A/N: So in a previous chapter I mention the Impala. Anyway I mixed up the year, it is 67 not a 65. Just wanted to clear that up. Thanks again for the reviews and for reading. Also to answer the question, Pathan is in the past in my fic. I only bring them up because they were together during Dean and Peyton's first encounters. They are close friends now. Lucas and Peyton are also really good friends, and in my story there is no leyton history. They never dated or kissed. I will try to show how these friendships started at some point in the story. Thanks again. Enjoy.


When Peyton and Nathan entered the house, Jamie and J.D. were playing guitar hero and Haley was baking chocolate chip cookies for the boys. Nathan had simply dropped the boy off earlier, and rushed back out saying that he had to check on Peyton. She had been worried. When she watched them walk through the doors she sighed in relief because Peyton was okay, but then she looked at her face and realized that maybe everything wasn't well.

"You guys are here, Thank God." She whispered as she removed herself from the spot by the counter to go reach them in a warm embrace. "Are you okay?" she asked looking towards Peyton. "What happened?"

Peyton motioned for her to walk out onto the patio with her, not wanting J.D. to overhear. She still was confused about what to do about the whole situation. How could she know that Dean wouldn't be gone before she even had a chance to tell him? "J.D.'s father showed up at the café tonight."

"What? Wait a second, he's not the man that J.D. came in rambling about with that car is he?" She said trying to get a grip on the situation.

She shook her head yes. "He's had it as long as I remember."

"How come you never told us? J.D. goes on, and on about them."

"I didn't want to talk about it? Besides Nathan already knew what he drove if I really needed to talk?"

"How does Nathan know?"

"Dean gave me a ride once when we were still dating, but that's another issue. I just don't know what I'm going to do." She pushed back the strands of hair that had fallen in her face and sighed deeply.

"Maybe you should go talk to him. Find out why he is here, and what he wants." Haley reasoned, well aware that the blonde probably didn't want to hear that. She was right.

"What he wants. Why should I care what the hell he wants. He walked out on me, in the middle of night! He didn't have the decency to say goodbye, and then I don't hear from him again for six years, five months, and twenty days." She trailed the last words as tears again took over her body.

Haley wrapped her friend in her arms smoothing her hair gently. "You counted…"

"Yes, I counted. I'm that pathetic." She whispered, defeated by the entire situation.

"Oh Peyton, it's not pathetic. And I only said you should see what he wants for J.D. If he wants to be a father to your son, I think J.D. deserves that. If he doesn't, well, I hate to say it, but it's probably best not to say anything."

Peyton sighed in relief, glad that her friend wasn't taking Dean's side for some unknown reason. She knew she hadn't been moments ago, but all of the emotions she was feeling at this moment were beginning to blind her. "I get it. I'm going to have to talk to him, aren't I?" Her eyes pleaded with her friend to tell her no. She didn't have to, not if she didn't want to, but those words never came.

"I'm afraid so, girly. Look, if he's mean or you just want to for the heck of it, send him over hear, and I'll personally kick his ass." She caught the blonde chuckling softly at the remark, thinking of Haley taking on Dean's strong body. "You can do this, you know."

"Thanks, Hales. I know." She leaned her back and looked at the stars briefly, hoping her mothers were watching over her, and hoping they would keep Dean from breaking her heart all over again. When she saw him standing in the café earlier, her heart involuntary leapt into hands despite all of the anger she felt towards him. That was where it would always gravitate, or maybe it never left. Maybe when they bonded over the loss of Anna when she was a child and he a teenager, maybe that was the moment that defined their fate. She cursed herself for secretly believing they were written in the stars, that would be fates cruel joke. "I better go find him. You promise you'll kick his ass if it gets bad?" she offered a half smile.

"I promise. J.D. will stay here tonight, I'll take him to school in the morning. You go and figure this out." Haley was so kind and understanding, and a great friend. Peyton had wondered what she could have seen in Nathan, but she knew and was glad that there was someone out there who could make Nathan the man she knew he could be. She really hated that she had hurt him with Dean. But Nathan and Peyton were destined for friendship, that she was sure. What she had with Dean was almost instant, and it somehow ran deeper than any other relationship, friendship or other.

After her shower, she had to force Dean out of her bed, but not without promising they would have breakfast. That's how she found herself and Dean walking into Karen's Café, the only place in town that she thought Nathan would not see them.

He was halfway through his plate of eggs before either of them spoke, she was first. "Last night was a mistake." She spoke quickly, hoping to get it out before she changed her mind and she looked into his eyes, the same eyes that had made bringing a man who was still practically a stranger home the night before seem like a good idea. She couldn't deny the attraction, but she was a little ashamed of herself.

"If that what you want to believe, sweetheart." He said smirking at her, taking in her disheveled eyes. He could see she was wrestling with the thought of repeating last nights action or asking him to leave town for good.

"What's your problem anyway? How can you be so sincere sometimes, and then a complete ass another time?" She looked at him with curiosity.

"Look, you're right last night was a mistake. A fun mistake." He smiled remembering their events. "But a mistake. The fact that your seventeen hasn't failed to escape me, or the messiness with the ex and everything." He couldn't be nice now. He had a life, and he knew it was wrong to go home with her. She had lost the same things he had, and he would be leaving, it's what he did.

