A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who's favourited and followed this story and me as an author so far and an extra big thank you to everyone who's taken the time to review! I really can't tell you how amazing it feels to get such a great response to a story when you haven't written in ages, so thank you all! I'm half asleep right now but I wanted to post this before I crash so that you wouldn't have to wait any longer. There's a lot of background info in this one so bear with me, but I'm trying to get all the little basic bits out of the way now so we can get onto the bigger plot quicker. Hope it lives up to everyone's expectations!


By the time they were six years old the Scott boys knew that their surname was a household name. It had become a globally recognised brand by the time they were in middle school. By the halfway point in their sophomore year all of America knew their family's history and everything there was to know about them. Before they had graduated they had become two of the most popular and well-recognised teenagers in the country. And, in the four years that had passed since, they had been used in advertisements and as poster boys for everything from fast food chains to charities. Their faces were so well known that if they wished to go outside unnoticed they had to go in disguise because there was always bound to be either a gaggle of eager fans or a horde of paparazzi waiting to pounce on them, hungry for even a glimpse of the nation's golden boys.

Of course, as with any celebrity, Lucas and Nathan Scott's fame wasn't born overnight and the story of their road to success was so well known by the general public that they could probably recite it in their sleep. The tale of their rise to fame didn't start with them being uncovered as child prodigies; in fact, it doesn't begin with them at all, but with their paternal grandparents in a town in North Carolina known as Tree Hill.

Into the proud name of the Scott family were born two brothers, Keith and Dan, whose father was a drunken deadbeat who squandered what little money they had on liquor and women and whose mother worked herself into an early grave striving desperately to provide for her family. Upon their mother's death, the brothers both took up apprenticeships at the local mechanic's garage and learnt how to fix cars and other vehicles. A couple of years later, the mechanic retired, leaving the elder brother, Keith, in charge of the business and under his leadership it became very successful, earning both him and Dan enough money to fund the latter's way through college.

Four years later, Dan emerged from college with a degree in Business and Marketing while his brother had started dating, and was by then engaged to, the love of his life, Karen Roe. Dan instantly put his newly gained qualification to use by gaining joint ownership of the Tree Hill garage with Keith and opening another branch in Charlotte (he also moved there himself, while Keith remained in Tree Hill), with the view for their company eventually to be able to make a chain of garages all over the country. Keith and Dan co-owned this new company and called it 'Scott & Scott', which perhaps wasn't particularly imaginative but, luckily for them, the business did well anyway. Within two years the brother had made enough to open up two more garages, this time outside of North Carolina. By then Keith and Karen were happily married and Dan had met and was engaged to Deb Lee but they were still existing in relative, though fairly affluent, obscurity.

The tipping point came a year into Dan and Deb's marriage, also marking the birth of their nephews, Lucas and Nathan – miracle IVF twins born after their parents had been told that they would never have children naturally. Not long after their birth, Dan began to feel the need to take the company in a new direction in order for it to become more successful. Before the twins had celebrated their first birthday Dan was celebrating the arrival of a new business scheme: he had decided to enter the market of making cars as well as fixing them. With Keith's support and approval, he started work on making up a brand and talking to experts in the field. Dan Scott was not satisfied with being mainstream or ordinary in life and so it made perfect sense that any line of car that he was involved in manufacturing would be as far from mundane and everyday as possible. He decided to create a range of cars aimed at the elite and this meant that everything had to be of the highest quality, so he hired the best people to work on every aspect of designing and creating his masterpiece.

After three years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, a new breed of car was born and the company changed its name to match the one that Dan and Keith had chosen for their cars: Raven. It was named after the brothers' high school basketball team, the Tree Hill Ravens, on which both had played and had often provided an escape from their father, thus earning it high esteem for the two of them. Business was slow after the first showroom was opened and the brothers had to rely almost solely on the revenue from their garages just to keep the company from going bust. But then, after six months of failure, out of the blue one of the world's wealthiest businessmen requested a personalised car to be made for him so he could attend a prestigious charity event in it. After the media coverage of the occasion, Raven's sales skyrocketed overnight and anyone who was anyone wanted to buy one of their cars. Raven cars became the modern man's Rolls Royce; as one car magazine put it: 'an instant classic'.

This was how, as previously mentioned, the name Scott was known nationwide by the time Lucas and Nathan had turned six, though, perhaps, it was untrue to call them a 'household name' as, due to the elite nature of their cars, most of ordinary households would have to sell half their belongings to afford one. But the brothers were now famous: they were the face of the company and were climbing their way up the social ladder. At Keith's insistence, they kept their existing garages open and built several more across the country and, later on, around the world to accompany their showrooms and factories. Less than 6 years later, Raven was selling to all major countries and had factories, garages and showrooms in several of them; they were renowned for being sleek, elegant: understatedly and effortlessly classy.

Here we come to the part of the Scott's story which truly led to Lucas and Nathan being celebrities: not content with just being one of the country's most successful businessmen, Dan eventually decided to start his own TV programme that would document the inner workings of his business. However, the show, which was instantly popular, quickly came to also show large amounts of Dan's personal and family life, and, later, snapshots of the lives of some of his employees and his friends and neighbours. The show joined many others in a line-up of reality TV shows that provided insight into the lives of the rich and famous and, of course, its coverage was good for business. In its first year, The Scott Life introduced Dan and Deb and their three children, the company's backstory and several of its workers; then, later on, their wider family was shown and the viewers became acquainted with Keith's branch of the Scott family.

It didn't take too many appearances from the young, handsome Scott brothers to get the audience to fall in love with them and so, unsurprisingly, the next year they were frequently featured in the new season as the show followed their careers in high school basketball, playing on the same team that their father and Uncle had years before. They were both incredibly talented players and the show's coverage of their games and training sessions led to them both being offered highly prestigious scholarships at top colleges. However, only Lucas accepted his as Nathan dropped out of high school halfway through his senior year, though for reasons that had never been explained. Nevertheless, Nathan's basketball career did not suffer as a result of his academic failure: he was offered a place on the Charlotte Bobcats' team and so went straight on to play in the NBA. Both boys left Tree Hill and Keith and Karen, now with their daughter Lily (who had been another miracle baby as she had been naturally conceived), moved away as well to put some distance between them and the fans. The show continued to follow both of the brothers and their fame continued to increase as they were offered sponsorship deals, featured on advertisements and invited onto talk shows.

