"Brooke?" she says into the reciever, sounding pathetically broken.

"Peyton, what's wrong" Brooke says on the other end, clearly concerned at the voice she was being presented with.

"It's Jake..."

"Like Jake, Jake? Jake Jagielski Jake?"

"He's here and we..."

"Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, if you are about to tell me that you slept with Jake Jagielski, I'm going to hop on the first plane to wherever the hell you are right now, and kick your bony ass!"

"No! I didn't sleep with him, Brooke, he's just here... and he was... Jake."

"And your insides are all conflicted now... and you're wondering if Lucas is really the one for you..."

She contemplated her best friend's words, not having thought about that idea of the evening. Not once actually. In her mind, she still had Lucas, she was still in love with Lucas, and Jake was very much her past. "No, actually... I know that Lucas is the one."

"Then why are you calling me and telling me all this?"

"It just hurts Brooke."

"What does?"

"Seeing him again, and I had thought that after six years, the feeling would be totally gone, but it wasn't. I knew that Jake was always going to be there in some way, but I wasn't prepared for him to come out tonight. It was like the whole end of our relationship came to a crashing halt at my feet again, and suddenly I was seventeen, and bawling my eyes out as he tells me that I was too good for him anyway."

"Peyton, you should talk to him...both hims in fact. Where was Lucas during this chance meeting?"

"He didn't see me run into him but I'm pretty sure he figured out that he was the reason why I left... God Brooke, I hope I didn't screw it up with Luke."

"You didn't."

"You didn't" she hears from across the room, an echo of a phrase that she knows he didn't hear on the other end.

"Hey, Luke just walked in, and I think that he and I need to have a chat..."

"Call me if you need me P. Sawyer"

"Thanks best friend." she says before hanging up, and then turning to Lucas, who was now standing next to her by the side of the bed.

"Luke."

"Who is he?"

"An ex."

"He's obviously more than that if you're running out of bars into the evening by yourself in a strange town that you've never been in."

"He was the love of my life...and I hadn't seen him in six years... until tonight." she says, not meeting his gaze.

He had figured that there was a history there, but to hear her use the words love of her life, he had to take a moment to regroup, which was when his mind reeled at the fact that she said was and not is when describing him.

Sitting down, he knew that the only way that anything would be resolved would be if they talked about it. "Tell me."

"God Luke, it happened so long ago that it doesn't even matter now."

"It does... to you... It doesn't to me, because I believe in what you and I have, and you have never shown me any reason to not believe... but I have never seen you so broken, Peyton, and if I know you, you need to talk it out." he says, grabbing her hands in his as he gives her his speech.

"We were juniors and became friends because he was on the basketball team. Little did I know he had a daughter, Jenny, who he had kept a secret to everyone, until me. We got close and I got close to his daughter, until his ex, who had walked out when the baby was just three weeks old, decides to come back and wants her child. So, I helped him run away with Jenny, and he left on a boat that my dad was piloting at the time. Somewhere along the line, Brooke called him back, knowing that I was on a quick spiral downhill..." she starts, catching his facial expressions as she continues to retell the story of Jake and Peyton.

Finally, after plenty of tears and confusion, she was done, and he was still sitting with her on the bed, unmoving, with a look on his face that she couldn't describe.

"I think that you need to go see him."

"What? No, Luke."

"Peyton, he hasn't moved on, and I think you know that, or you wouldn't be so reluctant to go see him, and you wouldn't have stormed out of there the way you did tonight."

"I want to be with you Luke, you know that."

"I do, which is why I'm telling you that you need to go talk to this Jake guy and tell him about your life, find out about his. That way, you understand the bigger picture, and he can have a chance to let you go."

She chooses to kiss him then, amazed by a man who would encourage his girlfriend to go hash things out with a man that she openly called the love of her life. She knew that he was right, though, and she knew that she needed to go back down to that bar to talk to Jake.

Standing up, she bent down to kiss him one last time, and grabbing her jacket, moves towards the door, turning back only when she hears his voice, "Was?"

Obviously confused, her brow crinkles as she thinks for a moment about what it is that he is asking, until It dawns on her, "Definitely was... You've been it for a while, and you'll be it forever... he just gets the high school version of myself."

"And I'm okay with that Peyton..." he says sincerely.

"Which is why I'm in love with you Luke." she says simply, walking out the door and down to the main lobby.

She knew that this was going to be hard, but she waited for him to finish, sitting in the back corner where he couldn't see her. He knew that she was there though, she could tell by the way he smiled when he sang the first song she ever heard him sing.

She walked up to him as he had his guitar in hand and was walking out the door, "Walk with me a minute?"

"Definitely." he says, waving good night to the band members, who all had a surprised look on their faces.

"How are you Jake?"

"I'm good. I like it down here, and there is a lot for me here... some things are missing, but I like it." he says quietly, "What about you?"

"I'm great actually. Within the last year, it seems like everything fell into place. I have a record label now."

