Author's Note: First I really want to thank Corey for everything she's done for me with this story. Her story "Don't Look Away" inspired me to take on a BL fic of my own. She also helped me by BETA-reading before I post. She was there to help me decide which SL I would take and her constant support helps to keep me going. I'm also very surprised that her brain has not exploded from the amount of grammar mistakes I put her through. Thanks Corey (BRUCAS123). I suggest you all read her story. The link is posted at the bottom.

This story takes place five years after Peyton died on the operating table giving birth to her and Lucas' daughter. Since Peyton never woke up, he did not name that baby Sawyer Brooke. Instead, her name is Penelope Sawyer Scott. Additionally, Brooke got pregnant a month after Peyton died. She and Julian have a daughter named Grace Elizabeth Baker. Penny is just about to turn five, Grace is a little over four. Any other questions, feel free to ask.

This first chapter will make sense later in the story. It's on a different timeline then the rest. Again, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.

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There's a long line of classmates to the front and back of me. Friends I've known for four long years of high school. Some I fought with pointlessly, like my best friend. The rebellious blonde that had been everything from my rock and shoulder to cry on to the one who made me cry and back again. I don't even realize when the smile crosses my face as I look over at her. On the outside, she's sitting on the bleachers of the gymnasium where we have all gathered to await procession into the auditorium and she looks bored. In fact, everyone probably thinks she's just idling away until the time comes that she can get out of her blue graduation gown but I know her better than that. I think I know her better than anyone. She has her hand on her chin which means she's keeping close to her body. She isn't bored, she's nervous.

I can't blame her.

Once upon a time, it felt like I still had an eternity to get through until high school was over but here it is. Out of nowhere, under the guise of passed classes and examinations, it's finally here. Tree Hill High School has been very good to me. From the first day I set foot in the busy halls as an anxious freshman, I remember walking to my blue painted locker and watching the different cliques that I passed along the way.

I saw the cheerleaders and the jocks, the drama club and the burnouts. How was I ever going to find where I belonged here? A long time has passed since that day. I've grown and during that time, discovered that I wanted to conquer the world. I started with cheerleading but found my way to school politics and took on Student Council President. I liked working on the yearbook, especially this last one. All the memories from the culmination of four years just burst out across the pages, like it had exploded from inside each one of us.

I spent last night just looking at those pictures. I found one with me in the background on my first day. I looked like a deer in headlights, wanting to run away but paralyzed.

Things have changed so much since that first day but how could the end already be here?

Sometimes it felt like time was crawling by; others were filled with so much laughter and fun that they just flew by in the blink of an eye. It's impossible for four years to pass that quickly.

I feel an overwhelming overhaul of nerves in the pit of my stomach. This is it. This is the end.

I look through the crowd and let my eyes fall on each one of my friends, all happy in their own way, talking and laughing. Where will they all be next year? What about in five years? Ten years? While my yearbook is filled with notes about staying close, I'm not completely foolish. A lot of people will leave this town; some will stay but after a while won't we all just fall apart? Isn't that why ten year reunions are so big?

Since you don't see those people anymore?

That's it. I am putting my foot down here and now:

I wonder how many of my friends would follow my lead if I tried to organize a sit in. We could march right back into the school and be like the hippies; sit in the cafeteria or chain ourselves to chairs and refuse to leave. It isn't that I don't want to go out into the world … not exactly. The prospect of all the things I'm going to get to see and experience was the leading cause for me having such ambition to get through school in the first place.

Countless nights passed where I just stared out my window and thought about what kind of life existed outside of Tree Hill. Because of my parents, I'd been able to see other parts of the world but we always came back here because it was home. Would I do the same thing and make Tree Hill my forever home? Or would I go out there, maybe go to New York, Los Angeles, hell even travel across Europe. I want to see the world but I am always plagued by one terrifying thought that I can't get out of my mind no matter how hard I try. What if I go out into the world and fail?

The thought alone gets my heart racing. Chaining myself to the cafeteria tables is seeming less and less of a bad idea.

Failing is the last thing I ever want to do. No, I want to take the world on by storm. I want to go out there and leave my mark. I want people to know my name and recognize my face. But what if I never get there? What if the world sees what I could offer and just laughs in my face?

I swallow hard and cross my arms over my dark blue graduation gown. The tassel keeps flapping back into my face like an annoying bug and as I clumsily swat at it, I knock the cap off completely.

"Oh my ... God, seriously?" My fingers are shaking, one hand curled around the speech I wrote for today. The other reaches for the cap as a pair of black boots from under a gown much like mine steps in front of the cap.

I look up, slowly, and see a nest of blonde curls. Letting out a breath, I stand. "I can't do it." I say simply, before holding out the speech to shove it against my best friend's chest. "I tried and I can't. You do it." That would solve everything. That way I won't have to go out there and stand in front of everyone, trying to sound reassuring when in truth, I feel like everything I thought about the world is just a lie. How could I be expected to say some inspiring words about taking the world by storm with the next generation of world leaders when I'm not even sure about it anymore? "I'm kind of freaking out here, P. Sawyer." One hand goes to my stomach as my nerves start to play with my breakfast, "I think I'm going to be sick."

She holds her hands up. "Just don't throw up on me. Gown's just been ironed." Then she takes my fallen graduation cap and sits it on top of my dark brown hair. I reach up and curl the end of the hair that I'd spent hours straightening around my index finger. Then my best friend does the only thing, I think, could have calmed me down. She grabs my arms and gives me a little shake. "Alright, snap out of it. Take a deep breath."

"Take a deep breath? Take a--" I'm starting to go into rave mode but she cuts me off with another shake.

"Take a deep breath." She waits until I do what she told me and as the breath exhales, she smiles, "There you go. Now stop freaking out. You worked really hard for this so you're going to go out there and you're going to be great. You're a Davis. You can do this."

The pep talk helps, a little. As does the breathing. I nod slowly, letting the words sink in. "You're right. It'll be great." It would. It would be perfect. There is no need to freak out back here. Nope, none. Just calm down. Keep breathing and everything is going to be okay. I smile and then curl my arms around my best friend. "Thanks, P. Sawyer."

She smiles back and pats her hand against my back, for a moment, before stepping away. "Well don't thank me just yet."

I feel the evil clutches of nail-biting fear jump into the pit of my stomach. "What?" My voice is monotone and all of the calm that I had just gotten starts to float out the window. "I know that look. What is it? What did you do?"

Her hands go up as if to say: Look, no weapons. "I didn't do anything."

I stare.

She relents, "Okay, maybe I did do a little something."

I'm quiet and all I want to know is what she did. I'd finally gotten some kind of peace and now, I feel like she's going to rip it away from me. And so help me God, if she rips it away from me, I'm going to go into a freak out frenzy and kick her ass into next week then bring her back to the present time and kick her ass again. "What's going on?"

It all comes spilling out and all I can do is widen my eyes as she confesses, "Your father's here."

I open my mouth to say something but I not sure what it is I am going to say. My jaw just hangs open until the booming sound of Principal Turner's voice tells us all to get in line.

It's time to start the procession.

This is my first BL fic so please don't be harsh. I love reviews, whether they're good or bad, just don't be cruel.
Here is the link to Corey's story:
h t t p : / / w w w . f a n f i c t i o n . n e t / s / 4 9 7 7 3 1 7 / 1 / D o n t _ L o o k _ A w a y (Just erase the spaces)

~ Rosie