Title: Will You Fall for Me?
Show: One Tree Hill
Pairing: Peyton/Jake
A/N: Wow. No notes this time. Really. I mean, unless you want to count this. But you shouldn't, because it really isn't a note per se...ah, forget it. And just read the chapter! ;)
Chapter Thirteen: Knock Two Times
"You can't be running off like this, man." Lucas watched as Jake paced back and forth in front of him. He had dropped by to see if Jake wanted to join him for a game at the Rivercourt, only to find his close friend in a state of panic. "You just can't do it," he said darkly. "I know it seems like a good idea right now, but living on the lam?""Don't you think I know?" Jake exclaimed, stopping mid-stride. "But can you see Jenny in Nikki's arms? What do you think she's going to do to my daughter?"
"Maybe we have to be more optimistic about this whole thing?"
Jake shook his head in disbelief. Nikki had grown more irrational since he received those legal papers. In the past week, he had been forced into allowing visitation. She hadn't pulled anything...not yet.
"She hasn't done anything to her," Lucas slowly reasoned. "And she's allowed you to keep her for now."
"Yeah, for now."
"Jake, you can't take off with Jenny. You don't have any sort of plan. No place to go or someone to stay with."
"Thanks for pointing that out," Jake sighed irritably. "I hadn't noticed."
"Well, maybe your parents are right?" Lucas knew Jake didn't want to hear these things; but as much as Nikki wasn't anyone's idea of the 'perfect mother', she had a right to know her child. And by look of the court documents, she did really want to know Jenny. "Maybe joint custody would be the right way to go?" he suggested. "Then you wouldn't have to leave home and your entire life here."
"You don't know what you're saying!" Jake ran his hands through his hair. "You haven't seen the way Nikki is so fixated on Jenny, like she's some kind of possession," he said worriedly. "It's not that I'm just keeping Jenny away from her for some selfish reason; I am scared what she could do to her."
"Couldn't you just be overreacting?"
Jake knew Lucas wouldn't understand. No one did. He had to protect his daughter - even if it meant leaving Tree Hill.
"From your silence," Lucas sighed. "I'm guessing you're not going to listen to my advice?"
"I appreciate what you're trying to do, Luke," Jake said quietly. "But I can't see any other way."
"Well, maybe you could just trust that things are going to work out?"
"How many times has that work out in your life?"
"Well, I don't know how many times the whole 'running away' theory ends well," Lucas frowned. "You can't do this."
"I have to."
"No, you don't."
Jake was torn. He wanted the things Lucas seemed to be trying to pound into his brain to be true. He wanted to believe that if he stayed, the courts would see that Nikki wasn't fit to take care of Jenny. If that were true, he could stay. He could have the life that seemed possible only a week ago.
"Jake? Are you hearing me?" Lucas grabbed him by the shoulders and locked eyes with his friend.
"You don't have to worry," Jake sighed, pulling away. "I haven't got a plan to get out of here...yet."
"But you're looking for a way?"
"If Nikki doesn't leave me another choice," he said softly. "Then yes."
>>>>>>
"Hey Brooke!"
She could not believe that he could not just take a hint. Pausing a moment, Brooke debated whether she should even bother acknowledging him. Closing her eyes, she could have just kicked herself, as she felt herself turning around. "What?" she said irritably.
"I know, I know," Lucas sighed softly. "I know you don't want to hear from me or have anything to do with me."
"Then what are you doing here? with me?" She folded her arms across her chest, attempting to close herself off to the soft plea in his voice. "Because I've got a social life I need to get back to."
"Look," he groaned. "This has nothing to do with me."
"Then you've got two minutes, Scott."
"It's about Peyton."
It took every ounce of strength in her not to smack him for even thinking she wanted to talk about Peyton with him. It was her mistake. She chose to open that door a crack. It served her right that she got her finger caught in the slamming door. "Oh that's...that's incredible," she gasped, turning her back and walking away. "You've got a lot of gall."
Lucas grabbed her bicep, stopping her from going any further. "It's not what you think."
"And who do you think you are?" Brooke spat. Spinning around, she shook her head in disbelief. "I don't want to talk about any subject with you, let alone, about Peyton!"
"Well, you're going to," he declared firmly. "Because there's something you need to know."
"There's nothing I need to know about Peyton that I need to hear from you."
