Always Have and Always Will.

Chapter 3 - Straightening things out...

Chapter 3 – Straightening things out

Peyton

"We've got a lot of catching up to do." I said, giving her one last peck. I lifted myself off of her and offered her my hand. She took it with a dazed look and lifted herself up from the carpet.

"I'll uh.. be right back..." She said, and hurried upstairs.

She hadn't changed one bit. Well, except for the fact that she got even finer within two years. To be honest, I had no intention of doing what I just did with her, that too on the floor. But the way she felt under me and the way she looked up at me had my brain chemistry going haywire. I won't lie, I enjoyed it, and I have a feeling she enjoyed it more so than I did, even though she won't ever admit it.

I shook my head, reminding myself that she was just an assignment, a regular assignment. An assignment that I would have to complete and never look back upon.

Stretching a little, I walked over to the couch, sat on it, and propped my feet on the coffee table as I'd already removed my shoes on the way in. resting my head back, I looked at the ceiling.

I heard slow and light footsteps coming down the stairs and felt the couch dip beside me. I immediately opened my eyes and sat up straighter to look at her, moving my feet to the ground. There were tiny drops of water on her t-shirt, indicating that she'd just washed her face.

"I hope you didn't mind that..." I said, gesturing between my feet and the coffee table.

"Oh, no... Not one bit. It's your house too now, isn't it?" She said, and waved it off with her hand.

"Yeah, guess it is..." I said and chuckled.

"Where were you?" She asked, after a pause, getting comfortable on the couch.

"I'm sorry?"

"I mean, where have you been, these past two years?" She said, elaborating herself.

"Oh, I got this scholarship from this University called Hawkeye." I said, not getting into details.

"Hawkeye? Never heard of it... So, what are you doing here?"

"I figured, what the hell... Why not finish things where they started and so I asked for a transfer here."

She nodded and smiled at me. None of us said anything until I broke the silence.

"I see you're still wearing the necklace... it looks beautiful on you." I commented.

"What? Oh, uh... Thanks. You look great too." She said, eyeing my arms a bit and avoiding the subject of the necklace.

"Really beautiful..." I said, looking at her for her reaction.

Her face reddened at the words as a blush crept up to her cheeks.

"Thank you, Peyton." She said and smiled at me gratefully. I returned the smile with a smirk.

"How are you? I asked.

"I'm good. I've been meaning to ask. How did you end up here?" She said, putting on a serious tone.

"I told you, I got-"

"Yes, transferred. You told me. I mean how did you end up here, under this roof, with me?" She asked, interrupting me.

"Oh... That... Well, Derrick knew my friend's father. We needed a place to stay and he offered his room." I said, making up a lie.

"So, you didn't come alone?"

"Yeah, my friend accompanied me. She won't be staying here though. Derrick thought it'd be better if it were just I. Seeing as we already knew each other."