Thanks for the adds and reviews. This chapter could've gone on forever, I swear I just adding stuff to it. Anyway, on with the show...

Chapter 3

The large group of friends and family was spread out in the sand with coolers, blankets, towels and beach toys scattered between them. All of them laughing one on one or in smaller groups while they enjoyed each other's company, not at all being too loud or rowdy. Everyone on the beach was just trying to soak up the last bits of summer sun, so the gorgeous blonde and brunette in small bikinis whispering to each other, or the well-toned athlete talking to a shorter bald black guy seemed to be having a good time. The same could be said for the mother and son not too far ahead of them building a sandcastle. If you scanned their group a little more, there were about 4 or 5 more guys in board shorts, some with girlfriends some without, setting up a volleyball net, and if the bickering was to attest to how well it was going, it wasn't going very well.

"You swear like we don't do this all the time guys, it's like Groundhog Day around here" Lucas said as he came up behind Fergie, grabbing the pole out of his hand he was fumbling with. "Nate, Skillz I need a couple of brains over here" he yelled to the two men probably in conversation about coaching the upcoming basketball season.

"Two of them equal one Haley, you know she has the biggest brain of all" Brooke said from her spot behind Peyton as she rubbed sun block on her.

"Hey! When did it become uncool to be smart?" Haley said as she got up from the sand and headed over to the guys with Jamie on her heels.

"It was always uncool Hales, but thank God you married me" Nathan said as he scooped up his son, turning him upside down and spinning him around, receiving squeals of delight from Jamie.

Already helping Lucas stabilize the net Haley spoke again, "Nathan put him down before you end up giving him brain damage and I have to be his tutor as well", getting her husband back for his jib.

Nathan did stop to put his son down, but only to laugh along with everyone else; it wasn't that often that Haley got the best of him in the jokes department.

"Yeah daddy put me down, because mama said you were a dork when she met you" the little blonde boy said, getting everyone in earshot to laugh again.

"A dork?" Nathan said aloud, turning to look at Haley. When he received unanimous 'yeah's' from the group he turned to look at his retreating son.

"I could have used other words Nate…truer words" she said, not looking up from what she was doing.

"I was not a dork!" Nathan said as he finally gave chase to his son, closing the distance easily due to his longer legs.

"Aunt Brooke, Aunt Brooke save me" the little boy said through his laughter as he threw himself at the brunette.

"I'll save you buddy" she said as she enclosed the boy in her arms, "You better leave my godson alone and pick on someone your own size Nate" she continued as she got up to run a couple of feet away with Jamie still in her arms.

"Is that right, someone my own size" the athlete said as he moved a couple of steps back to Peyton who was still sitting on the ground laughing at them.

"You aren't serious?" Peyton laughed, getting to her feet and backing away as she caught the mischievous glint in his eyes as he moved closer.

"I said someone your own size Nathan, you have like 100 pounds on her" Brooke slightly over exaggerated as she watched him approach her girlfriend.

Reaching out with his long arms, Nathan easily took Peyton captive, "The boy or the girl" Nathan said spinning around and smirking at Brooke.

"Damn Brooke, you got some tough decisions to make" Junk yelled to her as everyone watched the playful standoff.

"No tough decisions…you always pick the kid" Brooke shrugged, calling Nathan's bluff.

"As you wish Davis" Nathan said, his smirk growing even wider as he threw Peyton over his shoulder and ran for the waterline.

"Nate don't you dare" the blonde yelled as she flailed her legs and smacked his lower back with her hands.

The last things either one of them heard before they went under water were cheers of "do it", "yeah", "go for it" and "oh my God, he did it". When they both finally came up for air, Peyton jumped on Nathan's back and threatened him to return her to dry land or else. When they got back to the beach, Nathan got smacked 4 times, once on the back of the head by Peyton when she climbed off his back, once on the arm by Haley as she gave them both towels, once in the stomach by Brooke who still had Jaime in her arms and once on the back by a smiling Skillz.

"Don't think I didn't hear you either Skillz, Go for it" Peyton repeated as she swatted him on the arm and playfully glared at him.

"Hey" Skillz said as he rubbed his arm, "Keep hitting people and you're gonna get your skinny ass thrown back in the water" he finished then jumped out of the way of another swat.

"Are you okay baby?" Brooke asked Peyton as she put Jamie down and moved over to her girlfriend, helping her dry herself off.

"You care now?" Peyton asked as she pouted and let Brooke take control of the towel.

