Hey guys, thank you all very much for the reviews last chapter. I always appreciate them. I don't know about you guys but I loved this week's episode. The Naley moments were awesome! I'm enjoying the lack of intense drama. I'm really glad that the writers have been portraying normal family problems. That's what I've really been wanting to see. And I can't wait for the episode next week that takes place in the 1940s. It looks like it's going to be really good.

Also, I'd just like to let you guys know that Secrets of Life will be posted very soon. I only have four chapters left to write, so it should be up within the next two to three weeks. As for this chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it. It doesn't have any flashbacks. I know that many of you like them, but they will be in the next chapter. A very big and important component of the Naley history will be revealed soon. So please read and review! Thanks!

Chapter 21

"I mean it, Luke. Stop that right now," Haley demanded.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll kill you," she warned while backing away.

"I don't know why you're getting so worked up, Hales. It's only a little bit of water."

"A little bit? You're holding a hose!"

"Broody, stop being a butthead," Brooke called from her spot off to the side.

"Watch it, Cheery, or you're next," he replied.

Brooke eyed the hose uneasily before shouting, "Sorry, Tutor Girl. You're on your own."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks, Tigger."

The gang was on their lunch break at the work site. The weather was a scorching one hundred and one degrees that day. Since it was so hot, Andy along with Karen and Jimmy had decided that everyone would be able to go home early. They only had a couple more hours left to work.

"Luke, knock it off," Taylor shouted.

"Yeah, don't you know you're not supposed to pick on a girl," Nathan stated. Haley turned around to argue that she wasn't just a girl when she noticed the huge super soaker in his hands.

"Nathan, what the hell are you doing with that?" She then looked back at Lucas and noticed the other guys holding water guns now, too. "Did I miss something?"

"You see, Haley, while the guys were playing ball last night at the River Court, they decided that a little water war would be fun today," Mouth explained. "You know, since it's so hot right now that we're practically melting."

"Thanks for the last minute memo, Mouth," Brooke mumbled.

Taylor snorted. "You guys do realize that you're adults and not kids anymore, right?"

"And why do you have to do it now? You know Andy is not going to let you inside the café soaking wet," Haley pointed out.

"Then I guess we can get out even earlier," Skills declared as he pumped his gun. "So who's the first victim?"

"Lucas Eugene Roe!" a female voice bellowed

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good," Jake commented. They all looked to see Karen approaching.

"Hi, Mom," Lucas greeted with a nervous smile.

"What on earth do you think you boys are doing?"

He cleared his throat. "Um, having a water war."

"Are you insane?! Do you boys even think before doing anything?! You're going to be soaking wet and creating all of this mud. And so help me God, if you get any of that in my new café, I'll ground you for a year. I will not have you ruining the brand new floors in there. Do you understand me?" Karen scolded.

"Y-yes, Mom," Lucas replied. The rest of the guys nodded.

"Now drop the hose and guns, finish your lunch, and get back to work," she ordered.

When Karen had finally walked away, Brooke, Haley, and Taylor immediately busted out laughing as the guys grumbled and dropped their water toys.

"Told you," Haley sing-songed.

"That was great," Taylor said while clutching her stomach.

Brooke had a beaming smile. "I love Karen."

"Well, I thought it was a good idea," Fergie muttered.

"Later," Junk declared. "We'll go to the River Court. Agreed?"

The guys all accepted before begrudgingly sitting back down to eat lunch.

"Well, we're done," Brooke announced. "So we're heading back inside."

"Don't get in too much trouble while we're gone," Haley added.

Taylor just shook her head as she passed by them. "Losers."

"Dude, how do you even date her?" Jake questioned Chase once the girls were out of earshot.

"Would you believe me if I said that she's actually got a good heart?" he answered.

The rest of the guys shared a look before replying in perfect unison, "No!"

"Ugh, where is Bevin when we need her today?" Brooke sighed.

"She's visiting her grandparents for a few days or something," Haley answered. They were in the pantry in the back installing shelves.

"I need another water. It is so hot back here."

"Can you grab me one, too?"

"Sure," Brooke replied before leaving.

Haley looked through the small tool box in front of her and realized they were running low on nails. As she stepped out of the room into the kitchen, she suddenly collided with someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Haley apologized.

"Be careful next time, will you?" Trent grunted as he went on his way.

Haley's eyes narrowed as she watched him walk away. Jerk. She then walked over to the counter in the kitchen and grabbed the small box of nails she needed before heading back into the pantry.

"Jeez, Brooke, what took you so long?" Haley asked when she heard someone come up behind her a few minutes later. She suddenly jumped in surprise when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her.

