Standing in the doorway, Jake had his back to her. Peyton honestly didn't know what she'd done wrong. "Jake, just tell me what I did. Whatever it is, I'm sorry. Just tell me what I did," she pleaded. She had woken up and he was acting so weird, and she needed to know what went wrong so she could fix it.
Jake turned to look at her, hearing the desperation in her voice. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?" he asked, trying to sound casual, even though his heart was breaking. Her brows drew together in confusion. She didn't know what that had to do with anything. "Tonight you were talking in your sleep," he added slowly.
Her brow slowly smoothed out, but she still had confusion written all over her face. She was beginning to feel relief though, because she couldn't have said anything that bad. "Well, what did I say? It can't be that bad. Did I say I wanted to kill you or something?" she asked, chuckling slightly, despite the nervousness she was still feeling.
Jake didn't laugh. He was still standing stoically in the doorway. He could feel his heart breaking at her caulousness. He wished he could just forget about it, but he couldn't. He needed to get this out in the open, maybe to give her a chance to explain. He sighed. "You said, 'I love you...'" he paused for a moment.
Now relief was coursing through her body. "Well, what's wrong with that? I do love you, Jake. I thought that was a good thing," she laughed, relaxing in the bed again. She had thought she had said something really bad. She didn't understand what the big deal was. Wasn't that why they were getting married? She loved him. She thought he already knew that.
Of course, Jake wasn't finished speaking. "'... Lucas,'" the smile slid off her face as he finished. "You said, 'I love you, Lucas,'" he repeated for good measure. Her face dropped, and her shoulders dropped, and just like that, she was crying. He took a step closer. As much as it hurt him that she said that, it hurt him even more to see her crying.
Trying to wipe her tears, Peyton looked up at him. "Jake, don't do this. I love you. You want to know what I was dreaming about, why I said that? I was dreaming about my friendship with Lucas, how it used to be. I love him, yeah. We could have had something great, if he hadn't been with my best friend first. I'm in love with you, please. I want to marry YOU," she cried, hating that she was at this point. The thought of losing him scared her, though, and if she had to beg, she would.
Jake couldn't handle seeing her break down like she was. He ventured even closer, sitting on the bed, wiping her tears before giving up because they weren't stopping. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, allowing her to cry into his chest. He whispered comforting words to her, because the last thing he wanted was for her to be in pain. He wanted the best for her.
Regaining some control over her tears, Peyton pulled back slightly, not allowing him to let go of her, just far enough away so that she could look up at him. "My father told me to follow my heart, Jake, and I did. I followed it to you. I meant it when I told you that. Please, don't push me away. I love you. I choose you. I don't want to be with anyone else," she pleaded sincerely.
Despite the instincts in his head, his heart was telling him to believe her. He realy wanted to. He didn't want to force her to go back to Tree Hill, because a part of him was afraid she wouldn't come back. Besides, seeing her break down like that had made him a litte more confident that her heart was in this. "We're really doing this, aren't we?" he asked, amazement in his voice.
Peyton's brow kinked in confusion again. She didn't know what he was talking about. "We're getting married," he clarified, and she felt her heart soar again. There was a bit of hesitation, because she knew that she had lied about the dream. She had been longing for old times with Lucas, but her dream hadn't been about his friendship. She knew that his heart belonged with Brooke, though, so hers would have to be with Jake.
With tear trails still on her cheeks, and some tears still leaking out of her eyes, she pulled Jake into a kiss. When he pulled away, he wiped at her tears, raising an eyebrow at her questioningly. "They're happy tears, Jake," she said, which was mostly true. A big part of her was happy right now. Most of her heart, and her head. There was just that small part of her heart that was thinking about Lucas, but she figured that would always be there. That was what she had decided long ago.
A/N: This is just an idea I came up with. Next chapter will be five years later. I promise, it will eventually be Leyton, because I can't do a story with no Leyton. At least, I think I can't. Either way, I know this one is Leyton. What do you think? Should I continue?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything involving One Tree Hill or the CW.