A/N- To all the reviewers, thank you thank you guys. I really want to reply to your reviews individually but I really have my mind worked up with different ideas tonight, I had no time to write today, so I'm making it up to you guys, tonight.
But I really, really appreciate it.
Disclaimer: I don't own OTH.
Chapter 12- I'll be
The strands in your eyes, that colors them wonderful
Stop me, and steal my breath
And emeralds from mountains, thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth
Peyton Sawyer woke up the next morning with a smile on her face, she looked up to see the sleeping form of her husband and continued to watch him until he stirred.
"Peyt? What are you doing up?" Lucas asked in a sleepy and raspy voice.
Peyton giggled at her husband's disoriented face.
"And what are you laughing about? It's like 6 am!" Lucas said suddenly felt more awake.
"Nothing." Peyton shook her head smiling.
" I just woke up feeling good." She said sighing and then looking back at him and giving him a bright smile.
"Well, well, I'm glad you are Peyt. I am so happy you are." Lucas said draping his arms across her waist and pulling her closer.
"Luke, we have to get up! I have a lot of things I'd like to do today, and you, being the good husband that you are, would be accompanying your wife." Peyton said in a playful tone, getting up carefully, as Lucas saw what she was trying to do, he shot out of bed.
"Whoa, whoa, hold your horses Tiger!" Lucas cried as he quickly ran over to her side.
"What? Come on Luke, I've been either in bed or in that wheelchair for the past few days, come on, I know I'm sick, but I'm not an invalid." Peyton said in an exasperating sigh.
Lucas immediately regretted his move and was about to apologize when Brooke interrupted.
"Good morning Scott family!" she yelped happily as she made her way to Sawyer's crib, kissed her forehead and turned around.
"Shh, she's still sleeping, keep it down you guys." She said innocently.
The tension that was previously there seemed to just disappear as Brooke came in.
Peyton and Lucas burst out laughing at Brooke's statement, they quickly stopped as Brooke hushed them the second time, but now having that serious look on her face.
"Inconsiderate much?" she asked them with that motherly tone.
Peyton and Lucas saw Brooke was serious so they apologized and looked ashamed of their selves.
Brooke was trying hard not to laugh at her two friends.
"Gotcha!, Seriously guys, is my acting really that good?" Brooke laughed, not being able to hold it any longer, but realizing Sawyer was really still asleep she stopped.
Peyton and Lucas stared at her in amazement.
Peyton was the first to recover and spread her arms to hug Brooke, Brooke quickly made her way to Peyton and wrapped her arms around her.
"Good morning best friend!" she said happily.
"Good morning to you too best friend." Peyton said hugging Brooke tighter, she missed being with Brooke and now that she was here, Peyton was really happy.
Brooke pulled away and looked at Lucas, he had that look on his face when he was thinking deeply, Brooke laughed at this and greeted him good morning.
"And good morning to you too, Broody, what is all the brooding about, it's 6 am and you're already brooding, huh! I wouldn't wonder if you start having wrinkles in a year or so." Brooke teased him giving him a sweet, good natured smile.
Lucas can't help but smile at Brooke's remark.
"Good morning Brooke." Giving her a playful glare.
Brooke could only giggle at his act, reaching for Peyton's hand, she pulled her up to her feet.
"Come on P. Sawyer, let's leave your brooding husband here to wait for baby Sawyer to wake up, while you and I would head downstairs and attack Papa Sawyer with whines for him to hurry up on those chocolate chip pancakes he's soooo famous for." Brooke said jestingly, while making sure she was careful with assisting Peyton, she was scared she might hurt Peyton, but she didn't show it.
Lucas was worried, he didn't know if Peyton would be strong enough to walk her way to the door, how much more down the stairs, he was about to offer to carry her downstairs when Brooke stopped him, clearly seeing what he was trying to do, she gave him an encouraging smile and a small nod, telling him that she wouldn't let anything happen to Peyton and to trust her. He sighed in defeat and made his way to help Peyton from the other side.
Peyton smiled as she saw her husband sighed in defeat, she was lucky Brooke was there, or else she would still be in an argument with Lucas for walking about.
Lucas trusted Brooke, so as he saw her give him the smile and nod, he sighed in defeat.
"Ok, slowly now P. Sawyer, I know you love Papa Sawyer's pancakes, and believe me, we'd still get to eat them when we get there." Brooke said teasing, but deep inside, she was just nervous as hell about Peyton, she knew Peyton wanted a little liberty, so she was trying to give it to her without acting weird and because she didn't want Peyton to feel that she was only doing it because she pitied her.
Peyton smiled at what Brooke said, she knew her best friend was just concerned about her, so she slowed down a bit.
