Haley shifted Timmy on her hip as she buzzed around her tiny kitchen. His slight fever the day before had turned into a cold, which made him clingy and not able to go to campus daycare. Which also meant that Haley was barely able to leave the apartment. She wasn't about to try to take her sick two year old out in the nearly freezing weather. Peyton had come to watch him for a couple of hours earlier when she'd had to go to class. Other than that she'd been home all day and Timmy'd been attached to her hip when he wasn't asleep.

She hadn't realized how difficult it would be to pour the children's cough syrup into the little measuring spoon while holding him. He kept squirming and trying to push the black bottle away from her. She knew it probably didn't taste very good and understood why he didn't want to take it, but that little bottle of cough syrup had been $7 and she wasn't about to drop it and watch an hour's pay at the tutoring center spill all over the floor. She carefully set the bottle down on the counter and switched Timmy over to her other hip. Doing it left-handed might be a bad idea, but it would keep Timmy farther from the bottle.

It was tricky, holding the little dispenser and pouring the cough syrup all at the same time. Somehow she managed it though. Getting it down Timmy's throat was another matter entirely. He stubbornly closed his little mouth and leaned farther and farther back away from her. Haley had almost succeeded in getting him to take it when her phone rang and all progress was lost. She sighed impatiently and shifted Timmy higher up on her hip. Carefully, she took the measuring spoon in the hand that was supporting her son and then reached across the counter to where her phone was sitting. She frowned when she didn't recognize the number, but decided to answer anyway.

"Hello?" she said, pressing the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

"Haley?" a male voice said. "This is you, right?"

"Yes," she said, taking the medicine dispenser in her once again free hand and tried to get it past Timmy's lips. "Who is this?"

"It's Nathan," he said. "Aren't we supposed to have a session right now?"

"Oh crap," Haley said, nearly dropping the medicine. "Oh, god, Nathan, I'm so sorry. Timmy's sick and it just completely slipped my mind. Oh, and you have that big test coming up. Crap."

"Haley," he interrupted. "Breathe. It's okay."

"I'm really really sorry," she said. "Umm… I'm about to put Timmy down for a nap. Why don't you come to my apartment and we can do your session here?"

"Are you sure?" he said. "If your kid is sick, it's okay, Haley."

"No," she said. "It's fine. I want to make sure you're ready for your test. Do you know where Briar Wood Apartments are?"

"That's the one right off the west side of campus, right?"

"Yep," she said. "I'm apartment 215."

"Okay," he said. "I'll be there in about 15 minutes."

"Okay, mister," Haley said after hanging up with Nathan. "You are taking this stuff and then you're going to sleep whether you like it or not."

Timmy scrunched his little face up at her, but finally allowed her to give him the cough syrup. Haley gave him his sippy cup as soon as he'd finished it to get the taste out of his mouth. She had filled the cup with grape juice so that he could get the taste out better. He took a couple of sips before handing her back his cup and then sagging against her, his head coming down to rest on her shoulder. She kissed his forehead and could feel that he was still a little warm. He was sleepy though. She'd given him some baby aspirin about a half hour before though, so that should hopefully be kicking in soon.

She took him back into the small bedroom and laid him down in his crib. He was out like a light almost as soon as she laid him down. She went back into the living room and looked around. She had about ten minutes and it looked kind of like a bomb had gone off. She was usually a really tidy person, but with Timmy being sick it had been hard to keep his attention focused on anything for more than a few minutes at a time. Which also meant that she spent all her time keeping up with him rather and picking up after him. She quickly picked up some of his smaller toys and put them in the large basket that sat in the corner of the living room. Then she tossed all of the brightly colored toddler-sized Legos into their bin and shoved it over next to the basket as well.

After she was sure that the living room didn't look quite so much like a disaster area, she quietly made her way back through the bedroom and into the tiny bathroom. Timmy had woken up early because if his sore throat and that left her without time to take a shower or anything. She had about ten minutes until Nathan was going to get there. If she was really quick she could take one and be out and dressed in about seven minutes. She jumped in the shower, only taking the time to wash her hair and her body really quickly.

Timmy sighed a little in his sleep as she made her way back into the bedroom towards the closet. She clutched her towel tighter against her chest as she shuffled through her closet and settled on her last clean pair of jeans. She was going to have to do laundry again soon. She pulled a long sleeve blue Duke t-shirt off its hanger as well and then went back into the bathroom to get dressed. She officially had two minutes until Nathan was supposed to get there. There really wasn't time to do anything with her hair. She twisted it up into a bun on the back of her head and then started to reach for her tube of mascara.

