Jake was dead tired when he finally arrived home at dawn. Haley, Peyton and Brooke were crashed on the couch where they had fallen asleep just a few short hours before. The first order of business was to check on Jenny. She was sound asleep in her bed, clutching the old purple monkey she had loved as a baby. Once he gave her a kiss on the forehead and adjusted her covers, he headed back downstairs to make coffee. He tried to be extra quiet as to not wake the girls, but Haley stirred at the first sound of noise. She stood and walked into the kitchen area.

"I'm sorry", Jake apologized as soon as he saw her. "I didn't mean to wake anybody."

"It's okay", she said. "I couldn't sleep anyway."

"Coffee?" he offered, holding up a mug.

"Please", she nodded.

Just as the smoldering liquid was ready to be poured, an equally groggy Brooke and Peyton joined them.

"You okay?" Peyton asked her husband.

"I think I should be asking you that."

Peyton shrugged.

"I guess. I mean, I don't know what the hell to think. I'm just stunned."

"We all are but babe it's not what you think…"

Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Jake. I know the boys like to stick together but really."

"Look, if you guys knew the real story, then maybe you wouldn't feel that way."

Brooke folded her arms.

"And what is the real story?"

Jake sighed.

"Okay. It's some things you guys should know. You should have known from the beginning but believe me, Nathan and Lucas and I had our reasons for not telling you. But it's important that you know the truth now and that you know it all. I guarantee it will put things in a new perspective."

"Jake, what is going on?" Peyton asked.

He took a deep breath. There was so much to tell. Where would he begin?

"Amanda is not the person you thought she was. She's basically evil. I mean, there is no use in sugarcoating it. Everything she said and did that made us think she was so nice and so great, well, it was all a lie. She was playing us all. From the beginning, from the minute she set foot in this house, from the minute she started getting close to Pey at the school, everything she did was calculated."

"Jake, that doesn't make sense…"

"First of all, she did things to Jenny."

"What kind of things?"

"She was mean to her. She teased her, picked on her. And I'm not talking about normal sibling rivalry or whatever. Jenny was really upset. I think she was even scared."

"Jake…"

"Remember that thing with the dog? Peyton and Haley, you were both there. You even said it yourselves. Jenny was fine and then all of a sudden she freaked out. Listen, a while ago Jenny had an incident with a dog. Whatever it was, it scared her to death. Jen thought she could trust Amanda so she told her about it. What did Amanda do? She sicced Teezer on Jenny. She did it on purpose. Jenny told Luke and she told me."

"Oh my God", Peyton mouthed.

"And when you and I fought about it, Amanda was conveniently there to pick up the pieces and tearfully and gallantly save the day and play Miss Innocent and offer to get rid of the dog so she could be the hero in our eyes. Think about it, Pey. That was her role the entire time she was in this house. And she always needed you most when? When Jenny needed you, too."

"Jake…"

"How much did you tell her? About our lives? About your parents? About your drug problem?"

Peyton hung her head.

"Everything", she whispered. "I trusted her. I confided in her. I, I thought she was my friend."

"She wasn't, babe. She used you. She took advantage of you. She used all of us."

"But…"

"Just listen to me. She um, she used to throw herself at Nathan. At the time, no one thought anything of it. It was a crush, just harmless flirting. Nobody paid much attention, especially Nathan. Well, that was just something else for Amanda to use to her advantage. Somehow she manipulated Nathan into telling her about that time he kissed another girl. He didn't realize it at the time but she was just building more ammunition."

"For what?"

Jake sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know. No one knows her master plan but I take it there is one. I think she had the finale planned from the start. Anyway, there's more."

"Oh God", Brooke groaned.

"It's pretty bad. This is something we should have told when it happened…but we didn't. We thought it was the right thing not to. Now I see how stupid it was. And Peyton you're gonna be pissed. And Brooke you're gonna be mad at Lucas and Haley, you'll be even angrier at Nathan."

"What is it, Jake?" Haley asked, her hands beginning to shake again.

"It was the night of the party Amanda threw for us. First of all, she invited your dad on purpose even though she knew she wasn't supposed to. I can't prove it but I just know she did."

"Why?"

"Who knows? To cause more trouble, I guess. Anyway, when she ran off and everyone thought she was missing…well, when Lucas and Nathan found her that night, she wasn't by the pool where they said she was."

Peyton's eyes narrowed.

"Then where was she?"

