Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
…..
"Hi Peyton," The man said.
Nathan looked between him and the surprised/nervous look on Peyton's face. Scowling, he held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Nathan Scott."
"Jack Bailey," Ian answered, smiling at Peyton. "I see my girlfriend has already moved on."
Nathan turned to Peyton. "You have a boyfriend?"
Peyton shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Jack, we broke up two months ago. You remember? I caught you in bed with your secretary? You remember that?"
Jack blew out a sigh. "Look, Peyt, I'm sorry, ok? I made a mistake. Now can we please just…" He eyed Nathan. "Can we have some privacy?"
"We don't need privacy, Jack! We're not together anymore and we never will be!" Peyton walked to the door and opened it. "Now would you, please, leave?"
Jack took a deep breath. "Peyton-"
"She said leave." Nathan reminded him.
Jack turned. "Would you please, just mind your own damn business? This is between Peyton and I. Ok? Thanks."
Jack turned back to Peyton. "Now look, babe, I've come a long way to talk to you…"
Nathan grabbed the back of his shirt, dragging him to the door, Jack yelling and trying pretty hard to defy him.
Peyton sighed, folding her arms across her chest when Nathan closed the door behind him. "Thanks, I guess."
Nathan nodded, awkwardly. "You're welcome."
Peyton sighed, "Listen-"
"You really caught him with his secretary?"
She shook her head, sighing.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
He nodded. "Yeah, Uh, I
guess I'll see you later."
"Yeah. Bye."
…..
Nathan walked back to his house. He was a little worried about Peyton, not that he knew why. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. But did he want that? He shook his head. He was so confused. He didn't know why he felt the need to protect her, when that Jack guy refused to leave. He just did, he didn't want the idiot to harm Peyton. And mostly he wanted to beat the crap out of him for cheating on Peyton.
He was confused about that too. He looked at the clock once he returned home. Two-thirty.
He got the keys to his SUV and drove to the Middle school. Lindsey walked out, her head down. She climbed into the front seat, not saying anything.
"What's wrong with you?" Nathan asked.
"Nothing." She replied, staring out the window.
"Okay, now how bout the truth?"
She blew out a sigh. "Mike dumped me."
"Wait, you had a boyfriend?"
She bit her lip, sheepishly, "Yeah,"
"And you didn't tell me?"
"No, Sorry."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She shrugged. "You weren't around."
"You couldn't have told me when I got home? And who says you're allowed to date anyways?"
"I'm twelve, Dad!"
"You're too young. No more dating."
"Dad!"
"Lindsey, you are too young."
"Well, when can I date?"
"Talk to me when you're fifty,"
"Dad!"
Nathan blew out a sigh. "Why'd he dump you?"
"It wasn't working out for him."
"Was it working out for you?"
She shrugged. "He was cute."
"You're twelve. You're not supposed to be thinking guys are cute."
"Mom did."
"What?"
"I read it in her diary,"
"You read your mothers diary?"
"Yeah. I found it in that big trunk in the attic. I found a lot of cute clothes too. Like this shirt!"
Nathan looked over; sure enough she was wearing one of Haley's shirts. How he looked that over, he wasn't sure. He'd know that shirt anywhere. "Next time you decide to go rummage through stuff in the attic, please tell me."
"Okay."
"You read her diary?"
Lindsey laughed. "Yep. She talked a lot about you Dad. But don't worry I skipped over the parts where she talked about you guys having…well you know."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"Dad?"
Silence.
"Dad, I don't think you're supposed to drive with your eyes closed."
Nathan opened his eyes and pulled over, closing his eyes again. "This is the part where I should probably ground you."
"Oh, no thanks, Dad, that's not necessary, really."
"Ok, rule number one: No boyfriends until you're thirty. Number two: When you rummage through old junk in the attic or wherever, ask me first, and number three: No sex til you're married."
"I didn't say anything about having sex"
"How do you know about sex anyways?"
"They showed a video about it in fifth grade."
"Maybe I should talk to the school board."
"Dad, I hate to say this, but you're going a bit overboard."
"You know about sex!"
"Dad, I'm twelve, not five. This is when you should start worrying about Paige."
Nathan looked over to his eldest daughter. "You haven't told her anything, have you?"
She shook her head. "No, not that she would believe me anyways."
"Maybe you and her should become a nun."
Lindsey snorted. "No thanks, Dad. I'm going to be a teacher."
"Like Mom"
"Like Mom"
…
Peyton walked through the streets. It had been a long day. She had spent the entire day in the store, selling CD's to teenagers, old guys that flirted with her and middle-aged women that dressed like their daughters. Jack hadn't stopped by again but she knew it was only a matter of time. He surprised her immensely, after she found him and his secretary together, she never expected to see him again, not that she cared. She was so mad and disappointed at him that if she had seen him again, she would have beaten him up with a baseball bat. But what was more surprising, was Nathan. She didn't expect him to care enough to try and protect her. It kind of turned her on.
She shook her head, trying to get the thought out of her head. Stop thinking like that, she scolded herself.
She looked around her, she had reached the beach. Sighing, she sat down. She didn't know how she had reached there without knowing it, but it felt really good to just sit there in the cool breeze.
She heard footsteps. Smiling to herself, she turned around.
Her smile faded when she saw Jack.
"Oh, it's you." She turned back to the ocean.
"First it's being kicked out of your store and now this?" He said, sitting next to her. "You have a hell of a way to greet people who come a long way to find you."
"You didn't have to find me." Peyton informed him, keeping her eyes on the waves.
"Yes, I did."
"Why?" She whirled on him. "Why did you have to find me?"
"I love you."
She sighed. "No you don't. You love your damn secretary, not me."
"Look," He said. "I made a mistake. A terrible mistake. I'm sorry. Really, Peyton. I shouldn't have slept with her."
"No, Jack, You shouldn't have. We were engaged! And then you decided to sleep with your secretary!"
"I was scared, ok? I was scared because I was only going to be with one person and I'd never done that before! I was scared; I didn't know what to do!"
"Jack, you weren't supposed to be scared in the first place! If you really loved me you would've been excited to start our life together. Not scared!"
"I am now, Peyton. I'm ready. I promise. I'm ready to be the man you want me to be."
Peyton sighed, looking back to the ocean.
"Please, Peyton, Give me another chance. I'll be better. Just give me another chance."
He stared at her, with saddened eyes while she didn't say anything.
"Peyton?"
She sighed. "Ok. I'll give you another chance."