving clinic nearby, they assumed I was on a skydiving jump gone bad. But when they asked the instructors who I was, no one could remember me." Bonnie shrugged. "They probably didn't want to get sued for the hospital bills."
"Anyway, they figured they'd ask me who my instructor was when I woke up so they could take action for the negligence of the company, but when I awoke, I had no memory."
"No memory at all?" Lucas couldn't help but ask.
"Not a little bit." Bonnie responded. "Not my name, not my age, nothing, though I lied and made up some name to give them. I was unlucky enough to find the only rock in the entire field, and it took a pretty big chunk out of my head when I landed on it. Interestingly, I did remember a distrust of strangers and huge fear of hospitals." Bonnie frowned. "I kept thinking I was going to die if I stayed there. " she shrugged. "Probably not the best memories to have when you have a concussion and you've lost your memory, so everyone's a stranger."
"That's probably why a couple of nights after later, after my concussion was gone and they weren't checking me every couple of hours, I couldn't take it anymore and snuck out. They wouldn't let me leave until I got more of my memory back because they said it would be dangerous, but I just couldn't stay. I knew I wouldn't survive being in the hospital one more night."
"After a while, some things would come back to me, but not memories- more like feelings. I had this overwhelming urge to go east, but I had this fear of strangers that made it hard for me to hitchhike. So I panhandled and waitressed, and did odd jobs here and there to make enough money for a bus ticket. Its warm enough in Texas that I could sleep outside, which saved me some money, but didn't feel too safe." Bonnie laughed. "I even dressed up as a crab once for advertising. And it was sad, because that was the only job that seemed familiar to me."
Lucas nodded. Her subconscious was probably remembering the time Brooke dressed up like a crab when she was trying to make extra money.
"Anyway I would make a couple of bucks here and there until I had to leave that city, then I would hop on the bus and travel as far as I could go, then find odd jobs in the new town, trying to get East." She smiled at the memory. "And then one day I decided that the next place I got to would be the place that I ended up, because by then I had found out I was pregnant and was starting to show. When it was just me I didn't mind wandering, but I knew I had to stay put for the sake of my baby, well babies, as it turns out." Bonnie said, glancing towards the kitchen.
"At that point my money could only buy me a ticket to Honey Grove, Texas, which was the best thing that ever happened to me, because as soon as I got off the bus, I felt like I had been here before. I mean, I knew where the thrift shop was to get some clothes. I knew where the police station was to avoid it. And I knew where the diner was, which just happened to have a help wanted sign in the window. It was a good thing too, because I needed a job more than ever, so I could get a room at the motel instead of sleeping in the parks like I had been doing, or in the places where I worked. Managers loved me cause I would request the late shift and close up, that way I could sleep in the establishment at night to be a little safer, but eventually I would get caught and have to move on.
As Lucas listened, his heart broke a little at all she had been through, but it explained also why they hadn't found her. By the time they had thought to check the hospitals on the borders of Texas, she was long gone. And since she had given them a phony name when she woke up, there were no 'Jane Doe's' for the hospital to report. She didn't stay in one place long enough to be found.
"Delores was a life saver. She gave me a job, and a place to stay, saying a motel was no place to raise a child. Eventually I told her the real story, including that my name wasn't Haley Davis, but that I didn't know what it was. Delores was the second best thing that had happened to me. She not only gave me a place to live and a job; she was someone who cared. By now it was October, and after I finished telling her my story, she made me go to the doctor, which is where I found out I was carrying twins, not one baby as I had thought. But I'm getting off track here." She looked at Lucas. "Have I lost you yet?"
Lucas shook his head, enthralled. "No, no, continue."
"Ok. Anyway, Thanksgiving rolled around, and her daughter came home for break. She had been away at college, and it was her first year gone, so her mother said she couldn't visit until Thanksgiving. She knew it would be easier to make the transition and get over being homesick if her daughter knew she couldn't come home and had to fight her way through it. Anyway, Molly came home and recognized me from her senior prom, since I was a big deal, being an 'out of towner' and all. She was able to get into the archives and find a picture-," she pointed to the picture she had laid on the table, "of me and the twins' father." She glanced up at Lucas. "Apparently they had been conceived around the time of prom."
