Alright, so, I'm excited to share this new story with you, it's supposed to be a romance/comedy... something a lot lighter than what I've been writing lately, and even though Fare Thee Well is not over yet, it's coming to an end soon, so, I thought a light-hearted story will be fun.

I really hope you will like the idea, and I hope it really comes out as funny and not just a failed attempt of humor.

So, I have this idea that I stole from the show, I decided to name the chapters after songs, some are names that just fit, and some -mostly- will be about the chapter itself, a song that fits I mean. So consider it as me suggesting songs for you, ones that I definitely actually like, so feel free to suggest some to me too.

And there was nothing more fitting for this first chapter than Bruno Mars' Marry you...

1. Marry you

She stood in her big fancy room alone in front of the full-length mirror smoothing down the fabric of her simple white dress. It was everything she would have wished to look like on her wedding day. It was a beautiful lace A-line dress with a big V-cut in the back and broad straps on her shoulders meeting in another narrow low V-cut in the front hugging her small cleavage and her thin waistline perfectly.

Even her makeup was perfect, it always amazed her how one could put almost every makeup product there is but make it look so natural, which was how she looked as she admired while examining her face; she always wished her brows were broader than they are, but today, the way Brooke made them look natural with Haley's light brown shade - that she always borrows when around Haley but never bothered to buy one herself- it was just beautiful. She had also a natural-looking lash mascara with the right shade of pink shadow that complimented her green eyes.

Brooke had insisted on applying a matching shade of blush, no matter how much Peyton explained she doesn't like it, but, as Brooke –unsurprisingly- won, Peyton had to admit, it didn't look as bad as she thought, and when Brooke raised an eyebrow, she had to roll her eyes and admit it, in fact, looked beautiful, especially with the glossy lip color and the highlighter in all the right places with the right amount.

Her blonde usually curly hair was straightened and pulled loosely in a side chignon decorated with floral greenery hairpins. The wedding theme was bohemian upon her request despite Dan –her soon to be father-in-law- and his insistence it should be a classic one, but she has argued that it's probably the only wedding she's ever going to have, and she's going to have it her way.

This has led to a clash between her desires and what Dan thinks is the best way to look for both families. Everyone else has voiced their opinions about it causing a heist until finally Lucas –her bridegroom- spoke surprisingly siding with her even if it was in the form of him saying that it doesn't even matter and told his father to just let her have what she wants.

Dan has reluctantly agreed, being swamped in the mess of hastily setting up a wedding.

The result, however, was that everything looked perfect, everything looked like she would have wanted if she was ever to get married.

She never really thought about it, at least not now, not at this point in her life, and specifically not to Lucas Scott after only being back in Tree Hill for a couple of months or so.

But there she was looking admiringly at her reflection in the mirror just a few minutes before the ceremony is to start on the very day of her wedding, she's not complaining though; the whole thing was her idea anyway.

She just hoped Jake was as fine as he said he is, she doesn't want him flipping and ruining the whole thing at the last minute.

A knock sounded before the door opened softly and a head popped in before letting an awe and entering.

"Oh, look at you." Karen, her soon to be mother-in-law cooed with a hand over her chest in adoration.

Peyton turned around giving her a genuine smile; despite of the weird position she was in, she really loves Karen, although she never admitted it out loud, but she thinks of the woman as the closest thing to a mother, since her own real mother died when she was young, Karen and even Deb have always been there for her even if she didn't ask them to be.

The woman moved forward and delicately wrapped her arms around her in a motherly way causing Peyton to overflow with emotions for no apparent reason at all; for a second it felt as if it's all real.

"You look so beautiful." Karen told her as she pulled away looking at her with a smile.

"Thank you." Peyton muttered mastering up the most cheerful smile she could; she was surprised when she found herself slightly wishing that it was actually real, she wished it was her wedding day, she didn't like dressing up and setting a whole ceremony just for pretending. She's a girl after all, even if she doubted her standing at the altar any day soon if at all, but, now as it's happening, as she's living it, it's not so bad.

She's also sure that it's only emotions arising in the spur of the moment and that she will get over it.

Karen obviously noticed as she sighed and put a hand on her arm, "I'm sorry, honey, I know it's not fair."

Peyton shook her head, "It was my idea." She reminded her, "And if it's not fair to me it's not fair to Lucas either. And anyone for the matter."

"I know… we should have found another way though." She said regrettably.

Peyton smirked to lighten up the mood and change the serious tone of the conversation, "Are you talking me into running out on your son?"

Karen laughed, "Oh, please, don't."

