Chapter 1: A New Family Dynamic

She's sitting on her porch swing with a blanket draped over her lap, while a cool autumn breeze gently blows her long hair from side to side. The porch lights are on and the sky is quickly turning into night. And like the good southern girl she is, she's sitting out on this porch drinking a fresh cold glass of sweet tea – even if summer had long been over. She tugs at a piece of her dark blonde curls, inspecting the ends and frowns. She's long overdue for a haircut. It's gotten too long, the ends are dry, and lately it's been a ratty mess that's prone to tangles. She's also been meaning to dye it lighter. She's sick of the color and misses her natural, lighter tresses. She's been telling herself to go see her hairstylist for weeks now, but it's kind of hard these days to find time for yourself when you're busy raising a kid. Not that it's a new development for her, after all she's been a mom for a little over a decade now, but it's even harder now that she's doing this as a single-parent.

Not to say that he isn't present. He's a good father. He always has been. He's there for his little girl and he always keeps his promises and engagements. But still their daughter lives with her full-time, and so naturally she's the one carrying most of the parenting weight around, while he only gets Sawyer every other weekend and some holidays. Though sometimes he'll call her up and ask if he can come over to see Sawyer even when it's not his turn, and she doesn't deny him the request. In fact she's grateful that he makes the effort to remain an integral part of his daughter's life. She's well aware of the fact that there are plenty of single mothers out there that aren't that lucky.

Not that he deserves praise, or an award, or anything really for taking an active role in his child's life. It's his job as a father. It's what he's supposed to do, but she's grateful nonetheless.

Things have been good between them lately. For the past few months they've been getting along. They're not fighting anymore, but that probably has more to do with the fact that they don't talk about it anymore. They don't bring up what went down a little over a year ago. They don't talk about how it destroyed their marriage because frankly there is nothing else left to say.

They had said it all.

They rarely discuss the divorce that they're smack in the middle of right now. They've left that up to their lawyers to handle. It's just easier that way.

The only thing they do talk about is Sawyer. It's neutral ground for them. It is a safe topic of discussion for them. And Sawyer really was the only reason she still maintained a relationship with her soon-to-be ex-husband. If it wasn't for the fact that they shared a kid she would have cut him off completely. In fact she had done just that during the first few months of their separation after she had kicked him out of the house. She was devastated and angry, and never wanted to see his stupid lying face again. If he was coming to see their daughter then she would drop Sawyer off at Nathan and Haley's place for him to pick her up.

He was forbidden from stepping foot anywhere near the home they had shared for over ten years, at least that's the message that Nathan had relayed to him. Not that he listened, he would randomly show up at the house while Sawyer was at school, when he knew she'd be home still getting ready for work. And of course they'd get into these loud screaming matches filled with hurtful tears, angry tears, and harsh accusations. And that always ended with a lot of apologies on his part that she really didn't care to hear. He suggested marriage counseling plenty of times and she would simply laugh in his face letting him know that there was no therapist in the world that could trick her into forgiving him. They were done as far as she was concerned. Though it wouldn't be until months later when he did finally resign to their situation and stopped trying to win her back.

Anyway, this went on for months until eventually she noticed the effect all this was having on her little girl. Sawyer became sullen and distant – which was highly unusual for the happy-go-lucky kid that she was. She had cried many tears not being able to understand why her parents were no longer together. Sometimes she barely ate. And seeing Sawyer hurting broke her heart to pieces – even more so than he already had. So she decided to suck it up and improve her relationship with her estranged husband. It was the right thing to do. She wanted to do right by her daughter. So little by little she started letting him come by the house more to see Sawyer. It was extremely awkward at first, but as the months rolled by it became more bearable. Her current relationship with Lucas wasn't perfect, but it was working. They weren't at each other's throats anymore and that's all that mattered. Sawyer was in a much better place than she had been a year ago now that her parents were getting along for her sake. They exchanged short polite conversations and communicated more directly, unlike before where most messages were passed along between Nathan and Haley – though not through Quinn of course because she refused to have anything to do with Lucas after what he did to Peyton.

