"What would you do in my shoes Luke? Say you find out from your three year old daughter that she has seen her father kissing another woman. Surely not, you think. She must have seen it wrong. After all they did finish writing a book today. And yet, there is something about the insistence at which your daughter is telling you the story that deep down you feel this isn't the case. So you find his phone, with a text message from the girl saying that she knows you feel the same way… and you come home to find a manuscript written about a woman having an affair with a married man… I mean what would you do Luke? Wait and let the man explain himself? Or would you go? Knowing full well whatever he could possibly say was going to hurt her more than she could possibly imagine."

"Peyton… let me explain…"Lucas started.

"It better be a pretty good explanation Lucas, coz right now, your story isn't looking all that great." Peyton said, calming herself down so that she could hear what Lucas had to say. She was hurt, upset and angry. Right now she wasn't sure if anything Lucas could say could make her feel any different.

"I met her in New York. At the book tour… a couple of weeks before you and Sawyer came for your surprise visit. She was lighthearted, funny and we kept bumping into each other. I was lonely Peyton. I enjoyed the company. I missed you and Sawyer, our talks weren't the same on the phone… and well… you know what we were going through then with the….."

Anger swelled up in Peyton "Don't you dare Luke! Don't you dare blame this on me. We were trying for another baby. We were both stressed about it. Did you ever think that I was lonely too. That I missed my husband who had been travelling for the past 3 months?" It sounded like someone else talking. Like it wasn't her sitting and hearing Lucas tell her this story. She found it so hard to believe. She and Luke were made for each other. How could this happen to her… to them?

"Peyton it wasn't like that I swear. Nothing happened ok! We were just friends. I need you to understand that. Please. There never has been, and never will be anyone for me but you. I want to tell you the story from the start, that's all."

Slowly, she looked up into his face. She was surprised by what she saw. He didn't look guilty, he didn't look anything other than tortured. She wondered if her face looked the same. She quickly bit her tongue, holding back the scathing remarks she wanted to say to him and silently let him continue.

"I found out she was an author and I offered to help her write her book as she was having difficulty getting ahead with it. She told me what it was about. It's the same book we've been writing Peyton. It's about a guy she knew when she was at college. It's not about us, it's not about me. We traded numbers and that was the last I heard of her until she showed up on our door step. I promise. The only text message I have received from her that isn't business related is the one you saw from today. You can check my phone, check the bills or anything else, and you will see that the only time I've received or made texts or calls to her number is from the time she arrived in Tree Hill."

Peyton remained silent throughout his whole speech. Part of her felt a little guilty for looking through his phone. But then, how could she not given the circumstances.

"Lucas, you knew I didn't trust her. You know how I felt about her. Why did you keep working with her? Why weren't you more cautious when you knew how I felt about her?"

It took a while for Lucas to answer. "I don't know Peyton. I liked working with her. I enjoyed the editing, looking at a fresh piece of work and not having to stare at a blank page for days. I would have been just as dedicated, just as consumed by the project if it was anyone else. Please believe me on that.."

"Honestly Lucas... I don't know what to believe anymore…"

It was the early hours of the morning and Peyton and Lucas were still discussing the turn of events. They had yelled, cried, screamed and discussed things over and over again still without reconciliation being met.

"Is this what it's going to be like now Peyton?" Lucas asked finally. He was exhausted. He didn't know how else to tell her his story, to plead his innocence. And yet, he could see that Peyton had not completely accepted all that he had told her. No matter how he had begged.

"Honestly Lucas? I don't know…. I really don't know." Peyton felt as exhausted as though she had run a marathon. Emotionally drained and unsure of where to turn. She didn't know whether to believe Luke or not. Was what he was saying the truth? Never in her wildest dreams did she ever envisage her or Luke having this in their relationship. With a tear in her eye Peyton said "Luke I trusted you. Trusted you more than anything. I kept telling myself that nothing was going to happen because you loved your family and you wouldn't do anything to hurt us. But this Luke…. This is like a kick in the guts…. No Luke, I don't want to discuss it anymore. I'm exhausted. We're not going to get anything out of it. I'm…. I'm just going to go into Sawyers room ok?"

Luke started to say something in objection before Peyton interrupted "No Luke please… just give me this… I.. can't deal with it right now ok?"

Knowing he was defeated, Lucas silently sat back down on the bed and let his wife walk out of the room. Somewhere in him, he felt as though there was also something walking out of their relationship.

Luke couldn't get to sleep that night and finally, with the sun streaming through the window he gave up on his attempts of sleep and headed to the kitchen where he was greeted by Sawyer and Peyton. One look from his wife told him 'not in front of Sawyer' and he was glad to agree with her.

