Author's Note: Sorry this update took a little while, it's exam time and things have been crazy. This was one of my favourite chapters to write so I really hope you enjoy it and, as always, please leave me your thoughts!

February 20th 2010

"So what is this we're going for?" Adam asked Haley as the seven of them made their way out of Karen's Café.

"This is our Saturday tradition," Haley smiled. "Dinner at Karen's and then we head to the River Court."

"Wait, you guys do this every Saturday?"

Haley nodded.

"How come I've never heard about it?" He looked down at her.

Lucas shot her a look, which she ignored. "I don't know, I guess I never mentioned it. But that's why I'm bringing you today. I feel like I live two separate lives sometimes, one with you and one with my friends. We're going to be married soon." Nathan cringed and Peyton rested a hand comfortingly on his arm. "I want you to know all of me."

Adam looked at her for a moment before giving her a grateful smile and turning to the rest of the group. "So what do you guys do at the River Court?"

Lucas just smiled smugly. "You'll see."

Adam saw his car and made his way towards it but was surprised when the other six didn't follow.

"We usually walk," Lucas explained as he noticed where Adam was headed.

"Really? Why would you walk when you've already got a car here?"

"It's a beautiful day," Peyton shot him a look, "why would we all split up to drive there when we can walk together and talk?"

Adam just shrugged as he turned away from his car and followed the group towards the River Court. "So don't you guys ever get sick of eating at Karen's?"

He noticed the looks on the faces around him and quickly recovered, "I mean, it's a great place, and the food is amazing, but you guys have been eating there for years, don't you ever want to try something different? Something new?"

"It's called a tradition for a reason," Peyton remarked, quickly followed by Lucas nudging her arm as he whispered, "Peyton, be nice."

Peyton shrugged. "I'm just saying."

"Oh, will you look at that," Brooke emphasized, trying to break the awkward tension, "we're at the River Court."

"Girls versus guys!" Haley screamed as she ran for the bush, closely followed by Lucas and Julian. Adam watched as she reached inside and pulled out a basketball victoriously before Lucas and Julian tackled her to the ground.

Brooke noticed the expression on Adam's face and tried to explain. "Tip offs don't work so well with girls versus guys, so first one to the ball gets to start."

Adam shook his head slightly as he watched. "Aren't we a little old for this kind of thing?"

Peyton just glared at him. "No one said you had to participate."

"No…I'll…I'll play. I'm sorry, this is just kind of…I've never seen Haley like this before, it's kind of strange."

"We do this every week," Nathan pointed out. "Maybe if you weren't so busy with work…"

Adam turned to shoot him a glare.

"I'm just saying man." Nathan put his hands up as he took a step back.

"Girls start!" Haley shouted as she came bouncing up to them. She had twigs in her hair and her clothes were covered in grass stains but the smile on her face was victorious. Nathan couldn't help but chuckle at how cute she looked.

"Baby! You're clothes!" Adam looked her up and down.

"It's fine," Haley shrugged. "It was worth it to beat these two losers." She smirked as Lucas and Julian came up behind her.

"I resent that," Lucas remarked.

"Me too," Julian agreed.

"You're going to take that back when we beat you," Lucas smirked.

"If you beat us," Brooke pointed out with a grin.

"We'll see," Lucas turned towards the table at the other end of the court and Nathan and Julian quickly followed. Adam watched as the three of them pulled their shirts over their heads and dumped them onto the picnic table before turning to him. "You coming?"

"Umm…sure," Adam walked over to them and loosened his tie before unbuttoning his dress shirt and adding it to their pile of t-shirts. He was left with just his white undershirt as he turned to the rest of the guys. They looked at him for a few seconds before Nathan headed onto the court, "Suit yourself."

"It gets pretty hot out there," Brooke called to him, "besides, you'll want all the advantage you can get, we don't play fair."

"What?" Adam asked.

"Umm…" Haley blushed.

"Us girls are known for our distractions," Peyton explained. "You know," She reached over and pulled up Brooke's shirt, "…distractions."

"Peyton!" Brooke screeched.

"It's not like we haven't all seen it before," Peyton smirked. "Besides, do you really think the rest of us didn't see anything when you flashed Julian to win last week?"

Adam's eyes shot to Haley. "You…do you…?"

"Haley?" Brooke laughed, "no, Haley's never flashed anyone. She can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be though."

Adam looked at her warily. "What do you mean?"

"You'll just have to find out." Brooke cut in with a smirk.

Adam looked hesitantly at all of them before taking off his undershirt and joining the rest of the guys on the court.

