A/N: My first OTH fic... It's an idea that's been in my head for a really long time, and I wasn't sure how to execute it. In the end, this barrelled out of me in one solid go, short and sharp and sweet.

I always thought Peyton's life spiralled downwards really sharply after Jake left, and I wanted to explore the idea of her actually going with him after he comes to Tric to say goodbye.

Anyway, I hope you like it. Comments & reviews would be appreciated, as I've never written anything for this fandom before and I'm still feeling my way in.

Please be warned there's language and a brief sex scene between consenting characters of legal age.

It's dark, and the night smells of rain. Peyton weaves her way through the small crowd of teenagers still waiting to get into Tric, holding her arms close to her chest. Holding in the ache.

And he's there; Jake is there, and at the same time she knows why and she doesn't. She doesn't run to him, because she knows he's waiting for her. She walks, and he sees her and he stands straight, his bike leaning behind him, and heartache is all over his face, too.

She wraps her arms around him and presses her cheek to his shoulder. He's wet with the rain, but warm, and hard, and he clings to her tightly because this is the final goodbye.

"Let me come with you," she says, her breath warm on his ear. "Don't go without me."

He wants her to come. It takes such strength for him to say no. "School," he whispers. He kisses her, and she arches against him, pressing herself to him, curving her back so her hips, stomach, chest, all of her was firm against him.

"I don't care about school," she whispers. "Don't leave me; it'll wreck me."

He cups his hand to her cheek and he thinks about how he doesn't want to leave her with tears on her face, he wants his memories of her to be full of smiles. He traces her tears with his thumb and she stares up at him with wide eyes that look dark and soft in the dim light of the night street.

She doesn't say anything, she just looks up at him, and he can read every pleading thought going through her mind. He thinks about the ache in his chest and the ache in his throat and the dread and worry he has at leaving her behind. He thinks about how young they are – seventeen, for fuck's sake – and life is meant to have smaller worries than this; life is meant to be social status at school, and exams and colleges, not abduction and abandonment.

Not this.

"Please," she whispers, and she clings to him, her mouth brushing slowly over his; not a kiss, a whisper.

"Okay," he answers. He hugs her waist and he promises himself it won't hurt her, really, that they'll get back before she misses too much school, or before her dad tracks him down to kill him for taking his daughter away from her rightful place.

Jake steers the bike over the wet streets, the low rumble of it humming deep in his chest.

Peyton wraps her arms around his waist and rests her cheek against the warm leather span of his back. She closes her eyes, shifting closer to him, her thighs spreading until her hips are flush against him, the bike rattling beneath her.

They take the Comet, and leave Jake's bike in the garage. Peyton packs a bag without looking at what she's throwing into it, and she takes the jar of cash hidden behind the breakfast cereals before she locks the house. In the back of her mind, she's rehearsing a phone call to her father.

There's time for that later, she tells herself, and she slings herself into the driver's seat and she lets the Comet roll out into the street.

Jake takes her hand as they drive past the city limits, and she takes a moment to look at him, their faces lit by the dashboard light.

"I love you," she promises.

Jake has a list of towns scribbled on the torn title page from his math book. He admits all he has is the clues Nikki left when she talked about her past.

"She bragged about parties and people and places," he says, looking down at the list. "I've got names of a few of her friends..."

"We'll find her," Peyton says, and she gives him a smile that lets him know she means Jenny, not Nikki, and Jake's heart swells as he realises Peyton has never added Jenny as an afterthought.

He reaches his arm across the back of the seat and he curls his fingers into the soft ringlets behind her neck, his fingertips brushing the smooth skin just above her collar.

Peyton calls Brooke when Jake is driving them into the sun, the Alabama border still hours ahead of them.

"We think Nikki's in Tuscaloosa," she says, and her cell fades and crackles.

Brooke tells her she's crazy, and Peyton agrees with a smile before she takes Jake's hand and the cell signal dies completely.

The school told her father she was gone, and since arguing with him during the first phone call he'd put in, she's been avoiding the others. Her voicemail is slowly filling with his anger and disappointment.

She texts him when they hit Alabama.

I bet you did some crazy things for Mom.

He doesn't answer until well after dark, and she's quiet beside Jake, sick to her stomach about maybe taking her dad's patience too far this time; that maybe things really are just too awful to have any sort of a fix or solution.

But he texts back, Love you, kid.

And that's all he says, and that's how she knows it's okay.

Nikki's not in Tuscaloosa. The trail is going cold.

They get back in the car and drive, but there are only so many names and places still left on the torn page from the math book.

Jake breaks down and sobs in a panic, suddenly terrified he'll never find them. He moans into Peyton's shoulder, dust still spilling around the car after her hasty stop.

She hasn't seen him cry before.

"Let's not sleep in the car tonight," she whispers in his ear. She strokes her fingers through his hair. "My treat."

