Here's a little FYI. Quinn has a little crush on Nathan, if you couldn't tell from the hug last chapter. It's nothing that makes her not want Nathan and Haley together, but it's enough to embarrass her every now and then.


"Please tell me that is not what you are wearing over to Nathan's," Quinn moaned as she watched her sister packing their towels.

"No. This is what I'm wearing to Brooke's."

"Brooke's and Nathan's is the same place," Quinn kindly told her sister who she was sure must have gone insane.

"I know that, I just wasn't sure if you did."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means my dear friend, that you never once have referred to it as your best friend's house, only as her brother's house."

"Yeah, well, he's your age, so when I talk to you about it, I use his name…"

"Quinnie, you suck at lying." Haley sat down next to their packed bag and pulled her little sister into her lap. "I know you and Brooke have some distorted perception of what is going on between me and her brother, but you need to know sweetie. We're just friends. Actually, we're not even that. I mean, we're not even facebook friends. Obviously there is no future there. Just imagine I'm Mom. Mom would hang out with other moms. That didn't mean they were getting married, okay?"

Quinn looked at her sister and smiled, "I know." She jumped up and ran off to the phone.

"Where are you going?" Haley asked her retreating figure.

"I'm getting my suit and getting you a different one. Give me ten minutes…"

Quinn came out of her bedroom with Haley's smallest bikini in hand and a smile on her face. She knew that Haley would never wear it in front of guys, it was simply for laying out, but if you compared that suit to the one she had behind her back, she knew that she could at least get her in a two piece.

Haley's smile disappeared when she saw the suit Quinn had in her hand. "Just turn your butt around and put that back up."

"What was that?" Quinn asked, ignoring her sister when she heard the chime of Haley's cell phone.

"My phone…"

"I know that was your phone. What does it say?"

"Why are you so nosy?"

"I'm just curious."

Haley rolled her eyes and went to find her phone. Her sister knew what that chime meant and she couldn't understand why she all of a sudden cared about someone writing on her facebook wall. Haley clicked on the folder and laughed at how blatantly obvious her little sister was. "Are you kidding me?" she shouted through the apartment, hoping Quinn would hear her.

"What?" Quinn asked, instantly appearing in front of her.

"It seems I got a new friend request."

"Really? From who?"

"Who do you think?"

"I have no idea."

"How did you even orchestrate this?"

"What does orchestrate mean?"

"It means, how in the world did you get on Nathan's facebook?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Quinn took the phone from Haley and hit accept before handing it back to her with a smile. "So what were you saying about you two not being friends?"


Brooke laid out by their pool waiting for her friends while Nathan swam laps. A sudden splash brought Brooke out of her peaceful meditative state and she scowled when she saw her brother's smirk by her feet.

"What do you want?"

"I'm bored."

"Well, you're a big boy. Entertain yourself."

"That's what you're for."

"No it's not."

"It really is. I told Mom that I was bored and I needed a little sibling to keep me entertained. Nine months later, there you were."

"Where do babies come from, Nathan?" Brooke joked with her brother. Most kids her age honestly wouldn't know the answer to that question, but Brooke grew up much faster than the average 10 year old. She loved asking her brother questions like that and seeing him squirm. She could hardly wait for the day when she would bring a boy home. She knew his head would explode.

"What is going on in your warped mind?" Nathan asked as he saw her face grow happier by the moment.

"Oh nothing."

"Are you sure they're coming?"

"Yeah." Brooke picked up Nathan's phone, flipping through it. "Oh yay! It looks like you have a new facebook friend!"

"She accepted?"

"I told you she would. Speak of the devil." Brooke smiled as she saw the two girls walking around the back gate to their pool and she ran to greet them. "I'm so glad you guys came! Nathan has been driving me crazy. I don't know how I survive without any girls around."

"Anybody up for basketball?" Nathan asked as the girls approached the pool.

"Don't you ever get tired of it?" Quinn asked.

"Never. You can't tell me that playing only twice a week wears you out?"

"Of course it doesn't, Nathan," Brooke answered for Quinn. "I can't play in this suit though. It'll fall off."

"Then change. Come on Brooke. I'll let you play three-on-one."

"Fin e. Come with me Quinn." Brooke grabbed her friend and ran off to her room to change.

"So, I guess it's official," Nathan said, watching as Haley took off her cover-up to get into the pool.

"What?"

"We're officially friends, right?"

"What do you mean?" Haley asked, still not following him.

"Facebook."

"Oh, right. I didn't know that was you, I mean, I knew that it was you, but I didn't know that it was you."

"Okayyyy. Now I'm confused."

