Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill.

AN: I don't know who Peyton was talking to and what she was about to tell at the end of episode 6.12, but this is my version of what happens next. Could be spoilerish, so be careful. Please let me know what you think. Thanks :)

Summary: Continues where episode 6.12 left us - who will Peyton call and what will she tell?

"Hi… I have to tell you something."

"Peyton?" Nathan looked at his display, which confirmed it really was his ex-girlfriend and his brother's fiancée that was calling. He could hear the fear in her voice and was immediately worried "Are you ok?"

She tried to swallow her tears and shook her head "No."

"Did something happen to Lucas?" Nathan sat up and felt Haley's hand on his, while she looked at him with eyes full of concern.

"No." She let out her breath and closed her eyes, sobbing.

Nathan looked at Haley and shook his head, hoping she'd understand it wasn't Lucas. He didn't know what else it could be, but he knew better than not to take her phone call serious. "Peyton," he said, urging her to tell him what he needed to know. He looked at Haley, who encouraged him to continue "Peyton, where are you?"

"At Tric." Another sob came out and Peyton quickly covered her mouth with her hand while she took deep breaths to try to control herself.

"I'm coming right now," Nathan got up and grabbed his car keys "Just stay there, ok?" He waited for her reply, but didn't hear anything "Ok?"

"Ok." She spoke softly before she hung up. Peyton clenched her fists together and slammed her desk, failing at controlling her anger and disbelief.

Nathan stared at his phone for a second after Peyton had ended the call, not sure what to think of this. He looked at Haley, who had a confused look on her face, one that probably matched his. "That was Peyton."

"And it's not Luke?" Haley asked, wanting to hear Nathan say out loud that nothing was wrong with her best friend.

"No," Nathan said slowly, still trying to understand what was going on "I have to go see her, Hales."

"I know." Haley smiled at him, knowing that there was no threat in this. Not anymore.

He enveloped her in a hug and kissed her forehead "You don't have to wait up for me."

"You know I will," Haley stood on her toes and gave him a kiss "Now, go. She needs you." She followed him to the door and waved as she watched him driving off.

Nathan smiled at Haley, but soon concentrated on the road, constantly wondering what was going on with Peyton and why she had sounded so lost and scared.

--

"He's on his way, he'll be here soon."

Peyton paced around her office and kept looking at the clock as the seconds ticked by. It had been five minutes since she had ended their phone call, so he should be here soon. She sighed and closed her eyes as she kept walking, repeating the same sentence in her head over and over again. It was the one thing that kept her from falling apart completely.

"Nathan's on his way, he'll be here soon." She kept repeating those words as she opened her eyes to look at the clock again. Another minute had gone by and he still wasn't here. He won't come, will he? But he said he would. Peyton shook her head, trying to get rid of the insecurities. She walked over to the pool table and grabbed the eight ball, tossing it between her hands, debating whether or not it would make her feel better if she threw it against the wall.

Nathan parked his car and rushed up the stairs, not paying any attention to Owen as he made his way to Peyton's office. He carefully slid one of the doors open and walked inside, silently closing the door behind him. He walked around the corner, to where her desk was and got even more worried when he saw Peyton, who had obviously not heard him coming in.

She moved her arm backwards, tightening the grip on the ball and tried to find every little bit of strength she had left, before she swung her arm and the ball forward. She let out a combination of a moan and a sob, when her hand let go and her eyes followed the ball as it smashed against the wall, breaking off some pieces of brick.

"Peyton?" Nathan spoke softly, as he walked towards her.

Peyton broke when she heard his deep, gentle voice and tears came running down her face. She turned and looked at him "You came."

"Of course I did." It broke his heart to see her like this; broken, afraid, lost. She was always the strong one in their tight little group. Always taking care of everybody else. Nathan folded his arms around her small frame, promising himself that he would take care of her this time. He stroked her back "I'm here, Peyton."

She grabbed on to his sweater so tight, that her knuckles hurt, trying to ignore the growing wet stain that her tears formed, while she sobbed uncontrollably. Peyton felt relieved, knowing that Nathan would be there for her, that it didn't matter anymore if she would be able to hold herself together or not. He was here now.

--

Peyton listened to his soothing words, which he kept repeating over and over again and felt herself calming down a little. She didn't know how long they stood like that, but in the end her sobs got quieter and her breathing more steady, but she still clung to his sweater like it was her lifeline, afraid of what would happen if she let go.

