Summary: Haley is about to get married when some unexpected news arrives. Very loosely based on 'Sweet Home Alabama.' Will Haley follow her heart or make the biggest mistake of her life?

Rating: T for now

Disclaimer: As much as it pains me to say, I do not own James Lafferty ahem I mean I do not own any of the characters of the show One Tree Hill. Damn you Mark Schwann.

A/N: Hello, lovely readers. I'm doing the Naley quote again. Congratulations to crazyovrnaley. She was the winner for Chapter 6. I came up with a few rules:
1.You must name the quote.
2. Who said it originally?
3. And you can only win once per story.

Oh and include your email in the review if you're guessing because, for some reason, the PMs on ff don't show emails. Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I promise there is Keller bashing and Naley fluff in this chapter.

Congrats to truckcoff for winning the quote.

Flashback
Present

Sometimes They Come Back
Chapter Seven: Wanting

Haley pulled into Lucas' driveway the next morning. Lucas and Brooke had gone to California for a few days to visit Brooke's family and had gotten back to Tree Hill the night before. Haley had wanted to talk to Lucas the night before, but had decided against it because it had been too late. She walked up the walkway to the door and knocked.

Moments later she heard speedy footsteps coming to the door. The door flew open and she was met by two children, who looked about four years old. The taller was a boy with brown hair and light blue eyes, obviously Lucas' genes. The other was a girl with straight blond hair and brown eyes.

"Who's you?" asked the girl. Haley chuckled and squatted so she was at eye level with them.

"I'm Haley. I'm friends with your mommy and daddy. Who might you be?"

"I'm Elizabeth and he's Jake. He's my brother, but I'm older." The girl smiled proudly. Elizabeth must be a popular name.

"Well, can I come in and talk to your dad?" The little girl shook her head.

"Nope, we can't let strangers in the house. You're a stranger." The boy nodded in agreement.

"No, I'm not a stranger. I know your parents."

"Oh." The girl looked at her brother before running down the hallway. "MOMMY! THERE'S A STRANGER AT THE DOOR!!"

"Elizabeth, you know not to open the door to strangers!" Moments later Haley saw Brooke rushing down the hallway towards the door. She slowed down when she looked up and saw Haley. "Haley! Jake let her in." She bent and picked up Jake before closing the door after Haley.

"Hey Brooke. How was the trip?" She followed Brooke down the hallway and into the living room.

"It was great. My parents are really making the effort to be grandparents. I guess they realized they need to make up for their lack of parenting with me. Hold on. I'll go get Lucas."

She put Jake down before leaving the room. Haley looked around the room, noticing a wall full of pictures. She walked over to them; there were so many of them ranging from high school to recently. They had tons of family pictures and several wedding photos. Haley stopped scanning the pictures when one in particular caught her eyes. It was from their junior prom when Nathan and Haley had been crowned King and Queen. In the photo they were slow dancing and Haley was looking into Nathan's eyes with love and affection. Nathan was smiling at whatever she was telling him.

"Hey stranger." Haley turned to see Lucas. She went over and hugged him.

"Hey. I heard the trip went well…" She sat down on the couch. Lucas nodded.

"Yeah. Brooke's parents were excited about the kids. "Figures, huh?" Haley only nodded. "So what brings you here? Oh, can I get you anything?"

"No, it's okay. I just wanted to come over and see how you guys are doing." She looked away from him and back to the picture that had captured her attention. Lucas followed her glance. He smiled.

"So, how's the Nathan situation?"

"It's fine. He's an ass, but he knows it's over. Plus, I'm with Chris now." Who hasn't called me in five days. Jerk.

"Yeah. How is Chris?" Lucas knew there was more to the Nathan situation than Haley let on, but he wasn't going to pry.

"Great. We're good." She nodded. "Yep."

"Haley… You're my best friend and you know I would never lie to you. What's really going on?" Screw not prying. He was worried about her.

"Honestly… I came here to get a divorce. I'm in love with someone, and it's not Nathan. Yeah, it hurts to be around him knowing how things ended and being reminded of the baby. But, I know it's over and there's nothing I can do about it."

"You can always do something about it… Look I know it's not my place to tell you this, but Chris is an ass. He's no good for you. It's a shame that you're giving up on true love because Nathan made a mistake. We both know you're still in love with him, whether or not you want to admit it. You shouldn't settle for second best. Chris isn't the person for you. He killed your marriage and now you're going to marry him? He's a jerk and he has no consideration for other people. Why do that, Haley? You're better than that. "

"I agree," said a voice from the doorway. Haley looked over to see Brooke. "Follow your heart, tutor girl. Eventually, it'll set you right." With that, Brooke left the room to go feed the kids. Lucas was disappointed. His once independent and strong friend had fallen dependant on a man, and one that was not good for her. He hoped she would come to her senses before she made the second biggest mistake of her life.

