Story Title: The Best Years
Synopsis: He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?
Chapter Rating: PG-13 (For minor language and sexual references)
Chapter Summary: Old memories come back to help everyone realize how they feel, while Haley makes a hurtful realization.

The Best Years
Chapter 20: Everything In Its Right Place
Part 1

"Haley." the dark haired boy exclaimed, standing up, quite startled. "Uhh - what are you doing here?"

"Your mom let me in..." Haley hesitated, "She seems really nice."

"She is." he responded quickly, nodding his head in agreement. Nathan always had a close relationship with his mother. "I really am sorry, Haley." he spoke after a few more moments of silence. "For lying... For pretty much everything. But, I'm not sorry for using you, because I managed to get to know a real great person who made me believe that there's more to people than the way they appear to be to everyone else."

"You know what? The truth is, it had nothing to do with you lying to me; I mean, yeah, it hurt me. And I do not appreciate being lied to, but the fact is, I have no idea who you are. Everything you ever told me was a lie, and now all of a sudden you're my ex-boyfriend's half brother?" Haley crinkled her nose up, trying to make sense of the whole idea. "And right now, I don't like the person you seem to be."

Nathan glanced down at the carpet, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Look, I didn't come here for an apology, I just came to say goodbye." Whipping his head up, Nathan glanced at her curiously. Goodbye? What did she mean by that?

"I'm leaving with Peyton to go to Los Angeles in a few days. I'm going to be busy packing so now was the best time to do it." the blonde told him honestly. Haley had decided to give herself a shot at a music career, and surprisingly, her father had been okay with it. And Peyton was going to try and get a job at a music company, or something along the lines. Either way, Haley just had to have her best friend with her. To push her. "I don't like leaving things the way we left them, so I guess, I just... I wanted to tell you I forgive you."

"What?"

"I forgive you." she repeated, "I forgive you for lying, and using me, and whatever else you did. But hey, look at it this way, it worked." Nathan opened his mouth to say something, but Haley stopped him. "You're going to be getting a call from either my Dad, or a guy named Harry. And they're going to offer you a spot on the team."

"But, why?" Nathan finally managed to speak up, "I mean, why would your father do something like that after what I did to you?"

"Because he'd do anything for me." the blonde stated simply, her voice soft as she swiftly made her way over to the tall boy. Pausing for a moment, she took in his smell as she stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. Once again, she hesitated before pulling away. "Have a great life Nathan, you deserve it."

"Soo?" Peyton dragged out the word curiously, jumping off the couch as she heard the door open and close to reveal Haley. "What happened?"

"I said goodbye." the other blonde said simply, walking towards the kitchen, brushing past her friend and roommate.

"What!?" Peyton raised her voice, hurrying towards Haley. "What are you talking about?"

"You're the one that told me I should get some closure." she reminded Peyton, grabbing a bottled water from the fridge.

"But I meant like, make up with him and then make out with him. Not end it forever. Haley!"

"I have no idea who he is, Peyt. I can't... have a relationship with someone and wonder everytime he tells me something if it's the truth."

"Hales, you've forgiven me, right?" Peyton was asking this question to make a point, but at the same time, deep down, she really wanted to know if her best friend had truly forgiven her or not.

"Yes, of course." Haley did, right? Peyton was her best friend, and she wasn't sure if she could ever hold a grudge that long towards her. Sure, she still wasn't talking to Lucas, and it took two to tango in that scenario, but... Lucas had betrayed her more times than she could count, it was harder to forgive someone who you've forgiven so many times before.

"Then why can't you forgive Nate? He may have lied, and schemed and used you -"

"Peyt, you're really not helping."

"Just let me finish. He may have done all that, but that doesn't mean that what you felt was a lie. That how he felt was a lie. All I'm saying is that, the world works in mysterious ways to give you what you want, and what you need. Does it really matter how you two met, or how you two started? My mom always says to give people second chances, you've given me a second chance - why can't you do that for him?"

Peyton was packing up the things she was bringing to Los Angeles. She and Haley were bringing the essentials while their parents would bring some other stuff with them when they came up to visit. Some new furniture was needed, but Peyton already had that account set up for their allowance that their parents would chip in for. As she was looking through her dresser drawers, she came across a shoe box. Her breath caught in her throat, knowing exactly what it was. She had hid it in there so no one would find it.

The blonde pulled out the box and lifted the lid to reveal many pictures and letters. Biting her bottom lip, the blonde picked up some of the pictures and set the box down on her stool in front of her makeup table in her room. Sitting down and crossing her legs, she continued to search through the pictures before settling on one that made her smile at the memory.