Peyton laughed along, "Relax, Karen, I'm fine." She said reassuringly and Karen finally nodded even if she wasn't convinced; she thought that it was too far, no matter how both Lucas and Peyton insisted they were fine.

The door knocked once again and opened without granting entrance, "Hey, are you-" no one other than the groom himself entered the room but stopped talking mid-sentence as he came in face to face with her.

He cleared his throat and stuffed his hands in his dress pants pocket, "Um, are you ready yet?" He said in a much lower tone of voice.

"Lucas!" His mother exclaimed making him jump a little, "What are you doing? You shouldn't be here; it's bad luck!"

He stared at her blankly for a second, and then gave a light small chuckle, "Does it matter, mom?"

"I'm ready." Peyton answered ignoring the brief exchange between the mother and her son before Karen could disapprove even more.

Lucas looked at her once again and nodded, "Good, okay, we'll start in five minutes." He informed her.

"Alright, P. Sawyer, let's- hey! What are you doing here?" Brooke quickly frowned and directed a scowl at Lucas once she entered the room through the still opened door and was met by Lucas at the entrance.

He rolled his eyes, "Mind yourself, B. Davis." He replied with a smirk mimicking a girly voice.

She hit his arm with a glare, "Seriously, get out, you can't see her before the wedding starts!"

"Are you being serious?" he spat in disbelief and once again before she could say anything else, he looked at Peyton once again, "Larry is giving you away, right?"

"Yeah." She nodded wondering why he's asking again; it was settled since day one that her dad is going to give her away.

"Alright, I'll go now. Don't be late."

"Yeah, go stand at the altar or something." Brooke said shooing him away.

As he was leaving through the door, he ran into Haley and Larry who were coming in, "Whoa, Lucas?" Larry said in a surprised tone.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing here?" Haley exclaimed.

Lucas turned around exchanging an annoyed look with Peyton who on contrary from him found the situation funny as she fought a smile. He shook his head once again, "I'm going." He announced and left the room.

Larry looked after him before turning to look at his daughter and have his breath catch in his throat, "Oh, my little girl." He said as he moved forward to give her a hug.

Once again, she was overwhelmed with the feeling of it being a true moment, however, when Brooke spoke, she came back to reality.

"Alright, best friend, are you ready to get fake-married?" Brooke smirked earning scowls and eye-rolls from everyone else. "What? It's true." She said defending herself.

"Whatever, Davis, it's your fault anyway." Peyton said looking in the mirror one more time to check everything is still in place.

"No, it's not." Brooke narrowed her eyes.

"It so is." Peyton insisted as she turned around hooking her arm through her dad's offered one and childishly stuck her tongue out to Brooke as Haley giggled handing her the flower bouquet.

"Oh, God, is it even legal to get married with such childishness?" Brooke rolled her eyes and they all laughed heading out.

It has been a banter between the two girls ever since this decision was taken about one month ago, Peyton blamed the whole situation on Brooke who insisted that Peyton is only saying so to hide the truth she planned it all to get married before her.

XxXx

It has been so long since she set foot in Tree Hill, her hometown. She left after her high school graduation and never came back since.

Peyton wasn't sure what to do with her life after high school until she found she got accepted in a six-month art program she has applied to in Rome, and so, she went, but the six months turned into six years, one and a half in Italy, one year in Spain, another year and a half in France and then she went back to the US but stayed in New York where she has been living for the past two years.

This journey has granted her a lot of experience and a lot of adventures; she can safely say that she came out of it all with a lot of advantages, one of which is definitely her relationship to Jake; even though there have been some rough patches to that one lately.

If you'd asked her though what was the most thing she's missed about being away, she would definitely say her car. Sure, she's missed her father and her friends, but, she has seen them a few times when they visited or when they met during the wedding where Haley and Nathan renewed their vows.

On the other hand, if she was asked what the one thing she didn't miss was, she would definitely say Lucas Scott.

Even though they practically had everything in common; their parents were business partners, they had the same group of friends, he was a basketball player and she was a cheerleader granting them being members of the 'popular' circle, but the most important thing they really had in common was never liking each other. They never got along, for as long as Peyton remembers, every single time the existed in the same place, they only exchanged insults or unpleasant looks at the very least.

Going back to Tree Hill was an easy decision, it was a combination of reasons that led her to this decision, her father's hints literally every time they speak, her adventures being finally over with the end of her last contract and being ready for a new chapter in her life where she still has to figure out where it goes, and then hearing that her father's business is at risk and that he needs her support, it just seemed sensible to go back, maybe open her own art gallery there, and besides, Jake has been traveling back and forth anyway to visit his daughter there, all in all, Tree Hill was a logical decision for her next stop.

