Summary: Basically it's just an evaluation of all the relationships in the fic.

Disclaimer: I don't OTH, if only I did….

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Chapter Six: On the inside

Peyton stared down at her sketchpad. Two figures stood facing each other, the female had her back pressed against her locker and the male stood in front of her at a safe distance. Lucas' face was clearly drawn in even and dark lines, but hers was a mask of confusion. We're anything you want us to be, his words echoed in her head and vibrated onto the page. The words that had come out of his mouth with so much confidence translated into a shaky jumble of words on the page in front of her. The lines weren't straight but curved and bent to the right and left. Chaos and confusion screamed from the page into her brain, drilling holes into her tired mind. It had been a week since he had stood at her locker and told her that, a week full of small talk and feigned friendship. She had opted to avoid the subject as long as possible. Afraid that any day he'd ask if she had figured it out yet, but he hadn't. She still didn't know what they were….

She felt a body fall onto the bed next to her and flinched in shock as the bed dipped down. She hadn't heard the front door open, "Ugh," Brooke groaned and buried her nose into the brightly colored comforter before her. Peyton shoved her sketchpad off the bed, hoping the gentle thud it made as it hit the ground had gone unnoticed by the brunette at her side. "Life sucks P. Sawyer," she flipped over and stared at the white tiles on the ceiling.

Peyton brought her knees against her chest and rested her chin on top of them. She peered down at Brooke from her sitting position and rolled her eyes. "What has Nathan done now?" She asked with a note of amusement in her voice. She had watched Nathan and Brooke throw each other secret glances all week, surprised they hadn't talked to each other by now. But given how stubborn each of them were she should have expected it.

"He's such an ass," she gnawed on her full bottom lip and moved her brown eyes over to Peyton's tired face. "I should've known," she threw her a half smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Peyton knew what Brooke meant, but she didn't want to talk about her relationship with Nathan. Everything with him and Lucas was so screwed up. She had messed it up with both of them. "Nathan…" Peyton paused and knitted her brows in thought, "tries."

"To be an ass?"

"No," Peyton chuckled, "he has an image to uphold." She knew it was a lame thing to say, but Brooke did the same thing everyday. Putting on appearances, keeping up with the reputation that she had had for years.

Brooke grabbed a pillow next to Peyton's spot feet, pressed it over her face, and screamed. After a few minutes she threw the pillow on the floor and rolled over. "Is it wrong that the more of an ass he is the more I want to fuck him?"

Peyton rolled her eyes, "God, Brooke…"

Brooke sat up, leaned towards Peyton, and lowered her voice, "Come on, P. Sawyer you have to admit his cocky nature is what makes him so damn sexy." She grinned and winked, "The more he blows me off and avoids my sexual advances the more crazy he drives me." She sighed, "I may have to find other ways of relieving myself," she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Peyton laughed, "I don't really want to hear what you do behind closed doors."

She shrugged and sighed again, "Seriously though P, I just don't know how to get past his defenses."

"Nathan doesn't play games, Brooke. He's a straight forward kind of guy, just ask him out."

"Now, what would the fun in that be?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

She raised her head off her knees and cocked her head in curiosity, "When was the last time you talked to him?"

"Last week when I called him a dick." She said flippantly.

"Great way to get in his pants, B."

"I just told him like it is, not my fault he couldn't handle it."

"Is there any guy that can handle you?" Peyton laughed.

She shrugged, "That would imply I wanted to be tied down which I don't." She narrowed her eyes, "Speaking of commitment, how are things going with wonder boy? Engaged yet?"

Peyton rolled her eyes, "Thing with Lucas…." she trailed off, turned her head, and focused on an invisible spot on the wall. "Just friends." She said weakly, not believing the words as they left her mouth.

"Are you really?" Peyton's thoughts wandered to the drawing she had just finished. She moved her eyes away from the wall, brought her hands up and stared at them, focusing on the black ink that stained her fingernails. She lifted her shoulders in a light shrug and shifted the conversation in another direction.

