Although I'm enjoying the new season, I definitely miss the Peyton and Lucas interaction... of which there has been virtually none in the first two episodes. So, I decided to start my own story centering on them fifteen years into the future. I own nothing but the story ideas and the characters of the children.

Peyton and Lucas – married for 13 years.

Winifred –13 years old

Ryan – 9 years old

Ashton – 7 years old

Gretchen – 3 years old

Nathan and Haley – married 15 years

Jared – 9 years old

Brooke and Jake

Jennie – 16 years old

Chapter 1

Winifred peaked around the corner and saw her dad sitting alone in the dimly lit living room. A basketball game hummed quietly on the television and an almost full bottle of beer sat forgotten next to a glass of red wine her mother had been sipping earlier that evening. All of her kids knew that Peyton almost never drank; only when their father offered her something or she was desperate to fall asleep. The Scott children didn't really understand their mother but they were pretty comfortable with her quirks. Winifred crept quietly through the room, attempting to hold her haggard breath as she passed her father and made her way to the stairs.

"G'night Fred."

"Hi Dad," she said softly as she turned to face him. At thirty-one years, Lucas Scott's rugged teenage looks had gracefully muted and left behind a sophisticated, handsome man. His blue eyes fought back a twinkle as he patted the sofa next to him. "I'm sorry Dad," she said mournfully as his arms circled her in a hug. Lucas sat back so that he could look at his thirteen-year-old daughter.

"For what?"

"All kinds of things," she said simply, making her father smile at the sweet memory. He tilted her chin so that hers eyes met his.

"It's not me you owe an apology."

"Is she mad?"

"Worse," Lucas said solemnly. When Peyton was angry, anyone could deal with her; it was as easy as making her laugh with some stupid joke or offhand compliment. Sadness hit and the entire family was down and out; even Lucas had a difficult time pulling her back from despair.

"Dad, I didn't mean to upset her. I can't help it. I'm so tired of everyone treating me like a baby."

"You always will be our baby girl. Just like Gretchen. Your mom just worries about you because she loves you so much."

"She looks at me like I'm gonna die." Winifred knew immediately that she had not chosen her words carefully enough; Lucas's blue eyes flared in outrage.

"Winifred Anna Scott!"

"Calm down Dad. I know I'm not – and so does mom. But every time I get a cold, or even sneeze, she gets this look like I'm never going to get better again." Lucas's expression softened after the feelings of dread and terror were quickly replaced by the admiration and pride he always felt toward his young daughter. She was so young but she understood so much; she was their own little adult; always the thirteen year old going on thirty. It was scary sometimes because she was more perceptive to the feelings and thoughts of others than he and Peyton could ever hope to be.

"She's lost a lot of people in her life Fred, she's terrified of losing anyone else."

"I shouldn't have to live in a bubble because Grandma and Grandpa died."

"No," Lucas agreed. "You shouldn't. But your mom does have genuine concerns. You aren't supposed to overdo it when you've been sick. And you should be taking medicine when you don't feel well." He paused for a moment, trying to collect himself so that he didn't branch off into some overdrawn lecture. "But if you don't like the way things are, we talk about it. We don't yell and then run away."

"I was at Aunt Haley's," Winifred protested.

"We didn't know that for sure." They had though. His brother had called as soon as Winifred had appeared at their door earlier that evening. Nathan had also been the one to drive her home after Haley had spent ample time listening to her adolescent fears and calming her honestly earned rants. If her stomach hadn't been swollen to the size of a large beach ball and her hair hadn't recently started to gray at the roots, Haley would have felt a bit reminiscent with a curly haired blond walking around her room, ranting aimlessly. Winifred's hair wasn't as blond or as curly as Peyton's and she wasn't as tall as her mother or father, but the resemblance was definitely there. The entire family was aware that Winifred was smaller and somewhat more delicate than her mother ever had been.

"Is mom up? I should say sorry. I know it doesn't change anything—"

"But it helps," Lucas said encouragingly. His face fell a bit and his voice conveyed his concern as he continued. "Unfortunately, Fred, it'll have to wait til tomorrow. She's asleep." They all knew that when their father said that their mom was actually asleep, it was always a result of 'the pill.' It was the only certain method of sound sleep for Peyton Scott. Otherwise, the sound of people talking in the living room would have long ago wakened her. She was so against taking the pills that Lucas sometimes had to threaten her in order to grant her some sleep. She spent most of her nights sitting at her desk in their den, working early into the next morning on one drawing or another. Winifred hugged her father and cautiously made her way up to her bedroom, where she begrudgingly took the two tiny pills that had started the argument between her and her mother.

Lucas waited until there was no longer any noise coming from upstairs and then began to clean up the living room, carrying cups and forgotten chip bowls to the kitchen and folding up the blankets the boys had been using to build a fort under the coffee table. Turning out the lights, he quietly made his way to the bedroom.

Leaving the light off, he fumbled around for his blue and gray flannel pajama pants and pulled them on with the loose gray t-shirt he had already been wearing. Looking down at his wife, her golden curls splayed across the maroon pillowcase, he remembered a time when neither one of them had worried much about pajamas. Then, kids had entered their world. Kids meant the need for such things as pajamas and locked liquor cabinets. Then again, he thought with a smirk, having a friend like Brooke meant having locked liquor cabinets.

Climbing into bed, he carefully pulled Peyton into his arms and was surprised when she snuggled against him. "I thought you took a sleeping pill," he whispered wearily.

"Hmm," she murmured, shaking her head.

"Peyt," he sighed in concern.

"I'm fine. Just sleep," she whispered.

"Look who's talking,' he said before planting a kiss on the crown of her head. "Come here." He pulled her closer and rubbed her back, trying to convince himself that if he fell off to sleep, she would too; but that was a lie. "Fred is home."

"I heard."

"She feels awful. She's just frustrated. It must be hard, she hasn't felt great all summer."

"It's hard enough just to be thirteen," Peyton said softly.

"She needs space. Out little girl is growing up."

"Shut up, Scott."

"It's something that you're gonna have to live with, Scott," he shot back at her. They both smiled, relieving a bit of the tension surrounding the situation that had begun earlier that evening. What has started out as a simple request had erupted in a huge argument between Peyton and Winifred and it had ended with their daughter actually leaving the house. Lucas couldn't remember the last time, before that night, he had heard Peyton raise her voice. It had been a trying evening for all of them.

"I don't want them to grow up, Luke. I can't lose them."

"You won't lose them unless you don't let them grow up," Lucas said softly. "Let's get some sleep. It'll all look better in the morning." Peyton sighed and closed her eyes as she shifted slightly in his arms; it was going to be another sleepless night.

That was the first chapter. Let me know what you think and if I should continue from there. It will include Haley and Nathan, Brooke and Jake at a later point (they're still very much a part of Lucas's and Peyton's lives).