AN: Title - Something About You - Five for Fighting

Chapter 21

Something About You

Haley felt numb. Her whole body felt like it was going into shock, and she didn't even realise when the limo pulled up outside the venue where the ball was taking place.

"Hales?" Nathan asked, giving her a confused look as she sat staring at the window as if in shock. "Are you okay?"

Haley snapped out of her mounting hysteria and blinked a couple of times at Nathan. "Um, yeah," she whispered, realising that Brooke and Lucas had already made their way out of the limo.

"Come on then," Nathan said with an easy laugh, holding out his hand for Haley to take.

Haley looked at it for a couple of seconds. Debating over what she should do. Now would be the perfect time to ask him how he knew her real name, and why he had used it as if it were the most normal thing in the world for your fiancée to be using a fake name.

But she couldn't. His face was so happy and expectant – so truly looking forward to tonight – that she knew she couldn't bring it up. Not now, not tonight. She would just have to ask him tomorrow. She'd have to wear herself out worrying until tomorrow…

No, she couldn't do it. Her stomach was in knots and she knew there was no way she could feel like this all night.

"Nathan?" She started, not moving from where she was. Nathan withdrew his hand and looked at her, concern flooding his cerulean blue eyes.

"Yeah?"

"When you gave me the ring, back at the apartment… you called me Haley James." Haley spoke all she had to say as quickly as she humanly could.

Nathan's concern turned to annoyance, and Haley actually flinched. Was he annoyed with her?

"Oh… did I?"

Haley nodded without words, tearing apart a napkin that she had taken from the holder by the champagne glasses.

"Well, then I guess the cat's out of the bag. I am so sorry Haley."

Haley looked up at him sharply. Why was he apologising to her? Had she missed something here?

"My dad came to see me yesterday and told me that you were using a false name, trying to get me to cancel the wedding. I'm sorry that I followed up on it, I should have trusted you."

Haley couldn't think of a single thing to say. "You're… sorry?" she asked softly. "But Nathan… It's me that should be sorry. I never should have lied to you about my identity."

"You had no choice. I read about those guys that were harassing you. I know you were just trying to get away from them."

Haley flung herself in Nathan's arms as fast as she could in the limited space of the limousine. "I love you," She whispered. "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

"Whoa," Nathan laughed, stroking Haley's hair with one hand and placing the other on his shoulder. "I don't think you've ever said that to me before. You're not mad at me?" he asked.

"I should be asking if you're mad at me!" Haley said, pulling back and looking up into Nathan's eyes. "I haven't exactly been little Miss honest here."

"I don't care Hales. I love you, whatever your name is… Hey, don't cry." He reached out and wiped away the tear that was crawling down her cheek.

"I'm just… so happy," she said, punctuating her words with a soft laugh. She took a deep breath and ran her finger under her eye. "Is my mascara smudged?"

"No."

"Gotta love waterproof. Okay, so let's do this thing. Let's tell the world that we're getting married."

xxx

Taylor twisted the cocktail stick of the prawn crudités she had just taken from a passing waiter and scanned the room with worry on her eyes.

"Didn't your mother tell you never to play with your food?" Robert asked, leaning over and whispering into her ear. Taylor glared at him before returning to her dutiful role of scanning the room.

"You know," Robert went on, clearly choosing to ignore Taylor's venomous look. "Your sister is a pretty good actress. I'm almost buying this whole madly in love crap."

Taylor looked to where Robert was gesturing and saw Nathan and Haley dancing together. Nathan whispered something into her sister's ear and she laughed. Even from here Taylor could see the love in each of their eyes.

"They are madly in love," Taylor spat. "And you're going to ruin that for them. I hope you're happy you bast…"

"No, no, no," Robert cut in. "I wasn't the one who got Haley involved in this whole sick business. That was entirely down to you. If you're going to play the blame game, then I suggest you start right here." Robert put a hand on Taylor's chest and raised his eyebrows. "Now, I'm going to get a drink. Want anything?"

