Home Sweet Home

Settling & Sappy gifts

A phone alarm ringing, sounded and Peyton groaned reaching to shut it off. If it were possible to experience a hangover without actually drinking, she assumed this is exactly what that would feel like. Rolling over onto her back she stared at the ceiling, she thought of their first night back in Tree Hill, and the happiness that took over her mind, left a permanent smile on her face. It had been a great night. She had found Sawyer curled up with her cousin on the couch asleep when they were ready to come home, and while she tucked her into bed she had been mumbling all about it to Peyton. That was all the clarity she needed to know that they had made the right decision to come back.

She rolled out of the bed, slipped her phone into the pocket of the pajama pants she wore and padded down the hallway. Peaking in to check on Sawyer, she was sprawled across her bed, still sleeping soundly. With that, she closed the door, and headed downstairs.
The kitchen was still pretty bare, and they lacked the furniture. She whipped out her phone, and began writing a list into the notepad app of everything they would need. Just as she finished the checklist, Lucas and Sawyer joined her. "Morning." He said. "Morning. So, I was thinking. We could hit some of the furniture places up and then grab breakfast. We still have the U-Haul until this evening, so we can just use that and the truck and not have to wait for delivery. Sound good?" He nodded. "Alright. On one condition. We get coffee first?" She nodded in agreement.

Most of their morning had been spent picking up the necessary appliances, dishes, and big furniture items. She would leave the little decor things up to Brooke, knowing she had a flair for interior design. Their house would be coming together nicely. They had stopped in at Karen's for breakfast, before heading home to set up.
Pulling in the yard, they were met by Nathan and Skills sitting on their front steps. "What are you two knuckleheads doing here?" "Nice to see you too, Skinny Girl. Now bring it in here." Skills wrapped her up in a hug. "Haley called, she said you might need some help moving the new stuff in." He gestured toward the U-Haul unit, and the trunk. "Remind me to let Haley know I owe her big time." Lucas said. Peyton unlocked the door, and Sawyer zoomed past with her new blanket set up to her bedroom. "Looks like we lost our littlest helper." She laughed. "I'm sure we'll manage." They got to work, assembling furniture, and Peyton had begun washing the new dishes and putting them away.

Five long hours and the house finally looked like someone lived there, they had done a pretty decent job. Haley and the kids had joined them not too long after, Jamie helping them out, and Sawyer keeping Lydia occupied and out of the way playing. They had sat down taking their well deserved sit to chat and catch up with Skills, when Brooke and Julian showed up with two pizzas for a quick supper, and a large box. Julian handed off the pizzas and the paper plates around while Brooke pulled Peyton aside. "So best friend, I have been waiting for this day way too long. It felt weird to give you a home warming gift when you weren't in your real home. So, here." She extended the box toward Peyton. She took the present and sat down at the cabinet on the new bar stools, and began to dig into it.
Inside the beautifully wrapped box, was a large picture frame with various photos of the gang from their high school years, pictures from weddings, and baby showers. But it was the middle picture that really sent her emotions overboard. The picture of Ellie holding Peyton when she was only a few hours old. It was beautiful. "Brooke." She whispered, wiping at the tears now falling. "I hope those are happy tears. I had to do a lot of sneaking to get that picture. Lucas sent it out to me a while back. I figured this could start off a gallery wall in the living room?" "Definitely happy tears. Come here." She pulled Brooke forward into a tight hug. "Thank you for all of this B Davis." She said into Brooke's shoulder. "Of course P. Sawyer. We're happy to finally have you back where you belong."