Leyton

L : Peyton, I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you. And this ring, and these words, are simply a way to show the rest of the world what's been in my heart for as long as I’ve known you. I love you, Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer. I always have and I always will.
P : Lucas Scott, we have been through so much together. And despite how confused I’ve been or lost I might’ve gotten, there was always you finding me, and saving me. You deserve to be adored, so that’s what we’re going to do. Your baby and me, we are going to adore you for years to come. I am so terribly in love with you, and I always will be.

―Lucas and Peyton's vows to each other at their wedding.^[src]

Leyton is the ship name of Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer.

Lucas and Peyton’s love story is set up in the Pilot, when, while Lucas is crossing the road, Peyton is driving her car, a 1963 Mercury Comet, and, looking for a CD, nearly invests him. In that moment, the two share an intense look at each other: in fact, as they’ve both admitted, between them it’s been love at first sight (although Lucas had actually loved Peyton since childhood). Then, they have their first real conversation shortly thereafter, when Peyton's car breaks down near a lake and Lucas goes to pick her with his tow truck: the two show an immediate and spontaneous connection despite not even knowing one another. After this, they start bonding over their common passion for music, art and literature and discover how kindred they are, leading them to quickly developed deep feelings for each other, but since then, there’s been a lot to overcome for them to be together: in fact, they are defined “star-crossed lovers” as the peculiarity of their love story is that it’s never been easy, full of obstacles right from the start. They both are the love of each other’s life and, despite some times being divided by other people (notable is the complicated love triangle involving them and Brooke in high school) or life events, they’ve always found their way back together since they are soulmates and meant to be. From the very beginning, Lucas and Peyton’s relationship has been one of the series' central themes: in fact, they are often considered as “The Heart of the show”. They finally have their happily-ever-after at the end on the sixth season, when they get married and have a daughter, Sawyer Scott.

Relationship arc[]

Backgound[]

Though coming from two very different worlds, Lucas and Peyton were incredibly alike, having similar personalities and both being introverted and smart intellectuals passionate about art, music and literature. From the moment he first saw Peyton in the 8th grade, Lucas instantly fell in love with her, immediately settling the purpose of making her his wife, but, since he saw her like his "angel" and sort of unattainable, in particular for an outcast like him, it took him a long time to gather up his courage and talk to her for the first time, which finally happened at the beginning of their junior year. From this moment, Lucas found meaning in his life and felt his whole world came into focus and then his immediate and natural bonding with Peyton only made him love her more and more.

Season 1[]

OTH caps - 1x07 — Lucas and Peyton share their first kiss ("Life in a Glass House").

Right at the beginning of the series, Lucas and Peyton immediately form a strong connection from the very first conversation they have, feeling comfortable and understood by each other, initially having a relationship neither romantic nor friendly, but with clear hints of their mutual attraction, then slowly progressing to romance. However, when Lucas confesses the depths of his feelings, saying he wants everything with her, Peyton becomes scared and runs away due to her fear to let someone in because of her traumatic past, leaving Lucas heartbroken and desperate. Peyton later understands she has made a mistake as she reciprocates Lucas' feelings and goes to visit him to confess that she wants all the things he wants and she wants them with him, but it is too late: Brooke, her best friend, has now become romantically involved with Lucas behind her back and despite being well aware of what was going on between them two.

112leyton — Lucas and Peyton become secret lovers because they can’t resist their feelings for each other ("Crash Course in Polite Conversation").

However, Lucas and Peyton’s feelings for each other are too strong and he knows that, despite liking Brooke, he doesn’t love her and Peyton is the one for him: at one point, the two aren’t able to bury how they feel anymore and become secret lovers (though they don't sleep together). On the night they've decided to tell Brooke they want to be together, Lucas has a car accident and subsequently goes into a coma, which brings back painful memories for Peyton because her mother died this way. When Lucas finally wakes up and comes home from the hospital, he breaks up with Brooke in order to be with Peyton, but she herself tearfully ends things with him despite loving him out of guilt for betraying her best friend, who unfortunately has found out about them anyway.

Sdal;fkj — Peyton and Lucas share a moment ("Suddenly Everything Has Changed").

After this whole mess, Peyton continues to avoid Lucas to spare Brooke's pain while Brooke continues to avoid Peyton, who instead would make amends with, asking for forgiveness, but Brooke declares her friendship with Peyton to be over. So, Peyton begins spending more time with Lucas' best friend, Haley James, and with Jake Jagielski, a teammate of him. Eventually, her friendship with Lucas is slowly reformed and the two also attend a party together with the purpose of reconnecting. However, during the night, Peyton and Nicki, Jake's ex girlfriend and mother of their daughter Jenny, get into a fight and Peyton realizes Nicki is the girl whom Lucas has hooked up with at a bar, shortly after she broke up with him, making her become furious and feel betrayed by him, along with Brooke. This draws a wedge between Lucas and Peyton, but reconciles the friendship between Peyton and Brooke. The season ends with Lucas and Peyton still at odds with each other and both heartbroken for how things went.

Season 2[]

In season 2, Lucas and Peyton's relationship is still broken. This leads to a huge argument between them: she accuses him of being a bad friend lately and says she doesn’t even remember when they've had a conversation about something real, making him realize that he really hasn't been there for her and that she needs help as she's gone into a dark place, but he could tell she no longer trusts him enough to let him in again, although he tries to make her understand that he does really care about her, no matter what. So, worried about her and knowing there is another person out there she does trust, he is the one who calls Jake, asking him to come back to Tree Hill after he left at he end of the previous season, knowing that he would have a positive effect on her. This does, sparking a turnaround for Peyton, while she and Jake also begin a relationship.

Lucas-and-peyton-photo — Lucas and Peyton together on the beach ("The Leavers Dance").

