Chapter Thirty Seven

Haley just listened as her mother and Quinn argued about the wedding plans. Quinn wanted a small wedding with just close family and friends, but her mother was trying to convince her to expand the guest list. Quinn was getting frustrated and looked at Haley helplessly. Haley wanted to help her sister, but she also didn't want to get in the middle of their argument. "Leave me out of this."

"Don't expect me to help you when Mom takes over your wedding then," Quinn replied.

"And when that will be, Haley Bob?" Lydia asked her daughter. "Are you and Nathan even together?"

"Yes, but we're not officially dating until after Nathan's divorce to Rachel is final," Haley reminded her gently. "We don't want to do anything else to jeopardize his case and make the divorce proceedings last longer than they should especially since Rachel had an affair." She ignored the look her father was giving her. "I'm going to check on Brooke."

Haley went outside to the back deck where Brooke was just sitting in the lounge chair watching the dogs play in the yard. She had gone outside as soon as she had eaten dinner – the little dinner she had. Everyone knew she had a lot on her mind and nobody pushed her to eat. Even Haley didn't eat a lot because she had Nathan on her mind.

It had been a few days since they had left Tree Hill and she hadn't heard from Nathan. She hoped he and the others were alright. Daunte seemed serious when he had told Nathan his reasoning about returning to Tree Hill. She had heard her parents talking about sending her and Brooke to a place even further away for safety since Daunte was still in Tree Hill, but her mother didn't want her daughters anywhere but there.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" Haley asked as she looked up at the bright stars that were shining above them. "Although, I think I like it more when it rains. Maybe Nathan and I will elope and run off to London. That way, we can be in the rain all the time."

"Can you take Lucas with you?" Brooke snapped. Haley just looked at her sympathetically. "I can't believe him! What the hell was he thinking?"

"He wanted to make sure his family was financially supported," Haley explained gently as she sat next to her. "He was trying to do the right thing: provide for his family. He just went about it the wrong way. We all make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them and I know he has learned his lesson."

Brooke let out a heavy sigh. "How can I ever trust him again?"

"Because you know he would never intentionally try to hurt anybody especially his family," Haley replied. "He loves you and I know you love him. You know, my mom always says 'love means giving chances when there's no more chances left to give'. So give Lucas another chance." Brooke was quiet again. "Just promise me you'll think about it." Brooke just nodded her head.

Talking about Lucas and Brooke made Haley think about her own relationship with Nathan. Was their relationship slow because she was afraid of taking another chance with him? At first, Haley didn't believe it. They had gone through so much and it was all going too fast for Haley. She felt like the relationship needed to slow down, but perhaps it slowed down too much. Now nobody could figure out whether they were dating or not.

It wasn't like they were ashamed of dating. They just didn't want to date while Nathan was still married to Rachel. Haley almost wished she had waited until after Nathan was divorced before confessing her love for Nathan. Then again, they probably wouldn't have gotten together if they had waited that long. They might have started dating other people by then. She might not even have been in Tree Hill anymore. She could have moved on to a better job. Or Victoria could have chased her out of town.

Haley's thoughts turned to the judge and hoped the outcome would be different from the time Taylor had an affair with a married man. That was hard for the whole family and Haley didn't want to go through that again. Perhaps the judge will be lenient because both Nathan and Rachel agreed not to sue each other for adultery. As long as Charlene doesn't convince her daughter to change her mind, Nathan would be divorced from Rachel.

"Girls, come on in. Dessert is here," Lydia called as Haley snapped back into reality. Both she and Brooke were confused since they weren't expecting dessert. However, Haley was willing to have some ice cream since she didn't eat much for dinner. Brooke must have thought the same thing since she followed Haley back into the house.

Haley froze as she saw Nathan standing there holding a container of her favorite ice cream flavor. He gave her a wide smile as she ran over to him and embraced him a tight hug. "You have no idea how much I've missed you. Please tell me it's over."

"It's over," Nathan confirmed. Haley looked at him as if she couldn't believe it. "Unfortunately, we had to take some drastic measures since Daunte was too smart for our tricks. There was a standoff between police and Daunte was taken out. So you don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Are you alright?" Haley asked worriedly.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Daunte didn't hurt me." Haley looked in his eyes and could see he was telling the truth. It was a relief to know nothing happened to him. Yet, she couldn't imagine being in that situation.

"What about Daunte's brother and his friend Officer Stevens?" Brooke asked as Haley noticed Nathan didn't come alone. Cooper and Lucas were with him. "Or even my mother? How do we know they aren't going to try and get revenge?"

"Because your mom won't be able to get anywhere near us or she'll get arrested," Lucas replied.

"You don't have to worry about the dirty cops either," Cooper added. "We made it clear that it wouldn't be wise to try and mess with the Scott family again. So you girls are free to return home." Haley was relieved. She loved visiting her parents, but Tree Hill was her home and she was ready to go back with Nathan.