He raises his eyebrows at that, surprised, but not, knowing that she could do that all along, but happy that she had made it work for her.

"So that's work..." he says, implying that she needed to expand on other things in her life.

"Lucas... he's what helped make everything fall in place this past year."

"The brunette?"

"No... the blond."

He nods, taking in the information, his heart sinking a little bit, "You love him?"

"I'm gonna marry him..."

"No ring. You gave me hope when I bumped into you earlier."

"He hasn't asked yet, but I know."

At this point they had walked the short distance to her hotel, him not adding anything after her admission about this man in her life.

"Jake..."

"You don't have to Peyton, you don't."

"I heard your voice, and I swear that my stomach did flip flops. It was like we were walking in the halls at Wilmington High all over again. I loved you Jake, I still love you. You were the high school love of my life, and I will always be grateful for that. I wouldn't have let anybody in my life had it not been for you."

"Is he good to you?" he asks, taking in what she said, and admitting to himself that she had moved on with her life.

"I couldn't ask for more."

"Does he know you're down here talking to me?"

"He insisted that I do it, actually."

"What, Peyton Sawyer was too chicken?"

"You broke my heart when you left Jake, and then you sang that song tonight, and I was just afraid that I would be breaking yours."

"Peyton, my heart broke every day after I left Wilmington, and I always hoped that by some miracle we would meet again, but life got in the way."

"We're here now."

"That was just God's way of letting me check up on you."

"Well, I'm good."

"That's all that matters." he says, looking up at her with the same shy eyes he had when they were seventeen.

"I should probably attempt to get some sleep before tomorrow." she says, gesturing to the hotel beside her.

"You should."

He moves to hug her then, wrapping his arm around her, and pulling her tight, just like he used to. She pulls in just as hard, thankful to have a moment with someone who had meant so much to her. When they pulled away, she had a sad smile on her face.

"I'm okay Peyton."

"Keep up with life Jake."

"You too..." he says, watching as she turns away to walk in the main entrance, "and Peyton?"

She turns back to him, waiting for what he had to say.

"Whenever you get to that wedding, Jenny would probably make a kick ass flower girl..."

"I'll keep it in mind." she says, with a wave before walking into the hotel and up to her and Lucas' room.

When she got into the darkened hotel room, she stripped off her dress from the evening, slipping into a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top before crawling into bed. She loved this part of her life, getting to watch him sleep for a few moments, seeing his face relax and his eyes soften. It made her love him more, these moments.

Of course, they had this connection where they could just sense each other's presence, so with a few flutters, his eyes opened, turning towards her, "How'd it go?"

"It was... hard... but good all at the same time."

"You okay?"

"Yeah... he seemed happy for me, and I think that letting me go is going to be a lot easier than he thinks it is."

"Well, I don't know about that." he says, wrapping his arms around her, letting her head fall onto his chest.

"Why do you say that?"

"It's so easy to love you Peyton, to fall in love with you... but it would be unbearable to lose you."

"You won't." she says, smiling up at him.

"No?"

"I'm yours forever, and you're stuck with me as far as I'm concerned."

"Forever?" he asks, slowly, carefully treading around the prospect of forever, knowing that he's got a ring in his bag, and this could be that moment.

She turns in his embrace, sensing the moment, feeling what he is asking her in no certain terms. Smiling, she lifts her hand up to stroke his check, putting a finger on his lips. "Luke..."

"You started the conversation, Peyton... it isn't like it's the first time that we've talked about this..." he says, recalling a heated argument just a week ago about marriage and moving to quick too soon for certain things and divorce rates, ending in her admitting that she was scared shitless about the future, even if it was with him.

"You'll know... when I'm ready, I mean..."

"And when you are ready, your answer to the inevitable question will be...?"

"You'll just have to wait and find out." she says, pulling herself up onto her elbow, and leaning up to kiss him.

One kiss turned to several, and soon, all that was keeping them covered in the sticky Georgia heat was the thin cotton of the hotel bed sheet.

Afterward, they both lay there, thinking about the conversation that led them here. No matter how much she could see a future with him, it scared her to no end. Having the ring in his possession made him all the more antsy to get started with the rest of their lives. Both knew that they were on the same page though, knowing that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together, and excited to embark on that adventure.

–

Really, guys... did you think I would let the Jeyton thing really happen??? I mean come ON!!! Anyways...

So this was a shorter chapter, but I didn't want to combine this with the last one cause that would have been crazy long, and my goal is to have each chapter around 2,000 words. Whew... all right, I've got to say that this is soooo much fun to do. I hope you guys are having fun reading this, and there is going to be some stuff happening pretty soon. I also hope that you didn't hate me, or think it cliché to bring back Jake after all these years. He's a cool character, but I know he never stood a change against Lucas and Peyton....

Anyways, that was a light one, so yeah... hope you enjoyed... Reviews make me smile!

P.S. Hope you had a good fourth of July! (if you live in the U.S. That is!)