Chapter 13
"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Nathan teased as they went out to lunch at his mom's café.
"What are you talking about?" Haley asked, giving him a confused look.
"You were very, well, I guess I would say 'forceful' on the stand today," he replied. Haley paled.
"Was it really that bad?" she asked in concern.
"What do you mean?" he asked. Haley sat down opposite him and ordered her food.
"Well, I was just so angry that I had to be there in the first place. It's not like my testimony will put him away or anything. All I did was repeat facts that the jury's already heard. But both of them just seemed so cocky and I reacted. Did I come on too strong?" she replied.
"Oh, Hales, don't worry about it. I'm not teasing you or anything. I think you did a good job. You're usually so poised but seeing you so obviously flustered like that and dropping your guard was interesting for me," Nathan replied. Haley widened her eyes in surprise.
"Really?" she asked.
"If you want to know the truth, it actually kind of turned me on," he said, smiling and he winked at her. Haley rolled her eyes.
"Down boy," she said and laughed as Nathan's face fell. Then, the back door swung open and Peyton Jagielski stormed out and walked passed them. "Peyton?"
Peyton stopped in her tracks and turned around. When she saw who had called her, she sighed and plastered a smile on her face.
"Is everything okay?" Nathan asked. Peyton looked at Nathan with a reassuring glance but when her eyes drifted to Haley's, they lost the spark in them. Haley could see the sadness in them.
"Nathan?" Haley asked.
"Yeah," Nathan said.
"I mean this in the nicest and not-mad-at-you-way but would you mind getting lost?" Haley asked. Nathan's eyes widened as he looked at her in disbelief.
"What?" he asked. Haley smiled and gestured at Peyton, then the table and then at Nathan. Something seemed to click. He turned to Peyton. "Is Jake working today?"
"Yeah, he's in the back," Peyton said through clenched teeth. Nathan nodded and walked into the back of the café to talk with Jake. Haley looked at the seat across from her. Peyton smiled at her and sat down.
"What's wrong?" Haley asked.
"Jake knows about it," Peyton replied, looking down at her stomach. Haley followed her gaze curiously, and then smiled when the question registered.
"You finally told him, huh?" Haley said. Peyton narrowed her eyes.
"No," she said.
"Then how did he find out?" Haley asked, taking a bite of her food.
"My doctor called to confirm my appointment," Peyton replied.
"And?" Haley asked.
"And Jake answered," Peyton finished. Haley's eyes widened.
"So that's how he found out?" Haley asked. Peyton nodded.
"Yeah, we were sitting together in the kitchen. He answered the phone. He chatted with them for a few minutes. I guess he thought they were calling to check up on Jenny or something. Then they asked him if he was excited to find out the sex of the baby. He dropped the phone," Peyton replied.
"Well, how did Jake take it?" Haley asked.
"Oh, he's thrilled about the baby," Peyton replied.
"That's good," Haley said, knowing that it would provide Peyton with little comfort because she wouldn't be so upset if Jake hadn't been upset about something.
"But he's pissed at me for not telling him," Peyton added.
"Oh," Haley said.
"I mean, it's not like I was keeping it from him," Peyton said.
"Except that you were," Haley pointed out.
"I mean, I wasn't going to hide it from him forever," Peyton corrected.
"Well, what were you going to do, deliver the baby and then tell him you were pregnant?" Haley asked.
"You're not funny," Peyton said. Haley rolled her eyes.
"Hey, don't get mad at me. I'm not the one who told Jake," Haley said.
"That stupid woman she exclaimed. Then she looked up at Haley. "If I didn't need her to deliver my baby, I'd kill her."
"Frilly outfits?" Haley repeated.
"She has a store off the side of her practice selling her own line of maternity clothing. If you're a patient, you get a discount. And they're the ugliest things I've ever seen. Pink, blue, red and yellow are her favourite colour scheme. I cringed when she showed me a dress she designed," Peyton said.
"Ew," Haley said, imagining the dress. Peyton nodded.
"You have no idea," Peyton said.
"So what are you going to do?" Haley asked.
"I'm just going to buy maternity clothes from another store," Peyton replied.