When Peyton goes through a hard time with Jake in jail over his custody fight for his daughter Jenny, Lucas is again there for her, even though it clearly bothers Brooke, who notices how strong and unbreakable their bond keeps being despite everything that happened: Lucas makes it clear how horrible he feels for letting them drift so far apart, so Peyton forgives him and apologizes for accusing him of being a bad friend, but he responds she was right and that's why he called Jake and, from now on, he will always be there for her, no matter what. By the end of the season, Peyton is heartbroken because Jake has left her and Tree Hill once again (and this time for good) to be with Jenny, who was caught by Nicky, and she and Lucas finally mend their relationship, realizing that, after everything, they can truly count on each other and don't want to be drifted apart ever again, sharing a meaningful hug on the beach and agreeing it seems it will be just them for the summer.

Season 3[]

Right at the beginning of this season, after coming back from the beach, Lucas, melancholy looking at one of the sketches Peyton made when they were together, pronounces one their most meaningful lines, "It's always gonna be there, isn't it? You and me", at which Peyton agrees, confirming their will not to be drifted apart ever again. In fact, the two spend the entire summer together, growing closer again and forming a great friendship by hanging out, sharing mutual secrets and intimate things and helping each other out with their complicated lives, resulting in their bond becoming stronger than it has ever been. Then, senior year starts for both of them and Peyton has Lucas’ back when he becomes stubbornly set on getting back together with Brooke despite how bad and wrong the two have always been and keep being for each other while he helps her reconnecting with Ellie, her birth mother. Along the way, bumps spring up between them brought by other people and difficult situations, like Brooke continually being unhealthy jealous of their strong and unbreakable bond and Ellie passing away from breast cancer, but they successfully keep being there for each other no matter what, maintaining their promise. However, before Ellie passes away, she and Peyton share some intimate moments, during which Ellie gives her daughter some advice about her life while Peyton shows the first evident signs that she’s never really got over Lucas and her feelings for him are slowly resurfacing, talking about how she loved him but let him go and starting to think it’s been a huge mistake as she regrets it, but is afraid it could be too late since now he’s got back together with Brooke (she doesn’t openly refer to him, but the details she gives line up only with her relationship with him): Ellie tells her it’s never too late ("The Wind That Blew My Heart Away").

316 p kisses l — Lucas and Peyton share a kiss during the school shooting after she's finally confessed her love for him. ("With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept").

The biggest moment between the two, which marks a turning point in their whole relationship because it starts the events' chain which will lead them to finally get together for real in the next season, happens during the school shooting which breaks out in the mid of the season ("With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept"), causing Peyton to be left fighting for her life after being shot in the leg. Lucas rushes into the building in search of her and finds her hiding in the library, promising her that he will not leave her alone and that nothing will happen to her, then he stays there with her while they wait for the lockdown to end, but as time ticks on, so do the fading moments of Peyton's life. Knowing that she could die, she says that he is always saving her, at which, very touched by her words, he responds that “somebody’s got to”, prompting her to confess to him "If I say 'I love you', right now, will you hold it against me? 'Cause I've lost a lot of blood...", which leads to them sharing a brief but meaningful kiss. When Peyton passes out from blood loss, Lucas does the only thing he can to save her: he picks her up and carries her out of the school despite the grave risk to his own life and thus saving hers.

After that day, everything's changed. Keith has been murdered, everyone is blaming Jimmy Edwards (who is dead himself) and Lucas is devastated by Keith’s death, but Peyton has fortunately recovered from her injury and both are still traumatized. The two meet again in the library and agree to pretend that what happened between them the day of the shooting meant nothing not to hurt Brooke again, while she herself understands that their bond is still too strong to be platonic and it’s pretty clear they still love each other, no matter what. It is her father Larry who tries to make Peyton realize what she really wants by telling her this wise piece of advice: "Just promise me one thing - promise me that when you pick the boy you're really going to be with, that he'll be someone who respects you and treats you well. And, it's someone who makes your heart race and that he's someone you love because of what he is, not what he does. Because, that's how I felt about your mother, and that’s how I want you to feel one day. Use your head and follow your heart" ("I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me"). Peyton goes to visit Jake in Savannah, where he’s moved, for a weekend, thinking it could be what her heart wants, but during the night he hears her saying “I love you Lucas” in her sleep: Peyton is then forced to tell him what happened the day of the shooting between her and Lucas, causing him to realize that she needs to come back home as it is by now crystal clear that she is still in love with him, no matter what, and she is only running away from her true feelings for him due to Brooke still being in the middle. On the night of Haley and Nathan's rehearsal dinner, Peyton definitely realizes that Lucas is the one for her, having only tried to bury how she felt not to hurt Brooke, but now she can't do it anymore and keep living miserable forever because of her. This leads to Peyton confessing the truth about her feelings for Lucas to Brooke, putting a rift in their friendship once again and prompting Brooke to cut Peyton out of her life. Despite feeling bad for this bad situation with her best friend, Peyton is now determined not to give up on her love for Lucas anymore, while his already unsteady relationship with Brooke reaches its worst moment at the wedding, when she discovers about the kiss in the library and the two have a huge fight which in turn causes them to definitely question their entire relationship and if what’s between them is real love or not.

