"Here we are. Home sweet home." Nathan pushed the door completely open and turned the switch for the lights to come on.

Haley entered the small apartment and took in what she saw. She was impressed at how nicely furnished it was.

"Nathan this place looks great," she complemented.

"Thanks, but honestly it's all Brooke and Peyton. They decorated the place this summer while I was at camp." Haley looked at him for clarification on the new name. "Oh, uh, Peyton's another friend. She's really close to Brooke. She and I dated, actually," he revealed while scratching the back of his head nervously. Haley raised her eyebrows at that news. "It was a long time ago though. We realized we were better off as friends."

Haley nodded. "How long did it last?" she asked casually as she took a seat on his couch.

Nathan swallowed. "About a year." He cautiously sat down next to her and positioned himself to face her.

"I thought you said you've never been in a committed relationship before?" she inquired, adjusting her own position.

"Actually I said I've never been in a healthy committed relationship," he corrected. "And that's still true. Me and Peyton, to say the least, were toxic. We were basically friends who fought and had sex a lot. Long story short we cut the sex and the fighting stopped. We just stayed friends." Nathan wasn't sure if he shared too much, but he figured he might as well tell her now in case his past comes back to bite him in the ass. Not to mention he knew Haley's stance on sex. She wasn't ready yet and he wasn't going to push her like Damien had. After a long pause he said, "Hales?"

"It's Peyton and I."

"What?" he asked confused.

"You'd think after a couple weeks of tutoring you'd get it right by now," she joked with a teasing smile.

"You're not mad?" he asked still trying to process her reaction.

"Of course I'm not," she chuckled at his look of relief. "Nathan, you can't change who you were just as much as I can't change what I've been through. What matters is who we are now," she smiled up at him.

Nathan shook his head in amazement at the girl sitting next to him. "Man, you're awesome." He followed his statement with a light peck on her lips.

Haley couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you. Now why don't you finish giving me a tour of the place?" she suggested as she stood up.

"Why?" he asked bewildered. "What's left is my bathroom and bedroom."

At the sound of bedroom Haley gave him a sly look and flirty smile.

It didn't take long for Nathan to understand, "Follow me," he stood up, grabbed her hand, and sprinted to his room with a giggling Haley in tow. She may not be ready for sex, but she's proven to Nathan by now that she wasn't a prude either.

"I wonder what's taking them so long. I mean, hello! They're the ones who suggested we go to dinner," said Brooke. She, Jake, and Lucas were currently sitting at a booth in Karen's Café waiting for Nathan and Haley to join them.

"Aren't they walking from his apartment?" Jake reminded her.

"Please," Brooke scoffed. "Nathan's place is closer to the café than the river court."

Jake looked at Lucas for confirmation and Lucas nodded.

"If anything I bet they called us because they had planned on working up quite an appetite and then lost track of time playing in between the sheets."

"Are you saying they're having sex?" asked a shocked Jake.

Brooke cocked her head to the side at how innocent he was. "Well what else is there? I mean we're talking about two hormonal teenagers in an apartment alone without adult supervision."

Jake had to admit he didn't think about that. "Damn."

Brooke nodded happily at corrupting another young mind. "Oh, look. Even goldilocks made it before them." Brooke waved her arm and called out for her friend. "P. Sawyer, over here!"

"Hey, sorry I got caught up with work."

"Tric's show next week?" asked Lucas.

Peyton nodded. "Yeah, it's been pretty hectic. Where's Nathan and his new girlfriend?" she asked as she joined the table.

"They're not here yet," Brooke replied. Upon seeing Peyton's eyes travel to Jake, Brooke spoke up again. "Oh and this handsome young fellow is Jake…"

"Jagielski," Jake added when Brooke gave him a look. "I'm a friend of Haley's."

"Best friend," Brooke corrected.

Jake furrowed his eyebrows. "Uh, yeah." Why did Brooke feel the need to emphasize that?

