Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or any of their characters.
Chapter 1
"Looks like it's just you and me, this summer," Lucas said.
Peyton could only nod her head. The sadness mixed with confusion and fear brought her to tears. Up until Lucas showed up at the beach that night, Peyton felt alone – her father was still gone, Nathan was leaving for camp, Haley was still on tour and Brooke had just moved across the country – they all left her alone to deal with a single lie that could tear her life apart.
Although he didn't know it yet, Lucas knew she needed him to be a friend; someone to be there for here and to comfort her; someone who she could lean on to and more importantly, someone who would be the one true constant thing in her life. So he invited her into his open arms.
Peyton clung on to him and he held her just as tight. They both needed comfort and each other. Neither of them wanted to let each other go because the last time they did, seasons had passed before they spoke again.
The next morning, Peyton woke up, from a good nights sleep, in the soft bed. As she sat up, she familiarized herself with her surroundings. A big yawn escaped her lips. She covered her mouth with her hand. As she did, she smelled a clean masculine scent from the grey hoody sweatshirt she was wearing. It made her smile.
Her feet landed on the floor when she heard her cell phone ring. Following the muffled ringing, she found the phone in her purse.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, P. Sawyer or is it good afternoon?"
The alarm clock on the bedside table read 12:15pm, which meant it was 9:15am in California.
"Since when has Brooke Davis ever been so chipper first thing in the morning?"
"Since she's still on Tree hill time…anyways I miss you so much. It sucks here…there's like no drama here,"
Peyton smirked, "You're dad hasn't seen your credit card bill, has he?"
"Haha, very funny. Besides that doesn't count…it happens every month,"
"Here's an idea – surprise your dad and stop shopping for a month. Oh, imagine the shock he'll be in when he gets the bill,"
"Are you kidding me? Stop shopping. As if…I'm still making up for lost times," The girls laughed at Brooke's addiction to shopping. "So anyways, I called you last night and you didn't pick up. What'd you do last night, Peyton? Or who did you do?"
"Brooke!"
"Come on Goldilocks, don't hold back on me. I need gossip,"
Peyton bit her thumb nervously as she remembered last night clearly. She knew it wasn't exactly the kind of gossip Brooke wanted to hear.
Flashback
They had talked all night – or rather, Peyton had talked all night. Lucas just listened to her as she told him everything from her feelings about Jake leaving to the creepy instant messages she had been receiving. She also told him about Elizabeth – the woman claiming to be her mother. Peyton was hesitant at first, but she really needed someone to confide in because she knew she wouldn't be able to get through the summer alone.
The darkness of the water faded as the sun began to rise over the horizon. The sun lit the sky into a bright colourful mix of pinks and reds. The sounds of the waves crashing upon the shoreline finished off the setting. It was the first time Lucas and Peyton had ever seen the sun rise over the water. It was a sight that they would share together and remember forever.
Even though the rising sun brought on a new day to face, along with the troubles from yesterday, today was different. Today they would face whatever was to come, together - as it was the first day of a summer to remember.
Lucas was the first to break out of the trance. He stood up and brushed the sand off his shorts. He stretched his arms up over his head and let out a yawn. He let out a relaxing deep breath and looked back down at Peyton.
She gave him a weak smile, unsure of wanting to begin the day.
He outstretched his hand, offering it to her. "Come on," he said showing a half smile.
She looked at him for a second. The softness in his eyes told her that she'd be ok as his outstretched hand told her that he'd be there for her no matter what. Peyton finally reached up and took his hand, ready to face the day.
Since Lucas had walked to the beach the night before, Peyton offered him a ride home. The ride to his house was quiet, probably because they were too tired to talk. But from the corner of her eye, Peyton could see Lucas staring at her. Peyton pulled up to his house and put her car in park. She glanced over at him and he was still looking at her as if he could see beyond her mask. Could he tell that she didn't want to be alone? That she wasn't ready to go home to an empty house?
Secretly she wanted to ask Lucas to stay with her, at least until her father came home or until her problems went away – which ever came first, but she was too stubborn to ask.
He began to open the car door when he turned back to face her, "Hey, do you want to come in? It's kinda lonely without my mom here,"
She tried to remain cool about it, but he saw the look of relief in her half smile, "Are you sure you want me to?"
"Yeah, why not? If you're hungry, we could have breakfast or if you're tired, you can crash in my room and I'll take the couch…" Peyton pretended to think about it, "Come on…I'll make my famous chocolate chip pancakes,"
End Flashback
Brooke was still waiting on the line for Peyton's response. Peyton was about to tell Brooke, when there was a knock on the door.
