A/N: Not one of my better chapters. The creative juices weren't flowing. I already have a sequel in mind and the ideas for that are taking over my thoughts. I'm not even finished with this one yet; I'm biting off more than I can chew. =/ Read, review & enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or its characters.
Brooke stood there quietly, her mouth open. She had to be hearing things, as far as she knew, Dan Scott was in jail.
"Dan Scott." Brooke states questioningly.
Peyton nods her head and takes a deep breath. "The one and only."
"This has to be some sick joke right?" Brooke says to no one in particular.
"He saw Sawyer." Peyton says looking at Brooke. "He knows about her Brooke."
Brooke looks at Peyton compassionately. "Peyton…"
"We gotta go." Peyton says frantically grabs her coat and car keys.
"Where are Nathan and Sawyer?" Brooke asks.
"At Luke's." Peyton says walking off towards the door.
"Okay, let's go." Brooke says following Peyton out the door.
-
Nathan sat on the couch with his head in his hands. He let his anger get the best of him, he almost lost it in front of Sawyer and that wouldn't have been good. Dan had the nerve to come to Lucas' house and blatantly insult the people they loved, their family. Nathan couldn't let that slide, he just couldn't.
"Nate." Lucas says putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Peyton's on her way…"
Nathan nodded his head not saying a word.
Sawyer is sitting next to Nathan on the couch watching TV. She looks at Lucas, and then glances over at her dad and look back over to Lucas.
"Uncle Lucas, is Momma going to come over?" She asks Lucas.
Lucas turns his attention over to Sawyer. "Yeah, your mom and Aunt Brooke will be here in a few minutes."
Sawyer rubs her arm in the cast and then does the same to Nathan hand.
"It's gonna be okay Daddy." She says softly, her green eye boring holes into him.
Nathan looks at his daughter with sad eyes. He wishes she was right, and he wishes everything would be okay, and he wishes that he can make everything in her world better, but he can't. He promised her that he'd never leave them again, and he hates breaking his promises, but now that Dan's back he can't promise anything.
"I hope you're right baby. I hope your right." Nathan says with a sigh.
"I wish Mommy was here." Sawyer says with a sigh.
So did Nathan. No sooner did she say that, her mother and her aunt came in through the door.
Sawyer jumped off the couch and ran into her mother's arms.
"Oh Sawyer!" Peyton says hugging her tightly, breathing in her scent. "Are you okay?"
Sawyer giggles. "I'm fine Momma. I want you to decorate my cast…..OH! And Nathan's too." She says without thinking.
Nathan notices her slip, but doesn't let it bother him. She meets his eyes and looks away quickly.
"I mean Daddy." Sawyer corrects herself. "Sorry."
Nathan looks at her and smiles slightly. "It's okay."
Peyton and Brooke look at each other uncertainly. Peyton looks back over to her daughter and sighs.
"As soon as we get home I'll decorate your cast." Peyton says getting down to Sawyers level, brushing some hair out of her beautiful face. "How about you put on your favorite show and watch it while Mommy and Aunt Brooke talk with your Dad and Uncle Lucas. Okay?"
Sawyer nods her head silently as she watches the four adults disappear into the kitchen.
Brooke speaks first. "So he's really back? Dan."
"Yeah. He served his time, and now he's a free man." Lucas says with his arms crossed over his chest.
"This can't be real." Peyton says slowly sitting down on a chair.
Nathan goes behind her and places his hand on her shoulder, kissing her head.
"It is." He says in his deep voice. "I need you to promise me that if you see him, you'll stay as far away as possible... Both of you." He says looking at Peyton and Brooke.
"Yeah, of course Nate." Brooke answers.
Peyton silently nods her head.
Lucas walks over to her and bends down so he is eye level with her.
"Peyton. Dan won't ever go near Sawyer. Nathan and I will make sure of that. It'll be alright." Lucas says comfortingly.
Again Peyton nods. "I know." She says quietly. "it's just…it's Dan, you know."