Season 4[]

When season 4 starts, Peyton burns some pictures of herself and Brooke, then she picks up one of herself, Brooke and Lucas, rips out the central part where Brooke is, burns it and puts herself and Lucas next to each other. She also helps him to move on when Brooke definitely breaks up with him, having finally accepted that the two of them have never had, don’t have any and will never have real emotional connection, contrary to him and Peyton who have always naturally had this strong and unbreakable bond, no matter what. Meanwhile, it is discovered that Peyton has a half-brother named Derek and from there it gets complicated, mostly because Lucas over time gets paranoid about Derek and has hunches that something isn't right. This leads him to find a girl in the hospital with a wig and an outfit that is identical to Peyton's and a jacket Ellie gave to Peyton, which was stolen from Tric the night before. Lucas further investigates, causing a slight tiff with Peyton over how paranoid he is, but this leads to him unfortunately being right: that guy isn’t the real Derek, but a stalker who has become obsessed with her from her podcasts, but her real brother shows up and he and Lucas fortunately take down the psycho and save Peyton. After this, Lucas is constantly there for Peyton to help her to overcome her trauma and encourages both her and Derek to try to bond, but both have trust issues, personality traits which ironically turn out to be those causing them to eventually bond for real. Even real Derek soon realizes that Peyton is in love with Lucas and encourages her to stop being afraid and give him a chance, telling her she needs to come clean with him about her true feelings. Even considering all they've been through, she finally does on the night of the banquet for the Ravens in honor of the team going to the State Championship, leaving him speechless as he was totally unprepared for such a declaration of hers due to thinking there wasn’t any possibility for them two to be a couple anymore after all the things which prevented them to get together, so he basically gave up, forcedly settling for being just friends with her. It is Skills who makes him open his eyes about the fact that his and Peyton's relationship has never been just friendship since he's the one was always chose to be there for her, no matter what, telling him to think about it before making the wrong decision.

Leyton — Lucas and Peyton’s iconic kiss after he’s told her she is the one he wants standing by him when all his dreams come true ("Some You Give Away").

During the State Championship, Lucas scores the final basket at the end of the 4th quarter and the team wins. After congratulating with him, Brooke finally tells him it is okay for her if he gets to be with Peyton, having by now understood the two of them were was always meant to be together. Lucas then goes to Peyton: the two converse, hug and then she utters the same words Lucas did the night he won the one-on-one game against Nathan back in Pilot, "I'll be seeing you", which prompts him to finally realize that Peyton has always been the one for him, pronouncing his iconic line: "When all my dreams come true, the one I want next to me… it's you. It's you, Peyton” ("Some You Give Away"). Then, the two share a long-awaited kiss in the middle of the court under the confetti for the win “raining” onto them and become officially a couple for the first time at the after-party.

Images (3) — Honey Grove Prom ("It Gets the Worst at Night").

As time rolls on for the last months of their senior year, the two are not only finally able to live their love story, but Peyton finds herself truly happy for the first time in a really long time, same for Lucas, successfully facing a few bumps which come up along the way, like her having issues with PDA because of her fear of losing him (which she overcomes thanks to him reassuring her he won’t go anywhere now they’ve finally found each other and saying “I love you” to her for the first time) and Lucas suspecting Jimmy Edwards didn't murder his uncle Keith. They make finally love for the first time during the night of Honey Grove Prom and, as high school comes to end with graduation for both of them and their friends, they are on a high note, stronger than they’ve ever been, happily in love and ready to face the real world together as partners in crime, even deciding to go long distance since Peyton has been offered an internship for an important record label in LA, encouraged by Lucas not to throw away her dreams to stay in Tree Hill for him since, as he tells her himself, she is "destined for greatness".

Missing years[]

Two weeks after graduation, Peyton is supposed to fly to LA with Brooke to spend their summer together before her starting the internship, but they decide to postpone their departure by one day. So, Lucas gets tickets for a concert of The Cure for his last day with Peyton whilst Brooke spends more time with her current boyfriend, Chase. Peyton then leaves for LA while he spends his time at home, helping his mother taking care of his new sister, Lily. Lucas then goes to college with Nathan and Haley. One year passes and unfortunately Lucas and Peyton begin growing apart, spending days without speaking, only exchanging some e-mails and having seen each other few times. Peyton was supposed to come to see Lucas at a Championship game of his college he coached with Whitey, but she couldn't because they kept her at work. Lucas and Nathan win the Championship and confetti begin falling, which reminds Lucas the moment when he and Peyton finally got together at the State Championship.

Leyton-Season-5-tv-couples-697515 500 282 — Lucas goes to visit Peyton in LA during the missing years ("I Forgot to Remember to Forget").

Lucas, seeing Nathan and Haley with Jamie, all looking happy, and then, on a bus, when Peyton sends him a music mix to remind him of her, he realizes he wants to visit her. He asks Whitey to drop him off at the airport. He flies to LA and immediately goes to see Peyton, which she is extremely surprised about but overjoyed. Lucas notices she isn't living her dream: all she does is give people coffee and work in a mail room all day. He plans a romantic dinner for them, but Peyton has to leave during in the middle of it because they called her at work again and tells him to meet her at the hotel. Lucas goes back to the hotel and waits hours for Peyton to return, eventually falling asleep. He drops an engagement ring box on the floor which Peyton finds at her arrival. She waits till he wakes up and, when he does, sees Peyton with the ring box in her hands, sitting on a chair and thinking about how much she loves him. Lucas says he wanted it to be a surprise and starts to propose to her by saying "Peyton, I love you and I want us to be together forever... I know it’s a bit sudden, okay? But I mean yesterday was a great day, and I’m sitting on the bus and I realize that none of my great days in my life matter without you. You’re the one I want next to me when my dreams come true and you are the one I want next to me if they don’t. As long as I have you, nothing else matters”. Peyton interrupts him and says "Luke, wait, there's a lot we have to talk about”. She tells him she wants to wait and she will marry him someday, but not now as she doesn't feel ready yet and she also doesn't want Lucas to move to LA because she doesn't want him to give up his dream of being a writer for her only to maybe one day wake up and resent her for it. She says she would feel the same way if he told her to give up her dreams and move back to Tree Hill and asks him to wait another year, when she hopes the situation would become more stable for both of them. Lucas makes her notice how they've hardly spoken and only exchanged a few e-mails and seen each other 3 times in the past year as Peyton responds "If you can't trust our love can last a year, I don't know how you're thinking about forever": Lucas tearfully takes this as a rejecting to his proposal and he departs the next morning without her knowing and leaves behind the CD Peyton gave him.

