A/N: Hey everybody its Crashspike. Sorry for the long wait but sometimes real life gets in the way. But hopefully the wait between this and chapter six won't be so long. Anyway, I hope you all like it, see you at the bottom, lol.
Hello Stranger – Chapter 5 - Sometimes the truth you need hurts…
"Mmmmm" Haley moaned when she felt the pair of lips one her neck sucked playfully at her pulse point. It felt like absolute heaven.
"You taste so good baby," the person mumbled before reattaching their lips to Haley's neck nibbling slightly.
"Rachel…"
Haley shot out of bed in a cold sweat, what the hell kinda dream was that? She had absolutely no idea where such a dream could have sprouted from. Sure she had been thinking more than friendly thoughts about her new roommate but she just assumed that was some form of sex withdrawal. But this dream took things to a new level, a sex dream about you're female roommate was one that brought things to a new level especially if you were Haley James. Why the hell would I start thinking about Rachel in that way? Did I drink…the pills...?
"Why do they have to have this fucking after affect?" Haley mumbled to herself. She remembered coming back to the apartment hoping that maybe Rachel was there. She also remembered feeling disappointed that Rachel wasn't there and she did the only thing that seemed to make her feel better. She took a couple of pills and as usual they knocked her out. And Haley was pretty sure that when she passed out she was lying on the couch.
Where the hell am I? She started looking around trying to gather her surroundings. Now she was in a bed. A bed that smelled a lot like her new roommate's perfume. Haley took a deep breath in and let the scent fill her nose. As she exhaled, Haley stretched enjoying the way the silky sheets felt underneath her. After sleeping on the floor face down one night and on the couch the next, her body was very grateful to be lying on an actual bed for once. Her mind wasn't the pile of mush that it usually was when she woke up from taking the Vicodin and that was different. It was starting feel like her body was building up a tolerance for her drug of choice and that was a little scary. She quickly dismissed the thought and her mind went right back to that dream she was having before she woke up. It was so real. She had never felt anything like it. There was no denying that Rachel was gorgeous but she had never thought of a girl like that. It didn't make her feel uncomfortable or anything she just didn't know where this was coming from. Haley ran her fingers through her tangled mess of hair and sighed.
"Good morning" Rachel purred from the door.
"Morning…" Haley blushed. She felt a little embarrassed by the presence of her roommate.
"So, last night was interesting…" Rachel said trying to see if Haley even remembered what had happened.
"WHAT?!?" Haley shrieked, this can't be happening! There is NO WAY that I slept with Rachel last night. I would never do that…would I?
It's not that horrible is it? Rachel couldn't help but let the disappointment cross her face. All her doubts and insecurities came rushing to the forefront. I'm really that horrible to be with? Is it really that frightening of a thought to be with me? The panic was setting in. Will I ever be good enough? All her resolve about being nice towards Haley washed away with that one look of horror.
"It was a joke," Rachel snapped reverting right back to her bitchy ways.
"I was just a little confused about what happened…I didn't mean to…" Haley stammered.
"Sure…"
"I just was wondering how I got in your bed and umm…"
"Oh my god! You were so out of it last night after coming back from the café. I didn't feel right leaving you on the couch." And just like that Rachel stormed back out of the bedroom leaving a very confused Haley.
"What just happened?" Haley said as she fell back onto the bed.
~HS~
Karen wiped the counter and took another look at the clock above the door. It was almost 8 and there was still no sign of Haley. She thought about calling her but she knew that Haley was going through something and she might not be in as early as she used to be. She sighed and continued wiping down the countertops. Suddenly she heard the door and instead of Haley, she saw a tall redheaded girl.
"We aren't open just yet..." Karen said but she could tell from the sad expression the young girl's face that maybe she could bend the rules this time.
"Oh ok...sorry," Rachel sighed as she started to turn around and head back out of the door. GREAT! Know where am I supposed to go?
"Come on and sit down. Looks like you could use a place to hide out for a bit..." Karen smiled motioning her to come back inside of the Café.
"Thanks," Rachel smiled meekly not fully understanding why the older woman was being so nice. From what Haley had revealed Karen was a welcoming and nice person but she didn't expect the generosity to extend to strangers. She hesitantly took a seat at the counter not knowing what else to do.
