Hello, so, yeah, it's not been so long :) This chapter is one of my favorites, I loved writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it just as much...

Thank you again for all the comments and sharing your thoughts, keep those coming because I absolutely love reading what you think, and again, I like reading your predictions, let's see who gets things right lol.

I guess things are going to keep escalating between the two of them from now on.

I hope you enjoy this one. Well, let's not make this one a long note and get to the story...

The song in the title is by Lost Frequencies.

9. Truth never lies

"Money Heist suits." She said without taking her eyes off of the screen.

"I don't look good in red." He shook his head while tossing a stress ball up and down while half lying on the couch in her office.

"101 Dalmatians."

He frowned, "What are we dressing up as exactly?"

"I'd be Cruella De Vil."

"So, I'm supposed to be…?"

"One of the Dalmatians." She shrugged with a smile.

"Absolutely not!" He exclaimed and she muffled a chuckle.

"You'd make a cute one." She muttered as she kept scrolling while he made a scowl.

"Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake."

"That's… No." He said in a bored tone.

"Merman and mermaid."

"I told you, I'm not walking around half-naked."

"Would you go totally naked?" she rolled her eyes and he smirked catching the ball and averting his eyes devilishly towards her.

"Someone is trying to get me undressed."

She rolled her eyes and looked up from her laptop on the desk towards him, "I just came across Jane and Tarzan."

His smirk didn't leave, "Tarzan isn't totally naked."

She rolled her eyes again, "You get the point, Lucas! Get over yourself." She spat before looking at the screen again before he says something else, "And stop shutting down every suggestion! We need to find a custom."

"Then come up with something good."

"Why don't you then?"

"Because…" he shrugged tossing the ball up in the air again, "… you started the search. Finish it."

It was in the middle of the day in her office and they both grabbed the chance of having light work to work on the newest Whitey issue that arose just the day before during the meeting when Whitey asked them with a glint of excitement in his eyes what each one's costume for the upcoming Halloween party is going to be… and as it turned out, he wasn't only going to attend the party held at the Scott's house every year, but also he's going to participate, he had laughed while saying his costume will be a surprise.

And thus, they had to pick a costume to go… before that, they hadn't thought about it… and probably wouldn't have given it much thought even.

She sighed loudly and continued scrolling down in silence until she found something else, "Here's a good one." She said with attitude, "The twins from The Shining."

He searched his memory for a moment before rolling his eyes, "So funny! I'm not dressing up as a little girl."

"Seeing how picky you're being, I'd say that's a reasonable choice." She said and then out of nowhere, she was hit by his ball in the head, "Ow! What the hell, Lucas?" she glared at him as he laughed and got up to pick the ball that rolled back his way and sat down on the chair behind her desk.

"Chill, Sawyer."

"Will you take this seriously?"

"Why?" he shrugged.

And then it hit her; why? Yeah, why is she taking it seriously? There was no rule saying that they have to wear a matching costume in the first place; let alone fret about it, "Because…" she stressed and he raised an eyebrow at her awaiting her explanation, "We need to look like a couple!"

"Any costume we pick will make us look like a couple."

"That if we actually pick one, Lucas."

He rolled his eyes, "Fine, Sawyer. Continue."

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that this was the only reason; they just needed to keep looking like a couple.

"Popeye and Olive Oyl." She read out and he thought for a while.

"That… could work, put that on the side note." He nodded and continued playing with the ball while Peyton chuckled. "What?"

"You just want to have big muscles." She laughed.

"I do have big muscles."

"Right…" she said in a disbelieving tone.

"I do." He insisted.

"Whatever keeps your self-esteem high, honey." She said and laughed while he smiled letting it go, and now that he thinks more about this costume, he could see she'd look… interesting in it.

"You'd look weird with black hair though." He commented.

"No, actually, I had black hair for a while, and it actually looked good."

"You dyed your hair black?"

"Yeah, once when I was in Spain."

"That's… big change."

"It was." She nodded with a smile thinking back to when she took the decision, "I let it grow then and got a haircut and then I became a blonde again."

"I wish I have seen that."

"Already cooking up jokes, huh?"

"Plenty." He answered and they both laughed.

"Alright, how about Romeo and Juliet?"

"And we're back to cheesy."

"Okay, I'll give you that one." She noted with a head-tilt while he was now spinning the ball on his finger.

