Author's Note: I'm back...again! Would go crazy if I couldn't create so here is my next effort. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or the original characters. I'm just a fan with a crazy imagination so please no one sue...
Jake Jagielski sighed as he walked into the living room that was lined wall to wall with various cardboard boxes. His eyes surveyed his home or what was left of it for the next 24 hours or so. For almost five years the white house with the picture book fence had been his home. Now not only was he leaving the home on 1223 Pear Street, he was leaving Tree Hill and North Carolina all together and for good.
He walked outside and sat on the porch staring up at a dark, star filled sky. He couldn't believe it was almost over. He couldn't believe he was about to walk away from everything that was familiar and start over with a new job in a new town in a new state.
Jake had never thought about leaving Tree Hill. Before there had never been a reason. After high school he had enrolled in the local university. He had played basketball for the school but for Jake it was just another fun, extra curricular activity. He was good but he was certainly no Nathan Scott. It wasn't like Jake had a snowball's chance in hell of making it to the NBA. He knew that and he was fine with that.
Instead, he led a normal life. He kept up his grades and majored in sports medicine and athletic training. And he remained close to the pouty but beautiful curly haired blonde he had been dating since the latter part of their junior year at Tree Hill High, Peyton Sawyer.
After graduation it was no surprise that Nathan had been drafted by the NBA. He was picked in the second round by the Phoenix Suns and was soon living it up with his wife, Haley, in an Arizona mansion as not only "rookie of the year", but the newest face launching ads for McDonald's and Nike among other companies. With a degree in sports management under his belt, older half brother Lucas had been hired on as Nathan's agent.
Despite the distance and growing fame, the Scott brothers had remained the same down to earth, loyal friends they had always been. When the Suns came to Charlotte, Jake and Peyton often enjoyed VIP seating in the box or by courtside. A couple of years later when Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis finally said "I do" in what was dubbed the "society wedding of the year", Jake and Peyton were there respectively as groomsman and maid of honor.
Jake and Peyton loved the simple life. In fact, they craved it. She continued to do art and graphic design for THUD Magazine while he took a job as the athletic trainer at their old college alma mater. They had been taking a random drive when they made the turn onto Pear Street one Sunday afternoon.
"So I was thinking", Jake had begun. "I mean, we're together all the time anyway, right? We may as well just move in together."
It was something he had been thinking about forever but it was dangerous water when it came to broaching such subjects with Peyton. She valued her independence and her space. And by her own account, she had major trust issues. The last thing he wanted was to push her away.
With blonde hair blowing in the breeze she had just looked at him like he had three heads. Just when he thought he might vomit, her lips curled into a half smile.
"Okay", she shrugged.
"Okay?" he repeated to make sure he had heard her answer correctly the first time.
"Okay. I mean, why not? Living together sounds cool."
Jake could barely contain his happiness. He had stopped the car right there, let out a loud yell of joy and wrapped his strong arms around her, kissing her passionately.
"Someone seems enthusiastic", she had teased.
"This is a big step for us, Peyton. I've been wanting to ask you for a long time. I'm just really excited."
She stroked his face.
"I'm excited too."
"This is gonna be great, babe. You'll see. All we have to do now is find a place to live…"
Peyton looked over a few feet from where they were stopped.
"How about this place?" she suggested, pointing.
Jake frowned. The grass was taller than he was, the porch looked like it should have been condemned, the roof was caving in and the house was in need of a serious paint job.
"Pey, are you kidding me?"
"What?" she smiled, getting out. "It's not so bad. I actually kind of like it. It just needs some fixing up. We could handle it. It'd be like a little project to do together."
He took a deep breath. So that was his punishment for dating one of those artsy types of girls. But when he looked over and saw her enthusiasm, his heart couldn't help but melt. No matter what they would be together. Who cared that the black numbers 1223 were hanging crooked against the deteriorating exterior like something out of a horror flick? And who cared that the rundown shack was the eyesore of the block? If Peyton said they could make it work, then they could make it work. Nothing was impossible…or at least that's how they felt when they were together.
Just like that, their relationship moved to the next level. It was fun. It was light. It was spontaneous. That's what he loved most about Peyton. Besides making him deliriously happy, she always had the ability to surprise him. More so when they went down to the City Hall for a land permit. Afterwards, with a Kool Aid grin on her face, she had grabbed his hand and dragged him to the line that issued marriage licenses. Within a couple of hours they were married by a Justice of the Peace in a civil ceremony and after a quickie on the unfinished floors of the house, they were back in their overalls and sweats, painting and refurbishing.
So they moved all their things in, bought new furniture and began the long and trying odyssey of making the run down house a home. It took time, effort, patience, and a lot of hard work but finally it was done. It was a real labor of love, their baby. And Jake would miss it. He would miss it all. Mowing the grass in the summer, raking leaves in the fall…and he'd even miss Top.
Top was the extra non mortgage paying "roommate" the couple had acquired with their purchase. Although he was heard more than he was seen, his presence was always known. Jake had never quite believed in ghosts before but seeing Top (nicknamed for his dapper 1800's black suit and infamous top hat) had changed all that. It was a little freaky especially since he had seen the apparition of the old man once after he and Peyton had finished making love but Peyton didn't seem to mind and after a while Jake too grew accustomed to the creaks, footsteps and other things that went bump in the night.
