"Does that happen often?" Haley asked as they exited the restaurant. Dinner had been delicious, the atmosphere amazing and the company...well, it couldn't have been more perfect.

'What?" Nathan asked distractedly as he opened the car door for her.

"Autographs," Haley replied. A young boy had come up to Nathan, tugged on his jacket and shyly handed him a slip of paper and a pen.

"Sometimes. I don't really notice anymore. It probably started my junior year at Duke. It was a kick at first but now it's just part of the job."

"You were really good with him." Haley offered.

"Thanks. So what do you want to do now?" He asked.

"Well, there is one thing..." Haley smiled suggestively.

"What's that?"

"You could finally show me your apartment. I mean you've been in Boston for months now and I have yet to receive an invitation. I'm beginning to think you are hiding something." she teased.

"Not hiding anything. Your wish is my command." He put the car in gear and they drove off.

Haley had heard about the bachelor pad from Peyton, but her description did not do it justice. It had to be over three thousand square feet. The elevators opened into a massive living room. There was a formal dining room to the right and a state of the art kitchen to the left. At each end of the living room was a hallway.

"Luke's space is that way, mine is here." He took her down one of the hallways. There was a den/office complete with a large sectional couch and a plasma TV. He flipped on the light for her to see. "This used to be a spare bedroom, but I didn't really need two bedrooms. This is where I go when Lucas is making too much noise in the main living room so I can check to scores in peace." All Haley could think was if this was a spare bedroom, what was the master bedroom like. He shut off the light and took her to the next door. He opened it to reveal a bedroom that Haley and Kate's whole apartment could fit into. "This is my room." He said.

"My whole apartment could fit in here Nathan." She commented.

"Hardly. You're place isn't exactly a hole in the wall Hales."

"Sure it could." She said, ignoring his comment. "See, over here is the kitchen," she walked to one corner, "and here is the living room." She opened a door to find a large walk in closet. "My bathroom." She smiled. The second door she opened revealed a private bathroom. "And this is my bedroom." She looked back at Nathan, expecting him to be smiling too but he wasn't. He took a seat on the king-sized bed that somehow seemed small in the huge room. "Hey, what's up?" She asked.

"This is why I haven't brought you here before." He said quietly.

"Why? It's a beautiful apartment Nathan."

"Because I don't want you to think of me that way." He replied.

"What way?"

"I'm still the guy from Tree Hill ya know." He stated.

"Of course you are." Haley was still confused. It finally dawned on her what the problem was. "Nathan, I know you have money. I mean be realistic, the details of your trade to Boston were in the paper. It wasn't exactly a secret." She commented.

"I just didn't want you to think I was showing off, because I am still the same guy." He explained.

"Is that why you never invited me over before?" she asked.

"Partly. I thought it might be weird."

"Nathan, you have always had more money than I did. It never bothered me before. Why would you think it would bother me now?"

"I don't know. I was just being careful I guess."

"Well forget that. From now on we are hanging out here. You have a much better TV than I do." She smiled.

"You wanna watch a movie?" he asked with a smile.

"Sure." He took her by the hand and led her into the main living room. He took his coat off and threw it over a nearby chair. "You know we are really sad. Our first official date in five years and we are at home, watching a movie by ten o'clock. You'd think we were sixty years old." Haley said.

"We could go to a club if you want?" he suggested. She responded by cuddling up beside him on the coach, putting her head in the crook of his shoulder.

"Nope. Kinda comfortable where I am right now." She smiled at him. He leaned down and kissed her. It was a perfect first date.

Having Mike on leave for the first month of their dating made things a little difficult. Haley was really busy at the arena, so their dates mostly consisted of staying in. She barely had enough energy left over at the end of the day to do her run, let alone go out and party. Nathan was OK with that though. He often stuck around late to run beside her on the treadmill, even when she told him it wasn't necessary. He responded that if this was the only time they could spend together, then he was happy to do it. On the nights when Kate was out of town, either Nathan would stay at her place or she at his. He said that he didn't like the thought of her alone in her apartment. She pointed out that she had been doing it for years, but he had this need to take care of her, and she secretly liked it. Sandwiches would show up in her office on busy days when he knew she wouldn't break for lunch unless someone reminded her, and he'd cook dinner for her when she managed to drag her ass out of the arena before ten. They were getting to know each other again and Haley liked the way it was going. They weren't having sex yet, just sleeping in the same bed. They were taking things slow, neither of them wanting to screw up this second chance.

