Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill.

Pairing: Nathan and Peyton. Strong Rachel and Nathan Friendship.

Rating: Strong T

Warnings: None.

A/N: Merci. arigato for the reviews dudes, you are totally awesome. And all who read.

Perfect Situation For A Fool

Glancing at Peyton once again, Brooke resisted the urge to ask what had happened with Lucas. It had to be serious if the packed bags and destroyed expression on Lucas' face, were anything to go by. To be honest, she felt kind of sorry that the two blondes' matrimony had lasted barely 4 months before falling apart, and what sucked was she had seen it coming.

It was just that, whenever Peyton looked at Lucas, Brooke never saw the sparkle that usually indicated her friend was in love. Not forgetting the blonde's distraught appearance before the wedding. The way Peyton had bawled one would have mistaken the impending celebration for some sort of death sentence.

Keeping her mouth shut seemed to be getting much harder as time passed by and her best friend remained solemn. "Okay, courtesy silence is off P. Sawyer, you need to start talking. What happened?"

Unable to face her, Peyton remained staring out the window searching for words. "Lucas and I are over." It saddened her somewhat that it ended the way it did, but it had to be done. If he hated her, she'd understand, but right now she wanted to postpone telling Brooke the reason for the separation because she needed her best friend before shit hit the proverbial fan.

Nathan still needed to be told, and it was only fair to tell him before anyone else.

"Define over," Brooke prompted, but got no response. "What I mean, best friend, is that is it over like 'we had a fight, I'm an emotional bitch and we'll figure it out' or over as in 'a Naley magnitude type of break up'."

It was kind of insane that she still felt a small tinge of jealousy at the mention of the so called epic Naley. "The latter would apply," she finally settled. It was far from it, because her and Lucas didn't compare to Naley.

"Divorce?"

"It's highly likely," she confirmed, but quickly went on, "but… could we not talk about this. At least not right now?"

"Fine, consider this conversation on pause, but once you get settled, I'm so pressing play on it again," pulling into her driveway.

Whether the blonde liked it or not, she would tell her everything.

***

"Hey… Scott," the petite brunette who'd been eyes him openly all night, finally approached him. "Good game." Gray eyes not hiding their appreciation of his good looks. Nathan was finally getting use to it, women throwing themselves at him hoping to score with an NBA player, but all failed.

The Nathan in junior year, would have been pulling her out of the party, but he had grown up, and manned up, or rather fell in love since then and meaningless encounters just didn't appeal to him. It didn't appeal to him when he divorced from Haley, it didn't appeal to him when he found out Peyton got engaged, it didn't appeal to him when she got married, and it still didn't appeal to him now. And yeah he'd tried about twice, but mid taking his clothes off, he'd put a stop to it.

"Thanks," he said, not showing any interest at all but, the brunette either didn't care, or saw it as some kind of challenge.

Moving into his personal space, she run a finger down his chest. "So how about -"

"- I actually have someone," Nathan said before the girl could finish her proposition.

"She doesn't have to know."

"I believe he said no," Rachel said from behind, scowl firmly in place showing she was less than impressed. "And in case your synapses aren't firing right, that mean back off."

The brunette rolled her eyes, "Do you know her?" addressing Nathan solely.

"Yeah, I'm his my fiancé, beat it before my fist make an impromptu meeting with your face," pushing herself between the shorter woman and Nathan, arms winding round his neck. "Ready to get out of here?" purposely ignoring the girl.

His deep blue eyes remained trained on the red-head, not straying from her for a second. "Thought you'd never ask," a smirk tugging at her lips, snaking an arm round her waist leaving a flabbergasted brunette in their wake.

Once out of ear shot, Rachel moved her mouth close to his ear and whispered, "You so owe me," running a false seductive hand up his chest, as they made their way out of the party, toward the elevators.

"Hey it's not my fault you've made yourself my groupie eradicator," he whispered back, in her ear the same way. "But fiancé? A little too far do you think?" leading her into the elevator, removing himself from her, to lean at the back of the car.

She laughed, "Wifey, would have been too far. Besides that skank practically eye-raped you five times over tonight, I was saving you hot ass from her slutty claws."

Nathan smiled, he was happy that Rachel decided to tag along for his away games. It was nice to have someone to hang out with him. "Have you been checking out my ass, Red?"

"You're eye candy Natey-boo, so it's a given I check you out once in a while," it was true, she wasn't blind. Nathan was gorgeous, and she did look from time to time. But that was just it; look, but never touch was the motto. She loved him too much as her friend, to try ruin it with anything other than a platonic friendship.

He smirked, "So… what up with you and Bridges anyway?"

"I'm a flirt," she told him, knowing exactly where his mind was at; Bridges was good looking, but she was over meaningless sex, and anything more would be impossible at the moment. She was not over Lucas yet as pathetic as it sounded. "Nothing more."

"You sure 'bout that?" eyebrow raised.

Sending him a glare, "watch it Hot Shot, your walking on thin ice."

"It okay to want someone, Red." She knew that too, but didn't say anything walking out of the elevator with Nathan close behind. It would be easy to just try and move on, but she couldn't do what Lucas did to her to another person. Moving on required time, and it was yet to happen for her.

"Two more weeks. How are you feeling?" she asked, changing the subject. When crowded, she deflected, sue her.

