Brooke walked into Lucas' house looking for Peyton. Peyton was sitting at the breakfast table eating and flipping through B Davis Magazine.
"Hey P Sawyer. Can I talk to you?" Brooke said.
"That's what I'm here for," Peyton said with a smile.
Brooke sank down into the chair opposite Peyton. "I met Sam last night," she muttered.
Peyton lit up. "Oh, I didn't know she was in town. I love that girl!"
Brooke raised her eyebrows. "Are we talking about the same girl?"
"Uh-oh. What happened?" Peyton asked.
"Does she always dress like a gothic hooker?" Brooke wondered.
Peyton laughed aloud at the description. "No!"
"I tried everything. I was nice. I told her I used to be a cheerleader. Nothing. How did you talk to her?" Brooke said with a hint of desperation.
"I don't know. I just talked to her. Maybe she was just having a bad day," Peyton said.
"Or she just hates me," Brooke muttered.
Sam came up with a plan to hook Peyton and her dad up. Phase one of the plan was calling her grandfather. "Samantha! To what do I owe this pleasure?" His voice boomed out.
"Hi Granddad," Sam said sweetly. Her grandfather and her dad didn't get along, but both men absolutely adored her. She knew they would do anything for her, and she was planning on taking advantage of that. "I need a favor."
"Anything."
Sam smiled. "I need you to get the author of Ravens in LA."
"Why?"
"He's engaged to Peyton," Sam said simply.
"I always liked Peyton. I never understood why Julian broke up with her."
"He broke up with her because he was too stupid or too scared to lose her. He still loves her. I know he does. We can still be a family," Sam said confidently.
Phase two of the plan was a little bit harder. She needed a way to get Julian and Peyton some alone time. She knew neither of them was likely to agree to this part of her plan.
Sam needed some kind of an emergency. She knew Julian and Peyton would drop everything if they thought she was in danger. She was still trying to think of the perfect emergency when Julian knocked on the door. She opened it.
"You're not ready yet?" Julian asked when he saw that his daughter was still wearing pajamas. "I need to go over to Tric. We're holding auditions there. Brooke's going to meet us for lunch. You can talk to her."
Sam sighed. "I'll meet you there. I need to finish getting ready."
Sam took her time looking for the perfect outfit to scare Brooke away. She chose a low-cut purple silk tank top that looked more like lingerie than a shirt, a short black miniskirt and black heels. She frowned as she studied her reflection. She'd looked scarier the night before and it hadn't gotten rid of Brooke. She didn't have anything better, or should she say worse, than this though.
Peyton and Brooke were sitting on a couch in Tric talking when Sam walked in. Peyton saw her first and stared open-mouthed. "I can see what you mean about Sam dressing like a hooker."
Brooke followed Peyton's gaze. "This is a step up from what she was wearing last night."
Peyton didn't hear Brooke's comment. She was already on her feet storming over to Sam. "Samantha Baker!"
Sam looked up in surprise when she heard her name. She lit up when she saw Peyton. "Peyton!" She ran to Peyton and gave her a big hug.
Peyton wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulders and led her back to the recording studio. She wanted to talk to Sam alone. Sam looked around with interest. "Is this your studio?" Peyton nodded. "It's so cool!"
"What is this?" Peyton asked, pointing to Sam's outfit. "Why are you dressed like a hooker?"
Sam tried not to smile at the description. "You could just say you don't like it," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm.
"I don't like it!" Peyton said emphatically.
"My dad doesn't like it either. You guys have so much in common," Sam said.
"I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work," Peyton retorted. She looked into Sam's eyes. "Sweetie, you know I'm always here for you even though your dad and I aren't together."
"OK," Sam mumbled.
"Are you going to give Brooke a chance?" Peyton asked.
Sam stared at the floor. "Yeah."
"She's my best friend. She's pretty great, you know," Peyton said with a smile. Sam didn't act convinced so Peyton tried another tactic. "I'm going to have to kick your skinny ass if you don't take it easy on her."