Her dad has been asking her to come back and join him in the company for the whole timespan of six years, and after traveling back and forth between Tree Hill and New York, she was finally beginning to settle…

So, she was ready to join her dad, Dan, Keith, Brooke (who worked with them after school), Nathan and Lucas for a meeting through which they were discussing a certain solution to their work problem.

Dan, Larry, and Keith were partners in a clothing company that was started by their fathers. Larry owned half and Dan and Keith shared the other half by inheriting their father's shares. They have been doing a good job, but, on a narrow span, they ran their company inside North Carolina and it was being successful, however, neither they nor their parents took the risk to expand furthermore and enlarge the company, there was one time that Dan tried taking small steps with that and it almost risked the whole business so they never tried again.

Now though, they were losing, there was another new company that entered the market and it was getting high profits quickly on the expanse of theirs, obviously, it was newer, better and cheaper, even if not necessarily as fashionable, and suddenly, they realized that maybe they have been too rigid, too traditional, never renewing their blood, and now in order to do so, they needed finance, a new capital to expand and to at the very least keep up.

It was money that they didn't have due to suddenly losing instead of profiting, and neither were the investors interested at the time, nor was their current financial situation at all helpful in getting a loan from the bank…

They have simply tried everything they could, and nothing worked with the company still slowly but definitely sinking, save for one solution…

Larry gave Dan and Keith a pointed look, "I think you have no other option…"

Dan sighed, "I know…" he said heavily.

"Maybe it's not the worst thing in the world." Keith said.

"I don't think it is. We can deal with him." Larry agreed.

Keith gave him a sympathetic look, "I was talking about losing the company." He said earning a chuckle from his nephews while Brooke muffled one while he was issued a glare from Larry and Dan.

"Will you be serious for once?" Larry scolded him.

"I am." He insisted, "You don't know the man!"

"Well, if you have other ideas I would like to hear them." Larry retorted back and Keith groaned.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk to him." Dan said uneasily.

"Okay…" Peyton said stretching the word, "Does anyone care to explain who we're talking about?"

"We're talking about the one man who has the money to save us, and who could by some miracle be convinced to give it to us." Keith elaborated.

"And who is that?"

"Whitey." Nathan answered her, "Brian Durham; he's… a relative."

Peyton narrowed her eyes, the name sounded familiar, she just doesn't know where she heard the name before.

"Alright, so, is there like some kind of feud?" she asked assumingly.

"No… he's a distant relative."

"A first cousin, twice removed." Lucas explained further.

She frowned looking at all the faces on the table, they were all aware of the whole situation as it seemed, and she was the one with all the questions.

"Okay, what exactly is his problem then? Does he not like you? Is he cheap?"

"Nope, he's quite a generous man, and he's pretty… okay with us." Keith explained gaining nods of approval of his choice of words from the other three Scotts.

"Alright, I don't get it?"

Dan sighed, "Well, he's a pretty… hard man." He started looking for the words to explain it, "He's old-fashioned, he's traditional, he works according to rules, he goes to church, he has a head made of stone and he absolutely disapproves of the way we manage our lives."

"What? Why?"

"Well, having two sons months apart from each other from two different women out of wedlock was the start of it." Dan mumbled.

"So, he won't help you because he judges your past?" she raised an eyebrow.

"No. That's not the reason. Not really." He shook his head, "You see, my dad and him were pretty close, and before my dad died, we –especially me- were trouble makers, I wasn't really a responsible or rational boy, and my dad asked him to take good care of us and keep an eye on us… and he did, however, in his books, setting someone on the right route requires punishment and reward, and he can be very determined in such a case, we have put each other through hell and back at the time he was our legal guardian."

Peyton stared at him and then shifted her look between all of them as they looked back awaiting her reaction to the story in amusement, everyone knew her thoughts of freedom and how strong she is about judgments, labels, and such things… so for there to be someone who's not only judgmental but also controlling, that would be an enemy to her.

"That's… that's…" she struggled but her face said it all.

"Yeah." Dan agreed, "Unfortunately though, we have no other option but to call him."

"And suck up to him." Larry added.

"Yeah that too." Dan nodded.

"You know that would involve you too, Larry, right?" Keith addressed him.

"I'm ready for it."

"That's what you say now, wait until you meet him."

Larry rolled his eyes, "Come on, how hard could he be? Every family has a judgmental cynical patriarch!"

"Don't tell him." Keith leaned to whisper loud enough to his brother, "I want to see his face when he deals with him himself."

