So it's been over a month since my last update and it's totally not because I've forgotten about you guys or this story! I promise! I was out of the country this past month on vacation visiting my parents and family. I had planned on getting this chapter up before I departed, but hadn't been able to finish it in time. So again, sorry for the long wait guys!

Based on the last chapter, most readers seemed to be really pushing for the Thanksgiving chapter, so here we go! The last chapter is the most reviewed chapter in this story so far, so that was such a wonderful surprise to return to. Thank you all. All those comments really do motivate this girl to keep writing.

There's no song track for this chapter, as I couldn't find a song that fit well enough this time around. I may come back and figure that out later.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Nice To Meet You, Except We've Already Met Before

Peyton swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She blinked rapidly attempting to hold back the tears in her eyes that threatened to escape.

This was stupid really. She really didn't know why she was getting so upset over something as insignificant as this.

She took in a deep breath closing her eyes while quietly whispering to herself to calm down.

Several seconds later she reopened her eyes. Her green eyes stared intently at her reflection as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Lucas was probably starting to get impatient waiting for her to finish getting ready so that they could make their way over to Brooke's for Thanksgiving dinner.

Peyton was already dressed and her makeup was done, but fixing her hair had been a different story. She had been running her fingers lightly through her blonde tresses wincing slightly after her fingers had made contact with a rough surface towards the back of her head. Peyton frowned confused for a moment while her fingers traced up and down the area. It didn't take long for her to register what she was touching. It was a scar. The scar left behind from the surgery.

She hadn't noticed it before because she hadn't given much effort into styling her hair these last few days, especially since she hadn't really left the apartment.

Curious to get a look, the blonde searched through a couple of drawers until she found a hand mirror. She faced her back towards the bathroom mirror and held up the smaller mirror in front of her catching the reflection of the back of her head.

Peyton frowned disapprovingly. The scar wasn't gigantic, but it wasn't small either. What made her feel worse was that the area surrounding the scar was completely free of hair since it had been shaved off for surgery.

It looked ugly.

She looked ugly.

And what was worse was the fact that no one had bothered to point it out. It was embarrassing. She basically had what looked like a huge bald spot in the back of her head. The last thing she wanted was people staring. The last thing she wanted was more attention.

She couldn't show up to dinner with her hair like this.

And so for the past twenty minutes she had been shifting and twisting her hair around trying to cover up her scar, but she wasn't getting it right. She was failing miserably. The more Peyton tried, the more upset she became as her hair refused to comply.

Pretty soon her eyes had started to water and she was forced to fight the urge to cry. She was being so silly, Peyton knew that. This was no reason to spill tears over, but she couldn't help it. She was so sensitive these days. Her emotions were on high alert. Everything thing felt magnified and it was completely out of her control.

Peyton took in another deep breath. She was not going to cry over this. She was better than this. Stronger.

Another deep breath.

And then another one.

The knock on the bathroom door startled Peyton out of her thoughts.

"Shit." She mumbled.

"Hey everything okay in there?" She could hear Lucas' voice coming through the other side of the door.

"I'm okay. I just need a few more minutes." Peyton replied trying to maintain a steady voice.

"You've been in there for a while." He pointed out. "Are you sure everything is alright?" He pressed further. Lucas had caught on to the slight crack in her voice while she tried to convince him that she was fine. He wasn't buying it. "Can I come in?" His voice filled with concern when Peyton had remained silent.

Peyton froze. "No, please. I…I'll be out in a second." She didn't want Lucas to see her like this. So weak and upset, more so over something as superficial as her looks.

"I'm coming in." Lucas said deciding to completely dismiss her plea. He was worried. She sounded upset.

Peyton's mouth dropped slightly not expecting him to refuse her request. Lucas had been nothing but accommodating and respectful of her space so she was a little stunned to say the least. "No wait, don't!" She practically shrieked running over to lock the door, but it was too late – Lucas had turned the doorknob and let himself in.

Peyton huffed feeling defeated. Her hair was still a mess.

Lucas took in her appearance. Peyton looked sad.

