One Tree Hill 1. Chapter 1

He stepped out of the cab and leaned down to extend his right hand

He stepped out of the cab and leaned down to extend his right hand. A long slender one eased out of the cab door and took his. She closed her hand around his and he noticed her dark red fingernails as they curled oh so slowly into his palm.

She unfolded out of the cab and he felt his breath catch. She wore a plain white summer dress with spaghetti straps the hem ending just above her knee, revealing those long tanned legs he loved so much – even though he had told her once they were kind of chickeny.

When he had first met her, she wore her hair all curls and platinum blonde. Now the girl had become a woman with dark blonde hair that teased with traces of red.

She was Peyton Sawyer, THE Peyton Sawyer and he finally allowed himself the luxury to look at her, in all her glory, and admit his love for her.

They walked silently to the white chapel on the glittering Las Vegas strip. The garish interior assaulted their senses as they stepped through the door.

Lucas guided Peyton to the third pew on the right side of the chapel behind a pair of women who clearly chose an alternate lifestyle. In front of them was a couple dressed all in black leather with the words "Harley Davidson" embossed on the back of their jackets.

At the alter, stood a man and woman covered head to toe in tattoos and presiding over them was the pudgy version of Elvis, white jumpsuit and all. Lucas heard the Elvis impersonator say "What do you say, little momma?" As he directed his prompting for an "I do" from the tattooed "momma."

Lucas turned to Peyton and watched her drink in the scenery. Classic Peyton. She genuinely found this setting amusing and didn't give the surroundings for their impending nuptials a second thought.

Peyton turned to Lucas and smiled as if she could feel him watching her. "This is great," she told him with a wide grin. And then she chuckled.

But was it perfect? How could Lucas do this to her – to his Peyton? To propose to her over the phone and expect her to drop all her pain and fear and marry him on a moments notice with no questions asked.

He had done this to her once before. All those years ago in that hotel room in LA, Lucas Scott had allowed all the fear and uncertainty about his relationship with Peyton to prompt him to propose to her, out of the blue she had said.

He could still see her face when he surprised her at her work – the record label she had only meant to intern at for a summer. She was so happy to seem him and when he held her slight frame in his arms he felt like he was home.

Lucas dreamed the whole flight to LA about how he would propose to her and how she would smile shyly and tell him yes. How they would have a small ceremony in Tree Hill and they would start their lives together.

But that was the problem with dreams they usually didn't live up to reality. And Lucas faced the harsh reality when Peyton had told him no. But wait, she didn't say no, did she? All these years he kept hearing her say no, but after his blow-up with Peyton in her office that night, his perception of his proposal to her changed.

She had said she wanted to marry him someday. Now that he could see clearly he saw all the love in the world in her eyes. He had been chasing her since he was 12-years-old, or the dream of her, and never truly believed that this girl, this woman, could love him. Could love the boy a father could so easily discard.

Yet, she had stood there in that hotel room and told him she believed in him, believed in their love for each other. But Lucas' blindness to that one true fact, and his fear that she would wake up and leave him, caused him to hear no instead of someday. So, he left her in that hotel room in LA, dreaming of a life with him, and he left her with nothing. Proving yet again, to the lonely girl who longed for her dead mother, that people always leave.

A crossroads was faced that night, a path taken. Only a lucky few get a chance to make a U-Turn in life and go back to that fateful crossroad. So, here he stood, here they stood, at the very crossroads they had haunted three plus years ago.

He saw in his mind the look of the young girl on the cusp of womanhood pleading with the boy pretending to be a man, that he just give them a chance to live life, and to be able to come to each other without regrets. They were at that moment now, yet if they married in this garish chapel in Vegas, he would be denying Peyton her chance to fulfill her dream of saying yes to him in that LA hotel room.

"We can't do this," Lucas blurted out.

Peyton turned to him with a look of horror crossing her face. "Lucas," she whispered. It was the only word she could force from her mouth.

Lucas could see she believed he was trying to say he didn't want to marry her, but oh, it was far from that. "No, no," Lucas whispered back as he clutched her hand tighter. "I just mean we can't marry here."

Peyton bite her lip and cocked her head. "I don't understand?"

"I owe you more then this." Lucas waved his free hand over the small chapel. "You deserve more. Come on."