Then she realized what she was doing. It was like she was trying to make herself pretty for or something for him. She cared about what Nathan Scott thought of her appearance and she'd always sworn that she wasn't going to be that girl. She wasn't going to be the girl who cared about what the basketball star thought of her. Not anymore. Not again. She cared about how she looked and how her apartment looked and she wanted to kick herself in the ass for it. Then there was a knock on the door and it didn't matter whether or not she put on mascara because he was there and she didn't have time. She threw the tube down onto the white Formica countertop and made her way back into the living room, shutting the bedroom door behind her. She stopped at the coffee table and turned on the white baby monitor and then went to the door.

"Hi," she said, pasting a smile on her face. "You found it."

"Yeah," Nathan said. "I have a friend who lives on the first floor."

"Oh," she said. "Well, come on in. Do you want something to drink?"

"I'm good," he said, following her into the apartment. "Where's Timmy?"

"Asleep," Haley said. "I just put him down for his nap. He should stay asleep for about an hour or so. Here, let me clear off these cheerios and we can sit down at the table."

Nathan watched as Haley made her way over to the sink and grabbed a bright blue sponge. She turned on the hot water tap and dampened it before going back over to the table and wiping the spilled cheerios into her hand.

"Sorry about the mess," she said, dumping the cheerios in the garbage. "With Timmy being sick I haven't had a lot of time to clean up after him."

"It's cleaner than my place most of the time," Nathan said, slipping out of his blue and white Duke varsity jacket. "You should see how bad my brother and my apartment gets in between his mom's visits."

"You and your brother don't have the same mom?"

"No," Nathan said, his jaw tightening. "We have the same dad, different moms though."

"Is he older or younger?" she said.

"We're actually only about four months apart," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh," Haley said, blushing faintly. "Let me get my books out of the bedroom. You can go ahead and have a seat."

Nathan watched as she made her way around the couch and towards the bedroom door and then looked around the apartment. It was very… Haley. It just looked like the kind of place she would live, even with the standard issue furnished apartment furniture. The brown suede couch was boxy, but she had a red throw blanket tossed over the back that softened it a little bit. A matching chair sat in the corner with a red pillow on it next to a large basket of brightly colored toys. A large TV cabinet dominated the wall next to the bedroom door. The doors were closed though, so he couldn't see whether or not she had a television. It was definitely standard apartment issue though.

She'd hung a few paintings on the walls. Two looked like originals from the same artist and one was a print of a painting he'd seen before, but couldn't remember the name of. Based on the frame it had probably come with the apartment. Every stable surface was covered in pictures. Most of them were pictures of Timmy, but there were others too. A few were of Haley with an older couple who he assumed were her parents. There were pictures of families too, professional style family portraits in mix matched frames.

"You have a lot of pictures," he said as Haley came out of the bedroom.

"Um, thank you," she said with a laugh. "I have a really big family. Most of them are of my brothers and sisters and their families."

"How many brothers and sisters do you have?" he asked.

"Six," she said. "Three brothers and three sisters. I'm the baby of the family."

"Wow," he said. "That's… a lot of kids…"

"Yeah," she said, taking a seat across the table from him and spreading out her books. "I frequently doubt my parents' sanity."

"I'll bet," Nathan said, looking around again. "Your place is nice."

"Thanks," Haley said, toying with a lock of hair that had come loose from her bun. "It's okay I guess. I'd really like to get a house on the outskirts of town. Something with a yard for Timmy as he gets older. But rent is expensive and I don't have a car so I would have a much harder time getting around."

"Do you get child support or anything?" he asked.

"I'm supposed to," she shrugged, flipping through the pages of her math book.

"But you don't?" he said, frowning.

"Damien's parents give me a little every now and then," she said, still looking through the pages.

"But he doesn't pay it regularly?" Nathan said.

"Why do you always seem so much more interested in my life than your pre calc?" Haley said, looking up at him.

"Because your life is far more interesting than my pre calc," he said with a sheepish grin.

"Suck up," she said. "Well, to answer your question, no, Damien doesn't pay child support regularly. Partly because he doesn't have a job and partly because he spends whatever money he does get on alcohol. And yes, I could take him to court again, but it's expensive and I'm just barely getting by as it is. Now open your book to page 350."

"That doesn't seem very fair," he said, frowning.

"Life isn't fair, Nathan," she said with a wry smile. "Now open your book. I want you to do all of the odd numbered problems on the page."

"Mama," a voice called out from the baby monitor on the coffee table. "Mama!"

