PS I Love You Chapter 2: Maybe, an one tree hill fanfic

A/N: Finally, after a very long wait, the sequel to P.S. I Love You is OUT! And just in time for psycho-fangirl's birthday too! Happy 18th! D Anyway, there's a song in the middle, and it's a duet: Girl's part is in bold, and guy's is in italics, and when they're both singing it's in bold italics.So yep. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the song. Which is mine. And permission must be sought before it's used.

Maybe

Carrying a very heavy Jenny in his arm, Jake Jagielski made his way across the road and into the Millenia Records building. Once inside, Jake put Jenny down with a relieved sigh. Jenny stuck her thumb in her mouth, looking around in awe as she groped around for Jake's hand.

"Jenny, thumb out," Jake chided her, putting his hand in her smaller one.

Jenny took her thumb out with a little 'pop'. "Daddy, why are we going to see Uncle Donald?" she asked softlfy, shyly sticking to her father as people passed them, smiling at Jake and his precious daughter.

"Well, you want to see Auntie Peyton, don't you?" he responded.

"I wanna press the button!" she shrieked, leaving his hand and running to the elevator, pushing the 'up' button. She turned and grinned at Jake, giggling furiously.

Jake couldn't help but smile. He was glad Jenny was in his life. She was a breath of fresh air, a constant burst of energy, the only thing that kept him going. He scooped her up as the elevator came, giving her a little kiss on the cheek. "I love you, sweetie," he whispered. But she was oblivious to that, watching as the numbers slowly changed from '1' to '11'. Then the elevator doors opened.

The pair stepped out, heading for Donald Greenberg's office. He knocked twice and popped his head in. "Hey, Don. You free?"

Donald Greenberg looked up from his laptop, and a grin broke out on his face. Ah, it was his rock star, his café musical wonder and his daughter. "For you, Matt, anytime. Come on in."

Jake pushed open the door and stepped inside, setting Jenny down on the red suede couch. He sat down on the armrest beside her.

"Hiya, Jenny!" Don greeted the little girl.

Jenny looked up at him, a shy smile on her face as she tried to hide behind her father's back. Jake grinned and put his arm around her, gently pushing her into view.

"Hi, Uncle Donald," she whispered.

"So what can I do for you?" Don asked, leaning back in his swivel chair and placing his hands behind his head.

"Aww, come on, Don, can't a guy drop by just to say hi?" Jake joked.

Don laughed. "When it comes to you, no."

"You're right," Jake said. "I was thinking of going back to Tree Hill to play a gig there."

Don leaned forward, frowning. "Matt, no way. You've barely got a single out, your CD came out three weeks ago, and you want to start a tour?"

"Not a tour. Just, y'know, a gig. At a little bar in Tree Hill. Tric. A friend of mine runs it, and I could arrange everything on my own. Please let me do it, Don. Jenny wants to go back to her birth town. Don't you, sweetie?" he turned to Jenny, who nodded.

"That's child exploitation," Don joked. He sighed. "Alright. Go for it. Have fun. Just be back soon."

Jake grinned. "Awesome. Thanks, Don."

Haley James Scott stirred her chocolate cake batter, wondering why guys were so hooked onto basketball. From her place in the kitchen, she had a perfect view of Nathan, screaming at the basketball game on TV, a can of beer on the table in front of him.

The phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts. She paused, waiting to see if Nathan would get it. "Honey, could you get the phone please?" she asked sweetly.

"Can't you get it? I'm a little busy," Nathan replied, not taking his eyes off the TV. "Aw, come on! It was so open! How could he have missed it?" The phone continued ringing. "Haley, the phone's ringing."

Haley sighed, frustrated. She shoved her wooden spoon down and went to answer the phone.

"What?" she snapped.

"Uh, Haley? If this is a bad time I could probably call again later…"

"Oh, god, I'm sorry. Who is this?"

"This is Jake Jagielski. I'm not sure if you –"

"Oh my goodness! Jake! Hi! Hey, um, you're a guy, right? What is it about basketball that gets guys screaming at the TV?" she wondered.

