Notes: Co-writing with BroodyBlondes4ever. The good part is about to come so keep reading, okay? And leave a review or two. It's nice to know what you people think or hate.

Ten days later.

I sold part of my soul…just to see a smile on my dad's face. I sold a part of myself last night…and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"Peyton, honey, the movie is about to start," Larry went into his daughter's room carrying a large bowl of popcorn. The first few days out of the hospital all that Peyton did was to sleep, but thankfully, for the last couple of days she had been more energetic. She slept less, spent more time checking her CDs and vinyl, and she spoke to the younger Scott a lot.

Larry would like to think of himself as an open-minded parent. He hadn't always been like that, but after Anna's death, he had to be. When Peyton went to her first Mass, wearing a beautiful white dress, looking like a little angel with her curly hair and hazel eyes, he was so sure that he would kill every boy that went near her. His wife had joked about how protective he was over his daughter, but then Anna had died and for a long time, there were no jokes or laughter in the Sawyer house. His mother had come but at the end of the day, it was him and Peyton. Larry soon discovered that being a parent was a difficult thing but being a single parent it was even harder.

He watched his daughter grow overnight. She may have been too young to understand most of the things going on around, her but she immediately understand that mommy wasn't coming home. A month or two after the funeral, Peyton stopped playing with her dolls. Larry didn't have to ask her why, he knew. Dolls were kids' toys and his daughter wasn't a kid anymore.

At first, he was happy about her obsession with music. She could spend hours listening to his old record collection. Led Zeppelin soon became a part of their house. What cookies were for other houses it was the Zeppelin for theirs.

Then Peyton discovered MTV and he was glad that he could leave her for an hour, to do some shopping, sure that she wouldn't move. And as a father, he was so ecstatic when she came home one day wearing a 'RAMONES' t-shirt, because he knew that boys wouldn't go for the punk-rock style and he would had one less thing to worry about.

However, the boys came anyway. Apparently, punk rock was the new cool thing in town, and his little music guru became a rock'n'roll queen.

"Peyt?" he asked a little louder and he wondered if he was going to ask her to keep her music lower when he saw her.

She was sitting, legs crossed, in the bed and holding a photograph of them. She wasn't even four in that picture and he had a god-awful moustache, but he was sure that Peyton wasn't looking that photo for fashion bloopers.

"Hey honey," he smiled when she looked up.

"I…I think I remember when this was taken. You know, except for the porn moustache, you look good," her middle finger touched the face of her mother, "She's so in love."

"Yeah," Larry set the bowl down and sat next to her.

"Do you miss her?"

"Every single day," suddenly there was a lump in his throat and tears threatening in his eyes.

Peyton hung her head, "I miss her too. I don't remember her much but the few memories I have…I'm glad of them."

"Peyton…"he started to say but he closed his mouth quickly. It wasn't everyday that his daughter talked to him.

"If you knew what was going to happen but you couldn't do anything to change things, would you still do it? Would you still marry her and everything?"

"You should have asked me if I wanted more time with your mom. Did I want more time with her? Yes, I wanted more with Anna. I wanted her to see you grow, to dress you for your first date, to be next to me taking pictures on your graduation day," he stopped to take a big breath, "But I'm grateful for the time I had…with her."

"That doesn't answer my question" she looked at him.

"Yes I would still marry her, because even though I would have loved to give your mom more time, I would have missed out on the great experiences the two of us had together, and I wouldn't have you."

You can spend half your life knowing you're strong enough to stand alone and all it takes for that knowledge to fall down into pieces in front of you is a second.

Just one second. And it hurts so much. It hurts so much and all you can do is...nothing. But I guess that's how you know you getting older. To know your limits and your weaknesses.

To know them well.

Even if they leave you wondering, because otherwise, you spend half your life in lies.

"Tomorrow is your first day back to school, right" a sound that Peyton could describe as someone biting an apple echoed through her ear. She rolled her eyes. Trust Nathan to eat while speaking on the phone.

"Why Nate? You gonna throw me a 'welcome back' party?"

"What if we do, Sawyer? What will you do? Run away?" he was only joking but his words hit home. Her back wasn't strong enough to support her weight and standing was a living hell for her. Sitting was less trouble but she couldn't sit for more than an hour straight without her back sending her a warning signal.

Lying on her back was the only time she could get some rest. It was a bit strange and the first days she had trouble sleeping on her back. A couple of times, in her sleep, she had tried to change position only to wake up from the sharp pain.

"Not an option. At least for a few months."

"So, no Ms. Long Legs for the rest of the season?"

"Huh?" The blonde wrinkled her brow in confusion, was she supposed to understand what he was saying.

"Never mind. Look, Hales is here so I have to go, okay?"

"Yeah, go take care of your wife," she saw her dad going to the kitchen, holding a big bag full of groceries "and I have to take care of the man of my life. Tell Hales that I miss her."

"Peyton, if you have missed us, you would let us visit you not just talking on the phone with you. See ya tomorrow, alright?" Nathan said just before hanging up.

They hadn't understood that decision of hers. In a way, neither had she. She wanted her friends with her, but at the same time she wanted to be alone. To her surprise, Nathan was the most willing to accept her decision unlike Lucas.

He would call, every day, and they could speak for hours. Married life was harder and sweeter than he had thought. They talked about the accident too but never about what happened to her. It was like nothing ever happened at all. Nathan had tried, she had to give him credit for that, but Peyton would change the subject or pretend that the vicodin had kick. She knew what happened, she didn't need anyone to refresh her memory.

"Did you hear me, Peyt?" so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice her dad coming into the living room or a word of what he had said.

"No, I was…thinking. Sorry," he smiled and Peyton knew that smile too well. It meant that her dad had done something bad and he was smiling his way out. "Dad?"

"Lucas is coming for dinner," Larry said and then prepared himself for the oncoming burst.

"Why?" was all that she said and Larry raised an eyebrow.

"I met him at the grocery store and he kept asking for you."

"That's all?" Larry released an angry sigh.

"Peyton, he cares about you. For the rest of the word that's enough but obviously, not for you. Go change, he'll be here in ten minutes," he was ready to leave when Peyton stopped him.

"You're right and I'm sorry. It's just that…I don't want him to see me like this," her hand touched the right side of her face, the one with the bruises.

"Honey, Rake Boy loves you for you, not for your face," he kissed her forehead and went to the kitchen.

"Rake Boy loves me, just not the way I want him too," Peyton whispered and looked down to the floor.

I don't have many expectations from others because that way I can't get hurt. But the few I do have…

TBC…