"Haley honey, we haven't had a chance to talk. Sit down"

Haley stopped in her tracks.

"Sorry Karen, it's just so nice to be on break. Luke and I have been hitting the slopes a lot"

The truth was playing a couple in love was getting harder. While in high school they had seen it as a necessary evil, now it was just a bother. So she and Lucas and spent all their time alone and away from the adults. Luckily they loved spending time together.

"I understand, I was young once. Keith and I were high school sweethearts too as were your parents. But since Luke is out with the men and you mom is at the Spa, I thought we could have a chat. Tell me, how's college?"

"College is great. My roommate, her name is Brooke and she's terrific. We actually have a small group now. Brooke, Peyton, Jake who is Luke's roommate and the two of us. Every other weekend we have Nathan, Brooke's boyfriend join us so it's fun" Haley said smiling at the thought of her friends.

"Oh that's nice. Are Peyton and Jake dating?" Karen asked

"No, why would you ask that?" Haley asked incredulously

"Oh I just assumed. It must be weird for them to be the only single ones in the group. When we were at school we had a similar group. Your parents, Keith and I were the ones who were always together and we had two other friends, Deb Lee and Larry Sawyer. They were the single ones and they hated going out as a group cos we would always be making out and they would feel left out"

Haley felt strange. Karen had described what went on with her group exactly except that it was she and Jake who felt left out and awkward.

"So what happened to Deb and Larry? Did they hook up?" Haley asked curiously

"No, they both went off to college and met other people but funnily enough they ended up living in the same town. Tree Hill I think. We sort of grew apart after high school"

Haley felt her blood turn to ice.

"Tree Hill? Are you sure?" Haley asked struggling to keep her voice even

"Yes, pretty sure. We met at our 20 years school reunion a couple of years ago"

'Larry Sawyer? Could he be Peyton's dad?' Haley wondered.

"Uh, Karen, I need to go call Luke. I need to tell him something… about the party tomorrow" Haley said and then not waiting for an answer she ran outside.

Whipping out her phone, she dialled Lucas' number in a hurry. They had different phones that they used every year when the came to the cabin, phones that had very good network coverage. They had purposely not given the number to anyone so Haley was sure Lucas would realise it was her and pick up.

"Hello?"

"Luke, it's an emergency. We can't go to Tree Hill"

………………….

"Ok Hales, calm down. I got here as fast as I could. Now tell me, why can't we go Tree Hill?" Lucas asked

"Stop telling me to calm down. You want to know why we can't go? Because Peyton's dad went to school with our parents?" Haley almost shouted

"Whoa, what? And so?"

"Don't you get it? If we go to Tree Hill, then we'll end up having to meet Peyton's parents. If Peyton's dad is the same Larry Sawyer that your mom was talking about then all he'll need is to hear our surnames, find out where we're from and he'll figure it out. Trust me, apparently they were really tight back in the day" Haley said morosely

"Slow down. Tell me what mom said" Lucas ordered

Haley repeated the whole conversation she had had with Karen to Lucas and he sat there in stunned silence

"Peyton's dad's name is Larry" Lucas confirmed weakly. "I spoke to him once when I answered her phone by accident"

Haley groaned

"That's it, we're not going" she said

"We have to go Hales, I promised Peyt. Besides, don't you want to see Brooke?"

"I do, but this is a big deal Luke. What if Larry decided he'd like to catch up with his old friends and then finds out his daughter is dating a man who is engaged to another woman?"

"We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen"

"How do you propose we do that?" Haley asked sarcastically

"If Larry asks if we're the kids of Keith and Karen Scott and Jim and Lydia James, we lie" Lucas said calmly

"Lie?"

"Uh huh, just say no"

"That's what I should have said when you thrust this rock at me" Haley mumbled as she fiddled with her ring

"Shut up" Lucas said shoving her playfully, "Even as a pretend proposal, you have to admit it was pretty great. Love me or not, I was irresistible in that moment and you know it"

"Whatever" Haley said but she was smiling.

………………….

A week later

"P. Sawyer, what the hell are you doing?"

Peyton looked up from where she was folding clothes into a bag.

"Packing"

"I can see that, why?"

