This chapter has some original dialogue because personally I loved the Nathan/Peyton interaction in the episode. I really wanted to keep the dynamic of these two, but with the added twist of Cooper to shake things up a bit :)

Peyton glanced down at her scrap of paper and unfolded it carefully. Seeing that she had Chase, she knew what she should do. With a careful and accurate aim, she threw the paper at Brooke's desk. Brooke turned and sent a smile of thanks back before showing Peyton the name that she'd picked out. Peyton smiled softly, recognising the untidy scrawl instantly.

Nathan it read. She was actually pleased to have an hour alone with Nathan; they needed to talk everything out, with no interruptions, no excuses, and no distractions. She had been scared to tell everyone about her relationship with Cooper; she knew exactly what people would think. Although she feared what Brooke, Lucas, and Haley would say she was most afraid of Nathan's reaction.

This was partly because Nathan was one of her close friends; partly because Cooper was his uncle, whom he was very close to; and partly because Peyton and Nathan had dated many moons ago.

It wasn't that Nathan and Peyton hadn't moved on or anything, Haley and the baby were proof enough of that and Nathan had never been happier in Peyton's eyes. Having his uncle date his ex-girlfriend was bound to be a little bit odd for Nathan though, and she completely understood that.

Cooper had already spoken to Nathan on a number of occasions about the relationship but Peyton hadn't had the chance to talk things through with him herself. She was sure that he was alright about it due to the way he acted but she wanted to ensure that there were no elephants in the room between them.

'Peyton?' The teacher called from the front of the room.

'I got Nathan.' Peyton revealed to the class.

The assignment was pretty simple, and it acted as the perfect conversation starter for Peyton.

1. Share something personal with your partner.

2. Lighten up. Do an impression of a celebrity or a famous character.

3. Admit something that worries you, or something you are afraid of.

4. What do you want to be in ten years?

5. Tell your partner some secret.

'Sawyer.' Nathan greeted as they headed out of the room. They had a free run of the school, but Peyton had the feeling that they would end up in the gym.

'This is like old times, sneaking off to the boy's locker room during class.' Peyton chuckled.

Nathan shook his head, 'That seems like forever ago.'

'Doesn't it?' Peyton agreed. They slipped into the weights room and took a seat on opposite benches. Both suddenly felt a little awkward in each other's company. It really did feel like forever since they'd even been alone together.

'So, the assignment.' Nathan prompted causing Peyton to jump as though an electric shock had gone through her.

She turned the paper in her hand and read the first part aloud; 'Share something personal with your partner.'

They looked into each other's eyes as though daring the other to make the first move.

Peyton took a deep breath and realised that she had to get it over and done with. 'Okay, something personal. I feel like I've lost my friend because not only am I dating his uncle, but I hid it from him.'

Nathan's eyes softened immediately, 'I'll always be your friend, Sawyer. If I've been distant lately it's not because of you, honestly, it's just the baby, and the game, even school. Everything's happening at once, I'm happy for you guys though, really.'

She eyed him coyly as though not quite believing his statement, 'I'd understand if you weren't okay with it, you know. You don't have to be noble and gracious about this, I don't want to have a friendship based on politeness than real feelings.'

Nathan considered her words, seeing that she seemed to think that he was just trying to be well-mannered. He was surprised considering it was the opposite of how he actually felt. 'Right, well, I'll admit when I first realised you guys were together, before I spoke to Cooper; I was mad. Not at you though, Peyton. I was so angry with Cooper, he'd just finished with Rachel and what a car wreck that was; literally. The way I saw it, Cooper had found himself another bit of skirt; it's the way he usually rolls. Cooper hasn't had a relationship in a long time. Although I don't think much of Rachel, when they broke up she was crushed, she brought it on herself but she was broken-hearted. I didn't want Cooper to do that to you. You're my friend and we've known each other a long time, what with all the Derek stuff and everything, I didn't want you to be messed about. I know he's my Uncle but he's a big boy and can handle it, he's probably broken a lot of hearts knowing him, and I didn't want him - I don't want him - to break yours. That's the truth of it, Peyton.' Nathan said with such a magnitude of sincerity that it shocked Peyton.

'Thank you.' She whispered, 'You know it's mutual, right?'

'Of course,' he smiled, 'That, "relationship" we had may have been flawed but we work much better as friends.'

'Sure was flawed.' She laughed, 'Give me your hand. Ok, I want you to feel this.'

'Geez, what happened?' He asked shocked, brushing his hand over her knuckles.

'I broke that knuckle punching something after we broke up for like the twentieth time. I agree, we're better off as friends.'

'Hey, it wasn't all bad.' He argued.

'I guess it was worth it just for the amount of algebra we skipped.' Peyton chuckled, 'That was good.'

