Hi guys, sorry I've been MIA but I've been busy with research for my school paper. It's no excuse I know ;) From your reviews, I must say I'm psyched that you guys liked the last chapter. I hope this one doesn't disappoint. Cheers! :)

Chapter 14

Nathan picked up the picture of the baby's sonogram from the kitchen table. He looked up to Haley who looked like she was about to pass out. "Haley, are you pregnant?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Haley just stood rooted to the ground while Michael was looking more and more uncomfortable. "I'm asking you Haley. Is this yours? Are you pregnant?" he said, his voice getting louder. "Answer me!" he yelled when Haley still didn't say anything.

"Hey man. There's no need for you to yell," Michael said and put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Nathan."

Nathan pushed Michael away from him roughly. "Don't touch me! And don't you dare tell me to calm down." He turned to Haley again, anger flashing in his eyes. "Haley, I'm gonna ask you one last time. Are you pregnant?" he said, trying to control his voice.

"Yes, I'm pregnant," Haley finally said and felt tears starting to fall down her cheeks.

Nathan felt like he had just been punched in the gut. He took in a deep breath to calm himself down although he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the picture. He looked at Michael, then at Haley who was now crying openly. "Who's the father?" he asked as he took a step forward towards her. Michael was about to say something when he cut him short.

"It's him, isn't it?" he asked angrily and pointed an accusing finger towards Michael. "Wow, how could I be so stupid? All this talk about you guys being just friends when you couldn't wait to jump from my bed to his." A second later, he felt his cheek sting and his head reel back from the sharp slap that had landed on his face. He touched his burning cheek before looking at Haley who was being held back by Michael.

"Nathan, I think you should go," Michael said without looking at him, his hand rubbing Haley's arm soothingly. "Just go Nathan."

"Like hell I'm going. I don't see how it's any of your business Michael. This is between me and Haley so why don't you just butt out of this, huh?"

Micheal stood between Nathan and Haley, unwilling to budge. He could hear Haley crying softly behind him. "You're right. This is between you and Haley, but she's my friend, and I'll be damned if I see you hurt her. So why don't you just go and calm yourself down first."

He took one last contemptuous look at a sobbing Haley before leaving quietly, his cheek still feeling raw from the force of Haley's slap.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked Haley who simply nodded. "Here, sit down." She wiped away the tears from her face and sat down as her brain still tried to register everything that had happened. Michael handed her a glass of water which she gratefully took with shaking hands.

She looked at Michael with watery eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get you in the line of fire." She put the glass of water on the table and groaned in her hands. "Oh God, this is so screwed up!"

He put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. Maybe it's a good thing that he knows. You don't have to live with this lie anymore."

"Yeah, but he still doesn't know that it's his." She got up and went to the window, staring into space. "Hey, do you think it's okay if you leave? I just need some time alone," she said as she turned to face him.

He looked at her uncertainly. He didn't want to leave her like this but he felt helpless at the same time. "Are you sure?" She nodded firmly. "Okay, but promise you'll call me if you need anything, okay?" He went over to her and enveloped her in a tight hug. He kissed the top of her head before pulling apart. "I'll see you later okay?" He then placed a hand on her stomach. "And you, don't go giving your momma any trouble, you hear me?"

Haley smiled and walked him to the door, relieved to be left alone. She knew it was her fault. She could have told Nathan when she had the chance and felt angry at herself for letting Nathan find out about the baby that way. Well, I guess it's true what they say about lies. They have a habit of catching up to you.

Outside Haley's house, Michael fished his cell phone from his pocket. "Peyton, we have a problem. Meet me at my house," he said before heading to his car.

"So, he was pretty upset huh?" Peyton said as he climbed into Michael's car. They had been at his house talking about what had just happened between Nathan and Haley.

Michael smirked as he turned on the ignition. "Huh, pretty upset doesn't even begin to describe him. I don't blame the guy though. But I don't blame Haley either."

Peyton felt the wind blow her hair as Michael's car whiz away. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Are you sure about this Michael? I mean, I don't want Haley to be more upset than she already is."

Michael stared at the road ahead of them. "You know, for the first time in my life, I'm not sure of anything anymore," he said ending the conversation.

A few minutes later, they arrived at Nathan's house. Peyton looked at Michael for reassurance and was rewarded by him raising his eyebrows. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, which was answered by a silence. She knocked again, and again there was silence.

"Looks like he's not home," she said.