Lucas got up and pulled Peyton to him. He rushed her out of the chapel and told her they were heading back to their hotel room. The couple quickly packed and then Lucas shuffled them off to the rental car stand in the hotel and soon they were on the road.

Peyton would have asked where they were going, but she saw the sign reading how many miles it was to Los Angeles, and then she knew. She smiled and took Lucas' hand. She didn't say anything. There were no words to be said. At least until they got in that hotel room in Los Angeles, then there would be a lot to say and do.


	2. Chapter 2

Peyton didn't know how long they drove in the rental car in complete silence

Peyton didn't know how long they drove in the rental car in complete silence. All the madness of the days, weeks and months seemed to have drained them both from the ability to speak. It seemed just enough to be sitting beside each other with a destination in mind and focused on one thing. It really was enough.

She looked over to see Lucas twist the knot of his dark blue tie from around the collar of his shirt. He really was a beautiful man. As a boy he was sensitive and kind and understanding and that had only matured into the man he was now. She loved him with her whole heart, and Peyton realized what this second chance meant to both of them. It meant a lifetime of fulfillment of living a whole life, it meant spending the rest of her life with the man she loved.

"Hey, what cha' thinking'," Lucas asked turning his head from the road to look at her.

Peyton simply smiled back at him. She looked out the window and breathed deeply before answering. "I was thinking how right this feels," Peyton replied. "Being here with you, I don't know, it is how I imagined it, I guess."

"I know," Lucas told her as he took her hand. He stroked her long fingers with the tip of his. "It is finally right."

"Peyton Sawyer will become Peyton Scott," Peyton mumbled to herself remembering the summer prediction of Lucas' that Haley showed her. Breaking the best friend code for Peyton because as Haley said Peyton was at code red.

"What?" Lucas looked at her cocking up his eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing, just daydreaming." She smiled to herself.

Peyton's daydream of her perfect life came to a halt when she thought of Brooke. "I am a terrible best friend," she blurted out.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas moved his hand from Peyton's and put both on the steering wheel so he could turn and look at her again.

"Last night after I got your voicemail, I just left without telling Brooke." Peyton tilted her head to the back of the car where her small carryon bag sat. "I usually have clothes at my office so I stuffed some in a bag and went to meet you. I never went home."

"Well, I guess you can include me in the bad best friend category," Lucas said with a grimace. "I didn't tell Nathan or Haley where I was going either. I did tell Hales I might go out town for a while but never told if I was or not."

"We could send them each a text," Peyton suggested.

"That is a good idea," Lucas said as he maneuvered the rental car over to the side of the road. Lucas had seen drivers trying to text while driving and he had seen the accidents because of it, and he was going to make sure nothing stopped he and Peyton from getting to L.A.

Lucas pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket. He flipped it open and looked at Peyton. "What should we say?"

"How about "Don't Worry I'm okay," Peyton said as she started entering the text in her phone.

"Perfect," Lucas said with a smile. "Let's push send at the same time and really freak them out." He started to chuckle.

"Oh, this should be good," Peyton told him as she finished up her text. "Ready." She held up her phone.

"Ready," Lucas told her as they both pushed send at the same time.

The rest of the conversation on the way to Los Angeles was light and could be considered chit-chatty. How Lucas thought Skills and Nathan would do coaching the Tree Hill Ravens now he was suspended. Did Peyton think Mia had what it took to be a big star? How Haley was doing with her music? Had Lucas heard from his mom and Andy lately? They talked about anything but themselves. It seemed they were holding it all in until they got to that hotel room in L.A.

They stood outside the door of the hotel room. He held the card key in one hand and her hand in the other. He felt her shift her carryon bag on her shoulder and he dropped his on the floor beside the door.

He was lucky enough to persuade the hotel personnel to secure the same room he had booked all those years ago. A lot of people may have been surprised that he remembered the room number, it is such an unimportant fact in the string of useless information in someone's life. But this room, the number, the night and the morning after changed the course of his life and he was about to right it, to take a step back to where he was supposed to be.

Lucas turned to Peyton and smiled at her. They hadn't said two words to each other the last 20 or so miles to L.A. Just sat in silence in their own reflection.

He slipped the card key in the slot and watched the light turn green. He let go of her hand and used his free hand to open the door. He swung it open and stepped aside to allow Peyton to precede him into the room.

