I suck. I was meant to post this up two weeks ago but I fell behind. The next chapter will be the last.

Chapter 19: You Can Count On Me Like 1, 2, 3

Karen Scott looked at the group of teenagers that had invaded her home. Haley was trying to teach Brooke how to bake a cake, but so far most of the ingredients were on both the girls. The sound of Brooke's giggles brought a smile to Karen's face. It had been too long since she'd heard her daughter laugh as much as she had now all of her friends were reunited. A yell from Jake in the living room brought Karen's attention to the two boys who were currently engrossed in their video game. She shook her head as her son and his best friend fought over who had cheated.

"Mom!" Brooke's voice called out from the kitchen. "Come look what I made."

Despite the fact that Karen owned and ran a cafe, Brooke had not inherited her mother's natural ability at cooking.

"Lovely!" Karen complimented as she inspected the chocolate mix that Brooke was busy stirring. Brooke smiled proudly at her mother and then back at Haley.

"Haley says she'll teach me to make brownies next." Brooke replied. Haley blushed when Karen glanced at her.

"Well, you know, I learnt from you, Karen." She said modestly. Karen put an arm around the young girl and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Nonsense. Your brownies are much better than mine. I think you picked up a few things from your mother. "

"No, no. The recipe is all from you. My mom's brownies are nothing like yours. Even Brooke agrees." Brooke nodded at Haley's words.

"Brooke!" Karen was shocked. "I hope you've been polite when Lydia gave you the brownies."

"Oh, Mom, Lydia knows. That's why she hardly makes the brownies. She wants the recipe!" Brooke replied as Haley agreed.

"In that case, I'm willing to trade my brownie recipe if you ask your mom for her chicken soup recipe." Karen told Haley.

"I will definitely ask." Haley promised.

"Mom!" Nathan's voice prompted Karen to leave the girls and check in with the boys.

"Yes, Nathan?"

"Could you fix us a snack?" He asked before adding a quick 'please' when he saw her face.

"Of course. What would you like?" she asked. Nathan shrugged and looked at Jake. "Jake?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Karen." Jake said. She gave him a look that told him that he wasn't going to get out of it. "Um, a sandwich would be great."

"We'll make it, Mom!" Brooke's voice called from the kitchen. "Haley, get the bread." She heard her tell her friend.

Karen was silent for a few moments before smiling to herself and shaking her head.

"Okay, kids. I'll let you have the run of the house." She said as she took her coat from the coat rack by the front door. "I'll be back in a little while to start dinner. Enjoy yourselves."

She was greeted by a chorus of 'goodbyes' as she left her home with a big grin on her face. She didn't care what they got up to. What mattered most was that they were all together again.

Brooke and Haley sat in the kitchen as they contemplated on who was going to start cleaning up.

"We made a big mess." Brooke mumbled as she surveyed the scene. Haley sighed in agreement before stretching her arms out to relieve the tension in her shoulders. "I think we should make the boys clean up."

"I heard that," Nathan said as he walked into the kitchen. "I'm not doing it." Brooke and Haley groaned.

"But we cooked, Nate!" Brooke complained to her brother. "You guys did the eating."

"It's not like we let you starve, Brooke." He countered as he cut himself a small slice of cake.

"How can you still be hungry?" Haley questioned, receiving a shrug in reply. "Where's Jake?"

"He's putting Jenny down for her afternoon nap. He's really missed her. "

"I bet he's tired too." Haley ran a hand through her hair and caught Nathan's gaze. His head snapped away as he realised he had been caught watching her. Haley bit her lip and glanced nervously at her hands.

Brooke looked between the two and loudly announced her departure. "Well, I'm tired too. I'm heading for a nap." She didn't wait for the other two to begin protesting and rushed out of the kitchen.

Nathan and Haley were left to sit in awkward silence in the kitchen.

Brooke gently knocked on the bedroom door and poked her head into the room. Jake looked up from the bed where Jenny was peacefully sleeping. "Can I come in?" she whispered.

"Sure. She just fell asleep though." He pressed a finger to his lip and Brooke crept in slowly. She sat on the edge of the bed and gazed at the sleeping toddler. "Where are Nathan and Haley?"

