Peyton ran through her bedroom and headed straight for the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. She opened the toilet seat and bent down, her face facing the bottom of the toilet. Her eyes felt as though the were burning from all of the crying she had done, her face felt dry even though there were remaining tears hanging on her cheeks. Taking in a deep breath, she swallowed some air before throwing up a little in the basin of the toilet.
Haley walked into Peyton's bedroom and looked in towards the bathroom, seeing Peyton hovering over the toilet seat. She was carrying her own school bag on her shoulder and Peyton's bag on the other shoulder. Haley slowly took off Peyton's brown bag and placed it down on the bed. She looked around the room, it hadn't changed since she was last in there, which was unusual. She knew that Peyton liked to decorate her bedroom, it was like she was constantly trying to reinvent herself. She turned and saw Peyton emerging from the bathroom, "Stupid question, but how are you feeling?"
Peyton lifted her hands to her face, wiping away the remaining tears. She moved her hands to her forehead and ran them back, running her fingertips through her blonde curly locks. "Better…" She laughed and shook her head, "Better than I was earlier." Slowly she made her way over to her double bed and sat down the edge and then she looked up at Haley…she had confessed to Haley earlier about being pregnant, confessed? Was that the right word…no, she had broken down and confessed at the same time. She was actually grateful for Haley showing up when she did, she was grateful to Haley full stop. Haley had offered to drive her home and be a shoulder to cry on at the same time, never asking a question.
Haley sighed and sat next to Peyton, she leaned over and rested a hand on Peyton's. "So…" She said with a half smile on her face, with her brow lowered. "I've done my best right up until now, but I'm gonna have to ask…"
"Who's the father?" Peyton guessed and watched as Haley nodded. During the ride back to her house, Peyton had just ranted on about being too young to be pregnant, had ranted about what her father was going to say, boy that would be in an interesting conversation. Not once did she mention what actually happened over summer, she didn't want to go into those details. Instead, her thoughts were more about herself. What was she going to do? She had two options, she could either have the baby or she could have an abortion…simple as. She turned and looked back at Haley, who was obviously anticipating an answer. "I –uh," Was she going to tell her the truth? "I met a guy during summer, he was passing through town. One tequila, too many and one thing led to another and bam." She said looking down at her, now flat stomach.
Haley nodded, Peyton's tone had flickered once or twice which she usually did when she was trying to hide something. They had been friends a while now, close friends and she could tell when Peyton was uncomfortable or bending the truth but she wasn't going to push it. Maybe she was wrong though, maybe Peyton's tone flickered because she was nervous, nervous about the decision she was going to have to make. "Well…whatever you want to do, I'm here for you Peyton." She smiled gently at her.
Peyton smiled and nodded, "Thank you Haley…" She looked down, she felt slightly guilty that she had lied to Haley, but she couldn't tell her the truth after all Haley was Lucas's best friend and in the end, she didn't want to put Haley in the middle.
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Peyton walked into her bedroom from the bathroom, Snow Patrol's song Chocolate was playing in the background. She was dressed in a green thin strapped top and a white ra-ra skirt, showing off her thin long legs. Her black bikini bra straps hung off of her shoulders as she bent down and placed one foot into her black strapped sandals. She picked up the other sandal and walked over to the door and leant against the door frame, lifting her foot high into the air to place the other sandal on….and that was it. She was ready, ready for the beach party. Slowly she turned and made her way over to the full length mirror resting against her bedroom and wall and looked at herself. "Back of your mind" She said, leaning in closer applying some lip balm to her lips.
Haley appeared in the doorway, she was dressed in a pair of three quarter length jeans and a blue strapped top, she sighed, "Are you sure you want to do this Peyton?"
Peyton turned and her looked at Haley and smiled, "Yes…I need normality right now, and what's more normal than going to one of Brooke's parties. Besides, if I didn't show she'd figure something was up and I'm just not ready to her yet, or anyone." She said, she was bending the truth again. She didn't want to tell Brooke because of the whole Lucas factor and all of the drama that would bring up. No, she thought to herself. Back of your mind, tonight is not about this…it's about normality, but then she smirked to herself. Besides, how long is it going to be before I can wear a ra-ra skirt again? Wait, did that meant she was leaning more towards keeping the baby…No, back of your mind Peyton, she told herself. Sighing, she looked at Haley "Are you sure you wanna go though?" She repeated the question back to Haley.
