A/N – so apparently I confused people with Chapter One, so I dicided to up-date earlier than planned so that I can try to explain.
This is not technically set in season three of OTH, it is a completely different senior year, but some of the events further down the line may be the same as certain episodes. This is a Leyton fic, and he turns up right at the end of this chapter (The party was wrote as one complete set, but I had to cut it down into a couple of chapters, so that the tension is increased and it keeps you coming back for more. Plus I can write for England when my muse is working, which makes chapters huge).
Peyton and Nathan are just friends now (Nathan was drunkenly hitting on her. I'm sure we have all been there), and Haley likes Nathan (but they are not married, and for this fic I'm not really planning on them getting married). Jeyton fans please don't hate me for the following chapter, but as I explained this is part of my high school memories, so it has to happen.
For the people that didn't understand where Jake and Haley appeared from, they where the door slamming in the distance that Peyton didn't really pay attention to as Nathan was really close to her and she was very drunk.
One again I do not own the characters or OTH, and if you have any questions please review and I will answer in the next up-date x
"Don't be stupid," Nathan slurred, fixing his gaze onto Jake and raising his voice ten decibels. "She couldn't possibly be yours; main reason being is that you are gay!"
I feel my jaw drop open with shock, not because Nathan knew, I mean by now that fact was public knowledge, but because Nathan would throw it into Jake's face, knowing how hard that past few months had been for him. Tearing myself out of Jake's grasp and feeling like I had left my heart in his hands again, I had to get out of this room, and away from both of them. I wasn't their property, and I sure as hell wasn't going to stand there as they staked their claim over me. Hopping across the room, I grab my crutches before heading towards the stairs, away from the boys and away from Haley's judging eyes.
I let the door slam at the bottom of the stairs, and I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but instead I see an opening between the mass of bodies, and I dive through it, making my way down the second flight of stairs as fast as I can manoeuvre my crutches, and I pray silently that I haven't hit anyone with the hard pieces of metal. On the ground floor the dance music is much louder, and through the open doors to the living room and kitchen all that can be seen in the shadows is swaying bodies and various bottles of beer flashing in the lights.
To the right of me someone opens the front door, walking into the house and a rush of cool air brushes over my exposed legs as they glide past, and in that instant I see my escape. Resting all of my weight on my crutches and injured leg, I slowly stretch my other leg over the threshold and down to the next step. One step down, one to go, but the cool air was making the alcohol in my bloodstream to travel up to my brain, and halfway through stretching down to the second step, someone thought it was a good idea to scream my name over the music, from somewhere inside the house. Putting a name automatically to the voice, the panic quickly overcomes me again, causing my crutches to slide out from under my arms, and I half fall down the final step, right into someone's un-expecting arms.
"Shit," I hear the guy swear, as he re-arranges his feet to support my weight, and I feel his hands instinctively wrap around my body, holding me close to his chest whilst I position my crutches back in the right place. For a split second, whilst my head is buried against his chest a feeling of safety passes through me, and his unique guy smell fills my lungs, and my heart rate doubles. Shuffling backwards slightly, I stare at the floor, embarrassed, not wanting to look my surprised saviour.
"Peyton!" I hear the voice shout again from behind me, and I quickly dart around the guy, clicking quickly down the side of the house and making my way down the drive.
"Hey," the guy says gently to Jake who was trying to follow me down the drive, and the voice stirs up an old memory. "Why don't you let me talk to her, and she will come to find you when she is ready." He suggests, and I know without looking he has stopped Jake's progress towards me.
I reach the end of the drive, passing through the large sculptured pillars, before reaching the pavement and I sit down on the edge of the curb, not caring in the slightest if the back of my short white skirt gets dirty. Throwing my crutches off to one side, I stretch my injured leg out in front of me, hating the cast that covers my entire lower limb from knee to heel, leaving my toes exposed. I curl my other foot closer, checking the long ribbons holding my shoe on are still tight, thinking in hindsight that wearing huge heels, well heel (singular), was probably not the best footwear to mix with alcohol and crutches. Thankfully my father was not in when I left the house tonight, as I am pretty sure he would have locked me in my room instead.
I stare out across the road, wishing desperately that I was anywhere else on the planet right this second, and I keep my gaze purposefully locked on the opposite side of the road as I feel the guy slowly making his way towards me, trying not to startle me. I reach up and pull my hair out of the twist I wrapped it into earlier, allowing it to fall around my shoulders in soft blonde waves to keep me slightly warmer.
"Hey Peyt," he starts gently, using a nickname I haven't heard in years, and sitting down next to me, leaving just enough space between our arms so that they don't accidently brush, and setting down two bottles of soda on the curb between our hips. "So… how's your life been since the last time we spoke… twelve or so years ago?" he asks, pulling out a bottle opener on his keys to pry the lid off the first bottle before handing it to me.
A/N – Once again, Jake fans please do not hate me, but I needed someone to be protective over Peyton without wanting anything more. My high school year consisted of my best guy friend coming out and it totally twisted my world, which is where the inspiration for the beginning of this story came from.