"Wow" I watch her face and can't help but smile at the look she's wearing as she gazes around in awe at all the skyscrapers. I laugh when she blinks hard and shakes her head slightly.

"Makes you dizzy when you look up too long?" It was more of a statement then a question, because it happens to me every time I try to stare at the top of these buildings. Her hands grips mine a little tighter as we continue down the sidewalk. I decided we could walk some of the way this morning. I don't really want to go through the hassle of trying to drive around her and it's a nice day, so I got a cab and told the driver to drop us off a few blocks away from my office. Sam's enjoying the view, all the different people, the policemen on horses, all the street vendors…she's just taking everything in and she seems to be loving every second of it.

"Can I get a pretzel on the way home" she looks up at me with hopeful eyes.

"I don't see why not" I smile down at her just as we reach my job. I approach the front desk, Sam trailing behind me as she tries to get a good look at all the things going on.

"Good morning Ms. Sawyer…I didn't think you were coming in today." The redhead behind the desk looks up at me with a warm smile, her face contorting slightly in confusion when her eyes travel down to the little girl holding my hand.

"Rachel this Samantha, she's Luke's daughter….Sam this Rachel. You have met Lucas right?" I turn to look at Rachel again and watch her nod with a smile. "Okay…"

"Hi…" Sam's voice is just as small as it was the first time she met me in Karen's kitchen.

"Hey Samantha" She reaches into one of the drawers, and a few seconds later she holds up a cheery blow pop. Sam's eyes light up at the sight of candy, and she looks up at me expectantly. It doesn't register to me at first, but after few moments I realize she's waiting for me to give her permission. I nod in approval and she quickly takes the lollipop from Rachel, who laughs at her eagerness.

"I'm just here to check up on things." I focus my attention back of the redhead behind the front desk. "After yesterday's little meltdown, I wanted to make sure things were still running smoothing this morning."

"Everyone checked in with me this morning and said that things were back to normal. They won't know until the end of the day how far we've been set back though…of if we've been set back at all." She shrugs her thin shoulders and pulls her hair onto her back.

"Alright…that's all I needed to know, and now I'm going to enjoy my day off" I wink before spinning on my heel and walking towards the door. I stop halfway there and turn back to face my receptionist. "Hey Rach…." She snaps her head up to look at me. "What are you doing on Friday"

"Nothing" she says slowly as she cocks an eyebrow up.

"Well now you have a date with Brian Sanders"

"That computer geek…" she looks at me in shock and confusion. But moments later she get s smirk on her face. "…the one that save your butt yesterday." I bite my lip and nod, I was hoping she wouldn't catch on.

"He's a nice guy, really. I wouldn't set you up with one of those idiotic jerks that only have one intention. Brian likes you…he's got a job so he already beats your last boyfriend." I smile at her hopefully…Brian is a genuinely good guy…he can be a smartass sometimes, but he's not an asshole.

"What the hell…it's only one date right."

"Give him a chance Rach…the last girl he dated was a bi…a witch…so don't be too hard on him. I'll tell him to talk to you. Just…don't be close minded…don't turn him down before the date even begins."

"I won't…I'm trusting you here. Now go before someone suddenly has something for you to do around here" she waved me off with her hands just as the phone starts to ring.

"Thanks Gattina…" I wave quickly before turning around again and heading out with Sam. We stopped to get pretzels after she finished her blow-pop. Now we're leaving the post office, and starting our three block journey back to the apartment.

"Peyton…" I look down at her, but her eyes are focused on the large pretzel in her hand…the grains of salt that are dropping onto her skin.

"Yeah…"

"Are you gunna marry my daddy" I choke on the food I was in the process of swallowing Her voice was calm as ever, like she just asked some everyday question.

"What…" I managed to get out once my coughing fit ended.

"Are you gunna marry my daddy." She flashes a quick glance at me before taking another bite of her food. "Aunt Brooke says that for me to get a new mommy, daddy has to get married first. And she says that when fall in love they get married and daddy's always saying that he loves you."

"Really…" I glance down at her as she brushes some of the salt off the remainder of her pretzel.

