Chapter Two:

-Los Angeles, CA

Peyton had come out of her study and noticed that her children had ordered Chinese, her favorite.

"Mom, we're really sorry. Like extremely sorry."

Elle had looked at her mother with the most innocent pleading look she could give her and it made her look like she was six again.

"Yeah, mom, forgive us?"

Preston said as he gave her the infamous Scott smirk as he placed the box of orange chicken in front of her.

'You truly are your father's son.' Peyton thought. 'That smirk has to be hereditary.'

"Are you guys bribing me?"

It was more of a statement rather than a question. But it was answered by the smiles on their faces and the sparkle in their eyes.

"OK, for now."She picked up the chop sticks and grabbed a piece of the chicken in between them. "So I talked to your father today. And he agreed to have you guys go down to Tree Hill for the summer."

Peyton popped the piece of orange chicken into her mouth as she studied the faces of her children. They were frozen in disbelief; shocked almost. Leighton opened her mouth to say something, but no sound would come out. It was Preston who had caught her off guard with the statement.

"The sperm donor? You got to be kidding me."

Elle suddenly chirped in before her mother could get a word in.

"What about France? We go there every summer to the Château in Versailles to visit nana and papa."

"Pres, he's your dad. Don't you dare disrespect him anyway, shape, or form. You use to look up to him so much. And Elle I'm sure Julian's parents will understand if you go visit your father this summer."

"But, mom, we see him a lot!"

"Once a week on a web cam doesn't count, Elle; and neither does that one week you spend with him on Winter break or during the week of spring break every other year. He misses you guys and really wants to see you."

"Nothing's stopping him from coming to visit us."

Preston hissed as he looked at his mother. Peyton just sighed. Elle smiled she knew what was going on

"Mom, quit joking."

"No. Joke." She was serious. "You're both going and that's final. Start packing, you leave tomorrow night and arrive in Tree Hill the next afternoon. Lucas will be waiting for you at the airport."

"Oh my god, this is the punishment. Pres, she's sending us to Tree Hill because of the car. What kind of sick twisted game are you playing at?"

Elle had matched the look on her face of sheer dread that her brother had on earlier that day when he wrecked his car. Her thoughts were brought back when she heard her brother speak.

"How long?"

"Until the end of August."

"The whole summer?"

Peyton nodded and Elle screeched. Preston had excused himself from the table angrily.

***

-Tree Hill, NC.

Lucas walked out into the back yard with the happiest smile on his face and sat next to his best friend.

"What's got you looking so pleased with yourself?"

Haley had elbowed Lucas to get him to say something.

"That was Peyton…" The whole table looked at him with the expression 'duh' written all over their faces. They recognized the ringtone. It hurt Lindsay to know that her husband still heard that song and thought of Peyton. The lyrics were wonderful and full of love, but that song should have died for Lucas sixteen years ago. "And we both agreed that Preston and Leighton should spend the whole summer here in Tree Hill with us."

Haley had almost jumped out of her seat with excitement for her best friend and for their family. She loved her niece and nephew and was sad that they didn't visit more often. Their home was filled with pictures of the twins, from when they were small and even when they visited last December.

"Luke, that's wonderful."

Lindsay had managed to speak. It wasn't that she didn't love Lucas' other children because some part of her did. She just wondered if he loved them more than the child they made together. Lindsay knew it was wrong to think like that, but somewhere deep down she couldn't shake the feeling that Peyton's children always meant more to him.

From what she had heard and witnessed, Preston was the star of the basketball team and that was more than enough to win over his father's heart. And Leighton well she looked like Peyton, enough said. She knew Luke loved Elliott, but he had taken more of his mother's characteristics and physical attributions. He didn't understand the concept of basketball and he didn't care. He liked intellectual things like his mother, for example, a good game of chess was more of the fifteen year olds cup of tea. He had her eyes, the bluest of the blue, her nose, smile and mouth. He couldn't master the Scott smirk or squint his eyes like his father. Elliott was all his mother.

"When are they coming? How long are they staying? What kind of family things are we going to do?"

Haley kept babbling as Nathan and Lucas laughed. Alyssa smiled. She loved her cousin and it felt good when Elle was around because not only did they have fun, but Elle always brought fun stuff with her from LA. And also because that meant she wasn't the only girl in this family. Sure she had Lily but they were both small town girls and Elle wasn't.

"They're coming Friday morning. They're staying for two and half months. And I don't know yet."

Lucas' smile was genuine and he could see the excitement in his family's eyes. He couldn't wait to tell his mom when she returned from New Zealand tomorrow. It would be a perfect summer.

-Los Angeles, CA.

"Ugh. I can't believe I'm going to spend a whole summer in Tree Hill. Seriously, Lauren? Not only is it the town Starbucks forgot, but it's so ugh."

Leighton was venting on the phone to her closest confidant, other than her mother, her best cousin. Well she was good as her cousin seeing as she was Brooke Davis' daughter and Brooke is practically her mother's sister.

Brooke had decided to adopt two year olds from Poland and didn't really care for their birth names and being Brooke she had rename them Lauren Elizabeth and Jayden Kale Davis. They both had dark hair with hazel brown eyes. They were the same age as Leighton and Preston and that wasn't a coincidence. Brooke and Peyton had always said that when they'd have children they'd want them to grow up together and be the best of friends. Their wishes came true. They were practically joined at the hip. Lauren and Leighton and Preston and Jayden considering they live so far apart and yes the four of their names ending with the letter 'N' was actually a coincidence.

"Yeah…It kind of sucks to be you right now, Elle."

Lauren had agreed as she heard her best friend grumble on the other end.

"Lour, so didn't want to hear that. You were supposed to say, 'Elle, it's going to be fun.' And get me all hyped out to go."

"What and lie? You're gonna miss the gorgeous summer time in France."

"You're not helping. I'm gonna hang up now. I think you might have made me more depressed about this trip."

Both girls giggled as they said their 'goodbyes' and 'I love yous' and hung up.

A/N: Show me some love :D oh and if you're wondering why Lauren's middle name is Elizabeth and Leighton's is Penelope basically the concept that I was going with was that both Brooke and Peyton wanted their children to have some kind of namesake with their godmothers so they decided to put their best friends' middle name into their kids' middle name. Make sense?