Haley looked down on the view of clustered lights that embodied Tree Hill. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't contain her grin. She could not believe where she was.

"Was this a good idea or what?" Lucas smiled.

"It was a great idea, Buddy."

He gave her a devilish look as he bent down and popped back up with a handful of balloons.

"Look, what I happened to find stashed away", he teased.

"Oh no. Not the balloons…"

"Yes… the dreaded balloons."

"Luke, they better not be filled with milk like we used to do them."

"Maybe."

"Oh you are so childish."

"Yeah but in a good way. Don't be a party pooper now. Come on. I haven't done this in years. With you gone, who else did I have to do it with? Brooke? Come on. Can you imagine Brooke and me having a water balloon fight? And picture me trying that in the 76ers locker room. Those guys would stomp me into the ground, especially A.I."

"So that's your situation now?" Haley grinned. "Calling Iverson by his initials?"

"Iverson? I'm totally impressed you know who that is."

"What?" she pretended to be hurt. "I watch basketball."

"Since when? This coming from the chick who called free throws 'free shots'", he laughed.

"That was then. The sport kind of grew on me."

"Yeah. That's my life now. Let's see. I bought this awesome little Brownstone type deal in downtown Philly. I hired Brooke to do my decorating and without looking too overtly feminine, I'd say she did a pretty good job. Last year, I was a rookie and it was a crash course in basketball, totally different from high school and college. I played, practiced and traveled in that order with sleep coming somewhere in between. It was a hell of an experience that I wouldn't trade for anything and I do love it. I play with a great group of guys who are like brothers to me and Philadelphia is an awesomely beautiful, historic city. I live for those few precious days off when I can slip on my ball cap and faded jeans with the holes in the knees and do the cool tourists stuff like visit the Liberty Bell and the Philadelphia Zoo and not to mention the Rocky statue."

"Sounds like fun. All that and no one special to share it with?"

"I don't have time. Not even for a dog. Besides, you women folk are way too complicated. I mean, I date here and there. There's nobody serious."

"When are you going to quit being stubborn and just admit that you're head over heels in love with Brooke Davis?" Haley demanded.

Lucas thought for a minute before grinning.

"After she admits she's in love with me first."

"You suck, you know that?" Haley stuck her tongue out.

"I know, I know but I like the way things are now. It reminds me of the good and simple times back when I was content playing hoops with the guys at the River Court and hanging out with you."

"Yeah", she fondly remembered. "God, I guess our lives were so much simpler then, huh?"

"Yeah…"

Haley, lost in nostalgia, forgot the cardinal rule. She turned her back on Lucas Scott. Seconds later, she felt the hit, then the pop, then the cool milk running all over the back of her designer Donna Karan shirt.

"Lucas Eugene Scott!"

"What?" he shrugged innocently.

"Oh you are so dead! This is war, buster!"

Just like their younger days, the juvenile game of fighting with water and milk balloons began. They hid, yelled, and giggled as they became soaked targeting each other. The game and the fun lasted for hours. Just like it used to.

"Okay, okay", Haley said finally, out of breath. "Lucas, no fair. You have home court advantage. I'm all out of balloons. Seriously. Can we please call a truce?"

"Depends. Is it a real truce or a trick truce?"

"It's a real truce, I promise."

"Okay."

"Okay", she panted emerging from behind a fake tree. "Or not!"

She pulled out one last balloon but Lucas threw his at her first. He grabbed her and Haley dropped her balloon, breaking it.

"What?" she asked, collapsing in giggles.

"Nothing…it's just that…the tattoo."

"Oh that", Haley breathed.

It was a symbol of her undying teenage affection for Nathan shortly before they had married.

"You never got it removed, huh?"

"I couldn't", she shrugged. "It's a part of me, I guess. Like if I get it removed, then that means none of it ever happened. You know, sometimes I look at it and for a second it takes me back to those times. I was happy and carefree and a kid and deliriously in love. I smile when I remember what that feels like. Isn't that the point, after all? That makes getting it all worth it if it can remind me of the good stuff ever so often."

He nodded like he understood. A part of him did.

"Do you regret it, Hales? Any of it."

She thought for a minute.

"I don't know. I think about it all that time. Remember that movie Sliding Doors? I think Gwyneth Paltrow was in it. Her character's whole love life and career both hinged, unknown to her, on whether or not she caught a train. You see it both ways, in parallel. Isn't that weird? Sometimes I compare my life to that. I got on a bus and everything changed. I got to tour with my idol, Michelle Branch. I got the experience of performing. I got signed to a big label for a lot of money. I realized my dream of becoming a singer. I became famous and rich and got to live out a dream. And I love that. It makes me happy."

"What if you didn't get on that bus?"

She smiled sadly with a shrug.

"I don't know. Nathan and I would have worked it out. I would have given up my dream and lived a normal life like every other 16 year old…every other married 16 years old. Let's see, I would have finished high school probably as a valedictorian or at least an Honor graduate and I would have gone to college wherever Nathan went. I would have gotten a degree that would have been useless considering I'd become an NBA trophy wife living in a huge Charlotte mansion arguing with Deb no doubt over what curtains I decorated that living room with."

"Would you have been happy?"

"I don't know. Because I was with Nathan and I loved him so much, of course I would have been happy is that aspect but I think as far as life goes, I just would have been content because that's what I was supposed to be."

It was an interesting philosophy.

"That's life, I guess. It's just the way it goes", Lucas sighed.

"Yeah and now I'll never know what was meant to be or if I could have had both my husband and the music. I guess I made a real mess of things back then, huh?"

Lucas thought for a moment.

"No, you didn't. You were just a kid. And you were in love…with Nathan and the music."

She looked down, wrapping her arms around herself to protect her tiny body from the summer night's breeze.

"Thank you, Lucas. Thanks for understanding. Tonight…this here with you…well, it was nice. I needed it."

"Me too", he smiled. "Know what else we need?"

"What's that?"

"Hot chocolate."

"With marshmallows?" she asked hopefully.

He winked and wrapped an arm around her leading her downstairs towards the café.

"Wouldn't dream of it any other way."