AN: A quick thank you to all of you who have reviewed, you know who you are. I'm glad that despite my doubts, some of you do seem to like this story, and I truly appreciate knowing that. That being said, I give you another chapter...enjoy and as always, feedback of any kind is welcome.

-It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door-

Everyone – being Peyton, Brooke, Haley, Nathan, Lucas, and Karen – gathered at Karen's Café for dinner. After some small talk and various other subjects, Brooke and Peyton told everyone what they had learned form the doctor and had just finished up their explanation.

"You're going to be okay, right?"

"I'll be fine Nathan, I just have to take this medicine for the rest of my life, and then that should keep me healthy. I'm lucky to have all of you in my life, and I'm sorry I didn't listen to you guys sooner."

"We're all just relieved to have answers now, and to know that you'll get better Peyton. We've all been worried, we're just glad to finally know and have some positive news."

"Well, I'm not dying yet so you all can quit bugging me so much. I take the pills, I should be fine."

"Stop that Peyton, right now."

"What, Brooke what's with the harshness?"

"Listen to me Blondie, I know how serious this is, and I know how serious it could be. But you can't keep making those remarks about dying and stuff. I don't want to hear it and it's really upsetting. Knowing I could lose you, it's just too much. I'm sorry; I have to use the restroom."

"Brooke…"

"Let her go. She's right Peyton, what you said earlier at your house freaked me out. You should have seen the look on Brooke's face. I know that this is probably just some way for you to cope, but you can't just say stuff like that. We all know the severity of your condition now, and we're all going to worry. But you have to know, Brooke is going to worry about a 100 times more, and she already feels so guilty, you can't put her through that or you'll lose her."

"You're right, I'm sorry Haley, I'm sorry everyone. I'm going to go make sure she's alright."

Peyton knocked on the bathroom door before opening it and slipping inside.

"Brooke baby, are you okay?"

"Do I look okay to you!?"

"No, I'm sorry about what I said. I'm just scared and I know I shouldn't be talking like that. I'm really sorry; I didn't mean to upset you."

"Damn it Peyton, I can't lose you. I'm already worried, like all the time, and then when you go and say stuff like that, it makes the reality of the situation come crashing down on me harder every time."

"I know, I'm sorry, I don't want to lose you either."

By now both girls were crying in each others arms.

"So she really is going to be okay right?"

"Yes and no. Listen kids, I know she doesn't want to make it seem like a big deal, despite her weird sense of humor or coping or whatever it is she is doing, but it is serious. Addison's disease can be deadly. But now that she knows what is wrong with her, the medicine will make up for the fact that her adrenal gland is failing and will keep her as close to healthy as possible. She probably won't talk about it much with anyone other than Brooke so I wouldn't push her, just be there for her, its all any of us can do."

"You're right mom, you're always right. I'm just glad we finally know, and that she's getting treatment."

"We all are Lucas, thank God for Brooke though, because all of us tried to talk to her about her health and how she was doing, and got absolutely nowhere. If she hadn't come back, Peyton might have ended up dead before any of us knew anything."

"Let's try to not think like that Haley, she'll be fine now, and she does have Brooke, so we know that girl won't let her get away with much."

"Yeah, if she dies she'd kill her."

"Very profound Nathan, that made loads of sense."

"You know what I mean Luke."

They all nodded in understanding.

It had now been two weeks since all of Brooke's stuff had been moved from New York, everyone found out about Peyton's illness, and things were settling into a normal rhythm for all around Tree Hill. Despite still being tired almost all of the time, Peyton was starting to look healthier. And although she slept a lot, during the day as well, she had been having trouble sleeping at night ever since the news.

So this is how she found herself awake at four in the morning on a Tuesday with nothing to do. Slowly getting out of bed, careful not to wake her sleeping beauty, Peyton made her way out of their room and down the stairs. Not really thinking much about what she had intended on doing, she opened the door and stepped out into the night air, and just kept walking.

