A/N: Thanks for all the reviews I've gotten. I really appreciate them. All you reviewers (and readers) are awesome!
"How are you holding up?"
Nathan goes to sit next to girl who used to be his girlfriend, in a previous lifetime really. Peyton, who has her face buried in her hands, looks up, wiping her eyes in tiredness. She didn't have a lot of sleep at night, the worries bothering her. Now she has been outside the operating room for two hours, waiting for news. Although 97 of all the kidney transplants go just fine, she can't help but be nervous, and the cup of coffee Nathan just handed her isn't going to help. But to be honest, the operation isn't the only thing bothering her. It's the fact that Lucas tries everything he can to distance himself from her even further than they already are. He hates her, she's certain. And it hurts her to know it's all her fault.
"I'm fine." She lies. "Thanks Nate."
"You're welcome."
Peyton smiles faintly and sips her coffee.
"How long are they gonna be in there?" Nathan motions to the operating room.
"Ellie should be out in an hour."
"And Luke?"
"The donor's operation takes about an thirty minutes longer."
Nathan nods and a deafening silence follows. Peyton looks down while he stares at her valuing. Usually, when people have to wait great deal of time, they start to rethink their life, their actions, and other's people's actions. Like now.
"Why didn't you turn to any of us for help?"
"What?"
"I'm not even talking about Luke now but about me and Haley. We would've been there for you."
"I don't know, Nate." Peyton shrugs. She isn't in the mood to justify herself again."I guess I'm just a bad person."
"I didn't say that-"
"No, but you're thinking it."
Nathan remains silent. He doesn't think she's a bad person, but what she did to his brother, is in his opinion.
"Look, I regret that I didn't have the guts to tell Lucas. I admit, I made mistakes." Her tone becomes more stern. "But so did Lucas."
"Peyton…" Nathan feels a bit guilty about bringing the past up now that he sees her sad hazels.
"No. How do you think it was for me?" She's getting really angry now. "Pregnant, alone, with Brooke and Lucas making out in the background? Huh?" She forces him to look at her. "Well let me tell you, it was awful." Peyton leans back; making it look like the discussion is over here. But Nathan sees something is brooding in her mind.
"You know what?" She starts again. "He has no reason to hate me, if he wouldn't have been such a confused little high school boy, not knowing to choose which g-"
"Oh, Sawyer, I thought I was the naïve one here."
"What do you mean?" She asks a bit calmer, nonetheless annoyed.
"Luke isn't so cold because he hates you. He loves you. Why do you think he and Brooke didn't work out?"
Peyton is speechless.
"I-I didn-" She stutters a bit. Peyton knew Brooke and Lucas broke up but she didn't know she was the reason.
"Hey, sweetie!" A concerned, female voice approaches her from the left.
"Hi." Peyton embraces Charlotte faintly yet sincerely.
"Sorry I'm late." She quickly excuses herself. "How are you?"
"Nervous." Peyton answers with a sigh.
When Charlotte manages to tear her sad eyes from Peyton, she notices Nathan.
"Nathan." He offers her his hand. "Lucas' brother."
"Charlotte. Nice to meet you." She answers and shakes his hand. Charlotte then returns to stare at Peyton with obvious pity in her warm brown eyes. Peyton knows she means it well but she can't help but to be irritated and stands up.
"Where are you going?" Charlotte immediately asks with a motherly concern. Not really startling since she has always taken care of Peyton .
"Bathroom."
"So, you've known Peyton for a long time?" Nathan asks Charlotte after about a minute of uncomfortable silence.
"Almost 4 years." She nods.
Nathan gives her an asking look, indicating he wants more information.
"The day I met her…I thought it was going to be just another boring day at work. I worked in my father's record store back then, alphabetizing records and similar stuff, very boring- to me atleast- , when this pregnant girl walked in. She was so young and I felt..." Charlotte searches for the right word "...an urge. To help her." I talked to her a bit and it appeared her name was Peyton and that she had been working as a waitress for the past couple of months."
"It must have been so hard for her." Nathan mumbles under his breath.
" It was." Charlotte confirms. She then continues. "Anyway, I felt sorry for her, so I offered her a job at the record store. After a while, we became friends. When I saw where she lived, a- I don't know how else to say it - a dump, I decided Peyton should come live with me and my husband. When Ellie was born, Peyton thought we should become godfather -and mother."
"What about Larry?" Nathan asks. He knows Larry moved for Australia and had always figured Peyton had moved there too.
"He died."
"What?" Nathan asks with a high-pitched voice. His brown eyes pop.
"Two years ago, his plane crashed."
Nathan feels sadness, shock and a little guilt all at once. Charlotte notices and confirms his thoughts.
"I guess when God was handing out luck, Peyton wasn't really first in line."
