Chapter 14 The Cure for What Ails You

The clock struck 2 am and Lucas rolled over, giving up the fight to go to sleep. He was too wired, too many thoughts were racing through his mind, and he hadn't given himself enough time to process them.

His entire life had changed in the space of eight days. He had found, or rather, been found by Peyton on Saturday, and from that Saturday to the one he just ended, he learned he was a father, broke up with his girlfriend, finished a book tour, and convinced the mother of his children to pack up and come to Tree Hill. For a visit.

But in his heart, he was hoping for something a little more…permanent. And at the very least, he certainly didn't expect to be leaving Naley's and coming home alone. But that's what happened. He raced home from Charleston, eager to be with his family, and knowing that he had left everything in Brooke's capable hands.

He should have known that Brooke was too agreeable when he said he didn't want Peyton and the kids to stay in a hotel. He pulled her aside after dinner tonight, to find out that instead of fixing up his place for Peyton and the twins, she had bought her own house and had ensured they wouldn't stay at a hotel because they would be staying with her, thereby erasing the need for them to stay with him.

Note to self- True Love Always apparently does NOT trump the Best Friend For Life card in the game of life.

Lucas sighed and sat up, making his way to the kitchen. He began to make himself hot chocolate on the stove, smiling a little at the memory it provoked.

FLASHBACK

Lucas straddled the barstool, tiredly sinking down onto it even as he admired the view of Peyton's behind as she leaned over to look into the refrigerator.

"You know, my mom owns a café. I do kinda know how to make my own hot chocolate Peyton."

"Well, we aren't liking Karen Roe's way of doing things right now, so we are going to do things my way." Peyton said fiercely, slamming the milk a little too hard onto the countertop, causing milk droplets to fly through the air.

"You don't even know what she did, Peyt." Lucas said wearily.

Peyton stopped her bustling around the kitchen and walked around the counter to stand in front of him; he followed her progress with his gaze. She put a hand on his face and gently tilted it up to her, smoothing the hair from his forehead as she stared into his eyes, eyes that had seen too much of the bad in the world that day. "I know what she didn't do," Peyton said softly. "Because if she had done what she should've, I wouldn't still be seeing this look in your eyes."

Peyton moved between his legs as he hung his head and closed his eyes, trying to hide the pain he was still feeling at the blow he had been dealt earlier that day, when Karen had taken Dan's side over his.

Peyton refused to let him, forcing his face up and gently kissing his forehead, then his eyelids, and the tip of his nose, making him quirk the edges of his mouth up into the beginnings of a smile. He waited a beat, then two, for her to move to his mouth and place her lips on his, only to give in and open his eyes when the moment never came. Baby blues were caught by vivid greens as she looked at him with all the love she could convey without words.

"I don't know what it is, but I believe you, Lucas." She said solemnly. "I am here for you, and I take your word above all others." She placed her finger over his lips as he began to speak, to confess what it was that he hadn't yet shared with her, that had taken him away from her the past couple of days, that had lost him the security he once felt with his mother, that had almost lost him the faith he held in humanity, in the triumph of good over evil. Because today, for the second time in less than 24 hours, he had learned that sometimes, evil stomped good's ass and ground it in the dust.

"You don't have to tell me right now, or convince me of your side of the story." She said softly. "All you have to do here, baby, is just be. That's enough for me." She softly pressed her lips to his and rubbed her nose against his before pulling away and moving back to the stove. "And let my hot chocolate heal you."

She busied herself at the stove, pouring the milk in the pan, turning the heat on high, squeezing the chocolate syrup in, and stirring it around with the metal spoon once before leaving it to boil and turning back to Lucas.

"Your mom will come around. I know she will, even if it doesn't feel like it right now." Peyton said, settling across from him at the island. "But until she does, I'll be here, for as long as you need me."

He drank his hot chocolate, and found that even though it was overboiled, understirred, with a milky film on top and traces of teflon in the liquid from where the metal spoon scraped the nonstick coating of the pan, his mother's hot cocoa, made with low heat, a wooden spoon, and a real bar of chocolate, just couldn't compare. He loved this hot chocolate because he loved the girl who made it for him with love, if not talent, and with every sip, a little piece of him healed from the wounds his mother and his father inflicted that he didn't even know were there.

