This right here was every mother's worst nightmare, well not the worst but it was pretty high up on the list. She didn't know what to say, what was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to yell and scream at the two of them until her heart was content? No, that wouldn't change anything – Peyton was pregnant and Lucas had gotten her that way. Karen sighed and raised her hands to her face, she had been in this boat herself; telling her parents that she was pregnant and she remembered all to well about Lucas and Brooke's pregnancy scare, it was the only time that she had ever slapped her son – and she had only slapped him because it hit too close to home. "I don't know what you expect me to say?" She had to hold herself back from being sarcastic and adding congratulations to the end of the sentence.

Lucas looked at his mom, her eyes weren't telling. When he had told her that Brooke might have been pregnant he saw a certain look in his mother's eyes, it was pure disappointment. He had expected to the see the same look tonight but it wasn't there. He turned and looked at Peyton, who was staring down at the floor. He reached over and rested his hands on hers, looking back to his mother. "We just wanted to tell you."

Peyton felt the warmth and the moistness of Lucas's hands which was a pure indication that he was probably just as nervous as she was. She looked up from the floor and looked at Lucas, she felt like smiling…because he was there, with her…being with her. She turned and looked at Karen, she had done her best not to look at her since Lucas had said that she was pregnant. Peyton closed her eyes, it felt like her stomach was doing back flips probably from the nausea or more likely from the feeling that at any moment Karen would yell, shout, look at her with complete and utter disappointed. Great, she felt the tears beginning to form in her eyes. Standing up from the table, she opened her eyes briefly. "I uh-" She stuttered "Need to get some air." She shook her head and walked across the kitchen, opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

Karen watched Peyton walk outside, she turned and looked at Lucas who was already on his feet ready to walk after her. "Wait…" Karen raised her hand and rested it on his chest, she looked up to her son. "You and me are gonna have a talk."

Lucas looked out to the porch and saw Peyton pacing around, he looked back down at his mom. "I know we do – but I have to…" He moved to step past his mother but she stepped in front of him again, her hand still resting on his chest. "Mom…"

"You're right…we will talk later." Karen turned and looked out onto the porch, "But right now I think it would best if I went outside and talked to Peyton."

Lucas frowned, "I don't think that's such a good idea." He didn't want his mom to go out there and talk to Peyton, he didn't want to make Peyton feel anymore scared and vulnerable than she already felt.

Karen turned and looked up at son, she took her hand away from his chest and rested it on her hip. "Lucas I know you think you know what you're doing, I know you think you have everything under control…but standing outside, pacing our porch is a scared pregnant seventeen year old girl and as I have a little experience in this area." She said half joking referring to her own teen pregnancy, "I think it might be a little wiser for me to offer the advice and the ear to talk to."

Lucas looked down at his mother, he knew she was right but that didn't stop him from wanting to go outside and comfort Peyton, to protect her. "So you're pulling them mom card."

Karen smiled and nodded, "Yes I am…now why don't you make yourself useful and make some hot tea for us." Karen watched as Lucas nodded and proceeded to walk across the kitchen. She turned around and walked outside, joining Peyton on the porch. She wasn't sure what she was going to say – Peyton had already been through so much in her life, losing a mother at such an early age, her father was rarely around because of his job. She smiled and walked up beside Peyton and leant down, resting her arms on the railings on the porch. "You know when I found out I was pregnant I pretended for weeks that I had gotten it wrong but deep down inside I knew, so I finally worked up the courage to tell my parents and they went crazy." She half smiled, "Things were thrown, unpleasant things were said and I ended up living by myself." She turned and looked at Peyton, "Dan went away to college and the only person I could really turn to was Keith. It's funny…" She paused and smiled again, "You really do find out who truly cares about you, because they are the people who are there for you."

Peyton had been half tempted to bolt as soon as she walked out of the door, but she couldn't leave Lucas to face the music by himself, they had agreed to tell Karen together and they did…which was great in theory, in reality she had wished she hadn't seen Karen's face when she found out, she would have been just as happy to imagine the disappointment and anger. Peyton turned and looked at Karen, the cheeks on her face were wet from the tears that had fallen. "I'm so sorry, Karen" She couldn't think of what else to say.