Dan rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I'm calling him today, and I will invite him to your party this weekend, Nathan."

"Oh, great." Nathan groaned.

"Hey, dad," Lucas started, "why don't you let me handle him?"

Dan looked at him for a moment, "Alright, look, Lucas, this is the future of this whole company we're talking about here," Dan started trying not to sound harsh in refusing in front of everyone around.

"I know that," he frowned, "but I know I can do it, I know how to negotiate and I can be persuasive."

Dan's face held a disapproving reaction, "Lucas, this isn't one of your hoes!"

Lucas wore a look of anger as his frown deepened and his voice rose slightly, "I know the difference, dad! And I know I can handle it, I just need-"

"Hey, Luke, Luke," Keith cut him off before it gets any messier, "this is a task that we're all admitted to, we all need to check our behavior, we will all need to be good to him, talk to him, play by his rules and convince him we're a one big happy and behaved family."

Lucas groaned and said nothing although he looked like he has a lot to say. Brooke later told Peyton that Lucas was always looking for a chance to prove himself at work, and he thinks that his father doesn't trust him, however, Dan thinks he just needs more time and that Lucas is being overhasty wanting to just take tasks he has no experience to handle, and this causes them to clash regularly.

However, it was settled, they were all to please Whitey so he would think they're worthy of his help and have him give them the money.

Peyton thought it sucks, but apparently, there was no other option; besides it was supposed to be one or two days of pretending so they get his approval and be done with it.

Or so she thought.

The party was on Friday; one of the properties of having two of your best friends married at seventeen is being twenty-four and be able to attend your friends' seventh marriage anniversary and be called an aunt by a four years old who was definitely growing up so fast.

Thursday night, Peyton had left to cut the last existing cord between her and New York in the meantime, and so, she was scheduled to come back just on time for the party, Brooke had told her to come to her house as she will have everything ready for her, Peyton didn't even get to pick the dress, but Brooke told her she has just the right one for her, and knowing Brooke, this sentence could be both relaxing and alerting at the same time.

Peyton walked up the steps to Brooke's house with her phone pressed to her ear hearing the dialing tone nervously. She let out a huff when it went to voicemail without an answer, she ended the call not bothering to leave a message as she rang Brooke's doorbell but then didn't have the patience to wait for her to open as she reached for the key Brooke hid under a planet pot and let herself in.

Brooke raised an eyebrow as she watched her storming in, "Wow, I wish I was warned about the tornado coming from New York." She commented wittily.

Peyton could have cared more, "Have you heard from Jake?" she asked her straight away.

"Um, no?" Brooke frowned.

"Great!" Peyton threw her hands up in the air, "He's bailing on me!" she exclaimed.

"What? Why would he do that?"

"Because we had a fight last night before I left for New York, and now he's not picking up his phone." She explained in irritation, "God, this is so stupid!"

"Okay…" Brooke said carefully, "What did you even fight about?"

"You know what, I don't even know, it was stupid; he seems to be on edge lately, and alright I think I understood, but now he's just being ridiculous."

"Alright, Peyton, just give him time, maybe he's busy, if it's this stupid I bet he'll just call you back."

"Well… we might have broken up on the phone." She explained biting her lip.

"Okay, what now?"

Peyton sighed, "I mean, it's not like it's the first time we say those words, and every time we just make up the next conversation." She shrugged.

"What… I… why are you guys even together?!"

"Because we love each other."

"I… oh well, whatever!" Brooke shook her head with a chuckle.

Peyton sighed, "Well, you know what, screw it, if he doesn't want to come then fine. Let's go get ready." She said dismissively and Brooke looked at her knowingly but said nothing, she knew that Peyton was mad at him, and if she didn't have to be there for Nathan and Haley and for her dad and the business, she would have probably been on her way over to bite his head off and grab his ass along.

Brooke has picked a cobalt blue knee-length dress with thin straps for Peyton and sure enough, it fit perfectly, Brooke always had an eye for clothing and Peyton had learned to trust her no matter how off something looks, once she tried it she would be surprised Brooke was right to pick it for her. And sure enough, Brooke has always made it a habit to pick up clothes a little more revealing for Peyton's appeal, but, in the end, and after Brooke's constant convincing she ends up liking them.

She has really missed spending time with her best friend.

After another hour and yet again another disagreement on Peyton's lame makeup as Brooke put it, they were ready to go.

"It's not like you'd appreciate it but…" Brooke said walking across the room, "I picked up the most amazing footwear for you just this morning." She finished excitedly holding up a pair of off-silver heels that was probably one of the prettiest –at least the prettiest Brooke has ever picked for her.

