"Why is everyone staring at us?" Brooke mused as she walked into school with Peyton. She couldn't help but notice the entire student body looking their way. People whispered, giggled and glared all around them.

"Staring at us? Hun, they're staring at you," Peyton clarified.

"Me?" Brooke questioned, accusingly. "Why would they be staring at me? Well, I have a few thoughts, but they're all so judgmental. Where are the fawning men and their spiteful girlfriends?"

Brooke was notoriously one of the school's biggest flirts, probably second behind Nathan Scott. She was used to guys staring at her. Whether it be that they wanted to hook up or they have hooked up with her and she casted them aside. Nothing out of the ordinary. Even girls glaring at her was typical behavior. Often jealous of her good looks, rich lifestyle, or sleeping with their boyfriends, Brooke didn't care. Today's glances were different across the board.

"Brooke!" Bevin, another cheerleader, called out trying to get her attention. She met Brooke and Peyton halfway as they headed towards the quad. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Brooke asked.

"That you're..." Bevin changed her tone and whispered the rest of her sentence, "...pregnant."

Brooke gawked at the question. Peyton was just as shocked. That certainly came out of left field. "What?! No! Who told you that?" Brooke demanded to know. She was going to kill the person spreading lies about her.

"Well, I heard it from Tim who heard it from Felix who heard it from Anna who heard it from Teresa," Bevin continued on and on as she listed people.

"Bevin, get to the point," Peyton said, speeding up the process.

"Who heard it from Rachel," Bevin finished.

"Rachel," Brooke gritted between her teeth. Why was she not surprised.

Rachel was the newest cheerleader on the team and was driving Brooke insane. She tried to convince the other cheerleaders that she was more deserving of the head cheerleader position than Brooke. That was three days into her being on the team.

Rachel was the type to be nice to your face, but the moment you had something she wanted you better brace yourself. She was ruthless, conniving bitch, and, according to word on the street, a huge slut. Rachel'd only been at Tree Hill High School for two weeks and already established a reputation.

"Hey, Brooke," Nathan smirked, approaching the girls. "Rumor has it that you're pregnant. Shouldn't say I'm surprised. Karma's a real bitch isn't it?"

Serves her right, Nathan thought. He was still furious with her after that past weekend. Not only did she meddle with him and Peyton, but Brooke had drug Haley into it. Her being pregnant was the perfect payback.

Brooke was not going to stand there and let Nathan treat her like scum. Brooke Davis never went down without a fight. It's not like he had much room to talk himself. He was an expectant father.

"You want to talk about karma? What about the fact that you got-" Brooke was cut off by Peyton jumping in to quickly cover Brooke's mouth with her hand.

"What she means to say is that it's not true," Peyton covered for her friend. Seeing as it was bright and early, she knew Haley had not had the opportunity to speak to Nathan about the baby, otherwise the smug look on his face wouldn't be there. Peyton wasn't going to let Brooke accidentally blab Haley's personal business without her talking to Nathan first.

"Really? 'Cause Rachel told me that she saw you buying a pregnancy test yesterday. You gonna say that's not true either?" Nathan questioned. He knew Rachel to concoct many stories to get in good favor with him. She'd seen how this weekend had played out and thought that maybe getting some dirt on Brooke would convince him to hook up with her.

The proposal was quite tempting for Nathan. Rachel was a fiery, hot red-head. He always had the most fun with those. Nathan typically would have not given a second thought as to hopping into bed with her, but every time he wanted to say yes, Haley's face flashed in his mind.

It felt wrong to be with another girl. As much as he'd try to deny it, Nathan had grown to like Haley. And with their distance over the past two days, he couldn't think or sleep until he knew how Haley was. She had refused his calls since Saturday night. Nathan was desperate to know if everything was alright.

"It's true, I'm pregnant," Brooke grumbled, lying through her teeth. There was no way she could explain that the test was for a friend without getting bombarded on what friend it was. If she didn't lie, word would get out that it was Haley who was pregnant.

Brooke had been working on being a better person, especially to Haley. She had a long journey ahead of her to make up for what she did. Blasting someone's sex tape for all to see was a pretty unforgivable act. Until Haley told Nathan the truth, Brooke decided to be the pregnant one. However, she hoped Haley would talk to Nathan soon because guys would not want to go anywhere near her if they thought she was pregnant.

"So who's the daddy?" Nathan mused. "Let me guess, you don't know?"

"Brooke, congratulations!" Bevin praised, enveloping Brooke in a hug.

"Could you promise to keep it quiet?" Brooke asked Bevin, knowing very well that Bevin wouldn't be able to keep quiet past third period.

"Of course! My lips are sealed," Bevin promised as she pretended to zip her lips up and throw away the key. She skipped away, heading over to some other cheerleaders. "Hey guys! Guess what."

"So much for keeping a secret," Nathan commented, shaking his head in laughter before walking away.

