Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, I know that a lot of you didn't like the fact that Brooke and Jake slept together and I didn't like writing it but there is a purpose otherwise I wouldn't have done it.

I re-read my last chapter and I realised that I didn't really explain why Brooke slept with Jake so I'm going to try to do that now. Basically Brooke thought in her drunken state that Jake was upset about Peyton not being in his life in the same way that she was about Julian, she really thought that Jake cared for Peyton like she did for Julian so she just wanted to comfort him and it went too far, I hope that explains it a bit better but if not then PM me and I'll try to tell you what I thought when I wrote it.

This is the last chapter before Lucas, Peyton and Anna go back to LA and it's very drama-free which I'm hoping you guys will like seeing as I don't think you liked the Brooke/Jake drama.

"So this is the famous rivercourt?" she asked him as she stepped onto the tarmac slowly.

"The one and only," he confirmed while being dragged onto the court that he grew up on. "I know that Jamie wanted to bring you here but seeing as my mum is looking after Anna I thought today could be our day."

"I like that idea." She kissed him softly on the lips and smiled up at him.

"So what do you want to do now then?" he asked her.

"Well what would you have done here when you were in high school?" she responded while playing with their hands.

"Well I would have either been playing basketball," he told her and she nodded understandingly. "Or I would have been making out with my girlfriend over there on the bleachers."

"Well we don't have a basketball," she told him coyly.

"I do believe you're right." He pulled her towards him so that their bodies were pressed against each other.

"So I guess we're just going to have to make other arrangements," she laughed as he took her lips with his and held her hips tightly.

It was about ten minutes later when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. They pulled away from each other and saw an awkwardly stood Nathan staring at the sky in an attempt to make it look like he didn't even notice what they were doing.

"Hey Nathan," Peyton greeted him whilst awkwardly attempting to make her hair look like it hadn't just had Lucas's fingers running through it.

"Hi Peyton it's um great to see you again," he told her uncomfortably while moving to hug her.

"How've you been little brother?" Lucas asked as casually as possible.

"I'm good, especially since I got back yesterday I really missed Haley and Jamie while I was away." Nathan told them both before adding with a smirk, "I see that you two have also been doing good."

Peyton stuck her tongue out at Nathan while Lucas just grinned at his girlfriend.

"Yes we have," Lucas told him, the goofy grin never leaving his face.

"I'd tell you two to get a room but seeing as you're staying at my house I'd really rather you didn't," Nathan laughed.

Peyton tucked her head into Lucas' shoulder to avoid recognition of her red cheeks but it was already too late.

"Aw looks who's getting all embarrassed, it's cute really," Nathan teased her.

"Shouldn't you be spending time with your wife and son?" Lucas asked him hoping to get back to his alone time with Peyton.

"I already did, it's just been a while since I've seen my brother and his girlfriend so I thought I'd say hi," he told them while a grin crossed his face as he thought of his family. "So where's my beautiful sort-of-niece?"

"She's with my mum today but we're all having dinner later so you can see her then okay?" Peyton asked him and smiled when he called Anna his sort-of-niece.

"I'll look forward to it, so what are we doing now?" Nathan asked them knowing that he was crashing their day but he wanted to see their reactions.

"We," Lucas gestured towards himself and Peyton, "will be spending the day together on our own while you go home to spend time with your wife who missed you a lot."

"Fine, fine I can take a hint," he laughed and turned back to his car, "I'll see you guys later."

"So now that he's gone can we get back to what we were doing before?" he asked her with a boyish grin on his face before leaning in to kiss her but at the last minute she turned her head so his lips hit her cheek rather than her mouth as he had intended.

"Sorry but no," she told him firmly before taking his hand and heading towards the path. "You promised me you'd show me around Tree Hill today so that's what we're doing."

"Oh god, what have I got myself into?" he asked while laughing at her strategic view on discovering Tree Hill.

"Come on, I want to see everything," she called to him from the side of the road.

"Okay well first things first, we want to be going the other way." He turned her on the spot so that they were facing the way to the beach, they then walked hand in hand until they reached the shore.

"It's really nice here, we should bring Anna tomorrow she'd love it," Peyton commented as they sat on the sand of Tree Hill's beach watching the world go by in front of them.

"She goes to the beach all the time at home," he laughed at her.

"Yeah but it's different here."

"How so?"

"This place feels like somewhere you'd bring your family," she told him, gazing into his eyes and he understood exactly what she meant, he liked living in LA but he loved Tree Hill, it was where he'd always pictured raising his family.

"Yeah we should come more often; I want Anna to be close to my family."

"I want that too, she doesn't have any family on my side so it would be nice for her to know her family here."

