Chapter 1: The Call

Lucas and Peyton Scott pulled into their new home in Tree Hill with beaming faces. They looked back into the sleeping body of their young daughter Sawyer who just turned 10. Looking at tree hill flooded back young teenage memories for both Lucas and Peyton. The school shooting at Tree Hill High, their marriage and even the day Peyton discovered she may die in childbirth. It had been over 10 years since they had called Tree Hill their home and the wrinkles on their foreheads and shadows under their eyes proved it.

Peyton thought back to the reason they had returned to Tree Hill and smiled. It was a blessing what happened but she wasn't sure if she was ready to face everything she missed. She couldn't be the maid of honor in her best friend's wedding, or watch her nephew Jamie become a teenager and star in the Tree Hill basketball team. Soon Jamie would be off to college and Peyton had to miss all of that. Even the birth of Millicent and Marvin's son Tanner who was now one year old they had to miss. She wasn't as prepared as she thought she was when she first received the call.

Sawyer had just come home from school and went upstairs to check her phone to see if her friend Laura had texted her when Peyton picked up a phone call from her mother-in-law Karen Roe. Karen sounded very distressed and tired. Peyton was worried for her mother-in-law.

-"Karen is something wrong? You sound really bad" Peyton said in an worried tone.

-"It's Tric Peyton, it might be shut down. Red Bedroom Records could be shut down as well. There's nothing I can do now." Karen said. Peyton was shocked. Tric was a nightclub her and Karen started when Peyton was just a teenage, Red Bedroom Records was a successful record label she started as well which founded many famous artists.

-"What about Chase and Chris Keller? Last time I checked they were running it! What happened?" Peyton pleaded, confused and distressed.

-"They left a little while ago, Chase went off to start a family with Alex and Chris Keller moved away. We had Haley running it in her free time but she can't do it by herself. She's still singing and running Karen's Café, she doesn't have time for a nightclub and a record label as well!" Karen exclaimed. Peyton always knew how found Karen was of Haley, Haley had always been her husband Lucas's best friend when they were growing up.

-"I'm confused, what are you asking me Karen?" Peyton asked, truly knowing the answer, but not wanting to say it out loud.

-"Either you come back to Tree Hill and run Red Bedroom Records and Tric yourself or it shuts down." Karen bluntly stated. Peyton was in shock.

-"Karen, Lucas and I have a life here we can't just drop our jobs and everything to go back to Tree Hill! Can't you do something? Can't you come back to Tree Hill?

-"It's Lilly's senior year Peyton, she has all her friends here, I don't want to take her away. And plus, I am way too old to be running two businesses." Karen said.

-"Well I'm not getting any younger either Karen. I just don't know. Lucas always tells me he can't go back to Tree Hill."

-"Why not, Luke loves it there, almost as much as the rest of us do. And I'm sure you can find friends, Sawyer could be closer to her cousins and family, there are too many benefits to count!"

-"Luke doesn't want to deal with Haley. None of us do. Not after everything that happened to her and everything she has lost. She hasn't called in so many months and her and Nathan might get a divorce. Right now to come back-" Karen started to interrupt Peyton.

-"Would be the best thing for Haley. She needs you two right now. Quinn and Clay took Logan and left Tree Hill. Jamie's moving off to college and Nathan might be divorcing her. She's losing everyone Peyton. She's depressed and no one can help her because no one is around. Even Brooke can't get to her without being shunned away. Lucas is what she needs right now." Karen was using every card she could get to get Peyton to go back to Tree Hill.

-"Karen, I'll have to talk about it with Lucas, I'll call you later but I'm just not sure." Peyton hung up the phone and sat in thought for a while. When Lucas came to her to ask what was going on she decided that they could talk about it now.

-"Your mom called." Peyton said blankly.

-"What did she want? Didn't she want to talk to me?"

-"No, she needed to talk to me."

-"Why is that?"

-"She wants us to move back to Tree Hill and run Red Bedroom and Tric." Peyton told Lucas. Lucas sat a while in thought.

-"Absolutely not."

-"That's what I said at first, but we could do it for Haley. I know you're mad at her for ignoring us but everyone is leaving her, she's so alone Lucas, we could help her!"

-"This is not going to be about Haley! I am not going to take Sawyer away from her friends just so Haley can stop moping around and get a grip! She's losing Nathan because she won't reach out to anyone, including him."

-"Trust me I don't want to go back to Tree Hill at all but I hate to see Tric and Red Bedroom and Haley all go down the drain. I want to help your mom. We owe her so much, I mean look at all she has done for Sawyer. She made quite the generous donation to Sawyer's college fund!"

-"I don't want to go back Peyton! I just can't see Haley depressed and everything I've missed by moving out here. I don't want to see how old Mouth had gotten or how Bevin is married to Skills or how Lydia is up and talking and 8 years old! I just can't stand that everything has changed and we couldn't be there to see it!" Peyton finally understood why Lucas couldn't go back to Tree Hill. Lucas felt guilty for not being in his friend's lives and he just wants everything to be the same.

-"Now I know we have to go to Tree Hill. You feel guilt for leaving Nathan and his family and you can't stand that you weren't in their lives. But there still is a chance Luke. You can still be there. You can watch Jamie and Lydia and Davis and Jude and Tanner become adults. It's not too late."

And that's how Peyton and Lucas decided that going back to Tree Hill was the best choice for them. But the story is not over yet. It hasn't even started.