A/N: This is after the second season finale, when Hailey comes back. Everything else is normal. Just a bit of fluff I had to get out of my system. Flames are fun  Also, this isn't trying to bash anyone (except Hailey… that evil little… I only like her when she's with Lucas… I don't know why… hee) especially Chris because Chris is too kool for skool. In out-dated slang.  You know you love it. Also, this may or may not be a one shot. I know not.

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"Hailey. What are you… doing here?" Nathan said slowly, looking around for a route that would take him to his remaining bag in the car without having to go near his wife. Ex-wife. Whatever.

"Nathan… I'm so sorry!" She said, and he could hear the tears in her voice as she dropped her bag and rushed forward to hug him. But he stepped back, wary of this girl that he loved. If he still loved her. Nathan tried not to think about Hailey, or feelings, so his feelings about Hailey weren't the number one topic of thought.

She looked puzzled, as if he should just accept her back in open arms after cruelly leaving him to go on a tour with a guy who wants her, to put it politely. She opened her mouth to say something but Nathan just held his hands out defensively.

"Hailey. I told you not to come home. Why are you here? No one wants you here." He said, trying to impose every bit of fury in his body into that one sentence. He hoped this hurt her as much as she had hurt him when she ran off with Chris. Hailey looked more than just puzzled now; the emotions were more along the lines of shock and humiliation.

"Nathan… I'm sorry." She whispered in her soft voice, which was suddenly hoarse. But he simply turned around, and walked back into the house, forgetting all about the poor abandoned bag in his car. Hailey choked bag her tears and turned around, walking down back into the driveway where her taxi was still waiting patiently.

Where would she go now that her husband had refused her? Though, Haley didn't even know if he was still even her husband after that annulment that may or may not have been forged. Lucas or Peyton, if they weren't out having the time of their lives or something. Listening to ugly music and drinking whisky and doing coke. The last two things weren't very fair or truthful but she was in a bitter mood and didn't really care if she was getting her facts straight.

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Lucas walked Peyton slowly to the door. Her eyes were still swollen and chapped for crying, but when she turned to say good-bye she smiled, and it seemed genuine. Though, Lucas wasn't a very good judge of character, as he was once friends with Hailey.

"Bye Peyton. Call me if you need anything. Really, I'm not just saying that, since now my mom is in New Zealand, my girl is in California, my brother is in Satan's lair, I could use the company." Lucas said softly, wrapping the blonde in a hug. Peyton smiled sadly and nodded, closing the door at departing back.

Lucas climbed into his mother's car, driving smoothly along. He really had no desire to be home right now, opening the door to an empty, lifeless house. But to his dismay he reached the house eventually. He parked carefully, and climbed out, heading for the door when he suddenly felt someone grab his wrist.

He turned in shock, but his rush of adrenaline that accompanied his fear was soon replaced by euphoria as he wrapped the brunette before him in a hug.

"Hailey! When did you get back? Have you seen Nathan?" He said as she buried her face in his chest. When she didn't speak for a few long moments, Lucas tipped her head up to see tears silently streaking down her face. "God. What did Nathan do?"

"Nothing, really. It was my fault. I turned up, unexpected, and he told me to go. So, I thought, you or Peyton and you were closer. You know, less cab fare." She smiled at her own little self-absorbed joke. Lucas returned the smile.

"Why don't you come inside? I'll make some hot chocolate and we can dish like girls. I could call Peyton if you want –" Lucas began, only to be rudely interrupted by the girl standing beside him.

"No, let's just have it be the two of us," Hailey said, taking Lucas's arm as he unlocked the door carefully.

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An hour later when the hot chocolate had been slurped away, Lucas and Haley still talked- mostly about Haley's problems. The girl couldn't stop talking. He didn't mind though, he had already filled her in about his mother being gone, and the only other thing he had to talk about was Brooke, and he felt strangely uncomfortable talking about that in front of Hailey.

"So, the bottom line is, we may or may not be married, but he obviously doesn't want to, or maybe he's just afraid?" Hailey rambled on, slowly coming to a halt when she saw Lucas's expression.

"Have I already said that?" She said, blushing shyly.

"No, it's, I don't care. It's fine to stare at you, you're gorgeous. Even in that ugly blue goofy hat that we took from the lost and found in freshman year, when it made your hair stick up and nothing could control it…" This time it was Hailey staring.

"You remembered that? It was like, three years ago at least! That's so sweet. You always know how to make me feel better." She snuggled into his arms so her head was against his chest and her arms around his waist. Lucas said nothing, dropping his head to fall against the crown of her head. In a few minutes, he realized she had fallen asleep, and they were so deeply entwined that there was no way he could move without waking her. Instead, he closed his eyes, hoping she didn't snore.

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Hailey woke up with the feeling of extreme happiness and warmth. She burrowed deeper into whatever was keeping her so warm and then realized it was Lucas's sleeping body. She turned her head up, their faces inches away. His eyes were closed and his breathing steady so he must have been still asleep at that point. But while she continued to looking at his face, he stirred a bit.

Lucas felt someone's warm, foggy breath against his face, smelling of old chocolate. He tried to open his eyes but he was too tired. It felt like just seconds ago he had fallen asleep. Eventually he peeled open his eyes to see Hailey just centimeters away. Her eyes flickered for a second, and Lucas realized she had glanced at his lips. That was something Brooke did just seconds before they would kiss. Like, making sure it was still there, it hadn't run away or anything. Lucas just peered curiously at her eyes as the centimeters between them began to disappear.

Soon their lips were pressed up against each other, and then their bodies were. And then, the phone rang shrilly against the calm. Lucas leapt back, like he was finally realizing what was going on, and headed for the phone.

"Hello? Oh hey... Yeah… Yeah… Sorry... Okay… Bye…"

Hailey watched him with a bored expression on her face. "Who was that?"

Lucas ran his hand through his short hair. "Nathan. He wants me to tell you, to leave town, to go back to your music, since that's the only thing you care about." His voice was quiet, like he was hoping Hailey wouldn't hear.

"What? That ass. I care about him, and my parents, and my sisters, and Peyton and Brooke, and… you…" Hailey stood, wrapping her arms around Lucas's neck, and pulling him into a deep kiss.

"Really? Because I never really liked you." Lucas murmured back with a smile.