From Now On – chapter two
Rachel walked into Karen's café and scanned to try and find her friend, she eventually rested to a spot behind the counter where Brooke stood talking and laughing with Haley, not wanting to interrupt their conversation she stood and waited, soon enough Brooke saw her and a smile formed on her face "Hey Rachel" she called out over the café looking towards the red head and indicating that she should move forward.
"Wow I didn't think those boobs could get any bigger" Haley said to Brooke looking forwards before Brooke slapped her on the arm, she let out a smile and then walked over to serve another customer.
"Sit down and have something eat, I will be done soon" Brooke said walking in front of the counter and directing Rachel towards a clear table and pulling out the chair so that she could be seated. Brooke walked then back behind the counter forcing Haley to take Rachel's order.
As Haley did so Rachel looked over her shoulder and noticed Nathan walking in with who she would soon find out to be Lydia, she smirked and looked back up to Haley "Nathan is still pretty hot" she teased as Haley looked behind herself to her husband's warm eyes.
"And still very married" she responded looking down at the order pad
"That's never stopped me" she continued just trying to maintain the relationship that they had in high school
"Same old Rachel" Haley responded before turning around to walk into the kitchen before pinching the ridge of her nose and turning back to the smug red head, or what she had perceived as the smug red head " I have a whole bunch of baby clothes, both genders, if you want them. Oh and you are welcome to use our pool if you get too uncomfortable" Haley said surprising not only herself but Rachel as well, so Rachel decided to surprise Haley right back
"Thankyou" she said with a smile. Haley thought of how much she had changed since high school and decided to give Rachel the benefit of the doubt that she may have grown up somewhat since her somewhat sluttier days back in those school days. Haley walked over to Nathan and they embraced before she scooped her eldest daughter Lydia up in her arms and span her around, from what Rachel perceived it was a happy family moment, one that she would never have, she wouldn't be standing in a crowded café with a man at her side telling her constantly how beautiful she was and holding her hand as their child knelt on the counter stool and ordered her own food, Rachel would be standing alone in front of her child knowing full well that his father wouldn't be with him, and that he wouldn't be with him or her by choice. She felt her eyes well up and practically ran out of the café, without word or without explanation; well it was more of a quick walk since her current state made it quite difficult to run anywhere. Brooke looked up from talking to Lydia to the door that Rachel was running out of back to Haley who was doing the same
"What did you say to her?" Brooke asked as her own eyes filled with confusion as Haley met her gaze and shrugged her shoulders
"I said she could have my baby clothes and swim in my pool" she said
"Anything else?" Brooke prodded her friend, knowing in full probability that Haley hadn't said anything to upset her, Haley didn't have a mean bone in her body, well she did but she only brought it out on special occasions, but knowing Rachel and Haley's history Brooke had to ask
"I asked her if she wanted fries with that" Haley responded
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She didn't really know why she was standing here, why she was standing on the steps of TRIC, but then again she wasn't sure why she was in Tree Hill at all, she thought it might have to do with the fact that Brooke still lived here, because even through the bad times Brooke was there for her, after a fair bit of hatred. She had lost full contact with Brooke after stealing her money and cried for weeks wondering how she had let such a friend slip away from her but her faith was rekindled on the night of the school reunion when despite everything Brooke had just held her, not yelled or slapped or called the police like Rachel had originally expected, she just held her and she knew instantly knew that if Brooke was the only friend she had then she had pretty amazing and awesome friends. Now she stood on the steps of TRIC, she had remembered Owen telling her that Chase was still working here and right now she just felt desperate, this desperation reminded her of the Hot Uncle Cooper days. She took in a deep breath and walked in, she looked around and her gaze fell upon Chase behind the counter talking to a girl, Rachel assumed that it was Alex Dupre, both Owen and Brooke had told her how smitten Chase was with her. Rachel walked over to the bar and took a seat.
"I'm sorry we aren't open yet" he said before quickly glancing over to her "Rachel" he said with a smile
"You're not exactly a clean teen now" Rachel said looking back at the girl who had just kissed his cheek and walked out.
"What are you doing here?" he asked the smile not leaving his lips
"You know visiting Brooke, Uhmm have you talked to Owen?" she asked not willing to look Chase in the eyes, he didn't really notice this
"Yeah we talk about once every two weeks, he is opening up his own bar in New York, think he might have a girlfriend cause he isn't slutting around as much" he said with a smile not really knowing the significance to this conversation or the reason that Rachel was asking, he assumed it was because once a very long time ago Owen had saved her life and she just wanted to check up on him. He worked out that he was most probably wrong when Rachel burst into tears.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa" he said crossing the bar to try and get to her to comfort her, he had only seen her chest and up from where she was sitting and he had paid no attention to her bigger bust and fuller face but when he crossed to go and sit down and comfort her he saw her rounded belly and instantly noticed the bigger bust and fuller face, felling stupid for not noticing it beforehand. "WHOA" he responded "You're Pregnant" she nodded as tears fell down her face, he looked back into his mind and tried to think of exactly what he had said to get her to the point of sadness.
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Chase sat in bed that night when Alex walked in, she was in her pyjamas and sat down on the edge of the bed in front of him, sweeping her dark hair over her shoulder and rubbing moisturizer on her legs, it was her usual routine and usually somewhere between the sitting down and finished moisturizing Chase would make an attempt to crack onto his very attractive girlfriend, but tonight was different he sat quite looking off into the distance, worrying about Rachel and how upset she was.
"Chase Adams, I am looking particularly good tonight what is wrong with you?" she said attempting to get his attention, when his attention didn't budge she went and sat down on his lap which instantly drew his attention back to her.
