A/N: I don't own One Tree Hill or Supernatural or Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You. Sadly, it took me 23 years of life to discover this song, but with my new infatuation with blues-rock songs, it has quickly become my favorite, so I am glad to incorporate it as the song for this chapter.

"Nathan." She nearly squealed, which was very unlike her, when she caught sight of him without his wheelchair, but with a cane instead. She gripped him tightly before kissing his cheek and sitting in the booth across from him. She thought the smile would be permanently attached to her face after seeing one of her best friends crawling out of the darkness. She had been able to see just how deep that darkness was, and to see any bit of progress was amazing. "When did you…? How did this…? You're walking!!!" she stammered to find the words.

He let a small smirk form, a reminder of the Nathan Scott Tree Hill had once known. He hadn't planned on telling anyone of his progress, but when she called him, she sounded stressed, and he had planned on telling her eventually. "I have you to thank. You've made me see what I've become, and that I can make it better. Thanks." He said taking her hand in his in a mannerism meant to thank her. Neither of them noticed the glares that this was receiving from the man across the room. "Now what's brings you here, Sawyer?"

"Your brother is an ass."

"Can't blame me for that; I tried to keep him out of our world in high school." He quipped, remembering how he had fought so hard against Lucas in his teenage years.

"Was that a joke, Nate? You better watch out or people are going to start thinking you are actually happy." He hadn't cracked too many jokes since she had been back in town, and she too remembered the early days of the Lucas dynamic. She never thought that things would turn out like they had now, that she would have had her heart broken by him, that Nate and he would actually be friends, or that Haley and Nathan would be married.

"It's been an okay day for me. So why exactly is he an ass this time?" He said trying to take the focus away from his mood and put it back where they originated.

"Well, he brought me half of his new book the other day expecting me to read it." She stopped to sip on her drink, letting the bitter fluid sear its way down.

"Okay, so why is that a problem?" he asked with an expectant look on his face.

"Because he thinks it will remind me that I am in love with him." When Nathan's face changed, she knew he understand.

"Oh." Was all he had to say. He knew the other day in her office when she said she was over him, she meant it. "What about Lindsay? Is he just going to throw her under the bus if you were to want him back?"

"Apparently, but while telling me I'll remember our love, I think he is just going to hold on to her. You know how he hates to be alone. He's crazy if he thinks that going to turn out well with his love confession behind her back." They both laughed at how stupid the other blonde could be. He never seemed to be happy with what he had. He always wanted more.

"Oh Nate," she sighed after sipping again on her drink. "It's good talking like this again. I've missed my friendships with you, and Brooke." She sent him a smile which he returned. He too was thankful for the return of their friendship, especially at this point in his life. He needed a friend who wouldn't push, but a friend who would understand, listen, and just be there for him. "So when are you going to tell Haley about your progress, I mean, this is great." She said motioning to the cane and his ability to use his legs.

"I don't know. I know once I tell her she is going to start pushing. She wants me to be what I was before, and I'm not the same." He said with sadness. He didn't want to disappoint his family, but it seemed inevitable.

"Nate, she just wants her husband back. The one who talks to her, and kisses her. She'll be thrilled to see any sign that your still there. I know Jamie would too."

"I've treated them both so horrible over the last few months; they don't deserve it."

"Nathan." She reached for his hand not realizing the attention this brought from a certain man across the bar room. "You can't change what you've already done, but you can change what happens now and from here on out. They deserve the best you that you can give them. In the process, you might just get back some of the love that you are needing. You can all heal together."

"I know you're right, Peyt, it's just, I don't think it's going to be that easy." He said with water forming in his eyes. "I love Haley, but she doesn't understand where I am at. I lost my dream. Basketball is who I am. I don't know what I am without it, and I'm reminded of that in almost everything I look at."

"Without basketball, you're Nathan Scott, loving husband, amazing father, caring friend, and an amazing man. You just have to shift your focus in the work area."

"I am pretty great, you forgot, damn sexy." He said trying to lighten the mood. He knew if he told Peyton that he didn't believe any of those adjectives in the last sentence, they would be there forever. While it helped that she believed them; he knew she was biased because of their friendship.

