A/N: This is just an idea that came to me when I heard about the wedding mess. This is how I imagine 513 going. This is just going to be a three, maybe a four parter if you guys like it.
She never thought life would turn out like this. I mean they were Lucas and Peyton right. They were meant to be. They were true love always.
Always… that word stuck in her mind so she decided to take another swig of her drink as she tried to push the pain away. Somewhere, somehow along the way, always turned into never. Her mind began to drift off, as she wondered where they went wrong. Sure she could pinpoint straight away when it all fell apart.
Peyton I love you. I want us to be together forever.
Oh how she wished she could take that night back and make it never happen. She loved him so much, but they weren't ready for marriage. She knew he was partly proposing because he was trying to hold them together but that was no way to start forever together. She wanted him to propose solely out of love and wanting to spend the rest of his life with her and although she knew that was part of it, there was also that other part.
She took another drink as her mind drifted back to that fatal day four weeks earlier. In all their time apart, she still honestly believed they would work out in the end. There was no one else she could picture spending the rest of her life with.
But obviously he felt different. She took one last swig of her drink.
"Owen, I'll have the same again" she sighed before her mind went back to the day her world crumbled to the ground. Sure it was falling apart for years now, but she could actually pinpoint the day, the moment, the very second even, that her heart broke into tiny pieces. It happened with him speaking two simple words, "I do". Now in theory that should make her the happiest girl in the world. When the man you are in love with, stands in a church, in front of family and friends and vows for forever, it should be the best news ever, and for anyone else it would be, but this was Peyton Sawyer. She never was the luckiest girl in the world, all you had to do was look at her past; two dead mothers, an absentee father and brother, a stalker and a school shooting were just a few of the tragic moments that made up her life. But all that change, when she was with him nothing else mattered. It was just Lucas and Peyton against the world and she felt she could face anything with him by her side. That was until he asked another girl to marry him.
Now he was gone. He was off sailing the high seas somewhere. Well in reality, Lucas Scott was gone out of her life a lot longer than that. He was gone for three years now, but the void, the gaping hole in her heart remained. In fact, if anything, the more time that past the greater that void got. She knew it was time to accept things for what they were. It was time to really and truly let go this time.
That was why she had gathered all the copies of his book that she owned, even her secret copies of the book he wrote about her, about them.
Suddenly it was as if the roar of the crowd, the echo of the final buzzers,
the cheers of my team-mates were all sounding from 1,000 miles away,
and what remained in that bizarre, muffled silence was only Peyton.
The girl whose art, passion, and beauty had changed my life.
In that moment, my triumph was not a state championship, but simple clarity.
The realization that we had always been meant for each other
and every instinct to the contrary had simply been a denial of the following truth -
I was now and would always be in love with Peyton Sawyer.
She gathered all of them including the audio version he had made especially for her and the bound copy he had presented to her. It was his first printed copy and he wanted her to have it and no matter how long she had been trying, she had never been able to get rid of it. She gathered them, along with old pictures, concert tickets and even one of his t—shirts he had left behind all those years ago that she had never been able to bring herself to throw out, even though his scent had long since disappeared from it.
She had gathered everything and left them along with a note for Brooke, to do the one thing she knew she'd never be able to do herself. It was time for a new beginning and that started by letting go of the past. Peyton had asked her best friend, the one person who was truly therefore her through all this mess, to come join her once the job was done, so she could forget for a while before tomorrow she started the new chapter of her life. But tonight was about letting go and having a night to be the carefree twenty two year old she should be, and who better to do it with than her best friend.
That is why when she felt a familiar presence behind her; she smiled and waited for her to sit. But sadly she was mistaken as the person took a seat beside her.
"I'll have what she's having" he said to Owen as he nervously twiddled his thumbs.
A dead silence fell upon them as Peyton refused to acknowledge his presence and he struggled to find where to begin.
"Peyton I…"
"What are you doing here?" she sighed before taking another sip of her drink and keeping her gaze straight ahead. She couldn't look at him, looking at him always got her into trouble. He had a terrible knack of reading what she was thinking without her having to say a word and she didn't think she could handle that at the moment. So she kept her eyes on her now empty glass as she wondered how long it took to pour another.