"Of course I care" Brooke said wiping the water off of Peyton's face.

"But I could have drowned" the blonde pouted more.

"I would never let you drowned baby", the brunette said as she pulled her girlfriend towards her, "And don't pout" she said in a husky voice while she eyed Peyton through her sunglasses.

"Why?" Peyton teased, her fake pout turning into a smile.

"Because everyone's standing like 10 feet away from us, and I didn't get to have my way with you this morning" Brooke told her, holding her a little tighter. She didn't need to tell the blonde that when she pouted at her it turned her on, Peyton already knew that and it was most likely the only reason she did it. Peyton was about to reply when they were interrupted.

"We're not as far away as you think" Nathan whispered from right over Peyton's shoulder as he smirked at Brooke.

"I think we need to find different friends Peyt, clearly we've known these ones too long" Brooke spoke while staring at Nathan with a fake smile on her face.

"Yeah well, it'll have to wait until later cause I need Sawyer, we're about to start the game" He told Brooke completely disregarding her last statement, it wasn't like it was the first time he'd heard it.

"You want me to be on your team when you just threw me in the damn ocean?" Peyton asked incredulously, turning toward their longtime friend with her hand on her hip.

"Come on Sawyer, you barely got wet, besides you're always on my team" Nathan said by way of an explanation.

"Beg" Peyton said to Nathan with a raised eyebrow.

"Fuck, I love it when my girl gets feisty" Brooke eyed Peyton, completely serious.

"Come on Sawyer, please" Nathan said through laughter at Brooke's comment, "Please, we're the only good ones, we're always on the same team" he whined further while shaking her arm like he had seen Jamie do to Haley to get his way.

"Fine, let me put on my shorts" the blonde pulled her arm away and headed for her bag.

"Plus its tradition … and we have a standing record" He continued, smiling as he got his way and pulling his sunglasses over his eyes as he stood next to Brooke.

"Turn it off Nate, she already said yes" Brooke said to him, hitting him in the stomach again, "Let her put her shorts on so your brother's not ogling her ass" she muttered under her breath as she caught Lucas out of the corner of her eye doing just that.

"You beg nicely by the way Nate, you really should buy Jamie something for teaching you that" Peyton said walking back up to them as she put her hair in a ponytail.

"Hey, I taught him that…it's all in the blue eyes" Nathan said as Peyton took Brooke's hand and the three friends made their way towards the volleyball net and the rest of the group.

When Nathan had said it was a tradition, he wasn't lying. He and Peyton had been playing beach volleyball since before their teens with Brooke as their own personal cheerleader. They had only played together and had never lost. And why would they with Nathan's six foot four athletic body and Peyton's leggy, toned frame standing at a lickable five nine. They had always joked that if they ever added co-ed beach volleyball to the Olympics, that they would make Brooke their coach and get gold every time. So in high school when they had started to play the game with their friends, they saw no need to mess with the successful 'empire' that they had all built together. Today was no different in the winning state that they had become accustomed to. With Brooke on the side line critiquing their misses and praising their makes, the duo was unstoppable no matter who they were paired against.

After about their fourth match of "smashing" their friends, as Nathan had put it, four guys from further up the beach came and asked to play a friendly game against the group. As they waited for the groups fifth member to get back from the restroom the two groups chatted finding out that they were from two towns over and had actually played basketball against some of the guys in high school. And it had been friendly until their fifth friend finally came and they noticed who it was.

"Oh hell no!" Skillz said as he saw who it was coming towards the groups.

The comment had everyone curiously eyeing the newcomer to see if it could really be that bad. And it was.

"Damien West" Haley said when she saw who it was, she then looked over to both Brooke and Peyton with a concerned expression on her face.

Her expression only grew when she saw Peyton's rigid stance and Brooke's eye's flickering between her girlfriend and the newcomer, the only difference between Haley and Brooke's eyes were that Brooke's also held regret.

Damien West was a door in Peyton and Brooke's life that took most of their friends getting behind them to close. Him waltzing up with that stupid smirk on his face isn't doing anything but opening up that door and letting all the shit that was shoved behind it out.

Brooke felt like she wanted to throw up when she reached for Peyton's hand and the blonde pulled it back like she had just touched an iron. When she looked at her girlfriend she saw a look similar to one she had seen on her face at a party when they were 17; it was a look she would never forget. 7 years ago Brooke had almost lost Peyton because of astupid mistake.

