"I don't really want to go," Haley told Brooke. "It's a basketball game. I'm so not into basketball."

"I know that," Brooke said. "But I also know what you are into, and that's Nathan."

"Brooke, I am not into Nathan. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that."

"You can tell me that all you want, but you're not the only one with a brain, Tutor-girl. I happen to have one of those myself. It's just not as sleek a model as yours is," Brooke explained.

"I just—I don't want to spend a Saturday night at a basketball game when I could be studying." Haley was lying through her teeth. Every part of her was itching to see what Nathan Scott was like on that basketball court even though she would never admit it. But she had to at least pretend to not want to go. She'd eventually give in, but not until after she had Brooke convinced that she wasn't into Nathan.

"Haley—you will never convince me that you are not into Nathan," Brooke said as if reading her thoughts. Haley visibly flinched and Brooke grinned. "I know you want him, and you know you want him. I even think that he knows you want him. So go get your butt dressed and hurry up about it. We only have an hour until game time."

"Brooke, you and Peyton are going to be on the sidelines in your cute little cheerleader uniforms with your cute little pom poms. Where am I going to be?"

"Hey, say the word and you are so on the squad."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. I don't want to go and sit alone."

"If you leave and come early with me and Peyton, we'll get you a seat close to where we are."

Haley sighed. "I'll go. But it has nothing to do with Nathan Scott, and everything to do with school pride."

Brooke laughed. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

Haley gave Brooke a dirty look before going to her room to change. She pulled on a pair of low rise blue jeans and an emerald green long sleeve t shirt with a brown corduroy blazer over it. She wanted to be prepared in case it was cold when the game let out.

888

Nathan Scott was running towards the basket to do a lay-up during warm-ups before the game. His shot went in, of course. Nathan didn't doubt for a second that it would. He ran to the back of the line to wait for his turn again. Lucas, who was in front of him turned around. "Did you see who was here?"

Nathan shook his head. "Nope. I don't care if Dad comes to the games anymore, Lucas. He's trying to change, and for now, that's enough for me."

"Do you really think I'd bother to tell you if Dan was here? That wouldn't be news. Now, if Miss Haley James was gracing us with her presence and sitting right behind our bench, that would be news," Lucas told him.

Nathan's head whipped around, and sure enough, Haley was sitting on the bleachers right behind their teams' bench. She was watching the guys from the other team shoot their lay-ups. Her gaze wandered over to him, and they briefly made eye contact. Nathan picked up his hand and waved to her, then felt something hit his med-section.

"Hey," Lucas said, just finishing his lay-up. "Keep your head in the game."

Nathan bent over and picked up the basketball that Lucas had thrown at him. He did his next lay-up and when he turned to run to the back of the line, he looked at Haley again. She was laughing at him. Damn, he thought. Lucas is right. I gotta keep my head in the game.

"OK, gentlemen, let's bring it in," their coach said loudly, just after the buzzer sounded to let them know that the game was about to begin. The guys all started running in toward their bench.

Nathan hopped over the bench so he was standing right in front of Haley. "Hey, Haley."

Haley pursed her lips and looked Nathan up and down. "Nathan."

"Glad you could make it."

"Thanks."

"I need a good luck charm," he told her.

"If you think for one second that I'm going to let you kiss me again, you are sorely mistaken," she informed him.

"That's not what I meant," he told her leaning in and reaching around to the nape of her neck. He gently tugged her elastic down and loosened her hair. "This will do," he said, as he put the elastic in one of his socks. But it sure is nice to know that you're thinking about kissing me again." With a wink, he turned around and made his way over to his teams huddle.

888

Haley didn't know much about basketball, but she knew enough to know that Nathan was on fire. He was sinking shots left and right. If he wasn't putting the ball into the hoop, he was handing it off the guy who could. Clearly he was in his element. He knew every inch of that court. The other team called a time out, and the Tree Hill University Bulldogs jogged in toward their own bench. "This is what I like to see!" their coach told them. "I haven't seen you guys play like this in a long time. You're playing like a team out there, and it's paying off! Get out there and get it done! Let's end the first half with a bang, boys!" The guys started jogging back on the floor. "Nathan!" the coach yelled.

Nathan turned around. "Yeah, coach?"

"Whatever it is that has you playing like this, keep it going."

Nathan grinned. "Absolutely, Coach." Haley, who had heard the entire exchange, being that Peyton and Brooke had placed her behind the home team's bench, quite on purpose, she was fairly certain, lifted her eyes once again to Nathan's. After winking at her, he turned and ran back onto the court.

