Big Brother's Bestfriend

Hey guys! This is my second fanfic!! My first one: "When you least expect it"

Do check it out too!! Hehe..

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the characters I make up and the plot and stuff!!

So, a little background:

This is completely a LALEY! Don't get me wrong, I love Nathan too!! But I wanted to give the couple a try and do a fic of the two of them!! Haley and Lucas are NOT bestfriends here. Haley's brother ZACH is Luke's bestfriend. Luke and Zach are High School Juniors and are both on the Raven's Varsity Basketball Team. Haley is a nerdy Sophomore, kind of an ugly duckling type. She hasn't fully bloomed into a swan yet! Hehe! Brooke is still a perky cheerleader, but she's bestfriends with Haley and is also a Sophomore.

Chapter 1

The James' kitchen was bustling and was filled with the aroma of coffee, pancakes, bacon, eggs & toast. Haley James smiled contentedly as she scrambled the eggs in the pan. It was another beautiful Wednesday morning and she woke up early to fix breakfast.

"Zach, you better hurry! Breakfast is almost ready." She hollered.

"Yeah-yeah!" Her brother hollered back.

The kitchen's screen door opened and her brother's bestfriend let himself in. She immediately knew who it was even without looking. Haley rolled her eyes as she put the toast on a plate.

"Morning, Dork." Lucas said as he ruffled her hair.

"Morning Sleezbag." She replied and hit him in the arm.

"Mmm... Smells good! What's for breakfast?" he asked as he looked over her shoulder and into the pan.

"Gee, I dunno. Maybe if you'd eat breakfast at your house for once, you'd have a clue." She answered sarcastically.

"Now children, behave!" Zach said as he entered the kitchen. "Morning sis. Luke's right, it smells good in here. Wow! What's with all the food? You trying to spoil me?" he asked as he sampled some of Haley's blue berry pancakes.

"What's wrong with cooking breakfast for my brother?" Haley said as she smiled sweetly at him.

Zach eyed her and raised a brow. "Ok, what do you want Haley?"

Haley laughed. "Ok, you got me! Well, Brooke kind of invited me over to her place. We're gonna have a sleep over Friday night. Could I go Zach, please?"

Zach made a show of trying to decide whether to allow her or not. Their parents were always away on business trips so he was in charge when they were gone. He didn't like his sister hanging out with that cheerleader. He didn't even understand why they were so close. After all, Haley wasn't exactly cheerleader-material. He loved his sister, but come on, even he had to admit that she didn't move in Brooke's social circles. Haley was too studious, too...Haley. She insisted on wearing these big eyeglasses and her wardrobe consisted of plain, drab sweater thingys. Not at all like perky-pompom-carrying Brooke.

"I don't know Haley, maybe you should just stay home." He said as he sipped some coffee. Haley slumped and immediately looked gloomy. Lucas noticed her sudden change of mood and felt the urge to defend his bestfriend's little sis.

"Come on man, give your sister a break. She cooked blue berry pancakes for you for God's sake. A little sleep over won't hurt. You can go Hales, don't worry about your brother." He said as Haley looked up hopefully at Luke and then at Zach.

"Hey! Who's in charge here?" Zach said as he glared at Lucas. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Please Zach?" Haley asked him again, knowing he was going to give in.

He couldn't resist his sister, not when she looked at him so hopefully, and not when she cooked the best pancakes in Tree Hill.

"Oh, alright. You can go. But you have to be back on Saturday before lunch. And call me when you get there."

"Yes! Thanks Zach." She said as she kissed his cheek.

Zach smiled at his sister and finished what was left on his plate.

"Hey man, I gotta take a shower and then let's get outta here." he said as he left the kitchen and climbed the stairs, leaving Haley and Lucas alone again.

"What?" Haley asked as she noticed Lucas staring at her.

"Admit it." He said with a smirk.

"Admit what?"

"That you owe me." He said with a satisfied smile.

"I do not! Zach would've said yes with a little more persuasion." She hated being beaten at anything, especially by Lucas Scott.

Luke snorted. "Yeah right. He already said no and you know it."

"He did not. Are you finished eating?" She said to change the subject. "Give me the plate so you could get out of here."

"I'm your ride to school remember?"

"I could always ride my bike to school." She said defiantly.

"Ok, suit yourself. But you're gonna miss being the first to ride in my new convertible." He said as he got up from his seat.

"New convertible? Yeah right." She said with a snort, but he could see she was curious.

"Go see for yourself if you don't believe me. My dad gave it to me yesterday as a belated birthday present."

"Alright, Mr. New Convertible, I'll go and see for myself."

She said as she went out the front door.

"Oh-my-god!" she said as she spotted the black convertible parked outside their house.

"Yeah, she's a beauty." He said with his hands in his pockets.

Haley ran her hands along the smooth surface of the car.

"This is way cool Lucas." She said with a spark in her eye.

Luke was unexplainably proud of himself all of a sudden.

"Yep, I told you so."

"Can I drive it, please Luke? Can I?"

"Of course you CAN, but you MAY not."

"Oh, stop being such a spoil-sport. Give me the keys Luke." She said as she tried to grab the keys from him.

"No way Hales! Come on, stop it!" he said between laughs. He was holding the keys way above his head and it was obvious that she wasn't going to reach it.

Haley resorted to jumping to reach the keys and she bumped into Luke and would've stumbled if he didn't put his free arm around her for support. Their eyes met and for a split second, Lucas couldn't move. He just stared at her eyes through her thick glasses and noticed for the first time that they were a rich shade of honey.

"A-hah! Got it!" Haley said triumphantly as she grabbed the keys from a distracted Lucas.

She ran to the driver's seat and unlocked the door. "Haley." Luke said in an exasperated voice.

"Sucker!" she said as she got in. Luke sat in the passenger's seat and shook his head.

"Ok, but only around the block! Hurry up before your brother finishes up."

Haley started the engine and made her way out of their driveway and into the street. "Careful." Luke said. "I know, I know." She replied as she steered the car.

They made it around the block and back to her house. Zach was outside tapping his foot. But he stopped when he saw what his sister was driving.

"Woah man, that thing rocks! Move over Haley, my turn to drive." He said as Haley stopped in front of him.

"No way man, I'm driving us to school." Luke said as he got out of the car.

Haley stuck her tongue out at her brother and ran inside the house to get her bag.

"What? Unfair man! How come Haley gets to drive it and I don't? I'm your bestfriend remember?" he complained to Luke.

Luke laughed and said "Come on man, you can drive some other time."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you had a thing for my sister." He said half-seriously as he eyed Luke.

"What? No way man. When you can make better pancakes than she can, you can drive my car anytime." He said with a smirk, knowing Zach couldn't boil an egg.

"All set! Come on guys, let's roll!" Haley said enthusiastically as she jumped into the back seat.

Luke laughed as he drove out of their drive way, with a frowning Zach in the front seat.