Four years later, as Dan Scott and his nephews made announcement on national television that Lucas and Nathan would be returning to their hometown, which is where our story, and theirs, really begins.


The sun had set fully a mere matter of minutes ago and the sky outside the small house was inky blue set with pinpoints of blinking light from the stars which had taken up residence in it. The moon was a very picturesque crescent shape, glowing where it hung in the sky, suspended above the hundreds of buildings and streets below it that made up the town of Tree Hill. The river that ran through the town was a silver ribbon that rippled past the trees and roads almost silently as it carried away the debris of the day. The street was empty now, with only the light shining from the streetlights and through windows and curtains to show any signs of life. Inside the red brick house which stood alone at the end of the road sat the auburn and blonde haired girls talking to a pretty face on a small screen.

'Why do you think they're coming back?' Haley mused aloud, twisting her hair up into a bun to keep it from bothering her.

Peyton shrugged, 'I don't know; just now they made it sound like they'd been missing home but it's not like we ever saw them when they were here. They were always shut up in that massive house of theirs on the hill like they were too good to come and socialise with us 'commoners'.'

'Come on now, Peyt, I'm sure they didn't see us like that,' Haley said calmly, to which Peyton replied only with an arched eyebrow that she knew well enough by now was expressing her disbelief.

'You guys are so lucky!' Brooke moaned from the laptop's place on the coffee table, 'You're going to get to see them all the time and find out all the gossip. Ooo! Maybe you'll appear on the show!'

'I don't know why you're getting excited about that, Brooke, you're on TV all the time and you know plenty of famous people,' Haley laughed.

'Yeah but it's not the same!' Brooke waved her hand dismissively, 'It's our favourite show and we basically grew up with them.'

'We barely saw them after they started being home-schooled in fourth grade,' Peyton snorted derisively, 'we can hardly say we know them. And if you're that upset about it, Brooke, then you'll just have to come and visit us, won't you?'

'Of course!' Brooke clapped her hands in delight, 'I mean, I was going to come and visit you guys anyway, but now I'll have to make it even sooner!'

'Well, I can't say I'm that fussed about them coming back here but if it gets you to come back sooner, then I hope they move here tomorrow,' Peyton smiled at the image of her best friend on the screen.

'I'm flattered, honey, really I am, but how can you say you're not bothered about them coming to Tree Hill?' Brooke demanded incredulously, 'It's Nathan and Lucas Scott we're talking about here: two of the nation's biggest, hottest, richest celebrities; they're practically like royalty!'

'What can I say? I've never been a massive advocate of the concept of monarchy,' shot back Peyton.

'Oh please,' scoffed Haley, 'we both saw you getting teary when we were watching William and Kate's wedding.'

Peyton supressed a smile as she muttered a 'whatever' under her breath; she glanced down at her watch and instantly her whole body stiffened, 'Hate to cut the gossip time short but I've got to get home, ladies. It's almost time for curfew.'

She got up and started grabbing her things and clearing away the sundae glasses simultaneously before Haley swatted her hands away from the dishes.

'Leave those to me,' she insisted when Peyton tried to protest, 'there're only two and you'll have a mountain of them to do at home.'

'Thanks, Hales,' Peyton smiled tiredly as she pulled the smaller woman into a hug, 'I'll see you soon.'

'No problem, sweetie,' Haley mumbled into Peyton's curls, 'see you soon.'

Peyton released her before turning and carefully picking up the laptop, she pulled it close and wrapped her arms around it, knowing that somewhere in New York Brooke was doing the same to her laptop. It was another one of their silly little traditions that they had created since she had moved away but she was glad they'd stuck to it.

'Bye, B Davis,' she said as she put down the laptop and waved at the screen, 'speak to you again soon, okay?'

'Okay, P Sawyer,' Brooke nodded, also waving, 'and I expect lots of juicy gossip about the Scott brothers coming back to town. Bye, sweetie.'

Peyton smiled and waved once more to both the women before heading out into hallway and leaving the house. The walk back to her house was not a long one and it was one that she was now so familiar with through years of walking it that she could do it with her eyes shut. She and Brooke had been neighbours when they were growing up and, with Haley's house being only a couple of streets away, the three of them had spent a lot of time going between the three houses as children and, later on, as teenagers. As Peyton turned into her road she could see her house from the corner and Brooke's old one beside it. She still felt her heart grow heavier every time she looked at the place where her best friend had once lived and remembered that now a different family had taken the place of hers. Life had been easier when she had been able to escape next door and pour out all her troubles to Brooke when things got too hard at home; of course she knew that Brooke was only a phone call away if she needed her but it still wasn't the same as talking to her face to face. Also, she reminded herself every time she reached for her phone that Brooke was busy enough without having to worry about her problems as well; more often than not she would keep it to herself or go to Haley's house and speak to her instead. It wasn't that Haley was her second choice as a confidante – she loved both her best friends equally – it was that Haley was often far too kind and cautious in her advice whereas Brooke wasn't afraid to give Peyton a good verbal smack around the head if she needed it.

Peyton put her thoughts of her friends from her head as she walked up the path to her front door. The houses on her street were a lot larger than those on Haley's: her house was more than twice the size of the James' but in far worse condition on the outside. There had been a time, many years ago, when the Sawyer house had been the prettiest house on the street, with roses and vines climbing around the porch and up to the roof, sunny yellow shutters on the windows and a fragrant, bright garden in front. Looking at it now, it was hard to imagine that it had ever been like that: the roses and vines had withered away long ago and had been replaced with ivy that was now dying too, the paint on the shutters was flaky and most of it had warped or peeled off to leave an ugly brownish hue and, where there had once been grass, shrubs and flowers, there was now only a dry, dusty patch of earth. Peyton had tried her best to prevent the decay of her home but there was only so much she could do on top of her other responsibilities and, at the end of the day, it had been a choice between having food on the table or a house that looked nice; naturally, she had chosen not to starve at the expense of the house's aesthetic.

