Title: Will You Fall for Me?
Author: Jayta
Rating: PG18 - however does contain some coarse language
Show: One Tree Hill
Pairing: Peyton/Jake
Chapter Two: Just Four Little Words
"So have you heard from Nikki since your parents found out about her wanting rights to Jenny?" Peyton slipped into step along side Jake, as they were heading to Chem class.
"No." Jake shook his head. "I'm kind of relieved," he admitted, but there was a flicker of uncertainty. "But it's like the calm before the storm, ya know?"
Peyton nodded. "You think she's up to something."
Jake let his head loll back and sighed, "I don't even know what to think anymore." Nikki had remained civil according to his mother; and when he finally dragged himself home, she had already left. "Nikki has been so two-faced in the past couple of weeks she's been here, I wouldn't put anything past her."
Peyton wished she could do something more for Jake and Jenny. She tried to give him as much moral support as she could, without it seeming like something more. Right now she didn't want to confuse the guy, who had managed to make her feel a part of something real. And as much Peyton didn't want Nikki's words to worm its way into her thoughts, she couldn't help but think that some - a miniscule piece - of what she spat at her rang true.
Caring for Jenny made her feel like she was doing something worth while. Peyton felt like Jake and Jenny needed her. And it was like they were pieces of her life-puzzle that just fell into place, in a time where she was struggling to find out where she fit in the scheme of things.
"Hey," Jake frowned, stopping her before she entered Mr. Kalinger's classroom. "I don't want you to feel burdened by this." He searched those wide, doe-like, hazel eyes intently. "It's my problem, okay?"
Ever since he had involved her in his life, by asking Peyton to baby-sit for him on occasion, a bond had begun to form. Jake knew it could be a dangerous thing. He knew exactly how dangerous trusting someone could be. Even now, he was dealing with the aftermath of falling in love with a woman, who had claimed to love him back. Part of him was reluctant to do that again...even though Peyton was just a 'friend'.
She rolled her eyes and gently smacked him in the stomach. "Are you kidding me?" she scoffed, pretending to be offended. "I thought we went over this?" Jake shrugged casually. "I'm the badass who can take the girl down."
Jake pressed his lips together, trying to stifle a smile. "Right," he drawled, wagging a finger at her. "I forgot about that."
"Yeah," she poked him in the stomach, "you do that!"
--&--
"Hey Peyton!" Spinning around she saw Lucas jogging down the school sidewalk. "Do you have a minute?"
Part of Peyton wanted to say no, but she felt herself give in to her 'nicer' side - something that didn't happen too often. Thank God. Shifting the weight of her bag by the shoulder strap, Peyton nodded. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"
"Um, have you seen Brooke?"
Peyton was relieved to hear that this conversation had nothing to do with her at all. It made things so much more easy to deal with. After the previous afternoon of sitting for Jenny, Peyton couldn't help but notice that Lucas still held some attachment towards her. She understood; she felt it in her lonelier moments, but then Brooke's face would flash in her mind and she knew that she had made the right decision. She shook her head. "Why?" Frowning, she studied Lucas' brooding expression. "What has been going on with you two?"
Her best friend had been avoiding her like the plague; even at cheer practice the other day, though the girl managed to keep the lurid remarks to a minimum, Brooke had barely spoken two words to her. Peyton knew how well Brooke could hold a grudge, but her best friend was acting less betrayed than distant.
"Uh, nothing," he said, dismissing her inquiry with a wave of his hand.
Peyton wondered what she had been missing these past few days. She had been so focused on the Nikki 'thing' that she hadn't had time to dwell on the DC-like betrayal that she had been apart of. "Brooke doesn't seem as mad as she used to be," she offered, hoping he would open up about what was going on, since she was so out of the loop.
"Yeah," Lucas sighed, seeming somewhat relieved.
"So what's going on with her?"
"Going on with who?" a familiar voice scoffed.
Peyton spun around to see Brooke standing behind her, with her arms folded in a stand-offish manner. "Brooke."
"So now you're talking about me?" Brooke shook her head, a fake smile plastered on her face. "Too little, too late," she scoffed. Then subtly shifting her focus, she glanced towards Peyton. "Really?"
