Peyton stared out the window of her 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. She had always been a fan of classic, muscle cars and seeing that one in a junkyard had been no exception. She and Jake had jumped into the living together and marriage situation so fast, that there had been no time for the usual pre wedding parties, showers or receptions. So as a surprise for his new bride, Jake had secretly had the Camaro rebuilt. It was given a new engine, new interior, a new silver paint job and the name Slade. For Peyton it was the coolest present she had ever received.

She had always been different. She had always been the girl to think outside of the box. Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer born to Larry and Anna Sawyer. From birth she had been an adorable child with large, expressive eyes and beautiful blonde hair that fell into golden rings of curls.

Childhood was idealistic for the doted on only child who was her mother's pride and joy and the apple of her father's eye. A good student in school and well liked among her classmates, it was nothing but happy times until that fateful day in fourth grade. It seemed every class had their one thing that was an absolute "do not". For instance, a kindergartener who wet their pants would be the laughing stock of the school. A first grader who couldn't tie their shoe would be ostracized. The list went on and on and for fourth graders who got out of school one hour earlier, it was ultra supreme humiliation to be one of the last ones left in the schoolyard waiting for a ride home. Peyton had found this out the hard way and her little cheeks had burned bright red with adolescent embarrassment.

"Mom, I'm a fourth grader now", she had complained to Anna. "You have to be there at two o'clock."

The little girl could not stress the importance enough. Anna promised to make a conscious effort and for a while all was well again in the Sawyer residence as the pretty housewife and mother managed to make it to the school on time as promised. But it was a Wednesday when everything changed. Anna hadn't felt well. The line at the grocery store had been extra long. Traffic was heavier than normal. She looked at the clock in the car and realized she had only three minutes to drive through the busy main street and pick up her daughter. Anna sighed at the idiot in front of her. For God's sake, where did these people learn to drive, Miss Daisy's Academy? She could not, no she would not miss that light. It was green forever, then yellow and in the blink of an eye, red. She floored the gas pedal and ran the intersection never even seeing the other car. There was a loud collision. Anna Sawyer was pronounced dead at the hospital two days later.

Peyton kicked at the grass as she impatiently adjusted her backpack and lunchbox. Where was her mother? Great, she was one of the last kids again. Pretty soon the other bell rang and the younger children were out of class. Peyton wanted to cry but she was too angry. Her whole world seemed to be ending right there. It was a tragedy. But the nine year old girl would learn what real tragedy was when it was revealed the reason why Anna never showed up.

The loss of her mother was devastating. That first night Peyton cried for what seemed like forever. She cried until her tear ducts were irritated and the doctor had to prescribe eye drops. And after that, she didn't cry anymore. She couldn't. She didn't know how to react to anything or anyone. So Peyton simply stopped. For one whole month she never spoke a single, solitary word.

Brooke Davis had always been her best friends. Popularity had tossed them together. Otherwise it was an unlikely pairing. The quiet, studious, tomboy like curly haired blonde and the straight haired, dressed to the hilt, giggly, bubbly brunette who loved to show the fifth graders her panties during recess. But in those darkest days, it was Brooke who came to the rescue, solidifying a bond that ran deeper than blood. She played with Peyton, they were inseparable in and out of school. Little Brooke was the saving grace.

But Peyton would never return to normal or whatever that was supposed to be. She spoke again and was able to return to a functioning state but her once bright smile would never be the same. Haunted by grief and guilt, a new Peyton would begin to emerge. By the time the girls reached high school Peyton was a striking beauty, the queen in a center of admiring schoolmates, girlfriend of top jock, Nathan Scott and co captain of the Ravens cheerleading squad. However there were two Peytons almost. The pretty, smiling, cheer captain and the broody, pouting artist who wore converse and loved rock music.

Art had always been her passion. She had been doodling on scratch paper as soon as she could hold a pencil. From an early age her drawings far surpassed the stick figurines created by her peers. The child showed real talent and her work had been praised. Art was her therapy, the one thing that kept her sane. The one thing she knew she was really good at. For Larry whose job required long hours away by sea, he accepted the fact that his daughter made good grades and was a good person. He tried to see past the emptiness and the loneliness and the quiet rage that fueled her marker's deeply disturbing and dark, depressing sketches.

Peyton was with Nathan because that was seemingly a requirement on the resume of a cheerleader. Wasn't the hot blonde supposed to be with the gorgeous, popular, hoops star. But it wasn't to last. They were too different. Nathan was too immature and self absorbed. Peyton was too moody and troubled. The relationship was fizzling as fast as the passionate sparks it had taken to ignite it. But there was one more factor.

Lucas Scott. Just as blonde and good looking. An equally superb athletic force, first on Tree Hill's River Court and eventually alongside Nathan and the others on the Raven's school court. But animosity and bitter rivalry produced a not so quiet resentment for two brothers leaving Peyton Sawyer to be a pawn stuck in the middle.

She liked Lucas. They dug the same kind of music. He was nice. He was deep. He appreciated her talent. He respected her as a person. And his own family demons had cast a gloomy shadow on his own persona…hell, that meant they could go brood together. But it wasn't meant to be. A messy teenage love triangle that involved none other than Brooke had thwarted any hopes of a real chance. And when the feisty dark haired girl found out that her best friend had almost slept with her boyfriend, all hell broke loose. Brooke and Peyton didn't speak for a while. Neither did Peyton or Lucas or Lucas and Brooke. But time healed all wounds and eventually the three became friends again. It didn't bother Peyton as she sat back and watched Lucas and Brooke rekindle their flame and fall in love. Her eye, along with her heart and soul were elsewhere. She had already found Jake and Jenny Jagielski.

