The day after Peyton decided she was moving on from Lucas, she runs into a new guy in town. She doesn't catch his name, but he kind of catches her eye, and she knows he watches her as she hurries down the street so she can get to Tric before her artist ups and leaves. It was such a bad day for her car to break down, because she had a new artist who was going to record something for her, but she was closer to Tric than home, so she had abondoned her precious Comet and walked the rest of the way to her office. It was when she was about a block away when she bumped into the guy, and from the short amount of time she talked to him, she could tell he was probably a jackass, but he was so NOT Lucas that he caught her attention.
The stranger came into Tric every day after that, claiming that he liked the atmosphere, and she always ran into him when she was leaving her office. Their interactions never lasted long and usually only consisted of him making a cocky comment and her snarking back before walking away, but it was easier talking to this guy than meeting Chase's eye across the bar. She ended up signing the artist-whose name was Mia-a week later, and on the day that she signed her, he was there and, for the first time, she allowed him to buy her a drink. It was crazy and spontaneous, because she still didn't even know the guy's name, but she figured why not? She allowed him to buy her a couple more drinks, and then she even went to dinner with him afterwards, after calling her kids to let them know she wasn't going to be home for a while.
During their dinner date, which Peyton was surprised to find herself not entirely revolted by the word, she learned that his name was Juilan, and a lot more about him. He was a producer, and he was filming a movie in a nearby town, but didn't want to stay at a motel there, because he didn't want to be near the paparazzi all the time. So he had, by chance, chosen the quaint little town of Tree Hill. That day he ran into her, he was just leaving the motel, and walking to his car after deciding to look for a motel in another town-due to a arguement he had with the manager-but he had run into her, and he just couldn't leave after that. So he had chosen a different place to stay, and since then he had gone to that club he had seen her enter every day after filming.
Surprised by his bluntness, Peyton couldn't help but feel refreshed. Lucas had always been so secretive about his feelings in the beginning, and there had been all that drama getting together with him. Nothing had ever been easy for the couple, and they constantly had to battle life for everything they had. With Julian, he told her everything upfront, and he wasn't ashamed to admit he liked her. She had to admit that she liked that. Also, the guy was just so different than Lucas, she let him right into her life, because she figured that was the best way to move on. She didn't let him past her sheilds, but she found herself kind of liking him, right away.
So, when graduation came around for the twins, and their birthday party, which they decided to combine with the graduation party, since Lucas had to leave for his book tour the day after, Peyton found herself inviting Julian to the party. Every day after working at Tric, which she was still doing after working at the high school, except for that one day, she met up with Julian, and talked a little, and she really found herself falling for his charm. Well, at least she was beginning to feel slightly less heartache when she thought of Lucas, and his pregnant mistress.
At the party, her kids seem to get along with Julian. He doesn't play basketball like Lucas, and he's not into music like Peyton, but he somehow manages to find a common ground with them. When Lucas arrives, he's alone, and Peyton can't help but bitterly wonder where Lindsey is, while at the same time feeling kind of hopeful because he's alone. Either one of those emotions is bad, considering she's trying to move on, but she just avoids Lucas for as long as possible, which is quite easy to do as she makes sure things run smoothly, and Julian gets along with her friends, too. She avoids introducing Lucas to Julian for as long as she can, but eventually it has to happen, and she could tell both men are jealous, and she doesn't think either of them really have a reason to be.
Well, Julian might, if the way her heart races when Lucas accidently-or maybe not-so-accidently, given the look his gives her afterwords-brushes his hand along the the legnth of her bare arm. Still, Julian doesn't know that, so he shouldn't be jealous. As for Lucas, he has absolutely no right at all to be jealous of who she's seeing, and she has to resist making some sarcastic comment about it. Peyton, Lucas and Julian stand in a circle for a while and talk about the kids before, thankfully, Haley and Nathan approach, and Haley tells Peyton that she's needed in the kitchen before taking Lucas to the side, and Nathan strikes up a conversation with Julian. Peyton makes a mental note to thank her favorite brother- and sister-in-law later.
Once inside, Peyton finds a situation that really does need her attention. Her son, Ryan, and Brooke's daughter, Sophie, were on the couch in her living room, making out. A moment passed in which Peyton just stood, staring at the two. She would never have seen that one coming. Ryan wasn't exactly a player-well, Peyton wouldn't call him one-but he did date a lot of girls, but this was just pushing it. As for Sophia, the girl was like Brooke as a teenager. That should have been enough explanation, but still, Peyton would never expect this, of either of them.