She could almost see Jake on the other end of the line, frowning or scratching his head. "Uh…what?"

"Never mind. NATHAN'S JUST BEING A PIG AGAIN," she said loudly, trying to get his attention. Nothing. She rolled her eyes. Guys. "Sorry. So what can I do for a big rock star like you?"

"What is it with today? Everybody thinks I want something from them today," Jake complained.

Haley laughed. "Jake, you haven't called me for a chat in three years. Why else would you be calling me?"

"Oh, for God's sake, come ON!" Nathan screamed.

Haley put her hand over the mouthpiece. "Nathan, do you mind? I'm on the phone."

On the other end, Jake laughed. "Okay, so I do want something from you. I need a little help."

"Ask away. I've got nothing else to do anyway." She glared at Nathan. Slowly, the glare melted away into a smile as she listened to Jake's plan. "Don't worry, Jake. I'm on it. Just give me three weeks, and Brooke and I will get everything ready. Don't you worry about a thing…Okay, I'll see you in three weeks then...Alright, say hi to Jenny for me! Bye!"

She hung up, looked at Nathan for a moment, then marched up and blocked the TV. Nathan tried looking around her, then despairingly looked up at his wife. "Haley, baby, you're kinda blocking the game."

Smiling sweetly, Haley bent down, picked up the remote and, as Nathan's expression turned to horror, turned the TV off. "Jake needs our help. And 'our' includes YOU. So get off your butt and call Lucas over." She moved off, heading for the phone. "And don't you DARE touch the remote," she warned.

Dammit, Nathan cursed silently. "Yes, baby."

The oven timer ding-ed, and Haley grabbed a pair of oven mitts and took her cake out, smiling. Bakingwas so therapeutic.

The scent of freshly-baked chocolate cake caught Nathan's attention, and he came out from his room. "That smells good, baby. What's the big occasion?"

Haley chose to ignore him, giving him the silent treatment as she got out the ingredients she needed to make her icing. Nathan groaned silently. She was still mad at him.

As she stirred water into the mixture of cocoa powder and icing sugar, Nathan put his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek. "I'm sorry, Hale. You know how I get when I watch basketball."

She tried shrugging him away. "Nathan, I'm trying to make icing."

"But you're already sweet enough," he murmured into her ear.

Hiding a smile, she rolled her eyes. "Nice try." She moved away, walking to the sink and taking her apron off, folding it loosely and putting it beside the sink.

"Come on, Haley, I said I was sorry. What else do you want me to do?" he asked, getting a little exasperated. He hated when she got this way, because it was like courting her all over again: he had to find the right things to say, and make the right moves, or else she'd give him the silent treatment for the rest of the day.

"Well," Haley replied, turning to him, leaning against the sink with her arms crossed, "you could start by answering the phone. Then you could try cutting down on the amount of time you spend screaming at the TV and maybe, if it isn't too much to ask, you could help out around the house."

Her voice dripped with sarcasm, and Nathan winced. He moved towards her, pinning her against the sink. He put his arms around her again. "I promise I will, baby, as long as you forgive me." He kissed her, a kiss she happily returned, a smile on her face.

Someone at the door cleared their throat.

"Okay, if you called us over here to see the two of you make out," Brooke's voice rang out through the house, "then we're out of here."

Haley pushed Nathan away, guilt and shock on her face. Nathan laughed. "Sorry, guys," he said, nodding to Lucas and Brooke.

Haley adjusted her clothes, face red at being caught, but in an oddly good way. "Just, um, just make yourselves at home."

"You mean make out against the sink?" Brooke teased.

And Haley turned redder. "Knock it off, guys," Nathan replied, sensing his wife's embarrassment.

Haley sliced the cake as the other three made themselves comfortable on the couch.

"So did you catch the game today?" Lucas asked Nathan.

"Uh," Nathan glanced at Haley, who narrowed her eyes at him. He gave a little laugh. "Haley made cake!"