By eight Brooke was up, more due to a lack of body contact then actually wanting to be awake. She didn't know what time Peyton had left their bed, so she got up and went in search through the house intending to drag her Peyton shaped security blanket/pillow back to bed with her. After checking everywhere, even outside, she started to panic. Brooke quickly dialed the numbers of all of their friends asking if they had seen her. When all the answers were negative, she decided to go search for her. Concluding she could cover more ground she hoped in her car, taking note that Peyton's was still there so she couldn't have gone too far. Much to her relief Brooke found Peyton in the second place she had thought to look.

Now nearly ten, Brooke slowly walked into the Tree Hill cemetery. She could see Peyton sitting in front of her mother's grave as she made the walk over. The closer she got, the more her worry faded, she was pissed as hell, but more than anything she was just concerned. When she was a few yards away Brooke noticed Peyton was shivering but it was like it didn't even affect her, she had a blank look on her face, completely dazed.

"Peyton? Peyton baby, its cold, what are you doing out here?"

She showed no signs she even heard the voice. Peyton just kept starring off into space like she had been for the last six hours. When she left the house she was still in her boxer shorts and tank top. While it was summer, the warmth of the day never really came until late morning. Brooke was wearing a hoody and pants, and she was slightly chilled. Nothing could break her out of her reverie; she was lost in her mind, totally gone.

"Baby please answer me. Peyton!?"

When she again got no answer and fully absorbed Peyton's state she rushed back to her car to grab a blanket and her phone. After wrapping the still dazed Peyton up to keep her warm, Brooke pulled out her phone and dialed the number of Peyton's doctor, not knowing what else to do.

"…How may I help you?"

"I need to speak with Dr. Bell, it's an emergency."

"One moment please."

Brooke sat down next to Peyton on the bench, one arm wrapped around her pulling the girl into her as she was put on hold, her worry growing with every second. Glancing back at the blonde, she saw that while she had stopped shivering, she was still in some sort of trance, not registering a thing, just looking straight ahead at her mother's head stone.

"This is Dr. Bell, what seems to be the problem?"

"Dr. Bell, its Brooke Davis. I woke up this morning and couldn't find Peyton, I finally found her about five minuets ago. I don't know how long she's been out here, but she's been sitting in front of her mother's grave, and she was shivering, she was only wearing shorts and a sleeveless top. I can't get her to respond to me, it's like the light is on but no ones home, she has this far away look in her eyes and I don't know what do."

"Calm down Brooke. Just try and get her here as soon as you can, okay. If you have any trouble, just call an ambulance, I'll clear my schedule so we can figure out what happened. Stay calm, just get her here."

"Okay, okay, we're on our way."

Brooke hung up her phone and immediately proceeded to pick up Peyton; she was still very thin so it wasn't too much of a struggle. After making sure she was securely in her car, Brooke hopped in and sped off towards the doctor's office. Five minutes later she was once again gathering Peyton in her arms and rushing her inside. The receptionist saw them and called for Dr. Bell, who immediately came out and led the girls into an exam room.

"Has she said anything?"

"No, I don't understand, what happened, what's wrong?"

"Just set her down here and let me have a look at her."

"Alright, well, her body temperature seems to be back to normal. I know it wasn't exactly freezing this morning, but the shivering was a slight concern. No where did you say you found her?"

Dr. Bell was examining Peyton as she asked Brooke questions. Making sure her pupils were equal and reactive, that her pulse was steady and everything else seemed to be in check, she looked back at Brooke for an answer.

"Brooke?"

"Oh, um, I found her in the cemetery; she was sitting on the bench in front of her mother's grave. She had this faraway look in her eyes, she just stared at it in like a daze or something, it was like she couldn't even hear me."

"Okay, you need to calm down Brooke, take a breath. Now, how did her mother die, it might be important?"

"Which one?"

"Which one? How did Peyton's mother, whose grave she was at earlier, die?"

"Oh sorry, um, she was in a car accident. She ran a red light trying to get to school to pick up Peyton, she was running late. A car hit her and she died the next day. We were ten."

"Okay, now what's this about the 'which one?'"

"Oh, like almost two years ago this woman showed up and said she was Peyton's mother. It turned out that Peyton was adopted, and then Ellie, her birth mom, she had breast cancer, and died a few months later. She loved Ellie, but she loved Anna too, she was her mom. Peyton always blamed herself for her death; she thinks it was her fault."