"Yes there is!" Lucas was tired of her presumptions whenever it came to the subject of Peyton. He had had enough. There was no plans for any type of relationship, other than a friendship.
"Let me go."
"Not until you hear me out," he stated. "Because she needs you."
"And you know what Peyton needs?"
"Right now I do," Lucas said, nodding. "Yes."
Brooke could see from the flicker of determination in his eyes that he was serious. He would not leave her alone until he got whatever he had to say, off his chest. "Fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "Let go of my arm and I'll listen."
"You promise?"
"I'm not the one who says things and doesn't mean them."
"All right," Lucas exclaimed angrily, throwing his hands up in the air. "I'm the bad guy. Now listen to me. Jake planning on leaving Tree Hill."
"What?" Brooke couldn't imagine what would drive Jake out of Tree Hill - not when reports from Peyton had been so upbeat. "You must be wrong," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I haven't heard any of this from the rumor mill. And they are so reliable."
He sighed. Sometimes he couldn't follow her line of thinking.
"Well, this just happened recently," he explained. "Because of Nikki."
"And who is she again?"
"Jenny's mother?"
"Oh." Brooke shook her head. "That could definitely put a crimp in Peyton and Jake's happily ever after," she agreed. "I can't believe she managed to show her face in Tree Hill after dumping Jenny on Jake like that."
Her mind raced with thoughts of Peyton. She knew her best friend; and by the way she had been acting and behaving, Peyton had definitely began to fall for Jake. And now he was leaving? This could not happen.
"I don't know, but she's already begun to sue for custody."
"And she's got more than a good chance to get her, right?" she asked thoughtfully.
"Yeah. You could say that." LUcas nodded. Sometimes she could be astute when he least expected it. "And I say this without any motivation except for concern, as a friend; but Peyton could probably be using you about now," he said hesitantly. "And this is the only reason I'm sticking my neck out right now, because I know you'd probably like it on a chopping block. So this is all I'm going to say. And I'll leave you alone from now on."
Lucas turned to leave. Hoping to get away unscathed, but he felt a strong hand grip his wrist.
"Wait." Brooke closed her eyes, trying to silence the shouts of protest in her head for what she was about to say. "I-I'm sorry," she said, forcing it past her almost unwilling lips.
He raised a questioning brow.
"I'm sorry about taking your head off, just before," she blurted out, releasing his wrist, as if his touch burned. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
"Apology not needed," he said, with a slight smile. "But accepted."
They stood there for a moment, in awkward silence. Brooke laughed nervously, her hand flitting to her hair, as if its perfectly styled waves needed adjusting. "I'd better get going," she said tentatively. "To see how Peyton's doing"
Lucas stuffed his hands in his pocket and shrugged his usual agreement. "Yeah," he breathed. "I'd better head back to the cafe. My mom's short handed today."
"Okay, then." Brooke slowly nodded, as she began backing away from him and towards her car. "I'll see you later, I guess?" she said uncertainly.
She didn't know what else to say. They had not left a conversation in such a genial way - not since their break up.
"Yeah," he said. "I'll see you around." And he felt good about it. It was the first time he actually felt like she could possibly forgive him for what he had put her through.
Now just don't screw it up.
>>>>>>
"Hey, P Sawyer?"
Peyton closed her eyes and groaned. She didn't need to hear any incessant ramblings of her best friend today of all days. Leaning over she adjusted the narrow knob on her computer speakers to 'blow out your eardrums' loud. She hoped Brooke could take the hint.
"Hey!" Brooke yelled, sticking her head around the corner of Peyton's room. "Didn't you hear me?"
Obviously not.
Peyton spun around to see the brunette plop herself down on her bed. She feigned surprise. "Oh, sorry," she apologized half-heartedly. "I didn't even hear you come in."
Brooke could see Peyton forcibly plaster the fake smile upon her face. She was hurting bad. "Well, I just dropped in to see how you were doing?" she said non-chalantly. "See if my bf had anything going on?"
"Nah." Peyton shrugged. "Not much going on at all."
Brooke tilted her head slightly and frowned. "Well, what about Jake?"
Score one for Brooke. She felt like someone had socked her in the stomach when she heard his name. She had spent the better part of the day trying to forget the entire 'I'm leaving Tree Hill' conversation they had earlier, to which he had left without a word. And she hadn't had much luck though.
