Stand By Me

By Bindy417

Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill. It belongs to Mark Schwahn and the CW.

Summary: Sequel to Funny Little Feeling. After a summer of surprises, challenges, and unexpected love, it's time to return to the real world. Fall is just around the corner; and with it, school. Now bad boy Nathan Scott and tutor girl Haley James must face the toughest test of their relationship yet: their peers.

AN: Hey, everyone! So I'm finally back with a new story. I busted my butt all summer to make sure I met my September deadline for this fic. And I'm very proud that I did. I'd like to say a quick thank you to Ashly815 for letting me bounce ideas off of her and keeping me motivated, even when I felt burnt out at times. It was really great to get input from another awesome writer. I know that many of you have been waiting a long time for this sequel. I hope that you guys will enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. So let the fun begin, and please tell me what you think!

Chapter 1

Haley James ran a frustrated hand through her blonde hair as she looked at the pile of clothes on her bed. She'd been trying to put together the perfect outfit for over an hour now. She eventually narrowed it down between two shirts and a pair of dark blue capris. Now if only she could make a final decision, then this fashion nightmare would be over.

"This looks oddly familiar."

Haley turned around when she heard the deep voice behind her. Her best friend Lucas Scott was standing in her doorway. But he wasn't alone. Much to her delight, his brother and her boyfriend Nathan Scott was right next to him.

"And yet very different," Haley pointed out, eying the pair. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever predicted that her best friend and boyfriend would actually be willing to stay in the same room as one another. Things sure had changed this past summer while they were at camp.

Nathan, followed by Lucas, entered the room. He gave Haley a quick kiss in greeting before asking, "What are you doing?"

"I'm—" she began to answer when Lucas cut in.

"Haley does this all the time. Before anything major happens she has to plan everything out and find the right outfit. It usually takes her awhile," Lucas explained.

"I can see that," Nathan said as he glanced over the mess that was her room.

"You should have seen it before we went to camp. It was a total disaster in here."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Luke," she muttered dryly.

"You're welcome," he beamed.

Haley glanced between the two shirts again and held them up. "Okay, what do you guys think? Do you like the green or the white better?"

"Green."

"White."

Lucas and Nathan stared at one another as Haley groaned. "This is hopeless," she pouted.

"I have to meet up with Brooke in several minutes. Do you want me to just call her and have her come over here?" Lucas offered.

Haley thought about it for a moment. "Okay," she replied. Brooke Davis was Lucas' girlfriend and one of Haley's best friends. The two were polar opposites. Haley tended to be shyer and more conservative while Brooke was more outgoing and flamboyant. But that's what made their friendship so fun.

Brooke was really into fashion, which was another perk. At this point, Haley was desperate. If anyone knew what she should wear tomorrow, it would be Brooke. Haley just hoped that the bubbly brunette didn't pick out something too risqué for her to wear. Brooke was known to overdo things a bit at times.

"I'm going to go call her. I'll be right back."

"I still like the white," Nathan said once Lucas left.

Haley nodded and wrapped her arms around him for a comforting hug.

"What's really got you so worked up, Hales?" Nathan asked knowingly. Haley looked more than stressed at the moment. He noticed that her bottom lip was a little worn. She always bit it when she was nervous or thinking about something.

"Tomorrow's the first day of school," she mumbled.

He frowned. "So?"

"So, we're going to be seniors. Not to mention the fact that the whole social order as everyone knows it is going to be flipped upside down."

"You lost me," Nathan said with a shake of his head.

"Everything is different now, Nathan. We weren't dating before the summer. Hell, you barely even knew who I was."

"I knew you."

Haley stared at him in disbelief.

"Okay, maybe I didn't actually know you. But I was at least aware of you," he defended.

"Not to mention the fact that you and Lucas never got along," she added. "Now you guys actually seem to be acting like brothers."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Nathan questioned. He had hated Lucas ever since he learned that Lucas was Dan Scott's other child. Dan had abandoned Lucas and his mom Karen and headed off to college. That's where Dan had met Nathan's mom Deb and got her pregnant. The two married shortly after.