When Brooke had overheard Haley and Nathan talking about Lucas telling Haley that he had kissed Peyton, Brooke was floored. She immediately hunted down her girlfriend and bombarded her with questions, but when the only thing she got from the blonde was silence and guilty eyes, she didn't stay to hear anything else. Feeling like shit, Brooke slipped back into a repetition of alcohol and parties that she had previously crawled out of. She had wanted to be a better person for Peyton; she felt the blonde deserved the very best of her. But Brooke thought that if Peyton was going to be a lying, cheating whore, then fuck it. So she avoided Peyton like the plague for a week, not letting the blonde explain her side of the story. If she had, she would've found out that Lucas had surprised Peyton with a kiss 6 months before on the day of the school shooting, right before Nathan and her had found them in the library. Brooke would have also heard that Peyton felt completely guilty for not having told her about the kiss because Lucas had apologized and begged her not to tell the brunette. But she didn't listen, and that's why everything came to a head after a game one Friday night at a party. Feeling extra shitty after having spent the last two hours watching Peyton in her cheerleading outfit and Lucas damn there leaving a puddle of drool at the blonde's feet, Brooke felt the need to get trashed. And trashed she got. So trashed to the point where she had ended up sleeping with Damien West, an arrogant, cocky asshat from the rivaling school that they had played against that night.

Peyton had giving Brooke the space that she had demanded days earlier, but when she noticed the other cheerleader's disappearance from the party, she had a gut feeling she was probably doing something stupid if her actions for the past week were any indication. So in search of Brooke she went, ready to take her home like she had been for the past week; not like the brunette knew or even cared how she got home when she woke up the next day. No doubt that if you asked Peyton how she felt when she opened the bathroom door at that party she would have said she died a little at the sight in front of her. A drunk Brooke with Damien fucking her on the bathroom sink had a devastated Peyton backpedalling, but not before she caught the brunette's eyes. As the blonde haphazardly made her way out of the house, she bumped into Nathan and Haley and with teary green eyes asked if they could get Brooke home safely tonight and darted towards her car.

Normally Nathan would have gotten a kick out of kicking Damien West's ass, but he was way more annoyed with Brooke who was hurriedly fixing her clothes to do anything other than lay the idiot out with one punch. Driving a drunk Brooke home was usually a quite affair for the sake of her head, but Nathan couldn't hold his tongue, so he yelled at her. The basketball player had told her everything that her girlfriend had been trying to tell her for the past week. He would have felt bad when Brooke broke down and started crying, but she hadn't seen Peyton as she ran from the party to her car. Brooke didn't she her eyes and how utterly broken the blonde looked. So he continued to yell at Brooke until they got to her house where he told Haley to stay with her and he would go see about Peyton. And though it took everyone months of groveling and begging to get their relationships back on track, they did.

That's not to say that they ever needed to see Damien West again as a reminder of one really fucked up year. So the people standing on the beach now, that knew the backstory behind Damien saw nothing wrong with Nathan's next comment.

"Oh fuck no, we're not playing with this guy" Nathan said quickly resending his invitation for a friendly game as he clenched his fists.

"Daddy" Jamie said, sensing his father's mood change and wanting him to be happy again; his father rarely got angry.

"It's okay buddy" Nathan picked Jamie up, instantly changing his tone when he remembered his son's presence. He looked toward Peyton and Brooke, who he considered family, to see if they were okay.

"Well the gangs all here, plus some" Damien said as he looked around the group. "Fuck me, Brooke Davis" he said after he noticed where Nathan's eyes had gone.

"Hey, come on guys we could get in one game before the sun sets" One of the guys that were with Damien said trying to break the tension that was threatening to bust a hole in the ozone layer.

"No guys were done" Haley said as she watched an upset Peyton get more agitated by Damien's mere mention of Brooke's name.

"Well me and you, Brooklyn Davis, could have our own private game…a high school reunion of sorts" Damien said licking his lips.

"Ugh" Brooke said disgustedly. It didn't help his cause any that he was calling her by her whole first name and no one did that except for her parents that weren't around enough to know she hated it.

"Oh come on don't be like that, if I remember correctly we never did get to finish what we started that night" Damien continued as he reached to pull Brooke towards him by her waist.

"Don't touch me" Brooke hissed, pushing him away as he brought up the past event she hated herself for.

A lot of shifting happened in a very short time with the group of people standind close to each other after Brooke spoke. Brooke shifted backwards to avoid Damien's touch, Nathan shifted Jamie into Haley's arms to free his own and a couple of the guys from both sides shifted like there might be a fight. Everyone was a little too caught up to notice that maybe the most important shift of all was the shift Peyton made as she turned on her heels to leave.