Digging out her keys from her purse, Peyton inched her hand towards the lock; she always tried to take as long as possible to go into the house to delay even for a few minutes what awaited her on the other side of the door. Eventually, when she could avoid it no longer, she twisted the key in the lock and pushed open the door. For one blissful moment there was silence and she stayed where she was, shutting her eyes and letting it wash over her like a balm.

'And just where have you been, young lady?' a shrill voice demanded from the dark recesses of the house, shattering the peaceful illusion.

Peyton glanced down at her watch and sighed inwardly in relief, 'It's ten minutes before curfew.'

'Yes, I'm aware of that. I can tell the time,' replied the voice sarcastically, 'that doesn't answer my question though, does it?'

'I was at Haley's,' Peyton answered flatly as she clomped through the house, 'I told you that before I left, just like I have every Monday for the last three and a half years.'

'That snarky attitude doesn't suit you, Peyton,' the voice sang from behind the door at the very end of the corridor.

She hesitated for a second as she reached the door, weighing up her options. All she really wanted to do was go to her room and lock herself away but she knew that she was going to have to have this conversation anyway, the only question would be whether it was now or in the morning. Seeing as she could hardly escape the fact that her presence in the house had not gone unnoticed, she knew that she was only going to make it worse for herself if she went upstairs now. So, she squared her shoulders and raised her chin and pushed open the door.

The open door revealed a woman alone in a large living room, reclining regally on a cream chaise longue over by the window at the far end of the room. The rest of the furniture was also cream, resting on pale wooden floorboards and the walls of the room were a pale green-grey colour; on one wall stood a large fireplace with a small fire burning within it and an intricately embroidered rug lying in front of it.

The woman herself was medium height and thin with long dark brown hair that had been coiled gracefully into a bun, her face was heart-shaped and covered in flawless makeup and two grey eyes stared out from it at Peyton. She was dressed in a blue silk robe and floor length nightgown with designer navy high heels peeping out from where she had tucked her feet under her body. In that position and in those clothes and makeup Claudia Sawyer looked like she was waiting for a photoshoot and Peyton knew that was exactly how she had intended it to look. She supposed that to most people her stepmother must be a very attractive women but Peyton was so accustomed to seeing her for what she looked like on the inside that she could never view her as anything other than hideous.

'What do you have to say to me?' Claudia demanded coolly from her place on the chaise longue.

'Sorry, stepmother,' Peyton said emotionlessly, knowing that whether she made it sound sincere or not they would both know that she didn't mean it so she'd rather not waste the energy.

'Peyton, how many times have I told you not to call me that?' the older woman frowned slightly to show her displeasure but not enough to leave a wrinkle in her otherwise unblemished skin.

'Sorry, mother,' Peyton corrected, hiding a smirk of triumph as she saw her stepmother wince at the term.

Claudia said nothing in reply but simply fixed her stony grey eyes on her stepdaughter, her face set in a dangerously impassive expression until Peyton finally gave in and said, 'Fine! Sorry, Claudia.'

The woman's face formed into something vaguely resembling a smug smirk, 'Good girl, that's better. You can save all that sentimental crap until the next time your father comes home.'

'And when will that be exactly?' Peyton asked casually, trying to hide the desperation she felt inside from her voice.

'Oh, it won't be for ages yet,' she replied vaguely, 'he was only just here after all.'

'It's been six months since he visited,' Peyton reminded her.

'Really?' drawled Claudia, 'It seems like only yesterday he was here, brightening all our lives. I really do miss him so when he's not here.'

There was a moment of silence as they both contemplated the fact that neither of them believed her.

'What did you want to speak to me about?' Peyton eventually prompted her, already itching to be out of her presence.

'I simply wanted to know why you've been lying to me for the last few weeks,' Claudia said, her voice sounding flat and disinterested but Peyton knew better by now than to be fooled by it: she could hear the underlying sharpness in her tone.

'I don't understand what you mean,' Peyton frowned in genuine confusion as she mentally went through the last few weeks trying to catch onto anything that might explain her stepmother's displeasure.

'I am referring to the Scott brothers' little announcement tonight about their return to Tree Hill,' Claudia said, examining her perfect fingernails under the pretence of searching for dirt under them, as if there was ever a chance of her allowing it to reside there.

'I didn't know anything about it until tonight,' Peyton told her, trying to let her innocence show on her face in the hope that Claudia would let it drop.

'Do not lie to me, young lady,' Claudia hissed dangerously, her eyes flicking up from her nails to hit Peyton with the full force of her cold, hard glare, 'you work for their family, you must have been told something.'

'I swear to you I haven't,' Peyton protested, 'they haven't told me anything. Before tonight I was as much in the dark as you, I promise.'

'Your promises and oaths mean little to me, you little snake,' came the venomous reply, 'why would they have kept it from you? You clean their house every week, they must have told you that they wanted it prepared for their return.'

'They didn't! Nobody knew about this until today,' she insisted, trying to remain calm, 'they probably didn't tell anyone so that they could keep it a secret and make sure that no one leaked it to the press before they announced it.'

The pause that followed was filled with tension as Peyton waited for whatever sadistic punishment Claudia had planned for her to teach her the consequences of deceiving her beloved stepmother. Claudia's expression was one of contemplation as though she was weighing up all her options before speaking again.

'Very well, I see your point,' she conceded eventually and Peyton's shoulders visibly slumped in relief, 'they could hardly trust someone like you to keep such a secret.'

Peyton held back from pointing out that, had she known in advance of the Scott's arrival, Claudia had already made it clear that she would have expected her to break that confidence in order to inform her of it, thus forcing her to be untrustworthy. Instead, she simply nodded and said tightly, 'Quite.'

'Good, well now that we've cleared up that rather unpleasant business, I can get to my other point. Now that we know that the Scotts are coming I want you to get this house back into shape, no more slacking and spending time with your little friends. We can hardly have the cameras and media coming to town and have the house looking like it does; the shame would be unimaginable.'

'I don't know what more you can possibly want me to do: the house looks fine how it is. Everything is clean and tidy and in order,' Peyton stated as calmly as she could.

Claudia let out a high-pitched giggle, 'Oh you stupid girl! I'm talking about the outside of the house of course, we're the laughing stock of the whole town. It looks like we have squatters living here or that it's some kind of crack den; I can't believe I've let it go on for this long. I want you to have it sorted out before the Scotts even set foot back in this town, understand?'

