It's a Tuesday when I finally get to hear Nathan's voice again. We're about to leave the house. Jamie's all ready for school, and I've got everything in the car. It's one of the few days I'm actually ready on time, so I guess it's a good thing it's the day he gets to call. There won't be rushing, and we can have a few minutes to talk.

"Hello?" I ask, watching Jamie finish up his cereal.

"Hales," he breathes out, and I swear my heart stops for a minute. There's nothing like hearing his voice on the other line.

"Nathan," I say softly. "It's so good to hear your voice."

"Yeah," he answers gently. "Yours too."

"How's it going there?" I smile at Jamie when he looks up after he realizes who I am talking to. He says that he wants to talk to him too, and I hold up a finger just so I can have a minute to talk to him.

"It's…hard, Hales. Rehab is really tough. We're working on making all our amends right now, so I've written about a dozen letters, and every time I finish one, I realize that I have another one I need to write. I keep thinking of people that I've hurt through this."

I sigh and sit next to Jamie at one of the stools. "At least you're doing it," I point out. "At least you know what you have to do to make up for all of this."

"Because that's what they tell us to do, Haley," he argues. "If I wasn't here, I would have no idea what to do or what to say. I wouldn't even know who I hurt."

"But you're there, Nathan, so there's no point in thinking what it would be like if you weren't. Is this the first thing you've really worked on?"

"We started these yesterday," he tells me. "Last week was all about us. Figuring out or treatments and talking to the counselors. Now it's about the people in our lives."

"Are you okay?" I inquire. "I mean, you're not like dying to escape and get a drink, right?"

"My body is clear of alcohol," he says, "and that's a good thing. There are days when things here are so hard that I want a drink, but I can't get it, and I have no intention of leaving until I'm really truly okay. And when I do leave, it's back to you and Jamie."

"Good," I say honestly. "What about physically? You working on your walking?"

"Yep," he confirms, and I can tell he is proud of himself. "I'm sore, but I've been in the pool a lot. It's easier to walk in there first."

"But you're doing it in there?" I ask, surprised. "You're walking in the pool?"

"Yeah." He laughs. "I can tell you're surprised."

"I didn't expect it so soon," I admit. "But I'm really proud of you, Nathan. Good for you."

"Thanks. Hey," he says, "do you think I could talk to Jamie real fast? I know you two are about ready to leave for the day."

"Of course. Just one second."

I put Jamie on and he immediately starts chattering away about basketball with Uncle Luke and some little girl in his grade named Katie who keeps wanting to kiss him. He hasn't told me about her yet, but that's okay. Nathan's his dad, so of course he wants Nathan to know. Nathan is the cool parent, after all.

While I am clearing the dishes from the counter, he proceeds to tell Nathan about Chester. Then he whispers something that I can't hear, but I'm sure Nathan will tell me all about it. He passes the phone to me about thirty seconds later after he tells Nathan he loves him. He tells me that Nathan said we have to leave soon so he wanted to tell me goodbye too. I tell him to run upstairs and make sure he has everything and then get back on the line with Nathan.

"Good conversation?" I ask with a smile.

"He wants a dog," he says dully, and I want to laugh. I'm waiting for him to tell me he is joking, but he doesn't. "Hales?"

"He wants a dog?"

"Yeah, he whispered it to me because he doesn't want to make you mad."

"Why would that make me mad?" I question. "Jamie always wants something new," I remind him. "This is no different."

"No, this is different," he counters. "This is a living, breathing thing, and Jamie didn't want you to be mad that he wanted said living, breathing thing."

"He said that?"

"Well, not in those exact words, but you know what I mean."

I laugh. "So what do you think then, Dad?"

"Let's, uh, let's talk about that later. He can wait on a dog…but I was just wondering how work is going. You're making it in every day, right? And on time?"

"Yes," I say, proud of myself. "That just wasn't like me to always skip like that, especially my first year. But when Principal Turner talked to me and I realized I could lose that job, I just…I realized I can't pull that anymore. My personal life and my career have to stay separate."

"Yeah, they do," he agrees. "I'm glad you're doing better with it. I was worried."

"Me too," I admit with a sigh. "Anyway, I got your letter last week. Thank you for that, Nathan," I tell him. "It was really good to get."

"You're welcome. That was just stuff I wanted to say…and I forgot to mention that when you and Jamie left - "

"Nathan," I interrupt. "Don't do this. It always causes fights, and it's done and over with now."

