Title: Will You Fall for Me?
Author: Jayta
Rating: PG18 - however does contain some coarse language
Show: One Tree Hill
Pairing: Peyton/Jake
Chapter Three: There Had Been A Plan!
"A date."
Jake nervously rubbed his temple, while trying to find the right words to answer her question. He cleared his throat and nodded, though unable to look her in the eye. "I -I..." his voice cracked from nerves, "I guess you could call it that." Licking his suddenly dry lips, the whole idea didn't seem as great as it did when he had thought about it in Algebra. But there was no backing out now.
It was out there.
"Like dinner and a movie?" Peyton asked coolly, trying not to show her complete surprise at the sudden invitation. She hip checked her locker door and slung her bag over her shoulder, her eyes fixed on Jake. "Without Jenny?"
"Uh, yeah," he said, trying to match her casualness.
The idea had been toyed with in his mind, but Jake didn't think much of it in the beginning. Peyton still obviously had feelings for Lucas and vice versa. But things had seemed to cool down between the two of them in the past month and she had been over a lot in the past several weeks; it had gotten so they had formed something akin to a 'routine'.
His parents worked usually every other evening and Peyton had casually volunteered to baby-sit those evenings; however, whenever he arrived home, whether it was from work or basketball, they would settle in for a movie or whatever was good on TV. It had gotten so that Jake couldn't remember a time when Peyton hadn't been there to help him out. Or more to the fact that he didn't want to remember.
"And is this supposed to be like a date-date?" Peyton felt her heart pounding against her chest; and she was sure that there must have been beads of perspiration forming on her forehead. She began to make her way towards the school's main doors. She hoped if she kept moving, it would make things easier to digest. Jake Jagielski is asking me out. She closed her eyes and let those words bounce around in her head. What was happening?
How was this happening?
Jake was taken aback at her question. Was there another type? Had he been out of the loop so long that he didn't know there was categorizations of dating now? He shook his head. No. You're talking crazy. "What other kind is there?" he laughed, trying to keep his tone light and comical.
Peyton kept her eyes focused straight ahead; she couldn't remember the first time she had felt this awkward around Jake...ever. What was she going to do? "You could be asking me out as friends?" she offered, hoping there was a way to weasel her way out of this conversation. She did not want to be having a conversation like this at all - not after the disasters that were 'Lucas' and 'Nathan'.
Jake frowned. He was getting the distinct feeling that this wasn't one of his best ideas. Suddenly his heart sunk and he realized how stupid it had been to think that Peyton could have possibly wanted to go out with him. "Oh, uh, you know what?" he said, trying to find his voice. "Never mind." He grabbed her bicep and spun her around until she was looking up at him.
"Really?" Peyton tilted her head and searched his eyes questioningly. She had felt relieved when he called it off, but now looking into those big brown eyes of his, she knew she had hurt him - not purposely, but nevertheless, she had hurt him.
"Yeah," Jake replied, plastering on a smile, trying to show he wasn't at all invested in her answer. "I-It was just an idea that popped into my head." He shook his head. "I didn't really even think it through."
"Jake," Peyton began, wanting to explain what was really going on inside. "I-I just..."
"No," he waved her off, "there's no need to explain." He glanced down at his watch. "I have to get going," he breathed softly, backing away from her. "My shift starts in fifteen minutes."
"But Jake wait," Peyton cried softly, but his back was to her and in a blink of an eye he was out other door. "I didn't mean it like that..." Her voice trailed off.
Great. You did it again Sawyer. Peyton closed her eyes and let out an aggravated sigh. How had she become so horrible at relationships? It was a complete mystery. Stuffing her hands in her jacket, she silently kicked herself for hurting the one guy who didn't deserve it at all.
--&--
"And so you think this pitiful story is going to make me forget what you did to me and become 'Dear Abby'?" Brooke said, her voice tinged with sarcasm.
"Look, you know how desperate I am if I'm calling you, right?" Peyton growled, as she rested the cordless phone between her ear and shoulder, while sketching a cartoon version of herself banging her head against a wall.
There was a pause on the other end of the phone.
"Okay fine," Brooke sighed irritably. "But just don't think that I'm forgiving you because I'm doing this."
"Yeah." Peyton rolled her eyes. That was the last thought that would have crossed her mind.
"So did you tell him that you didn't mean it in that way?"
"I didn't get the chance," she sighed, remembering the look on Jake's face. "He left before I could."