505lukepeyton — Lucas proposes to Peyton during his visit to her in LA, but she rejects him ("I Forgot to Remember to Forget").

Peyton is shown at work the next day, crying. She starts to slam the paper copier until a movie producer walks in, tells her it's only a paper jam and attempts to hit on her. Meanwhile, Lucas is heading back home when a woman named Lindsey Strauss calls him up to tell him she wants to publish his novel, so he changes his plane ticket and flies to New York to meet her. Then, later that night, Lucas meets up with Brooke (who, in the meantime, has moved there) and tells her he proposed to Peyton, but she said no. Brooke takes Peyton's side saying he shouldn't have ambushed her with a proposal out of the blue. They spend the night hanging out until Lucas, heartbroken, drunkenly tries to kiss her, but she immediately rejects him since she’s realized long time before that every time Peyton breaks his heart, he tries to hook up with another girl to rebound her: after that, Lucas in fact states "I feel so lost without her, Brooke. I don't know what to do without her”. Before leaving to go back to her business, Brooke tells him to focus on his book and that if Peyton will come back to him, then he will know it was meant to be.

One year later, Lucas' book has a signing in LA which he invites Peyton to and she happily accepts. She shows up, but Lucas doesn't see her through the crowd. She's smiling until Lindsey kisses Lucas on the cheek, so, thinking they are together, she walks out in tears, but Lucas and Lindsey weren't together at the time. Julian, the movie producer she met one year before, takes Peyton to a party and then they start a relationship, but he breaks up with her after a while because he realizes she is still deeply in love with Lucas: in fact, she buys a copy of Lucas' book every time she sees it and reads it over and over again in front of him. Julian is tired of it and says "I wonder if there'll ever be a day when I'm not sharing you with Lucas Scott": Peyton thought she was in love with Julian, but he turned out to be just a rebound. Meanwhile, in Tree Hill, Lucas is now really forming a relationship with Lindsey which Haley, seeing she's a good woman, approves, despite having always hoped that he would have ended up with either Peyton or Brooke.

Just about two other years later, Peyton realizes that she misses Lucas too much and she’s made a huge mistake letting him go again, so, feeling there’s nothing holding her in LA since her life and career aren’t as she had imagined and she can’t produce music at her own conditions, she quits her job at the record label and decides to come back to Tree Hill in order to have a fresh start and get Lucas back.

Season 5[]

At the beginning of this season, a lot has changed for Lucas and Peyton: as stated above, she has stayed in Los Angeles trying to figure out how to change the world through music, but she’s failed and had to get over another heartbreak, while on the other side of the country, Lucas' book has sold thousands of copies and prompted him to get another deal for a second book. He is still living in Tree Hill and Lindsey would come every now and then, flying from New York. When Peyton comes home, she finds out that not only Lucas is now with Lindsey, but he can't also write his second novel. Brooke encourages Peyton to open her own record studio and Lucas backs her up by letting her know his mother, Karen, is willing to let her use the back room of Tric as her office, while Peyton encourages him not to give up on his writing because, when she was ready to quit music back in LA, the words he wrote about her in his novel saved her and gave her new motivation and strength, repeating him the exact same words he told her the night of his first game with the Ravens to motivate him (“A few days ago I was ready to quit again, but you saved me with the words you wrote about me in your novel, so, if you’re struggling to write the next one, you should know that your art matters Lucas and it’s what got me here”), prompting him to gain his writing inspiration back and an idea for the second book. Although, this causes all kinds of rehash from their past, starting with the proposal that went wrong. One night at Tric, Peyton and Lucas have an argument that causes tension between him and Lindsey and prompts her to leave because she doesn't want to be second in his life: this leads him to walk to the back room and confront Peyton about everything. The two realize how much they still love each other despite everything and end up sharing a passionate kiss. Haley catches them and is angry at them for cheating on Lindsey. Lucas leaves to go find Lindsey, but when he gets home he somehow ends up proposing to her because she’s found Peyton’s ring, which he had kept in a drawer as he wasn't able to let her go, and threatens him to definitely leave him: when Peyton arrives at his home too to discuss what happened between them, she discovers the devastating news and is confused and hurt.

507lucaspeyton — Lucas and Peyton's kiss ("In Da Club").

Over the next few weeks, things get obviously intense for Peyton. She buries herself in her work with her very first musician, Mia Catalano, and has Haley on board as help. She and Lindsey have a huge fight during a library lockdown back at Tree Hill High for a Ravens game: Lindsey makes a "joke" about the school shooting and Peyton insults her, thinking that she's a rich kid who had everything in her life, not knowing that her dad instead passed away from cancer. Peyton apologizes to Lindsey, but their relationship is still anything but friendly. On the day of Lindsey and Lucas' wedding, something occurs to Lindsey at the altar in the middle of the vows: she remembers a passage from Lucas' new novel and definitely realizes that he still loves Peyton, prompting her to leave him at the altar and go back to New York. The passage in question is: "It was more than just a comet because of what it brought to his life: direction, beauty, meaning. There are many who couldn't understand, and sometimes he walked among them. But even in his darkest hours, he knew in his heart that someday it would return to him, and his world would be whole again... And his belief in God and love and art would be re-awakened in his heart”. Feeling guilty for her break-up with Lucas, Peyton then goes to find Lindsey in New York, insisting that chose her. Lindsey responds saying that Peyton obviously hasn't read Lucas' new book because if she had, she would realize that he is still in love with her and, to prove it, she gives her a copy of the book, titled The Comet (which is a clear reference to Peyton’s car, a constant in her and Lucas’ love story as they basically talked for the first time thanks to it), in order to Peyton can read it and understand what she means. Peyton leaves, even more confused, but when she gets back at home, she reads the book and bursts into tears, eventually realizing that maybe Lindsey was right and there’s still a chance for her and Lucas.

