Author's Note: Hey all. I'm here so soon, surprised, right? Well, you can blame/thank Lizzie for that. So, this one goes out to her and Punk, because they were so good today.

--OTH--

"What did she say to you?"

After Jake had left Haley's hospital room, he ran full speed down to the ground floor to try to catch up with Nathan. To his surprise, his friend was actually waiting for him like he asked. He found Nathan leaning up against the side of his car in the pouring rain, just staring off into space. To Jake it looked like he was almost about to cry. He didn't, though. He just asked if Jake was ready to go before getting into the car and driving off. The first part of the ride was made in silence; both boys were lost in their own thoughts about their conversations with Brooke. Finally, after Jake couldn't take the quiet anymore.

"Nothing I didn't deserve," Nathan answered in a monotone voice. When he was waiting for Jake, it had given him some time to think about what she had said to him, and it all made sense. Everything that Brooke said was nothing but true, he just didn't want to admit it.

"Nobody deserves the wrath of Brooke, man," Jake replied, eyeing him before looking back out the window. He knew that Nathan was having some kind of revelation about where his life was headed so he didn't want to disturb him, but he just had to know. "Especially when she's like that."

"No," Nathan answered, never taking his eyes off the road. "I deserve a lot more."

"Okay, seriously," Jake began, shifting in his seat so he was giving Nathan his full attention. He had never seen Nathan like this before; he was so remorseful. He wasn't even this bad when he and Haley broke up. "What did she say to you that got you all creepy?"

"She just told me a bunch of stuff that I really needed to hear," Nathan answered, glancing at Jake quickly before looking back ahead of him. He flexed his fingers out, trying to get them comfortable on the smooth leather of the stirring wheel, but it was no use since his hands were wet.

"Such as…"

"That this was all my fault." Nathan didn't want Jake to say anything; there was nothing he could say. Whatever he said wasn't going to make this any less his fault. "When I was in there, I was so pissed off that she had the nerve to blame this all on me, but then I realized that she was right. This is all my fault."

"Not everything is your fault, Nathan," Jake told him in what he hoped was an assuring voice. Nathan shook his head at his friend, telling him not to bother lying about it. They both knew it was true.

"But it is and I'll admit that," Nathan continued in a steady voice. "I'm the one that cheated on Haley and got Lacy pregnant. I manipulated Peyton and Brooke into keeping it a secret and it all blew up in my face."

"Those were all mistake," Jake insisted in a hopeful voice. Nathan narrowed his eyes a bit and looked at him strangely, trying to figure out why Jake was being so persistent about the whole thing. "We all make mistakes."

"It would have been a mistake if it had happened once," Nathan explained, reaching forward to turn up the air condition a couple notches. It had suddenly gotten very hot in there. "I sleep with other woman almost every week. God, I could have countless other kids on the way. I worked so hard at trying to hide it… you can't count that kind of stuff as a mistake. It's just too much."

"So that's it?" Jake questioned in a surprised tone. He had known Nathan Scott for a long time. Granted, they weren't always friends, but he knew how guys like him worked. He was never on to just give up, especially when it came to something this important to him. "You're just going to give up on your relationship with her? You're just going to let her go."

"No," Nathan answered rather quickly. It was a question that didn't even require thinking. He could never give up on Haley, not ever. Even feeling this way, there was just something inside of him that was telling him he was going to have to. What he did was almost unforgivable and it looked like for the first time in his entire life, Nathan Scott was going to know defeat. "Not yet, anyway."

"Then you can't just let Brooke win like that," Jake pointed out. He didn't know why he was so set on getting Nathan and Haley back together all of a sudden. Maybe it was the guilt of seeing Nicki again, but he felt that if he could get Haley to forgive Nathan for what he did to her than Peyton would be able to forgive him for what he did. "Why did you let her kick you out?"

"I didn't let her kick me out, Jaglieski," Nathan snapped, finally letting the anger of the situation get to him. He had to agree with Jake, he was surprised that he had just left Haley's room like that; he didn't even fight her on it. He just left. "I left."

"You left?" Jake asked. He couldn't imagine Nathan ever leaving Haley's side when she obviously needed him. Nathan rolled his eyes and nodded. "You just left her?"

"That's what I said," he snapped again. "I mean, yeah, Brooke bitched at me and told me to get out, but we both know that I never listen to anything that Brooke says."

