Nathan checked his carry-on bag once again for the manila envelope. When his fingertips brushed over the cardboard, he smiled privately to himself before pulling tickets from another envelope and shoving them into his pocket. With Haley in tow, he rushed through the bustling airport corridor toward his departure gate. He had ended up telling his wife that he was actually going up to San Francisco to meet with a trainer. He was afraid that she would see through his real intent for going to the City of Angels. As they neared the security checkpoint, he silently thanked God that she couldn't follow him inside the gate. Glancing down at his stainless steel diver's watch, he noted that he only had fifteen minutes before the plane would start boarding.

"I'm really going to miss you," Haley said as she embraced Nathan from behind. He instinctively leaned her head back against her shoulder. She gazed up at him adoringly before brushing a kiss over his forehead.

"Maybe at night, but you'll be busy with school and Jamie," he reminded her before pulling away. "I'd just be at gym if I was here anyhow, so just pretend that I'm at home. Before you know it, I'll be back. You won't even have time to miss me."

Haley shook her head. "I already miss you."

Nathan kissed her cheek chastely and patted her hand as an announced a flight to San Francisco. He turned to Haley and kissed her again before throwing his bag over his shoulder. He turned back to her, faking sadness. "C'mon, Hales, get out of here," he urged with feigned sentimentality. "I can't stand you watching me leave."

He hated how easily the lie slipped from mouth. Nathan wasn't surprised. He had been lying to her for months and months. He had mastered the art easily and willingly. It was a technique that he had perfected on himself. It took constant reminding that he loved his wife to make it work, but he always managed to pull it off in the clutch. Like his faithful lay-up shot, it was something he could rely on when things were looking bleak and he needed to score.

"But, Nate-" she started to plead. Looking up into his eyes, she realized that he had meant it. He didn't want her there. Turning on her heels and with a quick air kiss over her shoulder, Nathan watched as Haley walked away. Only when she was out of his sight did he breathe a sign of relief. Turning on his own sneakered heels, he jetted off as quickly as his toned legs could carry him to the Los Angeles flight awaiting him at Gate 14. As he passed a crowd of tourists from Canada, he didn't notice the brunette staring after him. Haley watched from afar as he boarded a flight to a different California city. A flight to Peyton.

Meanwhile, back in California, Peyton readjusted the picture hanging in the entryway one more time. She had made up the guest bed with new Egyptian cotton sheets. She had stocked her fridge with his favorite beer, frozen pizza and cookies. She had brought in a new widescreen television and made sure that his bedroom was perfect. Not expecting but secretly hoping, she really wanted him to stay with her. She had even put some of that awful rap music that he adored into the stereo on the dresser. Whatever she could do to make him comfortable, Peyton wanted to do it. She glanced at the clock above the sink and realized that she needed to call her cab. In less than an hour, she would see the most gorgeous blue eyes the world had ever seen. She would see Nathan.

On the way to the airport in the taxi, she kept practicing what she would say when she saw him. It felt silly to rehearse a conversation with him in her head, but she couldn't help it. She was a bundle of nervous energy. Realizing just how frazzled she was, she pulled out her phone to call the only other person in the world who knew that he was coming. "P. Sawyer!"

"Hey, B. Davis," she giggled. "So I'm in the cab."

"Ah, yes, how excited are we right now?"

"Oh, you know…"

"You're my best friend, of course I know," Brooke laughed. "You know, Nathan called me last night. I guess he wasn't sure if you would tell me or not. He wanted someone to know in case something happened with Jamie and someone needed to find him."

Peyton knew her best friend well enough to know how overprotective Brooke got when it came to her heart. The sultry brunette designer was the only other person who knew about their night together two years ago. She had been torn at first between her devotion to the two women, but when she had realized that it wasn't likely to be repeated, she had kept the secret locked away in her heart along with all the other things Peyton had confided to her over the years. Nathan had been relieved to know that someone else knew, too, because it gave him someone to talk to. They never did talk about it really, but it was nice to know that she was there if he needed her.

"I told him that he had to be careful with you, that you were still hurting," Brooke confessed. She waited for Peyton to chide her, but when she didn't, she told her best friend what else she had told Nathan. "You know what he told me? He told me that he didn't want to hurt you. In fact, I believe his exact words were, 'More than anything, you have to know that.' It was a pretty good line. I can't believe I fell for it."

"I miss him, Brooke."

"I know that," her friend responded softly. "He's missed you, Peyt. No one else knows that but me. Neither of you has really admitted it. I still don't know what fully happened between you two. I can't believe you won't even tell me. I just know how you were after it would happen, and I don't want to see you back there."

Peyton closed her eyes briefly as she remembered that horrible month after Nathan had left. Brooke had flown out from New York to stay with her Peyton would just and stare out the window and cry for hours. Lucas had tried to get through to her, but Peyton wouldn't open herself up to him. She refused to share their secret with anyone. Brooke had only found out because Peyton had accidentally let it slip one night when she was trying to console her.

"No one really knows what happened that night but Nathan and me. Neither of us can tell anyone else about it either," Peyton reminded her friend. It was their secret. She was adamant about that to the core. "I can't take it back, Brooke, and I don't regret what happened that night either. I just regret…"

"What, Peyton?" Brooke was stunned that her best friend had opened up this much about Nathan. She knew that it was only the adrenaline of getting to see him again. "Tell me."

Peyton wiped away the tear that had slipped from her eyes and turned to look at the city rushing past her. "I only regret everything single second that has happened since," she said finally. "Brooke, I need to ask you one thing."

"What's that?"

"Is he happy?" she asked quietly. "Does Haley make him happy still?"

"Oh, Peyt," Brooke mused affectionately. "Nathan hasn't been happy a day in his life since he left L.A. Missing you is like missing apart of himself. You know that. You've felt the same way."

"You have no idea." Her best friend definitely knew her too well. "Listen, sweetie, I'm pulling up to the airport. He should be getting in any second. If he asks, if anyone asks, this never happened."

Brooke would keep the truth about Peyton and Nathan from everyone but Peyton and Nathan. She would never lie to one about the other. "If he asks, I have to tell him the truth. I won't lie to Nathan about you," she countered. "But I won't mention it unless he asks, okay?"

Peyton was grateful that they had one person that would somehow manage to be on their side no matter what. In the beginning, before there was a Lucas and a Haley, it had been the three of them. She still missed that sometimes. "Thanks, Brooke. I miss you."

"I miss you, too, Best Friend," Brooke replied as the call ended. "Take care of our boy."

Walking down the long tunnel, Nathan smoothed his hair one last time before slinging his black duffle bag over his shoulder. He slowed his pace until he was the last one to file into the arrival gate. As he stepped into the main atrium of the airport, Nathan scanned the crowds encircling around him. He couldn't see her in the masses of people rushing past him. Turning in a circle, he frantically searched the crowd again until he saw her. Her lanky frame and head of sprightly blonde curls filled his gaze as she leaned against a wall, looking around equally as frantically for her. Just as his eyes found her, her eyes found him. Blue locked with green as they quickly shortened the distance between them and suddenly, there they were.