"Yeah," Peyton declared, tired of apologizing for the pain she caused her friend for the millionth time. "I was wondering how my best friend was doing. Is that okay with you?"
"And who would that be?" Brooke retorted icily, her cold demeanor resurfacing. "Although I'm sure she couldn't be doing too well, since I used to be your best friend and now I have a knife in the back to show for it."
Peyton furrowed her brow, as the words she spoke didn't seem to hold the same bitterness to them. "You know I'm sorry about that," she stated matter-of-factly. "But we've ended it. She glanced over her shoulder at Lucas, who nodded his acquiescence. "So don't tell me I don't care about you."
Brooke opened her mouth and patted the fake yawn. "Oh," she said, pressing her hand against her chest, leaning towards Peyton. "Was I supposed to be touched by that?"
"That's all I've got to say to you." Peyton reached into her leather jacket for her car keys. "I'm done apologizing," she declared, pointing at Brooke. "If you still want a friend, I'm right here; but I'm not going to be your punching bag."
Brooke's expression was one of surprise. Her mouth gaped, as if stunned by Peyton's derision.
"And you need to get your act together." Peyton briefly glanced over at Lucas, who seemed stunned by the comment. "Figure exactly what you want." She followed his wary gaze, which was fixed upon a speechless Brooke. "Cause I'm out of it. Completely."
--&--
"Really?" Jake raised his eyebrows, impressed by the story she just told. "And you just walked away?"
When Peyton arrived at his doorstep, he hadn't known what to think. He had nothing planned for that Thursday evening for once, as the game with the Braxton Cougars had been called off due to poor traveling weather in their region. It was later in the evening and his parents were at work again.
"You have no idea how tired of worrying about what people think anymore," she said, curled on the couch beside him, snacking on a carrot stick. "I'm tired of the evil glares I've been getting from most of the cheer squad, since Brooke found out, and Lucas seems like he has his head all turned around lately."
"About what, I have no clue."
Jake nodded, trying to look inconspicuous. Since Lucas had confided to him about Brooke's pregnancy scare, he felt uneasy when speaking to Peyton. He didn't want it to accidentally slip. "So, you wanna watch a movie since Jenny's down for the count?" His eyes flittered to the crib in the living room where Jenny was sleeping peacefully.
Peyton nodded. "Thanks for letting me hang." Sliding her legs over the edge of the couch, Jake felt her eyes on him. "I didn't feel like staying home alone again," she sighed, leaning over and grabbing a handful of carrots in her hand from the bag sitting on the coffee table.
"What is it going to be?" Jake grabbed two dvds sitting on top of the entertainment centre. He spun around and held the covers in front of him for Peyton to see. "We've got," he tilted the covers to read the titles, "Peter Pan - the new unanimated feature or Whalerider." He stared at them in disbelief. "What the heck are these?
Peyton seemed flabbergasted at the movies he had just offered up for the evening's entertainment.
"Not much of a choice, huh?" He smiled, licking his dry lips and turned to discard the whole idea. "Well, we could..."
"Tell me those weren't your choices, Jagielski."
"Uh, parentals decided it was their turn to pick the movies," he admitted, hoping that would not tarnish his reputation. "Had it been my choice, you wanna bet there would be a couple of action flicks with lots of explosions and hot chicks in them?"
"Sure," she said slyly. "I'm sure that's just a cover." She bit down on a carrot stick. "I bet you're an Indie flick watcher too!"
Jake smacked his head and glared at Peyton. "That just isn't even funny," he deadpanned.
Peyton winked at him and threw a couple of the carrot sticks at him. "Oh, I so have something to hold over your head," she chuckled, her eyes twinkling mischievously. She paused to lean forward and grin. "What are you willing to do for me to keep this a secret?"
Jake bent down and picked up the small, hard, orange ammunition and slowly made his way over to where she was sitting; as he got closer he began to return the favor, tossing them at her head. "You are not saying a word," he warned, half serious, half teasing. "Because in retaliation there would be sudden rash of mysterious pictures of a well-known Tree Hill cheerleader floating around."
"Yeah?" Peyton seemed unfazed. "There's always pictures of cheerleaders floating around school," she said drolly. "You had better come up with something better than that."