He was right. Something was up.

"You're upset." He pointed out softly. "Did you change your mind about dinner? We don't have to go. We can stay home just the two of us." Lucas stepped forward moving closer to Peyton. "Everyone would understand."

Peyton shook her head at him rapidly. "No. It's nothing like that." She spit out quickly in reply. She looked up noticing for the first time how intently Lucas was staring at her.

It sent chills down her spine.

"It's just…" She lost her nerve. "Just forget it. It's stupid." She shook her head once again moving away from Lucas and retreating back towards the bathroom sink, staring at her appearance once more. "And I'm just gonna feel even more stupid for bringing it up."

"I'm sure it's not stupid." Lucas followed her movements and stood behind her, looking past her shoulder at both of their reflections in the mirror. "What's wrong? Talk to me." He urged.

Peyton's head fell, she closed her eyes once more while taking in a deep breath and then exhaling. She lifted her head, but didn't turn to face him. It was easier to talk to him through the mirror. "I just don't like the way I look right now, that's all. No big deal." She replied trying to brush it aside for his sake.

Lucas' face fell into a slight pout not quite comprehending the situation. "What are you talking about? You look great."

Peyton released a snort.

"I'm serious." Lucas reassured. "You always look great."

"Trust me." He added while sending her a playful wink.

Peyton's eyes dropped down feeling a slight blush coming on.

She began to fidget with her hands. "It's just my hair –" She paused. "Or lack thereof…" She trailed off sheepishly.

"Oh…that." Lucas picked up on her meaning as his eyes wandered towards the spot situated at the back of her skull. The very spot that had caused her to lose so much of the past.

"I just didn't really notice it until now…I didn't realize it looked like that back there." She sighed. "It took me by surprise I guess. I know it must sound stupid."

"It doesn't sound stupid at all." Lucas replied without skipping a beat.

"I've been trying to pin my hair back to cover it but… it's not coming out the way I want." She added feeling frustrated. "I just got more upset when I couldn't fix it." She admitted. "It's stupid. I'm being stupid."

Lucas sighed. He hated seeing her like this with her confidence and self-esteem dwindling these days. It was a side of Peyton he hadn't seen in a very long time. The last time Lucas had seen Peyton this insecure was when she had first started Red Bedroom Records. She was completely terrified in the beginning because she felt like she had no clue over what she was doing. "You look great." He repeated once more. His hands found their way towards her shoulders and rested there. "You're beautiful."

"I feel ugly." She muttered honestly.

Lucas gave her shoulders a healthy squeeze. "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you're far from it. You've just got a little battle scar that's all. It's kind of badass if you ask me. Toughest girl I know."

Peyton expected to tense up from Lucas' touch, but it had the opposite effect in this instance. She felt relaxed. His touch was comforting. "It's really not that little." She pointed out. "And everyone will be able to see it clearly."

"It's just hair Peyt. It will grow back." He reminded her while giving her shoulders another squeeze. "And you have nothing to feel embarrassed about. You really do look amazing." Sure the scar was noticeable, but it didn't change anything for Lucas. His wife looked gorgeous. She would always look perfect to him. His attraction for her would never fade.

Peyton remained unconvinced though she did feel a little better after listening to Lucas' words. He really was too good to her. She didn't deserve it. She was still hot and cold with him most days. He must have hated her for it too.

"Here." He declared releasing his hold from her shoulders and grabbing the hair pins Peyton had abandoned on the bathroom counter. He placed them in her right hand. "C'mon I'll help you, just tell me what to do." He gently began collecting her hair in his hands. "Though I can't make any promises that whatever I end up doing won't look completely jacked up. In fact I can pretty much guarantee that." He said with a grin.

Peyton chuckled her spirits lifting up a bit. "Okay." She said sending him a smile through the mirror. "Thank you Lucas." She added softly.

Lucas returned the smile before focusing back on Peyton's hair. "Though I have had some practice doing my little sister's hair when I've had to get her ready for school. Any chance you'd be interested in wearing your hair in two pigtails this evening?" He joked as she watched him wiggle his eyebrows at her through the mirror.

