"So, Brooke," Jake said, catching up to her in the hallway a week later. "If I do an internet search do you think I'll be able to find Peyton?" he asked her. Brooke shook her head no. "So, do you know of any way that I could find her?" he asked.
Brooke stopped short in the hallway and turned around to face him. She knew that Jake was hurting, too, and she was fairly certain that despite the fact that he'd broken her best friends' heart he still loved her, but it wasn't enough to erase the fact that he'd driven her away. "Why, Jake?" she asked, throwing her hands in the air. "You broke up with her. What could you possible want with her?"
He swallowed nervously. "Jenny misses her," he told Brooke.
Brooke gave him a dirty look. "Well then I'll set something up for them to see each other," she told him, continuing down the hallway, picking up her pace. It didn't deter him. He caught up with her again and put his hand on her arm. "I miss her, Brooke," he told her. "Can you tell her I miss her?" he asked.
Brooke stopped again and shook her head. "No," she said softly. "When Peyton calls, I only get to talk to her for five minutes at a time before she makes some stupid excuse to hang up. But do you know what I think?" she asked.
Jake shook his head.
Brooke's eyes filled with tears. "I think that anything having to do with Tree Hill reminds Peyton of you. And that she can only take thinking of you in small doses before she breaks down into tears. I think that she doesn't want to cry in front of me," she said, getting angrier by the second. Brooke knew she was being hard on him, and she knew it wasn't entirely his fault. She was pretty positive that part of her anger was coming from the fact that Lucas still hadn't put out. When he'd first made this bet, she was sure he wasn't going to be able to hold himself to it, but her fiancé had stayed strong.
"Listen, Brooke, I'm sorry."
Brooke spun around, her fury rising yet again. "You know what? So am I. Because it was my stupid idea to transfer here! If I hadn't suggested it, Peyton and I could still be in Los Angeles together. She never would have dated you and her heart wouldn't be in a bazillion pieces right now!"
"Is she in L.A.?" Jake asked urgently.
Brooke rolled her eyes. "Yes, Jake, she went to L.A.," she said sarcastically. "No, she didn't go to L.A., you idiot. She left to get away from you, and that would be the first place you'd look. She's not stupid!" Brooke spat, starting to walk away again.
"Brooke?" he said softly. She wanted to keep going, but there was such desperation in his voice that she couldn't. Instead, she rolled her eyes and then turned around. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you guys transferred here. Otherwise, you wouldn't have met Haley, and Nathan wouldn't have, either. And Lucas wouldn't be the happiest I've ever seen him. And Jenny wouldn't know what it's like to be loved by Peyton Sawyer. Neither would I."
He smiled weakly and walked away. Brooke took a deep breath. "Jake!" she said.
He turned around and she walked up to him, placing a hand gently on his arm. "I can't tell you where she is," Brooke told him, her voice full of regret. "I wish I could, but I made a promise." She took another deep breath. "Give her time. Tree Hill is her home. And she loves it here. She'll be back," Brooke assured him. "Besides, Jenny's here. She'll try, but she won't be able to stay away."
Jake rubbed one of his temples. "Did she tell you that?" he asked.
Brooke shook her head. "No. But I know her. Trust me, she can't stay away."
Jake nodded, his eyes filled with remorse. "Thanks, Brooke," he said.
She smiled softly.
"But in the meantime, I'm going to be looking for her," he said.
"It's about time, Hot Jake."
Jake grinned. "Oh, so I'm Hot Jake again, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah, well, when you're loving Peyton, it's hard to be mad at you," she told him.
"And here I thought it was because you weren't getting any."
Brooke gasped and whacked him on the arm. "Not funny, Jagielski!"
777
"Five weeks today, Haley!" Brooke complained as she walked into the apartment, dropping her bag by the door and taking off her coat.
Haley groaned. "I know, Brooke! And yesterday was 34 days. Yes, you told me. Ten times yesterday."
"Only ten?" Brooke said.
Haley rolled her eyes. "I can't take this." She jumped up and went to her room. When Brooke walked in a few minutes behind her, her feet were dressed and she was throwing stuff into her bag.
"Where are you going?" Brooke whined.
Haley looked over her shoulder. "I'm going to Nathan's to study," she told her friend. "I can't take this…play-by-play of your abstinence anymore!"
"Haley!"
"Mouth should be home soon," she told Brooke.
"Oh, goodie!" Brooke said.
Haley stopped in front of her on the way out of her bedroom. "You know what's pathetic?" she asked.
"What?"
"That I have to go to my boyfriend's house to concentrate on studying! It's easier to study with Nathan loving me all up than it is listening to you complain about not getting any!"
Brooke grinned slyly. "Maybe he's not doing it right," she teased.
"Oh, no! He's doing it right," Haley assured her. "He does this thing with his tongue where—"
"Making me horny, Haley!" Brooke warned her.
Haley took off down the hall. "Leaving, Brooke!" she said, grabbing her keys on the way out the door.
777
"Honestly, Nathan, you have got to call off this bet," she told him. They'd just put Maddie down for the night and were in his room on his bed studying.
