Chapter 11: Getting Closer

When the three girls met at the restaurant after the soccer game, Haley asked Molly if she was ok. Molly said that she was fine and Haley could tell that she really didn't want to talk about her father right then, so she let it go for the time being. She had learned quickly that Molly sometimes needed time to herself to analyze a situation and figure out what she was thinking on her own first, and that she would come to her when she wanted to talk about it.

They had a quick lunch as the restaurant was pretty much empty, then got back on the road. They followed the same highway back to Tree Hill, but once they hit the city limits the two cars headed in different directions, Haley heading home, Molly and Nicole back to the hotel.

They were meeting their mom at the hotel then going with her to look at a potential house that she had found. They had looked at one house and an apartment already, but neither of those had felt right to the three of them. They also had an appointment to tour another house the next day as well, so hopefully they would find something they liked soon. Suzanne had realized that getting her daughters back into a real house and reacquiring a semblance of normalcy would be good for them. What with Molly's coming out disaster and Nicole's overdose, things had been a bit chaotic for the family as of late.

The mom and daughters drove together to the small three bedroom house. It was in a good location, ten minutes from the high school and fifteen from Suzanne's work. The street had a cozy feel to it, lined with huge trees and cute houses.

"It's nice," Molly stated as they walked through the white, empty rooms.

"Yeah, I think we could possibly make this work," Suzanne replied. "What do you think, Nicole?"

"I like it," she said as she spun around, examining the place from every angle.

"We'd get our own rooms, too, which would be awesome," Molly added.

"Yeah, and it's in my price range," Suzanne said, "Just barely, but I can make it work."

After walking through the house a bit more and inspecting the backyard, the three came to a consensus that they really liked the house, but it would still be a good idea to check out the other one they had an appointment to see the next day, just in case.

So the next day they headed out bright and early for their 8:00 appointment to tour that house, and it was a nice house as well, but they all agreed that they liked the one from the day before better. Suzanne called the realtor right after leaving the house and set up a meeting to make an offer on the other one.

A few days later the Finn's offer had been accepted and the house entered into a 30 day escrow. Although another month at the hotel seemed daunting to the two teenage girls who have been missing their privacy, they were at least happy to know there was an end in sight and that they would be moving into a new house soon.

"Sounds awesome," Haley said as Molly was telling her about the new house. "Can't wait to see it."

"I can't wait to move in. I love my mom and sister, but sharing a room with them for over two months now is starting to wear on my sanity," she ended dramatically.

"Eh, sanity's overrated," Haley said then quickly changed the topic, "Hey, have you told your mom about seeing your dad at the soccer game?"

"No, not yet. Not sure if I'm going to though," Molly said. "I mean, him showing up there probably means he wants to make peace, right? Well I'm still trying to figure out if I could ever forgive him. And I didn't want to bother my mom about it yet until I figure out what I'm thinking."

"Well she might be able to help you figure it out," Haley pointed out. "You don't always have to tackle everything on your own."

"I know, I just," she paused, "It's complicated."

"Alright, well you know how to find me if you want to talk about it."

"I do," Molly agreed. "Thanks."

Brooke pulled up to Peyton's house after school on Thursday of that week. She was determined to talk to Peyton, to get her to listen to her. Brooke jumped out of her car, slammed her car door shut, and strutted up to Peyton's door. She knocked on it with authority and waited. No answer. She waited a minute, knocked again and rang the doorbell. Still no answer.

When Peyton heard someone at the door she looked out her upstairs bedroom window to see Brooke's car at the curb, so she dropped the curtain, sat back down at her computer and ignored her former best friend trying to knock the door down, which Peyton had started locking just in case this situation was to arise.

"I know you're in there Peyton! I'm standing 10 feet from your car! Please just talk to me!" Brooke begged at the top of her lungs.

"No thanks," Peyton said to herself as she continued to ignore Brooke.

"I'm not going to give up! You will talk to me, whether it's now or before you leave for school tomorrow, doesn't really matter. I brought supplies! I'll stay out here all night!" Brooke bellowed.

Peyton scoffed to herself, not believing the brunette and went back to her work. An hour later after the noise had subsided Peyton had half forgotten about Brooke as she went downstairs to get a snack.