Peyton on the other hand knew why. She had shared an insecurity of hers with Brooke on whether she should even come out tonight. What with her history with Nathan. She didn't want his new girlfriend feeling threatened of her or hating her and felt it might be best to just stay away. Especially since she'd already ruined another one of her best friend's relationships. She knew that Brooke wanted her to know that if Nathan was cool with Haley having a male best friend, then Haley would understand him being cool with her. Though Peyton highly doubted it, considering she and Nathan were exes, she agreed to come.

"Hi, I'm Peyton."

"Nice to meet you," he smiled.

"You too."

"So what's Trick?" he inquired.

"Oh it's this club I work for. Actually Lucas's mom is the owner. We started doing more events for all ages and I'm in charge of them."

"That's awesome. I wish Jacksonville had something like that. We have a decent music scene but most of the venues are bars so you can't get in without a good fake ID."

"Exactly! That's why I'm doing what I'm doing."

Brooke watched as the chemistry between Peyton and Jake began to become clear. This was a pleasant surprise for her and she was happy they were hitting it off. She just hoped he was single. "So Jake, you got a special girl back home?" Brooke asked. She never was one for subtlety.

Peyton and Lucas laughed as Jake felt blindsided. "Uh, actually I do," he admitted.

Brooke's previous smile wiped off but she quickly replaced it again. "Really?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah," he grinned, now more confidently. Brooke could tell by how big his smile was that he was seriously head over heels for this girl.

"How long have you been together?" Peyton asked.

"Uh," Jake chuckled. "It'll be a year next month actually. I have a picture in my wallet if you want to see." He dug out his wallet from his pocket when the girls nodded. "Ah, here she is." He took out the picture and handed it to them.

The girls looked at the picture expecting a couple photo of Jake and his mystery girlfriend but were pleasantly surprised to see it was a baby girl. They looked up at him for clarification.

"Oh, yeah the special girl in my life is my daughter. Her name's Jenny."

The girls proceeded to awe in unison and Jake and Lucas laughed at the typical response.

"She's beautiful Jake," Peyton commented as she handed him back the photo.

"Thank you," he said putting it back in his wallet.

"So when you said you'll be together for a year next month you meant…" Peyton trailed on.

"That she'd be turning a year old, yeah."

"Wow, you became a dad at 16?" stated Lucas. He couldn't imagine being in that situation.

"Yeah, I couldn't have done it without Hales though. She's Jenny's fairy godmother and mine too come to think of it. She's been really great and supportive."

"What about her mom?" Brooke prodded.

Jake licked his lips expressing his discomfort. "Uh," he looked down hesitantly, "she's no longer in the picture."

Before he received any looks of pity, Jake quickly added, "It's okay though. Jenny and I manage fine on our own."

They talked for another minute or so when Nathan and Haley came waltzing into the café.

"Finally," Lucas muttered.

"What took you guys so long?" asked Jake.

"We took the long way," Nathan said.

"I'm sure you did," Brooke commented slyly. She and Peyton shared a soft laugh.

Haley laughed nervously as Nathan pulled up a chair for her.

"Oh my God," Brooke gasped. "Did you see that?" Brooke asked Peyton with her hand on her chest.

"Why yes, it appears Nathan Scott was being a gentleman. Hell must have frozen over," Peyton answered and the girls broke out in laughter with Haley hardly stifling her own. Nathan scowled at his two friends as he took his own seat.

"Ha-Ha," he deadpanned. "By the way Peyton, this is Haley. Haley this is Peyton. You can see why we broke up."

Peyton narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a playful glare. If his little jab didn't garner the laughter that followed she would've had more time to process the fact that Nathan told Haley about their past.

"Hi Peyton, it's nice to meet you," Haley smiled.

"You too. And can I say you are much too pretty and nice to be with Nathan."

"Don't forget smart. She is Tutor Girl after all," Brooke winked at Haley.

"Don't tell her that, she'll leave me," Nathan jokingly warned.

"Aw don't worry sweetie, I already know," Haley patted his hand.

The table laughed.

"Whatever," Nathan mumbled. He swiftly raised his hand for menus and the busboy behind him complied almost immediately.

After ordering their drinks, the group began to look through their menus.

