Lucas smiled hesitantly, before turning to Nathan. "We'll be right back," he said to the girls, grabbing Nathan and pulling him away from the table. "I thought you said that she knew?" he whispered furiously when they had made it out of sight from the table.
Nathan shrugged with a smirk. "I knew you wouldn't have come if you knew that she didn't know. Actually, she has something bigger to tell you, so don't talk to me about secrets," he said. Nathan knew that Lucas would question Peyton now, and she wouldn't be able to keep her pregnancy a secret anymore.
Lucas glared at his brother again, but there was a curiosity in his gaze too. He knew better than to ask Nathan, though, he would just have to wait, and maybe bring it up to Peyton later. So, he turned away from Nathan and walked back to the table, forcing a smile on his face as he did. When he reached the table and saw Peyton his smile turned real.
As the guys left, Peyton turned to Haley and Brooke. "Which one of you planned this?" she whispered, once again putting her menu up so it was hiding her face. She lowered it suddenly looking over at Brooke. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? You made me promise to tell him the next time I saw him and then you made Haley call Nathan and tell him to invite Luke," she groaned.
Brooke was smiling devilishly. "Well, if you must know, P.Sawyer, you're right. You're smarter than I thought," she teased. "You do have to tell him now, though. Unless you want to break your promise," she added.
Peyton was glaring at Brooke, but she couldn't reply because Lucas was approaching the table again, Nathan following. She took her gaze off of Brooke and, trying to avoid looking at Lucas, raised her menu once again. She didn't lower it until the waiter came, though the others were having a conversation.
Peyton waited for everyone else to order, because she was still deciding. "Okay, I'll have the smoked salmon, with lemon glaze, a bowl of chili and a basket of onion rings. To drink I want a water," she said, handing her menu over to the waiter.
Lucas was surprised at the amount of food she ordered. Most girls didn't eat. It was kind of refreshing to see one who did. Brooke had only ordered a salad. Haley had ordered macaroni and cheese, of course. When the waiter had left, he turned to Peyton, determined to make her talk to him. "Where does all the food go?" he asked her, a teasing quality to his voice.
Peyton bit her lip for a moment, looking at him. "Well, I'm eating for two now," she finally said, her sarcastic tone turned on as she put her walls up. That wasn't how she planned on telling him, but it seemed easier.
Lucas eyes widened as he realized what she meant. His eyes were locked on hers and everyone else was watching them. Peyton watched as he connected the dots. He opened his mouth, but Peyton spoke before he could even ask the question. "Congratulations, daddy, you're gonna have two boys," she said.
Lucas's jaw snapped shut. Haley didn't want to interrupt their moment, but she hadn't realized Peyton had figured out what she was having. "You're having twins?" she squeaked out before she realized what she was saying.
Peyton remembered that she hadn't had a chance to tell Haley yet, so she turned to face her best friend as she nodded. They started babbling about the babies with Brooke before Lucas cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him. "I think we need to talk," he said, his eyes on Peyton. He stood quickly and walked away from the table.
Peyton grimaced, but she got no sympathy. She stood and slowly followed Lucas. He had walked to the hallway, back by the bathrooms, out of sight of everyone. She waited for him to speak. "How far along are you?" he finally asked.
Peyton sighed and bit her lip. She could tell he was angry. She decided it would just be best to answer his questions. "Five months. The baby is due July 21st," she said, her voice soft. She watched him pace for a few minutes. "Listen, I'm not going to ask you to be involved if you don't want to be. I can handle both boys on my own," she said.
Lucas ran a hand through his hair and looked at her sharply. "What makes you think I don't want to be involved in the lives of my sons?" he asked with a sigh. His expression softened as he noticed how scared she was.
Peyton was avoiding his gaze. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to ruin your basketball career. I didn't want you to think you were obligated," she paused for a minute. "We don't have to be together you know. So don't think you have some gentlemanly duty to ask me to marry you. I'm not asking for that," she said. Her posture was confident, but her voice was shaky.
Lucas walked closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. She resisted for a few seconds before relaxing into his embrace. He began rubbing her back and whispering soothingly into her ear. "Don't worry, I will be here for you. If you don't want us to be together, we don't have to be, but I'm not going to abandon you, or our sons," he said into her hair.
Peyton felt a shiver run down her spine at the feel of his breath on her neck. She let him comfort her for a moment more before she pulled away slightly so she could look at him. "You really mean that?" she asked softly.
Lucas nodded. He couldn't believe she was asking. "Listen, I know we're kind of young for this, but I'll be here for you. I promise," he said, reassuringly. Peyton was surprised at how genuine he sounded. Lucas hesitated for a second. "Can I see your stomach?" he asked.