"I know," he says. "I just wanted to tell you that I know now how right you were to do that. It's hard for me to tell you I'm wrong, but I was. You were right to get him out of there. I was so far gone, Haley, I didn't know if I would ever get back."

"But you are," I remind him happily. "You're getting back to yourself, and I can't wait to see it with my own eyes."

"Soon, baby," he says and then sighs. "I better let you go. You're doing so well with work, and I can't make you late now. I love you."

"I love you too. Call when you can, alright?"

"You got it." I can hear the smile in his voice. "Bye baby."

We hang up and I call up the stairs for Jamie. Today is the start of a good day. I can just feel it.

"Good morning, Brother-In-Law!" I greet Lucas cheerfully when I see him as I am getting out of my car at the school. "Isn't it a nice morning?"

"It is," he says hesitantly, then looks at me closely. "What are you so happy about? You're at work."

"Oh, shut up." I slap at his chest playfully. "I got a call from your brother this morning!"

"No shit?" He grins at me.

"No shit," I repeat, grinning back. "He sounded so good, Lucas. He said it's hard but he's hanging in there. You know him, he's a fighter."

"Yeah he is," Luke agrees. "I got a letter from him last week," he admits.

I frown. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know." He shrugs. "It was basically between Nate and me. You know, a lot of apologizing was involved, and making sure I'm looking out for you. Pretty much what he told me when I dropped him off, only this time it was in a letter."

"I got one too," I tell him, smiling gratefully when he holds the door to the school open for me. "It was nice to hear from him because he hadn't been allowed to call yet."

"But he is now?"

"Yeah, I think so," I answer. "I'm not totally sure. He just said he would call when he could, and since he called this morning, I'm assuming he can. Maybe you'll get a call soon." I poke at him.

"It'd be nice to hear how he's doing," he tells me. Impulsively, he gives me a hug.

"What's that for?" I ask, laughing as I pull away.

"It's a thank you," he says simply. "Nathan is doing all of this for you. Without you, I don't think we'd be getting him back."

"You helped too," I point out. "In fact, you've helped out a lot. You helped him find a place and you took him there."

"But you got him to the point where he realized he needed to go," he reminds me. "Good job, little sis."

"You too, big brother," I quip back, smiling. "So when's Lindsey come back to town?"

He follows me into my classroom and shrugs. "Things with Lindsey have been a little…tense lately."

"What?" I look up from the stack of papers I forgot to take home last night to grade. "She hasn't mentioned anything to me."

"When was the last time the two of you had a serious conversation that wasn't about Nathan?" he questions, pointing out my mistake. I've been so caught up with Nathan that I haven't made much time for Lindsey lately. That's horrible because she's really turned out to be a great friend.

"Luke, that's not fair. He's sick."

"I know, I know." He holds up his hands and sits on top of my desk. "It's just…I'm the same way. I've been caught up with Nathan and that's been hard for her. Plus, you know, Peyton's in town, and she's having a hard time dealing with that."

"You two have been finished for a few years, Lucas." I raise my eyebrows when he looks away. "Or not?"

"No, we have been…sometimes, though, I'll talk to Peyton, and it's like we never broke up. Lindsey knows that, I'm sure, and it's hard on her."

"It should be!" I exclaim. "She's in love with you."

"I know," he says. "I don't know why I'm feeling like this about Peyton. I mean, it's not all the time, but some days, these feelings just come up."

"Well," I say, folding my hands together, "maybe you need to rethink your relationship with Lindsey. It's hard for me to say that because you're both my friends, but you are my best friend, Lucas, and if you're coming to me with this, then I'm going to tell you what I think. If you're not sure about Lindsey being the one, then you should probably take a step back."

"Yeah." He sighs. "Don't say anything to her, Haley," he warns me. "I'm not sure about anything yet, and I'm going to need some time to think things over."

"Okay," I agree, smiling at him when he gets up to go to his own office. That is when I remember Brooke and Chase. They were supposed to go out, but I'm not sure when exactly when that was. Damn. I've been a horrible friend lately. I look at the clock, seeing I have ten minutes before the bell rings, and pull out my phone, calling Brooke.

"Good morning, Mrs. Scott," she greets immediately.

"Good morning to you too, Miss Davis," I say back, smiling. "How's it going this morning?"

"Good, good," she answers. "I am on my way to the store. We got in a new shipment yesterday so I decided to go in early today and check that out. How's it going with you?"

"Good," I say. "Nathan called this morning."

