A/N: Thank you Hah 5497, Crazygirl, Guest, Eve, l. bergin94, for the reviews =D

Can't be Anyone Else

S01e33

Episode: Destination Unknown

Previously: Nathan and Haley actually talked - and Nathan wanted Haley to go with him, and take a leap of faith =)

Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death

~ James F. Bymes

"I don't want to!" Haley said yet again while looking around. She still couldn't believe that he had convinced her to follow him into the dark streets of night. Why did she keep getting sucked into these kinds of situations?

"So you've been telling me for the past ten minutes!" Nathan replied. He had to roll his eyes yet again at her paranoid display.

Haley had decided to disguise herself with her hat almost pulled down over her eyes and her hair safely tucked in under it. She was wearing her mother's black trench coat which was wrapped securely around her waist, engulfing her short body. At every little sound she jumped and looked around – though there was no one out on the street this time a night.

It would actually have been quite a funny sight... if it wasn't so annoying!

"Relax James"

"You relax Scott! I don't even know where you are taking me!" She said in a high-pitched tone. She so didn't want to end up on the 6 o'clock news just because of Nathan's pleading baby blue eyes. She scoffed to herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

She had heard tales of this: Chasing the unknown, the thrill of the adventure. In the stories it had sounded magical. Yes it had sounded thrilling – but Haley had discovered it was only a mere fable like all of the other stories she had heard of. In reality it was terrifying and leaving her seriously paranoid!

Silence surrounded them and the only sound that could be heard was their quiet footsteps on the thin layer of snow which covered the ground.

The wind was silent as well, as it barely made itself noticed in this dead of night. It was both eerie and mesmerizing.

It was only around ten-thirty at night, and it was like dawn of the dead in Tree Hill - Like it was a revolutionary thought to stay up past 10 PM in this small town!

The yellow light from the street lamps acted like guiding stars, leading their way to their destination – wherever that was! Haley looked to Nathan who walked beside her, but he just stared ahead seemingly content on ignoring her and her erratic behavior. Guess she couldn't blame him. She knew she was acting ridiculous – but that didn't ease her anxiety one bit – quite the opposite.

She couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed for herself: It was the first time Nathan and her had actually had a real conversation, that consisted of more than "you suck at NBA"! And of course had to go and make a fool of herself.

As Nathan walked besides her she couldn't help but wonder yet again, why he hadn't run for the hills right about now? Did he really find it enjoyable to be in the company of a paranoid lunatic?

By the looks of it, he oddly enough did. He was bearing his ever easy smile that he always seemed to be bearing (at least when he was around her).

Haley wasn't sure what to make of it.

Couple of minutes later Nathan led them of the path and into the darkness. She walked behind him following his lead.

The grass was wet, and the slimy tree branches seemed to be out to get her!

Okay maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she just could see something, but the darkness only intensified her fears.

Oh how she missed the guiding light from the street lamps right about now!

She tried to be brave and just follow Nathans lead. She didn't want to be the little annoying thorn in his side. Yet she still felt more and more like the betrudent child who continuously kept asking her parents: Are we there yet?!

She wanted to trust him. She wanted to follow him. But then again there was this nagging voice in the back of her mind cautioning her about being so foolish. She tried to quiet that voice, but it kept asking her all the right questions: Why now? Where to? Why her?

She couldn't help but wonder if this was this it? Had the friendship (if you could even call that) only had been a charade to butter her up to this moment - a trap – where she finally would be punished for her sins. Was the whole basketball team gonna be there laying in ambush? The whole school?

Her fears started to swallow her up and she could no longer bite back the words:

"You're not taking me out here to kill me, right?" Haley asked. It had meant to be a sarcastic question, but she couldn't help the genuine fear that was edged into the tone of her voice.

This time Nathan didn't roll her eyes at her paranoid comment – instead he just turned around and looked her dead in the eye while smiling weirdly.

Yep, he's definitely going to kill me! Haley thought to herself upon meeting his gaze.

As a caution she automatically started mapping out alternative escape routes. But as he stepped to the side, she was surprised to see nothing but a seemingly abandoned, old basketball court illuminated by a single lonely street light. The yellow light made the old hoops cast giants shadows. Creaks and splinters were visible on the old wooden board.

Behind the court the river could be seen, though it was barely visible in the darkness. Only the small ripples in the water caused by the wind, and the reflection of the light made notice of its otherwise silent presence.

As Haley took it in, she couldn't help but smile at the sight before her. She smiled not only in relief, but in awe of the sight before her.

Nathan seemed pleased with her reaction, as he stepped from the grass onto the concrete court.

"I stumbled onto this shortly after moving here" He explained. "I just needed some space and then… this appeared" he said while gesturing to the place.

Haley just kept looking around taking it in. She had yet to answer him which seemed to make him nervous - Doubting whether he should have shared this with her and whether she would get it. In many ways this had been his refugee… well, at least until Haley had come along. He definitely enjoyed the warmth of her house better than the court in these winter days.

"I know it's not much... " Nathan all but apologized, while scratching the back of his neck uncertainly.

