A/N: I am continued to be blown away with the amount of reviews and feedback I'm getting from this story. I adore writing it and it's never really hard for me to find the right words to say or to write a chapter; just finding the time. But getting all the love from you guys really give me motivation in trying to find time to write. I have a lot in plan for this story yet and it's going to be along bumpy road. I don't really know if it is going to end up happy Naley or not, but I'm certainly rooting for it them. We'll just have to see where it takes me. This chapter has a bit of twist in the ending that I'm sure will shock you. And all I'm going to say is read it, absorb it, and pay really close attention. And you're going to have to, all the way from the title to the very end. So enjoy and leave me so mad love people. It makes me happy :)

The Best Deceptions

It was absolutely effortless. Everything in his life, every collective moment of his very existence had been nothing short of a struggle. He remembered his mother harping on how hard it was for her to conceive; how tough it was to give birth; how rough it was to break him out of his childhood stutter. Growing up, they never had enough money, they always seemed one bill behind, never able to keep one foot in front of the other. He chose to rise above it all and for the most part had been successful. He would always struggle and he had accepted that much. He focused, pounding the orange rubber ball into the pavement before lifting his arms up and propelling it to the open basket.

Whoosh.

Effortless.

When he was a kid, the court was like a hidden treasure. For years, he hardly knew anyone that would want to play on such a dilapidated court. He saw the real value in it; the way the river ran right past it down to the way the ball sounded against the chained hoops. He tried not to come there too often now though. In the last several years, the school 'jocks', has he liked to label them, decided it was a pretty cool place to hang out and practice basketball when they weren't in school.

Basketball was the one thing he knew he couldn't fail at. He knew he was smart, but school was never really something he was interested in. His whole life he had managed to scurry right along the thin line between passing and failing and that wasn't about to change anytime soon. His tutoring was an enigma even to himself because he didn't even want it. He kept trying to tell himself that there was nothing special about her; that she wasn't worth sitting through three hours of calculus that he wouldn't study for and would barely pass. Only he never really could keep himself away.

Their previous rendezvous were nothing short of simply amazing and he wasn't sure if that made him happy or made him anxious. Deep down, he realized his soul was in no condition to endure a relationship, any kind of solid one at that, with her. He doubted he ever would be. It was just one more thing in his life he refused to do and even with someone like her, he wasn't about to get sucked into that wormhole. What he really wanted was for her to bug off, for him to disappear and for the whole thing to be over with. But he was selfish, he always had been and that was what was keeping him around for the present haul.

The future was quite uncertain, not just in what was to come from it all, but just from day to day. The whole thing was up in the air and at the present point, wasn't going to get resolved any time soon. He both enjoyed and loathed the uncertainty of it. There was destined to be some kind of excitement, some sort of surprise, possibly disappointment, and what he feared the most was leading her on knowing he was never going to be the guy she needed or wanted him to be.

That fate had long been shifted.

He scooped up his ball with one hand and turned in the direction of his car. He wished then that he had never come, suddenly being forced into an awkward position. Pulling up beside his somewhat old and definitely beaten car was three nice and shiny SUVS, filled to the brim with the schools biggest jocks and cheerleaders. They all came tumbling out, laughing and joking around, most of them not even taking notice to the resident bad boy standing in the middle of 'their' court. Funny thing was, he never really considered seeing her.

Not with them.

She hadn't detected him at first but once she had, the hand she had just taken was quickly dropped like she had been burned. Only it was him so seemed to be the one feeling the heat as his gaze hardened and his jaw clenched. For a moment, their eyes locked and she tried desperately to get his icy stare to melt as she pleaded with her own eyes. Reluctantly, she took her beau's hand again, biting on her lip slightly. She sighed, knowing that he didn't have any right to be mad, but he was, and there really was no getting away from that.

"Hot Shot." Rachel greeted, hopping up on the picnic table beside Brooke. "I didn't know that you came here."

"I don't." he shot back pushing past the basketball players onto the grass. "I was just leaving."

"Or you could stay and play with us."

"Lucas!" Haley scolded giving him a pointed look. He simply shrugged before turning his attention back to Nathan. She loved her best friend but he could be a bit of a moron most days. "He said he was leaving so let him leave."

"Don't fight his battles Hales." Damien, her supposed date, spoke throwing his arm over Haley's shoulders and pulling her close. "I'm sure he's a big boy."

Nathan narrowed his eyes in their direction and placed a smirk on his face. "Would you care to make a wager?"

"A wager?" Damien and Lucas answered at the same time. Damien was the one who continued. "Sure, why not? What do you have in mind?"

