A/N: Thanks to the fantastic five of you who reviewed! So sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. I had some unexpected guests show up.

All That She Wants

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Deb strolled into the kitchen, pulling open the cupboards and inspecting the cereal, snack, and liquor supply with Peyton trailing right behind her.

"I know a lot has been going on with you and Mr. Scott lately, so I thought throwing Nathan a surprise party might take his mind off things."

Deb scoffed at her husband's name as pulled a half drunken bottle of Jack Daniels from the cupboard, uncapped it, and turned it upside down over the sink. She watched as the golden liquid spiraled down the drain and then tossed the glass bottle into the trash beneath the lower cupboards.

"I promise to make sure everything's cleaned up afterwards! You won't have to worry about a thing."

"Looks like you might have to do a little cleaning before hand too," she shrugged nonchalantly. "But if you're up for that, it's fine by me. I think a surprise party is a lovely idea." She tossed a warm smile towards her son's girlfriend.

"And you're sure Mr. Scott won't be angry?"

"Dan's got some conference or meeting concerning the dealership in New Jersey. He flies out tomorrow and he'll be up there for a week, so he won't be a problem. And even if that wasn't the case, until the divorce is final, the beach house is still half mine and I'm giving you permission to use it." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a white dogwood flower keychain, with a single silver key hanging from it.

Peyton caught the keychain in her hand as Deb tossed it to her. She grinned graciously. "Thank you, Mrs. Scott!"

"Deb, please."

"Deb," Peyton conceded.

A buzzing sound came from the table, where Deb's purse was sitting. She reached inside and pulled out her Blackberry and glanced regretfully at Peyton. "Sorry I can't stay and chat, but-" she flashed her Blackberry at Peyton which had a reminder note on the screen "-I've got an appointment with a client via webcam in a half an hour, so I've got to get home and get my notes prepared."

"Oh, no problem." She twirled the key on her finger. "I'll probably be here all afternoon if you want to drop by again. You're welcome to the party-"

Deb interrupted the invitation with a laugh. "Nate and I haven't exactly been getting along the best lately. It's probably a compilation of things, but rest assured, I won't be crashing your party. Besides, I know it's a pity invitation and I'm sure you hip high schoolers don't want some old hoagie mom spying on your business." She winked. "Just try to keep the drugs, sex, and rock n' roll to a minimum, okay?" She closed her eyes and covered her ears to emphasize her point: "I'm blissfully ignorant to what I can't see and can't hear, so long as the cops aren't called, nobody vomits on the furniture, and nobody crashes because they drove home drunk."

Peyton nodded dutifully. "I'll make sure the guests are on their best behavior." She walked with Deb to the door. "Thanks again!" From the steps, she waved as she watched Deb get into her car and drive off. When she was safely out of sight, Peyton slipped back inside and shut the door. She examined the living room, then crossed back into the kitchen, where several grocery bags were sitting on the floor.

Opening one up revealed plastic containers of fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lemons, and limes along with several bottles of various drink mixes. First, she loaded up her arms and stocked the refrigerator with the fruit and the lower cupboards with the drink mixes. Secondly, she pulled out the blender from one of the cupboards and set it up on the counter. Knowing that Deb would not be attending the party, as she'd figured in the first place, she planned to try and get some liquor later on, but that was one of the lesser tasks on her list of things to do.

As she turned and reached for the next one, her cell phone began to blare from her purse. She snatched it up. "Hello?"

"P – hehehe – Peyton?"

"Bevin?" Peyton questioned.

"Uh, yeah, it's me! I – hehe! Stop that! I can't-"

"Don't you dare! You said you'd be over with the-"

"I'm sorry, I can't," the perky voice interrupted. "I'm...uh…kind of busy right now."

"Who's the guy?" Peyton snapped into the receiver.

"Come on, hang up on and play with me!"

Peyton's face twisted into a vision of disgust. "Tim? You're with Tim?"

"Sorry!" Bevin squealed. "I gotta go, bye Peyton!"