It was hard to hear the truth about it all as a child. Dan had sworn that Karen and Lucas meant nothing to him. But for some reason he couldn't explain, Nathan always felt like he was being secretly compared to his brother. Dan barely ever mentioned Lucas, but Nathan constantly felt like he had something to prove to his father. Eventually, after years of coming up short in Dan's eyes, that anger and humiliation that Nathan often felt translated into resentment of Lucas.

It wasn't until he'd gone to Camp Aldrich this past summer that he learned to look past the image of his brother that he'd created in his head. He got to know Lucas. A large part of that had to do with Haley. She'd been the link between them. There was also the fact that she was stubborn and had been more than determined to make them behave and get along with one another. Eventually, it had worked. Things could be a bit awkward between Nathan and Lucas, since they were still getting to know more about each other. But overall, they'd managed to work through their differences and move forward.

"Of course it is. I'm so proud of the two of you," Haley answered. "But my point is that before camp, Lucas and I were pretty much the outsiders at school. I guess I'm just worried about what everyone's reaction is going to be."

He ran a hand through her hair. "Hales, there's nothing to worry about."

"Nathan, after all of the things we went through this summer, I wouldn't count on that." Although they'd had a lot of great moments at camp, they'd also had their fair share of bad ones. It had been really hard at times when Stacey and Ryan had deliberately set out to make their lives miserable. Haley had experienced more drama this past summer than she did throughout her entire life. Needless to say, Haley wasn't going to take chances. She was gearing herself up for the worst.

Nathan stared at her for a moment. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. "Listen to me, Hales. I love you. And if anyone has a problem with that, then they're just going to have to get over it. All you need to do is walk into that school tomorrow, be confident, and show them that you're not scared. If you do that, I guarantee that everything will be fine."

"And if it's not?"

Nathan smirked. "Then I'll kick their asses."

"Aw, that's so sweet," someone said.

Haley and Nathan looked towards the door to see Haley's mom Lydia standing in the entryway.

"Mom," Haley muttered. She could feel the blush coloring her cheeks at the knowledge her mom had heard everything.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," Lydia stated, walking in. "I just baked some chocolate chip cookies. I thought you kids might like some. Nathan, I know that they're your favorite."

"They are. Thanks, Mrs. James," Nathan replied while taking the plate from her.

"Okay, then. As you were," Lydia told them. She walked out before popping her head back in for a moment. "By the way, Haley Bop, Nathan's right. Don't let those bitches at school push you around."

Haley felt her face redden further at her mother's words.

"Told you," Nathan proclaimed with a triumphant smile.

"You know, I think she likes you more than me," Haley mumbled.

As soon as they'd gotten back from camp a couple of weeks ago, Nathan had been invited for dinner at her house. Haley had written to her parents all summer while they were driving around the country in their RV, visiting Haley's numerous siblings. Once they'd gotten home, Lydia and Jimmy were very excited about meeting the boy who their daughter had fallen head over heels for. Much to Haley's, and especially Nathan's relief since he'd been so nervous, they instantly took a shine to him.

Nathan laughed while picking up a cookie and taking a huge bite. "I'm just charming, I guess."

"And a very messy eater," she giggled as she wiped the crumbs away from Nathan's mouth.

"Okay, Tutor Girl, don't freak out. I'm here," Brooke announced as she sprinted into the room with Lucas following behind.

"Sorry it took so long," Lucas apologized. "I had to go and pick her up just now."

"It's okay," Haley told him.

"Ooh, cookies!" Brooke exclaimed in excitement. She grabbed one and turned back to Haley. "All right, Broody filled me in on your situation. You need an outfit for tomorrow that says, 'Hey, I'm not slutty but am definitely hot enough to be dating Nathan Scott.'"

Lucas frowned. "I didn't say it like that."

"Haley's always hot," Nathan chimed in.

"You two need to leave," Brooke ordered. "Right now."

"But—" they both started to protest.

"We need to concentrate. Plus, Haley's going to change and try things on."

