Fic: Hate/Love Story (One Tree hill, Peyton/Haley) for 30_forbidden
Title: Hate/Love Story
Author/Artist: crimsonredmagic
Pairing: Peyton Sawyer/Haley James
Fandom: One Tree Hill
Theme: #5 Hate
Disclaimer: One Tree Hill is the property of Mark Schwann and The CW Network. I own nothing.
Word Count: 1648
Notes: This was started about six months ago and then forgotten so I thought I'd finish it up and post :)
Peyton remembers the first time she ever heard the term gay and found out what it meant.
She’d been nine years old at the time and had overheard a conversation her parents were having about their next door neighbor’s son, Peter being kicked out of home.
Her mother had said something about it being wrong of Peter’s parents to do something like that just for coming out to them.
Peyton hadn’t understood what that meant and being naturally inquisitive she risked a scolding for being nosy to ask.
Her parents hadn’t believed in sheltering her from the truth although there were certain things they rarely looked forward to telling her. But the world was a harsh place and they wanted their daughter to be prepared.
Her mother had told her that Peter’s parents were upset about the way he lived his life and the person he was in love with and Peyton thought it was stupid to be angry because their son loved someone.
Her father had gone on to say that it wasn’t because their son was in love but who he was in love with.
Peter loved another boy and his parents didn’t approve.
Peter’s parents hated that their son was gay.
Peyton told her parents that she didn’t see what the big deal was apart from the fact that boys were gross and she had no idea why anyone would want to be in love with one.
Four years later at her best friend Brookes 13th Birthday party Nathan Scott had tried to kiss her. After she furiously scrubbed at her lips to wipe the kiss from her mouth she punched him in the stomach and winded him.
He smirked up at her from the ground and she could tell she hurt him pretty bad. But regardless of what ever pain he felt he lived up to his reputation as a smartass and claimed he always knew she was a lesbian.
Being infinitely more knowledgeable at thirteen then she was at nine Peyton guessed that lesbian was just the right word to describe her.
She had never liked boys, never felt drawn to them and while she was past her all boys are disgusting phase she had never found herself crushing on one.
No her first and only crush at that time had been a girl named Katie who went to Tree Hill High School and lived down the road from Brooke.
So Nathans words although meant to hurt had actually been an awakening of sorts to the young teen, not that she’d let him have the satisfaction of knowing he was right.
She’d come out to her parents just like Peter had done to his when she was nine but hers were far more understanding and far more supportive.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the case with her group of friends and she soon found herself as an outcast.
She’d thought Brooke would stick by her, they were best friends and had promised to be forever but she was mistaken.
She’d approached Brooke at school the day after the rumors about her had started. She was shocked when Brooke recoiled from her innocent touch to the shoulder.
Brooke had told her to stay away from her and Peyton found herself in tears as Brooke spat the word Dyke at her and walked away.
Peyton spent the next two years without friends with the exception of a girl named Anna Teggaro.
She met Anna her first week of her freshman year in high school. Anna was in her last year and became a sort of mentor for the young teen.
Peyton developed feelings for her but unfortunately they weren’t reciprocated. Anna was very much in love with a girl that went to another school.
After the older girl graduated Peyton was back to being alone.
The harassment she suffered from her former friends got worse the older they got. What had started in junior high with name calling and whispering behind her back had escalated into something worse.
She couldn’t even walk to her locker without being ridiculed and sometimes even physically harassed. Most the girls stuck with throwing things at her or pushing her into walls as they passed her by but the guys were by far the worst.
It was as if Peytons very existence was some kind of threat to their manhood. They’d corner her in classrooms and make lewd remarks. Touch her inappropriately and suggest that all she really needed was a real man to turn her straight. The teachers were no help, most shared the same views on her sexuality as the younger generation.
Tree Hill was a small town and most of the inhabitants detested anything or anyone that challenged their views on how life should be led.
Her parents tried their best to make things easier for her, even going as far as suggesting they move but Peyton wasn’t about to let small mindedness and bigotry run her out of the place she grew up in, her home. It was other people who had the problem not her and she wasn’t going to be punished for it.
Everything changed for her in her junior year though.
She’d met Lucas Scott and through him a small group of people who she came to call friends. It was also through Lucas that she met the love of her life.
She’d been running late for school and had rushed through the double doors leading into the building without watching where she was going. She likes to think it was fate that at that very same moment Lucas was rushing out also not watching where he was going.
The two collided and tumbled in a heap on the ground, their books flying everywhere. Peyton had knelt up quickly and started to gather her books expecting whoever she had run into to start something as soon as they noticed who she was.
To her amazement though no name calling came. Lucas had knelt next to her and was trying to help gather her things. He introduced himself to her and gave her a hand up.
Of course she had already known who he was, his story was legendary and he was almost as much as a social pariah as she was.
Lucas was the illegitimate first born son of Dan Scott and Nathan Scott’s half brother. Nathan despised him and the feeling was entirely mutual.
The stood in the corridor together for a few minutes making small talk, Peyton was dreading going to class but said her goodbyes anyway and started to walk away. Lucas had called out to her and asked if she felt like ditching with him. She accepted and their friendship was born.
The next day at school she hadn’t expected him to talk to her but was pleasantly surprised when as she was walking through the cafeteria he waved her over to his table.
He was sitting with a few people who he introduced as Mouth, Jimmy, Skills, Fergie, Junk, Jake and Haley. Haley was seated next to Lucas and she looked up at Peyton and gave her a welcoming smile offering her the seat across from her.
Peyton was struck by how beautiful she was straight off the bat. She wasn’t flashy like a lot of beautiful girls were. She wore a grey zip up hoodie and a pair of jeans and her face was devoid of make up but her eyes were a clear sparkling chocolate color, her hair was a shiny auburn color and her smile was natural and kind.
After that day she ate with the group everyday and even found herself sitting with them if they shared classes. Soon after that she found herself for the first time in a long time having something to do after school and on the weekends.
They were all self confessed social outcasts. Each had their own reasons for not trying to fit in. Mouth and Jimmy were nerds doomed to spend high school being picked on but Mouth was certain once college came around thinks would get better, Skills Ferigie and Junk were all from the poorer side of Tree Hill and if there was one thing people in the town resented more then different it was poor, Jake had never wanted to be popular and was more consumed with being happy and Lucas had the whole Dan/Nathan issue to live with.
When Peyton had asked Haley one night very early into their friendship as the two of them sat in her room listening to records why she had never tried to break in with the popular set Haley had just smiled and said there was more to life then popularity.
Haley became Peytons very best friend. She trusted her more then she ever trusted Brooke and she enjoyed spending time with her more then she had Anna. It wasn’t long before her feeling for the girl moved past simple friendship and into something so much more.
But she never uttered a word of what she felt; terrified that Haley wouldn’t want to spend time with her if she knew she was in love with her.
Peyton had been resigned to simply loving her friend from a far and she took joy in just simply being able to spend time with her.
But as luck would have it that wasn’t what life had planned for Peyton and two weeks before High School graduation Peyton was given a gift she scarcely believed was possible.
Haley had been the one to make the first move, shyly asking the curly haired blonde out on a date.
The rest as they say was history.
And now many years later living her life with her love by her side, Peyton’s nothing but grateful for how everything began and she marvels at the fact that out of so much hate, pure love can be found.