"Honey? It's time to go for our spa treatment," Brooke's mother said as she poked her head in the door.
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute," Brooke watched her mother's head disappear behind the door. "Ugh, mother daughter bonding time. Her therapist told her she needed to spend more time with me. I told her to see a new shrink,"
"Hey, Peyton? You up yet?" Lucas knocked on the other side of the door.
Peyton quickly covered the mic on her phone, hoping that Brooke didn't hear anything. "Just a second," she called out to Lucas.
"What's going on, Peyton? Who are you talking to?" Brooke asked.
"Um, someone's at the door. I gotta go," Peyton quickly ended the call and jumped off the bed to answer the door.
She found a smirking Lucas on the other side, "Talking to yourself?"
"Nope, I was playing with your dinosaur dolls on your shelf," Peyton mocked back.
"They're not dolls…they're collectibles," he said defensively.
"Whatever you say…" The smell of bacon and pancakes wafted over from the kitchen.
Lucas saw Peyton's face light up at the smell of the food, "Hungry?"
"Starved!"
"Good, cause I made my chocolate chip pancakes like I promised and…whoa," Peyton hungrily pushed Lucas out of the doorway.
"Last one to the kitchen has to wash the dishes," she called out as she ran down the hallway.
"Hey, I did all the cooking…" it was no use - she was already in the kitchen.
"No dishes for me!" Peyton yelled out.
Lucas shook his head and laughed as he made his way to join her in the kitchen.
After breakfast, Lucas cleaned up as Peyton lounged comfortably full in the living room. Lucas was rinsing off the dishes when he heard a knock on the door. "Peyton?"
"Yeah, yeah…I got it," she got up off the couch and sauntered to the front door. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Haley on the other side. Haley was just as surprised to see Peyton not because she was at Lucas's, but because she was in Lucas's pajama bottoms and sweatshirt.
Her tired eyes widened, "Peyton?"
Peyton couldn't help but feel angry with Haley. She was upset with Haley for leaving the way she did and for hurting Nathan so badly, "Oh, so you do remember my name,"
Haley wasn't really surprised at Peyton's attitude toward her but now wasn't the time to deal with it, "Um…is Lucas here? I need to talk to him…you probably want to hear it too,"
With one last questioning glare, Peyton finally called Lucas and let Haley inside.
The three of them were now in the living room. Peyton was seated on the couch while Lucas hugged Haley. "It's good to have you home, Hales," He pulled apart and saw a worried look on her face, "What's wrong?"
"Lucas, you might want to sit down,"
"Ok," Lucas took a seat beside Peyton on the couch.
Haley took a deep breath before she began, "Last night…"
Flashback
"Hi," Haley softly said.
The look of shock quickly faded from his face as he remembered. He remembered that his wife walked out on their marriage. "What are you doing here?"
"I…I came to see you,"
"Well, now you have and now you can go," he stepped back into the house and was about to close the door when he heard her.
"Wait…please,"
"No. I'm tired of waiting," Nathan said angrily. "When you left, I waited for you to call and when I asked you to come home, I waited. Don't you think I've waited long enough?"
"Nathan, I'm
sorry. But you have to understand…" she pleaded with him to listen.
"Don't tell me I need to understand. Cause I do! I understand that you left because you were selfish. I understand that you didn't love me enough to stay!" He saw the tears streaming down her face, but he didn't care. She had hurt him and now he wanted to hurt her. "Just get out of here. There's nothing you can say or do that will change my mind cause I stopped loving you the day you left,"
The words slapped Haley in the face. She knew that she had hurt him, but didn't know how bad. Trying to save some dignity, Haley nodded and turned away. The light from inside the foyer was now gone as Nathan shut the door.
With his hand still on the door knob a single teardrop splashed on his hand.
"Nathan!" his mother called from upstairs.
Nathan heard footsteps running down the stairs towards him. "Nathan!"
"Mom? What's wrong?"
Haley was half way down the driveway when she heard footsteps running towards her. She turned around and saw Nathan followed by Deb.
"Nathan?"
Nathan didn't answer. He just made his way to the car.
"Haley? What are you doing here?"
"I…I came to see Nathan,"
Deb saw Haley's suitcases at her feet. Deep down Deb hoped that the two would work it out. Even though she was against the marriage, she knew Haley was good to Nathan and she brought out the best in him. "There's was fire at the dealership,"
"Oh my God. Was anyone hurt?"
Deb nodded her head, "Keith…Keith pulled Dan out of the fire. They're on their way to the hospital,"