Nathan moved across the room to a hefty piece of gym equipment, 'You see this? The summer I decided to really dedicate myself to basketball, my dad said I was way too skinny to ever be a great player. He said I wasn't tough enough, that I wasn't strong enough. So to prove him wrong, I spent every single day in this training room. It was like a thousand degrees in here, but I wasn't gonna let him be right.'

'Anger's motivation.' Peyton shrugged, not really seeing why he was telling her.

'Anger and inspiration. Everytime I benched another ten pounds I scratched two letters under the plate.' He told her.

Curious, she moved to where he stood to have a look, 'What does it say? PS?'

'It was the same summer we started dating.' He revealed.

'Well I'm glad to have been of assistance!' She jested, 'But are you sure it wasn't anger that motivated you? We infuriated each other!'

He shrugged, 'I remember it as inspiration.'

She smiled at that. They were horrible together but neither would have changed it due to those fleeting moments that were good. They didn't regret their actions, instead they were grateful to have made their mistakes with each other. For unlike many who had suffered a turbulant relationship, they had come through the other side as friends and better people.

'Okay, next?' She asked, referring to the assignment, 'Lighten up. Do an impression of a celebrity or a famous character.'

They were a little bemused by the second task, considering how meaningful a conversation they'd developed the first point into.

'If you do a sport's star I will have no clue who it is.' Peyton warned.

'Hey, same, if you do an impression of some loner musician I'll be a long time guessing.' He reciprocated, 'Okay, how about; "I like you. Do you like me?".'

Peyton chuckled, '"I like, Sexy Time Explosion.".'

'"My wife, she very nice. High five!".' Nathan continued, both of them holding in their laughter.

Peyton returned the high five and they chuckled at their own hilarity.

'This isn't bad considering it's school.' Nathan pondered aloud, 'Will you give me an A for this?'

'We're not done yet.' She slapped his arm, 'Okay, number three; admit something that worries you, or something that you are afraid of.'

They made their way to the gym as they both thought about their answers.

Nathan sighed, 'I used to be fearless. I was this stupid kid who thought that nothing could touch me, like I was immortal or something, I guess I have Dan to thank for that. Then I met Haley and suddenly worry and fear found me. It's like, I've walked into a hundred enemy gyms, thousands of fans screaming at me, taunting me, I never flinched. I just take it all and light'em up. No fear. But with Haley, and now the baby; I worry about everything. The thought of being a father, scares the hell out of me.'

Peyton paused on the bleacher she was walking along. She smiled softly at Nathan admitting his fears. He truly had grown from the boy she once knew. The Nate that she had known was the cocky kid who really did think that nothing could hurt him.

'I think that means you're human.' She assured him, 'It's a brand new life that you're going to be responsible for. You'd be weird if you weren't afraid. For what it's worth though, I think that you're going to be just fine. You and Haley are amazing together, everything that you've been through and you're still as strong, that takes real commitment. You two are just about the two most loving people in the world, you'll do nothing less than love that kid with all your heart, I know that. Sure it'll be terrifying but I know you and when you're faced with challenges and things most guys would run from, you step up. That's exactly what you'll do here. I'm counting on it.'

Nathan bowed his head, 'Thanks, it's nice that you have faith in me, even if I don't.'

'Hey, it's not just me.' Peyton tried to drum into him, 'Lucas, Brooke, Whitey, Karen, we all have faith in you.'

He seemed a little overwhelmed by the thought, but humbled at the same time.

'Listen, Nate.' She cleared her throat, 'A lot of us round here had troubled childhoods and things we'd change about the way we grew up. I know I have, and I know you have too. We don't get to change that, but you have the chance to make sure that your son never feels that way. I know you'll do it too.'

Nathan lifted his head, 'You're right.'

'I am.' She said defiantly, 'You are going to be a great Dad.'

'Okay, enough about me, your turn.' Nathan announced, 'What are you afraid of Sawyer?'

She narrowed her eyes at his blatant change of subject, but went along with it as she could see that he wanted move on.

'I'm afraid of lots of things.' She said honestly, she didn't feel the need to go over her prominent fear of people leaving her, even though it was ever present in her mind. She knew that Nathan would never be able to settle that anyway. 'Right now though, I guess that I'm most afraid of how my futures going to pan out, with Cooper and that.'

Nathan frowned, questioning what she meant.

'It's like we have this amazing bond and I care so, so much about him and I don't want those things to ever go away. I'm just afraid that one of us is going to have to sacrifice something for us to have what we want together. There's this age difference that means Cooper's been out and achieved his dream, had his fun and seen the world. I haven't done that, and I still want to, but I don't want him to put his life on hold waiting for me. In the same way I don't want to give up on those things because he's ready for the next step. It sounds selfish, and I know I'm jumping ahead, I just worry about it.' She admitted, realising that she hadn't revealed her fears to anyone else.

