Keith and Karen got engaged on a Saturday morning in August, the summer after Peyton's first year at school.

She'd stayed in Charlottesville that summer. She got a job as a receptionist at a little indie record label, and she wore jeans and tee shirts to her office and answered phones and sorted mail. It wasn't much, but it was enough for a college student. It paid her pills and rent, and it kept her busy, and she liked the people she worked with.

She broke up with Julian only a couple weeks after seeing Nathan. She was really only holding up her end of the bargain. A bargain that shouldn't have been so easy to make.

She made Nathan promise to repair his relationship with Lucas. He said he would on one condition; that she evaluate her relationship with the boyfriend, and end it if she still had feelings for Lucas.

And they both knew she still had feelings for Lucas.

Julian was a little shocked, mostly because he hadn't seen it coming. OK, he was a lot shocked because it came - to him - absolutely out of nowhere. He asked if it had anything to do with anyone with the last name Scott, and she could only shrug her shoulders. It did, of course. With both Nathan and Lucas. Lucas was the one she loved, and Nathan was the one who made her see it.

Julian's parting words were, "I'm not Nathan. I won't hang around. This is it."

She just shrugged her shoulders and he made his way to the door. She didn't cry when he left. He had been a stand in, and she hated that, but it was true. She just hadn't realized it.

So she worked her job and lived her life, and she just waited. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for, but she didn't want to force anything.

She kept in close contact with Nathan. His team had just narrowly lost out in the title game to Gonzaga. He was busy with working out, going to another development camp, working with his agent and a bunch of handlers, since he was such a highly-projected draft pick. But he made time about three times a week to talk on the phone with her. Every time they spoke, he'd ask if she'd called Lucas yet, and her answer was always the same.

No.

She'd tried once. Well, she had gone out for drinks with her coworkers and had one too many margaritas, and she'd dialed six digits of his number. She caught a burst of sobriety and closed her phone before she could complete the call.

She just wanted to let it happen. She didn't want to make the first move. If they were meant to be like everyone kept saying, then they'd come together naturally.

When Karen called her and told her of the engagement, Peyton's response was a very happy, "It's about time!" Karen put Keith on the line, and Peyton told him she was proud of him for finally making an 'honest woman' out of Karen. They all chuckled at that.

Karen asked Peyton if she'd be her maid of honour, and both women cried.

"Your mom would have been if she were still with us, so it's only fitting," Karen explained. That only made them cry harder.

"I'd love to," Peyton managed.

"You should know who the best man is..." Karen started.

"I kind of figured," Peyton whispered. "But...it's fine. It's you guys. Lucas and I...we'll be fine."

"I think you will be."

Peyton wasn't sure what that meant, but it almost sounded like Karen was smiling.

Either way, the second weekend in October, she'd find out if they'd be fine, or if they'd be more than fine, or if Karen knew something Peyton didn't.

----

Nathan strolled into Lucas' bedroom in Tree Hill without knocking. He'd just talked to Peyton, and she'd acted like she didn't care that Nathan was going to be spending the day with his brother - Lucas and Nathan were almost back to the way they used to be - but he knew she cared. She cared a lot.

"Luke! Dude, come on! Haley and I have a dinner reservation, so I can't play forever," Nathan said.

"Alright! Damn. Give me one minute," Lucas said, typing something on his laptop.

"Tell me you're emailing her," Nathan demanded.

"Give it a rest, Nathan," Lucas groaned. "No. I'm not. And I'm not going to."

"Your mistake."

"My life," Lucas shot back.

"A life that would be happier if you just told her that you still love her," Nathan argued. "But whatever. Let's go to the gym, alright? Get your surgically repaired knee in motion."

"Had to throw it in there, didn't you?" Lucas asked, squinting at his brother. Nathan just shrugged and they both laughed a little bit.

Nathan had been helping Lucas work on getting his game back to the level it was before his injury. He'd been playing for a while, but nothing too intense. He'd been told that if he came back to school for his senior year in game shape, then he'd have a real shot at a spot in the lineup again. He was pretty thankful that he and Nathan had rebuilt their relationship, and them working out together was just one of the reasons.

He knew, obviously, that Nathan was in pretty constant contact with Peyton. Nathan didn't stop talking about Lucas getting in touch with Peyton. He'd leave her address posted on Lucas' desk, or text him her phone number. Nathan was not the most subtle guy.

