Peyton had been in and out of the principal's office this past week and not for the same reasons she had in the past. The reason she was in the principals office was to discuss the protocol for how to continue studying at the school as a pregnant student; which came as a slight shock to Peyton as she hadn't told the principal that she was pregnant, she had only told Lucas; naturally as he's the father of the baby girl growing inside of her womb; their parents and close friends. She had been worried that someone might have talked; let it slip but thankfully Peyton discovered that her father phoned the principal and let him in on the situation. An hour later and she finally emerged from the principals office, having missed first period yet again. Finally after a week of discussions and negotiations between the two they had finally settled on a plan; she would continue her studies for as long as possible while doubling up on work. It was important for Peyton to graduate the same time as her friends, she had always imagined her graduation day – and because she let Lucas knock her up, that was in jeopardy...thinking of the cute blonde haired boy that had gotten her knocked up, Peyton saw him standing by her locker with Haley. Slowly she made her way over to the two of them, "So apparently there haven't been many knocked up cheerleaders in Tree Hill in the past, but thankfully we've finally come to an agreement on how it should all go."

Lucas looked down into Peyton's beautiful green eyes and lowered his head, waiting for an answer. "Well?" He had been concerned about her this past week, she had seemed stressed coming and going from the principal's office, he knew she was worried that people would find out and they would eventually – the sooner the better, he thought, at least then they wouldn't have to keep any more secrets.

Peyton shrugged, "Well because the little one here" She said pointing at her stomach rather obviously, "is due just before graduation and apparently I'm not going to be walking around, attending classes my last few weeks. So it was either continue as normal and then go to summer school and graduate later – or.." She paused and sighed, "double up on the work now, so I can graduate with you losers!"

Haley scoffed, "Hey!"

Peyton turned and looked at Haley with a slight smirk, "I didn't mean you, Haley."

Lucas looked at Haley and then turned back to Peyton, "Hey!" He shook his head, they had gotten back into their original routine of sarcastic, playful comments – most of them usually coming from Peyton. He wasn't going to lie, it was fun to be around Peyton when she was being like that. He sighed, "Wait – but doubling up on work now won't that mean more stress and aren't pregnant women meant to stay stress free?"

Peyton smiled sweetly at Lucas and leaned closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Aw, look at him Haley. He's my whipped puppy dog!" Peyton and Haley both laughed. Peyton looked up at Lucas and saw that his baby blues were filled with concern, "No – I won't be stressed. I'm already miles ahead in my art class and bio thanks to" She nodded in Haley's direction, "It just means I'm gonna have to cut down on after school stuff like – Tric."

Haley leaned against the locker looking at Peyton and Lucas, they were so adorable together, acting all couple-like. She missed being like that, being a part of a couple. "So does that mean tonight's Halloween party at Tric is you're last for a while?"

Peyton nodded and leant her head against Lucas's shoulder, looking over at Haley. "Yeah – but you know what they say, when you have to go out – go out on top." Peyton smirked knowingly. The party tonight at Tric was all down to Karen, naturally it was going to be busy on Halloween and it was only good business to open the club, so Peyton had started looking for bands to play several weeks ago; in fact she started looking when she first found out she was pregnant because it was a good way to keep busy and take her mind off of everything.

"So who's playing tonight?" Haley asked intrigue. The flyers only stated that there was a surprise band playing at the Halloween party.

"Mr Scott, Miss Sawyer and Miss James….aren't we supposed to be somewhere?" A teacher was standing at the door of a classroom, looking down the hallway at the three of them. He watched as the three of them nodded and then all parted ways, walking in separate directions.

--

Brooke was inside of the gymnasium, she was supposed to be in third period Spanish but had decided that working on the routine for the up and coming regionals would be far better time spent. Turning the sound on the boom box, she played the dance music louder nodding her head to the beat. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate; thinking of different steps that could start the routine. As she opened her eyes, she took a jump back seeing Nathan standing in the door way. Turning the sound down, she frowned at him. "Jeez – you're like the grim reaper, just standing there."

Nathan laughed and shook his head as he walked further into the gymnasium. "How is it every time I see you in school, you're always skipping classes?" He raised his brow curiously. It was true, their last few encounters within the school grounds had been during class time – just not in class.

Brooke placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head looking at him, "Doesn't that mean that you're skipping class too?" She raised her brow and smirked. Turning around she slowly made her way over to the bleachers and sat down. Patting the seat next to her, she indicated for him to join her. She watched as his body slowly walked over and sat beside her. Looking up into his cute blue eyes, she smiled gently. "So Nate – you heading to the Halloween party tonight?"

