Fast-forwarding about 2 years later

The sun was out brightly that spring afternoon and the crew on Larry Sawyer's ship was busy at work. Peyton was alone in her cabin listening to her iPod when her dad walked in. She removed her earphones and smiled at her dad.

"Hey, dad,"

"I knocked on the door, but I guess you couldn't hear me," he said, pointing to her iPod.

"Oh, sorry. Just going through my Bowie phase again," she said as she set the music player down.

"That's ok," Larry took a seat beside Peyton on her bed. "Got a minute for your ol' man?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Listen, curly I need to ask you something; Are you happy here?"

The question caught Peyton off guard, freezing her for a moment, "Yeah, of course. I love being here with you,"

"You don't have to lie to me,"

"I'm not," she replied defensively.

Larry ran his hand through his hair. Even though they had grown closer over the past two years, he still wasn't used to talking to his daughter on a personal level. "Peyton, I know you're not happy. I just wish you'd be honest with me and stop acting,"

"Dad, I don't know what you're talking about,"

"I saw you crying last night. When you thought everyone was sleeping, I saw you sneak out onto the deck,"

Peyton couldn't believe that her father caught her crying. She wanted to tell him what was wrong, but talking about her feelings wasn't exactly one of her strong suits. Besides, she was even more embarrassed to tell him that she was crying over a boy. So, she decided to avoid the conversation all together, "I'm a girl, dad. There's a written rule somewhere that says I'm allowed get a little emotional sometimes,"

"Ok…but then can you explain this to me," Larry pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Peyton's eyes widened as she knew what it was. On instinct, she reached for the paper and ripped it out of her father's hand. It was a sketch that she had drawn the night Lucas never showed up. The sketch was a picture of an empty Rivercourt with a caption reading: He Left Me All Alone.

"Dad, this is private. I can't believe you would snoop through my things,"

"Honey, I didn't snoop. You left it behind on the deck last night. Besides, that's not the point, Peyton. If you have something to tell me, then please…just tell me. You're not going to hurt my feelings if you tell me the truth. I'm your father, Peyton. You don't have to hide anything for me,"

Peyton looked her father, confused at what he was trying to get at.

"What I'm trying to say is…," he paused, "…I'm sorry for leaving you all alone when you were growing up. But I promise that I will never leave you alone again. Damn, I should have realized that you were unhappy sooner. I should have been there for you…I should have been a better father," Larry said softly as a tear fell from his eye.

Peyton reached for her dad and hugged him, "Dad, no. You've been the best father I could ever ask for. Don't ever doubt that. I love you,"

Larry squeezed his daughter back, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure,"

Larry looked into his daughter's eyes, "Then why are you so unhappy? What is that picture about,"

Peyton's eyes looked away with some embarrassment.

"It's about a boy, isn't it?"Peyton sighed and shrugged her shoulders. Her face had 'guilty' written all over it.

"You look exactly like your mother when you do that," Larry kissed the top of her forehead, "But is he the reason why you came with me,"

"Kinda. I mean yeah, at first. I just thought that getting away from Tree Hill would make me forget everything, but then I started spending all this time with you and for the first time in a long time, I felt happy. I know I'm a selfish daughter for doing that,"

Larry shook his head, "No, you're not. You're the best daughter I could ever ask for,"

"Dad," Peyton blushed.

"But can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, of course,"

"You wanted to leave Tree Hill so suddenly, without an explanation..." Larry paused, not only trying to brace himself for the question, but more for the answer, "This boy that you wanted to leave behind…he didn't hurt you, like physically?"

"No, dad," she immediately answered. "Lucas would never hurt me like that,"

"Ah…rake boy," he replied with relief in his voice. "Want me to rake him for you? Cause I do owe him," her father joked.

Peyton couldn't help but laugh as she remembered the morning when Lucas thought Larry was a thief and threatened to beat him with a rake.

Seeing Peyton smile made Larry smile too. He loved his daughter very much and hated to see her unhappy. All he wanted to do was to help his only daughter, but he didn't know how. Being a single father wasn't easy. He felt helpless. "Peyton, this probably doesn't make sense, but just hear me out. I think it's time for you to go back to Tree Hill,"

"What?" Peyton said in shock.

"Hon, you've obviously been unhappy about whatever happened two years ago. And you running away didn't help. No matter how far away you run, it's still going to be there. Maybe you should go back and work things out,"

She didn't know how to respond. It wasn't like there was anything to work out between her and Lucas. Peyton poured her heart out to him, only to have it break into thousands of pieces and even with all the time and distance between them, her heart was still in pieces.

Larry nodded his head. He knew Peyton was stubborn and he couldn't do anything about that. But he also knew that she was a strong, independent young woman. He was confident enough that she would work things out in her own time.

"Alright, I'll let you and Mr. Bowie get reacquainted. I have to get back to work,"

Before Larry could reach for the door, Peyton wrapped her arms around her father and hugged him tightly.

"I love you, daddy," she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, too,"