Peyton smiled at his hesitancy. She slowly lifted her shirt so her slightly protruding belly was showing. Lucas knelt down next to it, so his face was even with her stomach. He placed one hand on each side and then placed a kiss on her stomach. "I love you boys, and I love your mom, even if she doesn't realize that," he said soft enough that Peyton couldn't make out his words.
Peyton didn't know what he said, but she loved how tender he was with her stomach. For the first time in a while she actually felt safe, like things were meant to be this way. She was beaming at him as he slowly got to his feet, and she lowered her shirt. They held eye contact for a minute before Peyton looked away. She bit her lip. "I'm starved, let's go back to the table," she said, already turning to walk back to the table.
Luca nodded and followed her. He knew she was scared to admit what she felt, and he knew that right now was not the time to press it. If all she was going to allow him to be right now was her friend, then that was what he was going to have to accept.
They both approached the table and saw that the food had arrived. Peyton sat and immediately dug in. She poured some hot sauce over her salmon and ate her onion rings with the tartar sauce that had been meant for her fish.
About an hour later they had all finished eating and they were talking. The girls were talking about the wedding and the guys were talking about basketball. Nathan stopped Lucas in the middle of the conversation and nudged Haley. She had been talking, but she stopped and looked over at him. "Did you tell them what we decided today?" he asked her.
Haley looked confused for a minute, but then she grinned. "I had completely forgotten," she said as she looked over at him. "Do you wanna say it or should I?" she asked. Nathan shrugged and then Haley couldn't hold it in anymore so she blurted it out. "We picked a date for the wedding. We're getting married August 15th," she took Nathan's hand as the grin on her face widened.
Peyton and Brooke squealed and began talking animatedly with Haley again and Lucas slapped his brother on the back, giving his congratulations. Peyton was wondering why they had chosen so late in the summer to have the wedding. Haley seemed to notice this. "I know you wanted to lose the baby weight before the wedding so you wouldn't be fat in your Maid of Honor dress," she said.
Peyton smiled and hugged her best friend. "You know this means we have a lot of planning to do. Also, we should start decorating our guest room now, since we know what I'm having," she said.
Brooke couldn't believe so much was happening. Right now she just wanted to have some fun. "I think we need to have a girl's night," she said, looking between Peyton and Haley. Then she looked at the guys. "I'm gonna steal your women for the night," she said.
They had already paid the check, so Brooke stood, pulling Peyton and Haley along with her. "You might hear from them tomorrow, but don't count on it tonight," she said with a grin. She didn't give anyone a chance to protest before dragging Peyton and Haley out to Peyton's car. "I'm driving," she said, grabbing the keys as Peyton pulled them out of her purse.
Brooke went to her apartment and grabbed a few things before driving them to the park. They sat in the middle of a grassy field, where they had a great view of the star strewn sky. Brooke pulled out what she had grabbed from her apartment. "A bottle of vodka?" Peyton asked, incredulously, "You realize I'm pregnant, right?" she asked.
Brooke was pulling out glasses as Peyton talked. Then she pulled out another bottle. "Sparkling cider," she said. "Since you're the pregnant one you get to be the designated driver," she said as she passed Peyton the bottle of sparkling cider and a glass. "Haley and I, however, are going to get shit-faced," she added as she opened the vodka and poured large amounts into glasses for herself and Haley.
Peyton looked a little disgruntled, while Haley wanted to push the glass away. "You expect me to want to hang around with a couple of drunks? What fun is there in that for me?" Peyton asked as Brooke took a large gulp, still shoving Haley's glass at her.
Brooke sighed, already feeling the effects of the vodka, her thoughts were getting fuzzy. "Come on, Tutor Girl. There isn't going to be that much time for us to hang out," she said, taking another big gulp of her vodka.
Haley finally took her glass from Brooke and took a tiny sip of the vodka, only because she knew Brooke wouldn't give up. "What makes you say that?" she asked, pulling the bottle away from Brooke as she tried to pour more into her glass.
Brooke heaved a sigh. She had a few things she wanted to get off of her chest. She decided to go with the easiest first. "I'm leaving this summer. I'm transferring to a fashion school in New York," she said to the girls. She paused for another minute, deciding to just blurt out the other part. "I think I'm lesbian. Or at least bi."
Peyton opened her bottle of sparkling cider and filled her glass. Taking a big gulp, she wished she could get drunk, too. Haley took a big gulp of her vodka. They could both tell why Brooke wanted to get drunk now. The three of them lapsed into an awkward silence, Brooke drinking more and more vodka.