"Oh my God, these are actually beautiful, Brooke." She gushed approvingly walking over and took them from her sitting on the edge of Brooke's bed to try them.

"You're welcome." Brooke said with a smirk as she turned around to put on her own shoes; she knew Peyton would love them, she loved that she still knows her best friend even after six years apart.

It's not like they lost contact or never saw each other, but it just wasn't the same.

"Brooke, what size are these?" Peyton asked alarmed as she checked the size herself.

Brooke turned around and gave her an equally alarmed look, "6 you're 6, right?"

Peyton let out a groan as she put the shoes down giving Brooke a whining look, "No, I'm not 6, I'm 7." She complained.

"What? Since when?"

"Since forever, Brooke." She said and looked at the heels with a sigh, before looking at Brooke once again with hope, "Wait, you said you got them this morning? Maybe, we could exchange them on the way."

Brooke sent her a remorseful look, "Actually it was a last piece."

"Oh, great. Alright…" she sighed standing up, "Do you have anything I can borrow?"

"Well…" Brooke started standing up, "Actually I am size 6, so are all my shoes." She explained.

"So, I'm stuck with my sneakers." Peyton threw her hands up in the air and let out a sigh; apparently it wasn't her day.

Brooke stood there for a while looking around in silence before Peyton gave her a look and then groaned realizing what she's thinking of, "Go on…" she told her with a frown of annoyance.

Brooke rushed to pick up the heels and sat down on the spot Peyton was just taking a moment earlier, "Well, I'll have to change my accessories, but, it's worth it, besides, you don't need it anymore, and you'd hate for it to go to waste, right?" she said rapidly as she put it on, she was wearing a black dress, so practically any color she used would have gone.

"Sure." Peyton rolled her eyes.

"Aw, come on, don't sulk, we'll pick up something on the way for you." Brooke said standing up and patting her shoulder much to Peyton's misery. "I'll just change my accessories, and we can go."

"Fine." Peyton answered throwing her body on the chair waiting for Brooke to finish. Funnily enough, Peyton actually does own a couple of things that would have been perfect, but, that was actually what she was doing last night, apart from some work-related paperwork that needed to be done, she was figuring out why the shipping of her stuff was late, and apparently, there was a mix up in the packaging and the address that she was fixing. So, at the moment, she had no more than the clothes she has packed with her on coming back.

Which is why Brooke offered to help in the first place. Peyton could have just picked up any dress and matched it with heels, but apparently Brooke didn't trust her judgment; Brooke's words.

So, half an hour later, they have left and Peyton has bought a cheap nude colored pair of heels, which was the only thing she could find in the hast, besides, she only needed it for the night, and then, they were walking through the door of the Scott household and quickly being greeted by an overly enthusiastic Jamie.

She was told that Whitey arrived earlier that day, and that everything was going smoothly, of course, he had to throw some comments of disapproval here and there, but, all in all, nothing was off. Yet. Nothing was off yet.

She didn't really want to have to deal with him, she was just going to do the formalities of politely greeting him, but that's it, she wasn't planning on sucking up to him or kiss his ass, apart from the fact that she didn't even like the idea, she wasn't even part of the company just yet, and she was really feeling off.

Jake was still not answering, and she couldn't exactly stop calling no matter what she's told Brooke, she was irritated by his childish behavior, and on top of that those heels were killing her feet; she couldn't wait for this night to be over and to go seek the comfort of her bed.

When she went to say hi with her dad, she saw an old bald man sitting on a chair while holding a walking stick and resting his chin against his knuckles holding it, and he looked like he was analyzing people while wearing a frown, she linked it with what they have been saying about him and she didn't appreciate it, but, when Larry called him to introduce her he looked up with a warm smile and was even welcoming when talking to her, she wondered what it was all about for the whole sum of five minutes she stood there.

Few light chats, greetings, and people asking her about her time away later, she found herself completely alone with her itchy mood again, and on looking around, everyone seemed to have something to handle either with work or with socializing like in Haley's case, so she decided to spend the rest of her night enjoying a few drinks; she wasn't driving anyway.

So, as she stood with her back to the bar and her elbow resting against it and a drink in her other hand while she was now observing the people around her; some relatives, some old friends, some business relations… and none she had anything more to speak with.

Suddenly, someone pumped hips with her, "Hey."

She looked to her right to see Lucas chugging down a drink of his own. She rolled her eyes but didn't move, "Hello, Scott."

"What are you doing standing here like that?"