Taylor shook her head numbly. Her eyes were starting to sting and all she could do was agree with everything Robert had just said. He was completely right.

xxx

Nathan experienced the sensation of someone's eyes on him. He turned to see his father sat at the top table, glowering at him and Haley together. He gave a cocky little smirk and wink, before turning back to Haley. He saw that she two seemed to have her eyes trained on someone and they were filled with annoyance.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked her.

"Yeah," Haley said quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly. Nathan turned to see where she was looking and felt his stomach drop.

It was Lisa.

What was she doing here? Nathan's head was a mixture of all different emotions - guilt, worry, sorrow and then some more guilt.

"Do you… um, do you know her?" Nathan asked, trying to sound casual.

Haley glanced up at him. She felt something at the back of her throat and realised she had just made a major mistake. She shouldn't have focused on Taylor like that. Not that she was remotely worried the con was going to work anymore. Nathan had proved to her that he loved her. There was no way he was going to cheat on her. She could keep up the charade of going through this thing, but at the end of the day, Robert was just going to have to realise that the con wasn't working and he would have to get his money a different way.

Still, the con was still ingrained in her mind, and it was for that reason that Haley shook her head. "Uh, no," She said, smiling tightly.

"Haley, I have…"

"I know that guy though," Haley cut in, realising she had to give a reason for glowering in that direction in the first place. "He spilt some coffee on me in the street the other day and then just walked off. Really rude."

"Oh," Nathan said, looking confused. "Okay."

Damn, she had just given too much information. She smiled again and leaned into Nathan's chest. Better to just wait the silence out than try and pad it with even more details.

"Haley, I have to tell you something," Nathan said, pulling away from her and tilting her chin up with his hand.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I want… I want there to be no secrets between us, and this has been hanging over my head since… well, since it happened."

Haley's mind started whirring over all possibilities and finally stopped on one. Nathan's kiss with Lisa.

"I… I was in a bar not too long ago, and uh, I got really drunk. I kissed someone else."

"Haley tried to look shocked. "Oh. Uh… Was this before or after you proposed to me?"

"It was before we were dating," Nathan said quickly. "But that's no excuse, because I knew I loved you and…"

"Nathan," Haley cut in, putting her hand in his and raising it up to his chest. "I love you too, remember? And I'm not going to let some drunken mistake that happened before we were even involved to come between us. Okay?"

"You're forgiving me?" Nathan asked. "Just like that."

Haley nodded. "Just like this," she replied, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her tip toes and kissed him in front of the entire ballroom. Dan and Taylor included

xxx

Brooke raised a glass of champagne to her lips before pausing and putting it down again. She looked down guiltily to her bag and bit her lip.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, concern written in his eyes as he looked down at his fiancée.

"Uhm… yeah. Just feeling a little tipsy," Brooke replied.

"Really?" Lucas asked. "Because you usually drink like a fish and you only had one glass of champagne in the limo."

"I had two," Brooke corrected him.

"No, you poured two, but you didn't drink the second one."

Brooke rolled her eyes and patted Lucas on the cheek. "I think you are the first fiancé to be concerned when their wife-to-be doesn't drink. I really am fine Luke. It's just that I haven't had much to eat all day and I'm too busy worrying that a waiter is going to smash the last of the fancy champagne flutes and then people are going to think I'm a sucky organiser because there's going to be a mismatched flute on someone's table, and then I'll never get loads of people thinking I'm amazing and asking me to organise their big ball for whatever reason people hold balls, and then…"

"Take a breath," Lucas laughed, stroking his wife's cheek. "You said yourself you had loads of extra cutlery and glasses and plates and whatever, and I don't know about you, but the waiting staff look pretty competent to me."

Brooke nodded and gave a stiff laugh. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just going to… go to the little girls room."

Lucas nodded and took a big gulp of champagne. Brooke stood up from her chair and made her way over to the girls restroom at the back of the ballroom. She greeted people on her way and graciously accepted compliments.

