Warring Emotions

By: Sari

Disclaimer: One Tree Hill is not mine. If I had enough money I'd probably buy it just so I could get rid of half the characters on the show.

Summary: "Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up." - James Baldwin. The sequel to This Time Around.

2: I Still…

Who are you now?

Are you still the same or did you change somehow

What do you do?

At this very moment when I think of you

"Jeez, you're looking great Kali." Lucas said appreciatively. And she was, Kali was still the tall, platinum blonde that he had known in high school but she had a sort of refined grace to her. Maybe it was her black Armani business suit, or the careful composure he could see she was trying to maintain but it was glaring apparent that Kali Morris had grown up.

"Watch it Luke, your girlfriend is five feet away from you." Brooke joked. "I know we just got here but I'm not afraid to pull some hair."

Kali giggled and turned from Lucas to embrace Brooke. "It is so good to see you guys again." Kali said. "How is everything?"

"Boston is awesome." Lucas said. "Brooke and I are still going strong and school is a breeze."

Brooke nodded. "Life is about as perfect as it can be."

Lucas walked over to Jake clapping him on the back. "Jake long time no see." Turning to Peyton he gave her a small smile. "Peyton."

"Lucas." She said just as coldly.

Brooke squealed seeing her blonde best friend. "Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer is that you?"

Peyton squealed louder if it was even possible and Lucas struggled to keep himself from rolling his eyes as the two girls ran and embraced each other. He noticed a sharp jab in his side and looked at Kali who was motioning towards the kitchen.

He followed her in there and sighed in relief that he didn't have to act as if he gave a damn about Peyton around Kali. "I was trying to hold my lunch around her." He said dryly.

"Peyton?" Kali correctly guessed. "I kind of figured. You did look a tad bit green."

"A tad?" Lucas said chuckling. "It's amazing that Peyton's presence still has that effect on me."

Kali shrugged. "She's with Jake now."

"And?" Lucas prodded.

She sighed. "And it kind of hurts, but on the other hand I kind of expected it."

"What's stronger?"

"The expectation of course, because come on Luke, I was never a stupid person. But…I loved him and the killer was I never knew why we grew apart. One day we were fine and we were waiting for college and the next it was nothing, zip, nada. It's like he erased me from his life."

A soft smile made its way to his face and Kali looked puzzled. "What?"

"This." He said. "It's good talking to you like this again."

She nodded. "No one gets me as much as you do." She admitted. "I don't mind keeping it that way."

He reached over and squeezed her hand as Brooke walked into the kitchen. "Haley's here."

Lucas's eyes lit up in the way that only a childhood friend could elicit and he grinned widely, rushing out into the living room he gave Haley a hug tight enough to squeeze the air out of her.

Haley giggled. "Lucas let me go!"

"I haven't seen you for more than a year I'm allowed to hug you as long as I want!" He protested childishly.

Kali cleared her throat. "Okay guys, we're waiting for one more person and then we can eat."

"Where is my brother?" Lucas asked letting go of Haley.

Everyone heard the knock on the door and Kali went to answer it. "Here he is, Mr. Big shot predicted first draft pick for the Miami Heat."

Nathan blushed. "You follow college basketball?"

"Look who you're talking to." Lucas said laughing. "It's me and Kali, probably the biggest basketball fans ever. Congratulations bro'."

"Wow, it's great to see everyone."

"Aww…it's nice to see you too." Kali said. "Anyway come in."

"Dinner time you guys, I got Chinese take out in the kitchen, grab a carton so we can get started catching up."

And when I'm looking back

How we were young and stupid

Do you remember now?

Baby

Settling on the couch with her carton of Chinese, Haley couldn't keep her eyes off of Nathan. The Florida sun had agreed with him because now he had a bronze tan and his brown hair had blonde highlights, obviously made by the sun. In a few words, she can sum up his new look as very hot.

"So, what's everyone been up to? Take turns now." Kali ordered. "And let's see…Lucas and Brooke, you two start."

Haley pulled her legs underneath her and surveyed her best friend. She had known him so long, and the last year and half and been the longest time she went without speaking to him. Looking at him now he looked so happy. She had doubted Brooke when they had first started dating each other but now they both had a happy glow surrounding them and Haley knew that they were obviously meant to be.

"Ah…nothing really to say." Brooke said. "Everybody knows that Luke and I both decided to go to the same college which is Boston University. I'm majoring in acting and Lucas is doing English. We have a small apartment off campus that my parents gave us as a graduation gift and I work as an intern at a talent agency while Luke works as a middle school gym teacher."

"Gym teacher?" Haley asked incredulously. "That's a big leap from basketball, and majoring in English?"

"Basketball isn't my thing anymore." Luke said nonchalantly. "It's a hobby and I like to do it but I would never make a career out of it. Too much traveling, too much media, and too much invasions of privacy. I couldn't do it."

"The coaches still want you at UM though." Nathan put in. "If you ever decided to change your mind. They watched you in high school."

Lucas shook his head. "That's okay, you and Jake can be the basketball players in this group."

"So Jake and Peyton, what's been going on?" Luke said directing his question to the couple sitting near Haley.

"I'm majoring in law at Duke University and Peyton is doing art. We both live in the dorm though, and while we're in school my parents keep Jenny."

"You're still playing basketball right?" Kali asked.

"I'm on Duke's team." Jake said modestly. "But I'm with Luke, I'm probably not going to turn it into a career."