"Quinn. And Brooke. I thought they had hacked into yours and sent it." Nathan just stared at her obviously still confused. "Quinn and I were talking about it…. Nevermind."

"You were talking about me?" Haley obviously hadn't meant to divulge that much information and Nathan knew he had to capitalize on it.

"We were getting ready to come over here and she was just… Nevermind. It's stupid."

"So you just accepted to make the girls happy then?"

"No," Haley tried to correct herself, not really sure why she wanted him to know that wasn't the only reason. "Sorry, no, it was just… Nevermind."

"Nevermind… Is that your new favorite word?"

Haley put her hands over her face, trying to cover the blush she knew must be starting. "God, I'm such a dweeb."

"Oh, look, he's making her blush," Brooke squealed from her bedroom window as she watched her brother's interaction with Haley.

"Anybody can make that girl blush. I don't think this is going to work, Brooke. She actually sat me down this morning to tell me that they weren't even friends."

"Which is why Nathan friended her! She's just in denial. Nathan is totally crushed out on her. I mean, just look at him. I don't think I've seen him smile like that over a girl ever. If Nathan wants this half as much as I do, then there's no way Haley can so no."

"She's stubborn. I really think she's determined not to like him."

"Do you not want this anymore?" Brooke asked her friend worriedly.

"No, I mean, I do. Of course I do. I mean, how amazing would it be if we were sisters? And Haley really deserves a good guy. I can tell she's lonely with it just being us all the time."

"Then don't give up, okay? Water basketball is a very physical game. And every movie shows that once there's physical contact, there's no denying feelings."

"Haley doesn't get physical."

"Well, Nathan does. We just need to make sure that we get her the ball as often as we can. Got it?"

"Got it."


After just a few seconds of basketball, Quinn could tell that Brooke was right. Water basketball is a very physical sport. Every time Nathan had the ball, Brooke latched onto him, hoping to get a piece of it. Unfortunately for her, Nathan's arms were about twice as long as hers, so keeping it out of her hands wasn't too difficult.

Quinn and Brooke were doing a good job at throwing the ball to Haley, unfortunately, the second Nathan got too close, Haley threw it right back. Quinn was actually enjoying playing more than she thought. Any time she got the ball, Nathan swam up to her and either picked her up, throwing her across the pool or wrapped his arms around her hoping to get the ball out of her hands while she pretended to try to get away.

"Will someone help me?" Brooke screamed from her position where she was latched onto Nathan's neck as he effortlessly made his way to the hoop. They had been playing for a good thirty minutes and it seemed that Haley had finally gotten up the courage, or possibly just gotten too into the game to care, to get a little bit more physical. She swam over, grabbing Nathan's right arm thinking that he couldn't score left handed. He quickly switched hands as he continued his way towards the basket, proud that he couldn't be stopped, even with two girls on him. Haley swam to his left arm pulling it down as well, but Nathan once again switched hands and jumped up, dunking the ball as he left a defeated Haley behind.

"You suck," she grumbled as she grabbed the ball and threw it towards her sister.

"Oh really? If I suck, what does that mean for you? I mean, I am royally kicking your ass."

"You are such a cocky bastard!" Haley screamed at him. Less than a second later she realized what she had said and her hand flew to her mouth as her face seemed completely shocked by the words that had just come out of her own mouth. "I didn't say that," she told her sister.

"Oh yes, you did," Nathan joked with her as he began laughing.

"Shut up!" she screamed as she splashed him, making him choke since he was laughing.

Quinn and Brooke looked on confused and worried that their plan was backfiring. Haley never cussed. She never even said shut up. At least not in front of them.

"Oh no you didn't," Nathan said as he looked at Haley challengingly.

"Oh yes, I did. Jerk!" she said, splashing him again. "Not so tough now, huh? Hot shot basketball player can't take a little water?"

Nathan turned his head away from the constant stream of water that was flying towards his face so that he could swim towards Haley. He grabbed her hands, instantly ceasing fire and smiled triumphantly. Not wanting him to win, Haley brought her legs up and pushed her feet against his chest, effectively getting him away from her. She started kicking the water in his face once again and he grabbed her feet, once again winning in his own mind. She quickly resumed splashing him with her hands and just as quickly he went to stop her. Learning from his previous attempt, he grabbed her hands and spun her around so that she couldn't use her legs to defend against him. He wrapped his arms around her, keeping her own arms trapped against her body.

He held her still for a moment, just enjoying being close to her before finally speaking, "There's no reason to attack me, Haley. I was just kidding." Unknowingly, Haley relaxed into his arms, resting her head against Nathan's cheek that was next to her after whispering in her ear. "Are you done splashing me now?"

