Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Peyton walked through the door Julian held open for her, attempting to adjust her favorite white sundress discreetly. She stood behind the family who were speaking to the hostess. As the hostess and the family departed for their table, Peyton pulled at her skirt once more. She was never this nervous when they went to lunch with her father. But she couldn't help it, something felt off about this meeting.
"Are you alright?" Julian asked as they stood waiting for the hostess to return.
"Yeah, fine," Peyton said with a small smile.
"Are you sure? You've been awful fidgety since we left the beach house," Julian continued, still not convinced.
"Something feels off, wrong almost. Is that crazy?" she asked as she looked into his eyes.
"Not at all. But I wouldn't worry too much about it. You get to see your dad today Peyt!" Julian said as he wrapped on arm around her comfortingly.
"You're right, I'm stressing over nothing," Peyton agreed.
"Good afternoon, table for two?" the hostess asked as she stepped behind her podium once more.
"For three actually," Julian said with his charismatic smile.
"Right this way," she said as she motioned to her right.
They followed her to a booth in the corner. Julian let Peyton decide where she wanted to sit, and then scooted in beside her.
"Your server will be right with you," the hostess said as she left them.
Julian draped his arm over her shoulder and asked, "Are you still nervous?"
Peyton sighed and said, "I just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong."
Julian said nothing, but gave her a reassuring squeeze. They sat looking over one menu together.
"Good afternoon, my name is Christie and I'll be your server. I see we're waiting for one more guest. Would you like me to get your drinks now?"
"Sure, I'll have a glass of water for now," Peyton said as she shifted her gaze from the server to Julian.
"I'll have water for now as well."
"Alright I'll bring those right out," Christie the server said, taking her leave.
Again the couple sat quietly, each processing their own thoughts, but neither uncomfortable in the slightest. At some point their glasses of water are brought out to them, and they sip every now and again. Peyton glanced at her phone with increasing regularity once the condensation on her glass becomes thick droplets of water.
"Maybe there was a delay at the docks, he's only twenty minutes late. We did get here early," Julian said once Peyton sighed heavily for the third time in five minutes.
"You're right, and I know I shouldn't be this stressed out, but I am," Peyton admitted.
At that moment, the hostess approached their table, with Larry following her.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," he said as soon as he sat down. "There was a hold up with one of the Canadian crewmember's passport."
"It's alright," Peyton said, as though she hadn't spent the last thirty minutes in a state of constant panic.
"We were just fine sitting here," Julian assured Larry with a wink.
They ate and conversed comfortably. Larry shared stories of his day to day. Julian and Peyton talked about things that happened back in Los Angeles and then about the time they had spent in Tree Hill, leaving out the Lucas drama. Surprisingly it was Larry who brought him up.
After ordering dessert, Larry suddenly spoke, "I forgot! I wanted to tell you I thought I saw Rake boy down by the docks. Looked like he hadn't slept in days and pretty ragged."
Peyton and Julian exchanged a look, and Peyton quickly excused herself.
"So you haven't asked her yet," Larry said as he sipped his coffee.
"I haven't," Julian agreed. "I haven't told Brooke Davis."
Larry chuckled and then said, "Say no more, Brooke Davis is a forced to be reckoned with."
"I did happen to mention it to Nathan Scott, he approved, and said to ensure that I talk to Brooke first," Julian said with a smile playing on his lips.
"I've always been thankful for Brooke Davis. She's been Peyton's rock, and protector for a long time now. Trouble's grown up a lot, and he's a very good man now a days," Larry said in a kind of far off voice.
"They both care a lot about Peyton. It's kind of intimidating to come here and immediately be scrutinized and compared to Lucas Scott," Julian said, eyes focused on his water glass.
"I'm sure you've passed with flying colors. Have you had any run in's with rake boy?" Larry asked as he shifted in his seat.
"We ran into him at a grocery story not last night, but the night before," Julian said, as he recalled the encounter. "He was pretty bent out of shape."
"He's got a girlfriend, doesn't he?" Larry asked, seemingly surprised.