Haley took in a deep breath and nodded, "Yes." She knew that Nathan was going to be there so she had to go, she wasn't ready to let go of Nathan or their marriage. "But I think we should have like a signal when we want to leave, like a nod or something."
Peyton laughed, "A nod? Hmm, too common." She paused and thought about it trying to think of a good sound or look to make, one that wouldn't be too obvious to other people but one that the two of them would recognise. "How about we just think about it on the way there…" Peyton turned and walks towards Haley, resting her hands on her shoulders as she pushed her out of the bedroom, leaving the music playing.
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There wasn't a cloud in the sky while the sun began to set. The music was already blaring from the DJ's speakers and loads of seniors were already on the beach, chatting away to one another, dancing with one another and Nathan and his friends had set up a soccer pitch on the beach and had began to play a game, using jackets as goal posts. Tim and another guy were walking down the steps from the pier onto the beach, carrying a silver cased keg. They placed it down next to three identical kegs. Tim ran over to Nathan and nodded, "Dude, we got the keg from the basement of your beach house."
Nathan nodded and looked over to the keg, which his father had actually bought for him. Nathan laughed, "Yeah well, the old man is trying to keep me on side so he figured what better way than indulge me." He laughed and got a pat on the back from a guy walking past. The truth was, Nathan knew exactly why Dan was trying to keep him on side, to keep him away from his mother and more importantly away from Haley. He sighed and looked across the beach and watched as Brooke made her way over to the guys. She was dressed in a black bikini with a pink sarong wrapped around her waist, showing off her Californian tanned boy. He nodded to her.
Brooke nodded back to Nathan and stopped, looking around. The beach was already filled with the majority of the senior class. Everyone knew that when she threw a party, it was the place to be for the next few days at school it would the hottest topic of conversation. She slowly made her way across the sand and headed over to he DJ booth and smiled at Mouth who was behind, DJ'ing and then to Lucas who was standing next to him. She and Lucas hadn't really spent much time together this past week, even though they had said they were going to make a go of things…it seemed neither of them really put in the effort. "Keep the music upbeat, Mouth."
"Sure thing, Brooke." Mouth nodded to her, watching as she walked away to do the meet and greets. He couldn't help but stare at her body, it was no secret that he admired her, everyone thought Brooke Davis was just another self absorbed cheerleader but he knew differently, she was sweet and kind, well she had to be because she was nice to him and he wasn't exactly Mr. Popular. Mouth turned and looked at Lucas, whom he envied for mostly everything. "Hey if you wanna head off and play soccer or be with Brooke, I'm fine here…" He said, he felt as though Lucas was hanging around to keep him company, because he pitied him.
Lucas nodded to Mouth, "I'm fine here Mouth." He smiled at his friend, the truth was he wasn't particularly in the mood to play soccer with Nathan. The brothers hadn't exactly been that friendly to one another since Nathan got back from high flyers and he didn't really feel in the mood to play devoted boyfriend to Brooke, when it was clearly the last thing she wanted…and he wanted. He stopped midway through his rant as he looked up onto the pier and saw Peyton and Haley walking with one another…which was strange, especially give their last encounter.
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The summer had just gotten under way, the school had only been out for a couple of days and he had already been roped into playing bus boy at his mom's café. It wasn't that bad really, he didn't mind pitching in but with Haley being home it made it even better. They would just hang out after hours and talk about anything and everything, the way the used to…before basketball, before Nathan had entered the scene. Lucas sighed and picked up a chair, placing it above the table. He looked over at Haley, who had just turned the sign on the door to closed, "You know you're more than welcome to come to the movie with me and Peyton." He said, watching her.
Haley turned and looked at him, raising her brow. "Right, what fun that would be." She said sarcastically. "Between the three of us, we have three broke hearts, a broken marriage, a deceased parent and…well, you're life really doesn't suck that much compared to Peyton and mines." She said, walking back towards the counter.
Lucas shook his head and walked over to another table, stacking the chair on top of the table. He turned and looked at the door and saw Peyton walk in, he smiled gently at her. "Hey, I'm almost ready."
Peyton nodded and looked around. She paused seeing Haley, "I'll just wait outside." Peyton turned around and left the café, doing exactly what she said she would do. She waited outside.
Lucas nodded to himself, not reading too much into it. She was probably just tired or something.
