Yes, yes I know - another long break! I'm terrible aren't I! I guess life always gets in the way. But another instalment for you! I hope you like it!

Peyton looked at this woman again and instantly felt ashamed of her appearance. Here was this very attractive, young woman who couldn't be long out of college while she, Peyton was standing there looking every bit the martyr in her daggy tracksuit pants and baggy top to hide her growing bump.

"Um… he's actually just stepped out…. Can I help you?"

The lady smiled at Peyton before responding "No that's ok, I'll just wait for him. Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Um, not until this afternoon." Peyton responded. Unsure of what to do next. Clearly this woman wasn't giving a lot of information about herself or what she wanted with Lucas. Yet, she couldn't exactly turn her out of her home either…could she?

"That's ok, I might come back later then." And with that the woman turned to head back down the steps towards the street.

"Can I let him know who called?" Peyton asked quizzically.

"Um….yeah… let him know that Maddi came to see him. He'll know who I am."

As fast as she had appeared, the woman disappeared once more and Peyton was left standing at her front door wondering what had just happened and what this woman wanted with her husband.

"Surely you're not threatened by her?" Haley interjected as Peyton re-lived the tale of 'the other woman' to her friends. "I mean this is Lucas we are talking about… Lucas who has been like obsessed with you since the eighth grade! Honestly Peyton, I doubt he has eyes for anyone other than you."

Peyton laughed half heartedly. "Well are you forgetting the Lucas who also is so confused about he girls in his life that he seems to fall in love with every girl he knows. Have you forgotten the Brooke –Peyton love triangle? Need I remind you of Lyndsay?"

"Yes, but you forget that none of them stood a chance against you Peyton." Brooke said sympathetically.

"You guys should have seen her though. She's like a freaking model! You can't help but feel a little intimidated." Peyton laughed.

"Peyton Scott! Stop freaking yourself out and just wait until Lucas gets home so you can ask him!" Haley scolded. "Now… I'm changing the topic! Brooke – what exactly is going on with you and this mysterious Ben?"

"Hey – I didn't say turn the attention onto me!" Brooke exclaimed.

"Yeah, but we all want to know, so spill B. Davis."

"There's nothing to tell. We're just friends… that's it!"

"Just friends eh?" Haley teased. "With benefits?"

"Haley!" Brooke exclaimed with mock surprise. "That is so high school! So no, not 'with benefits'… just friends!"

Haley sighed. "You girls just aren't what you used to be for all the drama and gossip"

"So Miss Sawyer, what do you think of this house?"

"I like ours better" Sawyer replied honestly.

"Yeah… me too. Going to be hard to find one to beat it."

"I'll help you Daddy. One that's got a room just for me?"

"I'll put it on the list baby-girl" Lucas laughed. "Now what say you and I head on home and see if your Mama has made it out of bed yet."

With that, Sawyer ran on ahead of her father in the general direction of home with Lucas trailing behind her. As the begun to near closer to their home, Lucas saw a young woman sitting on the steps in front of their doorway. Even from the distance, Lucas could tell there was something oddly familiar about her. Yet he couldn't quite place exactly where she was from.

It took him a few seconds to realise who the woman was. "Maddi" he whispered to himself. He instantly realised that Peyton mustn't be home, for there would be no other reason as to why Maddi would be sitting on his front doorstep. But he was still unsure with what she was doing here in Tree Hill… surely she hadn't followed him here?

"Lucas, Hi!" Maddi exclaimed cheerily jumping off the porch steps as he approached and flung her arms around him embracing him in a hug. "I thought you must be coming home soon so I thought I must just stay and wait. Your wife isn't home though. She was earlier this afternoon when I called, but must have stepped out for a while."

Lucas smiled politely at Maddi, pushing her back to arms length. "What are you doing here?" he asked quizzically.

"Looking for you of course!" Maddi replied as though it was the silliest question of all.

"You said to come find you if I ever needed your help. And so here I am!"

"Right well… do you want to come in then?"

Maddi merely smiled in agreeance.

"Oh – Sawyer, this is my friend Maddi. Maddi, my daughter Sawyer"

"Oh isn't she just darling!" Maddi exclaimed bending down to greet Sawyer.

Sawyer curled up her nose in response. She didn't like it when people spoke to her in a childish voice. She was too big for that now. "Where's Mama, Daddy?"

"I'm not sure baby-girl. I'm sure she'll be home soon. She's probably gone to visit Aunt Brooke."