"It's perfect" Haley finished for him, breaking into a full smile. As if it was contagious, Nathan immediately mirrored hers.

"I was hoping you would say that"

Her walked over into one of the bushes and pulled out an orange basketball he had hidden previously.

"Are you up for a game James? I believe you owe me a rematch" He said cockily referring to their game of NBA on her Xbox (where she had thoroughly beat him I might add)!

"You're on Scott!" Haley replied… and the game began between the two of them.

~…~

She had no idea what time it was anymore. One game had taken over another, and before they knew it the darkness of the night had overtaken any of the remaining light – leaving it very difficult to hit the hoop!

They were now on their way home, and Haley couldn't help but glance at Nathan who walked unusually quiet besides her.

"Nathan… You're not still mad are you?" Haley inquired, with a hidden smirk on her lips.

"No" Nathan all but pouted sullenly. Haley couldn't help but laugh at him – earning her another scowl from him.

"It was two games!" Haley exclaimed.

"It was two games too many!" Nathan retorted sourly. For the life of him he could not understand how the… midget… besides him could have beaten him in basketball. Him?! He was a basketball-God, a prodigy! And then this girl comes along and changes all the rules.

He crossed his arms, and his pout increased. It was not fair how she could just come around and change everything he knew (in so many ways).

Haley rolled her eyes – he really was too competitive for his own good, but then again that was probably what made him such a great player.

She had to admit it had been pretty priceless to see his reaction when she scored her first three-pointer: He was so cocky going into it – towering over her with an almost overbearing smile, as he explained the rules of "horse".

"One letter for each basket – do you understand?"

Urgh she had wanted to smack him on top of his head for talking to her like she was some dumb blond who was afraid of breaking a nail! But instead she just smiled and waved, and waited for her opportunity to show him just what he was dealing with.

His face when she made the first shot, that he so sweetly had tried to make easy for her, was pure shock: As the basketball descended into the air – as did his eyebrows in disbelief – as it made a perfect lane towards the hoop. When it went in with a perfect swooshing-sound – his mouth turned agape.

He quickly tried to rationalize though, blaming it in beginners luck. He made her go even further back... and she scored again!

Only at the third time he finally burst out: "Okay, how did you do that?!"

Her only response was a simply shrug as she stated she had had a lot of time on her hands! Which was true: When you are homeschool, there's not a whole lot to do – so you find ways to entertain yourself. Basketball had become one of her ways to make the time go faster – and it turned out she actually enjoyed it.

"You should have said something" she heard Nathan mumble besides her.

"What?"

"I said: You should have said that you played" Nathan repeated.

"Well, you shouldn't have presumed I couldn't! So I guess we're even." Haley quickly fired back. She couldn't help but smile as Nathan grumbled with no witty comeback to shoot at her.

The good thing about all of this was that it had thrown all of her nervousness away. It was much easier to play basketball – where there were no forced conversation needed for them to enjoy themselves.

She took a deep breath of the evening's cool air, and watched as her breath could be seen in the cold dark night.

She tilted her head back to look upon the stars that brought light to the otherwise darkened sky. A small smile automatically formed on her lips as she breathed in the beauty of the night. It seemed almost magical.

She felt Nathan stare at her which broke her trance. She looked at him confused.

"What?" she asked in response to his stare.

"I don't know" He answered slowly– which confused him and her both. He seemed to search her face for some unknown answer.

She blinked away her confusion, as a smirk descended on her lips:

"Still trying to figure out how you got beat by a girl?!"

She couldn't help but giggle as he too broke his stare and went into a full on pout again. "Nooo"

It was so obvious he had been trying to impress her with his basketball skills, but his ego seemed to have been bruised as he discovered that Haley too had some hidden talents.

Guess he wasn't used to people keeping up with him – at least not girls.

Haley felt oddly light as they finally reached her familiar street again. She hadn't felt this… unburdened... in a long time. A game of hoops seemed to have been just the thing that she needed to take the edge of her nervousness. How could Nathan have known that? Like he knew what she needed before she even did. Strange… Haley knew it could just be cast aside as a fluke.. but it was still strange.

As they reached her doorstep she turned around to say goodnight, but was surprised as she was ambushed with a big hug from Nathan. His entire body covered hers, and she couldn't even response to his gesture – she was too shocked.

She was pretty sure she just turned paralyzed in his arms, and held her breath. What was this? Her mind turned into overdrive trying to find the logic.

When he let go, he looked into her frightened eyes as calm as ever and said Thank you… only to turn around and leave her standing there.

She allowed herself to breathe out, as his figure quickly retreated into the darkness.

She wasn't really sure what he had thanked her for – it definitely hadn't been for kicking his butt in basket, she knew that much! But he had seemed so honest, so, well, thankful, when he had said it – it confused her.

Contrasting emotion swirled in her body, and she wasn't sure which one she should settle on.

She shook her head and couldn't help but smile as she stepped into her house. Oh how things could change in a matter of minutes if you let them. Her and Nathan went from awkward silence to (awkward )hugging in one night! She definitely hadn't seen that one coming.

She shook of her coat and turned on the lights – and that's when she saw a figure appear in the darkness – scaring her half to death.

~…~