"Sounds like the makings of an episode of Dawson's Creek or for that matter, any WB primetime drama," Brooke replied dryly. "I thought we were trying to avoid that?" There was a pause. "Oh wait, that pact ended when you macked out with him."
Peyton gritted her teeth at the dig. She knew she deserved it, as tiring as it was getting for Brooke to find new ways to insert that topic into any of their conversations, which few and far between lately. "Well I feel like a complete jerk now," she said, ignoring Brooke's comment. "And I don't know how to bring it up again. It's too awkward." Peyton tore the current page she was doodling on and crumpled it up, tossing it on the floor.
"Then go out with him."
Peyton almost dropped the phone. "W-what?" she screeched. What kind of advice was that? "Now who's taking the happy pills?"
"Hey, it sounds like you like him enough to go out with the guy?"
"Did you not listen to the first part of the story?"
"Not really," Brooke said drolly, "But that's besides the point."
"Your excuse is that you have a poor track record with men, which I can't dispute."
"Hey!" Peyton growled. "Watch it."
"Whatever. Let's move on shall we?" Brooke suggested wearily. "So you never said you 'didn't' want to go out with the guy. You just said that you thought about how you were a screw-up in the relationship department - citing Nathan and 'he who shall not be named' as evidence, right?"
"Yeah. What's your point?" Peyton narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the direction Brooke was going with this.
"So maybe you're scared that you might actually have a chance with this guy."
Peyton sat up in her chair and furrowed her brow. What the hell was she talking about? "Uh, okay, you really need to give me some of those 'happy pills', cause I have no idea where you pulled that one out of?"
"Jake is available, right?"
"Yeah."
"Jake is a stand up guy, right?"
"Yeah."
Brooke cleared her throat, as if she were preparing for a speech. "Jake has been one of your best friends since, well, you know what..."
"Yes!" Peyton exclaimed, still not understanding why she was bringing these things up. "Move on Dr. Freud."
"You could say that all of the other guys you've dated and been attracted to, were none of these things, right?"
Peyton was hesitant to trash both Lucas and Nathan in that way. They had their moments. "They're human," she finally answered.
"But in either case, these guys turned out to be jerks at some point in time, right?" Brooke said pointedly. "Especially 'he who shall not be named'."
"I guess," she said slowly, not sure her relationships with either Lucas or Nathan could be generalized in that way.
"Well there you go!"
Peyton shook her head at Brooke's supposedly logical reasoning. "And what does this have to do with my being afraid of dating Jake and for that matter, why I should date him?" she asked incredulously.
"Jake is a great guy and you don't want to ruin your friendship with him," Brooke said reasonably. "Plus I think you kinda have a thing for him."
"Are you insane?" Peyton was ready to hang up on her 'ex' best friend, almost sure that she was either high or drunk.
"I don't know of any other girl who would waste every other night of the week to baby-sit for some kid."
"Well, Jake needs someone to watch her!" Peyton was beginning to regret phoning her up. She might have had better luck with Haley or Ms. Roe. "And I love Jenny, who wouldn't?"
"But I've been hearing you don't just leave after Jake gets home," Brooke sang knowingly.
Peyton could imagine Brooke dancing around her room, while feeling very satisfied with herself that she could irritate Peyton in this way. "We're friends."
"Ah, but how classic would that be?" Brooke drawled, adding a little melodrama. "Friends turned lovers?" She sounded like she was proposing a newspaper headline.
"It has a nice ring to it."
"Why did I ever think that you could give me good advice?" Peyton asked irritably.
"Because I can!" Brook declared. "I know you," her voice lowered, giving somewhat of a mysterious tone to it, "better than you know yourself."
"I'm hanging up."
"Still doesn't change the fact that you should go out with him."
Peyton held the phone out in front of her. "I'm hanging up now." She narrowed her eyes at Brooke, who was on the other end of the receiver, and stuck out her tongue at her before pushing 'end'.
Of course she liked Jake...but as a friend.
Peyton glared at the phone. "What do you know?"
--&--
"Isn't Peyton sitting for Jenny tonight?"
Jake looked up from the phone and shook his head. "No Mom," he answered, frantically punching in the next number of his previous babysitter. "I don't think she will be watching Jenny as much. She's got other things on her mind."
The doorbell rang and his mother signaled she would get it.
"Hi, is Carly there?" Jake asked, peering up to see who was at the door.
"Peyton!" Mrs. Jagielski exclaimed in surprise. "Jake said that you wouldn't be sitting for us tonight?"
