There was a soft knock on the door and Jake and Peyton exchanged glances and sighed. Jenny and her attitude had been out of control all day. It had started with getting smart with Jake at breakfast , then not cleaning her room, sneaking and spilling soda at lunch when Peyton had told her she could only have milk, pouting all evening and then her steadfast refusal to go to bed.

Her parents were in their room behind closed doors, consumed with work as usual. Jake was going over notes for an upcoming briefing he had to give and Peyton was in a tailspin due to the fact her live musical act for Tric that week had quit abruptly and without explanation.

"What is with her?" Peyton groaned.

"I can't believe this", Jake sighed. "She's doing it for attention. Just ignore her."

More knocking.

"Got a plan B, genius?" the woman smirked.

"What am I supposed to do? Spank her, Peyton? Ground her?"

"Something because our daughter is being a major brat and I'm tired of being the only one disciplining her."

The knocking persisted.

"Come in, Jen", Jake said, exasperated.

The little girl opened the door, arms folded, frown in place.

"What's the deal, Toots? It's way past your bedtime."

"Mom, I can't sleep."

"Nice try, Jen", Jake looked at his little girl. "Baby, it's late, you need to be in bed and Mom and I have a ton of work to do."

"Daddy, I'm trying to sleep but I can't."

"Why not?"

"Haley. She won't stop crying. I can hear her sniffling through the walls."

The two adults looked at each other.

"Alright. You tuck Jenny in again and I'll go do the same for Haley", Peyton instructed as she slipped out of bed.

She walked a few feet down the hall to the guest room and knocked.

"Hales?"

Haley dabbed at her running nose from the other side.

"Yes?"

"It's me, kid. Can I come in?"

"Sure", she tried to regain her composure.

Peyton entered cautiously and sat down on the bed.

"You okay? Want to talk about?"

"It's nothing."

"Doesn't look or sound like nothing. Even Jenny heard you."

"Oh gosh. I'm sorry, Pey…"

"It's okay. Just tell me what happened."

"I made a mistake. Another one. A huge one but what else is new, right?"

"What did you do?"

"I thought that Nathan and I could handle things like civil grown ups so I tried to be courteous and let him know that I was in town and so was my lawyer and we wanted to meet."

"It didn't go well, huh?"

"Well? Try awful!"

"What did he say?"

"What didn't he say?"

"So he wasn't very nice, I take it."

"He was a real prince if you take away the yelling, the name calling and insults. And not to mention Dan…"

"Oh no."

"It was the single most horrific and humiliating moment of my entire life."

"I'm sorry. I had no idea. You don't deserve to be treated that way."

"I'm not stupid. I knew he'd be angry. I knew it wouldn't be pleasant but I had no idea…God, he was horrible! His eyes were so cold and his tone and…I can't describe it. I have never been looked at like that before. I have never seen him like that before. It was scary. He hates me."

"I wish I knew what to say. I wish I had an explanation. It's the pain but that's no excuse, I know."

"I was so nervous. Peyton, it had been so long. And I saw her first."

"Who, Meg?"

Haley nodded.

"Yes."

"Yikes. Makes for a creepy intro. How was that?"

"Weird. Not bad but definitely weird. She was…nice. I don't know, it seemed genuine."

"That's just the kind of girl she is."

"We talked and she invited me and like a dumb ass, I went and it was downhill from there."

"What now?"

"Oliver is in town. He checked into a hotel in town early this afternoon. We have a meeting with Nathan and his lawyers tomorrow morning."

"You have to go?"

"Yeah."

"You up to it?"

"I don't have a choice, do I? I just hope this gets taken care of. I don't know if I can take much more, Pey."

"This is gonna sound so lame but the best I can offer is, be strong."

"I will. I have to be in order to survive this mess."

"It's going to be okay. Somehow things will all just work out."

"I hope so. Thanks. Sorry to disturb you guys with all this."

"It's okay. We weren't sleeping. Jake was working and I was dealing with my own work nightmares."

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing too important…"

"Peyton…"

"My live act quit. It sucks. Jules and I have been searching for a replacement but it's a real headache."

"When?"

"This weekend."

"I'll do it."

Peyton was stunned.

"I can't ask you to do that, Hales."

"You didn't. I offered."

"With all that's happening, are you sure you'll be up to it?"

"I'll be okay. Besides, music is my therapy."

"I don't want to trudge up old memories. I know that's where all this kind of started back before Jules and I bought the club from Deb and Karen…"

"It's cool. Music is what I do. It's my love. And you helped give me the courage to pursue a dream. And you're letting me crash here? Dude, I owe you. One set for one night is the least I can do. It's no bother, really. I'd be honored."

"Won't it be weird? Singing there again? Seeing everybody?"

"Yeah but uh…I can handle it. I'm prepared. Hey, if I survived today…"

"Well, trust me that won't happen again. Not on my watch and not in my club."

"Thank you."

Peyton smiled, relieved.

"Dude, you know we totally can't afford to pay you your regular performance fee, right?"

"Just put it on my tab", Haley winked.

The girls shared a laugh and another warm hug.

"Thank you. I mean it. I can't thank you enough for saving our asses."

"It's okay. As I recall you've saved my ass a couple of times over the years", Haley smiled. "Besides…that's what friends are for."