Hello! So guess what... school starts in two days, and Im not going to be working very often anymore... which means... more updates! Im pretty excited to get more time to write:)... Im not sure about this chapter... but I kind of needed t to get "things" a little shook up... so here you go... Chapter Sixteen... enjoy!

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Chapter Sixteen: Early Morning Intruder

For the first time in what felt like forever, Haley found herself among different surroundings, as she awoke in a bright, warm, brightly coloured room. As she looked around, it wasn't long until she knew where she was. The room had matching curtains, furnishing and bed sheets. She was at Brooke's. She rubbed her head as she stood up and stared around, her vision still a little bit blurred from all the crying the night before. The night before. She thought to herself as her breathing got heavy. Maybe it was just a dream? She thought again, a certain hope over taking her body. She looked over towards the window where the sun was beaming in, and was a little surprised to see Nathan sleeping on the bright couch.

Nathan moved around a little and then slowly opened his eyes to see Haley staring at him, her eyes wide in wonder. He sat up quickly and stared back at her, afraid of how she was feeling this morning, wondering how she was going to handle this situation. "Hey..." He whispered sadly, giving her a sad look as she still searched his face, his eyes, for that answer, was it really happening to he?

"Why'd you sleep on the couch?" Haley asked him.

"Well, there is another spare room, but I wanted to watch you..." Nathan blushed a little at this own protectiveness over Haley.

"Why?" She asked again, she didn't want to straight out ask if their daughter was sick , she didn't want to seem crazy. But... she needed to know, and she prayed it was a dream, even though deep down she knew it was real, because the pain itself was real enough, it was proof.

"Because, after last night..." Haley just nodded quickly, that was all she needed to know. She swallowed a lump in her throat.

"How come we're here?" Haley asked as she held back the pain in her heart, and nodded around the room.

"We needed to get some rest... Brooke and Luke came and got us, today's going to be a long day, between blood transfusions... tests, and well... finding a donor." Nathan sighed as he went over on the bed and sat next to Haley.

"Finding? You mean... they haven't found one yet?" Haley gasped. Nathan laughed a little at the look on her face.

"They said that it isn't easy to find one..." He said sadly as he put his head down in worry. He heard Haley's breath get caught in her throat as she sat straight up and her eyes widened in fear. "Haley... it's going to be okay, we're not going to give up." He said reassuringly as he took her hand into his and kissed it.

"You still didn't have to sleep on the couch... we are married you know." Haley said, making Nathan blush as he laughed silently. Haley was silent for a little while until she looked up at Nathan, teary eyed. " Do you blame me?"

Nathan's mouth dropped open as he looked at her, at first he thought she was just kidding, but then as he saw the tears forming in her eyes, he knew she really thought he did. "Hales! Of course not baby." He said as he pulled her into him and let her cry into the curve of his neck.. "Why would I?" He asked as he ran his finger's through her hair.

"Because I do." She whispered through her tears.

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"Think they're awake yet?" Brooke whispered as she laid sleepily in bed, staring at Lucas with two children between them.

"I dunno." Lucas sighed as he wrapped his finger around one of Erica's curls as she slept soundly, cuddled into Lucas. With everything that was going on with Nathan and Haley, Brooke still found time to look at her surroundings with awe. If someone could only take a picture of this moment, of her and Lucas, laying in bed with their kids, like a real family, she'd cherish it forever.

"What are we supposed to do for them? I don't want to just stand around and do nothing." Brooke whined quietly.

"If they need anything, Im sure they'll let us know." Lucas smiled at her, then reached his hand above both of the children's heads, across the pillow to touch Brooke's face gently, making her close her eyes and become completely lost in his touch. When she opened her eyes then, she could hear Haley's small sobs from the room next door.

"I guess they are awake." Lucas whispered, not wanting to listen to Haley crying, but feeling the need to. Brooke nodded sadly as she stared down at Mikey and Erica, and it wasn't long until she felt a weird pain in the pit of her stomach. She had her whole world all in one room with her, and they were safe, healthy, and Haley and Nathan were sitting in the room next to her, part of their world with them, and the other part, the biggest part, in a small cramped hospital room struggling for her life. But the saddest part was, that she was so little, she didn't know the important things, she didn't even know what it meant to hold on, because she didn't even understand the concept of life herself, and she couldn't fight for her's on her own, she was too young to fight. Haley and Nathan were doing the fighting for all of them. And Brooke was also worried that Nathan would be doing all the fighting on his own, because as she heard Haley's sobs she got the feeling that she wouldn't be able to take much more of this pain, that she'd soon break.

Brooke was broken from her thoughts from a mad, loud knocking on the front door. Their weren't any voices, just the constant knocking. It was so loud that everyone in the house jumped at the sound. And the kids woke from their sleep, crying from being frightened. Lucas jumped to his feet and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t shirt, as he also so Nathan appear outside his door, obviously doing the same. The banging continued.

Haley rushed in next to Brooke, curling up where Lucas was just sitting, and Erica cuddled into her stomach. Once again this caused a little bit of anger in Michael. He hardly ever got to see his aunt Haley anymore, and now when he did, Erica got to be with her? It wasn't fair.

"Move!" He whined as he pushed Erica out of the way and climbed into Haley's lap. Erica didn't complain, she just cuddled into Brooke instead. Michael was once again jealous, but too tired to act upon it again. Haley just smoothed the hair that was sticking up on his head, and waited for the guys to return.

Down in the kitchen, Nathan and Lucas walked slowly towards the door, the stained windows glistening from the rain that had just started outside. The banging on the door continued, and they could now seen the outline of someone outside, knocking desperately at the door.

"Who is it?" Nathan asked Lucas, as if this was supposed to be a nightly routine.

"How am I supposed to know?" Lucas complained.

"Well... open the door.. Go see." Nathan said, rolling his eyes and pointing towards the door as if he were ordering Lucas to do so.

"You open it!" Lucas yelled back. Both of them just stood there, folding their arms, waiting for the other to answer the door. The rain poured harder as lightning flashed and thunder rolled, and the banging got more intense.

"Dammit! Do you have to be such girls!" A voice yelled from behind. They turned quickly to see Haley push her way past them, Brooke standing behind her on top of the steps, two sleepy children with her, one on each hip. "I'll get it!" Haley complained as she rushed to the door, pulling the string on her robe tight. Nathan walked up to Brooke and took Michael from her arms, as he cuddled into Nathan's neck, a little afraid from the terrible, loud, knocking. Haley swung the door open, and at first squinted to see who was standing there, as the sun beamed in around the them. The person outside was covered in a rain coat and moaned when they saw the door swing open. They pushed past Haley, causing her to go crashing to the floor. Nathan wasn't long rushing to her side and kneeling next to her. And they all stared as the person stood up in front of them, slowly letting her hood fall down over her blond. Curly. Hair.

"Peyton..." Brooke breathed. Peyton just stood there smirking at the look that they all had on their faces.

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Dum Dum Dum! LOL.. you guys knew it was coming.. so there it was.. she's back.. Merry Christmas! lol...please review:)

Michelley P.