'But that's at least a week's solid work!' Peyton spluttered, 'I can't do it on my own, not with everything else. I just don't have time.'

'I don't recall phrasing that as an option, Peyton. I want the house looking perfect for the Scott's arrival and that is not an option. You'll just have to make the time for it – get up earlier, go to sleep earlier, come back and do it during your break, stop seeing your friends – I don't care how, just get it done. Have I made myself clear?'

It took everything that Peyton had in her not to answer back and she had to remind herself that it was not worth the punishment she would get, especially when she would just end up having to do the work anyway. So she swallowed her indignation and pulled her expression back to one of indifference, 'Yes, Claudia.'

'Good, I'm glad we understand each other. Now those dishes aren't going to do themselves, so run along.'

Peyton didn't need telling twice to get out of there, she turned on her heel and stalked out, barely keeping a lid on her rage. She could feel it bubbling up inside her, scalding her insides with the effort that it took to hold it in. There was no point in arguing that she already woke up before everyone else in the house and went to sleep after them, or that her break times and the few hours she spent with Brooke and Haley every week were pretty much the only times she wasn't working. There was no point because Claudia simply did not care and no amount of protesting would make her. Peyton had learnt very quickly that, when it came to her stepmother, she had to pick her battles.

Kicking open the door to the kitchen, she sighed as she saw the sink and the pile of dirty plates, glasses and cutlery next to it. Haley had been right when she'd said that she would have a mountain of washing up to do when she got back; it always amazed her how much mess was left for her to clean up in the evening when she did it throughout the day to prevent it from all piling up like it was now.

There had been a time when they'd had a dishwasher that had made Peyton's job so much easier but Claudia had deliberately broken it and then refused to fix it after Peyton had called her a selfish, money-grabbing bitch when she had taken that month's gas money and spent it all on a pair of shoes. To this day, Peyton still hadn't apologised: what she'd said was true and, no matter what had happened next, it had been worth it for the shocked look on Claudia's face. She finished washing the dishes, dried them and put them away before heading outside to the front of the house and taking out her frustration by pulling down all the ivy from the walls. She knew that she should probably leave it until morning so that she could see what she was doing but she needed to do something to calm herself down and anyway it would be one less job for her to do the next day.

'Stupid Scotts and their stupid show having to come back here,' she muttered angrily to herself while she worked, 'why'd they have to come here anyway? They could have gone anywhere in the world but oh no they just had to get all sentimental and want to come home! Stupid, selfish Scotts!'

When she'd managed to do as much as she could without getting out a step-ladder, she went inside and dragged herself up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible as she knew everyone else would be asleep by now. However, just as she was about to go up the narrow stairs to her room in the attic, she heard the floorboards creak behind her.

'Peyton?' a small voice called out.


Haley sighed deeply as she heard the front door swing shut; she turned back to face her laptop and Brooke's troubled expression and sat down on the sofa.

'I still don't understand how she puts up with that witch,' Brooke frowned.

'You know why she has to,' Haley said sadly, 'she doesn't have a choice.'

'Of course I know why, Hales, I'm just saying I can't believe our Peyton Sawyer has stuck with it for as long as she has. I mean this is the girl who verbally abused someone for pushing in front of her at a Cure concert for at least ten minutes; she's no pushover.'

''Course she isn't,' Haley snorted, 'to be fair, though, we both know how crazy she gets when it comes to The Cure. And it's not like she doesn't stand up for herself, it's just that it doesn't make any difference.'

'I'm still amazed she hasn't decked the woman yet,' Brooke smiled slightly at the thought.

'I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she does, and then who knows what kind of hell Claudia will unleash on her,' Haley said grimly.

Brooke was silent for a moment while she contemplated that thought before shuddering, 'Let's hope we manage to figure out a way of getting her out before it gets to that point.'

'It's been almost ten years now, if we were going to think of a plan wouldn't we have done it by now?'

'Maybe we just need to look at it from a different perspective,' Brooke mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

'Could do, but not now. Let's sleep on it and see if we come up with anything. I can't think of anything clever when I'm this full of ice cream,' Haley patted her stomach, then yawned and stretched.

'Good plan, Hales,' Brooke nodded, 'we'll just keep thinking of it whenever we've got a free moment and then text each out if we think of something. I've got to go now and it looks like you're drifting off anyway so I'll say goodbye and goodnight.'

''Night, B,' Haley waved at her and then hugged the laptop the same way Peyton had done before, 'speak to you soon, sweetie.'

''Night, Haley, take care of yourself, and even though I know you do anyway, keep an eye on Blondie for me, will you?'

'I will,' Haley promised, 'take care of yourself too. Bye.'

Brooke waved once more before Haley ended the call and the screen went blank. Haley sat still for a moment thinking of her friends before gathering up the dirty dishes and heading into the kitchen to wash them up. The only sounds were those of the glasses and spoons occasionally clinking as she rinsed them and stacked them in the dishwasher and the quietness grated on her. It had been several years now since the house had been full of life and noise but she still found herself missing the clatter and chaos that had surrounded her growing up. Everything seemed so empty and dull now, giving her far too much time alone with her thoughts which at the moment were not too happy given that she was thinking of Peyton's home situation as well as her own.

She finished clearing up and then went back through to the living room to pick up her laptop before heading upstairs. She put the laptop on her bed before heading down the hallway and knocking on one of the doors on the left.

'Come in, Haley,' a deep voice came from inside that instantly made her feel calmer.

'Hey, Daddy,' Haley smiled as she pushed open the door and saw the man sitting inside.

Even though she was probably far too old by now to be calling her father 'daddy' she couldn't bring herself to stop using the term, it made her feel like she was a child again: safe and loved. She knew that her father appreciated it too to know that someone still saw him in that light and needed him. Jim James was still a proud man in many ways and Haley refused to wound his ego any more than it already had been by taking away his role as her protective father, not when he had lost so much already.

