First off, wow thank you for you're amazing reviews. They made me grin like a kid in a candy store! Special thanks to Biddy429 and EmmaJoie, you're reviews are what inspired me to update so soon :)

Chapter 2

"Tell Lucas what?"

Both women froze at the sound of the man's voice. They'd been so engrossed in their conversation that neither had taken note of Lucas re-entering the house.

Brooke was the first to recover. "Uh tell Lucas that…that he's dressing up as a clown for Jamie's party! No arguments."

It was the first thing that came to mind. Brooke hoped Luke hadn't been paying attention yesterday when they told him they'd scrapped the clown idea.

"But I thought you weren't doing a clown anymore?" Of course; he always listened.

"Well, he's back on!" Haley said, finally recovering.

"But I thought you were hiring a clown?" Lucas was skeptical. Their unusually high voices weren't helping, Brooke realized.

"He got in an accident… just tell us if you'll do it for your adorable little nephew or not?" She said, trying to make her voice sound normal.

"Speaking of adorable… Luke, where's my son?"

"Oh shoot, he's in the car! I just came to grab his cape… and yeah, I guess I'll do it." Luke gave them another weird look before leaving.

This time, the women listened for the soft click of the door before turning to one another.

"That was…"

"Yeah."

"So I guess we have our answer… we're not telling Lucas."

"Yeah, at least not yet. And we don't even know whether she's coming or not." Haley said.

"Who?" Both women jumped at the new male voice. They turned to see Nathan Scott standing in the same entrance his brother had been in minutes before. He walked into the kitchen, dumped his gym bag on the counter and turned back to the two, who hadn't moved an inch. "Wow. What's with you two?"

Both women recovered simultaneously "What's with us?" Brooke exclaimed "What's with you Scott boys? Just where do you sneak up from?"

"Yeah. I think they're trying to scare us to death!" Haley said to her.

"Whoa," Nathan said, holding his hands up in surrender, "I don't know what happened to you guys, but I don't deserve this verbal abuse! What got you all worked up?"

Haley and Brooke looked at each other. Finally Haley spoke up.

"Okay. But you can't tell Lucas."

"Oh, this should be good." Nathan smirked.

"We think... we think Peyton might be coming home soon."

"How did I know it had to do with Peyton?" Nate said with a smile, which quickly turned to a lighthearted scowl when his wife jabbed him in the chest.

"If she's coming home, I'm happy for her. This is her home, too and we've all missed her." Nathan said in a more serious tone, "And Luke will just have to suck it up. It'll be pretty interesting seeing what happens between them."

At that, Haley jabbed him again. Nathan winced, "I'm going to find my brother and my son before you two bully me further. And don't worry, unlike Luke, I can keep a secret." with that, Nathan picked up his keys and was gone once again.

Haley and Brooke simply turned to and gave each other a similar exasperated yet amused look.

"Scott men..."

"Can't live with them, can't live without them."


"Am I doing it right, Uncle Lucas?" Jamie asked his uncle. Lucas was teaching his nephew how to dribble up for a lay-up. The net at the river court was too high for the boy to manage an actual basket but he was excited to practice anyways. For Lucas, it was pure amusement. The fact that the basketball was nearly twice the size of Jamie's head was simply hysterical to Luke, but he kept his laughter to himself.

"You're doing perfect, buddy." Lucas said as he watched Nathan and Haley's silver Range Rover pull up. Apparently Jamie noticed also because he immediately dropped the ball, letting it roll onto the grass and shot across the court towards his father. Nate was prepared for this enthusiastic greeting and caught his son in his arms before walking towards his brother.

"Uncle Lucas was showing me how to do lay ups, daddy! It was the coolest!"

Nathan laughed "Was he? How about you show me?" Nathan set his son down and he ran towards the ball. "Hey."

"How's it going, little brother?"

"Not bad... practice was brutal today, after last night." Nathan was referring to the extra drink the brothers had indulged in at Tric the previous night. It was the reason for Lucas's late morning also.

"Yeah I think we went a little overboard," Luke said with a smile "Lindsay calling like crazy this morning didn't help."

"Trust me, I get it. Sometimes I think Haley is extra chipper in the mornings when I'm hung over, just for her own amusement."

"Hey what's up with Haley and Brooke anyways?" Lucas said, turning towards his brother "They were acting pretty weird when I was at the house earlier."

There was a pause. Nathan didn't know how to reply, Lucas would eventually find out about Peyton, but he wasn't going to be the one to tell him. "I don't know.. it must be all this party stuff. Those two get pretty serious when they find a project... so when's Lindsay coming back?" Nathan hoped his less than subtle topic change would go unnoticed by his brother. And it did.