During this time, Lucas does some tries to get Lindsey back, but she rejects him all over again, leaving him more heartbroken, while Peyton helps Brooke to get on her feet with her newly temporarily adopted daughter, Angie, and keeps working hard to expand her record label.

Towards the end of the season, Lucas finds out Lindsey has started dating again and goes into an uproar during a Ravens game, causing him to enter a self-destructive spiral. One night, Peyton finds Lucas drunken at Tric: she takes him at home, cleans him up and puts him to bed. Before she leaves, Lucas wakes up heavily drunk and tells her he hates her ("Hate Is Safer Than Love"), breaking her heart.

LP-Season-5-leyton-19654611-500-369 — Peyton helps a drunken Lucas ("Hate Is Safer Than Love").

For the rest of the week, Lucas keeps going back to Tric and getting drunk every night since he has no job and is constantly depressed and miserable. So, Haley understands she needs her help as it’s time for him to get his life together again, giving him a lecture for his recent behaviour. She takes him out for a drive and has him stop at a green light as a water balloon crashes on the front windshield of his car: it is from Peyton, expressing how angry she is at him for telling her that he hates her. Haley tells Lucas he needs to fix this and apologize to her because he’s gone too far away.

After all that, Haley breaks her friend code of silence and shares information from her and Lucas's childhood, reading to Peyton some of the “predictions” they were writing every year before school started, so Peyton finds out that since he was 13 years old, Lucas has been in love with her since he wrote “Peyton Sawyer will become Peyton Scott” as his very first “prediction”. Thanks to this, she feels inspired and paints the River Court with a song of The Cure as a way to send a love note to Lucas. Then, Haley finds him sitting there watching Peyton’s paint and tells him "You know that romantic notion that all the garbage and the pain is really healing and beautiful and sort of poetic? It’s not. It’s just garbage and it’s pain. You know what’s better? Love. The day that you start thinking that love is overrated is the day that you’re wrong. The only thing wrong with love and faith and belief is not having it”.

518 l finds ps message — Lucas finds Peyton’s love note at the River Court ("What Comes After the Blues?").

Right after, Lucas goes to find Peyton at her record studio and finally apologizes to her for what he’s said because he clearly didn't mean it and confesses "I don't hate you. I remember the first time I ever saw you, all skinny arms and tangled mess of hair. It was hard letting you go, Peyton. You know? It was hard losing you and it was hard seeing you again and it's still really hard” at which Peyton responds that she knows it and that she often has a dream where they are in that hotel room in LA where he proposed to her and every single time she says “yes”, prompting Lucas to reply “It’s just a dream, right?” as she states “It’s my dream” ("What Comes After the Blues?"). Thanks to this conversation, the two realize that they have too much history and it still means a lot after all this time, making again crystal clear they still love each other very much despite everything and they’ve never stopped. This whole conversation and the one with Haley prompt Lucas to call one of his three ex-girlfriends, asking her to come meet him at the airport and go to Vegas to elope. The season ends with viewers not knowing which girl Lucas has called, despite being beyond obvious it can only be Peyton.

Season 6[]

601 p agrees to marry l — Lucas and Peyton finally reunite at the airport ("Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Part 1").

The 6th season begins exactly where the previous one ended and Peyton, as predictable, turns out to be the one Lucas has called: the two proclaim once again their love for each other and are overjoyed to finally get back together, but they soon realize eloping in Vegas is not romantic enough and not what they really want and deserve, deciding to organize the perfect wedding back in Tree Hill with all their friends and family. So, Peyton decides to bring Lucas back to the hotel room in LA where he proposed to her the first time to make her dream about saying “yes” to his proposal come true and to "correct" what went wrong in the past: they do so and finally get engaged. As they return to Tree Hill, they immediately move in together in Lucas’ house, finally beginning their new life together happier than they’ve ever been. Their rekindled relationship continues to grow stronger and stronger as the two successfully face the difficulties of living together, definitely gaining an adult and mature stability, while also going on pursuing their dreams and careers: Lucas with his writing (with An Unkindness of Ravens being chosen by Julian Baker, the film producer whom Peyton dated after her break-up with Lucas during the missing years, to be turned into a movie) and Peyton with her record studio. Not too much later, Peyton discovers that she's pregnant with their first child: the two are enthusiatic about the great news and the idea of becoming parents. As months proceed, they learn that Peyton has a high-risk pregnancy because of a disease called placenta previa and that having the baby could mean the end of her life, but they eventually decide to go through it together and not to have an abortion.

308780 8d4210cb-baee-4ca8-bc7d-46cfa25febf0-w3-sophiabush-leyton-bj-galeotti-laff — Lucas and Peyton are finally married ("Forever and Almost Always").

Soon later, Lucas and Peyton decide to get married before their child's birth at the lake where they first spoke ("Forever and Almost Always"), but then she collapses at home after the wedding because of her condition, so she is rushed to the hospital by a terrified-to-lose-her Lucas. While in a coma, Peyton gets into labor and gives birth to their baby, a daughter, with Caesarean section. Fortunately, she is able to survive and after some days wakes up, overjoyed to reconnect with a relieved Lucas and see her beautiful child, whom they decide to call Sawyer Brooke Scott. Then, the young and newborn family packs up all their stuff and leaves Tree Hill for good, finally gaining their deserved happily ever after: this is the last time we see Peyton and Sawyer ("Remember Me as a Time of Day").

