Author's Note: Hey, everyone. Sorry it's been awhile, but I was busy. Thanks so much for all the great reviews and I'm glad that you are still liking this. Finding quotes is getting a lot hard now, but now that all the drama will be coming back next chapter, I don't think it'll be much of a problem. I have this amazing quote that will be perfect, I just need to find a way to use it. Anyway, please reply to tell me what you think. Enjoy.

-OTH-

--Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble.--

The night before had been the best night Haley had had in what felt like forever. She couldn't remember the last time she went to bed feeling happy. For as long as she could remember she always went to bed scared. Either it was because she had just had a run in with her father, or because she hadn't and was waiting for him to come looking for her. Whatever the reason was, Haley hadn't had one decent night of sleep in two years.

The girls had woken up surprisingly early considering the time they went to bed last night, and went straight to cleaning up the mess they had left. Peyton cleared all the dirty dishes and threw them in the dishwasher while Brooke and Haley fixed everything up in the living room.

Brooke insisted that Haley have the bathroom first while they finished cleaning. Not wanting to argue, Haley quickly went upstairs, took a short shower, got dressed in some of Brooke's more classy clothes and came back downstairs to find the girls in the kitchen. Brooke went up next because Peyton decided not to bother with a shower.

"Ew, gross," Brooke exclaimed, moving towards the door after Peyton told her to go ahead. "This isn't France, you know? We Americans like to bathe once in a while."

"I have gym second period, smart ass," Peyton told her, sticking out her tongue in response to Brooke's similar actions. "No need to waste your precious water if I can waste the school's, right?" Brooke rolled her eyes and nodded, before walking out of the room. Haley watched them with an amused smile on her face.

"I'm glad Brooke's got such good friends here," she commented. Before, she had been so set on hating Peyton for almost replacing her, but she was really starting to see why Brooke liked her so much. Peyton turned her head around to look at Haley, trying to judge whether she was being serious or not.

"Thanks," she replied once she decided that Haley was being serious. She was glad that Haley liked her because she seemed like a really cool person. Plus, any friend of Brooke's was a friend of her's. "I know that it's probably tough for you to let people in, I can't imagine how hard it would be to trust someone new."

"I'm working on it," Haley told her. They shared another smile; both recognizing that it was an important moment in what they hoped would be the beginning of a long friendship. "What you say, I make breakfast? I can make a mean omelet."

"Sounds good," Peyton answered, with an affirmative nod. "It'll be weird for someone to be cooking in here. I don't think Brooke or your mom have ever even used the stove."

"I'm not surprised." Haley searched around the kitchen and was able to find everything she was looking for with a little help from the blonde. By the time they heard the shower turn off upstairs, the eggs were done. She was just serving Peyton as Brooke strolled through the kitchen door looking oh so fresh and clean.

"Yummy," she stated, rubbing her visible stomach as the delicious smells of Haley's cooking greeted her as she entered. "Something smells good. Since it's obviously not Peyton, I'm assuming someone made breakfast?"

"My famous omelets for my sister," Haley responded, placing Brooke's plate on the spot she had set up for Brooke. Brooke flashed her a bright smile and slipped into the chair, diving right into her meal. There was nothing she loved more than her sister's cooking. She wasn't sure where Haley got the talent from because neither of her parents could cook, not that she knew of anyway.

"Oh, slow down there, Brookie," Peyton suggested the blonde at the end of the table. Brooke didn't answer her, just glared as she continued to eat. She pause only for a second to turn around and ask Haley for a drink. Before she could even open her mouth, Haley was already walking towards her with a glass full of orange juice for her. She smiled brightly as Haley leaned down and placed it in front of her.

"You're the best, babe," Brooke marveled at her and patted her on the cheek with her free hand. Haley nodded and rolled her eyes before moving around Brooke and sitting down in her own seat with a plate in front of her. Once she was seated, she glanced up at Peyton to see that she was eating her food.

"Everything okay?"

"They're great," Peyton assured her with a mouthful of food. "Much better than I could ever do. Thanks for making them." Haley smiled at her and waved her hand.

"Not a problem." They quickly finished their breakfast and after Peyton got changed into some of Brooke's clothes, much to both girls' disapproval, they were off to school. They arrived just in time to go to their lockers before the bell rang, so they didn't get a chance to see the guys since they were busy with basketball practice.

"Later, Tigger," Haley called down the hall as she watched her sister disappear into the crowd. She and Peyton linked arms and made their way to art class.

It seemed that today was going to go by in as much of a blur as it did yesterday because before Haley knew what was happening, it was already lunch and she was being let out of her History class. She and Brooke went to their lockers then met up with Lucas just outside the cafeteria and they all walked in together. Trying her best not to make eye contact with Chrissy as they made their way to the table, Haley walked on one side of Brooke with Lucas on the other.

"Hello, gang," Brooke greeted with her usual smile. She let Haley slip onto the bench beside Peyton before taking the seat beside her. Lucas sat directly across from her.