Honestly, he really wanted to be back in Tree Hill as much as he didn't want to go back. Jamie was there, and if there was someone he missed in insane proportions, it was his son. Skype-ing and phone calls weren't enough. But going back meant it would be harder to avoid Peyton, and stay way from her away.

How was he feeling? "Can't wait to see my son," he smiled.

***

Green eyes betrayed her worry, as Peyton waited in the seemingly cold office for Dr. Townsend to return from attending to an emergency. Today was d-day; they would confirm whether or not she had Preeclampsia. There was a small possibility that it was a false alarm and didn't mean anything, and she was banking on that small possibility.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting Peyton," was the first thing Nicole said, when she entered the office. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

It felt like an eternity, but she wasn't one to bitch out unnecessarily. "It's okay, you're a doctor it's understandable," watching the doctor flip through her the results. "What's the verdict?"

"Your pressure seem to be even higher than last time, are you under any stress?" Nicole decided it was easier to ease her to the conclusion of the results than just blurt it out.

Was she under stress? Yes, she was. With Brooke finding out, leading to a heated argument that had the potential of end a friendship; stress was an understatement. "No," it was a lie, and the small knowing light flashing in the older woman's eyes told her, that she was aware of the lie, but the doctor didn't call her on her bullshit.

"You tested positive for Proteinuria, which is basically a condition where traces of proteins that are usually confined to blood appearing in the urine, which is a sure sign of Preeclampsia…"

Nicole kept on talking but, her mind was stuck on one word. Preeclampsia. It was now cemented in stone, that she had it. The condition that raised risk of miscarriage. The dull ache in her head that just hadn't gone away the whole day, seemed to become even more pronounced.

She was practically a zombie through out the examination. Was this some sort of retribution for lying to Nathan about what he really meant to her, or sleeping with him only to marry his brother mere hours later, or saying yes to Lucas knowing she wasn't in love with him?

God, her life felt like a really bad soap opera, and her choices were to blame.

But out of all the things going wrong around her, the worst had to be the fact that the one good thing in her life, was being unfairly threatened. In her gut, she knew that despite not having concrete proof to show for it, the baby had to be Nathan's.

It was time to put all possible doubts to rest. And now all she could do was pray hard and hope for the best.

"I was wondering if we could talk about paternity testing again?"

***

"Why don't you go see that cute son of yours while I handle the unpacking?" Rachel suggested, knowing Nathan was itching to rush through that door and see his son. Heck, she was itching to see the little heartbreaker after close to two months away.

Nathan had to raise an eyebrow at that, not that he was going to dispute, "you. Unpack?"

"I've been known to do that from time to time, now get your fine ass out of here before I change my mind," she threatened good naturedly, getting a kiss on the temple as gratitude.

"Don't strain yourself," was the blue eyed male's warning before shutting the door behind him.

Taking a breath, she looked round the first place she'd ever called home with smile. It felt good to be home. But, getting home required unpacking since the next few games would he home games.

Managing to drag both their ridiculously heavy bags upstairs, she began the unpacking process, of course starting with Nathan's so she can be over with it first. The first task was separating what needed to be washed, and what needed to be put away which was surprisingly was easy. It should have been scary how easy she was doing it, but after the four months of reconnecting and becoming friends it didn't surprise her. What did surprise her though, was the white satin belt that she knew belonged to a women's silk robe, nestled between his things. She didn't have to take a wild guess to who the owner was. Peyton.

Why didn't it surprise her even with the time away, he still had her in mind. Two things that probably stayed with him always were Jamie and Peyton. It would be hypocritical if she said anything, when Lucas hadn't completely left her mind as well.

Placing it on his bedside table with a sad smile, she left the room to handle her own unpacking.

***

To say he had a good afternoon with his son would have been an understatement, but that didn't mean both Brooke's and Haley's cool reception earlier didn't ran through his mind all day. What the hell happened in the months he's been away that he didn't know about?

"'Night Daddy, Momma" Jamie called over his shoulder, obeying his mother order to get ready for bed.

Once Nathan was sure his son was out of earshot, he turned to Haley. "Okay what's up? You've been giving me the evil eye and I'm clueless to what I've done this time." If he'd done something low down and dirty, then he would have accepted the treatment, but when he was completely innocent; he didn't appreciate it.

"Did you sleep with Peyton?" Haley cut to the chase, angry beyond belief. There she had been, throwing herself at him hoping for a reconciliation, when he'd been sleeping around with one of her best friends. Heck, she'd suspected it, but it still hurt more than she had thought it would.

Out of all the things he'd expected her to say, that definitely wasn't one of them. He stood in stunned silence for the longest moment, not really knowing what to say. One of the things he hadn't expected to get back to, was the truth coming out. "Yes," he said, in a low tone. He couldn't lie or deny it.

"Get out," Haley whispered, mortified at the tears building up in her eyes. Hearing it from him just hurt the more.

"Haley -"

"- Get. out!"

She was hurt, livid, and probably wouldn't want to hear a damn thing he said. So he left.

"And next time you want to see Jamie, call first."

More soon

A/N: I'm no good with fight scenes so I try avoid writing them. But the Brooke confrontation will probably be written in a future chapter, I just need to work on it some more. Subtle request: let me know what you think of this one, please. The title is Perfect Situation For A Fool by George Highfill & Jai Josefs. As always…

Reviews would be lovely. Constructive Criticisms is welcomed. Flames … "to each his own".