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"Let me get this straight, you told her that you were whatever she wanted you to be?" Haley stared at Luke in shock, watching him sink ever lower in the chair in front of her computer. She couldn't believe he hadn't told her what had been going on until now. She hadn't talked to Peyton since the night of the party, unsure of what to say to her. At least that was part of the reason. She had been spending a lot of her time with Jake the past week. She shook her head, banishing her thoughts of Peyton and Jake, focusing instead on her best friend.

"No…" he rubbed his weary head, "well….yeah…." he sighed, "not exactly."

"Luke, have you lost your mind?" She shrieked, jumped off her bed, and started to pace. It had been a nervous habit of hers for years.

"Hales, I don't even know what I'm doing anymore." He groaned and rested his head on the wooden desk in front of him. He focused on the dark wood in front of his eyes, tracing the circles in his mind. "She drives me crazy. One minute things seem to be progressing and then bam, it just stops." He sighed into the wood, "She retreats and I have no idea what to do."

"Telling her to decide what you are wasn't the best move." She said as calmly as she could muster. She knew she was overreacting, but she hated to see him in such emotional misery. She wanted to help him any way she could.

"So I noticed," he said wryly.

"Check with your best friend before you do stupid things." He lifted his head and glared at her. He grabbed a stuffed duck off her desk and threw it at her, "Hey, watch it." She laughed and continued to pace.

He propped his elbow on the desk and rested his chin in his hand, "Why was it stupid exactly?"

She stopped pacing and stared at him for several minutes before answering, "Peyton isn't like most girls, she doesn't know what she wants. Asking her to make that decision puts too much pressure on her." Her thoughts wondered to Jake; they had been spending a lot of time together and she found herself wanting more than friendship. But at the same time she was scared to want that. She didn't have any experience where boys were concerned; she had always put school first.

"Like you with Jake?" He said with a note of amusement in his voice, recognizing the far away look in her eyes.

"Whoa," Haley stared at him with wide eyes, "Where did that come from?"

He chuckled, "I don't hear denial anywhere in that sentence."

"Jake and I are just…." She stopped, not sure what they were exactly.

"Friends?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she looked away and bit her bottom lip.

"Just like me and Peyton." He shot back, "Friends."

"Okay, I get it. We're not friends, but we're not more than that either." She sighed and threw herself onto her bed, "At least that's not all I want to be." She picked at a piece of fuzz on her bedspread.

"What's going on, Hales?" He stared at her back in concern, "You can talk to me."

"He's just so…distant." She struggled to find the words to explain how she was feeling, "I know we haven't been talking long, but we've spent so much time together. He's had chances to kiss me and never does." Not that she expected it, but he hadn't even tried to. At least she didn't think so.

Luke held back the chuckle he could feel rising in his throat. He rarely saw her like this; usually she was the sensible one. "Jake is old fashioned, he takes his time."

"Maybe he doesn't think I'm pretty or…." She said quietly, her hidden insecurities rising to the surface.

"Hales, of course he thinks you're pretty." He said gently, wanting to reassure her. He could tell by the way Jake looked at her that he felt something real for her. It was in the way he talked about her and how his face seemed to light up every time she was near.

She looked over her should at him and raised her eyebrows, "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He smiled.

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Nathan raced down his concrete driveway, basketball in hand, toward the basket. All he saw was the hoop in front of him, everything else didn't matter. Every other second the ball would smack the hard ground. Swishing from hand to hand, right to left, left to right. Sweat dripped down his forehead and his body felt weak, but he pressed on. He had to keep pushing himself until he ran out of sunlight. He couldn't stop; his dad would ride his ass if he did. Every day he not only put in formal practice with the team he came home and continued on his own turf. He lived and breathed the game; it brought him more pain than pleasure.

He jumped into the air with the ball and they were flying up into the basket. He hung onto the rim for several seconds before dropping to the ground. Success was bittersweet, he had been too slow, he jumped too late. He had to train himself to more agile and quick, he couldn't let Lucas out do him. He couldn't lose his spot on the team and he wasn't going to let that punk ass beat him. He was a Scott, a real Scott, and Scotts never lost. They couldn't.

He heard someone clapping and he turned his head to see Brooke Davis standing at the end of his driveway. She moved towards him, her hips moving from side to side. Her hair flowed over her shoulders with the wind. His loins hardened in suppressed desire. He hated the way his body responded to her. He knew what her game was, what her aim was. Maybe, just maybe he was just as bad as she was. He had used Haley to make Peyton jealous and to piss Lucas off. He had had the chance to make things right with Haley, but he had found he wasn't interested. Maybe Brooke was better than he was; at least she was honest about her intentions.