If there was anyone who had more of a strong distaste for Lucas than Peyton did in the beginning, it was Quinn. A year later and she was still barely acknowledging his presence whenever she had the misfortune of being stuck in the same room as him – and that usually only happened when she was visiting her sister and brother-in-law. Nathan couldn't exactly cut his own brother out of his life, but words had been shared, punches almost thrown, and their relationship had been strained for a while. As for Haley, she was heartbroken over her best friend's betrayal. She could hardly believe what had happened. This was Lucas after all. He was supposed to be one of the good guys. He was supposed to love his wife until the end of time. It just didn't make any sense. Haley was angry and disappointed and boy did she let Lucas have it, but she was also his best friend. She was still there for him too. She was his shoulder to cry on even though she absolutely hated what he did.

The blonde took another sip of her sweet tea before setting it down and flipping through a magazine, enjoying the time she had to herself before Sawyer came home. Twenty minutes later she hears the familiar honk of his car and she looks up from her magazine and tosses it aside.

Peyton watched Sawyer and Lucas exit his car and approach the house.

"Mom!" Sawyer Scott quickly bounces over the pavement and up the porch steps to greet her mother. It had been Lucas' weekend so the eleven year old had spent the last three days with her father at his place.

"Hi sweetie." Peyton stood up as her daughter went straight for a hug. "I missed you." She whispered in her ear. "You had fun with dad?" She asked after the hug ended, acknowledging Lucas' presence for the first time with a nod of the head.

"Yup!" Sawyer responded enthusiastically. She's been a daddy's girl from the day she was born. The young blonde loves hanging out with her dad.

"How was the game?" Peyton asked noticing Sawyer and Lucas in their matching Tar Heels tees and caps. Lucas had mentioned to her that he was taking Sawyer and Jamie today to a basketball game at his alma mater, UNC. She had to admit that they looked pretty cute dressed the same. The mom in her was dying to take a picture.

"So cool! They won!" Sawyer replies excitedly. Both Sawyer and Lucas are grinning happily from the win.

"Nice." Peyton smiles. "You guys look really cute. Let me take a picture." She announces pulling out her phone. Lucas and Sawyer pose for her and she snaps a few shots. Peyton reviews the pictures. "I'll text them to you." She tells Lucas looking his way.

"Thanks." He replies.

"Are you coming in?" She questions. Sometimes he'll hang around for a bit with Sawyer before saying goodbye.

Lucas shakes his head. "I can't. I've gotta get Jamie back home before Hales sends a search party out for him." He jokes nodding over to the front seat of his car, where a fifteen year old Jamie Scott is busy playing with his phone.

Peyton waves over to her nephew. "James Lucas Scott is this how you greet your beloved cool aunt?!"

Jamie turns his head from his seat and smiles over at Peyton. "Hi Aunt Peyton!" He greets her before going back to his phone.

Peyton pouted. Jamie wasn't usually so short with her.

"He's texting the girlfriend." Lucas explained noticing her expression. "Haley let him have his phone today since we went to the game. He hasn't had it for two weeks so naturally he's been on it non-stop today. He barely watched the damn game." Lucas complained.

Peyton laughed. "He's still grounded?"

"Yup. The only reason she let him come to the game was because I bought the tickets months ago – well that and Nathan managed to sweet talk her into it. I was under strict orders to have him back home as soon as we're back in town." He grins because clearly he ignored the rules and brought Sawyer home first.

Peyton shook her head. She knew Haley James Scott did not mess around. She was going to be pissed.

"Hey Aunt Peyton!"

Peyton looked back over at Lucas' car when Jamie had called her. "What's up buddy?"

"Are you still helping me next weekend with that art project for school?"

"Yea babe, come by Saturday afternoon around two. Sawyer and I should be back from her soccer practice by then."

Jamie nodded and went back to his texting.

