I sat on the floor of my office with my legs bent. My shoes were thrown in the corner and my suit jacket was hanging on the back of my chair. With my hair up in a messy bun I was hunched over my layout for the next magazine release. I couldn't get the page to look right for the life of me and after a few more seconds of looking I launched my pencil across the room. I bent my body over completely and my head hit the floor.

"Ms. Sawyer…would you please answer your phone…this person will not leave me alone" I looked at my phone sitting on the desk, my head still glued to the floor. I sighed deeply before picking up my body and walking over to my desk. I picked up the phone as I sat in my chair and attempted to relax.

"This is Peyton Sawyer" I informed them calmly.

"What the hell happened to calling people and keeping in touch…huh….three months ago I remember you saying something along the lines of…oh I promise that I'll call you this time…did I hear you wrong or something or were you just lying to me"

"Brooke…I'm sorry…really I am."

"But…and you better have a damn good excuse"

"I've just had a lot to do lately. The magazine has been driving me crazy and I have a some new employee who's always late and then doesn't have a damn clue what she's doing. It's just been kinda stressful." I shook my head as I looked down at my floor. Three were papers thrown everywhere and the layout was no where near complete. Ashley was my new employee and all I asked her to do was come up with a decent layout for this month's issue…how she screwed it up I don't know. First I had to reorganize everything and now I'm stuck trying to finish my sketch and fix the layout. I looked at the layout again before throwing my head against my desk and on top of my unfinished sketch. My office door opened, I didn't need to look up to know it was Kate with my coffee. It had become ritual over the last two months for her to bring coffee when she head me bang my head against something…or if I screamed in frustration.

"Well…from the look of things…your excuse holds up." I raised my head to see Brooked standing in my doorway, closing her cell phone. I smiled as I got up form my desk and moved towards her. Within a few strides I was in front of her and I wrapped my arms tightly around her neck.

"Oh…I missed you so much" I whispered into her hair.

"First off…how could you not tell me that you worked for Cosmopolitan and second what is going on here" she asked as we pulled apart. She eyed me up and down as she shook her head. "You look like hell P Sawyer. And what happened…how did you bust your lip like that?"

"Umm…I went to bang my head against the desk and I forgot to move the letter opener first. I hit the handle pretty hard and lets just say I only keep papers near the center of my desk now" I forced a laugh as Brooke looked at me like I had three heads.

"Okay…um…lets go…you need coffee, and I mean real coffee, not the stuff here…hell if I wasn't bringing you back to work in an hour we'd be hitting bar for the rest of the day."

"Brooke I can't…I mean I'd love to but I have to gets this stuff done." I looked at her sadly and she just laughed.

"Yeah…okay…whatever you say Peyton" she pulled me further out the door as she spoke.

"Brooke…"

"Uh-huh…I hear you loud and clear…nice skirt by the way" I shook my head and gave up on trying to pull away from her. I grabbed my shoes quickly before we were out of my office and struggled to put them on with one hand while walking…it gives a whole new meaning to the words multi tasking. Ten minutes later we were sitting at a table outside of Starbucks with two coffees and two salads. "Feeling better yet"

"Much…" I laughed as I took another sip of my coffee. "So why didn't you call before you came up here."

"See the funny thing is…I did" Brooke looked at me wide eyed before glaring at me.

"Oh…" I pursed my lips together as I looked down at the table.

"Yeah…um I've been calling you for the past month and a half…but you don't answer the phone at your house…you don't answer your cell phone. So guess what I did last week, I'll tell ya…I looked up every magazine editor in New York until I found your name…then I started calling your job but your secretary kept telling me to call the next day because you didn't wanna talk to anyone at the moment. So as your best friend, I felt obligated to bring my ass all the way up here and make sure that your skinny ass was still alive."

"Brooke I really am sorry" i watched as she rolled her eyes at me.

"Yeah…I know you are…and I forgive you…do you know why I forgive you…I'll tell ya…because you're letting my stay with you for the next week whether your miserable fiancé me or not and I know the answer is not." She got up form the table and moved towards the garbage.

"Brooke" I warned as I followed her.

"Alright…I'm sorry…but I'm still staying with you." She waited until I was by her side and she linked arms with me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Its fine…just know that you'll be helping me with this Friday's deadline."

