The Meaning of Life

By: Stella

Chapter 1

A/N: Welcome to my story.

When one grows older, life supposedly becomes more clear. For Peyton Sawyer, life goes by and she feels left in the dark. One letter manages to change that all. With the help of a old hometown, a grandmother, and a sandy colored 'mutt', Peyton begins to see the meaning of life.

Thanks for the reviews for the prologue, nice to know I have some interest! Also, I would like to apologize for any typos or misspellings, I don't have a beta reader and so I am working on it myself and my head just gets a bit to scrambled sometimes.

And a mistake in the prologue was actually in my explanation, heh. Peyton is in BOSTON not California. Thanks.

Disclaimer: One Tree Hill does not belong to me, nor will it ever belong to me.

Lucas Scott wandered down the sidewalks of Tree Hill, the crisp autumn air ruffling his sandy hair. It was a nice day. It really was. And he would have loved to enjoy it if he hadn't had three maniac dogs attached to his wrist. Otherwise... this would have been a ultimately great day.

Lucas groaned as he walked farther down the lifeless sidewalks of his quiet hometown, the breeze turning up a notch as he watched the dogs frolic before him, their eyes gleaming with a intent. To ruin his bachelor life, of course. Lucas's eyes skimmed over the three of them. The largest, a great dane with warm chocolate brown eyes and the goofiest grin around, lead the pack, nose obviously glued to the cement. That was Lysander. The second, a dainty husky, pranced behind them, nose stuck in the air. That was Othello. The third, a dumb and fluffy walking hairball, with no visible eyes and a dumpy tail, wandered off in the wrong direction. That was Romeo. And Lucas really needed to consider giving him a hair cut. Those dummies.

These three were something of a weird family for Lucas, the ruining of his life. It had all started with Othello. The young man remembered it clearly, walking down the path toward the main town, his lanky frame hardly enough to keep up with the pace of the demonic mutts. He had gotten the husky puppy from his best friend, Haley James... er Haley Scott, his bad, after his operation on his heart. Life had taken a cruel turn and had decided that he should develop the disease he had inherited from his paternal father. Actually life had taken many cruel turns of fate for the twenty five year old man.

Lucas had been born without a father. That was okay. He had a healthy childhood, with a tonka truck in one hand and a basketball in the other. Basketball was the one thing Lucas loved more then anything. He was willing to risk his life for basketball and he had almost done it, but that damn operation.... anyways, he was getting ahead of himself there. His twisted life really started out at that basketball camp years ago. He had this crazy rivalry with this kid named Nathan... Nathan Scott. Kids had made fun of them about being brothers and he was the one stuck without the dad. Because he was the hated one. Lucas remembered coming home and asking his mother about this supposed father, glad to see his Uncle Keith wasn't around or that Haley, that childhood best friend of his, hadn't followed him back home with her eager footsteps. He had known Haley since he was old enough to pronounce his own name and his Uncle Keith was always like a father to him, but right then, he didn't need the comfort of his favorite people. He liked it best when it was just him and his mom, them together, it had always been perfect then. But this revelation rattled him and their perfect world. And when he had asked his mother, she had denied it. But the tears and sobs he heard later that night confirmed his thoughts. He was the abandoned son.

What made it even worse was that his own father lived only a few blocks away. This was the ringer. And he lived his life in awkwardness, a family so spread apart, but so undeniably close at the same time. Nathan and Lucas grew up with different lives and different personalities. Lucas's mom, Karen, had developed a low key attitude in her son. Dan, Lucas's father and sadly his own, had taught Nathan that he was the best of the best, pushing him and pressuring him and Lucas could see that eventually it would lead to his brother's ultimate doom.

Lucas had been wrong. Surprisingly, Nathan had done a turn around and the next thing Lucas could realize he and Haley were dating and then even quicker, they had gotten married. All during high school. Lucas's jaw still ached slightly from the surprise of it all. But he respected their wishes and the rivalry the two Scott brothers had slowly diminished in the drama and despair that Tree Hill was buried in.

Tree Hill was definitely a dramatic town. For such a small place, in just North Carolina, so much has happened that Lucas was surprised they were still considered a 'small town'. He took a firmer hold on his dog's leash, leading them toward Tree Hill's local grocery store, mind still swarming. Pregnancies, abandonment, deaths, drugs, scandals... all of it packed in one little place. It was enough to even drive Lucas away one to many times and enough to drive many others too. Lucas was only twenty five, he had graduated only just a few years ago from his high school and he was one of the few rare kids from that era still hanging around. Nathan and Haley Scott had moved up to Charleston, to help both of their careers and their three year old son, Charlie.