Unsure what to do with the situation, Lucas stepped aside to invite Maddi into his house.

Haley was driving home thinking about the news that Peyton had told her recent events of the day. She had no doubt that Lucas loved no other than Peyton. She knew that all of his previous flings were merely because he was confused. There was after all nobody for Lucas but Peyton, it just took Lucas and Peyton the longest to figure that out. Even then, Haley had a niggling feeling that she couldn't send away. Lucas after all was her best friend, so didn't that mean she knew him best? And yet, there was a voice at the back of her head that kept saying that Lucas had been away from home for a long time. And Lucas as notorious for making rash decisions and the wrong choices with women before he had time to think about it….

But surely there would be nothing going on between Lucas and this girl…. Would there?

Brooke and Ben were once again sprawled on her couch watching a movie. It seemed to be their latest weekly outing. Their friendship however had remained strictly platonic. At least on Brooke's part. She couldn't help a niggling feeling that maybe Ben wanted more from their friendship. But she couldn't help but hope this wasn't the case. She really enjoyed his company and wasn't ready for another relationship.

With her head resting on Ben's lap a sharp pain suddenly surged through her abdomen causing her to cringe. Ben noticed and quizzically looked at Brooke. "Brooke are you ok?"

As quick as the pain had come it died away again. Brooke smiled up at Ben and said "Yeah, it's nothing. Too much chocolate isn't good for the baby I guess." And with that she changed position and continued to watch the movie. Brooke however couldn't concentrate. She couldn't help but keep thinking about what her friends had asked her about her relationship with Ben. After all, Brooke wasn't really known for having friendships with other boys without complications being in place first. She never really did platonic relationships. But Brooke wasn't ready for another commitment just yet…. Was she?

Convincing herself the whole drive home that she was all wrong and there really wasn't anything to this strange woman showing up on her doorstep, Peyton arrived home determined to put the thought out of her mind completely. Lucas after all had never given her the slightest reason to doubt him. So why should she change that now. She did after all completely trust him. At the back of her mind however, she thought back to Nathan and Haley, thinking that while they can completely trust their men, she wasn't so sure about the women surrounding them. Now that Lucas was becoming more and more famous by the day, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at the road that lay ahead.

Sighing to herself she quickly opened the door and was quickly greeted by a little girls shout "Mama's home!" Smiling to herself, Peyton bent down to give her daughter a hug. "Missed you today Baby-girl! Did you have fun with Daddy?"

"Yup – we had loads of fun! But Daddy made me promise not to tell you what we were doing" Sawyer said cheekily.

"Oh did he really?"

"Yup – our little secret!"

"Speaking of which, where is your dad?"

"In the lounge room. Come see – we have company!"

With the sinking feeling of knowing who exactly the company was, Peyton followed her daughter into the lounge to find Lucas and Maddi in conversation with each other. As soon as Lucas saw Peyton enter he jumped up to embrace her and welcome her home. As he embraced her, all of Peyton's worry disappeared. How could this woman compare to what she and Lucas had. She had to stop being so paranoid and welcome this friend of Lucas' into their home.

"Peyton, this is a friend I made while I was touring. Maddi. Maddi, this is my lovely wife Peyton. The one I kept telling you about?"

"It's so nice to meet again!" Maddi said. "Lucas was kind enough to offer to help me become an author. You see I read his books and I just love them and Lucas' writing style. So I wanted to come see him to get some help about how to get started in the industry."

Later that night, getting ready for bed, Lucas was apologising to Peyton.

"I really didn't expect her to take me up on my offer. I mean, you often say these things but don't expect them to follow through. I don't even know how she found my address."

"Luke its fine! I think it's a nice thing you are doing for her – mentoring her to starting with writing. But that is all you are doing right? I mean there's nothing more I should know about? Because if there is, I'd much rather hear it now, than find out later."

Straight away, Lucas came over and embraced Peyton. "Of course there's nothing else Peyton. You shouldn't even need to ask that."

"I know I know, it's just…. I don't know. Maybe it's all these hormones. But I just wanted some reassurance" she said kissing him gently.

Still holding Peyton in his arms, Lucas felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. Why did he feel that what he said to Peyton wasn't strictly true. He wasn't sure why Maddi was here, why she had followed him to Tree Hill… but he was sure as hell going to make sure that it was only going to be a short stay. He wasn't going to have her wreck havoc in his Tree Hill life also.