"So can I get you something?" Karen saw the English textbook poking out of the top of the girl's purse. "Playing hooky this morning?"
"Not ready to face the day yet," Rachel sighed. Haley's look was still fresh in her memory. "Could I have a coffee?"
"Sure." Karen slid a mug in front of her and poured the coffee. "I know that this may seem odd but if you need someone to listen...I don't mind hearing what's on your mind..." She could tell something had knocked this girl out of her box and she felt this strange need to help her.
"Thanks but I don't want to burden you with my problems, Haley's should be enough to keep your hands full," Rachel sighed as she inhaled the sweet aroma of the coffee.
"You know, Haley?" Karen asked wondering how the new girl knew Haley.
"Yeah, we're sorta roommates now. I moved into the apartment she and Nathan used to own." Rachel said as she took a sip.
"So, you and Haley...well I guess I should say hi. My name's Karen."
"Yeah, me and Haley," Rachel sighed not realizing how much pain that statement brought. She had thought that after Haley's little escapade last night that there was a chance for her and Haley but this morning proved that she was so wrong. She noticed the confused face Karen gave her and decided to changes topics. "I'm Rachel by the way."
Karen walked from around the counter and sat on the stool next to Rachel's. "Is everything ok with Haley? She was supposed to stop by before school?"
Rachel started to panic. She knew that something was up with Haley last night; she wanted to tell Karen that she suspected something but that would be crossing a line. "I don't know. I left before she got up." Lie.
"Right..." Karen was still pretty good at reading teenagers and she could tell that something had happened. And she didn't want to push Rachel on it but maybe she could get her to open up. And maybe she could find out how Haley was doing.
"So when did you move here?"
"A couple days ago."
"And do you like it here so far?" Karen asked hoping to get a little more out of the girl.
"Eh," Rachel replied thinking about Karen's question. Tree Hill wasn't a bad place but it wasn't what she was used to. The small town feel wasn't really for her; she was more of the big city type. But it was a change of scenery and that's exactly what the doctor ordered. "It's the change I needed." She knew that her answers were short and vague but she wasn't sure how much she wanted to divulge.
Karen smiled. "Change is good, if it is done for the right reasons."
"Then I guess 'good' is in the eye of the beholder," Rachel replied getting defensive. She didn't like the thought that Karen could read her. She liked having this mysterious facade and she wasn't about to let Karen be the one to break through it, not with this much at stake.
"So then what have you been beholding this morning? You seem a little upset..." Karen said.
Rachel let out a sigh, am I really going to tell her that I have a crush on Haley? She couldn't help but feel that Karen suspected that something was up but she wasn't about to confirm anything. "Have you ever been given a look that just seems to cut right through you?" Ok, so maybe I can give a little bit away.
"In this town, every single day." Karen laughed trying to lighten Rachel's mood. "But I guess you mean it in a different way than I do..."
"You're guessing right," Rachel chuckled slightly. She was starting to understand why Haley admired Karen so much. She was easy to talk to and knew exactly when to push and when to pull back.
"Why did it bother you so much?" Karen asked. She was still hovering around the issue. Maybe if she could just get Rachel to speak up, she might be to get the girl to open up. But Rachel's walls were well built and maybe she needed a little push. "I am sure you have gotten 'looks' before. Maybe he or she was jealous of you."
"Ha," Rachel laughed bitterly, she definitely wasn't jealous...more like appalled. "Jealousy definitely wasn't on her mind."
Karen's eyebrow rose slightly at hearing 'her'. Was Rachel talking about Haley? She paused for a moment. The way she said me and Haley. "I'm sorry, but are you talking about...who I think we are talking about..." Karen asked not wanting to embarrass the girl.
"Maybe," Rachel replied coyly. Karen hadn't outright said that she thought she was talking about Haley. "But I doubt that we're talking about the same person." She looked at her cell phone noticing that she was really late for school, Brooke is gonna flip shit. "But I have to get going to school." And without a goodbye Rachel rushed out of the cafe.
~HS~
For the majority of the day, Haley's mind had been trying to process four completely different problems but each was equally as troubling. She had resorted to barricading herself in her favorite corner of the library just so she could try to sort this out. The first thing was of course Nathan. But she had gone over that so many time that at this point she welcomed the chance to think about something else. The next thought was about her best friend.