Finally she escaped into a cubicle and took a deep breath. "Just… calm down Brooke," she told herself.

"Brooke… Are you giving yourself a prep talk?" She heard from outside the cubicle door. Brooke sighed and opened it, seeing a bemused looking Peyton leaning on a sink.

"Hey," She greeted. "I didn't hear you come in."

"No, you were probably too busy easing yourself into peeing. 'Just… calm down Brooke… you can do this… you can pee'." Peyton laughed after her impression and Brooke found herself joining in.

"I wasn't easing myself into peeing… I was easing myself into something else entirely," Brooke said, setting her bag down on the counter top.

"Oh… TMI!" Peyton said, looking disgusted. "I can handle peeing, I can't handle a number two."

"Not that!" Brooke said, rolling her eyes. "That!" She pointed to her bag and looked up into Peyton's confused eyes. "Before we came here, while Haley was greeting Lucas and Nathan… I did something, and the answer to it is in that bag."

Peyton continued to look confused, but finally something seemed to click and her eyes widened. "Like… like what I'm thinking it is?"

"Probably," Brooke replied, biting her lip again. "I've been carrying it around trying to bring myself to have a look, but… I can't. It's too big a deal. I mean, this could change everything."

"Do you want me to look for you?" Peyton asked, putting her hand on Brooke's shoulder and giving a reassuring squeeze.

"Would you?" Brooke asked.

Peyton nodded. "Sure. I'm kind of… you know, curious."

Brooke laughed and nodded towards her bag. "Go ahead."

Peyton picked the bag up and undid the clasp. She took a deep breath and reached in, pulling out the small white object nestled under Brooke's purse and lipstick.

Brooke put her hand over her mouth and leaned against the wall.

"Well…" Peyton started.

"Wait!" Brooke cut in. "I don't want to know! No, I do… No!"

Peyton raised her eyebrows. "Do you want to know or don't you?"

Brooke took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes I do."

"What does blue mean?"

Brooke's eyes widened. "Yes… Blue means yes!"

"Oh," Peyton said. "Well, this is pink. So you're not pregnant."

"I'm not?" Brooke whispered. "You're not joking about?"

"It's pink," Peyton said, passing the test over to Brooke. "That's good right?"

Brooke looked up from the test, looking dazed. "Uh… yeah." Only she wasn't so sure that it was.

xxx

Haley and Nathan were worn out from dancing, and when the announcer told the room that dinner would be served shortly, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief and made their way over to their table.

"I'm starving," Nathan announced proudly as he sat down.

"Well, you're in for a treat because Brooke will have ordered an amazing chef," Lucas said proudly, putting his arm around Brooke and pulling him to her. Brooke gave a big smile and leaned into Lucas. Nathan couldn't help but notice that her usual fire seemed to be missing.

"Not drinking Brooke?" Nathan asked, noticing that Brooke's champagne flute was empty and a glass of orange juice sat beside her plate.

Brooke shook her head. "Nope. I'm not really in the mood for alcohol."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. There was definitely something up there. However, he didn't have too long to dwell on it as a delicious looking starter was placed in front of him.

xxx

Five glorious courses later Peyton leant back into her chair and patted her non-existent stomach. "Ah," she said. "That hits the spot."

The table laughed and Peyton quickly twisted her neck into the direction of Jake's table. Or where Jake's table would be had he shown up. After being fired, Jake had said that he was no doubt banned from the ball, but Peyton had took a walk around the room earlier and saw his place card, right next to Lisa's. Peyton had been debating over whether to say hi to her all night, but something told her not to. She found it kind of suspicious that Dan had found out about her and Jake after Peyton had finally told someone about it. Still, she didn't want to jump to conclusions. She had done that a lot in the past and it had only spelt trouble for her.

