Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters!

"Lauren, hurry up, your dad will be here any minute, and no you cannot reschedule! His tour starts on Tuesday, so get a move on!" Peyton yelled down the hallway to her daughters room. She heard a grumble in reply and took that to mean that Lauren was packing her things. Peyton had been attempting to get Lauren to Lucas's at least once a month but Lauren didn't always make it easy.

If for no other reason than not having to fight with Lauren, Peyton was glad that Lucas's book tour started up soon. Honestly, she didn't want to see him go. Things had been strained, at best, between the two of them the past few months. She was afraid that the miles would put more distance between them and she didn't necessarily mean physically. The fact was that Peyton was beginning to realize that Lucas and she might never have anything more between them than the shared custody of Lauren. Since the day that he'd stood on her lawn and agreed to give his divorce time to finalize, everything that transpired between the two of them was Lauren-centric. The only conversations that they had were to discuss the comings and goings of their daughter. Peyton was losing hope that Lucas could still want to be with her romantically. He seemed so happy that his book was taking off and with all the trappings that came along with becoming a best-selling author.

"Mom, have you seen my black pants?" Lauren asked, dragging her duffle down the hallway behind her. The reason that Peyton hadn't actively tried to win Lucas's affections was standing right in front of her. Her daughter had seemed to fade these last few months. Sometime during the prior school year, Lauren seemed to have lost some of her sparkle. She no longer lit the room up upon entering it. In fact, Peyton was lucky to notice when Lauren came and went. The girl that stood in front of her now, with her black yoga pants, black tank top and her hair thrown into a messy bun, was not recognizable as the girl who'd been so ecstatic to make cheer captain less than a year ago. Truth be told, Peyton had overheard Lauren on the phone, talking about possibly quitting the cheerleading squad. Peyton had fought with herself time and again about whether to intervene or let Lauren do what she wanted. She didn't want to be the kind of mother who forced her daughter to do activities, nor did she want to stand by the wayside and watch Lauren throw away everything that had made her happy. Failing to find a happy medium, Peyton merely watched, trying in vain to discover the cause of Lauren's unhappiness.

"Aren't you wearing them?" Peyton asked, pointing towards the black pants her daughter had on.

"Not these, my other ones, with the tear in the knee?" Lauren explained in exasperation. Peyton rolled her eyes. The old Lauren would have thrown out pants that had gotten a tear, now they were to be treasured.

"No I haven't. Maybe they're in the wash? By the way, I sent in the forms for cheer camp. I thought I might chaperone after all, I hope you don't mind. It's just that I was thinking about entering some of my work in the art fair, down in Raleigh, and it seemed like a good idea to just spend the two weeks there with you, instead of driving back and forth." Peyton said brightly, trying to drop the bomb as cheerfully as she could.

"I told you that I didn't want to go to cheer camp this year, don't you remember?" Lauren asked, the anger rising in her voice with each syllable. Peyton did remember but she was hoping that a few weeks away from home and surrounded by happy people would help Lauren out of her funk.

"Oh, I must have forgotten. I'm sorry but I've already sent the deposit. I really don't think I could get it back now. It won't be so bad will it? You used to look forward to going, remember?" Peyton fibbed with a smile, hoping that she was pulling off the fake ignorance act well.

"Whatever. Shouldn't Lucas be here by now?" Lauren asked, rolling her eyes. Peyton glanced at the clock and saw that he should have been here at least ten minutes ago. She thought about calling his cell but decided to give him a few more minutes. She didn't want to look like she was being needy.

Just then Lucas's car zoomed around the corner and pulled into the driveway. Peyton was disappointed to see Charity was behind the wheel and not Lucas. She watched as Charity bounded across the yard and up to the door. She didn't even bother knocking anymore.

"Hey guys, dad was on the phone with his publisher, again, so I decided to quit waiting on him and just come get Lauren myself!" Charity stated with a grin. Lauren gave a small smile, the most Peyton had seen in weeks, as Charity grabbed Lauren's bag.

"C'mon, we've got plans tonight girly. You better have something decent in here to wear and I don't mean more black pants!" Charity said warningly, as she slung Lauren's bag over her shoulder. Lauren shook her head in amusement.

Peyton was thankful that Charity still tried so hard to pretend that Lauren hadn't changed so much. Lauren seemed to become more of her old self around Charity.

"Will you have your dad call me? And you girls have fun and be careful! " Peyton commanded as the girls headed out the door. Lauren nodded as she followed Charity to the car.

Peyton was glad that they would be leaving for Raleigh in a week. She sincerely hoped that she was right and that Lauren would do well, being thrust back into her old world. If not, it was going to be a very long two weeks.