"Lucas…"
Just the thought of her best friend was almost as bad as when she thought about Nathan. She never realized how important Lucas Scott was to her until yesterday in the café. No matter how bad things got, Lucas would always talk to her. Even if it was just to bitch at her, he would always communicate with her. But he acted like she wasn't even there. Actually he had given her the look that he usually used when someone would mention Dan. So did that mean that Lucas held her in the same place that he reserved for Dan Scott?
"Fuck that…"
The last two were completely intertwined. Waking up in Rachel's bed and the sex dream she had about Rachel. She had gone over the dream in every way possible and she kept coming back to the thought that she had slept with Rachel. But that conclusion still didn't feel right. Despite how fucked up she got on vicodin she had never been so loose as to sleep with someone. But that dream felt so real almost memory like.
"Ahhhh," Haley slammed her head against the table not caring that she had probably disturbed everyone in the vicinity. This Rachel thing was really starting to get to her. First she's noticing her beauty then how she gets turned on when they fight and now she's having naughty dreams about her. Something was definitely up but for once in her life she didn't know how to go about this, what's the use of being Tutor Girl if I can't even figure out my own problems.
She was sure that a girl like Rachel was straight as an arrow, look at her for crying out loud! With a body like that she could get any guy she wants…there I go again thinking about her gorgeous sexy…STOP!
"Why?" Haley groaned into the wood.
And she was pretty damn sure that she was straight but her thoughts would make someone believe otherwise. That dream would make you think otherwise. She was enjoying herself in the dream, hell dream Haley was enjoying herself more than real Haley ever had with Nathan.
But why is that? Why was dream Haley having a better time than I ever did? Maybe I'm just horny…yeah that's it. I'm just horny as hell and she's the nearest…sexiest thing? Haley had to scratch her head at that one. Reasonable knowledge would have told her that she would be having continuous sex dreams about Nathan not Rachel.
"My head hurts."
~HS~
Brooke rolled her eyes as Rachel strolled into the afternoon practice. She couldn't understand how she let Peyton talk her into letting this bimbo on the team. Were they really that desperate for talent this year? Peyton had calmed her down about Rachel missing the morning practice but now she was late for the afternoon session. And she wasn't going to let this slide.
"You're late," Brooke barked.
"Whatev," Rachel replied nonchalantly. She was in no mood to deal with Cheer-Nazi especially after all the emotional issues she was dealing with, how the hell did I reduce myself to being shaken by one look?
"You do realize that I am this close..." Brooke said as she walked past Peyton.
"Get over it..." Peyton sighed as she followed Brooke to where Rachel and the rest of the team were standing. She knew that Brooke was probably still pissed about the parking lot incident from yesterday.
Brooke didn't even bother acknowledging Peyton. She was too focused on the nerve of Rachel. From the first day she saw her, she didn't like her. She was the new fish in this pond and there was no way she going to let her think she ran this place. This was her world and she ran it. The closer she got to Rachel the more infuriated she got. Nobody was going to treat her like a punk.
"I don't know what back water town you came from but, in this world when I say practice is right after school, I mean right after school." Brooke said as she stood right in front of Rachel not giving the girl any space at all.
"I'm sorry did I upset the queen bee?" Rachel asked not caring that she was asking for trouble. If anything this little tiff with Brooke was a great distraction from Haley. "And who are you to be asking me about 'back water' towns. Have you taken a look around this place? Do you guys even have indoor plumbing?" Rachel said knowing exactly what buttons to push.
"So how about we have practice?" Peyton asked trying to diffuse the tension that was building between the girls.
"Practice sounds good to me." Bevin chimed in but Brooke was already in full bitch mode and there was no stopping her now.
"Who am I? I'm Brooke Davis and this town doesn't need a redheaded bitch like you coming in and thinking she is better than everyone else!" Brooke shouted.
"Brooke..." Peyton tried to pull Brooke back but she knew that there was no stopping Brooke once she got started.
"You should listen to your friend," Rachel said with a nod of her head in Peyton's direction. "And let me just point out one thing for you Brooke Davis. I am not the one acting all high and mighty around this place. You should take a look in the mirror one of these days because you're looking a lot like trash to me."
"Unbelievable! Who the hell are you, again? You think that just because you let the Tree Hill charity case move in with you, that all of a sudden you are better than me?" Brooke growled.