"Sounds like somebody didn't stay down for his nap like I hoped," Haley sighed, pushing her chair back away from the table. "I'm gonna see if I can get him back to sleep. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Haley quickly made her way towards the bedroom, leaving Nathan alone at the table. He could hear her soft voice coming from the baby monitor though. He tried to focus on the math problems in front of him, but found himself listening to her instead. He could hear her crooning softly to her son and sort of imagined her pacing around and bouncing him softly as she spoke. Then she started to sing and math was the furthest thing from his mind.

Even through the scratchy speaker of the baby monitor, Nathan could tell she had an amazing voice. It was low and kind of husky, perfect for a soothing lullaby. He didn't recognize the song she was singing, but it was beautiful. He sat there listening intently for a few minutes as she sang and when she stopped, it was almost heartbreaking. He heard her say something else, but couldn't quite make it out through the monitor. A few minutes later she walked out with Timmy still in her arms.

"He started to get fussy whenever I laid him back down," she said quietly. "And with him not feeling well, I just couldn't…"

"You have a great voice," he blurted out and then immediately looked down at his paper.

"You heard me?" she said, frowning as she sat down.

"The baby monitor," he said, his eyes motioning towards the coffee table.

"Oh, right," she said, blushing faintly again. "How's the math coming?"

"I'm almost done," he said, looking back down at his notebook.

Haley was still blushing faintly as she carefully sat down at the table with Timmy leaning against her. He was fast asleep as he grasped a piece of her shirt in his small fist. She pressed her lips against his forehead, checking to see if the baby aspirin had brought down his fever. He felt a little bit cooler and she reached up with her free hand to brush his bangs back away from his face.

"Done," Nathan said, pushing his notebook towards her.

She flipped it around so that it was facing her and started to look over the problems. One of her hands was rubbing Timmy's back softly while she held her highlighter in the other hand. She never marked up his papers with red pen. Instead she would highlight where he'd gone wrong in a problem so that he could easily figure out how to correct it. When he'd tried tutoring in the past, his tutors always seemed to take joy in marking up the basketball star's paper with their red pens.

"You really are a great singer," he said after a pause.

"Thank you," Haley said, blushing again.

"Do you want to do it professionally or something?"

"I'm getting a music minor," she said. "But I don't think I'll ever perform in front of an audience or anything."

"Why not?" Nathan asked.

"Because singing doesn't pay the bills," she said. "Not at first anyway. Maybe if it was just me I would think about going after it, but I have to take care of Timmy."

"So what do you want to do?" he said.

"I want to teach," Haley said, brushing a stray lock of her dark brown hair back away from her face. "I was a tutor in high school and loved it, so I decided that was what I wanted to do for a living. There's this moment when I'm tutoring someone and they just get it. When I see that light go on it's like the greatest thing."

"If you were my teacher I think I would have done a lot better in high school," he said with a smirk. "I definitely would have paid more attention in class."

"Okay, enough about me and my life," she said, blushing faintly. "Focus on your pre calc. You've got that big exam coming up next week, and you got number 13 wrong."

Nathan just smirked at her again and then turned his attention back down to his paper. Sometimes he just wasn't quite sure what to think of Haley James. She sang. She was an amazing tutor. She was a great mom. She could care less that he was the star of the basketball team. She was completely unlike any girl he'd ever known. The more he learned about her, the more he wanted to know. He couldn't explain it. He doubted he'd even come close if he tried.

…

"You're stuck in traffic," Haley repeated.

"I'm really sorry, Hales," Peyton said. "But there's a really bad accident in front of me from all of the rain. The road is totally closed and I've got nowhere to go."

"What about Jake?" Haley said, shifting her bag on her shoulder.

"He's in class until seven today," Peyton said. "That three-hour music appreciation one."

"Shit," she said.

Haley was standing under the overhang outside of the tutoring center watching as the rain came down in sheets. Her last tutoring session had run a little over time when the freshman she was tutoring had a complete meltdown over their upcoming calculus test and as a result Haley hadn't been able to beat the oncoming weather. Timmy was just getting over being sick and there was no way she could have him out in that. She could call a cab, but it would be so expensive and she had a few more days until her next paycheck was deposited. It didn't look like the rain was going to let up anytime soon though, so she didn't really have a choice.

She pulled her umbrella out of her backpack and opened it before stepping out from under the protective covering and into the elements. The umbrella wasn't doing much though. In spite of it, Haley was still getting soaked. She could already feel the rain seeping through her sneakers. She knew that she should have worn her rain boots. Her jeans were soaked within a few seconds and it felt like they were weighing her down as she sloshed her way towards the campus daycare center. She didn't even look up as a black SUV pulled up next to her until the driver honked the horn.

