Chapter 10:

"Flight 122 from Los Angeles will now begin to unload, please try to stay calm and not push, this may take a while." The Pilot's voice came over the intercom on the plane and I immediately stood and stretched my cramped muscles. This was it; I was finally going to see Haley after six long years.

I had managed to snag a first class ticket, so I wouldn't have to wait long before getting off this damn plane. I pitied the people in the coach section. Reaching up, I pulled my carry-on down and stuck my portable CD player in side. Finally, people seemed to be getting off the plane. I was dying to be able to stand and walk around.

Slowly, I began to follow people off the plane, trying to contain myself from pushing through and finding Haley. Now that I was here, I was anxious to see her. God, when will people in these lines learn to walk!

Finally, there was an opening and I found myself in the waiting area. Business men in suits bustled past me and family members went to greet their loved ones with hugs and kisses. I stopped and scanned the crowd, searching for a familiar face.

Then, there she was. The crowd seemed to clear and she was right in the middle, studied a poster for Troy. Her auburn hair was shorter than I remembered, only reaching about her shoulders. She was still gorgeous though. She was biting her lip in concentration, a habit that used to make me want to lean over and kiss her, it still did. She was hugging her jacket tightly around her. She looked like a super model, even though she was only in a pair of low rider jeans, a white sweater and a jean jacket.

God, she was perfect. Lexi may be a supermodel, but damn, she couldn't hold a candle to the inner and outer beauty that was Haley James. No one but our closest friends used to understand what I saw in the simpleton tutor girl. All anyone knew about her was that she was Lucas's best friend. But, that fateful day when I decided to get to Luke by going through Haley, it changed my life around completely.

No longer did I pursue that nasty habit of making my brother's life a living hell because I realized that when it came down to it, Luke had the better life. Sure, I got the Dad, the greed-corrupt psychopath that he is, but Luke got the Mom, the Uncle, Skills, the talent and the one that stood out from them all. Lucas had Haley.

He still did. He never hurt her the way I did or used her like I did. Although, he never fell in love with her like I did, he shared things with her that I didn't. It used to make me so jealous, before Luke and I were friends, when Haley couldn't go out with me because she had planned a Hales and Luke day.

Haley shifted in position and straightened, as if sensing my gaze on her. She slowly turned around and brown eyes met brown eyes. One gaze was filled with adoration and apprehension, the other with wariness and hesitance.

"Haley." I breathed, dropping my bag once I stood right in front of her.

"Nathan, I...um..." She trailed off, looking unsure of what to say. "Hi."

"Hi." I shoved my hands nervously in my pockets, before they reached out to smooth that stray piece of hair behind her ear. "You look great."

"Thanks." She blushed. Same old Haley; never could take a compliment when it came directed at her looks. "You look pretty decent yourself."

I opened my mouth, ready to say something, when a distinctly familiar voice cut me off. "Yo Nate!" Luke strolled up behind Haley with three steaming cups of coffee in his hands, effectively shattering the tiny moment they had.

"Luke." I nodded at him. He was half the reason I was up here so early. One being anticipation to see Haley, the other being Luke had some explaining to do.

"Hales told me you were coming up. Finally taking my advice to heart, huh?" He handed me a cup, which I took, before giving Haley one the others, keeping the last one for himself.

"You know me, always following the great wisdom of Lucas Scott." I rolled my eyes and they thought I was the cocky one.

"At least you're finally admitting it." Luke nodded, taking a sip of his coffee, while placing his hand on Haley's shoulder.

Haley smiled up at him. "Because you make no mistakes whatsoever?" She teased.

"None." He smirked down at her.

"cough liar cough" I playfully coughed into my hand, causing Haley to giggle and Luke to crack a grin.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?" Haley gestured towards the gate. "I don't know about you two, but airports aren't my favorite place to hang."

"After, your Majesty." Luke joked, earning himself a playful shove, while I followed them towards the baggage claim. This wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.