Peyton and Brooke were sitting in Peyton's office at Tric talking.

"Did you talk to Lucas about the ring?" Brooke asked.

Peyton nodded and smiled as she held up her hand to show off her new and improved engagement ring. "Yeah."

"You never told me how Lucas proposed. Or gave you the ring. Is it still a proposal if you're already engaged?" Brooke said.

"He took me to the place where my car broke down when I was with Nathan. Lucas was working in Keith's shop. He came to tow the Comet. Nathan was supposed to come pick me up, but he didn't," Peyton said with a smile.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Typical. He was such a jerk."

"Yeah. He's changed so much since then," Peyton said.

Brooke nodded. "Now he's one of the best guys I know."

"What about Julian?" Peyton asked.

"I'm falling for him," Brooke said. Deep down she'd known she was falling for him the first time he told her he loved her, or rather after he'd told Sam in the hospital, but Brooke had been too scared to admit it.

"Then why don't you look happy B Davis?" Peyton asked.

Brooke sighed. "First of all, his daughter hates me. Second, his dad hates me even more than Sam, which I didn't think was possible. Third, he's going back to LA when he finishes the movie. I just don't know if this is going to work."

"What happened with Paul?" Peyton asked.

"He was really hard on Julian. He called Julian stupid in front of Sam," Brooke said.

Peyton nodded. "Paul's never exactly kept it a secret that Julian's a disappointment."

"Julian left, and I went out to make sure he was OK. We went back to the table and heard Paul and Sam talking. Paul said he should find a new producer and that if there was no movie, Julian would go back to LA and our fling would be over," Brooke said with a hint of anger.

Peyton stared at Brook with wide eyes. "No!"

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "Sam actually told him not to take the movie away from Julian."

"See, she doesn't hate you," Peyton said with a smile.

"I don't know about that," Brooke muttered.

As if on cue, Sam appeared in the doorway. She wanted to talk to Peyton. She froze when she saw Brooke. She turned around to leave, but not before Peyton spotted her.

"Sam! Where are you going?" Peyton called cheerfully.

Sam stood awkwardly in the doorway. "I didn't know you were busy."

"I'm my own boss and I just gave myself a break," Peyton said with a smile. She gestured for Sam to come in.

Sam inched closer to Peyton's desk. "Are you sure you're not busy?" She asked. She hoped Peyton would say yes.

"For you? No," Peyton replied.

Sam sighed. Resigned to her fate, she reluctantly sat down beside Brooke.

"Hi Sam," Brooke said.

Sam looked down. "Hey." She looked up and focused on Peyton. "Your birth mom had cancer, right?"

Peyton's smile faded. "Yeah."

"My friend's mom has breast cancer. She's going to die. I don't really know what I can say or do," Sam said.

"Just be there for her," Peyton said. She smiled gratefully at Brooke. Brooke had been there for her when her adoptive mom died and when her birth mom died. "Trust me, it helps."

"Him," Sam corrected automatically.

"Is this the boy that came into my store?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah," Sam mumbled.

"You like him, don't you?" Brooke asked with a knowing smile.

Sam blushed a little. "Yeah, I like him."

Peyton looked up in surprise. "Your dad's actually letting you date? I always thought he'd be one of those overprotective dads."

"Trust me, he is. He once told me I couldn't date until I was thirty," Sam said. Both Brooke and Peyton laughed.

"That's just because he cares about you. Larry was the same way. I remember when I was going out with Pete from Fall Out Boy. He came to pick me up in a limo, and my dad sent him away," Peyton said.

"You went out with Pete from Fall Out Boy?" Sam asked. Her tone was awed.

"Yeah. Everyone thought I was making it up." Peyton glared meaningfully at Brooke.

"That's not the point. The point is that it's not a bad thing to have a dad who worries," Brooke said.

"So how worried is Julian about your first boyfriend?" Peyton asked.

"He's not my first boyfriend," Sam corrected.

"Well, excuse me. How many boyfriends have you had?" Peyton teased.

"I haven't been counting," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm. Peyton stared at her. Sam smirked at Peyton's reaction. "He's my second boyfriend. I started going out with David right after you and Dad broke up. Dad acted like a crazy person. He was producing a film based on a book about a cop. He brought one of the guns home. It was just a prop, but he used it to try to scare David."

Both Peyton and Brooke laughed. "So I'm guessing you haven't introduced Julian to your new boyfriend?" Peyton said.

"You'd be guessing right," Sam replied.

"If I give you two backstage passes to the concert tonight, can I meet him?" Peyton asked.

"You kind of did," Sam said. Peyton stared at her. "At the bar."

"No. Sam, please tell me you don't like the guy you were drinking with," Peyton said.

"We weren't doing anything that bad! You totally drank when you were in high school!" Sam said defensively.

"My dad was never home. Your dad is, and he'll know if you come home drunk so don't even think about drinking again," Peyton said.

Sam rolled her eyes. "So are you going to give me backstage passes?"

