A/N: Okay, just before I start, I would like to just clarify something about the twins and Lilly that was brought to my attention in a review. Her relationship with the triplets. Because Keith was Lucas' Uncle Lilly is both his sister and his cousin, and that means that Lilly is the triplets Aunt and I think their second cousin. Because she's so close in age to them and because she and Lucas are so not close in age, I'm writing it as if she act's more like the triplets second cousin then their aunt (though she and Lucas still act brother and sister), which is why I called them their cousins. Sorry for any confusion!
August 31st, 2012
Tree Hill North Carolina
Lucas and Peyton Scott's Living Room
"What about her?" Peyton asked quietly, not quite meeting Haley eyes because even though she hated to admit it, she was absolutely petrified of what ever Haley was about to say. She knew that Lindsay was back in town, she had seen her at the services this morning, and she knew that Lucas had seen her. In the rational part of her mind she knew that Lucas had been with her all day, and he hadn't even said anything to her, and moreover, he loved Peyton with every inch of his heart. But in that more backward part of her brain, the one that was currently controlling her thoughts, she could only assume the worst. Lindsay had come back for Lucas. Lindsay had slept with Lucas. The list in Peyton's head went on and on, and apparently Haley caught the look of pure horror on the blondes face because she immediately started backtracking.
"No, no nothing like that. But, first of all, I should probably warn you, that she's staying in town for a few weeks. Nathan and I are paying for her to stay at a hotel downtown." Haley sighed as Peyton's jaw dropped.
"Why would you do that Haley? She has her own money. And why does she even need to be here. She has a life in New York City, of all places."
"Peyton calm down and listen to me, please. She called me the other day; to tell me how sorry she was about Karen. She didn't want to call Lucas because she knew that it would be really awkward, and she didn't know how you two were doing, and she didn't want to screw things up for you again. I told her that you two were doing fine, except for the obvious, and that I would pass along her thoughts to Lucas, of she wanted me to, or if she wanted, she could come up for the funeral. And then she got really weird all the sudden. She kind of froze up, and then she started rambling off all these weird excuses and she said she was busy and her mom was sick and her boyfriend wouldn't like it. And then she started crying." Haley looked up at Peyton, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Peyton no longer had anger in her eyes. The blonde's eyes were now filled with a very, very muted worry.
"What?" Peyton sighed, seeing how Haley was looking at her. "I feel bad, and guilty about the wedding still. I know I screwed tings up for her." That at least was true. Every time Peyton Scott walked past one of her husband's books, or saw him writing she thought about his old editor, and how she was doing.
"Well, don't. That whole situation was really screwed up. But, it gets worse. I promise. Okay, so I've know Lindsay nearly as long as Luke had, and I have never seen her more upset. She was a mess. And I felt awful, because I was her friend too, and for you Lucas I stopped talking with her once she left. So I invited her to stay with Nathan and Jamie and I for the weekend end. She could come up and come to the funeral, and we could catch up. It took a little bit of convincing, and she opted not to stay at our house, but she finally decided to come up, and she was going to stay at the beach house. But it was really weird. And when I told Nathan about it he got this really weird look on his face and he pulled out his laptop and he went to the publishing company website and pulled up the list of current editors and Lindsay wasn't there. We looked through every major publishing company in the city and we couldn't find her anywhere's."
"What about News Papers and magazines. There are hundreds in the city. And dozens of smaller publishing companies." Peyton said, looking at Haley with confusion etched on her face.
"That's what we thought. We figured that working at the old company reminded her to much of Lucas, so she left."
The dead tone in Haley's voice was what caught Peyton's attention. "That's not what happened, is it?"
Haley closed her eyes and shook her head. "She lost her job Peyton. When an editor falls in love with an author and marries him, and they live happily every after it's a fairy tale. When an editor falls in love with an author and then leaves him at the alter it's a potential law suite and not an example that the CEO wanted as an example. So the board decided that it would be best to let her go. And once you get fired by your father's company for breaking a fundamental business law, it's pretty damn hard to get a new job. And after a few months she couldn't look for a job anymore, she didn't have the money to not be working at all. So she took a job as a secretary at the Times."
Haley paused, looking over at Peyton again. She knew that Peyton had felt guilty about what had happened, and it showed now. The blonde looked awful, like someone had just told her she shot their puppy. It was obvious that she felt completely responsible.
"I know that this is about the worst time in the world to bring this up, and I wouldn't have even said anything, Lindsay asked me not to, but it gets worse." Peyton just nodded along. "She got a call the yesterday afternoon, she lost her apartment, and she doesn't have anywhere's to go. And her office won't employ her if she doesn't have a place of residence because of that law that they passed last year, and so she lost her job."
"Which is why she's staying up here, for awhile." Peyton finished, frowning. She felt guilty about what had happened, but she wasn't entirely comfortable with that situation.
