Brooke sat alone in Clothes Over Bros, browsing through some pictures she had actually printed out a while ago. Then the bell over the door rang and Brooke looked up to see Peyton.

"Hey, P. Sawyer, whatcha doing?" The blonde seemed to be especially happy today; even her yellow curls bounced cheerfully on her head, complementing her bright smile and wide green eyes.

"Nothing much B. Davis," Peyton announced, jumping into the seat next to Brooke with a energy that suggested entirely the opposite of nothing much. Brooke commented on this. Peyton rolled her eyes.

"Peyton, really! What's up with you?" Brooke bumped her friend playfully, and Peyton heaved a fake sigh.

"Alright, fine. You know how Lucas and Lindsey officially, mutually ended it last week -- finally, I must add, I mean it's been three months of his pining for her after their almost wedding, I think it's about time-"

Brooke bit her tongue at this comment, and decided not say anything. Instead, she gave Peyton a devious look. "Are you thinking about getting with Mr. Scott?" she said in mock surprise.

Peyton gave a half sheepish, half suggestive nod, then cracked a crafty smile that was probably more commonly found on Brooke's face.

"Well, go get him, P. Sawyer!" Peyton laughed and took off out of the store. Brooke watched her leave, then returned to her pictures, going through them somewhat slower.

It was not ten minutes later when the bell rang again. When Brooke looked up, this time she was greeted by Haley James Scott, tutor mother.

"Haley, hey, how are you?" Brooke rose to meet her, receiving Haley in a big hug. "I've barely seen you since the wedding. Well, almost wedding," Brooke said, lowering her voice slightly at the last as if she was afraid of offending someone in the empty store.

"Oh I know, I'm sorry, Brooke. It's just been really busy, with Nathan and Jamie, and work, but that's no excuse," Haley apologized.

"What's up with Nathan and Jamie?" Brooke asked, concerned. Haley had told Brooke at the wedding of her and Nathan's fight; that Nathan wasn't even living at home. But other than that, Brooke hadn't heard anything else.

"Well, Nathan has moved back in, and I'm happy about that, especially with Jamie. In fact, Jamie tried to throw a party for Nate when he moved back in," Haley laughed, "But really, it's been good."

Haley seemed truthful, but Brooke detected a sour note in her voice. "Haley, what's really wrong?" Haley tried to smile, but Brooke gave her one of her famous looks, and Haley sighed, defeated.

"I don't know. I feel kinda reluctant about Nathan. I'm just not sure. We don't even really have time to work out all our problems; we just have to keep going and going to keep everything under control and act like everything is ok, when it's really not. I just don't know when we'll be able to handle all of this." She sighed, and picked up a picture. "But I don't want to talk about it." Haley examined the picture. "Where is this? It's beautiful…" Her voice had a faraway tone to it.

"It's London. I stopped over there for a while in the summer." Brooke looked more closely at the picture. It was of her standing on a lit bridge, backed by a dark sky and the glimmer of huge city lights.

Haley kept her eyes closed, daydreaming. "London," she said, as if tasting the word on her tongue, and letting it roll off smoothly. "I bet it was beautiful." When Brooke nodded, Haley continued. "It's where Nathan and I were supposed to go on our honeymoon, but then there was that accident…and life just got in the way. And now--"

Just then the bell tinkled again, and Nathan came in.

"Speak of the devil-no wait, it's just Nathan," Brooke gave him a fake sneer, and Nathan returned it beofe smiling and greeting Brooke.

"Hi, Nathan. I thought you were watching Jamie?" Haley's voice had a slight but sudden panic to it. Nathan nodded, gesturing to the car.

"I brought him with me," he said, "We were just out cruising and Jamie wanted to see Auntie Brooke." He nodded at Brooke, "And I wanted to see you."

Haley smiled, and Brooke asked Nathan to go get Jamie. As soon as he was gone, Brooke turned to Haley.

"I've got the best idea!" the previous sadness Haley had seen in Brooke's eyes when Haley had walked in was gone now, replaced with excitement.

"What is it, Tigger?" Haley asked with a laugh.

"You guys can go to London! Leave Jamie here, and you can go on the honeymoon you never had and work out all your problems!"