"Nathan Scott is playing like a man possessed! I haven't witnessed a game like this since he helped to bring the state championship home to the Raven's when he was in high school! Whatever has Nathan on this role, I say keep it up!" Haley heard a guy with spiky hair say. He was talking into what looked like a little microphone and he was sitting at a table between the opposing teams. Suddenly, the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the first half and the guys all jogged off the court and into the locker rooms. Haley watched as the cheerleading squad took the floor. The lights dimmed and a music mix that Haley didn't recognize could be heard throughout the entire gymnasium. After a quite risqué dance combination, the lights came up and the cheerleaders started dispersing. Brooke headed for Haley and Peyton headed for the spike guy at the table.

"Hey, Tutor-girl," Brooke said, out of breath.

"Hey. So, right behind home team, huh?"

Brooke grinned and shrugged. "I wanted you to get the full experience. Who knows how hard I'll have to work to get you back here again? Or if I'll even be able to."

888

"Mouth McFadden," Peyton said as she walked up to the scorekeeper's table.

Mouth smiled and shook his head as he stood up. "Well, if it isn't Peyton Sawyer. When did you get back into town?" he asked, embracing her in a hug.

She squeezed him back. "I've been back since the end of last semester. When did you get back?"

"I spent the summer in Italy with friends from school," he told her. "When the end of the year came, I just didn't want to go back to Colorado. I wanted to come home. So I enrolled here."

Peyton laughed. "I hear yak, Mouth. Here I thought I had this big city girl in me just bursting to get out, but when I got to LA, it wasn't at all what I wanted. It took me two years to figure out why I was so unhappy."

"Well, at least now we have home court advantage," he joked. "Do you think that gives us a better chance at succeeding?" he asked her.

Peyton slowly nodded. "You know what, Mouth? I think it does."

888

The game was over, and the Tree Hill Bulldogs had won. Nathan had scored an astonishing amount of points, not to mention his assists. Haley was pretty sure the other guys had done a great job, too, but she hadn't paid nearly as close attention to them. She had really enjoyed watching Nathan play basketball, especially since he was too busy playing to notice her watching him. She sighed softly. I am in so much trouble, she thought to herself. There was no use denying to her that she wanted him. She was fully aware of that now. But that didn't mean that she was happy about it. She'd left Maine because of the her last boyfriend, and even though it had been close to a year since they'd broken up and she was definitely over him, it didn't mean that she was in a rush to get involved again. Not that Nathan was even interested in getting involved. For all she knew, he was just looking for a little action. Oh, my God, Haley thought. I even ramble in my head while I'm thinking! Haley shook her head to clear it of all her thoughts, and sat back down on the bench to relax. She wished Peyton and Brooke would hurry up.

888

Later that night, the girls were sitting at the kitchen table, with an open carton of Maple Walnut ice cream sitting in the middle. They each had their own spoon and were taking turns digging into the carton. "So, wait a minute," Haley said. "You've dated Lucas, you've dated Nathan, and now you're dating Jake?"

Peyton laughed as she put a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. "You make it sound so dirty, Hales."

"Well, isn't it?" she asked.

"It's not like that," Peyton told her.

"How is it?"

Peyton sighed. "Well, it wasn't my idea to date Lucas."

"Whose idea was it?" Haley pressed.

"Nathan lost me in a bet…to Lucas." Peyton shrugged. "So I started dating Lucas."

"You dirty girl!" Brooke said proudly.

Peyton grinned. "A little."

"I've never been more proud of you, P. Sawyer."

"Awww…thanks, B. Davis."

Haley rolled her eyes. "I didn't realize that this circle was so incestuous."

"Ewww! Haley!" Peyton exclaimed.

"Well, it is!" Haley said again. "I mean, my God, Peyton, you've banged all three of them."

Peyton's eyes flew to Haley's. "Nice, Haley!" Peyton said, clearly fuming. She stood up, threw her spoon in the sink and went to her bedroom.

"OK. What the hell was that?" Brooke asked.

Haley sighed. "That was me being a jealous bitch."

"Well—you're good at it. I've never seen you be a jealous bitch before."

"That's because I've never been one before," Haley told her.

"Well, you've got it down," Brooke said with just a hint of admiration.

Haley sighed again and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Brooke asked.

"To mend a fence," Haley said. Haley walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway to Peyton's bedroom door. She knocked softly.

"If it's Brooke, come in," she heard Peyton say.

"It's Haley." Peyton didn't answer so Haley just walked in. "I'm sorry," she said, shutting the door behind her.

"You know, we all have pasts, Haley. And I didn't even plan on coming back to Tree Hill."