"Do you know what you want?" Nathan asked Haley. He really only got the menus for Haley and Jake since the rest of the group already knew the menu by heart and had their usual ready to go.

Haley shook her head indecisively. "I don't know what to get. Everything sounds so good. What are you getting?" she turned to look at him.

"Just a sandwich," he answered.

"Just a sandwich?" Haley reiterated with a raised eyebrow.

Nathan broke out his smirk. "Okay, my sandwich. You happy now?"

Haley chuckled softly as she looked back at her menu. There was a whole specials area dedicated to the four friends. Nathan's was a sandwich, Lucas and Peyton's were types of burgers with their own sides, and Brooke's was a custom salad. "You weren't kidding when you said you guys come here all the time."

Nathan shrugged with a grin. She had no idea. "You'll get something on the menu eventually too."

Haley gave him a sarcastic look saying 'oh, sure' then softly scoffed. "Right."

"I'm serious," Nathan protested. "I have an in with the owner."

"Really?" Haley asked intrigued.

Nathan nodded surely. "Yeah. We go way back. Actually she and Luke go way back."

At the mention of his name, Lucas looked away from Jake and spoke up. "What about me?"

Nathan rolled his eyes good-naturally. "Nothing big bro. I was just saying if you ever pulled your head out of your books long enough to make a basket, you could've been the one to go to High Flyers."

Lucas rolled his eyes in response, knowing Nathan was just playing, but Haley, on the other hand, scolded Nathan with a swat on his arm.

"Don't be mean," she told him.

"What? This is what brothers do, Hales. We pick on each other," defended Nathan.

This time it was Haley who rolled her eyes. "I know what siblings do Nathan, or did you forget I'm one of five?"

"You have five sisters and brothers?" asked a shocked Brooke.

"Four, actually," corrected Haley. "I'm the youngest of the five."

"Wow. How was that growing up?" Peyton pried seeing as the rest of them grew up as only children.

"It was… loud." The table laughed and Jake nodded in agreement. "Growing up I'd wish I could escape it and go to some haven. Something like this," she commented as she looked around the cozy café. "But I guess Jake had to do."

Jake scoffed in mock-offense as the Tree Hill gang laughed at Haley's soft jab at him. "Hey!"

The table's laughter was succumbing when a slightly older woman approached the table with a notepad in one hand and an apron monogrammed 'Karen's Café' wrapped around her protruding stomach.

"What can I get for you kids?" she asked with a bright smile.

"Mom, you know you shouldn't be out working the tables in your condition," Lucas immediately spoke.

Haley watched the dynamic between the mother and son.

"Lucas, dear, I'm pregnant not disabled. I think I can manage walking around taking orders. Besides, I really just came to meet the girl who's gotten Nathan all smitten."

Nathan scoffed at the word 'smitten' but didn't refute her statement.

Haley suddenly felt the attention on her and realized the woman was talking about her. "Oh, hi, I'm Haley. And that's my best friend Jake over there." She pointed to a waving Jake.

"Hello," the woman smiled broadly. "I'm Karen, Lucas's mother and well technically Nathan's aunt," she introduced.

"Aunt?" Haley prodded.

"Yeah, my mom married our uncle," Lucas responded.

Haley nodded now understanding. "And now you're expecting?"

Karen smiled proudly and held her hand on her stomach. "We are. Soon Lucas will have another little brother or sister who will tease him endlessly," she joked.

"What? Is today 'pick on Lucas' day?" asked a mildly confused Lucas as the table chuckled amusedly.

"No, babe, that's the first Tuesday of every month. Today's just an exception," winked Brooke.

Lucas rolled his eyes at the playful banter directed at him.

"As much as I love watching my son get ganged on, what orders should I place? The usual?" asked Karen.

The Tree Hill gang nodded as they passed the menus to Karen.

"And what about you two?" Karen asked Jake and Haley.

"What the hell," Jake shrugged. "I'll try Peyton's burger," he handed his menu to Karen.

Peyton smiled triumphantly as Lucas shook his head in disappointment. The two blondes had been trying to convince Jake on which of their specials he should choose and Peyton was delighted he chose hers. Jake laughed at their juvenile reactions.