As they got to the stairs though, Peyton admitted that she wouldn't be able to do it without feeling pain, so Lucas carried her down the stairs, when they reached the bottom, Brooke skipped forward.
"I got it from here Broody, I'm sure Peyton can handle a couple minutes without you, now shoo!" she said.
Lucas stuck his tongue out at her and mockingly glared.
"Very mature, Luke, very mature." Peyton said, laughing.
"OH! So what is this, a make-fun-of-Lucas day?" he asked acting incredulously and put on his 'hurt' face.
"It's starting to be, don't you think that's fun?" Brooke countered raising both her eyebrows and giving him a sly smile.
Peyton laughed at Brooke's remark, but paused when she saw Lucas' face.
"You should be on my side, I'm your husband, remember?!" he cried, acting stubborn and childish, raising his hands all over the place.
Peyton and Brooke burst out laughing again.
"I can't believe you two, I'm hurt" he said faking tears.
"Oh suck it up Lucas, your acting sucks, why don't you just go back to writing? Ok? And make us another best seller." Brooke said, she found Lucas' acting cute, and she can't help but notice how much Lucas' grew from the teenage high school boy she fell in love with and still loved.
'Wait! Hold up, did I just think that?' Brooke thought. 'Stupid brain, you don't think those kinds of things, ok?' she thought trying to talk to her brain.
'I'm pathetic, now I'm talking to my brain, how pitiful.' She continued to think to herself.
Lucas and Peyton looked at Brooke with a confused look, Brooke was just chatting up happily a minute ago and now she was totally spaced out.
"Brooke!" Peyton called, tugging Brooke's hand.
"Huh? What?" Brooke said as she came back to her senses.
Lucas and Peyton looked at her as if she was high on drugs or something.
"What?! Did I say something wrong?" she asked in worry.
Peyton just shook her head and dragged her to the kitchen slowly.
Larry Sawyer was surprised to see her daughter and Brooke up and about at 6 am, he would think that after an exhausting day yesterday, they would be sleeping in, like they always do after a tiring day. But today, it was different. He was more surprised to see Peyton standing and walking towards the dining table, he was about to come over to help her when he saw Brooke just nodded and mouthed 'she's fine'. Larry just gave a firm nod and waited till Peyton was settled in a seat.
"Good morning honey, good morning Brooke, did you guys have a good night sleep?" he asked as he came over to give both of them a kiss on the cheek and a quick tight hug for Peyton.
"Good morning Dad, yeah, I actually did, and I woke up so refreshed this morning, I just feel good" Peyton said smiling.
"Well that's good to hear. How 'bout you, Brooke? Slept well? Larry answered and turned to Brooke for her answer.
"Yeap. I slept like a log." Brooke lied, she didn't sleep any good last night, but she had to make them believe otherwise, or else she'll never hear the end of it from her best friend.
Larry nodded and gave her a smile.
"Do you have any plans today?" her father asked them after a few minutes.
"Uhm, I actually wanted to go to Rivercourt today, just for a couple of hours, I want to go back to that place, I just miss it so much, and I'd like to visit Tric as well. I haven't been there for ages, and I just want to see how the place looks now." Peyton said as she told them what she planned to do that day. She knew that they would all argue with her, but she was determined to do so.
"I'll come with you." Brooke quickly answered.
"No Brooke, you have spent more than enough time away from your company, you still have to work, plus Sam might think I'm hogging you from her, and Victoria for that matter." Peyton stated.
"The company is fine, and even if it wasn't I still wouldn't miss out on this day to be with you, no line of clothes or amount of money can ever be compared to spending the day with you." Brooke answered her.
"Sam would be fine, she's graduating, I'm pretty sure she would be in a school practice or some group study until later tonight, and mom, well you know her, she'd be a work until later this afternoon. Don't argue Peyt, I want to do this with you, unless you want to spend it with Lucas though, I mean, I would totally understand that." Brooke continued, she really wanted to spend the day with Peyton, but if Peyton wants Lucas to go with her, then she had no right to object.
Peyton shook her head and said;
"I would love to spend this day with you B. Davis, just like old times." Peyton said, giving Brooke's hand a slight squeeze.
I'll be your cying shoulder,
I'll be love's suicide, and I'll be
Better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life…
As they finished breakfast and the day started to progress, Peyton enjoyed every minute of it, the Rivercourt was still exactly the same, they stayed there for two hours, they even called Haley so they'd be able to spend time with Haley as well, Brooke brought Peyton's wheelchair in case they needed it, but she didn't tell Peyton about it, Peyton looked so happy and contented that she didn't want to spoil that.