"What are you guys doing here?" a voice behind them said, making them both jump. They turned around and came face to face with a disheveled looking Nathan. He walked past them, bumping his shoulders with Michael. Both Peyton and Michael exchanged uncertain looks and stood rooted at the front door.

"Well, are you guys coming in or what?" Nathan asked, giving them an exasperated look.

"I was afraid that you'd slam the door in my face," Michael said nervously.

"Don't tempt me," Nathan simply said and opened the door wider. He grabbed Peyton's arm as she walked through the door. "So I guess you knew about this too?" Peyton gave him an apologetic look and nodded silently. He looked at her for the longest time before letting her go. He closed the door and walked over to his fridge.

"Beer?" he offered the both of them, who shook their heads. He grabbed one from the fridge and took a long slug. "So, what brings you here? To shove it in my face, that you got Haley pregnant?" Nathan said bitterly.

"Nathan, I think you should sit down," Peyton said and grabbed him before leading him towards the couch.

"So how long have you and Haley been at it, huh? Let me guess, she figured that since she lost her virginity to me, there's no harm in jumping into your bed, right?" Nathan said, directing his anger at Michael.

"Nathan, it's not what you think. Will you please shut up and let us explain?" Michael said.

"What? What is there to explain? It seems to me that the girl that I've known all my life is nothing more than a slut," he said.

"Michael! No! Stop it!" Peyton yelled as Michael suddenly got up and grabbed Nathan's shirt before pinning him down on the couch, bringing his face close to Nathan's.

"Look man, I'm not gonna tell you again to shut the hell up. And if I hear you say another word about the girl who is carrying your baby, I swear to God I will give you a bloody nose," Michael said, anger flashing in his eyes before releasing him.

"What?" Nathan spluttered. "My baby? I don't believe you," he said as he struggled to get up.

"Well, you'd better believe it. Think what you want about me, but Haley and I are just friends and the only guy she has ever slept with is you," Michael continued with gritted teeth. Nathan looked disbelievingly at Peyton.

"It's true Nate. You're the father," she said. "Look, when you and Haley were together, did you guys use protection?" she asked seeing that he still had the bewildered look on his face.

Nathan got up and started pacing as he searched his memory of that night. "I don't know, I don't think so." He looked at her as reality suddenly dawned on him. "It's my baby," he finally said and felt a lurch in his stomach. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"She was scared Nate. And you're going out with Rachel. Believe it or not, she was thinking about you and Rachel the whole time."

"Wow, that's very kind of her. So, I suppose I should thank her profusely for that," he said sarcastically before a look from Michael silenced him. "You knew about this Peyton. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked Peyton accusingly.

She struggled to find the words. "Nathan, I'm sorry but you guys have put me in a very difficult situation. Haley's one of my best friends and so are you, but she made me promise not to say anything," she said apologetically. She saw that her friend was obviously distressed by the news and squeezed his arm comfortingly. "Nathan, I know you're angry at Haley right now, but whatever it is that you're feeling, there is a baby involved. Do you think Haley is happy with this? She's most probably crying her eyeballs out right now. Think of what the stress could do to the baby."

"That's not fair, Peyton. I just found out about this an hour ago and you make it sound like Haley's the victim in all this."

"I'm not Nathan," she said, trying to reason with him. "But think of it this way. She's also your best friend. And you love her." He looked at her, shocked by her bluntness. "Save your breath trying to deny it, but I'm not stupid Nate."

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't deny the truth in her words. He still loved Haley but that feeling seemed to overshadowed by anger and betrayal.

"Is she keeping it?" Nathan asked, looking at both Michael and Peyton.

"Yes she is," Michael said firmly. Nathan wasn't sure if he was relieved or afraid when he heard Michael answer.

Peyton gave him a curious look. "Do you want her too?" she asked the question that was burning on her lips the moment Nathan asked if Haley was keeping the baby.

He looked like he was about to say something when he suddenly doubled over, as if in pain.

Peyton went to him worriedly. "Nathan, are you okay?"

He put up a hand and said, "I'm fine. I just need to process all this." Peyton gave a sigh of relief.

"For a minute there I thought you were gonna pass out," she said.

Nathan managed a small smile. "Yeah, for a minute there I thought I was gonna pass out too. Thanks Peyton," he said.

For a minute she looked confused. "For what?"

"For being a good friend to Haley. You too Michael," he added.