Peyton snickered quietly from where she stood with the rest of the girls at the other end of the River Court.

"What?" Haley asked as she looked over at her.

"Come on Haley, that guy over Nathan?"

Haley looked up and noticed what she was talking about. The guys were all standing in a group making up some sort of strategy but even then there was a discernible difference. Adam had always been fairly lean but next to Nathan he looked like a toothpick. Even though Nathan's six foot three was not much taller than the guys around him, the sheer mass of his frame had him towering over them. Lucas and Julian were not much smaller than him, build wise, but Adam…he looked like a child as he stood among the other three men. Haley couldn't help but notice Nathan's strong firm shoulders, his muscular arms, the way the muscles on his back rippled as he moved and his toned abs as he turned his body towards them. She also couldn't help but compare it to Adam's slight frame and notice how fragile Adam looked as he stood next to Nathan.

Peyton cleared her throat as she looked at Haley, a smirk on her face.

"It doesn't matter," Haley said as she turned away from the guys and back towards Peyton. "Adam's a lawyer and Nathan's an ex-NBA player, of course Nathan's going to be more built."

"What are you girls whispering about over there?" Julian called.

The girls looked up to see the boys had broken out of their huddle and were watching them curiously.

"Just making our own game plan," Brooke smirked.

"Oh please," Lucas scoffed. "Your game plan consists of taking your shirts off and shooting while we're distracted."

"You better watch yourself Scott," Peyton warned playfully, "or you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Are we gonna play or what?" Nathan asked as he stepped around Lucas and took the ball from his hands as the guys settled themselves into formation.

Brooke walked up in front of him before clearing her throat. "We get first ball, don't think I've forgotten Scott."

"How are we playing this?" Haley looked around. There were too many guys and not enough girls. "We need a guy to join the girl's team."

"I'll join!" Adam volunteered eagerly. Just being around those guys was intimidating, he didn't even want to imagine what they'd say when they saw how badly he played.

"Alright," Brooke took the ball before turning to the girls. "I'm covering Julian, obviously. Peyton you want Lucas?"

"Is that even a question?" Peyton asked as she looked over at her half naked fiancé.

"Alright well Haley usually takes Nathan but there are two of you now…"

"One of you could take Nathan and the other could stay open by the basket."

"P. Sawyer," Brooke gasped, "are you suggesting we cherry pick?"

Peyton shrugged with a smirk. "Well it's not like you're above cheating miss rip-my-shirt-off."

Brooke stuck her tongue out at her best friend before turning back to the couple in front of her. "Okay, so who wants to take Nathan?"

"I will," Adam suggested. He may be trying to play nice with the guy but that didn't mean he was going to let him anywhere near his fiancée.

Brooke looked between the two of them for a second before conceding. "Fine. Adam takes Nathan; Haley, you get open near the net. Okay boys," she announced as she turned around, "we're ready to beat your asses."

Lucas chuckled at that. "Whatever you say Brooke."

"I'm open!" Adam yelled as he ran towards the guys' basket. "Pass it Brooke!"

Brooke hesitated for a moment before throwing the ball into the air towards Adam. Her fears were confirmed when he caught it, fumbled it, and chased it off into the bushes. The other guys snickered.

"Don't be jerks," Brooke hissed, "I remember when you were that bad." She pointed a finger towards Julian.

"I was never that bad," Julian whispered back.

"Well you certainly weren't good," Lucas mumbled with a snicker.

"What are you guys whispering about over there?" Haley called from the other side of the court.

"Nothing!" They all chimed simultaneously.

"Yeah," Haley laughed, "I'm sure."

"I'm done," Adam panted as he made his way back onto the court. "That's enough exercise for me for one day."

"But we've only been playing for half an hour," Nathan objected.

"You guys continue," Adam motioned as he headed towards the bench, "I'll watch from here."

"Are you sure?" Haley gave him a concerned look. "Do you want me to join you? I can-"

"No!" Brooke exclaimed. "Tutorgirl we need you! We're already losing!"

"You play," Adam smiled at her before smirking. "Besides, I've got a great view from here anyways."

"Perv," Peyton muttered under her breath.

"Peyton," Haley warned, "be nice."

"Alright, well it looks like Haley's covering Nathan." Brooke turned towards them. "You girls ready?"

Haley turned towards Nathan. "Bring it on Natey."

"Oh it's so on," Nathan smirked as he bent to a crouch.

"You ready Eugene?" Peyton laughed as she turned towards her fiancé.

