For there or for worse ch 21
A/N: hey everyone! I know I'm slightly behind with updating this but schools been hectic, I'm trying to update every week I promise!This story is coming to a close, probably a few more chapters, with a few time jumps and then an epilogue. This chapter's slightly more fluffy and friendship. I got a PM and I think a review asking for a little more Jeyton a while back, and while it's not drama, it's more fluffy I did add it in for you, so I hope you all like it :)
Enjoy!
IMPORTANT: I realised I never actually added in dates to this story, so for the sake of the storyline and timeline well say that help goT pregnant in March, therefore had Ryan late November, so it's now nearing christmas, which ties into my storyline!
21. Cabin full of friends
Haley, Brooke, Peyton and Alex had been strolling down the streets of Charlotte, popping into boutiques, record stores and second hand bookstores. They had decided to have a girls day out, while the guys had a day at the house.
They had taken a break from shopping and were now sitting inside the same cafe that Nathan and Haley had lunch in yesterday.
"So Haley. How do you feel?" Alex asked
"Hungry" Haley replied, not seeing the meaning behind Alex's question.
"Okaaaay, clearly she's still in lala land, so I'll rephrase. Hales, how do you feel after last night?" Peyton stated
"Ohhh" Haley finally clued in
"Yeah" brooke reiterated
"Deliriously happy" Haley said as she blushed slightly
Brooke squealed "I'm so happy you two are together!"
"Brookie, they've been together for almost a year now" Alex said
"Yeah but, we honestly thought this day would never come. If it wasn't for Ryan, those two knuckleheads would still be in the friends zone" she replied
"Hey!" Haley defended, but then shrugged after a minute "actually you're right. We probably would be" she laughed.
"So tell us about the date! I mean, we helped Nathan plan where, but not the how and specifics of the night" Peyton asked
Haley explained the whole night. The restaurant, dinner, the beach, the candlelit room, the perfection of the whole night.
"Wow. I don't think Julian's ever made that much of an effort" Alex joked "you're pretty lucky Hales"
Haley smiled "I am aren't I? I can't believe how lucky I feel to have him, and Ryan. And all you guys too" she replied "I really love you all, you know? If it wasn't for all of you, I don't where I'd be" she finished
"You'd be good old bookworm Haley James. Peyt would be even more of a tortured artist - hey! Brooke said as Peyton elbowed her ribs, earning a giggle from the table, before she continued "Als and I would probably be tight like we are now since we were both pretty...friendly, before. Jake would be the nice quiet guy, Lucas would still be broody and nathan, who knows? He'd probably have a dozen girls in his bed by now. You got no idea how good it was that we all grew up together" brooke finished
"Amen to that" Peyton said raising her glass "to amazing friends, and even better family" she toasted as everyone clinked their glasses together.
Julian, Jake, Lucas and Nathan were all sitting out on the deck, enjoying their burgers and beer which lucas had managed to get a hold of. Ryan was sitting in a rocker in the middle of all the sofas the guys were taking up, his little arms grabbing at the toy Nathan was holding above his head - his favourite Ravens teddy bear.
Jake smiled "you know, you're kinda of a natural at the this whole dad stuff"
Lucas and Julian laughed "I gotta agree, it's kinda creepy you're so good. You sure you don't have any kids out there we don't know about?" Lucas joked.
"Haha" Nathan deadpanned "I just, I love him. And Haley. And I don't want to stuff anything up with them, so I made sure that I was prepared before he came. I wanted to do him and Hales proud."
"Well, mission accomplished. Dad" Julian added as he took a bite of his burger "so what's the plan for tonight?"
"I think we're all just hanging out at home. Haley said something about cooking a big dinner since we're all together, and it's the last holidays before we graduate, so she wanted to commemorate that" Nathan replied.
"Haley makes the best food. I love Peyton, but she can't cook for shit. She tried to make me chocolate chip cookies once, and she thought a pinch of salt was the size of my hand. Needless to say, they weren't my favourite food anymore" Jake said as the guys laughed.
"I know what you mean, Brooke and Alex tried to cook brownies once for Haley's birthday, and ended up almost burning the house down" Lucas laughed.
"Hey!" Brooke yelled as the girls entered the house "I set off ONE smoke detector and your mum came running in and yelling like I had burnt the house down" Brooke defended.
Haley giggled as she picked up Ryan and sat beside Nathan.
"Hey ry, did you miss mama?" She said in a slight baby voice, to which her son giggled in response as he drooled down her arm
"I'd take that as a yes" Nathan laughed as he wiped Haley's arm.
Brooke, Peyton and Alex went and sat next to their respective boyfriends on the other couches as the sun started to set. "I can't believe you've been gone the whole day" Jake said
"Aww, did You guys miss us?" Alex joked, her voice changing as if talking to a small child.