Lucas nodded sadly. He deserved this, hell he deserved this and so much more. But he was back now and he was going to make things right. He had finally gotten his head together and he knew what he wanted. If he was honest he always knew, but now he was willing to fight for it, for her, for them. He was sick of giving up and accepting defeat when things got bad. It was time for him to be a man and step up to fight like hell to get what he wanted. "Brooke told me you'd be…"
"Not what I asked Lucas. What are you doing here?" Her walls were up and she'd be damned if she was going back to pretending everything was okay and act like his friend. They were never just friends. He had put her through hell for months and she was sick of pretending that was okay.
"I came back to…"
"You left" she whispered while interrupting him again.
"I know" he sighed. He had left again. The one thing he promised he'd never do. But that was going to change now.
"No Lucas, you don't know!" she snapped, turning to face him. "You left again. People always leave, I get that but I naively thought you were different"
"I am!"
"Actually Lucas, you are different" she nodded to him and he looked at her in confusion, fearing what she was going to say next. "You are worse" she replied before standing up and calling Owen to bring her drink already.
Lucas nodded sadly and stared at the bar. He was worse. She was right. Like everything else, she was right again. As Owen finally appeared and placed the drinks in front of them he grabbed his and drank it in one go, the liquor stinging his throat as it went down and he welcomed it. "Same again and one for my… one for her" he sighed. When had they become so messed up? He figured it was about time he let a few things go and tried to move on, even if moving on to the unknown scared the hell out of him. Three years was far too long to be living a lie. "I was wrong"
Peyton turned and looked at him. "Lucas you don't need to justify anything to me" she replied coldly, as if she meant nothing in his life. "You got engaged to the woman you love, you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm just sorry she left."
There was silence for a minute as Owen returned, silently placing their drinks in front of them before leaving again. "I guess it just proves your theory again" he said quietly.
They sat there for a while just staring at their drinks both lost in thought.
He decided he needed to get out what he was trying to say earlier. "I was wrong…"
"Lucas you've already said that. No need to relive it again"
"Peyton stop!" he sighed and turned to face her once more with a determined expression on his face. It was time he owned up to his part in this. "That's not what I meant… well I was wrong for that too, but…. I was wrong. Three years ago, when I asked you to marry me, you asked me to wait and I broke my promise to you."
I love you Peyton. I came back for you and no matter how long it takes I'll wait for you.
Peyton sat there speechless. She took a drink as she thought about this. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?
As if he could read her thoughts he spoke again. "You were right. Three years ago, when I proposed, even though I loved you and wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, we weren't ready."
"Luke it doesn't…"
"No Peyton, please I need to say this" he said and waited for her to nod before he continued. "When I proposed, we weren't ready. I proved that by my actions afterward. You never said no, I realise that now. I was just childish. My pride was hurt and instead being a man and accepting your valid reasons to wait, I left and made myself believe our break up was totally your fault because you said no. But while I was away for the last few weeks I had time to think, I mean really think. I finally decided to stop hiding and living in denial. For so long I have been angry with you for something that never happened. You said yes, you just wanted to wait and I broke my promise" he sighed as he finally got the courage to look her in the eye and the sight before him, shocked him. She was crying. "Oh Peyton I…. I'm s…. Damn I'm doing it again. I swore this had to stop!" he scolded himself. Returning home he promised he'd stop hurting her. He used to be the one who always saved her but now it began to feel like maybe he was the one she needed saving from.
"Lucas no, it's okay" she said as she wiped her tears and smiled at the confused look on his face. "Do you know how long I've waited to here you say this?"
"Too long. Peyton I still love you. I never stopped" he admitted as he fought every muscle in his body from leaning over and wiping the tears streaming down her face. How had he let it get to this?
She wiped at her tears and straightened up. "I can't… I can't do this Lucas. It's too late. I have to let go" she spoke quickly as she gathered her bag and coat.
"It's never too late" he said as he gently grabbed her hand, causing her to face him. "We're true love always remember"
She couldn't help but smile back. He always had a way to lighten even the darkest situation. But then flashes of Lucas and Lindsey at the wedding raced through her mind. "Maybe love just isn't enough"
"It has to be. Peyton I love you"
Suddenly anger raced through her body and she pulled her hand out of his grasp. "That's funny, because only four weeks ago you were standing in a church saying 'I do' to another woman!" she said before storming out of the bar, leaving Lucas standing there with everyone staring at him. I guess I deserved that he conceded before leaving the bar aswell. Deciding against a cab, he began his long walk home just as the heavens began to open and it poured. Just perfect he sighed as he pulled up his collar. He guessed he deserved that also.