"Tonight. Her flight lands at 8, we're going out for dinner after."

Nate couldn't help but notice that Lucas didn't seem too excited with the idea. "Oh, and how long is she here for?"

"Two weeks. She's leaving the morning after Jamie's party."

Nathan didn't have time to reply because at that moment his son came rushing towards them "Daddy, I have to pee."

The two brothers laughed.


"Sawyer? I need those Pitts contracts. Where the hell are they? Call me back, now!

"Sawyer? Why aren't you answering your phone? Call me right now or I'll fire you."

"Hey P. Sawyer. Just calling to make sure you're okay. That was a pretty intense call this morning."

"Sawyer, if you don't call me back within ten minutes, you're done."

"Hey Peyton. It's Julian. I was hoping you would pick up... call me when you can."

Peyton closed her phone with a sigh. Apparently she had fallen asleep. The California sky was now a deep blue. Stomach rumbling, she got up. Miraculously, she located a bagel and some cream cheese in her fridge. As she waited for her toaster to do its job she pulled out her phone again and dialed work. The firing threats were a daily occurrence, she didn't worry too much about them.

"Sawyer, finally! I was this close to firing you, do you know that?" Steve, her boss said as he answered after the first ring.

"In Carter's office, the blue folder in his top drawer."

"What?"

"The Pitts contract. Carter has it. Now I have to go. Bye." Peyton hung up with a grimace on her face. Working for a hotshot record label was nothing like she'd imagined. It was frustrating, fake and... Boring. Brooke's words from that morning came back to her mind. If I can run a clothing label from here, you can run a record label!

Could she do it? What if she failed in front of all her friends and family? Sighing, Peyton grabbed her food and went to the bookshelf and pulled out the book. With some annoyance she realized that the previous owner of this book had written all over it.. still she began to read and before long the story took over.

You see, Peyton Sawyer is amazing. She's independent and strong and vivacious. And the best part? She doesn't even know it.

Peyton stopped reading. She wondered if it would ever be possible to go back and become the girl in the book. She wondered if she ever really was the girl in the book to begin with.

As she looked down once again, the messy scrawl caught her eye I wish I could be Peyton Sawyer.

Peyton didn't know the story behind those words, or the person who wrote them, but she felt shame. Why would anyone want to be like her? Looking around at her tiny apartment and, if she was being honest, miserable existence, something changed inside of her. It finally dawned on her that she wasn't in L.A. to follow her dreams, not anymore. She was hiding. And that had to change.


She was in Tree Hill. As she waited for her bags, Peyton felt the nerves flutter in her stomach. She looked over at the clock, her flight had landed early. Brooke was picking her up. Peyton felt another rush of gratitude for her best friend. Brooke had been her rock for these past two weeks, after she'd decided to move back home.

Moving hadn't been as difficult as she'd expected. It gave her more satisfaction then she'd ever felt before to quit her job. Steve had told her she was making a big mistake, but Peyton knew he was wrong. Nothing had felt this right in a long time. Her landlord had no problem finding another tenant for her apartment. Probably another small towner looking to make their dreams come true in the big city. Peyton wished them the best. Her stuff was scheduled to arrive the following morning and other than a few phone calls, all there was left to do was book a ticket.

Now came the hard part: seeing everyone again. She missed them all, but had no idea what to expect when she finally saw everyone. It wasn't like she had long to wait, Jamie's surprise party was the following night. Peyton hoped the boy would like the gift she'd gotten him in L.A., an inscribed basketball with his name on it.

After finally getting her bag, Peyton made her way out of customs and into the crowded airport lobby. It didn't take her long to spot Brooke Davis, looking fabulous in a dress of her own creation. Peyton dropped her bags as she felt Brooke throw her arms around her. "P. Sawyer!" "B. Davis!" The two were laughing, crying and squealing in a way that best friends seeing each other after ages only could. People were staring as they finally broke apart and walked arm in arm to the exits, but neither cared in the slightest.

Peyton realized that the warmth spreading through her chest was something that had been missing from her life for much too long: A sense of belonging. She genuinely smiled as her eyes adjusted to the North Carolina sunshine. Peyton Sawyer was finally home.


"Luke? Lucas? Where are you?" Lindsay's voice peirced into his thoughts as he shut his laptop lid with a snap. He looked up just as she came into the room. "Have you seen my earrings? The diamond ones? I have an important conference call in 20 minutes."

"Oh umm, no." Lucas said.

"Were you writing?"

"Yeah. No. Sort of.. I wasn't really getting anywhere with it. Listen, I'm gonna go hit the river court for a while, and get out of your hair while you make your call. Bye." He was already halfway to the door, basketball in hand.