"No." Nathan leans back, sighing deeply. Poor Peyton, he thinks. "She was lucky to meet you, though."
Charlotte faintly smiles and then too heaves a sighs. "Peyton stayed with me and my husband for about two years." She pauses and thinks back about a younger, helpless Peyton. "She was so scared. But now she has a cozy flat and she runs the record store better than I ever did." She concludes the story of the course of their friendship. "That girl knows alot about music." She adds clearly impressed.
Nathan nods vaguely.
"You're a good person, Charlotte. Not many people would do what you did."
"Thanks." She says with a hint of proudness. "The only thing I haven't been able to help her with is finding somebody she loves. She keeps pushing everyone away. People always leave, she always tells me."
"Sounds like Peyton." He briefly pauses and thinks about Larry. That must've been another heavy blow for Peyton.
Charlotte smiles faintly and looks away, appearing to be all talked out. Nathan then asks:
"Did she ever mention us? Tree Hill? Lucas?"
"Every single day…" She thinks for a second about all the stories Peyton told over the years about her home town. "She loved all of you. And especially the boy."
"He loved her too. He still does." Nathan pulls the corners of his mouth downwards, not sure if he should have said that last one to, to him, a complete stranger. He feels like an old woman gossiping. Although gossiping is mostly associated with small talk and this conversation is the polar opposite of that. Lucas would kill him if he knew Nathan was blabbing about his feelings for Peyton to her best friend.
"Usually when you love somebody, you don't date that person's best friend." Charlotte points out.
Nathan frowns. He knows his brother made some crappy decisions concerning Peyton and Brooke but he doesn't deserve the past coming back to bite him in the ass like this. He wasn't the only teenage boy to be 'torn between two lovers'.
"What?" Charlotte notices his frown.
"It wasn't that simple." Nathan vaguely shakes his head. "Nothing with them ever was."
A bit beaten, they both shut their mouths. But something is brooding in Nathan's mind.
"Do you think she still loves him?" He asks, once again breaking the silence.
"She won't ever admit it but...yes. I think she does."
"We should bring them back together."
"You want to play Cupid?" Charlotte smiles mockingly. "I think things have changed Nathan. They're adults. They have a daughter."
What better reason for them to kiss and make up? They deserve happiness."
Charlotte softly laughs. "This isn't high school. Relationships, people don't work that way anymore."
"OK, I know the way I put it is simplistic but I think we should try to make them learn how to love again."
Charlotte raises an eyebrow.
"Sure, Danielle Steel."
Nathan smirks and then softly bumps against her arm.
"Come on, what do you say? I'll be Eros, you Cupid."
"There both the same." Charlotte notices. Nathan sighs and she adds:
"Fine. Let's give it a go." She lifts her index finger warning. "But if it fails, I'm blaming you."
"This is going to b-" He's cut off by Charlotte poking his arm with her elbow. He turns his head and watches Peyton head their way.
"I'm back." The curly blonde says in a sigh and plumps down next to Charlotte who looks a bit nervous.
"What?" Peyton asks. She turns her head towards Nathan and sees he's the same. "What?" She repeats in a high-pitched voice.
"Nothing." The unanimous response is.
Peyton frowns and then leans back in her seat. She isn't going to ask further. There are more important things know then Charlotte and Nathan acting odd.
Peyton, Nathan and Charlotte all look up when Dr Williamson approaches them. Peyton immediately stands up, wanting to ask how they are but Dr Williamson is too fast.
"Everything went fine. They're both in recovery room."
Peyton can't suppress to urge to fly around the doctor's neck and give him a hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Her eyes become moist as tears of happiness well up in her eyes. She doesn't cry though.
"It's what we do, Ms Sawyer." The doctor answers kindly.
"Can we see them?" Nathan asks with a cross of relief and happiness. Peyton has in the mean while let go of the doctor and now looks at him, hoping the response to Nathan's question will be positive.
"No. " Dr Williamson simply states. "In the Recovery room no visitors are allowed."
"How long will they be there?" Charlotte asks as the doctor constantly has to shift his attention from one person to another.
"About three hours. Then they'll be transferred to a normal hospital room."
Peyton goes to sit back in her seat, dreading the prospect of having to wait another three hours.
"Ms Sawyer..." The doctor adresses her. "Get out of this waiting toom for a while. You've been here long enough."
"I don't know..." She wants too but is it the right thing to do? Her daughter is recovering from a transplant, shouldn't she wait for her?
"He's right, sweetie." Charlotte rubs Peyton's back. "Let's have lunch. I promise you we'll be there when they wake up."
"OK." Peyton gives in. They all 'rise' from their seats. Peyton again thanks Dr Williamson and then the three of them head out for lunch, the most physical thing they've done all day.
