"Luke, slow down!" Peyton squealed from the backseat. Nathan glanced down at her to make sure that everything was okay. She was still laying on her back, her hands holding her stomach and her head in his lap. Her hooded green eyes winced in pain at every bump, but she tried to hold her composure. He could tell that she was scared, not sure what was going on or how to handle it.

"Peyt, Luke's going to get us there. It will be okay," he reassured her as soothingly as he could manage. She bit her bottom lips, their eyes meeting. "Just a few more minutes and we'll be at the hospital. Just try to hang in there, I'm right here with you."

"Talk to me, Nate. I'm really scared," she admitted softly. "Tell me about the last time you were truly happy. Tell me about something good."

Nathan wanted to tell her that the last time he could remember being happy was the morning after they slept together, just before everything had fallen apart, but he knew that would do little to ease her stress. Instead, he settled on a safe memory. "When I was in Florida, I used to go out and sit on the beach after a long day of practice and just watch the sun as it faded away. The sky would turn the most brilliant shades of indigo and pink; it was absolutely breathtaking. It reminded me of all the sunsets you and I used to watch – or at least pretend to watch – at the beach house. It was kind of comforting to know that even if everything has changed, some things are still there. We're still living under the same sun."

"That's pretty deep of you, Nate," she replied as Luke pulled up next to the emergency room at Tree Hill General. The motor was still running as Lucas pulled the door open to help Nathan and Peyton out of the backseat. Mouth pulled up just behind them with Brooke and the others in his car.

Nathan didn't have time to pay attention to them. "Park the car and meet us inside," he told his brother as he motioned for Brooke. "We'll take her in."

Peyton flinched as Nathan guided her through the busy emergency room. People rushed all around them as she clutched his hand tightly. "How are you feeling?"

"It hurts," she cried, tears welling her eyes. She carefully arranged herself in a chair while Nathan went to the window to find out how to get her in. The nurse behind the glass promised that she would return in just a minute with a wheelchair. A moment later, she followed Nathan over to where Brooke was trying to comfort her best friend. "Ms. Sawyer, I am going to take you back now."

"We'll be right here waiting," Brooke promised as she kissed the top of her friend's head.

"Nate, come with me."

Nathan nodded, thankful that she wanted him there because he couldn't imagine letting her go through this alone. "I'm with you, Peyt," he promised, just as he had that night when they had slept together. She held onto his hand tightly as the nurse pushed her down a sterile hallway and let them into one of the few private rooms in the ER.

The nurse promised that a doctor would be in with them very soon to do an ultrasound. "Have you already been tested?" she asked, making notations on a clipboard.

"Three days ago," Peyton informed the nurse. "Dr. Glaser is my obstetrician." Nathan watched the older woman scrawl something else on the chart before leaving them alone. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Nate." Tears were streaming down her face now, the fear only outshone by the guilt of her secret. "I was just waiting for the right time."

"You don't need to worry about that right now," he promised. "We can talk about that later. Right now, we just need to focus on the baby and making sure that you and it are okay."

"I didn't do this on purpose," she sobbed. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. At first, I just wanted the baby to go away. But when I started thinking about how this may be the only chance I get to have a piece of you, I wanted to keep it. I should have never thought about our baby like that, Nate. I love this baby, and now I may lose it."

Nathan leaned down and wrapped his arms around her. "Look at me," he demanded firmly. Her wavering eyes met his. "We are not going to lose this baby. We will figure this all out, I promise."

She nodded reluctantly as a doctor came into the room with a perfunctory knock. "Hello, Ms. Sawyer, I am Dr. Heller," the young man greeted them. "Let's just do a little exam and see what we have going on. Would you like him to step out for a moment?"

"No, I want him here."

"That's fine," the doctor agreed. "I just need you to lay back and relax, Peyton. Why don't you come up here and hold her hand to help her soothe her nerves."