But it took a lot of strength not to call her or mail her or, hell, even text her.

It simply wasn't the way he wanted them to reconnect.

And they would reconnect. He was sure of it.

Of course, when Karen and Keith told him about their engagement, Lucas was happy for several reasons.

Perhaps most notably, Peyton would be coming home.

----

"Why am I doing this!?" Peyton shouted into the phone.

"Because it's Karen, and she's like a...sorry, what are we on? Third now? A third mother do you?" Brooke asked.

"Funny," Peyton mumbled. "I know, but..."

"But you'll have to see Lucas and get back together with him and live happily ever after and have babies and happiness," Brooke filled in. "Tragic, really."

"You're not helping me."

"What do you want me to say?" Brooke asked with a laugh. "Peyton, you want to be with him. Just be with him already."

"It's not really that simple, Brooke," Peyton insisted. She was looking through her closet, thinking of what to throw into her suitcase.

"Because you're so damn set on making it difficult," Brooke said. Peyton scoffed, and Brooke could practically see her put a hand on her hip. "If you love him, then...what's the damn holdup?"

"Let's see. Where to start?" Peyton said pensively. "He breaks my heart, I'm just getting over it and we sleep together, only to have him tell me he wants to be friends."

"You ever think that wasn't what he was saying, that was just what you heard?" Brooke interrupted. "And it's not like that little romp wasn't consensual."

"Whatever. The point is, he's still two years older, he's still living there, I'm still living here. He's graduating and doing God knows what," Peyton listed off. "I just don't know."

"Right."

"Don't 'right' me, OK?" Peyton said with a laugh. "I don't know if it's the right timing."

"Yeah. That makes sense," Brooke said sarcastically. "It's better to wait until the end of time when it's too late and he's married and daddy to someone else's kids." The line went quiet, and Peyton's knees almost buckled. "Exactly. That's not what you want."

"I don't like it when you're right," Peyton mumbled.

"I know. But deal with it," Brooke said, and they both laughed. "Pack your things, drive out there, and just see what happens. He's single, so the worst thing that happens is you have a great one night stand, and go from there."

"I'm not going to sleep with him."

"Yeah. You say that now," Brooke scoffed. "Wait until you see him in a suit and tie, looking all sexy, and you're all emotional from the wedding, and he comes up and tells you that you look beautiful. Which you will, by the way, in that dress I designed for you. Then you'll be caving like...whatever it is that caves."

"Whatever. I have to pack. Wish me luck," Peyton said, shaking her head.

She couldn't say that the thought of Lucas telling her she looked beautiful was an awful thing.

"OK. Go. Have fun. Give them my congratulations," Brooke insisted. "And use protection."

She barely got the last words out when Peyton hung up the phone, laughing as she did so.

She told herself, as she packed those jeans that made her legs look a little longer and the sweater that was a little more low cut than usual, that she wasn't dressing for Lucas. She just wanted to look nice for the wedding and the festivities that surrounded it. If Lucas happened to be there and thought she looked nice, well that was only a perk.

She wasn't naive enough to think that was really true, but she was in enough denial that she didn't really have to admit it to herself, either.

----

Tree Hill felt a hell of a lot smaller to her as she pulled her car past the city limits sign. Nothing there had changed, and it was perhaps silly of her to think that it would have. It had been just barely a year since she'd been there.

But she had changed.

She wasn't the heartbroken teenager. She wasn't the girl who was one half of a friendship that everyone in the town thought would eventually be a marriage. She wasn't the girl who could always be seen with one or both of the Scott brothers. She hadn't been that girl in a long time.

She did kind of miss being that girl, though. Minus the heartbreak part.

And as she walked from her car into the quiet house - her dad wasn't coming home until the day of the wedding - she realized that it was still home. All those family photos on the mantle and the same furniture and the same smell that was always there. A little bit of her dad and a little bit of her. And always a little bit of her mom, too. She loved that.

She set her bags just inside the door, and she went on a little tour of the place she hadn't realized she'd missed so much.

She strolled through the kitchen and saw a note from her dad, telling her there was money in 'the secret money spot', just like he'd always told her when she was younger and left on her own. The secret money spot was an old ice cream container in the back of the freezer that she could delve into for groceries or emergencies.

She stepped into the backyard, happy to see that her dad hadn't changed much. The little patio set was still in the same place, and the little garden was still tended to.

