Why Don't You and I
Summary: AU. Haley is a 23 year old single mom, Nathan lives in the next-door apartment. Over the years he's practically become like a father to her kids, but when will they finally get together? It's going to take some 'help' from their friends... NH JP some LB
A/N: AU details. The main teens in the show are all 23 in this fic, except Lucas who is 26. Lucas and Nathan are full brothers (parents Dan and Deb) and are the only ones originally from Tree Hill. Dan still owns Dan Scott Motors, but Keith owns a hardware store. Haley and Jake are step brother and sister but were friends before their parents got married so they are close. They both lived in Charleston. Haley got pregnant in her first semester of college, so she dropped out and moved to Tree Hill.
A/N 2: I've written and posted a lot of fan fiction, but this is my first One Tree Hill. Please read and review!
Chapter One
Nathan Scott switched off his computer and headed to his kitchen to see if there was something to eat. Of course, there wasn't. He had better things to do than go to the supermarket. This meant take-out. If only he could locate the telephone. Cleaning up his one-bedroom apartment wasn't high up on his list of things to do either.
While he was trying to find the phone, Nathan heard a noise, like someone had hit the wall 3 times, coming from outside of his living room. He chuckled to himself, knowing perfectly well who it was. He walked over to where the noise came from and hit the wall twice, the correct reply to the 'code'. As soon as he had done this a shrill voice yelled, "Nathan!"
"Yes?"
"Mummy's ruined dinner again!"
Nathan laughed again, but instead of replying, he grabbed his keys and walked out of his apartment. He turned to the left, out of his door, to face the door of the apartment next door. Before he knocked on the door, it was opened by a little girl who couldn't have been much more than 4 years old. Her name was Annie James. There was a slight bruise on her face from when she had last had a fight with her brother, but this was mostly covered by her long dark wavy hair, just like her mother. However, unlike her usually cheery mother, Annie had a scowl on her face.
"What happened?" Nathan asked her, stepping into the house and shutting the door behind him.
"She put the dinner in and it came out burnt. With smoke and everything"
Nathan didn't have much experience with microwaves - unless it was re-heating leftover take-out - but he was pretty sure that you couldn't burn something badly in one. He said this to Annie. She was about to tell him otherwise, when the sprinkler system went off.
"Oh."
Annie raised her eyebrows up at him.
Nathan walked through the living room and into the kitchen. He then found his neighbour trying to get her son down from the kitchen worktop. This was no easy task since the worktop was quite wide and whenever she got to one side, he would run in the other. Plus, the sprinklers still hadn't turned off, and Michael had a lot more energy than his mother. Neither had noticed Nathan yet and he used this to his advantage when he walked over to them, and very easily lifted Michael off the table and set him on the ground. The little boy stared blankly at him for a few seconds and ran off, breaking into song - "I'm singing in the rain..." - but then ended abruptly, when the water stopped.
Haley James smiled her thanks. "What are you doing here Nathan?"
"Annie said you burnt dinner."
"Oh." Haley blushed. It wasn't the first occasion this had happened - she'd been living next door to him since Annie and Michael were a few months old, but she didn't want Nathan to think she was a ditz. He probably didn't as they were friends, and he wasn't currently available anyway, but still. He was one good-looking guy. "I don't suppose you would believe me if I told you it wasn't true?" Haley joked, forcing her mind not to wonder.
Nathan smiled. "Maybe. At least, before the sprinklers went off."
Haley giggled. "Yeah."
He walked over to her, and looked at the microwave. The door was barely open, but a lot of black smoke was still coming out, despite the sprinklers. Nathan moved closer to the microwave.
"Nathan, what are you doing?" Haley exclaimed.
"Well, you can't leave it in there forever."
Nathan put on the oven gloves that were on a stool and slowly removed the dish from the microwave. This took longer than he anticipated, since Haley made him move very slowly, fearing he would burn himself. Finally, though, he got it out, and set it down on the heat mat Haley had placed on the counter before. He fanned it until the smoke reduced and then took off the oven gloves. Both Nathan and Haley stared at the dish for a few more moments. In the place of food, there was a brown mass of...something.
"What was it supposed to be?" Nathan asked.
"Um...I can't remember now," Haley said, apologetically.
"Well," Nathan said, smiling, "it looks like mud."
"Yeah," Haley agreed. "Only of thicker consistency. And, it's also a slightly deeper brown than mud."
Nathan stared at her somewhat incredulously. She always said the strangest things. It was actually one of the reasons he liked hanging out with her. Life with Haley James was anything but boring. "You have a fascination with mud?" he teased.