"I left them in the kitchen."

"Alone?"

"Yeah. Hopefully they'll actually talk this time." Brooke rolled her eyes. Now that Jake was back, she wanted everything to go back to normal as quickly as possible. "I don't know how long I can watch them tip-toe around each other."

"They'll figure it out." Jake reassured.

"If not, we can lock them in a room somewhere."

"I know a place." Jake joked, but Brooke frowned at his mention of the jail cell he'd only just vacated. "Ow!"

"It's not funny!" she hissed. Jenny began to stir and the two teenagers froze in their actions until she fell back asleep. "See, you almost woke her up." Brooke said in a lower tone.

"It's fine. I'm her dad. Anyway, I'm pretty tired. I'm going to take a nap." He said as he positioned himself next to his daughter.

"Oh, okay. I'll leave you alone." Brooke began to get off the bed but Jake's hand caught her wrist.

"Stay." He told her. "I could use some more female company."

"Perv." She rolled her eyes but settled down on the bed so Jenny was between the two of them. "God, I hope my dad doesn't come in. He'll have a heart attack."

"A boy in your room! The horror!" He mock-gasped as quietly as possible. "At least it's not Lucas." Brooke's smile faded at the mention of Lucas' name. "Sorry." Jake added guiltily.

"It's okay. It doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're back." Brooke offered him a quick smile to let him know she was okay.

"Well, when we get back to school, I've got your back." He told her earnestly before adding "nothing's gonna harm you… not while I'm around."

Brooke groaned as he launched into a quiet, whispered rendition of 'Not While I'm Around'.

"God, I should never have let you watch 'Sweeny Todd'." she exclaimed as she covered her ears. "You are such a girl sometimes."

"No-one's going to hurt you, no-one's going to daaaaaare…"

Peyton approached Brooke just before third period. She had been avoiding the brunette and her friends since Jake had been arrested, unable to live with the guilt that her own naivety had led to Jake's current predicament and Nikki's death. Lucas had been there for her, something she was thankful for since she and Lucas weren't the closest of siblings, and his initial anger at what she did gradually softened over the last few weeks. Peyton knew Lucas wasn't happy with her but he'd defend her since she was his sister.

"What do you want?" Brooke asked as she saw Peyton come up to her.

"Hey, I see Jake's out of prison." Brooke slammed her locker door loudly and Peyton jumped.

"Yeah, no thanks to you."

"I'm really sorry, Brooke. I honestly didn't know what Nikki-"

"-was planning to do blah blah blah." Brooke sighed. "I've heard this all before. I'm kind of sick of hearing you and your brother apologise."

"Well, I just wanted to say it again. And just for the record, if you would let Lucas talk to you, then I know he means it too. He feels really bad about everything."

"Good for the two of you." Brooke grumbled. "But maybe you should be apologising to Jake and what you put him through instead of following me around."

Peyton watched as the brunette turned away from her and walked briskly down the hallway. Jake appeared next to the blonde and Peyton immediately began to blush out of guilt.

"Hey." Jake said with a smile. "Don't mind Brooke. She just has a lot on her mind."

"I'm sorry, Jake." Peyton said. "If I'd known-"

"It's done, Peyton. Yeah, it sucked and everything could have been prevented but it happened. But I'm back and I have Jenny with me. Nikki isn't going to to turn up. I don't have time to hold grudges. It's over."

He gave the blonde a friendly smile to indicate that he wasn't going to hold it against her.

"Thanks Jake." Peyton returned his smile. Jake looked over at Brooke's retreating form and followed after her.

"Brooke, wait up!" He called after her. Brooke didn't stop but she slowed her pace down. "Don't be angry for what happened to me. It's over. I don't want you to stay angry."

"I am angry, Jake!" Brooke hissed. "You didn't have to go through all of that if it wasn't for Peyton Sawyer."

"Whatever Nikki did and what happened to her isn't just Peyton's fault. It's a big combination of things but there's no point in staying angry about it. She's gone!"

