Brooke was busying herself at her desk, working on a new label when she heard someone walk through the door. She knew that she could stay hiding in the back room and continue working, but she had a mental block. Any distraction was a good distraction, even if it meant putting up with customers, a job she really wasn't in the mood for.

Sighing, Brooke got up and went to greet the customer, only to find Peyton standing there with a sheepish grin on her face.

"Well there's a booty call if I ever saw one" Brooke instantly teased.

"What do you mean?! I only went on a weekend getaway..." Peyton responded innocently

"Don't play coy with me P. Scott. I know exactly where you went! You weren't coping with 6 weeks away from your darling husband and so you went to visit him instead"

"You make it sound so kinky!"

"As if it wasn't! Nobody leaves town to go and see their husband without it being kinky!" Brooke teased. "It's a dangerous question to ask 'how was it' but I'm going to anyway! How was your weekend?"

Laughing Peyton responded "It was great! Man I miss that husband of mine"

"Don't I know it!" Brooke teased

"Brooke Davis!" Peyton responded in mock offence. "Anyway – you don't want to hear about my weekend, because there is nothing to tell! So… tell me about what you've been up to since I've been gone… a whole… 3 days of it…"

Instantly the atmosphere in the room changed. Brooke went from fun-loving and happy to distant and began looking around for something to busy herself with. Quickly she walked around re-arranging stock on the floor, even though Millie had left everything spotless.

"Oh you know – nothing much. You know nothing changes in this town!"

Peyton, noticing the change instantly started grilling her friend. "Brooke… What's up? Talk to me"

"About what?! There's nothing to talk about! I'm fine. Really I am!"

"Are you sure?"

"More than sure!"

Peyton scrutinised her friend once more. She didn't believe her. Something was brewing there… but what exactly had happened in the 3 days she was in New York?

"Mia, I swear, this is some of the best stuff I've heard from you! This is amazing. Wait until Peyton hears it, she's going to love it!" Haley remarked.

"Love what!?" Peyton asked as she waltzed into the studio

"Oh you know, just some awesome music that another band put together" Mia teased handing Peyton the demo tape

"Wait – don't tell me I leave you all for 3 days and you finish your Demo? Seriously? That's all I had to do? Man, I should go on holiday more often!"

"What can I say, the pressure was on. Word around town was that I wouldn't have free access to this studio for much longer" Mia teased.

"Well you know – we just have a far more superior band coming in and taking over the space" Haley retorted.

"Speaking of which – are they here yet?' Peyton asked as she slipped Mia's demo into the player. This was the part of the job she loved the most. Discovering new music. While Mia was an old hand at this now, it always excited Peyton a little every time she put a Demo tape in to listen. Sure, there were a lot of bad stuff too, but with musicians like Mia, it was like them discovering themselves all over again. Or discovering a part of them they didn't know existed.

They all sat for the next couple of minutes entranced by the melodic sound. Well, at least 2 of them did. Mia hated this part of the job. Where something she had poured her heart and soul into was under scrutiny. It could make or break a song that she loved. Suddenly she could hear all the faults in her songs and it took her no time to convince herself that her demo was awful. How could she even present this music to Peyton? This wasn't up to her usual standard!

Peyton on the other hand had opposite ideas. "Mia, you never cease to amaze me. This is incredible"

"Really?"

"Seriously girl, when are you doing to stop doubting yourself?!"

And all three girls collapsed into laughter.

Brooke was once again sitting at her desk, but this time she wasn't engrossed in her work. This time she had her head in her hands and she was wondering how on earth she was going to deal with this. How was she going to tell her best friend how much her life had changed in the past 3 days. How everything had gone from wonderful to unimaginable in such a short period of time? Could it really have only been three days ago when everything was so perfect? Once again her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Before she could even muster up the strength to go out and put a smile on her face, she heard Millie's voice as she chattered away loudly to Brooke

"Man, you are so lucky to have an assistant like me Brooke. I've landed you that model from "America's top model" to do our next shoot. That should be a huge revenue raiser. Why I have no idea, but these reality TV shows now are the way to go. I've also got everything organised for your next few trips over the coming weeks so you don't need to worry about a thing…"

Millie's voice continued on, and Brooke quickly rushed around and busied herself at her desk, making it look like she was intent on her work, as opposed to worrying about her life.

"Alright guys, I think we should end it there. Not bad for a first days work I'll say" Peyton spoke into the studio. She could barely hide her excitement. Man, they were good! Who would have thought that a group of four 18 year olds could produce a sound quite like that. Haley caught her gaze and grinned. They both knew they were onto a good thing.

Later, cleaning up after a hard days work, Haley and Peyton busied themselves on catching up on the latest gossip.

"So… 3 days in New York hey? Did you have to fend off all the crazy fans there?"

"Almost!" Peyton laughed remembering the conversation they overheard in the park. "He's really becoming quite popular with those books of his!" Peyton said proudly. "What about you? Nathan home this week?"

"Yeah, for a couple more days before he returns to training. Which reminds me – I am kid free tonight! How about we really make Nathan suffer, we'll give him Sawyer too and us girls can go out for a few drinks?"

