Chapter Twenty-Four: Against All Odds

Author's note: Sorry this is so short. I've been trying to make them longer, but it kind of failed here. Next one's Naley, if it helps at all. And then Brucas!

It had been a while, as Davis Ryan decided, since Peyton Sawyer had done something sufficiently wild. It was this that landed them at the tattoo parlor on a Thursday evening when nothing else was going on in Tree Hill.

"Dav, I'm not getting a tattoo," protested Peyton.

"Hey. Don't call me that. And yes, you are," said Davis.

"No, I'm not! It's way too… O.C," said Peyton.

"No, it's not. Because after Alex left we never saw Marissa's tattoo again and I have a crazy feeling that the same thing won't happen to yours," said Davis. Peyton raised her eyebrows.

"Is there something you haven't told me?" she asked.

"Yes, fine. I'm a closet OC fan. Except for this season. What's with Kirsten's hair? She was so much better in the first season. And last year's Chrismukkah one was so lame. And what's with that Johnny guy? He was ugly. He should have turned out to be Oliver in disguise or something," complained Davis.

"Chrismukkah?"

"God, do you live on Mars? Whatever, where are you getting it?" asked Davis eagerly.

"Wait a sec," said Peyton impatiently as her phone rang. "Brooke?"

Davis studied the samples on the walls as Peyton spoke to Brooke, subtly eavesdropping. It made no sense to her. Hadn't she dropped enough bombs to permanently, or at least for a while, make Brooke unhappy?

"What was that?" she asked, as Peyton hung up.

"She's maybe pregnant. And moving in with Lucas, in LA," said Peyton in shock.

"Pregnant?"

"Apparently," said Peyton, catching the attention of the tattoo artist waiting for them. "I'm going to get this cross on the back of my neck."

Davis grinned.

"Aww, that's my girl," she said, as Peyton and the artist disappeared into the other room.

"You know it," she called out, before letting out a gasp of surprise.

After a drawn out admiration of the gothic cross newly on Peyton's neck, the two girls headed back to Peyton's house, their most popular hangout.

Peyton hurriedly made her bed while Davis wandered over to Peyton's computer and posed in front of her web-cam.

"Does anybody actually watch this?" asked Davis curiously.

"Only web-cam pervs, I think. Have you talked to Nathan lately?"

"Yeah. We made out in his room the other night, almost had sex before he bailed. It was weird. Why do you ask?" asked Davis.

"Haley must be heartbroken," said Peyton softly, her mind flashing back to her previous life.

"I guess so. What about Jake?" asked Davis.

"What about him?"

"I'm intuitive, and I know you're not telling me something. What is it?" she asked.

"We kind of made out," admitted Peyton.

"Shit. Was it good?"

"Yes. It was very, very good. He really loves me, doesn't he?" said Peyton.

"Of course. Why else would he have slept with me?"

"Beats me," said Peyton, ducking as Davis threw a pillow at her head.

Peyton grabbed the other pillow from the bed and proceeded to beat her friend repeatedly with it. Davis squealed as it burst open and feathers began to fly around the room.

"Stop that!" she protested, her voice shrill. She grabbed Peyton's wrist and pulled her onto the bed with her. They collapsed, laughing.

Davis took a deep breath as she brushed feathers off her face and turned onto her side to face Peyton.

"There's one more thing," she said slowly. Peyton propped herself up unto her elbows and looked over her shoulder at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nathan kicked me out, and the hotel's booked solid. And I have no place to go," she said.

"That's not true," said Peyton eventually. Davis raised a perfect dark eyebrow.

"Oh? Then where can I go?" she asked.

"Here. As long as you want. I guess Lucas rubbed off on me," said Peyton, shrugging.

"Do you we have to hug now?" asked Davis, wrinkling her nose.

"Nope. You can sleep in my Dad's room, let's go change the sheets," she suggested. Davis watched her go in surprise. Or was it more?