Part 33
"Jesus, Nate. You do remember I've got a heart condition right?" Lucas complains as he lifts his end of the set of drawers from the hallway.
"Quit whining, and just lift the damn thing." Nathan says having the tougher end of the process as he took most of the weight when his brother started going up the stairwell.
His mother had let the delivery men just drop the furniture off a few feet inside the front door leaving it to him and Lucas to get it the rest of the way into what would be his son's nursery. They'd already managed a crib, a rocking chair, and a wardrobe. All that was left was another set of drawers once they got this set into place.
They were beautiful and he knew his wife would love them the moment she saw them but they were heavy as hell. They were made of solid cheery wood, and were a very expensive gift from his mom, probably an attempt to try and show her acceptance of them as a couple. But hopefully also to show how much she looked forward to welcoming her first grandchild.
"Finally!" Lucas says dropping down onto the floor to rest before they headed back down for the last piece. "Why couldn't you have let the guys come help us with this?"
"Well, if I'd known you were this much of a wimp I would've just asked Skills or Tim to give me a hand, hell Mouth would have bitched less than this!" Nathan says only partially kidding.
"Now get your backside up off the floor and let's get this finished." He continues as he started heading back down the stairs leaving Lucas right where he'd collapsed in a heap.
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"Hey," Haley says from the kitchen as she spots Peyton shuffling down the hall way. "Sorry, did I wake you getting up?" She asked as she poured a cup of tea for herself.
"That's okay." Peyton replies before taking a seat at the counter. As tired as she was she needed to make sure Haley was okay, having woken to find her gone.
"Want some?" Haley asks holding the kettle, but the other girl just waves it away so she puts it back then takes her cup and moves to sit beside the other girl.
"Nah, no offence, but I can't stand that stuff you drink."
"You get used to it after a while." Haley laughs.
"I'll take your word for it." Peyton says with a smile. It was nice, these few moments with her friend, but almost as soon as she had smiled her mind drifted back to the brunette she had reluctantly left sleeping in the other room.
She sighed and studied the counter top following the pattern with her finger.
Haley watched the blonde as she sipped her tea.
"You okay?" She asked tentatively.
"Funny, I came out here to ask you the same thing."
"Well, I'm fine but Junior here decided to send me running to the toilet again." Haley informed her. "Lately he's just been very restless, guess he's getting ready to join us."
Peyton's eyes widened. "When you say getting ready, you don't mean like, now ready right?" She asked knowing that Haley wasn't at her due date yet, the pregnant girl had expected to get through her finals and graduation well before giving birth, and that was still two weeks away.
Haley laughed. "No, I don't think so, but you never know. He'll get here when he wants to. He has his own little schedule that he's working to. "
Peyton smiles at that, with Haley as his mother it was quite possible that he'd been counting his fingers and toes rather than having football practise when he started moving around so much. He'd probably already be able to count before he could speak.
Looking over at her friend Peyton asks, "Are you going to have a natural birth?"
Haley shifts a little before answering her. "I hope so, I mean I plan to. But we've spoken to the doctor, Nate and I, and if he goes past his due date then I might not be able to."
"You think you're likely to go past your due date?" Peyton asked thinking that it was highly unlikely given the current size of Haley's tummy.
"No." Haley laughs resting a hand over her stomach. "But given my size, height wise, if he grows too much bigger I won't be able to have him naturally." She continues before looking up at the blonde.
"This doesn't bother you to talk about does it?" She asks remembering the other girl's reaction to the idea of being pregnant herself.
"No, of course not." Peyton replies, her curls bouncing as she shakes her head.
"You're one of my best friends Hales, and I know we haven't spent a lot of time together lately, but I want to know this stuff. I mean that's practically my nephew in there, got to get in good with his mum so I can come over and steal him away from you sometimes."
Haley smiles warmly back at her friend as Peyton reaches across and lays her hand over her son. Her child may have six aunts and uncles from the James side of the family but Haley knew that her son would be loved more by people who weren't even related by blood.