"You know," Peyton smiled, pushing herself up from her chair, "let's talk about something else."
"No," Brooke said, pushing slightly. "Why don't you tell me what's going on with you and Jake? You usually don't mind this subject...much."
"Brooke, let's just leave it," she breathed, biting the inside of her bottom lip. "Because I really can't talk about Jake right now."
And then it happened. The something she had been trying to avoid for the past two and a half hours. She felt the sharp, wet tears fall - blurring her already confused perspective.
"Aw, Peyt," Brooke gasped, feeling her heart break for her best friend. "I'm sorry."
"He's leaving," she said, biting back the tears. "He said he was leaving me...Tree Hill."
Her heart and mind was a collage of turmoil and pain. She swelled with a combination of rage at Nikki and slight resentment at Jake for doing this to her. Then she felt twinges of guilt for blaming him. And then blinding sorrow would overwhelm her. It was a neverending cycle.
Brooke had never seen her this messed up before. She knew there was this deep darkness that had been the void in Peyton's life since her mother died, but it had never surfaced in such a physical manifestation of outward pain. It made every muscle in her body ache with her.
Peyton crawled onto the bed and into Brooke's arms. "I-I should have expected it," she said, swallowing her tears. "I'm not allowed to be happy."
"Aw, honey, no!" Brooke kissed the crown of her head. "This isn't your fault," she whispered, stroking the blonde curls. "It's not your fault at all. You deserve to be happy."
Peyton tried to take comfort in the strong embrace of her friend, squeezing her eyes tight, pushing the pain out of her mind. She wanted to push all thoughts of Jake from her mind. No more thoughts of Jake. No more Jake...at all.
"Oh baby," Brooke whispered, squeezing her tightly. "We'll get through this. We will."
Peyton began to rock back and forth in her arms, wanting Brooke's words not to be empty words of comfort. Please let it be true. Please God, let it be true.
>>>>>>
Two knocks on the door. The sound resounded in his ears. The last time he answered his door, his whole life was thrown up into upheaval.
"Mom, could you get that?" Jake yelled from his room.
He leaned back against the wall, as he sat surrounded by pictures of Jenny splayed on his bed, and sighed. He fingered the edge of one photograph. Jenny was grinning from ear to ear. It was her first photograph.
Jake could not imagine his life without Jenny. But after going over the legal papers for the hundredth time, he knew Nikki was going for full custody. Part of him regretted shutting her out when she first showed her face again. Maybe if he hadn't done that, she wouldn't have sued for custody.
But he knew either way, she wanted to be a part of Jenny's life. The thought didn't scare him when she first showed up on his doorstep. He thought that it was just another little stroke of conscious and it would subside. With Nikki, as he had found out in the past, it all ended up being about what felt good. He had felt good for a while, but then it didn't - not when Jenny showed up.
Glancing at the weaved basket on the bed beside his, he felt his body ache physically again, as he imagined his life without Jenny. She had made his world smaller, but better. She had made him realize what was important and taught him what real love was.
He knew now it was never what he had with Nikki.
"Jake!"
Startled out of his reverie, he frowned at his mother's bellow. She never bellowed. In fact, Laura Jagielski had reprimanded both him and his father for doing anything of the sort.
It must have been important.
Jake's mind raced with what new horrifying plans Nikki could have possibly put together to make his and Jenny's life hell. Jumping off the bed, he checked briefly on Jenny, who was asleep, and ran down the stairs, where his mother was waiting for him. "What is it?" he huffed, slightly out of breath.
"Someone at the door for you."
Jake frowned. Approaching the door warily, he was surprised to see who was standing there. "Mr. and Mrs. Augier?"
"Jake." They stood primly and properly on the front steps of his door, in their well tailored clothes.
"What are doing here?" he said distastefully. "Don't you think you and your daughter have done enough?"
At this, Jake saw this uncomfortable, restless look pass between them. He tried to remain calm. He didn't like this. They were making him nervous.
"Jake," Mrs. Augier said slowly. "We're here to help you, if you're willing to accept it."
Jake blinked several times, unsure of the words he had heard the woman who had said every insulting and horrible thing possible against him when he was dating their daughter. "W-what?" he stammered.
"We here to tell you that we are willing to testify against our daughter," Mr. Augier paused a moment, glancing down at his wife, "for you."