Haley was in her office catching up on paperwork, preparing for Mike's return in three days. The guys had an early morning practice and Nathan stuck his head in to see how she was doing.

"How's the day look?" Nathan usually called or stopped by at around eleven to ask that question. Haley could tell by then what the day was shaping up to be and then they'd make plans accordingly.

"Late." She answered. "I should be done before ten tonight, but not much before."

"I brought you a present." He said with a smile.

"Ooh, I love presents. What is it?" she asked. He handed her a small box. Inside was a key chain with a key on it. "What is this?"

"I'm going out with some of the guys tonight, but I still want to see you so that's a key to the apartment. Come over when you are done work." He said.

"Nate, you don't have to do this. Kate is home. We can do something tomorrow," Haley replied.

"I want to. And I really want you to be there when I get home. Promise me that you'll come." He pleaded with a grin.

"After the day I'm having, I'll probably be asleep when you get there," Haley warned.

"I don't care. Just promise."

"OK. I'll be there. Now go shower. You smell."

"You used to like me all sweaty," he teased.

"I used to like the Backstreet Boys too, but I got over it when I grew up. I'll see you later superstar." She teased. He kissed her and then left her alone.

Haley called Kate at the end of her day to let her know she wasn't coming home that night. She went for her run and then drove to Nathan's. The apartment was empty when she got there so she grabbed a glass of wine and went to have a bath. One night after Haley had a particularly rough day, Nathan brought her back to his apartment and drew her a candlelit bubble bath so she could relax. Haley decided that she was in desperate need of another bubble bath tonight, so she opened the cabinet doors looking for the bubbles and candles. She didn't find what she was looking for, but she did find something that shocked her. On a shelf inside the cupboard underneath the sink was the mail book. She couldn't believe he had kept it all these years, and in the same place they had stored it during their marriage. She opened it almost hesitantly. It was like stepping back in time. Her familiar slanted writing, his barely legible scrawl. She felt sixteen again. She became so engrossed in reading that the bathtub nearly over flowed. She shut off the taps, pulled the plug and went back to her reading. She sat on the edge of the tub for nearly two hours reading through all of the notes they had left each other. Some made her smile, some weep. It was like it was their own personal history book. It filled her with joy and sadness at the same time. It made her realize how lucky they had been but also how naïve they were. She could tell by the way the book fell open to certain pages, where the spine had been broken from over use, that there were a few notes he had read over and over. She felt an incredible sense of guilt. Not just for what she done all those years ago, but also because it felt like she was intruding. Like she was prying into his past, not feeling like it was their shared past. She wasn't the same girl anymore. The girl he married and the woman she had become were separate in her mind. It was almost as if she was reading about her boyfriends ex. She closed the book before she reached the end, already knowing what was written there, and then took a cold shower. She even considered going home to her own bed, but couldn't make herself leave. She wanted to wake up next to him. She wanted a future with Nathan, and if she was going to have that, she couldn't run away when things scared her. So she pulled back the cool sheets and willed herself into dreamland.

She was awoken the next morning by the smell of bacon. She was alone in the bed, so she pulled on her robe and went to find her boyfriend.

"Hey sleepy head." Nathan smiled at her. He was standing in the kitchen in basketball shorts and a t-shirt.

"Hey yourself. What time did you get back last night?" she asked as he handed her a cup of coffee.

"About two. What about you? You were sound asleep when I got home." He said.

"I don't know. I think I got here around ten thirty. I literally took a shower and fell asleep."

"So, I've been thinking." Nathan said as he put a plate in front of her.

"About what?"

"With Mike coming back, you should have some free time right? Maybe even a weekend off?" he said.

"Possibly. What were you thinking?" Haley asked.

