She unlocked her apartment door and the two of them hung up their coats. He moved to the couch to sit while she headed towards the kitchen.
"Coffee?" she asks, turning to him from her spot in front of the coffee maker.
"That would be wonderful." he says, and then proceeds to watch her.
She had taken her heels off at the door and he takes in how her foot lifts up to scratch the itch on her opposite calf. Setting the foot back down she shifts her weight, standing with a hand on her hip and another running through her hair.
The past two months had been amazing. They've taken things slowly, somehow understanding that what they were doing was different than anything they had done before. Conversations they had were still interesting, whether they are sharing something about their past or talking about her new label and his new novel.
The novel was somewhat of a sore spot with her, because while he fully admitted that she was the one who got him writing again, he wouldn't let her set her eyes on a word. They talked about the meetings and release dates and book tours, but he wouldn't divulge any information about the book's content.
As he watched her though, practically mesmerized, he finally admits it, "It's about you... us really."
"What?" she says, confused by the statement, and walking into the living room with coffee for the pair.
"The novel I've been working on... it's you..."
"Lucas." she says, a bit breathlessly.
"I know that we've been taking this slow, and I wouldn't have it any other way... but... and I'm not saying anything here... I'm falling for you Peyton. I'm pretty sure I've been falling since I saved you from that sleaze ball in the bar two months ago. But you really have been the best thing to happen to me in such a long time, and I want you to know that."
She moves from her spot on the chair opposite him to sit at his side. Taking his face in her hands, all she can do is drop a sweet kiss on his lips.
Of course the sweet kisses that they both started, was quickly leading to something else entirely as he pulled her onto his lap and their kisses deepened.
"Brooke?" he asks, having a feeling that he knew where this was leading.
"Gone for the evening." she says, trying to catch her breath.
Pressing his lips to hers again, they drink each other in for a while longer, before he breaks them again, "Come home with me next weekend?"
"What?"
"Next weekend, will you come home with me and meet everybody?"
"Lucas..."
"Don't try to tell me that you don't want to or make excuses, cause I won't accept any." he interrupts, placing a finger across her now swollen lips.
"Yes I will... and I was going to say that this is totally not the time to bring up me meeting your mother."
"Oh... good point." he says, shaking his head and looking down for a moment.
"So, do you want a tour of the apartment?"
"You have already given me a..." he trails off as he catches the gleam in her eye. "a tour would be lovely. Where's our first stop?"
She just grabs his hand, gliding him into the bedroom, a very off limits place for both of them.
They had waited, wanting to keep what they had untainted by the baggage that comes with having sex. It seemed though that they were both on the same page that evening as they started to finish what began in the living room.
"I'm falling for you too." she half says and half moans out as he distracts her with something entirely not PG rated.
As the pair continued to mesh together, they hadn't heard the front door open. Stuck in the heat of the moment, the pair also didn't realize that the bedroom door had opened as well.
"Oh MY GOD!" Brooke screams, and Lucas falls on top of Peyton in an attempt to conceal what they were doing. "I'm so sorry! I just wanted to ask...."
"BROOKE!" Peyton screams from underneath her new lover.
"OH, right! I'm sorry!" she says, turning away and walking out the door.
They both looked at each other, smiling and had to start laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. A few seconds later, when they started to attempt to salvage the moment, the door flung open again, "And P. Sawyer, after he leaves, I expect details!"
"BROOKE!" they both scream at her again, breaking again into a fit of laughter.
He, however didn't leave that evening, and they got to have their moment... a few times actually.
That morning as the couple was saying goodbye Brooke walked into the kitchen, glancing at the pair from afar. It was good to see Peyton that happy, and she was more than excited for her finding someone that was as great as Lucas and someone who could actually challenge her like he did. She still loved to poke fun at the two of them though, and when he leaned in to kiss her goodbye in the open doorway, Brooke called out, "I KNOW the two of you did enough of that last night, now let my best friend eat some breakfast, so she can have some strength for next time."
Lucas just blushed, not even being able to meet the eyes of his girlfriend's best friend. "Bye Peyton."
"See you tomorrow?"
"Dinner at my place at seven?"
She nods, leaning in to kiss him again before watching him walk away and closing the door behind him.
As she sat down at the kitchen counter, she waited for Brooke to start in with her crazy personal questions, asking for a play by play of the details of what transpired the night before. After a few minutes of silence though, she couldn't take it anymore, "Aren't you going to ask?"
"Ask what?" she says innocently.
"What went on last night, how he was, how it was, and all those other crazy questions that you always have to know about."
"OH, I get it... yeah, I don't need to ask."
She doesn't reply to the comment, but gives her best friend and roommate a questioning glance.
"Honey, first of all, I walked in on what went on last night. Secondly, I know that you're in love with the guy, and with how you were screaming in there, I'm pretty sure I know how good he is." she says simply, walking away, leaving Peyton in the kitchen with her mouth wide open and her face bright red.
"Next time you and Luke have a sleepover, make sure it is when you have laryngitis or at least tell me so I can sleep on the other side of the apartment... scratch that... the other side of the city." Brooke adds, peeking her head around the corner.