Right on cue, Haley brought the sliced cake into the living room, setting it down on the coffee table. "Honey, could you get the plates and forks, please?" she asked Nathan, smiling sweetly.

Nathan jumped up. "Right away, baby."

Brooke looked at Haley, impressed. "What did you do to him? I'd give anything for Lucas to be like that!"

"Hey," Lucas said, bristling in self-defence. "I help out."

Brooke rolled her eyes at Haley, who grinned.

"So why'd you call us down?" Brooke asked.

"Jake called today," Haley started as Nathan brought out the plates and forks.

Two weeks later…

Jake and Jenny pulled up to the Scotts' residence, both singing to P.S. I Love You, Jake's album playing in the car.

Haley looked out the window, smiling as she saw Jake and Jenny. Jenny is so precious, she thought, her motherly instincts kicking in. She went out to receive them.

"Jake! Hi! Welcome back to Tree Hill!"

Jake looked up, grinning at Haley. "Hey! Good to see you again! How've you been?" he asked, getting out of the car. He picked Jenny up and set her down. She scuttled behind him, peeking at Haley from behind Jake's legs.

Haley bent forward, trying to be on eye level with Jenny. "Hi, honey. How are you?"

Jake tried to move his leg, but Jenny was clutched firmly onto it. "Say hi to Aunt Haley, Jen," he encouraged her.

"Hi, Aunt Haley," she whispered, brown eyes staring widely at Haley.

"Oh, my god, she is so adorable," she gushed, looking at Jake.

He laughed. "So is everything ready?"

Haley nodded. "Nathan, Lucas and I are going to set things up at Tric later on, and Brooke's got Peyton covered."

Peyton. Hearing her name sent a fuzzy warmth through Jake. He missed her. He couldn't wait to see her.

"Great. How doyou find the song?" he asked.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!"

Peyton stirred. "Go away," she mumbled, turning over to her side and covering her head with her blanket.

"Peyton Sawyer, it's 10.05 and it's your day off and you are waking up this minute so that we can go shopping!" Brooke bounced on Peyton's bed, suppressing a yawn because hey, she hated waking up before 12.30 on a Saturday. But she didn't have much of a choice. So she bounced.

Peyton removed the blanket and stared at Brooke. "What the hell are you doing up at 10.05 on a Saturday?" she groaned. "And get off my bed!"

"I want to go for a full day of shopping! Hurry up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Brooke bounced harder.

"Then what the hell are you waking me up for? Go shop yourself!" Peyton tried to kick Brooke away with her leg, but Brooke got off on her own accord.

She placed her hands on her hips, wondering what to do. Then a sneaky smile snuck onto her lips. She went to the bathroom, filling up a tall glass with cold water.

Water in hand, she re-emerged into the room. "This is your last chance, Peyton. Wake up!"

Peyton groaned. "I said go away."

Brooke grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that." She emptied the water onto Peyton, causing her half-asleep roommate to sputter and sit up. "I've always wanted to do that."

"You'd better run, Davis," Peyton warned, annoyed at Brooke.

"Just hurry up and shower!" Brooke sat down on her bed, crossing one leg over the other and examining her manicure.

Peyton opened the door to the apartment she shared with Brooke, shambling inside and collapsing on her bed, dropping her bags on the floor. Brooke followed, only her footsteps were lighter and more energised than Peyton's.

"Wasn't that fun?" Brooke asked, dropping her bags beside her bed. She plopped down on the bed, feeling refreshed. "Shopping is so therapeutic!"

Peyton stared at the upside-down image of Brooke. "Are you kidding? My feet are killing me. All I want to do now is have a nice, quiet evening at home. You up for Chinese takeout?"

"Oh, no. We're not staying here tonight."

Peyton groaned again. "Brooke, come on…"

"What better way to enjoy your day off than clubbing at Tric?" Brooke suggested.

Peyton sat up and turned to face Brooke. "I'm there all week. Why would I want to go there on my day off?"