It had been nothing but happiness from the beginning but it wasn't long before the tragedies began to rear their ugly heads. It had started with Peyton's pregnancy. Unexpected but nevertheless joyful. Once the pair was over the shock they could begin making preparations for a new arrival. But sadly Peyton never made it out of the first trimester. She began experiencing bleeding and abdominal pain. They feared a miscarriage but it was worse. An ectopic pregnancy. One of her fallopian tubes had ruptured and immediate emergency surgery had been required. Afterwards there had been a mild infection leaving the question of future children in the air.
Jake was devastated. He felt bad for everything Peyton had gone through both physically and emotionally. He mourned the loss of their child that would never be. But more than that, it brought back old memories. Wounds from years ago that had never quite healed…
The story began when Jake was a high school freshman. He had fallen in love with a beautiful dark haired junior named Nicole Freeman. It was love at first sight and a relationship that would last without incident for over a year…until it was discovered Nikki was pregnant. Two fearful and uncertain teenagers had discussed the options of abortion and adoption with their disappointed parents. In the end, Jake and Nikki had pushed to keep their baby, a daughter who was named Jennifer Lynn Jagielski.
But for Nikki the responsibility of motherhood proved too much. When Jenny was just a month old, she dropped the baby off at her father's where she would remain. Nikki moved away to college and lived the life of an 18 year old while a 16 year old boy, suffering the consequences of his sexual behavior, struggled to raise a daughter on his own.
It was hard. Aside from basketball and school, his spare time was devoted to his daughter. His parents helped out when possible but Jenny was Jake's sole responsibility. No one outside the family was made aware of her existence for the first few months of her life. He wasn't ashamed but instead, overprotective. Words could not describe his love for her and when he looked in her eyes, he vowed never to let her experience for one moment the pain he had in his short life.
Lucas Scott was the first person to know of Jake's secret. And it was Luke who encouraged Jake to introduce Jenny to the world. So he did. Open mic night at the café owned by Lucas' mom, Karen. He brought his daughter in and introduced Jenny to his world and his world to his daughter. He played the song Lonely World for a small audience and it was there that Peyton Sawyer probably first fell in love. He was different from the other boys. He was mature and unselfish…he was a father. Soon she fell in love with both Jake and Jenny.
When Jake was happy and life was calm it was almost as if Hurricane Nikki could smell the tranquility. And she would breeze back into their lives leaving a path of destruction. She had fought with Peyton and kidnapped little Jenny from a shopping mall. When she threatened child custody, Jake did the only thing he could out of sheer desperation…he and Jenny ran away, aided by Peyton and her father, Larry's fishing boat.
And when Peyton lost her way a few months later and found herself turning to a world of drugs, it was Jake, tired of running, who returned to save her. He moved in and they began raising Jenny together. Once again…calm before the storm. Nikki returned with court orders and more threats. When a family court judge ordered Jake to turn over temporary physical custody while waiting for the formal hearing, he went to jail as he violated the ruling and sent little Jenny off to Florida with relatives. Nikki found her and disappeared. With the exception of a picture every now and then and the occasional profanity laced phone call, Jake hadn't heard from Nikki or seen his child in almost 11 years.
He closed his eyes as he thought about her. He still kept her blankets and her toys. He held onto the memory of her beautiful little face. She was his little girl and he'd never forget her. Losing her was the most painful event in his life. Losing yet another child was the second most painful.
After Peyton's surgery, everything just seemed to slip further downhill. It was a low point for both. They came to a crossroads, almost on the brink of splitting up. But their love and the assistance of professional counselors, the marriage was somehow saved. Still they were searching for more. Something was missing. They needed a change of scenery and it would come when Nathan Scott was traded to the Miami Heat. Lucas and Brooke followed and the brothers were able to pull a few strings to get Jake hired as one of the trainer. New opportunity had come with the snap of a finger.
"Get your ass down here, P. Sawyer-Jagielski", Brooke has told her over the phone. "We can all be together again. It'll be just like high school…only more fun. And with more money. And a better beach than the one in Wrightsville."
So in a matter of weeks Jake and Peyton Jagielski had packed up the only life they had ever known for a South Beach adventure with their old friends.
"What are you doing out here all alone?" she smiled, appearing from inside.
Jake wrapped an arm around her.
"Just thinking and enjoying my last night on this death trap we have called a porch", he teased.
"You're gonna miss this place, huh?"
"Yeah", he nodded honestly. "You?"
"I guess. I just feel like there's something more out there for us."
Jake agreed.
"I know. Change is good. I have a feeling we're really gonna do good in Florida."
"Me too", she said. "So Mr. Jagielski, are you ready to enjoy our last dinner here together? I have an exquisite furniture-less carpet picnic going on inside. What do you say?"
He smiled and kissed her nose.
"Why not? Besides, I think Top would be pretty pissed if we did it any other way."
Peyton returned his grin as they went inside and sat on the floor. She poured a glass of champagne for both and they raised their glasses.
"To us", she began. "To old friends and new beginnings."
Jake sighed as he gave the place one final look around.
"Yeah…and to leaving Tree Hill."