Oops, Chapter Three

By Scarlet

A/N:  I've just always liked the idea of seeing what Nathan would do differently if he were in Dan's position.  Hence, the tale before us.  I'm glad you like it.  Umm…tell friends and family because I'm an attention junkie.  (First step=admitting the problem)  Oh, and here we go with some guy outlooks.

Month Three

Nathan

          "Only a month before state championships, can't be breaking other players' noses," Nathan mimicked Whitey.  Like he knew anything about it.  Besides, it was an accident.  He hadn't meant to break Jake's nose.  Just his face.  Until he agreed to only communicate with Haley in one-word e-mails.  Besides, they'd need a doctor's confirmation to be sure it was broken.

          Nathan chuckled to himself.  It had taken him awhile to realize what he wanted and not been freaked out by the idea, coming off a three year relationship, but he sure as hell wasn't going to stand by now that he knew and just let her get away with this seeing other people, "we aren't together" crap.

          True, it would take some finesse.  Ease into it with the guise of being sorry.  As though kissing her in the hall, claiming her like that hadn't been wildly exciting.  What he was sorry about, was hurting her.  She didn't deserve to be hurt.  She was a princess among women and he wanted to protect her forever.  It was Jake that needed to be beaten within an inch of his life and explained the way of things.

          Nathan grinned to himself as the doorbell rang.  He pushed aside the initial hope that it was Haley, sorry how they left things and wanting to kiss, make up and kiss some more.  It was probably just Tim, bored and seeking out entertainment.  It was weird to only have one month of basketball left…three months of school.  Weird to think that sometime soon, Tim might not be over at all hours for entertainment.  And maybe Dan wouldn't be on his ass all the time about basketball.

          Hah.  Nathan shook his head as he opened the door.  He was going to college, not the ultimate fantasy world.

          "Peyton?" he frowned, turning to the guy next to her, "Lucas?  What's up?"

          Peyton couldn't stop moving her hands and it was annoying him.

          "Do you want to come in?"

          "Ummm…yeah, yes.  That would be good," Peyton nodded.

          "Do you want me to come with you?" Lucas looked at Peyton.

          She swallowed, "No.  No, but thanks, Lucas."

          "Sure," he nodded, frowning in Nathan's direction before taking off.

          "What was that about?" Nathan asked his ex-girlfriend, stepping aside for her to come in.

          "He was just…being nice.  Moral support and…stuff," she winced, "Look, let's just sit down, I have to tell you something."

          His mind started spinning, not with possible reasons for her presence, because he couldn't think of anything, but with the enormity of whatever she was about to impart that required his half-brother, Lucas Scott, to walk her to his door for moral support.

          "Look…I'm-" Peyton licked her lips and swallowed, then shot to her feet, "I'm sorry, I can't do this."

          "Peyton," Nathan ground out, pulling her back into her seat, "Tell me.  Now."

          "I'm pregnant," she said softly.  "I'm so sorry."

          He froze.

          "Nathan?"

          He didn't blink.

          "Are you okay?"

          He stared at her.

          She snapped.

          Nathan blinked.

          "I'll give you a second," she nodded, leaning back in her seat.

          "I, uhh-" he coughed, "Are you sure it's, ahh," he bit his lip.

          "Yours?" she glared at him.

          Nathan nodded quickly, clinging to desperately to that tiny chance that maybe, somehow, it wasn't his.

          "You're the only man I've been with, Nathan. I'm not a doctor, but I can figure these things out."

          He ran his hand through his hair, "Are you keeping it?"

          "I'm not getting an abortion."

          Nathan nodded, oddly pressured and relieved at the same time.  He didn't even really want to think about it, any of it.  The responsibility, the complications, the relationships this would screw up-

          Haley's face danced in his mind and he rested his head in his hands.  This was just perfect.  Hey, Haley, you want to go out sometime?  Oh, wait, it's my turn to babysit.  He shuddered.  This couldn't be happening.  Everything was just falling into place in his mind and here was this same relationship, screwing his life up again.

          "Look, you can be as involved as you want, I don't expect you to," she just gestured.