Haley had brought them a homemade meal for their lunch, as they ate it in the Rivercourt, they talked about all the memories they had in that court, they paused for a while when Brooke mentioned that 'this was where it all started'. Which was true, the three of them continued lunch and had tons of stories to reminisce, share and talk about, and it felt wonderful.
After their lunch, Brooke suggested they relieve Lucas of baby duty, so they drove back to Peyton's house and got Sawyer, after much argument with Lucas that they let him come, they made their way to Tric, Peyton remembered her office just behind Tric, she wondered what it was now, after she and Lucas' left two years ago, she hadn't had the time to come back and see it.
They made their way through the empty bar, Sawyer yapping occasionally when she sees colorful things.
Karen gave Lucas ownership to the bar, but since Lucas and Peyton moved to California about two years ago, they left the bar responsibilities to Chase and Owen. Tric was still the most famous all aged club in Tree Hill, and Peyton was proud that she got the chance to be a part of it.
As they reached the door leading to Peyton's old office, Brooke got in front of them and placed herself blocking the door. Peyton looked at her in confusion, and Haley just gave her a small smile of understanding.
"Peyt, I have a confession to make," Brooke said biting her lip.
Peyton looked more confused as ever.
"What are you talking about Brooke.?" She asked.
"Well… you see… uhm…" Brooke stammered.
"Well you see, It's like this," Haley tried but stopped in midsentence.
"What the hell are you guys talking about, if you don't want me to see what has replaced my office, that's fine, you could just tell me." She said, still confused as to why her friends were acting that way.
"You see that's the thing. We kinda---" Brooke uttered.
"Brooke, just show her." Haley said, giving Brooke and encouraging nod, and Peyton a little rub on the back.
Peyton just waited for Brooke if she would listen to Haley, thankfully, she did, and Brooke even asked her to open the door.
When they walked in, Peyton was astounded. Her jaw dropping slightly at what she saw. Her office was still the same after she left it two years ago, nothing was moved, but she was sure someone did the dusting and cleaning once in a while, as she saw everything was clean without even a hint of dust.
Peyton always thought someone would have leased or bought the space where her office was, after she left for California, but clearly she was wrong. She slowly made her way to the rack of records that Ellie left her, running her fingers through the edges, she felt she was truly home, she felt tears in her eyes, tears that flowed for happiness, tears that glistened for passion, her tears of joy.
"How do you like it?" Brooke asked looking at her best friend who was clearly having a hard time fighting her tears.
"Brooke, I thought—" Peyton said, clearly wanting an answer, not that she wasn't happy, she was beyond happy, but what she didn't understand was why it was still there.
"Brooke didn't have the heart to sell it or have it leased. Since Lucas owned the place, and both he and Karen didn't accept payment for your lease, everyone thought it was cleared out and abandoned after you left, a lot of people tried to buy the place off, or rent it, but someone under the name Ms. Gretchen has offered to buy off the whole space." Haley said, giving Brooke a smirk as she mentioned Brooke's name in her fake I.D.
"Brooke? You didn't have to." Peyton said, walking over to Brooke and hold her hands.
"I know. But I wanted to. I just wasn't prepared for what was going to happen to me after you left Peyt, and I know that you were just a call away, and that you were just in California, but having this office close to me made me feel that you were always with me every day." Brooke said looking straight at Peyton's eyes, but quickly looked away in shame.
"Aww, honey, come here, you are Brooke Davis, you can get through anything life throws at you, hell the world doesn't stand a chance." Peyton said, wrapping Brooke in a hug.
"Thank you B. Davis, for all of this. You don't know how much this means to me." Peyton whispered in her ears as they hugged.
Brooke just closed her eyes and nodded on Peyton's shoulders.
"Ok. Guys, we are supposed to be spending the day together in adventure and happiness, so I won't have you crying cause when my hormones decide to step in, then that would be major, so before they kick in, can you please stop the water works?" Haley said trying hard not to tear up at the scene unfolding in front of her, she looked over at baby Sawyer who was playing with her pacifier;
"Don't you agree with Aunt Haley, angel, your mom and you're Aunt Brooke are extra emotional today, what do you say we head out and wait for them outside?" Haley asked Sawyer.
Sawyer just babbled at Haley and giggled as she felt her carrier being lifted and led to the exit.
Peyton and Brooke stayed in the office for a couple more minutes, Brooke told Peyton, Mia would come often and practice in the studio, sometimes even with Haley. And Peyton felt home all over again.
Mia became one of the brightest stars in her sky, she had always known Mia had a potential, and now, over 50 million copies sold around the world, and Mia still finds the time to check up and maintain the office.
"Wait, so you mean Mia, is the one maintaining the place? Peyton asked.
"Yeah, I tried to talk her out of it, but she told me that cleaning it would always remind her of you in the office and bring back memories of you guys together, and that it really calms her down.