She looked around the study and frowned at the mess which surrounded her father: the walls were lined with bookshelves but many of the books that had once lived on them were lying around or stacked up haphazardly in piles, various scraps of paper littered the room and the bin was overflowing with junk food wrappers. In the pale light shining from his computer screen, her father looked older and more tired, the wrinkles on his face standing out in sharper contrast and the premature grey hairs mixing in with the brown ones on his head seeming more obvious.

'You're back from work early, sweet pea, do you want to have some lunch?' Jimmy asked, breaking through her concerned thoughts.

Haley hesitated for a moment before saying gently, 'Daddy, it's nine o'clock…at night.'

Jimmy's head jerked up with a start to stare at the clock in confusion, 'Oh, so it is, I completely lost track of time! So did you have a good time with Peyton and Brooke, then?'

Haley was amazed for a second that he was able to remember what day it was and her routine when he couldn't even keep an eye on the time but then she saw the big calendar that she had made him at the beginning of the year lying on his desk with that day's date circled and a small note on it about her and her friends watching their show scribbled there.

'Yeah, it was good,' she answered quickly, anxious to assess just how much of the day he'd missed, 'do you want something to eat, Daddy?'

'What? Oh no, no I'm fine thank you, Haley,' he replied hurriedly, 'I just ate.'

'You just asked me if I wanted lunch, Daddy, which implies that you haven't eaten anything since breakfast,' Haley pursed her lips, so that her face unconsciously made the same expression as when she was unimpressed with one of her students.

Jimmy's shoulders slumped slightly in defeat, 'No, I suppose I haven't. You're too smart for your own good, you know that?'

Haley smiled, 'So I've been told. Now let's get you some food.'

'Hales, there's no need,' he insisted, 'I'll just come down and make myself something in a minute or two. You need some time to relax.'

'I've had plenty of time to do that. What I need is for you not to make yourself ill by skipping meals, and I know that if I do as you ask and leave you to do it for yourself then you'll forget about it and you won't eat anything. So come on, we're going downstairs now,' she ordered firmly, going round the desk and escorting him from his seat.

'I don't want you to go to any trouble making me food,' he protested weakly, knowing it was no use fighting against his daughter over this, not when she had her 'determined face' on.

'It won't be any trouble at all, I already left a plate of food for you in the kitchen so we'll just need to heat it up,' she dismissed his comment briskly.

Jimmy was quiet after that as he let himself be taken downstairs by Haley, wondering just how they had changed parent and child roles so that he was now the one being taken care of and worried over. They entered the kitchen and Haley instantly went over to the fridge to start getting his dinner ready but he moved in front of her and made her sit down at the table.

'I think I can find the microwave for myself, thank you,' he laughed and got the plate out from the fridge.

He put it in the microwave and set the timer on it before rooting around in the drawers to find cutlery. Haley had to bite down on her tongue to stop herself from telling him where they were: she knew that he wanted to do things for himself but she couldn't help worrying about him when he didn't even seem to know where to find a knife and fork in his own home. Eventually, he located the utensils and retrieved his food from the microwave and came to sit down next to his daughter at the table.

'So what happened on your show tonight?' he asked in between mouthfuls of food.

'Not much really, not until the end of it anyway,' Haley said, watching her father eat to make sure that he was eating everything.

'Oh? And what happened then?'

'They announced that Lucas and Nathan are coming back to Tree Hill for the next season, so there'll be cameras here in no time,' Haley shuddered at the thought.

'Are those the boys that were in your year at school? The soccer stars?' Jimmy frowned as he struggled to remember the faces that went with those names.

'Yes but they're basketball players, Daddy,' Haley corrected him with a slight smile, 'they're Keith and Karen's sons, remember?'

Jim's face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to recall them before it lit up with recognition, 'Oh yeah I remember, him and his brother make those fancy cars and they own that mechanics in town.'

'That's right,' she grinned, relieved that he remembered them, 'they own the big house up on the hill.'

He nodded, 'It's all coming back to me now. They left town a few years ago, didn't they? So they've decided to come back to their roots, then?'

'Yeah, I guess so,' Haley shrugged.

'Are you excited about it?'

She shrugged again, 'It'll be good for the businesses in town, I suppose, with all the money coming in from the film crew and the fans, but it'll be so busy and so full of airhead fangirls that I can't say I'm that thrilled about it.'

'Well, there'll also be sports fans, Haley, so maybe you'll meet a nice young man,' Jimmy winked teasingly.

Haley blushed and rolled her eyes, 'I have Garrett, remember?'

Her father wrinkled his nose in disapproval, 'What, that waste of space? You deserve better, sweet pea.'

'Daddy!' Haley gasped, her mouth forming a small 'o' of shock.

'What? It's true,' he huffed, 'you're too good for him and everyone can see it, even him.'

Haley rolled her eyes again, 'You have to say that: you're my father.'

'Yes, I do but it doesn't stop it from being any less true,' Jim's voice softened and he reached across the small space between them and took her hand, squeezing it gently, 'what has that boy ever done for you except take up your money and time?'

'Garrett cares about me very much,' she spluttered, getting embarrassed and flustered.

'Perhaps,' he allowed, though his eyes betrayed his disbelief, 'but you deserve more than someone just caring about you, Haley, you deserve someone who adores you, who worships the ground you walk on, who sees you for who you are and loves you unconditionally, even for all your flaws. You need someone to tell you how beautiful you are every day and who'll remind you of how precious you are to him, of how much he appreciates and loves you. Someone who won't let you slip away from him but will hold tight and never let you go.'

His voice wavered there and they both knew he was thinking of Haley's mother and his deep regret over what had happened between them. Haley swallowed thickly and blinked back the tears that had suddenly appeared in her eyes, knowing that it would pain her father too much to see her shed them. Clearing her throat quietly, she picked up his now empty plate and carried it over to the dishwasher.

'Even if I did ever find someone like that, you'd still be threatening the poor guy,' Haley said with a small laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood.

'Probably,' Jimmy chuckled, before adding in a serious tone, 'but I wouldn't try and make you break up with him. I might still think and say that he wasn't good enough for you, because that's what fathers do with their daughters, but I would be happy knowing that you had someone who would take care of you and protect you. And I promise you, Hales, if you ever find someone like that, I won't sit around insulting them.'

'Thank you, Daddy,' Haley smiled, going over and kissing her father on the cheek, 'but what if Garrett is that 'someone'?'