"Yeah, he's been with her for a little longer than Peyton and I if I understand the timeline correctly. But how did you know that?" Julian asked as he looked around for Peyton.
"His mother and I formed a sort of friendship when Peyton and Lucas were in high school. She sends me an email every now and again, and she keeps up with the community here," Larry said rather casually.
"I've actually met Karen. Peyton wanted to have dinner with her. I think it was one of the first tests she put me through. A week later we moved in together," Julian said just as casually.
"I think Peyton's comfortable talking to her about things she should have been able to talk to her mother about," Larry said quietly.
"I called Nathan, he said he would check it out," Peyton said as she came back to the table.
"Am I understanding Lucas has been missing?" Larry asked
"You areā¦" Peyton said in a way that conveyed the idea that she didn't want Larry to continue that line of questioning.
Luckily, Christie returned at that moment with the peach pie slices and refills for drinks.
"So Dad, are you going to be in Tree Hill for very long?" Peyton asked as she sipped her tea.
"Well the ship is heading back out in about a week, if the repairs are done on time," Larry answered as he used his fork to cut another piece of his pie.
"That's great dad. I hope we'll get to see each more of each other!"
"Of course we will, if you have time for me that is," Larry said jokingly. As he saw Peyton open her mouth to dispute his words, he said, "Now don't get yourself all worked up. I just meant that you're here with your friends, and your boyfriend. I don't mind you spending time with them because you haven't seen them in a very long time."
"Alright," she submitted as gave Julian's hand a squeeze
"Besides, how do you know I don't have other people to visit?" Larry asked jokingly.
All this time Julian had been observing their interactions and was highly amused. He'd seen them together in Los Angeles of course, but there was something different about seeing them here in Tree Hill.
At this time, Larry's phone went off, surprising Peyton, Julian, and especially Larry. He looked down and grimaced. He looked apologetically at Peyton and said, "I'm sorry baby, I've have to take this."
Peyton waved him off and said, "I understand, we'll be here."
Larry nodded and answered the phone, heading towards the doors.
"So are you enjoying yourself?" Julian asked Peyton.
"I am now. I love that you get along with my dad so well," Peyton said as she leaned toward him, and placed her head on his shoulder.
When her father made his way back to the table, he looked a little flustered. Peyton immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
"Oh just some stuff I have to take care of, you know now that I'm captain. So I'm sorry but I'm going to have to leave right now. There's no way I can put this off," Larry said as he reached for his wallet.
Julian stopped him, and said, "I'll take of it Larry."
Larry gave him a look, and then smiled, and said, "Alright, just this once."
Julian laughed and said, "That's what you think."
Peyton shook her head at the guys, and slid out of the booth after Julian had stood to pay for their meal.
"I'll see you later sweetheart," Larry said as he gave his daughter a hug and kissed her temple just like he used to do.
"See you dad," Peyton said as he released her, and headed for the door.
Peyton sighed as she sat back down. She was smiling when Julian got back, and his curiosity was piqued. He sat across from her and said, "What are you smiling about Ms. Sawyer?"
"You," she answered simply.
"Me?" he asked, slightly stunned.
"Yes."
"What about me?"
"The little things you do," Peyton said as she made the face she made when she was complimenting, and flirting, at the same time.
Julian smirked and said, "Like what?"
"Like letting my dad think he's paying the check all the time. And letting me stew when I need to. And well everything," Peyton said as she stood up and waited for him to join her.
"I love you too," he said as he placed his arm over her shoulders and they walked out of the diner.
AN: I love my JuPe. And I love what little we saw of Larry and Peyton's relationship. Yep. Sorry, I kind of forgot today was Monday. I need to set a google alert or something. So I didn't do my final read through, sorry if there are a lot of mistakes. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review, or comment on everything. A special thank you to gosal11444 for always reviewing! And thanks grayfan, mthorne13, and Suze18 for their reviews too! I may put up a chapter Friday in the holiday spirit, if I finish a few more before then. Anyway, Happy Holidays!