"Yeah, she didn't feel right, staying at the beach house, so she checked into a hotel and Nathan and I worked it out so that we'll pay for her stay, when she leaves."
"Why do I get the feeling like there's more?" Peyton asked, sighing. She saw where this was going, and she really, really didn't like it.
"Peyton, she's pregnant." Haley closed her eyes, and waited for the freaking out. She waited, but when she opened her eyes, she realized what a horrible mistake she had made. There were tears running down Peyton's face and her mouth was hung open. Her eyes, normally at least full of a little bit of happiness were drowned in sorrow. "No, no, no, no. It's not Lucas'. It was an old boyfriend that she was with for a few weeks, right after Lucas. He doesn't want anything to do with either of them." This at least did a little bit to restore some about of calmness to Peyton.
"That sucks." Nearly all of the sympathy was gone from Peyton's eyes. If she hadn't have known before, she sure knew now. She had a very clear picture of where this conversation was going to end up, and sympathy was only going to make it worse.
"Peyton. Nathan and I are living off of a first year teacher's salary and the money left over from Nathan's basketball and my music, but we don't have to money to help her out anymore, and we owe it to her to help her out. She's a friend. We'd do the same for you if you were in her situation." And it's your fault. She didn't say it, but they were both thinking it. If Peyton hadn't have come home, Lucas and Lindsay would be happy. She'd have a job, a husband. She wouldn't be in this situation. "Brooke has her hands full with Rachel and Chase, and the wedding."
"Are you seriously asking me to ask my husbands pregnant ex-fiancée to live with us. With me and my husband and our three kids and my husbands little sister, and my brother? There are already seven people in this house. We don't have the money either." They both knew that was a lie. Aside from the fact that Lucas was a best selling author and Peyton's label was doing amazingly well Derek had military benefits coming in, and on top of all that Lucas and Peyton (along with Lilly) had been left nearly everything in Karen and in Andy's will. They both knew that they had the money.
"I know it sounds bad Peyton, but she doesn't have anyone else. Her mother died last winter and she didn't have any friends outside the company, and the ones' she had inside the company dropped her when the company did. She had no family, no friends, no job, no place to live and no money. You took Derek in when he was in her situation."
"Derek is my brother!" Peyton exclaimed, standing up. "She isn't. She's Lucas' ex-fiancée."
"She was also his editor, and she is a lot of the reason that Lucas is where he is, career wise."
Peyton sat back down and looked at her friend. "You really are serious, aren't you?" Haley only nodded. Peyton sighed, in all reality, she knew she was beat, and not because of anything that Haley had said, but because of everything she hadn't. Mostly that Lucas would want this. If it was Lucas sitting here, in his heart, he would want to help her out. And she knew that they needed the help. There were now officially four kids in this house, three of them under one and all of them under eight. Derek got a job at an army base nearby, and he would be working days as soon as school started up. Lucas was in no shape to do anything other than grieve, and Peyton honestly didn't know how bad he was going to get. And there was no way in hell that Peyton could take care of four children by herself. Especially not once she officially went off her maternity leave in a week and a half. She was slightly ashamed to admit it, but she needed someone to help. "You so owe me. And you're giving me Nathan to help with any moving, and the painting, for Lilly and Lindsay."
"So you'll talk to her?"
"I'll go over in the morning." Peyton sighed reluctantly. "You have to spend the night though, because I'm not leaving here unless I know that there are at least two people here."
"Done." Haley readily agreed.
"Where's she staying?" Peyton rolled her eyes. She honestly could not believe that this was happening.
"Room 321 at the Westpark Hotel. Thank you so much Peyton. This means a lot to me."
"Yeah, yeah Haley James." Peyton hugged her before she rolled her eyes and pulled Haley into a hug. "I'm going to bed, apparently, I have a big day ahead of me, thank you very much."
"Peyton?"
"I'm going to tell him the truth Haley. I can't lie. And if he says that he doesn't want her here, she's not coming." Peyton said answering the unspoken question.
"He won't."
"I know." Peyton frowned before she walked back upstairs, leaving Haley to one of the extra guest bedroom. "Hey Luke." Peyton whispered as she walked into her bedroom, walking through the absolute darkness until she found the bed and laid down on it, curling up next to her husband.
He wasn't asleep. She'd known he wouldn't be. "Hey Peyton." He whispered, pulling her closer to him. "I heard you and Haley talking."
"How much?" She whispered, molding herself closer to him, knowing that he needed the contact.
