Disclaimer; I don't own anything OTH related

Chapter 16

"Peyton?" Haley called out when she opened the front door to the Sawyer's residence.

Haley heard a voice coming from upstairs, "I'm up here!"

Haley made her way up the stairs and found Peyton in her bedroom. Peyton's back was to Haley as she stood in front of her bed.

"Hey, what's up?"

Peyton looked over her shoulder and sighed in relief, "I'm so glad you're here,"

"Yeah, well, you said it was an emergency…so what do you need?"

Haley watched on as Peyton bent down over her bed and scooped up Jenny into her arms. She turned to face Haley, "I need you to do a huge favor,"

"What?"

Peyton's gaze fell onto Jenny before throwing a hopeful look at Haley.

"No…uh-huh…no way," Haley spun around and quickly walked out of Peyton's room.

"Haley, please," Peyton begged as she followed Haley down the stairs. "She's already fed and I changed her diaper. All you have to do is keep her entertained until she takes her nap,"

Peyton and Jenny caught Haley at the front door.

"Peyton, I don't know the first thing about taking care of babies,"

"What about your brothers and sisters? Didn't you have to look out for them?"

"Hello? Baby of the family!" Haley said as she pointed to herself, "They took care or me,"

"It'll be just 20 minutes…half an hour tops...please,"

"If it were anything else, I would…"

"Kay, do you know how many times you bailed on me at Tric and I never complained? Do you know how much stress you put on me to find a last minute replacement?"

"See...I'm irresponsible. I can't take of a baby...I can barely take care of myself,"

Peyton sighed. She didn't want to resort to a guilt-trip, but she had no other choice, "Fine, then I guess I'll have to call Jake to come home early. You know it's not often that he gets to play with the guys at Rivercourt…"

Haley glared at Peyton and gave in. She held her arms out to take Jenny, "Thirty minutes…not a second later,"

Nathan lay alone in his room thinking about the night before.

Flashback

That part of the beach was theirs. No one but them had ventured out that far. Music from the part could faintly be heard from the distance but the sound of the ocean waves crashing up against the rocks seemed to be their choice of music for the night.

"So…that was some kiss…" Nathan finally commented. Ever since she had led him away from the party she had been quiet. And that was quite uncharacteristic for Brooke Davis.

Brooke didn't acknowledge Nathan's attempt to break the silence. Her eyes remained captivated by the waves.

"Do you kiss all guys like that?"

That caught her attention. Brooked snapped her head and glared at him. Then she sighed and turned her attention back to the open waters.

"Sorry...I didn't mean it like that. Brooke, what's wrong?"

Brooke shook her head, "Nothing," A tear slipped from her eye.

"Brooke…" Nathan started, but Brooke cut him off.

"What's wrong with me? I mean do I have 'easy' written across my face?" Brooke wiped her eyes, "I'm just sick of it, you know…I know I had that reputation back home but not here. Nobody knows me here, but yet at every party I'm getting hit on by every other pig,"

"Well, maybe you're getting hit on because you're…hot," Nathan blushed as he admitted it.

Brooke laughed, cheering up slightly but was still bitter. "Yeah, I am…just not girlfriend material I guess. Just ask Lucas…"

"Hey, Lucas is the biggest idiot we know…trust me. You didn't do anything wrong…he just wasn't the right guy for you,"

"I know, but I do miss him," she paused, "He was the first guy who ever treated me like a girl, not an object. He was the only guy who wanted to know who I was,"

"Don't tell him I said this, but deep down he is a good guy…an idiot but a good guy,"

Brooke laughed and nudged his shoulder with hers, "You know, Haley's lucky to have a guy like you, you know that?"

Nathan looked at Brooke. Their eyes met and locked on to one another. They felt something between them, slowly drawing them towards each other. Finally their lips met once again. The kiss was light and tender at first, but it grew into a stronger passion. She felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her body closer to his. She ran her hands through his hair as he gently laid her down onto the soft sand.

End Flashback

As Haley changed Jenny's diaper, she sang. Haley found out quickly that Jenny loved being sung to. Jake alwasy sang to Jenny with his guitar and she had grown accustom to his soothing voice.

