A/N: Thank you for the wonderful feedback! Glad to see you guys are enjoying it. I don't want to make it too angsty because that's not fun lol. Here is the next chapter.
Chapter 3 – A Dream of Me and You TogetherLucas stood outside Haley's door, getting ready to knock. He rapped on the door 8 times to the rhythm of "I like big butts" before Haley opened the door grinning.
"Hey stud, you still remember that?" Haley giggled. When they were younger, they would knock to the beats of different songs. It was just a little thing between them. There were countless times when Haley would get upset at her parents, and she always knew when to answer the door.
"Yeah," Lucas said, breezing past her into the apartment. He looked around the living room. It was very artsy and earthy, just like Haley. "Nice place."
"Thanks," Haley said, biting her lip. "So…um…are you staying with Brooke? Or are you staying with Nathan?" She just had to know.
"With Nathan." Lucas said, trying sound as nonchalant as ever. He looked over at Haley, surprised with the look that was on her face. It was a combination of desperation and
realization.
"Lucas, can we talk?" Haley asked, shifting her weight from one foot to another. She needed to get everything off of her chest. She had talked to Lucas many times in the last few years, but seeing him in person made her feel the need to justify everything she had done.
Lucas furrowed his brow at her. That wasn't good. Those three words, no matter what the relationship of the two people was, always meant something bad. He patted the sofa and said, "Absolutely."
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An hour later, a relieved Haley leaned back to into the sofa. She spilled everything. The reason she left, her feelings, what she wanted in the future, and basically answered all of his questions. She didn't realize how much she hadn't told him over the years. She didn't realize how many unanswered questions had assumptions.
On the other had, a shocked Lucas was sitting straight up on the edge of the sofa, staring at Haley. He coughed and cleared his throat, trying to make his voice work. "So, let me get this straight, you love Nathan. You still do. You always did. You want to get back together with him. Get married again to him, and have his baby?!" Lucas trailed off, slightly hysterical.
Haley sighed, "You could have stopped at the get back together with him part."
"And, Chris? Means nothing? And he sacrificed his opportunity for you?" Lucas sputtered, not sure whether to hate the guy or at least change his opinion on him.
"Yeah" Haley agreed. "I don't love him. We aren't dating. We never dated. I just couldn't bring myself to betray Nathan that much." She had betrayed Nathan enough by kissing Chris once and leaving Nathan, but Lucas already knew that.
"Wow…" Lucas leaned back onto the sofa. "That is some stunning news."
"Did you guys really think that I fell in love with Chris? Did Nathan think that?" Haley asked softly, hating the fact that Nathan could think that she loved someone else besides him. Of course, she hadn't done much to reassure him of that.
"Yeah, I mean, why else would you leave so suddenly? Nathan knew Chris liked you. He just put two and two together."
Haley sighed, "This is going to put me in hell. I have hurt him so badly, but I was so scared. I just want to be able to tell him the trust and have him at least judge me once. Maybe even try to repair our relationship, starting with just friends. I just want to be back in his life. The last four years wasn't bad because he was in college and I was busy trying to stand up on my feet. Last night made me realize that I can bump into him anywhere in this city."
Lucas smiled at his friend. After dinner last night, he and Nathan had a long talk about Haley. Nathan loved her still. Sure, he hadn't told Lucas in that many words, but he knew Nathan well enough now.
"Okay baby, get up. I don't want to mope anymore, let's go see what the big apricot has to offer to us today!" Lucas said, getting up and helping Haley.
Haley sighed, "Lucas, it's the big apple."
"Whatever"
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"Do you believe in soul mates?" Brooke asked Nathan, looking up from her magazine.
They were sitting in Nathan's living room, watching something on T.V. After Lucas left, Brooke had bounced over to Nathan's apartment, complaining of boredom. He told her that she was welcome to hang out with him, but he wasn't going out of his way to entertain her. She had flounced down onto the sofa and picked up a magazine. 10 minutes later, she was asking the question.