"Hey! Chickeddie! Hurry it up, or we're gonna be the last in line again!" Lucas called out, stopping so the curly blonde could catch up with him. Grabbing onto her hand, the two raced towards the roller coaster at the seasonal amusement park just at the edge of town in Charlotte. Peyton had trouble keeping up, but whenever she fell just a little behind, Lucas would slow down for her, but they'd never stop. Not until they reached the rollercoaster's line up.

It wasn't a very large amusement park, but the roller coaster was the best there was in North Carolina, and usually the line up was halfway through Charlotte if you got there too late. And Lucas hated waiting in line ups, so the two had to get there very early to make sure they wouldn't be waiting all day just to get on one ride.

"Okay, we're here. We can stop now." Peyton pointed out the obvious as she huffed to get her breath back and Lucas laughed.

"You wouldn't last one day at practice." he said with a smirk, offering some water to the blonde. Peyton took it and glared playfully, as though she were insulted, at him.

"I never said I was a basketball player." she told him simply. The two continued to bicker, but it was simply for fun, while they waited for their turn to get on. Finally, after ten minutes, they reached the front of the line and got on. Peyton went one way, and Lucas went the other. She was never a big fan of heights, while Lucas couldn't wait to get freaked. A sigh fell from his lips before he noticed Peyton's hesitant look and he hurried over to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into one of the middle cars.

"Relax, Peyt. The middle cars aren't scary." he reassured her, rubbing her hand comfortingly as they were locked in and the ride started. They went up, and down, up and down, and up again before down and going upside down. Peyton felt as though her insides were going to fall out. But, Lucas never let go of her hand, and he shot glances towards her every so often, and told her it was just a ride and it was almost over. And as Lucas told Peyton to smile, the curly blonde forced up a smile while Lucas threw his arms (and one of her own as their hands were intertwined) into the air and pretended to be just as scared in his facial expression. They bought the picture after the ride as proof that she had actually gone on a roller coaster she had sworn never to set foot even in the line up to. Of course, they both knew they could only show it to each other, but Peyton was still quite proud of herself.

The blonde sighed as she relived the memory. Lucas was definitely a different person around her, but she knew that he always acted different when there wasn't an audience watching. Her and Lucas could never be, not if she wanted her best friend to stay her best friend. She couldn't go back, she had chosen Haley over the boy she knew she loved. The first boy she had ever loved, which was ironic since Haley had also once upon a time loved the boy too. Closing her eyes, she threw the pictures back into the box, and a few little notes they shared before closing it up and throwing it into her small trash can near her desk. Peyton took a look around, remembering she needed a new suitcase and exited the room quickly, trying to get Lucas off her mind.

Haley watched Peyton hurry out of her room, and little did she know she had in fact saw that smile flash on her face when she opened the box. Not knowing, but wanting to know, what was in it, she snuck into the girl's red painted room and grabbed the box from the trash can. Bending down, she rested the box on the top of her lap and lifted open the lid, seeing pictures of Peyton and Lucas bombarding her vision. She had to close her eyes quickly and shake her head before continuing. The sight of everything that had broken her heart killed her even more, but she wasn't quite sure what hurt her more - the fact that the two looked extremely happy around each other, or the fact that it had been behind her back.

Throwing the lid back on, she let it fall back to where it had been before and exited the room, grabbing her car keys and a sweater from her room. "Peyton! I'm heading out for a bit, I'll be right back." she called to her best friend before exiting the house.

"You've got a visitor." a voice called from downstairs up to a blonde boy who was laying on his bed, throwing a basketball up and down into the air. He had been awaiting a call from the Charlotte Bobcats. His spot on the team was always confirmed, but he knew that it was a bit sketchy now that he and the team's coach's daughter had broken up. And even more so, the fact that he had cheated on his daughter. A grand move by Scott.

"Who is it, Mom?" Lucas asked as he turned the corner to enter the kitchen, only to see a blonde girl sitting on a stool near the island in the kitchen, sipping some coffee his mother had given her.

"Haley..." he hesitated, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just came to hang out with my favorite person in the whole world." she responded sarcastically.

"You're not here just to hit me, are you?"

Haley laughed softly at the idea, "No, but it sure would be fun. I'm not here because of me, I'm here because of Peyton."

"What? Why?" he wasn't quite sure he understood what she was talking about. Was it to tell him off again, or did something happen to the curly blonde he soon found out he loved?

"Because I need to know whether you love her or not." she let it flow out into the open. Haley knew that the answer would end up hurting her, but she had to know.