Haley sighed and threw her apron over the counter, "Well I'm done…"
Lucas nodded, "Me too." He walked over to the door, joined by Haley. Opening the door, he watched as Haley walked through and followed, closing the door behind him. He turned and looked at Peyton, "I invited Haley to come with us, hope that's cool."
Peyton turned and looked at Haley and faked a smile. "Sure, whatever."
Haley sighed, her week had already been filled with trying to get the lease back for her old apartment and trying to get in contact with her travelling parents, she was tired and annoyed, "Is it me or is there a little hostility in the air?" She asked simply, looking directly at Peyton. It sounded a little more harsh than she had intended
Lucas looked from one girl to the other, confused.
Peyton kept walking, not bothering to look at Haley when she simply responded, "It's not you."
Haley stopped in her tracks and folded her arms, "Well then what's with the ice queen treatment?" She and Peyton had always gotten along, well not always but since they had been friends. It was Peyton who actually made her feel more welcome in a group that she felt like she didn't fit into.
"Hmm, so in other words why am I being a bitch?" Peyton asked
Lucas just looked at each girl, he didn't know what to say and he certainly didn't wanna take any sides, so he just stayed silent.
"In other words, yes…" Haley sighed, "If it's because of what happened between me and Nathan, well it's good that you're sticking up for Nathan and all…but really, it's none of your business."
Peyton shook her head, "Yeah it is partly about how you screwed Nathan over." She walked up to Haley, and stared down at her. "But more than that, it's about how you just left…the way you left…" She continued, "You didn't even have the decency to call any of your friends to let the know what was going on…" The truth was, she annoyed at Haley for just taking off. "But I guess its true, people always leave right?" Peyton sighed and looked at Lucas, "You know what I'm not really in the mood to watch a movie now, I'll see you later." She turned and walked away from the two of them.
Haley sighed, defeated. She knew that when she left she had hurt people but she hadn't really considered how much she had hurt them. She knew that Peyton had an issue with abandonment and why shouldn't she, people always did seem to abandon her, and now she had done exactly the same thing.
---------
Three hours later and the party was still going. The sky had completely darkened, with moon shining brightly making a pretty reflection over the sea. People were dancing in front the of the DJ booth, guys and girls rubbing their lust filled teenage bodies up against one another. Nathan and the guys were still playing their game of soccer, and were being watched by a group of girls cheering them on. Haley walked over to the DJ booth and stood beside Lucas, "UH, look at those girls…they're practically naked and throwing themselves at him." She said referring to Nathan.
Lucas curiously looked over to where the soccer game was taking place and noticed the group of girls gathered around watching. "They're in their bathing suits." He said, looking back at Haley. "And I don't think Nathan is paying any attention to them anyways." He was trying to reassure her, he hadn't been watching the soccer game, he had been watching a certain blonde cheerleader who was talking to his girlfriend. "Hey…uh, do you know why Peyton wasn't in school this afternoon?" Lucas turned and looked at Haley
"Uhh…" She paused, what was she supposed to say? Peyton hadn't told her not to tell anyone else that she wasn't pregnant, but she also knew that Peyton wouldn't want her to tell anyone else. The way she had spoken about not wanting Brooke to find out, jumped to her mind. Wouldn't Brooke be more understanding of the situation? They were after all best friends and Brooke probably had more knowledge about pregnancies and false alarms.
"Haley…"
Haley turned and looked at Lucas, realising she was thinking too much and not saying enough. "Yeah, she wasn't feeling well so I took her home." That was simple and it was the truth, okay it was a slightly distorted version of the truth. Why was he so interested in why Peyton was off at school? She looked at Lucas and then turned and looked at Peyton and Brooke, where his attention had escaped to. "So, how's the love life?" She watched as Lucas turned back and looked at her a little startled. "I heard about you and Brooke, being none-exclusive, that's gotta hurt."
Lucas sighed, "Not really."
Haley frowned, confused. "Not really?" She turned and looked back at Brooke and Peyton and then back to Lucas. "Not really…wait, I don't get it. You pinned over Brooke the whole summer and now she's back and you two are dating none-exclusively and it doesn't bother you?"
"I didn't pine!"
"Oh you pined, my friend!" She said honestly. "Especially towards the end of summer, you were even more broodier than ever and I didn't know that was even possible."
"Yeah well, I wasn't brooding over Brooke." Lucas looked down at Haley, he hadn't told anyone about what had happened between him and Peyton over the last three weeks of summer. That's why he was more, broodier than ever, because he had once again found himself in between Brooke and Peyton and once again had found himself wanting Peyton more than wanting Brooke, and it annoyed him because Peyton had rejected him before and he didn't want to face that rejection again.