"And what about you, sweetheart?" Karen asked Haley.

"Oh, um, I actually haven't decided yet," she answered sheepishly.

Before Karen could respond Nathan stood from his chair and approached Karen to whisper something in her ear. Haley along with the rest of the table looked on curiously and their confusion continued as Karen's response to Nathan's words were a smile and nod.

"Of course I can," Karen told Nathan softly. She then turned to the table as Nathan sat back down.

Haley was just about to ask what happened when Karen spoke up again.

"Haley, your order has been placed. I'll take the menu," she smiled as she gestured for it.

Stunned, Haley passed the menu over to Karen and quietly thanked her despite her confusion.

"Nathan, what was that about?" she finally asked after Karen left the group. The rest of the table watched as the couple talked.

"I ordered for you."

Haley refrained herself from rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I gathered that, but what did you order?"

"You'll see," he told her. He noticed her look of apprehension so he reassured her. "Don't worry, Hales. You're gonna like it. I promise," he smirked.

Haley pursed her lips before giving into her smile. "For your sake, I better love it."

Nathan laughed. "Okay. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"I guess so," Haley responded.

As they waited for their food, the table got to know each other a little better.

"So, tell us about yourself Haley," stated Peyton.

"Uh, what do you want to know?" she asked nervously. She felt as though she were being interrogated by Nathan's parents, but this scenario may be more intimidating seeing as the people sitting across from her were Nathan's true family. Needless to say, she hoped she didn't screw this up.

Nathan could tell she was nervous so he reached for her hand under the table and proceeded to give it a reassuring squeeze. Haley looked over at him and smiled gratefully.

"Well so far we know you're a junior, you're a tutor, and you spend summers at a basketball camp full of hot jocks," Brooke listed on her fingers. She paused briefly before remembering one more item. "Oh! And you're the youngest of five."

Haley chuckled. "All true."

"So how about you first tell us why you were at High Flyers in the first place?"

"My dad coaches for High Flyers. He's been coaching there since I was a little girl so I basically grew up on that camp."

"Wait. Your dad is Jimmy James?" Lucas asked suddenly thrilled at the sudden subject change.

Haley nodded proudly. She knew his name garnered recognition, after all, you can't play basketball in North Carolina and not have heard of Coach James.

Besides being a great coach, Jimmy James was also a great player back in his day. Not only did he take his high school team to state finals and won, but he got a full athletic scholarship to UCLA and played under Hall of Fame coach John Wooden and contributed to two of national championships. He was drafted into the NBA his senior year of UCLA and played for the Lakers for two short years before retiring early. His reason was named Vivian James. It was around the renewal of his contract that he and his high school sweetheart Lydia found out they were expecting. He opted out of the renewal in order to fully commit to his family. The parents-to-be married and stayed in Los Angeles where Jimmy worked as an assistant basketball coach for his alma mater. It wouldn't be until years later, after their youngest was born, that the family would relocate to Jimmy and Lydia's home state of North Carolina. There, Jimmy took a job as the head coach of a new basketball camp. His experience as a player and assistant coach gave him the expertise and knowledge of training serious basketball players.

"That's awesome!" Lucas exclaimed.

Peyton and Brooke just shared glances of amusement at Lucas's giddy behavior.

"I like to think so," Haley shrugged smiling.

"Damn," Lucas shook his head, still amazed. "So you know Clay Evans too?" he asked a follow-up question.

Haley chuckled at his not-so subtle interest in how basketball is connected to her life. "Yeah, he's married to my older sister. He's practically my brother."

"Nice. See I've been trying to get some details from Nate about how they were but all he's been doing is sulking over you," Lucas said.

The table snickered at Lucas's quip to Nathan. Nathan, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at his brother in a 'watch it' kind of way.

"Well there's not much to tell except they're basically teenage boys dressed in adult suits. They're only ever serious about basketball," Haley replied.

"Sounds like two people we know," Brooke stated pointedly at the Scott brothers.

Lucas immediately shook his head and raised his hands in defense. "Don't look at me."