Peyton walked cautiously into the hotel room and paused by the large bed that seemed to envelope it. Lucas knew what she was thinking even without seeing the expression on her face. It was the same bed he had left her sleeping in that morning after his proposal attempt. He had left her with a kiss on her forehead and without a backward glance. He had left their future sleeping in that bed. And now was their chance to try and find it again.

"Peyton," Lucas quickly said as he rushed to her side. He had left his bag out in the hall and seemed unconcerned about its well-being. He came to her and took her by the arms and turned her to him. "The past is the past," he said to her tenderly. He brushed his hand over her thick dark blonde mane. "We are focusing on the future." He smiled. And she rewarded him with one of her classic smiles.

"Come on," he took her by the hand. He stood her in front of the settee he had found her waiting for him to wake up from his slumber three years ago. She had been clasping the ring box in her hand and smiled sadly when she saw him looking at her after waking.

That moment spiraled quickly into hurt, fear and indecision. Today he was here to rectify all that, to change their past, to start their future.

"Sit," he pushed her slightly and she sat slowly in the chair. Lucas could see the tears forming in her eyes and he felt them welling in him as well. He wondered if this was how it felt when your world was coming into focus when you were getting all you ever dreamed of.

Lucas knelt on one knee and took her hands. He cleared his throat. "I read a quote once that said it's one thing to feel you are on the right path, but it's another to think yours is the only path. I was on the wrong path, Peyton. And each step was taking me further and further from you." Lucas bit his lip and looked into Peyton's eyes that were filling with tears.

"You were right, I was scared that night all those years ago," he admitted. Lucas squeezed her hands tighter. "I loved you so much and the thought of losing you, of us growing apart, was killing me."

"I know," Peyton whispered. And she did know. She knew Lucas Scott inside and out, like no one else. It was why she had the courage to stand by her love for him even after his cruel words and careless treatment.

"I am sorry it took me so long to get us here," Lucas said as he took a deep breath. He couldn't say more, his heart was bursting.

"I had these amazing words and plans last time," Lucas admitted. "I don't even have a ring when I ask you to…"

He didn't get the last words out. Peyton broke in with one word. "Yes," she whispered. "The answer is yes," she said. And she leaned down and kissed Lucas' lips softly. "Yes and thank you for making all my dreams come true."

Lucas began to laugh and he pulled Peyton up to stand next to him. "All OUR dreams," Lucas amended. "And it's just beginning."

He leaned down and kissed her hungrily and she matched his kisses. It had been so long, so very long since they had held each other like this. Lucas felt her small breasts against his chest and he remembered how they felt when he palmed them in his hand. And how Peyton would stroke his hair and cheek as they lie in each other's arms after making love. He had dreamed of her so many nights, guiltily admitting to himself he had done it even when he was with Lindsey.

He placed his fingers under the straps of her white dress and slipped them down. She wore a bra that just covered the outline of her breasts and as he pushed the dress further down, it revealed a pair of white satin panties. Her legs were bare and it made it even easier to move the dress all the way down as it pooled at her feet. Peyton stepped out of it and kicked off her white sandals. She smiled coyly and undid her bra, exposing her perfect pert breasts to him. God he had missed her.

"You seem to be overdressed," she told him saucily as she began undoing his tie.

"Here, let me help," Lucas stepped from her grasp and quickly tore off his clothes. When his task was complete he stood before in his black boxers.

"I like it," Peyton said. "But, this is better." She reached down and pulled off his boxers to reveal his full erection. "Is that for me?" She said as she stroked him.

Lucas could only shake his head yes. Peyton smiled and took his hand. She led him to the bed, and planned to make a different set of memories in this hotel room.

She lay down on the bed and opened her arms to Lucas. He spooned in beside her and began kissing her mouth, her chin, her neck and her chest. All the while Lucas had found one of Peyton's breasts and was kneading it softly. Lucas heard Peyton moan and it almost sent him over the edge.

"I can't wait," he warned her.

"Then, why wait." Peyton kissed him fiercely.

Lucas dashed from the bed to grab protection and quickly rejoined Peyton. He positioned himself above her and watched her eyes so full of love when he entered her. And then he knew what his heart had known anytime he was with this woman – he was home.


End file.