"I think a better question is, how much stuff did you guys buy? You were gone for five hours" Julian replied to his girlfriend.
Haley laughed at his question "not much really. Well, expect Alex and brooke. I swear they bought half of every boutique we went into"
Lucas groaned "ugh, and you're both in my car. I don't think all that shit is gonna fit"
"Hey! I only bought necessities" Brooke defended as Lucas raised an eyebrow at her
"Ok, so I may have bought some more perfume. And shoes. And a new handbag. Oh! and this REALLY cute -"
"Brooke! We still have two weeks here, I'm gonna have to make a trip back to tree hill tomorrow just to make sure we've got room in the car for the rest of the stuff you buy! He groaned again.
Nathan chuckled "relax Luke, I brought my truck, there's a whole bed of space"
Lucas sighed dramatically "thank god" to which brooke slapped him on the back of the head "watch yourself mister, or you're sleeping on the couch" she glared.
Lucas wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead "I'm sorry pretty girl, you know I'd drive to tree hill tonight if you wanted me to" he spoke as she kissed his cheek
"I think I'm gonna be sick from all this love" Haley joked as Nathan chuckled
"Like you can talk!" Brooke rebutted. "What's that supposed to mean?" Haley replied
"Um...considering the floor show you gave us this morning consider it payback. Or should I say countertop show? You know we never actually got an explanation for that" Brooke teased as Haley blushed and buried her head in Nathan's chest.
"I didn't know you were going to be here otherwise I would've been more...conservative" she replied feeling embarrassed.
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to bleach my eyeballs to get rid of that image" Julian spoke as he shivered with disgust"
"Hypocrite!" Peyton yelled "you forget I walked in on you and Alex in the janitor closet at school" she replied
"Well I walked in on you and Jake in the locker room!" Alex defended. Peyton was quiet for a minute before blurting out
"Well Lucas and Brooke did it in Nathan's room once"
"Peyton!" Brooke squealed as she and Lucas both blushed
Peyton covered her mouth realising what she said, as Jake, Julian, Alex and Haley all tried desperately to hold in their laughter at the look on brooke, Lucas and especially Nathan's face.
"I'm sorry! I didn't have anymore on Alex!" Peyton replied as an explanation
"Wait! You guys had sex in my bed!?" Nathan yelled "I'm gonna have to burn my entire bedroom now"
"Babe, I think you're being slightly overdramatic" Haley said trying to hid the giggle that was threatening to escape. Nathan glared at his friends
"This isn't funny. Ugh I'm never gonna be able to sleep in there. Ever" he spoke, pulling a disgusted grimace, which caused the rest of their friends to burst out laughing.
"I'm gonna kill you P. Sawyer" Brooke said as she grabbed her blonde friend by the waist and slightly lifted her towards the pool
"Brooke" Peyton spoke once she realised what Brooke was about to do "don't you dare!" She said as brooke shoved Peyton into the pool. Peyton made a gigantic splash, before resurfacing moments later spluttering. She eyed Brooke as she slowly made her way out of the pool. Brooke's eyes widened as she realised Peyton's thinking.
She quickly ran around the other edge of the pool, Peyton hot on her heels. She was almost free when she slipped and made a very inelegant splash into the pool. Peyton burst out laughing, dropping to her knees at the edge of the pool as she fought to catch her breath.
"That. Was. The best thing. Ever" she laughed as brooke resurfaced "what can I say? Karma's a bitch Brooke" she chuckled.
Alex then decided to have some fun and got Jake, Julian and Lucas to lift Peyton up and chuck her back into the pool with brooke, before they all jumped in themselves. Haley and Nathan laughed at their friends, fully clothed and splashing around in the pool. Ryan had fallen asleep in his mums arms, so she carefully put him in his rocker before the couple joined their friends.
It was now 7:30 and Haley was in the kitchen, cooking up a storm. The group were all sitting in the adjoining living room, while Nathan had gone to help Haley serve dinner.
Haley had decided to prepare her famous chicken pasta in cream sauce.
They group had made light conversation around the table while they ate, content with the atmosphere. They had all moved into the living room. Jake and Peyton were snuggled up on the lounge, brooke and Lucas on the love seat, while Nathan and Haley had taken the single chair and ottoman, with Haley sitting in between Nathan's legs, her back to his chest.
"So. We have some news for you guys" Brooke said to Haley and Nathan
"That tones make me nervous tigger, what is it?" Haley replied
"Well, you know at the end of this month were all going to college" Brooke started
"Don't even start on college, I can't believe you're all gonna be halfway around the country! Nathan and I are going to miss you so much" she replied
"Well" Jake said sitting up "how would you feel if we weren't all halfway around the country, but next door?"