Peyton laughed so hard she was practically crying.

It was official. Her husband was kind of a dork.

"So do you remember what we told you earlier?" Nathan Scott questioned his youngest kid. He kneeled on the floor looking at her square in the eyes. He raised an eyebrow at his daughter shortly after she sent him a confused look. "About Aunt Peyton?" He gently reminded her.

The three year old in front of Nathan let out an exasperated sigh but nodded nonetheless. "Yes." She huffed clearly displeased.

"Aunt Peyton is a little confused about a lot of things right now, so we're gonna take it easy with her, right?" Nathan knew very well that his daughter was a force to be reckoned with. Overall she was a good kid, but she still had a tendency to do whatever she felt like whenever she felt like it. Unlike Jamie, who had been more of a ruler-follower at that age, Lydia was much fonder of breaking the rules whenever she saw fit. And that little ball of energy loved Peyton and usually went into hyper-mode whenever her favorite aunt was present. For the past few days Haley and Nathan had been coaching both kids – but more specifically Lydia – on how to behave around Peyton.

Lydia begrudgingly nodded once more. "Daddy?"

"Yes munchkin?"

"Is Aunt Peyton not gonna play wif me?" She pouted.

"She might, but you have to ask her first instead of dragging her away like you usually do." Nathan informed her. "And if Aunt Peyton's not up to it, that's okay too. There are a lot of other people here who would be happy to play with you, like Aunt Brooke."

"She doesn't do da funny voices as good as Aunt Peyton." Lydia quietly grumbled.

Did his three year old just roll her eyes at him?

Nathan shook his head. She must have picked that up from Jamie. "What was that?" Nathan asked testing her.

"Nothing." She sighed dramatically.

"You'll be good?"

"I be good daddy."

"That's my girl." Nathan pulled her into a giant hug placing a wet kiss on the top of her forehead causing Lydia to giggle. "Take it easy okay?" He reminded her once more after pulling back.

Lydia nodded.

The loud sound of the buzzer rang throughout the apartment.

"That must be them!" Brooke announced as she ran over to the intercom to buzz Lucas and Peyton inside the building. She turned around noticing that everyone was standing right behind her suddenly. They stood there in silence looking awkward as hell, clearly not knowing what to do with themselves. She frowned. "Could you guys be more awkward?" She questioned. They would all be crowding Peyton as soon as she opened the door.

Nathan, Haley and Julian all shrugged in response.

"No, no, this will not do." Brooke shook her head. "Let's try to look more natural people, shall we? We can't have Peyton freaking out before she even steps one foot into the apartment." She scolded the adults. "Go make yourselves look busy or something."

No one moved.

"Go!" She urged using her bossy voice and springing the trio into action. "Shoo!" She waved them off.

Not that it helped much.

The awkwardness did not dissipate in the slightest, in fact it looked worse. Haley had opted to fluff some throw pillows on the couch, while Nathan –who had never been interested in art a day in his life – was suddenly fascinated with a painting hanging in the hall. Meanwhile Julian had busied himself with rearranging some decorative candles sitting on their bookshelf. One of the candles slipped from his hands hitting the ground and rolling all the way down until it hit Brooke's feet.

The disapproving frown on Brooke's face sank even deeper. They looked more like the three stooges in her opinion. "Oh just forget it!" She barked out exasperatedly kicking the candle back towards her husband. "That looks even worse. You guys are pathetic." She dismissed them with a wave of her hand and headed towards the door knowing Lucas and Peyton would be arriving any second.

There was a knock on the door and Brooke swung the door open immediately.

"Hi guys!" Brooke greeted pulling them inside her home. "Welcome." They entered greeting Brooke and stepping inside. "So glad we could do this!" She added as she hugged them both and planted a kiss on their cheeks respectively. "Peyton you look awesome! I really like that dress, even though it's not one of mine, but I'll forgive you this time." The brunette playfully joked.

Peyton accepted the complement with a shrug of her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Lucas sending her an all-knowing look.