Nathan shrugged and frowned, creasing his nose. "Uh, fancy dress isn't really my thing. I'm sure Tim will be there though, dressed up in drag." He joked at Tim's expense. "I guess it's stupid asking whether or not you're going?"

Brooke nodded, "You know me so well." She thought back to summer, their long talks together about everything and anything. She thought back to just the other week when he had came to her house to just hang out – well hang out and talk about Haley. It slightly annoyed Brooke when he talked about Haley, sure she liked Haley but she also liked Nathan, more so than just a friend so it was only natural for her to get a little jealous. It didn't matter though, she knew her feelings were unfounded and that tutor girl and Nathan belonged together. She caught herself unknowingly staring into his eyes as her mind drifted off. She blushed and looked away quickly, "So you're not even going tonight to have a little ….what's the word, oh right yeah…f-u-n, remember that word?"

Nathan opened his mouth, acting shocked. "Please, I'm the king of fun."

Brooke nodded disbelievingly, "Right – so that's why you're gonna stay home tonight and play a little x-box huh?"

Nathan closed his eyes and shook his head, "You know me too well, Davis." She had got it spot on for what his plans were, he was going to stay in and play a little basketball on the good old x-box. Opening his eyes, he looked at Brooke and tilted his head, "You….know what, I can guarantee that playing a little NBA on the x-box is better than the usual Tree Hill party, where Tim will end up naked, Peyton and Lucas walk off into the sunset together singing the hills are alive with the sound of music and you'll be tripping down the stairs by midnight."

Brooke tucked her hair behind her ear and laughed, "Okay so the Tim thing, you hit that on the nail…the me thing, you probably also hit dead on the nail, but Lucas and Peyton singing the hills are alive with the sound of music?" She laughed, "I'm sorry imagery in my head." She sighed, "You've got too much time on your hands if your watching the sound of music." Brooke bit her bottom lip watching Nathan as he looked over to the set of double doors connecting the gymnasium to the rest of the school. "Well if you go tonight, you're almost definitely gonna score one skank…" She watched as Nathan turned back and looked at her confused, "Rachel, any interest there?"

Nathan shook his head, "No. I mean she seems….well I wanna say nice when she's not obviously throwing herself at me or the rest of the team." Nathan may have played dumb to Rachel's flirting but he knew what was going on, he had been a player once upon a time.

"and what about Haley? She'll probably be there..."

Nathan shrugged, "So?" True he and Brooke often talked of Haley and the possibility of the two of them getting back together but he was never usually the first one to bring it up. When it came to thinking of Haley, he was confused – he was still in love with her but he was still completely hurt by how and why she left him not to mention the romantic feelings he had been feeling for Brooke these past few months. Confusion and the love life, they always go hand in hand, he thought.

Brooke shook her head and sighed standing up from the bleachers, "You know Nate." She said turning back to look at him, folding her arms across her chest. Sure she liked Nathan but it was clearly obvious that he was still in love with Haley and everyone knew that Haley was still madly in love with him. She may have liked Nathan – but she wasn't going to try and compete with true love. "You really are a dumbass." Her tone changed, no longer pleasant but slightly harsh.

"I am?" He asked defensively as he stood up, looking down at her from his 6'2 stature.

"Yeah you are." She rolled her eyes, "Why don't you just put aside all of the crap and just get back together with her." She knew she was stepping over the line of friendship but something inside of her snapped and she knew what caused it, jealousy. "You know you want to, she wants to – you two are still in love so stop punishing her for the mistake she made. She's just like everyone else, sure she's a little smarter and little more quick with the sarcastic wit maybe" She paused knowing that she was getting off track. "What I'm trying to say is, stop breaking her heart – you might find that by taking a chance with her that you mend her heart and maybe in the process save your own as well."

Nathan sighed and threw his hands in the air, they were arguing. Actually arguing, he had never really argued with Brooke before. Well he had, but not when they really knew each other, not when they were friends. "Maybe she's not the own who's supposed to save my heart, did you ever think of that?" He blurted out. Shaking his head, he sighed. "Whatever, I gotta go…see you, later." He walked past Brooke and stormed out of the gymnasium.

--

Lucas ran from the basketball court towards the walk over bridge, decked out in a white t-shirt and running bottoms. He had missed his running session this morning and had wanted to get it in before the party tonight. It was important for him to stay in shape for the up and coming basketball season. This was their last year to give Coach Durham that championship trophy he had always wanted, the trophy his father, Dan had denied Whitey. He stopped suddenly and bent over in the middle of the bridge. A sharp pain hit his chest – it felt as though his chest was tightening and his heart was racing faster than it should. He raised his hands to the back of his head, taking in deep breaths. He had stopped taking his heart medication just before summer and everything had been fine, he hadn't felt any different than usual. He fell to his knees and felt as though at any moment he was going to cry, cry from the pain he was feeling, cry from the fact that his heart condition had finally caught up with, cry from that fact that he knew he couldn't tell anyone about this – it would ruin his basketball season not to mention worry too many people – especially his mother and Peyton…ah, Peyton. He especially couldn't tell her – it would put too much stress on her and could affect her health's and the baby's. No…he had to keep it a secret.

