"Hello?" Haley answered her cell. She was sitting at home, alone and quite bored. Nathan had gone to the gym and she had hunkered down with some ice cream and The O.C.

"Haley," Jake's urgent voice replied. "Thank God. Peyton and Lucas are both ignoring me because of some made up drama and Brooke is in the hospital and I've been sitting here waiting for news and-"

"Woah, woah," Haley said. "Slow down. Brooke is in the hospital?"

"We were ring shopping and she just passed out. I couldn't get her to wake up," Jake said, obviously upset. "I called Lucas and Peyton but they both kept ignoring my calls. Lucas had stormed out on Brooke this morning."

Haley heaved a deep sigh. "I'll be right there, and I'll be bringing Dumb and Dumber with me, okay? Just hang in there, Jake."

Haley got up, holding her hand to brace her back. She was starting to get slightly large now, and she placed her hands on her stomach, as she tended to do when she was worried.

"Well, buddy, off to the hospital we go."

When she arrived at Lucas's house minutes later, she was not surprised to see Peyton's Comet outside.

"Lucas!" Haley yelled, entering his room. She backed up in shock. Lucas and Peyton were lying on his bed together, his arm wrapped around her waist from behind. "What in the fuck are you two doing?"

Both blondes sat up, surprised. "It was nothing," Peyton said. Her eyes were red-rimmed. "Just friends comforting each other."

Haley scoffed. "You two are ones to talk. I came by to tell you that Brooke is in the hospital. Don't bother showing up. She doesn't need the drama."

She slammed the door and began to stalk back to her car as quickly as a pregnant woman could. Lucas followed close behind her.

"Haley, that was not what it looked like, and you don't know the whole story."

Haley whipped around, furious. "I don't care what it was and I don't care what the story is. When someone that you know is with your sick girlfriend, and he calls you nearly twenty times in a row, you answer it. I don't care what happened. I don't care if you were mad at her. It's like what Brooke said at my wedding. When life gets hard, when things change, true love remains the same. Even if you're mad, you're supposed to love her enough to worry about her, especially given her condition."

"Haley, I didn't know!" Lucas exclaimed, agitated and upset. "I'm coming with you."

"So am I," came Peyton's defiant voice. "I don't care if you're mad, Hales. This is between me, Lucas, Brooke, and Jake."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Fine. Whatever. But when she lashes out at the both of you, it's your funeral."

"She doesn't need to know about any of this," Peyton rushed to say.

Haley glared at her. "Of course she does."

"How is she gonna know?" Lucas asked. "It was nothing. We were barely even cuddling. There's no reason to upset her."

"You're right," Haley admitted grudgingly, opening the car door. "But I'm not doing this for you. When she gets better, I'm telling her what I saw."

"Haley-"

"Shut up, Peyton. Please. Let's just worry about Brooke right now."

The ride to the hospital was full of tense, uncomfortable silence. When they arrived, Haley lead the way into the waiting room, where Jake sat with his head in his hands. He stood and pulled Haley into a hug immediately, not even noticing the two blondes lagging behind her.

"We were just standing there, and she was all excited one second. Then she stumbled and next thing I knew, she was down-"

"I'm sure you were just standing there," Peyton mumbled mockingly, brushing her toe against the floor.

"What did I say?" Haley snapped, reeling on her. "This is not about you or whatever love triangle-square thing is going on in your heads!"

"Look, there is nothing going on between Brooke and I," Jake said seriously. "She was helping me with a surprise for you."

"I saw you!" Peyton shouted. "I saw you at the antique store, holding her! I saw you!"

"Peyton!" Jake exclaimed, cutting off her hysteria. "You have no idea what you saw. I was hugging her because I was thanking her. She did me a huge favor."

"Then why did Lucas say you guys looked like way more than friends this morning?" Peyton pouted.

"Because he doesn't know what he saw either! Brooke and I are close! I don't get why nobody knows that about us, but we are. So we banter. But Luke, you twisted that because I think deep down, you're jealous that I'm the one who's saving Brooke-"

"Shut up," Lucas growled, his voice low.

Haley stepped between them. "I have had enough. I am tired, worried, and pregnant. Lucas, shut up! Jake is right. Peyton, calm down. Brooke has never given you a reason to not trust her. So just back off, both of you, and worry about what's really important here! I am going to call my husband, and if, when I come back, you children are still fighting, I will personally kick your ass!"

With that, Haley waddled off, leaving a stunned, awkward silence in her wake.

"You're wrong," Lucas said quietly, but his voice was full of anger. "First of all, that is not why I'm jealous. I'm jealous because you're obviously hooking up with my girlfriend. And second, you're not saving Brooke. Don't flatter yourself. I'm the one who saved her. This whole time, I've been saving her-"

"Oh really?" Jake spat. "You've been saving her? When? When she broke up with you because, oh wait, my girlfriend kissed you? After you two had gone behind her back before? Or when you screamed at her and called her a slut? Or when you put those bruises on her wrists?"

"You weren't there for any of that," Lucas hissed.

"I wasn't," Jake agreed, his voice calm. "But Brooke called me, back then. We're close. We are friends. She cared about me because Peyton did. Anyone that Peyton loves, Brooke loves."

"That's obvious," Peyton said sarcastically.