"Your hair is different. I don't think I've ever seen you wear it up like that." Brooke commented inspecting the hairdo.

"Oh you know, just trying something new." Peyton replied shrugging her shoulders once more. She could see Lucas' poor attempt at suppressing a grin. Poor guy, he had spent an agonizing thirty minutes trying to help Peyton get her hair right. Towards the end they had ended up bickering over what hair style looked best. It was quite the comical sight.

Her hair was far from perfect. It was a little messy, but passable.

"Well I like it." Brooke said.

"We brought dessert." Peyton held up the pie in her hands eager to move on.

"Perfect." Brooke replied as she closed the door behind them.

"Sorry we're so late." The blonde apologized. "Totally my fault."

"Nonsense, you're right on time. As you can see everyone else is already here. And you remember Julian right Peyton?"

Peyton nodded greeting Julian with a small wave. Brooke had introduced them while she had still been in the hospital. He had visited a couple of other times after that.

"Hey guys." Lucas greeted Julian, Haley and Nathan as they walked over to say hello.

"Aunt Peyton, Aunt Peyton, Aunt Peyton!" Lydia Scott scurried from her parents' side making a mad dash for the blonde. Haley had tried catching her but Lydia was quicker.

"LYDIA!" Both Nathan and Haley called out, but the littlest Scott paid them no mind making her way over to Peyton and wrapping her tiny limbs around Peyton's right leg immediately.

The unexpected welcome had knocked Peyton off balance that she had almost dropped the pie in her hands. Luckily Lucas had caught her back and straightened her out before that could happen.

"Lydia over here now." Nathan said in a firm tone clearly unhappy. Apparently it was going to be in one ear and out the other with his daughter today.

Knowing she was in trouble Lydia just tightened her grip around Peyton's leg.

Lucas went down on one knee. "Hey what about me princess? I get no love?" He teased giving her a pout.

"Hi Uncle Lucas." Lydia automatically greeted but still refused to move an inch.

Both Lucas and Peyton looked down at Lydia and then at each other before they began laughing.

"I think that belongs to me." Haley announced ready to scoop up her child. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright." Peyton shook her head stopping her. "Haley right?"

Haley nodded immediately. "It's really good to see you Peyton. I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks." Peyton replied giving her an awkward smile. Right next to Haley stood Nathan. He looked so different, so…manly – definitely not the baby faced teen she remembered from high school. "Hello Nathan." She greeted him deciding to get it over with. Since they had so much history together- most of it bad – Peyton wasn't entirely sure how to go about greeting an ex who just so happened to be her brother-in-law now.

"Looking good Sawyer." Nathan awkwardly leaned over making sure not to crush his kid and surprised Peyton with quick hug.

Peyton kept her lips tight. Well that was awkward, especially since her and Nathan had not ended on the best of terms in high school. She wondered how they managed to get over that hurdle now that they were technically family.

Both Haley and Nathan moved on and greeted Lucas exchanging hugs.

"Aunt Peyton are yous gonna play wif me?" Lydia interrupted getting Peyton to look back down at the child still wrapped around her leg. "Daddy said I haves to ask first."

Nathan rolled his eyes. At least she somewhat listened.

"How about we give Peyton some space first bub?" Haley gently removed her daughter's death grip on Peyton and placed her a few steps back.

"So can we play?" An impatient Lydia repeated demanding an answer.

Peyton chuckled. "She always this bossy?"

"Only when she wants to get her way, which is pretty much every day." Haley quipped.

Jamie who had been unusually quiet up until this point stepped up to greet Lucas.

Lucas looked down at his mini-me before hugging him. "Man you've gotten big." He commented unable to believe how tall Jamie was now. He tried to remember when was the last time he had seen his nephew. It had been awhile.

"Hi Uncle Lucas." Jamie greeted as they pulled apart. "Hi Aunt Peyton." He greeted her shyly sending her a wave.

"Hey there." Peyton smiled waving back.