"Well I was looking at the schedule and we have a three day break next weekend. We should do something."

"Something like what?"

He handed her an envelope. She looked inside to find plane tickets to the Bahamas. "Nathan! You shouldn't have." Haley squealed.

"Does this mean I can convince you to go?" Nathan smiled.

"Try and stop me. It will be so great to get away."

"I just thought after all the hard work you have been doing that maybe you could use a mini vacation." He said.

"But Christmas is right around the corner and I have two full weeks off. Why don't we go then?" she suggested.

"Oh, don't you worry, I've got plans for that too." He grinned.

"Plans?"

"Well, I figured since you are no longer avoiding me," he gave her a look, "that you could come home to Tree Hill with me for Christmas. We do this whole huge extended family Christmas dinner with my mom, Karen, Larry, Luke, Peyton, Jake, Jenny....well everyone. It's a lot of fun."

The thought of going back to Tree Hill struck fear in Haley's heart. While it was true one of the reasons she avoided Tree Hill was Nathan, she also avoided it because of Dan.

"What about your dad?" Haley had to ask.

"What about my Dad?" Nathan said, his face changing.

"What is the situation with you two now? You never talk about him." Haley pointed out.

"We have an agreement. I send him floor tickets to six games a year and we never talk about basketball. And when I am in Tree Hill, we go for breakfast, which is usually twice a year. We have a sort of uneasy truce." Nathan explained.

"Well, my parents are having Christmas in Dallas with my sister this year so I wasn't going to see them anyways, so..."

"You'll come?" Nathan was an ear to ear grin.

"Where will I stay?" Haley asked.

"You'll stay with me." Nathan answered. "So you'll come?" He repeated.

"Yes superstar, I'll come."

"Yes!"

With Mike back, things definitely eased off Haley and she welcomed the break. She actually got to see and talk to her friends again and her and Nathan got to go out more. The team had a road trip the week before their Bahamas trip and Mike was taking care of them, so Haley actually had a few days of regular work hours. She and Kate hit a club together one night and danced until the wee hours of the morning. She made plans to catch up with Peyton and they met for lunch at their usual hang out.

"So I hear you are finally coming home for Christmas?" Peyton asked.

"I am. I think I am even looking forward to it. I have no idea what to buy Nate for Christmas though."

"Don't ask me. That boy sees something he wants and he buys it."

"I know. He is awful."

"Maybe you could finally tell him what happened?" Peyton suggested.

"That'd be a great present." Haley said sarcastically. "Honey, your dad was an ass and made me leave you. Merry Christmas. He said him and Dan have a truce. I don't know if I want to wreck that. He has never asked me about it and if I try to bring it up, he just changes the subject."

"It needs to come from you Haley. What if Dan gets it in his head to tell him before you get a chance to? You guys are doing so well, I'd just hate to see anything wreck it."

"I know you are right. The other night I found our mail book when I was looking for bubbles in the bathroom. I wanted to talk about it with him the next morning, but instead he distracted me with tickets to the Bahamas for this weekend. It's like I psyche myself up for talking to him, and then he does something amazing and I don't want to ruin the moment with our painful fast."

"I get it. Still, you have to figure out a way to not be distracted. Before things progress any further." Peyton said.

"I will. I promise. Maybe while we're on vacation...I'll figure something out." Haley replied.

"I know you will. So, how are things otherwise?"

They had a good lunch together and Haley went straight from lunch to pick up Nathan at the airport. They had only been gone three days, on a short trip to Miami, and even though she had talked to him every day, when she saw him again she realized how much she missed him.

They were leaving the next day for their vacation so they had a quiet night at home and were back at the airport in the morning. They laid on the beach for three days and relaxed.

"How come you never had this removed?" He asked one afternoon, rubbing her tattoo as he was putting sunscreen on her back.

"Why would I?" she asked.

"I just thought..." he trailed off.

She rolled onto her side so that she could see his face. "Nate, when I got it I said that it was to remind me how I felt at the time...what it was like to fall in love for the first time. I don't regret it. How could I?"

"What about now?" he asked. Haley gave him a puzzled look. "How do you feel now?" They had been together almost six weeks by then but had never really talked about their feelings.