"Haley?" Nathan called.

"Oh, hi," she said, looking up and seeing the passenger window rolled down. She stepped a little closer so that her umbrella protected the window and kept the rain from spilling in and ruining what looked like his all leather interior.

"What are you doing?" he said.

"Going to pick up Timmy," she said, wiping wet strands of hair back away from her face.

"In this weather?"

"You don't stop being a parent when it rains, Nathan."

"I meant that you're walking to get him in this weather," he said.

"I don't have a car," she said. "I was going to call a cab from the daycare, but I can't afford the fare to get one from the tutoring center…"

"No need,' he said. "Get in. I'll give you a ride."

"That's really not necessary…"

"Get in, Haley," he said.

"But I'm all wet," she said, looking down at her soaked clothes. "And your seats look like leather…"

"They can be cleaned or whatever," he said. "Get in."

"It's a really nice offer, Nathan," she said. "But…"

"Do I have to get out and put you in the car?" he asked with a grin. "I've got at least eight inches on you and probably about 70 pounds…"

"Do you at least have a towel or something to put on the seat?" Haley sighed.

Nathan shifted the SUV into park and then reached back on the back seat for his gym bag. He knew he had a clean towel in there. It might smell just a little bit, but he knew at least it was clean. Haley James was not the kind of girl that you let sit on a dirty, sweat-soaked towel. His fingers curled around the faded blue material and he pulled it out so that he could spread it across the tan leather seat. He watched as Haley sighed a little and then braced herself before opening the door and throwing herself inside, closing her umbrella and shutting the door behind her as quickly as possible.

"Oh, god," she said, searching around for another towel. "I got water all over the door panel. I'm so sorry Nathan. Just let me know how much it costs to clean it. I'll pay you back I swear."

"Relax, Hales," he said, grinning at her again. "I offered you a ride. I knew my car would get a little wet. Besides, my dad owns a dealership. I get it cleaned for free once a month anyway."

"Oh," she said, looking down at her lap. "I'm still sorry."

"You can stop apologizing," he said. "I wouldn't have stopped if I didn't want to."

"You wanted to?" she said, her fingers nimbly French braiding her long messy brown hair.

"Well, I couldn't just let you walk in the rain like that," he said.

"Why not?" Haley said, securing the end of her braid with a hair elastic. "Most guys would."

"You really think that?"

"Well, yeah," she said, turning to look at him as he pulled up to a red light.

"I'm a pretty typical guy, Haley," he said, looking back at her. "And I would never let someone I considered to be a friend walk home in the rain if I drove right past them."

"There's the daycare center," Haley said, pointing to the left.

Nathan smoothly turned into the daycare parking lot and into an empty parking spot. Haley grabbed her umbrella and carefully opened it as she opened the car door. She started to dart towards the building, and was surprised to hear the sound of a second car door slamming shut. She turned and saw Nathan running towards the building as well. She really hadn't expected him to get out of the car. He followed, close on her heels as they made their way inside the building, the door closing hard behind them as they stepped into the lobby.

"Haley?" Maggie said. "God, you're soaked. Did you walk here?"

"Part of the way," Haley said, wiping the water off her face with her hands. "Nathan was nice enough to stop and pick me up."

"Nathan Scott?" Maggie said, her eyes wide with shock. "My dad is never going to believe this. He's watched you since you were in high school. He's one of your biggest fans"

"Thanks," Nathan said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Is Timmy ready to go?" Haley said.

"He's in the play room," Maggie said. "We've got quite a few kids left because of the weather. Do you want me to get him or…?"

"I will," Haley said and then turned to look at Nathan. "Will you come get his booster seat? He'll need it in the car."

"It's in the storeroom," Maggie said. "I'll take him to get it."

Haley gave him a quick smile before heading down the polished tile hallway towards the playroom. Nathan watched her go before turning to the blonde behind the counter. She was eyeing him a little skeptically as she came towards him and motioned for him to follow her.

"Haley's really great," Maggie said after they'd heard the door of the playroom shut. "She's such a great mom and she works really hard to provide for Timmy."

"I know," Nathan said.

"How do you know her?" she said, pulling out her keys and unlocking a door.

"She's tutoring me in pre calc," he said.

"And you felt compelled to give her a ride today?"

"I figured she was picking up Timmy," he said. "I didn't want her to have to walk in the rain. Especially not with him."

"You like her, don't you?" she said.

"Would that be a bad thing?"