Nathan smirked. "Now I definitely want to stay."

Haley instantly blushed when he sent a sexy wink her way.

"Out!" Brooke demanded and pointed her finger towards the door.

"Fine," Lucas sighed, giving in. "It's not like I want to be scarred for life by seeing Haley naked anyway."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Luke."

"You know what I mean. You're like my sister."

"Well, she sure as hell isn't my sister," Nathan declared with a cheeky smile.

Lucas grabbed Nathan by the shirt and yanked him towards the door. "Okay, we're leaving. But we're all still on for tonight, right?"

"Yeah," Haley answered.

"We'll be there," Brooke assured him.

"Good. Bye, ladies."

"Wait a minute," Nathan said. He grabbed a few more cookies from the plate. "Just some for the road. These things are good."

"Go!" Brooke exclaimed in frustration. Afterward, she slammed the door behind them. "Finally!"

"Brooke, before we start, I'm just begging you to please not overdo it."

Brooke placed her hands on her hips. "Haley, come on. It's me."

"I know. That's what I'm worried about."

Nathan took a swig from his water bottle as he walked into his house. After Brooke had practically kicked him and Lucas out the door, the pair had decided to go down to the River Court to play basketball. They had a very big and important season ahead of them. They were going to be seniors. Therefore, it would be their last year as Ravens to make it to the state championship and impress the college scouts. Needless to say, they had their work cut out for them.

Nathan never thought it would be possible, but he was actually glad that he and Lucas would be co-captains. It had originally seemed like his worst nightmare when Whitey broke the news to them at the end of last school year. Now, however, it was kind of a relief to share the pressure with someone. All of Tree Hill had been waiting for years for the Ravens to make it to the championship. Not since his dad had played for Whitey did they have this much potential to really win. As a result, all eyes would be on them now.

"I'm not renegotiating this," Nathan heard his mother's voice from the other room. He walked towards the kitchen where he saw her talking on the phone. Based on her harsh tone and frustrated expression, he could tell that she wasn't in a good mood at the moment.

"You can't do that, Dan. We already agreed to that…No. You don't have any say in the matter…It's his decision, Dan," Deb shouted into the phone. "Nathan's practically an adult. He can make his own decisions….Then that's too damn bad, because he's staying with me. And that's final."

Nathan cringed as he heard his mom slam the phone down. "Is everything okay?" he questioned while walking further into the room.

"Oh, Nathan, honey, I didn't know you were home."

"I just got in."

"Are you hungry? Did you want some lunch?" Deb offered. It didn't escape him that she was trying to change the subject.

"Mom," he warned.

Deb sighed. "I'm sorry you had to hear that. Your father's just being, well, an ass."

"He's always been that way, Mom."

"I know, but he's been even worse during this divorce."

"He's pissed about me choosing to live with you, isn't he?" he guessed. It seemed like his parents' divorce process was stretching on forever. First they'd argued about money. Then it was about assets and property. Now they were fighting for custody of him.

Luckily, Nathan had learned that he could choose who he wanted to live with. The only problem now was that his father didn't like that decision. Dan had made his life a living hell over the years. Nathan would do anything to escape being stuck with him again.

"You know how he is when he doesn't get his way," Deb reminded him.

"Anything I can do to help?"

Deb shook her head. "No. You just concentrate on school and basketball. I can handle the rest."

"You sure?"

"Yes," Deb said with a nod. "Being married to Dan all those years was the hard part. This is a piece of cake."

Nathan nodded as he dropped his empty water bottle into the sink.

"So, are you ready for school tomorrow?"

Nathan groaned. "Not really."

Deb laughed. "I figured as much. You never were into academia."

"Nope," he commented with a shake of his head.

"What about Haley?"

Nathan rolled his eyes and smiled. "She loves the first day of school. She's already bought all of her school supplies. Even her backpack is ready to go."