"Oh my God, Nathan!" Haley exclaimed. "You scared me."

"Sorry. But I got your water."

Haley took it from him and set it down on one of the shelves. "Where's Brooke?"

"I convinced her to take another break."

"And why is that?"

He kissed her cheek. "Because I wanted some time alone with you."

As sweet as Haley thought that was-they hadn't gotten to spend any quality time together since their "date" a few days ago-she didn't want them to get caught. "Nathan, someone might see."

He spun her around to face him. It was then that she noticed that he'd closed the door. "All taken care of."

It also wasn't long before she realized Nathan was shirtless. He'd probably taken it off while he was working. She could see the sweat from the heat glistening on his bare, muscular chest. Haley felt her own body temperature sky rocket, which didn't exactly help since her tank top and shorts were already sticking to her.

"We're going to die from the heat in here, you know?"

Nathan closed the small distance between them and captured her lips in a sensual kiss. If she wasn't hot before, she was burning up now. "There are worse ways to go," he whispered huskily into her ear. Haley couldn't contain the breathless gasp that escaped when he started to suck on her earlobe.

"Eh, screw it," Haley breathed as she roughly guided his mouth back to hers. The intensity of the kiss practically knocked her off her feet. The next thing she knew, her back was slamming against the un-shelved wall with Nathan pressed up tightly against her.

She heard him groan into her shoulder as she ran her hands down his back, lightly scraping her nails against the skin. It used to always drive him crazy. Much to her satisfaction, Haley could feel his muscles flexing in response under her fingertips. She slid her hands back up and into his hair as he continued to ravage her neck.

Nathan, meanwhile, just couldn't get enough of her. He felt the haze cloud his mind as he tasted the familiar sweetness of her skin mixed with the sweat from the heat wave. His hands traced the curves of her body until they reached her smooth, firm thighs. In one easy motion he'd managed to lift her up. Her legs instantly wrapped around his waist as he pulled the elastic band from her hair. He buried his hand in her flowing, chocolate brown locks while bringing her mouth back to his.

Haley's breathing was erratic as Nathan's demanding lips battled hers. She and Nathan had made out a lot over these past few weeks. But it had never been as hot and urgent as this. She was quickly becoming aware of the feelings and closeness between them shifting into something deeper and more intimate as time went on.

"You've got a serious ass, Haley James."

Haley whimpered into his mouth when she felt his rough hands slide up her thighs to cup her backside. "Nathan." Her whole body was on fire by now. He still knew how to push her buttons and leave her wanting.

"Hales." Nathan's mouth glided along her jaw to her ear. She vaguely heard the questioning tone to his voice.

"What?" She kissed his cheek.

"Haley."

She kissed his other cheek. "Hmm…?"

"Hales, I—"

A hard knock suddenly sounded on the door. "Tutor Girl. Tutor Girl," Brooke's low voice called.

Haley heard Nathan swear under his breath at the interruption.

"Tutor Girl, I know you can hear me. You better get your butt out here, because your father is looking for you. And I highly doubt that you want him to find you and Hero Boy in the compromising position you are most likely in at the moment."

"I have to go," Haley sighed disappointed.

"Ok," he gave in. As much as Nathan didn't want to let her go, he definitely didn't want Jimmy to catch them. Then he'd really be dead.

"I'm sorry," Haley whispered. She gave Nathan one more deep, passionate kiss before releasing her hold on him. She was then out the door and facing Brooke.

"Oh my God," her best friend gasped.

"What?" Haley questioned worriedly.

Brooke shook her head. "There is no way in hell you can see your dad looking like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you just had sex in a pantry," Brooke whispered.

"We did not have sex!" Haley protested in a low voice as she felt her face flush.

"Well, you look like it. Come here." Brooke grabbed her arm and yanked her into a corner. "Fix your shirt. It's crooked."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to fix your messy hair and try to gloss your lips so they don't look as swollen," Brooke answered. "And if anyone asks, it's one of those special lip plumping brands."

"Got it," Haley murmured.

"Ok. That's better," Brooke declared after a minute.

"Haley," Jimmy called, his voice getting closer.

"Do I look presentable enough?"

"You're good to go."

"Alright. Thanks, Tigger."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "It's what I do for you crazy kids. Now go."

Haley nodded before walking out front. She easily spotted her father amongst the workers. "Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Oh, Haley, I've been looking all over for you. There's a—why are you so flushed?" he questioned examining her.

"It's just the heat, Dad," she replied.

And Nathan, she thought. She then quickly shoved it from her mind. She didn't need to turn any redder than she already was at the moment.