Not too long ago, Peyton had been a dark, edgy angst-princess. But Jake had mellowed her out. She realised that she didn't want drama anymore. She wanted Jake. That was why she had taken Jake's place card and slipped it into her bag while no one was looking. So she could carry a little piece of Jake with her all night.

"When are you making your announcement?" Peyton heard Lucas ask Nathan.

"Towards the end of the night," Nathan replied. Give every one a chance to enjoy themselves."

"You mean give Dan a chance to drink himself unconscious," Brooke replied. Peyton glanced at her friend, seeing the lack of spark in her eyes. She had wanted there to be a blue line, Peyton realised. She had wanted a baby.

"I need to use the girls room," Peyton announced. Lucas blinked at her from his place right beside her.

"Uh, thanks for the warning," he replied. Peyton nudged him playfully.

"Shut up," she laughed. "I was saying it because it's a well known fact that girls can't go to the bathroom by themselves, so I was announcing it so that another girl would do the noble thing and join me." She stared pointedly at Brooke, who seemed to realise that she was being called upon.

"That would be me," Brooke replied. "The noble one." She finished this off with a glare at Lucas and Nathan who were guffawing loudly.

The two of them set off across the ballroom, and when they reached the restroom Peyton checked around to see that no one was in the cubicles.

"Performance anxiety?" Brooke asked, staring at Peyton with confusion written across her face.

"You wanted to be pregnant, didn't you?" Peyton asked, coming straight out with it.

"What? No!" Brooke replied, looking down at her hands. "Of course I didn't. Me and Lucas are at such a great place in our relationship right now. A baby would just… complicate things. Besides, I don't want to get married with a bump so the baby would be illegitimate. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but you know what Dan is like, he'd make a big deal out of it and make the child feel inadequate and probably call him a bastard or something, and then he'll grow up all broody and sensitive and I mean, I don't want that for my son!"

"Brooke, you're rambling. And why a son?"

Brooke shrugged. "I don't know. I just… I thought it was going to be a boy. I even had a few names picked out."

Peyton put her hand on Brooke's shoulder. "Why did you think you were pregnant?"

Brooke shrugged again. "Because of that whole sickness thing, I started to thinkn it was morning sickness. And I haven't had a period in a pretty long time."

"How long?"

"Three months."

"Whoa. Have you been taking the pill?"

"Well, yeah, but I read an article about the pill having a lower rate of working when you're taking antibiotics, and remember when I had that flu a while back?"

Peyton nodded. "Brooke, I'm so sorry," she said, rubbing her hand up and down Brooke's back."

Brooke sniffed and wiped her eyes were a tear had been starting to form. Suddenly she started laughing. "God, I'm pathetic!" She said. "I mean, I'd convinced myself I didn't want this baby. I told myself again and again that I wasn't ready for kids. I have a great relationship, a great career, a great… a great flat! I mean, I have no time for kids right now… but… but now that I know I'm not pregnant, it hurts." The tears were coming down fast now. "It hurts because I'd already rearranged everything in my head. I was going to ask Haley to have a more involved role in the business while I took some time out to look after my baby, and I'd imagined what he was going to look like!"

Peyton continued rubbing Brooke's back, making soothing noises.

"It was going to have blonde hair like Lucas, and it was going to have my eyes, and… and it was going to be tiny and just… just perfect! And I want him Peyton! I want him so bad!"

xxx

The night was drawing closer and closer to the end. Haley wanted it to go on forever. She was having such a great time and the realisation that everything was going to be okay had manifested itself in her head. She couldn't remember ever feeling this content and happy. Of course, she was aware that not everyone was having the same feeling she was. Brooke had been closed off and snappy all night. Lucas had bared the brunt of it when he'd asked if she was alright for the fiftieth time and Brooke had yelled at him to stop smothering her.

The tension around the table had been thick and Haley - though concerned about her friend - had been happy to get away.

She and Nathan were dancing again. Her feet had gone numb with the pain but she was past caring. Champagne and love had got her dizzy and carefree, and she could dance all night.

