Title: Will You Fall for Me?
Author: Jayta
Rating: Not yet decided - however does contain some coarse language
Show: One Tree Hill
Genre: Romance
Pairing: Peyton/Jake
Chapter One: A Friend of Jake's Also
Jake threw himself into basketball practice, as he sprinted up and down the gym floor. He didn't want to think about the lengths Nikki was willing to go to get Jenny. It sent chills down his spine when he thought about the scene she made the previous night. Never had Jake seen that side to her. She was like a madwoman...or close.
"Hey Jagielski," Whitey bellowed angrily. "Are we taking away from your naptime?"
Jake frowned, as he glanced up ahead and saw that he was the last one to finish the wind sprints. "Uh, no coach," he replied sheepishly, ducking his head.
"Jake," Lucas huffed, breathing heavily from the cardio workout. "Is something wrong?"
"Nah." He shook his head, trying to focus on Whitey's instructions on the new drill he was running. "Just some personal crap." Shrugging it off he jogged onto the court where Whitey was motioning for him to join him.
--&--
"Do you know what's up with Jake?" Lucas asked, as he jogged up from behind Peyton. He had been hoping to catch up her before she left for home, since she usually stayed after cheerleading practice.
"And a hello to you too," Peyton replied drolly, as she kept stride down the school hallway.
"Sorry," he grunted. "I just was noticing Jake having some problems today at practice."
Peyton stopped midstride and turned glanced concernedly at Lucas. "What kind of problems?" She had hoped that he wouldn't dwell on Nikki's little visit and threat session from the night before.
"He couldn't focus during practice and Whitey was in his face all this afternoon."
"Well, well," a familiar female voice drawled. "Looky what the cat dragged in."
Peyton gritted her teeth and groaned. Like she always had to walk in at the most inopportune times? "Hi Brooke," she greeted her ex-best friend, plastering a wide smile on her face.
"Yeah, whatever!" Brooke rolled her eyes and walked straight past them.
"I guess the whole no name calling thing should be a good sign?" Peyton looked up tiredly at Lucas. "So I'm guessing you haven't fixed anything with her either?"
"No." Lucas' gaze was focused on the back of the brunette's head.
"Look, I don't want to deal with this right now," she sighed, moving towards the location of her parked car. Ever since the possibility of having Lucas in her life, her life had been nothing but a melodrama. And a bad one at that. "I've got stuff to do."
"Wait," Lucas said quickly, grabbing her bicep. "What about Jake?"
Peyton stared up blankly at Lucas. His expression was so sincere...Had been since she had met him. Peyton pulled away from his grasp, gazing into the distance where Brooke's small figure continued to place distance between them. How had she gotten into this mess? "Don't worry about it." Backing away, she shrugged, "I'll talk to him about it."
Lucas looked at her curiously, "He'll talk to you?" He felt a twinge of jealousy, though he knew it was an unwarranted reaction.
"Of course." Peyton studied his perplexed expression. "We're friends," she said irritably, not wanting to face the longing that remained hidden behind those blue eyes. "Something we should have tried."
--&--
"Jake?" Peyton tried to peer into the Jagielski's living room through the crack in the closed drapes. "Now whose the psycho stalker bitch?"
Peyton turned around to find Nikki leaning against the brick pillar. "It isn't stalking when you're wanted," she retorted, folding her arms across her chest. "You on the other hand, who have been asked several times to leave, just won't go away." "You know, I've thought about why you would hang around a teenage single father and I can't say that I'm impressed," Nikki said matter-of-factly, sliding over to sit on the iron-wrought railing. "I'm guessing your family leaves something to be desired and you have this fantasy that making a family with Jake would answer all of your problems."
"You bitch..." Peyton strode up to Nikki and pushed jabbed her fingers into the woman's chest. "You don't know a thing about my family!" Nikki stood up and pushed her back, but before anything could start the front door opened revealing a slim, dark-haired woman in her late forties.
"Is there anything I can help you ladies with?" Mrs. Jagielski looked confused and perplexed. "I don't know what you..."
"Uh, M-Mrs. Jagielski," Peyton stuttered, surprised at the interruption. "I'm Peyton Sawyer, a friend of Jake's?" She stepped forward and offered her hand, which Jake's mom hesitantly shook.
"That explains who you are," she said warily; her eyes darted over to Nikki. "Are you a friend of Jake's also?"
"Mrs. Jagielski," Nikki began, plastering a smile on her face. "I would like to apologize for the childish display...Peyton here was just upset and..."
Peyton couldn't believe the gall of the woman. She shot a dirty glare at Nikki, interrupting her before she finished the sentence. "I was looking for Jake," she finished, not taking her eyes off of Nikki.
"Um, Jake isn't here," Jake's mother stated, her gaze darting between the two girls. "But I could tell him that you dropped by?"
Peyton nodded. "Sure. That would be great." She locked eyes with Nikki, hoping she would take the hint.
"Actually, since Jake isn't here," Nikki smiled softly, moving closer to where Peyton was standing. "I was wondering if I might have a word with you?"
Peyton's eyes widened and she heard alarms go off in her head. There was no way she could allow Nikki to talk with Jake's parents. "Nikki, darling," she cooed sweetly, grabbing her arm and squeezing tightly. "I think that we should leave Jake's mom alone. I mean, she must be really busy, with Jenny and all."
"Actually Jake took Jenny to work," Jake's mom said informatively. "I didn't think I'd get off work in time to baby-sit, so I'm guessing she's with him at work."
"No matter," Nikki smiled again, moving closer towards the house. "I really wanted to talk to you about something that has to do with Jake."
"I'm sorry," Mrs. Jagielski said, tilting her head to the side curiously. "Who are you again? And why do you look so familiar?"
"Nikki, an old friend of Jake's."