Lucas snorted. "Soccer." He muttered disapprovingly. "I can't believe my own flesh and blood would rather kick around a ball in some boring field than dominate a basketball court. You're a Scott, it's in your genes to pick up a basketball." He said dramatically. He couldn't understand why his kid would want to play any sport other than basketball. She was pretty good at it. Not to mention the kid was going to be tall like both her parents – which was a great advantage for being a basketball player. She was already growing like a weed.

Sawyer giggled and shrugged. "I like soccer daddy. It's fun." She loved basketball too, but had decided to join a soccer league this year with her best friends just to try it out. Lucas nearly had a heart attack when he found out – well not really, but he jokingly asked his kid if she was trying to kill him with the news.

"You know what they call people like you Sawyer? Traitors." Lucas teased and sent her a wink.

Both Peyton and Sawyer chuckled, each sporting cheeky smiles.

Sawyer sighed loudly and shook her head at her father's antics. He was being silly as usually.

"Alright kid, I think it's time to head on in and start getting your stuff ready for school tomorrow. It's almost bedtime." Peyton announced when the laughter had died down.

Sawyer groaned disapprovingly. The weekend was over and tomorrow was the start of a new week. She wasn't a fan of Mondays, but then again who was?

"Yes poor you, such a hard life." Peyton mocked before delivering a light playful kick to her kid's butt making Sawyer's frown disappear. "Say bye to your dad."

Lucas leaned over to hug Sawyer. "Bye monkey I love you. I had fun today. I'll see you soon."

"Love you too dad." Sawyer replied and gave her father a kiss on the cheek before pulling away.

"I'll be inside in a minute." Peyton told her as Sawyer grabbed her backpack off the porch and made her way towards the front door of the house.

"Scram traitor." Lucas teased waving her away as his daughter scoffed up at him and entered the house.

"Everything went okay this weekend then?" Peyton questioned.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah she was great. She seems happier and back to her old self again."

"Good. That's all I want."

"Me too." Lucas said quietly.

"Oh remember that next week is that spelling bee thing at school. You're still coming right?"

He nodded again. "I remember. I'll be there."

"Ok perfect. We'll see you then."

Lucas took in a deep breath. "Um Peyton?" He called out just as she was turning to head inside the house.

Peyton paused returning his gaze.

"There's something important that I kind of need to talk to you about." He had been putting off this talk for some time now, afraid of her reaction. She wasn't going to be happy with him – not that it would be such a drastic change in mood for her when it came to him. He knew that Peyton simply only tolerated him for Sawyer's sake. "I do still need to drop off Jamie though. I was wondering if I could stop by later tonight after Sawyer's in bed so we can talk."

Peyton raised an eyebrow. "Is it serious? Should I be worried?" She said concerned.

"I really don't wanna get into it right now. Is it fine if I stop by later?"

Peyton slowly nodded. "Fine." She sighed. "Text me when you're on your way." Lucas nodded and she watched him leave her front porch and drive away without another word.

This talk suddenly had her worried. The fact that Lucas wouldn't even disclose the topic of conversation beforehand was enough of a red flag for her.

"Hey kiddio." Fifteen minutes later Peyton had gone into Sawyer's room to check up on her. She found her already dressed in her PJs, stuffing some books into her school backpack.

"You all set here?"

Sawyer nodded but was oddly silent.

"Hey what's wrong?" Peyton asked noticing her daughter's change in demeanor.

Sawyer zipped up her bag and set it down. She shrugged at her mother. "You could have came with us to the game you know. Daddy would have gotten you a ticket."

"It was dad's weekend with you. It's important that you guys spend time together without me. I don't want to intrude on that." It was a white lie of course. Even if Lucas had invited her to the game there was no way in hell she would have gone. It was one thing to see him in-between pickups and drop offs with Sawyer, but spending an entire afternoon with the man she thought she'd be spending the rest of her life with was just too hard.

"We never do anything together as a family anymore." Sawyer said glumly. Peyton could see the way her daughter's eyes glossed over as she held back her tears.

It broke her heart to see her like this every single time.