Nathan rested his head on Peyton's and sighed, feeling hopeless. Whatever it was that she needed to tell him, it was something bad. He had stopped stroking her back and instead he just held her, as close as he could. He noticed tears had formed in his own eyes and his voice cracked when he spoke again "Peyton," he placed his hands on her arms and pushed her backwards a little bit, so he could look at her. But he saw the despair in her eyes and immediately pulled her close again "What happened?"

Peyton shook her head, still too overwhelmed by her tears to speak.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Nathan asked, not knowing what else to do.

She shook her head again.

"Did you and Lucas have a fight?"

"No." Her voice was soft and raw.

"Is he home?" Nathan hated to push her into talking, but he also wanted to find out what was going on.

"He's in L.A." She felt new tears coming to her eyes and started sobbing again.

"How about you come home with me?"

She nodded and let go of his sweater, now reassured he'd still be right there even if she did.

"Good." Nathan let out his breath, relieved that she at least wanted to come with him. He slowly let go of her and put his arm around her shoulders, walking beside her as they made their way out of her office.

"Come on." Nathan pulled her close as they walked through Tric, ignoring the looks that were thrown at them and guided her down the stairs to his car. He opened the door for her and waited until she got in before he closed it again. He got in as well and started the car, keeping a close eye on Peyton as he made his way home. Before he took off, Nathan took out his phone and texted Haley, saying he would bring home Peyton and updating her about what was going on.

--

Nathan opened her door and grabbed Peyton's hand. He helped her out of the car and continued to hold her hand as they walked inside. He quietly closed the front door and led Peyton in to the living room, where he put her down on the couch. Her face was still stained from the tears and she looked more fragile than ever.

Peyton bit her lip and closed her eyes. She knew she had to tell Nathan what was going on and why she was in such a state, but she didn't know if she still could. Saying it out loud would make it all so real and she didn't know if she was ready for that. If she ever would be ready for such a thing.

"Peyton." Nathan put his hand on her leg, trying to get her to look at him. She did and again he was struck by the sadness in her eyes. He knew there was only one thing he could do and that was to be there for her, so he held out his arms "Come here."

She willingly let his arms envelope her again and rested her head against his shoulder. She heard someone walking in and looked up, seeing Haley's concerned face. Peyton tried to smile at her.

"Hi," Haley looked at Peyton and knew this was serious. She sat down next to Peyton and took her hand "Do you want us to call Luke, hon?"

Peyton shook her head "No."

Haley felt a grip tighten around her heart when she heart Peyton's voice. It was so lifeless and fragile. She felt tears coming to her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to fight them, feeling ashamed to cry when Peyton was the one in need. She looked at Nathan, knowing they both wanted to help Peyton. But Haley also knew that Peyton probably wouldn't open up if she stayed here, so she got up and kissed the top of Peyton's head, before she gave Nathan a kiss "I'll be upstairs."

Nathan gave Haley a wink, glad that she was so understanding. He kissed Peyton's temple and sighed, speaking softly "What's going on, Sawyer?"

Peyton closed her eyes again when she heard him using her old nickname. It made her remember their high school days, when, after their break up, their friendship was one of the most valuable things to her. And even though they weren't as close now as they were back then, she knew he would always be there for her. Just like she'd be there for him. No matter what.

And because of that, he deserved to know what was going on. She carefully escaped his embrace and leaned back a bit, so she could look at him. Peyton cleared her throat "Just promise me one thing, Nate."

Nathan nodded.

"Don't tell Lucas."

"Peyton…" Nathan sighed, knowing that what she had asked him just now was probably the most difficult thing he would ever have to do. If his feeling was right, something bad was going on with Peyton and in that case, Lucas needed to know what was going on. He looked at Peyton and shook his head.

"Nathan, please. You have to promise." She looked at him, again trying to fight back her tears.

He heard the despair in her voice and could do nothing else but agree. He nodded slowly "I promise."

"Thank you." She could feel the knot forming in her stomach as the words started to form in her mouth, knowing that it was time. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his reaction when she would say the six words that would change her life in such a drastic way. That would change all of their lives. Because she already knew what his reaction would be. It would be the same as hers when the doctor had called her earlier today to give her the test results.

Disbelief.

Anger.

Fear.

She took a deep breath and focused on keeping her voice steady as she said those six little words out loud "I have stage four ovarian cancer."

- FIN -