"Fine, if you thought it was a mistake, then it should be no problem leaving." She said on the verge of screaming, as she rose from her seat to walk away, but he caught her arm, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the older blonde haired woman behind the counter as she was left wondering what her son's girlfriend was doing there with a man she'd never seen before.

Caught off guard by his the physical connection, she slid back into the booth, in time for him to add. "Don't get mad now, you started this. I believe you called it a mistake before I did." He caught her eyes with his, both silent for a moment. Both wondering what it was about the other that made them so attractive. Neither had imagined things turning out this way. She kept hoping he would say that last night was not a mistake, despite the fact she was with Nathan the day before. Something inside his eyes made her feel like he could fix her. He kept hoping she would say she wanted more than a one night stand, because despite his usual pattern he really did want to settle down one day, and she wasn't an ordinary girl. Something in her eyes said that she could handle all of the bullshit his life would put them through.

She finally broke eye contact and began laughing. "What's so funny?" he asked annoyed that she was laughing in middle of this argument.

"Us, this whole argument. I mean, I brought you home from a bar after getting drunk, and we're both sitting here getting frustrated that we both are calling it a mistake." Her face went serious again, before she spoke further. "Do you think that maybe it's possible neither of us really thinks this was a mistake? I mean two days ago I was quite content to believe that I was in love with Nathan Scott, and somehow today I don't seem to be bothered by the fact that it really hurt him to see you in my bed, even if he was the jerk that cheated on me first."

He pushed the plate aside and took her hand across the table. "I feel a connection, but this wouldn't work. You're seventeen, I'm nearly ten years older than you. You seem like a great girl, but I know you've been through shit in your life. So have I. I'll only hurt you in the end. I'm the female version of a slut, I never stay in one town for more than a week at a time. I'm an asshole. You're better off if you just forget about all of this. I should go." He started to leave until her voice pulled him back.

"Wait, I can't just have an amazing night with you, and then just let you walk away."

"What do you want? This can't work, I just told you why not."

"I just want something to remember it all by. I really do like you, even if I don't know that much about you." She whispered.

"You already have my shirt." She pleaded with her eyes for something more. "Fine, come outside with me."

She followed him outside to his car, and when he told her to sit in the passenger side while he got in the driver's she listened. When he started up the old car, she was ready for whatever he had in mind. When he pulled up to the graveyard, she was confused, and when he lead her down the path of gray headstones until they reached one for Mary Winchester, she understood.

"Your mom."

"My mom." He repeated in a low voice. "If you want to remember me, you should come here and talk to my mom. Maybe when you are visiting Anna you can just swing by and say hi or something."

She watched as Dean drove away that afternoon, thankful he had left his number so that he could come back next time Larry was in town. Thankful that she could see him again, even though they had both come to the understanding that what they shared that night could only ever be sex.

That memory is what lead her back to the graveyard, down the same path that she had traveled once a week as long as she was in Tree Hill to the grave of not her mother, but the grave of his mother. She found him standing there, not moving even when he heard her footsteps approaching.

"I thought I might find you here." She whispered quietly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he questioned as he turned to look at her moonlit face. He could see the tears that had trailed down her cheeks, and he could see the way life had wore her down.

She too could see how the years affected him. He looked tired. "How was I supposed to do that? Huh? You left me in the middle of the night. You didn't even have the decency to tell me to my face. About a week after you left is when I found out, and I tried calling you but your phone had been disconnected. You left me no way to get in touch with you. I had to do it all alone while you were you gone doing God knows what."

"Peyton.." he softened, but she was intent on speaking her mind while she still could.

"No, you don't get to be mad about this. You knew how to get in touch with me, and for six years apparently you never once bothered to find out if I was okay, or you would have known that J.D. existed."

"I'm sorry. I never came back or looked for you afterwards because I knew I wouldn't be strong enough to stay away."

"Was it that bad being with me?"

"No, but things were happening that I couldn't understand, and I was afraid of what they would do to you if I stayed or what they would do to Sam if I didn't help him. I loved you, I still do." He closed the distance between them and capture her lips in his own, thankful for the feel they offered.

"No Dean, it doesn't work like that. You can't just waltz back into my life, and say you still love me and expect everything to fall in line." She had wanted to hear those words again for so long, but now they stung, reminding her of the life she thought she had that disappeared.

"What does this mean for us, and our son?" he asked trying to gage where he was in the whole situation.

"How long are you going to be in town?" she asked coldly, but seriously.

"You know I have to leave for work."

"That's not what I meant. In LA, we made it work because you would go away for the jobs, but you would always come back. That's what I mean, are you coming back after each trip, or are you staying gone like the last time."

"Peyton, you will have to kick me out of this town to get rid of me." He joked softly hoping she would understand his point.

"Then we'll talk about telling J.D., but this, us, we can't go back." He swallowed hard, not wanting to let that statement be true, but knowing that if he pushed it, it would only hurt them both.

"Thank you, Peyton. Can I ask you a question?" He said as they began trailing their way out of the graveyard. When she shook her head, he continued. "What does J.D. stand for?"

"I wanted there to be a connection, especially since I didn't think the two of you would ever meet. It doesn't really flow, but it's John Dean." His heart sank. She had named their son after his father and him, and he had walked away from it all, leaving her in so much pain, and all alone.