"You know what? I'm not going to keep explaining myself to you. Either of you. You obviously want Brooke and I to have been fooling around behind your back. We haven't been. I care about Brooke. Peyton, I love you. Brooke loves you, Lucas. If you two don't get that, then there's nothing I can do."

"It's obvious what's going on," Peyton said stubbornly.

Jake shook his head. "Ya know, if anyone has a right to be suspicious, it's Brooke and I. You two have cheated before. Peyton, you proposed to me and then said I love you Lucas in your sleep. Then took off and kissed him while he was dating Brooke, and told her you had feelings for him, knowing she'd break up with him. But we have faith in you guys. It's pretty fucked up that you don't have the same faith in us even though we haven't betrayed you."

With that, Jake walked away from them. Peyton watched him go, tears in her eyes.

"What if we're wrong?"

"You are," Haley said from behind them. "And I ran in to Dr. Grant. He said she's running a high fever and she's asleep. He doesn't want anyone to visit her yet, but thinks she should be cleared to go home tonight. Nathan is on his way, and if I were you two, I'd stay out of his way when he gets here."

"Why is everyone always against the two of us?" Lucas growled.

"Because you two keep fucking everything up!" Haley exclaimed.

Lucas took in her words, everything finally hitting him as he slumped in a chair.

"Did I get through your thick skull yet?" Haley asked, arms crossed. He nodded meekly and she sat across from him, obviously satisfied. "Good. You're an idiot."

"I'm gonna go find Jake," Peyton mumbled softly, standing up and shuffling in the direction her boyfriend had stormed off to.

"She's gonna be okay, right?" Lucas mumbled into his hands.

"I hope so," Haley said, her voice suddenly very sad. "Lucas, she might not make it to that transplant."

"I know that."

"I sometimes wonder if you do," Haley said thoughtfully. "You fight with her and then spend the rest of your time giving her these grand declarations of love. I think what Brooke wants is just plain and simple, content love. It doesn't have to be epic for her to be happy."

"The fights just happen," Lucas defended. "And I just want to show her I care."

"I know," Haley said sympathetically. "But it's the little things that make her the happiest, ya know? Like when you can order for her at a restaurant because you know her so well. Taking her to the Rivercourt to watch you play. That kind of stuff makes her the happiest. She just wants to be a part of your heart."

"She's the biggest part."

"I think it's hard to see that sometimes, through all the speeches and the decorated lockers," Haley said simply.

"I asked her to marry me," Lucas said suddenly. "She keeps saying no."

Haley's jaw dropped. She sat in stunned silence, not even noticing her husband storming toward them. Before she could say anything, Nathan had grabbed Lucas by the collar, heaving him from his chair and slamming him against a wall.

"What kind of jackass are you?" the brunette growled at his brother. "You know better than to ignore calls like that."

"I'm sorry, Nathan," Lucas said pitifully. "I get it, okay?"

Nathan dropped his hands and backed off. "You can be a real ass sometimes."

"I know."

It wasn't until two hours later that they were told they could come visit.

"Can I go first?" Lucas asked his friends tentatively. "I need to talk to her."

Haley, Nathan, Peyton, and even Jake nodded in approval. He took a deep breath and went to the room where his girlfriend lay weakly.

"Hi Broody," she said in her raspy drawl. "I'm sorry about this morning. I didn't mean to make you feel bad-"

"Haley caught me in bed with Peyton," Lucas burst out.

"Excuse me?" Brooke asked slowly.

"Nothing happened. We weren't doing anything. I was pissed after I left your house, and I went to Peyton's and vented to her. We went to the antique mart to spy on you guys, and I saw Jake holding you, and I flipped out. Peyton was in tears. We went back to my house, and we were just laying there, I promise you."

Brooke's face fell. She looked absolutely devastated, and Lucas would do anything to wipe that expression off of her pretty face and replace it with a smile.

"How could you think that?" Brooke whispered, her voice thick.

"What?" Lucas breathed.

"How could you think I would do that to you?"

"I don't know, Brooke. I just-I went crazy, babe, but I promise you, I know that you never would."

He moved to take her hand, but she snatched it away. "I just want to go home."

"Brooke, you should stay with me," Lucas said desperately. "Just think of last night, how scared you were-"

"I don't need you," she said, her voice low and numb.

"Pretty girl-"

"Don't, Lucas. I need time."

"Peyton and Jake are fine, they made up," Lucas pleaded. "Please, Brooke, forgive me."

"I'm not mad at you, Lucas," she whispered, and he was brutally reminded once again of when she had uttered those words before.

"Don't do this to me, Brooke," Lucas said, his face crinkled in pain. "You know I love you. I want to marry you, for godsake."

"I want to see Haley," Brooke said after a moment of quiet thought.

"Brooke, please-"

"Stop it!" she shouted suddenly. "Stop. I can't believe that the first thing you did was hop in bed with Peyton-"

"Nothing happened!"

"It hurts just the same," Brooke hissed. "Please leave. And send Haley in."

Lucas swallowed hard and left the room. He passed Haley and kept his head down so she couldn't see the tears in his eyes.

"Brooke wants you, Hales," he said, but his cracking voice sold him out. His friends watched him sadly as he walked defeatedly out of the hospital.