"Duh! Because I want to!" Brooke jumped up and went to her cupboard, opening it. She stared at it for a while, then pulled out two tops: a pink sequinned halter, and a red tie-dye tube. She held both up, turning to Peyton. "The pink one or the red one?"

"Neither, because we're not going!" Peyton stood up and began storing away her shopping.

"Ooh! I know!" Brooke shoved both tops back into her cupboard, and rummaged around in her numerous shopping bags, before pulling out a short red dress. "This is perfect! Lucas will be blown away!"

Peyton turned to Brooke. "Brooke, I'm really tired. You can have fun at Tric, but I'm staying at home."

Brooke laid her dress out on her bed and went to Peyton's cupboard, examining her clothes. "Come on, Peyton. Haley's performing tonight. And we're all going out for dinner after that. It'll be fun, hanging out with the gang again. The five of us haven't met up as a group in ages! Please?" She took a black halter top out of Peyton's cupboard. "Wear this?"

Peyton looked at Brooke, then finally sighed, giving in. "Alright, I'll go." She grabbed the halter top and went into the bathroom to change.

Once she closed the door, Brooke gave a sigh of relief. That was a helluva lot harder than she'd expected. Jake owed her one.

Then she smiled. Seeing Jake and Peyton together would be reward enough.

Peyton and Brooke stepped into Tric, with Peyton hoping that no emergency would arise: hopefully they wouldn't run out of napkins; hopefully nobody would get into a fight; hopefully the audio wouldn't screw up; hopefully –

"Oh, there're Nathan and Lucas! Come on." Brooke grabbed Peyton's arm and pulled her towards the guys, breaking into Peyton's thoughts.

There was a little girl with them, sitting on Lucas's lap and chatting happily with the two. "And Gramma and Grampa told me that Daddy almost never got me," she was saying as Brooke and Peyton joined them.

"Hey, cutie," Brooke greeted the little girl. "Hi, baby, hey, Nathan."

"Hey, guys," Peyton echoed. "And who're you?" Rather than gush over the little girl, Peyton was instead concerned about someone of such a young age being there. Sure, it was an all-ages club, but a five-year-old child?

The girl had gotten shy, and buried her face against Lucas's shoulder. "That's Aunt Brooke and that's Aunt Peyton," Lucas introduced her to the ladies. "And this is Jenny."

"Jenny?" Peyton frowned.

"Yeah, she's Mom's friend's daughter," Lucas quipped.

"Oh. I thought…"

"So where's Haley?" Brooke asked. "I want to wish her luck."

"She's in the Green Room, but I don't think she wants anyone back there tonight. She's a little nervous. She's doing a duet with someone, I think," Nathan answered. "I'm not sure who with, though."

Brooke opened her mouth to say something, but Peyton cut in: "Lucas, are you sure you should be bringing her in here? She's a little young. What if it gets too loud or someone starts a fight or –"

"Peyton, don't worry, we checked with Jenny's mom, and she's cool with it," Nathan interrupted.

"Oh. Well, if that's the case…"

"And quit worrying, Sawyer," Brooke chided her. "It's your night off, remember? Someone else will take care of things. Worry again and I'm gonna smack you."

Peyton rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom," she joked.

The lights went up on stage as the music faded. The five of them at the table turned.

The emcee came out on stage. "Is everyone having fun?" A loud cheer rose up. Jenny covered her ears. "Well, it's about to get hotter in here, because we are glad to have with us Haley Scott performing again tonight! Give it up for Haley Scott!"

Amidst cheers and screams, Haley came out on stage, looking gorgeous in a green cocktail dress, her brown hair falling around her. She looked exhilarated, smiling at the audience. She took her place on a stool on centre stage.

"Hey, everyone. I hope you're all have a good time." She paused, and a good thing too, because the cheers that arose for the third time in two minutes would've drowned her out. "Before I start, I'm gonna need my duet partner to come out. Outside of Tree Hill he's known as Matt Crenshaw, but here we know him as Jake Jagielski. Come on out, Jake!"

The spotlight shone on the wings as Jake emerged, walking out with a guitar and sitting down beside Haley.

