Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who replied
last chapter. I just can't seem to get enough of them. Okay, so for
those of you who want a mental picture of what Lacy looks like, she'
would be played by Kaley Cuoco from 8 Simple Rules. Anyways, please
tell me what you think. Thanks.
--OTH--
"I can't believe that I'm stuck with you two
for the entire day."
Thanks to Nathan's careful planning,
Haley was forced to tag along with Brooke and Lucas until he was
ready for her to come over. Originally, everybody was supposed to be
keeping her busy while he and Tim set the apartment up, but after the
night before, the only ones up to the task were the lovebirds. Haley
was still mad at Peyton for what happened in the washroom, so her and
Jake had decided to stay home and hang out with Jenny. Lacy was up
all night throwing up because of the bad lobster she ordered, so Tim
had insisted that she go to the doctors just to make sure. Even
though she didn't think it was necessary, she went anyway just to
make him feel better.
"Oh come on, Hales," Brooke cheered
throwing her free arm over Haley's shoulder and pulling her closer.
"Remember when it used to be fun to hang out with two of your best
friends?"
"Yeah," Luke agreed from the other side of
Brooke. "I thought we were pretty good company. I mean, it could be
worse, Nathan could have left you with Tim."
"That's
true," Haley nodded, shivering at the thought of having to hang out
with Tim all day. She could tolerate him in a group, but he was
little much when he was by himself.
"So stop with the
complaining, missy," Brooke warned, moving her arm off Haley's
shoulder to loop it through Haley's. "Or I'll have to take you
over my knee."
"In that case," Luke replied. "Continue
with the complaining, Hales." Brooke growled and hit Lucas on the
arm playfully. He laughed and rubbed his arm, pretending like it
actually hurt. "Okay, I'm sorry. Blame a guy for trying."
"It's
not that I don't want to hang out with you guys," Haley
continued, ignoring Luke's comments. It was kind of sad that she
was so used to the gross comments she got from him, Tim and Nathan.
Jake was the only one that had any manors. Brooke gave her a look
that told her she wasn't buying it. "Okay, so I don't want to
hang out with you guys." Lucas gasped dramatically and held a hand
to his heart.
"Your words hurt like a fist, you know."
"Oh,
please," Haley laughed, rolling her eyes at him. He could be such a
fairy sometimes. "Like you two wouldn't rather be having sex at
Brooke's house right now."
"The thought has crossed my
mind," Brooke answered quickly. Haley smiled, knowing that she was
right. "But I love you dearly, so I am willing to wait a couple
hours before I get Scott in bed."
"Would you mind not
talking about my sex life with my best friend?" Luke asked, trying
to cover his face with his free hand. Brooke and Haley laughed at the
red that was creepy up on his cheeks.
"Aw," Haley
laughed, reaching over Brooke to ruffle Luke's hair. "Is little
Lukie getting embarrassed?" Brooke giggled at the sight of her
boyfriend; she always thought he was cute when he blushed. That was
why she would go out of her way to embarrass him sometimes.
"You
guys are so mean." He glared at them, before pulling his hand free
from Brooke's grasp and stomping into the ice cream shop ahead of
them. They continued to laugh, knowing that he was just joking
around.
"Is it creepy that he did that exact thing when we
were eight?" Haley asked, laughing even more at the memory. "Karen
used to bring us out to get ice cream every Friday night. He would
always beg her to let him get two scoops. She would always say no and
he would pout and stomp off into the store."
"And you
stayed friends with a loser like that?"
"Hey, man, free
ice cream," Haley exclaimed. "That's why I've stuck around
for so long. Every once in a while, Karen still brings us here."
Brooke smiled at the far off look on Haley face. She was sad that she
couldn't have been a part of their childhood because they were both
such a big part of her life now, but she was happy that she had her
own memories with Peyton, Nathan and Tim.
"Does she ever
spring for the second scoop?" An evil smile came to Haley face and
she laughed, leaning closer to Brooke.
"Don't tell Luke
this, but she always got me two scoops," Haley told her. Brooke
burst out laughing. Brooke had always envied the relationship Haley
had with Karen; they were like mother and daughter. Even thought
Brooke's mom was nice enough, she always thought it would be kind
of cool to have a play mom, one she could talk to about boys and
stuff.