"The Joker and Harley Quinn." She exclaimed after a while in excitement looking up at him as he gave her an apologetic look, "What? You don't like that?" she said in disbelief.

"I do. But…" he trailed off.

She groaned, "You're no fun!" she frowned, "Alright, you know what? I give up, find something yourself." She said turning her laptop around towards him as he rolled his eyes.

"Just keep looking, we'll find something."

"No, you're just the worst partner ever, you like nothing."

"Then let's just go with anything!"

"Okay… what?" she asked and he groaned, "Just do the search, Lucas."

"Fine." He sighed and took over her laptop. "What about Barbie and Ken?" he suggested before even analyzing the pictures in front of him.

She frowned, "And I'm the cheesy one?"

"I'm just saying!" He shrugged and looked at her over the screen, "We're both blondes."

Her frown deepened, "Do I look like a Barbie to you?" she asked defensively.

"Brain-wise." He smirked and she quickly grabbed a file off her desk, rolled it and reached over to smack him on the arm with it and he yelped with exaggeration.

"Maybe if you were going with your girlfriend you could have gone as dolls." She rolled her eyes sitting back in her chair.

He frowned, "Are you saying Lindsey is a Barbie?"

She shrugged, "You seem to like Barbies!" she said as if it was not a big deal, but in fact, yes, she was, although she didn't really make the connection before, but Lindsey did look that kind of perfect, that kind of girl… at least from what she has seen.

Thankfully though, Lucas was already focusing on the screen in front of him, so, he didn't really pick up on her tone but instead, he groaned after a couple of seconds, "Peyton, you actually left out all the good ones; cowboy and cowgirl, James Bond, magician and rabbit, kissing sailor, Mary Poppins and Burt…"

"Oh my God, you are such a narcissist."

"What?"

"You just picked up the ones that would make you look like some kind of a hero regardless of how stupid I'd look."

"No, I didn't. I picked the good ones."

She scoffed, "You picked one that would make me dress up as a rabbit just so you'd be the hot magician."

"It's a hot rabbit!" He exclaimed looking at the picture.

"You don't even see what's wrong with this sentence, do you?"

He rolled his eyes, "Fine! What's wrong with the rest of them?"

"First of all, I don't like cowboys, and this Mary Poppins costume would look ridiculous on me, Lucas."

"And the kissing sailor?" he challenged.

She narrowed her eyes, "I'm not dressing up as a dumb girl waiting for her oh-so-strong-sailor at the port just to give your ego a boast."

"It's a costume!" he exclaimed.

"But, that's why you picked it." She challenged and he groaned.

"Hey." They both turned their heads towards the door of her office to find Brooke standing their looking half amused and half confused; neither of them has noticed when she even came in. "What's going on?" Brooke was actually curious to find out the reason that got them willingly in the same place.

"Maybe we should just let Brooke handle it." Lucas said.

"Handle what?" Brooke asked.

He turned to her, "We were trying to pick a custom for the Halloween party."

"Oh." Brooke nodded letting it sink in, "Oh, I know just the right-" she jumped up and her eyes lit up but then she got interrupted.

"No." Peyton shouted shaking her head.

"What? We have been trying to find something for an hour, and let's face it, we are not going to agree on something. Let her do it." Lucas argued.

"No, she'll just choose something slutty just because I don't wanna." She said eyeing her best friend knowingly.

Lucas smirked, "So? That's fine by me." he shrugged.

Peyton glared at him, "And she'll get you something most likely shirtless."

Lucas looked at Brooke questioningly with an amused raised eyebrow waiting for a confirmation or denial.

Brooke narrowed her eyes at Peyton, "I had a couple that almost covered your thighs completely, and some that weren't exactly shirtless for him, but now, you don't get to hear any." She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

Lucas sighed, "Well, this is all so stupid."

"You know you would make a perfect Grumpy… you know the one with Snow White." Peyton pointed out.

"Only if you're Doc." He retorted immediately without even taking the time to think.

"Wow, insulting each other has just become a second nature to you, hasn't it?" Brooke said as she sat on the chair opposite Lucas.

"Long time ago." Lucas said as he picked up the ball again going back to his game of tossing it in the air and catching it, while Peyton just picked up her laptop scrolling again aimlessly through the pictures before giving up, giving a huff and closing the laptop before resting her cheek on the palm of her hand propped against the desk.

Brooke watched them both in silence as Peyton followed the ball with her eyes being tossed in the air and then back to his hand over and over.

