Strength Of The World

For a week or so after she had that terrible nightmare, Peyton was completely on edge. She would stay home, curled up on the couch and watch tv when she wasn't working. She wasn't sleeping much. Every time she closed her eyes it replayed in her mind: Jason standing over Zack's body with a knife in his hand, blood dripping from the blade and a sick smile on his face. It made her sick just thinking about it. If she went out in public she was jumpy and constantly looking over her shoulder. She cried all the time. Zack and the girls had tried talking to her, but she wouldn't open up about it. She wouldn't even tell Brian. Peyton was terrified. She knew that Jason could find her at any second of any day, and she had her walls up. One day after a studio session, Zack came home to find her sitting on the couch, her hair piled into a messy up and circles under her eyes that were so dark you'd think it was makeup. "Okay P," he said, standing in front of her and holding his hand up. "Get up, we're getting out of town for a few days. Let's go up to the lake house." Peyton didn't say a word, she just stood up and silently walked up the stairs. Zack sighed, running a hand through his hair and went upstairs to find his girlfriend. To his surprise, she was in their bedroom packing a bag. "What do I need to bring?" She asked quietly. "Just your normal stuff. Maybe a dress if you feel up to getting out and going to dinner one night." Peyton nodded and packed her clothes, underwear and shoes. When she was finished, she zipped up her bag and walked over to Zack, who was in the process of getting his clothes together. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his back. "I'm sorry." She whispered, tears falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry I shut you out. You don't deserve it. I haven't felt like myself much lately." Zack put his clothes back down and turned around, tilting her head to meet his gaze. "Baby you don't have to apologize. I get it. You've been through a lot of shit, and you know I'm here for you whenever you need me. I'll help you through whatever you're facing Pey." He said. She smiled softly and leaned up on her tip toes to place her lips on his. "I love you Zee." "Love you babe. Now let's get our shit packed so we can go." He said, smacking her on the butt as she was turning to walk away. For the first time in almost two weeks, she let out a laugh.

Once they arrived at her parent's lake house she was starving. They decided to order takeout and hang out on the couch. Being there with Zack made Peyton realize how disconnected she had been over the past few days, and the thought of it just made her cry all over again. Zack looked over at her and saw the tears streaming down her face. "Why are you crying?" "I don't even know!" She sobbed, "I just feel so bad for the way I've been acting. And I am just so scared something is going to happen and it's going to screw up everything." "Hey, come here Peyton." He said softly, pulling her into his lap. "Stop worrying so much. Everything is going to be okay. I'm not going to let anything or anyone hurt you. I promise." He kissed the top of her head then continued, "I told your dad that I would take care of you, and that's what I'm going to do. You're my girl. I love you. We get through this together." She sat there in his lap with her head against his chest and listened to his heart beating. She knew she was being ridiculous, but what she didn't understand was why this was making her so emotional. They sat there holding each other until the food came. They were halfway through their Chinese when they started talking about Matt and Val's upcoming wedding. "I can't believe they're finally getting married. I feel like they've been engaged forever." Zack laughed. "You're gonna be the most beautiful girl standing up there next Saturday." "Babe they haven't been engaged that long, maybe like a year." Peyton chuckled. "And I'm pretty sure it's against the rules to look better than the bride on her wedding day." "Well. You're gonna be gorgeous. Just like every other day of the week. I can't wait until it's our turn." Zack grinned. "Well Brian and Mich have to get married first." Peyton joked, "God knows when that will be." "Yeah we might be getting married at forty." He laughed, "And I'm pretty sure that's too late to start a family." At the mention of starting a family, a thought came into Peyton's head. Holy shit. When was my last period? Oh shit. She was debating on straight up telling Zack that she missed her period, but decided to wait until she knew for sure what was going on.

After dinner she decided she was going to go relax in the bath while Zack made some calls and worked a little on his laptop. While the water was warming up she opened the cabinet in search of her lavender bath bombs, when she found the box of pregnancy tests. She knew they were there, they belonged to her. She bought them right after Jason proposed, luckily the test was negative. "What the hell, why not?" She mumbled to herself. She pulled the cap off, peed on the stick, then placed it on the counter and set a timer on her phone. By now a bath was out of the question, so she turned the water off and walked into the bedroom to put some pajamas on. Once she heard the timer go off she called out to Zack. "Hey babe can you come here for a second?" She heard footsteps coming up the hall, then saw his head poke through the doorway. "What's up baby?" "I need you to do something for me. Go in the bathroom and tell me what that test says on the counter. I can't bring myself to look at it." She asked quietly. Zack just stood there with wide eyes. "Test? You mean..." he trailed off, standing as still as she's ever seen him. Peyton nodded as a small tear slipped down her face. Zack said nothing, but walked past her into the bathroom. She heard him pick the test up off the counter, but nothing after that. She wanted to turn and look at him, but couldn't bring herself to do it. "Peyton." Zack said sternly. She slowly turned to look at him and was a little surprised at what she saw. Zack was standing there holding up the test with tears in his eyes and the biggest smile she has ever seen on his face, "It's positive." "What?" She whispered, getting off the bed. Zack set the test back on the counter and walked into the bedroom. "It's positive. We're having a baby." He said, scooping her up into a hug. "Oh my god. A baby." She smiled. "Holy shit you're going to be a dad!" She laughed. "We're having a baby!" She squealed as Zack picked her up and spun her around. The rest of their night was spent talking about baby things and just spending time together. A weekend at the lake house was exactly what they needed.

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