Jake felt the corners of his lips curl slightly. "But are they ones of her drooling in her sleep?"
Suddenly her eyes widened in horror. "What are you talking about?" she screeched, throwing several more carrots at him.
He shrunk back, in an attempt to dodge her edible ammunition, but was too close. She really had a good arm, he thought, as the carrots struck him in the arm. "Hey!" he laughed. "No fair."
Peyton narrowed her eyes and raised her hand, readying herself for another assault. "Where did you get these supposed pictures?" she questioned him. Then pushing herself up from the couch, she looked him in the eye. "I bet you don't even have these pictures mister!" Peyton poked him in the chest; her gaze challenging him to provide her with proof.
Jake shrugged casually. "Maybe," he said coyly. "Or maybe not."
Peyton folded her arms across her chest and leaned back, as if studying him. While she remained silent and brooding, Jake enjoyed watching her facial expressions, as they morphed, expressing several conflicting thoughts as they churned in her head. "You suck," she finally managed to respond, turning on her heel and flopping back onto the couch.
"Ah, but at least you can say that I'm good looking while doing it!" He turned to the side, displaying his profile, as if he were posing for some sketch.
Another carrot flew at his head, but this time, he managed to duck.
--&--
"Oh you're so going to owe me big time!" Jake taunted Peyton, as she reached in to get her textbook for the next class. "I know something they don't know!" Peyton looked up in time to see Jake moving his upper body, in dance-like moves, as if there were music blaring over the intercom system.
"Shut up." She slammed her locker door, trying to ignore his beaming face.
"I will," he nodded, "when you say that 'Jake is the hottest guy on the Ravens'." Then he added a slight wiggle of his hips to his repertoire of dance moves.
She refused to look at him. "Bite me." Out of the corner of her eye, Peyton could see the wall-to-wall grin that was now etched on his face.
Jake leaned his shoulder against the locker next to hers. "It's not hard to say," he smirked. "Just four little words." He wiggled four fingers in her face. "Jake. Is. A. God."
Peyton didn't think much of it when she left Jake's house the other night. In fact, he hadn't mentioned a word; but when she showed up at school the next morning, there was Jake, trying to look cool and level-headed. She glanced up at Jake, who had a stupid, goofy grin on his face. Didn't last long.
"I don't care," she declared casually. "You can tell everyone in the school for all I care."
She watched Jake narrow his eyes, seemingly debating whether she was telling the truth or bluffing.
And she wasn't.
Peyton didn't really care if everyone knew that she had started bawling 3/4 of the way through the movie Whalerider. Once she had stopped pouting and finished throwing every available carrot at his head, they had decided to watch the award winning film. She wasn't ashamed. It was a very touching movie.
Jake rolled his eyes and frowned. "You're no fun," he pouted, pushing himself up off the lockers. "The least you could have done is protest a little."
"You're such a child," she replied, hitting him in the stomach with the back of her hand.
"I'm making up for lost time!" he declared loudly, raising his right hand up in the air.
Peyton laughed, feeling him sling his arm around her shoulder. Shaking her head, she followed his lead, as he began to drag her to class.
She liked this. She liked how he made her laugh. She liked how Jake managed to make her day brighter.
He really was one of the good ones.
------
Author's notes: So here is the little place where I get to respond to all the comments I've been getting - nice or not. hehe. J/K. Like there would be any bad comments, right guys?
First off, let me say how much I appreciate the feedback. It's very encouraging. Note though that it's nice to get some helpful critique. How could it be improved? If anything...
You guys rock though!
Najia thanks for your encouragement and informative review...inspiring...hehe.
LP4ever thanks for reviewing.
bluekay thanks again for reading.
klm you're a dear for saying those things...
cyberchick dear ya gotta know that i won't be blackmailed into updating...but i shall do my best to keep you in fic.
jill thanks so much for your reviews. it's good to hear specifics looks at other reviewers about what you liked. hehe.
lenz ya baby! we sooo rock for the whole conversion process! whoohoo!
scar so honored to have you review the fic! never thought i'd see the day babe ;)
jewels the 'jewel' of my eye. i adore you for reviewing my fics, even when no one seems interested. lol...
And to those whom I haven't mentioned. I do still appreciate you...too many of you too count hehe...