Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to One Tree Hill.

Julian and Peyton walked into the beach house and heard people talking animatedly in the kitchen area. When the door shut behind them, it went quiet.

Peyton looked at Julian, who shrugged, and then called out, "Hey… It's us! We're back…"

Brooke came out of the kitchen and said a little loudly, "Hey Peyt, Hollywood. Did you have a good lunch?"

Peyton gave her best friend a suspicious glance, but when Brooke didn't break, she simply said, "Yeah, we did."

Brooke rolled her eyes and said, "Well come on in to the kitchen Hales and I were just cleaning up. Lindsay went for a walk, said she needed to clear her head."

Julian looked around the room and said, "Where's Jamie?"

"Oh he's upstairs, cleaning out Chester's cage," Haley said from beside the kitchen sink.

"Chester?" Julian asked as he stood, looking around to see what he could do to help.

"Chester's his bunny," Haley said laughing lightly. As she added, more to herself than anyone else, "I just realized how strange that could sound if you don't know Chester."

"He has a rabbit?" Julian asked with childish excitement. Peyton rolled her eyes as her female friends cast her questioning looks. She shook her head and motioned toward Julian, who said at that exact moment, "Peyton won't let me get a pet, she says I won't take care of it."

Brooke and Haley shared a glance, while Peyton simply said, "That's right I said that, and I still hold to it. You're gone on location most of the time. What am I going to do with an 80-pound dog?"

Julian opened his mouth to retort, only to be cut off by Peyton once again, "And you know I don't want a rabbit, or a rodent of any kind. And when I suggested we get a cat you said cats were stupid."

Julian smirked at her. Letting the moment hang for a moment, he then said, "Alright, let's not fight right now. We're on vacation, and your friends are watching us."

Peyton laughed and then said, "Alright."

"I'm going to go check out this bunny though," Julian said as he turned to exit the kitchen.

"Don't get any ideas!" Peyton shouted after him, earning a sarcastic 'ha!' from her boyfriend. She then looked at her friends, and found they were both sporting the same, 'wow' expression. She shrugged and asked casually, "What?"

"Peyton Sawyer, having a very domestic argument," Haley said.

Peyton again shrugged, and said defensively, "Big deal."

Brooke laughed and said, "Aw P. Sawyer, don't get all huffy. We're just teasing."

Peyton gave them both pointed looks and said, "I'm not huffy."

Brooke laughed, and Haley smiled as they watched a flush come over Peyton's features. Brooke then whispered, loudly, "Not huffy indeed."

"Whatever you guys," Peyton said as she took a seat on the stool. "So I take it Nathan went down to the docks?"

The mood became quite somber rather quickly. Haley said, "Yeah he did."

"Has he called to say whether or not he's found him?" Peyton asked as she toyed with the dishtowel laid out before her.

"No, we haven't heard anything," Brooke said as she wiped the counter dry.

"Did you tell Lindsay?" Peyton asked.

"Why are you so concerned?" Brooke countered.

"I just think that if it were Julian who suddenly ran off after a fight, I'd want to know that he was safe," Peyton said, her attention still on the dishtowel, missing the looks her friends were giving each other. "Besides, we all know Lucas isn't known to make the best choices when he's upset. So of course I'm hoping he's okay."

"That's true," Haley and Brooke said together, before giggling. Lucas' inability to cope was a well known problem, apparently.

"So what did you all have for lunch here?" Peyton asked as she looked for any evidence.

"Spaghetti, Brooke cooked," Haley said.

"Brooke Davis? Made spaghetti? Did you take a picture?" Peyton teased.

"Hey at least I can cook something without burning it," Brooke said haughtily.

"I can cook…" Peyton attempted to defend herself. But waved it off and then said, "Alright I concede that I'm in no way a proper chef. But still, having Brooke Davis cook for you is monumental."

"We were honored," Haley said with reverence usually reserved for the most serious of events.

"Alright, alright," Brooke said as she sat on the stool beside Peyton. Smiling brightly, she asked, "So now, how was Larry?"

"Larry rushed off to meet a woman after lunch," Peyton said, kinking a brow at the look her friend gave her.

"And you're perfectly alright with that? Your father seeing another woman after all these years?" Brooke asked as she nibbled on a cookie she had stolen from the cookie jar.

"I hate to break it to you girlie, but my father has been dating women every now and again for years now," Peyton said as she broke off a piece of the cookie Brooke was enjoying.

"Hey!" Brooke shouted as she slapped the back of Peyton's hand.

"I love cookies, you knew that. So taking a cookie was just tempting fate," Peyton said took a vindictive bite of the cookie.

Brooke rolled her eyes, but changed the subject back by asking "So tell me about this woman."

"She's a customs official," Peyton said obviously not willing to give up any more details.

"Really? So they met through work then," Haley said, drawn in by the mystery of it all.

Peyton sat resolutely, arms crossed. She took another bite of her cookie and chewed it thoughtfully. Haley then said, "Come on Peyton, tell us more about your father's new lady."

Unable to hold her passive face, Peyton caved and said, "Actually, I was only joking with Brooke. He's working. But now that I'm thinking about it, a dinner with all of us and my dad sounds perfect. It's been ages since you've seen him, and Nathan too. Oh Hales, can we have a dinner in the backyard?"