"This kid is looking more and more like his incredibly handsome uncle. Nate you should be relieved he got my side of the family gene pool since I'm the much better looking brother." Lucas stated with a hint of arrogance in his tone.

Peyton couldn't help but nod in agreement. The kid did look an awful lot like Lucas. The only thing Jamie and Nathan shared were those blue eyes, but then again Lucas had a matching pair as well.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "You wish." He scoffed.

Ignoring his brother Lucas continued. "Jamie thank your lucky stars you were blessed with this face…" The blonde pointed to his own face. "…and not cursed with that ugly mug." He finished off while pointing at Nathan.

Jamie burst out laughing.

"You done yet?" Nathan said deadpanned.

"Not even close little brother." Lucas grinned sending his brother a shake of the head.

"Well while you two very grown adults continue to pick on each other like small children, Jamie and I are gonna go finish setting the table." Haley announced. "I can take that Peyton." She took the pie that Peyton was holding and disappeared towards the dining room with Jamie in tow.

"I should go check on the turkey babe." Julian gave his wife a quick peck on the lips. "Please make yourself at home Peyton." He added before taking his leave.

"Can we play now?" Lydia stomped her foot clearly unhappy that her question had been ignored.

"Lydia…" Nathan gave her an all-knowing look that it was time for her to readjust that attitude.

Lydia huffed and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Hey you know what Liddy?" Brooke cut in predicting a temper tantrum erupting in the very near future. "Aunt Peyton hasn't seen the whole apartment yet. Can you believe it? I was going to give her a tour, but I think Peyton would like it more if you gave the tour. I bet it would make it extra special." She spoke very excitedly in order to engage the little girl. "What do you say?"

Lydia paused in deep thought before breaking into a grin and nodding enthusiastically.

"That's my girl." Brooke smiled sending her a wink.

"C'mon Aunt Peyton I gives you a tour!" Lydia proudly announced giggling as she grabbed a hold of the blonde's hand and began to skip down the hall dragging Peyton along for the ride.

Nathan mouthed a quick thank you to Brooke.

"No problem." She winked at the boys before taking her leave to catch up to Peyton and Lydia.

"So…" Nathan began now that it was just the two of them. "You screw up your marriage yet?"

"Ha ha ha." Lucas responded sarcastically.

"Seriously though, how have things been between you two these last few days since she came home?"

Lucas blew out air from his lips. It was followed by a loud sigh. Honestly he didn't even know where to begin. Things weren't bad, but they were far from perfect. It was mostly awkward and even though he and Peyton were in each other's presence most of the time it still felt…lonely. Lucas felt lonely and he was pretty sure Peyton was feeling the exact same way.

"You need a drink first don't you?" Nathan offered sensing the distress written all over Lucas' face.

"Yes." Lucas quickly replied. "Maybe more than one." He joked.

"That I can help you with." Nathan replied as he slapped a hand on Lucas' back as the brothers made their way towards the Baker's home bar.

Thirty minutes later Peyton found herself sitting in-between Julian and Nathan on the couch in the entertainment room.

Yup you heard right. Brooke and Julian's apartment was that big that they had both a living room and entertainment room, though Peyton could barely tell the difference. But apparently when you were as rich as Brooke Davis having multiple living rooms wasn't something one gave a second thought to or any thought really. There was another area in the apartment that suspiciously also looked like another living room with the exception that it had a fire place. Fuck that, Brooke wasn't rich – back in high school Brooke had been rich before her family had gone broke – no, now she was wealthy. It was crazy.

But anyway here she was sandwiched between two men - one whom she barely knew and the other was the guy she had lost her virginity to at age fifteen, who also happens to be her husband's brother.

Everything was just peachy.

They were sitting on the couch watching Lucas and Jamie, who were sitting down on the area rug playing some basketball video game on this colossal flat screen that practically took up the entire wall. Haley had put Lydia down for her afternoon nap some time ago and had left to join Brooke in the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

"Jamie watch your left." Nathan coached from his spot on the couch. Jamie obeyed quickly blocking Lucas' player on the left from stealing the ball.