She passed the front door and noticed something bright red out of the corner of her eye. She went back and looked through the window to get a better look. Brooke had pitched a small two person tent (which is really only big enough for one person by the way) on Peyton's front lawn.

Peyton turned the deadbolt and swung the door open. "Brooke Penelope Davis, what the hell are you doing?" she bellowed while placing a hand on her hip waiting for an explanation.

Brooke popped her head out of the tent with a victorious look on her face which quickly turned serious. "Showing you how sorry I am and how much our friendship means to me," she said. "I'm so sorry about how things went down with Lucas. We shouldn't have snuck around behind your back, but I think it's actually turning into something real."

Peyton rolled her eyes at this statement and started to head back inside.

"Wait, I'm serious Peyt, I didn't go after him on purpose. At first, we were both drunk, but now, I mean, he really gets me and it just feels right when we're together, but I've realized that none of it matters if I don't have you by my side. You've been my best friend since we were eight," Brooke pointed out as she walked up the lawn and closer to Peyton. "I'll break up with him and never talk to him again if it means you'll forgive me," Brooke stated with all the sincerity she had.

Peyton looked away for a second, then back at the girl in front of her. "Brooke, I… umm," she stumbled on her words for a few seconds while she thought about all the good times they had had together, and about how Brooke doesn't always think her actions through beforehand to see if anyone would be hurt by them, and that despite that she never purposely means to hurt anyone. Peyton then said "No." Brooke's face fell. Then Peyton quickly added "You don't have to do that. It sounds like you really like him. I've never heard you talk about a guy like this before, and I know that you didn't hurt me on purpose. I was just being selfish and childish. I'm sorry," she finished with tears in her eyes.

"No Peyt, I'm sorry," Brooke said as she got rid of the distance between them and pulled her into a hug which Peyton reciprocated. After a minute long embrace the girls parted and Brooke asked, "Are we ok?"

"As long as you take that eye sore of a tent down within the next ten minutes and bring all your stuff into the house, then yeah, we're good," Peyton said with a slight smile.

"I can do that," Brooke said with a huge grin breaking out.

"Whose tent is this, anyway?" Peyton asked as she helped with its removal.

"My dad's I think, I found it in the garage."

"I can't believe you were going to sleep in this tiny thing."

"Yeah, and you know how much I hate camping, but I had to prove my deep felt sorrow and never ending love for you," Brooke declared dramatically.

Peyton chuckled then said, "Right, well it was a sweet, although slightly weird, gesture."

"That's how I roll," Brooke replied, "Now grab the chips and let's go make cookies."

"You got it, Brooke," Peyton said as she followed her best friend into the house with a smile.

At school on Friday Haley and Molly were walking together in the hallway in between classes. "You ready for the game this weekend?" Haley asked casually.

"Yeah, of course. We're playing Riverdale, we're going to crush them," Molly responded with a smirk.

"Well that's good, but I was really asking if you're ready to possibly see your dad again," Haley clarified.

Molly whipped her head to the right to look at her girlfriend. "You think he's going to show up again?" she asked with a touch of worry in her voice, making it obvious that the thought hadn't crossed her mind.

"Well he was there last week, and I don't think he accomplished what he had hoped to, so he'll probably try again, once he gets up the nerve."

Molly took this in without responding.

"But maybe I'm wrong, maybe he'll take a different approach next time. I'm just saying that I think you need to be ready in case he decides to pop up again," Haley advised.

"Yeah, ok."

Later that day at lunch Molly was the first to the table. She was still lost in her thoughts about her dad when Haley, Peyton, and Brooke walked up joking with each other and whatnot.

"Hey Moll," Haley said, kissed her girlfriend on the cheek, then sat next to her.

"Hey," Molly replied, eyeing the other two girls as they sat down next to each other at the table as well.

"Guess who made up?" Haley asked.

"If I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes I would have guessed Britney and K-Fed, but I'm going to bet you mean these two," Molly said while motioning toward Peyton and Brooke.

"Yep," Haley said with a slight chuckle.

"Well, cool. Good for you guys," Molly said to the newly reunited best friends.

"Thanks, about time, right?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, I knew you guys would work it out though," Haley added.

"Yes, well to celebrate, and just to get everyone all together again, party at my house tomorrow night," Brooke announced cheerfully.

"Awesome," Haley said.

"Yeah, sounds good," Molly agreed.