Jimmy snorted, 'Trust me, he's not.'

Haley bit back a laugh as she chose not to fight her father on this issue, 'Right, I think it's time we both got some sleep, don't you?'

In answer, Jimmy yawned loudly and then laughed, 'I guess so. Thank you for dinner, Haley.'

'No problem,' she smiled as they started to go up the stairs, 'I'm going to start making you lunch from now on before I go to work. I'll leave it on your desk so there's no way you can forget it.'

'I can make my own lunch,' he protested, 'I've done it before, haven't I?'

'You used to, but you've been slacking recently and I don't want you wasting away on me,' they reached the landing and Jimmy turned to head down to his study but Haley caught his arm and looked at him in reprimand, 'and just where do you think you're going?'

'To my study?' he stated but it came out sounding like a question in the light of her obvious disapproval.

'Oh no you aren't,' Haley shook her head, turning him around and marching him to his bedroom, 'if you go in there you'll be up all night and you won't get any sleep. You're going to go straight to bed and catch up on some sleep.'

'Haley, I'm not a child,' Jimmy reminded her gently.

Haley's shoulders slumped a little, and she said quietly, 'I know you aren't, Daddy, but I'm your child and I'm worried about you, so for my sake would you please go to bed now?'

He smiled down at her, 'For you, sweet pea, anything,' he leant down and kissed the top of her head, 'Goodnight, Haley.'

'Goodnight, Daddy, I love you,' she mumbled, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest.

'I love you too, Haley,' he said, hugging her back.

When they released one another, he squeezed her shoulders affectionately before opening the door to his room and going inside. Haley waited until he'd shut his door before heading to the next door along and pushing it open; she changed quickly and went through her night-time routine before collapsing on her bed, wondering just what exactly she was going to do about her father. He hadn't been this forgetful in years, not since he'd been at his very worst when things had hit rock bottom for their family. Before sleep overcame her, Haley told herself that she was going to have to keep an eye on him and make sure he was taking care of himself properly or she would have to resort to drastic measures.


Brooke sat alone in the silence of her apartment once her call to Haley had ended. She had turned the lights off while she was watching the show and now she couldn't quite find the motivation to stand back up and turn them on again, so instead she let the darkness envelope her and allowed the lights from the busy street below to flit in and out of the room. The lights and bustle of New York were still a little foreign to her even after three and a half years of living there: at heart she was still a small town girl and she was still adjusting to this big new lifestyle. Her heart often ached as she felt it pull her back towards Tree Hill and her friends that were, for all intents and purposes, her sisters. Though she loved New York and was still slightly shocked with how much her life had improved since she had moved there, she knew that her home would always be back in Tree Hill.

When she had first arrived in New York, she had been overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of it all, by how busy and noisy it was and she had stared up at the towering buildings as though they were giants from her childhood storybooks – something that her friends in the city still teased her about. Though she was mostly used to the thrum of the city by now, she still found herself standing in the middle of the street sometimes, staring up at all the buildings and lights in childlike fascination and wonder.

Despite the fact that this was the first time she hadn't been working all week, Brooke still felt unable to rest properly and, before long, she found herself rising from the couch to get her bag and put on her shoes. Within minutes, she had left her apartment and her building and was outside, caught up in the busy throng that swept along the sidewalk. She allowed herself to be pulled along by the human tide, unsure as to where exactly it was that she was headed to so she let her feet carry her while her mind wandered. She had only left the office a few hours ago and so didn't want to return there so quickly, not when she would only be bombarded with work issues as soon as she stepped over the threshold; going to a restaurant or bar alone at a late hour had never really appealed to her and so she saw no need to enter any of the brightly lit venues she encountered along her way. At first, she thought that she might want to go to a park but once she arrived at the gates to the closest one she found that she no longer wanted to enter it.

Instead, she chose a direction at random and continued to wander aimlessly, grateful that she had opted to change into flats before she had left her apartment. She was also thankful that the night kept her in relative darkness and she ducked her head down further to avoid being recognised by anyone. She had the desperate urge sometimes just to blend in with the crowd, to mingle effortlessly in with everyone else as she had been able to do for so much of her life until the events of recent years had made such a feat almost impossible.

Upon graduating from Tree Hill High School, Brooke had decided to go in a different direction from Peyton and Haley, who had both gone on to college and further education; she had been planning her own fashion line for a couple of years and had enough sketches and designs to demonstrate her talent and to interest potential investors. She had spent most of her spare time outside of school working a part-time job so that, when combined with the savings she already had built up over the years, she could save up enough to start her own company. Her father, being a wealthy businessman had, of course, offered to fund the whole venture for her but she had declined, wanting to be able to show everyone that she could stand on her own two feet and achieve everything through her own skills and strength. And, as everyone in Tree Hill knew, when Brooke Davis wanted something and truly put her mind and energy into getting it, there wasn't a force on earth that could stop her. So, naturally, she did exactly what she had set out to do and created Clothes Over Bros, a small boutique in Tree Hill that, after six months, was doing so well that she decided to grow the company.

Her family had an apartment in New York for her father's work trips and, as he had announced that he was having to move there permanently for his job, it seemed the next logical step to Brooke that she would move there with him and her stepmother, Kathy, and open another store there. Originally, the plan was that she would spend a few months each year in New York and the rest of the year running the business from Tree Hill so that she could stay with her friends. However, after the first couple of weeks it became clear that that arrangement would prove near impossible with the rate that the company was growing and becoming increasingly recognised and successful. And so Brooke had had to make the difficult decision to leave Tree Hill for good and focus on her business; the Davis family sold the house that she had grown up with and Brooke started renting her own apartment in New York to gain greater independence from her parents.

