AN: Hey guys, I'm sorry it took me a while to update! I was away on vacation, but now I'm back. Thank you so much for the wonderful review: hybridwolf10, gerky, SophiaDaniela, DotDotDot, lilmonkeygirl31, jeytonlover, jeyton4ever. You guys are amazing thanks so much. Also, jeytonlover and jeyton4ever, thank you guys for reviewing to 'Anything To Be With You' too, that meant a lot to me.

I Care For You

Chapter 5: We Need To Talk…

Peyton and Brooke had spent the rest of the day together, talking about anything and everything. But the subject that came up the most was of course, Lucas and Jake. Before they had left, Peyton had sent a quick e-mail to Jake. She was glad that Brooke was there waiting for her to finish, because if she hadn't than Peyton would have gone on and on and ended up crying while re-reading an epic e-mail to Jake. Instead, she made a short and to the point e-mail just to tell him what was going on with Nikki. Somehow, this gave her a little more confidence.

It only took about five minutes for Brooke to admit that she was in fact in love with Lucas, and had been for a while, she had just been denying it to herself. Peyton had spilled out all her thoughts about Jake that she had bottled up this whole time.

"OK," Brooke said, when they had gone into each and every store in the mall and were broke, "What do we do now?" Peyton knew what it was like being away from the one you loved, and that's how she could tell by the look in Brooke's eyes that she wanted to see Lucas.

"Um, you know? I should probably go home and... look into the whole police, Nikki matter. You should go and... I don't know, visit other people..." Peyton said, stumbling with her words. She wasn't very good at this.

Brooke knew what she was doing, it was pretty obvious that Peyton wanted her to go see Lucas. But Brooke couldn't lie, she did want to see him, and tell him how she felt. Or at least, talk about what had happened between them the day she left.

"Thanks, P. Sawyer." Brooke said sincerely and she hugged her best friend and then they went their separate ways.

Jake,

After you left, I still wanted to see if I could help with this whole Nikki problem. So I went down to the police office, figuring that if you leaving last year was illegal, than Nikki leaving now must be too. And I was right, so I got them to file out a warrant for her arrest too. The police man was very sympathetic to our problem and he said he would alert the other police stations that are all around the country, about Nikki.

They found her, Jake. And Jenny. Jenny's fine, no harm done, at least that we know of. They were found somewhere in New Jersey, and they said that if I can contact you, that you should go there and get Jenny, bring her back home, then contact your lawyer and from then on you will definitely get sol custody of Jenny.

Since I don't know if you are checking your e-mail wherever you are, if you don't answer this e-mail soon, I'm going to go up there myself and get Jenny. So either way, Jenny will be safe.

I know you said I should move on, but I can't help it.

Love forever,
Peyton

PS. The address of the station and everything you need about the details is in the attachment.

Jake stared at the screen before it all sunk in. He couldn't help but get a huge smile on his face. How could he ever underestimate Peyton? He thought that she was amazing, but she never ceased to amaze him. How did he get so lucky? If it wasn't for her than who knows if he would have ever found Nikki. Before checking the attachment, he clicked "REPLY".

OK, Jake thought, how do I start? How can I express all my love for this girl, in a simple e-mail?

Dear Peyton,

Words cannot describe how happy you just made me. After everything that has been going on this last year, you stuck by me, even after I left. And you really turned everything around. It's because of you that now, Nikki will be out of our lives, Jenny will be safe, and I'll be home in Tree Hill. I cannot thank you enough.

Love always,
Jake

PS. Glad to hear that you didn't move on, because I don't think I'll be able to resist you once I get back home. Which, by the way, should be soon.

"OK, look," Brooke started as soon as Lucas opened his door, she didn't even let him talk first. "I only have one more day here, are we ever going to talk about the kiss?" Lucas sighed and stepped aside, as if to say 'Come on in'. Brooke walked in and Lucas closed the door behind her. They both sat on his bed.