Clearing her throat, she realized that they hadn't noticed her, and she was trying to get their attention. She cleared her throat three times, and they still didn't break apart, causing her to roll her eyes. Reaching out, she grabbed Ryan's ear and Sophia's hair, and pulled them apart. With a noise rather like a suction cup, the two pulled apart with distressed moans of pain. Their pain quickly turned to shock as they looked up at Peyton, and she finally let them go. "You might want to pick a more secluded place next time you decide to suck face," Peyton suggested, crossing her arms over her chest as she raised her eyebrows at the pair of horny teens.
There was a guilty look on her son's face, with only mild embarrassment, whereas Sophia looked horrified and majorly embarrassed. She avoided looking at either Ryan or Peyton. Ryan looked up at his mom, waiting for her to decide whether she was going to yell at them or let them off. After a moment, Sophia looked up at Peyton as well. "Are you going to tell my parents?" she asked, then paused as she considered this. "I think my dad would kill him if you did," she said, her eyes widening as she contemplated what would happen if Owen found out his daughter dated. She had been pretty good at keeping her love life between her and her mother, and Owen preferred to remain ignorant.
Sighing, Peyton shook her head, knowing that there wasn't much she could do about it if her son wanted to make-out with her best friend's daughter. She was also pretty sure that Brooke would be extremely pleased. She didn't want to get Sophia in trouble, and she was pretty sure the embarrassment both teens felt was enough punishment to make sure they never got caught again. "You two are just lucky it was me who found you," she said as she turned to walk away. At the doorway she turned back. "You're not allowed in Ryan's room with the door closed," she said before continuing to the backyard, planning on sharing the tale with Brooke and Haley.
Before she could make it outside, her arm was grabbed and she was pulled into a closet. It took her a few seconds to get used to the sudden darkness, but when she saw it was Lucas, she nearly started screaming for help. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, though they had done this at plenty of previous parties, during their marriage, when the sexual tension between them-which always seemed to be there-reached a high that neither of them could resist. They hadn't snuck away to a closet in at least two years, though, and Peyton couldn't understand why he did this now. "We're both seeing other people. What do you want from me?" she whisper-shouted at him, stepping closer to try to get a better view of his face.
Reaching up, Lucas lightly caressed Peyton's cheek. The action surprised Peyton so much, she didn't even jerk away, like her mind knew she should. In fact, completely opposite of what she should have done, Peyton found herself tilting her head, leaning into his warm touch. "I'm not with Lindsey anymore. That was a horrible mistake," he informed her. He opened his mouth to continue, but the mention of Lindsey had brought her to her senses. This was not the past, and they had not mutually decided to sneak into the closet for a quickie. Lindsey was the one he had chosen.
Pain and anger flashed in her eyes, though he couldn't see it. Peyton decided to take hold of the anger, and use it to keep the pain at bay. She immediately leaned out of his hand, and took a step back. "Damn you, Lucas Scott. Who the hell do you think you are? You can't leave me for someone else, throw our lives and our kids lives into upheaval, and then say, 'Oops, my bad,'" she barely contained her shout, reaching out to puncuate her words with pokes into his chest. "It doesn't work like that, Lucas, so I suggest you go back to the woman and child you chose, because if you think you'll be welcomed back into my house with open arms, you're dead wrong," she continued.
Not even wanting to listen to anything else he had to say, Peyton turned, ready to leave the closet and go back outside to keep herself from crying. This was not what Lucas had in mind, however, and he grabbed her wrist as she turned, pulling her back before she could place her hand on the doorknob. "I'm not trying to do that, Peyton, truly. Will you just listen to me for a second, like you haven't done once since this whole thing started?" he asked, a little bit of frustration leaking into his voice. "You use your anger as a shield and you don't even listen to anything I say. Can you please listen to me for once?" he begged.
The tone of his voice alone caused Peyton to stay where she was. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at him defensively, but decided not to leave the closet, due to the desperation in his voice. Thinking back, she realized that she hadn't really ever given him a chance to explain. She had immediately kicked him out that first day, and then had avoided seeing him completely and every time she had the misfortune of seeing him after that, she barely spoke to him, much less listened. She had never wanted to listen to him, because she was worried about letting him back in, or maybe she was scared to see him happy without her, while she was so miserable without him. Either way, she was scared.
When Peyton stayed silent, Lucas cleared his throat, obviously shocked that she was going to listen. "When Lindsey told me she was pregnant, I realized then how stupid I had been, and how much I had screwed up the best thing that had ever happened to me: you. I wanted to beg you that day to take me back, but you, with good reason, of course, shut down, and didn't let me tell you that. I was going to support Lindsey either way, of course, but I didn't want to be with her. I knew that I only wanted you, but you shut me out, and, in another stupid move, I thought maybe I could learn to love Lindsey, since I was sure you would never be able to trust me again. I admit, that I don't blame you for your reaction, but the way you completely shut me out hurt," he confessed.
