In the span of a few minutes, the whole room's tone seemed to change, with Nathan and Haley remembering that day that they found out about their daughter. Brooke knew what that meant, but the rest of them just waited, knowing that there was something else wrong.
"Um... excuse me for a minute..." Haley says, wiping at her eye before standing up and walking away from the table.
The rest of them sat for a minute, not knowing how to navigate the situation, and then it was Nathan who spoke. "I shouldn't have said anything..."
"You weren't thinking about that..." Brooke says, putting her hand on Nathan's from across the table, "I'll go..."
"No." Peyton says, standing up from the table as fast as she could with her protruding stomach. "I'll go. You have all gotten to... I just... I need to do this for her."
Brooke settles back into her chair and Nathan meets Peyton's eye with an encouraging look.
She finds her in the bedroom, facing the outside wall, leaning up against the bed, and in tears. When Haley looked up, she barely acknowledged Peyton's presence, except for to try to stop her sniffling.
"You drew the short straw, huh?"
"Haley..." Peyton says, maneuvering herself onto the floor next to her.
"You realize that you aren't going to be able to get up from this floor now, don't you?" Haley chuckles, and Peyton laughs with her for a moment, and then waits. Everyone knows that Haley needs time to process. She always has and always will, so they sat for a few moments before she started to speak.
"The same day that we found out that we were having a little girl, we found out that Jamie's treatment wasn't working."
"Bittersweet." Peyton says simply.
"The definition of."
"Haley, I'm sorry about all of this."
"Peyton, what do you have to be sorry for? Did you give Jamie cancer? Did you take Elizabeth away from us?"
"No, but..."
"I know that I've made you and Lucas out to be the bad guys. I know that I've been blaming the two of you, but I also know that all those thoughts aren't true. Am I mad that the two of you left without a word and never once called to see how we were doing, yes. Am I upset that I didn't have my best friend when I needed him the most, yes."
"And that is my fault."
"Peyton, I know that you like playing the martyr, but I know for a fact that it was Lucas that called you that night from the airport. The thing is, I think what is pissing me off is the fact that you guys are getting everything when everything is being taken away from us."
Peyton had nothing to say to that, recalling that same statement being thrown at her once before. She knew that it wasn't an attack, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel horribly about the situation.
"... and the hardest part about it is that I'm so happy for you."
Peyton's eyebrows rose at this, the first time that anybody really acknowledged that what was happening was a good thing.
"I know that we haven't been welcoming with open arms, but God, Peyton... all we have wanted was for the two of you to get your act together. And now, to find out that you did, and to see everything that you have become for each other. It's amazing. The timing... not so amazing."
"You are the strongest woman I know Haley James Scott."
"Oh really? I didn't know strong women snuck out of dinner parties to cry in their bedrooms."
"Maybe not, but the strongest have the courage to be happy for someone even when their world is falling apart."
Haley nods her head, allowing the tears to form again in her eyes.
"Oh, Haley..." Peyton says, pulling her closer.
"Tell me something Peyton..."
"Like what?"
"Tell me why... after this long?"
"I hasn't been everything that everyone assumes it to be."
Haley turns in Peyton's arms, looking up to see a few tears collecting in her friend's eyes.
–
While They Were Away
–
"Peyton, I can't do this."
"You can't do this! What the hell is that supposed to mean Luke? You can't do this!"
"I just..."
"No, Luke! You sat in that doctor's office and you heard what he said, but did you ever once think of me?"
"What do you mean? Of course I thought of you, Peyton, that is all that I was thinking about! Where the hell is this coming from?"
"Lucas, did you ever think about what was going through my head, though? Yeah, I could lose the baby, I could lose my life, we could lose everything."
He stood in front of her then, taking her by the shoulders, "You think that I don't know that?"
"Luke..." she says simply, dissolving into tears at the realization that he really did understand what this meant.
"I wouldn't get rid of it, you never questioned me on that... you never even suggested it."
"Because I knew that neither of us could live with that."
They stay silent for a few minutes, taking in the thought of not having the baby that was inside of her now. A few months ago when she was rushed into the emergency room everything seemed to come into focus, but as the months drew on, the timeline that was stuck running through their heads couldn't be overlooked.
"I want to go back."
"We grew up there."
"I can't think of anywhere else we could raise this baby."
She turns to him then, taking in his face, which was a mixture of sadness and thoughtfulness at the memories of home.
"A year ago, you told me that it held too many memories, that we needed a fresh start."
"I know that. And we got it, Peyton. We got a fresh start. We know what is back there and we know what we left behind."
"What do you think they're going to say?"
"You mean if they talk to us, right...?" he says, kind of laughing at the situation that they put themselves in over the past year.
"Lucas, if something happens, and if this doesn't turn out the way that we want it to, I want you around the people that we love. I want this baby to have my best friend there, and his or her aunt and uncle and cousin. I want you to be able to read our story and tour Tree Hill, and play rivercourt basketball. I want that... if I'm there or not."
"I want that too."
"Then it's settled?"
"When do we leave?"
–
In the Present
–
"What do you mean if you are here or not..."
"I have a heart condition that made itself known during my pregnancy. The baby is aggreveating it, and as the baby grows, it gets worse. Right now, I'm okay... just a little bit more tired and I can't really do much."
"But..."
"We were told that there was a great possibility that if I carried to full term, I wouldn't be strong enough to make it through labor."
Haley sat for a minute, not able to process the information.
"So, what do we need to do?" she says, sitting up and taking charge of the moment, much in the same way the old Haley would do.
Peyton smiled at that, seeing Haley take on that motherly, take charge attitude that she always had in her. The strength that Peyton loved about her was back.