"Arrogant asshole, sarcastic…" she muttered with a smile, accepting his attempt to change the tone of their talk. She knew it would take time, but the progress he had already made was still exciting.

"Ha ha. So…" he raised his eyebrows searching for a new subject. "…that tall guy in the corner keeps checking you out. Don't look now, wait until his friend leaves, I'll tell when he leaves. You should go talk to him, you said a bar helped you get over Lucas, so why not try that again."

"Dean, are you okay? You look like you are going to explode." Sam asked his brother hoping the sight before him wouldn't result in a fight.

"I need air." He said grabbing his beer and heading for the door quickly. He felt as though the air were getting to thin. He knew she would move on eventually, and he had expected after she'd turn down his apology a month ago, but he was no where near prepared.

"Okay." Sam said after Dean had already shut the door to the small bar. He sat there looking at the blonde with curiousity. Dean had fallen for this woman, and he suddenly became very curious as to how his brother could fall for one woman, and still be hung up on her. When he noticed the tall dark haired man giving him a look, he quickly began looking down at his half empty bottle. He hadn't realized he was staring, but apparently he was giving the impression he was interested in her personally, or at least that is what he thought when she came to his table and took a seat.

"This seat taken?" she said as she sat.

"No."

"I'm Peyton. I'm not normally this forward, but you look strangely familiar. Do I know you?" she asked quirking a eyebrow upward, waiting for his response.

"Not directly, but I've seen your picture before."

"Oh?"

"In a Survivor tape." He noticed the hurt expression that flashed across her face at his words. "It's still in his car." He added, so she would know he hadn't gotten rid of it or their only photo as a couple.

"Is he here?" she whispered, knowing that they both knew what the other was talking about despite their lack of details.

"He just went outside. Truth is, I think he saw you and the guy over there, and he obviously isn't over you." Sam stated boldly hoping to get the two talking.

"So I guess that makes you…"

"Sam, his brother."

"He used to talk about you a lot. It's good to finally meet you."

"I wish I could say the same, but I had to dig through his stuff to find out anything about you even existing. It's nice to meet you too though." He said taking her hand, and trying not to sound to bitter about his brother's secrecy.

"Yeah, Dean's not very open about things, is he? He is proud of you, I think that is why he talks about you."

"He misses you, that's probably why he doesn't talk about you."

"Yeah." She said half questioningly, despite his attempt at getting her back a month or so ago, she wasn't so sure he did miss her. But he was here in Tree Hill, that had to mean something.

"He's not good at this whole relationship thing. I mean, I don't know any details about you guys, but it took me six months of me on the road with him to open up to me about our own father." Sam explained. He hoped that he could at least try to fix whatever was going on with his brother and this woman.

"I see you've moved on. And with my brother no less." Dean's voice carried over their conversation as he reapproached his table, motioning to their hands that were still connected.

"Dean.." Sam interjected. "We were just talking. You never even told me why we were here."

"Well, Sam, it was very nice meeting you. Hope to see you again." Peyton said rising from her seat giving Dean a glare for his comment. "I'm going to step outside for a minute, care to join me?" She asked with a fake smile plastered on her face.

She pushed the doors of the small bar open with him hot on her heels as they were swept up into the cool autumn air. "What the hell is your problem?" She asked loudly crossing her arms in his direction. She wanted an explanation for the attitude that he gave her and his brother inside.

"Me. I got no problems." He screamed not backing down from her glare.

"Oh well, you look like you have no problems. You're acting like someone shoved a stick up your ass. Do you care to explain that to me? You know, why you came to Tree Hill, my home town, with an attitude that I don't understand why I deserve." She got closer to his body, never losing contact with his eyes. She wanted him to know that this wasn't okay. He couldn't just come here.

"Classy. Maybe I just wasn't ready to see you with someone else. I guess when I came to Tree Hill I should have known that you would probably be in a bar, I mean that is where we met after all." His words stung her, as he insinuated that she could just move on from him, sure it had been two years, but she still couldn't see the end of her feelings for him. But she couldn't let him see that pain.