Nathan looked at her questioningly. He had a strong hunch and a very good assumption that this conversation was going to be revolved around Haley. He just didn't know where he she was started out with it.
"I don't. I really don't. I used to think that love would conquer everything. Obviously that is not the case." Nathan quietly answered, fiddling with the control.
"I do." Brooke said seriously. "I know my soul mate is Lucas. I started dating him and when he cheated on me with Peyton, I though my heart was going to shatter. But then I realized that I needed both of them in my life. And eventually, Lucas and I realized that we loved each other. The path of soul mates isn't always easy."
Nathan got up, and stood in front of his bay window, looking out into the horizon. He knew were Brooke was going with that. He lied, he did believe in soul mates. But he would like to think that him and Haley could mend their relationship as easily as Lucas and Brooke did, but he just didn't know himself. If she was capable of hurting him once, why would she not do it again?
"Haley and I are different. I'm an arrogant, sensitive, moody, self-righteous prick. She is strong, independent and spirited. We are total opposites. We are both very stubborn too. That's the problem." Nathan sighed. He was tired of backing down and being the guy that was stepped all over
"Nathan," Brooke said, "If you love her, you have to spare some dignity. She is terrified, she knows that if she approaches you, you will shoot her down. That's not much motivation for her is it?"
Nathan's temper flared, "Why is it that apparently she is the only one who is suffering? You and Lucas love to forget the fact that SHE left ME, SHE ran off with HIM. I'm the one who was left in Tree Hill with questions and pain. What if I don't want to reconcile. Ignore it and it will go away?" Nathan punched the wall, causing a few pictures to rattle.
Brooke got up and hugged Nathan. She felt really bad, "Oh boy toy, I really didn't mean it that way. I want you to stop hurting. I want you to see her so that you guys can at least end loose ties and you can carry on with your life. You have so much pain and I just want to see it gone."
Nathan sighed, hugging Brooke back. It was strange. The last 5 years had bought him closer to Brooke and Lucas. Brooke seemed to understand everything he was going through because she had been in the same position, just like him.
Brooke let go of Nathan, going back to her seat and sitting down. "I just think it would be good if you guys at least saw each other one time and just fixed everything up."
Nathan looked back out the window, contemplating. He knew that the instant he talked to Haley, he would want her back in his life. The question is, will she come back?
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"Lucas! Look at that! I want it!" Haley shrieked, pointing to the Elmo toy.
Lucas and Haley found themselves in Toys R Us after shopping around New York for 2 hours. Haley dragged her into the store, just so that they could pretend that they were 11 again.
"Oh come on Haley!" Lucas whined, holding up a big box of GI Joe action figures. "You know you wanna play with this!"
"Yes I did," Haley smirked, "When I was 10 years old! And only because Barbie having boobs scared me. I mean, they were scary!"
Lucas laughed, slinging an arm around Haley's shoulder. It felt good to be with her again. He knew that their friendship had slightly deteriorated with the whole Nathan, Brooke and Peyton thing, but it was nice to rekindle it all back up again.
"Haley!"
Lucas and Haley turned around, looking for the voice. A pretty girl with long blond hair and glasses came bounding up to them. She threw her arms around Haley, laughing.
"Samantha!" Haley giggled, "How are you doing?"
Samantha let go of her, "Nothing really, just shopping for Chris' niece, Allie, remember? It's her birthday next week, are you coming?"
"Oh, that's right, yes most probably." Haley said, her mind running again. If Samantha was here, so was Chris. Chris and Lucas, hmm, not a good combination now. If anything, Lucas had grown more protective over Nathan in the past few years.
"Well, look who we have here." Drawled a distinct familiar voice.
Samantha slipped her arms around Chris' waist, smiling up at him. Haley faintly smiled, while Lucas had a distinctly feral look in his face. Chris pretended not to notice that, and extended out his hand.