Inside Lucas laughed to himself. They had made sure to use protection that night, but it appeared that the Scott sperm was nothing to play with.
"Anyway, the picture had given me a little bit of my past back. I now had a name. Bonnie Scoyer. I now had a husband. Clyde Scoyer. I now had an age, because apparently our senior prom sucked, which is why we crashed the Honey Grove prom, so I had to be 18. And even though I still didn't remember my past, I had a lead to someone who could."
Bonnie sat down next to Lucas and grabbed his hands. "Clyde Scoyer is the only person who can tell me about my past. I don't remember us together, but I knowed he loved me, and I loved him. I can look at the picture and see it there. But I look at my children's faces and feel such love for them, that I know I couldn't have felt anything less for their father. When Keith squints when he's thinking, somehow I know he got that from his father, and I feel a rush of emotion for a man I can't remember any other way. When I look into Anna's eyes, I know they are her father's, and I feel like sometime in the past that was exactly what I prayed for, that our little girl would have his eyes. And I need to find him, so he can meet his kids, because I know he's dreamed of them too. And I want to know about who I am, even though the doctors say that at this point, it is unlikely I will ever get my memory back. And I want to know if there's still a chance for me and him to be together, although it is possible he's moved on, and I'm not the same person he remembers. It's a lot to ask of just one man, but I have to find out for sure one way or another."
Bonnie took a deep breath. "So now you know why I want to find Clyde Scoyer. And since I have answered your questions, can you answer mine?"
"Yes, I can. Thank you for sharing your story with me. And now I'm going to share with you mine." Taking a deep breath, he began. "4 years ago, me and my girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer, came to Honey Grove with a group of friends to pick up my friend, Mouth, who had been stranded here. When our car broke down, we decided to crash the Honey Grove prom, since our prom really sucked. My girlfriend and I, in the spirit of the moment, decided to use fake names, to commemorate our outdated clothing and illegal activities. She chose the name Bonnie, and I was Clyde."
Grabbing Bonnie's hands, he held them gently as he told her the truth. "I am Clyde Scoyer. Clyde was just a made up name."
"Huh." She said pensively, trying to put the pieces together. "That would explain why Clyde Scoyer never showed up when I googled him." She shook her head sadly. "He doesn't exist."
"No, the man you were in love with, the man who fathered your children, he does exist." Lucas said urgently. "I am just him. Or he is me. Whichever way is clearer."
She sat there quietly, stunned, absorbing the information he had just given her. Slowly, she began to speak. "So what you're also saying is, my name isn't Bonnie Scoyer, its…"
"Peyton Sawyer."
"Peyton Sawyer. The girl that's been missing for the past 4 years, who everyone thought was dead? That Peyton Sawyer?"
Lucas nodded hesitantly, a little afraid of what her reaction would be. After all, it wasn't everyday you found out that who you were was a lie.
Bonnie sat back on the sofa, incredulous. "But that can't be!"
"I swear to you it's the truth." Lucas said, reaching over to grab her hands again, but she shook him off and began to pace.
Bonnie looked at him, his worry written all over his face, and hurried back to sit next to him. "Don't worry, I believe you. The pieces fit together, and it definitely explains why no record of Clyde Scoyer exists anywhere, and why you look exactly like him. Besides, why would you lie about something this big? I am just confused, because we were told I couldn't be Peyton Sawyer."
Lucas' eyes widened. "Wait. What you mean, 'told you that you couldn't be Peyton?' When was this? Who told you that?"
"Well," Bonnie began, a little nervous about the look in his eyes. "It was about a year ago, and Delores' daughter, Molly, read your book and thought that I resembled Peyton in a lot of ways, with us both being in Honey Grove at the same time, us having the same physical features, me being an artist and and loving music and all, like the Peyton in your story. And I lost my memory about the same time Peyton disappeared."