"No!" she looked down, blushing. As a redhead, Haley blushed a lot. But, she had realised, for some reason, the person she blushed around most was Nathan. "It was just an observation."
"An observation? Of mud?"
Haley looked up at him to protest, but this proved to be a mistake as he was smirking at her. This caused her to blush once more, and she silently prayed that hadn't noticed. He had. He thought it was cute. Of course, Haley wasn't exactly aware of this. She tried to think of something to say, but before she could, she felt something tugging on her jeans. She looked down, and saw her son Michael pulling at them.
"Mummy, I'm hungry! What are we having for dinner?"
Haley sighed. "I guess we'll have to get take-out."
"Yay!" Michael cried. "We're having take-out!"
Annie, having heard this from the living room, came running in. "Can Nathan stay for dinner?"
Haley looked back at him, questioningly.
"Sure," he replied. "I was going to get take-out for myself, anyway."
"Alright," Haley said, glad he'd agreed. She spent so much of her time taking care of Annie and Michael, she was always happy for the company of grown-ups. But Nathan's company was especially...entertaining. "What'll it be then, pizza or Chinese?"
Annie and Michael looked at each other for a moment. Then they both looked back at Haley and said, "Chinese!"
"Okay, so I'll get the usual, Nathan what do you want?"
"Oh, my usual."
"Okay," Haley smiled and left the kitchen to get to the phone. Unlike Nathan, she knew where hers was. "Oh, and, kids?" she called, as she began to dial.
"Yes?" Annie said, from where she was, still in the kitchen with Michael and Nathan.
"Don't forget you can only have take-out once a week, so no more until next week okay?"
"But-" Nathan began.
"Sshh!" Annie placed a finger to her lips.
"No buts!" Haley called, thinking Michael had been about to protest.
Nathan could hear that Haley had started speaking to the people at the restaurant, so he looked down at the two children in front of him. "But, you two had pizza for dinner the day before yesterday when I looked after you, 'cause your mum had to go out."
"She doesn't need to know that," Michael said with conviction, and Annie looked up at Nathan so innocently he knew he would cave.
Haley walked back into the kitchen and announced that their dinner would arrive in 20 minutes. Michael and Annie then went to watch TV until dinner, leaving Nathan and Haley alone in the kitchen.
"Want some coffee?" Haley offered.
"As long as it's not burnt or made of mud," Nathan joked, sliding onto a stool at the worktop.
Haley glared back at him as she began to make their coffee, but not before Nathan saw red creeping up her cheeks.
When the coffee was ready, she sat down opposite him and the two chatted about the usual topics; work, friends, family. Nathan wrote for the sports section of the local newspaper, while Haley worked at a café. This wouldn't have been enough for her to take care of herself and both her children, but she was supported by her parents. Plus, her step-brother Jake Jagielski always 'accidentally' left money when he came to visit. He was engaged to Peyton Sawyer, his college girlfriend. He and Peyton had met through Haley since they had been roommates at Duke, until Haley got pregnant in her first semester and had to drop out. Haley was always surprised when she remembered that Jake and Peyton had never met Nathan, considering they had grown so close. Now that, Peyton and Jake had bought a house in Tree Hill, she hoped that they would soon. She really wanted them to like him, but had a hard time figuring out why. Haley had never met Nathan's brother Lucas either, but that was because he was always traveling, in his work for their dad. Nathan wasn't very close to Lucas or any of his family really, Haley had learnt. The only people he ever liked talking about were his Uncle Keith and Aunt Karen.
Pretty soon, they ran out of polite chit chat, when Haley remembered someone she hadn't asked about.
"So how's Brooke?" Haley asked, referring to Nathan's girlfriend of the past 3 months. She had first met Brooke in a rather awkward situation; a week into the relationship, when Haley had gone over to Nathan's to borrow some sugar. It was early morning and Haley hadn't wanted to wake up Nathan - or rather, she knew Nathan wouldn't answer the door if she rang the bell since - she had used the key he gave her to get in and tiptoed to the kitchen. This was where she ran into Brooke, who had been trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to find something edible in Nathan's fridge. The situation wasn't actually that embarrassing - at least, once explained - but what Haley had really been most embarrassed about was her attire. Brooke had been wearing a lacy black nightdress. And Haley? Oh yeah, that'd be shorts and her old sesame street t-shirt. Haley still cringed at the memory.
Nathan just had time to reply that she was "okay", when the doorbell rang, indicating the arrival of their food. Haley and Nathan walked out of the kitchen and through the living room to answer the door. They heard a snippet of the children's conversation.
"Xena Warrior Princess kicks ass!" Michael commented.
Haley glared at Nathan.
"I didn't teach him that!"