"Are you sure you're ok? Did you want some water?"

"I'm fine, Dad. What's up?"

"Oh, I was going to say that you have a visitor waiting for you out front."

"A visitor?" Haley asked perplexed. She wasn't expecting anyone. "Who?"

"Just follow me."

When they finally got outside, Haley's eyes widened in surprise as she took in the young woman with curly blonde hair standing next to her sister.

"Peyton!" Haley excitedly exclaimed before running to her cousin.

Peyton met her halfway and hugged her tightly. "Hey, Haley Bop!" she greeted back.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here? I thought you couldn't come this year."

Peyton visited them every summer for a few weeks. But this year, she's said she wouldn't be able to because of an art class she was taking at school. Peyton attended the Savannah College of Art and Design. It was very prestigious and often demanded a lot of her cousin's time.

"I finished my project early and handed it in to my professor. After which he said that I was free to go. So here I am."

"That's great, but I wish you would have told us. We don't have the guest room ready or anything."

"Haley, don't stress. That will take like two minutes," Taylor told her.

Peyton smiled. "I wanted it to be a surprise. By the way, my mom and dad say hi."

"I'll have to call them later," Haley declared. "But really, Peyton, it is so great to see you. How long are you staying?"

"Three weeks."

"Sweet. We are so gonna do some damage," Taylor announced, causing Peyton to laugh and Haley to roll her eyes. Her cousin and sister could get kind of wild when they were together. They often liked to refer to themselves as the bad asses of the family.

"Looking forward to it," Peyton replied as she stared at the café. "You guys sure did get a lot done."

"We better have. We've been working our asses off," Taylor said.

"So, do I get to help?"

"If you want," Haley answered. "We could use a good painter in a couple of weeks."

"I'm on it."

"Oh my God, look who's rolled into town. If it isn't the legendary Peyton Sawyer," Lucas exclaimed as he approached them with the guys following behind.

"Lucas, I see you're still a little on the scrawny side," she teased.

"Says the girl with the chicken legs," he retorted, causing them all to laugh.

"Guys," Peyton greeted the others. Neither Haley nor Taylor missed the little wink their cousin sent to Jake.

It was so obvious the pair had a thing for one another. They'd been playing cat and mouse for years. There was also some speculation about them going skinny dipping last year when the group had gone camping for a weekend. But neither Peyton nor Jake would give in and tell them what had really happened. Needless to say, there would probably be some interesting developments within the next few weeks concerning those two.

"I thought you weren't showing up this year," Skills said.

"Change of plans, boys. But don't get too excited now. I will have to leave eventually."

"We'll be counting down the days," Junk teased.

"Guys, what's going on?" Brooke inquired as she joined the gang. "And who's Goldilocks?"

"Oh, Brooke, this is my cousin Peyton Sawyer. Peyton, this is my best friend from school and Lucas' girlfriend Brooke Davis," Haley introduced.

"It's nice to meet you," Peyton said while holding out her hand.

"You, too. Ooh, I love your shoes!" Brooke complimented.

"Oh, thanks. I got them on sale at Suburban Filth."

Brooke gave her a beaming smile. "Oh my God, I love that store! I go there all the time. I don't know how I could've missed those shoes, though."

"Well, I'm from Savannah, so that's probably why. You know how they have different things in different stores."

"That is true."

"But when I get back, I could totally get a pair for you."

"Really?"

"Sure."

"That'd be awesome. Tutor Girl, your cousin rocks!" Brooke declared. Haley smiled, relieved that her best friend and cousin were instantly hitting it off.

"Thanks," Peyton laughed. "I try."

"I hate to break up the fun, but the boys have some more work to do," Jimmy interrupted. "But you girls are free to go if you want. You can have some time to hang out with Peyton and get settled in."

The guys all groaned in response. There were also a few grumbles of "that's not fair."

"Thanks, Uncle J," Peyton replied.

"No problem. You girls have fun."

"So, Peyton, what do you feel like doing?" Taylor inquired.

She shrugged. "I don't know. How about—"

"Hey, where'd you guys go? I can't put the rest of the cabinets in by myself," Nathan called to the guys as they walked back toward the café.

Uh oh, Haley thought as she watched her cousin's eyes get huge and do a double take. She'd completely forgotten that she hadn't actually told Peyton about Nathan being in Tree Hill yet.

Peyton then turned to Haley with an expression featuring a mixture of astonishment and outrage. "What the in the living hell is that asshole doing here?!"

"I've got a brain freeze."

"I always tell you not to eat your ice cream too fast."