"Hey no cheating!" Lucas whined regarding Nathan's unsolicited assistance. He then watched his nine year old nephew make a two-pointer effectively wining the game. "I am so out of shape." He complained tossing the controller to Nathan signaling it was his turn.

"No dude, you just suck." Nathan took Lucas' spot on the floor and Lucas rejoined Peyton on the couch.

"Shut up." Lucas tossed a throw pillow at Nathan's head. "Having fun yet?" He whispered to Peyton who looked completely bored out of her mind.

"Loads." She quipped before taking a swig of the whiskey sour Julian had made her.

"You should have a go next round." Lucas suggested.

"Yea you should, you're pretty good." Julian spoke chiming in.

"Pfft." Peyton huffed looking back and forth between the two men like they were crazy. "I've never played a video game a day in my life."

"Oh I converted you over to the dark side ages ago." Lucas informed her sporting a smug look across his lips.

Julian chuckled.

"I've taught you well and Julian's right you can definitely hold your own against us guys."

Peyton shook her head unable to believe that now she had become some sort of video game junkie thanks to Lucas. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass." She gulped down the remainder of her drink. "Though I wouldn't be opposed to another one of these." She raised and wiggled her empty glass at Julian grinning.

"Coming right up." Julian took her empty glass and went to fix Peyton her drink.

"You doing okay?" Lucas took the opportunity to ask now that they were alone on the couch. Nathan and Jamie were way too occupied with their game to eavesdrop.

"I'm fine Lucas." Peyton replied giving him an exasperated look. "You really don't have to keep asking me that like every five seconds you know."

"I know that, but I just wanna double check that you aren't uncomfortable or feeling weird." He reasoned.

Peyton chuckled. "Of course I feel uncomfortable and weird." She bluntly stated. "It'd be weird if I didn't feel that way honestly." She pointed out.

Realizing she had a point Lucas chuckled as well. "Okay so maybe that's fair considering the circumstances."

"I'd also like to point out that everyone else here looks uncomfortable and is acting kind of weird."

"That's not true." Lucas defended.

"So true." Peyton said mockingly. "With the exception of Lydia, everyone here is treading lightly around me. It's like everyone expects me to have some kind of major freak-out because I can't remember them."

"No one thinks that. No one wants to overwhelm you with all these new faces, that's all." He reassured her.

"Well did you notice how Brooke and Haley didn't ask me to join them in the kitchen?"

"You're a guest. They just wanted you to relax."

Peyton rolled her eyes. Last time she checked Haley was a guest as well. "It's insulting that's what it is." She retorted. "I have amnesia not some sort of chronic disorder that prevents me from helping make dinner. I feel babied. I'm not that fragile." She complained. "They're probably in there right now gossiping about me."

"Okay now you're just being paranoid." Lucas teased. "And did it ever occur to you to just go into the kitchen and offer to help?"

Peyton paused.

It hadn't.

Well he had her there.

"Are you seriously mad at Brooke and Haley?" He questioned skeptically.

Peyton sank further into the couch cushions and sighed. "No. Not really." She shook her head. "Ignore me, I'm just being weird because I feel weird." She explained in defeat. "I don't know how to do this Lucas." She whispered quietly not wanting the other boys to hear her.

"Do what?" Lucas leaned in closer to hear her better.

Peyton shrugged. "Start over." She replied looking sad.

"Listen to me." Lucas looked over making sure Nathan and Jamie were still too distracted to overhear before returning his attention on Peyton. "I know everything feels really scary right now and your mind has probably been on autopilot since you woke up, but you are not alone here." He placed his left hand over her right. "I'll help you." He gave her hand a tight squeeze in an effort to reassure her. "I'll help you get through this."

Peyton quickly nodded swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. "You promise?" Brooke had been right all along – Lucas was a good man. He made her feel safe even though she was only starting to get to know him.

"I promise." He replied his deep blue eyes penetrating her green ones.

Peyton squeezed his hand right back.

She believed him.

Thanksgiving dinner continues in the next chapter. Until then show me some love guys and review your little hearts out!