Rating: PG
Spoilers: Everything that's aired in the U.S so far, to be safe.
Pairing: pre-Nathan/Haley
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Notes: Today is a good day for OTH fans. We got the full season pick up and a ff.net section. Tomorrow we take over the world! Got this plot bunny while studying for my Anthropology exam. I'm so blaming OTH if I do badly. (But I didn't so it's all good). I wrote it as a one-parter. But it ended up being 3000+ words so I'm splitting it into 2 for easier digestion. Reviews appreciated.

Part One:

Even before the chain of events that had led to Lucas making Tree Hill High's varsity lineup, Haley hadn't thought highly of Nathan Scott. Sure, she knew of him. He was one of the most popular guys around being a good athlete, rich and good looking. It was hard not to notice him. He was rarely seen without an entourage of jocks, cheerleaders and wannabes, the size of which rivaled J. Lo's.

She'd never really spoken to him. Well, she had. They'd grown up together. Been in the same classes, etc. Tree Hill was a small town, the high school boasting a population of a mere 400. Most of the students were like Haley. They'd grown up in Tree Hill. As had their parents. And their grandparents. The town attracted very few new citizens. The few that it did were usually older couples, attracted by the quaintness and quiet, who were looking for a place to retire. So while she and Nathan had, on occasion, spoken, they'd never been friends. She knew next to nothing about him (and what she did know was based on what she couldn't help but learn from the high school's active rumor mill).

And then there was his connection to Lucas. Haley had been there when Lucas had learned who his father was. Years and years ago, when Lucas first became aware of the gossip, Karen had sat him down and explained that Lucas's father was Dan Scott. Lucas knew Dan as Nathan's dad, knew that he lived mere minutes from them. Karen, as gently as possible, explained that yes, Nathan's father was his father, and that Dan did not accept that he had more than one son. It was to Haley that Lucas had gone that night. He hadn't said anything but she had known that something was wrong. They had walked around for hours, Lucas silent, Haley growing more and more concerned, but sensing, somehow, that he needed time and that the best thing she could do was to just be there.

Finally, he had turned towards his home and she had followed. It was late, much later than kids their age should have been out. Lucas had taken her hand as they walked into his house, squeezing it tightly. Karen had been sitting at the kitchen table, eyes red and looking older than Haley had ever seen her. Lucas had smiled, ever the strong one, kissed his mother's cheek and said goodnight to them both.

Haley, completely confused, had not a clue as to what had gone on that evening. Karen had looked at her and upon registering her presence made an effort to look as though nothing was wrong. She had failed miserably, but Haley, somewhat more tactful than your average pre-teen, didn't tell her so. Karen had stood, and assured Haley that her mother had been called and that she wouldn't be in trouble. Mrs. James had agreed to let her stay the night, making an exception to the no sleepovers on weekdays rule.

Karen had made up the couch for her and they had talked about school, the latest thing one of Haley's little brothers had pulled, normal things like that. It was only once Haley was settled and Karen was about to leave, that she asked, "Are you and Lucas going to be okay?" knowing that she had to know the answer or she would never be able to sleep. As hard as she had tried to ignore it, a little voice in her head had been conjuring up the worst scenarios all evening.

Karen, at that moment realizing what Haley must be thinking, rushed to reassure her. She'd squeezed herself onto the edge of the couch and said, in that fiercely honest way mothers have, "We'll be fine Haley. I promise you that."

Haley had smiled, comforted, "Just thought I'd check."

Karen had smiled back, "Goodnight, Haley."

"'Night." She'd turned onto her side and closed her eyes. She heard Karen leave the room, fuss around in the kitchen for a few minutes before going upstairs. She'd fallen asleep listening to the low murmurs of Karen and Lucas's voices upstairs.

She'd been woken up by Lucas a few hours later, the sky outside still inky black. He had two glasses of milk and a plate of cookies Karen had thoughtfully provided. Haley had sat up, shaken off her sleepiness, making room for him on the couch and generously sharing her blankets. Lucas had handed her one of the glasses and balanced the plate between them.

They'd talked for a long, long time that night.

From then on Haley had made a point to pay more attention to Nathan than she would have had the situation been different. Back then he hadn't been all that different from all the other boys that she had known. He'd liked sports, all of them then, football, baseball, soccer, not just basketball. He gave the teachers a bit of a hard time. He didn't do spectacularly well in school. He was mildly obnoxious. But he wasn't purposefully mean or cruel. Just your average middle school kid.

She knew exactly when he had found out about his connection to Lucas. She had no idea how, but she was guessing that Dan, deciding that Nathan would probably hear it from somewhere else eventually, had sat him down and told him some bullshit story about how a girl he had dated in high school had gotten pregnant and told the town it was his. Dan, of course, would have denied that it was even a possibility.

They were in the seventh grade then. Haley had noticed Nathan studying Lucas, his expression going from speculative to contemptuous. And so it began.

Looking back, it was right around then that that Nathan began twisting into the one she knew today. The process had been gradual. If one hadn't been paying attention they would have missed it. Basketball became the center of his world, his focus seeming out of place on one so young. His obnoxiousness became harmful as he used it against others. He walked differently, talked differently. Disdain for others not in his precious inner circle, and even for some of those lucky few, positively radiated from him. His wealth, something he'd barely been aware of before, was flaunted now. He used his natural charm to get what he wanted from anyone who was willing to give it. He seemed to age faster than the rest of them. Probably faster then he should have so that even though his birthday was in November, making him one of the youngest in their grade, he seemed to be the oldest.

Haley had thought the 'new' Nathan repulsive. She'd taken to rolling her eyes whenever he'd passed her in the hall. She'd cracked jokes at his expense about his apparent inferiority complex. The new Nathan represented everything she hated about the screwed up value system and social hierarchy associated with high school. She hated that suddenly certain people were unworthy because the high school gods didn't deem them attractive or cool or rich enough. Things like intelligence and basic human decency ceased to matter.

Haley stayed on the fringes and she liked it that way. Those that attempted to taunt her quickly gave up as she either laughed in their faces at the obvious lameness of their insults or fired back, confusing them with her superior wit. She refused to take it lying down, which took the fun out of trying to torment her.

As far as she was concerned Nathan's one saving grace, the thing that kept her from hating him outright, and plotting his death, was that he avoided Lucas. Granted, it was rather ass-y considering they were brothers, but it was better than the alternative.

Lucas hated, simply hated, the small-minded gossip about him and his mother and their situation. He did the best he could to let it roll off his back and he mostly succeeded. However sometimes it would get to him and he'd become quiet and withdrawn until someone (usually his mom or Haley) would snap him out of it. He was pretty well adjusted, all things considered.

Nathan chose to ignore Lucas. His followers did the same. They co-existed in an uneasy state of mutual denial.

Until, that is, that was no longer possible.