CHAPTER 7

A/N; Thanks again for all the reviews! I got quite a reaction to Peyton in the last chapter, hopefully you guys see her in a better light in this one!

Peyton caught up to Nathan as he bounded down the stairs of the apartment block. She reached out and grabbed his shirt and used her own downwards momentum to pin him against the wall.

"Where are you going?" she demanded. Nathan was breathing hard, his eyes panicked.

"This isn't happening…" he shook his head vehemently. "What the hell just happened there? We just went out to get food and dvd's!"

"Your girlfriend is pregnant, that's what just happened! Why the hell are you running out on her?" Peyton poked his shoulder, her fingernails sharp.

Nathan shook his head, unable to process what Peyton was saying to him. "I'm not, I mean I won't. We were careful, how can this be happening?"

"It is happening, babe. It's gonna be ok. Let's just go back inside and we can all figure this out together. Take a deep breath." Peyton looked worried as Nathan looked as if he was about to pass out and the last thing she needed right now was to have to drag him back up the stairs, or worse, drive him to the hospital for smacking his head on the concrete floor.

Slowly Nathan turned and made his way back up the steps. When he reached the door of his apartment, he turned to Peyton who was following close behind him. "What am I going to do, Peyt? I don't know if I can do this…" Nathan turned and stared at the closed door. He put his hand around the handle and rested his head against the scratched door.

"You can do it, Nate. I know you better than anybody, and I know you're not Dan. You can be father Nathan and you can be a good one." Peyton reached out and massaged his shoulders "I know the timing sucks, but you always pick the worst time to do things." she chuckled. "You love Haley and you guys can make this work. Everything happens for a reason, right?" she reminded him of the mantra she always used whenever one of them had a crappy day or he had another huge fight with his dad.

Nathan nodded solemnly and opened the door, slowly entering the apartment. He could hear Haley crying in the bathroom and his heart broke. Lucas's calming voice was trying to soothe her but it didn't seem to be working. She looked up when he came into the bathroom, her eyes red and raw from crying. Lucas stood and left the bathroom, patting Nathan on the shoulder as he left.

Haley reached for his hand and he let her pull him to the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out like that." She wept, unable to control the flow of tears. She'd been stressing over this for over a week and now her fears were confirmed. Why did this have to happen to her?

"It's not your fault. I did this too." Nathan attempted a smile. "It's ok, we'll be ok. We'll see a doctor, make sure the test is right and we'll look at our options." Haley looked up at him, saw the strain in his face and squeezed his hand.

"What do you mean by 'options'?" she questioned, silently praying he wouldn't mean what Peyton had meant.

"You know what I mean, Hales." Nathan refused to look at her choosing instead to stare at the wall ahead of him. Haley shook free from his grasp and stood up, sweeping her hair away from her wet face.

"No" she glared down at her boyfriend who still refused to meet her eyes. "I will NOT have an abortion., Nathan. I will not kill my baby." She folded her arms across her chest, feeling very protective of the thing that 10 minutes ago she was dreading. She dared him to disagree with her as he stood slowly and finally looked at her.

"Fine" was all he said. He knew well enough that there was no point arguing with her about this, he very rarely won an argument with Haley James, sure hadn't she learned from the best? Even if he tried to reason with her and defend his opinions, she had already made up her mind.

She reached out for him again and pulled him into a tight hug. "I didn't want this to happen, Nathan but it has so I'm going to make the best of it." Haley looked up at him, her eyes pleading. "Are you with me on this?"

Nathan didn't need to think about it "Of course I am. We'll get through this." Haley smiled at him, her eyes shining.

"We're going to have a baby, Nathan. A little person who belongs to us, that we made." She leaned her head against his chest and sighed. "It'll be ok, I promise." Holding him tighter, she didn't see the aggrieved look her boyfriend was trying his best to hide.

Lucas was lost in his own little world when Peyton nudged him in the ribs. They were in her car, taking a little drive so that Nathan and Haley could have a little space to talk things over.