Now if she could only relax about tomorrow, then she would be all set, he thought. He didn't really blame Haley for being nervous. They were quite the odd couple. There was no doubt that people would be surprised when they showed up at school tomorrow kissing and walking hand-in-hand. People would talk, but Nathan didn't care. He loved Haley. That's all that mattered. He was positive that everything would work itself out eventually.

"If only some of that could rub off on you," Deb joked.

"Maybe," he said with a shrug.

"I just want you to do your best, Nathan. You owe that to yourself—no matter what Dan may have told you in the past."

In Dan's book, school and grades were always a second to basketball. Nathan's GPA had suffered a lot because of that rationality. This year, however, Nathan wanted to at least try to do well. Whether it was because he was free to disobey his father's orders or it would make Haley proud, Nathan didn't know. But he had a feeling that it was mostly the latter.

"I'll try, Mom," he told her.

"Good. Now, how about lunch?"

"How about another game?"

"No, I'm done," Peyton declared.

"Me, too," Brooke added.

Haley scoffed. "Aw, come on. It wasn't that bad."

"Dude, you are like the mini-golf champion," Peyton declared. "You slaughtered us."

The three were on the rooftop of Karen's Café. When they were young, Haley and Lucas had built a miniature golf course up there. They used to play all of the time, which was how Haley had gotten so good. She sucked at sports, but she sure knew how to putt like nobody's business.

"I don't like losing," Brooke pouted before checking her watch. "And where the hell are the guys?"

"Well, Jake just texted me a few minutes ago. He's on his way now—if he hasn't gotten lost," Peyton added, mumbling.

"How can he get lost? Tree Hill's like the smallest freaking town in North Carolina."

"He did just move here with his family," Peyton reminded her. "And since he's been away for the summer, he never had a chance to get familiar with everything."

Jake's family had moved to Tree Hill from Savannah, Georgia in May. His parents had sent him to Camp Aldrich to meet some kids his own age before school started. He'd been Lucas and Nathan's roommate. He was a good guy and instantly fit in with their new and improved group. Peyton had had the biggest crush on him all summer. The two were finally together now, and everyone couldn't be happier for them.

"I guess you're right," Brooke admitted. She turned to Haley. "Aside from mini golf, why does everyone have to meet up here?"

"I told you guys that it was a surprise."

"But we're here now," Peyton pointed out. "Why can't you tell us already?"

"We have to wait until everyone else shows up," Haley stated. It was then that the rooftop door opened.

"Good evening, ladies," Tim greeted in a suave voice.

"Dim, what are you doing here?" Brooke asked.

"The Tim was invited."

"If that's the surprise, you're dead," Brooke told Haley.

She shook her head. "Trust me, it's not."

"Hey, guys," Kat said from behind him.

The girls all looked at her in astonishment. "I thought you couldn't make it," Peyton reminded her.

"Well, there was a change of plans," Kat told them. "So I called up Tim and had him bring me here."

"It's good to see you, Kitty Kat," Brooke said as she hugged her. "It's been a couple of weeks."

Peyton and Haley followed suit. They'd also met Kat at Camp Aldrich. She'd been their roommate. They'd all become good friends. She also happened to be Tim's girlfriend now.

"I know. It sucks that I don't live here with you guys. But I promise to visit whenever I get a chance."

"After you get your Tim Time of course," Tim spoke up.

The girls all rolled their eyes. Tim always came up with the weirdest things.

"Okay, we're here," Nathan announced as he, Lucas, and Jake walked through the door. "What did we miss?"

"Tim Time, apparently," Peyton joked.

"Oh, thank God," Lucas muttered.

"Okay, everyone is here. Now can we please know what is going on?" Brooke begged as she sidled up to Lucas.

"The reason why Haley and I have asked you all to come here is because we've decided to include you all in a little tradition," Lucas announced before looking to Haley.

"And that would be?" Nathan inquired curiously.

"Well, you see, every year we come up here the day before school starts," Haley explained as she walked over towards the brick wall. She felt around for the loose brick. She pulled it out and reached in the space to grab a tiny tin box.

Everyone stared at her with interest.

"What's with the box?" Jake questioned.

