1/16

TREE HILL

Throughout the days following Peyton's firing from TRIC, Peyton had avoided all of her friends. She hadn't talked to Lucas, Haley, or Nathan in a while, so it wasn't hard to avoid talking to them. Peyton hadn't talked to Taylor or Sydney at all either. Taylor had gone out of town to visit and old friend, and Peyton had been avoiding Sydney's calls. The only person Peyton had talked to was Brooke, because they had been making time for each other every day.

Peyton had gone to THUD like Brooke had suggested, and they decided to let her put her strip back into the paper. Because of that, Peyton was currently sitting on her bed trying to finish the strip before she turned it in the next day.

"Hey." Sydney said from Peyton's doorway

"Sydney. Hey." Peyton said, surprised that Sydney had come over

"Can I come in?"

"Of course." Peyton gave Sydney a small smile and set her drawing aside

Sydney went and sat on Peyton's bed with her.

"I haven't seen you in a couple days. You ok?" Sydney asked

"Not really."

"You got fired, huh?"

"Yeah, didn't Karen say?" A horrified look crossed Peyton's face. "Oh no. You got fired too didn't you?"

"Thankfully, no. I haven't talked to Karen the past few days though." Sydney played with the edge of Peyton's comforter. "How are you doing?"

"Not good. On top of everything else, there's this tension between me and Brooke."

"Tension? When did that happen?" Sydney asked slowly, trying to make sense of what Peyton said. "I thought that everything was ok with you two."

"It's not that we are doing bad, because we're actually doing really good. But there's always this tension, like we have to be careful what we do and say. I'm not sure if it's just me thinking that, or if it's something that she feels too."

"Did something happen to make you feel this way? Do you want to talk about it?"

"She asked about the situation between me, you, and Taylor. Lucas had brought it up when she was still here, as you already know, and she asked me if I was a part of it. I told her no then, and then I told her no the other day too. Too bad she knows me well enough to know when I'm lying."

"Ouch." Sydney made a face. "What did she say?"

"She called me out on it. She said that she couldn't believe that I kept it from her. I told her that I hadn't even remembered about it until Lucas had said something."

"Did she not believe you?"

"I think she did. But I think that it still put this wedge between us."

"That sucks Pey. I'm sorry. You just need to show her honesty from now on." Sydney said

"I know. She got mad at me for hiding this from her, and she couldn't believe that I make a big deal of things she hasn't shared with me when I've been hiding things too."

"I can't say I blame her."

"Me either." Peyton said sadly

"So that's all?"

"No. We, umm…we had sex for the first time when I was there."

"And that's a problem? Sydney laughed

"I told her I'd never done that before. It was a night of new things that we explored together."

"I thought Brooke had girlfriends before you." Sydney said, puzzled

"Just Taylor. I think it was just that she thinks I lied to her about the whole sex issue. Which I didn't purposely do."

"And this is why sex is bad. It's just so damn complicated." Sydney said

"I agree."

Sydney put her hand on Peyton's leg. "I'm sorry Peyton. It'll work out. Just be patient."

"The thing is, we did work it out. Everything that we've tried to keep hidden is out, and I'm glad for that. But I can't help but thinking that it put up this wall between us. I don't know Syd. What if its never the same between us?" Peyton said, tears beginning to swim in her eyes

"Sweetie." Sydney pulled Peyton into a hug. "It will be ok. You guys love each other, and you just need to believe that is enough. Like you said, it might just be you thinking all of this. And if it is something, maybe you just need to bring it up to her. Don't keep things inside, because then it will just get worse. Try to work this out."

"I mean, I don't even know if it's worth repairing anymore. It's too hard. We make up from one thing just to have something else get in our way. And it's so hard with her being so far away." Peyton cried on Sydney's shoulder

"Don't think that Peyton. This is the one thing in your life worth repairing." Sydney whispered into Peyton's hair

Sydney held Peyton until Peyton finally pulled out of the hug to face Sydney.

"Thanks Syd."

"For what?"

"Being here?" Peyton offered a small smile

"Of course. You're one of my best friends. I'm always here for you; whatever you need." Sydney reassured Peyton with a smile

Peyton smiled back and opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she noticed someone in her doorway to her room.

"Dad." Peyton whispered

"Huh?" Sydney asked, confused as she turned towards the door. "Oh. Hi Mr. Sawyer."

"Hi girls. I'm sorry, I don't remember your name." Larry said to Sydney

"Oh, its ok. I'm Sydney." Sydney stood and extended her hand

Larry took it with a smile. "That's right."

