Disclaimer: Anything you don't recognize from the show is mine… everything else… I wish!

Notes: Thanks for commenting.. I'm starting out a little slow because I have a lot of work to do for school. I'm trying to write as much as possible.. anyway, the first couple of chapters are not going to be so angsty or anything so please bear with me! I have to set up some stuff.


High Hopes I Have

When Jillian opened her eyes, all that was in her room was a bright light, blinding her. Unable to concentrate on anything, Jillian's head was pounding in the illumination, to the point that she was unable to see two feet in front of her. Jillian crawled to the stairs only to find that the front windows of the living room were open.

Not again, Jillian thought.

The only thing that was running through her mind was to find relief from the pain. The only problem was that she had to keep the antidote in a cabinet in the kitchen for fear that Jenny might get a hold of it and potentially hurt herself.

She had gone back to sleep once she was finished helping with breakfast. Jenny was spending the day with her grandparents and Jillian had planned the day out for her and Jake. Once his parents left, Jake had kissed her goodbye and joined Lucas for a run. Alone, she wanted more sleep because she felt a small headache coming on, not the paralyzing migraine that she was suffering from now.

The only thought that raced through her mind was to keep steady so that she didn't topple down the stairs on her descent to the kitchen. Not only was the light adding to her throbbing pain, all the little sounds- the children playing out in the street, someone on roller-blades, the sound of their skates over the cracks in the pavement- they all intensified.

The nausea caught up with her, finally, as she stood from the stairs and rushed towards the kitchen. Jillian grabbed her stomach, hoping that the pain would hold off until she reached a sink to bring up her breakfast in. She reached into the cabinet with recklessness, not caring if she spilled the entire contents of the cabinet.

All of her willpower was concentrated on finding her salvation. She found the bottle on top of the counter along with other various pill bottles, and out of habit, she shook the pill bottle to hear its contents rattling inside.

Except there was no rattle.

After hearing the discerning quiet from inside the bottle, Jillian started to think. She knew that this pain would last until someone found her here on the floor. She knew because her mother, as punishment for something trivial, would keep her medication away from her when a migraine approached.

She stood, determined to beat the pain, and started for the door. A small table sat next to the front door, containing keys to Jake's car and his sunglasses. She took both, placing his glasses over her eyes before opening the front door. She stumbled onto the porch while Jake and Lucas were heading up the walk.

"What's wrong?"

"My... head..." Jillian was pointing frantically at her head. Jake walked briskly up the steps and swooped Jillian off her feet. "I'm... out of pills."

"What were you going to do, go to the store to pick some up?" He took the keys out of her hand as they walked into the house, Lucas following them. "Luke, can you go to the drugstore?"

"Sure, what's wrong? Want me to pick up Excedrin?"

"No, I'm allergic." She grabbed at her head as Jake placed her on the sofa and closed the thick drapes.

"She is allergic to aspirin. Pick up some Advil and Caffeine pills." He sat on the edge of the couch, soothing Jillian and cradling her face.

Lucas ran down the steps of the porch and ran all the way down the street to the closest drugstore, which was not that far from their house. He returned quickly with both items in a bag and immediately Jillian downed two Advil and two caffeine pills.

Jake and Lucas walked outside onto the porch, leaving only the screen door closed so that they could hear if she called. Jake tossed Lucas a water bottle as they sat in silence for a moment.

"Thanks, man. She doesn't always know when one is coming on and her script probably ran out."

"No problem. What exactly happened?"

"Jilly's been getting migraines since she was about twelve. Mostly she use to get them when she was really stressed out but for the last year or so she gets them all the time. I felt so bad for her while she was pregnant. She couldn't take any pills either."

Lucas never could imagine Jillian pregnant and even with a visual, still had a hard time comprehending it. He finally was comfortable around her again, since she broke his heart, but he could never remember her talking about it or seeing it for himself that she had terrible migraines.

"She never told me about them."

"She doesn't like to tell people. She thinks it makes her weak." They sat in silence for a few moments.

"I better get back home. Hales got the day off and my mom needs some help around the Cafe."

"Give me a call if you need me to work." He pointed at the door. "Looks like our plans for the day are shot." Lucas was unaware of Jake and Jilly's reunion and he wasn't about to fill him in without prior approval from Jillian.

Lucas offered his hand, which Jake shook. "See you later, man."