And that board in the fence was still loose, and she smiled. She wondered, since that old fence hadn't changed in all that time, then maybe the two kids who'd used that as their secret passageway for so many years weren't so different either.

The rehearsal dinner wasn't for a couple days, but she wasn't about to wait to go see Keith and Karen. She just couldn't bring herself to step through the fence yet. It wasn't that it felt wrong, it just didn't feel very right, either.

She grabbed a sweater from inside the house, and then started walking around the block. She stopped, though, on the porch of the Roe/Scott home, and she took a seat on the swing. She really didn't know why it was all so hard. It had been a long time since she and Lucas broke up, but it all still felt really fresh. She thought that might have been because they were never really supposed to break up at all.

And something Brooke said to her a few days earlier kept replaying in her head. Maybe he hadn't been asking her to be his friend. Maybe he was just asking if he could have her back. They'd never really, honestly been just friends. Maybe it was her who messed up their relationship, just as much as it was him.

She was lost in thought for a little while, and she didn't notice that Karen had come outside until the woman sat down next to her.

They chatted for a while in the chilly fall air on the porch. Peyton deduced that Lucas was home, and Karen didn't want there to be any discomfort. She was so thankful that Karen knew her so well and was so accommodating. They all had to know that the wedding might get a little awkward, but Peyton certainly didn't want it to be. It was Karen and Keith's day - finally - and Peyton didn't want her petty romantic drama to get in the way of that.

And she realized that it was indeed petty. Of course, it was a big deal, but she realized, really, that it wasn't anything she and Lucas could have worked out if one or both of them hadn't been so stubborn.

She went home, and Nathan and Haley came over for a casual dinner. It was always nice for Peyton to see the couple together. She thought they were pretty much perfect for each other, actually. They spent the evening swapping stories and talking, and when Haley said they should have invited Lucas to the 'reunion', too, Peyton just rolled her eyes when Nathan froze.

"It's fine, Nate," she insisted.

"Really? Because you're like, 400 feet away from him, and you haven't even gone to say hello," he said.

"It's complicated."

"You're stubborn," he shot back.

"You two are hilarious," Haley interjected. "Seriously like brother and sister. I mean, now that he's not in love with you anymore."

"Thanks, babe," Nathan said. Haley shrugged her shoulders and leaned over to kiss him. Peyton thought it was pretty great that things like that could be said and no one got uncomfortable.

"I'm calling him," Haley said, reaching for her phone.

"No!" Peyton shouted. Nathan smirked and Haley rolled her eyes. "Just...let us figure it out on our own."

"That would require talking," Nathan pointed out.

"We will!"

"Sometime soon?" Haley asked.

"I've been here like, a matter of hours. It'll happen," Peyton promised.

After Nathan and Haley left that evening, Peyton wondered why she had waited so long.

She got sick of sitting around alone - something she usually loved doing - and thought she'd take a walk and clear her head.

She was at the River Court within 20 minutes.

She surprised herself by not running in the opposite direction when she saw that he was there. But she thought it was better that way. They could talk without everyone's expectations and stares following them. They could have that first probably sort of awkward conversation without worrying or having to give detailed reports of it to their friends and family.

"Peyton," he almost whispered. He smiled when she waved subtly. "Hi."

"Hi," she said, stepping towards him. He spun the ball in his hands and they stood there for a moment, trying to figure out where to go from there.

"I heard you pull in today," he said, and they both smiled. He could always hear that old car of hers.

"I was going to come by. Actually, I did, but..."

"I know," he said softly. He wasn't just saying that he knew she came by, he was saying that he knew why she hadn't gone in to see him.

"So you're playing again," she said needlessly, desperate for a neutral topic.

But their whole relationship was like a big game of six degrees of separation. That injury she was alluding to had been the catalyst for their breakup. Well, it had been the thing that brought out all those insecurities and issues.

And everything was like that. Basketball. Music. Art. Books. Tree Hill. The colour blue. That old car of hers. That fence. The teddy bear sitting in her suitcase (she wouldn't tell anyone, but she still couldn't be without it; she knew that he'd understand it).

If she was being honest, she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Yeah." He smiled at her, but she was looking to the ground. "It's not like I'll play pro, but I can finish out the season."

"That's great, Luke."

"It's OK," he said, and she smiled at him. It was better than OK, and she loved that he was being so nonchalant about it.

