Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill.

Here's the next chapter!

"Okay Jamie, go wait with your mom in the car, while I talk to Aunt Peyton," Nathan told his son.

After figuring that a house that occupied a four year old was way too quiet, both parents realized that their son was missing. Once he pulled out his phone and got Jamie's whereabouts, Nathan informed Haley and both headed over to Peyton's house.

Nodding, Jamie turned to Peyton. "Thanks Aunt Peyton for the ice cream, and the talk."

Bending down to Jamie's level, Peyton responded, "No problem buddy. Anytime you need to talk, I'm here. But next time, don't sneak out, okay?" Jamie nodded and skipped down the driveway to join his mom in the car.

"What does grounded mean?" Jamie questioned his mother, clearly not familiar with that form of punishment.

With a firm grip on his arm, Haley looked down at Jamie. "It means that you can't leave the house unless you're with me or daddy or an adult."

Jamie turned to his mother and said, "Momma, that's normal. I'm not suppose to leave the house without an adult anyways."

Walking to the car with Jamie besides her, Haley replied, "Exactly, Jamie. That's why there will be no t.v, video games, ice cream-"

Jamie jumped up. "No ice cream! Momma I can't live without ice cream! Please momma." Putting on his best pout, Jamie attempted to change Haley's mind.

Haley looked down at her son. No amount of pouting was gonna get him out of this one. "Get in the car Jamie."

Nathan turned to Peyton. He seriously owed her. Peyton was always there for him, no matter what. Besides Jamie, she seemed to be the only constant thing in his life. "Again Peyt, I'm really sorry about all of this. I mean, I didn't realize that Jamie left, and-"

Putting her hand on Nathan's arm, Peyton cut off him off. "Nate, I thought we were already over the whole 'sorry' thing."

Smiling, Nathan nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess so."

"You guess so, or you know so? Cause I mean," Peyton shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "i'm always right. So you don't have to guess."

Putting his hand to his chest, Nathan started taking deep breaths. " you know what, Sawyer? I think I'm gonna head out cause you're ego is just taking up way too much air," making an attempt to leave, Peyton grabbed Nathan's arm to make him face her.

Slapping his chest, Peyton took a step closer to Nathan. "Nate, quit joking."

Mustering the best serious face he could, Nathan replied, "Peyt, I was being totally serious about the big ego." Smiling down at her, Nathan added, "I think I'm rubbing off on you."

Taking another step towards Nathan, Peyton replied, "I think that means I'm spending way too much time with you."

Getting lost in the moment, Nathan pulled Peyton to him. "Nah, if anything, you're not spending nearly enough time with me."

As Peyton started leaning in, Nathan met her halfway until their noses brushed. "Really?"

Nathan smirked. "Yep."

As their lips slowly touched, Peyton pulled back quickly realizing where she was. Peyton closed her eyes and put her hand on his chest. "Nate,"

Nathan leaned in towards her touch. "I know Peyton." Nathan pulled back. "But we still need to talk about-"

"I know we do." Nodding her head towards Haley and Jamie, Peyton replied, "But you've gotta talk with Jamie, cause he told me some things today that you might want to- "

"Is this about Haley and Chris Keller and a bunch of other stuff that has yet to sink in?"

Peyton looked at Nathan disbelieveingly. "Yeah, well partially. How did you know about it?"

Nathan sighed. "Jamie just told me earlier today. That's what me and Haley were arguing over." Nathan looked down at the ground regrefully. "That's why we didn't see him sneak out."

Peyton put her hand under Nathan's chin and lifted his head so his gaze met hers. "Hey, Nate don't beat yourself up about it. You guys are all going through a lot right now. And Jamie's okay, so relax." Peyton smiled up at Nathan, "You're just lucky your son's got a good sense of direction and he's being raised by two awesome parents." Seeing Nathan's face turn into a scowl, Peyton was confused at his mood swing.

Nathan bitterly spat out, "Might be only one parent soon. Though Chris might be my replacement, so who knows."