---

Peyton walked into Tric, she was dressed in a beautiful pale pink 40's dancing dress and her blonde hair was curled. She looked around the club – it was already busy at 8pm. Lucas was supposed to pick her up at 7.30, but he never showed. She had tried calling his cell but it was off. After her tenth phone call to the house, Karen picked up saying that she had just gotten in and that Lucas wasn't home. She said he was probably just running late and that she should head on over to the club anyways, she would send Lucas as soon as she saw him. So that's what she did and here she was, alone at Tric.

"Hello…. sexy momma!"

Peyton slowly turned to her left and saw Brooke walking up to her. Peyton was a little shocked at Brooke's outfit, she wasn't dressed in the usual provocative, slightly slutty outfit that she often wore but rather was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and a black hat, her make up very minimal. "Wow – Brooke? You almost look like guy." She said playfully. "A good looking guy." She added.

Brooke grinned and tipped her hat for a moment at Peyton, "Thank you ma'm…I decided that there would probably too many trashy outfits like the red leather clad devil or catwoman." She turned and looked out of the corner of her eye at Rachel who was on the dance floor dressed as catwoman. Turning back to look at Peyton she smiled gently, "But totally loving you're outfit P.Sawyer, you look so pretty, so classy – so un-Peyton like!" She joked. Brooke looked around, "So where's dear daddy?"

Peyton folded her arms across her chest, "I don't know. He was supposed to pick me up but he never showed." Peyton couldn't help that sound of disappointment in her voice. She wanted to see Lucas's face when he saw her dressed as Baby from Dancing.

Brooke looked at Peyton for a split second with a look of concern before brushing it off with a smile, "Well I'm sure he probably just got held up practising with Nathan or something – I swear those basketball players are Neanderthals! Completely clueless" Brooke walked to Peyton's side and wrapped an arm over her shoulder, "Well Baby" She said in a deeper voice, trying to imitate a man's voice. "No one's putting you in the corner tonight." She referred to Peyton's costume, Baby from Dirty Dancing and winked at her.

Peyton laughed, "Why thank you, kind sir." The two of them slowly made their way through the club over to the dance floor. She was pregnant but that didn't mean that she couldn't have a little fun dancing with her best friend.

Haley slowly made her way to the club's entrance. She hadn't really intended to go tonight but after talking to Peyton and Lucas in school earlier they had convinced her that it would be a fun night. So it was either go to a club and try and have some fun with friends or stay at home and read a book, or pretend to read a book while she thinks about her messed up life; her loveless life. Naturally she had decided the first option would be better. It was so last minute so she hadn't really had time to dress up, instead she just threw on a white shirt and long black skirt, placed her hair in a bun and put on a pair of black framed glances and decided that a teacher was the way to go. She had thought of it as a non-sexual outfit, but apparently she was wrong. Making her way past the queue outside to the VIP entrance, several guys had whistled at her. Pigs, she thought to herself.

"Hales…"

Haley turned around and saw Lucas walk up behind her. She looked at him, he wasn't dressed up – he was dressed in a blue t-shirt and a pair of blue denim jeans. "Uh – I thought this party was fancy dress?" She asked, slightly annoyed that he had turned up dressed normally.

"It's optional…besides it was too late for me to get a costume." He said, lying. He had driven over to the costume store after his little episode early but it was closed. He had then driven over to Peyton's but she wasn't home.

"Optional?" Haley sighed, "Damn…if I had known that, I would have come as plain Jane to match your regular Joe average!" She paused and looked around, "Wait, where's Peyton? Is she feeling alright?"

Lucas shrugged, "I don't know…I was a little late getting to her house and she wasn't there, so I figured she came straight here."

Haley smiled at her best friend and bit her bottom lip, "Oh you're gonna be in trouble." She said playfully at him.

Lucas sighed and rolled his eyes, "Let's just go in – yeah?" He and Haley walked into club together. The place was completely packed out with people dressed in various costumes and the DJ's dance music was loud. He leaned on his tip toes slightly, looking around the club searching for Peyton – although that might be pointless, he thought to himself. He didn't even know what she was dressing up as.