"No kidding?"
"Don't tell her I told
you," Haley warned her, smiling when she saw Lucas pouting at one
of the empty tables by himself. She knew he wasn't that mad because
he was waiting for them until he ordered. If he was upset, he would
have gotten his ice cream already and left them to pay for their own.
"He's such a drama queen," Brooke commented as they
walked in the shop. She said it loud enough so Luke could hear her.
He glared at her and stood up, joining them in the line to order.
"Aw, come on, Broody. I love you anyway."
"You love him
because of it," Haley laughed. Brooke thought about it before
deciding she was probably right. "So, what are we getting?"
"I
want the cookie dough," Brooke said, without even looking at the
other kinds. She wrapped her arms around Luke's neck and reached
up, giving him a peck on the lips. "What are you guys
getting?"
"Chocolate and peanut butter," they answered
at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled, remembering
the old times. Brooke watched their exchanged with a bored look.
"I
swear, Broody," she teased, poking him on the nose. "If Haley
wasn't so much hotter than you, I'd think you were twins."
Haley laughed and turned to the lady to make their order since the
other two were too busy macking on each other.
"Please,"
Luke laughed. "I'm am so much prettier than Haley." Brooke
raised and eyebrow at him, finding it humorous that he choose the
word pretty instead of hot. He realized his mistake. "I should
really just not talk anymore, shouldn't I?"
"Just stand
there and look pretty," she instructed him. He narrowed his eyes
and her before laughing and reaching down to give his a kiss on the
lips. By the time they pulled apart, Haley had their cones in her
hands.
"There's got to be some kind of law against PDA in
ice cream shops," Haley commented handing Brooke her cone. "I
mean, children come in here. They don't need to be seeing that."
She passed Luke his cone. Brooke looked at it than back at
her's.
"Hey," she complained. "Why is his bigger than
mine?"
"Because I got him two scoops," Haley answered,
smiling as Luke's eyes lit up in excitement. Brooke's mouth
dropped open, upset that she only got one. Lucas looked at Haley and
gave her the biggest smile she had ever seen.
"Really?"
he asked, remembering all those times he begged his mom for two
scoops, but never got it. She nodded her head. "Hales! That's so
sweet." He shoved the cone in Brooke's hand before rushing
forward and lifting Haley up in his arms. He squeezed her and spun
her around.
"Your welcome," she laughed at him. Brooke
stood there, holding both her and Luke's ice cream cones, watching
them having fun. Even though she knew that there was no romantic
feelings there what so ever, she couldn't help but think of Haley
as the enemy right now so she did the only thing she could think of.
"Your mom used to get Haley two scoops!" she exclaimed.
Lucas immediately stopped his movement and dropped her to the floor.
He looked at her like she had just kicked his puppy. Haley glared and
Brooke, who just smirked at her before licking her ice
cream.
--OTH--
Across town, Nathan and Tim were
frantically trying to get everything set up perfectly for later that
night. Tim had volunteered to help out, knowing that he needed
something to keep his mind of Lacy. He was so worried that something
might be wrong with her; if he sat at home he would go crazy. He knew
that it was just an allergic reaction, but love makes you do the
wacky.
"Thanks, again for helping out, man," Nathan
called from his bedroom. After a minute he appeared, three candles in
hand. "There was no way I could have gotten all of this done by
myself."
"No problem, dude," Tim replied from his
position on the couch. They had gotten everything set up perfectly.
The dinner was cooking, the music was picked out, the floor was
visible and the candles were in place. "I needed something to keep
my mind of off Lacy."
"I'm already told you," Nathan
said, dropping the last few candles down on the table in the middle
of the room. "Everything is going to be fine. You totally
overreacted to her being sick."
"I know," Tim sighed, as
Nathan pushed his feet off the table so he could put a candle there.
He sighed and leaned his head against the back of the couch. "It's
just, I love her, you know? I've never felt this way about a girl
before. It's so weird, it's like everytime she smiles my day gets
so much better."
"Yeah," Nathan nodded. He finished his
job and flopped down on the couch beside his best friend. "I know
the feeling. That's exactly how I feel about Haley."