"Hey," Theresa and Tim both said at the same time while Jake just settled on a wave. She had just seen the boy so he didn't feel the need to give her a vocal greeted. Haley smiled back at him. She really liked him, better than Tim she decided. Both Tim and Jake were sweet and cute; Jake seemed more calm and collected. Which was probably due to the fact that he had a daughter.

The group quickly started up different conversations about anything and everything. While the Brooke and Theresa talked about clothes, Peyton and Haley discussed music, and the boys replayed the great basketball game that was on the night before.

Nathan walked into the cafeteria with his bag slung loosely over his shoulder scanned the room. His eyes landed on his usual table and he spotted Haley in the middle of what looked like an entertaining conversation with Peyton. He silently debated in his head what he should do. He knew he had blown it last night, but he didn't know how to fix it.

"You can do this, Scott," Nathan told himself. He took a deep breath, wondering when he started talking to himself, and began to make his way over to the table full of his friends. As he walked passed Chrissy's table all the girls went silent. Chrissy motioned for the to be quiet as she talk to him. She slipped out of her seat to meet him as he past.

"Hey, baby," she gushed, sashaying over to him with a big smile on her face. She met him just as he stopped to regroup. She pressed herself against him as hard as she could, running her hands over his chest, letting her fingers linger there a little longer than they had to. She smiled back at her friend victoriously, not noticing that Nathan wasn't even looking at her. "You wanna have lunch with me?"

"Some other time," he answered absently, not even bothering to look at her as he fixed the strap of his backpack and continued walking, leaving Chrissy standing all alone. She watched after him with a shocked expression on her face as he walked up to the gang's table. She looked back at her friends in disbelief as they tried to contain their giggles.

As Nathan approached the table, all the conversations seemed to die down at the exact same time. Everyone was silent with the exception of Tim who had no idea what was going on.

"And then he brought it all the way up the court…" he trailed off when he noticed Jake and Lucas weren't listening anymore. His eyes wondered to where they were looking and he smiled when he spotted his best friend. He was completely oblivious to the tension that was in the air. "Hey, man. Long time no see."

"Yeah, hey," Nathan said quietly, tearing his gaze off of Haley and nodding in Tim's direction.

His eyes wander over his friends, trying to see if he was even welcomed there at all. Peyton, Theresa and Jake were all looking down at the table, uncomfortable at the situation. Lucas seemed to be neutral in his opinion of the situation. He wanted to stand up for his brother, but still remain faithful to his girlfriend. Haley's reaction was a little harder for him to read, she looked a little unsure and hurt, but she was looking at him so that was a good sign. Brooke, however, was not hard to read at all. There was really no other way to take the death glare she was throwing his way.

"Got any room for one more?" he begged, putting on his best regretful face. He knew he should be directing the question at Haley, but for some reason he was looking at Brooke, asking her for permission to apologize to her sister.

--Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again.--

"Are you kidding?" Brooke snapped. She couldn't believe the nerve of that boy sometimes. Who does he think he is, just walking up to their table like that as if nothing has happened? Did he really think that Haley was going to just forgive him like that for what he did to her? "No, Nathan, you can't sit here. After what you did last night…"

"Sure you can, Nathan," Haley answered, cutting her sister off before she could tear Nathan a new one. Nathan and Brooke both stared at her in surprise, neither one believing that she had just said that. She glared at Brooke and smiled up at Nathan. "Of course there's enough room for you."

"Thanks, Haley." He smiled back at her and pushed Lucas over so he could fit on the bench beside his brother. Brooke continued to glare at him, but he just did his best to ignore her. He was pleasantly surprised that Haley was willing to give him another chance. He knew he didn't deserve it so he was just grateful that she thought he did.

Lunch went on with a little more uncomfortable conversation before the bell rang signaling that it was time for the last class of the day. Once they were seated in Math class, Brooke immediately began grilling Haley on what she had been thinking when she let Nathan off the hook. Haley just smiled and explained that there was no point in being upset. She had missed her chance and he hadn't done anything wrong. Brooke didn't agree with her sister, but she did agree to let it go for now and promised to try to stop giving Nathan dirty looks.

The girls didn't do any work for the rest of the class, but instead talked about plans for the evening. It was decided that since Haley wasn't in any shape to start cheerleading yet, she couldn't cheer at the practice after school. Since the whole gang was going to be there, Haley had no other ride home, so she was going to have to hang around the gym and watch them practice.

"Sounds like a blast, Tigger," Haley replied sarcastically. Hanging around in a high school gym with a bunch of smelly guys and cheerleaders wasn't exactly her idea of a perfect afternoon, but it looked like she didn't have any choice. Though she was sure she'd enjoy watching Nathan practice.

"Oh, stop complaining, Hales," Brooke said and rolled her eyes. She knew her sister really wanted to come; if not to watch her cheer then definitely to watch a certain Scott brother getting sweaty. "You know you wanna see Nathan working up a sweat." Haley tried to hide her blush and smiled.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Haley watched Brooke shake her head and go back to doodling in her notebook. Haley took that as her queue to start daydreaming. Her eyes wandered around the classroom until they landed on Nathan. To her surprise, Nathan was watching her too.