"Is this about the custody battle, cause Jamie mentioned something about moving but I-"

Hearing the car horn beep, Nathan realized that he had to cut the conversation short. "I'll explain everything later, okay? I'll call you tonight to see when we can get together." Giving Peyton a tight hug Nathan pulled back and began walking towards his car. Hearing his name being called, Nathan turned around.

Peyton walked up towards him with a worried look on her face. "Nate, before I forget, something is bothering Jamie- and it's not just about the divorce. I mean, he didn't specifically say anything was wrong to me, but I could just tell that-"

Smiling, Nathan cut Peyton off by kissing the top of her head. "I'll talk to him. Bye, Peyt."

Peyton smiled and watched him walking towards the car. As Nathan opened the car door, he called Peyton's name out one last time. "Yeah, Nate?"

Nathan genuinely smiled back at her. "Thanks for caring."

Nathan, Nathan, and more Nathan. That's all Peyton dreamed about last night. His body, his arms, his voice, his-

"Peyton!"

Well that defintely didn't sound like Nathan.

"Peyton Marie Sawyer! Where are you!" Entering Peyton's bedroom, Brooke sighed and jumped on the foot of Peyton's bed. "I was looking all over for you!"

Peyton was still worn out from yesterday's whirlwind of events. "Brooke, it's," Peyton glanced at her alarm clock. "eight in the morning. Where else would I be?"

Looking hurt, Brooke replied, "I don't know. But these days I don't know a lot of things about you, Peyton."

"What are you talking about, Brooke?" Peyton joined her best friend at the edge of her bed. " Look, I know I've been kinda moody with the whole Lucas thing, but we've been dealing with that since we were teenagers, and-"

Brooke abruptly stood up from Peyton's bed. Well it was now or never. Brooke figured it would be best to deal with all of this head on. "Julian told me about you dad."

Peyton's face turned white and she seemed speechless, so Brooke continued. "And I don't want to rat Julian out or get him in trouble, but I just hate all the lying that's going on between us."

Brooke say back down and continued. "And I know there's other stuff bothering you. I can tell cause you're more moody than normal."

Peyton looked down at her hands. Brooke was right. "I'm sorry, Brooke. I've been a pretty sucky best friend. But, how about I make it up to you. If you don't already have plans with your lover boy, then we can spend the day together and I'll catch you up on everything."

Brooke looked at Peyton disbelievingly. "Everything?"

Peyton rolled her eyes but smiled at her best friend. "Everything."

"Wow." That was all Brooke could say after Peyton explained everything to Brooke. From learning details about Peyton's dead father, to her whole pending romance with Nathan, Brooke was silent.

But, Peyton wasn't finished. "There's one more thing, Brooke." Peyton hesitantly looked at her best friend.

"Well spit it out P. Sawyer!"

"There's something wrong with Naley-"

Brooke quickly cut Peyton off. "Well I don't know if you're just trying to block the memory out but they did just get divorced, so that's nothing new-"

"Brooke," Peyton replied as she stopped her best friend from rambling, "That's sadly only the beginning."

"You promise not to sneak out again?"

"Dad, I'm sorry. I know I was wrong. But how can you not forgive this face?" Jamie responded as he made the most adorable face he possibly could.

"No, not the puppy dog face. Look your mom and I just don't want to worry about waking up and you not being here safe and sound."

All of the sudden Jamie got quiet. "Well why can't you be here when I wake up?"

Nathan sighed and sat down next to Jamie on his bed. " I know this whole divorce thing has been really hard for you, and I'll never be able to truly fix that and make us the happy family that we were."

Nathan bent down to Jamie's eye level. "But if there's one thing I can promise son, it's that even if I'm a couple blocks away, I will ALWAYS be here for you. No matter what." Nathan sighed. No four year old should have to deal with all of this crap.

"And about this whole moving thing with your mom and Chris, we're gonna figure that all out too. And we're gonna do what's best for you. I promise."

Jamie smiled and wrapped his arms around his dad. "I love you daddy."