"Enough. And I just… Thank you. For everything. For being you. For wearing faded old concert tee's and worn pairs of jeans, for being an amazing mother and worrying about Avery until there's no more room to worry. For making it so easy to love you. And thank you so damn much for just loving me back. You take my pain away Peyt. And I don't what I would have done this week if you weren't here with me. Because it's like everyone is saying that they feel so bad for me, and I just want to scream at them and tell them that they don't have a clue, and other times I just want to die. But looking at you pulls me back. And it reminds me of all that's good, and I love you so much more than I will ever be able to tell you, no matter how long I have to do that, Peyton Elisabeth Scott." He was still whispering, and Peyton felt his hot tears falling onto her back. "I love you so much." Peyton turned herself around so that she was facing him, and then she pressed her lips to his trying to pour every ounce of feeling that she had and all the love she could give him into that kiss. He kissed her back vigorously, running his hands though her golden hair.
"I will always love you Lucas Scott. No matter what. You are the love of my life, and I couldn't live without you, so don't do anything stupid Luke. I will always be here for you." Peyton whispered after she had pulled away from him.
He sighed into her hair. "I know. God, I love you so much." And with that he pulled her back into his arms, as close as it was physically possible to be, and fell asleep.
September 1st, 2012
Tree Hill North Carolina
Peyton and Lucas Scott's Bedroom
For the first time in her life Peyton Sawyer was incredibly happy to be woken up by the cries of her daughter. If nothing else they brought he back to some since of normalcy. She got, as she always did and made her way quickly to Bailey's room, where she was shocked to find her still asleep. But the shock only lasted until the panic flew threw her. There was only one other baby girl that could be crying. She sprinted into Avery's room; terrified of what she would find that could make Avery cry. Avery never cried. As soon as she entered the room though, the infant stopped crying, reaching out one impossibly tiny hand in Peyton's direction. Peyton smiled, all worry gone from her system as she picked up the little girl. She knew what was wrong, now at least. She hadn't actually spent any quality time with Avery since the accident, which was a slightly large change from the amount of time she had spent with her before. But with Bailey and Brody constantly crying for attention that was for the first time in their short lives, directed not at them, Peyton had been spending most of her time keeping them happy.
Peyton rocked her daughter gently in her arms, kissing the top of her head before she made her way down to the kitchen. Haley was already down stairs with Brody, and as soon as she stepped foot into the kitchen she heard Bailey's cries, letting them both know that she was awake, now.
"I'll go get her." Haley said, smiling as she rushed back up the stairs, Brody still in her arms.
Peyton laughed, still holding her daughter. "You're Aunt Haley sucking up now, because she wants me to do something for her." Peyton explained to Avery, talking to her as she moved around the kitchen, getting breakfast for them both, and Avery's HCM medication. She made the bottle quickly; she could probably do it in her sleep by now, and then mixed in the medication, shaking it for a minute before she put it up to her daughter's mouth. "God," she whispered, looking at her daughter, "I was so worried about you when you were born. They came in, and they told us that Bails and Brod were just great, but you were having some trouble breathing, and your heart wasn't right. I've never been so terrified in my life." Peyton was nearing tears when she heard Haley come into the room.
"Peyton, she's fine." Haley whispered, putting both Brody and Bailey down. "She's going to be fine."
"I know." Peyton choked out, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to overcome her. "I just look at her, and I just can't imagine a life without her. If something happens to her, I honestly don't know what I'd do."
"Oh, Peyton, I know this has to be hard on you." Haley said, looking at her niece. She didn't look sick, but the HCM and her lung problems, still evident from when she was born put her at high risk for any number of problems, and that scared the shit out of Peyton.
"I have to bring her today, I can't leave her."
"I figured." Haley nodded. "You know it doesn't matter to me."
"Okay then, I'm going to go as soon as I get dressed, okay?" Peyton asked, looking over at Haley.
"Peyton, don't go if you don't want to. I know I kind of pushed it on you yesterday, but, you don't…"
Peyton cut her off, smiling. "No, Haley, you were right, I owe her at least an offer." Peyton smiled again before she walked back upstairs and into her bedroom, Avery still in her arms. She smiled as she met her husband eyes. "Morning Lucas."
"Morning Peyton." He smiled, nodding her over to him and gently taking Avery from her. "You still scared?"
"Terrified." She admitted, leaning into him. "Now let's talk about Avery…"
"You're worried about Lindsay? Because you can't possibly be worried about me, at least not about me and Lindsay. You have got to know that I would never, ever."
"I know." She sighed twirling her fingers in Avery's curly brown hair. "I know."
"When are you heading over?"
"After I get ready and after I get Avery ready."
"Do you want me to come with you?" His question was genuine, but Peyton knew without a doubt this she had to do this alone if she wanted Lindsay to think that she was sincere in her offer, not being pushed by Lucas, or Haley. She told him that and then kissed him quickly on the nose.
"I go to go take a shower; watch Avery for me, okay?"
"Another nightmare?" He asked, frowning when she didn't meet his eyes. They were the same nightmares she had had when she was pregnant, but now it was just Avery. "She's fine." He said, confidently, kissing her. "And I will watch her, and then I think I'm going back to bed." He admitted.