"Sorry what?" he asked looking at her concerned face
"What's wrong?" she asked moving off him and sitting down on the opposite side of the bed, his eyes followed her every move
"Can you remember Rachel from the high school reunion?" he asked and she nodded "She came into TRIC when you were leaving"
"Well then I'm not sure if I know who you are talking about cause I only saw a Pregnant….Rachel is pregnant"
"Yeah but that's not the point, we were talking and she just burst into tears, I'm not sure why and I am really worried" he said looking with full concern at his girlfriend
"Okay" she said putting a supportive hand on his thigh "What was it exactly that you said to her?"
"We were talking about Owen and his new bar" he said with a gulp still not understanding "Maybe she was upset because she was pregnant and couldn't drink"
"Don't be an idiot! How does she know Owen?" now Alex's curiosity was spiked
"Back when Brooke and Owen were sort of dating she took him back to New York to see her apartment or something, they walked into the apartment and found Rachel practically dead, Owen threw her in the shower and saved her life"
"Anything else?" she asked
"Yeah" he said thinking back a couple of months to a conversation he had had with Owen "They met up recently"
"Met up?" Alex questioned and Chase winked at her "OH MY GOD I'VE GOT IT" Alex yelled before standing up on the bed, as Chase looked at her confused and offered a hand for her to sit back down and explain it all to him. "When did Owen tell you that they met up?" she asked, she had met Owen briefly when they had gone to New York together but she knew of him before hand and of him sleeping with Millicent.
"Uhmm it was like nine months ago" he said still not getting it
"And how pregnant do you reckon Rachel is?" Alex said continuing to hint Chase towards her own conclusion
"OH MY GOD RACHEL IS HAVING OWEN'S BABY" Chase said now standing up on the bed with Alex close behind him, happy that he had finally worked it out "And I told her that I thought Owen had a girlfriend because he wasn't slutting around as much anymore" he said putting his hand on his palm rather hard.
"Oh no you didn't" she said looking on at him.
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"Thanks Mouth" Chase said as Mouth helped to put down the last Keg behind the bar, Chase was waiting patiently, well actually not so patiently, for Rachel to come into TRIC so that he could confirm or deny this whole Owen is the father thing but time just seemed to be going to slow, he stood there talking to Mouth when Mouth all of a sudden stopped talking forcing Chase to look up at him and his awestruck look.
"Is that Rachel?" he asked as Chase looked behind him "and is she pregnant?" Mouth said before running up to her and hugging her, by this stage Chase was practically beside himself and could just wait no longer, he fast paced walked up to the red head and the smiling dork and went straight out with the question.
"Is Owen the father?" this question got shocked looks from both Mouth and Rachel, Rachel because Chase had somehow worked out what she was trying so hard to hide and Mouth because he really wasn't a fan of Owen.
"Please don't tell Brooke" she pleaded as more tears rolled down her face and Chase quickly whisked her over to an open booth, considering TRIC was still closed it wasn't hard to find one, he sat her down and rushed to get her a glass of water before going over to where Mouth still stood frozen muttering "Owen?" into open air, Chase quickly whisked him over to the booth as well and got him a glass of water too.
"How?" Chase asked placing a hand on Rachel's
"You know we met at some bar in New York and we both knew that we knew each other and so we got to talking and we worked out that he had saved my life and all of a sudden we were in my hotel room together"
"And does he know that you are pregnant?" he asked remembering but not mentioning the fact that throughout all the conversations they had had in recent times there was no mention of an impending baby with one of his closest friends genes, it wasn't something that Owen would usually keep from Chase.
Rachel gulped and looked down at the table not loving reliving this part of her life "After we had sex he left me his number for next time I was in town, and I never really intended on using it again but when I found out I was pregnant I called him straight away and we met up for coffee, by the look on his face I knew he thought he was going to get some more action and so I told him about the baby"
"And what did he do?" Chase asked suddenly feeling a little embarrassed that he hadn't know this vital piece of information, he thought about the foundation of his and Owen's relationship and doubted it's strength
"He looked at me in shock for about half an hour and then told me that he was the 'kid type'" she said using her fingers to make the quotation marks "And so I told him that I was going to keep it and he told me that he couldn't stop me but he wasn't going to be part of it, that I would have to do it alone" she said as tears formed in her eyes and she looked down at the table
"HE WHAT" Chase responded in quite a high pitched tone
"Owen?" Mouth muttered still reeling from the start of the conversation
"Mouth" Chase said harshly bringing Mouth out of his little haze
"I mean Bastard" Mouth chimed in.
"I still call him, and you know fill him in on all things baby, just in case you know he changes his mind but he never answers the phone when I call" she said as Chase sat across from her getting increasingly more aggravated as seconds ticked past and now knowing full well why Owen had changed his mobile number, he was hiding from his own responsibilities.
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Chase stood next to Mouth in front of the door; they had knocked and were now just waiting for the door to be answered. Chase wasn't exactly sure how they had gotten here, they had walked Rachel to her car and each vowed to not tell Brooke who the father of her baby was, they waved with smiles as she drove off but as soon as she was out of sight they turned to each other with not so happy looks on their faces, they were angry and somehow that anger had gotten them all the way to New York. Chase asked Mouth if he was up for it and Mouth had said "That guys now slept with two of my girlfriends before me" which Chase took as a 'Yes, Let's kick some ass'. Their anger subsided on the flight that they had boarded because of the cheap airfare and comfortable seats and food but returned as they landed and remembered what had happened and why they were angry.
Owen opened the door and smiled at his friend Chase, holding his arms open indicating that he wanted a hug from his friend.
"Smug Bastard, Can I punch him?" Mouth asked with an angry look in his eye
To be continued.