"Mmhmm."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Reluctantly Nathan released her and held a smile when she didn't immediately swim away. Instead she just turned around to look at him, first noticing his smile. She looked into his eyes, hoping to figure out what he was thinking but had no luck. They heard Quinn cough and it brought them back to the real world they seemed to have forgotten about.

Brooke hit Quinn hard in the arm, "You idiot! They were having a moment!"

"I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to." Haley's phone began to ring, saving Quinn from too much blame. Quinn looked at her sister and smiled, "Peyton," they said simultaneously as they heard her designated ring. Quinn jumped out of the pool quickly, answering Haley's phone before she could. "Hey Peyton!"

"Hey Quinnie. What are you guys up to?"

"We're at Nathan Scott's," she told Peyton proudly. "We're swimming."

"Really? Well that's actually why I was calling. Apparently your sister has been keeping things from me. Imagine my surprise when I check out facebook this morning to see that she is now friends with Nathan Scott. How long has this been going on?"

Quinn could feel Haley staring at her, wondering when she would finally hand over the phone, but then Quinn sat down on the lounge chair, making it known to Haley that she wasn't needed. "Well, this is just their third date. And if you hadn't called, possibly their first kiss."

"No, your cough ruined their first kiss," Brooke said from where she was nosily eavesdropping.

"Kiss? Really?"

"Yeah. As Brooke said they were having a moment…" Before Quinn knew what was happening, Haley was out of the pool and had grabbed the phone from her hands while giving her a menacing look.

"What do you want, Peyton?" Haley scowled down into the phone.

"Well, hello to you too, best friend."

"Sorry. Hi."

"Thank you. So… Nathan Scott?"

"I'll be right back," Haley told everyone before grabbing her towel and walking inside to take the call. "He's Quinn's basketball coach."

"Who's house you're swimming at. What suit are you wearing? Please tell me you're wearing the blue one."

"I am NOT wearing the blue one. I never wear the blue one and there is no chance in hell I would wear that in front of him."

"Why not? You look hot in it."

"No, I don't. Not that it even matters. There's nothing romantic happening here. We're just hanging out with our little sisters. His happens to be Quinn's best friend. It's about them, not us."

"What about the 'moment' Quinn just told me about."

"Quinn's ten. She wouldn't know a moment if it kicked her in the ass."

"You seem pretty upset for someone who hasn't just had a moment ruined," Peyton joked, knowing how worked up Haley could get.

"I'm not upset!" she screamed into the phone.

"You sure about that?" Nathan asked as he followed her into the house.

Haley turned around, surprised by his presence. "Peyton, I gotta go. I'll call you later."

"You didn't have to hang up on my account. The girls were thirsty. They sent me in for lemonade."

"I'll help you," she said, habitually trying to put her phone in her pocket, realizing that she was wearing only a swimsuit. She then put her phone in the bra of her swimsuit, knowing it wouldn't fall out.

When she walked into the kitchen after Nathan, he quickly noticed where her cell phone was. "Is that for safe keeping?" he asked with a smirk.

"Boobs are better than pockets," she told him before quickly turning red. That was always something that she and Peyton would joke about so it came out normal. That was until she realized that she had just talked like that to Nathan Scott.

"Good to know. I'll have to put that in my book."

"Your book?"

"Yeah. I started a book a while back of girly facts that Brooke would need to know that I myself could never truly teach her. I think she'd appreciate that one."

"You surprise me," Haley said more to herself than to him.

"Right. Because I'm just some big dumb jock."

"No, it's not that."

"Really? Then what is it?"

"Okay, I guess it is kind of that. It's just around campus you're kind of a hot shot. Every guy wants to be you and every girl wants to be with you."

"Every girl?"

Ignoring his question, Haley continued talking, "Here, you're just an incredibly loving older brother. You are just such a sucker for that girl out there."

"I think everyone becomes someone different when they're around their best friend. Brooke's my best friend."

"Not that different."

Nathan walked around the counter from where he had put everyone's lemonade and stepped between where the drinks and Haley were, making her extremely uncomfortable. "If everybody saw me this way, I wouldn't be taken seriously. Teams wouldn't fear playing me. I would be a complete sap and my basketball career would be shot to hell."

"I guess that makes sense."

"And I guess that means you like the real me," Nathan said, somehow finding a way to move even closer to her.

"You're okay," she said, moving around him to grab two of the drinks from the counter.

"Well, I like you," he whispered in her ear as he walked up behind her wrapping his arms around her to grab the other two drinks. He smiled as he walked back out to the girls, leaving behind a stunned Haley.