"We know Peyt." Nathan says from behind her.
They fall into an uncomfortable silence, none of them knowing what to say to each other. Brooke looked at the two brothers and broke the silence.
"We should inform Haley right. She should know." Brooke said to the guys.
"Yeah. She should know." Nathan answered.
-
Haley sat at her counter with her guitar in her hand and a gallon of ice cream on the counter. She knew dairy wasn't the best thing to be eating, especially when she was working on a new song, but she didn't care. She was alone, giddy and ice cream was her happiness. She strummed a few chords when she heard a knock on her door.
She put her guitar down and answers the door.
"Haley. It's good to see you. Do you mind if I come in?" Dan asks.
Haley stood there with her mouth open. This was something that she never expected, Dan Scott standing outside of her apartment.
"Actually I do mind." She said angrily attempting to slam the door in his face.
But Dan had other plans. He stopped her from closing the door.
"Haley." He said cocking his head to the side. "Don't be rude."
Haley took a deep breath. "What do you want Mr. Scott?"
"I just wanted to say hello to my ex-daughter-in-law. We used to be family, you know." Dan said with a slight smile.
"Dan, we haven't been family in a long time. I think you should go." She said with force.
"If that's what you want." He said turning away. "Tell Miss Sawyer I said hello will you. Oh, and that pretty little daughter of hers too." And he walked off into the night with nothing else.
Haley closed the door and dead bolted it; she shut her blinds and instantly called Lucas.
"Luke?" She said worriedly into the speaker.
"Hey Hales, I was just about to call you." Lucas breathed into the phone.
"Lucas. Dan came by my apartment." Haley said to him before he could get a word out.
"Damn it." He said under his breath.
Haley peeked out of her window one last time before taking a seat on her couch.
"Luke, what's going on?" She asked him with the phone resting between her ear and her shoulder.
"He's out of jail Hales, that's why I was about to call you." Lucas answered.
"Oh." Said Haley. "Luke, he brought up Peyton and Sawyer…it was creepy."
"Yeah. He stopped by my place too. Hales just, don't answer the door if it's him okay?" Lucas asks her.
"Yeah. Of course." She responds. "Is everything okay though?"
"For now." He answers.
"Okay, call me if anything." Haley says to Lucas.
"I will. Bye Hales." He says hanging up the phone.
Haley sat on her couch with her phone still in her hands. She looked at her phone and then looked at her guitar. She opened her phone and starts dialing.
"Hey. You want to come by my apartment tonight?" She asked.
-
Lucas, Brooke and Nathan sat in the kitchen and continued talking; Peyton on the other hand went into the living room where her daughter was. She watched as her small daughter drifted off into a silent slumber on the couch. A smile crawled upon her face. Her daughter had that effect on her; making her smile when everything else in her world was falling apart.
Peyton walked back into the kitchen and picked up her purse.
Brooke walks away from the two brothers and puts a hand on Peyton's shoulder.
"Where you going P?" Brooke asked.
"Home. Sawyer's sleeping, I'm gonna take her and go." Peyton answered.
"Okay. You want me to come?" She asks the blond.
"Nah. Stay here." Peyton says with a winks.
Brooke cocks her head and frowns. "Peyton, if you need me, I'll leave."
"No." Peyton says shaking her head. "Stay. It's fine, you deserve this Brooke."
Nathan looks at Peyton and Brooke.
"I'll go with them." He says to Brooke.
She nods. "Okay."
She watches as Nathan and Peyton go into the living room and pick up Sawyer. They wave silently at Lucas and Brooke and leave. Lucas takes Brooke in his arms and gives her a comforting hug.
"They'll be fine Brooke." He whispers in her ear.
She smiles, he trying to soothe her fears, and its working. Peyton needs her, she knows it, but if Nathan is willing to go and Peyton is letting him, maybe she needs him more. It's time for her to be okay with that, she has Lucas now and Peyton and Nathan are engaged. It's all going to be okay.