He hadn't talked to her since she had called him a dick, a title he knew he deserved. The only one who had ever dared to challenge him was Peyton and that had only been because they had been together so long. Brooke wanted him, but she wasn't going to lie and try to please him just to get what she wanted. That was what made her different than all the other girls who had ever chased after him. He wanted her too, he couldn't deny it, but he didn't want to be another notch in her bedpost. He could play her game, but she wouldn't win. Nathan Scott never lost a battle.

"Davis," he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a towel he had sat to the side of the driveway.

"Scott," she stopped a few feet away from him and watched him take a drink of water. She admired the way his muscles bulged and stretched as he turned towards her. "Never get off the court do you?" She cocked her head to the side, finding herself truly interested in his answer. She had known he was dedicated, but this was going above and beyond what she had expected.

"Real winners never do." He squinted at her, "What are you doing here?" He slung the towel around his neck to catch the sweat on the back of his neck.

"Peace offering," she held her arm out, revealing the letterman jacket she had been carrying. She had intended to give it back before now, but she had found she loathed to part with it. She wasn't sure why she was so attached to it and she didn't feel like analyzing it. "Thought you might want this back."

He stared down at her extended hand, but didn't reach out to grab it, "Thanks, but I don't want it." He shrugged his shoulders in indifference, not really caring if he had it or not. He had only worn it because his dad and teammates had expected it.

She frowned in confusion, "What?" She had expected anger or possibly gratitude, but his nonchalant attitude took her by surprise. He was staring down at his jacket as if he didn't recognize it.

A slow smile spread across his face, "Bring it to the game tomorrow night."

She shook her head in confusion, "Why?" His request had thrown her off guard; she had expected him to be more difficult. She braced herself for what he'd say next, expecting one of the barbs he usually threw her way.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her ear. He felt her shiver in desire and his grin widened, "Bring it and find out."

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Lucas stared at Peyton's front door, unsure of whether or not he should knock on it. He had been standing there for fifteen minutes arguing with himself. He hadn't meant to pressure Peyton into making a decision. He hadn't realized what had been going on until Haley had told him. He knew he could be dense sometimes, but this one really topped all his past stupidities. He wasn't good with girls; he hadn't really been interested in anyone before Peyton. He had had crushes, but the way he had felt for them paled in comparison to the way he felt for Peyton. He cared so much that it hurt sometimes. Hurt just thinking about how lost and broken she had been. He could sense it in her every time he was around her.

He was lucky to have a stable relationship with his mother, but what did she have? A long distance relationship with her father and distant memories of her mother. He had never really known his father, which he was glad for more and more each day, but at least he had his mom. He also had a best friend that he could count on and sometimes he got the feeling Brooke didn't understand Peyton. He wished there was something he could do for her, but he could barely be her friend. He had to put imaginary pressure on her by simply being around her. But at the same time he didn't know how to not be around her.

He sighed and turned from the door, deciding not to push her anymore than he already had. The door opened and he heard her say, "Lucas, what are you doing here?"

He blushed and slowly turned around. "I thought maybe Haley was here," he had to prevent himself from cringing at his own lie.

She frowned at him, but decided to brush off his words. "I haven't talked to her in a while,"

"Oh, okay," He looked down at the tip of his shoes. "I'll see you," he paused, "Peyton."

She watched him turn away, knowing that if she let him go now she'd regret it, "Luke….Lucas…wait." He turned and looked at her expectantly, "About what you said—" she hesitated, trying to find the words to explain how she felt inside.

He watched her struggling with words and decided to speak before she had a chance to push him away again, "Peyton, when I said that, I wasn't think—"

She interrupted, "I can't tell you—"

He interjected, trying to make the conversation easier on her, "It's okay, I don't need an answer."

She nodded her head slowly and smiled at him hesitantly. She didn't know much, but she knew she still wanted him in her life. She still wasn't sure in what capacity that would end up being, but she was willing to give it a chance to work itself out. "So…uh…" She looked at the book in his hand and smiled to herself, "What are you reading?"

