Disclaimer: I wish I owned it.

A/N: hi, so this is my first One Tree Hill fic, please bare with me on it. I'm still not a hundred percent sure where I'm going with it, but hopefully it'll be worth reading. Here it is...

Chapter 1: Best Friends

Peyton Sawyer was sitting in her bed, sketching. This wasn't unusual for her. In fact, if she was at home, she was most likely sketching. She was lost in thought, and so when her best friend walked into the room, she didn't notice, until she heard the soft "Hey." She looked up, and gave her a slightly hesitant smile. She was still feeling guilty, even though she'd told Lucas they couldn't be together. She hadn't wanted to hurt Brooke, so she'd said no to the only boy she'd ever loved. But she pushed those thoughts out of her head, and thought about why Brooke was here, at this hour.

"You're out late" She said, and her smile faded slightly when Brooke only nodded in response. There was the slightest of pauses before Brooke spoke.

"Lucky thing, you finding Lucas like that." She said, and Peyton froze. She couldn't speak, could only nod her head, so Brooke continued. "If you hadn't come along, who knows what might've happened." Peyton managed to find her voice this time.

"Everything turned out ok." She said, but Brooke shook her head, and Peyton felt the panic rising. She can't know, can she?

"No, not really." Brooke said, and Peyton knew, even while still denying it, that Brooke had round out somehow. "I don't know what hurts worse: you and Lucas sneaking around behind my back, or you lying about it to my face."

"Brooke-"

"No," Brooke cut her off. "The next time you wanna steal my boyfriend, you might wanna turn that thing off" she told her, pointing to the computer and webcam on the desk behind Peyton. She turned to look at it before she looked back at Brooke, who continued, "I went into his room to check on him. And his computer was on. I know you two were together. He meant everything to me Peyton. And I was ready to try and be his friend if that's what he needed." She paused, and Peyton looked away briefly before Brooke added, "and now I don't really care if I see either one of you again" She turned to leave, and Peyton looked back to the webcam, and wondered if Lucas was watching. The thought of Lucas reminded, and remembering why he'd been in her room in the first place, and having just heard Brooke's words made her angry, so she turned back.

"Brooke," the word came out so harshly that the brunette stopped in the doorway, and turned back to see Peyton getting off the bed. The blonde stood, arms folded across her chest, as the brunette glared at her.

"What?" she spat, and that was the last straw for Peyton.

"You know what Brooke? You talk about me being such a bad friend, and how I lied to you, and I was trying to steal your boyfriend, but do you remember how you acted when he first joined the team? You wanted to sleep with him, cause he was hot. You were so wrapped up in trying to seduce the new boy that you couldn't even see how into him I was. And that week I broke up with Nathan, and went nuts in practice, you didn't even wonder why, but Lucas did. He knew there was something wrong. Do you even know what that week was for me Brooke? It was the week my mum died. But you and Nathan made it all about you. And Lucas was there for me. He understood the pain I felt. And after that, you kept flirting with him, and you were too blind to see that we wanted each other. Or maybe you weren't, so you tried to set me and Nathan up again, at that thing at Dan's house."

"I thought it was you want-" Brooke cut in, but Peyton cut her off again just as quickly.

"No Brooke, it was what you wanted. You wanted me out of the way, so you could get to Lucas. Then I kissed him, and the next morning you didn't even ask what had happened, why we hadn't slept together. You didn't know that I freaked out cause he said he wanted to be with me, in every sense of the word. Even when I was slipped a date rape drug, it became about you bonding with Lucas. At that night, when I turned up at Lucas' and you were there."

"You were returning a CD" Brooke said, angrier now.

"No, Brooke. I told you I was returning a CD, cause you wouldn't even stop for one minute to really see how upset I was. But to be honest, I told him that night that I wanted to be with him, that wanted everything that he wanted. Then you came out, and I left. And the next day, you seemed so happy, so I lied. And when you wanted to be closer to him, I tried to help. And I lied again and said I was uncomfortable about being a third wheel around you two. I tried to tell you so many times what was wrong, but every time I tried, you'd cut me off, gushing about how happy you were, so I'd stop and try to ignore what I was feeling, just like you were."

"That's not fair. I was caught up in having a real boyfriend for the first time. I'm sorry if I didn't notice, but that still doesn't give you the right to sleep with my boyfriend."