"Seriously? You're going to middle name me? I didn't even do anything!"

Peyton just laughed.

"Dude! You're middle name is Eugene?"

Lucas turned to give Julian a dirty look before turning back to the girls. "Are we just gonna sit around here and talk or are we gonna play?"

"No need to get your panties in a bunch Eugene," Nathan smirked.

"What is this?" Lucas grumbled, "pick-on-Lucas day?"

Haley lit up. "We should totally have one of those!"

"I'm so in!" Brooke agreed.

Peyton laughed. "For me, every day is pick-on-Lucas-day."

"Don't I know it…" Lucas muttered.

"We get first ball," Haley declared.

"But Adam hit it out, it's our ball," Nathan argued.

"But we just lost a player," Haley countered.

"But…"

Haley took a step forward so her chest was pressed right up against Nathan's. "Yes…?"

Nathan's eyes darkened. "Whatever you want."

Brooke snickered before turning to Peyton. "See, I knew once Haley was covering Nathan again we'd win."

"We haven't won yet Brooke," Peyton pointed out with a smile.

"Just wait," Brooke smiled smugly, "you'll see."

"So, what should our victory prize be?"

"I vote the boys buy us ice cream, I'm boiling!" Peyton exclaimed.

"Oh alright…" Lucas conceded as he wrapped an arm around his fiancée.

"Double scoop for me!" Haley exclaimed.

"You know, these victory prizes are going to burn a hole through my wallet," Nathan exclaimed.

"Well maybe if you guys stepped up your game you wouldn't lose so often," Haley smiled smugly.

"Maybe if you girls stopped being such a distraction…" Lucas quipped.

"This is street ball baby," Peyton kissed him on the cheek, "there are no rules. Go big or go home."

The group continued to laugh as they made their way towards the Marketstreet docks.

"You okay?" Haley asked after a few minutes when she noticed Adam had been particularly quiet.

"Yeah, I'm…I'm fine."

Haley held onto his hand for a moment and let the others walk ahead before turning to him. "No, you're not. What's bothering you?"

"Nothing it's just…"

"It's just what?"

"Seeing you and Nathan today…"

"Oh…" Haley thought back to the game. "Adam I'm sorry, it's really not like that. It's just…Peyton and Lucas have always been a couple and even before Julian, Brooke always seemed to have someone in her life, and Nathan and I have been such good friends. It's just kind of ingrained in us to play that way. I'm really sorry if it made you uncomfortable. Trust me, it doesn't mean anything."

"I'm sure if you asked Nathan he'd give you a different story," Adam retorted.

"Adam, I don't know what to say or do to show it to you, but Nathan just sees me as a friend. Trust me, he could never see me as anything more than that."

"Is that what you tell yourself to justify being with me?" Adam asked bitterly.

"Adam, I love you."

"But you love Nathan too."

"He's my best friend, of course I love him."

Adam sighed. "Haley, you know what I mean."

"No Adam, I don't think I do. You've known Nathan for a while now, why is this all coming up now?"

"Because I was too blind to see it before. I didn't want to see it before but now I can't avoid it anymore."

"Well, I don't know what else I can say or do to convince you..."

"Don't see him anymore," Adam cut in.

"Excuse me?" Haley was taken aback.

"Don't see him anymore. Please, for me?"

"Adam you know I can't do that, he's my best friend."

"Just, please, think about it. It'll be better for him too. Maybe it'll help him to get over you."

"Adam he's not into me!"

"Just, think about it, okay?"

"I…"

"We should catch up, everyone's ordering already," Adam said as he looked up ahead. "Come on."

"He asked you to do what?"

"He doesn't want me to see Nathan anymore."

"Did he at least say why?

"He said that Nathan was in love with me," Haley scoffed, "I mean seriously? How crazy is that?"

Brooke and Peyton shared a look.

"Haley…" Brooke started. "Maybe… maybe you should talk to Nathan."

"You guys know I can't do that. Can you imagine what Nathan would say if I told him that Adam didn't want me to see him anymore? He already hates the guy; he would probably go over there and rip his head off."

"Are you…?" Peyton looked worried. "Are you going to do it?"

"Of course I'm not going to do it!" Haley exclaimed. "Nathan's my best friend and I am not going to cut him out of my life! I just, I can't do that."

Brooke sighed. "Well it looks like Adam might be right, maybe you do have to choose…"

"So…" Peyton started as the two looked at Haley expectantly. "What'll it be?"

Coming Up Next:

- Haley's decision
- Who will Haley be taking to Peyton's wedding?