"It's time," Nathan whispered into Haley's ear. Haley looked up at him and nodded, smiling. Nathan grabbed her hand and the two of them walked over to the stage.

"Excuse me," Nathan said, once he had whispered into the ear of the singer and been given the microphone. He and Haley were stood in he centre of the stage, Haley a little behind him, hiding behind his confidence. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make."

Haley scanned the room and caught Dan's eye. He looked furious and was rising from his seat. Uh-oh. He was going to cause a scene. Haley squeezed Nathan's arm.

Nathan seemed to have it all under control though. He looked straight at Dan and grinned.

"How about we all give a great big applause to my dad, Dan Scott for his wonderfull work as the head of Scott Corp."

The room broke into applause and Dan stopped dead, giving a fake grin. He knew he couldn't do anything, now, not while all eyes were on him and his reputation was on the line, just like Nathan had intended.

"And Brooke Davis, who made this ball as amazing as it is."

Again, the room burst into applause. Haley was pleased to note that it was slightly more enthusiastic.

"But I'm not up here to thank everybody," Nathan went on, addressing the room like a pro. "I'm up here because I've got an announcement to make." He brought Haley forward and smiled down at her. She smiled back nervously.

"Well, it's no secret to say that I've had a pretty varied past where women are concerned." The room laughed as one and Nathan smirked. "But I've finally found someone who makes me want to change, makes me want to - wait for it - settle down." The room was a frenzy of laughter and excitement. "That woman is Haley James… soon to be Haley James Scott. So, I wanted to share it with the world, but that would be a little difficult so instead I'll share it with you. I love this woman. And we're getting married."

xxx

"What a loser," Robert whispered, rolling his eyes as the room exploded with applause and excited chatting.

"It's romantic," Taylor snapped, taking a gulp of champagne. She was already way past tipsy but she didn't care. She was having a truly awful night and the alcohol was doing a pretty good job of numbing the pain. "Maybe if you'd been a little more romantic I wouldn't have screwed you over so royally." She finished with a loud roar of laughter. "No, actually forget that. If you'd been romantic I would have died laughing."

Robert rolled his eyes. "I think we need to take you home," he said impatiently.

"Whatever," Taylor said. "Don't act like you're my husband. You cheated on me, remember."

"You tricked me into it!" Robert said incredulously. "I'm sick of being made out to be the villain here. You and your sister conned me, remember?"

"Whatever. I can't make you cheat Robert. You did that all by yourself."

"Yeah, and I regretted it every day," Robert snapped. "Until I realised what a devious bitch you truly were."

"Hey! You're no saint yourself Robert. You've stepped on a lot of people to get to the position you're in today. Don't act like you were all sweetness and light until we came along and screwed you over. Your lack of scruples was part of the reason I chose you to con."

"Yeah, well all I know is that I actually loved you. You were just in it for the money."

Taylor was about to reply but stopped. "I want to go home," she said finally.

"Fine," Robert muttered.

"You can come with me if you like."

"Why would I want to do…" Robert was cut off by the seductive look on Taylor's face. "You mean…"

"If you like," Taylor shrugged. The 'L' word had made her look at Robert in a different way. And the champagne had helped with this mental transformation.

"Fine, you go get the coats, I'll go get the car."

xxx

Jake straightened his tie and showed his invite to the man on the door.

"Came a bit late, didn't you?" The large, jolly looking man said. "You've missed all the excitement."

"Oh, I've just come to pick someone up," Jake said. "My girlfriend."

The bouncer nodded and Jake waved goodbye. Entering the ballroom was like entering the basketball court. A mixture of nervous energy, excitement and fear. He took a deep breath and scanned the room, finally finding what he was looking for.

Dan Scott and Larry Sawyer were in a heated looking discussion on the head table. Jake gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, making his way over towards them.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dan said upon seeing him. "I thought your dismissal from my company would give you a clue. You're not wanted."