And she wouldn't have it any other way, that saying about there being two kinds of family rang true to her as she thought about recent events in her and her friends lives. You can't choose the family you're born into but her friends were more of a family to her than the brothers and sisters she hadn't seen or heard from in years.
"Besides," Peyton continues, grinning as she felt a kick. "Kidnapping's frowned upon."
Haley laughs and has to wipe a tear from her eye.
"Hey, Hales?"
"It's nothing." Haley says as Peyton watches her with an alarmed expression at the sight of tears.
"Come here." The blonde says pulling Haley into a hug. "It's all those pregnancy hormones doing a number on you, right?"
"No," Haley replies hugging her friend back tightly. "I just kinda love you."
"I love you too Hales, both of you."
They both stay in the embrace for a moment realising how much the others friendship meant to them.
"My, my, and the plot thickens!"
Both girls turn to see Brooke standing a few feet away with her new cell phone out capturing the moment between them. Peyton had decided to get it for Brooke so she wouldn't have to deal with calls from people she didn't want to talk to.
"Nathan is going to be devastated when he sees evidence of this little affair you two have been having behind his back." Brooke continues, taking advantage of the other girls shock to close the phone and position herself with the couch between her and her friends.
"Did she just…"
"Uh huh." Peyton answered Haley as she narrowed her eyes at Brooke.
"Hand it over Brooke." The blonde demanded.
"Or you'll do what exactly P.S.?" Brooke asks grinning at her best friend. "Get your girlfriend to beat me up?" She laughed.
Haley raised her hand to cover her smile as she watched the two friends face off against each other.
"Oh, it is on!" Peyton confirmed before jumping up from her seat and heading towards the brunette.
Brooke squealed as she tried to keep the couch between the two of them, she may be at a disadvantage given her injured leg, but if she could outmanoeuvre the blonde she wouldn't actually have to do much in the way of running.
After fainting left then right and watching Brooke match her movements, Peyton jumped over the back of the couch and grabbed for the other girl. Catching her by the arm Peyton let her momentum carry both of them into the chair behind Brooke, twisting as she fell to wrap her arms more securely around the injured girl and take the impact of the fall herself.
"Ahhhh!" Brooke cried as she was tackled and spun around by Peyton, only to somehow end up on top of her as the chair they were thrown into toppled over under their combined weight and movement.
Glad I don't get sea sick. Brooke thought to herself as she stayed still to check if she had hurt herself, not that she'd have anyone to blame if she was, she had started the whole thing off in the first place.
"You okay?" Peyton asked softly, hoping that she hadn't hurt her friend, having only wanted to play with her a little.
"Yeah," Brooke replied, happy to find she had no reason to lie.
"You sure?" Peyton asks as the brunette turned in her arms to look down at her.
"Yes," Brooke says rolling her eyes before moving to whisper into the blonde's ear. "Just thanking my lucky stars you attacked me and not Tutor-mom, that woulda hurt."
Peyton laughed.
"I like this position." Brooke declared as she moved her head back to stare at the other girl.
"Oh, do you?" Peyton asked, highly amused.
"Yep," Brooke nodded. "Got you right where I want you."
"Oh, you think so, do you?" Peyton asked grinning up at the other girl as she tightened her hold on her at the same time. And just as Brooke started to nod she flipped them over in a move that looked rougher than it actually was.
"You were saying?"
Brooke smirked up at the blonde now hovering above her. "My mistake, I like this position much better."
Somewhat predictably, Peyton blushed at the comment.
"Well, doesn't this look… cosy." Nathan said having been let in by his wife as the two girls on the floor wrestled completely oblivious to him knocking on the door moments before.
Peyton quickly scrambled to her feet and helped Brooke up from the floor carefully, slightly upset at having Nathan there, though she wasn't sure why.
"Now there's no reason to stop just because I enjoyed the view more than my wife." Nathan said in disappointment. "The only thing that would have been better was if you were both topless." He continued with a wide grin.
