T W E L V E
Yes I would die for you, baby.
But you won't do the same
CARLOS BURSTED IN THE GARAGE, MAKING LUKE AND PEYTON JUMP.
Julie's little brother was holding a videocamera as he recorded the, what he thought was, the empty garage.
"I can sense there are ghosts here," he said to the recording. Luke and Peyton slowly moved towards the edge of the loft, hiding behind the desk and watching Carlos, holding their laughter. "Spirits! Show yourselves."
Peyton silently grabbed one of her pens on her desk and threw it towards Alex drums. This bounced on the instrument making it sound. That made Carlos jump.
"Oh God," they heard the boy whisper and both tried to hold their laughs. "Are you good spirits or bad spirits?"
"Terribly bad," mumbled Luke to Peyton's ears before grabbing a pencil sharpener and throwing it at one of the vases of the coffee table, making it fall.
Carlos quickly turned around, scared for his life but also terribly excited.
"I'll take that as bad spirits," he whispered before walking backwards towards the garage door. As soon as he was outside, he sprinted back into the house as soon as possible.
Both Luke and Peyton fall onto the floor laughing, holding their stomachs as they couldn't control themselves. Both looked at each other, trying to breathe normally again as they still couldn't stop smiling.
"He was so scared," whispered Peyton to Luke.
"He was so sure of himself and five seconds later he did a Tom Hanks and just left." Peyton started to laugh again.
"That was funny I gotta admit," she whispered as a smile appeared on her face. "Well, I'm heading out." She announced as she started to stand up, but Luke grabbed her hand.
"Where are you going? I thought we were having fun," he said, showing her his puppy eyes. She rolled her eyes.
"As much as I love being your manager, you don't pay me. The cafeteria does and I can't be late. And you have to rehearse with the guys if you want to beat Sin & Tragedy's ass in the battle of bands."
Luke sighed. "Forgot they were signed up too. Why don't you tell Aura to cover your shift?" He begged, still holding her hand and not letting her go. "We can watch Miss Americana again if you want."
"I need to go to work, Luke."
"Please," he asked again. "Stay..."
The way he said that word and how his green eyes sparkled, Peyton couldn't even resist. She sat down again, grabbing her phone and texting Aura.
"If she gives me her morning shift on Saturday it is your fault."
"I'll make you company."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him. Her back hit softly his chest, and she laid her head on his shoulder while he grabbed the laptop, entering Netflix.
His arms were around her waist and the laptop on her legs. Peyton could feel Luke's cheek on hers, his eyes focusing on the screen as Taylor Swift's voice started sounding.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"I'm telling you, Julie, there's no one in the garage," her little brother said to her as they walked towards the garage joined by Reggie and Alex.
"It's impossible that they left," said Alex as the group entered.
"Are you sure there was no one when you came in Carlos?" Asked Reggie to the little boy while Julie walked towards the ladder.
"Hundred percent."
"They are up here!" Exclaimed Julie in a whisper.
Alex was quick to follow her, climbing up towards the loft, being followed then by Reggie.
The three observed how Peyton and Luke were deeply asleep. Luke was resting his back on the desk while he was hugging Peyton from behind, her head on the space between his shoulder and neck.
"Should we wake them up?" Asked Reggie in a whisper.
"Isn't Peyton supposed to be at work by now?" Questioned Julie while Alex slowly grabbed the laptop still laying on Peyton's legs and left it on the desk.
Reggie turned around to look at his blond friend. "Are you crying, Alex?"
"It's just..." he sniffed, "so cute." He finished saying. "I'm not crying!"
"Alex, you cried last week when you saw some birds last week," remembered him Julie, standing next to him. "It's impossible you aren't crying with this."
"It was a momma bird feeding her little babies, Julie. They were all jumping to get the food! It was adorable," he justified. "This is also adorable."
"Let's leave them alone then," said Reggie before going down the ladder, Alex following him. "Alex you stepped on my hand!"
"Shh!" Shushed him Alex and Julie. "Don't wake them up!" Exclaimed Julie in a whisper.
"Yeah you dork," said Alex as the three hit the ground. "They'll wake up eventually."
"Let's wait for them in the kitchen," suggested the girl as the four walked towards the door of the garage.
"Are they like... boyfriend and girlfriend?" Asked Carlos to the group and the three chuckled.
"Same question," whispered Alex before they finally left the garage.
Luke was the first to wake up. The smell of Peyton's hair was the first thing that hit him and for a second he thought he was still dreaming.