"Sure, sure," Haley said, happy to oblige as long as Peyton was smiling. When it didn't seem like Peyton was going to add anything else, Haley said casually, "By the way, can we go back to the pet conversation."

"Yeah. You've been dying to have a big ol' bulldog since we were nine years old," Brooke said as she looked at Peyton pointedly.

"I'm twenty-two now. Things that I wanted then are different from things that I want now," Peyton said as she refocused her attention on the dishtowel again, and her voice lowered slightly with each syllable.

"I don't believe any of that for a second. God Peyt, You're ready to marry him! And couples have pets," Brooke said as she patted her best friend's thigh. "Besides, it'll be good for you to have a big dog to protect you while he's away."

"Yeah, what she said," Haley said as she patted Peyton on the back.

"You guys are hilarious," Peyton said as she laughed at their combined sincerity. "I'll think about it. But right now, I want to get dressed and go for another run, maybe along the beach this time. I have a lot to think about right now."

"He's a good guy Peyton, and he makes you happy," Brooke said as Peyton walked away. "You deserve to be happy."

Haley nodded to emphasize the validity of Brooke's statement.

"I have the sneaking suspicion I was the topic of your discussion before we came back from lunch," Peyton said as she left the room and headed upstairs.

"She's good," Haley said as she grabbed herself a cookie.

"So did Nathan tell you," Brooke asked in a whisper as she raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"That Julian's going to propose?" Haley asked in an excited whisper.

"Isn't it exciting?" Brooke said as she nearly squealed in excitement. "I'm just waiting for him to tell me. It's so frustrating that Lucas had to be a drama queen now. I'm never going to corner him alone."

"Calm down, Peyton's going to be coming back through here any minute. We can't be discussing that," Haley said pointedly.

"Alright fine. We'll talk about Lucas then," Brooke said catching Haley's eyes and daring her to discuss that boy again.

"Let's not talk about that train wreck either," Haley said as she sat down on the stool that Peyton had vacated.

"Alright, let's just talk about my mom's latest idea," Brooke said with a note of exhaustion.

"Not a good idea," Peyton said as she came down the stairs.

"How much of our conversation did you hear?" Haley asked.

"Just something about Brooke's mom. It's never a good idea to talk about Brooke's mom in any scope," Peyton said as she walked by them toward the back door.

Brooke rolled her eyes, but then said, "She's right though."

"I'm happy that's settled. I'll see ya'll in a few," Peyton said as she headed out the back door.

"Oh good she's gone, " Brooke said as she jumped off the stool. She watched as Peyton took off down the beach, and then grabbed Haley's hand and said, "Let's corner Julian and make him tell us all the details."

"Should we really do that in front of Jamie? He's bound to tell Peyton," Haley said before they were halfway up the stairs.

Brooke paused, and then said, "You're right. Why don't you take Jamie, and I'll talk to Julian."

"Fine, but you have to give me all the details," Haley said as they made it up the stairs.

"Jamie, come with me, I need your help with dinner," Haley said as she stared at Brooke while they made their way down the hall.

They opened the door and found Julian and Jamie sitting at the end of Jamie's bed. Julian was holding Chester as Jamie pet him and listened to the tale that Julian was sharing.

"Aww Mama Julian was telling me about how they make movies," Jamie said in his adorable four year old voice.

Haley laughed and said, "I'm sure he'll find the time to be able to finish telling you before he goes back to Los Angeles."

"Of course I will little man," Julian assured him as he stood and put Chester back in his cage.

"Jamie, wash your hands and meet me downstairs, alright?" Haley said in her motherly voice. As Jamie dutifully walked out of his bedroom, Haley turned to Julian and said, "We're going to make a big dinner again. I never get to make big meals."

"I'm sure it will be great, everything has been delicious so far," Julian assured Haley as she left the room. The door closed and Julian turned to Brooke and said, "Well how about that, I have Brooke Davis all to myself."

"And I've got Julian Baker all to myself," Brooke said with a raised brow.

"Whatever shall we do on our own," Julian said as he began to pet Chester again, through the cage.

"I don't know," Brooke said, as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Well, we could always talk about Peyton," Julian said as he turned away from Chester. "I want your opinion,"

Brooke cut in and said, "I think you should ask her at the dinner we're all supposed to have with Larry, It's kind of perfect really."

Julian chuckled and asked, "Nathan?"

"I've been waiting for you to come to me for ages now," Brooke said dramatically.

Julian raised his eyebrows and said, "I only talked to Nate this morning. It's been all of five hours."

"Five hours? Hollywood, you should have spoken to me the minute it crossed your mind!" Brooke exclaimed as she jumped off the bed.

"So, at dinner, with an audience?" Julian said rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, yes, that does sound about right."

"P. Sawyer is going to die!" Brooke said as she nearly jumped up and down in all her giddiness.

"I can't marry someone who's dead," Julian said rather seriously.

Brooke slapped his arm before saying thoughtfully, "You are funny. Every minute I spend with you, makes me more sure that you are the right guy for Peyton."

AN: Well, well then. I can't believe how amazing you guys are. I really appreciate your reviews. I'm sorry for mistakes, I actually wrote this today. If there are any glaring ones please let me know and I'll fix it straight away. I hope you liked this chapter. Lots of interaction between everyone. I'm very happy that you're all enjoying the story. It gives me inspiration to continue this. So please leave your thoughts. I think this week I will send out personal replies, in honor of my birthday!