"When did Tim get back?" Brooke asks moving toward the bedroom where she planned to stash her cell before Peyton could remember she wanted it.
"Lucas not with you?" Peyton asked once Brooke was gone as she realised Nathan was alone.
"Hey!" Nathan says after being hit by his wife for his previous comment. "Nah." He said to Peyton. "His mom called, so I don't think he'll be over tonight."
Peyton let out a sigh of relief at hearing that, things were still awkward between her and Lucas, but it was Brooke's first night back home and she wanted it to be stress free.
"Karen okay?" Haley asks, she could sympathise with the pregnant women, but unlike her, Karen didn't have her child's father at her beck and call.
"I think so, she's not working at the café any more, mom said she was fine though. So she might just want the company." Nathan replied keeping his views that she might actually be missing Dan to himself.
"Hmm." Haley hummed in agreement.
"Oh," Nathan said checking to make sure Brooke hadn't returned. "I swung by a few places on my way here, and from what I could tell, I think the press don't know Brooke's out of the hospital yet. They were crews by the school, at the house and at the hospital."
"That's good right?" Haley asked looking to Peyton.
"I hope so." She replied softly as Brooke returned with a pleased grin on her face, which caused her to shake her head as she suddenly remembers the phone.
"You'll keep Davis." She said in warning as she heard her own phone start to ring.
"Can you fix that?" Peyton asked over her shoulder as she moves into the kitchen where she had left her phone to recharge.
"Seems like that's all I'm good for lately, lugging furniture about." Nathan moaned to himself as he got the fallen chair up and back into position.
"What was that?" Haley asked stepping over to him.
"Nothing." He said smiling at her.
"It's my dad." Peyton said looking at her friends before heading towards the bedroom to take the call, watched closely by Brooke.
"I'm sure it's nothing." Haley said having seen the concern on Brooke's face.
Brooke nodded, but dropped cautiously onto the couch anyway as she waited for Peyton to return, hoping Haley was right.
"Look what I brought." Nathan said holding up two dvd's to the girls without showing what films they were.
Both girls groaned at the sight.
"Great!" Brooke said with fake enthusiasm at the idea knowing that she would now be forced to sit through Nathan's idea of good movies.
"Hey, you don't even know what I picked!"
"No, but the fact that you picked them is enough to know that this is going to be a long night." Brooke replied.
"Hey, one of them's Haley's favourite, so don't be so quick to diss them."
Like that'll be any better, it'll probably be some horribly tragic love story, like we don't have enough of those already!
"Fine!" Brooke say throwing her hands up off the couch, it wasn't like they had anything else to do, she'd managed to sleep for a few hours, minus the time she was woken by Peyton to swallow her medication, so she was feeling pretty good.
Maybe a little hungry, now that she thought about it, but a phone call would take care of that.
"You set that thing up," She said gesturing to the tv screen and dvd player as she got up and headed into the kitchen. "Chinese okay with everyone?" She asked getting a few 'yeah's of agreement with her choice as she began to dial.
Peyton walked back into the room and headed towards Brooke in the kitchen, silently wrapping her arms around her from behind and resting her head on her shoulder.
"Hey, everything okay with your dad?" Brooke asks hoping it hadn't been bad news.
"Yeah," Peyton begins, but it was clear from her tone that she was upset. "He's just going to be stuck down there longer than he expected. That big storm they had still hasn't cleared." She explains with a helpless shrug.
Brooke turns a pulls her friend into a proper hug. "I'm sorry Pey, is he going to be back in time for your graduation?"
"He doesn't know, maybe, if they push it." She replies softly. She didn't know why it was upsetting her so much, her father had already been absent from some of the most important events in her life, why should her graduation be any different.
"Well, I wish I could make this night better for you but sorry, Nathan's decided we needed more pain in our lives tonight."
Peyton screws her face up not wanting to hear where Brooke was going with this.