"You're not ready. Dean, you walked out on us two years ago, Not ready doesn't really apply to two fucking years." She was screaming at him. She noticed his mouth form into an almost word before she cut him off, knowing what his next line would be. "And coming to me the day I left LA didn't really make up for any of it."

"Peyton, I was stupid to leave you, okay. Is that what you want to hear? I screwed up, maybe another chance is too much ask, but it's what I'm asking for." He spoke loudly and harshly and not like a man pleading for another chance with a woman he loved, but when had Dean ever done anything like he was supposed to.

Someone walked out of the bar about the time Dean finished asking for his second chance, and they could both hear the fitting words from a Zeppelin song carry over their conversation.

Since I've been crying, my tears they fell like rain

She thought for a second about how many tears she had let escape her eyes since their relationship ended, but did that mean that taking him back would stop the tears. Could they really go back in time two years?

Do you remember mama, when I knocked upon your door?

I said you had the nerve to tell me you didn't want me no more, yeah

He seemed to think they could, or else he would be here time and again asking for another chance. She couldn't stop the thoughts from running through her head, so she stood there, unsure of what to say or do.

He took the silence that followed as an answer, despite the longing gaze she was sending his way. "Fine, I didn't really expect anything anyway. Tell Sam, I'm going to a motel." He said disappearing around the corner of the brick building.

When she was alone she walked to the cold brick resting her forehead lightly trying to fight back the tears, until she heard a voice behind her. "Peyton?" Nathan said as he pushed his way over to her with his cane in hand.

"You ready to go home?" she said wiping away any trace of her tears, any trace of the emotions she was feeling. She wasn't ready to talk about it.

"I'd rather stay here and you get whatever is going on out in the open." He said grimacing as he waited for her response.

"Go home, Nate. Tell Haley about your progress. She'll be thrilled. I'll be fine. I have to go back in there and deliver a message."

"What's going on, Sawyer?" he said as she wiped away another stray tear.

"The man I'm in love with is here. In Tree Hill." She whispered her lips quivering as she finally gave a confession of her emotions.

"What are you saying? You really are still in love with Lucas?" He asked confused.

"No! The man sitting in there at that table, it's his brother." She watched his face change, a look revealing a somewhat relieved yet equally as worried man. "Really, you should just go home, Nate. I have to go find him." She walked around the same corner that Dean had just disappeared around, her eyes searching frantically for any sign of him. She looked at each of the cars as she passed them thinking to herself. She couldn't understand why she was being such a bitch to him; sure they had broken up a few years ago, but he had always been honest about it not being able to last forever. He had even come back twice hoping for another chance, one of those times across the country.

She finally spotted his car parked across the street next to the Tree Hill Motel. It was a shady establishment, known to capture the often illegal business of the town, but when she watched his figure retreat into one of the rundown rooms she couldn't stop herself from walking in the path he had most likely followed to that very spot.

Dean had walked into the room slamming the door behind him. He wasn't even expecting to see her tonight, and yet there she was sipping a drink, laughing, with him, whoever he was. He wasn't sure why he kept putting himself through this rejection. Why did he have to fall for her, why could he forget her like he had all the others in his past? He sat down on the edge of his bed, pushing his hair back through his fingers and finally falling backwards into the lumpy mattress, his feet still resting on the floor at the end of the bed.

He was content to lay right there and fall asleep, to forget about ever coming to Tree Hill with any hope. That was, until he heard the door swing open and shut. "What the hell…?" he started as he sat up. He was surprised to see her, walking towards him briskly. He wasn't sure whether to be happy or scared, but she didn't say anything. She folded each of her legs placing one on each side of his and she slid her arms up under his, embracing him. She rested her chin on his shoulder and just sat that for what seemed like a lifetime before she finally felt his arm return the gesture and his hand soothingly slide up and down her back. Neither wanted to taint the moment with words, so they just sat there hugging silently, thankful for the contact they had both been yearning for.