"Her." He replied quickly, nodding in Haley's direction. "She looks like she might be kind of fun."

"What?" Haley asked just about the time she heard her non boyfriend respond with a yes. "Damien!" she shoved his chest and stepped away from him. "What the hell?"

"He won't win."

"I don't care." Haley retorted walking away from them and taking a seat on the bench. "Assholes." She muttered crossing her arms over her chest.

The whole thing was a fluke. Her best friend's boyfriends decided to play a game of basketball since it was cool outside and she ended up being dragged along to play cheerleader for the afternoon. She had reluctantly been paired off with Damien. She never thought of him in a bad way; he was always a bit over cocky about things he wasn't necessarily good with but she could tolerate him. And ever since she realized that she didn't know what she was doing that morning, she was somewhat desperate for anything, or anyone, to take her mind off of Nathan.

"Dude? You in or what?" Lucas finally asked motioning towards the ball in his hand. Nathan nodded, throwing off his shirt before stepping onto the court. "Let's do this then."

"Well this should definitely be interesting." Rachel noted, quirking up her eyebrow as Nathan stepped up to the center of the court facing off with Damien. "Go Lucas!"

Haley didn't think she breathed the entire duration of the game. She already knew that Nathan was talented, even if he didn't want to show it, it was quite undeniable. The boys seemed somewhat in a shock and slight panic once they realized how graceful and gifted he was with the ball. But Damien seemed to keep up with him, shot for shot, and she wondered if Nathan had ever fought for something so hard in his life. She automatically grabbed Rachel's hand in anticipation as Nathan acquired the ball and lifted his arms up for the game point. To her surprise he smirked in her direction and set the ball down on the ground.

"I think I'll have to pass." He squared his shoulders, shrugging them slightly before backing away from the dumbfounded jocks. "I'm sure what the two of you have is real special. I mean you just wagered her over to someone you don't even know. How noble of you."

"Or maybe I knew you would choke." Damien taunted, stepping up to Nathan. Nathan jerked the ball out of his hands and shot it effortlessly into the goal, his eyes never leaving Damien's.

"Or maybe I don't give a shit." His eyes shot over to Haley once more before he stalked to his car. He snatched up his sweatshirt and threw it over his torso, allowing the hood to cover his head. Instinctively, she hopped off the table to go after him.

"Haley!" Damien latched onto her arm to which she quickly jerked away. "What are you doing?"

Glaring at him briefly, she jogged over to Nathan's car, standing in front of the door. "What was that?"

"What was what?" he mocked, annoyance clearly masking his features.

"The stupid bet Nathan!" she seethed, pointing towards the court and struggling to keep her voice and attitude down. "You have no right!"

"Oh but he does?" he questioned, his brow kinking slightly, daring her to object. "Besides, I don't need to win you in a stupid bet. It's fairly obvious I can have you whenever I want."

She looked away temporarily before slapping him promptly. He didn't even wince. It wasn't the first time, and it was a multiply in the many times he had been slapped before. It wouldn't be the last. He tended to be an asshole and that's the way he liked to keep it. He put up a wall around himself and if being a jerk was the only way to keep that in tact, well then so be it. It didn't really matter to him in the long run if he hurt anybody. That was a part of life. It wouldn't be life if there wasn't some degree of pain. Otherwise, it just an existence that doesn't matter.

"That's over with." She said sadly, quietly as she shoved at his chest and walked slowly back to her friends. She could feel his eyes on her back and ignored the slight pain in her heart as she heard him slam his door and peel out of the grass.

He was doing it on purpose, she knew that. It hurt and it sucked but it oddly made her feel relieved. She couldn't trust him; she definitely couldn't trust herself around him as all inhibitions flew out the window whenever he was around. She kept trying to talk herself into thinking it was for the best, that it was a destined train wreck from the beginning and that this was just kismet working out the kinks to put everything back in order. She wasn't a very good liar though, not even to herself.

X-x-X

Gulp.

It didn't have to be an orange ball for him to effortless chuck something into a round opening. The beer bottle shattered upon impact, he assumed, from the eleven other bottles in there. Not including the empty handle of rum and pint of whiskey sitting underneath the beer debris. He was foolishly trying to drink away and forget the mess that was the previous week of his life and was failing miserably. All the drinking he had done, his thoughts were still sobering and he didn't even feel buzzed in the slightest.