"Are you sure that you can't work things out with your dad?" he asked her gently, this was probably the only topic that they'd never approached.

"I don't know, sometimes I think about contacting him but the things he said to me, they hurt me so much." Her eyes started welling with tears.

He held her tightly and whispered soothing words in her ear.

"I was never that close with my dad, he was always working when I was growing up but I never thought that he would abandon me like that," she admitted.

"You could contact him," he suggested gently. "He might have come to his senses and realised that there is nothing that he wants more than to be a grandfather."

"One can only wish," she told him sadly. "But seeing as he's the one who made the mistake I think he should be the one to make the first move."

"I guess that's fair, let's just hope he hasn't taken your absence in his life as badly as Jake did."

"Do you think he's going to change?" Peyton asked him abruptly with furrowed brows.

"Jake?" His voice rose in surprise, "I don't really know, he was in pretty bad shape when we left but I do know that now he has something to fight for."

"I know it's selfish but I'm kind of hoping he hasn't changed so that I can stop him from seeing Anna without any guilt," she told him with a small smile.

"One can only wish."

As Lucas and Peyton walked up the pathway towards Lucas' childhood home she squeezed his hand tightly.

"Hey." He turned her to face him, "calm down okay? It's just my mum."

"Yeah your mum who doesn't like me," she muttered.

"She does like you," he insisted.

The look she threw at him made him take a step back.

"Okay she doesn't not like you," he attempted. "She likes Anna and seeing as she is exactly like you she must like you a little bit at least."

"Everyone likes Anna, she's like a magnet or something," she replied grumpily.

"And she'll like you too, you just have to give it time." He hugged her gently before they knocked on the door and Peyton plastered a fake smile on her face.

The door opened to reveal Karen who was bouncing Anna on her hip which made Peyton's fake smile transform into a real one.

"Hey Anna," she said in her baby voice before taking her little girl from Karen's arms.

"Hi kids," Karen spoke as she smiled softly at the sight of Peyton interacting with her daughter.

"How was she?" Peyton asked without tearing her gaze from her laughing daughter.

"She's pretty much a perfectly behaved baby," Karen confirmed.

"Yeah when she's with other people she is," Lucas muttered

Peyton hit his chest softly in response giving him a playful glare.

"Well she is!" he defended, "she still seems to like screaming for no reason at all but it's only ever when there's no one but us to see it."

"Hmm, I don't believe you." Karen smiled at the little girl.

"Okay well we have to get over to Nathan and Haley's now otherwise we'll be late for dinner," Lucas excused them.

"Alright well I'll see you soon," Karen said as she hugged her son goodbye then just before they left the house Karen called them back. "Peyton, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come over for coffee tomorrow morning, we could have a nice chat?"

Peyton couldn't stop the grin that appeared on her face. "Yeah sure, I'd like that."

"I don't think I've ever seen Nathan this fascinated with a doll before tonight," Haley giggled with Peyton on the sofa after their meal as they watched Lucas and Nathan entertain Anna with the doll that Brooke had bought her last month.

"I just can't wait until Luke has to sit and watch every single Disney princess film that's ever been made," Peyton laughed back.

She really was looking forward to seeing her daughter's relationship with Lucas develop as she got older; she hoped that they would always be this close.

"God I wish I could see that," Haley said as she sipped her wine.

"You know we can hear you two talking about us and we don't appreciate it," Lucas said from across the room, keeping his eyes on Anna and the doll.

"Oh we know," Peyton told him smiling.

"You seem really happy," Haley commented in quieter tones.

"I am, I feel like I finally have the family I always wanted," she admitted still watching Lucas and Anna play together.

"Lucas seems the same way." Haley nudged her gently with her elbow which made Peyton blush.

"He is pretty wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better father for Anna," she told her trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Have you two talked about that?" Haley asked curiously. "Anna thinking of Lucas as her dad?"

"Before Jake came back I told Lucas that I wanted him to be Anna's dad but Jake just changed everything. I still want it but it's not about what I want, it's about what's best for Anna and if Jake proves that he's going to take being a father seriously then I don't have much choice," she told her, trying to keep the smile on her face.

"Well whatever happens with Jake she'll always be loved because I can see how much she means to you," Haley said to try cheer her up before clarifying, "to both of you."

"When I look at her today I just can't how I could have been so upset when I found out about her, she's brought so much laughter and happiness into my life." Her smile was firmly back in place having been reminded that it was only because of Anna's untimely arrival that she was with Lucas today. "She's our little miracle."

Wow that was cheesy, oops! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be, I'm pretty busy this week because my Dad's in America and it's assessment week (we've only been back at school for a month yet they're giving us loads of tests. Can any of you make sense of that?)