"I'm gonna head out. Call me later if you need to Pey." Sydney said to Peyton

"Ok. I will. Thanks Syd."

Sydney smiled at the Sawyer's and said good-bye.

Larry came into Peyton's room and sat at her desk. He looked around her room at all of her drawings, and then focused on his daughter sitting on her bed. Look at how ill she looks. How could I go without noticing something like that?

"Daddy, what are you doing home?" Peyton asked with concern

"I got a phone call the other day from Karen, Peyton. Do you want to tell me what is going on?" Larry said, getting straight to the point

"Oh, wow. I didn't know that she was allowed to disclose that information." Peyton said, starting to get angry

"It doesn't matter if she was allowed to, because I'm very glad that she did. What are you doing Peyton? How long has this been going on?"

"I'm living my life Dad? Can I not make my own decisions?"

"No." Larry said simply

"Oh really? Who's going to stop me?"

"I am. I know that I haven't always been there for you, and I know that when I have been around I haven't been a great father. But I won't lose you to something as stupid as drugs."

"Dad, not like this matters, but how do you plan on stopping me? It's my choice isn't it?"

"Not anymore. Give me the money that I have given you, if you have any left." Larry held out his hand

"You're kidding. How am I supposed to live without money Dad?" Peyton scoffed

"Well that's you own problem isn't it? You lost your job Peyton, so your extra spending money is gone." Larry stood up and handed Peyton a stack of what looked like credit cards

"What the hell is this?"

"A gas card for your car, and grocery cards for food. Other than that, your money is cut off. I don't know what else to do Peyton. I'm sorry." Larry started crying. "I love you, and I'm so sorry I failed you."

Peyton stood from the bed and hugged her dad. "It's not your fault Daddy. I'm the one who should be sorry." Peyton began to cry also

They stood like that for a long time, father and daughter crying in each others arms. Peyton pulled away first, and looked at her dad.

"Dad, I'm sorry for everything lately. I know that I've let you down with all of this, and I know that you were hurt by the situation with Brooke. I've been screwing up a lot lately, and I'm sorry."

"Pumpkin, if you are happy with Brooke, then there is nothing that I can do but accept that; honestly this time. It will just take some getting used to. But the drugs, that I will never accept. And you shouldn't accept it for yourself, either. You are so much better than this."

"I know." Peyton kissed Larry's cheek. "Thanks Daddy." She walked over to her dresser and grabbed the money that her father had asked for. Peyton walked back over to Larry, and handed him the wad of cash. "There's your money." Peyton said sadly. "And just so you know, I've already made the decision to stop using."

"I'm glad to hear that." Larry smiled. "I hate to do this to you Pumpkin, but I have to head back out. I left in the middle of a project, and I have to get back to finish it. I'll be home in about a week."

"Ok Dad. Have a safe trip."

Peyton gave Larry one last hug, and then he was gone. Peyton sighed and walked back over to her dresser, and counted the money that she had kept from her father.

"60 dollars." Peyton said out loud. "I can still get some of those records I wanted." She smiled to herself and turned back around. She yelped when she came face-to-face with her father. "Dad!" She said, surprised

"You might be sorry, and I would like to believe that you just kept the money for some new music, but I'm not stupid Peyton."

Peyton sighed and handed her dad the money. With a small smile to his daughter, Larry was officially gone.

"Fuck!" Peyton screamed

NEW YORK

"So let me get this right…Brett turned down sex." Brooke said slowly, trying to process what Faith was telling her

"That's what I said." Faith nodded

"Wait, are you using him for sex!" Brooke turned wide-eyed to Faith

"No!" Faith denied quickly. "I'm not a whore B! I just figured that since we were making out and we've already fucked, that's what he wanted."

"Damn."

"He said he wants to 'take things slow'." Faith said with air quotes

"Yet you guys made out on the first date?" Brooke laughed

"Actually, it went a lot further than that." Faith winked. "I think he just meant taking the sex thing slow."

Brooke burst out laughing. "You are a whore!"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

"You and Brett." Brooke shook her head. "That's just crazy." Brooke marveled when she had stopped laughing

"No shit. So what's up with you?"

"Huh? That was random."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Something happened, and I want to know what it is."

Brooke sighed heavily. "She's been lying about everything Faith. We worked it out, but it's like there's this monkey in the room."

Faith crinkled her nose. "Don't you mean elephant?"

"Whatever. The point is, I don't know what to think anymore."