"Well then who were you-" Haley watched as Lucas turned and looked back at Brooke and Peyton, she leaned in closer to him as she turned her body trying to see who he was watching and who he wasn't…and then it clicked. He wasn't looking at Brooke, he was looking at Peyton. She pulled back, shocked. "Wait – wh-wh-what?" Haley stuttered… "You and Peyton?" She said a little a more softly.
Lucas nodded and sighed. He had wanted to speak to someone for so long about the torment he was feeling inside, he couldn't tell Peyton because she was obviously avoiding him after what had happened and he couldn't tell anyone else because they would be judgemental, oh so you cheated on Brooke again with Peyton? Is all he could hear in his head, when the truth was, he didn't cheat on Brooke because he hadn't slept with Peyton when Brooke and he were together. "Haley you can't tell anyone…" He said looking back at her.
Haley covered her hands with her face, everything was making sense now. So that was why Peyton hadn't wanted Brooke to find out about her being pregnant, it was about Lucas. She should have known, when it came down to those two girls it was always about Lucas. "Oh Lucas," She sighed, her hands still covering her face. "You don't know what you've done." She took her hands away from her face and saw Lucas looking at her, confused. "I have to …go." Haley walked away from Lucas, she couldn't stay there…otherwise she would tell him, tell him what Peyton should tell him. Haley stopped and looked over at Brooke and Peyton, the two of them were laughing. Haley sighed gently to herself, and decided that she would just walk away for now; she didn't want to bother Peyton because she seemed happy so instead she headed up the stairs and down the pier, away from the party.
Nathan stopped midway through his soccer game and watched as Haley walked away from the party, she looked upset. Should he follow her? They weren't together anymore, but he still loved and cared about her and it hurt him to see her looking upset. He turned and looked at the guys, "I'm gonna get a drink." He started to make his way across the sand, towards the keg but was confronted by a half naked, smiling Brooke. "Wow…"
Brooke smirked and looked herself up and down, "Thank you." She looked up at him; his blue eyes seemed to be extra lit tonight. "So uh, what do you think of the party?"
Nathan looked around and saw everyone having a good time, "I think it's a hit." He nodded looking back down to Brooke and smiled gently at her, "So…we're friends right?" He watched as she nodded and he smirked, "Well how about a dance?"
Brooke looked up at Nathan, they were friends…they had gotten closer over the summer. She looked back at Lucas, who wasn't even looking at her. He hadn't looked at her all night; well she didn't think he had because she hadn't really looked at him. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten he was there…and that wasn't a good thing. She turned and looked back up at Nathan, "Well since we're friends and you're not hitting on me, I guess we can dance." She turned around and headed over to the DJ booth, with Nathan following her. She stopped and turned around, smiling up at Nathan. She leaned up, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and they began to dance.
Peyton had made her way down the beach, closer to the water. She took off her strappy sandals and held them by the straps in her hands as she walked along the wet sand, digging her feet in deeper with each step. She stopped and turned, looking out to the sea. Tonight had been nice, like old times. Her and Brooke had just hung out, she hadn't thought about the pregnancy once…but now she was alone again and…
"Hey"
Peyton turned around and saw Lucas walking up behind her, well she was alone. "Hey…great party huh?" She said. She was finding it increasingly harder to make normal conversation with Lucas, for many reasons; the thought of them in her bed having sex together, the thought of the baby growing inside of her.
Lucas nodded, resting his hands inside of his jean pockets. "Yeah…"He looked back towards the party and saw Brooke and Nathan dancing together, and it didn't bother him at all. He should have been jealous, but he wasn't…Instead, he turned and looked at Peyton and smiled, "Do you wanna dance?"
Peyton turned and looked at him, stunned. He was asking her to dance, in plain view of the party…in plain view of Brooke. She turned her attention back to the party and saw Brooke dancing with Nathan…wait, Brooke and Nathan? They didn't really even like each other and now they were dancing with one another.
"Peyton?"
Peyton turned back and looked at Lucas and gently nodded. She watched as he took a step closer to her. She looked up into his baby blue, welcoming eyes and felt his arms wrap around her waist bringing their bodies closer to one another. She dropped her sandals to the floor and rested her head against his shoulder as they dance slowly with one another, together. This right here, this was perfect.