Once Nathan was out of earshot, Peyton swung around to face Brooke. "What was that for? You're not pregnant," Peyton questioned. She tried to rationalize her friend's behavior and had come up empty handed. It was a big thing to announce that she was pregnant when she was most certainly not.

"I know I'm not," Brooke reminded. "Obviously, Haley hasn't told Nathan yet. I can lie for a couple of hours on her behalf until she tells him. Then once the cat is out of the bag, I'll explain that it was just a huge misunderstanding."

"That's really nice of you, Brooke," Peyton commended. In three days, Brooke had come a long way from the pettiness she displayed over the weekend. Peyton was proud.

"I know," Brooke smiled. She instantly spotted Lucas and Haley chatting over by Haley's locker. The four of them had so much to talk about. Absolutely no time to waste. "Now come on, I see Haley and Lucas." Brooke pulled Peyton over with her towards Lucas and Haley. "You need to tell Nathan the truth soon." Brooke did not care if she was interrupting their conversation, some things took precedent.

"Good morning to you, too," Haley said as put her books in her locker. She just got to school and surprisingly had been ignored by students like any other day. Haley was relieved that someone must of had juicier gossip and that it was bigger news than her and Nathan's sex tape. "I'll tell him soon, Brooke. I just need time."

"We don't have time. The entire school thinks I'm pregnant," Brooke explained, trying not to freak out.

"What?" Haley asked.

"Rachel saw Brooke buying the pregnancy test yesterday and told the whole school about it, including Nathan," Peyton added for clarification. "Brooke took the fall to buy you some time."

"And as much as I am trying to make up for this past weekend, I can't keep this charade up much longer," Brooke said. Being fake pregnant for five minutes was exhausting. She couldn't imagine what Haley was going through.

"And how do you think I feel, Brooke? Do you think I want people gossiping about me for the next nine months. You have to live with this for a day. This is the rest of my life," Haley snapped. Seeing Brooke's mouth part in shock at Haley's outburst, she felt immensely guilty. Even Lucas and Peyton were taken aback. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. It's the hormones. Just give me till the end of the day."

Haley gazed over Lucas's notebook and copied all of yesterday's notes. She had taken her free period to the tutoring center to get caught up with the classes she missed. Haley knew she would regret skipping yesterday. This was exactly why Haley hated missing school. You miss one day and you get so far behind.

"You're back," Nathan commented, standing in the doorway of the tutoring center.

"How'd you know I was in here?" Haley asked, not bothering to lift her head up from her notes. She was so close to finishing that she wouldn't let even Nathan distract her.

"I asked around," Nathan admitted. He saw Haley in the halls this morning, but she was either with Lucas, Peyton, and Brooke. He thought it was kind of odd since Haley didn't really know Peyton or Brooke. Nathan assumed that with Lucas and Peyton kind of being together and since Brooke goes wherever Peyton goes, they would start to hang around Haley.

He would have tried to put more of an effort to talk to her, but he still had issues with Lucas and Brooke. If they were that latched to Haley, then they wouldn't let him anywhere near him. He just wanted to opportunity to clear his name to her and maybe get back on track with her.

Haley set down her pencil and looked at Nathan. She was never going to finish her notes with Nathan there. Haley noticed that they were all alone in the tutoring center. No one could listen in or bother them. Perhaps this was the time to tell him the truth about the baby.

"Actually, it's good you're here because we need to talk," Haley began.

"Good, but there's something I needed to say first," Nathan said. He took the seat across from Haley's at the table and grabbed her hand with his to caress. His heart swelled seeing her wearing the bracelet he gave her. The fact she was still wearing it gave him hope. "I had nothing to do with Brooke playing the video. I didn't even know she found it until it was too late. Please believe me."

"I do." She heard the same thing from Brooke the other day. There was no reason for her not to believe him since their stories corroborated. However, it still didn't excuse the question that plagued her mind. "But answer me this, did you keep the tape because you were going to tell Lucas the truth once I finished tutoring you. Was this all just to get back at him?" She had suspected that was Nathan's true intentions for a few days now but had no confirmation backing her. Nathan avoided her gaze and kept quiet. His silence was answer enough. "I thought so."

"I was going to." Nathan hated that Haley figured out his plan. He wanted to keep the truth hidden from her since he changed his mind. She was never supposed to find out. "But after spending all this time together, I realized I couldn't do that to you."

"Thank you." Haley reciprocated Nathan's action. While he held her hand, she rubbed her thumb against his to caress like he had done to her. The simple gesture sent waves through his body.

"For what?" Nathan was grateful that Haley hadn't blown up on him like he expected. He didn't think she'd even accept his apology. Nathan didn't deserve it. "I've proved myself time and time again not to be worthy of your kindness."

"You're right, but at least you finally told me the truth."