Karen raised her hand to Peyton's face and tucked some loose strands behind Peyton's ear. "Things happen and it's what we do when they happen that matters." Karen took a step closer to Peyton and hugged her, she felt Peyton's arms wrap around her, hugging her tightly as though she had never been hugged before.

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Haley turns the sign on Karen's Café's door, to closed. It had been a long night, Karen had phoned in earlier to say that she wasn't going to be able to close up and asked whether Haley could do it. Haley noted that Karen sounded, well un-Karen like. She had been around Karen long enough to know something was wrong, so she figured the obvious Peyton and Lucas had told Karen about the pregnancy, which was a good thing. Secrets weren't a good thing – she felt her heart start to race as she saw a familiar figure standing across the street, staring at her. Secrets also never stayed buried – no matter how much you wanted them to. She turned around and leant back against the door, closing her eyes.

The dressing room contained what every entertainer could want; a vanity mirror to make sure you were looking your best before you went out on stage. A bottle of room temperature water for the vocals, a few letters from people who had seen the show, 'fan letters' as they were known as. Everything was great, or it was supposed to be. Haley grabbed the bottle of chilled champagne and brought the tip to her mouth and drank from the bottle. She watched as the dressing room door opened and there was Chris, standing there looking at her, amused. "Oh you think this is funny?"

Chris nodded and walked over to her. He and Haley had spent the past month getting to know each other better – on stage and off of stage. He knew that Haley James Scott as she was calling herself, wasn't one to drown her sorrows…at least now with alcohol. "What's going on Haley?"

Haley picked up a piece of paper from the floor and shook it around in the air, "I can tell you what's not going on." She was slightly tipsy from the bottle of champagne she had been drinking. "And that's my marriage…yeah! Stupid dan…-Nathan signed.." She was rambling her words.

Chris took the piece of paper and looked at it and nodded, "Apparently you're a free woman."

Haley turned and looked at Chris and frowned, "I am not free. I am taken. I am Mrs Haley James Scott…see I have a mrs in front of my name and his name as my name. See that's taken!" She wasn't making much sense, a little of it was due to the alcohol but mostly it was because she was still confused. Dan had given her the papers…and they were signed by Nathan, she knew his handwriting.

Chris nodded and sat next to her. Reaching into his denim jacket pocket he pulled out a small flask and took a sip from it. "Well, Miss or Mrs…a woman should never drink alone!"

Haley turned and looked at him and laughed, she reached over and clinked the bottle of champagne to his small flask. "Well then let's drink…"

Haley opened her eyes and sighed if only that was where it ended. The following morning she woke up in his room, in his bed next to him. Thankfully he was asleep when she crawled out of his room in the early hours of the morning…and thankfully it seemed as though he didn't remember the encounter because he never brought it up again. She felt a tap against the café's door and slowly turned around seeing Chris standing the other side. He looked exactly the same as he did the day she left to come home. She took a step back and opened the café door, "What are you doing here?" She got straight to the point.

Chris smiled, "It's nice to see you too Haley." He shook his head and stepped past her inside of the café. He turned around and looked at her, he had always thought Haley had looked beautiful but she looked even more gorgeous than he remembered. Maybe it was the hair, it was slightly lighter than he remembered.

"Right, if I had thought it was nice to see you then I would have said it…but I didn't so I go back to my original question, what are you doing here Chris?" Haley sighed, she was in no mood to play games.

"Just passing through town and I saw you from across the street and I had to come and say hello to my old singing partner." He sighed and sat down at one of the tables, "I think I preferred the on the road Haley, Tree Hill Haley is moody!" He joked. "So did you make it up with the high school jock? Did he take you back into his loving arms?"

Haley sighed and stayed beside the door. "That's none of your business…and we're still closed, so you should go." She watched as he stood up and walked over to her.

"Come on Haley, come on the back road with me. This town isn't big enough for you and obviously by your charming greeting to me, school boy hasn't taken you back…so what's left for you here?"

Haley sighed and looked down. If this had been a dream that would be the point for Nathan to walk in and say it was him, he was here for her but this wasn't a dream. This was sucky reality, a sucky reality where she had drunkenly slept with Chris, a sucky reality where she was in pure denial to herself about it. She looked back up at him, "It doesn't matter if we're together now or not, he's the one for me and I have faith that we'll get back together." She said simply, referring to Nathan.