Peyton shook her head. "It's not from the ice cream. It's from everything else you just told me—or didn't tell me until I got here."

Haley looked down at her strawberry sundae and sighed. As soon as the shock had worn off, Peyton had marched right up to Nathan and started yelling at him. It took both Lucas and Jake to drag her away from him. Haley had then tried to persuade Peyton to go for a walk with her, in which Peyton demanded that she tell her exactly what was going on in this "alternate universe," as she called it, that she'd walked into.

So Haley took Peyton down to the docks. She'd then bought Peyton a big cone of Rocky Road—her favorite ice cream—at a stand and sat her down at a nearby picnic table to explain everything.

"Peyton—"

"So let me get this straight, Nathan originally came to the café to taunt you guys."

"Actually, I think it was because he missed us," Haley interjected.

Peyton rolled her eyes. "Whatever. He and Lucas end up drag racing. And he's the one who went spinning out of control, crashed into the café, and burned it down."

"Yes," Haley reluctantly replied.

"Then, he gets sentenced to rebuild it for the rest of the summer. So he moves in with Keith and causes more trouble for you guys."

"In the beginning," she admitted.

"He and your boyfriend Trent get into a fight, and all the guys hate him—including you."

"Um, yeah."

"But you keep running into Nathan and eventually start talking to him. He tells you this stupid sob story about his past that you believe—"

"Peyton, it wasn't stupid. It was really serious," Haley objected.

"—that you believe," she continued, "and actually agree to be friends again. Then you tried to convince the others to give him a chance—when they probably shouldn't have."

"Peyton," Haley sighed.

"I'm not done," Peyton declared. "After that, your boyfriend Trent gets jealous, turns into an asshole, and causes you to fall off of a roof—which is another important thing that was conveniently left out of your e-mails."

"I didn't have a chance—"

"I'm still not finished. Nathan then comes to your rescue and catches you. He suffers a concussion, you and the others feel even sorrier for him and start to trust him even more," she stated. "You then take care of him, break up with your boyfriend, and now you're all suddenly one big happy family and the best of friends again. Is that pretty much it?"

"Peyton—"

"Oh, and let's not forget the part where I show up and am completely blindsided by all of this," she added.

"Peyton, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Nathan," Haley apologized. "As you now know, a lot has been going on."

"Haley, we're family. You're one of my best friends. You definitely could've found the time to tell me about this."

"I-I was afraid that you'd flip out, too—which did just happen, by the way," Haley pointed out. "Besides, I would've told you eventually—especially if I'd known you were actually going to visit."

"I'm just blown away by all of this. I mean, the next thing I know, you're probably going to tell me that you still have feelings for the bastard."

Haley guiltily averted her gaze and shoved a big spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

"Oh no. Oh no no no no no! Come on, Haley! Have you lost your freaking mind?!" Peyton exclaimed.

"He is not a bastard, Peyton," Haley objected. "There's a lot more to him than you think, so stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like I've got two heads or something," Haley said while shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"Actually, I'm trying to figure out where my level-headed cousin went. I thought you were over him, Haley. I mean, the guy pretty much ripped your heart out and stomped on it. How could you even think about letting him back into your life again?"

Haley sighed and placed her head in her hands. She'd already been through this with Lucas and everyone else. "Because he didn't mean it, Peyton. Dan was making Nathan's life a living hell, so he pushed us all away and isolated himself. That's what happened."

"So he says."

"Look," Haley said, getting frustrated. "You may not believe him, but I do. You haven't been around these last two months, Peyton. Nathan has really changed for the better. And if you don't believe me, then you can ask the others—my dad, Karen, Keith, Lucas, Brooke, Jake, and everyone else. They've all seen it."

"It just seems like an awfully big risk, Haley. He's going to have to leave eventually. Then what?"

"I don't know what's going to happen. But for right now, we're all putting the past behind us and trying to move on. Please don't ruin that, Peyton."

"I'm not going to do anything. If something happens, then it'll be of Nathan's own doing," Peyton declared. "I just don't want it to get to that point, Haley. I'm worried that you're going to put too much trust in him, and he's going to screw you over again. You don't want to go through that same pain twice. You barely made it through the first time. Do you really think you can survive it a second time?"

"I don't think it's going to come to that."

Peyton sighed before taking Haley's hand in hers. "I know that you thought he was the love of your life," she said tentatively. "But sometimes dreams die and people disappoint you. Eventually, you just have to let it go."

Haley shook her head and gave Peyton's hand a squeeze. "It's different now, Peyton. I don't know how else to explain it to you. I just feel it."