Okay so I posting this after a lot of debate with myself. However I better get some replies or that's it I'm out of here.
"How does this look," Maureen asked.
Haley glanced up at her friend and smiled, "You look great."
"Great like I'm trying to hard or great like I just threw this on without any thought?"
"How do you answer a question like that," Haley asked Peyton who was sitting next to her.
"I have no idea. I should've brought Brooke with me."
"You two are not helping."
"Sorry Moe. But why are you stressing out? You've been out with Jake once before and you've known him for years. It's not like you're just getting to know each other."
"Haley's right. He's not a stranger."
"I think that's part of why I'm so scared of blowing this. If this doesn't work, I don't only lose a potential love interest I lose a really good friend."
"Just take a deep breath and jump in," Haley said. "You and Jake will work. I have no doubts."
"Thanks Hales. You're pretty smart there girlie."
"I do try," she smiled.
"I need shoes."
"Brown sneakers," Peyton said.
"Good idea. Who needs Brooke when I have you two?"
"Speaking of Brooke, I think she has herself a crush on a certain best friend of mine," Haley smiled.
"I know. I caught her staring the other day when I was in the gym with Mouth testing out his new equipment," Maureen smiled. "It's kind of cute in a weird way."
"Yes, but does he want her too," Peyton asked quietly.
"It's a possibility," Haley said.
"She is constantly finding reasons to talk to him. It's starting to border on the psychotic."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. And Luke is being a typical guy and soaking up the attention."
"And this is the first time this has ever happened," Haley asked.
"Yes."
"Is he gonna make a move?"
"I don't know. She's not sure how he feels about her and she doesn't really like rejection."
"Who does? But Brooke has never had anything to worry about in that area," Maureen said.
"This is true," Haley said. "Every guy at school would die to get a chance with Brooke Davis."
"Yeah but this time Brooke's not looking for wham bam thank you ma'am. She wants something a little deeper."
"Then Luke is an excellent choice," Maureen grinned. "And I am not just saying that 'cause he's my brother."
"Of course not," Haley smiled. "Did Seth call you about the party next weekend?"
"Yeah," Maureen grinned. "He said he was gonna invite everyone who had been at Simon's party because, shock of shocks, he liked the guys from the court."
"And he invited the cheerleaders much to the basketball team's dismay," Peyton smiled. "He invited us all right in front of Tim and Nathan. I thought Nathan was going to pop a blood vessel when Brooke said yes and everyone else agreed."
"Oh that should make for a fun practice," Haley rolled her eyes. "Not to mention the tutoring session we have later on."
"Good luck," Maureen said sympathetically. "Anyway, I had a reason for inviting you both over."
"You mean it wasn't just to pick our brains for fashion advice?"
"No. Luke's birthday is in a month and Keith, Mom, and I think we should have a party for him in addition to the monster present we are giving him."
"That's a great idea."
"I talked to the guys at the court and Mouth's gonna do music. Peyton, can you help him?"
"Absolutely," Peyton nodded.
"Good. Skillz, Fergie, and Junk are gonna help with food and all that other good stuff. I just kind of need help with the decorations and keeping Lucas out of the loop. Also, guest list. I figure we should invite some of the team. But I don't know who would come and not proceed to be an ass to Lucas."
"My advice? Just invite Jake and Ruben. Everyone else is to brainwashed by Nathan's crap to act like a human being."
"Speaking of Nathan, I should get going."
"You need a ride," Maureen asked. "I can drop you off on the way to pick up Jake at the school."
"No, that's okay. A walk could do me some good," Haley smiled.
"Okay."
"Call me later and tell me how the date went," Haley smiled.
"I will. Bye Hales."
"Bye."
Haley walked out of Maureen's room via the back door. The set up of Maureen's room was identical to Lucas' so they both had a door that led directly outside.
"Hey Peyton? Do you think the squad would want to go to Luke's birthday party?"
"Absolutely," Peyton nodded. "In fact, I'd be a little insulted if you didn't invite me."
"No worries, your invitation is in the bag."