"Well what did she lie about?"

"The drugs. Her, Taylor, and Sydney. Sex."

"Ok. One at a time; what about the drugs?"

"I had thought that she only used that once on Halloween. Then when we talked about it when she was here, she said she does it a hell of a lot more often than what I thought. Color me surprised when I found out she does it all the fucking time." Brooke sighed. "She got fired from TRIC because of it. The good thing is though, I really think that she's trying to stop. I just hope that losing her job doesn't set her back."

"I'm really glad that she wants to quit. That's a huge step. And honestly, I understand why she kept it from you." Faith said. "When you do drugs, that's one thing that you don't want the people you love most to know about you."

"But I love her so damn much! Throughout the 14 years that we've been friends, these are the only things that she has lied about. Besides the whole love affair with Lucas, but that was just a completely fucked up situation."

"B, she didn't exactly lie about the drugs."

"Omission is lying Faith!" Brooke countered

"Not true." Faith said matter-of-factly. "Moving on to the next thing. What happened with Peyton, Sydney, and Taylor?"

"She fucked them."

"Holy shit!"

"Yeah. My thought exaclty."

"Ok, back up. Explain."

"They all got drunk and high one night, and they all screwed around."

"I'm sorry."

"That's where the sex issue comes in. She told me that she had never done that before. She lied to my face right before we had sex for the first time." Brooke said, a trace of bitterness in her voice

"Why would she lie to you about that though?" Faith said thoughtfully

"She said that she didn't remember until that day Lucas said something about it when we were all in Tree Hill. I want to believe her, and I'm really trying to, but how do you forget something like that?"

"I don't think she's lying B. People forget things when in that situation. I've forgotten things that come back and hit me years later. Some things come back when the memory of it is triggered." Faith shrugged. "I wouldn't hold that against her. I don't think that she would intentionally lie to you about something so important."

"Really?" Brooke asked hopefully

"Yeah. B, Peyton loves you, and she needs you so much right now. Don't hold stuff against her. She's in a tough spot. If you can find a way to forgive her, do it."

"I get that she's in a tough spot, but so am I Faith. I don't know if I can be in such a serious relationship when there are so many secrets between us."

"Set it all out on the table then."

"That's what we said too. I want to be with her, I really do. But if it's going to be like this when we are apart, maybe it would just be best to take a break until I move back."

"That will just make things harder for you both, and you know it." Faith said. "Talk to her Brooke, get everything worked out."

"We did work it all out. I'm just thinking out loud." Brooke sighed. "I just need to stop doubting our relationship. I mean, I'm just being stupid. I'm probably the only one thinking all of this." Brooke shook her head

"Then try to keep things worked out, or break up if you really cant be positive about it. I don't know what else to tell you." Faith shrugged and hugged Brooke before walking out of the loft

"Dammit. Why does this have to suck so much?" Brooke growled to herself

TREE HILL

Peyton had been curled up on her bed since Larry had left, crying about where she found herself in life. Her cell phone broke into her sobs, and Peyton took some deep breaths. She reached for her phone, and tried to hide the tears in her voice before she answered.

"Hello?"

"You're crying. What's the matter?" Brooke said immediately

"Are you psychic?" Peyton chuckled

"I know what you sound like when you cry Peyton. God knows you blubber enough." Brooke joked

"Whats up Brooke?"

"Nothing, just calling to see how you are and all."

"I'm ok. Want to hear the latest news?" Peyton said bitterly

"Uh oh. What happened?"

"Karen called my dad after she fired me. He showed up earlier to take all my money, just to turn right around and walk back to his job."

"Baby! Why didn't you call me!"

"Because I didn't want to bother you again with my problems."

"Peyton Sawyer, you never bother me. I'm here for you to talk to whenever you need me!" Brooke said

"Thanks." Peyton paused and took a deep breath."Brooke, I don't know if I'm completely losing it, but do you feel a tension between us now?"

Brooke sighed. "Actually, yes. Guess I wasn't just imagining it."

"Me either. Why is that? I thought that we were ok?"

"We are!" Brooke said quickly. "See, this is why distance is bad."

"I agree. So what are we going to do about this?"

"Talk it out? I don't want to lose you."

"Me either." Peyton agreed

The girls talked well into the night trying to work out whatever it was that was making them feel the way they had been feeling. The one thing that the girls had definitely decided was that they were no longer going to keep things from each other. From here out, no matter what, they were going to be honest; no matter how much to truth hurt.