"I could've sworn I told you once to never touch her again" Nathan stated through gritted teeth as he moved to stand in front of Brooke.

"Well if it isn't cock blocking Nathan Scott. I'm sure she would've fucked you by now if she wanted it" Damien smirked when he saw Nathan's jaw clench.

"Dawg, you might wanna watch ya mouth" Skillz said stepping up next to Nathan.

"Where's Aunt Peyton going?" Jamie asked while Nathan and Skillz continued to trade verbal shots with Damien.

That got Brooke's attention away from Nathan who she thought she might have to pull back. As she turned her head she noticed that Peyton wasn't standing beside her anymore, and a quick swivel of her body and searching eyes had her looking at the beach behind them and spotting the blonde walking back towards their stuff. She had already been moving towards where Peyton was when she heard Lucas speak.

"I'll check to see if she's okay" he stepped forward to volunteer.

"I got it Lucas" Brooke ground out, not looking back at him as she continued to move towards Peyton. As if the situation wasn't bad enough, she felt ready to bite his head off at his eagerness to console her girlfriend.

As Brooke made her way to Peyton she had been trying to figure out if the blonde was angry or emotional so she would know how to proceed, but the closer she got, the more distinct the answer became as she watched her girlfriend yank her shirt on and throw some stuff into her bag. Proceed with caution lights and signs flashed in Brooke's mind.

"Peyt?" Brooke called when she got a few feet away from the blonde.

"I don't want to talk about it Brooke" Brooke's suspicions were confirmed when she heard the comment made through gritted teeth as the blonde kept her back to her.

"Peyton stop, what are you doing?" Brooke reached for Peyton's arm to stop her from throwing more stuff into her bag.

"I'm getting my shit" she said as she pulled her arm out of Brooke's grasp.

"Why?" Brooke asked as she continued to watch her gather her things.

"I'm going home" Peyton stated.

"Why?" the brunette asked her again, she didn't want to anger her anymore than she clearly was already, but she needed the blonde to stop and talk to her.

"I'm not feeling well all of a sudden" Peyton said as she slipped her bag over her shoulder.

"Peyton, please" Brooke begged and reached for the blonde's arm again as she started to walk off.

"Please what Brooke?" the blonde whirled around and Brooke noticed that her green eyes were misty.

"Please don't just run off" Brooke said, instinctively she wanted to reach for the blonde when she looked like this. Even though Brooke knew that Peyton's tears could have been angry tears, she still wanted to comfort her.

"Why? You would rather I stand here and listen to him bragging about fucking you?" the blonde asked in a raised voiced as tears started to spill over.

When Brooke noticed that their conversation was drawing the attention of the people that were sitting close by, she grabbed Peyton's hand making her drop her bag and started to walk them towards one of the lifeguard towers no one was at. Normally she would back off and give Peyton space, but she knew this was a very sore subject for her and she didn't want to leave the blonde by herself to dwell on it without her at least giving some input.

"Let go Brooke" Peyton said as they walked and she tried to pull her hand loose.

"No" Brooke stated, hoping that her calmness would have an effect on her girlfriend, but tightening her grip nonetheless.

When they reached the tower Brooke turned to Peyton when she felt her pull her hand away. Letting it go she eyed the other girl and watched as she sat in the sand and pulled her knees toward her chest staring at the water. Brooke came to sit next to her, but gave her space and a couple minutes of silence. As she looked around she saw that some of their friends were taking down the net they had been playing with and the others had moved back to their things to collect them. It wasn't just their friends though, most of the people on the beach were doing the same. That's when she noticed that the sun was starting its daily decent and the temperature was following it. The sniffle from beside her drew her attention back to her problem. Figuring that she had given Peyton the quite that she knew she needed, Brooke moved to her knees in front of the blonde and rested her hands on the other girl's knees.

"Talk to me Peyt" Brooke said as she tilted her head to look into Peyton's eyes, her raspy voice nothing if not calm.

"Brooke, I said I didn't want to talk about it" This time when Peyton said it, Brooke noted how she didn't sound angry anymore she sounded like she was trying to hold back more tears, it was like the first time they had talked after the initial incident.

"Yeah you want to run and I'm not gonna let you do that" Brooke said as she continued to watch as Peyton kept her eyes toward the water.

"Why" Peyton asked her as she finally looked at her.