Peyton just nodded amidst her tears.
As the composed their selves a few minutes later, Brooke was looking a little nervous.
"Hey Brooke, is everything ok?" Peyton asked her.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine, why d0 you ask?" Brooke asked him.
"I just noticed you facial expression, it's just so unlike you Brooke, come on, spill!" Peyton urged.
Brooke walked over to the door and opened it. Brooke made her way back to Peyton slowly and guided her out the door. Sometime in the 30 minutes that they are inside the office, Brooke had managed to have everyone prepare and push through with Peyton's next surprise.
As Peyton and Brooke made their way in the bar, Haley and Sawyer appeared right in front of them.
"Hey guys." Haley said, Sawyer gurgling at Haley's arms.
"Hey Hales, hey angel, are you and Aunt Haley having fun?" Peyton asked as she reached out to take Sawyer.
Brooke and Haley were worried that Sawyer might be too heavy for Peyton now, so they led her to sit at one of the chairs, before Haley passed Sawyer to her.
"Hey angel, listen to mommy ok?" Peyton started. She didn't know what came over her, but she suddenly felt like she needed to talk to her daughter.
"Your Aunt Haley and especially your Aunt Brooke are the best persons to ask about boy problems, when you start having one, but I bet you won't be having one till your 30 with the rate your father has you in. But when you do, boy problems, or just problems, come to them and I know that they would be more than willing to help you out." Peyton said, allowing tears to fall.
"Your Aunt Brooke is mommy's best friend in the whole wide world, and I know that she is going to take really good care of you, she loves you and your father so much and no matter how I am against her spoiling you, I'll leave the arguing part with her to your father. Your Aunt Haley and Uncle Nathan are the best in giving advices, knowing them, they would not only tell you, but they would show you every value and worth of life." Peyton continued.
Brooke and Haley watched in silence, tears free flowing from their eyes. They wanted to stop Peyton from doing this, but they knew that she had to let it out, they admired Peyton's honesty and courage to do this, and they were immensely touched by the way she spoke about them.
They knew that this might probably be the last chance Peyton gets to talk to her daughter like this, so they let her be. But deep inside of them, they are deeply hoping that some kind of miracle would happen and Peyton would be ok.
"Your dad and I have loved you since the day you were born, and we would always love you forever, I would always watch over you and guide you from where I would be, and I know that your dad would always, always be there for you. Grandpa Larry, Grandma Karen and Grandpa Andy, your Grandma Victoria and Grandma Deb would be a part of your life always, they love you, angel. And Grandpa Keith too, mommy would be with Grandpa Keith watching over everyone. I want you to love them, respect them and help them through anything. They have been great to mommy, and mommy may not have enough time to thank them, but as you grow up, will you thank them for me?" Peyton continued to talk to her baby, Sawyer looked at her mother seeming to take in everything her mother was saying.
"Lily, Jaime and baby Emma are your family too, take care of each other and love each other through and through, I know Jaime would be protective with all of you, and I would have to thank Nathan and Haley for that." Peyton said, looking up to Haley and smiling.
"You have a lot of uncles as well, there's always your Uncle Nathan, then you have Uncle Skills, Uncle Mouth, Uncle Fergie, Uncle Junk and Uncle Julian, they would always be there to protect you angel, just make sure one day, when they finally decide to teach you video games and basketball, you put school first always." She said, smiling at her own last sentence.
Brooke and Haley gave a small laugh at this. Peyton still found a way to throw in a little humor in her speech and it was amusing.
"Finally, I want you to take care of your dad for me, ok? He's gonna be going through a lot after mommy goes on her way, and I want you to promise me that you would always be there for him, no matter what happens, ok angel? Take care of him, and love him with all your heart, and if one day your dad gets a chance to reacquaint or find that certain somebody who he loves and loves him back, learn to love her and accept her in the family. But I know you wouldn't find her hard to love, if she only comes through." She said this and glanced up to where Brooke was standing, she gave Brooke a weak smile.
Brooke knew Peyton's last sentence had to do with their little talk in the hospital, but she shrugged it away, Lucas would find somebody eventually, but for now, Brooke was determined to help him in every way that she can.
I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love's suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life…
The greatest fan of your life…
A/N- I had to finish this chapter, I told myself that even if I was busy I should at least write one chapter a day, I owe it to my readers, please tell me what you think of this chapter, this chapter was somewhat hurried and not carefully thought of, I started writing this chapter at 11 pm, its 3am now, so if the chapter isn't that good, then I'm sorry, I have to hit the sheets now, I promise I'd come up with something better tomorrow, but I'm tucking in for the night.
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Thank you…