Peyton looked past Jake's mom and saw Jake coming to the door. "Uh, there must have been some misunderstanding," she said, smiling at her, as Jake lowered the receiver from his ear. "Hi Jake." She waved awkwardly, as she stepped into the house and shrugged off her leather jacket.
"Peyton." He watched her walk past him and make herself comfortable. Jake was stunned; he had no idea she would show up. "What are you doing here?"
"You need a sitter tonight, don't you?" She tried to pretend that nothing had happened, avoiding the curious stare coming from Mrs. Jagielski. Smiling, she walked over to the crib and greeted Jenny, who was admiring the mobile overhead. "Hi there darling," she cooed.
"Well Jake," Mrs. Jagielski said hesitantly. "If everything's settled here, I'm heading off to work."
Jake still in shock, nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah, Mom. Go ahead."
Peyton waited to hear the door close before turning her attention to Jake, who was standing a couple of feet from her, looking very confused. "I'm sorry," she began, "for today and yesterday."
Jake didn't understand why she was here. All day at school, Peyton had avoided him, saying the least amount of words to him as possible. He assumed asking her out had made her feel completely uncomfortable and that was the reason for her behavior towards him. And he understood, so he just assumed that he would need to find a sitter for tonight, since he had practice that evening. "It's okay," he said casually, moving towards the crib. "It was awkward after...after yesterday."
Peyton had thought a lot about what Brooke had said about her reaction to Jake's proposition; in fact it had been rolling through her head all last night - so much so that she had dreamt about him. It hadn't been a disturbing dream. It had been quite pleasant actually: they had been watching a movie and snuggling on the couch. Nothing physically intimate happened in the dream, but the way she felt when she had been in his arms, it sent shivers up her spine; so when Jake popped by her locker this morning, her thoughts immediately drifted to the images of the previous evening, causing her to avoid him.
"But it really wasn't," she breathed, forcing herself to look up at him. "I wanted to explain why I was uncomfortable when you asked me out."
Jake's pulse began to race at her words. Could he have read her wrong? He wanted to know, but out of the corner of his eye he could see the clock read: 4:45 p.m. "Can you explain later?" he said tentatively, turning to leave. "I gotta get to practice."
Peyton opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it, nodding her understanding. "Yeah," she smiled. "It can wait."
Jake smiled apologetically. "I'll see you tonight?" He paused in the doorway.
"Go," she chuckled, pushing him out the door. Leaning against the doorframe, Peyton watched Jake hop into his car and drive to the school.
--&--
"So do you think Brooke is right?" Peyton asked sweetly, nuzzling Jenny's delicate nose with her own. "Do you think I'm just too scared to go out with your Daddy?"
Jenny's only reply was a delighted gurgle, before opening her lips wide in a great big yawn.
"Yeah, I thought so too," she sighed heavily, lowering Jenny into the bassinet that sat on the couch beside her.
She had spent the entire time mulling over what she could possibly tell Jake. How was she going to explain her feelings, when she was now so confused herself?
Peyton pushed herself up off the couch and walked to the kitchen to find a snack. Glancing at her watch, she knew Jake would be home soon. Practice had been over ten minutes ago - that was unless the guys were being lazy or stubborn that evening. As she opened the fridge door, she scanned the bare fridge. The only contents were: several bottles of formula, a half empty gallon milk, several cans of pop, and a couple Tupperware containers of leftovers. Since she hadn't had supper, Peyton was getting hungry; she picked up the cordless phone to order some takeout.
"I'm home!"
Peyton felt her stomach lurched. "I'm in the kitchen!" she called, poking her head around the corner, revealing herself to Jake.
"I brought home some Chinese, if you're hungry," he informed, as he leaned over the bassinet and whispered a few loving words, before moving into the dining room portion of the house and placing the bag of several containers of food. He smiled warmly at her, which made her insides melt - a new sensation. She silently groaned. Brooke what did you just start?
"Great," she breathed, turning around to grab some plates from the cupboards. "You read my mind."
"I'm telepathic, didn't you know?" he teased, as he began opening each container and displaying them on the dining room table.
"On top of your other SuperDad powers?" Peyton shuffled into the dining room again with plates and utensils in hand. "I'm impressed," she smirked.
"Yeah, well, I can't help it if the gods saw fit to bless me with such talent and good looks." He winked at her, as he accepted a plate and began to dig into the food.