In what seemed like no time at all, everyone was wearing Brooke's clothes and she was opening stores nationwide, enabling her to transform the New York branch into the flagship store and to build her office headquarters next-door to it. Brooke soon became as famous as her clothing and designs; due to her trying to keep costs low when she had been starting out, Brooke had posed as a model for most of her clothes and used herself and her friends in most of her advertising. When she had moved to New York, she had held back from using herself in her advertising as much as possible but people had quickly heard about how young and beautiful she was and seen her old posters and somehow she had found herself modelling many of her clothes once more. This was how she had come to be so widely known to the general public and why she so often had to disguise herself when going out. Tonight, she was dressed more casually than normal: she was wearing black skinny jeans and an old, baggy grey jumper with simple dark grey pumps, her hair was tied back and the only makeup she wore was a small amount of mascara. She still looked far more model-like than most people would do in such an outfit and if Peyton and Haley had been with her they would have moaned about her always managing to look effortlessly stylish and attractive in whatever she wore. But they were not there to make such complaints and, though she still looked very pretty, few people would have expected to see the great Brooke Davis wearing such an ordinary outfit, thus she was relatively safe from the threat of being recognised.

Eventually, she reached a small square with a grassy area in the middle of it that was dotted with trees and a few benches; suddenly feeling the fatigue in her legs from her walking, she went over to one of the benches and sat down to rest for a moment. She shut her eyes for a second and let the warm breeze waft over her face. She smelt the faint scent of flowers and it vaguely occurred to her that there must also be some flowerbeds somewhere in the small green. For a second it felt like she was back in Tree Hill, relaxing on the bleachers on the riverside basketball court with her friends while they enjoyed some time away from school and studying. She could almost hear their voices calling out to her, pulling her back towards the past, back home.

'Excuse me? Ma'am?' a voice floated to her lazily, vaguely pressing on her consciousness but not enough for her to register it properly and what it might mean. She mentally brushed it away as she sought to reach further into the image that her mind had recreated for her from her past.

'Ma'am? Can you hear me?' the voice persisted, concern becoming more evident in its tone and Brooke became aware of a pressure on her shoulder.

Frustrated at being pulled from her reverie, she opened her eyes so that she could shoo away whoever it was that was disturbing her peace. She blinked disorientated as she saw that the sky was lighter than when she had shut her eyes; it was not morning yet but the indigo above her was starting to fade into the dark grey-blue haze that signified dawn was not far away. Frowning in confusion, she lifted her head from where she had let it drop onto the back of the bench and winced at the stiffness she felt in her neck.

'Are you alright?' there was that voice again, maybe it would be able to explain to her what was going on.

Brooke turned towards the sound of it and jumped slightly when she saw a young man sitting next to her on the bench, his body angled towards her and his hand still resting on her shoulder. He had wavy mid-brown hair that had become tousled in the wind and flattering stubble that gave him a casual air, his face was handsome but not intimidatingly so – it was open and kind looking. His dark brown eyes seemed to be smiling at her with their warmth and friendliness even as his expression displayed concern. She had no idea why but she felt instantly safe and reassured just by having him near her, which terrified her as her mind told her that he could be there to murder her. Another part of her brain, however, informed her quite calmly to not be so melodramatic and that nobody that good-looking could ever be a murderer and that, had he wanted to kill her, surely he would have just done it whilst she was day-dreaming.

Before she could ask him if he was a serial killer, he spoke again, 'Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to check you were alright.'

He removed his hand from her shoulder swiftly and shuffled back slightly, obviously afraid that he was scaring her, but his eyes remained steadily fixed on her to gauge her reaction. Brooke found herself inexplicably missing his touch and proximity and unconsciously leaned forward before becoming aware of her actions and blushing and averting her gaze from his.

'No, not at all, I just was lost in my own little world and it took me a while to realise there was someone trying to get my attention,' she laughed awkwardly, silently cursing herself for being so spaced out in front of such a ridiculously attractive man, 'sorry it took you so long to get me to work out what was going on.'

He laughed and the rich sound of it drew her in enough to get her to look up at him again, catching the way his eyes were shining in the dim light and the dimples that formed on his cheeks when he smiled, 'That's fine. You looked so peaceful I would have just left you to it but you were so quiet I was starting to get worried you'd stopped breathing. I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance or start doing mouth-to-mouth.'

'Wait, how long was I…absent for?' she frowned, trying to fight the redness that was surging back to her cheeks at the thought of his lips coming anywhere near hers.

''Absent'? You were asleep,' he chuckled, shaking his head slightly so that the parts of his hair that swept over his forehead swayed gently.

'I fell asleep?' Brooke gasped softly, suddenly understanding why the sky was so much lighter, 'I swear it felt like I only shut my eyes for a second…'

'Well, I got here about an hour ago and you were out cold then,' he informed her, a smirk playing around his lips, 'I've been checking up on you every now and then just to make sure you were still there and alright but when it seemed like you hadn't moved in a while, I figured I should come over and make sure I wasn't sharing this square with a corpse.'

Her eyes quickly swept the rest of the green until they fell upon an open book and a brown satchel on the bench next to the one they were sat on that she assumed were his and she gestured to them as she spoke, 'That's very kind of you but you should have been enjoying your book rather than worrying about some stranger passed out on a bench; I could have been some crazy drunk chick, and anyway, your book looks far more interesting than me.'

He shook his head, 'I've seen crazy drunk chicks passed out in random places before and you looked far too together and vomit-free to be one of them, believe me. And I couldn't really concentrate on my book.'

'Oh, why's that?' Brooke asked, tucking one leg under her and turning more towards him, then propping one arm up on the back of the bench and resting her head on her hand.

Now it was his turn to flush faintly and look at the ground, 'Well, I had to keep looking up from it to make sure this woman who was sitting on my usual bench was still there and that she hadn't woken up and left, because I really wanted to talk to her.'

'Why?' she whispered, leaning closer to him again.

'Because even though you were asleep, you were, are, still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen,' he glanced up at her through his eyelashes and gave her a shy grin that made her knees feel like someone had replaced them with jelly.

She was so unprepared for the compliment that she snorted softly, 'Please, my friends have taken photos of me while I've been asleep and I know I look like a mess: my mouth hangs open and my hair gets all messed up, I-'

The light touch of his fingers on hers cut her short, 'You looked perfect. You still do, in fact, and if it wasn't for the fact that I have a flight in a couple of hours, I would be asking you out to dinner right now.'

Brooke stared down at their fingers that were barely touching, trying not to think about how right the image looked, 'So you're from out of town then?'

'No, I'm a New Yorker, born and raised,' he told her, 'but I've got to go away for a while and I'm not sure exactly when I'm going to be back.'