Bonnie paused at his look of shock. "Anyway, she wrote this all to that email address you had, you know, the one in the back of your book." Lucas nodded, still in shock.
"Your editor wrote her back and told us that I couldn't be her, because Peyton Sawyer was dead, and you had stopped the search. It was only recently that I saw your picture on the jacket of 'The Comet' and saw your resemblance to my Clyde, and figured that even if I wasn't Peyton Sawyer, maybe you would know who I was or could tell me about my husband, since you too looked like twins." She glanced towards the kitchen.
"I thought maybe they ran in the family." At his continued silence, she rambled on, not sure how to react to his revelation, and not ready to examine how she felt about the recent turn of events. "Anyway, I was so glad I ran into you at the bookstore, since I missed the signing and your boss," at his look of confusion, she clarified. "The brown haired lady that was sitting at the table with you? The bodyguard called her boss. She told him not to let me through to talk to you."
"Wait, Lindsay saw you, and didn't let you through?" Lucas broke out of his stupor as her realized who she was talking about.
Bonnie shrugged. "Well, it was after the proprietor said the signing was over. She was just doing her job."
Noting the storm that seemed to be gathering behind Lucas' eyes, she touched his arm lightly. "But its okay, because all's well that ends well. I'm just glad to finally know the truth about who I am, instead of just guessing." Changing the subject, she smiled hesitantly. "So, can you tell me about me? I have so many questions, but the first one has to be asked first."
She laughed at the silliness of that statement, before forging ahead. "I've gotten a lot better over the years, having to rely on the kindness of strangers, but I guess I will always be a little distrustful of new people. And it's not just me anymore. I don't want my kids getting hurt." She looked up at him. "So before we go any further, do you have any proof that I am who you say I am?"
Lucas smiled at her, eyes twinkling. "You know, that is a fair question. And I think you have more of Peyton Sawyer still locked inside of you than you know. I do have proof, but I won't be able to get it here until tomorrow. Is that okay?"
She smiled tremulously. "I've waited 4 years for this moment. I think I can wait one more day."
"Good." He said, rising. "Now, I am going to go home and arrange get you the proof you need for tomorrow." He thought about having her google herself, but, thinking about all the tragedies that lay on the web under her name, he thought it best that she avoid the internet for now.
Sitting back down, he grabbed her hands again. "Pey- Bonnie." He said, respecting the name she had been calling herself for 4 years, and recognizing that she was not completely bought into the idea. "I am going to ask you that you not search yourself on the internet, and wait for me to give you what you're looking for."
"Why not?" She said, curious, surprised that he had read her mind, because that was her next move.
"I just…I just need you to trust me. I know you don't remember me, and you have a hard time trusting people, but I need you to take a chance on me, just this once, and wait for me to give you the information you want. Can you promise me that?"
She didn't know why he didn't want her on the internet, but she trusted enough of what he said to be okay with waiting. After all, he was able to guess that her computer was her first stop after he left; she supposed it didn't hurt to wait a couple more days to see what he had as proof.
"I promise." She said, looking into his eyes.
He smiled, unable to resist running a hand down the side of her face. "good. A promise from Peyton Sawyer is as good as gold." Rising one more time, he dug into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and a stack of photos. "I don't know if any of these will ring a bell, but I will leave them here with you so you can get reacquainted with your family."
She picked up the plastic wallet sized photo holder in amazement. "How did you get a picture of Keith?" she asked, staring at a picture of a smiling blond haired, blue eyed toddler.
Lucas smiled softly. "Proof number 1. That's a photograph of my brother's son, James Lucas Scott. And the name Keith?" Bonnie looked up at him. "Proof number 2. It was my father's name." he said, not getting into the details. "Oh, and Anna's named after your mother. What's her middle name?"
"Brooke." Peyton said, in awe at how much of her past had seeped through unconsciously.