And the rest of his friends... half of the basketball team went off to college and he never really saw them again. The river court players were scattered through out North Carolina, not straying to far from their roots and he saw them occasionally. Just the other day he had a talk with Mouth and Skills... good times. Jake Jagielski stayed here in Tree Hill though, a old basketball player pal, with his now eight year old daughter, Jenny. That was comforting. And then the illustrious Brooke Davis. A girl that was complicated and sweet and someone he just was stuck between.

Brooke had been Lucas's girlfriend near the end of his senior and most of high school and they had the summer of the operation together. Dan had a heart problem that was genetic and the perfect son, Nathan, was free from it. Lucas just never got a break. It appeared in his later years, specifically the end of senior year, and it had been dangerous for him to play basketball. Lucas did it anyways. All the time. And he played and he played until his heart grew so weak that he had to have an operation. That was the summer Lucas had gotten Othello and that was the summer Brooke had grown scared. That was the summer of many things... a unforgettable summer, really. A lot more then just those simple things happened.

His and Brooke's relationship remained working until they had to split up for college and long distance didn't work out like they had imagined it would have. Brooke moved up to New York with the thought of becoming a fashion designer and Lucas stayed in North Carolina working on a degree for journalism. They had broken apart, but whenever Brooke came for a visit, Lucas found it hard to stay away, especially when he had a hard enough time alone in Tree Hill. He didn't know why he stayed and didn't leave along with the rest of them or left with Brooke or just... go. But something was keeping him here and he couldn't get away from it.

Othello was the one who had started it all. Lysander quickly followed when Hales and Nate moved, the only two people despite his mother and uncle that he truly loved. And they moved, taking one of his newest basketball buddies with them, his nephew, Charlie . That wasn't cool and Tree Hill was looking particularly empty with them gone. That would have been the perfect time to leave, go with Brooke, go with Hales and her family, his nephew... but he was still tied down. To what, Lucas didn't know. He had just finished college, had two dogs, a small apartment, and a ache in his heart and no one to talk to. That was then that he decided to get a job.

Lucas's operation had done it's job, but no matter how great he was or how strong his heart was getting, professional basketball wasn't even a option for a career. With that in the background, no great amount of graceful moves would get him on a team or with a scouting agent. So instead, he branched off, with his journalism degree, but he found that wasn't all too fun ethier. By then, he had been doing a lot of hanging out with Jake, one of the last few people in Tree Hill he knew from high school, and Jenny, his daughter that amazingly loved her elementary school. He and Jenny were buddies, he loved hanging out with her because her childish enthusiasm just got him pumped. Excited. Little kids made him smile and laugh, and he was more relaxed around their innocence more around the dramatic adults around Tree Hill.

So Jenny suggested he go and be their new gym teacher at Tree Hill Elementary.

And so Lucas took her suggest, ran with it, and was now the three year, well loved, gym teacher at Tree Hill elementary, teaching kids the ultimate basics of not just basketball, one of his treasured sports, but of rules and fairness and judgment and when he was in the mood, other sports. It was so much easier then rowdy teenagers with potential, like he and Nathan were during high school, because he was building off a foundation for them. He could already tell there was going to be some stars in his group, a range of grades and ages. It was the job of a lifetime.

But with life looking up so much, it had to take a turn somewhere in there. Somehow. That's where Romeo came in. When Dan, his father, died, he had gotten this shaggy mutt like dog, one that would be the pure definition of abandonment and need. Dan's health had been pushed to it's best in his middle age even after his heart attack, but as he grew older, it declined more and more. But Lucas then, had known that it had nothing to do with his health, but his soul. Lucas had this feeling that Dan had come to realize that the world did not revolve around him and that he was missing a life with BOTH his sons, a daughter in law, and the kicker... his grandson. His health had rapidly declined and one night two years ago, Lucas got a call that Dan had drowned in his bathtub. Whether it was a suicide or just from pure exhaustion of having to prove he was right and finding out he wasn't... Lucas didn't know and honestly didn't care.

It surprised him though, that it hurt. Dan's death hurt him. That was his father, helped him into creation and even though he had made his childhood hell and went out to ruin Nathan and Haley's life, he had tried. There were some points where he had tried, in his own twisted way. So Lucas had gotten Romeo, a dog that was just like him in every respect. A sandy colored and blind mutt. To help fill that growing hole in his heart. Right. Three dogs, a empty apartment, a life full of kids and he was only allowed to share it with someone when they came down to visit. Lucas really needed to leave Tree Hill.

Damn, if only he could cut the bondages that kept him here.