Jake reentered through the front door. He could see Jillian holding her eyes shut tightly, trying to keep the light from her eyes. He knew that her room was brightly lit with sunlight because of the side of the house her window faced, but he knew his room would be darker, with only one window and dark blue curtains covering it. He picked her up off the couch and carried her up the stairs.

He placed her on his bed and just as she could feel the softness of the mattress, she curled up into the fetal position. He laid down next to her, pulling her close to him and closed his eyes. Jake knew that the medication was starting to affect her migraine. He hummed the song that he wrote for her and he could feel her breathing start to be regular as she reached sleep.


"You look like you just woke up." Peyton took Jilly by the arm as they walked down the sidewalk next to the white picket fence in front of Peyton's house.

"Yeah, I took a nap because I wasn't feeling well." Peyton didn't know about her migraines either.

"I just figured you didn't get enough sleep last night." She bumped Jillian's hip with her own. "Jake getting a little frisky?"

Jillian laughed. "No, nothing like that."

Peyton was finally feeling okay enough to be around Jillian without it being weird. She could even joke about the switch they had with relationships with the boys. It felt good to be able to talk to Peyton about her relationship and her wanting to wait. Peyton understood and offered her a girl's shoulder that Jillian had missed since her best friend was forced away when she was still pregnant.

"Where's Jenny? You called me to take her to the beach."

"When I called you, I was getting her ready to soak up some sun and she spoke."

"Jenny talked?" Peyton lit up. She was as excited about things that Jenny did as much as Jillian was.

"She said Da Da and Jake nearly had a coronary."

"I've heard her say that before. I thought you told me that all babies do that, that they are just making vocal sounds. She doesn't know what she is saying."

Jillian just nodded as they continued walking. "What did Jake say after you told him?"

Jillian had the look of guilt on her face. Peyton could tell that she did not fill in Jake about the progression of syntax in babies; all she could do was laugh. "I didn't have the heart to break it to him! He was so excited about it."

"So where are they?"

"He took her down to the Cafe to show everyone that she can talk."

"She's a side-show baby."

"Yeah, all we have to do now is toss knifes on a board around her body."

"She's got to learn to stand still first."

"That just makes it more challenging."

Both girls laughed in unison. They had become very close as of late. Not that Brooke wasn't a big part of Peyton's life still, but they were more distant than they use to be. Peyton had a hard time relating to Brooke like she did in the past; Brooke didn't understand adult things like growing up, taking care of a baby, loving someone. Those things Peyton and Jillian shared an understanding.

They reached the Cafe and saw Jake holding Jenny up, a father with a wide smile on his face. Everyone there was clapping lightly for some accomplishment that the girls missed. Jake saw them enter and brought Jenny back down from high in the air and handed her to Jillian.

"I'm assuming you are here for our genius daughter."

"I wouldn't say genius quite yet, but I am here for my favorite girl in the whole wide world." Jillian took her from Jake, talking in baby talk.

"Don't talk to her like that! Our baby is a genius you don't want her to not be able to speak correctly because you talked to her funny."

Jillian did nothing but make a face at him, getting Peyton to laugh. Jake could do nothing but throw up his hands. Karen came out from the back and delivered some sodas, giving one to Peyton and one to Jilly, both accepting gladly.

"You got a baby genius, Jilly." Everyone laughed while Jake perked up; Jillian could do nothing but throw her hands up this time. "Where are you girls going?"

"We wanted to go get some sun at the beach and let Jenny play in the sand. We were hoping that Haley would be somewhere around here."

"Nope, haven't heard from her today. I got both the boys working today to replace her."

Both Jake and Lucas walked from behind the counter, sporting aprons and going a little twirl before grasping hands and doing a tango back behind the counter.

"Speak of the devil." Peyton was facing towards the door while Haley and Nathan entered into the Cafe. "Hey, Hales, what do you say to making it a girls day out and going to the beach with Jilly and me?"

"Nathan and I are spending the day together."

Someone from the group said "big surprise" while everyone else laughed.

"But we have some news." Nathan looked at everyone then back down at Haley who had a big smile on her face.

"We got married last night."

She held up her hand to reveal a ring. Jillian coughed on an ice cube and Peyton came to her rescue, patting on her back to try to dislodge it.

"You mean you got engaged last night and you will get married like ten years from now?" Jake piped in.

Nathan held up his left hand, showing his matching ring to confirm that they did get married the night before. Everyone else started coughing, though they definitely didn't have ice cubes caught in their throats.