"Hi Daddy. What are you having for breakfast?" Lucas smiled to his daughter and continued the charade of a happy family until she departed from the room. He tried to catch Peyton's eye to gage how she was feeling, but she wouldn't look at him. This hurt more than anything.

Finally, after a long moment Peyton broke the silence.

"Do you remember what you promised me on our wedding day Lucas? What you promised your family?"

Lucas had never forgotten that magical day. He could still recite to Peyton exactly what he had said, every moment of that beautiful day. "Of course I do. I told you there was nobody else for me than you. And that I would love you for the rest of my life. That hasn't changed Peyton. I don't love anyone else, and I couldn't even look at anyone else the way that I do you." Lucas felt as though he was pleading, begging her to understand.

'How did we end up here Luke? I don't get it. I love you Lucas. I love you more than anything in my life. I love our family more than life itself. How is it that our world can turn upside down in one failing swoop?"

Lucas looked up at Peyton and saw the pain and hurt in her eyes. How was he to help her see that this was simply an innocent kiss that meant nothing to him. How he wished he was able to have told her first. Or that he had been able to see this coming and been able to push Maddi away faster. Luke wished it were yesterday again so that he could act differently.

"Look I have to go to work now. I'll take Sawyer in with me. I just…. I just can't talk about this anymore ok."

Knowing he had no other option, Lucas silently agreed and went to quietly say goodbye to his daughter.

"Men suck!" Brooke exclaimed as she walked into the studio of the red bedroom records. Instantly Peyton wondered if it was written all over her face and her best friend was able to read that something was amiss. However, when she looked up she saw straight away that this was Brooke herself talking. As though from a different lifetime, Peyton remembered the whole Brooke-Ben date and realised this must be the reason for the outburst.

"Why do they always have to fall in love with you? I mean why couldn't he just leave it be, let us be friends. I was able to do friends, cope with friends! But now, now I've lost my parenting buddy in one big swoop. All because he couldn't put his feelings aside."

"Brooke, you hardly expect him to keep his feelings to the side do you? I mean would you do the same thing if you were him?" Haley asked diplomatically..

"Of course I would!"

Peyton and Haley both looked at Brooke with a raised eyebrow.

"Ok well… maybe not, but that's not the point!"

The girls continued to quietly listen as Brooke ranted and raved. It wasn't until they had been talking for some time that Brooke's attention was brought onto Peyton.

"Hey P. Scott – what's up with you – you're awfully quiet today" Brooke queried.

That was all Peyton needed for the waterworks to start. Instantly rushing to her side, Brooke and Haley came closer to offer comfort to their friend. Peyton briefly filled them in with the information she found out the night before. Their exclamations of disbelief and anger made Peyton feel a little bit better. Deciding however that she had enough of discussing her relationship woes, Peyton decided shortly after that she would finish her work at home. Haley and Brooke also decided that enough work had been done and decided to also leave with Peyton. When walking through the bar at Tric, they came across a familiar face which made them all seethe in anger.

Brooke took the matter into her own hands and marched right up to the woman who hadn't yet realised they were there

"You've got some nerve showing up here"

Maddi looked at Brooke confused until she saw Peyton behind her. Smirking to herself she instantly put two and two together and realised that Peyton must know what had transpired yesterday.

"Peyton I'm really sorry…."

"Like hell you are!" Haley said standing next to Peyton with her arm around her

"I am sorry. Sorry that her husband doesn't love her like he does me. Sorry that she had to find out this way. He loves me Peyton. You'll see" Maddi said sweetly.

Unable to take anymore, Peyton spoke up "You know what Maddi, I think I know better than you, because I know my husband. And I know that he would see nothing in a useless, pathetic little girl like you. To think that I opened up my house for you. Just be warned Maddi… you really are no match for me. After all, experience shows that nobody can get in the way of Lucas and I"

Without waiting for a response, Peyton stormed out of Tric with her head held high and Brooke and Haley following behind.

Chase, noticing the commotion, came over to Maddi and quietly led her to the door "I think you better leave." He said in a tone that left no room for disagreement.

Looking around her at the quiet, empty house, Peyton sighed to herself as she took one last look at the note she was writing:

Luke,

I need some time to digest all of this and some time to breathe. I just can't go on fighting with you all the time. I'm taking Sawyer to Brooke's with me and we will stay with her for a little while. Please, just give me my space and don't come calling for me. I hope you understand.

Peyton

It sounded to cold when she read it to herself, but she didn't know how else to write or what else to write. Closing her eyes, she placed the note on the kitchen bench and then went out to the car to help Sawyer buckle in.