"Wait. Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Nathan caught on
"If you think we're telling you were all going to college at or near Duke then yes!" Peyton said
"Jake and I are going to go to Duke, Peyton's going to be boarding at some art school an hour away for the first semester to get her certification course done, and brooke will be at the Carolina Fashion Institute for the first year, then she studying abroad at Duke. That way we can all still go to our dream schools, without actually having to go to them for the whole four years" Lucas explained.
Nathan and Haley sat there in shock. It wasn't until Haley realised she was crying that they spoke "you guys this is amazing! I'm so happy we're all going to be together"
Haley said as Nathan wrapped her in his arms
"Me too. Plus now we've got extra people to help us look after Ryan". Nathan joked
Haley slapped him on the chest and sat up, grabbing her wine glass of soda.
"Well, I would like to make a toast. To all my wonderful friends, who have been the best family I could've ever asked for. You guys have been there for me through everything and I love you so much" Haley said as she started to tear up.
"Cheers" everyone replied as they clinked glasses.
It was now ten o'clock at night, and the gang were all getting ready for bed. They had stayed up talking and playing several round of 'I never' before they decided to call it a night.
Nathan lay down on the bed waiting for Haley to come out of the bathroom. Ryan was snuggled comfortably on his chest sleeping, he refused to stay in the cot and kept crying every time Nathan out him down.
Haley walked in to the room and smiled at the sight. She quietly made her way over and crawled into the bed next to Nathan, laying her head on his outstretched arm and moving Ryan to lay in between the two of them. She gently kissed her sons forehead before looking at Nathan
"You're an amazing dad. You know that right?" Haley stated.
Nathan smiled and reached forward to kiss her lips "well you're an amazing mum"
"Awww you guys!" Brooke whisper squealed, causing the couple to jump in shock "it's not possible to be this nauseatingly cute" she replied sarcastically.
"What the hell are you doing in here brooke?" Nathan whisper shouted, cautious of his sleeping son.
"I'm sorry, but I kinda need your baby mama" brooke said pointing at haley "Peyt's on the verge of having a meltdown right now so I need you downstairs, ASAP"
"Why is Peyton having a breakdown?" Haley questioned, barely able to focus feeling so sleepy.
"She forgot she hadn't picked out anything for Jake's birthday" brooke replied
Nathan chuckled softly "she forgot her own boyfriends birthday is in two days?"
"No idiot, she just forgot about the whole gift aspect of the day. And then she put her foot in it and told him she got him something she thinks he'll really love so now he's kind of excited for it" Brooke stated.
Haley chuckled this time as she got out of bed "ok, let's go fix this 'crisis' quickly" she said using her fingers to quote crisis "the sooner we fix it the sooner I can sleep"
"How are you tired? It's 10:30. You're getting old Hales" Brooke smirked
"You try looking after a baby brooke"
"Yeah, somehow I don't think it was Ryan's fault for your lack of sleep last night" Brooke giggled as Haley blushed
She quickly turned brooke around and shoved her out the door, following her downstairs.
Haley and brooke entered the living room to see a stressed out Peyton sawyer pacing the floor
"You're gonna burn a hole in the floor if you're not careful" Haley joked as Peyton's head snapped up.
"Thank god you're here! I'm dead meat" Peyton responded as she dropped down on the couch.
Haley chuckled at her dramatics as she sat down on one side of the couch, crossing on leg over the other and leaning one leg up so she could rest her chin on her knee
"Now, explain what I'm being dragged out of bed for?" Haley asked
"Peyton here needs our help picking out a gift for Jake's birthday and she didn't like my ideas, and you're the more romantic out of us so we figure it was your area of expertise" Brooke replied.
"I've got no idea what to get him! It's like my mind blanked! I can't believe I told him I got him an amazing gift he's going to be so disappointed! Oh my god he'll probably break up with me or laugh in my face or tell me I'm a horrible girlfriend or -"
"Peyton!" Haley snapped cutting off her friends rant "I think the lack of sleep is getting to you. Relax, I think I've got an idea"
"Already? Damn you're good tutor mum" Brooke stated as Peyton shook her head in agreement.
"Okay we haven't got a lot of time, the boys are going to realise something's up when we're not all in bed. Be ready to leave at 8 o'clock sharp tomorrow morning, I'll explain on our way to the shops" Haley said as she got up and walked up to her bed, leaving a very confused and anxious brooke and Peyton behind.
A/N: ok so I've already started next chapter, so it will be up in a week, I'm 100% sure I will make my deadline I promise! As always, please leave a review and let me know what you thought of the chapter and what you think Jake's getting Peyton for his birthday.
- Maddie :)