-
There is a knock at Haley's door. She jumps slightly and looks through her peep-hole. She opened the door and came face to face with Jake.
"You came." She says with a sigh of relief.
He hugs her. "Of course I came."
She sticks her head outside and looks around a bit before closing the door and double locking it.
Haley chuckles nervously before picking up her guitar.
"Okay, what was that about?" Jake asks her putting down his guitar case.
She shrugs her shoulders. "Dan Scott. He's out of jail. And, he came by my apartment."
Jake furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "That's creepy."
"I know! That's what I said and I'm creeped out. So I double locked my door and invited you over." Haley says in a rushed voice with a shy smile.
Jake laughs. "It's cool. I'm glad you called me."
He takes a seat on the couch as Haley takes a seat on the floor.
"Me too." Haley says with a smile.
"So, what song are you working on?" He asks taking out his guitar.
"Oh, it's just a little something." She says waving it off as nothing.
"Well what's it called?" Jake pries.
"Halo." She answers.
-
Nathan and Peyton get back to Peyton's house and Nathan puts Sawyer upstairs in her room. Peyton watches him walk upstairs; she walks slowly over to the couch and plops right down on it. She has her head tilted back, eyes closed and both her hands resting on her forehead.
Nathan came back downstairs and saw her just like that.
"Peyt." He said quietly resting his hand on her leg.
"Mmmm." Was her response.
"You alright?" Nathan asks gently taking a seat next to her.
She turns her head slightly and opens her eyes. "I am now." Peyton answers quietly.
"Come here." He says pulling her closer to him.
Peyton lets out an audible sigh. "He's really back huh?"
"Yeah, but we're going to ignore him. We're going to go on with our lives as if he doesn't exist." Nathan tells her.
"Yeah, we are. We'll be fine Nathan." She says confidently, even though inside she fears the worst.
Peyton pulls her legs up on the couch and cuddles close to Nathan's side. His arm is draped around her, her hand resting on his chest.
"You gonna stay the night?" She asks looking up at him.
"You want me to?" He asks.
She nods her head into his chest.
"Then I'll stay." He tells her.
-
It was the first time in a long time that Lucas and Brooke were alone together. They sat quietly on his couch watching a movie by candle light; Brooke was curled up into Lucas' side while his arm was slung comfortably around her shoulder.
Brooke sighed.
He looked down at her and squinted his eyes.
She sighed again.
Lucas sat up straight, causing Brooke to shift and move too.
"What's going on Brooke?" He asks her.
"Maybe I should call them, see if she's Okay." She says playing with her hands.
"Brooke, they're fine, Nathan's there." Lucas says trying to comfort her.
"I know, just…what if…" Brooke starts.
"No what if's. They're fine." Lucas says.
Brooke cocks her head and smiles.
She closes her eyes and drops her shoulders. "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry." He says taking her hand in his. "Come here."
Lucas pulls her close and places a chaste kiss on her lips. She pulls her hand out of his and runs her fingers through his sandy blonde hair deepening the kiss. Lucas wraps his arms around her and picks her up; she wraps her legs around his waist as he carries her to his bedroom.
He lays her on his bed and hovers over her slightly. His blue eyes meet her hazel and she pulls him back in for a kiss. They break apart when he takes off his shirt. Brooke takes this time to glance at his room. She notices that his room hasn't changed much since high school, at one point in time she called this bedroom hers too. She too takes off her shirt, their kissing goes one step further and she thinks that maybe one day soon that bedroom will be theirs.
-
Dan Scott is many things; a father, a son, a brother, a grandfather, hated, despised, and a murderer. He sure as hell isn't well liked.
He sat by himself on the beach reflecting on his life and what it has come to. Both of his sons hate him, he shot and killed his own brother, and he'll never know his granddaughter. He can't change many things, but he can change that. He makes the decision then and there to do anything in his power to get to know Sawyer. If it's the last thing he does.