In his dream, he was with Peyton. Like was with Peyton, they were together together. He's had that dream several times and for a second, when he opened his eyes and acknowledge how he was wrapping his best friend's body with his arms, he thought it was real.
But it wasn't.
He couldn't bare to wake her up. She looked so peaceful, her breathing was slow and she was completely attached to him, one of her hands resting on his arm and the other on his chest as he used him as a pillow. He couldn't even move.
He thought if he kicked her when they slept. He was indeed a terrible sleeper. Every time they did a sleepover, she would kick him out of the bed around midnight and let him sleep on the floor. When he asked her about it in the morning, she would just say that he kicked her too many times and she got tired.
Their sleepovers started to be less often when they were around twelve, when Luke couldn't lay next to her without getting incredibly nervous. He would ask her if they could sleep in the living room with sleeping bags or if he could sleep in the floor. He would use the excuse of being afraid he would kick her out of the bed. He wouldn't admit it was because he liked her so much.
When they were fifteen, sleepovers where prohibited. It was Peyton's mom rule. She knew Luke liked her and the idea of him and her daughter in the same room all night didn't sit right to her. He had to pretend to be upset about it, but actually he was relieved. If he couldn't control himself when he was twelve, less he would at fifteen.
So then he just proceeded to sneak in at night through her window. Her mom knew about it, but she didn't say anything because he would always be out by midnight or 1 am.
And then he would appear for breakfast, so it was kinda like a sleepover, but not the entire night.
Since then, there has been ten times Luke has actually spent the night at Peyton's. All of those times after fights with his mom.
But he wouldn't tell her. He would just sneak in and ask for a pillow and a blanket, and she would give them to him, no explanation needed. He knew she knew, that's why he didn't feel the need to tell her. He would just fall asleep on the seat under the window.
He drove away from his thoughts when he felt Peyton moving, slowly waking up.
"There she is!" He exclaimed in a whisper, making her turn around. "How are you doing, Sleeping Beauty?"
"Tired. We should head out." Luke nodded, both standing up with each other's help. "Wanna have dinner with us?"
"How could I say no to a meal with the Swan ladies?" Asked Luke as both climbed down the ladder and he grabbed his guitar. Both got out of Julie's garage and walked towards Luke truck. "What are we eating?"
"I don't know, probably take out."
"Gilmore style, I like it," he said making her smile. "How did the guys leave?"
"Probably Julie gave them a ride," assumed Peyton as he left his guitar on the backseat and both got in the truck, closing the doors. "Can't believe we both fell asleep."
"Me neither," he admitted, starting the truck and driving away from the Molina's house, letting the 90s rock music coming from the stereo fill the car. "Hey, can I stay over tonight?"
She commonly didn't ask questions about Luke's reasons to crash over at her house, but she felt curious.
"Sure... Why?" He sighed.
"The application for the NYU Department of Music and Performing Arts arrived this morning... and my mom didn't even know I was thinking about it."
"I thought you didn't want to go to college." He exhaled.
"It's... complicated. She wants me to get into Berkeley." Peyton opened her eyes.
"Well that's huge. And their music program is also good. And it's closer to home," she pointed the good things.
"And it's also 2.8 thousand miles from you," he said and regretted it immediately. He closed his eyes, clinching his teeth and slowly parking in front of her house.
He shouldn't have said that.
"What?" She asked in a whisper. There was no turning back.
"You are going to New York," he said finally, looking at her. "I tried to have the best grades and the best SATs score so I could get into NYU's Music Department and be closer... to you," the last he said under his breath, making her heart skip a bit.
"Luke... if you go to Berkeley, you'd be closer to your mom. To... to the band." He chuckled.
"I didn't think of the band."
"Luke, you have to stay in California. I haven't even gotten into the Academy of Art. And yeah, it is we're I want to go, but I can stay in LA too—"
"No, Tay—"
"There's a lot of excellent art schools in California," she continued. "It is too early to be rejecting opportunities."
Luke slowly turned around to look at her. God, how much he liked her.
"Besides, if you get signed by Atlantic or Columbia, you will have to stay in Los Angeles." She reminded him. "The band has to be your first priority and I can assure you... they won't follow you to New York. Neither will the label."
"You are right..." he softly admitted. "But I don't want to go to Berkeley," he let out, exhaling. "It's New York or nothing, okay?"
"Okay... then tell that to your mom." He closed his eyes. "Have you talked this to the guys?"