"You miss basketball, don't you?" Peyton asked him almost absentmindedly after a while.

Lucas suddenly became aware that he wasn't alone, and that he was lost in the act letting his mind drift away, but in fact, he didn't feel weird about it, her question actually brought a smile to his lips, "I do." He answered tossing the ball slightly higher this time before catching it with his other hand and putting it on the desk with a smile that wasn't so different from the one on Peyton's lips.

Brooke watched the scene in silence and raised her eyebrows to herself; what was that? What's this vibe she's catching on? Brooke was never wrong about those kinds of vibes, but then again, this would be some kind of a miracle, or would it? She's teased Peyton about it just the last week, but… it's still there.

"Maybe you could just go as a basketball player and a cheerleader; you even still have your outfits, right?" Brooke suggested.

Lucas and Peyton shared a doubtful look before looking at Brooke once again, "I do, but…" Peyton said uneasily.

"But what?"

"It feels… a little weird." Lucas said and Peyton nodded.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Why? That's what you were in school, besides, you're trying to sell a love story here… it makes sense." She shrugged.

"I don't know…" Lucas said checking the time, "maybe we should continue this later, I still have some work to finish."

"Alright…" Peyton nodded as he got up and walked towards the door before stopping halfway and returning back to her side of the desk much to her confusion.

He leaned down putting one hand on the desk and the other on the back of her chair, "Do you really still have your cheerleading costume?" he asked in a low voice.

She looked at him confused but gave a small nod, "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I'm thinking if you could maybe lend it to Lindsey, someday, that would be-"

"Oh my God. Ew!" she exclaimed pushing him away as he fought back his smirk while Brooke laughed out loud, "Get out."

"What? I'm just saying that it'd be nice of you to let-"

"Get out, Lucas! Now." She hit his chest as he chuckled. Mission accomplished; God, doesn't he love this angry freaked out reaction? It definitely suits her.

He took his way to the door, still laughing as he closed it behind him.

"He's such a perv."

Brooke laughed and raised an eyebrow, "Is it all that got you worked up? Or is it the fact that he's talking about screwing Lindsey?"

Peyton gave her a look, "Screwing her with my costume?" she said and cringed. "He's so creepy."

"Sure, honey, that's all he is."

Peyton rolled her eyes; she wasn't about to go over this conversation with Brooke again, "Whatever, Davis, what brought you here in the first place?"

While Brooke went on shifting to talk about something work-related, all Peyton felt was relief for dropping the topic, but then again, there was this nagging bit in her stomach telling her the topic is not closed just yet… the part that was questioning her whole behavior since breaking up with Jake.

XxXx

Dan Scott always liked new relationships, he liked to maintain his relations good and clear with everyone; that's why he has perfected the art of being a good host over the years, the town of Tree Hill, knew he held parties around the year that all business owners, and big families of the town attended, even the mayor sometimes, also some guests from outside the small town… and Halloween was no exception, in fact, it was probably the most iconic party Dan holds, it was always fun to get dressed up in costumes and meet, it was something that his guests have always looked forward to.

This year, however, it wasn't so fun for Lucas when he had to attend with his mortal enemy also known as his wife, the one and only Peyton Sawyer, just another night to pretend they're all over each other instead of ripping each other's throats. Just like the wedding, but even worse, because at least then, they had so much excuses to be terrible actors, they could have passed as busy, nervous, too in love to stay long in the reception… just anything was passable, but, now, they're just supposed to act like any normal couple.

He just knew it was going to be one more hellish night.

"So, I got to see you with black hair after all." Lucas said as he stood in front of the entrance of his father's house where he met Peyton as she just got there with Brooke.

"Shut up, this is ridiculous." She said proceeding forward towards him.

Having fought over it more than anything else, it was when they were at his mother's café looking over the possible costumes for what felt like the thousandth time, that Karen told them she'd take care of it if they just left already because they were scaring her customers away.

She was exaggerating; she was just sick of it.

And then, their costumes arrived the day before Halloween, only to find she has picked Antony and Cleopatra for them bringing a flashback of a sore memory for them.

Apparently, Karen thought it was cute to choose the two characters they ended up landing the roles of in a play back in middle school, both initially wanted different roles, but both got those ones… and that was the first time they had to act like they were in love!

"Aw, look at you… feels like thirteen again." Brooke said giving them a creepy smile while dressing up as Harley Quinn.

