Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Peyton wrote through the night. Sometimes it was in quick spurts, other times she sat, lost in thought, for a few hours before she picked up her pen. With the sun coming up over the horizon, Peyton put the pen down and sat back, reading over her lyrics.
She was taken by surprise when her phone began ringing loudly.
"Peyton Sawyer, can I help you?" She answered cautiously, wondering who was calling her office at this early hour.
"Peyton? Thank God! I tried to wake you up this morning and you weren't here. I had just assumed you came home after I fell asleep." Brooke said, the panic in her voice subsiding, as she spoke.
"I'm fine Brooke. I was working on a side project and lost track of time, sorry." Peyton apologized.
"Hey, are you okay? I don't know what that was, between you, Lucas and Lindsey yesterday, but you know if you need to talk that I'm here, right?" Brooke asked softly.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks Brooke." Peyton replied with a smile.
"Alright, well I'll see you in about an hour." Brooke said, ending the conversation. Peyton hung up the phone and already her mind was racing. She wanted to tell Brooke everything. She really did, but she knew that Brooke wouldn't be satisfied until she had done everything in her power to try and work things out for Peyton. And this time, it wasn't possible to solve her problem, not unless Brooke possessed the power to go back in time. Peyton quickly pushed those thoughts away and got back to work, editing Mia's new song.
"Okay little worker-bee, I come with supplies." Brooke called out as she marched into Peyton's office. Peyton glanced up and saw that Brooke was loaded down with coffee, donuts and a duffel bag slung over her shoulder.
"Wow, thanks Brooke." Peyton smiled, taking a cup of coffee and the bag of donuts from Brooke and placing them on her desk.
"No problem, these are for you, Blondie." Brooke added, passing Peyton the duffel bag.
"I figured you might want some clean clothes, some make-up, and a hairbrush." Brooke ticked the items off on her fingers.
"Thank you! You really didn't have to do all of this." Peyton said, digging through the bag to see what Brooke had packed.
"Don't thank me yet, I figured you could use some help in the clothes department, so I decided to give you your birthday gift early. I've been working on a new punk line for clothes over bros, and I want you to have the first official piece." Brooke said, flashing Peyton a smile, before she exited the room, pulling the door shut behind her. Peyton pulled the clothes out of the bag, worrying slightly about seeing Brooke Davis's take on punk clothing.
"Wow." Peyton breathed, as ran her hand down the dress that Brooke had given her. It had originally been a sleeveless, white tennis dress, but Brooke had torn the fabric in various places and sewn it up again with black polka dot fabric behind it. She had used big silver safety pins to close up the holes. The bottom of the skirt had an extra panel of denim added, with spray-painted pink and black stars stenciled on. Peyton grinned as she quickly took off her day old clothes and threw the dress over her head. As she did so, she knocked the duffel off of her desk, and out flew some fishnet stockings.
"You think of everything, don't you Brooke?" Peyton asked aloud as she bent down to retrieve the stockings. After she had finished dressing, she attempted to make her unruly hair do something, but she eventually gave up and left it as it was. She was adding some finishing touches to her make-up when she heard someone knocking on her door.
"Come in!" She called, around the mascara tube that she was holding between her teeth.
"Lucas!" Peyton said, the surprise evident in her tone. She quickly pulled the mascara out of her mouth and screwed the lid shut.
"Wow, that is an amazing dress. You look beautiful, Peyton." Lucas said, taking in her new ensemble.
"Thank you, but your opinion doesn't count anymore, remember?" She replied coldly, trying not to show just how much his opinion of her actually meant.
"Right. Listen, I think we need to talk. Is there anyway you would consider meeting me for dinner tonight?" Lucas asked, pleading with his eyes. When Peyton didn't answer, he continued.
"C'mon Peyt, we used to be friends. Can we please just talk, like civil adults?"
"I don't know Lucas. What does Lindsey have to say about you asking me to dinner?" Peyton asked pointedly. Lucas sighed before responding.
"I don't know. Lindsey is my girlfriend, not my mother. I think that I can take a friend out to dinner without having to ask permission." Lucas replied sarcastically.
"Oh, so she doesn't know." Peyton replied in amusement. She shook her head, smiling at the thought of Lucas telling Lindsey about this.
"No, she's back in New York for the week." Lucas admitted. Peyton knew that she should say 'no', if not for the sake of Luke and Lindsey's relationship, but for her own sake as well. She needed distance from Lucas so that she could get over him, once and for all.
"Sure, pick me at 7pm." Peyton replied. She quickly decided that she would give him one more night before she cut him out of her life. And if Lucas wanted to jeopardize his relationship, that was his business.