Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

AN: This is just a little one shot, portraying the friendship between Nathan an Peyton. You know me, and you know that I think there's not enough of it on the show. I have to admit that I haven't watched OTH in ages and I didn't feel like going back to get the timing of this story right, but this is set during season 5, before Lucas and Lindsey's wedding and before Haley kicked Nathan out of the house for what happened with nanny Carrie. It's quite a rough draft, and I probably could have done more with it, but I hope you will like it anyway and I hope that this means my muse is coming back to me :) Please let me know what you think, thank you & enjoy!

Also; the complete story behind their first kiss can be found in one of my other stories - Down in the Past

'Sawyer,' Nathan sounded surprised to see his ex-girlfriend standing in front of him, 'What are you doing here?'

Peyton shrugged, 'I didn't really feel like being alone tonight.'

'Ok.' Nathan said slowly, not sure what to think of this.

'I brought beer.' Peyton smiled as she held up a six-pack.

'Well, then,' Nathan grinned, 'By all means, do come in.'

'Thanks, Nate.' Peyton said as she walked past him towards the living room where she sat down on the sofa. She waited until he sat down as well before handing him a bottle, 'Cheers.'

'Cheers.' Nathan took a sip and watched Peyton curiously. Even though they were friends and had been for a long time, it wasn't the kind of friendship were they would hang out on a regular basis, just the two of them. Usually it was more of a group thing, especially after high school. But they both knew that no matter what, they would always be there for each other, hanging out regularly or not. But still, he was surprised to see her sitting on his sofa.

'It's just, with the wedding coming up,' Peyton started, 'It feels like all Brooke can talk about is the dress she is making for Lindsey.' She looked at Nathan who nodded, encouraging her to go on.

She wasn't much of a talker, Peyton, so whenever she did spill her heart out, Nathan knew better than to interrupt. He had made the mistake of interrupting or changing the subject to sex way too much when they were dating and in hindsight he wondered if that was why it was still difficult for her to let people in. He always felt guilty when he saw how she struggled to trust people.

Her voice interrupted his thoughts, 'I get that she's excited, but hearing how gorgeous Lindsey will look in her dress every night when Brooke comes home is a little too much right now.' She bit her lip and started peeling off the label on her bottle. She knew it was strange for her to show up on his doorstep unannounced, but she also knew that Nathan was one of the few who wouldn't judge her for not liking Lindsey. And, blame it on the nostalgic mood she had been in the last couple of days, but she missed hanging out with him. She looked up at Nathan and tried to smile, 'I guess this whole wedding is getting to me more than I thought.'

'So,' Nathan looked at her, 'What are you going to do about it?'

'There is nothing I can do, Nate, he's made up his mind.' She shrugged, 'He is going to marry Lindsey,' she took another sip of her bottle, 'and now Haley and Brooke are organizing her bacholerette party and Brooke has asked me if I wanted to help them, but I, I can't. Our place has become wedding central; I just had to get out.'

Nathan nodded.

'I'm sorry,' she looked at him, 'I don't mean to bash on Lucas and Lindsey so much, I mean, in a week from now she'll be your sister-in-law and I,'

'Hey,' Nathan interrupted her, 'She might become my sister-in-law, but she's got nothing on you, Peyton.'

'Thank you,' Peyton smiled, 'But you really don't have to say that.'

'I know,' Nathan flashed his famous grin, 'But you're like a sister to me, Sawyer, I mean, I've known you for so many years, you know I got your back.'

'Thanks.' Peyton held up her bottle before she took another sip, 'Speaking of having known each other forever; did you know it's been eight years to the day since we last broke up?'

'Really?'

'Yeah,' Peyton laughed, 'I'm like an elephant with these kinds of things; I remember everything.'

'Really?' Nathan asked again and smiled, 'So when was our first kiss?'

'Freshmen year, party at your house, you were trying to prove to me that you were not a random guy.' Peyton said, without missing a beat.