Peyton took this moment to really 'study' him. Their relationship started out so much more about friendship and being there for each other, and she supposed it still was - except now with added chemistry. As he picked up the containers to survey its contents, she noticed how his expression never glazed over in anyway; even choosing his food, he had this soft, sweet aura about him. Her eyes moved down his body and she also wouldn't debate that he definitely had a fine body.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
Peyton jumped, as his voice interrupted her thoughts. "Uh, yeah," she breathed, absently grabbing the closest white container on the table. Scooping out some of the stir-fried rice onto her plate, Peyton could feel the blood rush to her face. Had he noticed her checking him out?
Oh god, I was checking him out!
Peyton shook her head and concentrated on the food Jake had brought home. This is definitely not what I wanted. She had been trying to find herself and that meant 'herself without a guy'. Now she found out that she might actually find Jake attractive and it screwed up her entire plan...And there had been a plan!
'You had a plan?' a silent voice said drolly.
Oh shut up.
"So," Jake said tentatively, as he sat down next to Peyton. "About the other day..."
"Okay, here's the deal," Peyton interrupted, knowing if she didn't just blurt it out it would never get said. Resting her hand on Jake's arm, she looked him in the eye. "You're a great guy...a great friend."
"Oh."
"No, don't take it like that." Peyton shook her head, squeezing his arm. "Yesterday was about me and the whole wreck that has been my love life for the past 6 months," she explained, rolling her eyes at the memory of it all. "And I just was surprised when you asked me and then it was more like this intense freak out that I was having."
"You didn't seem to have a hard time handling it," Jake scoffed, though trying to play the rejection off. He tried to downplay this whole conversation in his head. There was no reason to get his hopes up.
"But that's me, Jake." Peyton curled her one leg underneath her. "I don't let people see what I'm thinking."
"You're really good then."
"I know I am."
Jake eyes darted over to Jenny, who was now asleep in her crib, unable to look Peyton in the eye. "If you're not ready Peyton, I can understand that." He forced himself to meet her gaze. It had been ages since he had felt this vulnerability when talking to anyone. Peyton was the first girl since Nikki that he had even casually thought of asking out.
"Just let me get this out," Peyton said, placing her hand over his lips. "Kay?"
Jake nodded, her hand still resting on his lips.
"I think I could like you Jake," she admitted softly, feeling her cheeks burn, as the words leave her lips. "I mean, I do like you. You're one of my closest friends. You understand me...your head is in the same place as mine, at least I think it is." "But if we even think of doing this, it has to completely slow."
Jake sat on his parent's couch, quite stunned. He hadn't expected her speech to run along these lines at all. "Uh, wow." He had no idea how to respond to that.
"I don't even know if this will work out," Peyton blurted out, turning around so that she sat parallel with Jake on the couch, staring at the blank TV screen. "I mean maybe sometimes platonic relationships work out better?" Jake's mind was still stuck on the, 'I think I could like you Jake' part. How was he supposed to answer that? She wasn't giving him a decisive 'yes' or 'no' answer. "Well," he said, clearing his voice. "I guess we could just feel it out?"
Peyton glanced nervously at Jake, wondering if he was at all disappointed with what she had just told him. She couldn't give him any other answer though, since she had no decisive answer herself. From what she was feeling, Peyton knew she could possibly be attracted to the guy; but was it anything more than attraction? "We don't have to decide about it right away, right?" she said, nodding absent-mindedly.
"Right." Jake nodded in agreement.
"Okay then." Peyton turned to say something else when the door opened.
"Hey guys!" Mrs. Jagielski greeted them with a tired smile. "Have a good night here?" she asked, dropping her purse on the end table near the door. "Anything new?"
Peyton and Jake exchanged uneasy glances before turning back and smiling. "No," they said in unison. "Nothing new."
-----------------
Author's notes:
Jill: Exactly. Follow my commands exactly...muwahahahahahah! And on the whole Lucas/Brooke thing...if' you're a good girl, as well as several other readers, you just might get a little something...;)
somnambulist29: Thanks for droppin' by! I enjoy writing for ppl who appreciate the 'finer' things in life ;)
NaijaChiqa: Awww, well I am just an appreciative writer, who is pleased to acknowledge her wonderful fanfic readers! hehe.
Aleah: Finally you show up! About time girlie! Now you're wholly welcome for that 'change'...it makes it better I suppose. :P Couldn't helop it? You're so impulse Missy! hehe.
Jewels: Ya know Ilove ya! I had to put you in here my dear! You are such a great 'consistent' reviewer! hehe. Thanks so much for caring at all about reading this and all the other fics dahling! kisses
Jess: About time girlie! Now don't take forever to drop in again!