"They all plan to go to schools in the state. You are the first person I talk this to." He looked at her. "I just can't imagine you going through the best thing of your life and not being there for you."
"We will figure it out," she said softly. "And New York isn't going to be the best thing of my life, or at least I don't think it will."
"What do you think it is going to be?"
She sighed. "I'll know it when it happens." She gave him a tiny smile. "Let's get inside. After dinner, you can pretend to leave and then climb into my room."
"You got it boss."
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"And then Reggie just got between them and broke them apart," finished telling the story Ella, sitting on the kitchen island and finishing her ice cream.
Peyton was cleaning the dishes while Luke, Ella and Anna, the girls' mother, were chatting on the kitchen.
"Nah, proof or it didn't happen," said Luke as he finished his ice cream, giving the cup to Peyton.
"I'm telling you, he is a hero."
"Okay, okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves, fangirl," he said to her. "If Reggie really pulled a Superman I would like to see it for myself, not hearing about it with a Rachel Green storyteller, thank you."
Ella rolled her eyes before returning to her book.
Anna chuckled slowly before looking at Luke. "Shouldn't you go back home? It's getting late."
"Oh, please, he is going to sneak in again through Peyton's window anyway." Luke and Peyton quickly looked at Ella, who wouldn't look up from her Agatha Christie book. "Why give him the extra work when he can use the stairs?"
"I don't sneak in Tay's room, what are you talking about?" He tried to lie since Peyton's mom was right there, but Anna simply started walking away.
"I'm going back to pretending I don't know anything," she said before going to her room on the bottom floor.
"Done. Let's go upstairs," said Peyton walking towards the stairs. "Goodnight, Ella."
"Goodnight, Nick and Nora," said the little sister as she continued to read her room in the kitchen.
Peyton and Luke got into her room and she closed the door. She walked towards the closet and gave him a blanket and a pillow, like she always does.
But he kept staring at the bed instead of the window seat he often use to sleep.
"I can take the seat if you wish," she told him but he shook his head.
"Nah it's okay... I just... I was remembering our sleepovers, when we were kids." Peyton chuckled. "Your bed seemed to be bigger then."
"Or we were smaller."
"That's it." Both chuckled. Luke walked towards her and grabbed the pillow and blanket. "Thanks for letting me stay."
"Oh, it's nothing," she said in a whisper.
He was still glancing over to the bed, holding on to the blanket and pillow before walking towards the window and placing the pillow on the seat.
"Wait... you can sleep here if you want," she said to him as he slowly turned around. She wasn't thinking when she said that, no doubt. "It's a big bed."
"Are you sure? Because I had ice cream at night and that triggers my kicking."
"Just, try to redirect your karate towards the other side and we will be fine."
"You sounded like Dorothy right there." Peyton trembled.
"Please don't say that ever again." Luke laughed before jumping onto the bed, letting out a sigh before covering himself with Peyton's colorful sheets. "Well you look comfortable."
"Prepare yourself because I'm going to get like Candace from Phineas and Ferb when she had squirrels in her pants very soon." Peyton laughed before getting into the bed and grabbing the book that laid on her nightstand. "Whatcha reading?" He asked.
"The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath," she replied, making him smile a little. "Your "cousin" won't mind that I burrow her copy, right?"
"I'm sure she will be thrilled that such a good book is being read by others." Peyton let out a smile before continuing to read the book. "Hey Tay."
"Yes?"
"Remember that Taylor Swift song... Paper Rings?"
"Of course," she replied. "Why?"
"Nothing, just came to my head. Sweet dreams, butterfly."
And with that, Luke turned around and closed his eyes, not minding the soft light that Peyton was using to read.
She look at him with a confused expression for a few seconds before returning to her book.
After a few minutes, she fell asleep with the book opened on her chest, just for them to wake up with the rays of the sun and the disturbing sound of her fifth alarm. She was late for school.
"Shit," she whispered as she turned off her alarm clock, turning around to see Luke peacefully sleeping on her side, not even bothered by the sound of the alarm clock. "Luke..." she called him. "Luke, wake up."
"Five minutes..." he said sleepily, not daring to open his eyes. She shook his chest slowly, but still.
"Luke, we are late for school," she told him, but there was no result. "LUKE!"
As soon as she yelled the guy opened his eyes abruptly, seating down on the bed just like he was a soldier early in the morning.
"Earthquake?"
"No! We are late!" She told him as she stood up. "You need to change."