She raised an eyebrow; she really wasn't in the mood for him, "I could ask you the same thing," she eyed him up and down, and by the look he was wearing, this wasn't his first drink, not his last seeing he was pouring himself another from the bottle in his hand, she handed over her glass for him to pour her too, "Don't you have an uncle to flatter or snog or whatever?"

Lucas turned to give her a disgusted look, "First, ew. Second, he's not my uncle, he's my first cousin twice removed."

She rolled her eyes; "Whatever, smart ass! I thought the plan was to please him until he gives the green card…"

"Mhmm." He muffled while gulping down some of his drink, "That's the plan. I got a restraining order."

"What?" she asked laughingly.

"Dad said everything is going good enough for me to ruin it." He was trying to sound casual but she heard the bitterness in there.

She didn't say anything though; she knew that he knew he has a reputation anyway, he has always been the womanizer, and the bad boy, well, not always, but long enough for it to be his thing.

"So, that's why you're drinking." She noted.

"One of the reasons." He shrugged one shoulder. "What about you?"

She hesitated for a second; it's not like it's her first fight with Jake, so, why does this one upset her more than it should?

She shrugged and didn't give him an answer.

He smirked, "Men problems."

She gave him a dirty look, due to the way he said which implied something dirty, "Men? We're not all disgusting like yourself, you know that?"

"For someone who's against labels, you're too judgmental."

"How do you know that?"

"You've always been." He smirked at her, "Both; against labels and judgmental." He elaborated further.

She rolled her eyes, "If you mean with you, then I'm only treating you the way you deserve." She said absentmindedly pouring herself another drink.

He leaned forward towards her ear, "If you wanna give me what I deserve you know what it is." He said flirtatiously and apparently she was already getting tipsy because his breath warm against her skin gave her chills.

She turned to him elbowing him in his stomach as he took a step back yelping in pain, "You wish." She spat.

"Are you sure I'm the one wishing? You're blushing!" he laughed.

"No, I'm not," she rolled her eyes, she knew he was bluffing, he was just messing with her.

It was a common occurrence between them to tease each other all the time, it only got flirtatiously teasing at parties where there was alcohol, it seemed to lighten them up enough to have the balls to go there. Both had their moments -especially Lucas though- making such comments to watch her cringe, it was just how they were all the time.

"Whatever, Sawyer, you've always wanted me." He said taking his bottle from the counter to leave and on his way, he spanked her ass lightly.

She gasped and punched his arm as he chuckled, however, he didn't get to enjoy it for long as they were both faced with an old man with raised eyebrows; their hearts raced wondering what exactly Whitey witnessed.

"Everything okay?" He asked them.

They both nodded instantly, Peyton gave a smile and put a hand over Lucas arm, "Everything is fine, we were just…" she paused and looked up at Lucas who looked back at her blankly; she realized he wasn't processing and that she needed to come up with something herself, "…talking. You know…" she said her voice dying down.

Thankfully, Whitey gave her a smile and a nod allowing both of them to release a breath, "Do you need something?" she asked him.

"No, blondie," he shook his head, "You two keep talking." He smirked before carrying away.

After making sure he's gone, Peyton turned around to glare at Lucas, "Look what you almost did!" she scolded and he rolled his eyes irritating her all the more, "No wonder your father doesn't trust you!" she knew she might be too harsh, or even saying things she has no business saying, but, he was just that annoying.

He turned to look at her with a glare, "Don't speak of things you know nothing about." He said warningly.

"Well, I know that you screwed up and I saved the situation!" she said challengingly.

"Oh, God, no wonder the poor guy is running away from you! You're unbearable!" He shot back taking her off-guard; she didn't know he was even aware of her dating status, let alone having problems, but apparently, she has forgotten how fast news travel in a small town like Tree Hill.

"You have no right." She glared raising her forefinger in his face.

He tossed her hand away with the same glare, "Neither did you."

"At least, I only speak of things I've witnessed myself, while you're criticizing my relationship when you never even had a real one."

"And you never even worked in the company to judge wither I should or shouldn't get a chance!"

They held a glaring contest for a few seconds before she scowled in annoyance, "God, I forgot how annoying you were, Scott." She exclaimed.

He rolled his eyes and leaned his back against the counter opening the bottle once again and pouring himself a new glass. She snatched the bottle from his hands and poured herself another while he shook his head at her. They stood there in silence both sipping their drinks angrily but neither attempted leaving again.

"You know I'm capable of having a relationship!" he mumbled after a while of silence.

She laughed choking on her drink, "Right!" she coughed.

He even gave a smile while protesting, "What? It's true!" he exclaimed. "I have a girlfriend."

"Sure you do."

"I do!" he insisted.