Jake gave a nonchalant laugh, but inside his stomach was churning. "No, do you know what's not wanted? My lawyer and a lawsuit for unfair dismissal. Because that's exactly what you'll be getting from me."

"Why would I possibly have unfairly dismissed you?" Dan asked, a cocky grin gracing his face. "I caught you taking money from the company."

Jake's jaw dropped. "You're honestly going to stand there and lie?" Jake asked.

"Who's got the most credibility here?" Dan asked. "A multi-million dollar business man with his own successful business, or a disgruntled former employee?"

Jake narrowed his eyes. "Are you forgetting my witness?" Jake asked. "The girl you fired me for falling in love with?"

Suddenly Larry's eyes seemed to animate. He looked sharply at Jake with a disgusted look on his face. "Is this him?" He asked Dan.

Dan nodded. "This is the one."

"You honestly think you're good enough for my daughter?" Larry asked, his sharp, devious eyes trained on Jake, making him uncomfortable. "You're an office monkey. She's the heiress to a multi-million dollar fortune. You're a joke."

Jake gave a forced laugh. "I love her," he said simply. "And she loves me."

Larry's lip curled up. "It's not going to happen."

Jake gave a shrug. "I came here to say my piece, and I've said it." He turned to Dan. "You'll be hearing from my Lawyer."

With a triumphant grin at the annoyed faces of Dan and Larry, Jake turned on his heel and scanned the room once more. He found Peyton immediately. She was sat at a table with Brooke and Lucas, drawing on a napkin and looking miserable.

He walked up behind her and grabbed her arm, pulling her up.

"Hey!" Peyton yelled, an angry look crossing her face. It melted as soon as she saw who had yanked her up so unceremoniously. "Jake, what…" She was cut off as Jake's lips covered hers. She wrapped her arms around him and lost herself into that kiss.

Brooke and Lucas shared confused looks. Why was Jake - an employee of Dan and an old basketball team mate of Lucas - kissing their friend like that? Had they missed something?

"Wow," Peyton breathed, looking over Jake's shoulder to see her father get quickly to his feet, his expression murderous. "Let's get out of here," she whispered, a grin on her face.

"Yeah, let's," Jake grinned.

Peyton turned to Brooke and Lucas. "Uh, I'm beat. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Tell Haley and Nathan congratulations from me." Her tone was rushed, and her eyes were telling Brooke that she would explain everything tomorrow. "Bye!"

The two of them all but ran from the dining room, with Larry Sawyer hot on their trail.

xxx

"Well, what a night," Lucas said, raising his eyebrows. Only he and Brooke were left at the table.

"Yeah," Brooke said, staring at the table. "A lot of stuff going on." Or not going on, she thought sadly.

"Look, I know you don't want me to say it, but are you all right?"

Brooke rolled her eyes. "I'm fine Luke. I don't know how many times I have to say it!"

Lucas looked hurt, but he soldiered on anyway. "Well, you can say it until you're blue in the face, but you're just not acting like it, pretty girl."

"Don't call me that!" Brooke snapped.

Lucas gave a sigh and leaned back on his chair. "Fine. I just won't say anything. You'll find something wrong with it anyway."

Brooke rolled her eyes, but already she felt guilt pull at her throat. She looked over to where Haley and Nathan were dancing and being congratulated by everyone. They were having such a good night and it wasn't fair that she was ruining Lucas's because of her irrational sadness. She took a deep breath and laid her hand on top of Lucas's.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's my fault you're having a lousy night and I'm sorry."

"It's not lousy," Lucas said, sighing. "But seeing you look so despondent…"

"Uh, big word Lucas."

Lucas cracked a smile. "Looking so sad, it makes me feel helpless that I can't make you feel any better."

Brooke felt her eyes stinging. "I just… I just need some time," she said softly. "I promise this is nothing to do with you. Just be patient with me. Please?"

Lucas smiled and nodded. "Absolutely."

"And I don't mind if you call me pretty girl," Brooke said with a smile.

Lucas laughed. "Okay, pretty girl."