Brooke narrowed her eyes in suspicion but let it slide, knowing that Lucas did take his schooling serious. She then turned her attention to Nathan. "Fine, that just leaves Boy Toy over here." Haley, amused at the interaction, wondered where Brooke's nickname of her boyfriend derived from. Next to her, Nathan rolled his eyes, he loathed that nickname and Brooke knew it.

"I can be serious about other stuff besides basketball," he argued.

"Oh, really? Like what?" Brooke challenged him.

"Like Haley," he replied without hesitation.

Peyton and Brooke were left dumbfounded at his quick response, not to mention at how sweet and genuine it sounded. Who was he? This was not the same Nathan Scott who left for summer camp.

Haley, who had been daydreaming of where his nickname came from, was shaken out of her thoughts and looked over at Nathan. Her response to his answer was a shy smile accompanied by a blushing face. Though he would've much rather preferred a kiss, Nathan took it—after all, he loved being able to cause that reaction.

The conversation took a lighter tone once the food arrived and just as Nathan predicted, Haley loved his order.

"You remembered!" she gasped in surprise at seeing mac and cheese as her meal.

"Of course. When your girlfriend eats like a five year old, you remember," Nathan joked.

Haley rolled her eyes playfully then thanked him softly.

"You're welcome," he smiled, digging into his own plate.

"So Tutor Girl, since your family's so big on basketball, do you play?" asked Brooke.

Jake laughed before Haley could give an earnest response.

She turned her head to her chuckling best friend and crossed her arms. "Why's that so funny, Jake?"

Jake looked up from his own meal and despite his mouth was empty of food, he gulped. "Uh, sorry Hales. It's just- you know?" he stuttered.

Haley cocked her head to the side. "What?"

The rest of the table looked on, amused that this seemingly shy and sweet girl hid someone who wasn't afraid to defend herself.

"You're a klutz Hales," Jake pointed out with a shrug.

The group's eyes moved to Haley to gather her reaction to his words.

Haley's pursed lips swiftly transformed into a smile. "Fine, yes, I'm a klutz but still! They didn't know that," she ended with a soft nod in the direction of Nathan's friends.

"They would've figured it out eventually, babe," Nathan spoke up.

Haley turned to look at her boyfriend. "What's that supposed tu mean?"

"It follows you around. Crows attacked you on our way here," he pointed out.

The table softly chuckled at Haley's look of horror. They could tell that wasn't a story she wanted Nathan to share.

"It was a flock of ravens thank you very much," she stated with narrowed eyes.

"An unkindness, actually."

Haley and Nathan turned to Lucas. "What?"

"You said flock of ravens. It's actually an unkindness of ravens."

Haley cocked her head to the side with genuine curiosity. "Huh. Who knew?"

"I'm telling you. It's because his face is always deep in those books."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we get it Nate. I like to read."

"What are you reading right now?" asked Haley.

"The Winter of Our Discontent."

Haley smiled. "John Steinbeck, nice."

Lucas nodded smiling back. It was always nice to meet another avid reader.

"Can we please refrain from the book talk? There's more we need to learn about Tutor Girl," Brooke stated.

"There isn't much else, Brooke. I'm pretty much a 'what you see is what you get' type of person."

Brooke squinted her eyes in inspection. "See, I don't buy that. There's something else going on with you. Do you cheerlead?"

Haley snorted. "If I'm too clumsy for basketball I'm sure as hell too clumsy for cheerleading."

Brooke nodded. "Okay. But for the record, you totally have the bod for it. Seriously, if you ever want to learn anything I can hook you up with a uniform and teach you some moves. Nathan would thank me later," she finished with a wink towards the brunette boy.

Haley turned to find him sporting a smirk followed by a 'why not?' shrug.

Haley playfully rolled her eyes. Boys. "Thanks Brooke, but I don't think so. At least not anytime soon," she declined politely with a smile.

Brooke shrugged. "Suit yourself. But seriously, any hobbies that go beyond school?" she pushed.

Haley took a moment to think about it. Just as she was about to shake her head no Jake answered for her.

"She's into music."

"Jake," she hissed and kicked him hard underneath the table. Unfortunately for Nathan she had missed and instead kicked him.