He couldn't even muster up the will to go and answer the door once he heard someone knock. It was probably a neighbor complaining about his blaring hip hop or he even entertained the thought that it was Haley, a notion that he wasn't sure he would be happy about. He continued to stare at the door as the knocking got more incessant, and he realized that perhaps he was a bit inebriated when he found himself trying to be a Jedi and will the annoying person away. When he heard her voice calling his name he pulled himself up and dragged his feet to the door.

"No." he muttered when he opened the door to see her standing there. "Nikki, go!"

"I can't." she protested, anger laced throughout her voice. She walked past Nathan and set the baby in her arms down on the couch. She sighed, rubbing the infants head and turned back to Nathan. "Where the hell have you been the past week?"

"I've been around. I've been busy. I told you, what we have is nothing set in stone and it's never going to be. So stop acting like what we have is some epic romance that's going to end up like a fairytale. It's never going to happen that way."

"Please." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Like I would want that from you. Look whatever skank, and/or skanks you shacked up with this week is none of my concern."

"She's not a skank."

She laughed. "Oh wow. Nathan Scott is growing a heart? Defending the poor innocent girl he devirginized. That's classic. That's sweet really. It makes me want to gag. Doesn't really matter though now right? She's long gone? History? Another notch in the bedpost eh?" Nathan didn't answer immediately and she smirked. "Like I thought. So moving right along…"

"Get to the point Nikki. What the fuck do you want?"

"Hey language!" She scolded pointing at the child looking up at the two of them. "I need you're help."

"Look, I've told you before, I can't help you. Not that way." His stance almost seemed menacing, his tall frame rigid with his arms crossed over his chest. "I thought we agreed on that when you came back."

"No you decided and I didn't really have a choice." She corrected, taking a seat on the back of the couch. "Nathan come on! He needs a man in his life."

"Don't you have like twelve a week? Not including your clients?" he retorted and she shoved him forcefully. "Nikki, I'm not doing this with you. I am only seventeen years old and this is not something I want to take responsibility for."

"I need a break." She exasperated, running a hand through her long locks. "Just a week, or two. I need some time away. He had the flu last week and colic for three weeks before that. I can't handle it right now. It's too much Nathan."

"Well maybe you should of thought of that before you had the kid!" Nathan shouted pointing to the baby. "God Nikki! If you weren't so conniving, and such a bitch to try and trap someone then maybe you really wouldn't be in this situation. Maybe neither of us would have to be bothered with it."

"He's you're family!" she shot right back and groaned once the little boy began to wail. "God Nathan! Do you have to be such an asshole all the time?"

"I dunno Nikki, do you have to be such a whore?"

"Stop being such a miserable bastard!" she screamed, slapping him across the face. He didn't wince this time either. She let out a bitter cackle. "You really are something. You know, this year for Christmas, I think I'll give you the father of the year award."

"Don't call me that." He warned, grabbing the top of her arm harshly. "You're not cute when you say stupid shit like that."

"You can deny it all you want Nathan, but it doesn't make the reality any less true. He's your responsibility as much as he is mine. You're the only father he knows. For the past eight months I've been dealing with this and now I need a little reprieve." She picked up the baby and placed him in Nathan's arms. "So he's you're now for a little while."

"What am I supposed to do about school and work?" he questioned, looking hesitantly down at the child he held awkwardly in his arms. "I don't know how to take care of a baby Nikki."

For some reason unknown to him, the only thing he could think about at that particular moment was what Haley would say if and when she found out. He wasn't sure that even with the spectacle he had put on today she would stay away and it was only a matter of time before she showed up on his doorstep again. And if he had a baby with him, then it would just only make matters worse. Of course he was well aware that it was really none of her business one way or another but the worry was still there in regards to her reaction.

"You're going to be fine." She took out a piece of paper from her back jeans pocket and slipped it in between Nathan's fingers. "I'm going to Savannah. I'll be at my parent's house. Their numbers are all on there. I'm not going to be gone long, I promise. I'll be back before you know it."

He observed her walk outside the door and bend down to pick up a few bags from the porch he hadn't noticed before. "No longer than two weeks Nikki. I mean it."

"No longer." She parroted, nodding her head. She set the bags down on the counter. "All his things are in there. His binky usually calms him the most. There's a list of feeding times, medications, and doctor numbers. But I used up most of my medical insurance last week when he had the flu so just caution that. And if you rub his back, he'll go to sleep a lot faster." She kissed the baby on the cheek and rubbed the back of his head. "Okay. I'm going to go. I love you little guy. Mommy will be back soon. Thank you Nathan." She walked to the door and glanced back before shutting it her, leaving his Nathan and the baby.

"So I guess it's just me and you huh kid?