Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the great reviews. They really made my week. I'm going to try updating once a week as much as possible. I know how it annoying it could be to wait for an update of a story, and I'm going to try avoiding the long hiatuses now. Anyway, enjoy this latest update and please tell me what you think!

--Sera


It was already halfway through the semester and much to every professor's surprise, Nathan Scott had attended all of his classes dutifully, even getting more than just an average grade in all of his school work. Many people suspected it was because of the new girl he was rumored to be dating, Haley James.

At first, a lot of people were surprised that he was dating her. For one thing, she was best friends with his half-brother and everyone knew that the two practically loathed each other. And Haley certainly wasn't Nathan's type … everyone knew that. She was intelligent, responsible and introverted. She didn't look like many of the girls Nathan previously dated … girls who spent hours in front of a mirror trying to look good, girls who frequented bars and parties. Haley James simply wasn't that kind of girl.

So it shocked the heck out of everyone when they saw Haley with him. At first, she seemed to be only tutoring him but they couldn't hide the obvious attraction between them – even when they argued endlessly, practically anywhere. Their personalities clashed, and so did Nathan and Lucas, but somehow, Nathan and Haley always ended up together. And Nathan was even starting to act decent. There were rumors he didn't go to parties anymore, that he took his studies seriously now, and that he was really into this James girl.

Of course, no one dared to ask Nathan about her. Anytime one of the guys even mentioned her, he went into a fit of protective jealousy, warning them to stay the hell away from her. Was he possibly in love? No one dared to find out. No one, that is, except Dan Scott.

"Nathan, what's this I hear about you dating some new girl in your school?" Dan demanded as he marched into Nathan's dorm room.

"Hi dad, college has been great. How have you been?" Nathan said sarcastically, not even bothering to look up from the magazine he was reading.

"Don't get sarcastic on me, Nathan. You wouldn't even be in that school without my help." Dan sneered at him.

Nathan felt his fists involuntarily clench at his father's stinging words. It had always been that way; Dan thinking that Nathan was nothing without him. He hated the way his father lorded over his life, interfering and mostly messing it up in the process. He hated that it was partly true … that without Dan and the constant pressure he placed on his son's shoulders, he wouldn't have made it that far. It was mostly the drive to defeat his father and prove him wrong that brought him to where he was now. Nathan didn't have much of a childhood with his father around and Dan was mostly to blame on his son's notorious attitude problem. "Like father, like son," people always claimed. Nathan detested just the thought of being compared to Dan. He hated his father and there was nothing worse than being like him.

"Why do you even care? It's not like you really give a shit about who I date or not." Nathan snapped at him, not even caring to curb the anger in his voice.

"I give a shit because she's ruining your game, Nathan. You were weak in the second quarter last night and you lost the ball at least –"

"You don't know a thing about Haley and me. Don't go blaming her for how bad you seem to think I played last night." Nathan managed to say between tightly clenched teeth as he glared at his father, who seemed to be unaware of how angry his son was.

"Oh, so she has a name now?" Dan asked smoothly, traces of amusement in his face.

Nathan was furious but he wasn't going to give Dan the satisfaction of riling him up. His blunt fingernails dug deep into his palms as he tried to calm himself down. He abruptly cut to the chase and said, "Look, if you're here to say that I played like shit, then just say it. Don't include my girlfriend because she has nothing to do with it."

"Wow, you refer to her as your 'girlfriend' now. I've never heard you say that before. Things must be really starting to get serious between the two of you," mused Dan, his voice laced with false enthusiasm. When he spoke, his eyes darkened and the amusement in his voice was replaced by something Nathan couldn't place but it scared him … scared him just enough to think about it even hours after his father finally left. "You better be careful."

"Can we talk?"

Even with his back turned to Lucas, Nathan knew it was him. He dribbled the ball for a few seconds, aimed and effortlessly shot the ball, watching it as it smoothly fell through the hoop. He caught the ball as it bounced back to his direction and spun around. "I was wondering when you would ever show up."

"You're lucky I even did." Lucas replied curtly.

Nathan visibly winced and sighed. "I guess I deserve that."

"What are you doing here in Tree Hill?" Lucas demanded.

"I came for your mom's wedding."