"Oh, Haley, that's great!" she exclaims, and I can tell she is genuinely happy about this. "How is he?"

"Alright. Rehab is tough, but he's sticking it out."

"Well, he's a fighter," she tells me. "He'll get out of there just fine, and probably sooner than you think."

"I hope so. Actually, the reason I'm calling you is to apologize. I've been a horrible friend lately. I've been so caught up in everything with Nathan that I never even asked you how it went with Chase."

"Don't even worry about that," she brushes it off. "I'm not mad about it. You have a family, Tutor Wife! I can't expect you to always be there when you have such a sweet little boy and an adoring husband."

"Still," I argue. "I should have asked."

"Still nothing," she replies. "And for your information, Chase was wonderful. We went and got ice cream like we used to do in high school, and we stayed at the docks all night just talking and laughing."

"Aw." I smile. "Do you see anything happening from this little meeting? Like a relationship?"

"Well he isn't in town for much longer," she informs me, "but we've hung out several times. I'd like to see where it goes, you know?"

"Sure," I respond. "I think that's a good idea, Brooke. You deserve to have some fun, and Chase was always a fun guy."

"He still is," she tells me. "Anyway, I am at the store so I need to run. I will pick up your son after school and maybe I'll stop by later to see you, alright?"

"Sure. Bye, Brookie. Love you!"

"Love you too, Tutor Mommy!"

I feel awful about how I've treated my friends lately. I feel like I've just neglected everyone. Sure, I talk to them when I'm picking up Jamie or something, but other than that, I really don't pick up the phone to call them and just chat. I need to start doing that again. I need to understand that the world doesn't revolve around me or my problems.

Most of the time, I don't think that the world does. I really don't. I know that everyone has their own problems, and that some don't even compare to mine. But mine have been so huge though that they've tramped everyone else's. And that sucks that I've let them.

And so at the end of the day, I call Peyton and take her up on the sleepover she suggested a while back. I think it would be fun, and good for all of us.

Lucas agrees to keep Jamie for the night, and I know I have to work tomorrow, but I can handle one day with not getting as much sleep as I normally do. I need to be with my friends. I owe them a lot.

I get to Peyton and Brooke's at about seven in the evening after I drop Jamie off with Lucas again. Jamie's thrilled about staying there. He and Luke haven't had a sleepover in a few weeks. He's been with me every night since Nathan left.

"Come on in!" Peyton answers the door before I even ring the doorbell, and I look at her questioningly. "I heard you pull up," she explains, ushering me in. "Brooke and I are pretty excited about this. We haven't had a sleepover since junior year."

I shudder at the memory. "You mean the one where Brooke and that creepy Felix had sex in my bed? Ew. Let's not even discuss it!"

She laughs at the memory. I guess she can; it wasn't her bed. "It was funny, Haley! But alright, we won't talk about it."

I blow out a frustrated breath and glare at her. That was so not funny. At all. "Shut up, Peyton," I grumble. "Junior year sucked anyway. Let's not discuss why."

"Okay, you know what? You need to loosen up a little and have some fun!" She smiles at me, her blonde curls bouncing wildly.

"How do you propose we do that?" I ask, slipping off my high heels in the foyer. "No alcohol!" I warn jokingly, smiling at her.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and although I don't drink often, I'm not going to do it anymore. I don't want to do it. I've seen what alcohol can do to people obviously, and I'm not going to risk that. I'm going to give up drinking completely, just like Nathan has to. I'm supporting him through all of this, and I think that by not drinking anymore, this will help him out.

"Definitely not," she agrees. "Brooke will be home in a little bit. She went to go get pizza."

"Pizza?" I grin at her. "Yummy!"

"That's what we thought too." She takes my overnight bag and places it on one of the bottom stairs. "So how's life Mrs. Scott? You hear from the husband in South Carolina lately?"

"The husband in South Carolina?" I grin. "You make it sound like I've got like four husbands in different states or something! And to answer your question, he called today for the first time before Jamie and I left for the day."

"Good!" she cheers, patting me on the back. "How's he doing? I'm sure it's tough."

"It is," I confirm, nodding. "But he's hanging in there. He's doing everything it takes to make it out of there and get back to us."

"I'm glad, Haley," she says, "you and Jamie need him around."

"Yes we do," I agree, going to sit on their couch. She follows me, grabbing a pillow and folding her legs underneath her. "Anyway, we don't have to talk about Nathan. I feel like that's all I do lately, and I'm kind of noticing that I've sucked in the friend department lately. I wanted to catch up with you and Brooke tonight."