"We never slept together Brooke. We started to, but we realised what we were doing, and we stopped. Neither of us wanted to hurt you, so we tried to bury it. But we couldn't. So the night Lucas' mum got back, we were gonna tell you that we wanted to be together. I started to, but as you know, things changed."

"Lucas went into a coma. And when he woke up, there you were, ready to comfort him." Brooke sneered, and Peyton felt a very brief urge to hit something.

"Are you even listening to yourself, or me? You know what happened when I got that call from Haley? My heart stopped, it literally stopped beating for a second. And then I had to stop myself from rushing to the hospital, because you were still his girlfriend. So I stayed, and it killed me. I stayed away from the hospital because I couldn't bear to be in the same room as you, even though I was dying to see Lucas. When Haley told me he was awake, it was like my body jolted back into life all of a sudden. But I still didn't see him, not until he was at home. I saw him after he'd broken up with you, and I was so happy to see him, and in that moment, yes, I didn't care about you or how upset you must have been. But I did later, at the mall. So when Lucas said he wanted to see me, I said I couldn't. And that's when he came to see me, and passed out. You know where I was, half an hour ago? I was at Lucas', telling him that we couldn't be together because it wasn't fair on you. Because you were there for me when my mum died, and I couldn't betray you. So I left him, for you. So go ahead and tell me that I'm a bad friend, Brooke. Tell me that I betrayed you, and lied to you and whatever else you need to make yourself feel better. But just think about the fact that I forced myself to ignore my feelings so that you wouldn't get hurt. But you know what, I guess now that we're not friends, I don't need to worry about that, do I? You know, if you'd been a true friend, none of this would've happened in the first place. I was willing to let him go, to stay his friend for you, but now... now I'm not sure you deserve that from me." She turned around, and picked up her bag, before she walked out past Brooke, not looking at her once.

Lucas watched the scene unfold silently on his computer screen, and he knew, somehow, that Brooke knew about him and Peyton. He felt bad, she had a good heart and she didn't deserve it, but he had thought he was doing the right thing when he broke up with her. He didn't want to lie to her, and he couldn't keep pretending. He watched in surprise as Peyton stopped Brooke, and let loose. He had rarely seen this side of her, and one other time came to mind; the day she went off in cheerleading practice. He watched as Peyton left the room, and Brooke started up into the webcam before she turned and left too. Almost 15 minutes later, Lucas was still staring at the empty room when someone knocked on his outside door.

"Come in," he called without turning around. He heard the door open, but only turned at the voice.

"So, I guess you saw everything, huh?" Peyton was standing there, on the verge of tears. He got up and went to her, and pulled her into a one armed hug. She clung to him, and he held her.

"Hey, it's ok. It's all gonna be ok, I promise." He whispered into her hair. She looked up, and he could see the tears in her green eyes, but they weren't as close to spilling as earlier.

"I don't know, Luke. How can it be ok? I just... I need... I don't know what I need." Lucas was at a loss as to what to say to her, and then realised: Haley.

"Not to sound like I'm trying to dump this all on someone else, but do you wanna talk to Haley? She's closing at the cafe tonight, we could go there, have some hot chocolate. She makes a very good hot chocolate, and she's an excellent listener." She nodded once, and he reached down to take her hand. "Ok, just let me tell my mum, or she'll freak again." He led her out to the kitchen, where Karen was sitting at the table. She looked up, and looked surprised to see Peyton there.

"Oh, Peyton. You're out late... what's wrong?" she got up out of her chair.

"She had a fight with Brooke, a big one. Can I take her to the cafe to see Haley? She can drive, and we'll go to the cafe and back." Karen looked like she wanted to say no, but as she looked between the two teenagers in front of her, she found herself nodding.

"Ok, but only to the cafe."

"I promise, Ms Roe. I won't let anything happen to him." Peyton said softly, and Karen smiled. As nice as Brooke was, and as much as she appeared to care about her son, there was something else about Peyton. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I believe you, now off you go. Don't be too late, Lucas. You need rest."

"I promise mum." He turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway, turned back. He walked over and kissed her cheek, and whispered "I love you" before he turned and followed Peyton out the door.

Peyton parked at the rear of the cafe, and he led her in through the back door. They were silent as they walked through the kitchen. He could hear voices, and realised that Nathan was with Haley.

"Were you serious, about doing something for me?" Lucas stopped short when he heard this, and even Peyton's eyes widened.