"Lucas."
"I'm just tired, Peyton. That's all. I'm going to take a quick nap, and then I'll paint Lilly's room and get her new stuff in it, to surprise her tonight."
"Do we have extra stuff for a nursery?" Peyton asked, defeat in her voice.
"We don't. Nathan and Haley have Jamie's stuff though, why?" He was clearly confused.
"Get it from them, and do the two rooms downstairs up too. One for Lindsay and one for her baby. If she really doesn't want to come we can just give it back or something but I don't want her coming here and then on top of all the weirdness having to sleep in a guest room. I'm banking on the fact that you can decorate a room she'll like, right?" He honestly didn't know what to say, and he definitely didn't want to get into trouble, and his carefully blank expression showed that. "Just this once I won't get mad at you for knowing her that well Lucas. Make her like the rooms, and I'll call when I find out what the baby is, or when I at least have a color for the nursery, okay?"
"You really are the single most amazing woman in the world, you know that, right?"
She nodded, sighing and then got off the bed and headed into the shower. Less then a half an hour later she was ready, dressed and ready to go dress Avery, when Lilly came running into the bedroom. "Morning Lills." Peyton and Lucas said at the same time, laughing. "What's going on?" Peyton asked, smiling at her.
"Are you going to see Lindsay?" She asked, frowning. "I heard Aunt Brooke and Aunt Haley talking about it.
"Yeah, I am honey. Why?"
"Can I come with you?" The question shocked both Lucas and Peyton, but it was Peyton who finally spoke.
"Yeah, sure Hun, who don't you go and take a quick shower and dry your hair, and I'll go get Avery ready. You don't mind going on some errands with me later, do you?" The little girl nodded and left the room and Peyton turned quickly to Lucas. "If they're both going to stay here then they should probably get used to each other again." She said, kissing him one last time before she finally left the room, taking Avery with her. She frowned when she reached the door and found a shopping bag hung on it, but she could only laugh as she read the note, thank god one more time in her head for her amazing friends.
P. Scott. The hand scrawled note said, in Brooke's messy handwriting. Tutor girl told me what you're going to do for Lindsay and I think that it's really nice of you. I can't do much but I can make you all look nice, it's kind of my thing. In the bag are three matching dresses and one little boys' outfit that all are adorable, and match, for a show of solidarity, and all. I don't know who, besides Vree, you're going to bring, so there's clothes for all of the little people. And I know that you're nervous, but Peyton, he loves you. So wear something that he loves on you. You'll be great.
Love Ya,
B. Davis, soon-to-be Adams.
Peyton smiled, looking down at Lucas' favorite pair of faded jeans and the shirt that he bought her just because two weeks ago, and the she opened the bag, laughing when she saw three identical pale blue dresses with thick, navy horizontal stripes that started at the bottom and then got thinner until they stopped about six inches up. There were tiny navy bows on the straps, and much to Peyton's amusement two berets and two sets of blue ribbons, along with two sets of Mary Jane Shoes, and a purse for Lilly and a blanket for Avery. She quickly put away Bailey and Brody's clothes, leaving out the matching dress for Avery, and delivering Lilly's dress to her. She quickly dressed Avery, grabbing a diaper bag, and Avery's baby carrier, and then headed out the door.
Her first instinct was the comet. It was her safe place, it was her and Lucas' place, and her daughter had never been in it, so that was where Peyton went, strapping Avery in her car seat, and Putting Lilly in the back, she started the car for the first time in over eight months. To her great relief the car ran perfectly, and it got them to the hotel in just a little under a half hour.
Peyton stopped the car in front of the hotel and got Lilly out, and then she picked her daughter up, grabbing the diaper bag, and slinging it over her shoulder, keeping the small infant in her arms, leaving the baby carrier in her car, needing to feel the warm body that was total hers and Lucas'.
She found the room easily, the hotel wasn't that big, and with one last deep breath, a look at her wedding rings, and then a laugh when she saw her daughter smiling up at her, she knocked on the door, resisting the urge to run when Lindsay opened the door.
A/N: Okay. Two things that I want to hit on real quick. First of all, this and the next chapters were why this fic is here. I was at work the other day and was just thinking up the conversations between Lindsay and Peyton and Haley and Peyton. Second of all, just want to clarify on Peyton's relationship with her kids. She loves them all equally, and in my mind, she spends equal amounts of time with Brody, and Bailey, but Brody is Lucas' son, and he has a special bond with all the guys because of that. Bailey is really claimed by Brooke, and Brooke (once again in my mind), spends a lot of time watching over her, bring her to work, and babysitting. Peyton has Avery. She worries about her, because she the smallest, and she's sick, and that's why she's always with her. Not because she loves her the most. Thanks! And as always, Review!! Oh, and I was thinking about maybe bringing Jake into the story… what do you think?