"At least you let me explain myself. It's kind of been hard to explain yourself when no one picks up your calls." Nathan held no ill will towards her for ignoring him. If he were in her shoes he probably would do the same. "I was worried when you didn't show up to school yesterday."

"About that..." Haley began. Now that Nathan had aired out everything that was on his chest, it was Haley's turn. "I have to tell you something."

"Okay."

She didn't hesitate and kept her eyes locked on Nathan. Rip it off like a band-aid, she told herself. "I'm pregnant."

Nathan retreated his hand from Haley's and sat on it. "What?"

"It's not Brooke. It's me. I'm pregnant."

"That's impossible," Nathan said, slowly standing up and stumbling on the chair. He started to back away from the table as he tried to wrap his mind around what was happening. How this was happening. "We were careful."

"Not careful enough, guy without a condom." Haley matched Nathan's movements to prevent him from running away. They at least had to talk about this.

Nathan couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was careful every time he was with a girl. Proper condom use was ingrained in his head by Dan to prevent this exact thing from happening. His dad had endured two teen pregnancies, Nathan vowed never to make the same mistake.

He tried to remember the details of that night at the beach house. He was confident that they had used protection each time. Nathan never went without it. Even in his drunken state it was always a priority. Nathan vaguely remembered being out of condoms at the beach house, so he ignored protection altogether as his hormones got the best of him. He chastised himself for not considering the fact that Haley wasn't on the pill.

"Are you going to say something?" Haley asked. She was nervous of Nathan's reaction. The possibility of raising this child by herself was one she had already accepted, but hearing those words come from his mouth would be harder to face. "We're going to have a baby. You might as well tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking that I'm supposed to go to Duke and get drafted into the NBA, Haley. A baby absolutely ruins this for me!" Nathan shouted. He could no longer contain his frustration at the situation. At his own stupidity. All emotions he had cared for Haley went out the window when he recognized that his future was in jeopardy.

"And you think I'm happy about this? It wasn't exactly a planned pregnancy. I had dreams too, Nathan. I was supposed to go to Stanford," Haley argued. Of course Nathan would only see how this affected him. She was the one carrying his baby. They both had to make sacrifices now as parents. It wasn't just about them anymore.

"You could still do that. And I can still go to Duke. We could easily get an-" Nathan suggested, before Haley cut him off.

"Don't you dare say it," Haley fought back. "I'm keeping this baby."

"Then don't expect me to hang around and play Daddy," Nathan spat.

"Trust me, I wasn't planning on it. I just thought to give you a heads up, so when our child comes looking for you in fifteen years you're not completely side swept," Haley said. She packed up her bag angrily. There was no way she could continue working there. She had to get out of the tutoring center. "God, Nathan. You show me one shred of decent human emotion and you know how to royally screw it up, don't you?"

Haley stormed out of the tutoring center, trying to prevent the tears from streaming down her face. She shouldn't have gotten so heated back there. This was exactly what she expected, so why was she so hurt? Nathan wanted nothing to do with her or their baby. She had known this. It was idiotic of her to consider otherwise.

"Haley!" Lucas called, seeing Haley run out of the tutoring center. He jogged over to catch up with her. From the tears in her eyes, he knew something was wrong. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I told him, Luke," Haley sobbed. "And it went just how I thought it would."

Lucas hugged Haley and rubbed her head, pulling her close so she could cry into his chest. "Shhh, everything's going to be alright. You still have me, don't you?" Lucas reassured her.

"Could you just take me home?" Haley begged. There way no way she could go back to class looking like a mess. Word would get out even if she wasn't there. She could deal with her classmates knowing the truth, but not on the same day that Nathan rejected her and their baby.

"Of course, I'll text Brooke and Peyton to let them know," Lucas said. With Haley still in his arms, he looked up and locked eyes with Nathan exiting the tutoring center. Lucas held Haley even tighter to prevent her from turning around. He didn't want her to even face him after all the pain he caused.

Nathan wanted to feel something when he saw Haley crying in Lucas' arms. Jealousy. Hurt. Anger. Anything. Seeing Haley made his sick. He knew he couldn't stay in the school. He had to get out of there. Get away from school. Get away from reality. Get away from Haley.

Haley was pregnant. And he was going to be a father.

Nathan walked right past Lucas and Haley and went towards the parking lot before getting stopped by Rachel.

"Hey, Nate," Rachel flirted.

"Get the hell out of my way, Rachel," Nathan demanded.

"What's got your panties in a twist? Anything I can help with," Rachel continued as she closed the space between them, trailing her fingers up and down his chest.

Nathan looked at Rachel. She was hot. There was no denying that. Nathan had stopped himself from pursing her out of respect for Haley, but seeing as he wanted nothing to do with her, he could go after Rachel without feeling any sense of guilt.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Nathan asked.

Rachel grinned, "I thought you would never ask."