Haley sighed as she used the plastic spoon to stir what the hospital said was Cream of Broccoli soup. She begged to differ but it didn't matter much anyway. Her appetite was long gone, the jumble of nerves between her belly and chest not leaving much room for anything else.

"Nice breakfast."

Haley looked up and was both relieved and ecstatic to see who was standing over her. It was Peyton.

"Pey!" she called out, jumping to hug her.

The two exhausted and emotional women embraced long and hard.

"How are you holding up?"

Haley shrugged.

"I'm trying to hang in there. What about you? I heard about Jake and I'm so sorry."

Peyton rubbed her tired, red rimmed eyes.

"I'm okay. I'm just worried about Jake and Jenny."

"What happened?"

"Nikki came back to town demanding custody. There was a hearing that Jake didn't even know about and when he didn't show, the judge awarded temporary custody to Nikki. She's only the world's worst mother and she's only doing this to dig at Jake. Of course he wouldn't give Jenny over…so they arrested him."

"Oh my God. And Jenny?"

Peyton shrugged.

"She's in a safe place and that's all I know. Jake won't tell me where she is or how she got there."

"Does he have a lawyer?"

"Yeah. Andy helped us out but technically he broke the law, even if it was an asinine law that the judge never should have ruled on."

"How's he holding up?"

"He's so strong. God, he's like the strongest person I've ever met. Jail sucks and I know he's scared but he says he doesn't care. He says he'll do whatever he has to do to protect Jenny. And I know he will."

Haley shook her head. She'd only been gone from Tree Hill for a few months and in that short time it was as if everything had changed. The world as they knew it had been turned upside down.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry. Oh Peyton. I…I don't know what to say…"

"It's okay. I mean, it's not your fault."

Haley took her friend's hand.

"Just be there for him. He really needs you now."

Peyton looked away and fought back tears.

"No, he doesn't…"

"Of course he does. Jake loves you and you love him. And you both love Jenny. You guys will get through this somehow."

A tear slid down her cheek.

"He…he doesn't want to see me."

"What?"

"Jake. He, um…he asked me to not come visit him in jail anymore."

"I'm sorry. It's probably just too hard for him. But don't give up. Jake will let you back in."

"It's just so hard to love someone so much and you see them hurting and you'd do anything to stop it but you don't know how. The more you love and the harder you try, they just seem to push further away."

Haley swallowed hard.

"Yeah…don't I know…"

"Oh I'm sorry. You and Nathan…"

"It's okay. I know how you feel. I'm kind of in the same position except I'm the one that did this to him. I hurt him. This is all my fault. I keep trying to fix it and make it better but I don't know how. Things just keep getting worse."

"Nathan has been hurting. I won't lie to you, Haley, it got pretty bad. He's been so lost without you. I mean, I don't know what else to say…"

"I didn't leave him, Peyton. Despite what he thinks or what everyone else thinks or how it looked. It wasn't about Chris. It was about me and the music and my dreams."

"I know. I've always understood that. You did what you had to do, what you thought was best at that time. I'm not judging you. I don't know if I would have been able to turn down an opportunity like that. But Nathan didn't understand. It really hurt him. But you're back now and that's all that matters. Maybe this is your chance to make it all right."

Haley looked away.

"You know, I never wanted anything to come between us…and it did. I let it."

"There's still a chance, Haley. You tell me not to give up on Jake but you can't give up on Nathan either. You guys love each other too much. Work it out. You don't want to lose him forever."

"I don't think I will."

"What?"

Haley chewed at her lip as she took a breath. She and Peyton had grown to be close. She trusted her. Peyton was smart and intuitive. Maybe she would understand. Maybe she could fit in the missing pieces and make sense of what Haley could not.

"Listen, Peyton, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure."

"This is going to sound so weird…"

"Try me."

Haley nodded and sighed.

"Something happened to me while I was on tour. I…I had this dream."

"A dream?"

"Yeah but it wasn't like a normal dream, or at least I don't think so. It was really strange…and really real. It was freaky, like Twilight Zone freaky but now it changes everything."

"Okay…"

"I don't want you to think I'm crazy or anything. I haven't told anyone else but I can't keep this inside. I trust you. I don't know, I just feel like maybe…maybe you'll understand."

Peyton nodded. Haley definitely had her attention.

"You can trust me. I'm still your friend, Haley. Nothing has changed about that. I'm here for you if you need to talk."

"Okay…it started out…"

"Hey, I was wondering where you two were!"

Haley and Peyton looked up at the interruption. It was Brooke.

"Hey", Peyton said.

"Hey yourself", she plopped down beside them. "Everything okay? I called your cell earlier."

"Oh yeah. Sorry. I just got the message…"

"Anything new with Jake?" she asked carefully.

"No", Peyton answered.

"And Nathan?" she asked Haley.

"Um, no change. He still hasn't woken up."

"Sorry", Brooke said. "This really sucks. Nathan's in the hospital, Jake is in jail…what next? I don't know if I can take much more of this. We so need a distraction, girls. Let's talk about something good, something happy for a change. What were you two all serious about when I walked over?"

"Haley was just telling me about…"

"I was just telling her about this new song Gavin DeGraw is writing."

Haley gave Peyton a pleading look, beseeching the blonde to back off.

"Really? That's kind of cool that you got to hang out with him. He seemed really nice that time he sang at the café."

"Yeah…uh, he's a nice guy", Haley nodded for emphasis.

"Well, I'm just glad you're back", Brooke added. "A lot has changed since you've been gone, if you can't tell. But we really missed you."

"Thanks", Haley said. "I missed you guys, too,"

She managed a small smile as she went back to picking at her soup. Peyton couldn't help but stare. What did Haley have to tell her? What was so important about a dream? And why had she stopped so abruptly and changed the subject when Brooke had arrived?

Something was going on. Peyton could feel it. She had enough problems of her own but obviously her friend needed her. It may have been just a dream but whatever it was, it'd had a profound effect on Haley. And as soon as they were alone again, Peyton was determined to get to the bottom of it.