'It's not selfish, not at all.' He told her firstly, 'To want to live your life is not a selfish thing, and you said that you don't want Coop to put his life on hold, that makes you more selfless in my eyes. The horrible thing about relationships is that there's always going to be sacrifices, always. Camilla sacrificed everything so that Whitey could do what he loved; Keith held back his love for Karen because that's what she wanted; it's the bitter truth, the greatest act of love. I know that Haley's given up on her dream of Stanford so that we can go to Duke together, and I love her so much for it. That's not to say that it all has to be one-sided though; give and take is best. I know one thing though; Cooper won't let you give up your dreams for him. He's been there and I know that he loved every second. He won't take that away from you, no one ever should. If he cares about you the way I think he does, he'll be happy to wait for you. Don't feel guilty about it either, because seeing you happy will make him happy.'

'You talk a lot of sense for a gormless jock you know, Nate.' She smiled, her eyes a little watery, 'I have one question though.'

'Shoot.'

'When did you become mine and Cooper's biggest fan? You said earlier that you were mad at the thought of us together. What changed your mind? To say all of that about Cooper being willing to sacrifice things for me, you must have changed your opinion somewhere along the way.' She voiced her thoughts.

Nathan grinned widely, 'I was mad at first, and then I spoke to Cooper and I realised that he really cares about you; like he's never cared about any other girl. It was the way he spoke about you. He told me about when he found you that night in some bar. The way he described you, it was like he was talking about a goddess, the most incredible person he'd ever met. He was telling me about you throwing up and his eyes were like dancing at the thought. He's besotted, I don't really get it but even when you puke, to him you're the most beautiful girl on earth.'

'That's gross!' Peyton wrinkled her nose, 'And about the sweetest thing ever.'

'That's totally the gushy, honeymoon stage, wait till you get to the married with a kid part.' Nathan joked.

'Has anyone told you how not funny you are?' She questioned, 'We should move on; number four, what do you want to be in ten years?'

Nathan thought about the question for a moment, 'I hope, in ten years, Haley's got a couple of platinum albums, my Dad decided to be a good grandparent, my Mom's alive and sober and…hopefully my son will have a killer cross-over dribble.'

Peyton smiled at his response, 'Okay, but the question's is about you, Dufus. Where do you plan to be in ten years?'

'I know.' He assured her that he'd understood, 'But if everyone else's dreams come true, then I'll be fine.'

Peyton wondered if this was the same guy who'd just told her not to let go of her dreams. 'Nate, I think that it's great that you take care of Haley, and that you're worried about your family, but if you don't start putting yourself first every once in a while and chasing your own dream, then I'm scared you're going to wake up one day and have to wonder what could have been. In the same way that I'm scared of letting go of my dreams too, I don't want to be bitter because I never got the chance to try. I really don't want to be bitter at Cooper for making me let go of them, I mean if Cooper and I were to go the distance. You don't want to end up like Dan. Don't be haunted like that, Nate.'

He regarded her and took in her words. Being like Dan was his worst fear and he knew that he too didn't want to be bitter at Haley for losing his dream.

'Okay, in ten years,' he began again, 'I truly want everyone around me to be happy and if they are then I will be too. If on top of that though I'm in the NBA when then all my dreams would have been realised. I don't think there would be a happier guy.'

'Aim for it all.' Peyton advised, 'Or you'll never get it. Don't ever wonder what could have been.'

He nodded, letting her know that he wouldn't.

'And you, Sawyer?'

'Let me see, in ten years I'd like to be married, maybe with a kid who likes it when I play my music to them. But what I'd really like is to have had an impact on the world of music; given a voice to the artists with something to say, something that means something to a lost kid out there somewhere. I want to be responsible for some teen thinking to themselves; Someone understands me. No one around me does, but the person that wrote these lyrics, they know me and what it's like to be me. I want to help music reach people the way that it reached me. That would put me on top of the world.'

'If anyone can do that, it's you.' Nathan told her sincerely. 'I don't think there's anyone out there who understands music like you do, I'm sure you'll make a difference.'

'There are plenty of lost souls like me, they understand it the way I do; some of them just don't know it yet.' She said with a twinkle in her eye.

He silently agreed.

'Tell your partner a secret.' Peyton read the last instruction from the card. She bounced a basketball to Nate who dribbled it expertly without having to even think about it, it was second nature.

He sighed and passed it back, 'My Mom tried to kill herself.'

Peyton although she didn't want to admit it, already knew about Deb due to Cooper but didn't admit it to Nathan, 'What?'