"Ohhh" Brooke squealed happily. "I get to play editor…this is going to be fun…oh I am so glad we're best friends. Lets go to work"

All I could do was laugh at her as our pace quickened. As soon as we were back in my office her shoes were off, her hair was in a high ponytail, and she was sitting on the floor in front of the layout. Brooke lived for magazines when we were in high school. I remember how she used to complain about the different layouts and how unattractive they were…well here was her chance to create her very own layout and she wasn't going to let it slip away.

As I sat down at my desk I recalled what everyone had said to me before I left Tree Hill…I thought about Brooke taking the initiative to find me and then making the long drive up here by herself. My friends really loved me and that's what makes Nate so accurate…Tree Hill has a special place in my heart…it always has been and always will be home. That was my sketch…once I had the idea my hands just moved. I made a second sketch and when I finished it I looked down to see Brooke putting the finishing touches on an amazing layout complete with hand drawn background.

"Wow" it was the only word that came to mind.

"I'm good…you love me…I know" She finished and stood up, admiring her work. "Perfect" she smiled but it quickly turned into a frown. "This makes me realize just how much I hate being a secretary for the stuck up people at that firm." She shook her head before walking over to me.

"I sorry Brookie"

"Its alright." She looked over my sketches and nodded in approval. "Very true…" she commented as she read the words 'Home Is Where the Heart Is' and 'Family Goes Deeper Than Blood Relations'.

"Ready to go" I questioned as I glanced at the clock. It was a little past 11 and I still didn't like being on the streets this late at night, despite how long I've lived in New York.

"Lets book" we both slipped our shoes back on before heading out the door and down the block. It was a block and a half to the parking garage and I was glad when we got there without any trouble. I drove Brooke over to her car she followed me to the apartment. "I always pictured you to have a house" Brooke commented on the elevator ride.

"My living arrangements work for me" I stuck my tongue out before walking off the elevator and down the hall. Stan and I were the only ones on this floor so I didn't have to worry about making too much noise in the hall. I opened the door and laughed at Brookes face.

"Oaky…this is not an apartment…this is like is like a penthouse suit of a 5 star hotel" I shook my head as I threw my bag on the side table.

"Correction…this is the penthouse…may not be a 5 star hotel…but it works for me"

"Oh my god…did I tell you how much I hate…you are so not my best friend anymore"

"What if I told you it was equipped with a gym and heated in ground swimming pool on the roof and that you have free access to them as long as your hear…oh and a Jacuzzi and sauna…complete with tanning bed." I smirked in her direction as she squealed in delight and ran towards me, linking our arms.

"You are so my best friend again…did I ever tell you how much I love you" she inhaled deeply to calm herself down before talking again. "Okay right now I want a verbal tour and then tomorrow I want the grand tour."

"The guest rooms are upstairs on the opposite end of the master bed room. You can see downstairs…living room, kitchen, dining room. Second floor is the bedrooms and bathrooms and a second living room. The third floor is technically the roof which holds the swimming pool. There's an outdoor Jacuzzi and indoor hot tub. The weight room is also up there with one way mirrors for walls…umm and to get to the sauna you go through the weight room….the tanning bed is also in a room in the gym. I think that's pretty much it."

"Okay…this is probably none of my business…never mind as best friend this is so my business…when the hell did you get rich like this"

"Stan makes money through his firm but I also get paid at the magazine…together we can afford to live comfortably." I had been living like this for a little over five years now…it was nothing now. The magazine had always paid me well…but when I became editor my income skyrocketed.

"Comfortable my foot…this is luxury Peyt…no wonder you never came back to Tree Hill"

"Brooke your house was not much different from this when we were in high school…your parents had money…a lot of it." I reminded her as I showed her to her room.

"Yeah but now that I'm older I couldn't dream of having that kind of money…or having an apartment like this in New York." She threw her things on the floor and fell back on the bed. "I love this bed already"

"I'm glad. Feel free to roam a little before you go to sleep…I'm exhausted. I'll be at the other end of the hall if you need something you can come and get me or you can use the intercom. Night Davis."

"Peyton…" I turned to look at her…she was still laying on the bed with her eyes closed.

"yea…"

"I just wanted to let you know that I might be calling my job and telling them I need another week off…I might even need a month off…I'm not sure yet but I just wanted you to know ahead of time. Night bestest friend." I laughed lightly as I walked out the door. I turned around to look at her before I closed it.

"Brooke…"

"Yeah…" she sat up and looked at me with a smile on her face.

"I'm really glad you're here" I watched her get off the bed and walk over to me. Her arms snaked around my neck as we hugged tightly.

"Me too P Sawyer…me too"