"Don't give me that shit, Nathan. Mom told me that she hasn't even met you until you came here. She only invited you recently because apparently, she seems to like you a lot."

Nathan's eyes drifted away from Lucas' cold, hard gaze and he focused on the ball that he still held between his hands. He dribbled it, letting the sound of the ball as it hit the concrete to echo all over the court. For a moment, there was nothing but silence between them. "I came here for Haley. She once told me she was from here and I figured it would be worth a shot to see if she was here. I was going to follow her to New York when I found out she was living there, but then your mom told me that she invited her to the wedding, so I stayed."

He didn't know if Lucas was going to believe a single word he said, but he set his gaze firmly on Lucas, whose facial expression remained cold and unfeeling. "What makes you think I'm just going to let you get near her?"

"I don't think you will, but you found out long ago that she wouldn't listen to you, anyway." Nathan answered coolly.

"Which is exactly why things between the both of you ended up the way they are now," he sneered back, feeling a sense of triumph when he saw Nathan wince again. "Don't even think for one second I'm going to commit the same mistake again."

"I wouldn't come all the way here for her if I knew there wasn't any chance."

"You already don't."

"She never said I didn't have one."

"She doesn't have to tell you."

Nathan's jaw locked firmly into place as he stared back at Lucas. He could feel his temper shooting through the roof again, but he fought to keep it at bay. He didn't want another reason for Haley to hate him. "Her choices are none of your concern."

"She's my best friend, Nathan. Do you think I'm going to let you hurt her again? You really don't know what she went through, do you? Did you know that it was months until Haley would stop crying herself to sleep? Did you know how hard it was for her to see you on the news every day, see your success and your fame every single day and then pretend she was alright? Did you know how much she blamed herself for how things turned out? I'm not going to sit down and watch slowly break the life it took so long for her to rebuild after you broke her heart." Lucas said adamantly, his voice trembling as he did. His fists were so tightly clenched that his knuckles were turning white with the force.

"I'm not here to break her heart again –"

"She loved you, Nathan! She loved you so much and she gave so much of herself to you that when things ended between the both of you, there was nothing left of her! She has never loved anyone the way she loved you! How could you be such a blind asshole to hurt her – to hurt my best friend the way you did? You think that coming here, apologizing and acting decent is going to fix things but it's not! There is no way in hell that you could undo what you did by being Mr. Nice Guy now, and there is no way I'm going to let you fool her again."

His words stung Nathan, and when he spoke, he was surprised to hear his voice uncontrollably shaking. "She's not letting me off easy, Lucas. You really think that she's so vulnerable and easy to fool, but she's not. I worked hard to get her to love me the way you say she did."

"Yeah, I bet you worked hard to ruin it, too."

With a loud shout of anguish and anger, Nathan swore and threw the ball high up in the air. The ball fell to the ground, bouncing off the cement and rolled to the very edge of the court. "You really think I'm proud of what I did to her? There isn't one day that I didn't regret what I did to Haley – not one. Every day, I see something that reminds me of her and it could be the smallest, stupidest thing and it just gnaws at me until I can't take the guilt anymore. There were so many times I wanted her back – so many times I wanted to apologize –"

"Why the hell didn't you?"

"Because I couldn't! Because I was an idiotic, self-righteous asshole who had too much pride to apologize," he paused, pacing the ground as he did. "I was feeling things I couldn't understand … things I never felt before … things that scared the hell out of me. I didn't want to face those feelings so I kept shunning them at the back of my head, but they were there all those years, just screaming at me to apologize already."

"So when you finally find it in yourself to apologize, you come here and think everyone is just going to accept you with open arms."

"No, I don't. I'm not a moron, Lucas. I know I have to work hard to earn that trust again, much more for the love she once had for me. But I'm not going to give up this time. I'm not going to leave anymore and I'm not going to stop just because you tell me to. I know I hurt her and I know I deserve to never see her again, but I can't go through the rest of my life without her. I know things will never come easy for me when it comes to her, but I accept that. If it'll take me years until I earn that trust again, I'm fine with that. I just …" Nathan's eyes were beseeching, and it startled Lucas to see it. "I need her in my life, Lucas. I can't imagine one without her in it."

