Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine…

Brooke practically forgot about the knock on the door as soon as she heard it. That's how it usually was when she was working; she was completely focused. As she heard Sam's footsteps on the stairs she began to sketch furiously trying to finish before she was interrupted.

She saw Sam out of the corner of her eye and sighed knowing she wouldn't be finishing then. "At least brush your hair," Sam said before she turned and made her way downstairs. She frowned wondering who could possibly be at her house that she would need to brush her hair for. Only friends stopped by and they were all definitely past the stage where you needed to groom for them.

Sam smirked over her shoulder at the bottom of the stairs as she made her way to her room. Brooke barely caught a flash of blonde hair before she was wrapped in a tight embrace. She knew who it was immediately.

"I missed you so much," Peyton whispered into Brooke's hair as she squeezed tightly.

Brooke had never been angry at Peyton for leaving, hurt, sad, depressed even yes, but now that she was back, anger wiped away any feelings of happiness and joy she should have been feeling. "Then you should have come home," she bite out.

Peyton stepped back quickly, stung by the words. Brooke hated seeing the pained expression on Peyton's face and knowing she was responsible for putting it there. She took a deep breath, willing the anger she felt to seep away, and moved to sit in the chair in the living room. She smiled a soft, shy smile in way of apology and invitation to Peyton who had remained in the same spot beside the stairs.

Brooke watched Peyton in the time it took her to recognize the invitation and slowly make her way to the couch. "You look good," she said as Peyton sat. Good was an understatement. She looked beautiful.

Peyton had always been tall and thin almost to the point of just being plain lanky. Brooke could tell she had filled out now. Now there were gorgeous curves in all the right places. She had also cut and thinned out her hair so that it perfectly framed her face.

Peyton smiled a timid smile. "You look beautiful as always."

They sat in silence that was both awkward and comfortable. They knew each other well enough for it to be comfortable. But with the way Peyton had left and how long it had been it was awkward.

"Well," Brooke said feeling the need to break the quickly becoming uncomfortable silence. "Spill. All of it. Where've you been? What've you been doing? Why are you back? Why'd you leave?"

Peyton sighed, knowing she would have to answer, but wishing it could be put off. "Like I said, I just needed to clear my head. I never dreamed I'd be away for so long though. Some things happened that just kept me away, and the longer I was gone, the harder it was for me to try and call, you know? Kinda like how it was when you went to New York. Actually, that's where I was. I got a job as a curator at a museum and started taking some art classes. It just finally felt like it was time to come home. This is where I'm supposed to be. It always comes back to Tree Hill," she said slightly rushed, as if she were afraid Brooke would break in and she'd never explain anything, even if what she was explaining was extremely vague.

Brooke nodded at the information. She understood that Peyton was leaving out a lot of details, but she also knew that she might not ever get to know everything that went on. "Who else have you seen?" she asked instead of asking for more.

"Just my dad. He met me at the airport," Peyton said with a bright smile. "He came to visit me a few times while I was gone, but him being here just makes everything that much more perfect, you know?"

"What about Lucas?" she asked softly. She knew Lucas wasn't in town and hadn't been for a very long time, but she wanted to know if Peyton had at least talked to him.

Peyton practically jumped off of the couch at the question and began pacing. Brooke was momentarily stunned by the gracefulness of her movements. It wasn't as if Peyton had ever been a klutz, but she just couldn't remember her ever moving so fluidly, as if she were gliding instead of walking.

"I haven't talked to him. At all," she finally said. "I'm sure you know I didn't talk to him before I left, and I haven't talked to him since. And now…there's just been so much time gone by, and there so much I need to say to him that I'm scared."

Brooke studied her, trying to imagine just what had happened to have Peyton this worried. Of course Lucas was hurt and angry, but they all knew he was a softie for Peyton. "He's not here. Actually hasn't been here since just after you left," Brooke told her. "He left with Karen and Andy soon after. They've moved to New Zealand. I hear from him only slightly more often than I've heard from you," she said with a bit more bite than she actually meant to.

Peyton had turned to look out the window as Brooke spoke of Luke. She had known it would hurt him when she left, but she could think of no other way. It would have only hurt him more in the end if she had stayed. Brooke sat silently watching Peyton for a long time.

She finally shot out of her chair. "God Peyton! Five years! What have you been doing for five years that you couldn't even fucking call!?"

Peyton turned quickly at the outburst, but she wasn't exactly surprised. She had been expecting it. She waited for Brooke to calm as she questioned her next move. "Would you hate me for dropping one of the hugest things in my life on you rather than telling you?" she finally asked.