"Okay, I don't know if any of that is of importance, but it could be, so it was good that you told me. Now physically Peyton seems to be fine, but mentally, I don't know. Depending on how long she has been like this, she could just be really spaced out, or it could be something worse. For now I'm going to keep and eye on her here, but if she doesn't come around soon, I'm going to transfer her to another wing of the hospital. Let's just wait and see okay? I'll be back in a few minutes, just sit and talk to her until I come back."

"Sure."

As soon as she sat down, Brooke's cell phone started to ring. Looking at it for a moment, she decided to answer it.

"Hi."

"Did you find her?"

"Yeah, we're at the doctor's. Can you call everyone and tell them I found her. I'll fill you in later."

"Sure Brooke, just call if you need anything."

"I will Haley, thank you."

Putting her phone away, she looked over at her girlfriend; she was leaning up against the exam table, staring blankly at the wall.

"What happened Pey?"

She still got no answer, so she began nervously chatting away about anything that came to mind.

"Yeah, so I woke up, and you weren't there. I found you sitting by your mom, Peyton."

Fifteen more minuets had passed as Brooke was now rambling on about something having to do with clothes or fashion or something. Having run out of steam she sighed in a defeated manner, unsure what to continue on about.

"If all else fails, huh P. Sawyer?"

One beat, two, three beats, four.

"Brooke?"

"Peyton! Finally, don't ever do that again!"

"What's going on, why are we at the doctor's, what happened?"

It was at that moment that Dr. Bell came back into the room. Momentarily glancing up from her folder, she noticed the quizzical look on the blonde's face and knew she was out of whatever daze she had been in before.

"I see we're back in the land of the coherent."

"Huh?"

Brooke and Dr. Bell both explained to Peyton the situation. How she had been found in the cemetery, dazed out of her mind, not responding, and how she then got here.

"Um, okay?"

"Peyton, do you remember what time you woke up?"

"Yeah, it was around four I think, I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to wake Brooke. I went downstairs and the last thing I remember I was walking out the front door."

"Jesus Peyton, you must have been out there for six hours!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry."

"Well, as far as I can tell you pretty much majorly spaced out there for a while. I won't lie, I am concerned a bit. Why don't you come back in a few days and we'll talk."

"Um, okay. Can Brooke come with me?"

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way. Now get some rest for a few days, Brooke, keep an eye on her, if she spaces for more than twenty minutes and you can't snap her out of it, call me. And Peyton, if you wake up in the middle of the night, or get the urge to just take off or something, tell Brooke. I don't want you going anywhere alone for a few days; you need to stay grounded until we get to the bottom of this."

"Okay, thanks Dr. Bell, we'll see you in a few days, and I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Just go home and enjoy each other's company, doctor's orders. And don't forget to take your medicine."

"Will do, come on Blondie, let's get you home."

As soon as they got back, Peyton collapsed onto the bed and buried herself under blankets making herself comfortable, with Brooke following right behind her doing the same. Once she had stopped squirming around, Brooke wrapped her arms around Peyton and brought her body flush against her lovers. They spooned in close to each other, relaxing and finding comfort in the arms of one another.

"You take such good care of me Brooke."

"I try. I always felt so guilty when we were fighting or I was busy and I couldn't be there to make sure you were okay. I always wanted to be there."

"My protector. I'd let you, you know?"

"Let me what, watch after you forever?"

"Yeah, I'll let you be my keeper, and I'll try my hardest to be yours."

"Sounds good to me Blondie, I'd love that."

Peyton tried to stifle a yawn as she was about to speak again, but then lost her words as she was slowly succumbing to sleep.

"Sleep now Pey, rest and I'll be right here when you wake up. It's okay to close you're eyes, I'll never leave you."

Brooke placed a few small kisses on Peyton's neck as she felt the girl drift off, and she too entered a peaceful sleep. Holding the one person she loved with all of her heart in her arms, she could slumber safely knowing she would always be there for her, knowing she would do whatever it would take to protect her and never let anything bad happen.