"Why did you?" Haley questioned, not facetiously, but with genuine curiosity. She sat down on the Peyton's bed next to her.

Peyton shrugged. "Because it's my home. And it wasn't that important to me while I was here before, but it's important to me now. And I'm sorry, Haley, if my past offends you in any way, but believe me when I say that I never planned on living with Lucas' or Nathan's girlfriends."

"No," Haley said quickly. "Don't apologize. I…was acting…"

"Possessive?" Peyton supplied.

Haley nodded. "Maybe a little, yeah. Which is stupid, right? Because I'm not even dating him."

"Why aren't you dating him again?" Peyton asked.

"Because," Haley tried to defend herself, "he's…cocky…and arrogant…and so full of himself."

"You do realize that you're being redundant, right? I mean—all of those are the same thing," Peyton said, amused.

"Yeah, I'm a little at a loss for words here. Bear with me. This is a first."

"The arrogance isn't real, you know," Peyton informed Haley.

"Of course it is," Haley disagreed.

"No, it's not." Peyton sighed. "Nathan isn't who he is because of his past. He's who he is in spite of it. Nathan's father was a jackass, Haley. Nothing that Nathan ever did was good enough for Dan. He always fell short. If Nathan scored 30 points in a game, Dan wanted to know why it wasn't 35."

"Nathan scored 35 points in a single game?" Haley asked, amazed.

Peyton rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure, Haley. I was trying to give you an example."

"Oh, sorry," Haley said.

"Nathan's not as arrogant as you think he is," Peyton continued. "He's actually a little insecure. He knows he's good on the basketball court, but he doesn't think he's good enough."

"That's crazy! Nathan is amazing on the court," she immediately jumped to his defense. She wasn't sure who she was defending him to, since Peyton was already on his side.

"But even more important, he's amazing off it. Maddie is…living proof of that. He's so great with her."

"He is a great dad," Haley agreed.

"Give him a chance, Haley. I don't think you'll regret it."

"Are we all friends again?" they heard Brooke yell through the door.

Peyton laughed. "Affirmative, B. Davis."

The door flew open and Brooke ran for the bed, jumped on it, and crawled up between Haley and Peyton. She cocked an eyebrow at Peyton. "So, have you and hot Jake christened this bed yet?" Brooke asked.

Peyton laughed. "Not yet. But…something big did happen with us last night," she said cautiously. "I gave him a key to the apartment."

"Without asking us?" Brooke said. Haley hit her on the arm. "Oww! You are freakishly strong!"

"Well, it's not like he's gonna use it at his leisure. I'm sure he'll call first."

"Well, I for one am very proud of you, Peyton. This is a huge step for you."

"I know, I've never given a guy the key to my place before."

"Our place," Brooke clarified, slightly miffed.

Haley immediately changed the subject and they indulged in more girl talk until they all fell asleep in Peyton's bed.

888

The next morning, as the girls were fast asleep, Peyton woke up to the feel of someone staring at her. She opened her eyes and almost fell of the bed. She gasped, startled, and sat up none too gracefully, elbowing Brooke in the process. Three sets of eyes were staring at her from her bedroom doorway. "Hey, Peyton," Jake said. Lucas and Nathan were standing next to him grinning.

"Peyton, who is—"Brooke never finished her sentence. As she rolled over and onto her back, she caught sight of the guys in the doorway. She quickly sat up. "What the hell?" Her eyes left the guys in the doorway and flew to Peyton's. She laughed. "Haley is gonna kill you."

Haley, still lying down, started rubbing her eyes, completely unaware of what was going on. "You guys, what's with all the noise?" She sat up and followed Brooke's gaze to the doorway. Her eyes widened. Peyton and Brooke both looked at her, not sure if they should speak.

Luke was the one to break the silence. "You guys wanna move in with us? We have an extra room. You guys could share it. And…we…could watch."

Haley jumped up from the bed and tugged her suddenly even shorter nighty down as far as it would go, then stalked to the door. She stopped at Lucas, who was holding a cardboard tray with three Styrofoam coffee cups and pulled one out. "Umm…that one is actually—" he stopped at her glare, "yours. That one is yours," he told her. "Enjoy."

Haley looked at Jake. "We want our key back!" she snapped. She started walking furiously to her room.

"Nice legs, James," Nathan called out.

Haley rolled her eyes and kept walking. "In your dreams, Scott."

"I've been enjoying every second of them lately."

She kept walking. Nathan, grinning widely, turned back to the guys. They were scowling at him. "What?" he asked, his expression immediately disappearing.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Jake accused.