Dad's treat. I'll pay him back.

It's almost the last of the money in the cash jar she took from the kitchen. She pays for the room in cash and the guy behind the counter winks at her.

She mutters under her breath and tugs at Jake's hand. He's like a walking zombie, and she realises she should have seen days like this coming; days that are tired and awful.

When she closes the door to their room, Jake presses her against the wall.

"I'm glad you're here," he whispers. His eyes look hollow.

She suddenly wonders if it would have been easier to stay behind. It's harder seeing him like this. At least in Tree Hill she could imagine him riding his bike down the highway, the sunset a bright flag against the sky in front of him, hope and determination in his heart.

This is broken; this is the look of helplessness, and she doesn't want to see it.

She wraps her arms around him and he crushes her, lifting her so her toes stutter against the carpet. She kicks her shoes off and he pulls her onto the bed, winding himself around her, burying his face into her hair, his arms locked tight around her waist.

She listens to his breathing and the sound of her own heart.

"I'm sorry," he whispers against the back of her neck.

She rolls over and her kisses rain upon him fiercely, hot and wet. She wants him to know he's still hers, that she's not losing him to passing days and sleepless nights and hopelessness.

They fuck on top of the covers. She bites her teeth down on his shoulder when he rolls the condom on, her hips already twitching under him, her skin bare and hot beneath him.

His breath sobs from him when he comes, and she's already tight and shuddering, her teeth pressing into her lower lip, her eyes closed. His breath spills across her chest, hot and damp, and she locks her legs around his waist and holds him there until they can breathe in rhythmic unison again.

"We're not alone," she whispers, pressing kisses against the top of his head. "We've got each other."

"I know," he answers, and he presses his mouth down over her heart, sealing his own breath and warmth there. "I love you."

They find an old roommate of Nikki's in Montgomery. She tells them Nikki left Alabama as soon as she came to it, and she headed back east.

Jake steers the Comet into the sunrise, and Peyton leans across the seats to rest her head against his arm.

There's a new town scribbled on the page.

The Comet blows a tyre an hour after they cross into Georgia. They skid in the dirt on the shoulder of the road, and Peyton screams and clutches the dashboard.

When they stop, she laughs breathlessly, and when Jake kisses her it tastes of fright and adrenaline.

She leans against the side of the car as he changes the tyre, and the sun is hot even if the breeze is cool. She watches the sweat darken in a patch on the back of his t-shirt, and she presses her hand against it and feels all the heat of him there, and the new hope that's spilling out of him.

"I think we're getting closer," he says, and he smiles up at her.

She grins at him, but she's still worried that there are days ahead that contain sobs and heartache and desperation.

She vows she'll punch Nikki's teeth out when they find her.

Jake steers the car away from the road, and he and Peyton stretch across in the back seat with his jacket spread over them, watching the stars come out above them.

"The sky's so big here," Peyton whispers. She closes her eyes and breathes.

"You makin' a wish?" he asks.

She smiles and scans the sky. "You gotta have a shooting one."

He wraps his arms around her and presses her earlobe between his lips. "We're in a Comet," he says. "Make a wish."

And she does, and she knows he's wishing for the same thing.

Nikki's in Savannah, but the house is empty.

Jake is beside himself with nerves and anger and excitement. Peyton keeps a tight grip on his hand, and they sit in the car and wait.

"Do you have a plan?" Peyton asks softly.

"No."

"We should have one. We should probably just call the police and tell them we've found her. We don't want her accusing us of kidnapping."

"She did it first," Jake mutters through gritted teeth.

Peyton dials on her cell phone. "Two wrongs don't make a right."

Jake gives a smile that looks easier than any he's given her over the past weeks. "I'm glad you're here," he says again.

Jenny smiles at her father when the police pass her into Jake's arms.

Peyton watches him cry again, bumping his nose against her, promising her he'll keep her safe.

Nikki swears at the three of them, and Peyton remembers her vow. She tightens her fist and makes another wish instead, hoping Nikki's ass lands in jail and stays there.

"I have rights," Nikki says, and it's a threat.

Peyton doesn't say anything aloud, but she forms a perfect Bitch with her mouth and shoots it silently towards Nikki, who glowers at her.

Jake bounces Jenny in his arms, and the two of them are all smiles. He holds his arm out and Peyton huddles into him, blowing kisses at Jenny. She still feels awkward at the thought of a child, of so much responsibility. She loves Jenny, but the weight of her life is huge, and she feels inadequate when it comes to holding it up.

"Thank you," Jake breathes, and he presses hard kisses on the top of Peyton's head, clinging to both his girls.

"Hellos are so much easier than goodbyes," Peyton whispers, stroking Jenny's hair.

Jake grins and nudges her, and she lifts her head so he can kiss her properly.

"Let's go home," he says.