END FLASHBACK

Lucas stirred the chocolate syrup into the milk on the stove and turned the heat down low- Love only did so much, and after everything had settled Lucas taught Peyton some of the essential arts of cooking- but he never could bring himself to change the chocolate syrup piece of the recipe. Peyton was chocolate syrup and takeout, not cooking chocolate and homemade meals, and that was okay, because at the end of the day, nothing from Karen's cafe could trump the love and support Peyton gave him when no one else did.

And even though he and his mother had gotten back to where they used to be, he never went back to making hot chocolate her way. Some things, once broken, could never be fixed.

Settling in a chair, he sipped his hot chocolate slowly, allowing the tryptophan to do its job and lull to a state of sleepiness. He let his mind wander back through the day, through when he left Brooke's house after putting the twins to bed, pausing for the memories freshly built of bathtime and bedtime with Keith and Anna, and others more awkward with Peyton, as they tiptoed around each other with the twins between them, Peyton still arguing subtly with Brooke about the extravagance of the twins' 'Where the Wild Things Are' bedroom, complete with wall hangings and jungle gym beds and all other things thematic. Lucas tried to stay out of it, after his untimely exclamation of how cool the room was and how he wished he had a room like it when he was little earned him a beaming Brooke and a petulant Peyton.

He moved back through the day to dinner at Naley's house, enjoying the conversation, dominated once again by his precious Anna, who once again had no problem being the center of attention, sharing the spotlight with Keith, who chimed in occasionally, and even Jamie, who opened up around his gregarious cousin.

Lucas had no idea where his daughter got her outgoing nature from, until he commented on it to Brooke and she looked at him like he had grown two-heads. "From Peyton, of course!" Brooke patted him on the back at his confusion. "Come on, Luke, do you really think I would have been best friends with an emo chick all my life?" Sobering, Brooke explained. "The broody blonde act didn't begin until after her mother died. Before then, she could have given me a run for my money in the bubbly category, because unlike me, Peyton didn't meet a person she didn't like. Anna is Peyton all the way, well, the way she was."

"And is now," Lucas noted.

"And is now," Brooke agreed.

He finished his musings there, not willing to relive the painful, pathetic moments at the book signing where Lindsay alternated between trying to win him back and delivering cutting remarks about 'imposter Peyton' and her 'bastard children.' He ended up asking her to leave, calling for security to escort her from the table and keep her away from the book signing until it was over. He made a mental note to call the publishing company on Monday to replace Lindsay as his working editor. He debated whether or not to leave the company altogether, but he still felt a loyalty to the company who said yes when everyone else said no.

He turned his attention back to Peyton. Ever since he had confessed to her that they weren't married, and Clyde Scoyer was just a figment of his imagination, it seemed that the connection she felt with 'her husband' was just a figment of hers. Though she had let him into her children's lives whole heartedly, she had made no efforts to let him into hers, at least, not in the manner he'd hoped for. He couldn't shake the feeling that he didn't measure up to Clyde, the love of her life, even though he was one and the same, and it was that vulnerability that halted him every time he thought to make a romantic move. She seemed content to see him as the twin's father and not much else, though granted, it had only been a week.

Sighing, he put the now empty cup into the sink and made his way back to bed. He would concentrate on jogging Peyton's memory. All else would have to wait until later, when he built up the courage to make a move or she gave him a sign that she was ready for more. But until then, it looked like Lucas Scott would be stuck in the friend zone.

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In case you were confused, hot chocolate flashback came from epi 4.19, the day after he told his mom about Dan and Keith and she didnt believe him. Its after Leyton had the convo on the quad, but before Chase comes to the house for Brooke. After school, Lucas drove over to Peyton's after seeing his mom and Dan together (when he caresses the gun in the passenger seat?). In my world, Lucas goes to Peyton when his world comes crashing down, and in the convo before the hot chocolate she asks him whats really been bothering him and he confesses that he got in a fight with his mom. As for the cocoa bit, everybody knows hot chocolate makes everyone feel better.

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