          "Be a father?" just the suggestion set him on edge.  It was what she expected, he realized.  Like father, like son.  Peyton thought he'd be the same asshole Dan was.  That's why Lucas had been there.  No one would even bat an eye and that made him feel sick.

          "Yeah," Peyton mumbled.

          "Well, I will be," he crossed his arms stubbornly, "We'll figure this out."  How was a question he put up there with Haley in the "dwell on later box."

          The doorbell rang, again, and Peyton glanced toward the entryway nervously.

          Nathan blinked.  Right.  He should answer that.

          He moved in a daze, wondering what other catastrophe could possibly befall him at the moment.

          "H-Haley?" he blinked at her in confusion.  There she was, the person Nathan most wanted to see not ten minutes ago and now felt the incredible urge to hide from.

          "I need to talk to you," she burst out, breathing hard like she ran from her house.

          "I thought you were hanging with Jake tonight," he bit out, as though Haley's little date with Jake had made Peyton pregnant.

          Haley gave him an annoyed look, "I was.  He had to go put ice on his face, no thanks to you."

          A whimsical grin crossed Nathan's lips.  Ahh, yes, the elbow to the face incident…by far the highlight of the evening.

          "Nathan!  You can't just go around breaking people's noses!"  Haley glared at him.  She was too cute.

          "Did you really come all the way over here to bitch me out about breaking…" he smiled again, "It's broken?  Really?"  Power surged through his veins.

          "Yes, it's broken and no, I came to-" her voice faltered as her eyes focused behind him.

          Nathan didn't turn, he knew what she was seeing and tried to come up with a plausible explanation for her presence.  Whoever said honesty was the best policy had obviously never knocked up his ex girlfriend at the most inconvenient possible time.  Not that there was ever really a good time for that.

          "What did you break?" Peyton stepped into the entryway.

          "Jake's nose," he answered her without a glance, watching the wild emotions flickering across Haley's face.  "Haley, Peyton was just-"

          Just what?  His mind taunted him.  Just telling you any relationship you may have wanted was now doomed.  Just taking a wrecking ball to the future you planned.

          "Leaving," Peyton interrupted, "I said what I needed to say," she swallowed, "I'll see you guys later."

          Haley closed her eyes briefly as Peyton slipped by her.

          "Do you want to come in?" Nathan asked hesitantly.

          "No," she choked, "I was just…looking for Lucas, Brooke said he was headed this way?"

          "Oh," he muttered.  Lucas.  "Yeah…but he took off."

          "Right.  Well, I should do that too, then."

          Nathan swallowed as she turned away.  "Haley, wait."

          "Yeah?" she turned around, but kept moving away from him.

          "I'm sorry…about today."

          Haley smiled slightly, "Me too."

Lucas

          It had been a long time since Haley James cried in front of him.

          "You heard, I guess?" he sighed, opening his arms for her to burrow into them.

She nodded into his shoulder and he could feel her tears soak into his shirt.

"Shhh, I'm sorry, Hales," he rocked her.  "You know he was never good enough for you anyway."

Haley nodded furiously against him, but only cried harder.

"C'mere," he murmured, sitting down on his bed and setting her in his lap.  "It'll be okay."

She shook her head and tried to stop crying, but only burst into tears again.

"Did he say something to you, Haley?" Lucas frowned, "This is more than just Peyton, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she hiccoughed and sobbed, then hiccoughed again helplessly.

He smiled.  Something he could solve!  "You have the hiccoughs, Haley?"

"Yes-ic!" she glared at him.

"Prove it," he challenged her.

She waited.

She concentrated.

She couldn't hiccough.

"Come on, Hales.  You're not hiccoughing, what's the deal?  I think you were lying to me," he shook his head sadly.

"Shut up," she muttered, smacking him.

"Is this really about Nathan and Peyton?" he whispered.

Haley sighed against him, "Sort of."

"You know I'll wheedle it out of you somehow…or get Brooke to do it, she's a scarily convincing woman."

"I somehow doubt her powers are as affective on me as they are on you," Haley muttered dryly.