This was no surprising event in the past few weeks. Ever since Lindsay had come back, things had been strained between them. Lucas couldn't explain why, but it seemed like they talked even less when Lindsay was in Tree Hill than New York. He felt guilt over the fact that he'd basically been tip toeing around her when she'd only come to spend time with him, but he just couldn't seem to stop it.

Lucas and his thoughts both stopped in their tracks as he reached the River Court and saw a figure standing in the middle of the asphalt. A figure that was all to familiar.


Peyton turned around at the sound of a basketball dribbling. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. Her first glance of Lucas Scott in years and emotion immediately swept through pain tearing at her chest, that was to be expected. But the longing that ebbed in the pit of her stomach? Peyton hadn't been expecting that at all. No other man, not even Julian had ever sparked this degree of passion in her. Lucas Scott was the only man who had that sort of power over her.

Peyton pushed this thought away. She decided that it was only because she was seeing him after so long that she felt this way. She was over Lucas Scott. She was.

It was a moment before she realized that both of them were just standing their in silence. She took a deep breath "How long has it been?"

Lucas continued to stare at her for a moment, in a disconcerting way that made Peyton's mind travel back to the lazy afternoons they'd spent together, years ago. Some of them at the same court they were standing on now. She wondered what he was thinking about. "Two years?" Lucas said. He wasn't smiling, just looking at her, but the words were not unkind.

"It's been more than that," Peyton said, looking him in the eye "I've missed you."

She hadn't meant for those last words to slip out, but there was nothing she could do now. Lucas's brown eyes were unreadable. He was quiet for a moment before he finally looked away from her, towards the hoop. "I have someone... I'm with someone." He said.

Peyton felt her chest tighten. She'd known this, of course. Brooke had mentioned it once and then they'd never talked of it again, but it still hurt. Suddenly, standing there, talking to him felt wrong.

"I.. Oh." She swallowed hard. "I, well I have to go. Bye."

It wasn't until she was halfway back to Brooke's house that Peyton was able to breathe evenly. As she parked her car on the curb, she noticed the truck with all her stuff had arrived. Perfect, just what she needed to keep her busy.

It was a while later that Peyton heard the doorbell ring. She glanced at the time on her phone. She'd been unpacking her stuff for hours in Brooke's spare bedroom. Brooke wasn't supposed to be home for another few hours, and as far as Peyton knew she hadn't been expecting anyone so she was curious as she opened the door to Nathan Scott.

Peyton stood there for a moment. Then before she knew it, she felt her face crack into a smile as Nathan gave her a bear hug in an entirely brotherly way. "Nate!"

"Hey Sawyer!"

"It's so good to see you," Peyton said as she let him in "Brooke's not home right now, but I assume she told you I was back?"

"Yeah. Haley says hi. She wanted to come by too, but there was no one to watch Jamie and he needs to settle down soon. I guess you'll see her tomorrow though."

Peyton searched through the cupboards, trying to remember where Brooke kept her coffee mugs, so her back was to Nate as she listened to this. She swallowed hard. Peyton didn't know what to expect when she saw Haley. Her mind traveled back to two years ago, after Lucas's proposal, when she'd called Peyton and demanded to know what had happened. Peyton knew she was only being protective of her best friend, but she was still nervous to see her.

"I can't believe Jamie's going to be four already, I swear it was just yesterday that Haley was giving that memorable Valedictorian speech!"

"I think that every single day. He's so big now, and he's really excited to see his Aunt Peyton." Nathan said as they settled down with their coffee.

"I'm excited to see him too!"

"So how has everything been, Peyton? How are you?"

Nathan cut to the chase, just as Peyton remembered him to do. "I'm...good. It was time to come home, you know?"

"Yeah. I get it. We're all glad you did."

"Thanks... so how's basketball going?" Nathan took the hint. Peyton tended to steer clear of serious discussions.

Nathan stayed and talked for another twenty minutes. Just as he was leaving though, he turned to Peyton and said: "We really are glad you're back, Peyton. We missed you. You had us all worried about you out there. And just know that if you ever need anything, I'm here. We're all here. We're your friends, your family and you should never hesitate to ask, okay?"

Peyton simply nodded. His little speech had her in tears. With another quick hug he was gone.
As she closed the door, she thought of how nice it was to feel loved again. You were crazy to ever leave this place. She thought as she smiled.

So that was chapter 2... Peyton's home, basically. I know, I didn't give you much of Lucas/Peyton but it'll come later, i promise. Anyways, I'm writing chapter 3 right now..