"I'm going to my grandma's for dinner and she asked me to stay the night and spend tomorrow with her. I haven't seen her in a while and I miss her"

Brooke pouted, "But there's a party on at Nathan's place tonight. You said you'd be there"

"I'm sorry Brooke. If it makes you feel better, I would even blow Lucas off to spend time with Nana. She's not in the best health and I see so little of her that if I have to skip a party or a date or anything I would"

Brooke sighed in defeat.

"Alright Goldilocks, go, have a great time. I'll try and do the same without you"

"Thanks Brookie. Have a shot in my name or four"

Brooke laughed and turned around. As she made her way to her car, she took out her phone and dialled a number.

"Hey, it's me…"

……………………………….

"Okay kids, take care. Drive safe. We expect you back in five days" Lydia said as she hugged Lucas and then Haley.

"We'll be fine mom" Haley said lifting her hand to push a lock of hair that was in her eyes away.

Lydia's eyes narrowed at that movement and she caught hold of Haley's hand.

"Where is your engagement ring young lady? You better not have lost it. That ring has been in the Scott family for five generations and Keith was kind enough to let Lucas give it to you"

Haley snatched her hand away.

"Relax mom, I just put it in my safe in my room. I didn't want to take the chance of losing it while I'm at Wilmington"

That was where they had told their parents they were going. They purposely made no mention of Tree Hill afraid that it would encourage their parents to want to join them.

"I understand that honey, but that is exactly why Karen gave you the other ring. When you said you were afraid to take the heirloom to college we got you that."

Haley nodded. At first she had hoped by saying that the ring was too expensive, she could avoid wearing it. But then Karen and her mom had gone out and bought a "small" ring for her. It was a plain white gold band with a single carat solitaire. Compared to the five carat diamond ring that Lucas had first given her, it was definitely less expensive but valuable nevertheless. Haley had accepted it guiltily but had never actually worn it except on that day they left for college. She looked to Lucas for help but he just stared at her and then her mom and then fidgeted with his jacket.

By now Lydia's loud voice had attracted the attention of the others.

"Lydia, sweetheart, calm down. They're only going away for a few days. Before you know it they'll be back with you so you can feed them till they have to go back to college" Jim said thinking his wife was upset about them leaving

"I know that honey, I just noticed that Haley wasn't wearing her engagement ring and I wanted to know why"

"Mom" Haley whined, "Let it go. Luke doesn't care, so why should you?"

"Lucas, my boy, there's so much you need to learn about the world. You may think that it's just a ring but it's so much more. When Haley is wearing it, everyone around will know that she belongs with someone" Jim said

Haley and Lucas both rolled their eyes. That was exactly what they didn't want.

"Don't you roll your eyes. Jim has a good point. You may trust Haley as all of us do, but do you trust those men out there? Haley is a beautiful young woman and men are just waiting to take advantage of that" Keith said

'Are you saying I would just stand by and let them? Hello? Woman of the 21st century here" Haley said

"That's not what he meant, right Keith?" Karen said shooting Keith an angry look. "What your fathers are trying to say is that with the things the way they are, we thought you'd proudly wear your ring, so that the whole world would know that you Haley and you Lucas are together"

Haley sighed in defeat.

"I'll be right back"

She hurried to her room and took out the ring that Karen had given her just before she left for college and slipped it on her finger. Just as she turned to leave, Haley spotted a thin white gold chain lying in her jewellery box. She took the chain and fastened it around her neck and then tucked it beneath her sweater where no one could see it.

"Here, it's on. You can all relax and let us leave now" Haley announced flashing her left had for all the adults to see

"Have a good trip kids. Keep your phones on and be careful" Karen said

"We will" Lucas said as he started the car.

As they drove out the driveway, Haley looked at Lucas with a distraught expression.

"We need to tell them"

"I know Hales, I know"

…………………….

I don't own OTH.

And I'm back… I took a brief break from Fanfic writing so I could concentrate on school.

I know this chap has no NALEY and I apologise but its coming. I needed a filler basically so you could some back story on the connection with the parents and Haley and Luke heading over to Tree Hill. Promise next chap will have interactions between our fave couples!

DvL will be updated in a few hours. I'm just about to watch the new episode of Season 4 and I'm practically screaming from excitement. Just another few minutes before the download is complete.. hehehehehehehe

Thank you so much for the reviews.. keep them coming!