"Then why'd you…"

"I don't know, I just…" Nathan trailed off, trying to find the words to explain his strange actions. He wasn't good at this kind of thing; he never even had talks like this with Haley. He just wasn't the kind of guy that liked to talk about his feelings a lot. "I just couldn't be there. I don't know what it was, but it felt really wrong to be in there."

"Why would it feel wrong?" Jake asked, letting his confusion show in his voice loud and clear. "I mean, you should be in there, she's your girlfriend."

"But she's not," Nathan corrected. "Not anymore. I ended it with her and for good reasons. The fact that she's in the hospital doesn't change that. I had no right to be in there and it didn't real right. So I bailed."

"This is ridiculous, you know that right?" Jake asked, shaking his head. Nathan was taken aback by his response and glanced over at him. "It was a mistake. Yeah, it looks bad because you tried to cover it up, but you just wanted to keep her safe. You didn't want her hurt." Nathan raised an eyebrow, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

"I still shouldn't have…"

"You thought you were doing what was best for her, right?" Jake asked, completely ignoring Nathan's attempt at saying something. Nathan decided that this was officially not about him anymore. "You tried covering it up, but it didn't work. It just came back up to bite you in the ass and now you wished you had just come clean in the first place…"

"Jake!" Nathan couldn't take his babbling any longer. Jake jumped at the loud call, having been lost in his thoughts as he was rambling on. He blinked a couple times and looked at Nathan.

"Yeah?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Nathan asked. "Because clearly, you are talking about something that concerns you." Jake looked at Nathan, trying to decide if he should explain or not. Even now, he and Nathan weren't really that close. When the guys hung out, it was usually him and Lucas together then Tim and Nathan together. He finally just let out a huge puff of breath, deciding that he needed to tell someone before he passed out.

"Okay," Jake sighed, taking a deep breath. He stretched out his hands, rubbing them over his jeans in an attempt to wipe some of the sweat off them. "You know how I said that Nicki was Jenny's mom?"

"Kinda hard to forget," Nathan commented in a light tone. He was starting to regret asking Jake what was wrong. He wasn't good at talking about his feelings, but he was even worse when it came to talking about someone else's feelings.

"Yeah, I guess," Jake nodded, laughing nervously. The car drove down the wet road, the only sound inside was the wheels as they rolled along the damp pavement. "Well, she's…uh, she's more… more than just Jenny's mom."

"What?" Nathan questioned. "You got another kid with her or something?"

"No, uh, no," Jake said, stumbling over his words. He was doomed. If he was having this much trouble telling Nathan, what was he supposed to do when he finally told Peyton? "No, Jenny's the only one."

"Would you just spit it out then?" The silence stretched out between them, both finding it better than conversation. Jake glanced at Nathan, before losing his nerve and turning his head back around to look out the windshield.

"She's kind of my wife."

--OTH--

"You're happy he's not here?" Brooke questioned, surprised at the reaction she received from Haley when she was told that Nathan wasn't there. Despite what she had said to Nathan, she actually did think that Haley would've wanted him to be there when she woke up. The only reason she kicked him out was because she didn't want him to be there when Haley woke up.

"Yeah," Haley answered, her voice cracking a bit. She tried to say more, but she soon found that it hurt too much to talk. She had a major headache and her throat felt dry. "Water."

"Huh?" Brooke was expecting an explanation as to why she didn't want Nathan in there so the question had thrown her off some. Haley cleared her throat.

"Water," she repeated. Brooke's eyes widened, getting the message and she leapt from her chair.

"Right, sorry." She fumbled around the room, making her way over to the sink that was in the corner. On her way past, she gave Peyton's bed a swift kick that was sure to wake the blonde. Peyton was awake immediately, looking around the room.

"Haley!" she called out, still remembering the nightmare she had been having. Brooke jumped at the scream and almost dropped the cup. When Brooke caught her breath, she turned off the tap and turned to face her friend.

"She's over there," Brooke informed her, walking towards Haley's bed, pulling the curtain back on her way by. At the sight of Haley, Peyton let out a squeal and jumped off the bed, running over to Haley's side.

"Hales," she cried, coming to a halt before she could crash into the metal siding of the bed. Haley gave her a weak smile when the blonde took a hold of her hand.

