Peyton watched from across the crowded, tiny waiting room. She didn't mean to stare but she couldn't help it. Not that they had noticed anyway. They were oblivious to her presence and everyone else around them. They didn't mean it to be that way but it was just their natural chemistry, a newfound bond that had come with renewed friendship that seemed to put Lucas and Brooke in their own little world.

Peyton was jealous. She knew it was wrong but she couldn't help it really. It wasn't the typical envy. Despite her once strong feelings for Lucas, it wasn't the fact that she wanted him for herself. And it had nothing to do with not having the undivided attention of her best friend when she needed her the most. It was different and it was more. It was being stuck on the outside looking in at two people who were seemingly meant to be, who comforted each other in good times and bad. It was the closeness of a young man and a woman. It was seeing two people look in each other's eyes and garner all the strength and reassurance they needed. It was the look of two people in love.

Peyton missed that. She'd had it once not too long ago. It was only weeks before when she would wake in Jake's arms from a peaceful slumber. They were in her bed and he'd be staring and smiling at her. She would blush and pray that she hadn't done something terribly embarrassing like drool on his pillow. They would lay there consumed with each other until the gurgle from the crib would distract them. Jake would reach over and bring Jenny into bed between them where time seemed to stand still for the perfect little family.

It was a feeling of happiness words couldn't describe…until it was over. Then everything had changed in an instant. Nikki was back. Jenny was gone. Jake was in jail. Peyton was once again alone.

She pried her eyes away from Lucas and Brooke long enough to see Haley disappear into Nathan's room. She followed her friend and stood by the open door for a while just watching. Haley sat quietly by her husband's bedside, ever so often straightening his bed covers or stroking his hand. Finally she noticed her friend's presence.

"Peyton, come in."

Peyton buried her hands in her pocket.

"I don't want to intrude…"

"It's okay. Really. It's not an intrusion. Come in."

Peyton walked in and pulled up a chair by the foot of the bed.

"Still no change?"

Haley sighed.

"Not yet. We're just waiting for him to wake up."

"This sucks."

"I know. Reminds me of Lucas last year after his car accident."

"That was pretty rough. God, it seems like a lifetime ago."

"I know", Haley said.

"Oh, you were going to tell me something, something about a dream before Brooke came over this morning."

"About that…um, never mind. It…it's stupid."

"You sure? You just seem really weirded out by it."

"I am", she answered truthfully. "But it's a really long, drawn out story."

Peyton looked around and shrugged.

"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Are you?"

Haley gave her a small smile as she was instantly reminded of how they had been able to bond in the first place. She truend to her friend and took a deep breath. Looking Peyton right in the eye, Haley told her everything. She started from the beginning and tried not to leave a detail out. Peyton listened quietly and intently, taking everything in.

"…And that's it. I woke up. Just like that. One minute Nathan and I are having hot make up reunion sex in the St. Francis penthouse suite, the next I wake up in Alabama and everyone thinks I'm crazy."

"Wow", Peyton shook her head. "Dude, I…I don't know what to say. That is one hell of a dream."

"But that's the thing…I, I don't know if it was a dream."

"What do you mean? You just said…"

"Okay, here's the part where you're going to think I'm really crazy. Some of the things from my dream are starting to happen."

"Like what?"

"Like Deb. Lucas said they needed a blood donor for Nathan's transfusion and Deb was the only one with that antigen."

"Yeah…"

"Pey, the doctors couldn't use her blood. They had to get it from the blood bank."

"Why?"

"I think it's the pills from the dream. I think she has been abusing prescription pills and it tainted her blood."

"Whoa!"

"And Keith and Jules? In my dream, everything happened like it did with them in real life a few months ago. Dan was blackmailing Jules and Keith found out the whole truth and she ran out on their wedding day. They only got back together months later when he went looking for her and they worked it out."

"Wait a minute, you saw all this happen?"

"Plain as day. But…but that's not all. It gets worse."

"Worse? How?"

"Okay when Lucas called and told me Nathan was hurt, I totally freaked out. I left the tour right away but I couldn't get a flight out immediately and my nerves were too on edge to wait for the next day so I started taking buses. There was a delay at this hole in the wall pit stop so I decided to get something to eat. The minute I walked into the place it was like being in a bad movie. It looked like the place in that Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Anyway, I try to order and they didn't have anything on the menu except turkey and ham."