"Ugh, shut up, Brooke." Peyton rolled her eyes.

"P. Sawyer, you have just one rule for tonight: stop brooding." She told her before giving her cheek a pinch and skipping towards the house.

"She's right, you know." Lucas said, "If we gotta do this, at least, let's do it with spirits…" he said and cracked a smile, "Get it? Halloween… spirits…"

She couldn't help but give a resisted smile, "Yeah, I get it, dork." She said with an eye roll as she sighed and looked at him, "Alright, sweet love, shall we?"

"Let's do it my dear wife," he replied as he took her hand and they took the few steps up and into the already crowded place.

"Is it just me or does this place look like Hotel Transylvania?" Peyton spoke as they entered and stopped looking around; so, this is her first time there in six years, and the last time she was at one of those, it was definitely less crowded and a lot less decorated… she never saw this house looking so spooky; it looks like Dan has really expanded his relations over the years and was matching up the quality of decorating to the quantity –and value- of his guests.

Lucas chuckled, "Yeah, that's Scott's Halloween for you." He said and leaned closer to her ear, "Welcome to the family."

She shivered; but seriously it could be anything, like the chilliness in the weather –especially with such a thin costume- it could be her body heat reacting from the change between inside and outside, or it could be even the spookiness in there… but it was not his hot breath against her neck or the words he said.

She purposely ignored it and looked more around, "Look," she said with an excited smile, "Like seriously that thing looks exactly like the screaming cheese thing they had in the movie." She said nodding towards a tray carried by a waiter holding some kind of treats as she laughed.

He chuckled along, "Knowing my father, he probably did that on purpose." He said with a headshake, "Alright, come on, let's find anyone."

He said and took her hand into the crowd, so, far, there were still no familiar faces yet, that was until their paths were cut by two figures in black, to be more specific, a tall Batman, and a shorter Catwoman.

"You look hot," Haley exclaimed looking between the two of them.

"Definitely not as hot as the superhero couple." Peyton said examining them with an impressed look.

"Yeah, it was my idea; cause I'm cool." Nathan said cockily.

Haley hit his chest, "Don't steal my ideas!"

"Okay, you can go on and hit me all night, and I still won't feel a thing." He shook his head at her referring to his bodysuit, "Seriously, she did it a few times and all she got is her own hand hurting."

"Then stop taking credits for how cool we look."

"Alright, it was her idea." Nathan rolled his eyes from behind his mask as Lucas chuckled.

"You two are definitely brothers." Peyton noted with a headshake.

"Wow, getting used to the married lifestyle already, huh?" Nathan smirked.

"You know those jokes aren't even funny anymore."

"Oh, we still laugh at them." Nathan said as Haley laughed and they high-fived.

"Did you take Jamie to go trick-or-treat looking like this?" Lucas narrowed his eyes with a smile at Haley's tight leather full costume.

"No, actually your dad did." She answered him.

"Oh, he did… that's new."

"Yeah, he went with Keith and Lily." Nathan continued.

"What, now?" Lucas looked at him in disbelief, "Dan and Keith?"

"Yup, apparently, they have been… bonding." He told him.

Dan and Keith were brothers and partners in business, that's true, but they have always had their differences, they have always had two completely opposite opinions for handling things, especially life matters, business-wise though, they also had different sides, and Larry has always been the tie-breaker whenever it came to it. So, they have stopped doing activities just the two of them together a long time ago… so, this was something weird to learn.

"Keith and Dan bonding…" Lucas spoke it out loud just to see if it could become believable; it wasn't.

"Oh, if you're surprised by that wait till you see your moms." Haley laughed as Nathan cringed.

"What?"

"No, I'm not ruining the surprise, you gotta see it yourself." She laughed again.

"Stop it, Haley." Nathan shook his head.

"What? What it is?"

"Let's just say that there has been a lot of bonding apparently, you know, it's this cheerful atmosphere." She said laughingly and Nathan cringed again.

"Oh, God, I'm gonna get a drink." He said and turned around.

"See ya." Haley said as she skipped away behind her husband.

"What's that about?" Lucas asked as he turned to Peyton who shrugged.

They were soon approached by a man who she didn't recognize but Lucas introduced as some company's executive, he chatted with them for a bit, and asked how married life is suiting them and they made a nice chat that got them feeling like they can get through the night after all.