"Yup…on the phone. He always tells you he loves you before he says bye." She stops walking and looks up at me, her brows wrinkling. "And you sleep in the same bed like the people in the movies do. So that means your gunna marry him right?" Her eyes look just like they did when she wanted that blow pop…hopeful.

"Umm…Sweetie…" I kneel down in front of her…I know I'm getting odd looks for stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, but I'm too busy searching for the right words to care what other people think. "I don't know what's gunna happen with me and your daddy yet. That might happen, but it might not." Tears spring to her eyes and it break my heart.

"Oh…" her happy mood is suddenly gone as she shifts her gaze down to the sidewalk. I open my mouth to say something, but I can't find any suitable words right now. "But it could still happen…?"

"Yeah it could."

"I hope it does"

"Can I tell you a secret…you can't tell anyone else thought, not even Kristen or Aunt Brooke."

"Okay…I promise" there's a small gleam that's returned to her eyes as she bobs her head up and down.

"I hope it happens too. And you know what…I'm pretty sure it's gunna" her eyes just got really wide, and I can't help but smile.

"Really" she's all but glowing as she locks eyes with me. I nod my head and in response she throws her arms around my neck.

"Remember…it's our little secret" She nods as I stand back up and grab her hand. I would never hear the end of it if Brooke found out from Sam that Luke and I were this close to getting engaged.

Since last year I've put a lot of effort into rebuilding my friendship with Brooke. Granted we've always been best friends, but we drifted apart a little in senior year, then it got worse when I came back to Tree Hill, both times…it really hurt her when I kept turning to Nathan instead of her. It broke her heart when she found out that I had formed a tighter bond with someone else. She knows where I stand with Nathan, that I put him on a higher pedestal back in high school and I probably won't ever take him down from there…and she accepts that, even if it does still bother her a little. So over the last year I've made it my personal little mission to make sure Brooke knows she's my best friend, that she's the only one with that title, and she's irreplaceable.

"Can I tell daddy" We've started walking again and we're now on my block.

"Try not to, but if you slip and forget, it's okay" I technically already accepted Luke's proposal, he's just waiting for me to make it official by putting the ring back on. She's content with my answer and we're both wearing smiles as we walked into the building.

"Do you have any games" she looks up at me as the elevator doors close.

"I think so…I think have twister and few board games" I shrug because I'm not sure if those games are even in the apartment still, let alone where to find them…except for the twister…thanks to a drunken night with some of my colleagues that left us all really sore when we went in for work the next day.

We exit the elevator and walk down the hall and into the apartment. At first it seems really quiet but then I hear voices from the upstairs living room. Sam goes up before me and continues down the hall, not noticing when I slip into my bedroom. It feels a little wrong to be searching through Luke's things, but I don't think he'll mind. The small velvet box is sitting in the bottom corner of his suitcase. I open it and smile as the memories flood back to me…every happy moment from the last two weeks. I'm tempted to put the ring on now; it'll give Lucas his answer because he's bound to notice its sudden reappearance on my finger. I slip the ring on and I can't make myself take it back off…so I'll leave it there. I know Luke will see it…I just wonder how long it'll take everyone else to notice.

I feel more confident wearing this ring now than I did a few days ago. I like the life I've created for myself…I've been living in New York for 11 years and I'm just recently getting the full experience of Manhattan…I love my apartment, my job, and I'm finally making friends here…I don't know if I'm ready to give all this up yet. But Luke has a life of his own in Tree Hill…a job he loves and Sam's in school, she's got friends. I love Tree Hill and like Nathan said, it will always be my home, but I like having it as a place I can always go back to. It's my comfort zone that's always gunna be there…but I don't know if I could live in Tree Hill again.

I knew all that when I told Lucas yes the first time and my only reason for changing my mind was Sam, but she's more than okay with all of this. I've been through so much; dealt with more than my fair share of hardships…Luke has had quite a few of his own as well. Since junior year, Luke and I have hit a lot of bumps in our relationship. We've hit quite a few dead ends as well and head to go back and retrace our steps, basically starting all over again. With everything that we've been through…separate and together…I refuse to believe that location is gunna tear us apart.