"Because that's not going to solve this" Brooke stated the obvious. When Peyton had been silent for a couple more long seconds, Brooke prodded her, "Peyt? "

"What do you want me to say Brooke? This stings" the blonde looked directly into Brooke's eyes, knowing she would be able to see she was telling the truth.

"I know and I'm so sorry baby, but I thought we put this behind us?" Brooke said as she rubbed Peyton's knees, trying to give her any sort of comfort right now.

"It's not behind us, it's walking down the beach in the ugliest pair of shorts I've ever seen" the blonde said after she had let out a sardonic laugh while staring down the beach at Damien's retreating form.

"Don't do that" Brooke stated firmly, because she absolutely hated when Peyton laughed that way. Though it was almost never used on her, Brooke knew that it was a defense mechanism that Peyton used to push people away.

"What do I get to do then Brooke?" brows raised above green eyes as they stared into brown ones.

"You get to quit acting like pushing me away right now is going to fix anything Peyton. Baby he doesn't fucking matter, I love you" Brooke said with all the conviction she had in her.

"I just don't like having it thrown in my face, you don't know how it feels" Peyton told her, her hardened disposition faltering as more tears slipped from her eyes.

"You're right and I'm so sorry" Brooke apologized again, hating that this was something that still bothered the blonde.

"I hate that this ruined today" the blonde said noticing too that the sun was setting and their friends were standing around talking to each other. After a few moments of silence and Brooke rubbing soothing circles on her legs she had calmed down.

"I know, and it started out so well" Brooke said to further put distance between themselves and Damien West as she noticed Peyton's mood changing.

"You never know" Peyton said looking Brooke in the eyes again, "It could always end the way it started" she finished, willing to put the Damien West incidents behind them as well.

Picking up on Peyton's tone she saw that her eyes were a bit of a darker shade of green then they normally were, so she leaned forward, slipping her hand into blonde hair and taking Peyton's lips. As Peyton gave into the kiss, her legs opened and Brooke leaned forward between them and put her free hand down to give her leverage. Too caught up in what Peyton was doing with her tongue, Brooke ignored her name being called; only stopping when a flash of light interrupted her kiss. Blinking to clear her stunned vision, she turned toward the flashing that continued to see a guy with a camera.

"What the hell?" Peyton said as she shielded her eyes from the light with Brooke who was still leaning over her.

When realization finally hit Brooke as to what was happening she got up, pulling Peyton to her feet as well.

"Brooke could I get a picture?" the paparazzo asked as he continued to snap shots of the two.

"Thanks but no thanks" Brooke said tersely as she pulled Peyton along at the same time noticing her male friends heading their way.

"Peyton, how do you feel being the cause of the rift between Brooke and her mom?" the guy asked as he continued to take pictures.

"Dude, don't do that!" Nathan stated as he put his hand up in front of the lens after finally making his way over to them.

"Nathan Scott! Is it true that you and Brooke had a love child in high school?" the camera man asked now that the ex- basketball star had stepped into his sight.

"Jeez" Mouth laughed along with his friends as he helped usher Brooke and Peyton past the man he considered a notch above Peeping Tom.

As they finally got to the rest of the group, the camera man made a mental note that he would have to tell his editor that they were potentially sitting on a gold mine. He had been sent from New York to get a story on Brooke Davis, the famous designer who had to everyone's shock, announced her relationship with a high school friend who turned out to be a girl and started an essential power tug of war with her mother in her fashion house. But standing here on the beach now, he saw a couple more recognizable faces. He saw that the high school friend had in fact been Peyton Sawyer, an indie music producer that was famous in her own right. He saw that they were clearly close friends with Nathan Scott, an ex- shooting guard for the Charlotte Bobcats but now coached high school basketball, who was married to Haley James-Scott who had toured with The Wreckers and Chris Keller several years ago and co-produced at times. He saw Lucas Scott, brother to Nathan and an established author of an astronomy book if he remembered correctly; something about stars or comets he couldn't wrap his head around. And last but not least he saw Marvin 'Mouth' McFadden, local sports personality. He knew that once he told his editor about this he was going to get told to set up shop. He was slightly baffled as to how many famous people could come out of one small ass town in the middle of nowhere. But he continued to snap shots and shoot off questions that were geared more towards shock value than anything as he watched them all get in their cars and leave. Heading towards his own he sifted through the pictures that he had gotten from today alone and knew that if he stayed long enough he would get his money's worth, because everyone knew that with small towns came small town gossip and with small town gossip came small town drama. You just have to be willing to look for it.