"Right, right," he mumbled as he walked towards the window. "I'll see you in the kitchen."
And with that, he opened Peyton's window and got out to the half roof, stepping on the large branch of the big tree between the two houses, crossing to the other side until he stepped on his roof, jumping inside to his room.
Peyton grabbed her clothes, one shoe rolling under the bed. She laid on the floor and reached for it, grabbing something else instead.
"What on Earth—" she mumbled before looking at what she grabbed.
Luke's cellphone.
The case was blue with the logo of Sunset Curve in the middle. What was his phone doing under the bed?
His notifications were what caught her attention.
Alex
u just evaporated from julie's garage man
Alex
did you ask her out yet?
Ask her out? Ask her out? Who was her? To whom could Alex could be possibly talking about?
Then it hit her. Of course Luke was planning on asking someone out. What was she thinking? He was going to stay single forever specially on his last year of high school? Oh please, he surely is going to pick randomly from any of the girls after him and go out with her.
Peyton left the cellphone on the bed and walked towards the bathroom. Who else could Alex be possible talking about? Carrie? No, it didn't work between them, she told her. Julie? Did Luke like Julie? Nah, that couldn't be either.
As she entered the shower, the doubts kept appearing on her mind. Who else?
Herself?
She almost dropped the shampoo bottle when that thought crossed her mind. Was Luke planning on asking her out? The drama or whatever they had going on had been pressed pause after the open mic performance and since she started being the groups manager. She completely forgot about it.
He likes you! The voices of Ella and Alex hit her head. It didn't matter how many times she heard them she couldn't believe them. He liked her? Why would someone like him like someone like her?
He could have any girl... and they expected her to believe he liked her?
As she brushed her hair, the thoughts of Luke and her kissing, or holding hands, going on dates, giving each other presents, calling the other "love" or "babe". It was... disgusting but also... it didn't feel bad.
As she walked towards her room again, she saw it.
That's when it hit her.
As soon as she saw him walking in through the window again wearing his The Killers sleeveless muscle shirt, his flannel jacket on top of it and his black loose jeans with his checkered Vans, she saw it.
She saw why every girl was behind him like a dog to their owner. She understood why every girl melted when he walked by.
He was hot.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Is it the flannel jacket? I knew it looked weird."
He then proceeded to take it off, tossing it to the side towards the chair. Peyton's sight went straight towards his arms, his muscled arms that could be visible due of his sleeveless shirt.
She had been oppressing her feelings for so long, denying the existence of them, that she actually never got to feel them. To actually let herself find her best friend... attractive.
And he was.
She never understood the girls at her school until now.
"Earth calling Peyton?" But she didn't reply. "It is the shirt!? Because The Killers are the best and I'm not changing it. Is it my hair? In my defense, the static energy of your pillow didn't help."
"I-I... we are late so... breakfast," she could finally say before turning around and walking downstairs towards the kitchen, where Ella was waiting for them as she read her book. "I need a date."
"What happened?"
"What do you think of Ethan?" Peyton ignored her sister's question.
"That college guy who frequents the coffee shop?" Peyton nodded. "He is an ass," told Ella to her sister, focusing her eyes back to her book.
"How do you know?" She asked her.
"I caught him reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand the other day. That book is for women with high IQ and men that are jackasses."
"According to who?" She asked her, but before she answered, Peyton stopped her. "Better not. You suggest someone."
"It could be... Captain Will Jeans." Peyton looked at her with a serious face. "I don't know about this stuff, leave me alone."
"I put on my flannel jacket on since you apparently hate my shirt," announced Luke entering the kitchen. "Ready to go Swan ladies?"
Both sisters nodded, grabbing their stuff and following Luke to the truck.
Ella decided to sit in the backseat this time, trying to toss aside Luke's stuff he had there, such as his guitar, some books and his song book.
"Hey, can I drive?" Peyton asked Luke, which made him look at her in panic. "What? I'm an excellent driver."
"Could you please move aside so I can get out of the car?" Begged Ella, and Peyton rolled her eyes. "Peyton please."
"My driving test is next week. Please?" She asked Luke and he gave up, both switching seats. "Ok, how do I start it?"
"Lord almighty," he mumbled under his breath while she laughed.
"I'm kidding, Patterson. Let's do this," she said, starting the engine.
"Let me help you," he told her, sitting close to her and putting his hands on top of hers. Peyton cleared her throat, trying to relax as she felt his arms around her, how the flannel jacket's fabric caressed her skin as he held her hand tightly. "Ok, now start."