Blending into a ready made family set quite well with Peyton. She was in love. They were happy. Nikki would ruin all that. The first time she had helped plan their disappearance and it hurt her more than anyone would ever know. The second time Jenny was stolen and the emptiness was again unbearable.

When things were at their worst, when Brooke was too busy to talk to, when the kids at school accused her of being gay and hateful obscenities were scrawled on her locker, when Peyton felt like she had no one, when her father didn't come and when she missed her mother so much she physically ached, Peyton turned to a dangerous pick me up. It was just a few lines of fine white powder that was supposed to take the pain away. She had only done it a couple of times but she had been ashamed of herself for ever being weak enough to try it. It never developed into an addiction and before she fell completely apart, Jake returned to pick up the broken pieces.

They were the perfect couple. Soul mates. Peyton often joked that Jake was the only man strong enough to put up with her. He made her laugh, he held her when she cried, he backed off when she needed space. They just "got" each other and fit together as snug and comfortable as a favorite pair of old shoes. She was happy in Tree Hill living the simple life. She didn't need to venture off to far off lands or spend the lavish and excessive amounts of money Brooke loved to. All she needed was to be Peyton Sawyer Jagielski and all she wanted was her Jake.

The subject of having children ironically enough had never come up. Peyton had always been on the Pill and that was the end of that. A missed morning and the unexpected pregnancy had started to grow on her. Suddenly she felt feminine and maternal and beside herself with joy. Then in the cruelest twist of fate, everything had changed. There was no more baby and a chance that there never would be any in the future.

The loss was unbearable. Peyton was a strong girl but she was haunted by her abandonment and trust issues. Losing a child was just another manifestation of it. She didn't cope well with loss. When she wasn't in control it terrified her and she reacted.

As if a looming depression and fighting with Jake weren't enough, the last thing Peyton was prepared to deal with was the gum popping, leather jacket wearing blonde waiting in her office one morning.

"You're the Design Editor?" the woman had asked.

"Yes. Can I help you?"

"I'm Ellie. I'm here for a job."

Peyton sighed.

"Do you have experience?"

"No."

"A resume?"

"No."

"References?"

"No."

"Okay, look…I'm not really hiring. Maybe you should come back…"

The woman nodded and she did return. Day after day she would be parked in front of Peyton's office. It was an extreme annoyance at best but Peyton had to admit, the woman's freehand drawings weren't half bad. They had coffee together a few times and Ellie had entertained her with stories of her drifting across the country. Peyton had actually started to like her. But the more time they spent together, the more Peyton discovered something wasn't quite right. She couldn't put her finger on it but she did create a line of distance. Ellie would not be rebuffed so easily.

Peyton rolled her eyes as she stepped out of her car and saw Ellie waiting at her front door. Great, she thought. Why couldn't Top make a surprise appearance? What was the point of having a ghost in the house if it was too worthless to scare unwanted visitors.

"Ellie, I don't know why you're here but you need to leave."

"I wanted to see you. We need to talk."

"I don't think so. There's nothing left to talk about."

"Peyton…"

"Look, you're really starting to creep me out. I already told you, I don't think we should hang out anymore, Ellie."

The woman looked away.

"My name is not Ellie."

"Excuse me?"

"It's Elizabeth. The same as your middle name."

"Wait. How did you know…"

"You got that name from me, Peyton."

"What?"

"I…I'm your mother."

For Peyton it was the ultimate and final act of betrayal. The woman she had mourned since she was nine years old had adopted her shortly before her second birthday. Peyton had been the product of a rocky on again, off again relationship of Elizabeth Reed and Larry Sawyer. After Peyton's birth, Elizabeth had no longer wanted to take care of her child. So she terminated her parental rights and moved on. Larry married Anna Neely less than a year later. It was almost ironic. Maybe that's why she had bonded so quickly with Jenny. Without even knowing it at the time, in a sense Peyton was Jenny.

It had all been a lie. Larry had never told her. Anna hadn't told her. Or her grandparents or anyone. For Peyton it was the last straw. She was soaring towards rock bottom and on the way down, enjoyed a line or two of her old friend named cocaine. Once again it was Jake's love and loyalty and patience that brought her back from the brink of self destruction.

Peyton sighed as she adjusted her sunglasses. She was preparing to leave it all behind. The loss, the sadness, the misery, the pain and the lies. Her father, her mothers, her unborn child, the drugs, the memory of Jenny…Tree Hill itself.

"You left these in the truck", Jake said as he leaned in and kissed her. "The Killers, Keane, Jimmy Eat World, Modest Mouse…"

"All the essentials of any road trip", she smiled, accepting the CDs.

"You gassed up and ready to go?"

"Aye, aye, Captain."

"Did you go pee? You know how you get. One sip of anything and it's a million and one bathroom stops."

"Bladder is empty", Peyton grinned.

"Good", he said handing her a brown bag. "Beef jerky. Snack of the gods."

She kissed him and watched as he walked ahead and settled inside his massive Chevy Tahoe SUV. Two medium sized U Haul crates were attached to both their vehicles carrying the last bit of belongings with them to Florida.

Peyton popped in tunes and pulled out of the gas station right behind her husband. A few miles later was a sign welcoming them to South Carolina. She breathed a sigh of relief as she left her woes behind at the state line. There was nothing like starting over.