"Nikki?" Jake's mom furrowed her brow, as if the name had struck a cord. Reaching out her hand, she nodded, "Well, nice to meet you."
Peyton watched in horror as Jake's mother invited both Nikki and her into the house. Politely she declined, citing her dad was expecting her home. However, she had no intention of going home; instead, Peyton hopped into her car and headed to Karen's Cafe.
--&--
Peyton burst into the somewhat busy cafe and scanned the building for Jake. He was no where to be seen. "Ms. Roe?" She ran up to the counter where Lucas' mom was pouring coffee for a customer.
"Karen, please," Lucas' mom chided. "Ms. Roe sounds old."
Peyton smiled briefly, her eyes scanning the cafe again. "Is Jake here?"
"He's a popular guy," Karen chuckled. "He's in the back with Lucas."
"Can I go back there?"
Karen motioned with a tilt of her head, her approval.
Skipping around the counter, Peyton skidded to a halt when the swinging door nearly hit her in the face. "Whoa there!"
"Peyton?" Haley said with a startled expression on her face, juggling several plates of food. "Hi!"
"Hi." Peyton waved, stepping aside to let Haley through and continued her way to the backroom. "Jake? Are you here?!"
Jake furrowed his brow when he heard the urgency in the familiar voice. Pulling his finger from Jenny's tiny grasp, he turned around to see Peyton staring at him and out of breath. "What's up, Peyton?"
"Where's the fire?" Lucas asked, startled at Peyton's sudden arrival.
"Jake," she breathed, trying to figure a way to tell him.
"Spit it out," Jake urged, confused at what the commotion was. "It can't be that bad..."
"Nikki's at your house talking to your mom."
Jake blinked several times, his breath caught in his throat. "W-what?"
Lucas looked over at Jake, who seemed completely stunned. "When did get there?"
Peyton ran her fingers through her hair, frustrated she couldn't have done more to prevent it. "I was looking for you and she just showed up!" She threw her hands in the air. "I came over here as soon as I could," she explained. "I tried to get her to leave..."
"Jake!" Karen head popped in around the corner. "I need you out here," she stated distractedly. "It's overflowing with customers..."
Jake glanced over at the door and nodded. "I'll be right there Ms. Roe." He shook his head and looked at Lucas and Peyton. "I can't deal with this right now," he blurted out, leaning against the railing of the crib. His mind was racing with the possible stories Nikki could be telling his mother right now. Glancing into the crib, where Jenny was happily gnawing on a miniature hairbrush, he knew she was safe. Nikki couldn't possibly take her - not right now anyway. "I have to work."
"Jake!" cried both Peyton and Lucas in disbelief.
"What?" Jake frowned at the both of them. "I can't do anything about it," he said through clenched teeth, trying to keep his voice down. "My parents know all about Nikki. They may not have met her, but they know what she put me through."
Peyton was amazed at how well he was handling this. She knew if it was her, she would have dropped everything to confront the witch and her lies.
"So what are you going to do?" Lucas asked worriedly.
"I'm going to go help your mom," Jake answered, re-tying the strings of his apron. "And then I'm going home to find out what Nikki wanted...as if I don't know." Before he turned to leave, he reached and grabbed Peyton's arm, squeezing gently. "Thanks for coming here to warn me."
No matter how many times she offered, Jake couldn't get over how selfless Peyton was when it came to him and Jenny. He never knew he could feel so comfortable and at ease with another person, other than his parents, looking after his little girl...But here she was.
Peyton smiled warmly and shrugged. "I wish I could have done more," she said truthfully, gazing into his warm brown eyes. Her pulse began to race again.
"You've been great," he reassured.
Lucas silently watched the exchange between the two; again, jealousy reared its ugly head. He furrowed his brow, trying to understand whether it was just a friendship as Peyton had stated or whether it was more.
"I could stay back here and watch her if you'd like?" Peyton offered. "You know, so you won't have to always keep coming back here."
"I don't think you have to do that, right Jake?" Lucas glanced over expectantly at one of his closer friends. "My Mom doesn't mind."
Jake raised a questioning brow at the strange behavior Lucas was displaying, but followed his lead. Shaking his head, "Nah, that's okay, I should be okay."
"It's really no problem," Peyton insisted, noticing the look that Jake gave Lucas. "I can bring my homework and stuff here and watch her until you get off." She had made up her mind. This was good idea. It would also give her some peace-of-mind after her encounter with the psycho hose-beast.
"Besides, as much as your mom," she looked up at Lucas, "says it's okay, it's not good work ethic to always leave customers waiting while you check up on Jenny."
"She has a point," Jake said, glancing at Lucas. He knew Lucas still had feelings for Peyton, but it would have been one less thing for him to worry about.
"And he can't have me take Jenny back to his house when Nikki is there."
Lucas raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I just thought you might have other plans," he replied, shrugging casually. "If you want to baby-sit it's none of my business."
"Good." Peyton nodded once in satisfaction. "Well you'd better get out there," she said, glancing in the direction of the waiting customers. "Or you'll have a mob after you."
Jake nodded, smiling appreciatively at Peyton and Lucas, before heading back to the cafe portion of the building. "Thanks guys."
"So you want me to stick around?" Lucas offered.
Peyton looked at him skeptically. "You babysit?" She laughed. "I think not."
"Hey!" he exclaimed, pretending to be offended.
"However," she said slowly. "I guess you will have to watch her momentarily..."
"Why?" Lucas frowned.
"Because I need to go to my car and get my bag." She pretended to eye him carefully. "Do you think you can handle it?"
"Yeah," he scoffed, reaching into the crib and allowing Jenny to grasp it. "It's a tough job, but I think I can handle it."
"Good," Peyton smiled. "I'll be back in a jiff."