-OTH-

"Okay, so you better be watching us," Brooke warned as she dropped her stuff down beside Haley on the bleachers. She grabbed her water bottle out of her gym bag and undid the cap. When she saw Haley about to roll her eyes she raised a finger. "No, you need to watch and learn the routines for when you're better."

"But I don't want to be on the cheerleading team," Haley pointed out, with a sigh. She tried to stop herself from looking around the room for Nathan. Brooke let out a laugh at the mere suggestion and quickly waved it off with a flick of her hand.

"Please," she laughed. "No sister of mine is going to be a bystander. You'll be on the team and you'll like it." Haley laughed, knowing her sister was teasing. She would be joining the team, but only because of a favor for Brooke. She nodded her head and pretended that Brooke had won the conversation.

"Whatever you say, Brookie." Brooked flashed her some dimples and blew her a kiss as she tossed her the water bottle.

"Later, baby," Brooke said, starting to walk away. She turned around and started walking backwards so she could see her sister. "Enjoy the show, perv." Haley laughed and nodded. Brooke gave her a genuine smile, happy beyond belief to see her sister in a good mood. She made her way over to her squad and a new mask slipped onto her face as she picked up her pom poms. "Okay, bitches! Let's get this started."

Haley watched both teams practice for about ten minutes before it began to get boring. She sighed and stood up. This next hour would be a lot more productive if she did her homework instead of just watching a bunch of guys shot a ball into a hoop. She motioned to Brooke that she was just going to head to her locker for a second. Brooke nodded her head and went back to instructing.

Haley pushed the heavy gym doors open and stepped into the empty hallway. She looked down both ends to see if she could spot anyone, but it was completely deserted. She took a few seconds to decide whether she still wanted to make the trip to her locker, before taking a deep breath and slowly walking down the hall. She was just walking past the bathroom when she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her inside.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed at the jerk. She immediately began slamming her fist against the hard chest she was pressed against and trying to break free of the person's hold. She was just starting to panic when she heard his familiar voice.

"Shhhh, Haley, it's okay," he told her, pushed her out and holding her at arms length so she could see his face. She opened her eyes at the movement and looked up at his face. "It's okay, it's just me."

"Nathan?" she asked, surprised to see him. The panic and fear that had risen up in her stomach was starting to settle down at the sight of him. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," he answered with a smirk. He felt bad that he had scared her, but he couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked with her hair all messed up and the scared look on her face. "I wanted to explain what happened yesterday and apologizing for what happened."

"It's okay, Nathan…"

"No, it's not," he corrected. "I should have known that you weren't ready to go to the dance with me, hell a big part of me did know that. So when you said no, there was just something inside of me that blew up. You gotta understand, I'm Nathan Scott, the Nathan Scott; I don't know what the word no means."

"I thought there was going to be an apology in here somewhere?" she couldn't help but tease him. There was just something about the way he was acting right now that was making him look absolutely adorable. How this guy was a player, she'll never know. He seemed way too sweet for that kind of thing.

"Wow, you're more impatient than Brooke," he teased back. Haley stuck out her tongue and he tried his best to control all the dirty thoughts that popped into his mind at the action. "I was hurt, is what I was trying to say. Chrissy was all over me in Math class and then I saw you and I just asked her. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm really sorry that I did that."

"It's totally cool," she assured him. "You had every right to ask her. I said no, I missed my chance. I completely overreacted last night when she came up to the table. I was really immature."

"No, you weren't," he insisted, just now noticing that he was still holding onto Haley. Since she didn't seem to be minding it, he held on. "It was your first time and I just sorta shot you down." He silently cursed himself for pointing that out. "I really wanted to go to the dance with you. I still do."

"I do too, but it's too late…"

"It's not," he cut her off. He really didn't want to go with Chrissy; he could barely stand the girl. The only reason he had even asked was because she was sitting right there in front of him and was all over him. "I'll just tell Chrissy that I'm going with you now."

"Not a good idea," Haley told him. "I don't need to be giving her anymore reasons to hate me than the imaginable ones she already has." She laughed as his face fell in disappoint. "Besides, think of this as your punishment. You made your bed, now you have to sleep in it."

"Thanks." As much as he was dreading the entire night with Chrissy, he was willing to suffer through it if Haley told him to. He was aware that he had feelings for Haley, ones that he had never experienced before, but he was still surprised at how relieved he was that Haley was still talking to him. "So? Friends?"

"Friends," she agreed with an affirmative nod. She held out her hand for him to shake. He looked at for a moment before reaching out his own and taking her's in his. They were both surprised at how right it felt and how their hands seemed to fit perfectly together. They kept their hands locked for a little longer than needed before they let go.

"Come on, friend," Nathan said, breaking the silence between them. He draped an arm over her shoulders and walked them out of the bathroom. "Time to get sweaty."

-OTH-

Sorry if that was lame, but I needed to get everything right again before everything hits the fan. So, that chapter was needed. Anyway, don't forget to drop me a reply so I'll upset sooner. Thanks.