Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

…..

Peyton glanced around the room once more and then walked to the door and flipped the closed sign to 'open'.

It was finally here, opening day. She was both nervous and extremely excited, ready for her new life to begin. She smiled when Karen, Paige and Lindsey walked to the door. Paige, smiling as big as she could, Lindsey looking like she just woke up.

Peyton opened the door for them, the bell ringing.

"Hi Peyton!" Paige exclaimed. "See?! We came! And we're the first ones!"

Peyton laughed. "Yeah, you are the first ones! Congratulations!"

"Lindsey's not as happy though. She woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

Peyton grinned and looked up to Lindsey. "Well I'm sorry you had to wake up to this."

She shrugged. "Yeah, do have any cookies? Most new stores have cookies or something to give as a treat to their customers."

"Lindsey!" Karen scolded.

Peyton furrowed her eyebrows together. "No, I guess I didn't think of that."

"Great! I'll go make some!" And with that, Lindsey was rushing out the door.

Karen smiled sheepishly. "She likes to bake cookies."

"Atleast she has a good hobby."

Karen agreed and looked around before looking to Paige. "Shall we have a look?"

They started to look around as Peyton returned to the cashier table, sitting on the stool behind it.

About twenty minutes later Peyton was ringing up 'Spice Girls' for Paige. Smiling, she handed the cd to the little girl. "Here you go!"

The door-bell rang as Lindsey rushed in with a tray full of non-bake cookies.

"Ok! Here are the cookies!" She said as she set them on the counter.

Peyton smiled as she tasted them. "Oh my god! These are delicious!"

Lindsey beamed with pride, as did Karen. "Thanks!"

"Lindsey's an amateur cook," Paige told Peyton.

"Oh wow, that's exciting. I can't cook to save my life."

"So I guess we'll be seeing you often at the café?" Karen asked, grinning.

"Yeah, pretty much everyday!" Peyton agreed.

The older women laughed.

…

Peyton was sitting at the cashier table, her designated spot for the day. People had come in and out, some buying, some not. All asking how she liked it here in Tree Hill. It was now close to six and the place had been empty for about an hour, so Peyton was reading a book, keeping the store open incase some decided to come in late.

Sure enough, the door bell opened. Smiling, Peyton looked up to the man. Instead of walking around, the blonde-haired man walked straight to her.

"Hi," He said. "You must be Peyton. I'm Lucas Scott."

Peyton smirked. "Related to Nathan, and Lindsey and Paige?"

He grinned, chuckling. "Yeah. Nathan's my brother. Lindsey and Paige are my nieces."

Peyton nodded. "Well, it's nice that you have two great nieces."

He laughed. "You and Nathan both think very highly of each other."

"I'm gonna take that as sarcasm?"

"Yeah. Although he does talk about you a lot."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Mostly about how infuriating you are. But still about you nonetheless."

"Well that's good to know, I guess"

"I just thought I would stop by and meet the woman who had made him so mad."

"Yeah well, I do what I can."

Lucas laughed. "You've got a sense of humor, I'll give you that."

Peyton smiled. "Thank you?"

"Welcome," He held out his hand, she shook it. "It was nice to meet you. I have to get back home to my girlfriend." He turned and walked to the door, stopping with his hand on the knob. "And Nathan was wrong, You're not at all infuriating."

Peyton laughed as he opened and closed the door after himself.

….

Nathan blew out a sigh as he lay down on his couch. It had been a long day at his Architectural business.

He was an international Architect, a very famous one at that, he flew to places in and out of the United States, building offices, skyscrapers, apartments, houses, anything the client he had been given asked for. He loved his job, it kept him on his feet. Even if it kept him away from home.

He knew he was gone too much. He knew he wasn't the best father, he knew he could probably do better. He just didn't know how. Haley would know, he thought to himself. Haley would know exactly how to be a good parent, after all, she was the best mother out there. Well, he corrected himself, she would have been had she been given the chance.

Nathan ran a hand over his face. God, he missed her so much. Especially at night when he went to bed, remembering how they would each say a special good night to the girls before heading off to sleep, although he never thought they actually fell asleep right after that.

Nathan looked to the clock. It was close to nine at night. The girls were in bed. he stood up and walked upstairs and into Paige's room which was closer to the stairway.

Paige was sleeping soundly in her little princess bed, holding her old teddy bear as tight as possible. Nathan sat on the edge of the bed, leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Goodnight Bumble Bee," He whispered. "I love you so much little girl. Don't ever forget that."