"If we're catching up, you need to talk about your life too! Tell us about Nathan and Jamie since they are a part of it!"

I smile at her. She knows what I like to talk about. My husband and son are obviously my favorite topics. "Jamie wants a dog," I inform her, jumping right in.

"A dog?" She raises her eyebrow. "The kid has a bunny. You're going to add to that?"

"I don't know." I sigh. "He's really responsible with Chester. But a dog? They're much more work than a rabbit. You have to do the house training and walk them and feed them more than you'd feed Chester."

"Jamie is a responsible kid," she asserts. "I think between you, Jamie, and Nathan, you could handle that."

"True," I agree, "but I don't want Nathan to have to worry about anything except his sobriety for a while, you know? I want him to concentrate on that and just having fun with us as a family."

"A dog would be a part of that family."

"Yeah." I sigh. "I don't know, Peyton. Maybe we could get Jamie the dog now and then have him housebroken before Nathan gets back. That way Nathan won't have to worry about it, and we do have a fenced in backyard."

"Yes, you do." She smiles at me. "It's up to you, Haley, but honestly, you always make good decisions for your family, and if you think this is a good decision, then do it."

"I do owe Jamie," I say, thinking out loud. "He's been dealing with so much because of Nathan and I. I feel like I need to make that up to him, and I am trying."

"You're doing a good job," she praises me. "He seems happy. Missing his daddy obviously, but happy."

"Do I seem happy?" I ask, wondering how I come across to people. It used to be happy when things were good with Nathan, but I don't know if it's like that anymore. Even though Nathan is getting back to his old self.

"You seem like you're getting there," she says, reaching over to pat my knee. "You're only happy if the people in your life are happy and when they're not, you're not. It's as simple as that."

"I want to be happy again. And I think that with Nathan getting better, I'm getting there."

"You are," she says. "You really are. And we all see it."

"Good. Enough about me and dogs," I say, changing the subject, "how's your life going?"

"Actually…" She takes a deep breath, looking away from me.

"Peyton?"

"Lucas called me," she blurts out and my eyes go wide. I know they do. "To talk about his relationship with Lindsey."

"What? What does Lindsey think about that?" I'm sure she's pissed. I would be. You don't just call your ex-girlfriend to talk about your current girlfriend. That's totally uncalled for, even for Luke, who screws up with girls quite often. That's not really a good thing for me to think, but it's the truth. He just has some trouble in the ladies department.

"She doesn't know," Peyton admits, sighing. "God, Haley, I don't know what to do! I'm in love with him too. I hate hearing him talk about Lindsey."

"Well then why did you?"

"Because I feel like if I have him in some capacity, even if it's not the way that I want him, then it will be enough."

"But it's not," I guess, cocking my head to the side a little.

"It's not," she repeats. "I mean, it sounds like they're kind of on the rocks, but I don't want to get my hopes up because every time I do, I just get let down again. It's the story of my life."

"Peyton, stop. You have so many good things in your life! You don't need Lucas to feel better about everything else."

"That's not what I'm saying," she defends. "I'm saying that I don't want to feel these things for Luke because every time I do, things go wrong. I'm tired of hurting because I'm in love with him, Haley."

I sigh. "This isn't as simple as it sounds, but you have to fall out of love with him and let him go. Either that or keep holding on, getting hurt, and then maybe one day, he'll come back to you."

"Do you think Lindsey is the one for him?" she asks quietly, pulling at a loose thread on the pillow. I'm almost positive Brooke will be fixing that pillow later.

"I don't know who's the one for him," I tell her honestly. "For so long, I thought it was you. You two were just drawn to each other. And then there was Brooke. Once you weren't in the picture and they got together for the second time, he was so happy. He was so in love with her…or at least I thought he was. And you came back in, and I realized it was you, Peyton. You were the girl for him. But now Lindsey is in his life, and if that's who he chooses to be with, then I want that for him. I don't know if Lindsey is the one, but I know for a while, she made him really happy, and I guess she's not right now. But you know what? I'm not going to say this to make you feel bad…but Nathan and I didn't always make each other happy, and we're still together because he's the one for me."

She nods. I know this is hard for her to hear, but I want to tell her the truth. I don't want her to keep on dreaming of something that might not happen. Lucas and Lindsey might work everything out. You never know.