"In Tim's room", he admitted sheepishly.

"Tim?" all three women exclaimed in unison.

"He didn't know who she was or especially how old she was. When they met she gave him a fake name and age and everything. She was drinking and you know how Tim is. Anyway, they ended up back in his suite. Everyone was so desperate to find her that they were going door to door and we found her there."

"Iiiieeeewwww!" Brooke made a face. "Tim? The Tim? Dim? That's just gross. Man, that little floozy really gets around. What did she say when they caught her?"

"Apologized. Cried. Played the guilt card that she'd made a horrible mistake and she didn't want anyone to know and she didn't want to disappoint anyone or end up back at a home."

"Why would they cover for her?" Haley asked in disbelief. "Why would you cover for her?"

"I don't know. I guess they felt sorry for her. And she admitted lying to Tim and seducing him but still if it got out, he'd be in trouble. She's still a minor. I guess they were protecting him. Luke finally told me and I didn't want the situation to get out of hand. When I confronted her much later, she basically threatened to lie and say Tim raped her and then she proceeded to tell me that I was going to jail with Lucas and Nathan for concealing a crime. And that stuff about the drugs, Pey? She turned that around too. I mean, if she was so interested in helping you, then why didn't she flush them? No, she kept the coke around so she could do it and when the time was right, bust you out…which she did."

Peyton looked devastated.

"Jake…why, why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't. I knew you really cared about her. I knew that if you found out the truth, it would really hurt you. Babe, you've been through so much…I, I just didn't want to send you over the edge. But I wasn't honest with you and I'm sorry. You ended up getting hurt anyway. All Nathan and Lucas and I were trying to do was the right thing. You guys, our wives, and Jenny are the most important things we have. And everybody had blinders on when it came to Amanda. The kid is good and she's always one step ahead. The fact that she's so smart and she has no conscience makes her dangerous. We should have just been honest from the beginning but we weren't. You have a right to be pissed but I had to let you guys know the truth now."

"So it was all a lie?" Peyton asked.

"I'm sorry", he whispered, taking her hand. "But it's not your fault or mine either. She's just evil. There's no explanation as to why she does the things she does. Amanda just likes to hurt people. All you did was be nice and try to help her."

Peyton shook her head.

"How could I be so freaking stupid? I let her manipulate me. I…I let her ruin everything. And poor Jenny…"

"It's okay."

"No, it's not okay, Jake. Look at us. None of us are okay right now."

"I know", he sighed. "This is why we all have to stick together. This shit with Nathan…none of it happened. He never touched her. She just made it look that way. And the scary thing is, it could have been Lucas or me. I think she chooses her victims at random. Anyway, she planned it all out. Somehow she managed to get back in the house and she waited for Nathan in bed. He was tired after a long trip and he was on Codeine for an ankle injury. Actually he took too much so the kid was out of it. He climbed in bed, assuming it was Haley and you guys know the rest…"

"This is so All My Children", Broke declared.

"Haley, what are you going to do?" Jake asked, ignoring Brooke and her typical Broke comments. "You have to talk to Nathan. You have to believe him."

Haley closed her eyes.

"I, I don't know what to believe anymore. Jake, this is too much. I just…"

"It's okay. It's been a long, crazy day. Just get some real sleep and think about it but you need to move fast. Nathan needs you. He loves you and he misses you. And it's gonna take all of us sticking together to bring Amanda down and prove the truth."

Haley nodded, tears still falling from her eyes.

"You okay?" Brooke asked her softly.

"I…I just need to lie down…"

"Come on", Brooke stood, guiding her. "I'll help you to the couch."

The Jagielskis watched as they left. Peyton was dejected.

"You hate me?" Jake asked.

"No", she whispered.

"I'm sorry, baby. I hate that it had to come to this. And I'm sorry you got hurt."

"Jake…"

"I don't know what else to say. I'm just sorry."

"So am I", she said.

"Peyton…"

"I mean it, Jake. I was really, really stupid. I mean, I can't believe it. I should have seen right through her. But I didn't. Now look what happened. Everybody got hurt."

"We're gonna fix it, babe", he looked at her. "We'll get it all back. I promise."

"Whatever it takes to help Nathan…I mean, legally and with Haley, then I'm in. I'm with you Jake all the way."

"I know."

"And us? I, I swear from now on it's all about our family. You, me and Jenny."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry, Jake."

"Me too", he held her close. "Me too, babe."