Chapter 14:

That night, Nathan thought about what Lucas had said, as he drove home. He had avoided Haley all day, in the hopes she would calm down and accept his apology.

He walked in the door only to find all the lights out and no signs of life.

"Haley! Haley?" he called frantically as he searched the house. But there was nothing. Neither Haley, nor James were there.

Panicking slightly, he grabbed the phone and dialed Lucas' number.

"Is Haley there?"

"Yeah, Brooke brought her and James back to our place to stay the night."

"Thank god, are they ok?"

"Just fine, Brooke's trying to patch up your relationship using mac and cheese. Not sure how well it's going though."

"Okay, well. Can you give Haley the phone?"

"Sure" Lucas went into the kitchen and silently handed the phone to Haley.

Nathan said simply. " I love you, always"

"And forever, I love you too." Haley whispered before hanging up.

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They walked up the front steps and knocked on the door. The house was so familiar, and exactly the same as she remembered, except for the playhouse and various toys in the yard.

The woman who opened the door looked exactly as she remembered. A smile lit up her beautiful face.

"Peyton" she whispered.

"Hi Karen"

Karen went forward and gave Peyton a tight hug, when she saw Adelaide behind her.

When they separated, Karen knelt down and smiled again. "Now who's this little cutie?"

Adelaide beamed, "I'm Addie." She put up three fingers. "I'm 3".

"Why don't you come in?" Karen ushered them into the house, where Lily was watching TV.

They sat down in the kitchen, and Karen suggested Adelaide joined Lily, which she did with glee, and soon the two girls were playing as if they'd been best friends their entire life.

"So Peyton, what have you been up to all this time?" Karen asked as she set down two cups of coffee.

Flushing slightly, she replied, "It's complicated"

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"Hales, why won't you just talk to him?" Brooke was sitting across the kitchen table from her.

Her temper flared up, "Brooke, he thinks he can't trust me! I'm not going anywhere, but the fact I ran into Chris has brought out that damn jealous side of him, and I'm not going to deal with it. When he realises nothing is going to happen, I'll talk to him"

"Babe, how do you know he hasn't already realised it if you wont talk to him."

But Haley wasn't listening and kept going, " Or what, does he not want to live out my dream? Doesn't he want me to do what I love?"

"He's just worried that you're family will get torn apart, and he'll lose you, okay?"

Still not listening Haley went on, " What about if he got drafted into the NBA, huh? Isn't that the same? He'd be living out his dream, and James and I would follow him, because we love him, couldn't he do the same for me?"

With this, she was worn out and just broke down. Brooke leaned across the table and ran her fingers through Haley's long, silky hair.

"Brooke, I don't want to lose him." she whispered. "But I do want to go on tour again, I really do"

OTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTH

James was fast asleep, so Lucas figured it would be safe to go out.

He got into his car and headed down to his childhood home in the hopes he and his mother could talk.

As he arrived, he saw an unfamiliar black car pull out of the driveway. The darkness made is difficult to see who the driver was. But as a street light pierced the car window, he saw that flash of blonde that seemed to appear to him everywhere.

Shaking his head in disbelief, he went up the front steps and into the house.

His mother was saying goodnight to Lily, so he waited in the kitchen, knowing her nightly routine.

"Lucas!" Karen entered the room.

"Hey mom, Lily asleep?" he said as he hugged her.

"She should be, so what's up?"

"Nothing much, just thought I'd come and see you. Who was that pulling out of the driveway?"

"Just an old friend... Coffee?" Karen's tone was such that Lucas didn't want to press her for details.

"Oh okay" he shook his head at her offer.

A/N- Hope you liked the chapter. I'm not too fond of it, but I'm having a little trouble with my writing, mostly with plot. I'm trying really, really hard to finish the next chapter as well! The next two may be shorter ones, posted simultaneously! I'm pretty busy this month, especially next week, so updates may be few and far between for awhile! Please, please review, and I hate saying this, but if you review, I'll probably update sooner. It'll probably give me the incentive I need to write!

xo- Sasha