"Tree Hill charity case!" Rachel screamed not caring that the world could probably hear her. "You are un-fucking believable! That charity case as you like to call her was your friend! Your fucking friend! And you abandon her in her time of need!" Rachel was fuming at this point; she wouldn't be surprised if smoke was coming from her ears. "You think you're better than her just because she made one fucking mistake. News flash, she came back. She realized what she did was a mistake and now she's trying to fix it. And all you fucking people can do is turn your back on her when she is trying! I'm pretty damn sure that all of you have made mistakes in the past. And I'm willing to bet that Haley has forgiven you, not turn her back like some stuck up prick!"
"You have no idea, the mess that Haley left behind when she bailed. Nathan was a fucking mess and so was Lucas. She didn't even care! Now she thinks that she can come back and we are supposed to forgive her because it's Haley James?" Brooke could still feel Peyton pulling her arm trying to restrain her. But she wasn't mad at Rachel, she was mad at Haley and since Haley wasn't there she had to take it out on somebody.
"Brooke, this isn't the place for this..." Peyton said as she stepped in front of her best friend. She knew that Haley leaving had hurt Brooke. Probably more than she wanted to admit. But Rachel hadn't done anything more than take care of Haley since she had came back.
"Move Peyton." Brooke said still not taking her eyes off of the redhead.
"Yeah, move Peyton. I want Brooke to be able to hear me loud a clear," Rachel ordered. The anticipation of seeing Brooke's world turned upside down was killing her. She watched as Peyton stepped aside slightly but not completely removing herself from in front of Brooke.
"You wanna know what your precious Nathan did?" Rachel asked mockingly. She could see that each word was hitting its target. Brooke looked like she was three seconds from crying. She wanted this to hurt and hurt bad.
"You wanna know what he told her when she told him about the tour? 'It's me or the tour'. Me or the fucking tour. He asked her to choose between her husband and her dream. Do you think Haley would ever make him chose?" Rachel asked knowing that she was just about to hit the last nail in this coffin. She looked at Peyton and the blonde looked shocked, apparently, she had no idea that this had happened.
"That's fucking bullshit! Nathan wouldn't do that! Haley fucking left! She left! And that's it!" Brooke yelled with a tear rolling down her cheek. She hadn't even noticed that the entire gym had frozen and was staring. Could Rachel be right? She just moved here so why would she lie for Haley? No, Nathan wouldn't do that.
"You say one more word about Nathan or that fucking liar Haley, I swear to god, I will fucking break you in..."
"Ok that's it. Practice is cancelled." Peyton said as she stepped back in between the girls. Hearing Rachel's story about what happened between Nate and Haley was completely different than what she had heard. She looked around the gym and everyone failed to notice the timid blonde standing in the corner while this entire throw down happened. Haley was just standing there looking like she was on the verge of falling apart. Peyton felt a pang of regret once she saw the look on Haley's face. Maybe I have been on the wrong side.
"Is someone finally starting to realize that Nathan Scott the God isn't so godly?" Rachel asked in a baby voice knowing that she was getting on Brooke's last nerve.
Brooke growled and tried to push her way towards Rachel once again but Peyton blocked her friend.
"Enough, Brooke let's just go, ok?" Peyton said hoping to get these two to back off. Her eyes cut over to Haley and then she looked at Rachel again.
"Go take care of her." She said as she pushed Brooke towards the locker room.
Rachel looked questioningly at Peyton before looking in the direction she pointed to. And there she was Haley James in the flesh; I wonder how long she's been standing there? I hope she didn't hear everything. She mustered up all the strength she had and slowly made her way over to where Haley was. It was funny, she had the easiest time finding strength when she was about to fight Brooke but when she was simply going to talk to Haley she felt like the runt of the litter.
"Hi..." Haley said. She had come into the gym and caught Brooke's line about her being a 'fucking liar'. The words stung but seeing Rachel stand up her made them hurt a little less.
"Hey," Rachel spoke just above a whisper. She didn't know what Haley had heard and she wasn't sure if Haley was going to yell at her for telling them what Nathan had said. She stood there shifting nervously on her feet waiting for whatever Haley had to say.
"So what happened this morning? I was just a little out of it and...umm..."