He grinned at her. "Why would I want to do that?" he asked.
"Because Brooke won't shut up and I can hardly concentrate when she's around!" she told him.
"Yes," he said, kissing her neck. "But on the upside, I've seen you more in the last week that I have all semester until now."
Haley laughed. "Yes, well, we're all busy," she told him, trying to push him away. "Nathan. I really need to study," she told him firmly.
He bowed his head and gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine!" he teased, moving away from her and settling himself so he was sitting up against the headboard. He picked up his own textbook and opened it to his marked page.
A few minutes later, Haley looked over at him, and he was concentrating attentively on whatever it was he was reading. She wondered if he knew how sexy he looked when he was intent like that. She doubted it. She slammed her book shut and threw it on the floor. Well, OK, gently placed, but somehow threw sounded so much better to her. "What are you doing?" Nathan asked, looking up.
Instead of answering, she smiled at him and grabbed his book, snapping it shut. His, she threw on the floor. "What was that for?" he asked with a smile on his face.
She crawled over to him, and climbed on his lap so she was straddling him. "I want to be naughty," she said, grinning.
He grinned back. "Oooh, and I want you to be," he told her.
Haley brought her mouth down to his, and he opened instantly. She moved her tongue against his, and he put his hands under her shirt, bringing them slowly up her back. He brought them back down, and brought them around to her stomach, caressing her with feather light strokes. He grinned when he could feel her start to shiver beneath his touch.
"Daddy?"
Nathan pushed Haley off him so fast, she lost her breath and had to grab onto the comforter to keep from falling off the bed. Nathan grabbed her arm to catch her and try to steady her, but his eyes were on Maddie.
"Hey, Mads. Couldn't sleep?" he asked, trying to even his breathing.
Haley was trying not to laugh at Nathan as he was struggling to maintain an innocent look on his face. It was priceless.
"Haley?" Maddie asked her eyes narrowing. "What were you doing to Daddy?"
Haley giggled nervously. "I was just…checking your daddy for cavities," she explained.
"Does he have any?" she asked, running toward the bed in her pink ankle length nighty, teddy bear in hand.
"Nope, everything looks good," Haley assured her.
"Let me see!" she said, jumping up onto the bed and towards Nathan. He caught her before she landed in an uncomfortable spot on his lap. "Open up, Daddy!" she commanded.
Nathan opened wide and Maddie got as close as she could to his mouth, examining it for several seconds. "Nope! Not even one!" she confirmed. "Good boy, Daddy!"
"Thanks, Mads," he said, kissing her on her cheek. "Were you having trouble sleeping?" he asked his daughter.
She shook her head. "No, Daddy, I'm just thirsty," she told him.
"OK, well, let's go get you a drink," he said, moving to the end of the bed to stand up with Maddie in his arms. As they walked out of the room, Nathan could hear Haley bursting into laughter. He threw a scolding look over his shoulder and she stuck her tongue out at him. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and continued out of the room.
Sighing in resignation, Haley leaned over and picked her textbook up, opening it to the page she'd been previously reading. She looked up a minute later when she felt someone staring at her. "Brooke! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I got lonely!" she whined. "And bored!"
"Where's Mouth?" Haley asked.
"I called him and he has this thing with the Audiovisual Club tonight," she complained.
"Well, what is Lucas doing?" Haley asked.
"He's studying," she said, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to Haley. As soon as she did, Nathan walked in.
"Get out," he told Brooke, using his thumb to point to the bedroom door.
Brooke sighed and got up as Nathan walked over to the bed and resumed his spot next to Haley.
Brooke turned around in the doorway. "Fine! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check Lucas for cavities," she said smugly.
Haley started laughing.
"Oh, hey, Brooke?" Nathan said.
"Yeah?"
"I saw the janitor the other day," Nathan said, and Haley watched as her roommates cheeks turned pink. "I asked him what he was doing over spring break, but he said something about not being able to…get it off," he said knowingly.
Brooke's eyes widened and she gasped. "Lucas!" she screamed, sprinting from the room.
Nathan turned to Haley. "Checking for cavities?" he said in amusement.
Haley covered her face in her hands. "I know!" she said. "It was so lame. But what did you want me to say?"
Nathan laughed. "It was good enough," he said. "Now, where were we?" he asked, moving toward her. But she jumped up off the bed and stood up.
"Oh, it's OK. I can go home to study now because Brooke is here," Haley said, leaning down and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. She turned to walk away, and Nathan rolled over onto his stomach and made a grab for her, but he couldn't reach her. He put his face in the blankets and groaned. When he picked his head back up, Haley was crouching down by the bed so they were at eye level. "Tomorrow night, after the game. You and me. Alone," Haley said. "Your mom and dad have Maddie tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah," he said, rolling over onto his back. She stood up and then leaned over him, bringing her mouth close to his. "Wait—" she said, just as her lips were about to join with his. "Did you floss?" she asked laughing, but it turned into a squeal when Nathan grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down on top of him.
"Find out for yourself," he told her, lifting his head to hers for one last kiss.