"So, what's this monster present you guys are getting Lucas?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course."
"Okay well Keith is building Lucas a car and Mom and I are chipping in to cover the cost of parts."
"Get out! That's a great gift."
"I just hope Luke likes it." Maureen checked her watch, "Okay I gotta go. See you later?"
"Sure," Peyton smiled as she and Maureen walked out of the house. "Hey, Moe?"
"Yeah?"
"You and Mouth are friends, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Is he available?"
"Mouth? Peyton Sawyer, are you serious?"
"In a pathetic kind of way, yeah," Peyton smiled a little.
"Yeah, he's available and probably more than interested. I think you two would be cute together."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Call me later."
"I will. Hey you have a car."
"I know."
"So, why doesn't Lucas?"
"It was my mom's car."
"Oh." Peyton knew that Karen and Maureen's birth mother had been best friends in high school but she didn't know anything else. "It's a cool car."
"I like it. Bye," Maureen said.
"Bye."
OTHOTHOTHOTHOTH
"Are you listening to me at all," Haley asked of Nathan.
"I've heard every word," Nathan said tapping a pen against his English book.
"Oh good. So, how do you think Peyton will look with purple hair?"
"Fine," Nathan said. Then he looked up, "What?"
"I knew you weren't listening to me. Nathan, if you're not going to pay attention there's no point to this," Haley said closing her book. "And I don't feel like wasting my time."
"Wait Haley, I'm sorry. I've just got a lot on my mind."
"Okay. So get your head together and we'll try this again. See you tomorrow."
"You need a ride home?"
"Sure, why not?"
Nathan grabbed his keys and he and Haley went out to his car.
"Wanna talk about it," she asked after a few moments of driving in silence.
"You know why Peyton broke up with me," Nathan started.
"The one night stand with the skank? I've heard rumors."
"Well, the skank used to go to school with Lucas and Maureen and I've been trying to track her down so that I can get some information so that Maureen will talk to me instead of sniping at me."
"Sneaky," Haley rolled her eyes.
"You got any better ideas?"
"Maureen is very protective of those she loves and she loves Lucas. He's her big brother and you treated him like crap. She's not gonna let you off the hook that easily. As for better ideas, why not actually try talking to her instead of trying to work your charm on her?"
"Apparently she's immune to the Scott charm."
Haley giggled. "So who was she?"
"Who was who?"
"The one night stand," Haley clarified.
"Oh. Her name was Nicole Williams."
"Nicole- Niki? You slept with Niki? Oh God, Nathan tell me you used a condom."
"That's blunt."
"Okay, I'm going to tell you something. Every year the senior class at St. Bernadette's had this underground poll. Last year Niki was voted the girl most likely to get an STD before she turned 21."
"Are you sure we're talking about the same girl?"
"Niki Williams. Dark hair, tan skin, and heavy eyeliner, right?"
"Right," Nathan nodded as he stopped in front of Haley's house.
"That's her. Thanks for the ride and one more thing: she's Jake's ex-girlfriend. She probably showed up at your party looking for him that night. Be careful Nathan." Haley got out of the car and headed inside.
OTHOTHOTHOTH
"So, I had fun tonight," Maureen said as she and Jake drove towards home.
"So, I had fun tonight too," Jake smiled.
"Is this weird for you?"
"What part?"
"Well, we've been friends for a while, you play ball with my brother, I'm one of the few people in this town that know you have a baby, you're currently living in my house, and we just went out on a second date."
"No, nothing weird there," Jake smiled.
"You've got the same strange sense of humor my uncle Keith has."
"Thank you, I think. Let me ask you something."
"Ask away."
"Your mom was a cheerleader, right?"
"They both were, why?"
"Just wondering why you're not," Jake said.
"Yuck, me a cheerleader? I don't think so," Maureen shook her head. "I'm not nearly perky enough."
"That hasn't stopped Peyton," Jake pointed out as Maureen parked the car.
"Sawyer's different. She does it because she's best friends with Brooke and because she wants to feel closer to Anna."
"You don't want to feel closer to your mom?"