"Proof number 3. I'll leave that one for tomorrow, though I can tell you know she's named after someone very special in your life, and she will be honored to know that you named your daughter after her. Just like I am honored that you named our son after me." He stood at the door, throwing one last parting remark to her as he exited the house. "Oh, and if you could?"
"Yes?" Bonnie said, looking up from the picture of Jamie she had gone back to.
"Kiss our kids for me and tell them their daddy loves them. They are better than my dreams."
Bonnie smiled, and as the door closed behind him, hugged the pictures to her chest. She would wait for what he had to show her tomorrow because it was the right thing to do. But she knew in her heart that what he was telling her was the truth, and it sang with the newfound knowledge she had gained today- she had been loved, and her children would be loved. And thanks to the man that had just left, she- Bonnie Scoyer- no, Peyton Sawyer- had finally felt the moment everything changed.
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Lindsay heard the motel door slam and peeked out of the bathroom, relieved to see that Lucas had returned. She hurried out into the room and slowed, coming to a halt right outside the bathroom as she took in his stormy expression at the sight of all their bags packed as he sat on the bed.
"Lucas, I'm so glad you're back," she said nervously. "Where have you been? I looked up after the book signing and you were gone. What have you been doing the past four hours?"
Ignoring the question, Lucas looked around the room again, making sure that what he was seeing was real. "Why are our bags packed, Lindsay?" he said silkily, quietly. He already knew the answer, but he was curious what excuse she would give him.
"Well, I changed my mind about staying in Honey Grove an extra day." She said, sitting on the edge of the extra double bed across from him. "I am ashamed to admit it, but the only reason I really wanted to stay here so long was to make sure you were really over Peyton. But Peyton's dead, and I realized it was wrong to test you like that, so I called the airline and changed our flight. The flight is tomorrow morning, so we need to leave here early, so we can get to the airport and drop off the rental car in time for the flight."
A tentative smile crossed her face as she continued. "I realized that instead of fixating on Peyton, I should have been focused on you, and your weeks in Charleston hold more special memories for you that I want to share than the 2 days you spent in Honey Grove." At his silence, she continued, trying to convince him that her motives were completely innocent. "Plus, I've never been to Charleston, and there is so much to do there together, before your next book signing. We had already planned to tour Charleston for a couple of days before your signing, what's one more day?"
"What's one more day?" Lucas said, a bark of laughter escaping his throat. "A lot can happen in one day."
She knew. Oh, how she knew, and that was what she was afraid of. "Exactly. A lot can happen. Which is why we should get to Charleston early. Please?" She leaned over and placed her arms around his neck, bringing her lips towards his for a kiss. "Do it for me."
"Do it for you?" Lucas shook his head and stood from where he sat, startling Lindsay with his abrupt moment. "Oh, but I think you've done enough for yourself, haven't you Lindsay?"
She looked at him, confused. "What are you talking about? Everything I do I do for you!"
"Oh, okay!" Lucas said sarcastically, turning back towards her. "So, encouraging me to leave answering the emails about Peyton to you 2 years ago was for me, right?"
"Right." She said slowly, not sure why he was bringing up old news. "You were trying to accept the fact that she was dead, and I didn't want you to deal with the burden of people still writing in even after you told them not to anymore."
Lucas nodded. "That makes sense. It had nothing to do with the fact that you wanted to make sure that I wouldn't find out that Peyton Sawyer was still alive, if she happened to write in by chance."
Lindsay stood up too, nervous now as his accusations hit a little too close to home. "I have no idea why you are accusing me of these things Lucas. Every email received the same standard reply. It was an automated response that read 'Thank you for your leads and assistance in trying to help find Lucas' Peyton, but Peyton Sawyer is dead and the search has ended.' After all, there was no need to read the emails individually since you said yourself Peyton wasn't out there."
Lucas paused, stumped for a moment because it was entirely possible that what she was saying was true. He frowned again as he remembered what else had stood in the way of his finding Peyton, or at least would have prevented him if fate hadn't intervened. Thank God for Anna.