Leyton and Sawyer — Lucas and Peyton leave Tree Hill with baby Sawyer ("Remember Me as a Time of Day").

After their departure from Tree Hill[]

It is revealed that, after their departure from Tree Hill, Lucas and Peyton have begun traveling the world with Karen, Andy and Lily while raising Sawyer and Lucas has started writing his new book. They are mentioned lots of times by the other remaining characters of the show, who miss them very much. The two were also supposed to come back to Tree Hill to attend Brooke’s wedding to Julian and Peyton was even asked to be her maid of honor (just like Brooke has been Peyton's maid of honor at her and Lucas’ wedding), but in the end they couldn’t come due to Sawyer being sick. Then, in season 9, Lucas returns to Tree Hill to pick Jamie and Lydia and make them stay with him and Peyton for a while due to Nathan's disappearance and Haley's need to find him. He also says that Peyton and Sawyer are doing well and the three of them are very happy together, but Sawyer has cold so Peyton couldn't come with him.

Memorable episodes[]

1x01 - Lucas and Peyton talk for the first time when he comes to help her with her broken car.
1x02 - Lucas and Peyton show the first hints of being interested in each other. In an attempt to motivate her not to quit her art, he tells her their iconic line “Your art matters, it’s what got me here” before his first game with the Ravens.
1x07 - Lucas and Peyton kiss for the first time and then almost have sex. When Lucas tells Peyton how deep are his feelings for her, she rejects him because she is afraid to open up to someone due to her traumatic past, leaving him heartbroken.
1x09 - Peyton tells Lucas she reciprocates his feelings, but unfortunately, in the meantime, he’s become romantically involved with Brooke in an attempt to rebound her, leaving her heartbroken.
1x12 - Lucas and Peyton’s feelings for each other are so strong that they end up kissing passionately and nearly having sex, but, thinking about Brooke, they stop.
1x13 - Unable to forget what happened between them, Lucas and Peyton become secret lovers because he knows she is the one for him and that he was just hiding with Brooke due to his fear of being rejected again (“She is great, but she is not you” - Lucas to Peyton about Brooke during this episode).
1x15 - Lucas breaks up with Brooke in order to be with Peyton, but, despite loving him, she herself tearfully ends things between them out of guilt for betraying her best friend, leaving both of them heartbroken.
1x20 - Lucas and Peyton try to reconnect because they miss each other, but while attending a party together she discovers he slept with Nicki after she broke up with him: feeling betrayed, she decides to cut him out of her life since she fell for him in the first place because she thought he was different from how Nathan was when they were together, but now it seems the two of them have switched places and she doesn’t want to repeat the "bad boy experience".
2x21 - It is discovered that Lucas has kept in his bedroom a box full of the momentous stuff about him and Peyton, which even Brooke sees as a clear hint that he’s never really got over Peyton despite being forced to move on from her. Also, Peyton apologizes to Lucas for telling him he was a bad friend some time before, but Lucas feels she was actually right, so he promises her that, from now on, he will always be there for her, much to Peyton’s happiness: the two finally make amends and start reconnecting.
3x01 - Lucas and Peyton spend the entire summer together, growing closer again and forming a great friendship by hanging out, sharing mutual secrets and intimate things and helping each other out with their complicated lives, lives, resulting in their bond becoming stronger than it has ever been. They also promise to each other that they will drift apart never again and that it’s always gonna be them, no matter what (“It’s always gonna be there, isn’t it? You and me” - Lucas to Peyton at the beginning of the episode).
3x13 - Peyton tells Ellie there’s a guy she loved and regrets letting him go, having started to think it’s been a huge mistake, but it could be too late, at which Ellie responds that it’s never too late: Peyton doesn’t openly refer to Lucas, but the details she gives line up only with her relationship with him. Furthermore, we discover that Lucas, despite having got back together with Brooke, has written in a letter to her the exact same words he had written the year before in one to Peyton which was in his “momentous stuff” box about her, once again proving that he’s really never got over her too. Also, while stuck in her apartment with Brooke, he is more concerned with checking whether Peyton is alone or not, as it could be dangerous for her considering the weather conditions, than actually being there with Brooke.
3x16 - During the school shooting, Lucas rushes into the building to save Peyton and finds her, wounded, in the library, promising her she will be safe, no matter what. As time goes on and Peyton begins thinking she won’t make it, she tells Lucas how he’s always saving her, at which, very touched by her words, he responds that “somebody’s got to”, prompting her to finally declare to a melted and happy-to-hear-it Lucas her love for him, then the two share a brief but meaningful kiss.
3x17 - Lucas and Peyton agree to forget what happened between them, pretending that it meant nothing and it was only because of the situation as they don’t want to complicate things and hurt Brooke again. However, Brooke herself tells Peyton that it’s clear Lucas still loves her, no matter what, and they both know it.
3x21 - Peyton ultimately realizes she’s still in love with Lucas and decides to tell Brooke the truth about her feelings for him.
4x08 - Lucas ultimately realizes he and Brooke are not right for each other and not meant to be, prompting Peyton to finally declare her love to him, who is left speechless because totally unprepared.
4x09 - Lucas finally realizes that Peyton has always been the one for him and the girl he wants next to him when all his dreams come true, prompting the two to get together officially for the first time. Unfortunately, at the end of the episode he has a heart attack due to not taking his pills before the State Championship.
4x10 - Lucas, who is in a coma, “meets” Keith in a sort of limbo: he tells his uncle that he has to come back because he's never told Peyton he loves her and wants to be with her, prompting him to wake up.