"I live with my mom."
"I mean Manhattan."
Maureen blew out a sigh and leaned back in the driver's seat, "I don't know. I look at pictures of her from when she was my age and I wonder what she was like. I don't like to ask Mom because it's a touchy subject and Keith didn't know her all that well."
"Her parents aren't around?"
"They died when I was two."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. They were not the most giving people in the world. The one thing both Keith and Mom agree on is that 'those people' were the worst parents in the world."
"I think Nathan's old man could give them a run for their money," Jake said.
"Right. Forget Mommy Dearest, they should make a movie about Dan and his parenting techniques or lack thereof. You know, there are times when I see Dan being too hard on Nathan and I feel bad for him because Deb isn't around more and then Nathan goes and does something like kidnapping Lucas and leaving him in the middle of nowhere and then the pity goes away and I think everything awful in life that he gets he'll deserve."
"Not everything. He didn't do anything to deserve being Dan's son."
"And yet he's done nothing to try and stop himself from becoming him," Maureen said.
"Maybe he needs someone in his life to help him do that," Jake suggested. "Maybe Lucas can help him."
"Keith was never able to help Dan."
"Maybe Keith didn't try as hard as Lucas might."
"What do you mean?"
"Keith is in love with your mom, you do know that right?"
"Yes, I am aware of that."
"And I know Keith is a good guy but he might not have tried hard to get Dan to turn around so that Keith could be the one who was there for your mom and you and Lucas."
"I never really thought of it from that angle before but you might have a point," Maureen said thoughtfully. A few seconds later she looked at him and grinned, "Do we know how to kill a mood or what?"
"There was a mood?"
"Yes, there was a second date mood and we successfully killed it."
"Good point. We have to get that mood back," Jake said as his phone rang. "And we will as soon as I see who wants something." He pressed the connect button and spoke, "Hello?"
"She won't stop crying."
"Lucas?"
"Yes. Jake, she won't stop crying. I've fed her, changed her, rocked her, and I even tried singing to her. That just made her cry louder."
Jake bit his lip to hold back a laugh, "Okay, look man, we're right outside. We'll be inside in a second."
"Is Jenny okay," Maureen asked after Jake hung up.
"I'm sure she's fine. She's just not used to anyone but me and my parents being around so she's kind of freaking out," Jake said as he and Maureen got out of the car and headed towards the house. "The only way she can express that is by crying which is in turn freaking Lucas out so he called me."
"So, date over?"
"Date over," Jake nodded as they both stopped at the bottom of the steps leading to the porch outside of Lucas' room.
"In that case," Maureen slid an arm around Jake's neck and kissed him. "I had a really good time," she said when they were done.
"Good. The next date, I get to plan, okay?"
"Deal. I'm gonna go around back to my room. Let me know when you and Lucas wanna switch for the night."
"You got it."
Maureen walked around Jake with a smile on her face.
OTHOTHOTH
"Hey Jake," Nathan called down the hall as he jogged towards his teammate.
Jake looked up, "What's up Nathan?"
"I need to tell you something."
"Okay."
"It's about someone I think you know."
"Okay."
"I think I slept with your ex-girlfriend the other night."
"Ah, he figures it out," Jake nodded. "Yeah, I heard about that. Not your brightest move, man."
"Well, I talked about it with Haley and she figured out who it was and then she said that she might have been looking for you. I know you're starting to date Maureen so I just wanted to warn you that Niki's around."
"Appreciate the thought," Jake nodded. "Is that party of your dad's still on Friday?"
"Yeah. Feel free not to come," Nathan said. "Trust me, if I didn't live with him, I wouldn't go."
"Nah, I'll be there. Did you know your mom asked Moe to take pictures?"
"You're kidding."
"Nope, so she's going and I am going to keep her company while everyone kisses your dad's ass."
"Always a fun time. I'm just surprised Maureen agreed to go."
"She's getting paid."
"Good point. I wonder if I could convince my dad to pay me to go to this thing."
"Good luck with that," Jake said as they parted ways.