"About the tattoo?" Haley asked.

"No dummy, about me." Nathan replied.

"Isn't that obvious?" She replied. He didn't respond. "I love you. I always have. The reason I left never had anything to do with not loving you Nathan." She said.

"Hales..." he warned. She had tried to bring up the conversation earlier but he had cut her off then too.

"Nathan, look. I know you don't want to talk about the past, but I need you to hear at least this. I have always loved you. That was never the problem between us, at least for me. I did what I thought was right at the time, but it didn't mean that I didn't love you. I left because I did. You said before that you wondered if you had missed the signs, but there were no signs. It wasn't you. It was me." She hoped with all her heart that he would let her finish the story.

"I love you to." He said. The question she had hoped to hear from him did not come. Instead he kissed her so she couldn't respond. That night they made love for the first time in almost six years. And as Haley watched him sleep afterward she wondered if she would ever get the chance to explain.

Tuesday afternoon at work Caroline from the front office sought out Haley in the weight room. As soon as Haley saw her walk in she felt bad. Caroline had left two messages for her to stop by but she hadn't had a chance.

"Haley, do you have a minute?" Caroline asked. Haley finished up the work she was doing with one of the players and came over to where Caroline was waiting.

"What's up? Wanna get a coke?" Haley offered. She didn't have another appointment for half an hour.

"Ya, let's go to your office." She seemed very serious.

Once they arrived at Haley's office, Caroline closed the door. "Look, I don't really know how to put this so I'll just spit it out."

"What's wrong? Is it something with Nathan?" Haley was instantly concerned.

"Sort of. We got an interesting phone call in the press office today." Caroline started.

"What does the press office have to do with me?"

"Well, they weren't exactly asking about you. A photographer got a picture of you and Nathan in the Bahamas and wanted to know who you were. When Maxine saw the picture she gave an official comment." Maxine was a new hire to the press staff. Although it was common knowledge in the arena that Nathan and Haley were dating, and that they used to be married, they hadn't really made any official announcement. It was the policy of the Celtics not to comment on the personal lives of their players or staff.

"She told them I'm his ex-wife didn't she?" Haley immediately understood Caroline's discomfort.

"Yep."

The press was interested in Lucas and Nathan, but Haley and Nathan had made a point of not being photographed together. Nathan was used to the intrusion as he had been dealing with it since before he even signed his draft papers. He was a young good-looking basketball player, it was natural there was interest. He and Haley had even talked about it one night. She teased him about being a pin up for teenage girls everywhere. He seemed to take it all in stride. She was a little more hesitant. She had worked hard in school and at her job to make a name for herself and she didn't want the speculation to be that she got her job because of her ex-husband. He remarked she should have though about it before she kept his name, but he understood her hesitancy. He still wanted to protect her so they had decided to keep their relationship quiet from outside eyes.

"It's OK Caroline. Thanks for the heads up though."

"I'm really sorry Hales."

"No, it's really OK. It's just part of dating Nathan. We've managed to keep it quiet for all these weeks, in fact years, I guess it was bound to come out sometime." Haley said. "Don't give Maxine too hard a time. She'll know better next time." She smiled. Caroline was visibly relieved.

"Let me know if there is anything I can do," Caroline offered.

"Just make sure no calls come through to me. I wouldn't know what to say." Haley grimaced.

"No problem. I'll take care of it."

At the time it was a blip on the screen. So small, that it didn't even occur to Haley to tell Nathan about it when she saw him later. Little did she know, that was the start of her carefully built new life falling down around her. As Nathan and Haley were boarding the plane to come home for Christmas, Dan Scott was reading about the reunion of NBA rookie Nathan Scott and his ex-wife, Dr. Haley Scott.

A/N So it's official, I broke 100 reveiws! I had no idea that people would enjoy this story so much. The feedback has been overwhelming. To those readers who have left multiple reviews and the ones who leave the most amazingly detailed comments (you know who you are), I am so greatful. You really make my day. So, as always, let me know your thought/suggestions. THANK YOU again - Carys