"Hey come over here." Peyton led Sawyer to her twin bed, where they both sat down. She put an arm around her teary kid, pulling her close. "I know how hard it's been for you to see me and daddy not together anymore. It's been really hard for me too. It's not easy for me either, but I'm proud of you sweetie. You've been a trooper through all of this. You've been really brave even though I know it hurts."

"I don't want you guys to get a divorce." Sawyer said quietly.

Peyton sighed. "People grow apart sweetie. That's what happened to me and your dad. We can't stay together if we're not happy. That wouldn't be fair to anyone. Can you try to understand that?"

"You're not sad anymore that you aren't together?" Sawyer asked through a sniffle.

"Sometimes." Peyton answered honestly. Sometimes she did find herself wishing they could have worked things out, but it would have never worked. She would have never been able to trust him again. "But I'm doing better now."

Sawyer slowly nodded. "You smile more now." She pointed out. "You used to cry a lot. I know you thought I didn't I know, but I heard you sometimes." The eleven year old revealed.

Peyton's face fell. "Oh I'm so sorry baby." She ran a hand through Sawyer's hair to comfort her.

Sawyer shrugged. "It's okay. Daddy made you sad, but you're not sad anymore, so…so I guess I'm glad you're not sad anymore mom. It's just that sometimes I wish the three of us could do stuff together like before, that's all."

Peyton nodded in understanding, her own tears now threatening to fall. She hated this. She hated all of this. It wasn't fair that her kid had to go through this. "I think we just need a little more time to adjust to things." At least Peyton did. She just wasn't ready to take that step yet. "But we'll get there one day." She knew it would be hard, but she had to try for her daughter.

"You promise?" Sawyer looked up at her mother with her giant blue eyes. Some tears had already fallen across her face.

Peyton looked down at her daughter. She was the splitting image of her father. She had his blue eyes, his mouth, his chin and even the same nose that slightly pointed up at the tip. Her hair was the same shade of blonde as Lucas' too. Sawyer had ended up with her mother's curly hair, though they were much looser curls - really more wavy than curly, unlike the tighter ringlets Peyton had when she was young – no doubt a combined result of Lucas' straight hair with Peyton's curls. And even though Sawyer looked mostly like her father, many of her personality traits was all Peyton. She was short-tempered at times, sassy, and sarcastic. She even had some of the same mannerism as her mother – there wasn't another eleven year old out there that was able to master the eye-roll quite as well as Sawyer Scott did. Her mother had taught her well.

"I promise." She placed a kiss on Sawyer's forehead. "You know Sawyer just because things didn't work out between me and dad, it doesn't make us any less of a family. You, dad and I will always be a family. We're gonna be a part of each other's lives forever. Dad and I will always have your back. And so will Aunt Haley, Uncle Nathan, Jamie and Aunt Quinn. We're your family." She playfully poked Sawyer at her sides. "You're stuck with us for life dude."

Sawyer giggled shoving her mother's finger away. "Okay, okay!" She shrieked as her mother's pokes persisted. She's an extremely ticklish child.

"I love you ladybug." Peyton reached out wiping Sawyer's face clean from her lingering tears and then hugged her tightly. "Everything's gonna be okay. I promise."

"I love you too mom." Sawyer mumbled underneath her mother's tight embrace. When they broke apart, she looked up at Peyton. Copying her mother's actions she wiped away the stray tear sitting on Peyton's cheek.

Peyton smiled lovingly at her daughter. She took a deep breath. "Hey how about some hot chocolate before bedtime?" She suggested wanting to lighten the mood.

Sawyer nodded eagerly. "With extra marshmallows." She requested.

"You got it kid."

So I've had this story brewing in my head for quite some time now and for some reason I just couldn't put it on the back burner. It needed to be written now! That being said (just a fair warning) updates for this story won't be super frequent as I still have my other OTH story 'Strangers in the Night' (check it out if you haven't already!) and that's pretty much my baby and main focus right now. So be patient with me on this one guys!

Besides Lucas & Peyton, other featured characters in this story will be Sawyer, Nathan, Haley & Quinn. They'll be supporting characters. I'll give a little more background on everyone in the next chapter.

Let know what ya'll think! I'm super excited about this one!