"It's the technique that's different, Tutorgirl," Brooke's voice came from the doorway, "The results are always the same.  Now, Lucas, would you care to explain why there's another woman on your lap?" she raised an eyebrow.

Lucas's eyes widened and Haley sprang from his lap as though burned.  "No!  We were just, she was sad and it was nothing…well, no, but it wasn't like-" he gestured frantically for meaning.

Brooke chuckled, "I just wanted my seat back," she slid into Lucas's lap and kissed his neck, "Missed you," she whispered.

He sighed in relief and his heart pounded its relief.  "Missed you too.  I was just trying to get Haley to tell me what was wrong."

"Did you talk to Nathan?" Brooke asked the other girl.

"She told him," Haley sighed.

Brooke's face crumpled, "I'm sorry, sweetie."

Lucas frowned and gestured between his girlfriend and best friend, "Explain that conversation."

Taking a deep breath, Haley looked him in the eye, "You have to promise not to kill…anyone involved in what I am about to say."

Jaw tightening, Lucas stared at her, "As an intro, not the most positive, Hales."

"Promise.  Don't cross your fingers."

Lucas scowled.

Haley crossed her arms.

"Fine, I promise."

"I'm pregnant."

"I'll kill him," he stood up.

"Luke!"

"I was crossing my toes."

"Lucas Scott, sit back down," Haley snapped.

Sulkily, he returned to his seat.  Brooke wrapped her legs around him to keep him in place.  It worked quite well, for he had no desire to move.  Ever.

"Nathan doesn't know and I would appreciate if you didn't do anything to tip him off.  An attack might do that."

"He's not that smart," Lucas waved off the possibility.

"You promised, Lucas," Haley glared at him.

"Promised not to kill him, that leaves this whole gray area to be explored…" he met her eyes and sighed.  "Fine."

"Thank you," she sighed and sank onto the bed.

"When are you going to tell him, Haley?" Brooke asked quietly.

Haley shrugged, "Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I guess.  Today, I just…I couldn't.  Not when she-"

"No," Brooke shook her head, "That's understandable.  I'm gonna kill that bitch."

Lucas frowned, "What?  Wait, she knew you were pregnant too?  Why am I the last to know everything?"

"Nathan doesn't know," Brooke remarked dryly.

"True," Lucas smirked to himself.

"Yes.  Way to go, Lucas.  You win.  Whoopee," Haley deadpanned.

"Shut up," he mumbled.  "Nathan," he shook his head, "How could you let him…" he made a face.

Brooke smacked him.

"Hey!  What-"

"Hypocrite much?" his girlfriend glared at him.

Lucas looked at Haley sheepishly, "Sorry, Hales.  I know how much you care about him.  I just want to kill him," he sighed.

"For what?" Brooke pulled away from him, "Sleeping with the girl he has feelings for?"

"Engaging in some sort of immaculate type conception," he corrected.

          Haley and Brooke exchanged amused glances.

          "I had sex with Nathan, Lucas."

          "No," he shook his head, "That goes against everything that is right in this world."

          "Would it make it better if I told you I loved him?" she smirked.

          "God, no!" he shuddered.  "Brooke, make her stop," he whined.

          Brooke laughed, "Right, because this isn't hilarious."

          Lucas dumped her onto the bed and started kissing her stomach, "Please?" he winked.

          Haley gagged, "I think I'll stop myself.  See you later, Luke.  Brooke, have fun," she ran for the door.

          Running her toes up to Lucas's back, Brooke lifted herself up on her elbows and grinned down at her boyfriend as he started kissing his way up her body.

          "Karen!  Hi!" Haley's voice carried from the hallway.

          Lucas and Brooke sprang apart as the door opened.

          "Kidding!" Haley smirked at them, closing the door quickly to avoid the barrage of pillows.

          "So where were we?" Brooke grinned.

          "I'm glad you weren't really jealous of Haley," Lucas smiled.

          "Oh, who said I wasn't really jealous?" Brooke smiled, pushing him back onto the bed, "I'm jealous of every woman that touches you, baby."

          "Really," he smiled.

          "I'll just have to remind you," she straddled him, "You're mine."

          Lucas was fine with that.

TBC