"There, all done," Haley beamed with pride as she picked up the giggling tot. Her first diaper change was a success and she didn't have help from anyone. "That wasn't so hard now was it?"

"Except that you put it on backwards,"

"Huh?" Haley turned around to see Jake standing at the door way. She looked back down at the diaper, "How can you tell?"

Jake laughed, "Here, let me show you,"

Lucas was about to enter the café when he spotted his girlfriend across the street coming out of Thud Magazine. He crossed the street and called out to her.

"Hey, you" she smiled and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Last minute deadline. I totally forgot about it,"

"Did you finish it?"

"Yeah…being printed as we speak,"

They started walking in direction to her car.

"So…you're all done for the day?"

"Yup,"

"Then how about spend the rest of the day with your boyfriend at the cafe?"

Peyton looked apologetically at her boyfriend, "I can't. I have to get home otherwise your girlfriend will be six feet under…I left Jenny alone with Haley,"

"You did what?"

"What? Is that a bad thing?"

"Haley and kids…not exactly a good mix,"

Peyton began to worry. She assumed Haley would automatically be good with kids. What if something happened? Would Haley know what to do? Would Jenny be alright?

Lucas let out a laugh as Peyton nearly broke out into a sprint towards her car. He grabbed her hand before she could start running, "Relax, I dropped Jake off before coming here,"

She punched him on the arm, "You couldn't tell me that before?"

Lucas rubbed his arm and shrugged, "Because you look cute when you're all worried like that,"

Haley closed the front door of the Sawyer's residence and checked to make sure that it was locked.

"I hope Peyton has the keys with her," Jake commented.

Haley smugly smiled. She was still a little upset that Peyton tricked her into coming over to baby sit, "Oh I'm sure she wouldn't mind spending one night outside...heard it's suppossed to rain tongiht,"

Jake laughed and shook his head. He began to push Jenny in the stroller as Haley walked beside him.

"Oh, hey! Congratulations…Peyton told me about touring with Sheryl Crow,"

"Thanks,"

"When does the tour start?"

"On Monday, but they want me in Seattle by Friday for rehearsals and stuff,"

"So you're going, right?"

Haley shrugged, "I haven't made up my mind yet,"

"What? This is like huge...do you know how many people will get to hear your music?"

"I know, but Nathan is expecting me to be here when he gets home and after what I did to him last time, he wouldn't understand,"

"In other words, you're giving up your dream because you feel like you have to?"

"What? No!" she snapped.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you,"

Haley let out a deep breath, "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have snapped like that. It's just that it seems like you, Peyton and Lucas think I don't love Nathan anymore and that I'm holding on to him for all the wrong reasons,'

"Well, if it helps any…I know a thing about letting go…but unlike you I didn't have a choice,"

"Peyton?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "But it's for the best, you know. If I hadn't let her go, then I'd only be fooling myself and we'd both be completely miserable. I know she loves me, but she wasn't in love with me. That's why I had to let her go," Jake took a few more steps, "It hurt like hell, but at least she was honest. I don't think I could have handled it if she lied,"

Lucas politely held the door open for Peyton to enter. They were halfway to the counter when Deb emerged from the kitchen and walked toward them.

Peyton was the first to notice Deb's running mascara, "Deb, what's wrong?"

"The hospital just called…Dan's dead,"

Peyton gasped then hugged Deb. Peyton looked back and up at Lucas. His face was stone. There wasn't any hint of emotion whatsoever. Still holding onto Deb with one arm, her free arm reached back for his.

Lucas was confused. He didn't exactly know how to react to the news. At that very moment, he felt nothing but then he felt her hand on his and he snapped out of his thoughts. His eyes fell onto hers and he gave her a reassuring smile that he was ok. Lucas came closer and put his free hand on Deb's shoulder, trying to comfort her and placed a kiss on Peyton's head, thanking her for being there.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed these two quick updates. I don't see very many chapters left in this story. Probably one chapter aboud Dan's funeral, B/N coming home, N/H finally dealing with their relationship and Dan's killer. I'm thinking maybe 5 chapters left...but that could change. Keep watching for updates...I'm hoping to finish by Wednesday.