"It's great," she said firmly. "What about after school? You're almost done."

"I'm...I've been writing," he explained, shrugging one shoulder.

"That's..."

"Great?" he suggested, making them both laugh.

"Sorry. I'm...nervous around you," she said as they moved over to sit on the bleachers.

"You never used to be," he said.

"That was...before," she said, and he chuckled and nodded. Of course it was before.

"I'm nervous, too."

"Yeah, clearly," she scoffed.

"What does that mean?" he asked with a laugh.

"You're like, Mr. Charming right now, and I'm..."

"Perfect," he interrupted, looking into her eyes as he spoke. "You're perfect."

There was a moment there where she was sure she was going to kiss him. Or he was going to kiss her. She was sure there'd be a kiss. But they both had to know how important it was for them not to screw anything up, if anything were to happen.

And the way he was looking at her just then let her know that something was going to happen.

"So, Nathan says you aren't seeing anyone," she said bluntly. It was time to just lay it all out on the table.

"Subtle, Peyt.," he teased, laughing again when she shrugged her shoulder. "No. I'm not."

"OK."

"And neither are you," he pointed out, and she nodded. "That's..."

"Great?" she said. They both chuckled, and she was almost certain they were falling back into that easy conversation. Whatever simple and innate connection they'd always had - ever since they were kids - was still there.

"Is it?"

"I guess we'll see," she said quietly.

His heart raced a little.

It felt a lot like he was getting her back.

"Come on. I'll walk you home," he said, standing and waiting for her to follow him.

They talked on the way back to their neighbourhood about how crazy it was that Nathan and Haley were together, and it was all Lucas could do not to make a comment about them essentially switching partners. It had started off Lucas and Haley, and Nathan and Peyton, and had totally flipped around. But it had really started off Lucas and Peyton, and he knew that. And it wasn't Lucas and Peyton again. Yet.

"Are you in a rush?" she asked as they approached her house.

"It's midnight," he said. "My schedule's pretty clear."

She led him around the back of the house into that backyard they'd spent so many nights in, and at his questioning glance, she just smiled at him.

She lay down in the grass, and he laughed softly as he looked down at her.

"Come on," she pleaded, patting the space next to her. He rolled his eyes, but did as he was told, taking his place on her right, just like he always had.

"I feel about eight years old right now," he told her, and he watched as she closed her eyes.

"You were cute at eight," she said. She turned on her side and looked at him.

"You don't even remember," he said dismissively.

"I do too!" she insisted. "You were reading Charlotte's Web. You read to me."

She was right. He read that whole book out loud to her. Between his bedroom, her bedroom, and their backyards, and after several weeks, they'd finally finished the story. They always said they were like Charlotte and Wilbur, and Peyton giggled when Keith said he was going to start calling Lucas 'Pig'.

Anna was afraid of spiders, but when there was one in their kitchen one day, Peyton made such a fuss over her mother wanting to kill it, that Lucas had to capture it in a mason jar and release it outside. The two kids watched that spider crawl down the sidewalk, with Lucas telling Peyton that it'd be just fine, and she said thank you like he'd just done the nicest thing in the world.

Lucas still loved that book and all the memories wrapped up in it.

"How...You remember," he stated, almost in awe. "You never told me you remembered that."

"I think we drove our parents crazy saying salutations instead of hello," she said with a laugh. "Of course, I remember."

She rolled onto her back again, and she felt him take her hand in his. She didn't pull it away. She couldn't, and she didn't want to. She had known when she came up with that idea to lay in the grass and watch the stars, that he'd do it. She'd wanted him to.

She had missed this. She would have told him so, but it was implied in the amount of nostalgia they'd already experienced that evening and the fact that she was laying with her shoulder brushing his and their fingers intertwined.

As happy as he was that she was letting him share those moments with her, he still felt an underlying sense of sadness and almost shame that they hadn't been doing it all along. They'd lost so much time because of things that he said at the time were out of his control. They weren't, he'd just been too stupid and too naive and too childish to see it.

"I'm sorry," he said after a while.

"I know," she answered. "Me too."

That time, he actually had something to apologize for, and so did she.

She knew they had a lot of serious conversations in their future - well, she hoped they did - and she knew those would be hard conversations to have.

But that night, laying in her backyard with her hand tucked firmly into his, that apology felt like enough.