"Ow," Nathan exclaimed in pain. Haley sent him an apologetic smile before glaring back at Jake.

"What? You are, Hales."

"Wait, back up. You make music?" asked a now interested Peyton. When it came to anything music related, her ears were fully open.

Haley shifted her glare from Jake to look at Peyton. "No."

"Yes." They answered simultaneously.

"Will you stop answering for me? I'm completely capable of speaking on my behalf," Haley told him.

"Not when it comes to your music." He turned to Peyton and added, "She writes her own stuff."

The rest of the table looked at Haley impressed. Nathan, who had no idea, looked at his girlfriend in amazement and wondered why she never mentioned this before.

"Is that true?" Nathan asked her.

Haley hesitated before answering. "Sort of," she stuttered. "I just like to fool around with it. It's not a big deal."

Nathan would've pressed harder if it were just the two of them, but he noticed her look of discomfort at the topic and decided to drop it.

"Okay."

She smiled softly, mentally thanking him for not pushing it.

The night ended shortly after. The group walked to the back of the café where their cars were parked.

"It was really nice meeting you tutor girl," Brooke smiled then surprised Haley by going in for a hug.

"Oh," she responded taken back, "It was nice meeting you too, Tigger," she smiled back.

Brooke laughed.

"Take care, Haley. And please, visit often. Nathan's much more bearable with you around," Peyton joked.

Haley chuckled. "I'll try my best."

"She's not kidding," Lucas added as Nathan just shook his head, annoyed at his friends. "But yeah, visit soon. And it was cool meeting you too, Jake."

Haley and Nathan waved goodbye as Brooke and Lucas drove off in her blue bug.

Jake left Haley and Nathan alone to give them some space to say goodbye and headed to his car. Conveniently, Peyton was parked next to his truck and they would later claim it was so she could keep him company while the couple was busy making sad googly eyes at each other.

"So, tell me the truth. They're horrible, right?"

Haley laughed. "Far from it, actually. I've concluded Lucas is my literature soulmate. And Brooke and Peyton were slightly intimidating but I was pleasantly surprised to find them so down to earth."

Nathan made a face. "Why would they intimidate you?" He was genuinely confused.

Haley snorted. "Because," she simply said.

He gave her a look that told her he wasn't following.

Haley nervously shifted on her feet. "Because… Well, let's face it Nathan, your friends are hot. And I mean, they're drop dead gorgeous and I'm—"

"Breathtakingly beautiful," he finished for her.

She looked at him with a soft smile. "That wasn't exactly what I was planning on saying."

"Why not? It's true."

She looked down shyly and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She looked back up at him and saw that he was completely serious about his statement before.

"Thank you," she said after a pause.

He smiled back at her. "You're welcome," he stated as he began to close the distance between them with a kiss.

"And I guess you're not so bad to look at either," she added teasingly right before their lips could touch.

"Oh, well. That's good to know," he joked back.

They laughed as their lips touched. She wrapped her hands around his neck after their laughter subsided and their kiss got more intimate.

"We should do this more often," Haley stated after pulling apart and regaining her breath.

"Kiss? Yeah, I can get on board with that," Nathan smirked moving close to her again and planting a small peck on her lips.

"No!" she giggled pulling away. "I mean, visit each other. If we really want this, us, to work—"

"And we do," he cut in.

She smiled at his words. "We do," she repeated. "So then we should make an effort to see each other more often. I was thinking weekly visits?"

Nathan took a moment to think. "Yeah. We could see each other on weekends. I'll visit Jacksonville next week."

Haley grinned. "Really?" He nodded. "And then the week after that I'll visit Tree Hill."

"Sounds good. Now how about we seal this deal with a kiss?"

"If that's the only way," she played along.

They were closing in on their kiss when they heard Jake.

"You two ever gonna stop sucking face? I'd like to beat the traffic."

The couple pulled apart and while Haley laughed, Nathan rolled his eyes at the interruption and flipped Jake off.

X

More to come. Please don't forget to review and favorite&follow.

Thanks for reading :)

- R. xx