Brooke fought down the inexplicable disappointment rising up within her as she tried to say in an aloof voice, 'It's okay to say you don't like me in that way, you know, you don't have to make up some excuse to save my feelings.'

She winced as she heard the words coming out in a small, hurt voice when she had wanted it to sound passive and reserved. Instantly, she felt his hand tighten around hers so that it was holding hers properly.

'I promise you I meant what I said. I'm not selling you some line, I wouldn't do that. I know we only just met but you have to believe me: I want to be selfish and ask you to wait until I come back but I don't know how long that'll be and I know that it's not fair to you. But I mean it: you're beautiful and I would really love to get to know you better,' he said so earnestly that she couldn't help but believe him.

'Okay, I believe you,' she whispered, closing her eyes and berating herself mentally as she questioned what on earth had gotten into her.

'Good,' he smiled widely and it lit up his whole face, before taking a deep breath, 'look, I really do have to go now or I'm going to miss my flight, and I know I have no right whatsoever to ask this, but…would you wait for me so we can have that dinner?'

Without even thinking she gave him an answering smile that left him dazzled, 'Sure. I'm Brooke, by the way.'

'Hi, Brooke. I'm Julian, Julian Baker,' he grinned at her, shaking the hand he was already holding in greeting.

'Hi, Julian, it was nice meeting you,' she squeezed his hand in return and slipped on of her business cards into his palm, 'I hope you have a safe flight and be sure to look me up when you're in town next.'

He opened up his hand and stared in shock at the name on the card for a second, 'Wait, Brooke as in the Brooke Davis?' She nodded and he shook his head in disbelief, 'I can't believe it, of all the women in New York I have to go and hit on one of the most famous fashion designers in the country; I can't believe I didn't recognise you, I'm such an idiot! I'm so sorry, you must get this all the time and you probably just think I'm such a creep now, so I'm gonna go and die of embarrassment. Bye.'

He got up and began to head towards his things to pick them up, muttering curses under his breath at himself but Brooke leapt up and caught his arm to stop him. Reluctantly, he turned around but refused to meet her gaze, even when she gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

'At the risk of sounding egotistical, which I promise you is not my intention, yes I do get hit on by random guys a lot. It kind of comes with the territory of doing the occasional bit of modelling, I guess, but believe me when I say that I don't enjoy it and I'm not the kind of girl to lead on guys just because I happen to be famous. When I say no to someone I mean it, but I also mean it when I say yes, and the same goes for what I said just now. I would love to go for dinner with you when you get back into town but if you say it's going to be a long time then I'll understand if you forget about me in the meantime or if it just never happens. From the sound of it, we're both busy people who don't have time to be starting something new when it's going to be tricky and long distance, so how about we just leave it until you get back and, if you're still interested, then you ring up that number and you ask me out on that dinner, okay?'

'Okay,' Julian smiled, 'honestly, I'd be willing to start from now but I get where you're coming from and I don't want to risk losing out on whatever this might become just because the timing wasn't right. But I won't forget and I will call you, so don't you forget, alright?'

Brooke nodded, 'Not for a second.'

'Good,' he sighed with relief, 'goodbye for now, Brooke Davis.'

'See you soon, Julian Baker,' she said, pushing herself onto her tiptoes and brushing her lips quickly across his cheek.

There was a part of her that very much wanted to kiss him properly but she reminded herself that they'd only just met and that this thing that had sparked so quickly one dawn in a small New York square would probably go nowhere so there was no point in making herself appear easy. 'What would Haley do?' she asked herself, and that was enough to get her to lower herself back to the ground and remove her hand from his shoulder. Julian beamed at her and his fingers briefly touched the spot she'd just kissed before he dropped them to squeeze hers again for a second.

And then, he was gone. He picked up his bag and book from the nearby bench and, with a wave, left the square and Brooke to stand alone in the gathering light of the now rapidly approaching dawn. It had all happened so quickly she had to wonder as she began to walk back home if it had all been part of her dream. Regardless, she felt as though she was floating along the streets back to her apartment, and she had to keep telling herself that he would probably forget about her as soon as he was on his plane, if there was actually a plane at all and it wasn't all just a cunning ruse to make a half-asleep fashion designer appear foolish.

Before she could overanalyse their whole exchange, however, her phone rang and she dug it out from her purse, feeling her hopes rise as she thought that it might be Julian calling her already despite what they had both said in agreeing to leave it for the moment, as she had given him a card with her personal mobile number on. Checking the caller ID before she answered, she cursed herself inwardly for being disappointed when she saw Kathy's name flashing up on the screen.

'Hi, Kathy,' she tried to keep the tiredness that was finally catching up with her from sounding in her voice as she answered the call.

'Brooke, darling, have you seen the cover of this month's Mirror?' Kathy's voice came from the other end of the line.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Brooke yawned before saying, 'No, I'm just coming back from a late night walk. I really just want to go to bed, can't it wait until I've had some sleep?'

She heard her stepmother sigh in exasperation and she knew she was probably silently questioning her sanity based on her choice of night time activity, 'Just pick up a copy on your way home, alright? Go get some sleep, darling, you're going to need it! Oh, and congratulations!'

And without any further explanation, Kathy hung up, leaving Brooke confused. She shrugged it off until she reached the newspaper vendor just outside her building that was setting up his stand to be ready for the early bird commuters. It was then that she saw what Kathy had been talking about.

On the glossy front cover of the top fashion magazine Mirror, was her own face staring back at her, albeit covered in makeup and heavily photoshopped. Above it in a blood red was the headline: 'Brooke Davis: The Fairest of Them All'.


A/N: So I think from that it's probably fairly obvious which fairytales Peyton and Brooke's storylines are going to be based on, maybe not so much Haley's one currently but probably loads of people will have been able to figure that out too. I'm used to writing Leyton-centric fics but I'm trying to give equal amounts of time for each of the three girls and the three couples when we get to them being introduced properly, but that attention might be spread over different chapters depending on where we are in the plot so please don't think that I'm forgetting about anyone or neglecting a couple or character because I'm going to try my hardest to focus on all of them. Hopefully I'll be able to have the next chapter up in about the same time as it took me to do this one, just depends on how much work wears me out! Thanks for reading and please review!