"We don't do anything... you just worry about getting your son better, and Lucas and I will worry about this."
"Have you told Brooke?"
"She knows, but you know Brooke... and I don't blame her for really not wanting anything to do with me right now..."
Of course, Brooke, being the person she was couldn't just sit and stay away from Haley, and stood at the bedroom door listening to the entire conversation. She understood why Peyton would say thatand at the same time she couldn't understand why she was still acting the way she was... she was mad at herself for what was happening. Come hell or high water, Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer had always been the best of friends. Even when they hated each other, they still cared about one another. No matter what, they always kept tabs on the other, watching out for them, even when they didn't know.
–
While They Were Away
–
"Brooke, where are you going? I kind of need you here..." Haley says, searching her friend's eyes for answers that weren't coming.
"I just have to go out of town for some business, but I will be back in a few days. You don't have to worry, and Nathan is back and I will be back soon."
"Brooke..."
"Haley, it will be fine. Jamie won't even miss me. I just have some things to take care of. Why so needy?"
"I feel like we just got you back, and now your leaving... it just..."
"I know that I was lost for a while there, but I'm back, and I'm fine. I'm going to help you through all of this, and I'm here... well... I will be in a few days, that is."
Haley laughs at the witty comment and throws her arms around her friend, glad to have someone there with her when everything started going downhill.
As soon as she got into her limo, Brooke opened up her phone, dialing her assistant as fast as she could.
"Did you find it?"
"I did... but not under what you asked."
"Well, then how did you find it?"
"I looked under Scott."
"What?"
"Do you still want it?"
"Yeah, umm... just give it to the driver, and I'll be set."
"Brooke are you sure about this? It has been a while, and..."
"Millie, I love you, but Haley needs them back, and I need them back. It's time for them to come home."
"Think of what they are coming home to, Brooke, how is that going to work?"
"I'll figure it out, just... tell him the address, and I'll talk to you later."
Four hours later, she pulled up outside a hotel in Charlotte, where reservations had already been made in one of her fake names. She didn't want to make a scene before she had to, so she got there, told the driver to leave, and rented a car for the weekend.
Just an hour after she got into town, she drove the short drive to a small apartment outside the city, where she was told Lucas and Peyton had been for the past months. She had every intention of walking up to the door and barging in. She had every intention of telling them how wrong they were in staying away. She had every intention of telling them everything that had been going on and dragging them back to Tree Hill.
Well, you know what they say about good intentions...
They all went flying out the window when she saw them. They stepped out of the apartment holding hands like they were in high school again. Walking to a car that she didn't recognize, he leaned up against her, kissing her before unlocking the door and letting her in.
It was the smile that did it. Right as Lucas pulled away, walking over to his side of the car, she let this small, perfect smile cross her face before getting into the car.
They did it. They were together, and they were happy. It was everything that their friends had all been waiting on for the pair, and they finally had it.
She sat for a few minutes trying to figure out what she should do. She could walk in a tell them a sob story about everything that had happened while they had been away, or she could leave it, hoping that eventually they would come to their senses and come back to their family again.
A few minutes turned into a few hours, just sitting in front of the building thinking through everything, and she had decided. She knew that she couldn't disrupt this. Her best friend had gone through so much so far in her life that it didn't seem fair to ruin it for her now. And in that moment she saw the car pull up again, with Lucas jumping out as fast as he could to run over to the other side. Peyton got out, with that same smile plastered on her face from before and Brooke let herself smile, a tear sliding down her cheek when she saw him reach down and palm the slight roundness of her stomach that she had failed to notice before.
The best of intentions and the worst timing.
–
Present Day
–
"You guys okay in here?" she finally says, coming around the bed to face the women on the floor.
"Yeah, we're okay." Haley says, assuring Brooke, who had been on "protect Haley" mode ever since Lucas and Peyton had come back to town.
Haley stood up, wiping at her eyes to get any lose tears away from her face. Then a smile came across her face as she looked down at Peyton, who had a look of confusion come across her features.
"I told you that you wouldn't be able to get up once you sat down there."
Peyton just laughed a bit as Haley extended her hand and then Brooke came to help her up as well.
"You know, Peyton, with all things considered, the pregnancy thing looks really good on you."
"Yeah..." she says, sarcastically.
"Oh please, you turn around and you're the same Peyton from high school."
"and I turn around and I'm you in high school... ha!" she retorts back, earning a smack to the shoulder from Haley.
"How are we?"
"We're working on it..." Haley says to her seriously, with a smile still playing at the corners of her mouth.
"B. Davis?" She turns to Brooke and asks.
"We're getting there too, but don't be thinking that I'm gonna be calling you P. Scott, cause that's a little too weird for me."
"And why is that?"
"Cause you have always been and always will be P. Sawyer to me."
The girls allow themselves another minute before returning to the rest of the group, not knowing what a six year old, a teenager, and two grown men could have possibly found to keep themselves occupied.
They laughed when they found them in the living room in front of a game of Rock Band... maybe things were going to be getting better.
–
All right guys, I'm sorry about the delay in an update for this fic as well as my other two that are currently under construction. It is a busy part of the year for me, so I hope that you forgive me and accept this chapter as my apology to you! It is a bit lighter than the others, but still dramatic, cause I love me some drama. I miss my Leyton now in season 7, so I'm just going to let my imagination to the writing and keep my Leyton as Leytony as ever now that they aren't on the show anymore. Anyways... I also want to give a MASSIVE shout out to smc-27, cause I'm telling you right now... if you don't read this person's fic, you a MISSING OUT!!! So, go check out their page. I have never read a Leyton fic by this person that I did not like... so, enjoy!!
And REVIEW!!