"This is part of it. What we do is we make predictions of what we think will happen or want to happen in the upcoming year." She opened the box and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "We then write our predictions down on the paper and put them back in our hiding spot. After a year has passed, we come back up here to see what we wrote and if it came true."

"That's actually kind of cool," Kat complimented as the others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. It's a lot of fun—especially when we realize how stupid some of the stuff we wrote is," Lucas added. "Anyway, we thought that you guys would like to do it with us this year. Seeing as though we're seniors now and everything."

"I'm definitely in," Peyton proclaimed.

"Me, too," Jake said.

"But now we know where it's hiding. What's to stop one of us from coming up here and seeing what we each wrote?" Brooke inquired.

Lucas wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "That's the other part of it. We just have to trust each other."

"Can we hear what you guys have written in the past?" Nathan asked.

"Hold on a sec," Haley replied as she unfolded the paper. "Let's see…'This year I'll talk to Brooke Davis.' That was Luke's, by the way."

"Aw, Broody. That's so sweet," Brooke cooed as the others laughed out loud.

Lucas flushed from embarrassment. "Thanks, Haley."

"What about you?" Tim questioned.

Haley pulled out her list and read the first prediction. "'This year I'll date a musician.'" She frowned before looking at Nathan. Everyone else's gazes followed.

"Tough luck, Nate," Tim chuckled.

Nathan glared at his friend before muttering dryly, "Why is this fun again?"

"Like Lucas said, sometimes we write stupid stuff," Haley repeated while giving him an apologetic look.

"Who cares? It's funny. Hand me a piece of paper," Brooke requested. "I'm in."

Haley passed out the pieces of paper and pencils to everyone. They all sat down at the picnic table and started to write.

"Sorry," Haley whispered to Nathan.

He leaned in and kissed her gently. "It's okay," he stated before smirking. "As long as you don't write that down again."

Haley smiled. "I won't. I'm kind of into basketball players this year."

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

"Interesting. I'm kind of into tutors myself."

"Good choice."

Nathan smirked and kissed her once more before returning to his own predictions. He wrote down everything he wanted to happen. It was a bit of wishful thinking, but who knew. Maybe it would actually come true.

"This is it."

"I know."

"It's going to be fine."

"Sure it is."

"Hales," Nathan stated as he took her hands in his. "You have nothing to be worried about."

"I know," she said while taking a deep breath. "It's okay. I'm going to be all right. I'm really nervous, but I can do it."

"Come here," Nathan said as he pulled Haley into a hug. The two were standing behind his SUV in the school parking lot. Nathan had taken a spot more towards the back for today. He wanted to have some alone time with Haley before they finally went inside the building. Nathan leaned back slightly before cupping her cheek and claiming her lips in his own.

Haley felt her back being pressed into the side of his car as Nathan kissed her passionately. She could feel her knees starting to give out and was thankful for his strong hold on her. By the time they broke apart, she was breathless.

"You look beautiful," Nathan stated as he gazed into her eyes. Her makeup was light and natural looking. The top layers of Haley's honey blonde hair were pulled back with a jeweled barrette leaving only a few wisps hanging in front. The rest fell at her shoulders. Her top was a white halter that had a scooped neckline trimmed with turquoise stones. With that she wore dark blue capris along with wedged, white sandals. Her jewelry included simple silver hoop earrings along with some silver bracelets. Overall, she looked stunning.

"You think so? Brooke took me shopping yesterday after you guys left and helped me pick it out," she said, blushing at the intense way he was looking at her.

"If it wasn't the first day, I'd say we skip school all together so that I can have you all to myself," he teased.

Haley smiled as she fixed the collar of his light blue polo shirt. "Sounds good to me." A moment later, they heard one of the bells inside the school ring. "But I guess that'll have to wait for another time."

Nathan bobbed his head in agreement as he picked up his backpack off of the ground. "We better go."

"Right," Haley said as she slid her messenger bag onto her shoulder.

"We're in this together. Remember?"

Haley nodded. "Yeah," she said with a timid smile. "We are."