"Where is she then?"

"She couldn't make it."

"Aha, sure she couldn't." she nodded, "Does she have a superpower?"

He rolled his eyes, "You know you've been away for six years, things change!"

"Okay!" she shrugged; she really didn't want to argue, she didn't even have the energy, besides, she wanted to relax in the first place, the shorter she keeps a conversation with him is the better.

Silence fell among them once again as they took a couple more drinks, Peyton felt her head getting lighter, so, she decided one or two more is enough for the night. After two more glasses, she sighed, she actually thought this bottle of Scotch tasted so good, and if it wasn't Lucas' she would have asked him about it, but he would just get all cocky on her.

She pushed her weight from the bar but the sudden move and the dizziness caused her to stumble, and as she tried to maintain her balance, the heel of her cheap shoes decided it was time to break and she found herself falling forward towards Lucas who had his arm around her to balance both of them.

"Dammit!" she exclaimed in frustration as she recomposed herself standing on two feet. She looked down at her chest feeling the damp cloth and sure enough, her dress was soaked in Lucas' drink. She looked at him to see his shirt no better than hers.

"Oh, Fuck!" Lucas exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. It's the heel, it broke and I lost my balance…" she rambled and he shook his head in annoyance putting his glass down and holding the fabric of his shirt away from his body in disgust.

"There they are…" Brooke's voice announced and then she gasped, "What happened?" she asked approaching them with Haley.

Peyton looked at her with a glare, "It's the stupid heels." She said pointing to her broken heel and Brooke bit her lower lip to muffle a laugh and Peyton groaned even more.

"My shirt is ruined!" Lucas complained.

"Okay, okay," Haley said, "We need to get you changed before anyone or even Whitey sees you, we could save the trouble." She said and they nodded, "Alright, meet me upstairs, use this hall," she pointed to the hall leading directly to the stairs instead of crossing the crowded room.

"Fine!" Lucas sighed and took his way there while Peyton took off her shoes before following him.

Haley had to grab a bottle of wine and hand it to Dan as he required before following them upstairs.

"Where are you going?" Peyton hissed after Lucas.

"My old room of course, where else would I change?"

She hesitated for a while before following him inside; she has never been in any of Lucas' rooms, not in his father's house and not in his mother's, in fact, she rarely went to his mother's house, so, she was surprised to see it a neat, boyish –yet not a badass boyish- kind of room. He had posters of basketball players, pictures with his teammates, and his jersey all hanging on one wall, and two whole walls filled with shelves and books to the top.

When she looked back at him, she found him unbuttoning his shirt, "What are you doing?"

He rolled his eyes, "What does it look like? I'm getting out of this!" He said while taking off his tie over his head and shrugging his shirt off his shoulder to stand half-naked waiting for Haley to come with one of Nathan's shirts.

He raised his eyebrow at her standing there awkwardly, "What? You never saw a shirtless man?"

She glared at him but before she could answer, Haley entered the room hurriedly handing them both their change of clothes before leaving to go do something else.

"Look away." Peyton told Lucas who chuckled but gave her his back anyway. Her dress's zipper was on the side, and as she tried to push it down, it refused to move an inch. She groaned; this was really not her day!

"What now?"

"The freaking zipper is stuck."

He turned his head to look at her with a smirk, "Sure it is."

"Shut up." she spat while still trying to unzip it before growling angrily.

He sighed and moved towards her with his new shirt still unbuttoned, she gave him a look and he raised an eyebrow, "I'm not going to take advantage of you!" He informed and she rolled her eyes while he took it as a sign of defeat. He moved his hands to the zipper and frowned, "It really is stuck."

"Oh, yeah?" she spat, "What you thought I was seducing you?"

"Yeah!" he shrugged easily and she raised her eyebrows while he smirked.

"Just… just unzip it." She said.

"I'm trying." He said and gave it a forceful pull, and once again, being drunk wasn't in their favor, because, his pull caused her to stumble, the back of her knee hitting the bed as she fell backward with him following on top.

"What the…"

"Get off me." She said pushing him while he was trying to get up causing him to fall over her once again.

"I will if you let me." He glared at her, being too close to her face, he almost looked like if he's cross-eyed. She bit her lower lip but eventually, she burst out laughing at the whole situation.

"You think it's funny?" he spat propping himself up a little, and she only giggled harder causing him to laugh along.

"This is pretty fucked up." she said and they laughed. "Get off." She laughed and held his shoulder trying to get herself up while he began to get off her.