"I don't really have anything more to say about it. I meant everything I said. I love you, Brooke. I want to be with you." Lucas said, figuring that he could avoid all the nonsense and small talk about it. They only had one day left, he wanted to make it worth it. If he wasn't going to say all this now, than when was he?

"You have to understand, that you took me by surprise." Brooke said. "I was about to leave, and I just... froze, I didn't know what to say. My mind just didn't have time to process it." Brooke tried to explain. "You know how slow I am." she joked.

"You're not slow," Lucas said seriously. "You are such an amazing person. There is so much more to you than people see, and that is what I like most about you. You should know, that even if you don't feel the same about me, I still feel so privileged to be your friend. I just love being around you, Brooke."

"But I do feel the same!" Brooke blurted out, before she could contain herself. She needed to tell him how she felt. That was the reason why she had come here. But she still found herself feeling awkward about it. She had never felt so strongly for another person before.

Brooke wished that Lucas would say something, but he just sad there, grinning broadly. Brooke bit her bottom lip nervously. Lucas pulled her to him, and just as Brooke let her bottom lip go, Lucas pressed his lips against hers in a passionate, knee-weakening kiss. And this wasn't a 'good-bye' kiss, or a 'I like you' kiss, it was a big fat 'I love you more than words can say so I'll just kiss you to show you how much I love you' kiss.

Nathan and Haley were on cloud 9. They had spend an amazing day with each other, but they had both ignored any subjects tied to their marriage. Unfortunately, those were the most important subjects, and they needed to be addressed before Nathan left the next day. And Haley and Nathan both knew that.

"So..." Haley said. "Maybe we should talk..." She thought he would get it, but apparently it wasn't so clear.

"Okay," Nathan said casually, "What do you want to talk about?" They sat down on a bench outside.

"Well, I think we really need to talk... you know? About us." Haley said, uneasily.

"Ah," Nathan paused. "Us..." He said.

"Yeah," Haley said worried. What if they can't figure out their issues? They can't hide from them forever. "Maybe we should both talk, and you know, say our side. Our points of view." She suggested.

"OK," Nathan said as he braced himself for this talk, "You go first."

"Ok," Haley took a second to think, she looked him directly in the eye. "I don't regret going on tour. It was a wonderful experience for me. But more importantly, I don't regret marrying you. Because, however big my dream was to be a singer. It means more to me that I made a commitment to you, to be with you for the rest of my life. And that's what I want to do, and plan on doing, if you'll let me."

Nathan nodded and made a gesture as if to say 'go on.' So Haley continued.

"Nathan, I am so sorry for the way that I just left to go on tour. And the things I said when you came to visit me, they weren't true! I am ready for this marriage, and I want it to work. And that's why I didn't sign the annulment papers, I just couldn't. Nathan, I realize that it took a while for me to come to these conclusions, and that things have changed, but I love you so much, and that's all that matters to me now."

Nathan was silent for a while, just thinking. He knew that Haley did love him, the same love that they had had a while ago, before Haley had gone on tour. He knew that what they had wasn't over, and he didn't want it to be.

"Your turn," Haley said after a long time of no one talking. Nathan took a deep breath, and looked straight ahead, avoiding looking into Haley's eyes.

"When you left, Haley, I was a mess. I was all over the place. I was drunk all the time, and mean to everyone. And everyone just let me, you know? 'Cause I was the guy whose wife left him. I was hurting, Haley. I know now that you didn't leave to be with Chris, I think I even knew that then. When I went to see you, and you said those things, I just couldn't help but wonder myself, if I was ready for marriage. So I started thinking about it a lot. I don't regret marrying you, Haley. And I never stopped loving you." Nathan said.

"I'm so sorry, Nate," Haley said, as tears started falling down her cheeks. "I never wanted to hurt you." She whispered as he pulled her close and rocked her in his arms.

"Shhh... Don't cry, Hales. It's ok..." Nathan said and he actually honestly believed that everything really was ok.