"Slow down there, Goldilocks," Brooke teased, taking her seat again. She leaned forward so she was on the edge of her seat and brought the cup of water to Haley's lips. She held it there for a moment as Haley took a few sips before carefully pulling it away. "Better?"

"Yeah," Haley said, her voice already closer to its normal volume. She gulped a couple times to clear her throat and licked some of the excess water that hadn't made it into her mouth. "Thanks."

"No problem, baby," Brooke told her, with a wave of her hand. She set the cup on the table beside the bed encase Haley wanted more later. "How're you feeling?"

"Like crap," she answered with a slight groan. Testing out her ability to move, she tried lifting her arms and was happy to find that they were already fully functional. Brooke smiled, feeling Haley's hand move under her's. Haley turned over to greet Peyton, who hadn't said much. "What 'bout you?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Peyton answered with a nervous laugh. She shook her head when she saw the doubtful look on Haley's face. "Other than the fact that you scared the crap out of me out there."

"Sorry," Haley mumbled, feeling bad that she worried her best friend like that. She had no idea what she would have done if she had been in Peyton's position. She wasn't so sure they'd be sitting there now.

"Don't be silly," Peyton replied, shaking her head again. She lifted up Haley hand and kissed it. She felt a whole new wave of relief when she felt how warm Haley's hands were. She could remember vividly how cold Haley's skin had felt against her lips before. "I'm just so happy that you're alright."

"Thanks to you," Haley told her. Brooke watched the scene from her chair, but didn't say anything, deciding that they needed to have their moment. Peyton's eyes wandered down to the floor for a moment, trying to decide whether to bring it up or not. She took a deep breath and looked up.

"Look, Hales," she began, dropping their hands back to the bed. "When we were out there, you said that you forgave me for everything. I don't want you to feel like you have to stick with that now that you're still here. I mean, I understand that you just said it because there was a chance that we might of died and you didn't want to go being mad at me…"

"Pey," Haley interrupted her. "I meant it, okay? I forgive you. I really do." Peyton looked at her surprised at her words. Haley laughed lightly at the look on her face and Brooke had to smirk at it too. "Just promise that next time you know something that involves me, you'll tell me about it."

"Done." They shared a smile. "I really am sorry about everything that I did. I should have told you right away and I promise to do that if something like this every happens again."

"I know you will," Haley laughed. She was glad that she and Peyton were good again. It's not that she ever doubted that they would make up, she was just glad that it didn't go on for very long. She really did need her friends right now.

"I love you, Hales," Peyton cried, reaching up and bringing Haley into a gentle hug, being careful not to hurt her. Haley sought out the comfort and let herself relax in Peyton's arms for a little while.

"Love you, too." Brooke watched the scene with a huge smile plastered on her face. She was so glad that they were friends again. She hated it when they fought, she felt so stuck in the middle and hated to choose sides. Even though there wasn't really any question on who's side to take in this one, she still felt torn whenever they weren't speaking.

"Oh, I see how it is," she commented in a voice full of fake hurt. The girls pulled apart at the sound of her voice and turned to look at her to see what her problem was. "There's no extra love for the Brookester, or what?"

"Aw," Haley sighed, finishing it off with a pout. "You know we love you, Brookie."

"Yeah, I know," Brooke beamed, a cheesy smile coming back to her lips, one that flashed her adorable dimples. "Everyone does after all." Peyton and Haley rolled their eyes at their best friend and scooted over so she could get up on the bed too. Brooke laughed and snuggled into Haley's other side, giving her a wet kiss on the cheek.

Of course the bliss of the moment didn't last long as Brooke and Peyton started bickering over space and kept telling the other to move their fat ass. Haley didn't hear a word of it though. She just leaned back and enjoyed the feeling of being loved and wanted. Both were things that she wasn't getting from any other relationships.

Haley's smile dimmed a bit at the thought. She had gone on almost five minutes without thinking about Nathan and that was a record as of late. She didn't like thinking about him all the time; it was much better when she forgot about it and all the drama that came with him. She liked that feeling of being loved and wanted, it was something that she felt every person deserved to feel. And there was only one way to get that feeling again. She suddenly knew exactly what she had to do.

--OTH--

Hope you liked. I'm expecting a nice review, Lizzie and from all of you. Peace.