Title: A Real Date

Name: Joy

Email: Julianna@ziplip.com

Rating: PG 13

A/N: I'm having formatting problems so forgive me if the text doesn't come out quite right. I'm working to correct it.

4.

For a few minutes Lucas and Haley just held each other and looked at the fire. "This is nice," Haley murmured.

"Yeah," Lucas replied marveling at the dawning realization that his feelings were more than best friend like... and judging by the physical contact it was highly possible Haley might feel the same. Her hand rubbed lazy circles over his heart and he wondered if she could feel his heart rate speed.

He gazed down at the top of her head with affection and nervousness. Haley's fingers continued to dance over the material of his shirt and he felt afraid that he was a substitute for someone else. "Haley?"

"Yes piglet?" she said without looking up.

"That's my line," Lucas said with a laugh. Haley always liked kids stories so she knew most of Winnie the Pooh word for word. There was a cute part in one of the books (Lucas couldn't remember which one) where Piglet turned to Pooh Bear and says, 'Pooh'. And Pooh Bear responds 'Yes piglet?' And Piglet says, 'Oh nothing. I just wanted to be sure of you.' Haley's response was normally his since normal he was Pooh Bear and she was piglet...since he wasn't very smart and she wasn't very brave...at least that's what they used to say.

Her eyes met his in that big innocent way her face seemed to open up to him whenever he looked at her. "I just wondered about the ball," Lucas began.

"What about it?" Haley asked.

He shrugged, "I shouldn't have jumped right in like that. If you want to go with someone else I'll understand."

Haley pulled away sitting up, her hair pulling off of his sweatshirt slowly. "You don't want to go with me?" she said with a frightened almost tearful look.

Lucas sat up too and caught her cheek with his hand caressing it with his thumb. "No...no...of course I want to go with you... I just thought maybe I had overstepped my bounds or maybe you might like someone just a little bit and might want an excuse to go for it..." Lucas swallowed before saying; "I would hate to make you regret spending a romantic type night...with me." He looked down when he said the words softly.

Haley hadn't a clue how to handle things. It seemed that she and Lucas were on a precipice and it was a freefall in either direction. "I don't understand. I could never regret spending an evening with you."

"Even one where I'll be the one holding you and dancing with you...not someone else...not Nathan."

There was a weird spirally feeling in the back of Haley's head as she tried to put to words concepts she wasn't totally ready to explore yet. "I was really enjoying being held by you a few minutes ago..." she murmured laying them back in their former position except now she rested her chin on his chest and watched him. "I guess we could practice dancing together."

Haley could see the nervous look in Luke's eye...He wanted the romantic evening. She was sure of it. But did she? Lucas was waiting for her to say something else or was working up the courage to say something himself...she wasn't sure. But when he licked his lips unconsciously, the warm sensation she always associated with liking a guy spread throughout her body and she became fascinated watching his mouth. "Truthfully," she began anew, "I can't think of a single person I would rather go with..." Haley steeled herself against the unbridled fear she had over the impact her next words would have; "and...ah...not just for comfortablity sake."

"Really?" Haley could hear the hope in his voice.

"Really." She turned her head back to resting on its side again and playing with his sweatshirt strings this time.

"Is comfortablity even a word?" he asked stroking her long dark hair.

"In my dictionary it is," she responded.

After a few moments the blonde basketball player needed to clarify things in his own mind. "So does this mean I have a real date with Haley James?" Lucas asked only half kidding.

"Yeah," she didn't even try to play it off. If Lucas wanted a real date with her, she would not object.

Tbc