She dropped the ball to the floor and approached him.

'She took a bunch of her pills. I haven't told anyone, just Haley.' He revealed.

'Nathan, I'm so sorry.' She said sincerely, pulling him in for a hug. If anyone knew what losing a mother was like, it was Peyton.

'The worst part about it is when I found out that she might die, there was a moment, just a fraction of a second, where I actually felt relieved, like maybe it was for the best.'

Peyton sucked in a breath shocked by what she was hearing.

'Can you believe that? A kid actually feeling relief at the the thought of losing his mother.'

Peyton tried to see it from an outsider's perspective, she knew that Nathan had pulled short straws when he was given his parents but she found it near on impossible to imagine wishing them away. Her judgement was clouded by her past and the loses she'd endured. To her, someone who had suffered so much grief, it was extremely difficult to understand it from Nathan's point of view. She didn't know how to reply to such an admission, she didn't have the words.

'Look, um.'

'What kind of person does that make me, Peyton? That I can feel that.' Nathan questioned.

She could honestly say to herself that it made him a very different person from her.

She faltered having no idea of how to offer him support, 'I can't whistle.' It was the first thing that entered her head.

Nathan looked completely puzzled by her statement.

'Nothing.' She told him, she sighed and to prove it to him, parted her lips and tried to move the air between them to create a whistle; and failed to do so.

'That's terrible!' He laughed, distracted from the morbid conversation, 'How can you not whistle?'

She threw her hands up, 'Okay, yeah, I'm pathetic.'

They laughed, both of them secretly in relief at the topic change.

'Right, we should get these pictures done, huh?' Nathan suggested, picking up the camera.

Peyton took it from his hands, 'Take your shirt off.'

Nathan raised his eyebrows, 'Wow, just like the old days!'

Peyton put her hand on her hip, 'Stop it, I have an idea for your picture, but before you do that, come here. Look the bell is gonna ring soon and I don't know if I'm gonna have the chance to say it so, I'm gonna say it now. You're doing great Nathan. Alright? Just, please, put yourself first sometimes.'

They pulled away from their short hug and Nathan smiled sheepishly in appreciation.

'Well now let's see the merchandise!' Peyton laughed.

'Ohh, fun.' He mocked.

'Let's go, chop, chop, baby!' Peyton demanded, clapping her hands to emphasise her point.

When Nathan was finally in position, he stood in front of the Raven's logo, arms outstretched, in the stance of Jesus on the crucifix. He held a basketball in each hand and the murial behind him gave the impression that he had wings.

Peyton knew exactly what she would say about the hour that she spent with Nathan, 'People think they know Nathan Scott. I know I did. But I discovered something new today. Nathan Scott is a martyr. He's also going to be a terrific father.'

Nathan put his shirt back on and grabbed the camera, 'My turn. Come on, we need to borrow something from the geography department.'

'Should I be worried?' Peyton asked, following him from the gym.

'Do you have headphones with you?' Nathan asked ignoring her question.

'Yeah.' She replied, not skipping a beat, reaching into her jeans pocket for her mp3 player.

'Okay,' he said as they entered the room, 'just sit right here.'

Peyton did as instructed and took a seat in front of the desk. Behind her sat an enormous globe.

'Right, headphones in and a glazed look on your face.' He told her.

'A glazed look?' she questioned.

He sighed, 'Just listen to a song and really listen to it, pay no attention to me.'

'That I can do.' She smiled happily, and went about picking a song with good lyrics that spoke to her. She blasted the volume and instantly became lost in the words.

Nathan, seeing that she had the spacey look he wanted, span the globe and took his picture.

The Polaroid he took showed Peyton dreamily listening to music that no one else could hear, as the world carried on spinning behind her.

Nathan too knew exactly what he would say about the hour he had shared with her, 'The hour I spent with Peyton Sawyer reminded me what a good friend she is. She looks at the world in a different way to me and listens to the words of people the rest of us ignore. I know that she's going to make a difference, the world just needs to sit up and listen.'

'Corny as it sounds,' Peyton said as they strolled back to class, 'I'm really glad that we had the hour together.'

'Me too, Sawyer.' Nathan nodded, 'So, do I get an A?'

'A+.' she laughed wondering when Nathan got so goofy.

It had been refreshing for both of them to spend an hour venting and letting go, even though they weren't sure if that was exactly what the aim of the class had been. In fact it was likely that some pairs had just gone through the formalities, some probably skipped it altogether but Nathan and Peyton had really gotten to know each other better and had offered each other valued support and advice. It had to be one of the best classes they'd ever had; not often was it that one hour of school renewed a friendship.

Hoped you enjoyed, please let me know if you're still liking the story - and even if you're not! Any feedback is good! Thank you for reading, Alex :)