A few chats later and they were left alone again, "Well, this is going well." He said drinking from the tall glass in his hand.

"Yeah, it's going better than I thought," she said as she played with a strand of her black wig. "I thought this would be annoying, but it actually isn't." she said referring to the wig and the tiara around her head as she touched it fixing it in place.

"Ugh, you just reminded me that I'm wearing one." He said, "I probably look stupid."

"No," she said in a soft voice, "you don't." she said as he looked at him analyzing his whole appearance; it's not every day that you see your supposed enemy in a Roman costume, and obviously looking good, "It actually suits you." She said as she looked at him.

He looked back at her with a smile for a second before it slowly started turning into a smirk,

"What?" she asked.

"Did you just compliment me without any audience to witness?"

Her cheeks reddened slightly for no obvious reason what-so-ever, "No, I didn't." she shrugged, "I said it suits you. That could mean you look as old as the Romans are."

But, he didn't, he looked like their Gods.

He laughed, "Alright, but for the record, black hair doesn't look so bad on you too." He shrugged and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "It's not a compliment either." He smirked.

She chuckled, "It's just the spirits, huh?"

"Look at you stealing my jokes…"

"Okay, don't go around saying that this is a joke, and that's for your own good." She said poking his chest with her finger.

He rolled his eyes, "You're just too boring for this kind of humor."

"Alright, no, I'm serious, if you're gonna play my husband, then you don't make those so-called jokes." She said as he rolled his eyes and then made an annoyed face at her as she chuckled.

"There you are," they both looked to the side and saw Lindsey looking at them with a smile.

"Lindsey…" Peyton stretched her name as she noted her character of choice was Marilyn Monroe with her signature dress but in red instead of white. "You're here."

She looked at her, "Peyton… I am." She said with a slightly raised eyebrow before looking back at Lucas with a smile, and Peyton looked at him as well only to resist rolling her eyes seeing he was already absorbed in Lindsey-Land.

"Hey,"

"Hi." She smiled, "I missed you; I've been looking for you."

"Yeah, we have been talking to a few people."

"I see." She nodded before she took a step back looking at them, "So, Greek, huh? Nice."

Lucas opened his mouth to offer her the correct information but this time Peyton beat him, and not as nice as he would have said it,

"No, it's not Greek." She shook her head, "Antony and Cleopatra; Roman and Egyptian."

Lindsey looked at her for a second before laughing, "That's cute. But, whatever, you know, it's ancient history." She laughed.

Peyton didn't laugh like Lucas did, "You're not a history fan apparently?"

"Honestly, no, not so much, I mean, it's just people from so long ago who have had their shot and lost it, you know…" she said and even though Peyton was positive Lucas was smiling as he watched her talk like a complete fool, but, she on the other hand got exactly the correct message Lindsey wanted her to.

Well, she's met her only a couple of times, but, it's always been there, from outside, she's all sweet and smiling, but, whenever she directed her words to Peyton, there was the very same vibe, the one telling her to back off and that she definitely doesn't like her. She didn't miss it when she did it that day in St. Lucia when she met them at the bar after fighting with Jake, but back then she was too busy dealing with all Jake related problems, however, right now, she's all free…

"That's interesting, but, you know, it's all kinds of history that made us who we are today." Peyton told her just as heatedly –which was something only both caught on- and for a split second she saw a glare across Lindsey's eyes, but, it was almost invisible.

Lindsey smiled, "We are the way we are today because we want to be, just like we were the way we were yesterday because we wanted to be."

"So, you're live-in-the-moment kinda girl."

"No, I have plans for the future, I just don't live in my history and dwell on what I could have done to have a better present." She said with a hint of a smirk.

Peyton looked at her for a couple of seconds; she was good! She knew what she's saying, and even though Peyton didn't originally have any interest in going through this challenge with the girl, but, God was it tempting.

Or maybe she wanted to after all.

She looked at Lucas and draped one arm over his shoulder, "You've got yourself a keeper there, Scott." She told him and from the corner of her eyes, she knew Lindsey was eyeing her hand over his shoulder and wouldn't be able to do anything in front of people, nor say anything in front of Lucas.

"I know I do." He smiled and Peyton was amazed by how oblivious he was; like seriously, they were just basically throwing shade at each other right in front of him and all he did was sport this goofy smile.

"By the way," Lindsey said looking apologetically at her, "I'm sorry about you and Jake."