"Nothing, just drop it," Rachel snapped over her shoulder. She wasn't about to stop and have this conversation with Haley. Hell she wasn't even sure if she wanted to have this conversation with her. She continued to storm off towards her car hoping to lose Haley. She needed time to think about her emotions and what the hell she was going to do with them. The look Haley gave her this morning had cut deeper than any knife could.
"STOP!" Haley shouted a little louder than she had intended. She had enough of people not talking to her this week. And the last thing she wanted was for this girl to be mad at her too.
Rachel faltered slightly at Haley's outburst but recovered quickly as she quickened her pace towards her Denali. She kept walking until she got to the truck. She could hear Haley's footsteps coming towards her and see her reflection in the window. Rachel sighed pretending to be looking for her keys. Just to give Haley a chance to catch up with her.
Haley ran. Something inside of her snapped. She couldn't take another person leaving her. As she got closer, Haley felt her stomach tighten. How could she be losing someone she just met? Rachel was the only friend she had in Tree Hill. The only one that didn't think she was the devil. By the time she got to the Denali, Rachel was already inside. Haley frantically knocked on the driver's side window. Rachel slowly rolled the window down and Haley had to pause and catch her breath. Once she did, the words came out before she even had chance to think of what to say.
"Just tell me...please...just tell me what I did..." Haley pulled on the truck's handle and opened the door. She grabbed Rachel's hand and held it between her hands. Rachel wasn't making any eye contact still but Haley held her tighter trying to make her turn around but she still wouldn't look at her. She closed her eyes and whispered exactly what she thought was happening.
"I can't lose you, Rachel…" She was a little surprised by her words but she couldn't hide herself from Rachel. Mostly because she knew her roommate would see through it. And it made her feel a little better even though she was holding onto Rachel's hand for dear life.
Rachel let out a deep sigh, she's making this difficult. She leaned forwards resting her head against the steering wheel. She wanted to pull Haley into her arms like she did the night before. That was then and this was now. And right now she wanted to tell Haley the truth.
"You're not going to lose me." She picked her head up from the steering wheel making eye contact with the blonde. "I just need some time to sort some stuff out…" She hoped beyond all hope that Haley could see the truth in her eyes. There was no way in hell that she was going to let Haley go. She needed the quirky blonde in her life; she just needed to figure out her emotions before she could figure out their relationship.
"And in order for me to do that you have to let go of my hand," Rachel said with a slight smile. The butterflies in her stomach went into overdrive the second their hands connected but she couldn't let that show especially after Haley's reaction this morning. She looked at the singer and knew that would be enough for Haley.
Haley held on a little longer, wanting to be sure that Rachel wasn't going to change her mind. She looked into Rachel's eyes and she got a flash of a memory. There was something about the way she was looking at her. Something was nagging at the back of her mind. It wasn't from her dream either. The dream was pretty intense and this didn't feel the same as that. She kept staring at the redhead.
"What is it?" Rachel whispered.
It was like she was looking through a thick fog but she could hear something. She remembered feeling lips against hers. And then she tried to focus on the words she was hearing. Once she figured out what she was hearing Haley spoke the words that were echoing in the background of her mind.
"Just wondering..."
Rachel's eyebrows shot up and her mental alarm started blaring. Does she remember?
"Did something...umm...Did something happen last night?" Haley asked. She could swear that something had happened but she just couldn't focus.
Rachel tried to stop her eyes from bugging out of her head but the thought that Haley could remember what happened last night frightened her. She freaked out about a stupid joke, what the hell is she gonna do if she remembers that she kissed me?
"Nothing happened, Hales…" Rachel assured hoping that there was enough conviction in her voice.
Haley listened to the words that came out of Rachel's mouth. Why would she lie to her? But there was still this nagging feeling that something had happened. She just nodded her head and dismissed her worries. Maybe her dream had started to blend into her real life.
"I guess I could let your hand go." She whispered as she continued looking at Rachel's eyes.
"Thanks," Rachel smiled politely when Haley finally released her hand. She finally felt like she could breathe. The overwhelming feeling that she got last night from Haley's lips had just come from a simple hand touch, this can't be good. "I'll be home in an hour."
Haley felt her heart drop into her stomach. She didn't want to stop holding Rachel's hand and she really didn't want to be left here at school with the 'I hate Haley' squad still lurking around the campus. She looked at her roommate and her face was one of worry and she hoped that girl who could always read her so well could read her right now.