Barely surpressing a snort, Peyton raised one hand to cover her mouth, lest she start yelling at him again. He had been hurt? Still, a part of her could understand where he was coming from. When Peyton stayed silent, Lucas continued. "I didn't sleep with Lindsey after that. I wouldn't touch her, because I knew you were the only one I wanted. I guess that strained the relationship, and she realized that, but still, every time we were in public, somewhere we could be seen by you, or someone you knew who would tell you, she hung on me, acting all affectionate. I think I let her because I wanted to make you jealous, which, I realize, is almost as stupid as the other crap I did," he paused.
A few pieces seemed to click into place, and Peyton realized that she did rather quickly kick him out, and she wondered if they would still be together if they had talked it out back then. Did she still want to be with him? That was the question, but he continued, drawing her thoughts back to the present. "Anyway, the point to all this is, she recently told me that she lost the baby months ago. That she had been faking it for months now, and she wasn't pregnant. She had been pretending to keep me with her and I couldn't be with her after she lied to me like that. It made me realize how you must feel, except you must feel way worse than I do, because I was never in love with Lindsey. I've always been in love with you," he finished, his eyes focused on her face, trying to find her emotions in the darkness of the closet.
This new information threw Peyton for a loop. A part of her wanted to take in only the fact that he was still in love with her, that he always had been, and just think of that. She could throw her arms around him right now and take him back, and all of this pain could be over. The other side of her was more rational. Would the pain really be over, if she took him back? Maybe her heart wouldn't be completely broken, but she would still have to look at him everyday, and remember what he had done with Lindsey. She wasn't sure she could do that.
Then she thought of Julian. There was a great guy, right in her backyard, who hadn't cheated on her. He hadn't gotten someone else pregnant, and he hadn't broken her heart. Of course, Peyton was fairly sure that Julian would never be able to break her heart, given the fact that Lucas still had it, but that didn't mean she couldn't try to love him. Maybe she was wrong, and one day she would be able to love Julian. Or at least he wouldn't be able to hurt her if they did break up. Either way, it sounded better than the other possibility.
Her thoughts turning back to the guy she was in the closet with, she realized that she had goosebumps, and chills running up and down her spine, along with other reactions she only got for him. Obviously, her body did not care how much pain he had inflicted on her heart. She knew that Julian would never inflict this kind of reaction in her, even if she was attracted to him. There were certain reactions that Lucas and Lucas alone inflicted in her body. Reactions that not even Jake had managed to inflict, and she had loved him more than she had loved everyone except Lucas.
That thought almost had her giving in, but then the fear reared it's ugly head again, and Peyton found herself shaking hers. "No, Lucas, I can't do this. I can't go through what you put me through again, and I can't be worried it's going to happen. I'm sorry, but I'm with Julian now, and that's the way it is," she said firmly, but Lucas didn't seem to want to accept that. He grabbed her before she could open the closet door and spun her around. Peyton was sure for a moment that he was going to kiss her, and, to her chagrin, she found herself anticipating it, but then her name was called, not too far from the closet, and the spell was broken.
Firmly pulling her arm out of his grasp, Peyton fled the closet, looking for Brooke, who had been calling her name. Once Peyton spotted the brunette, she hurried over to her and pulled her towards the backyard, hoping to get her out of the house before Lucas could leave the closet and come find her. She knew that probably wasn't likely, and he could still come talk to her in the back yard, but she still breathed a sigh of relief when they made it outside. The problem was the way Brooke was looking at her, as if curious as to why Peyton had rushed them outside.
For a moment, Peyton scrabled her thoughts around, trying to think of an excuse, but then she remembered that she had been looking for Brooke anyway, before Lucas had distracted her, and now she had the perfect excuse, and she didn't even have to lie. "You'll never believe what I just walked in on," Peyton said conspiratorilly, knowing the tone alone would get Brooke's attention. Her best friend had always loved gossip. "Ryan and Sophia, making out on the couch in my living room," she said, cocking an eyebrow as she waited for Brooke's reaction.
Of course, that immediately made Brooke forget all about the questions she had, as she squealed and clapped her hands together. Ignoring the looks she got from nearly everyone else, Brooke continued to grin broadly. She had always wanted her daughter to get together with one of Peyton's sons, because she insisted it would make her even more a part of the family. Instead of just being best friends with Peyton, they'd be in-laws. "Yay, P. Sawyer, finally. How long do you think it'll be before they get married? Oh, I can see it already," she said, and Peyton just knew she was already planning the wedding.