"I meant about Jake," Haley said.
"Oh," Peyton said. She shrugged and shook her head.
"You're going to do something, right?" Haley asked.
"Like what? He's mad. I think he thought that part of the reason I didn't tell him was because maybe he thought I didn't want another child," Peyton said.
"You mean he thought you might have considered having an abortion?" Haley asked. Peyton remained unfazed.
"Yeah," she replied.
"Well, did you?" Haley asked. Peyton looked at her in confusion.
"Did I what?" Peyton asked.
"Did you think about abortion?" Haley asked.
"No, I want this baby," Peyton replied.
"Well, then, why didn't you tell Jake?" Haley asked.
"It's kind of a moot point now that he knows," Peyton said.
"Not to him," Haley pointed out. Peyton shrugged.
"I don't know," she replied. Haley frowned at her.
"Sure you do," Haley said skeptically.
"Haley," Peyton said.
"Look, you don't have to tell me the reason, Peyton. I don't really care. But I think your husband does. And for the sake of your marriage, you might want to tell him," Haley said, getting up and walking out of the café.
"What the heck was that?" Peyton said, watching her walk away. She might be crazy, but she could have sworn that Haley was pissed off at her for some reason. A few minutes later, Nathan came out. His gaze faltered as he saw Peyton. "He told you, didn't he?"
"Yeah, he did," Nathan replied. Peyton sighed.
"How is he?" she asked.
"He seems okay. I think he's hurt, though. You should probably talk to him," Nathan said.
"He won't listen to anything I have to say," she said.
"Well, try to talk to him. And if that doesn't work and he still doesn't listen, try harder," Nathan said.
"Thanks, Nathan," Peyton said.
"Where's Haley?" he asked.
"Oh, she stormed out of here in a huff a few minutes ago," Peyton replied.
"Why?" Nathan asked, concern filling his eyes instantly.
"I'm not very sure. It was very weird," Peyton said.
"Well, what happened?" Nathan asked.
"I was talking to her about Jake and our situation," Peyton said in a hushed voice. Clearly, she didn't want everyone knowing her business. Nathan nodded.
"And then what happened?" he asked.
"She asked me why I didn't tell Jake, I said I didn't know and she didn't believe me," Peyton replied.
"She didn't believe you?" Nathan asked. Peyton went on as if she hadn't heard him.
"And, ok, I do know why I didn't tell Jake but it's personal and I didn't want to tell her. She told me that she didn't care either way but that Jake might and then walked away," Peyton explained. Nathan nodded.
"It's because you lied to her when you said you didn't know," Nathan replied.
"Huh?" Peyton asked.
"Haley had to testify against Tim today and she said she felt like a piñata that the lawyers took turns hitting. I can't tell you the specifics but Tim's lawyer tried to pin it all on her in a way," Nathan said.
"I didn't try to pin my pregnancy on her," Peyton said, still not getting it.
"No, but you confided in her and then lied to her. She's not an easy person to lie to. Trust me," Nathan said.
"And so what if I lied to her?" Peyton asked.
"Well, Haley's been lied to before and testified at another before she found out the truth. And Tim's trial is making the baggage Haley's been carrying around for that. She's not really mad at you. She's mad at herself," Nathan said.
"So that's why she flipped out when I mentioned she might have to testify against Tim that day," Peyton said. She nodded in understanding because Haley's reaction had really confused her.
"Yeah," Nathan said.
"Is she going to be okay?" Peyton asked.
"She'll be fine. I'm going to go to her apartment to make sure of it," Nathan said. Peyton smiled.
"You know, you and Haley surprised me," Peyton called after him. Nathan turned around and looked at her quizzically.
"Why?" Nathan asked.
"Well, I thought you would think you were in love with Brooke forever," Peyton said. Nathan rolled his eyes at her teasing tone.
"I didn't," Nathan said.
"I still can't believe you used to think what you had with her was true love," Peyton said and laughed.
Nathan stood still for a minute and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. He thought of the past three months with Haley compared to the three years he'd been with Brooke and he had to laugh. "Boy, was I wrong," he said and flashed a smile in Peyton's direction and then walked out the door to see Haley.