"Can I go with you?" she asked sheepishly. Haley felt the butterflies firing up in her stomach and she didn't know if it was because of the dream or the fact that she was scared that Rachel might say no.
Why? Why does she have to give me that look? Why can't I resist it? "Hop in," Rachel said with a smile. "I'm dropping you off then I'm going back out, ok?"
"OK…Thanks roomie," Haley felt a wave of relief wash over her.
~HS~
Why must she be a master of looks? Rachel pondered as she exited the apartment parking lot. She had just dropped off Haley and like she promised she had left needing the alone time to sort out her thoughts. But she was left with another look to think about, the disappointed, no, the scared face that Haley had given her as she ascended the stairs. It was a look that told her Haley was afraid of losing her making her feel whole yet confused at the same time.
Wasn't it the same Haley that had just this morning given her a look of disgust at the thought of being with her?
Wasn't this the same Haley that was desperately in love with her husband?
Wasn't she the same Haley that had kissed her the night before?
Everything was running through Rachel's mind and she needed to slow things down. She needed to find control but she didn't know where to look, she needed to find peace. Every place she looked just didn't seem right. The docks looked nice but there were way too many people to get the quiet that she needed. Karen's Café was a definite no-no after the incident this morning, I have to watch myself around her.
She continued to drive aimlessly around the small town wondering if it would actually be possible to get lost here. Every road seemed to lead her back to the main street. It was like some eerie Twilight Zone episode that she had just stumbled into.
Finally she found herself parked in front of what she could only describe as a river court, didn't Haley mention a river court?
She hoped out of her Denali and made her way towards the warn bleachers. The place was quiet and peaceful, definitely off the beaten path compared to the other sites Tree Hill had to offer. It was a place that the locals only seemed to know about, I guess that would only make sense.
She looked out onto the water watching as the slow ripples flowed. She found herself getting lost in a trance that the river put on her. It was like the river held some magic, magic that allowed her to calmly think about everything that has happened to her. She sat silently looking out at the peaceful river. She didn't know what to think of everything that was going on. Haley had made her feel like absolute shit earlier but she still stood up for her against Brooke and her tirade. And here she was sitting here doing the same thing she had been doing on and off all day; wishing that she could understand why Haley had this power over her? She heard a car pull up along the gravel and couldn't help but cringe when she saw that driver of the car was Peyton, this is gonna be fabulous.
Peyton sat in the car for a second trying to judge the look on the Rachel's face. After the fight in the gym, she just wanted to check on the girl. But now that she was here, she felt like maybe she made the wrong choice. But Peyton Sawyer wasn't going to let a little thing like doubt get in her way. She turned her car off and got out. Rachel still looked ready to fight but Peyton smiled at her and held up two fingers.
"I come in peace." Peyton said hoping that a little joke would ease the tension of the situation but the look on Rachel's face didn't soften at all. This was going to be a little tougher than she thought.
"Yeah right," Rachel scoffed. "How do I know that you're not the Trojan horse? Brooke is probably about to come flying out of your trunk with her guns blazing."
"Because Brooke Davis would never ride in the trunk of a car, too dirty and too low profile back there." Peyton continued smiling hoping that maybe she could get her to relax a little bit. And seeing that it wasn't helping she tried a bit of honesty.
"And secondly, Brooke doesn't even know I'm here."
"I see. The knight disowns the queen," Rachel said with a smirk. She still didn't believe that Peyton could come in peace, it was too easy. She needed to keep up her bitchy exterior up especially around Peyton. She had already slipped up when she talked to Karen earlier and she didn't need Peyton running to Brooke with any information.
"Look, I'm not into any high school royalty crap...life is too short for all of this he said/she said bullshit." Peyton said as she wandered over to the nearby picnic bench. Ever since joining the squad it people would think the worst possible things about her, like she was a stuck-up bitch that followed Brooke's every single command. Not that she cared but it was tiring and a bit annoying. So when she did try and be honest, she always had to climb over the wall of being Brooke's best friend.
"I don't think you are as bad as Brooke has been saying..." Peyton sighed and sat on the bench. She could see that Rachel was still standing there waiting for the other shoe to drop so, she motioned for Rachel to come and sit with her.
"And what makes you think that? We've never even talked," Rachel questioned curiously. This was odd.