Peyton took the hint. "Okay, we're gonna go now. But whenever you're ready, I think you should talk to Haley." Nathan simply nodded silently. "Call me if you need to talk okay?" She pulled him into a hug. "It's gonna be okay Nate. Trust me," she said and gave him a wink.

Nathan took a step towards Michael and held out his hand. "See you Nathan," Michael said. "And don't be too hard on her."

"Yeah, easier said than done," he said before closing the door and leaned against it. After his altercations with Haley earlier, he had taken a long walk to clear his mind. It didn't seem to work and now with the revelation that he was the father of Haley's baby, his brain was getting to be more cluttered. He put a hand in his pocket and felt something. Pulling it out, he saw that it was a picture of the sonogram. He didn't even realize that he had taken it. He smiled involuntarily at the image before sticking it on his fridge, next to a picture of him and Haley taken just a few months ago.

Haley sat on the couch in front of the telly and stared blankly at the flickering images. Her body was sore from the exhaustion of crying and she had just got off the phone after convincing Peyton that she didn't need her to come home early from her date with Jake. This was her mess and only she could fix it. Try as she might, she couldn't get the image of the look on Nathan's face earlier. It was almost ten and she still couldn't sleep. Everytime the phone rang, it made her jump thinking that it could be Nathan. She knew that what she did was the ultimate betrayal of their friendship, and although it hurt her, she knew that he was hurting too. She rested her head on the couch hoping that sleep would come when she heard the door knob turn. She didn't get up, thinking that it could be Peyton.

"Hales?" She immediately sat up at the sound of Nathan's voice from the door. She wiped her tearstained face before turning.

"Hey," she said, her voice raw, either from all the emotions or from the crying, she couldn't be sure. "What are you doing here?" she asked and pulled her cardigan closer.

"We need to talk," he said and walked towards her. It broke his heart to see her like this, but right now he didn't think she deserved his sympathy. "Before you start with your apologizing crap-" he started to say, making her wince at his words. "I know that the baby is mine." She looked surprised and was about to say something when he cut her short. "Don't look so surprised. Peyton and Michael came to see me justnow and told me. What? You couldn't even bother to tell me yourself and had to send them to tell me that you're carrying my baby?" he said angrily.

Haley felt her own anger swell upon hearing his words. "Nathan, I am sick of all these accusations. You accused me of sleeping with Michael when I didn't. And now you're accusing me of making Peyton and Michael my messengers?"

"Can you blame me after all your lies?"

"I never lied to you Nathan," she retorted.

He smirked angrily. "No, I suppose you didn't. You just didn't tell me the truth. And you blame it on Rachel, pretending that you didn't want to hurt her. That's really low Hales. The only person you're protecting right now is yourself. You were gonna go away, weren't you? It wasn't Michael who was going to Chicago, was it? It was you."

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Haley, I may not be a class valedictorian like you, but I'm no fool. And for a class valedictorian, you can be very stupid. How long do you think you can live with this lie, huh? What was your plan? Go to Chicago and never set foot in Tree Hill again?"

She glared at him. "What would you have me do Nathan? Tell you one day out of the blue that I'm pregnant and you're the father?"

"That would be a start," Nathan said and felt his temper rising. Seeing that she was upset, he lowered his voice. "I wish that you could have been more honest with me Hales. We've known each other since we were kids and I just feel so betrayed," he said sadly.

"I know," she said quietly. She played with the button on her cardigan, unable to face him. "What are you gonna do?" she asked, suddenly afraid of his answer.

He took in a deep breath and looked at her intently. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I'm gonna be there for you. All the way. I want to be a father to our baby."

She was taken aback by his decision. She never thought that he would bail out from his responsibilities, but to hear him actually sent a swirl of emotions she couldn't quite describe. She felt the familiar uneasiness rising in her throat and quickly made a run for it.

"Haley?" Nathan called out in confusion and followed her to the bathroom, only to find her retching in the sink. The sight of her only made the pregnancy seem more real. He gently pulled back her hair. "I know I said I'm gonna be there for you, but are you gonna this for the whole nine months?" he asked.

She turned the tap on and washed her mouth before turning to face him. "No, not for the whole nine months. Maybe six months or so," she said. "I'm due in December."

They looked at each other for the longest time before Nathan broke the silence. "I'm gonna be a dad," he finally said, the reality of the situation finally sinking in. Looking at her he realized that they were now tied together for the rest of their life by an invisible bond, held together by their baby.