"How is it going Lucas?" Chris asked, trying to be pleasant for Haley's sake.
Lucas ignored it. "Still alive I see? What a shame." Lucas decided that he still hated Chris. Seeing him in person just secured that idea. Samantha looked a little confused. Haley looked angry, elbowing Lucas in the ribs.
Chris put his hand down, smirking. "How is Nathan doing?"
Haley gasped impatiently, glaring at Chris now. Samantha wandered off a bit, noticing the amount of tension among the trio. Lucas looked positively enraged. Haley tugged his arm, pulling him away from Chris. "Chris, I will see you later. Come on Lucas."
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Lucas and Haley stood outside Toys R Us with Lucas looking down and Haley with her hands on her hips.
"You know, that was unnecessary. We could have just walked away." Haley said.
"Like hell I was going to do that. I hate that prick. Just giving him my season greetings." Lucas mumbled.
Haley sighed, "Fine." She started walking.
Lucas followed her, "Hales, I don't want to fight. Can we just please continue on having the wonderful day we were?"
Haley smiled, "Yeah, that would be wonderful."
"Okay, well it's my turn to pick!" Lucas grinned, pulling Haley through the crowd.
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"Sports R Us?" Haley stood, looking up at the sports emporium. "You have got to be joking!"
"Nope, get a flaming move on inside, they have everything related to sports here!" Lucas said, practically running inside.
Haley followed at a slower pace. The inside of the store was divided up according to sports. She followed Lucas to the basketball section, where he was standing there looking at jersey's with autographs of famous basketball players.
"Look at this!" Lucas said, holding up a jersey that said the New York Knicks with a number 3, "This would have been me, if I signed up for the Knicks."
"The Knicks asked you to play?!" Haley squealed, "You never told me that!"
"Yeah," Lucas shrugged, "They asked me privately, they wanted the Scott brothers, but I decided not to play sports professionally. I wanted to go into a sporting business or something."
"Wow," Haley marveled, "That's amazing!"
Lucas smiled, still gazing at the jerseys. "Well, I'm going to look around, for a bit, wanna come?"
Haley paused, "Sure, but why don't you go ahead, I need to make a phone call."
"Sure thing."
Making sure Lucas was out of sight, she grabbed two jerseys off the wall and went over to the cashier to pay.
Just as she finished paying, she heard Lucas' voice, "You bought something at a sports store?!"
Haley turned around, holding two bags. "Yep, something for you and something for me!" She handed him one of the bags.
He opened it up, noticing it was the #3 New York Knicks jersey that he was looking at earlier. "Oh Hales, thank you!" He picked her up in a hug and spun her around.
Haley laughed, "No problem big bro. Okay, ready to go home now? You can chill at my place for a bit before going home."
"Okay," Lucas agreed, "What did you buy?"
"Nothing much." Haley smiled, walking out the door, with Lucas following her curiously.
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"Wanna buy a duck?"
"No Lucas, you need more than two people to play that game." Haley said deadpanned as she opened the door to her apartment. She kicked off her shoes and dumped her bag on the sofa.
"Oh come on, you are such a mature spoilsport!" Lucas whined, kicking his shoes off and flopping down on the sofa.
"Okay, I am." Haley smiled, patting Lucas on the back. "I gotta go to the bathroom and change. Make yourself comfy, be back in 5 kay?"
Lucas watched Haley disappear into her room. She emerged only to disappear into the bathroom. He flipped the T.V. on before noticing that she left her sports bag on the sofa.
He stole a glance at the bathroom door making sure it was shut. He could hear the shower go off, so he knew that she was occupied. He slowly opened up the bag and pulled up a jersey.
As he unfolded it, he noticed that it was a New York Knicks jersey. Loyalty, he thought smiling. But his smiled faded as he saw the number staring back at him.
23.
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Hope you guys liked it! No worries, Nathan and Haley will be coming up soon (2 chapters)!
- Tina