4x11 - Peyton can’t live her relationship with Lucas peacefully because, after his heart attack, she’s started to be afraid of losing him because apparently all the people she loves seem to leave her (her mum and dad, Ellie, Derek, Jake): Lucas tells her he couldn’t die because he had to come back to finally tell her he loves her and be with her. Thanks to his declaration and reassurance, Peyton is able to overcome her fear.
4x12 - Lucas and Peyton finally enjoy their love story, both feeling happier than ever.
4x17 - Lucas and Peyton finally make love for the first time on the Honey Grove Prom night.
4x19 - Peyton is offered an internship for an important record studio in LA which she applied for before getting together with Lucas, but is hesitant to accept because she doesn’t want to leave him. However, he is totally supportive and encourages her to go, stating that she’s “destined for greatness”.
4x21 - Lucas and Peyton, after graduating from high school, decide to go long distance because of her moving to LA. At the goodbye party with the Tree Hill gang, the two reaffirm their love for each other and state it will last forever, no matter what.
5x01 - It's been four and a half years: it is discovered that Lucas and Peyton broke up at some point during the time jump. Peyton returns to Tree Hill from LA, making things uncomfortable for Lucas, who is now with Lindsey.
5x02 - Things are are very awkward between Lucas and Peyton as several hints suggest that they are still in love with one another. Peyton tells Lucas that he saved her with the words he wrote about her in his novel after she was ready to quit her dreams because of her LA’s failure, reminding him that, if he’s struggling to write the next one because of his creative crisis, he should know that his art matters and it’s what got her home: thanks to her words, Lucas’ inspiration comes back after two years of not being able to write anything and he begins writing The Comet.
5x05 - Flashbacks show Lucas proposing to Peyton about one year after graduation and being turned down because she felt not ready for such a big step yet, ending their relationship. In the present, Brooke, thanks to a conversation with Lucas about having made the right decisions, understands he’s still in love with Peyton and openly asks, at which he awkwardly doesn’t answer and leaves.
5x06 - Lucas and Peyton have a huge fight about his proposal and her rejection, making apparent that their break-up still hurts very much for both of them. It is also heard for the first time their 'catchphrase', "True Love Always".
5x07 - Peyton admits to Lucas that she returned to Tree Hill for him and that she still loves him, prompting them to kiss passionately, but Lucas is too scared of getting another rejection to get back together with her despite still loving her too and runs away.
5x08 - After Lindsey has threatened him to leave, Lucas somehow ends up proposing to her, much to Peyton shock and heartbreak. However, she tearfully decides to let him go because she wants him to be happy, with or without her.
5x12 - Lindsey leaves Lucas at the altar because she realizes that The Comet is about Peyton and his everlasting love for her.
5x18 - Lucas, thanks to Haley’s motivation, is finally able to overcome his fears and insecurities, prompting him to make amends with Peyton. Eventually, he finally chooses her over Lindsey and Brooke once and for all and proposes to her again.
6x01 - Lucas and Peyton finally get back together, but eventually decide not to elope. Peyton decides to take Lucas back to the hotel room where he first proposed to her in order to recreate the same situation: this time she says “yes” even before he could ask her the proper question.
6x02 - Lucas and Peyton come back to Tree Hill and decide to move in together in Lucas’ house.
6x13 - Peyton discovers she’s pregnant with her and Lucas' baby and tells him, who is overjoyed.
6x15 - Despite being already engaged, Lucas proposes again to Peyton beside the lake they first spoke, which is “their spot”, thinking that, after everything the've been through, she deserves a proper proposal with him on one knee and a ring. Once at home though, Peyton says the only ring she wants to wear for the rest of her life is Keith’s engagement ring for Karen, which means a lot to Lucas and was also the one he used to propose to her the first time: Lucas gives it to her, stating that “now it’s right where it belonged” as she responds “and it will be forever”.
6x16 - Lucas and Peyton do the first ultrasound of the pregnancy.
6x17 - Lucas and Peyton discover that she has placenta previa and that having the baby could mean the end of Peyton's life, but they decide to go through it and not to have an abortion.
6x22 - Peyton is afraid she won't do it due to her pregnancy disease and asks Lucas to get married right away, but he doesn't want to because their wedding should be a dream come true and not a "just in case". Then, after Nathan asks him had he one last day to spend with Peyton whether he would prefer spending it marrying her rather than arguing with her, he agrees to get married right away, but underlining he's decided this way not "just in case", but because he loves Peyton with all his heart and wants them to become husband and wife.
6x23 - Lucas and Peyton finally get married in a outdoor ceremony beside the lake where they spoke for the first time and have the reception at TRIC.
6x24 - Peyton gives birth to her and Lucas' child, Sawyer Scott, and fortunately, despite having hemorrhage, she makes through it and she and Lucas can finally live happily ever after with their newborn baby.

Timeline[]

First relationship (Secret lovers):

First kiss: “Life in a Glass House” (1x07)
Began: "Crash Course in Polite Conversation" (1x12)
Ended: "Suddenly Everything Has Changed" (1x15)

Second relationship (First committed relationship):

Began: "Some You Give Away" (4x09)
Ended: Between "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" and "4 Years, 6 Months, 2 Days" (4x21/5x01), break-up shown through flashback in “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” (5x05)

Third relationship (Engagement and marriage):

Began: "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Part 1" (6x01)
Engagement: "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Part 1" (6x01)
Marriage: "Forever and Almost Always" (6x23)

Trivia[]