'Oh yeah,' Nathan grinned, 'I remember now. You had just joined the cheerleading squad.'

Peyton nodded, 'Brooke had to drag me to that party; I really didn't want to go.'

'I'm glad you did, though.' Nathan emptied his bottle and got another one, while he remembered their relationship. His tone got more serious, 'Was it really al that bad when we were together?'

'No,' Peyton shook her head, 'If fighting and making up really was all there was too it we never would have made this far. I always knew you would become a great guy, Nate,' she shrugged, 'But I also knew that I wasn't the one who you be that great guy for.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, I don't really know how to put this,' she thought about her next words for a while, 'But when you got together with Haley, from what I could tell she really made you work for it, you know, it didn't come easy. And I guess that back then I just didn't have the guts to put you through all of that, afraid that I might lose you if I did. I mean, yes, there were times when all we did was fight and make up and I often wondered why I put up with all of that, but when it was good, it was good, Nate. And I didn't want to lose that.'

Nathan nodded, knowing that she right.

'To be honest, I was pretty jealous when you got with Haley.'

'What?' Nathan looked at Peyton, surprised at her confession, 'Why?'

Peyton shook her head and smiled, 'She was a tutor, Nate, and up until that point the only girls you would hang out with were cheerleaders. Besides that she was Lucas' best friend and for a while I really thought you only got with her to piss Lucas off and I figured that once you'd lose interest you'd come back to me. Because I was like, 'what does this girl have that I don't?' But then you were together for a couple of months and you married her and it made me realize that what you had with Haley was something we would never have,' she shrugged, 'And it was ok. It just took me a while.'

'I never knew that.' Nathan said and sighed, thinking back to the days after they had broken up for the last time. Anything but Peyton had been on his mind and hearing this made him realize he should have checked in on her more. Nathan looked at Peyton, 'I wasn't a really good friend back then, was I?'

Peyton shook her head; 'You weren't that bad,' she smiled, 'you just had other things on your mind.'

Nathan smiled at her kindness and was glad to see she didn't hold it against him. Her integrity was something he had always liked most about her. 'You should have been one of them, though.' He commented.

Peyton shrugged, 'We got back on track eventually.'

'We did,' Nathan agreed, 'and just so you know, I tried really hard to convince Haley to pick you as Jamie's godmother. Especially after that speech you gave me when we had to do that project in Senior year. I don't think you know, but your words had quite an impact.'

'I'm glad they did, but to be honest, I'm glad you picked Brooke as Jamie's godmother; she's much better at that stuff than I am.' She giggled, 'I'll just be his crazy aunt, taking him to concerts once he's old enough. The kid will have the best taste in music ever.'

Nathan laughed, glad to hear that she didn't mind. He really had tried, but Haley, being better friends with Brooke at the time, had insisted they'd ask Brooke. He put his bottle down and looked at her, 'Are you going to be okay, Peyton? With Lucas and the wedding and everything else that's going on?'

Peyton gave him a little smile, 'I'll be okay, Nate,' she took a deep breath, 'I know things will work out in the end.'

'I,' Nathan hesitated for a moment, wondering if this would sound strange, 'I just want you to know that I'll be here if you need anyone to talk to, okay? I know how you can get, bottling things up and not letting anyone in, I don't want that to happen again.'

'I'm not a teenager anymore, Nate, I don't really feel the need to sit in my bedroom and listen to depressing music for days on end.'

'I know,' Nathan smiled, 'but those walls of yours are still there. I just don't want to see you close yourself off from your friends.' He spoke softly, 'Or from me. I love you, Sawyer, I always will, but you have got to learn that it's okay to ask for help sometimes. It doesn't mean that you've failed if you do, it means that you don't have to go at it alone.'

'And you said something about my speech.' Peyton leaned her head against his shoulder and smiled, 'You really have become a great man and a great friend, Nathan Scott. And I love you too.'

- FIN -