"She's
a great girl, Lacy is," Tim added. Nathan nodded his head, agreeing
with him. He had to admit, as much as he tried to hate her, she was a
good person. She wasn't bitchy like Peyton and she wasn't
annoying like Brooke, she was just there, talking when she was talked
to.
"Yeah."
"I'm just afraid that I'm going
to mess things up with her." Tim titled his head to look at Nathan.
"How do I not be a screw up? That's what I'm best at, right?"
"Come on, man," Nathan tried, patted him on the back.
"Don't be so down on yourself." He straightened up. "Look,
the only thing I can tell you is don't lose her. Whatever you do,
don't screw it all up by cheating on her."
"I would
never do that," Tim told him. He shook his head at the thought. He
could even imagine doing that to Lacy. "I love her." Nathan was
about to protest, but stopped when there was a knock at the door. He
looked at his watch, afraid that it was Haley coming early.
"That
can't be her already." They looked over at the door. "I told
Brooke and Luke to keep her bus until I called them." He started to
get up.
"It's probably just Lacy," Tim answered, jumping
up and pushing Nathan back down in his seat. "I told her to come
here as soon as she was done." Nathan nodded and sat back. Tim
wiped open the door and it was Lacy on the other side. "Hey, baby,"
he greeted her, giving her a kiss and leading her inside.
"Hey,
sweetie." She waved at Nathan as Tim led her over to the couch. Tim
sat back down in his seat, motioning for Lacy to sit beside him, but
she sat on the table in front of him instead.
"So how was
it?" He started to get nervous at the pale look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"It turns out that it wasn't the
lobster," she began. Tim's faced turned white and he started
running all the possibilities through his head. Nathan watched the
exchange, feeling uncomfortable. He started to stand up.
"I
should leave you two alone..."
"It's okay," Lacy
assured him. He looked at her to make sure before sitting back down.
"You're gonna find out eventually. Might as well stay."
"Do
you need a liver?" Tim asked suddenly. He had no idea what was
going on, but he knew that he didn't want her to be sick. "Cause
you can have one of mine." Lacy smiled at him gently, glad that she
had such a caring boyfriend. She just hoped that he still felt that
way after she told him.
"Dude, you only have one liver,"
Nathan corrected, quietly. He felt bad for his buddy, knowing how
much he loved her. He had no idea what he would do if Haley were
telling him something like this. "And you'll die without it."
"I
don't care," Tim responded. They could both tell that he was
starting to panic at the thought of losing Lacy. "She can have it
anyway." Lacy laughed and laid a hand on his knee, hoping it will
calm him down a little.
"Tim, relax," she instructed him.
He immediately relaxed at the tone in her voice. He trusted her and
if she said he should relax, that's what he would do. "It's
nothing like that."
"Thank God." He let out a breath he
didn't know he had been holding. He brought Lacy's hand to his
lips and kissed them. "Then what's the matter?" This time she
took a deep breath.
"I was going to try and ease you into
this," she began, glancing at Nathan who had remained silent at the
other end of the couch. She was starting to think letting him stay
was a bad idea, but it was too late now. She turned back to Tim. "But
I don't think you can take it much longer."
"Just tell
me," he told her softly. He looked her in the eyes, letting her
know that she could tell him anything. Deciding that if she waited
any longer, she would lose her nerve, Lacy just spit it out.
"I'm
pregnant," she stated. Tim's eyes widen and all the air seemed to
be sucked out of the room. Lacy tried to read his thoughts, but she
couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Baby, say
something."
"Whoa," was all he could say. He remained
silent for a few more minutes, thinking things over before finally
speaking. "I...I don't know if I'm ready to be a father."
Lacy closed her eyes at the words. God, she wished it were that
easy.
"That's that thing," she began, her eyes wandering
back to Nathan at the opposite end of the couch. By the look on his
face, he was thinking the same thing as her. Her eyes stayed locked
with Nathan's as she spoke to Tim. "You might not be the
father."
--OTH--
That's all for now. I was trying
my best to keep that as surprising as I could, while dropping little
hints along the way. I was surprised that no one picked up on the
hint with Lacy being sick in the bathroom. Anyway, I hope you all
like the newest twist and please tell me what you think. Thanks.