"We haven't talked about her, you know." Brooke replied quietly. "Are you-"

"I don't miss her, Brooke. I'm not sorry she's gone." Jake answered honestly. "She was never going to be Jenny's mom – not the way she could have been before."

"Still you loved her and we kind of all grew up together."

Jake sighed. "I was in love with the Nikki who made us sneak into the movie theater, and the one who used to play that awful Avril Lavigne song over and over again. But she left a long time ago. She's not been part of our lives for years."

Brooke glanced down at her feet and Jake realised that he was forgetting that Brooke and Nikki had pretty much spent the majority of their teen years joined at the hip, way before he and Nikki had started dating. He put an arm comfortingly over her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I know you guys were close. But you can't blame me for feeling this way with what she did to us." Jake pressed a soft kiss to the top of Brooke's head and offered her a smile. "But if you want to talk about her and you need someone there… I'll be there for you."

"Come on, I know you don't want to talk about her. I don't want to either."

"But if you need to, you can talk to me. Okay?"

"Okay." Brooke agreed and rolling her eyes. "God, you have to get all serious in the middle of the school day, don't you?"

Jake chuckled and ruffled Brooke's hair, much to her annoyance. "Yeah, well, you were the one turning Peyton into stone earlier."

Brooke groaned at the mention of Peyton's name and followed Jake through the corridors on their way to World History.

Haley looked at the cupcake sitting on the desk. Surprised, she looked up to see Nathan standing over her. "No food in the library." Haley whispered. Her tone wasn't unfriendly, which was a relief for him.

"You look like you need a break. Plus, it's strawberry flavored." Nathan explained. She motioned for him to sit down beside her and he grinned.

"Thanks." She told him swiping a finger across the frosting. She poked it into her mouth and tasted the strawberry icing. "It's good."

"I know. I had three on my way here." Nathan joked.

"I know you're joking but I wouldn't doubt it. Did you get it from your mom's café?"

"Yeah, she made a fresh batch this morning. I don't think she'd miss one."

"Your mom's happy you're home." Haley mentioned. Nathan's grin faded. "Don't worry, it's not going to turn into a fight." She reassured him. "I think it's nice."

"Haley, I'm really sor-"

"I'm sick of fighting, Nathan." She interrupted him. "I'm also sick of apologies so can we just… I don't know, forget it all and just start over?"

Nathan nodded. "I'd like that."

"Good, because I think Brooke is running out of excuses to leave us alone in rooms."

"I love my sister, but she's about as subtle as a freight train." Nathan chuckled as he went to take from frosting from Haley's cupcake.

"Mine!" She warned him as she swatted his hand away. She giggled when his fingers pretty much fell into the cake and he had pink frosting all over his hand.

A librarian shushed them loudly which caused the two to giggle even more.

"Okay, stop destroying my cupcake and help me study for our Biology test."

"We have a Biology test?"

"Do you never listen in class?" Nathan smiled in answer. "Sit down, I'll help you." Haley put her notes in between them as Nathan settled down in the seat next to her. "Remember this from last week?"

Nathan listened as Haley went through her neat, color-coded notes with him and watched as her hands animatedly emphasised the points she was trying to make.

Sure, they weren't together anymore. But she didn't hate him and she didn't avoid him anymore. They were actually talking – about school – but it was a real conversation that wasn't punctuated with awkward pauses or uncomfortable shuffling. This was re-earning her trust and her friendship.

Haley turned to look at him and fought the blushes that crept up her cheeks at the sight of his gaze before turning back to her notes.

With everything that had happened between the friends, with Nikki's return, Jake's arrest, and her and Nathan's engagement, she was glad that things were beginning to piece back together. After years of having a crush on Nathan, she had finally got him but the ensuing drama it caused and their rough breakup made her realise that perhaps they had moved too quickly. She loved Nathan, of course. She loved him like she loved Jake and Brooke and her parents. Haley knew that even if they would never date again, she would always love him and she'd rather love him as a friend than not have him at all.

The bell rang, indicating the end of lunch. Haley packed up her bag and put on her jacket. When she turned around, Nathan was standing up and holding out her mushed cupcake. She chuckled softly and took it from him, letting him lead her to class.

To be continued…