For a brief second, Brooke saw the light shining in Haley's eyes, but it was almost instantly extinguished by her rationale.

"Brooke, we can't just pick up and go to London. What about Jamie, and work, and Nathan's helping with the team, and it's just not a good time."

Brooke waved it all aside with an impatient look. "Screw school. I was there about half the time, and look at me now!" She waved her arms around the shop, and Haley laughed. "But really, I'm sure you can take a week or two off. And the team is fine with Lucas and Skills."

Haley conceded those two, but the said, "And Jamie? I don't exactly feel comfortable hiring another Nanny…" Brooke thought for a moment, then brightened.

"I can watch Jamie! C'mon, I really want to bond with him and I am his godmother…" As she said this, Nathan walked in, leading Jamie. He instantly ran over and hugged Brooke.

"What's she talking about, 'I can watch Jamie'?" Nathan asked, sitting next to Haley as she watched Brooke get up to play with Jamie in the back of the store.

"Oh, it's--"

"Nate, how would you feel about going to London for a week and a half?" Brooke yelled from the back. Nathan gave Haley a surprised but happy look.

"I think it's a great idea, Hales." Brooke's head appeared briefly from behind the counter. She stuck her tongue out at Haley before ducking again.

"Look, you two, I can watch Jamie for the week. You guys need this, and I would love to hang out with this one." She lifted up a madly giggling Jamie by one leg. "Plus, I think that if you guys can't work this out, what hope is there for the rest of us?" she added on a more serious note.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at Haley and cocked his head. "C'mon Hales, she's his godmother, and probably the best for the job. If we can't leave him with her, how are we ever going to leave him with anyone?" Nathan could be persuasive when he wanted to, and he could see Haley seriously considering it. "C'mon, Hales. We need this." When she didn't say anything, he added, "I'll ask Lucas to drop in on them every once in a while." This seemed to cement Haley's decision.

"Ok, we'll, do it!" She raised her voice so that Brooke could hear. She popped out from behind the counter as if on cue.

"Oh, I know you will," she said with a strong hint of suggestiveness. Nathan laughed at her double meaning but Haley rolled her eyes.

"C'mon Jamie, let's go." Haley called, standing up and heading for the door. The kid gave Brooke a quick hug and goodbye, and took off after his parents.

Peyton had tried unsuccessfully all day to find Lucas: He wasn't at his house, nor Nathan and Haley's. She drove to the rivercourt, only to miss him again. She was about to give up hope when she happened to see a tall blonde figure duck into a restaurant.

Peyton was excited. Here was her chance; a softly lit restaurant, a loose, low-cut shirt paired with her best pair of skinny jeans and strappy heels. She walked across the parking lot confidently, slowing only to check her reflection in the side view mirror of a car.

She finally got inside, and quickly, almost nervously scanned the room. She saw Lucas sitting alone in the corner, accepting a menu from a too-fancy waiter. The waiter bowed away as Peyton made her way across the room and came up behind Lucas.

"Guess who?" She laughed, jokingly putting her hands over his eyes.

"Ohhh, Peyton, hi, what a surprise. W-what are you doing here?" Lucas asked, slightly surprised, but he invited her to sit down.

"Just happened to see you go in, and since I haven't seen you for a while, I thought I'd say hi. How've you been?" They both knew she wasn't talking about his well-being in general.

"It's going good. I miss Lindsay, but something wasn't right about that relationship. We're better off as friends."

"And- how's the book going?" Peyton tried to sound nonchalant, but she was unsure if she succeeded or not.

"It's doing well, Lindsey decided to publish it, so we're in that process right now." He seemed to specifically steer away from the 'Comet' aspect of it, and Peyton didn't push it.

They enjoyed dinner for the rest of the night, talking and laughing about old times. Peyton tried not to notice that Lucas avoided talk of relationships. He'd always change the subject, with a suggestion of food or questions of any new music that she had heard lately. The night ended with an awkward hug and cheery goodbye. As Peyton walked back across the parking lot, she had to concentrate on walking with a poised, pretty strut, as she knew Lucas's eyes would be on her. She had to resist the temptation to give into the swooping feelings of giddiness that were almost forcing her to jump into the air. When she got to her car and turned back, though, Lucas was no where to be seen. His car was already peeling out of the parking lot.