Peyton handed Sam an envelope with two backstage passes in it. "Are you gonna bring your boyfriend?"

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Are you gonna be nice?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to make sure he knows that if he breaks your heart, I'll break his face. But don't worry, I don't have a gun," Peyton said.

Sam helped Peyton set up for the concert. Sean was meeting her there. He saw her talking to Peyton and went over to them.

"Hey," Sam said with a smile.

Sean pulled Sam in for a kiss.

"Peyton, this is Sean," Sam said. She looked up at Peyton with pleading eyes, hoping Peyton would be nice.

Sean nodded. "Hey. Thanks for the backstage passes."

"No problem," Peyton replied. "I gotta go. I'm crazy busy. You kids have fun, though."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief.

Sean and Sam sat down.

"I needed this, you know. My mom had a really bad day," Sean said.

Sam gave him a hug and rubbed his back comfortingly. "Is she getting worse?"

"No. She just has good days and bad days," Sean explained.

"I'm here if you need anything," Sam said.

"Can you invent a cure for cancer?" Sean said with a hint of sarcasm. "Sorry. Bad joke."

Sam found Peyton after the concert. "Thanks again for the backstage passes…and thanks for being nice to Sean."

"If you really want to thank me, be nice to Brooke," Peyton said.

"I am being nice. I was nice to her today, wasn't I?" Sam retorted.

"Sam, she thinks you hate her," Peyton said.

"I don't hate her. I just don't like her," Sam said.

"Why?" Peyton asked.

Sam stared at the floor. "I was pretty terrible to her. I'm pretty sure she's never going to like me. I don't really want my dad with someone who doesn't like me."

Sam knew her dad and Peyton couldn't be together. Seeing Peyton try on her wedding dress had destroyed the last shred of hope Sam had that she could somehow get her dad and Peyton back together. She wasn't happy about it, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

She'd also seen firsthand that Brooke genuinely cared about her dad. Brooke had proved that by standing up to Paul. Last night the resentment Sam had been feeling faded, leaving fear in its place.

Sam didn't know what she was more afraid of-her dad staying with Brooke or breaking up with Brooke. She'd seen her dad after he broke up with Peyton. He moped around for a whole month. Sam thought she'd never see him smile again. She never wanted to see him that upset again. She also didn't really want her dad to stay with someone who didn't like her. The tension between Brooke and Sam had already drastically altered the close relationship Sam and Julian once had. She'd disappointed her dad, and he didn't trust her anymore. Would they grow even further apart as Julian and Brooke got closer?

"Brooke is a forgiving person. Trust me, she's forgiven me for worse," Peyton said.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Did you try to break her and my dad up?" She said sarcastically with a smirk.

"No, but she broke up with Lucas twice because of me. They were together in high school, and Lucas and I snuck around behind her back," Peyton said.

Julian and Brooke were sitting on Brooke's couch.

"Julian, what are we doing?" Brooke asked.

"Foreplay, but we can skip to the main event if you want," Julian said with a smirk. He continued kissing her, but she pulled away.

"That's not what I meant. What happens when the movie's over?" Brooke said.

"Is this about what my dad said? Look, he's not firing me as producer," Julian said.

"Yeah, but eventually you're going to finish the movie and then you're going to go back to LA," Brooke pointed out.

"I've been thinking. I want you to come to LA with me," Julian said. He looked into Brooke's eyes hopefully.

"What? Julian, I can't just come to LA with you! My life is here," Brooke said.

Julian chuckled a little. "You can make a life in LA with me. I love you."

Brooke hesitated. Her eyes were filled with fear. She loved him, too, but she was scared to get hurt. She summoned all of her courage. "I love you, too, but I just don't know if this can work."

"Everyone thought I came here for the girl in the book, and they were right, but that girl is you. Not Peyton. I read the book, and I felt like I knew you. Then I got here, and I knew it was you. When it's right, you just know. It would be wrong to walk away from something that is so right because you don't know what's going to happen in the future," Julian said.

It was what she needed to hear. Brooke kissed Julian. Julian lifted her top. She unbuttoned his shirt in one swift movement and then reached for the button on his slacks. Brooke kissed a trail down his body. She teased him until he couldn't take it anymore.

The next morning Brooke couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. That was until Sam walked into Clothes Over Bros. Brooke raised her eyebrows at the teen.

Sam looked nervous. She stood in front of Brooke for several seconds before she gathered the courage to speak. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Brooke nodded for her to continue. "I owe you an apology."

"What did you do?" Brooke asked warily.

Sam smirked a little. "Relax. I didn't do anything new."

Brooke breathed a sigh of relief.

Sam looked into Brooke's eyes. "I'm sorry, Brooke."

Brooke studied Sam. Sam looked genuinely remorseful. Brooke raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Sam nodded. "I'm really sorry."

Brooke narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Did hell freeze over?"

Sam laughed a little. "No. I just figured out that you're good for my dad."

"Better late than never," Brooke said with a smirk.