Peyton was lying in bed at the hotel where she had been staying with Nathan since they had come back to Tree Hill the day before. While his days were spent at the basketball court conditioning or playing with Jamie at the park, she had found herself alone for more hours than she would care to count. It wasn't that Nathan was ignoring her; in fact, every spare minute he had was spent with her. He made her feel so incredibly loved sometimes that it literally ached whenever he was absent. She knew that she would have to resume her life as scheduled eventually and learn to stand on her own without missing him again, but for now, she was perfectly happy playing the lovesick woman just waiting for her man to return.

She turned on her side as she turned the page in her sketchbook. She had been working on the hand-drawn scrapbook pretty steadily for the last few days. Peyton was planning on giving it to Nathan as part of her housewarming gift to him when they moved into the place he had picked out. He still hadn't told her anything about the house, insisting that it remain a secret until everything was ready. Peyton promised that she didn't care where they lived as long as there was a big bed that they could share. As she retraced the outline of Nathan's form on the sketch from the day he first arrived back in her life, she heard the door to their suite open and close again.

Without looking up, Peyton shifted over in the bed to give him plenty of room. It was barely eight in the morning, but he had already put in three hours of practice this morning. He would disappear into the early hours to go to the gym, only to return and lay with her for a couple hours until they dared to venture into the real world in search of entertainment and sustenance.

Nathan shed his clothes quickly in the path from the door to the bed. He sighed heavily as he slipped behind Peyton and entwined his strong arms around her slender frame. He pushed the book to the side, forcing her to drop her pencil. Peyton turned around in his arms and searched his blue eyes. She could feel that something was off immediately. "What is it, Babe?" she asked with concern as he traced his fingertips over the curves of her face.

Pressing his forehead to hers, he held her gaze for a long moment. "We talked to Jamie this morning," he answered before pulling her closer to him. He just needed to feel Peyton. He needed to know that she was there for him and that everything was going to be alright. "Haley cried a little. Jamie asked a lot of questions, mostly about you. I don't know that he really understands. He's still so young, you know? Haley was great about it. I shouldn't be surprised. She's always been a really good mom. I don't know, I guess it was just harder on me than I thought it would be."

She wanted to tell him that she could make everything better, but that would be a lie. She couldn't take away the guilt that Nathan felt in his heart over the situation anymore than she could help that they had fallen in love with each other. "What can I do?"

"Just love me," he implored softly as he pressed his face into her shoulder. He couldn't stand to let her see him cry. However, Peyton was insistent that he wasn't going to hide from her. If she was going to let him help her, he was going to have to let her do the same thing. Tears shone in her wide eyes as she tilted his chin so that their gazes locked again. "Haley said that you could spend some time with Jamie and me next week. Will you come to the River Court with us?"

"I told you that I would follow you anywhere, Nate," she reminded him. She rolled over so that he was beneath her and the entire length of her body covered his. His hands held her steady atop his torso. There was nothing sexual about the maneuver. It was completely intimate. He felt like she was his protective shield, willing to take anything that came from the outside world. "Maybe we'll have our house by then."

A wry grin played across his lips as his ocean blue eyes became alit with determination. "Actually, it's ready now," he revealed. "If I can drag you out of this bed to take a shower, we can head over there right away."

"Anything to see me wet and naked," she teased as he rolled out from beneath her and led her toward the bathroom. The two of them stepped into the walk-in shower together. Peyton set to washing her hair while Nathan washed the remains of his morning practice off his skin. "Did you talk to Haley alone?"

Nathan glanced at her over his shoulder as he rubbed soap over his forearms. "Not really," he replied. "Apparently, she got the papers that my dad's lawyer sent over. She was mostly just quiet. She told me that she would have her end taken care of by the end of the week. She just wanted to discuss a few things with Lucas."

Peyton's curiosity was sparked at the mention of her former boyfriend but decided not to comment on it. She was mostly just happy that the divorce proceedings were under way. Nathan and Peyton had gone to talk to Deb and Dan after Karen had seen them together. They didn't want his parents to hear it from anyone else other than her. Deb had been quiet, her only concern for Jamie. Dan had been more vocally supportive, offering to help Nathan take care of the legalities of ending his marriage to Haley. Peyton had chosen not to question his motives and Nathan didn't really care. He needed it taken care of, and if his father was willing to make sure it happened, it was fine with him at this point.

"We should probably call Brooke," she told him as he wiped a sponge over her back. He dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder as she turned around to return the favor. "She doesn't even know that I'm not in L.A."

The two of them finished their shower quickly, delayed only slightly by the makeout session Nathan initiated as he pretended to help her dry off. Once they were wrapped in fluffy robes and sprawled across the bed together, Peyton dialed Brooke's number in New York and waited for her best friend's voice to fill the speaker. "B. Davis!"

"Peyt and Nate, my two favorite people," she giggled before muffling the receiver. "Mouth says hi."

"Tell him we said hello," Nathan replied with a wide grin. He loved how Brooke's high school prophecy in the fated time capsule ended up coming true. Although they weren't married and Mouth just ran one of the local offices of a New York senator, the two of them were still the happiest people Nathan knew. After the disaster that was her relationship with Lucas and all of the turmoil Brooke went through those last few years, she deserved that. Mouth was the only one Nathan had ever seen truly love Brooke with all her flaws, for all the right reasons, in the right way. "So, we're in Tree Hill."

"Together," Peyton added as Nathan kissed her cheek, "For good."

"And you told Luke and Haley?"

"They know everything," Nathan promised. "Hales and I told Jamie this morning. My parents know. Everything is out in the open. We're going to look at a house today."

On the other end of the line, Brooke grinned up at Mouth as he worked away at his laptop next to her. She was no longer part of the Tree Hill Bermuda Love Triangles. It had been hard for her to keep the secret about Peyton and Nathan for such a long time, especially when she valued her friendships with Lucas and Haley. However, Peyton had been her best friend long before she had known the other two existed. Her loyalty would always first and foremost lay with the curly blonde. And just like her best friend, Nathan had been there before she was aware that there was a Broody and there was a Tutor Girl. "I'm happy for you, P. Sawyer," she told her best friend happily. "You too, Boy Toy."

"Thank you, Brooke," Nathan said as he looked down at Peyton. He still couldn't believe he had gotten the girl. She was his. "Not just for that but for everything."

"Just take care of our girl, eh?" she told him before hanging up.

Peyton laughed as Nathan reached over to punch the button to end the call and whispered, "I will."

"Hey, Nate?"

"Yeah, Peyt?"

"After the house, after meeting Jamie, after the divorce is final," she murmured as she came closer to him, "What do you say, Nathan Scott? Will you marry me?"

"I thought I already asked that question."

"And now I'm asking."

A surprised smile lit up his face. He would never get over how randomly beautiful Peyton could be. "And now I'm saying yes," he answered. "I can't wait to marry you, Peyton Sawyer."