Peyton nodded, "It's okay." She gave a smile.

"It must have been hard, I mean, you looked tight."

So, she wasn't going to say anything more, but, Lindsey just had to provoke her, "Yeah, it was, until your boyfriend over here pulled me out of it." She said pinching his cheek as he swatted her hand away while she laughed.

"Don't make this about you; it was just too much negativity in my house."

"Sure, it was, Scott."

"He's just so caring, isn't he?" Lindsey said as Peyton rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Alright then," Lindsey said, "I'll be around, we can't be seen looking at each other like that." She said to him as he chuckled before she gave him one final smile and turning around making sure to glance at Peyton in the process with her smile fading.

Peyton looked at Lucas watching her walk away with a smile as she looked at her too then back at him, "She looks good."

"She does." He nodded, "She always looks good in red."

"Eh," Peyton said with boredom as he turned to look at her.

"What?"

"Nothing," she shrugged.

"No, you sound like you have a different opinion." He frowned as she rolled her eyes and turned to face him,

"Relax, Scott, besides, you should thank me, I just sweet-talked about you to her."

"Yeah, which I have to assume has a catch, so what is it?"

"There's no catch." She shook her head, "It's just the spirits." She said again mocking his voice.

"There, you see… you used it twice, you like the joke."

"I told you, don't call-" she started but then cut her sentence short as something caught her eyes, "Um, Lucas?"

"What?" he frowned.

"Do you still want me to lend Lindsey that cheerleading outfit?" she said biting back a laugh.

"Huh?"

"Turn around."

With a confused look he did so, only for his eyes to widen coming face to face with his mother and Deb approaching them, and all that Haley said made sense as he saw them in their own cheerleading outfits.

"Oh God," he muttered.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who kept it." She leaned to whisper in his ear.

"H-A-Double L-O-W-Double E-N. Halloween." Deb cheered as they reached them, "God, it's a long word."

"Told you not to do it." Karen told her, "Go, ghosts." She cheered instead.

"Yeah, that sounds lamer, Karen." Deb told her.

Peyton laughed, "You two look adorable." She said.

"Aw, honey, you look so attractive, last time you wore that costume you were only cute." Karen cooed.

"I told you it'd be nice to get them this costume." Deb told her.

"It's your idea?" Peyton asked Deb.

"It's a common project." She nodded her head to the side. "But, you do look H-O-T."

"You too, Luke, you are looking handsome." Karen looked at him.

"Mom," he finally spoke as if waking up from a trance, "You're…"

"Ugh, he's weirded out like Nathan." Deb rolled her eyes.

Karen opened her mouth in an O-shape, "For God's sake, what's with them?"

"Forget it, Karen, when ever were those boys decent?"

"Amen to that," Peyton nodded, "Ignore them, they're just being boys."

"I mean, Keith said it's a good idea."

"Mom, I don't wanna hear that." Lucas said with a horrified look.

"See? He's just like his dirty-minded of a brother." Deb said.

"No, no, my son has always been honest with me, are you embarrassed by this, Lucas?"

"Yes!"

"What?" Karen squealed obviously expecting another answer, "Well, you know what, to hell with you, and your brother –sorry, Deb."

"No, it's fine." Deb nodded.

"Yeah, because we're having fun, aren't we?"

"I know I am."

"Ditto." Peyton said laughingly, at this point she was enjoying herself too much; for once she wasn't the one doing the job, but instead, she got to watch while Lucas was uncomfortable and wishing to disappear right on the spot and she was loving the show.

"That's the Halloween spirit." Deb cheered as Peyton and Karen laughed.

Lucas turned to her, "Now you're laughing?"

"She said it better than you." She shrugged.

"Alright, I… I'm gonna go grab a drink before you all start ganging up on me." Lucas said as he started to wiggle out of the group of three women.

"You're no fun, Scott." His mother yelled after him and he groaned while the other two laughed.

"Wait," Peyton said as she followed him, "are you leaving me behind, dear lover?" she could have just let him go and start to wander around alone, but this was too fun to miss.

He groaned, "You're enjoying this too much, aren't you?"

She laughed, "Come on, it's cute."

"It's disturbing." He exclaimed, "And you just had to mention Lindsey and the damn outfit right then, hadn't you?"

She laughed out loud, "You know this is just karma, for using it on me."