"So, it would be safe to say that today, at the book signing, you turning a woman away that looked exactly like Peyton Sawyer and threatening to call the police on her was all for me?" Lucas said angrily, getting mad all over again at the thought of how close he'd come to not finding Peyton again after all of these years.
"How-." Lindsay swallowed heavily. "How did you know that was Peyton?" She hadn't seen him interacting with her, and up until and through the booksigning he had been with her the entire time.
"It doesn't matter how I knew. What matters is that you knew. You've seen pictures of her- videos of her!" He held up a hand as she tried to protest. "And don't tell me you didn't know, or weren't sure, because even if it was only a suspicion, there was no reason for you to turn her away if you were thinking of me, because if you were thinking of me, you would have let me meet her to find out for myself if it were really her or not!" Lucas thundered, causing her to jump at the sound of his voice.
"What's wrong Lindsay?" he said quietly, almost caressingly as he advanced on her, step by step. "Scared that once I found Peyton, I would leave you for her? Didn't trust that I would stay with you, and only would be happy to know Peyton was alive so her family, her father, and brother, and best friend, and Nathan, and Haley, and my mother, and everyone else who cared about her could know that she was alive and well, and so Peyton, if she didn't know who she was, could get to know her past? Didn't believe I would choose you if I had the choice?" He stopped as she backed into the wall, unable to retreat any further.
Turning without laying a hand on her, he walked towards the door, grabbing his bags on the way. Today was the first time that Lindsay's neatnick habits didn't bother him, because he knew she had packed everything, and left nothing of his in the room. "I guess now you'll never know what I would've done if you hadn't been so hearltess." He said, turning the knob on the door.
"This is where our story ends." Lucas said as he walked out of the door. "Goodbye, Lindsay."
The door closed, and Lindsay sank to the floor, cold from the knowledge that she had gambled and lost everything, trying to keep from losing everything.
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Lucas checked into another motel room, not even upset that he had to pay extra for the motel room he'd requested. Throwing his things on the floor, he made his way to the first double bed and pulled it from the wall, running his fingers lovingly over the words scratched into the wood, surrounded by a heart.
Bonnie & Clyde
L+P
TLA
May 2005
Peyton didn't want to leave their real names, having watched too many Law and Orders, but Lucas wanted something of theirs, so they compromised and included their initials to commemorate what was such a special night for them. Here was something he could show Peyton as proof of their story. And speaking of, he grabbed his phone and quickly dialed a number he knew by heart but hadn't used in ages.
"Hello Brooke? I need you to come to Honey Grove as soon as possible." He listened as she explained how she couldn't get away at the moment, and she would see him for the Scott cookout on 4th of July, but right now wasn't a good time.
"It's the perfect time and I'm not taking no for an answer, and you'll be here on the next flight out. You'll also be bringing Peyton's old yearbook and anything else you have of hers when you come." He couldn't help the giddiness that crept through his voice as he finally said what he never thought he'd be able to to Brook Davis.
"I found her. I found Peyton and she's alive."
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YAY! She's alive, Lindsay's gone (or is she?) and Brooke is coming!
Congrats to everyone who reviewed, cause you are all winners! Bonnie had so many reactions to finding out she was Peyton, that unless you said she ordered him out of the house, you were right!
Congrats to everyone who guessed Brooke! If you guessed Lindsay, you were sort of right, cause she knows first, but Brooke was the first one 'told.'
And as for : Marybethothfan Annie Laj33 amandae DKnAK Luke-n-peyton Tooky close pin Jamy30 RJMoonSpell4 Demeter18- except for the gently part. hehehe
You guessed Lucas would end things with Lindsay, and you were right! High five!
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The next chapter is dedicated to jrs328 and demeter18 who were the only ones who predicted that Brooke would come to Honey Grove!
Ok guys! Your review numbers are SICK! (this is a good thing). So the next chapter will be up when I get 40 reviews! I know you can do it! There ain't nothing to it!
Also, write in if there is a scene you want to see in the coming chapters, now that Bonnie realizes she is Peyton.