Peyton stared down at her phone as Call Ended flashed onto her screen. With a sneer, she shoved the cellular back into her purse. She glanced up at the ceiling with folded arms. "All I want is a fun end-of-sophomore-year birthday party for my boyfriend, is that so much to ask?" She tugged one arm out from the other. "Great, I'll just add picking up the cake to my list of preparations. Thank you, Bevin Mirskey!"

In an attempt to not think about Bevin's call – and the inevitable beating she planned on giving Tim later – Peyton stalked into the living where, where her hopes fell even more: it was a mess with cluttered dirty dishes, liquor bottles with varying degrees of liquid, rumpled blankets, beer cans, takeout boxes, and even a few scattered Playboy magazines.

"If his wife hadn't kicked him out because he's Dan Scott, you could almost feel bad for the guy. Almost." Peyton turned abruptly to retrieve the garbage can from the kitchen and then hedged back into the living room, collecting the trash as she went. She was normally a recycler, but on this occasion, there was no way she was going to take the time to separate glass and plastic from Dan's toxic landfill. Maybe I should've taken a picture first? I'm sure the impression he gives his customers as the dealership is far from his indoor hobo reality that he lives in here. The reactions alone might've been a good birthday gift for Nathan.

By the time she was finished, the trash bag was nearly overflowing as she lugged it out to the dumpster. The things I do for you, Nathan Scott. With a roll of her green eyes, Peyton returned to the beach house where she snatched up a bottle of Febreeze from the laundry room and began to thoroughly mist down everything in the living room. When she got to the couch, she picked up a blanket and much to her dismay, found a large stain on the couch cushion, which, from the waft of the scent after removing the blanket, appeared to be a brandy stain that hadn't quite dried. She quickly Febreezed the spot and then carried the blanket down to the laundry room, where she loaded it into the washer with extra liquid All.

"Deb will probably be thrilled to give this place away in the divorce," she muttered as she moved from bedroom to bedroom, Febreezing the beds and furniture. It wasn't like she needed to – most of the rooms looked untouched except for the one Dan had been sleeping in – but due to her experience with the parties held at the beach house in the past, all the rooms would be used and she simply figured it was probably the noble thing to do.

From the kitchen, she heard her cell phone go off again, a ring tone that told her the call was from Brooke. However, she was already at the last bedroom. "Be there in a minute, Davis!" Peyton hollered into the open air. She sprayed the bed and the pillows as she entered, then paused to gaze around the room and make sure there were no other pieces of furniture that needed Febreezing, before she turned to leave.

Halfway over the threshold, she paused, and as an afterthought, turned back into the room and headed over to the dresser. The sound of her cell phone ceased as she knelt down and pulled out the dresser. "I thought so," she spoke delightedly as she reached for one of the spare blankets, which she planned to place out on the couch to replace the one she'd had to wash. As she pulled it out, a little thud resounded at the back of the drawer, and the blonde squinted her eyes in curiosity. She pushed the blanket onto the dresser and pulled the drawer out a bit further, but was unable to get a good view of the back because of the second blanket.

Peyton wedged her hand inside, digging around for something that would make the noise. Definitely not fabric…I swear, if Dan's keeping a gun in here… Her thoughts peeled off as her hand hit something cold and hard; not the blanket, not the wood of the dresser. But not a gun. She pulled her hand back and to her surprise, she was holding a tape recorder. With a squint, she held the device up to her face, then pressed the Power button and opened the LCD screen. As her finger moved towards the Play button, her green irises briefly drifted to the bed she'd just sprayed. Do I even want to know what's on here?

For reasons she couldn't explain, a strange twinge echoed in her gut and she nearly closed the screen, but something else kept her from doing so. Her finger hovered along the surface of the button for a good half a minute, hesitating as if calling a crush's number for the first time, before she finally felt her finger jam it down. The LCD screen immediately flickered to life and an all too familiar voice poured from the speakers.

"…nobody will ever know."