They spent the next hour catching up before Haley left.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Nathan sat at the island in his kitchen, pen in hand and papers on the surface in front of him. He didn't want to sign the papers, but Haley had made it apparent that she wanted nothing more to do with him and they were finally over. That was all he needed. He needed to hear her tell him there was no more them. He sighed before signing the various lines in the document. He was officially divorced.

Nathan slid the papers back in the envelope. He looked down at the ring on his left ring finger before removing the gold band and dropping it into the envelope. He never imagined he would still be in love with the girl he had married seven years ago. He had messed up and had lost her. She would soon marry the reason their marriage had fallen apart in the first place and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Hey Peyton. Have you seen my cell phone? I need to call Chris." Haley walked into the kitchen looking for the lost item. Peyton looked up from her sketch and sighed.

"Haley, be real. You haven't talked to him since you came here and you think he's really going to answer? He's a jerk. I don't know what you see in him." Peyton went back to her drawing.

Haley just stared at her, trying to convince herself Peyton hadn't just bashed her fiancé in front of her, before walking back to the room she was staying in. What is this? Bash Chris and Haley day? She had wanted to leave a few hours earlier, but was stuck looking for her cell phone. Please tell me I didn't leave it at Nathan's.

"Oh, shoot! Papers." Haley got her keys and walked out of the room. "Peyt, I'll be back in a little while."

"Yep."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It was 10 P.M. and Nathan was getting ready for bed when there was a knock on his door. He wondered who it could be because it obviously wasn't Haley. Nathan walked through the apartment and to the door before opening it.

"Oh. It's you." He walked away from the door and back to his room, leaving Haley on the front porch. She walked in and closed the door, then made her way back to the room.

"I think I left my cell phone here and the divorce papers." She crossed her arms and looked at him.

"Yeah. They're on the table in the kitchen. Lock the door on your way out." He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. She didn't move. "You can leave now."

"Nathan. I'm sorry… about earlier. I said some pretty mean-"

"Yeah, you did, Hales. You were a bitch, but it doesn't make what you said hurt any less. Why don't you just get your stuff and leave?"

"Could you just shut up for two seconds? I wasn't finished. I said some pretty mean things and I was saying sorry. I also wanted to apologize for the way I left… I never meant for it to be that way. You just… you put me in a hard situation."

"How? You wanted to leave, leave me and your friends. For what? Chris Keller?" Nathan got up and walked over to her.

"No. You know I left for the tour. Not him. And maybe if you would have picked up the damn phone every once in a while, you would have known that!" She looked up at him, hoping he would understand.

"You called our voicemail. You could have come home!"

"Well, at least I called. I also left a message."

"Yeah, I deleted it." He looked up at her and dared her to try and continue defending her choice. But the next words out of her mouth shocked him.

"Well... Then you deleted this: Um... I was being childish when I walked away from you for the tour. You gave me an ultimatum the night that I left and, uh, I fought back for all the wrong reasons. I was being stubborn... and I can't take that back, I wish that I could. Did I want to go? Yeah. I loved it, I loved every night of it. But I want you to know something Nathan. There was never a night where I loved it more than I loved you." There were tears forming in her eyes as the feelings started rushing back. She couldn't take it anymore. She had tried to deny the feelings she knew were present, but she was slowly losing that battle.

"Hales… I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to do without you. You hurt me…" He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb back and forth across her skin.

"I never meant to…" Her voice was a whisper now. She looked up at Nathan. Before she knew what was happened, Nathan was moving closer to her and their faces were inches apart.

"Haley…" Before he said anything, he leaned down and kissed her softly. She hesitated for a moment before kissing him back. Nathan wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer and the kiss intensified. When breathing became necessary they pulled apart. Nathan leaned forward again, this time kissing the sensitive spot he remembered on Haley's neck, eliciting a soft moan from her.

"Nathan…" She knew she shouldn't be doing this, but it felt so good and she and Chris hadn't been very intimate lately. Hell, she couldn't remember the last time she had sex. Nathan stopped, but remained with his lips against her neck. "We shouldn't be doing this…"

Nathan moved his head so he was looking at her. He moved forward slowly to kiss her again, waiting to see if she tried to stop him. When she didn't, he kissed her again, but this time with more intensity. Haley wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back. Nathan pulled away for a second and Haley looked at him confused.

"If we keep doing this, I don't know if I'll be able to stop. So, tell me now if you don't want to do this." She looked away for a second and then looked back at him. She kissed him softly, answering his question.

TBC…

A/N: Yay for Naley fluff. Be kind, review.