Peyton gulped. She would love nothing more than a night out with the girls, they hadn't had one in ages! It was however going to be hard to fend them off as to why she wasn't drinking. Thinking on her feet Peyton replied "Sounds like a plan. But how about a night in at our place. Another night out on the bender and I don't think my stomach could handle it!" There. That wasn't exactly a lie. She had been feeling nauseous all day.

"Sounds wonderful – anything that will make me feel remotely human again! I'll let the others know."

Before leaving, Peyton turned again to Haley "Hey Hales, do you know what's up with Brooke? Something's bothering her but she won't tell me?"

Haley looked up confused "No, sorry I don't. I haven't seen her in the time you've been in New York either."

"Ok, thanks Hales. See you tonight."

Peyton still wasn't convinced. Something was bothering her best friend. She didn't know what, but it wasn't like Brooke to not confide in her.

The girls were all sitting in Peyton's living room enjoying a few too many red wines. All except Peyton were a little bit drunk and were having a fit of giggles.

"Oh man, it's been ages since we've done this!" Haley mused.

"well that's what happens when we all grow up and have lives of our own isn't it!? Life just always gets in the way!" Millie commented.

"Oh what I would give to be sixteen again!" Brooke commented.

"Life was so much easier back then" Millie mused.

"For you maybe! I was married at 16, no money, working and going to school, not to mention pregnant with Jaime at 17! Oh and almost divorced too! Yeah life was a breeze then" Haley giggled.

"Oh tell me you wouldn't do it all again just to be with Nathan!" Peyton teased. Haley simply blushed.

"What about me – constantly fighting with my best friend over a boy, find out that I'm adopted, that my birth mother is going to die, and that I have a brother. Oh and might I add crazy stalker brother into the mix too!" Peyton said.

"Oh this is so not going to be one of those "my life was worse than yours' nights. I put and end to it hear and now!" Mia butted in. "Not to mention – how any of you remained friends I have no idea, much less how you all became so successful.

"Oh we just charmed everyone with our dazzling smiles and flawlees wit" Haley chimed.

All of the girls looked at her and then burst out laughing. It really had been too long since they had done something like this.

The night was wearing thing and the girls were rounding up and getting ready to go home. Everyone was making a beeline for the door except for Brooke who was still lounging on the couch. Peyton had been watching her all night. She knew it, she could feel it every time her friends' eyes were upon her, trying to scrutinise out of her what was on her mind. She heard Peyton close the door behind the last guest to leave. Before she had the chance to get up and start to leave also, Peyton cornered her.

"Right B. Davis. You used to tell me everything, so I know when you're keeping something from me. Especially when it's something that's bothering you. So you aren't going to leave this room until you tell me exactly what is bothering you! Out with it!"

Brooke's heart sunk. She wanted to tell Peyton, she so wanted to tell her. Yet, this would hurt her so much and she didn't know if she could do this to her friend. Yet, looking at Peyton, with her arms crossed and the look of defiance on her face, Brooke crumpled. With tears in her eyes Brooke turned to Peyton "You can't believe how much of a lifetime ago it feels since you were here last."

Peyton rushed over to embrace her friend. It hurt her to see this upset. She didn't even know what she could do for her. "Brooke, you have to tell me what's bothering you. Did something happen?"

"You could say that…"

"Is it Julian?" Instantly images started running through her head. Julian didn't seem like the kind of guy to hurt Brooke, but what else could explain her agony? "If he dared lay a hand on you Brooke, so help me, I will get my brother over here to skin him within an inch of his life!"

"No, it's nothing like that Peyton."

"Then what the hell is wrong? Did he cheat on you? What with one of those blonde bimbos that he works with? C'mon Brooke, you know that you are miles better than any of them! Don't even waste your breath on them. I don't even think Julian would be the slightest bit interested in them"

"I'm pregnant Peyton!" Brooke said exasperated before bursting into tears once more. "Which makes me the worst friend ever! You and Lucas have been trying for months now to fall pregnant and haven't. And hear I come along whining that my life is over because I'm pregnant. I didn't know how to tell you Peyton. I mean, you are so engrossed in trying to fall pregnant with Lucas, it just felt like I was rubbing it in your face,"

Instantly Peyton's reaction softened. So everything between Julian and Brooke were fine! Her best friend was pregnant! This wasn't sad news, this was great news! "Brooke, honey, you would be the last person in the world I would think of as insensitive! It happened ok? I'm so happy for you both! I honestly couldn't be happier for you!" Peyton said embracing her. Quickly she pushed away the thought that maybe Brooke was right? If she wasn't harbouring a secret of her own, whether her reaction would have been different. "So what does Julian have to say?" she asked brightly.

Once again Brooke's face crumpled. "He left me Peyton. On Saturday, when I told him I might be. We took the test, it came up as positive and he left. Mumbling something about needing to go out, and I haven't seen him since."

Peyton's jaw fell. She had never expected this from Julian. Surprise, yes, Anxiety – of course, but leaving his girlfriend, his partner that he loved because she was pregnant? It just didn't sound like him. But one look at Brooke's face and how could she believe anything else?

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry! Are you sure he's not coming back?"

"Who knows? But hey, it's not like he is up to this responsibility now though is it if he goes hiatus for almost a week!"

Not knowing what else to say, Peyton pulled her closest friend into a hug and together, they sat there, time passing by, simply being there as a sounding board for their best friend.