"Turkey or ham? Isn't that what Deb said when you guys made up in your dream?"

"Exactly."

"Too weird."

"That's not all. I see this girl that looks really familiar and it freaked me out even more so I went to the bathroom to try to get myself together and I bent down to wash my face. When I stood up, she was just standing there behind me. I didn't hear or come in or anything. She was just there holding paper towels."

"So she worked there?"

"Yeah or so she said. I could not stop staring at her so I asked her if we'd met before and she said no. She was nice at first but then she started asking all these questions. She asked if I was having man troubles. Then…then she called me by name."

Peyton shuddered involuntarily.

"How'd she know your name?"

"She said she saw it on my luggage tag but I got the feeling it was more than that. Then she started saying stuff that she couldn't have known about me, like that I made mistakes but if I went to my husband and worked it out, we could have one last chance. Finally I asked her who she was and she said that if I didn't fix things and make them right, that I would see her again…in six or seven years. And on her back was this tattoo…it said, it said, Fate Is What We Make. I remembered that because that's what was in Nathan's farewell letter. God, it was too creepy for words and I just wanted to get the hell out of there but before I did, I saw her nametag. It…oh gosh, Pey. Her, her…her name was Megan."

"Get the fuck out of here!"

"I'm serious. I am not making this up and I know I didn't imagine it. I swear to God. It happened, Peyton. You must think I'm insane but it was her. It was Megan, the girl from my dream. And it's like she knew everything."

"Haley…"

"Before you buzz the nurse to have me committed to the psych ward…"

"I don't think you're crazy, Haley", Peyton said.

"You don't?"

"No. No, I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

Haley was relieved. Finally someone understood.

"Then what do you think it all means? What was the point of that dream?"

"I don't think it was a dream?"

Haley's eyes narrowed.

"You don't? What…"

"Technically it may have been a dream but I think it was more than that. Have you ever heard of out of body experiences?"

"You mean like people on an operating table and their heart stops and they see beautiful flowers and they walk towards the light?"

"Well, yeah. Look, I've done some research on the topic. An out of body experience is simply a personal experience when people feel as if they are perceiving the physical world from a location outside of their physical body. What happened to you is exactly what it seems. Your human conscious separated from your body and traveled in a discorporate form in the physical world."

"So I had a hallucination?"

"Basically. It was a dream but not really. It was more than that. It was sort of a glimpse into the future."

"You think it's real?"

"Yeah just look at the things that turned out to be true and that are happening now…Deb's addiction, Keith and Jules…Megan."

"I know she was there and I know what she said. It was real, Peyton but it seemed so weird, it was almost like encountering a ghost or something."

Peyton shook her head.

"It wasn't a ghost. Remember that movie we saw last year with Ashton Kutcher? The Butterfly Effect?"

"Yeah."

"That whole movie was based on some paper this guy wrote in the 1960's about the Chaos theory. I think that's what is happening to you."

"What do you mean?"

"Everybody has moments in their lives they wish they could change. But we don't get the chance? What if this is yours Haley? I think that's what all this means. For whatever unexplained reason, you've been given a chance. You've seen the future and you have the power to change it."

"Like right now if I get back on that bus, you think it will all happen?"

"Yeah. Megan, the tsunami, Yoanna and Lillian…everything."

"And if I stay?"

"Then it doesn't happen."

Haley couldn't believe they were having the conversation. It was surreal and fascinating and frightening all at the same time.

"Peyton, this is nuts…"

"But you know what the cool thing is out of all of this? Nathan is your soul mate. I think that's what the dream proved. No matter what, you two are destined to be together. It's like you can either stay and be normal and have everything together now, or you can go live your life like in the dream and go through all the heartache and the drama and then you still end up together. The ending will be the same…it's just up to you how you get there."

Haley sighed as she looked over at the still sleeping Nathan.

"The Butterfly Effect tagline was, 'Change one thing, change everything'. If I stay does that mean Lillian will never exist? Does it mean you and Jake won't be together with Jenny? Or that Tim won't be in law school or that Lucas won't propose to Brooke or…"

"I don't know, Haley. I don't know."

Haley put her head in her hands.

"What do I do, Pey?"

"I can't make that decision for you. I think it's sweet that you're concerned about everyone else but you have to think of yourself…and your husband. It's up to you, Haley. From now on it's all up to you."