Nathan shifted awkwardly before sitting on the appointed stool by Peyton's side. He held her delicate hand in his as he started to tell her more about the Florida sunset while the doctor went on with the examination. His distraction kept her calm, and after a few minutes, the doctor interrupted them to ask a series of questions. He asked if she felt pain each time he pressed on a different part of her abdomen. Each time elicited a negative response from Peyton. "Well, I think that everything looks pretty good here," he told them. "I'd like to do an ultrasound to make sure, but I'm fairly certain that everything is going to be just fine."

"Thank God," Peyton breathed, letting a deep gust of air escape from her lungs.

Nathan rubbed her knuckles affectionately and smiled at her, pushing a light wisp of hair from her forehead. "See, I told you."

She grinned before looking back at the doctor. "What do you think brought this on?"

"Most likely, your cramps were caused by stress. Peyton, this is your body's way of telling you that you need to slow down and take time to relax," he ordered. "Now, I'm going to roll this across your abdomen. It's going to be a little cold."

"You heard what he said, didn't you? Stress is not good for the baby," Nathan teased her lightly. Peyton nodded in response, her hand once again clutching his tightly. "Oh, wow."

Peyton's eyes darted to the screen where a tiny motion showed them the first image of their baby. There in black and white was their child. Its heartbeat chugged rapidly, reminding Nathan of a film strip from elementary school about a baby bird.

"Just as I thought, everything looks good here," Dr. Heller retorted, making notations on Peyton's chart. Holding the controls in his fist, he quickly snapped a picture and sent it to the printer. "I'm going to prescribe some prenatal vitamins and recommend that you take it easy. And congratulations to you both on your child!"

"Thanks," Nathan mumbled, folding the prescription in half and shoving it in his back pocket. Peyton slowly sat up and readjusted her clothing. Once everything was in order, she leaned weakly against Nathan's body as they made our way back to the waiting room. Occupying a row of plastic chairs, their friends rushed forward to meet them when they finally came through the heavy metal door.

"Is everything okay?" Brooke asked instantly, a step ahead of the crowd.

Nathan started to say something, but Peyton grabbed his wrist. "Everything is fine. I just have to take it easy," she answered. "Look, I know you all have a lot of questions, and I promise that I will answer them in time. But right now, I just want to go home and sleep. I can't handle much else today."

Haley looked at Nathan, her gaze full of hurt and anger. "I'll take you two home," Lucas offered. Peyton nodded helplessly as Brooke moved to her other side to help them outside.

Looking over at her best friend, Peyton started to apologize. "I'm sorry, Brooke. I promise that I am going to explain everything," she whispered. Nathan started to follow when Haley pulled on his shirt sleeve. Peyton took notice and shook her head sadly. I just ignored Haley because now just wasn't the time to dive into this.

Once they were inside the car, Lucas and Brooke in the front seat and Peyton reclining against Nathan in the back, Luke navigated the truck toward Peyton's house. Nathan hadn't been there since that morning, and it felt like everything was coming full circle as they made their way up the familiar shady street. "Brooke, is there anything you want to ask? What about you, Luke?"

Lucas looked at his brother in the rearview mirror. "I will do anything for you two, you know that," he promised. "I'm going to be an uncle."

Brooke turned slightly in the seat and looked at Nathan. "I just want to know how you could do this to her. She's not just some rebound girl."

"I am just as much a part of this as he is, Brooke," Peyton pointed out. "Don't be mad at Nathan. I am the one that pushed him away and refused to see him. I got scared and made up some line about wanting to protect our friendships. I really was just protecting myself."

"I should have fought harder," Nathan countered softly. "Peyt, I didn't want to let it go, and I certaintly didn't want that night to be the end of it. It ws what you said you wanted, so I thought I should respect that. I should have pushed a little more."

"You should be furious at me, Nate."

"I'm not," he reassured her. "I could never be mad at the woman carrying our child."