"Well it depends. What is it?" They heard Haley ask, but there was only silence instead of a response. They shared a quick look before they continued towards the front of the building.

"Nathan..."

"Now's your chance" they heard him say, and heard Haley's soft "no."

"Come on, you said you'd do anything to help me, and this would really help me take my mind off things." Lucas was about to storm out there, when Peyton laid a gentle hand on his arm. They looked out and saw Nathan leading Haley to the piano in the front corner, and Lucas almost laughed as he watched a nervous Haley sit down on the stool. He'd only heard her sing once, and she'd stopped as soon as she realised he was there.

"You asked for it," she informed Nathan as she sat, and heard him say "Yeah, I did." Lucas looked down at Peyton, who was watching him, and they smiled. They crept forward a little to get a better view of the piano, and watched as she began to play. Then her voice joined the piano, and they all listened to the words.

"I love the time and in between.

The calm inside me.

In this space where I can breath

I believe there is a distance that I have wandered,

To touch upon the years.

Reaching out, and reaching in

Holding out, and holding in

I believe, this is heaven to no one else but me

And I'll defend it long as, I can be

Left here to linger in silence, if I choose to

Would you try to understand

Oh the quiet child awaits the day that she can break free

The mould that clings like desperation

Oh mother don't you see I've got to live my life

The way I feel is right for me

You say it's not right for you, but it's right for me

I believe, this is heaven to no one else but me

And I'll defend it long as, I can be

Left here to linger in silence, if I choose to

Would you try to understand"

She drifted off, and looked over at Nathan, who got up and walked towards her. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her. Peyton looked at Lucas, and he took her hand and led her out into the main part of the cafe. Nathan and Haley turned in surprise as they heard them.

"Oh my god! How the hell did you get in, and more importantly, how long have you been standing there?" Haley demanded, and when Lucas smiled, she hung her head and groaned.

"We've been here since about, 'Were you serious, about doing something for me?'. You should've seen Lucas' face until we realised Nathan was talking about the piano." Peyton only smiled when Nathan looked angry and Lucas glared at her. It took Haley about a second longer to realise what they meant. When she did, she looked at Lucas disbelievingly, and then she hit him.

"Lucas! I can't believe you! OH!" Haley kept hitting him until Peyton felt sorry for him and stepped in.

"Hey, in Lucas' defence, I thought the same thing. I mean, it did kinda sound like he was... anyway, that was a great song, you're really good." Haley groaned again, and put her head in her hands.

"I can't believe you guys heard that, I didn't even want to sing for Nathan, and now you all heard me."

"Hey, it was great, we loved it, promise." Lucas pulled her into a hug.

"Yeah, I never knew you were such a good singer." Peyton added. Haley was smiling when she pulled away from Lucas and stepped back towards Nathan.

"Ok, now that I've mostly recovered from the embarrassment, what are you two doing here. Lucas, I'm surprised your mum let you out after what happened this afternoon." She saw Peyton and Lucas share an uneasy look, and she took Nathan's hand. "Nathan, why don't you help Lucas get some hot chocolate from the back, ok?" She looked up at him, and despite the unsure look on his face, he nodded, and he and Lucas headed around the counter and into the kitchen. "So, is this a story that will require me sitting down?" She asked, and Peyton nodded, so they sat down at the nearest table. "Ok, fill me, don't spare the details."

"Well, you know me and Lucas were gonna tell Brooke the night of the accident?" Haley nodded, and she continued "well, that didn't happen, but when I went to see him yesterday, he told me he'd broken up with Brooke, and he asked if we could wait a few days and tell her everything else in a few days. So I didn't say anything when we saw her. Then today, when Lucas came to see me, Brooke was in his room to check on him and his computer was on, and she saw us on my webcam. She came to see me, just before, and she told me. She was really angry, saying all this stuff about how important Lucas was to her, and how she was going to try to be his friend if he wanted, but now she didn't care if she never saw either of us again. And I don't know what happened, but I snapped. I mean, I'd just gotten back from telling Lucas that we couldn't be together, cause I couldn't do that to Brooke, and I got so angry, and I yelled at her, and I told her that she'd never noticed how into him I was, and how much it was killing me to see them together. And then I told her what I'd told Lucas, about not being together, and then I said that she didn't deserve me doing that for her, and then I left, and I went to see Lucas, and he'd seen everything, and he asked me if I wanted to come here, and I said yes, so we asked his mum, and she said yes, and then we came here, and well, you know the rest." Peyton let out a whoosh of breath as she finished, and Haley sat quietly for a minute, taking it all in.