The cool air of the grocery store chilled him and he smiled to see the slight crowd. Thanksgiving was approaching and they bustled to get some food products. Lucas's plan for Thanksgiving was spending it with his mother and her new family, Hales and Nate, and maybe even a surprise visit from Brooke. Not a bad plan, a lot better then other Thanksgivings. "Okay, you three. I want you all to behave. You are in the presence of what could be thousands of ladies. You need to be impressive" he grumbled to the three figures of the dogs. Lysander snorted as his nose was finding it hard to breath while glued now to the side of a counter. Othello simply starred ahead blankly. Romeo drooled over the cans of beans and attempted to scarth between his ears.

Oh boy.

"Well, as much as your boys show off the allure of beauty, it seems their impressive streak goes as far as Romeo managing to bend his fat body like that"

Lucas chuckled when he heard the intervening voice and turned around, greeted with the round and pudgy figure of one of the most illustrious women in Tree Hill. In her fluffy bright red eskimo sweater and bright yellow overalls, Minnie Mo stood before him with a twinkly in her round eyes, rosy cheeks and the smile that was as long as a ruler. Minnie Mo was the art teacher at the local elementary school and was the first one to kiss him on the lips as a greeting. 'The french do it all the time, it's quite the greeting' he recalled in shock as she pulled back and pushed her graying blonde curls up into her messy bun and shoved the pencils back in randomly. With her weird last name, and weirder tastes in well.. everything, Minnie Mo was the town gossip and the town's favorite person.

Her uniqueness was probably the credit for being the favorite. Tree Hill thrived on the unusual, like any small town would. Not like it needed anymore of the unusual though. That special summer of his was enough for him and it should have been enough for others, but that all just depended.. Now that he thought about it, smiling at Minnie Mo's teasing, she was just like that summer long ago. That summer of his operation, the summer of Othello, the summer Brooke cried. The summer Peyton Sawyer ran.

It happened like this a lot. The thinking of Peyton would just strike him out of no where and there she was, in his head as clear as day. But it wasn't the Peyton he had remembered in the last few weeks of senior year, no, this Peyton was smiling and looking healthy, her big true grin, her curls bouncing and everywhere. That was always his favorite part of Peyton. Not her body, not her smile, not her eyes. Her hair, it was just her. He remembered that. Bouncy and full of something.... life, understanding, forgiveness.... it was just her. Not that Lucas could judge though, he had felt like he had known her for so long... but he didn't know if he tried long enough to really back a good judgment on Peyton Sawyer.

Their attraction was huge, their relationship small. It had been a bad choice to do what he did, having been dating Brooke when he finally kissed Peyton. He had such... weird feelings for her and he just didn't know how to get them across. Something about her, even when she dated Nathan those early years... it captured him. But he was a stupid teenager. Even more stupid when he didn't pursue her even more after a fall out and Peyton fell farther and farther away from him. He hadn't been the best friend, he hadn't exactly been the there for her, like he had promised and he did care for her, but things had just gotten so muddled and muddled fast. He had gone back to dating Brooke and was in the troubles of this disease, when suddenly the news of Peyton's disappearance ran stark crazy over town. Daisy Miller had seen her running frantically to the station with a large duffel bag and that was the last thing anyone heard from her. No note, not a word.

It had probably been one of Lucas's biggest failure. He had felt like he hadn't done his best and he was the one who sent Peyton running. He wasn't the only one. Hales was scared for her, Nate felt like he was one who did it by screwing up her mind in relationships on the first hand, Brooke had a hard time with drinking then, Jake couldn't talk for a week, and his own mother had cried for Peyton. That had hurt even more then all of it put together. His mom and Peyton had been close and it hurt to think that in this reality of his, he had let both of them down. It was something he could never fix since Peyton had gone missing in action ever since. People had just gone on pretending she never existed or those pesky rumor people had insisted a mystery behind her sudden disappearance. Which was so tricky, because when she disappeared... the poor girl didn't deserve what happened to her. A dead mother, twisted relationships, a drug addiction, a abusive boyfriend... Lucas just figured if he didn't think about Peyton, it wouldn't hurt. And it worked fine. But every time Minnie came around he couldn't help but let a flash of a artistic, smiling, curly haired girl flash in his head. And it just hurt all over again.

"What has got you in such a pleasant mood today, Minnie Mo?" he insisted, pushing the ache away and smiled truly at Minnie who had pet the wandering Romeo's head. No one knew Minnie's last name and the kid's in his art class had taken to calling her Minnie Mo. It stuck. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know" she insisted in her loud and rambunctious voice, looking up and then smiling as Lucas waited. It took a moment before the heart of the town spilled. "I sent a letter to my granddaughter today. I asked her to come down. And you know what? I know she's going to come down"

Lucas felt his eyebrows shot up. Granddaughter? Family? From what he could muster, the only history of Minnie Mo was that she had moved down a few months after his graduation and Peyton's disappearance and bought a huge art bungalow right near the beach- with what money, he didn't know-, had no last name, a cat the size of a praticularly large flower pot, and that's is as far as it went. No one knew where she came from or what family she had or why she had come down to Tree Hill. He blinked. A granddaughter?