"The way you stood up for Haley." Peyton said. "I guess you two have been hanging out or something..."
"Ya think?" Rachel asked her tone full with sarcasm. "It's not like she's living with me or anything."
Peyton raised an eyebrow. "So she is living with you?"
"Yeah...I thought everyone knew," Rachel was beyond confused. Isn't that why Brooke's mad at me? For taking Haley in?
"Well, Brooke has been telling everyone that Haley has been staying in a box behind the Café..." Peyton smirked. "So nobody knows anything. Haley coming back is all that people care about...but, me, I just want to know the truth." Peyton paused and took a deep breath, it's now or never Sawyer. "Did Nathan really say that to her?"
"Do you think I would lie about something like that?" Rachel asked. Maybe she would be able to find out just how low people thought she was.
"So, that's a yes." Peyton couldn't even begin to process what Haley had been going through. She hadn't said anything good or bad about her leaving but now she could understand why she did what she did.
"You know, he has always been like that..."
"Well it's not right," Rachel huffed. "I have never seen someone so broken in my life...and I thought I had it bad," she mumbled the last part not wanting Peyton to hear.
Peyton hesitated once again. But she still needed to ask the question that she came here to ask. She didn't know why she was so scared. But after the way Rachel went after Brooke she knew she had to choose her words carefully.
"Is Haley ok?"
"Define ok?" Rachel asked carefully. She wasn't even sure if she knew the answer.
"I mean, how is she doing?"
"I guess you could say she's holding it together," Rachel sighed not knowing if anything she was saying was true. The state Haley was in the previous night was definitely not ok, it was far from it. "I can tell it's hard on her...not having Nathan but I think it hurts the most that she doesn't have her friend." Her heart clenched at the thought, what if Haley leaves me for them?
Peyton just nodded. She knew that if she really wanted to know how Haley was doing she could just go and ask Haley. But something inside of her was still holding her back.
"I don't know what to say..."
"You should figure it out soon. Everyone needs friends and from what Haley tells me your group was tight. She says that you guys were her family," Rachel smiled sadly at the thought. She knew what it was like to lose her family, to have them abandon you because of choices.
"We still are..." Peyton whispered wanting to believe what she said. She needed to think that she was still Haley's family, to know that she wasn't being a hypocrite by abandoning her.
"That's bull and you know it!" Rachel yelled cutting her off. "Family doesn't treat you like you're treating Haley."
"Yeah, well family doesn't bail and that's what she did." Peyton said calmly not wanting to get into a shouting match. "Everyone is just still hurt and confused...I know that isn't a reason but it's the only one I have."
"One, Haley bailed because she had no other choice. You think she wanted to choose between her husband and her dream?" Rachel's anger was growing and she couldn't control it.
"Two, she came back. She gave up her dream so she could make things right. And three, she's hurt too. You think it's easy for her to be ignored by the only family she has in Tree Hill?" By the end of her inquisition Rachel was screaming. This is bull shit!
"You have absolutely no right to treat her like shit. She's human, humans make mistakes. At least she's trying to fix it. I don't see any of you trying to make things better."
Peyton let the words sink in. She really hadn't tried at all. Haley came back and she figured that ignoring her was the best way to deal with all of it. But she knew that ignoring her was the only way to stay out of it. Peyton ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled. She stood from her seat and walked towards her car.
"I know you are right. But I just can't. Not yet. Sorry about Brooke. I'll keep her off of your back."
"Whatever," Rachel sighed to herself. "Life's too short to stay angry with the past," Rachel yelled to Peyton's retreating form.
"You should really be looking in the mirror the next time you say that," Peyton said as she looked over her shoulder. She had heard Rachel's little comment earlier but chose to ignore it. She was curious as to what Rachel meant but it wasn't her business, the Haley situation was enough for her to deal with.
"Oh and thanks."
"For what?" Rachel asked wondering why Peyton didn't try to argue back at her.
"For looking out for Haley," Peyton said not breaking eye contact. "I may not be her biggest fan right now but everyone needs someone."
She got into her car drove away leaving Rachel there alone with her thoughts again.
Well that was fun right? Work on chapter six is underway and hopefully we'll have it to you guys much sooner. So thanks for your patience and please let us know what you think. Even if you hate it, I can take the punch honestly, lol.
Laterz