"That's right P. Sawyer, be afraid, be very afraid… it's movie night!" Brooke continues laughing at the blonde's reaction. "Now go find another horrible, depressing film only you could enjoy and add it to the pile." She said giving her friend a slap on her butt as she moved away.
"Oh, and I'm ordering dinner, what do you want?" Brooke turned to ask.
"Pizza will be fine." Peyton called as she started looking through a box of her stuff in the corner of the room.
"Figures."
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"I knew Haley was going to pick something this sappy." Brooke whispers as she leans back in Peyton's arms as they sat on the couch watching the Notebook.
Peyton giggled as quietly as could and sneaked a look at Haley and Nathan, who were seated together much in the same way at the other end of the couch.
"Well, she's in love, what did you expect her to want to watch?" Peyton replied into a nearby ear.
"A musical would have been fine, I mean she likes music right?" Brooke lamented, hating having to sit through this film.
"Hey," Haley says getting their attention almost without needing to have thrown the popcorn that now sat in Brooke's lap. "Could the peanut gallery pipe down this is getting close to the ending."
Brooke rolls her eyes and flicks a bit of the popcorn back in the direction it had come from. "Thank god!" She says as Peyton laughs and adjusts her hold on her.
"I'm going to grab a soda, want one?" Peyton asks, getting a shake of the head from Brooke. "Okay." And with that she kisses Brooke's head before moving away from behind her and into the kitchen.
"You guys want anything?" She asks Nate and Haley.
"Shhh!"
Peyton takes that as a no and quickly gets back into position behind Brooke again.
"Is it just me or has this pregnancy made her more temperamental than the Haley of old?" Peyton asks Brooke.
"It's not just you." Brooke laughs, only to receive another round of projectile popcorn.
Peyton helps remove the offending items from her friend's hair and throws a piece over to her pregnant friend.
"She used to be such a nice girl." She said with a sigh as she stared at the other girl.
"I've changed my mind, would you mind getting me a drink, honey?" Haley says knowing Peyton was watching.
"Of course." Nathan replied kissing Haley on the temple before getting up from behind her.
Haley watched him move away before she turned smugly to Peyton and winked at her.
"I'll just change the films first." Nathan continued as he went to the dvd player and turned over the next disk. "Yes!"
The three girls groaned, realising he must have picked up his own film this time.
"I'm going to need more popcorn to get through this, that or alcohol." Brooke says patting a leg that rested against her before getting up leaving Peyton and Haley alone on the couch.
Peyton gazed at the pregnant girl, not really understanding the look that was being sent her way.
Haley watched Peyton look from her to Nathan and then fix her eyes on an oblivious Brooke who was busy in the kitchen.
Just as Peyton turned back to talk to Haley there was a knock at the door.
"Saved!" Haley grins winking at Peyton again, happy for any reason to delay watching a film Nathan had picked. She may love him to death but she agreed that his taste in movies 'sucked eggs' as Peyton had described.
Nathan grumbles but walks over and checks through the hole before opening the door.
"Hey man, you're just in time," He says, greeting his brother at the door.
"In time for what?" Lucas asks cautiously, walking into the apartment.
"Nathan's idea of a good movie." Haley said smiling sweetly at her husband.
"Actually," Luke said walking over and sitting down beside Peyton and giving her a kiss on the cheek as he put his arm around her shoulder. "I was kinda hoping to steal my girlfriend away. My mom's got dinner ready for us, if that's okay with you?" He asked her.
Brooke had moved to sit on a chair as Lucas sat down beside Peyton trying not to pay much attention to his actions, but his words upset her even if she refused to let it show.
Peyton on the other hand was acutely aware of the changes Lucas' presence in the apartment brought. She had tensed the moment he sat next to her and flinched as he kissed her. She knew this had to be making Brooke uncomfortable, but a glance over at the brunette let her know they were being ignored as Brooke kept her gaze focused on the screen in front of her.
"Just give me a minute." Peyton says to Lucas wanting to get him out of the apartment as quick as possible, sadly the only way she could think of accomplishing that was by agreeing to go with him.