Absolutely mortified, Peyton rests her head on the kitchen counter after her best friend walks out of the room. After the blush had left her cheeks though, she sat back up, grabbing hold of the coffee cup in front of her and letting the smallest of smiles creep up to her face.
–
The week was a long one, and while she was very happy to get a small vacation from all the craziness, she had nothing but nerves when it came to going home with Lucas this weekend. So when he pulled up in his car, all she could do was blurt out some excuse to run back upstairs for a moment.
"I can't do this!" she screams, entering the apartment to find Brooke sitting in the kitchen sketching out what was supposed to be her next line.
"You can't do what?"
"I can't go with him. I can't meet his family! We've only been dating for like two months, and that is way too soon to meet the guy's family right? They're not going to like me. They're going to think that I'm weird or something. And what happens if his best friend hates me? If you hated him then I probably wouldn't have..."
"PEYTON!" Brooke screams, trying to get Peyton out of her line of thought. "You can do this, and considering you and Lucas, this isn't too soon. They aren't going to think that you're weird, they're going to love you. And his best friend is going to adore you..."
"Really?"
She gets up and pulls her in for a hug, "I know these things P. Sawyer, or else I couldn't be your best friend. Now you need to get downstairs so you can be ready when Luke gets here."
"He's already here..."
"And you left him down there?"
"I told him that I forgot my hair brush."
Brooke raises an eyebrow at that, "Original..."
"Shut up, it was momentary panic..."
After another round of goodbyes, Peyton gets back downstairs to a waiting Lucas, who had already put her luggage in the back seat of his car.
He laughs when she climbs in, "No hair brush?", he asks, knowing that she just needed a moment to freak out with Brooke.
"Shut up."
All along the drive they talked about what it was like growing up in their two smaller towns. As they got closer to Tree Hill, she had a moment of realization.
"I've driven this before..." she says, suddenly very attentive to what was going outside the window.
"Well, this is part of the stretch that leads up to Wilmington from Tree Hill"
"Did you guys ever have a basketball tournament up here your senior year?"
"Yes actually, it was one of the last times that I was able to play the whole game, why? And how did you know that?"
"Okay, promise me you won't laugh..." she says, now turning to face him.
He crosses his heart and meets her eyes for a moment before turning back to the road.
"I was a cheerleader."
"You were not!"
"That little bit of my life was courtesy of Brooke Davis, but that is so not the point. Lucas, you guys were blue and white, right?"
"And black... but yeah. Peyton where are you going with this?"
"Our school colors were red and yellow...the Wasps..." she says, trying to jog his memory.
He sits for a moment, trying to realize what she was getting at when it hits him, "We beat you by two points...at the buzzer"
"Saddest game in the history of Wilmington basketball..."
"You were there? We were there at the same time?"
"I guess so..."
"Well, if that doesn't tell us it's fate then I don't know what does."
She smiles, laughing at the thought of the two of them catching each other's eyes when they were just in high school. It was funny how things like that happened in life, realizing that the person you were with has actually seen other glimpses of your life without you realizing it.
When they finally pulled into town, Lucas started giving Peyton the drive by tour, showing his mom's cafe and TRIC, the high school, and the rivercourt. When they got to his mom's house, the older woman was waiting on the front porch swing with a tea in her hand and a five year old on her lap.
"Lucas!!!!!" screams the little girl, running at his legs.
He grabs her quickly off the ground, spinning her around and kissing her forehead, "I missed you little Lily!"
"We've been gone a long time!"
"Not that long, but too long for me!" he says, hugging her again, and then placing her on the ground.
"Who's that?" she asks, pointing towards Peyton, who had stepped out of the car and over to where the two siblings stood.
Before he could answer her, his mom came in and swept her back up and into her arms, "That's Peyton silly Lily... remember how I told you that Lucas was bringing his girlfriend to meet us this weekend. She's the one who is the really good artist that I said would maybe finger paint with you."
"Oh! She's pretty..." Lily says, burying her head in her mother's shoulder.
"That she is." Karen says, walking up to where Peyton stood and putting a hand out to shake, "I would hug you, but my arms are full... it is so nice to meet you. You are all that I hear about when I talk to Lucas."
"Only good things, I hope." Peyton says, still a little nervous to be standing in his childhood driveway talking with his mother and sister.
"I haven't found any bad yet," he says, pulling her next to him, the pair turning to meet each other's eyes.
His mother takes in the scene, her smiling son with a beautiful woman at his side. It was the first time in a long time that he looked really happy, and that was good enough for her. However, the mother in her, of course wanted to know more about the woman who had so quickly stolen her son's heart.
–
Okay, so I wanted to toy a bit at the fate thing adding in the little basketball glimpse for them... Next we have the meeting of the family.... Haley, Jamie, Nathan, and whatnot.... good times. So, what are we thinking so far? Are we liking it? The meat of the story and why I wrote it hasn't even hit yet, so it is going to be interesting to see how you react to what I decided to do... good times. Well... not good times... but that is for my brain to know, and you to eventually find out! Hopefully you are enjoying the fluff for right now though!
Reviews make me happy, so if you would like, let me know what you're thinking!