He groaned and shook his head while she continued laughing eventually making him laugh as well; he looked at her with annoyance, "Quit laughing, it's not funny."

"Yes, it is."

"God," he shook his head with a ghost of a smile.

They took drinks and continued wandering around and meeting people, "Hey, Harley Quinn, found your Joker yet?" Peyton called when she spotted Brooke.

She turned to her, "Yeah, didn't you see him?" she asked and Peyton shook her head; the place was big and crowded enough that it has been nearly two hours and they still didn't see a lot of people, "He's dressed as a 20s gangster. So hot." She beamed.

"Who are we talking about?" Lucas asked.

"Julian Baker." Peyton told him.

"Peyton!" Brooke scolded.

"What? I didn't realize it's a secret; you never keep your crushes secret." She smirked.

"Julian Baker from marketing?"

"Yup the one and only." Peyton nodded as Brooke rolled her eyes.

"You sound like a real married couple right now." She narrowed her eyes at them.

"Aw, she's got a huge crush on him; she always tends to insult me when she does." Peyton teased.

Brooke gave her a look, "Oh, just like you giggle when you're into someone." She raised an eyebrow in triumph as Peyton's smirk vanished.

"That's an interesting piece of information." Lucas smirked instead.

"Is it?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, I'll definitely remember that for future references."

"Good for you." Brooke said pointedly.

"So, why are you not with your gangster anyway?" Peyton asked to change the topic.

"I'm not gonna spend the whole time with him, you know, it's not my game." She said as if it's basic science.

"What's your game?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not gonna tell you that," she shook her head, "but, if you wanna benefit, you could always watch and learn." She said cockily with a smile.

"Please, like I'm gonna learn from you. I only asked to see if you need help."

"Oh, God, this is about to turn into a fight for power." Peyton said alarmed, "Solve it out on your own, I'm gonna go to the restroom." she said as she passed between them accidentally brushing against Lucas as she did so.

And instead of focusing on his argument with Brooke, he looked at her ready to throw some witty comment that he soon forgot when his eyes laid on her petite waist and down her attire to her legs. If there was something he was ungrateful that night for his mother for, other than showing her own legs –and other things- around, it would be the costume she picked for Peyton, the attire had the basics of any other Cleopatra themed one, but this particular model was defining the waistline, and being tight around the ass while it had four vertical cuts around it's lower half –two in the front and two in the back- allowing the legs to be on full view.

The legs that always leave him wondering even though there wasn't much to wonder about when they were all showing, but yet, he still did.

And Brooke didn't fail to see the frown the topped his forehead as he looked at her best friend walking away.

She kept coming across those looks more frequently, which made her wonder how frequent they really are if she just caught them almost every time she's around. That just meant she has a new project to work on in the next period of time.

Peyton left the bathroom and was checking her full appearance in a full-length mirror right out the door and while looking at her reflection, a new figure appeared in the mirror behind her, she turned around coming face to face with Lindsey,

"I thought a more spooky costume would fit you better, you know." Lindsey said.

Alright, so, it was only the two of them right there, so, why pretend? "I'm sorry, do you have a problem with me?"

She gave a small smile, "Of course I do, Peyton," she shook her head, "Just like Jake had with Lucas, but, with all respect, I'm not like Jake, I'm not gonna let it come between us."

"Okay, first of all, you know nothing about me and Jake." She said as Lindsey rolled her eyes with a smirk, "And second of all, last time I checked, there was nothing related to me getting between you and Lucas, so, you could just drop me out of your mind."

"I know there's not, all I'm saying that I'm not letting anything get in the way, there's a difference, Peyton."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"I mean you should back off."

"Back off?" she laughed, "I'm sorry, I don't think I'm following."

Lindsey sighed, "Look, I know he could be a charmer, and just because he pitied you after your break-up with Jake, doesn't mean there's anything going on between you, I mean that'd be pathetic even for you."

Peyton's jaw hung as she looked at her with a frown, "Okay, I really don't wanna fight with you, so, I'm just gonna tell you that you're way off, I don't even stand Lucas, so, whatever you're thinking, it's total bullshit."

Lindsey nodded and sucked her tongue, "You're always claiming you can't stand him, but yet, you're pretending to get along with me in front of him, I mean I know why I do it, but why do you, Peyton?"

"Okay, that's it, you're totally crazy, I'm just gonna go." She said and walked past her only for Lindsey to hold her arm.