He looked down at the book he was holding, a book he had forgotten about. "My mom is going to Italy, so I thought I'd do some reading on Italian culture."

"She is, huh? Why?" She stepped off her porch and came closer to him, stopping a few feet away from him.

"She got accepted into a cooking class over there."

"Oh," she let the word swirl around in her mouth, trying to concentrate on the conversation, "How long will she be gone?"

"Six weeks." He watched the answer register in her brain; he could tell her thoughts were racing because his were too. They were talking about his mom, but their minds weren't focused on it. He looked at her house; it looked so lonely, like her. He let the sadness that saturated the air settle in his stomach, deciding to open up to her in a way he hadn't before. "I'm not used to being alone, my uncle Keith will be around, but it won't be the same."

Peyton looked up at him through her curls and smiled sadly, understanding how he was going to feel, "When does she leave?"

Her eyes were empathetic and it warmed his heart in a way he hadn't expected, "Saturday morning."

She nodded slowly, "You're lucky, you know?"

He frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?"

She lifted her shoulder slightly in a light shrug, "You just are," her tone was quiet and low. Her heart ached because he knew his mom would be back and when she would return to him. She had never known she'd lose her mom and she never knew when her dad would show up in her life again. She shook her head, banishing the flicker of grief that had filled her chest.

He nodded his head slowly, "I am." He looked into her hazel eyes and they both knew what she had meant and what he was saying. It was a moment of comfortable silence and understanding. Everything was contained in a look, more than could ever be said with words.

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Jake turned over in bed, staring at the dark wall beside him. He hadn't been sleeping much the past couple of days, Jenny had been sick with a fever so he had been sitting by her crib, making sure she was okay. He had gone to school, but all his other time was spent with his daughter. He knew he had been blowing off Haley after school, without explanation, but Jenny came first. She had been the most important person in his life the moment she had been born.

He liked Haley, more than he had liked anyone since Jenny's mom had left. The past week he had spent with her had been nothing short of wonderful. It amazed him they had grown so close in such a short amount of time. He felt like he had known her all his life and was constantly captivated by her wit, beauty, humor, and intelligence. But things were moving too fast, he barely knew her and he couldn't just shove his responsibilities away to spend time with her. Even if that was something he wanted.

He knew she wanted more than just friendship with him, he could tell by the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention. To be honest, he wanted more too, but he had to slow things down. He couldn't just jump into a relationship with her because he had someone else to think of. It was something he still hadn't told her or anyone outside his family. He didn't know how and it was too soon. His mind knew all these things, but his heart told him to take a chance on Haley. But he couldn't…not yet. Given time he could.

Brrrrrrrrrinnnnng. Brrrrriinnnnng. He twitched when the phone blasted the silence of his bedroom. He looked at the digital clock on his bedside table, 10:23 PM. He picked up the phone and said groggily, "Hello?"

"Jake?" He heard Haley's nervous voice on the other end.

"Hey, Haley," he smiled into the phone.

"I hope I didn't wake you up," he could imagine her chewing her bottom lip as she asked the question, a nervous habit he had noticed a few days ago.

"No, I was trying to sleep, but no luck,"

"Yeah, me neither," she said with a chuckle, "I'm a regular night owl."

He laughed, "Me too," he paused, "At least I used to be until…" he stopped himself, for the hundredth time that week; almost confessing he had a child. He felt like smacking himself in the head, but he resisted.

She waited for him to finish, but after several seconds of silence she said, "Until…?"

"I joined the team," he lied, hating himself for being such a coward.

"Oh," he could hear her shift on the other end, "You have a game tomorrow night, right?"

"Yeah," he almost sighed in relief, "Are you going?"

"Yeah, I usually go." She paused, trying to get the guts to ask him out, but the words never came. "Well I better let you go,"

"Okay," he said, hearing the disappointment in her voice, "And Haley?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll see you there," he smiled into the phone before hanging up.

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A/N: This chapter isn't my favorite, but I'm trying to set up what will happen in the next one. I know that some of the relationships seem to be moving fast, like Jake/Haley, but later in the fic there will be more obstacles and issues standing between them. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review if you read it. I really appreciate feedback, thanks. 