Chapter 5

Imaginary Friends

She leaned against the door frame and closed her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. "Tell me what?" She said again, not letting her eyes move away from me, not even for a second. Brooke continued staring at me as she walked across the room, to my desk. She sat down and looked at Haley and then back at me. "Are either of you willing to tell me what is going on?"

Haley looked at me and suddenly I felt this sickness in my stomach. I took a deep breath and ran my hands over the pillow that was lying on my lap. As I shook my head I said quietly, "I don't know what you want me to say."

I looked up to see a angry smirk on Brooke face, "Well," She said slowly, "There is a difference between what I want you to say and what you are probably going to say." She stood up and ran her hands over her violet tube dress, "I would like for you to say, 'Wow, B. Davis you look so amazing there is no way Lucas will say no to you"." Brooke looked up at me, "But for some reason, I seriously doubt that's what you are going to say."

"Wow, B. Davis, you look amazing…" I said with a fake smile and a strained face.

"Good try, but seriously," She looked at Haley, "What is going on here?"

Haley shrugged her shoulders and glanced at me. I hated this for her. I knew she felt uncomfortable, but I needed someone here. She looked at the clock on my wall and said, "I really need to go Peyton." Haley headed for the door and gave Brooke a half smile. "Call me later, okay?" She said as she stood in the doorway. I nodded at her and watched her leave.

Brooke's eyes remained on me. "Come on, Goldilocks, just tell me. What's going on?" I said nothing. She continued speaking. "I called you yesterday, but you didn't answer. I left you a message too. What's going on Peyton? It's like you've been on another planet ever since you talked to Nathan the other day." She paused for a moment, letting her mind catch up with her words. "Oh my god, P. Sawyer." She walked into my closed and grabbed a picture frame with a picture of Nathan and me in it. "Do you have feelings for you know who again?" She threw the picture onto the bed with me, "That's totally…" She stopped talking, searching for the perfect word, "…bad timing…" She shrugged her shoulders and pranced around the room, "I guess I could try and give you advice, but, I mean, you dated him, I just slept with him." She turned around and grabbed a pillow. She put it over her stomach, "And we all know what happened there." She laughed at her own comment and I gave an uncomfortable laugh as well. "Come on, let's go, tell me what's up!"

I smiled at her a little and rolled off of the bed. She looked me up and down, "God, you look like hell." She took me by the hand and pulled me out of my room, "This is an emergency. We are going for a little retail therapy." She nodded at me, "Yes, now I have been to another kind of therapy, and trust me, retail is so much better."

I shook my head at her, "No, Brooke, I really don't feel like shopping."

She shrugged her shoulders as she opened her car door, "Okay, fine, I will shop and you can watch." I got into the car and watched her get excited when her phone rang. "Yay." She said as she grabbed the phone from her purse at stare at the screen. "Hi almost-boyfriend... again…" I looked at her and tried to smile. "I know, I miss you too. Where were you the other day?" Brooke started the car and looked at me. "Oh okay, awesome, well I've got to go, Peyt and I are going to go participate in a little retail therapy." "I will talk to you soon." "Okay, bye babe."

Brooke threw her arms into the air and yelled, "I am so crazy about him I could just scream."

"Please don't." I said as I grabbed the steering wheel.

She looked at me and rolled her eyes, "I don't know what rained on your little parade but whatever it was, needs to go away." She said, moving her hands in a "shooing" direction.

"Sorry Brooke," I smiled at her any ran my fingers through my blonde hair, "I just have a lot on my mind these days."

Brooke put her arm around me and pulled me close, "Well talk to me about it best friend. That's what I am here for, okay?"

I pulled away from her and nodded, "Okay, thanks."

She smiled at me, "Anytime."

"So I was just wondering," I said as I slowly turned my head toward her, "Are you going to try and have sex with the whole Scott family or what's the deal?"

"Well, I mean, Nathan was good." She said counting on her fingers, "Lucas was… is… amazing, tremendous, so strong…"

I shook my head and put my hands in front of myself, "I get it, I get it."

She laughed at me and continued on, "And Cooper is, well, I mean he is Hot Uncle Cooper for crying out loud. Dan is hot in a kind of, "I am the biggest ass in the world so maybe we should have sex because I am so angry about everything" way."

"So survey says…"

She looked at me, "No, I am perfectly content… content isn't even the word," She paused for a minute, "I am completely enchanted with Lucas."

I gave her an honest smile, "Brooke, that's great. I am really happy that you are happy." And that was the one hundred percent truth. Of course I would love to be with Lucas, but Brooke was my best friend and as long as she was happy, no matter whom it was with, I should be happy too."

As Brooke and walked through the mall, she stopped in front of Gymboree. She put her hands on the glass and stared at the baby clothes. Brooke looked at me and I nodded at her. We walked into the store and we looked at the baby girls clothes. I knew Brooke was thinking about the baby she gave up, but I couldn't stop thinking about the baby that left me. I looked at the back of the store and my eyes met with a familiar face. I walked to the back of the store.

The man said my name, "Hey… Peyton."

I couldn't form words. There he was. Right in front of me. I had been waiting for this moment. I took a deep breath and felt Brooke's hand on my shoulder.

"Jake." She said slowly.

I repeated her, "Jake."

I watched him open the front door. I stared at the ring on his finger and smiled. "Hi husband." I said slowly, letting the words soak into my system. I twisted my ring around my finger and winked at him.

"Hello wife." He smiled at me and I bit my bottom lip.

I loved him so much I wasn't even sure if love was strong enough anymore. I ran across the room and jumped into his arms. Our lips bombarded and I moaned from the powerful kiss. He ran his hands down my neck and back. He set me down and rested his hands on my hips, letting his fingertips roam the waistband of my shorts. I moved my hands from his shoulders to his blue jersey shorts, slowly pulling at the hem. I lowered myself and kissed his abdomen. He pulled me back up and let our lips crash into one another's again. I moaned into his lips, "Nathan."

"Hmm?" He said back to me in-between kisses.

"I want a baby."

"What?" He said slowly.

"I want to have your baby."

He pushed me away. "Haley." He said as he pushed me away even further. He put his hands on his face and then pulled them away. "I am not ready to have a baby with you."

I shook my head, "What?"

"I don't want to have a baby with you right now, Haley, you of all people should understand that. With baseketball, and school, and everything. A baby would mess all of that up/

"Oh," I said as I walked over to the living room, "You were willing to give all that up to have a baby with Brooke, who one, you weren't even dating and two, who you didn't even have feelings for, but you aren't willing to give that up to have a baby with your wife."

"Haley its not like that and you know it." He said as he walked back into the bedroom.

"No, Nathan, I don't get it! I just don't get it! And honestly, there is no reason as to why I should understand. I have no reason to understand why you would go off and have sex with her. Unprotected sex with her for that matter!" I followed him into the bedroom. "Just tell me the truth."

"You want the truth?" I nodded. "Fine I will give you the truth. I was unhappy. This his not how I wanted to live when I was seventeen!" He threw his arms into the air. "Little girls dream of getting married, not little boys. I dreamed of becoming a pro basketball player or a fireman or something, not a husband. This is not my happily ever after…"

"But having sex with her made your "happily ever after"?"

"No," He shook his head and pointed his finger at me, "No, I never said that." He turned around and moved his hands about, "This is not what I wanted and I'm sorry that this is how you had to find this out but…"

"But what?"

"I have to go."

Don't you walk out on me again Nathan Scott!"

He didn't even bother packing this time.

He didn't even turn around.

He didn't even tell me he loved me.