When Lucas didn't answer right away, Nathan walked over to the edge of the court and picked up the ball. "You could treat me like shit all you want, Lucas. God knows I deserve it more than anyone, but you can't stop me from getting Haley back."

There was a seemingly endless silence that hung between them as Lucas contemplated Nathan's words. Much to his annoyance, he couldn't deny that Nathan was sincere about what he said. As much as Lucas didn't want to compromise, it left him with no other choice.

"For the record, she's never been with anyone else but you. Even after you."

Nathan's eyes widened in surprise and his heart hammered so hard against his chest that all he could manage was a tiny "Oh."

"I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Lucas sighed in defeat. He set his eyes straight at Nathan's. "Things between the two of us are far from a truce but you better hope for your sake you don't hurt her again, Nathan."


"It's funny." Haley remarked to Karen that afternoon. She, Brooke and Peyton had been shopping all day and she couldn't take any more "Haley, you have to buy this blouse! You barely have any decent ones in the first place!" or "Why can't we shop in a music store this time?" so under a false pretense that she promised to help Karen out, Haley left the two of them in the mall to go to the café.

"What is?" Karen asked her.

Haley absentmindedly traced patterns on the counter as she spoke. "Most of Tree Hill has changed, but this is the one place that I never thought would, and it didn't. It still looks the same way as it did when we were in high school."

"Sometimes, it's better to go against change. It's nice to know that there are still some things that don't." Karen said, smiling at her.

"Yeah …" Haley got up and moved to the other side of the counter where Karen was. She bent down to the shelf at the bottom of the counter and moved the sack of sugar so it revealed the wall of the shelf. On it was a crude scribble of the words Haley James and Lucas Scott = Best Friends. Haley felt a smile creep up on her face. "It's nice to know that there are really some things that don't change."

"He's very protective of you." Karen commented, her gaze still on the scribble.

"He has his reasons. I always try to see the good in everyone so I guess you can call me a bit gullible sometimes." Haley shrugged as she got up from her position. "Sometimes, being judgmental helps."

"I'm kind of glad you're not," a voice said, interrupting them. It was Nathan and he was smiling slightly at them. Haley felt her heart instantly race at the smile he had on his face. "Hey Karen, do you need any help today?"

"Not really, Nathan, but thanks for the offer. You can keep Haley company though," and with a wink to the both of them, Karen walked away to serve a few other customers.

"How are you?" He asked her softly. She still had difficulty meeting his gaze but he didn't complain. At least she was trying.

"I'm good … just hiding from Brooke and Peyton. They've been bickering at the mall all day. It was all, 'Haley, you have to try this' or 'Haley, please tell her she's wrong.' It was driving me insane." Haley complained.

Nathan chuckled. It was just like Haley to think shopping wasn't all that fun. It set her apart from so many other girls, and it was one of the many things why she appealed so much to him. She was like a breath of fresh air. "You know, Lucas confronted me today."

Haley's brown eyes widened with worry. "Oh my God, are you okay?"

He frowned at her, but still all the while pleased that she was concerned about him. "Why do you always assume that we beat each other up whenever we meet?"

"I kind of thought he would. He's not very happy with you." Haley admitted.

Nathan shrugged. "I thought he would, too. He made his not very happy part pretty clear."

"I'm sorry he's a jerk."

"I'm sorry I'm the reason he's a jerk."

Haley, who was not making eye contact with him, suddenly looked up. His gaze was sincerely apologetic. She felt her heart race all over again, much faster this time. "You just keep surprising me every time we meet."

"Is it the good kind of surprise?" He asked her, grinning.

"The very good kind," she smiled back. For a brief moment, the smile reached her eyes but just as quickly as it was there, it was soon gone. Suddenly, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her jeans pocket. She took it out, read the text message and groaned. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. My friends – they're demanding my presence now."

Nathan laughed. "They sound … interesting."

"They are," she grinned again at him, this time the smile definitely reaching her eyes and staying there. She slung her bag over her shoulder and added, "You should meet them sometime." And with that, she was gone. Nathan's smile was so huge that if it were possible, it would have reached the back of his head. He felt Karen's amused gaze at him and he defensively added, "What? Today's a good day."

It really was.