"Over there…" Haley pointed to the lounge area where Brooke, Mouth and Peyton were sat. Haley and Lucas made their way past the dance floor and headed into the lounge. "Oooo Mouth, you're looking fly….for a white guy!" Haley joked, Mouth was obviously dressed up as eminem. It was actually quite funny to see him – a scrawny looking mouth dressed up in baggy pants and a baggy t-shirt with platinium blonde hair. "Did you dye your hair?"

Mouth nodded, "Wash in, wash out." He grinned. Brooke had complimented him earlier that he looked cute, not as cute as the regular mouth she said but cute. She had called him cute and for the past five minutes that's all he could think about.

Brooke turned and saw Haley and Lucas standing behind them, she looked at Peyton who hadn't turned around yet. "Wow Haley – did your naughty teacher outfit come with a whip?" She joked playfully. She looked at Peyton again, who still hadn't turned around. She looked over at Lucas who was standing there like a mindless sheep. She rolled her eyes and listened as a new song started to play. "Oh I love this song…Mouth, Haley come dance!" She stood up and began to walk over to the dance floor, followed by Mouth. She stopped and turned around, seeing Haley about to sit down on the couch. "Tutor girl….dance!"

Haley looked over at Brooke, "but I don't feel like…oh" She realised that Brooke was trying to give Peyton and Lucas a moment of alone time. Nodding, Haley stood up and looked at Lucas and tapped his shoulder before walking over to Brooke and Mouth, leaving the two of them alone.

Lucas sat down beside Peyton and looked her up and down, she looked amazing, truly. "Wow – you look, wow" He said sounding speechless. He sighed and rested his hand on her shoulder and smiled gently, "I'm sorry I was late…"

Peyton turned and looked at him, "I'm not mad…"

Lucas smirked, "Really because you look a little mad."

Peyton shook her head, "I'm not mad-" She paused and sighed gently, "Okay maybe I'm a little mad not about you standing me up, even though technically I should be a little mad at that but I'm not….I'm mad that you didn't call."

Lucas sighed, "I'm sorry….I kind of got caught up and I did try and call but my cell was dead and by the time I stopped by your house, you had already left." He raised his hand to the side of her face and smiled gently, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. "Believe me, Peyt…I'm sorry."

Peyton sighed and felt as though tears were about to form in her eyes, she smirked and scoffed, "I guess it's just hormones…" She tilted her head looking at Lucas, he looked different. She couldn't place her finger on it exactly, but he just looked …. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said quickly. Did he not look fine? He had looked in the mirror of his rear view mirror of his car before coming into the club, he looked fine, he looked normal, there was no evidence of his little heart burn problem earlier. "Why?" He asked curiously

"I don't know, you just look a little different. I don't how to explain it." She shrugged. She watched as Lucas leant back into the couch, she smiled and rested back against it, resting her head on his shoulder. She stroked his hand and smiled, he may not have called but he did have a good reason. It was unlike her to act so – well so girlfriend like, it definitely had to be the pregnancy hormones. She watched as Lucas lifted his hand and rested it on top of her stomach, she smiled looking down at his hand. She looked up at Lucas, into his baby blue eyes and smiled. "Hi…"

"Hi…" He added back, all thoughts and worries about earlier slowly leaving him. He looked down at her stomach where his hand was resting and then back up into her eyes. Leaning in, he planted a long passionate kiss upon her lips, his hand still resting on her stomach.

Rachel had just come back from the bathroom and had stopped a few feet away from Peyton and Lucas, she watched the two of them carefully. Loving couple it would seem – but why was Lucas stroking the girl's belly, there only had to be one reason. Connect the dots – it wasn't hard and despite popular opinion around school she wasn't just the run of the mill brainless cheerleader, in fact she was quite the opposite. She had one of the highest GP's in the class and she had common sense…What else would explain Peyton's recent absences, her mood swings that everyone had taken note of, quitting the cheerleading squad close to regionals…interesting, she thought.

--

Nathan walked into the club, it had just turned nine thirty. He stopped in the doorway, looking over at the band playing on stage. Was that the Fray? It was, he was impressed. Peyton had managed to get the Fray to play in Tree Hill, the girl certainly had her talents. He looked down at his hair hands, feet and body and shook his head. Most of the people in the club had dressed up as something hip - he had come in full ape gear which probably wasn't a wise idea as he was already feeling slightly hot inside of it. He had come for one reason only; to tell someone how he felt.

(A/N: Okay so its been a while since my last update, due to it being the holiday and I've had essays to be writing. Anyways, I hope this kinda made up for it - slightly longer than my other chapters, probably not as well written but ah well. Anyways, as always wanna know; Naley or Brathan?)