My personal disclaimer: THIS IS NOT MY STORY! This story was started about 5 years ago I think, by a great author who went by the name of kat2299 over on an ezboard I frequented back in my early fandom days. Because this story is AR it is a timeless piece, I would recommend it to anyone, regardless of your shipper preference because of how wonderfully written it is. I think it is such a shame it is nowhere to be found online anymore to my best knowledge, after that ezboard crashed, taking this fic as one of it's casualties. Luckily for my own sanity I had saved all the chapters to a Word document, that's how much I loved it.

A few years ago I managed to contact the author and ask her about this story. When she told me that she had lost the story when her computer crashed I was more than happy to give it back to her. My only regret is that I did not think to save any relevant Author's Notes. Another note, the chapters did not have titles at all (at leaast on that board) that's why they are only names chapter #. I am leaving this story EXACTLY as it was written, I will only spell check for typo's, if I am in doubt about something I will leave it as is in order to not mess with the original work. (The whole story is not written in the same style as the first few chapters are, just so you don't give up on it after this first chapter. They also get ALOT longer and oh so much better)

My plan is to update with a new chapter once a week. If I for some reason have to leave for longer than that I might not post until I get back, or I might leave you with the chapters that should be posted. I will ALWAYS make AN to the latest chapter if I have to leave. I will not disclose how long it ended up being, as that might ruin the suspense for people.

If posting stories that are not your own is not allowed by the disclaimer you may warn me, and I will delete this, I did not see a specific clause in the disclaimer I just approved.

If you are, or know of a person that went by the username kat2299 please send me a message, I would love nothing more than to get back in touch with you.

Ok, so on to kat2299's brilliant fic. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Lately, Ch 1 (Background):

Okay, here is the history of the story. The students are out of high school. All five "familiar" students (Lucas, Haley, Nathan, Peyton, and Brooke) go to the same college (okay, not very likely, but work with me here.) Lucas and Haley are roommates in an apartment off campus, and are just friends.

Ch 1:

Lucas Scott opened the door to the apartment that he shared with his best friend, Haley James, and tossed his bag to the floor. He walked through the living room area and straight to his bedroom, where he collapsed on the bed from lack of energy.

Not even a minute later, he heard the front door open, and a familiar voice calling out in frustration.

H- "Lucas! Get this crap out of the walkway! I have complained about this almost every day since we moved into this place, and I always come home to find your stuff right in front of the door! Why do I even bother?" she declared, and Lucas could hear her kicking his belongings to the side.

"Yeah, I would figured that you would have given up trying with me by now." Lucas called from his room, shielding his eyes with an arm, grinning despite his exhaustion.

He could hear Haley walking quickly on the hardwood floor toward his bedroom, and braced himself for another lecture.

H- "You are beyond hopeless!" she started, and then saw Lucas' nearly lifeless form sprawled on the bed, "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, her voice and tone completely changing from one of irritation to that of concern.

L- "Yeah, I'm just wiped. I can't remember the last evening I had when I didn't have to go straight to work or to basketball practice." he answered, propping up on an elbow and resting his head in his hand.

Haley sat on the edge of his bed, and watched him carefully, "You know, you really ought to take a nap or something. You look awful." she said honestly.

Lucas rolled his eyes, "Gee thanks, Hales. You really know how to make a guy feel good. Besides, it's not like you don't have a hectic schedule yourself, what with class, work, and the volunteering you do." he kidded, and Haley swatted his leg.

H- "It's not volunteering- it's interning, only I don't get paid. And it's just for another few weeks. But I'm serious, Lucas. You've been getting up at six every morning on weekdays to go to morning work-outs before school, then you have a full day of classes, and that is usually followed by basketball practice or work, and sometimes both. You need to try to take some time to re-energize."

L- "Thanks for the summary. I know you're right, Haley," he said when he saw her start to reply to his joke, "But I have a ton of work to finish for-"

H- "Oh please," she interrupted him, "You are so crazed right now, you don't even realize that today is Friday." she reminded him.

Lucas' eyes furrowed slightly, and he checked the date on his watch, "Okay, well, I guess I have something to be thankful for."

H- "Now you have no excuse not to just rest a little and call it a night. Take a nap, and I will fix us some dinner. Then, I'll pop some popcorn, and if you are still conscious later tonight, we can watch a movie or something." she said, closing his door so that he could get some sleep.

L- "Thanks, Hales," he called as she retreated into the hallway. Kicking off his shoes, Lucas crawled into his bed and was almost immediately asleep.

TBC