Just what they needed.

More to talk about.

"Well, that's just great, Minnie Mo. Absolutely great"

Peyton knew she had to breath. In through the nose out through the mouth. She had to keep that up if she wanted to keep to her senses.

The envelope sat ripped to shreds on her small kitchen table and the letter sat propped up before her. The young woman held her face in her hands, fingers dug into the thickness of her growing blonde curls. Oh Lord. Oh Lord. Why Lord? Why did he do this? She took another breath, calming her trembling fingers, her stomach on automatic. She had already thrown up her entire dinner after reading the letter and it was still going, clenching and unclenching. Why did Lord do this to her? Put her through this? He knew her stomach couldn't take this in.

But yet the letter was as plain as blue in front of her. The scarthy grin ink of Minnie Sawyer's words from the envelope were scrawled all over two thick sheets of paper, gushing warmth and uncertainty. And an invitation.

An invitiation from her grandmother.

Just the thought made her throat tighten and she coughed, careful when she felt Vincent climb into her lap for comfort. She took the scrawny runt of a stray in her hands, hugging him against her, trying to still the beating in her heart. The letter had sat in front of her for what felt like years, but only fifteen minutes had passed since she had left work and sat and starred at it for a hour and ripped it open with a crazy woman's will just that long ago. She had read it with aching eyes and she had hadn't moved or touched it since. She felt her fingers would burn if she touched it and she would spontaneously combust if she stood. So she just clutched to her cat and starred.

Nothing came to her head, except of a hurricane of those words. Memories were useless and all she had were the facts. This letter had spoke of a life that Minnie Sawyer had in the past, of.... her mother.... she spoke of her mother and her death and how she, herself, had a darling job and a darling life and all she needed was her darling granddaughter to perfect it. Well, fuck that. Peyton was not going to perfect someone's life like that, just because she asked. She hardly remembered ever having a grandmother. Well, that made sense, she hardly remembered anything anymore.

But that wasn't the kicker. Peyton felt her eyes glaze over when this Minnie woman... this grandmother went on to explain something of a contract. A paper. A will. From her dead mother. Her dead, dead, dead mother. When she read that she raced to the bathroom, threw up everything she could and let her eyes prick. No tears fell. Peyton never cried anymore. She only threw up. And now, this Minnie grandmother lady... wanted her to go back to Tree Hill, to come to her. She had been looking for her for years she said. It's time for family to be together she said. Fuck you Peyton wanted to scream her body trembling as Vincent clawed at her thin arms. Fuck you. It's too late, she couldn't go back, not even for her mother, she couldn't go back, not to those words, those words would eat her alive...

There was also a reason why she couldn't remember. It was because at one point, Peyton Sawyer didn't want to remember.

But the words 'will' throbbed in her head. That was the last thing her mother left for her. Intended for her. It was from her mother. She had loved her mother, Peyton did. Loved her so much. And it was from her mother. Was it meant for her eyes? Would it just sit there if she left it? Or heaven forbid this Minnie grandmother woman read it and used it for herself? No. Already this distinct hatred for this Minnie grandmother built on her and she took a breath, feeling Vincent wriggle and slink away to the top of the table. No. She couldn't do that to her mother. She was already a failure in life, a failure at being a human being. She couldn't rub it in her mother's face.

She couldn't do that.

"Don't get comfy Vincent" Peyton spoke and her voice was surprisingly hard. She couldn't believe she was doing this. But she could. She could just go through the back route, not step one bit into town, stay away from everyone. They were probably all gone anyways. Stay away from it all, steal this will from her supposed grandmother and rip it to shreds, so this Minnie woman couldn't read it and no one else could. This was her mother and Peyton never wanted to see anything of her mothers with anything else. Not even her own grandmother.

"We're going back to Tree Hill"

Well, there ya go. Sorry for the extreme length, but I had so much foundation that I didn't realize until I was done how long it was. Quick synopsis: Lucas Scott's background was explained and the woman, Minnie Mo, whom he spoke to was actually the one who sent the letter to Peyton. Her granddaughter was Peyton herself. Peyton is upset about her mother's will or contract or letter being in the hands of a grandmother that she could already feel hatred for so she decides she would go back to Tree Hill, in the shadows and retrieve it for her mother's sake.

Good Luck on that, Peyton.

Next Chapter: Peyton returns with major deja vu. Lucas mets Hales at the airport with Charlie and things take a turn for insanty. What fun.

Anyways, please, keep the reviews going so I can realize what are good and bad. I am going just at utter whim here, so yeah. Thanks so much for your time!

Stella