A/N: Thank you guys so much for your kind comments. I'm glad you're enjoying this because I had a lot of fun writing it. Oh, and Catwoman, I chose California basically because that's where I live and, since the plot called for a change of setting, I figured I would put it in a place I was comfortable with. )

The rest of dinner and the following drive home were mostly quiet, with Nathan and Haley lost in confused thoughts of each other. He didn't understand why she was acting so oddly over him buying her a gift and telling his mom that they were planning on having grandchildren sometime and she didn't understand how he could treat such things so nonchalantly. Normal people knew that actions like his had meaning.

Maybe Nathan just wasn't normal.

Dan sat silently on the drive home, thinking over the kids' actions at dinner. There was a tension there that had never been present before this trip, something he was just now seeing between them. He knew he would have to watch them carefully for the remainder of his time in California. The bet had never over the years slipped far from his mind, and he fully intended to call them on it if he thought they were truly losing.

Deb's mind was likewise filled with thoughts of Haley and Nathan's relationship, but she was concentrating on how to figure out what was amiss between them so she could try to fix it before she left.

When they returned to the house, everyone agreed to call it a night and the couples went their separate ways. In their room, Nathan and Haley silently went about getting ready for bed. She showered and changed in the bathroom while he flipped through channels, catching occasional clips of baseball games that had taken place that day.

When she emerged in pajamas, a towel draped over her shoulders, she gave him a small smile. "It's all yours." Dumping her dirty clothes in the hamper, she walked to the door.

Nathan frowned from his spot on the bed. "What's wrong? You're not tired?" he asked, hoping that she wasn't about to launch into another one of her spiels on why they shouldn't be sleeping in the same bed. It had been a fun day but now he was ready to take a shower and get some sleep in preparation for golfing with his father, which had never in his life been a positive experience.

Haley shook her head. "Not really. I was going to call Peyton and see what's up. She always has something interesting to say."

He didn't quite believe her story, but nodded anyway as he got up and grabbed some clean clothes. "Tell her I said hey."

"Sure." She left the room and padded quietly down the hall to the living room, switching on a lamp before getting comfortable on one end of the couch. She didn't think twice before picking up the phone on the end table and dialing a number she knew almost as well as her own.

It wasn't until the familiar voice, groggy with sleep, answered the phone, "You better be dying," that she realized she hadn't thought about the time difference. Peyton lived in New York, so it was already after two in the morning there. Haley herself had spent many nights writing until well past that time, but apparently that was too late for normal people to be awake.

But then, Peyton Sawyer had never been exactly normal in Haley's eyes. Fun, wacky, sometimes impulsive, an amazing artist, a good friend—never 'normal.' Haley had once been unsure of herself around Peyton, who had always seemed somehow worldly compared to her, but years had melted away that awkwardness between them and now the girls were very close friends.

"Did I wake you up?" Even as the words left her mouth, she knew the answer to her question.

"It's almost two thirty in the morning. Of course you woke me up, Haley."

"Sorry."

"Doubtful." Through the connection Haley could hear her friend moving around in bed, muttering beneath her breath to no one about how inconsiderate some people could be. But Peyton wasn't really mad at her friend, and Haley damn well knew it, too. "Why are you making calls at two in the morning anyway? Where are you? Jail?"

"No. Not the apartment, either. Home." She was shocked at how naturally that had slipped through her lips. When she thought about it, since the separation she rarely was able to deduce without a doubt that the house she shared with Nathan was 'home' and she'd even told him so.

But when she didn't let herself think, the answer just came out. Her heart still thought of home as their house.

Peyton's sleep-clouded mind didn't immediately comprehend what her friend was saying. "You're in Tree Hill? Why? Did something happen?"

"No. I'm not in Tree Hill. I'm at the house with Nathan," Haley corrected, "and I really need to vent to someone."

Peyton sat up in bed, now completely torn from sleep. She had known Haley almost ten years. They'd been friends through high school, college, and beyond, so she knew when things were right with her friend and when they weren't. Right now, Haley sounded like things were so wrong it hurt. "Okay, I think I missed something. When I talked to you a few days ago, you were still at the apartment you found. What happened?"

"Nothing. And more than I can explain," Haley sighed, seeping deeper into the cushions of the couch. "Dan and Deb are here for a visit, so I'm here until they leave."

"Ouch." Peyton winced on her end of the phone line. She had known about the bet since high school, but never believed that it would be a problem. She and Nathan went way back and she had never seen him half as crazy about a girl as he was about Haley, so she'd assumed that they would win and Dan would slink off into a corner to lick his wounds.

"No kidding," Haley agreed quietly, keeping her voice down so she didn't alert Dan and Deb. "Nathan and I are trying to convince his parents that we're still together so we're acting like we used to and he's driving me crazy. Peyton, I don't know what I'm doing."

"You're rambling, Hales. Calm down and tell me what's going on."

So she did, starting with the call she'd received from Nathan a few days before and ending with the scene at dinner. "And besides the fact that I'm so fed up with Nathan I could hit him, I feel bad about lying to Deb," she went on softly. "She's always been nice to me and now I'm lying to her face and it just rubs me the wrong way. I hate Dan and that stupid bet."

"Understandably," Peyton sympathized. After a moment of silence she couldn't help but murmur out, "You really must care about him, as dense as he can be."

"What do you mean?"

"You. Stepping up when he needs you. It's more than I would do if I were in your shoes."

Haley rolled her eyes to herself. Peyton liked to make it look like she was a tough girl, but she was a softie underneath the act. "First of all, I don't believe that for a second. And how can you say that? Didn't you hear me complaining about how much I want to hurt him right now?"

Peyton smiled to herself in the dark of her apartment. Haley wasn't ready to admit to herself what she felt, and that was just fine. Maybe it was better, considering that it didn't sound like Nathan was up to acknowledging his feelings yet, either. "Yeah. Maybe I'm still half asleep."

"Right. I should let you go now. Thanks for listening. Sorry I woke you up."

"Haley, wait," Peyton said, her voice suddenly serious. "A lot of stuff's going on with you right now and I wish I could give you some relevant advice but no one can do that at this point. All I can tell you is to try to ignore Nathan's stupidity if you can—remember that he's a guy. Don't let Dan get to you. You're a much better person than he is and if you just last out the week, he'll be gone and you'll be fine."

Haley nodded as she ran her fingers over the edge of the couch, mentally thanking God or whatever other force that had given her this friend. She couldn't even count how many times Peyton had kept her from losing her mind over the years. "Okay. Thanks, Peyton. I'll keep you posted. Go to sleep."

"Yeah, yeah. You wake me up and then tell me to go back to sleep. You're lucky I like you," Peyton grumbled good-naturedly. "Goodnight, Haley. Good luck."

"Night." She pressed the off button on the phone and replaced it in its cradle, then stared for a moment at the blank television screen. Peyton was right. She couldn't let Nathan's confusing behavior or Dan's normal dreadfulness get to her. The most important thing was to keep up the charade for the next week.

With that goal set in her mind, she got up and switched off the lamp before walking back to her room.

She never saw the frame that had appeared in the hall halfway through her conversation, intending only to get a glass of water from the kitchen, and disappeared as silently just before the end of it.