They are considered the core couple of the series along with Naley.
They are classified as a supercouple along with Naley and Brulian.^[1]
They are defined as a "star-crossed couple" because of the journey full of obstacles they’ve been through right from the beginning.
Both Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, Lucas and Peyton's respective portrayals, stated that they ship Leyton and they both agree on the fact that the couple was endgame from the get go. The same thing has always been stated by the series’ showrunner, Mark Schwahn, describing Leyton as a “meant to be/soulmates” couple and saying he "designed a world where Peyton and Lucas were meant to be together" and that "the seeds were planted for [Lucas] to pick Peyton in the pilot – in [that] first episode ... When Lucas is at the Rivercourt at the end of that pilot, you know. I think we feel like this is the girl [who] is his soulmate. And, you know, the pilot ends with him saying, 'I'll be seeing you'". Also, both Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz, Brooke and Haley’s respective portrayals, stated on the Drama Queens podcast they were told from the very beginning that Leyton was going to be endgame.
The song playing when Peyton nearly runs Lucas over at the beginning of the series is Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional.
The first thing Lucas said to Peyton is "It's me inside your head".
Lucas wrote two books based on his everlasting love for Peyton and about their love story: An Unkindness of Ravens and The Comet.
They were given a dedicated music theme to emphasize Lucas always being there for Peyton and saving her from danger and other difficult situations as one of their relationship’s cores: it is called Saving Peyton by John Nordstrom.
Peyton told Lucas they were pregnant over the phone.
Lucas proposed to Peyton four times. The first one was about a year after graduation, but she rejected him because she felt not ready yet and causing their break-up instead, the second one was over the phone at the end of season 5 asking her to elope to Vegas, and the third one was at the end of the season 6 premiere after they had decided they didn’t want to elope as they felt it wasn’t romantic enough, so Peyton took Lucas back to the hotel room where he proposed to her the first time to recreate the same situation and this time she said “yes” to him even before he could make her the proper question. Finally, the last time was beside the lake where they first spoke to each other (which was their “spot”) since, despite being already engaged, Lucas felt Peyton deserved a proper proposal with him on one knee and a ring after everything they’d been through.
They got married beside the lake where they first spoke to each other.

Highlights[]

"You art matters, it's what got me here"[]

"You art matters, it's what got me here" is one of the couple's highlights. In fact, it underlines that a major aspect of the relationship between Lucas and Peyton is the deep connection they've always shared thanks to being extremely alike and kindred due to both being introverted intellectuals passionate about literature, art and music, over which they bonded a lot of times. The line is pronounced by both in different occasions to try not to make the other give up on their personal art.

"You're always saving me"[]

As stated above, another of the couple’s cores is Lucas always being there for Peyton and saving her from danger ("With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept") ("I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness") and other difficult situations, to the point that a specific music theme was composed to emphasize this aspect of their relationship: it is called Saving Peyton by John Nordstrom. In fact, one of the most important and famous Peyton's lines to Lucas is "You're always saving me" (said by her several times and even included in her vows to him during their wedding).

"True Love Always"[]

Lucas and Peyton’s official 'catchphrase' is “True Love Always” ("Don't Dream It's Over"). The two painted the line on Peyton's closet door after they finally got together to remark the fact that it's always been them and their love will last forever, no matter what.

"Peyton Sawyer will become Peyton Scott"[]

Every year, before school started, Lucas and Haley were used to write predictions about the goals they wanted to achieve: "Peyton Sawyer will become Peyton Scott" is Lucas’ first and most important prediction, which he wrote at the beginning of the 8th grade when he saw Peyton for the first time and instantly fell in love with her. Despite this, it took him about three years to gather up his courage and talk to her for the first time, which he finally did in the scene where he went to help her with her broken car in Pilot at the beginning of junior year. Regarding that moment, Haley revealed during them two’s wedding that, after finally talking to Peyton, Lucas told her "Peyton Sawyer is not human, she’s an angel. And she’s my angel". And between that very first prediction and his first talk to Peyton, every single one of Lucas’ predictions was about her.

An Unkindness of Ravens[]

OTH — Lucas' first novel, which narrates his high school years, focusing, in particular, on his love story with Peyton.

An Unkindness Of Ravens is the first book written by Lucas. It is a sort of autobiography and narrates his high school years, focusing in particular on his love story with Peyton. The book is described by Lindsey, his editor, as "basically a love letter to her" ("For Tonight You're Only Here to Know"). As the novel recollects Lucas and Peyton’s love story, there are a lot of details about them, but the two most memorable excerpts heard in the series are Peyton’s characterization (“Peyton Sawyer is destined for greatness. Actually, she already is great. Because Peyton Sawyer has a thing called integrity. And nothing or no one is ever going to change that.”) and the detailed description of the moment during “Some You Give Away” when, after the State Championship win, Lucas finally realized she was the one for him all along and he would always be in love with her ("Suddenly, it was as if the roar of the crowd, the echo of the final buzzer, the cheers of my teammates were all sounding from a thousand miles away. And what remained in that bizarre, muffled silence was only Peyton, the girl whose art and passion and beauty had changed my life. At that moment, my triumph was not a State Championship, but simple clarity. The realization that we had always been meant for each other and every instinct to the contrary had simply been a denial of the following truth: I was now, and would always be, in love with Peyton Sawyer.").

The Comet[]

The Comet is the second book written by Lucas and also the second one recollecting his love story with Peyton, which is however narrated in a more philosophical and metaphorical way than in An Unkindness Of Ravens. The title is also a clear reference to Peyton's car, a 1963 Mercury Comet, which was the main reason she and Lucas spoke for the first time and remained a constant during their relationship. The most meaningful and famous excerpt is "The boy saw a comet and suddenly his life had meaning. And when it went away, he waited his entire life for it to come back to him. It was more than just a comet because of what it brought to his life: direction, beauty, meaning. There are many who couldn't understand, and sometimes he walked among them. But even in his darkest hours, he knew in his heart that someday it would return to him, and his world would be whole again... And his belief in God and love and art would be re-awakened in his heart." ("Hundred").