He kissed her forehead once more before quietly standing up and leaving the door a little open after him. He opened Lindsey's door. She wasn't in bed. Panicked, he looked around. Nope. He ran downstairs, looking in every room. He stopped short when he found her asleep on the couch in the basement, the TV still on. He smiled slightly to himself, turned the TV off and picked her up. He carried her up to her bedroom, laying her down on her queen size bed. He pulled the covers up, making sure she was warm enough. He kissed the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Pretty Girl, I love you."

He wiped the hair out of her eyes before turning and walking to the door.

"Daddy?"

He smiled again to himself as he turned around to see Lindsey's tired brown eyes staring up at him. He walked back, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Hey, go back to sleep. It's late."

"I miss her." The young girl whispered.

Nathan sucked in a breath before nodding. "I know. Me too."

"Can you…" She hesitated.

Nathan scowled, concerned. "What?"

"Can you tell me….your story again?" Nathan smiled at her words, remembering how when Lindsey was younger, whenever it was story time, he and Haley would tell her how they met, how the fell in love.

"Yeah, I'll tell you." He blew out a sigh before continuing. "We were sophomores in college. It was the beginning of the year. We were in the same Algebra class together, our professor, Dr. Schwartz, assigned partners. Your mother, Haley James, was mine. Back then, I was a different man. I didn't care much about my grades, the only reason I was in there was basketball. Haley felt differently, she lived for this stuff. She always made sure her papers were perfect, going over them time and time again. She was, what I would have called, a nerd." Nathan laughed. "So, anyways, we were partners. Haley made it very clear at the start of it that she was going to do all the work. She didn't think I was capable to do anything. So I challenged her to let me do some of the work. She agreed, knowing I wouldn't be able to pull it off. I spent about two weeks, trying as hard as I could to prove her wrong. I went through all my books, every single one of them, looking for some type of clue. Finally, after that, during our next meeting, she told me she was willing to help me. She knew I was in over my head. I was hesitant at first, giving in is never easy, but I agreed. We finished the project; I think that was my first A I ever received during college. Haley continued to tutor me, in other subjects, too. We went to coffee shops, quiet book stores, parks, anywhere we felt comfortable. Then, one day, we were at the park, she was helping me in my History class. I had planned to ask her to go out with me and my friends that evening, we were going to this party, and I didn't really want to go, so I thought I would ask her to keep me company. She started to pack up and I asked her, she, unfortunately, turned me down. She had gotten a boyfriend over the weekend." Nathan sighed, looking down before continuing. "I went back to my dorm and couldn't understand why I was so mad at her. I told myself I was just disappointed in not being able to hang out with one of my good friends. Took me a little while after that to realize I loved her. Anyways, she stopped tutoring me at the end of the year. I met her then boyfriend, Jason, when I went to turn in my Algebra Final. I was walking back to my dorm to pick up all my luggage when I saw them walking together. He was a lacrosse player. Not very good looking if you ask me, a little shorter than me. She was nervous about us meeting, you could tell. She kept looking from me to him, and fidgeting. He wasn't very kind, a little rude to me, who he had just met.

I came back home and spent most of my summer playing basketball. One day, mid-July. I was playing solo. Your Uncle Lucas had a date with a new girl-Brooke. I was shooting hoops when Haley walked up. She had been crying, her eyes were all red and puffy. I asked what was wrong and she told me she had caught Jason cheating on her with some blonde chick. I took her to my apartment and let her stay with me. I didn't intend for things to happen the way they did that night but one thing led to another and she ended up pregnant. She told me when I was moving into my off-campus apartment the next year. I wasn't sure what to do, I talked to Lucas. He told me I needed to be a father, that that was the right thing to do. So I did, I stayed with her throughout the pregnancy. And now, here you are. We got married two months later." Nathan smiled at the thought. He looked down to Lindsey, who was fast asleep. Chuckling, he kissed the top of her head. "I love you. You'll always be my little girl."

…..

Peyton blew out a sigh as she laid her head in her hands on the desk. It was close to noon and no-one had come in yet.

Her head jumped up when the door-bell rang. Her body slumped when she saw who it was.

"Oh," she said. "It's you."

Nathan chuckled, walking over. "I just…wanted to apologize. We never really got off on the right foot."

Peyton eyed him. "Yeah… I guess we didn't."

He held out his hand. "Truce?"

She hesitated before taking it.

The door bell rang. Peyton looked up, her eyes widening when she saw him.

"Jack…"

……