Nathan smiled. Right now his life was the epitome of complicated. But small moments like these, as simple as his son saying he loves him, makes everything worth it. "I love you too, Jamie."

Tucking Jamie into bed, Nathan began picking up some of Jamie's toys that were thrown all across his room. Putting them away, Nathan remembered Peyton's words from earlier today and turned back to Jamie.

"Jamie, Aunt Peyton-" Seeing his son was fast asleep Nathan decided to bring it up tomorrow.

"Wow," Brooke stated as she heard the rest of Peyton's story."It all makes sense now. A couple weeks ago I saw Haley and Chris Keller looking all coupley at the mall. And I was sooo confused. But now it all makes sense."

Brooke turned to Peyton. "But wait, what did Luke want?"

"Well him and Lindsay were just getting back from their honeymoon and he wanted to grab dinner and catch up." Peyton shrugged her shoulders. She honestly didn't know why Luke wanted to catch up, it's not like anything new has happened in her life since the wedding. Well, besides the whole Nathan thing. But Peyton wasn't planning on explaining that situation to Luke. It wasn't his place or his business anymore.

"So what are you going to do about Nathan?"

Peyton fell back onto her bed. "Honestly, I don't know. I mean Nathan is… well he's Nathan, you know? I know when we were younger we were dysfunctional as a couple, but whenever we were together, even over the past years just hanging out as friends, it was always so easy and uncomplicated."

. "I get that P. Sawyer, I really do, but-" Brooke took a breath and attempted to phrase her words in the nicest way possible. "P. Sawyer, don't you think you're both a bit unstable at the moment when it comes to your hearts?"

"Ouch," Peyton replied.

Brooke fell back right next to Peyton."You know I just care about both of you and don't want to see you guys get hurt."

"I know, Brooke." Peyton turned to her best friend. "But this is different. I-, I- can't describe it. It just feels different."

Brooke looked on knowingly at her best friend. "You feel complete. And the most simple form of happiness you've ever felt before. You don't need to try like you have had in the past, it's… just there."

Peyton turned surprisingly at Brooke. "That's…right on target. How did you know that?"

Brooke stared off into space. She knew that cause that was the exact way she's been feeling about Julian. So if this thing between Peyton and Nathan is real, well,… let's just say there's bound to be trouble ahead. Whoever says drama ends with high school clearly hasn't spent any time in Tree Hill.

You've been really quiet, everything okay?"

'Yep', Nathan thought, 'everything's just dandy.'
"No, Hales, I'm not even close to being okay."
Sighing, Nathan headed for the door. Jamie was finally asleep, so there was nothing keeping him to this place that he used to call home.

Turning around, Nathan looked pointedly at Haley. " I know you're the best mother Jamie could ever have. But don't think twice that I'm not gonna fight my ass off to share custody."

Haley nodded her head. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Ouch."

Slowly awakening fora daze of sleepiness, Peyton opened her eyes feeling very confused. One, because she was definitely not in her own bed, and two, because she felt a sharp pain on her left side.

"Movvveee over Sawyer," her best friend groaned.

Okay, so that clears up some of her confusion, but where was she? And what the hell happened last night?

Sitting up, Peyton widened her eyes and slowly turned to her best friend. "Brooke, what are we doing here?!"

Brooke squinted her eyes from the light."Well I thought you knew this, but most normal people sleep in a bed at night, Sawyer."

Peyton shook her friend."In the mall!?"

Brooke popped up but regretted her movements immediately. "Owwwww, okay I'm really hungover right now, so we need to speak with our inside voices, okay?"

"Brooke, I'm not feeling too great myself, but we need to get out of here before someone catches us!"

"Ugh." Brooke pouted and turned to Peyton. "Carry me bestie?"

Luckily they still had an hour before the mall opened, so the duo were able to sneak out undetected. The real question on their minds was how they were able to get into the mall in the first place, or more importantly, how they got drunk enough to concoct this crazy plan.

For anyone still reading this fic, thanks! And i'm sorry for the lack of updates, I'm going to try to keep writing and finish this story! Don't worry, I haven't abandoned this fic!