"'Cause you're so scary," Sam said sarcastically. She smirked.
Sam was dreading talking to Brooke, but she knew she had to. She approached Brooke. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked quietly.
Brooke looked surprised, but she nodded. She moved over so Sam could sit beside her on the couch. Sam stared at the floor. "Look, I'm sorry." She didn't look one bit sorry.
Brooke raised her eyebrows. "For what?" It was painfully obvious that Sam was only apologizing because Julian told her to. Brooke would have accepted a sincere apology, but she wasn't going to make it easy on Sam if the teen was still out for blood. She wanted to make it clear that she wasn't going anywhere.
Sam glared at Brooke. "For being rude."
"Sam, I really like your dad, and I know how much you mean to him. I'm trying here, but you need to try, too," Brooke said.
"There are my girls. Are you guys ready to go to lunch?" Both Brooke and Sam forced smiles when they heard Julian. The poor guy grinned at the sight of his two favorite people pretending to get along for his sake. He had no idea his daughter was making it impossible for them to get along.
"Yeah," Brooke replied.
They went to lunch at a pizza parlor. Julian tried to engage Sam in the conversation, but she gave one-word answers to questions and otherwise avoided talking. She knew her dad would be angry if she was rude again, but she wasn't going to sit there and pretend she liked Brooke.
"Someone needs to put her in her place," Sam vented. She'd just told her version of the afternoon's events to Sean. Sean was showing her around, and he'd made the grave mistake of asking about her family. She'd depicted Brooke as this horrible person who was breaking up a happy family, which of course wasn't true.
"Evil stepmother," Sean agreed. His tone was light and the corners of his mouth tipped up.
Sam cringed. "Not if I can help it. I have a plan to hook Peyton and my dad up. Will you help me?"
"That depends." Sean regarded Sam with a smirk. "What's in it for me?"
Sam raised her eyebrows. "What do you want?"
"A date," Sean replied.
Sam pretended to consider even though she would have gone out with him in a second. He was really hot. "Deal." She held out her hand.
Sean stared at her hand. "Not how I would have chosen to seal the deal," he said before shaking her hand.
Sam began explaining her plan. The sooner she could get her dad away from Brooke and with Peyton the better. "I'm allergic to peanuts. I'm going to eat something with peanuts in it. I'm going to call Peyton and tell her I can't get a hold of my dad and I need to go to the hospital. Then my dad will come to the hospital and see her."
Sean's forehead wrinkled in concern and he frowned. "I don't know. We're not doing this if you could die."
"I know. That's why I have this." Sam pulled her EpiPen out of her purse and showed it to Sean. "I always have to carry an EpiPen with me." She lifted her skirt a little and showed him where to give her the injection if her allergic reaction was really bad.
They went into the drugstore and bought some candy. They walked to the river court and sat down on the picnic table. Both teens looked nervous as they opened the bag of candy. Sean had a bad feeling about this. Sam was nervous because she didn't want to blow her chance at hooking Peyton and her dad up. She popped a piece of candy in her mouth.
Sean watched Sam anxiously. He was beginning to think she wasn't going to have an allergic reaction at all when she started breathing heavily, almost as though she'd just run a marathon. Her face was flushed. Her movements were shaky as she reached for her cell phone and dialed Peyton.
"Hey girlie," Peyton's cheerful voice came over the phone.
"Peyton, I can't get a hold of my dad and I didn't know who else to call," Sam said. She was breathing so hard that Peyton could hear her short, desperate breaths over the phone.
"What's wrong?" Peyton asked, her voice laced with concern.
"I…I think I'm having an allergic reaction," Sam managed. She was having a hard time forming words. She could barely breathe and she could feel her tongue swelling up.
"Where are you?" Peyton asked.
"The river court," Sam replied. As soon as she hung up, Sean lifted her skirt and injected the medication into her thigh. He waited until he heard a car pull up and then took off per Sam's instructions. Sam didn't know that he lingered in the distance to make sure she was OK.