"Listen," Maggie said. "Pretty much everyone who knows Haley is going to warn you away from her. Because she's a great mom and a great person, and especially because she doesn't deserve to get hurt again."

"I would never hurt Haley," Nathan said. "You're right. She doesn't deserve that. She's incredible. And Timmy seems like a great kid. I would never hurt either one of them."

"Okay," she said. "But do you see this as a long term thing? Because Timmy's young and he's going to get attached. If you and Haley break up, it won't just be her that you're hurting."

"Haley's different," he said. "She makes me different."

"Okay," she repeated. "Let's just hope it's different enough. Timmy's booster seat is the blue and grey one."

Nathan grabbed the seat and they made their way back to the lobby just as Haley came out of the playroom. She was holding Timmy's hand as he walked alongside her, showing her the craft he'd made that day. It was a paper cutout of his hand that had been made to look like a turkey in honor of Thanksgiving that was quickly approaching. His little orange basketball was tucked firmly under his arm and his little eyes lit up when he saw Nathan. Timmy dropped Haley's hand and ran to Nathan with his arms outstretched to be picked up.

"Hey, buddy," Nathan said, setting down the booster seat and reaching down to pick up the little boy.

"Look," Timmy said, holding up his hand turkey.

"Did you make that?" Nathan said.

"Uh-huh," Timmy said.

"Pretty cool," Nathan said. "You ready to go home?"

"Uh-huh," Timmy repeated.

"Come here, buddy," Haley said with her arms open to take her son. "Nathan needs to get your car seat."

"Why don't you wait here with Timmy while I get the car seat in?" Nathan said. "And then I'll pull the car up so that he doesn't get too wet."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Haley said, frowning a little. "I mean, you've never installed a car seat have you?"

"It's a car seat, Hales," he said. "How hard could it be?"

Twenty minutes later Haley went out with an umbrella she'd borrowed from Maggie to see what was taking Nathan so long. As she went over to the passenger side of the car, she could hear Nathan muttering curses under his breath. He was trying to fit the seatbelt with the car seat turned towards the seat. She watched him for a few seconds, chuckling at his frustration before he sensed her presence.

"How the hell do you work this thing?" he said, arms folded over his chest.

"Well, you start by turning it around," she said.

"But I heard somewhere that car seats were supposed to face away from the front of the car because of air bags or something," he said.

"That's just for babies," she said. "This isn't a car seat strictly speaking. It's more of a booster seat. It faces the front."

"Oh," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Here," Haley said, laughing. "Let me get it. Why don't you take the umbrella and go get Timmy? I left him with Maggie when you were taking so long."

"I should be able to buckle in a car seat," he said, grumbling.

"It's okay," she said, reaching in for the seatbelt. "You've never done it before. Everyone has trouble the first couple of times. You should have seen Jake the first time he tried to buckle this thing in."

"Who's Jake?"

"My friend Peyton's boyfriend," she said. "They both help me out a lot with Timmy."

"Oh," Nathan said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'll just go get him now. Are you sure you've got this?"

"It's nothing I haven't done a thousand times," she said.

Nathan returned a minute later with Timmy in his arms. Haley quickly got Timmy buckled into his car seat, and then she and Nathan got into the SUV. Both were thoroughly soaked at that point, and Haley had to resist the urge to reach up and ring the excess water out of her long brown hair. Thankfully, Haley's apartment complex was close. Haley got Timmy, and Nathan grabbed the car seat before following her up to her apartment.

"Thank you so much for the ride," she said, pushing the door open. "I'm not sure what I would have done to get Timmy home in this weather. Can you watch him for a minute so that I can get out of my wet clothes?"

"Sure," Nathan said as Haley set Timmy down on the floor.

Timmy toddled over to the large basket filled with brightly colored toys and started digging through them as Haley went back to the bedroom, pulling her soaked sweatshirt over her head as she went. He could see a small strip of the skin of her back as she went and felt his breath clog in his throat. That was what Haley James did to him. An inch of her skin was enough to give him heart palpitations, and he didn't understand it. What he did understand was that he'd never felt like anyone the way he did about her. He hadn't known her very long, but already he could feel that something was different about her. He was different when he was around her. Then he looked down at Timmy and could kind of feel the panic setting in. What was he supposed to do with a two-year-old?

A/N: I know that it's been absolutely forever. I just couldn't get this chapter to my satisfaction and it just kept going and going and I didn't know how to end it. So I broke it in half. I'm working at a summer camp right now, so I don't have a ton of time to write, but I'll try to be more frequent. Because I love this story. And I hope this was worth the suppppeeeerrrr long wait.