Chapter 1

A/N: So I had a day off school today and I decided to write and upload this. Since it's my first story I would love some feedback even if it's just to tell me where I'm going wrong.

So I got this idea when I was watching an old Friends episode and Joey helps a woman he just met give birth so I thought that would be such a weird way to meet someone and this story came about, it's a Leyton story so Brucas fans probably shouldn't read it, not that I say anything bad about Brooke or Brucas I just don't want people to read it and hate it just because of the pairing.

Sorry, I'll shut up now and let you read...

Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill but you probably already knew that.

Lucas Scott was in his favourite old, musty book shop. He loved books, especially old books because there was just something about them, maybe it was that old book smell that he just couldn't get enough of. His friends all found it weird that he liked this place; he was only 23 after all, they said that he should be out there living and travelling but he didn't want that. This was the place that he came when he needed to escape because what place better than a new world without his troubles; without Lindsey.

He had been with Lindsey for over a year so it was more than a bit of a shock when he found out that she was pregnant with another man's baby. At first she'd told him that there was a possibility that the baby was his but there wasn't, her baby had been conceived when Lucas was on his month long book tour. His new book was about the hope that love could be found, at the end of the book the man found his true love, he thought it was ironic that he'd lost the woman that he thought was his true love because of that book. She told him that she'd been cheating on him for two months before the pregnancy, she asked for his forgiveness but he wouldn't give it. After that he knew that she wasn't his true love.

Peyton Sawyer walked, well waddled, into the book shop looking for anything to keep her entertained, she'd finished college last month and officially had nothing to do now, well except have a baby. She'd graduated college with a music and business degree when she was seven months pregnant, she'd been looked down on by her classmates and teachers but she stopped caring after a while because they didn't know her or her situation. It wasn't like she meant to get pregnant or she just slept with every guy she saw, she was just a girl who had a boyfriend, her boyfriend who had abandoned her the minute she told him she was pregnant. It wasn't like she wanted to be a single mum; she just didn't have another choice.

She was looking over a book that she was interested in when she saw him, she was stood behind a bookshelf so he couldn't see her large stomach, he looked at her at the same time and they locked eyes for a split second, he noticed the book that she was holding and he decided to speak, he couldn't not speak to this beautiful girl.

"You know, I hear that's a really good book." He commented confidently, it had been two months since he'd last seen Lindsey and he'd barely looked at another woman until now.

"Really?" She asked with a surprised smile on her face, it wasn't often people talked to her in a friendly way these days let alone advice on books. "Why should I trust your judgement?"

"Well, I wrote it." He smirked, this was usually the time when the girls would fall for him and this was what he was hoping would happen now, this girl was definitely something. "I'm Lucas." He held his hand out for her to shake.

She rounded the corner to shake his hand and watched as his mouth fell open when he saw her baby bump. "I'm Peyton." She laughed at his obvious discomfort but it wasn't like she wasn't expecting it.

"Oh, it's um... I have to go." He stammered. In his defence he wasn't exactly expecting her to be pregnant when he started hitting on her.

She nodded with understanding, with all of the people that had walked out of her life over the past eight months this one guy that was obviously about to start flirting with her wasn't a big loss.

Just as he was about to leave the shop he heard a scream from behind him, he turned to see it was the girl he had just met who was now on the floor clutching her stomach. He immediately ran to her side and bent down next to her whilst trying to help her up but she didn't want to stand up, her stomach didn't feel right and she was pretty certain that she was in labour.

"Ouch!" She screamed when he once again tried to lift her up. "Please stop that, I really don't want to stand up right now."

"Oh, sorry." He apologized, feeling incredibly stupid about not knowing what to do with a pregnant woman, he then spoke to the shop owner, "Have you got a chair or something?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be back in a second." He awkwardly scurried off.

"God this hurts." She said as she gripped his hand. "They said that labour would only get worse as well, I'm so not looking forward to the next few hours."

"You're in labour?" He asked feeling like an idiot again. "Do you want me to call an ambulance?"

"Yes please. I'm not exactly in the best state to drive." She commented sarcastically which he laughed at until he saw her glare back at him.

The shop owner reappeared with the chair which Lucas carefully helped Peyton into, he called the ambulance and decided that he should keep her talking to take her mind off the pain.

"How far along are you?" He asked, from the size of her stomach he guessed that it was pretty far.

"Eight months and eight days, it's a little early but everything should be okay." She said, trying to convince herself.

"Do you want me to call anyone? The father?" He asked, selfishly hoping that she wouldn't tell him she had a boyfriend or husband. Not that it mattered anyway, he couldn't be interested in her; she was pregnant after all.

"There is no father." She whispered as though she was ashamed which once again made him feel like a complete idiot.

"Oh, and there's no one else I could call?" He asked, not believing that this beautiful woman could be alone.

"No, I'm doing this on my own." She said, trying to act determined when really she just wanted to cry. Suddenly she felt her stomach tightening again and she found herself squeezing his hand until he looked like he was going to scream, he wanted to ask her to stop but he knew that whatever pain she was going through was ten times worse than this. Besides she needed someone and he wasn't about to let her go through this alone.

He stayed with her talking her through the contractions and letting her hold his hand even though they'd only met half an hour ago. The more Lucas found out about her the more captivated by her he was, she was probably one of the most intelligent people he had ever met and he found himself feeling sad that she didn't have anyone to go through the birth with but at the same time he was happy to be the one she was experiencing this with.

The ambulance finally arrived and she was wheeled on even though she insisted that she could walk.

"You can ride with your girlfriend Mr Scott." The paramedic informed him.

"What? She's not my girlfriend, we only met today." He stammered, at this point Peyton was in the ambulance going through another contraction but this time she was on her own and it almost broke his heart.

"Oh, I'm sorry I just assumed. Anyway you've done a great job here." The paramedic told him and he said that he only felt it was his duty. He went into the ambulance to say goodbye and good luck but when he saw her scared face he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you want me to stay with you in the ambulance and keep you company at the hospital." He offered quietly, he wanted her to experience this with someone even if that someone was a complete stranger.

"I can't ask you to do that." She shook her head even though she desperately wanted someone with her at the hospital.

"Don't worry about it, I don't have anything else planned, besides it'd give me peace of mind and I'm told by my sister-in-law that I'm great with pregnant women." He insisted.

"From my experience so far I would have to disagree with her but it seems like there's no stopping you so okay." She rolled her eyes but she was actually relieved that she was still going to be able to hold someone's hand through this.