Snapping her fingers in front of Brooke's face, Peyton began to regret telling her best friend of the little endeavor she had walked in on. "Brooke, Brooke, before you start picking out your dress for the wedding, don't you think we should figure out if they've even been on a date yet? I mean, they're teenagers, and not everyone is like Nathan and Haley, who marry in high school. There is quite a good chance that they are just hooking up, and nothing more will ever come of it, especially considering the fact that she's your daughter," Peyton said, slightly going into a rant, thinking more about her failed relationship with Lucas, which she had been sure about at that age, than of her son and Brooke's daughter.
That wasn't the way Brooke interpreted the words, though. Her gaze immediately snapped to Peyton's. "Are you saying I'm a slut, or that my daughter is?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow. She pursed her lips slightly as she watched Peyton roll her eyes. Then she just laughed it off. "Yeah, okay, you're probably right about me getting too far ahead of myself. I know there's a better chance of them not getting married than of them getting married, but still," she shrugged her shoulders. "A woman can dream, right?" she added, expecting the question to be rhetorical.
Staring off across the lawn, Peyton met Julian's gaze, and she really began thinking about Brooke's words. A woman can dream, right? That meant that Peyton could dream. She could dream of having everything back to normal with Lucas. That didn't mean it was going to happen. That didn't mean she had to upset the good thing she had going with Julian. It wasn't that big of a deal that she had bought a copy of Lucas's book the other day, after he had left his first signing, which, incidentally, he had insisted upon it being in Tree Hill. So she had bought her ex-husband's book, with no intention of ever reading it. She could support her children's father.
Considering all of that, she decided she could also dream about one day loving Julian the way that she loved Lucas. Maybe one day, if she stayed with him long enough, it would actually happen. In her heart, she knew that it probably wouldn't happen, ever, but a woman could dream, right? She sighed and blew her hair out of her face. "Yes, Brooke, a woman can dream," she said, with such emotion in her voice that Brooke looked over at her. Peyton had known Brooke had meant her question to be rhetorical, but she couldn't help the way those words slipped out of her mouth.
Thankfully, before Brooke could quesiton Peyton, someone declared that it was time for the girls to open their gifts. That didn't take too long, and then it was time for cake. Peyton drifted through the rest of the party with thoughts of Lucas and Julian as she tried to decide what to do. She still wasn't sure by the time everyone was leaving, but she forced a smile as she said goodbye to everyone, and made up lies as her best friends asked her if something was wrong. Soon it was just her and Julian, and a couple of her kids who stuck to their rooms left in the house.
As the couple lounged in the living room, Peyton rested her head on Julian's chest as he flipped through the channels. After a while, he turned off the TV and put down the remote, startling her as he moved. She sat up straight and turned to look at him. "We need to talk," he said with a sigh. Peyton tensed up even more at his words, but said nothing. Did he know about what happened in the closet? she thought, but didn't want to give anything away in case he didn't. "I have to go away soon, Peyton. I don't want to, but I'm starting work on another movie. I like you a lot, though, and I definitely want to continue seeing you," he said, looking into her eyes earnestly.
Biting on her lip, Peyton thought this over. She had the perfect opportunity to take the next step in their relationship. She could ask him to move in with her, and see where this could go. She was a bit scared, though. She wasn't scared of getting her heart broken, so much as she was scared that this would be the wrong decision. She then remembered the conversation with Brooke earlier, and decided it was time to take a chance, and if she couldn't do that with who her heart really truly wanted, she could do it with who she was trying to fool herself into wanting. "Julian, will you move in with me?" she just spat out the words.
For a moment there was silence, and Peyton was waiting, wondering if she had completely misjudged how he felt about her. He stared at her for so long, that she wondered if he could see right through her. Could he see that even then, she was thinking of Lucas, and how he would react to the fact that Julian had moved in with her. "You know, Peyton, I'd love to," Julian finally said, pulling her close for a kiss. Instead of feeling relieved that he had said yes, Peyton wondered if she hadn't made the biggest mistake she'd ever made, second only to kicking Lucas out of her life. She pushed all thoughts of the blond away and decided to focus on Julian instead.
A/N: I'm back! I know, it's been a long time, right? Over two months. I'm going back to school, though, and I told myself I would start posting again when I went back to school. I bet y'all thought I had forgotton about this fic. Well, I didn't, and I hope you didn't either. I hope there are still people reading this, and, more than that, I hope you'll tell me what you think. At least let me know if people are still interested, because I do have more ideas for this fic, but if there aren't people interested, I could move onto other projects. So, let me know. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of One Tree Hill, except seasons 1-6, on DVD, and technically, that still doesn't make them mine.