Brooke comes in then, the smell of pizza filling the room. "Hello bestest friends in the whole world!" she exclaims, setting the pizza on the counter. "Tonight is all about the gossip and the girlfriends and stuffing our faces with fatty foods! So eat up!"

Peyton and I smile, eager to eat the pizza, so we get up immediately. I pull her in for a quick side hug just to let her know that I'm here if she needs me, and she gives me a look of thanks. "Mm, this smells good, B.," she informs Brooke. "What kind did you get?"

"Half cheese lovers and half pepperoni and sausage. You know, it's classic but it's delicious. And it's nice to mix it up."

"It is nice to mix it up," I agree. "Like sleepovers when we're twenty-two years old! I love this!" I grin, grabbing a piece of the cheese one. Yum.

"What were you two discussing before I got here?" Brooke inquires, biting into her pizza.

"Lucas drama," Peyton answers simply. "He and Lindsey are having some issues and he called to explain them to me."

"He called you? Damn. What is going on in his head?"

"I don't know," I respond, sighing. "I don't think it's the best idea to call up an ex about a current relationship. But that's just my opinion."

Brooke nods. "I agree with that. I used to get pissed when Luke would talk to Peyton about the two of us. It's just common sense not to do that."

"Well unfortunately Lucas doesn't always have that when it comes to women," I remind them, causing them to chuckle.

"Just be careful, P. Sawyer," Brooke warns when the laughter dies down. "We've seen how much Lucas loved you, but we've also seen how much he's hurt you. Just remember that, alright?"

"Alright," she replies. "So talk to Chase today?"

"You bet your ass I talked to Chase today," she answers, a huge smile on her face. "He leaves in two days though, so we're going out to dinner tomorrow night."

"Two days?" I repeat. "Really? I feel bad now! You two should have been hanging out tonight too!"

"No," she denies. "We needed this girls night! We all have things we want to talk about!"

"Yes we do," Peyton jumps in. "And this is the best night to do it! I have Lucas stuff, Brooke you have mom and Chase stuff, and Hales, you have Nathan and Jamie stuff. We've got to get it all out on the table sometime, you know? And now's as good a time as any!"

"Well okay," I say, slamming my hand on the counter. "Let's dish it all out, ladies!"

"Yes, let's!" Brooke squeals, clapping her pizza-greased hands. She giggles then. "I missed this! I missed you two! We're all so caught up in our own lives that we just haven't had time for anything. Hell, Peyton, you're my roommate and I barely know anything about your life these days."

"Well let's change that," she says. "First of all, the record company is wonderful, thanks to you. I've got this new band, and while the lead singer is kind of an ass, they signed with me, so I'm working with them. Second of all, I love Lucas, but I'm uncertain if he loves me back. Thirdly, I love this pizza and fourthly, I am so excited to be with my best friends right now!"

"Busy life, Peyton," I marvel, chuckling.

"You next, Teacher Mom."

"Well," I begin. "Jamie wants a dog. Nathan is in rehab, and I'm missing him to death. I just want him to come home and hopefully, we won't ever have a problem like this again. I'm trying to be happy again. Work is going well; I haven't missed any more days. Oh, and Chester the bunny is fan-freaking-tastic!"

They laugh. At least Chester leads a normal life. "Okay, me next!" Brooke announces. "First of all, my mother is a total pain in my ass with this company. It's mine. I mean, I design the clothes and my name is on everything, yet she thinks she can run it all. She tells me I don't have a head for business, and maybe I don't, but I'd like to try it and see what I can do. Secondly, I think I am really starting to like Chase again, and that scares me because he's leaving. But maybe someday, we can try it again when I work up the courage. Let's see…" She taps her chin with her pointer finger. "What else? Um, there is a cute bartender named Owen at Tric, and if things with Chase don't work out, maybe I'll hook up with him!"

"Whatever floats your boat, Brooke," I tell her, leaning back on the stool a little. "You think things with Chase won't work?"

She shrugs, grabbing a napkin. "They didn't in high school. But who knows. We're older now, and we know what we want so maybe now they will."

"I guess we'll see what happens," Peyton remarks. "All of us will find out in time what is supposed to happen."

We talk all night long, and I wake up early the next morning to head into work. As I'm on my way there, I think about my friends. I've been selfish, and I'm sorry for that, but their willingness to just hang out with me again like nothing has happened really warms me. I've got great friends, and I really needed a night like this with them. I'm so glad I got it. I know I'll always have them to fall back on, and that's something I really need to know these days.