However, Brooke was a different story. "Thank you for telling us, but I'm not going back," she announced. "I'm staying here." There were mixed reactions as Lucas looked at his wife with confusion. "Who are we kidding, Lucas? We can't raise a baby together and shoot for our dreams at the same time. It's just not possible."

Lucas didn't let her say anything else as he went over to her. "Yes, it is. You just have to put the past behind you. You're not alone anymore. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Brooke didn't respond. "You have every right to be mad at me. I made a stupid mistake. I'm so sorry, but I'm going to make up for it. I don't know how, but I will make up for it. Because I love you and our daughter and I don't want to lose either of you."

"I don't want to lose you either," Brooke confessed and he opened his arms for a longing embrace. "I just don't know how we're going to raise the baby and try to go to college at the same time. Or even get through my senior year and graduate."

"You will graduate this spring," Haley promised her. "I will see to that."

"Yeah, there's no way we will let you miss your graduation or prom," Nathan added, sticking to his word. He wasn't going to let her miss out the rest of her senior year. "As for college, there's nothing wrong with not going right away. Whatever you decide, Haley and I will be right there to help you guys."

"That goes for us too," Lydia said, speaking for her and Jimmy. Her husband nodded his head. Haley wasn't surprised to hear her parents offering to help. They loved Brooke and Lucas like they were their own children. "We would love to have another excuse to visit Tree Hill more often."

Brooke smiled gratefully. "Thanks everybody."

"I'm glad that's settled. Now let's not have the ice cream go to waste," Lydia said as she showed the dessert the Scott men brought with them. "Jimmy, get out the ice cream scooper and start serving our guests."

After the celebration died down, Nathan drove Haley back to Tree Hill. He was happy to have her back, but he could see something was bothering her. "Hales, are you alright?" he asked. Haley looked at him with a confused look on her face. "You haven't said a word since we got in the car."

Haley knew it was now or never. "Is there an us?" she asked him. Nathan couldn't believe she was asking that question. What made her think of that? "Are we together? Because nobody else seems to think that we are dating."

Nathan let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he replied. "My dad and Lucas asked me the same thing while we were dealing with Daunte. I guess when we decided to slow down in our relationship, we went a little too slow. I was okay with it because I didn't want you to get caught in the middle of my divorce."

Haley gave him a grateful smile. "I appreciate that, but I don't think that will be a problem. If Rachel wanted to sue you for adultery, she would have done it by now."

Nathan knew she had a point. "Then why don't we have our own celebration tomorrow night?" he suggested.

Haley gave him a wide smile. "I love that idea."

Nathan and Haley spent as much time together as they could, but it was challenging. Nathan was busy getting his team ready for the State Championship. Despite the drama with Daunte, the team managed to win enough games to qualify for the Championship and Nathan couldn't have been more proud. Lucas really showed he deserved to be team captain and the rest of the team had worked hard too.

On the night of the State Championship, both Nathan and Lucas were so nervous. They worked so hard for this that they didn't want to let anyone down especially Haley and Brooke. Haley assured Nathan no matter what the outcome was, she was proud of him. "I love you, always and forever," she stated.

The bleachers were packed with thousands of cheering fans. It seemed like the whole town was there to support the Ravens. Of course, Haley and Brooke were in the stands along with Dan and Deb. Millie and her boyfriend Mouth were right there. So were Jake and Peyton. Clay and Quinn also came to support Nathan and Lucas.

Lucas looked in the crowd for a moment and Nathan knew what he was thinking. "Don't worry. Mom and Keith are looking down on us right now and telling us we're going to win this game. Do you believe that?" Lucas nodded. "Great. Now go prove them right."

The game went underway and the two teams fought hard to score. Nathan was impressed with the opposing team. They really gave them a run for their money, but the Ravens kept on their toes. By the end of the fourth quarter, the Ravens were only behind by a few points. Nathan knew it was all or nothing.

Lucas felt the pressure and let out a few heavy breaths as the team went back out on the court for the final time. There were just seconds left on the clock. As the ball was being passed around, it didn't seem possible the Ravens could score. Just then, Tim managed to catch the ball and passed it over to Lucas. Lucas caught it and threw it towards the hoop. It seemed like everyone held their breath as they watched the ball fly across the gym. The ball soared through the hoop just before time ran out. There were thunderous cheers and applause. Ravens won the State Championship!

As confetti rained down on the victorious Ravens, Haley and Brooke hurried down the bleachers to find their guys. Haley jumped into Nathan's arms and embraced him in a tight hug. "You did it," she squealed. "I'm so proud of you. I love you."

"I love you too," Nathan replied before they shared a loving kiss. After they pulled apart, Nathan turned to look at Lucas and Brooke. They had been attending counseling sessions and he was happy to see it was working. He was glad Brooke gave Lucas a second chance. He didn't know if Lucas would have been able to survive if they had stayed separated. Nathan saw how much his brother was in love with Brooke and it made him realize Haley was his true love and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He knew what the next step was and he knew exactly when he wanted to do it.