On the floor, Peyton's jaw dropped. "Oh my god," she whispered under her breath, as Jenny clapped her hands, saying "That's Daddy!"

Everything was making sense now. Jenny wasn't Lucas's mom's friend's daughter, she was Jake's daughter. And Brooke, Brooke had known that Jake was coming down, and that was why she had forced Peyton to come down here.

Brooke! "Brooke, why didn't you tell me?!"

Brooke shushed her. "They're going to sing now."

And true enough, Jake began strumming his guitar.

Did you really have to leave?
I guess you did what was right
But you left me cold and lonely at night
Baby, I tried to believe
That everything'd be alright
That in this darkness I'd find the light

Things haven't been the same
Since the day I walked away
And I couldn't say the things I had to say
I even changed my name
Another place to hide away
But now I'm back, and I'm here to stay

Maybe I'm a little bit selfish
Maybe I'm being a pain
Maybe I don't know what I'm doing
Maybe I'm just filling my days
Maybe I'm wasting time
Maybe I just want you back again in my life

I wanted you safe in my arms
Never dreamt of leaving you
Fate has a way of screwing with what we do

I wanted you to keep me warm
I wanted to be with you
And I wanted you to say you love me too

Maybe I'm a little bit selfish
Maybe I'm being a pain
Maybe I don't know what I'm doing
Maybe I'm just filling my days
Maybe I'm wasting time
Maybe I just want you back again in my life

And if you come back (When I come back)
I promise you that I will swear my love to you
I'll never miss that chance (We'll have another dance)
And we'll stay together always

Jake strummed out the final chords, and looked out into the crowd, searching for Peyton.

"Jake Jagielski, everyone," Haley said, gesturing towards him.

He smiled, turning to hug Haley. "I don't see her anywhere."

"Wait for her in the Green Room. She'll be there."

Peyton stared at the stage, at the very stage where Haley and Jake had been a moment ago. Tears blurred her vision, and she stood up. "I'm going to go to the, um, the ladies'."

Brooke shared a knowing smile with Nathan and Lucas as Haley joined them, taking over Peyton's place. The four of them watched as Peyton made her way through the crowd, heading for the Green Room rather than the ladies'.

"I wanna see Daddy," Jenny said, breaking the silence.

"Just give Auntie Peyton a minute, okay, sweetie?" Haley coaxed her, taking the little girl from Lucas. She and Brooke began cooing at her, fussing over her, playing with her soft and silky brown hair. "Oh, she's such a little angel."

"I wanna see Daddy!" she demanded.

"Honey, Daddy needs to talk to Auntie Peyton alone for a minute. After that we'll all go see him, alright?" Brooke tried.

"What is it with girls and kids?" Nathan asked Lucas.

Peyton pushed open the door to the Green Room, pausing in the doorway, hesitant.

Jake looked up at her, smiling. "Hi."

"Hi."

There was an awkward silence.

"I missed you," Jake said.

Peyton moved into the room, throwing her arms around Jake. Jake held her tightly, almost afraid to let her go. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in the lingering scents of her shampoo. He missed her so much.

"I love you, Peyton," he whispered, pulling away. He looked at her for a moment, taking in her features, remembering her. "Peyton, Jenny needs a mother."

Not knowing what to say, Peyton simply nodded.

He put his hand into his pocket, pulling out a silver ring with a small diamond. "Will you marry me?"

The tears blurred her vision again as she nodded. Smiling, Jake hugged her again.

Finally, she was his.

Later that night, Lucas and Brooke lay on the hood of his car, watching the stars, their hands intertwined.

"Isn't it wonderful how Peyton and Jake are getting married?" Brooke whispered, a smile on her face.

"Mmm-hmmm," Lucas replied, his eyes closed.

"I can't believe how much Jenny has grown."

"Me neither."

They lay in silence for a while, basking in each other's warmth.

"Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you marry me?"

Brooke smiled. She got up, leaning on her elbow as she looked at Lucas. She kissed him. "It took you long enough."

-end-