"Sam!" Peyton yelled when she saw the teen. Sam's face was red and her face was streaked with tears. Peyton helped Sam get in the Comet. She called Julian and told him to meet them at the hospital.
Julian rushed into the hospital. He saw Peyton arguing with a doctor and ran over to them.
"I can't treat a minor without consent from a parent or guardian," the doctor said calmly.
"You're going to treat her!" Peyton said angrily.
"I'm her father. What happened? Is Sam OK?" Julian said quickly.
"No, she's not OK, and this ass won't treat her!" Peyton yelled.
"It looks like she is having a severe reaction to an allergen. Her heart rate is higher than normal and she's experiencing shortness of breath. I have her lying down with her feet elevated. She needs epinephrine," the doctor explained.
"She's allergic to peanuts. She has an EpiPen. It's probably in her purse," Julian said.
"She used it already. It was on the picnic table," Peyton said.
The doctor nodded. "Sometimes you need a second injection or a higher dosage. Allergic reactions often increase in severity with additional exposures to the trigger."
Once Sam was stabilized, Peyton and Julian went into her room. They stood beside each other at her bedside. Julian held Sam's hand. Peyton brushed a lock of hair out of Sam's face.
Sam smiled at them. This was what she wanted. It felt like they were a real family.
"How are you feeling?" Julian asked.
"OK," Sam replied.
"If Peyton hadn't gotten you to the hospital…" Julian shook his head. He knew he could have lost his daughter. He was still on an emotional rollercoaster. He'd gone from sheer terror to relief in mere seconds.
"I did, and she's going to be OK," Peyton said with a smile.
Julian turned to Peyton and looked in her eyes. "Because of you. Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me. I love her," Peyton said.
Julian grinned. "I think you always liked her more than you liked me."
Brooke rushed into the room out of breath. "I got your message. Is Sam-" Brooke stopped mid-sentence when she saw that Julian was with Peyton. This felt eerily familiar. She remembered all the times she'd found Lucas with Peyton in high school. "OK?" Brooke finished as three pairs of eyes focused on her.
"I should go," Peyton said quickly. She glanced back at Sam. "Let me know if you need anything."
Sam smiled and nodded.
Brooke took Peyton's place beside Julian and pulled him into a hug. Sam's smile faded. Why did Brooke have to show up and ruin everything?
Brooke volunteered to stay with Sam while Julian arranged for Sam to be discharged. As soon as he left, Brooke regarded the teen with suspicion. "Why were you with Peyton?"
"I wasn't. I called her," Sam said.
Brooke raised her eyebrows. "You called Peyton instead of your dad?"
Sam looked away. "I tried him first, but he didn't answer."
Brooke and Sam stared at each other. The teen wasn't a good liar. Brooke reached for Sam's cell phone, which was sitting on the hospital bed beside the teen. Sam realized Brooke's intention and reached for her phone frantically, but she was too late.
Brooke looked at Sam's call log. It confirmed her suspicions. "You didn't call your dad."
"Look-"
"I'm not stupid. You wanted Peyton and your dad to be together and you lied to make sure you got what you wanted," Brooke said with a hint of anger.
"Sammy, is that true?" Julian asked. He'd returned just in time to hear the end of Brooke's rant. He'd been too intent on getting to the hospital and making sure Sam was OK to notice the fact that Sam had called Peyton instead of him. It hurt to know that he wasn't the first person she called when she needed help. He'd always been there for her. He knew it was probably part of some plan Sam had concocted to try to get him and Peyton together, but that didn't make it hurt any less. He couldn't believe Sam would do this.
Sam nodded sheepishly.
"Sam, you can't really believe that we'll get back together because you orchestrated this. You know Peyton is engaged, and I love Brooke," Julian said.
Brooke eyes widened when Julian said he loved her. It was the first time he'd said those words, and it scared her.
"Are you mad?" Sam asked.
"No, I'm disappointed," Julian replied.
Sam felt tears welling up in her eyes. Her dad had never been disappointed in her before. It was worse than anger. "I'm sorry." Unlike the apology she'd given Brooke, this apology was sincere.