"What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Lucas tried to keep the alarm from his voice. "I think that this is a very complicated situation." He noticed Peyton roll her eyes "What am I supposed to think? My brother and best friend are knocked up and they're only 18, work minimum wage jobs and barely get by. They can hardly even take care of themselves, and now they have to take care of a baby." Lucas's voice rose but Peyton stayed silent. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"No need to apologise, I'm mad too." She shrugged. "I can't believe they'd be so reckless."

"Reckless or not, it's done. We have to be there for them." Lucas stated.

"Yeah we do. Oh my god, what's your mom gonna say? What's Dan and Deb gonna say?"

"Mom will be disappointed, but she'll understand. She's been there herself; she knows how hard it is. As for Dan and Deb, if Nathan wants to tell them, that's up to him."

"They probably won't even care; Dan has practically disowned Nathan as it is. And Deb just goes along with whatever he says." Peyton shook her head in dismay. Some parents just didn't know how lucky they were.

"Maybe we should head back, I don't think Nathan's taking it too well."

"Would you?" Peyton raised her eyebrow.

"Don't blame her Peyton." Lucas warned. "And don't pretend the sun shines out of Nathan's ass."

"I don't know why I keep getting shit from everyone for defending Nathan. He's my best friend, it's my job to protect him. He's done it for me for as long as I can remember. I'm not taking sides in this, Lucas, I just think they need to seriously think about this and make the right choice because this is something that is going to affect the rest of their lives." Peyton sighed and concentrated on the road as she made a U-turn to head back to Haley and Nathan's place.

"Yes, it's going to affect their lives. Not yours, not mine. Theirs." Lucas's voice softened. "Peyton, I know you and Nathan are close, even closer than he is to Haley at times, but you have to stay out of this. He's not all yours anymore."

Peyton flinched. Lucas had obviously hit a nerve with her. He knew that Peyton got a little territorial when Haley came into Nathan's life. For years it had just been Nathan and Peyton, two best friends who rarely let anybody else in and even for Lucas it had been a struggle to penetrate the armour that both of his friends had put up. They were fiercely protective of one another, and many thought that they would end up together one day. Lucas often wondered if Peyton's feelings ran deeper than just friendship but if they did, then she would never admit to it, but sometimes, just sometimes, Lucas noticed that Peyton could get quite jealous of Haley.

"Luke, you know I love Haley to pieces, and I don't mean to sound insensitive, but can't you see this from my point of view? Nathan was on the fast track to success but love blinded him and now here he is, working to the bone and about to become a teenage dad."

"And that's Haley's fault? Damn it Peyton, Nathan is a big boy and he makes decisions for himself. He chose to give up his scholarship by all by himself. It wasn't something he had to do, but he did it anyway." Lucas was getting more and more frustrated.

"I know…" Peyton whispered. She was fighting back tears of her own now. "I care about Haley too, you know. I want what's best for them both, I don't want them to end up like their parents."

"They won't. Trust me, they will do everything not to be like them." Lucas assured her.

When they arrived back at the apartment, Haley was curled up on the couch and Nathan was in the kitchen re-heating the take out that had gone cold. Lucas sat down awkwardly as Peyton went into the kitchen to help with the food.

"We got your favourite movie" he told her "Well, we got both yours and Peyton's favourite movies."

"I don't mind what we watch." she answered quietly, offering him a warm smile.

Lucas moved nearer to her and reached over to rub Haley's hand. He smiled back at her and winked, hoping she would get his signal that he was there for her. She squeezed his hand in reply and mouthed thank you.

Soon after, Peyton and Nathan joined them and the four claimed their seats as they distributed the thai food and beers, though Haley opted for soda. Clinking their bottles together, Nathan gave a small chuckle. "Here's to the next 18 years of diapers, sleepless nights, homework and hormonal teenagers." They all laughed, but inside they all knew there was nothing funny about what Nathan and Haley were about to go through.

A/N; Ok so another chapter done. I hope you all don't hate Peyton too much, and I know I'm making the whole situation more negative than it needs to be, but it's kind of the way this story is going. If you've heard the song by Tracy Chapman then you'll get the gist of it, but I might be convinced to do a happy ending…Review and let me know!