She listened to him, hitting the pedal and letting the truck start with high speed downhill towards Julie's house.
"Shit, Tay, careful!" Yelled Luke, trying to control the steering wheel. "The break exists, you know?"
"So this is how I'm gonna die, huh?" Whispered Peyton as she stared at the ceiling of the truck. "Couldn't be in a good hair day, God?"
"This way we will get there sooner! We are already late!" She told him as she tried to evade the cars, becoming the worst type of driver in LA. "Look! That's her house right there."
She turned the wheel and parked the car in Julie's house. As soon as Julie saw who was in the driver's seat, she panicked.
"I'm gonna walk."
"Nonsense! Get in!" Exclaimed Peyton and Julie, against her better judgment, got in to the back seat, sitting next to Ella. "Thought you were going to get on the truck."
"Oh! There's no way I'm sitting on a place with no seatbelt. I'm not stupid."
"Right... do we have to pick up Reggie?" Peyton asked his best friend, who still had his arms wrapped around her.
"No, just... drive. And please don't hit my truck. This isn't Fast and the Furious." She nodded, hitting the pedal again and driving to their high school.
When they entered the parking lot and Flynn, Willie, Alex and Reggie saw who was on the wheel, they immediately stepped aside, giving Peyton space to park.
As soon as she stopped the car on the parking spot, every passenger on the truck seemed to finally be able to breathe.
Everyone got out of the truck, the only person who seemed happy was Peyton.
"Thank God I got a ride with Alex," murmured Reggie as Ella hugged him.
"Hey, I got you all safe and sound to our destination. Stopped complaining. Besides, if Luke drove we would be late. We arrived just in time!"
"That's because you drove 60 miles per hour on a school zone!." Exclaimed Luke. "My truck isn't even able to reach that sum." Peyton rolled her eyes. "Let's just... go to class and... thank the sky that we are alive."
"Was it that bad?" Asked Willie. "I've never been in a car with Peyton."
"You are lucky man, William," told him Julie as they started walking to the entrance.
Peyton looked over to her best friend, recalling how he had her arms around her as he helped her to drive. She wished he could do the same when she actually takes her driving exam.
POP CULTURE REFERENCES GUIDE
chapter twelve
"He was so sure of himself and five seconds later he did a Tom Hanks and just left."
Tom Hanks is an American actor and filmmaker. Hanks is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. The reason why Luke mentions him is because of his movie Forrest Gump, where he played a character which one of his qualities was that he could run very fast.
"We can watch Miss Americana again if you want."
Miss Americana (2020) is a documentary done by Netflix about the life of singer and songwriter Taylor Swift.
"I don't know, probably take out."
"Gilmore style, I like it,"
Another Gilmore Girls reference. In the show, the Gilmore girls only diet is take out food, from which they would order everything in the menu.
"not hearing about it with a Rachel Green storyteller"
Rachel Green is a character from the famous 90s sitcom Friends, which is portrayed by Jennifer Aniston. In the show, when Ross Geller, another one of the characters, kisses her for the first time, Rachel proceeds to give extreme details of what happened to her friends, while Ross told the story in not more that three words.
"Goodnight, Nick and Nora,"
Nick and Nora Charles are a married couple who solve murder mysteries. They are fictional characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel The Thin Man (1934)
"You sounded like Dorothy right there." Peyton trembled. "Please don't say that ever again."
Dorothy Zbornak (née Petrillo) is a character from the sitcom television series The Golden Girls, portrayed by Bea Arthur. One of her character qualities were her sarcasm, her strong personality and how bossy she was, also a perfectionist.
"It is the shirt!? Because The Killers are the best and I'm not changing it."
The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning. The Killers are considered one of the biggest rock bands of the 21st century, and the most successful act to ever emerge from Nevada, selling more than 28 million albums. They have performed in over 50 countries and on six continents, headlining venues such as Madison Square Garden, Wembley Stadium and Glastonbury Festival (2007 and 2019).
"I caught him reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand the other day. That book is for women with high IQ and men that are jackasses."
The Fountainhead is a 1943 novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, her first major literary success. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an individualistic young architect who designs modernist buildings and refuses to compromise with an architectural establishment unwilling to accept innovation. Roark embodies what Rand believed to be the ideal man.
(I copied this from internet but as a person who read the book, men who read it turn out to believe they are superior)