Meanwhile, past the quad and on the other side of the school, Carter and Nicole were sitting against the science building eating their lunches. They were chatting casually enjoying each other's company when Nicole asked Carter, "So uh, I'm going to Molly's soccer game tomorrow, do you maybe want to come and watch with me?"

"Uh, yeah, that sounds cool," Carter said. "What time does it start?" he asked.

"Two o' clock," Nicole informed him. "Meet me there a little before that,"

"Yeah, ok. I'll do that," he said happily, stoked that she asked him to go.

"I would say that we should go somewhere together after, but I'm still grounded for another week because of the incident. I'm just glad my mom made an exception for Molly's games."

"Yeah, that's good," Carter said. "Uh, maybe after you're ungrounded, uh," he stumbled, "maybe we could do something then?" He looked up expectantly at Nicole.

She smiled, "Yeah, that would be awesome."

"Cool," Carter responded, looking quite relieved with a smile on his face as well.

Haley showed up to the soccer field the next day at half past one, found a spot on the sidelines, and watched the Ravens run through their warm up drills. After about fifteen minutes she spotted Nicole and Carter walking her way.

"Hey Haley," Nicole said, "Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all, take a seat," she said with a smile.

"Cool. So this should be a good game," Nicole stated. "The Riverdale Eagles are second in the league right now, they're pretty tough."

"Really? Haley asked. "Cuz Molly said we were going to crush them, made it sound like they weren't that good."

"That's just her never dying competitiveness talking. She always thinks her teams are going to crush their opponent, which I guess isn't the worst attitude to have. Better that than thinking you're going to lose," Nicole stated.

"Yeah, I guess so," Haley said with a small laugh.

"Are we still in first?" Carter asked, changing the subject slightly.

"Yeah, still in first," Nicole confirmed.

"Cool."

The game started a few minutes later. While watching the game Haley couldn't help but notice the shy looks that Nicole and Carter kept shooting each other. She thought it was cute and figured it was just a matter of time before the pair got together.

The Ravens and the Eagles both battled hard throughout the entire game, and two 45-minute halves later it came to a conclusion with a score of 2-1. The Ravens had managed to squeak out a win in the last ten minutes with a beautiful goal from left forward Alex Blender. She had taken a powerful left footed shot from just inside the 18 yard line which soared into the net just out of the goalkeeper's reach. Molly had played a solid game in the midfield and was proud of her team, they have really been performing well recently.

Molly's cheering section congratulated her after the game, saying she had played well and whatnot. Then Molly and Nicole headed to the hotel, and Haley and Carter both departed for their respective homes, after an awkward good bye between Nicole and Carter, of course. The two juniors had made plans for Molly to pick Haley up from her house at 6:15 so they could get to Brooke's house a little early to hang out and help get things set up before everyone was set to arrive at seven for the party.

"You look hot, babe," Molly commented as she maneuvered her motorized vehicle through the Tree Hill streets from Haley's house to Brooke's.

"Thanks," Haley said with a slight blush. She said "You too," while taking a closer look at her girlfriend, noticing the red shirt she was wearing, then said, "Hey, is that my shirt?"

Molly laughed then said "Yeah, I wondered when you were going to notice. Did you even know it was gone?" Molly asked.

"Umm, no," Haley admitted. "It looks good on you, but what prompted your criminal act of thievery?"

"Thievery? Honey, we're girlfriends with a similar style and we're the same size, why would I not borrow your clothes?"

Haley smiled then said, "Alright, I guess my wardrobe just doubled then."

"Indeed it did, babe." After a few seconds of silence Molly changed the topic by asking, "So have Lucas and Peyton made up as well? Or do you not know?"

"He told me they spoke once at school after she and Brooke made up. He said it was slightly awkward, but that she seemed ok."

"That's good."

"Yeah, Luke's a good guy. He didn't mean to get in the middle of Brooke and Peyton, it just kind of happened."

"Yeah, that was too bad. I wouldn't mind getting in the middle of Brooke and Peyton though," Molly said with a smirk.

"Hey!" Haley exclaimed while smacking Molly lightly on the shoulder.

"What?" Molly asked. "They're hot. Don't try to deny it."

"Well," Haley said then paused, "Yeah, you're right. They both are pretty hot."

"Told you," Molly said as she pulled the car over and parked next to the curb in front of Brooke's house.