Peyton sipped her sparkling cider and looked up at the sky, trying to think of a way to respond to Brooke's confession. She could tell that Brooke had wanted to tell someone and that she just wanted a friend. "So, Brooke, you're not gonna tell me you're into me, now, are you?" she teased, trying to show Brooke that she was okay with it, that she still wanted to be her friend.
Brooke got Peyton's meaning. With a grin she said, "Actually," after a pause she continued. "No, actually, I think I might love this girl who I went to high school with. We shared a kind of thing during our senior year, but I pushed her away because I thought I was in love with Lucas. Now I think I just didn't want to be in love with her. It wasn't fair to Lucas. I think I was using him to prove to myself that I'm not gay. Look how well that worked out for me," she said with a scoff. Being drunk definitely loosened Brooke's tongue. "I'm pretty sure that she went to New York after high school ended."
Haley finally spoke up. "So that's why you want to go to New York. To find her and see what could have been?" she asked. Brooke nodded slowly. Haley's tone hadn't indicated how she felt about Brooke's confession. "I hope you find her, Brooke. Everyone deserves love," she nodded her approval.
They sat in silence for another minute, but this silence wasn't awkward. Brooke broke the silence the second time. "Well, since I just confessed something to the two of you, I think you both owe me a confession," she said.
Peyton and Haley both thought for a minute. Haley spoke up first. "Well, Peyton already knows this, but, um, I'm still a virgin," she said as she looked up at the stars. All three girls were lying down flat on their backs, looking up.
Brooke looked over. "Really? I mean, I thought you would have at least got some in high school. You don't think sex before marriage is some kind of sin, do you?" she asked. She had sort of expected it, but it did come as a shock nonetheless.
Haley shrugged. "No, I just believe it's special. Not something that should be rushed. Nathan is it for me, though, I know that. I want to spend my whole life with him. I'm not someone who just jumps into things. I've looked at this marriage from every angle, and I can't find anything wrong with it," she said. She had gotten a lot of doubt from her family, but she knew it was right for her, Nathan was right for her.
Brooke listened to Haley talk about Nathan. The love she heard in Haley's voice made her wonder if things might have been different if she had waited to have sex. She quickly pushed the thought aside. "Peyton's turn," she said, but her voice was so soft it got lost in the slight wind that blew by as she spoke.
Peyton knew it was her turn, and was still trying to decide what to say. "I'm scared," she said, her gaze set firmly on the stars. "I know, you're going to say it's okay to be scared, but what if I can't do it? What if I can't be a mother? How am I supposed to relate to two boys? What if Lucas resents me later in life?" she said this last question softer than the rest because that was what she was worried about most. She knew that she'd figure out the mothering thing soon enough, but the last part she couldn't change.
Brooke thought for a minute. Haley decided to just stay quiet. She didn't know what to say, and Brooke knew Lucas so much better than she did. "Well, Peyton, you don't know Lucas like I do, and I have to tell you, I've never seen him look at me the way he was looking at you tonight. I think he's in this for the long haul," she paused. "He might not have told you about his parents," she started hesitantly.
Peyton broke in. "Yeah, he told me how his mother died when he was born and he wishes he could have known her," she said. She didn't understand what that had to do with her, though.
Brooke started shaking her head. "No, that's not the truth. It's what he tells people because he's ashamed of what really happened. His mother left him. She left him with his father right after he was born and she hasn't been seen or heard from since. He will be determined not to do that to his own children. He doesn't want them to always be wondering. So, as long as you are there for his children, he will love you forever," she explained.
Peyton just lay there, mulling this over. This cast a whole new light on things. She still couldn't rush into things, though. She had been hurt too many times by people she trusted. She wanted to take away the heavy tension that filled the air around the girls. It was far too serious, considering the good things. "What I don't get is how I slept with Nathan so many times before Lucas and Jake so many times after. I only slept with Lucas once and he's the one who got me pregnant," she said.
Peyton succeeded in lightening the mood and the girls talked late into the night. They kept to light topics, but they all felt better after their earlier conversation.
A/N: Longish chapter. Are you happy that she told? By the way it'll be a few chapters, but I need baby names. I know most people wanted her to have a boy and girl, but I do that all the time with twins, and I think that it'll be a nice change for Peyton to have two boys. Besides, my beta strongly suggested two boys. Well, let me know what you think! Thanks to my reviewers and to my beta.
B/N: Beta Fishy wa neko jyanai.
Disclaimer: One Tree Hill. I don't own it, or the people in it.