"Am I? We both know what was really going on out there just a while earlier, and if I were you, for your own good, Peyton, I'd back off; it's all a game that's gonna end soon for everything to go back to normal but with a little more money, so, just stick to that."

And although she gave her the cold shoulder with the bored look as she left her there, she really got her thinking; yeah, why was she really pretending in front of Lucas? She could have just laid all cards there, like seriously, she doesn't care what Lucas thinks, and Lindsey knows everything already, so, why get herself engulfed in this cold war? Was it just the feminine instinct? No, not just that, but, why? Why get in that competition? It wasn't even her place, nor did she ever want to.

Was it just the heat of the moment? Like just because Lindsey started with all the hidden meanings? No, if she's being honest, she never really liked the girl either; she just never had a reason to show it before.

But, does she now?

No, just like she said; she has no deal going through this; it's stupid.

Then why does it feel like a fight worth fighting? Why is it so tempting to go against Lindsey?

It must be because of how blunt she just got, like how dare she speak to her like that and judge her that way, she doesn't even know her, then again, Peyton just challenged her out there as she touched her man just because she can and Lindsey can't at that moment… and she just knew that Lindsey wouldn't do anything about it then, because after all, she has been too caring about their little secret than she should have.

Like, Peyton knew that if it was Jake in Lindsey's shoes at that moment, he wouldn't have given a fuck about the secret, or making a scene… regardless of his issues.

And the way Lindsey mentioned getting money out of the game in the end, made her wonder if she was invested in the secret the way she is for more reasons than she's letting on.

Yeah, Lindsey wasn't her favorite person in the world right now, and that all made her a lot more provoked and tempted to just annoy her all the more.

A smile appeared on her lips as she spotted Lucas standing with Keith in a sheriff costume and a man with her back to her. She marched straight over and instantly intertwined her fingers together leaning her tangled hands on his shoulder and pressed a kiss on his jawline, and he wrapped his arms around her waist and she smiled hoping Lindsey is somewhere watching.

"Aw, look at that," Keith said with a smile as she looked at him and smiled before looking at the other man only to realize it's Whitey.

"Oh, hi, coach." She greeted as she looked at his outfit while he smirked and she laughed, "Oh, Woody." She exclaimed and he chuckled, "That's cute." She said, and it really was cute seeing him dressed like a cowboy from an animation movie.

"I can say the same about the two of you; it's one of my favorite love stories after mine and my late wife's." he said as they laughed, "Besides, I heard there's a backstory. Karen told me it's not the first time you wear that costume." He smirked.

Lucas groaned, "Looks like mom completely took the role of a cheerleader, and now she's gossiping around too."

Peyton laughed along with Whitey while Keith raised a warning finger at him, "Hey, that's my wife you're talking about."

"Watch it, boy, your mother has been a cheerleader for a lot longer than you ever existed." Whitey told him.

"Yeah, and then I was born, which is when she should have stopped."

"Oh, come on, don't be a hypocrite." Peyton said.

"I… ugh, whatever." He shook his head and they chuckled, and continued on to have a small talk.

Whitey was talking about something with Keith that Peyton wasn't interested in as she looked around and her eyes lit up as she spotted Dan and her father, she leaned towards Lucas to whisper to him, "Oh, look at that," she said and he followed her gaze, "It's totally Hotel Transylvania, the host is dressed as Dracula, his best friend as Frankenstein and I'm totally freaking out now." She said and he laughed at that.

And as she looked at him laughing at something she just said, her head suddenly filled dizzy as a few quick realizations hit her out of nowhere:

She just walked up to him and kissed him without realizing it was Whitey he's standing with –and who's she kidding, it was so unlikely for Lindsey to have come back already when she has just left her there.

And she has been sticking to Lucas' side the whole night when she had in mind before getting there that she didn't have to do that; she has planned to socialize on her own, yet she has been only clinging to his side and- even when he was leaving she followed him.

She has been having fun.

She has, in fact, been laughing at stupid things he said.

And she absolutely loved the sound of his laugh.

Peyton wasn't one to fool herself or live in denial, and at this moment, she realized Lindsey may be an annoying human being who makes it easy to want to irritate, but that wasn't all; there was the tiniest bit of possibility that Brooke, Lindsey and even her own doubts were correct.

No, it's not a tiny possibility.

It is most likely that she's not only warming up but, she likes her mortal enemy Lucas Scott.

Well, that can't be good…