A/N: So, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a while. School is crazy and I haven't had a chance to update. But, I have a break right now, so I promise that I will write more chapters and update a lot over the next few weeks. I really am enjoying the way this story is turning out. Hope you enjoy! Review, please!

Chapter 5: Just To Show You That I Am Strong

"This is your house?" Haley asked Nathan.

Nathan looked to Haley who had her mouth opened in awe, "No. I'm taking you to a stranger's house."

Haley smiled, "Oh boy, you crack me up!"

Nathan smiled and walked to the house with his keys as Haley asked, "So…who are you going to introduce me to?"

Nathan smiled, "I prefer no one."

"So are you going to tell me a secret?" Peyton asked Lucas as they sat in his mom's café.

"Are you going to tell me one?" Lucas reciprocated.

"I was adopted," Peyton admitted.

Lucas sat back, "Wow."

"Yeah. I mean everyone at home in Miami knew…but no one in Tree Hill," Peyton told him.

"Do you know your birth parents?" Lucas asked.

Peyton nodded, "My birth mom died and my birth dad I never met."

Lucas stared at Peyton intently, "Were you angry at your parents?"

Peyton snorted as she put some ice cream in her mouth, "Well…not my mom, but my dad."

"Why?"

"My mom died before she ever got to tell me," Peyton told him.

Rachel snorted in laughter as she was sitting on her bed, "You dance?"

Mouth smiled, "Hey…I can dance and I dance pretty damn well."

"I need to see that some time," Rachel smiled.

Mouth laughed, "So..where are your parents? We've been here for a couple of hours, and I still didn't hear anything."

"I don't live with them," Rachel admitted.

"For real?" Mouth asked.

Rachel nodded popping a few cashews in her mouth, "I haven't for like 2 or 3 years now."

"So who do you live with?"

"By myself."

"So I'm in Nathan Scott's bedroom," Haley laughed as she walked into his room.

"You should consider yourself lucky," Nathan laughed.

Haley looked around Nathan's room, which made it obvious he loved basketball, and saw some pictures around his room. One picture caught her eye. It was of him, Brooke, Peyton, Mouth and some other guy that she didn't recognize.

"Who's this?" Nathan's eyes immediately darkened, "My ex friend."

Haley jerked one eyebrow up, "What happened?"

Nathan snatched the picture out of her hand, "I don't want to talk about it."

"This is my daughter, Jenny," Jake said picking up his infant and showing her to Brooke.

Brooke gasped and brought her hand to her mouth, "I can't believe you have a daughter. How old is she?"

"She's almost 1," Jake admitted.

"And you take care of her?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah…Haley, Lucas and Rach help out at times. I got a bunch of babysitters," Jake laughed.

"Well, now you have one more…" Brooke said reaching out for the girl.

"Where's her mother?" Brooke asked.

Jake sighed, "Right after she was born, she vanished. Said she couldn't be a mother at a young age. Ironically, she was older then me."

"I'm sorry," Brooke whispered. Jake smiled, "So this, Brooke Davis is something you don't know about me."

"Why did you bring me here, instead of your house?" Peyton asked Lucas as she sat on a bench.

"I'll bring you there, after this. But this is the RiverCourt," Lucas told Peyton.

"And you brought me here to…kill me?" Peyton laughed.

"No. I'm here to tell you my secret," Lucas told Peyton.

Peyton smiled, "Cool."

"You know how I was captain of the basketball team, and now I'm co-captain. And I usually only play for half the game?" Lucas asked.

Peyton nodded.

"It's cause I have HCM…a heart disease, and I can't play basketball for longer than that," Lucas told her.

"Why?" Mouth asked Rachel.

"Why do I live here by myself?" Mouth nodded.

"My parents didn't want kids, Mouth," Rachel admitted.

Mouth shrugged, "So they abandon you as soon as your old enough to take care of yourself?"

Rachel laughed, "They abandoned me a lot sooner than that, Mouth. They abandoned me as soon as I was born. I had nannies my whole life. Finally, when I was 15 I told my nanny I could take care of
myself. It's easy, my parents send money, and I basically do whatever I want."

"So what's your story, Brooke?" Jake asked.

"Short and slutty," Brooke laughed.

Jake chuckled, "What?"

"You know how I lived in Miami before I came to Tree Hill?"

Jake laughed, "I could I not…Haley is one of my best friends, you know."

"My secret isn't that secretive. Deep down, I always wanted to move…get a fresh start. I always wanted to get along with my cousin, even though we hated each other, and I always wanted to get out of
Miami," Brooke told Jake.

"Why?"

Brooke laughed, "Jake, when I was in Miami, I had this boyfriend. We were together for a few months and I thought he really cared about me. So, we slept together. The next day in school he broke up with me, and before I knew it rumors were spread about what a big whore I was. Then, he and Nate got into a big fight because of the rumors and the whole school thought I was a slut. I just wanted out, you know?"

"Can you pull over here?" Haley asked Nathan who was supposed to be driving to her house.

"Why?"

"Can you just, please?" Haley asked.

Nathan nodded and parked and Haley immediately got out and walked over to a bench and nodded for Nathan to follow. She stared out into the water while Nathan just looked at her.

"I'm sorry for being an ass before about that picture," Nathan told Haley.

Haley looked at him, "Its okay."

"No it's not. I shouldn't have snapped at you," Nathan told her.

Haley laughed, "But you did, and you can't take it back…So it's okay, seriously."

"He was one of my best friends back in Miami," Nathan started. "He dated Brooke for a couple of months, and she slept with him. Then he broke her heart in school the next day. All of a sudden, rumors spread about her that she was a whore."

Haley smiled, "You beat the crap out of him, didn't you?"

Nathan smiled, "How did you know?"

"I have one of you growing up, too," she smiled.

"I was so angry with him for doing that, especially after how close all of us were. It got me so mad. I mean, Brooke can be a pain in the ass most of the time, but she doesn't deserve that ass to pull that kind of crap on her. Last I heard, he dropped out of school and went on some rock tour," Nathan told Haley.

Haley smiled and continued looking out to the water.

"So why did you bring me out here?" Nathan asked.

"It's the docks," Haley told him.

"I know that, but why am I here?" Nathan asked.

She sadly smiled, "My dad and I used to come out here all the time."

"You and your dad are close?" Nathan asked.

"We were," Haley whispered.

"What happened?" Nathan wondered.

"You mean, you don't know?" Haley asked.

Nathan shook his head no.

Haley looked to him, "My dad died, Nathan. He died a couple of months back."

Nathan looked shocked, "Haley I had no..."

"I know you didn't. But, that's my secret Nathan. And you have to keep that secret. Peyton and Mouth don't know yet, and the rest of the school doesn't either," Haley asked.

"You're really strong, Haley," Nathan told her.

"In front of people. But when I'm by myself, I like to come down here, and think of him," Haley told him.

Nathan sat down next to her, "How did he die?"

"Car crash. Drunken teen and my dad had a head on collision," Haley told him.

"I'm sorry," Nathan told her sincerely. Haley smiled at him, "He used to tell me that if I felt down to say to myself that "I'll stand up on the ocean, to show you that I am strong." And, whenever I'm weak….I just come here, to the docks."

Haley smiled at Nathan.

"You're amazing," he told her.

The Italic is a quote from Alexz Johnson's song I don't know if I should stay.