Chris sighed and began to walk out of the door, he turned back and looked at Haley. "Yeah, but will he want you back when you confess all of your sins?" He smiled at her, they hadn't talked about their sexual encounter on tour, he had decided that he would just let things be…but when Haley just took off and left all of a sudden, he was a little hurt. "I'll be seeing you around, Haley!" He turned and walked away from the café.

Haley closed the door and turned the key, she raised her hand in the air and hit it against the wooden door frame twice. All she could feel inside was rage, she had never felt like this before. Who the hell did he think he was? She had made a stupid drunken mistake, she had no intention of telling anyone about it, why would she? If she told Nathan it would not only completely destroy any chances of them getting back together but it would probably ruin any chances of them being friends again and she couldn't lose him, she just couldn't.

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Peyton walked into her bedroom and turned around looking at Lucas, who was behind her. She shrugged her shoulders and fell back onto the bed, sitting down. "I can't believe we just did that." She was still in complete shock, they had just confessed to one of the two parents they needed to confess to…and they were still alive to tell the tale. She smiled, Karen had been so nice and supporting to her – something she didn't expect, it was the complete opposite of what she thought she would happen.

Lucas walked over to Peyton's desk and rested against it. He folded his arms and also smiled out of shock. He had expected his mom to hit the roof, as she did when he told her Brooke might be pregnant but she hadn't. After the talk with Peyton outside, the two of them had come back in and the three of them were talking about how they were going to handle telling Larry, Karen suggested that all three of them tell him when he gets back. "I know…" Lucas looked over at Peyton, everything was falling into place perfectly. He stood up and walked over to her… "Now we just have to concentrate on you two." He said referring to Peyton and the baby, "on the three of us, together." He leaned down and went in to kiss Peyton but watched as she fell further back on the bed to avoid the kiss.

"Wait." Peyton raised her hands to Lucas's shoulders and pushed him further back so that he was standing up straight. She slid off of the bed and stood up, in front of him. He was only a little taller than her, so she didn't have to look up much to look into his baby blues. "Everything is going good…" She paused, "Great even which is kind of freaking me out a little." She admitted, "So…how about we just take…this, us, slow…"

Lucas looked at Peyton and raised a brow, smirking. "Slower than…having a baby together?" He joked.

Peyton tilted her head looking at him. She raised her hand and playfully hit him on the shoulder.

He flinched at being hit and rubbed his shoulder, "Ow…that hurt!" He nodded to her, "Take things slow. I've been waiting long enough for us, that I think I can do that!"

Peyton looked up at him, she loved how honest and upfront Lucas was with her. He had always been so passionate about them being a couple, even when they first met and he had apparently been crushing on her. He spoke to her with such passionate and powerful words of wanting and love. "Are you…because if I remember correctly you tend to go all in, full throttle," She joked.

Lucas nodded, "Are your saying that I tend to put a little too much effort and enthusiasm into a relationship with someone I love?"

Peyton mimicked Lucas's nod and laughed.

Lucas shook his head and took a step closer to Peyton, he wrapped his arms around her body embracing her with a hug. "This isn't full throttle is it?" He whispered into her ear.

Peyton shook her head. It was perfect, where they were right now; they were having a baby which obviously was going to cause some serious stress problems but they could still joke around with each other. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders confessing to Karen, half the battle was already done all they had to worry about now was telling her father.

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Keith opened his front door and looked from side to side, seeing Karen stood there. He was confused, "Karen…"

Karen stepped closer to Keith and threw her arms around him. He was the person she could turn to in a crisis. She had told Peyton earlier that you find out who really cares about you in the time of a crisis, and Keith was that guy.

A/N: Hmm well I thought I would give Peyton a break emotionally wise, she's a character thats been dragged through the mud the most...but its Tree Hill, things happen! And.. most of you probably didn't like Haley's new little problem, but I thought I would add more spice to her character. Show that she is flawed. I've decided that it's definately going to be either Nathan/Brooke or Nathan/Haley - Chris wont be sticking around for too long - only long enough to cause a little trouble and maybe get his ass kicked. We'll see how it goes.

Anyways thanks for all the reviews, I do like them.