Pulling away from him Peyton stood and took Brookes hand, giving her a tug to get her to follow her as she steered them into the bedroom. "Just gotta find my shoes."
Lucas watched the two of them disappear with a puzzled expression on his face before turning his attention to Haley and his brother.
"So, I'll just get this on." Nathan said quickly, moving to change the disk for the one he held in his hand.
"I think I'll get that drink now." Haley said, casting a smile at Lucas but not responding to his questioning glance. "Want anything Luke?"
"Other than my girlfriend?" He said to himself, confused by the reaction of his friends. "No." He responded in a louder voice.
"Actually," He began as Nathan moved back to the couch and Haley wandered back over carrying a juice bottle. "I was hoping you guys could do me a favour?"
Haley and Nathan shared a look, both unsure they were going to like what Lucas had to say.
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"I am so sorry about this." Peyton says the moment the door had closed.
Brooke shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?" Peyton asks placing her hands on Brooke's waist. "I don't really want to leave you, but the last time I spoke to Karen, things weren't that great between us. I kinda want to see how she's doing, and to apologise to her for the way I acted."
"You guys had a fight?" Brooke asks finding that hard to believe.
"Not really… my dad had been calling and I'd kinda been dodging him, she gave me a kick in the ass and got me to call him." Peyton explained sheepishly.
"Peyton?"
"I know, okay… I just didn't want to talk about everything… I didn't want to talk about what happened to you."
"Peyton, come here." Brooke says pulling the upset girl into her arms.
"It's okay," She continued as she pulled back and watched Peyton wipe her eyes. "You go have fun, make peace or whatever, but know that I think you're only doing this to get out of watching Nathan's crap movie."
Peyton laughed. "Are you sure Brooke, because I can tell Lucas I'm staying with you."
"Yeah, it's okay," Brooke reassured her not wanting Peyton to feel guilty for having diner with her boyfriend and his mom. "Just remember, paybacks are a bitch." She threatened and started for the door.
"Wait, I'm taking my cell, so if you need me back here Brooke, for anything, just call me okay? Promise?" Peyton asks before they move out of the room.
"Promise."
Brooke felt her stomach clench as she watched Peyton grab her things and meet Lucas at the door of the apartment. When he placed his hand to the small of her back and guided her out of the apartment, Brooke knew things between all three of them would never be the same again.
And so it begins.
She knew this was the reality of the situation, she just never thought it would hurt this much to see her best friend happy.
Did that make her a bad friend?
Probably.
But she was in love with someone that didn't seem to love her back, there was never going to be a happy outcome for everyone involved, someone was going to get hurt when it was all over.
And if Shannon was right, that person just might not be her.
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AN/
Hey guys!! You have been missed, and I'm super pleased to inform you that everything should be back to normal now, fingers crossed anyway :P
Hmmm, sounds like I've given a few of you a scare with what I wrote in the AN from the last chapter, lol, meaning chapter 32.
Okay so let's clear that one up right now, this is a l-o-n-g story, I have tried my best to stress that to everyone reading. I'm not joking. It's about 1/3 of the way through so far and that's just a maybe. Someone joked about 100 chapters to this fic, well I doubt that'll be far off the truth.
Come on guys, I haven't even got Brooke and Peyton together yet! And you're thinking it's almost the end?
Shame on you.
There's plenty left to come, lets see… we have Lucas to f with, Leyton to break up, Breyton to get together :D, parents to deal with, friends to deal with, exams, Lucas to f with, the media, a couple of babies, graduation, oh and lets not forget the whole… I-a-n thing… to tidy up, as well as one or two other things that are gonna crop up along the way ;) Oh, and did I mention f-ing with Lucas?
Hmmm, does that calm everyone down a little?
Yes?
Goody!
Well, review if you wanna and hi to the newbies! I don't normally take this long to post a chapter, at least I try not too. Hope everyone's still around and enjoying this.
Next time!