"They're going to be angry," she mused sadly, thinking of Haley and Jake. She knew that this had the potential to hurt both of them, and as much as they both liked to pretend that they didn't care, she knew that both Nathan and herself were worried about how it would affect them. There was still some kind of love there, even if it wasn't the same as it was three months ago.

"You're not alone in this, Peyton," he reminded her.

"No, you're not," Brooke chimed in. "Peyton, you are going to be a mother, and Nathan is going to be a father. It might not be easy for everyone to accept, but this isn't about them. It's not about Jake or Haley or Dan or anyone else who is going to want to have some say in this. This is about what is best for your child and your family."

Peyton smiled genuinely at her best friend, slightly taken aback at how cool, calm and mature Brooke was. "You're going to be there for me?" she asked Brooke. "Do I have your blessing?"

Brooke giggled. "Like you even have to ask, P. Sawyer," she declared as Lucas pulled the truck in front of Peyton's door. "We'll give you two a minute. Nate, you think you can get her inside on your own?"

"Yeah," he answered shortly. Luke threw his brother a look and Brooke waved before pulling him toward Peyton's front door. The two of them had grown up a lot in the time that they'd been apart, and although some of that snarky Brooke and broody Lucase were still there, they possessed a supportive maturity that surpassed all Peyton's expectations. As they disappeared into the house, Nathan turned and looked up at the exhausted blonde leaning heavily against him. "Let's talk about this, I mean, if you're ready to." Peyton nodded hesitantly. "Tell me everything."

"I figured out that I was late last week. I waited a few days, hoping that I was wrong but pretty much knowing that I wasn't," she began. "Finally, I decided to take one of those home tests. It came up positive, so I made an appointment with my gynecologist. Dr. Glaser confirmed it three days ago."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would have gone with you."

"I was scared, Nate," she sighed. "I mean, you're Nathan Scott. We were a disaster together, and I didn't want to make you feel obligated. I didn't even know if I wanted to keep the baby. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, and until I knew what I wanted, I didn't want to burden you with my problems."

"Our problems," he corrected her. "This is our problem. And it's not a problem unless you think of it that way, Peyt. I couldn't have planned for this, but I will do the right thing. I am going to help you raise our child if that's what you want to do. I want to be in our baby's life, even if I just did fight out about it."

"But we can't do this," she cried, pointing to her stomach. "It's not in your plan."

"You can't plan everything in life and sometimes, the biggest blessings come from the hardest or most unexpected things," he reasoned. The truth was, he knew that this had the potential to wreck everything he had dreamt of since he was a little kid, but maybe that was the way it was supposed to be. Maybe this was supposed to be his new dream. "I think our baby has the potential to be all that."

"Nate, are you prepared to lose everything?" she questioned him. She had to give him an escape clause. She wouldn't be an obligation to anyone. "Because you know if we go through with this, there is no going back. You could lose Haley forever, and I'm not sure what I am going to tell Jake."

He took her hand in his and brushed his thumb over her palm. "I lost Haley a long time ago, and I have to say, I'm glad that it ended when it did. She started to move on with Chris when she was gone, and that seemed to be what she wanted. And as for Jake, he's the one that left you. He doesn't really have the right to say anything about this, and if he can't support you, he never really loved you the way you deserved in the first place. You two have been over for as long as Haley and me. We didn't do anything wrong when we slept together. I think the real question is if you are over him."

"I loved Jake almost more than I have ever loved anyone," she replied. She couldn't say that she had never loved him as much as she had loved Nathan. They weren't ready for that yet. "I would have done anything to be with him, to make our relationship work. But that part of me died the day that he decided he could walk away from Tree Hill without me. I knew that I couldn't really forgive him for that, and it didn't make me as sad as it probably should. It was a relief to know that I was finally off the hook with that instantaneous family. I knew it wasn't my family. Anyways, Nate, I could have never slept with you if that part of my heart was still there."

"So, we're going to do this?"

"We're going to do this."

"I guess there is only one more question left then…"

"What's that?"

"Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, will you marry me?"