But then suddenly, the door opened once again and they froze while their heads shot to see a wide-eyed Nathan and an equally surprised Whitey seeing them on the bed, Lucas on top, Peyton holding his shoulders, his hands one on her waist and the other on the bed, his shirt undone and her dress unzipped.

"It's not so funny anymore." She mumbled.

And that's how hell broke loose; apparently, they have put the man's stuff in Lucas' old room until the room he's staying in is prepared as he required. And when it was, Whitey chose this exact moment to get his stuff and go rest in his room.

He went on saying that history must be repeating itself shutting down their attempts to explain saying that he's well aware of Lucas' reputation and that he -Lucas- has been avoiding him all night, he also went on saying that they must have thought he's gone old and lost his mind if they thought they can make a plan and fool him, he claimed that he doesn't appreciate being played like that and sucking up to him and that if they only wanted money they should have asked instead of disrespecting him like that.

Lucas was mortified under his father's look of disappointment and Peyton was irritated being shut down every time she tried disagreeing by her father until he said the part of being disrespected and that he was ready to help them out even though he realized they're sucking up to him just for his money, but now, now that he's sure they were fooling him like that and even getting their kids in the game asking them to treat him in a certain way, while in fact they turn around and laugh about him, and that he didn't even say anything about what he has been hearing about the boy, or even the fact that he avoided him, but to not be able to even respect his presence for a night, and to fool with an obviously drunk girl while he was staying in the very same room, he doesn't appreciate it and he isn't willing to help them.

After he was done scolding, and as they were all exchanging speechless looks, Peyton found her voice to speak, "You got it all wrong." She said and he frowned angrily at her, "No one disrespected you…"

"Yeah? So, you're saying all of you haven't been kissing my ass all day and this boy hasn't been avoiding me on purpose in order not to slip up and ruin your plan?"

"No, this was all… unintentional. And, what you saw… it was…" she suddenly stopped, she intended to say it was an accident again, but as she looked him in the eyes, and as she looked at Dan and then her father's awaiting eyes, and then Lucas' wondering ones, she looked back at Whitey chickening out, maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was her playing safe knowing that her dad and Dan are desperate, maybe it was Whitey's fierce yet somehow hurt eyes, whatever it was, the result was she played along and came up with a lie, "Lucas and I, we… we're together."

He gave her a sarcastic look, "Nice try, young lady."

"No, it's true." She argued gulping.

"Right. The look on your dad's face says it's true!" he said in disbelief.

"The truth is… nobody knew." She said and walked over to Lucas taking his hand in hers much to her own surprise let alone his. "In fact, this is the reason I'm back. We… we're engaged." She could have stopped, she could have, but, he wasn't buying it, and she found herself going farther in order to convince him, yet, he was still looking skeptical. She looked up at Lucas for help to find him still wearing a lost look but he then cleared his throat composing himself.

"We… were going to tell you when she's settled back." He played along looking at his dad and hers, and for a moment both men wondered if they were lying or it was actually true.

Sure it was a shot in the dark, and sure they shouldn't have been in this position in the first place, but, the truth is they found themselves there and they needed a way out, so they had to find one. And at the moment, this is what came out, and once it was said, there was no taking it back… and so, Whitey became to believe it, he started asking questions like when is the wedding and since when they were together and so on…

In the end, he seemed convinced enough to at least consider believing they weren't playing him for money. While discussing it later, and when Whitey seemed still skeptical, they decided to plan a fake wedding in front of him –after all, he wasn't going to be there forever- when he agreed to give them the money on two conditions, first to be a partner, not a loaner, and second, to let their kids (or the new generation as he put it) handle the new modifications, he even mumbled something about re-writing his well.

And this is how Peyton found herself in a wedding dress getting ready to walk down the aisle to Lucas Scott while her boyfriend and his girlfriend –which turned out to be real- were in the audience.

And she still blamed Brooke for it all, after all, if she hasn't insisted on picking up an outfit for her, she wouldn't have got the wrong shoe size, and Peyton wouldn't have had to buy a cheap one on the way, which wouldn't have broken causing Lucas' drink to spell on both of them, and they wouldn't have been in his room getting out of their clothes while he was trying to undo her stuck zipper –that Brooke also bought- and finally falling on top of each other to get caught and find no way out of it but to fake a wedding.

See? It all goes back to Brooke.

So, what do you think? Anything that sounds weird or unexplained will all be cleared out later, I know that the whole Whitey line being a strict interfering sometimes controlling old man, is kind of off... but come on, I guess we would all know at least one relative who's like that, and they wouldn't have had to play by his rules unless really stuck... also, this is just supposed to be a light story :)

So, if you like it, please let me know what you think :)