"Ok," she said a minute later, "well, I guess I can kind of understand Brooke's anger, but I also understand yours. But I guess the question is, do you wanna be with Lucas or fix your friendship with Brooke?"

"Can't I do both? I mean, I don't wanna loose Brooke as a friend, or at least, I didn't before, but I also want a chance to see what's between Lucas and I." Peyton looked lost as she stared at Haley, and Haley found her heart breaking just a little for her.

"I totally understand, Peyton. You know that Lucas wasn't all for me and Nathan, still isn't a lot of the time, but he understands that I need to be with him. Of course, there isn't the problem of him wanting to be with him, but still. I mean, to him, I was his best friend who wanted to date his brother, who previously spent a good deal of time making life miserable for him. But our friendship was too important, and if he hadn't come around, I might've considered not dating Nathan, but Lucas was a good enough friend to not let me do that. If you and Brooke have as strong a relationship as Lucas and I do, she'll come around. Best friends can forgive each other anything" she said, echoing Karen's words. "But she's feeling betrayed, and after your little outburst, probably wary about coming near you. You might wanna make the first move." Haley moved around the table to sit next to Peyton when she started to cry. "It's gonna be ok, trust me."

"But what if it's not? Haley, telling Lucas we couldn't be together tonight was the hardest thing I think I've ever had to do, I don't wanna do it again. Although by now, I've probably scared him off with all the crying." Haley had to laugh when she said that.

"Peyton, I don't think you could ever scare Lucas off. I know you feel the need to look strong and untouchable, but it's ok to lean on someone once in a while, and let me tell you, if you're gonna lean on anyone, Lucas is pretty steady."

The two boys had been working in silence in the back for over five minutes before Lucas finally broke the silence.

"Hey, Nathan, I'm sorry about the whole... thing earlier. It wasn't personal..." when he snorted, Lucas shrugged, "ok, it was slightly personal, but trust me, I would've reacted the same way no matter what guy was saying those things to Haley. I think we should all just be thankful Peyton was there to stop me from attempting to beat your ass." Nathan laughed when he said that, and he turned to him. "What?"

"So you admit that you wouldn't be able to kick my ass then?"

"No, just that in this current condition, I wouldn't. Give me a few weeks to get back in shape, and get the use of my arm back, and we'll see who can beat up who." They shared a quick smile before finishing up the hot chocolates.

"So Lucas, care to explain what's going on?" Lucas looked at him, and sighed.

"I sorta broke up with Brooke yesterday to be with Peyton, and then things happened, and Peyton told me earlier that we couldn't be together, it wasn't fair for Brooke, and I guess after that happened Brooke showed up at her place and told her she knew about us. She saw us on Peyton's webcam, I guess, when I went to see her. And then Peyton got angry, and eventually stormed out. Now, I don't know what's going on."

"Well, are you two gonna be together now?" Nathan asked.

"Uh, she told me an hour ago we couldn't." Lucas reminded him, and Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but that was before Brooke paid her a little visit. And she's here now, with you, not with Brooke. You do the math. Well, let's go see if these hot chocolates reach Haley's standards." Nathan said picking up two cups, and Lucas snickered as he did the same. They walked out to see Haley hugging Peyton.

"Peyton, I don't think you could ever scare Lucas off. I know you feel the need to look strong and untouchable, but it's ok to lean on someone once in a while, and let me tell you, if you're gonna lean on anyone, Lucas is pretty steady." Nathan threw Lucas a knowing look, and then cleared his throat. He sat down next to Haley, while Lucas took the seat next to Peyton.

20 minutes later they'd finished their hot chocolate, which Haley had informed them was acceptable, and Nathan and Haley were in the back cleaning up. Peyton took Lucas' hand, and rested her free one against his face.

"Lucas, thank you."

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"For everything. For understanding earlier why I was ending things, for understanding that I needed a girl to talk to now, for being here."

"No problem, Peyt. I'm always here for you, you know that right? I'll always be your friend." He smiled, and she couldn't help but return it as her heart lifted. What had she done, ever, to deserve this boy?

"Lucas, I-"

"Peyton?" Two blonde head swivelled towards the door, and their eyes widened in shock at the same time.

A/N: well? Let me know what you think and if I should keep going with it.