"Wow." Brooke said impressed. "Jake a big bad lawyer, I can totally see you on Court TV."

Jake laughed. "I wouldn't go that far either."

"So Peyton, art…I can't say I'm surprised." Brooke said giving her a friendly smile.

Peyton shrugged modestly. "I work a little on Duke's newspaper but my major is really Art history. I think I might want to be an art teacher."

"Hales?" Jakes asked. "Your turn."

Haley smiled. "Well…after high school I tried the music scene for a while. You guys know about all of that."

Yeah, they did Haley mused to herself. Everyone here had warned her that Chris was no good and it wasn't worth throwing away her education for. Pity she didn't listen.

"Anything come of it?" Lucas asked gently.

"Not really, after we toured with the Wreckers it was great for awhile. We had record execs knocking at our door all the time but when they found out that Chris and I were untrained singers they didn't want to take the risk. I wizened up after that, enrolled myself into NYU. I'm majoring in pre-med." She gestured to her current outfit. "I'm a nursing assistant right now."

Haley didn't look at Nathan the whole time she was talking but she could feel his eyes on her. "Nathan, you're up next." She said lightly.

"I'm going to UM, majoring in business, but I'm hoping that I can play basketball professionally." Nathan said simply. "Kali?"

"I'm at Columbia University studying psychology. I want to be a therapist." Kali informed everyone. "Alright, so relationships? Who's in one, who's not?" Kali said eagerly, not wanting a lapse in the conversation to creep up on them.

"Brooke and I are together still." Lucas offered.

"Jake and I are going strong, it's been a year and half now." Peyton said proudly.

Kali's eyes widened and Haley could see the calculations going on in her head. "I'm single." Haley said watching Kali who looked like she was going to attack Peyton at any time.

"I have a girlfriend back in Miami." Nathan said softly.

Haley drew her eyes away from Kali to stare in shock at Nathan. "How long have you two been going out?"

"A couple of months." Nathan said easily.

"Oh." Haley looked down in her lap.

"How about we continue this tomorrow?" Kali suggested. "You guys are all probably tired."

"You didn't answer the question" Jake reminded her.

"I'm single." Kali said tense.

Though everything's been said and done

I still feel you like I'm right beside you

There's still no perfect you

"I feel like an idiot." Kali told Haley once everyone had left leaving Haley and Kali by themselves. "What the hell was I thinking? Was I really that damn naïve in high school?" She asked Haley.

Haley shook her head. "You were miles away Kali, how were you supposed to know."

"Why didn't you or Lucas tell me?" Kali said. "Why did you let me believe that it just 'naturally happened?' It didn't naturally happen that bitch stole him from me."

Kali laughed. "Jeez, I knew Peyton was desperate but damn she pounces on him the second I leave Tree Hill? And he falls for it? God I feel like an asshole."

Her laughter quickly faded into tears and Haley rushed to hug her. "You still have feelings for him?" She asked.

"Yeah." She hiccupped. "I'm an idiot. A complete and total idiot. Why can't I hate him?"

Haley shrugged. "The same reason why I can't hate Nathan. You love him."

"Finally admitting it now?" Kali said raising her head from Haley's shoulder. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I broke up with Chris today."

"Again?" Kali scoffed. "How long is that going to last."

"For good this time." Haley insisted. "I'm an idiot to keep listening to his false promises."

"So you need a place to stay then?" She guessed.

Haley shook her head. "I kicked him out."

"Well, holy shit." Kali said surprised. "You really are serious this time."

"What's the point in dragging on a relationship when I know how much I'm in love with Nathan?" Haley asked. "Maybe knowing he's with a girl now will speed up the process of getting over him."

"Hopefully." Kali said. "The only thing knowing Jake is with a girl is doing for me is making me angry."

"You have a right to be." Haley assured her. "And I'm sorry about keeping it from you, but Luke and I didn't think that you should know. We were pissed off at Jake enough."

"Is that why you guys stopped talking to him?" Kali asked.

"On Luke's part yeah. He was furious that Jake was cheating on you and that he didn't have the balls to dump you."

"What about you?"

"I was so desperate to keep my friends during the whole Chris debacle I was glad Jake and Peyton even spoke to me. Even if I knew that it was because Lucas and Brooke had abandoned them I needed someone to talk to."

"God I feel so out of it." Kali said laughing. "It's like life sped up as soon as I stepped on that airplane. Luke hinted that everyone was pissed off at each other but he never told me why."

Haley nodded a faraway look in her eyes. "It was little things that caused it, and then all of them piled up and turned into a huge issue."

"The domino effect?"

"Sort of…it started with Jake acting like a dick towards you, and then it was the problems with Chris and me, Peyton's drug problem…"

"Peyton's DRUG problem?" Kali asked incredulously. "Damn I knew the ho was stupid but this is going a little bit too far."

"I never told you about that?"

"Uh…no! I would have remembered something hilarious like that."

"Peyton and Karen opened up this teen club called Tric during senior year and it was a huge success later on, but when it first started Peyton got into the wrong crowd looking for music to be played at the club and started trying coke. She got addicted to it, and around that time Jake was so busy trying to get full custody of Jenny so he wasn't there to watch out for her so no one never really found out until she overdosed and ended up in the hospital."

"Peyton, always playing the victim." Kali said shaking her head. "I guess she had to have a near death experience to keep Jake's attention."

"Kali!" Haley admonished.

She shrugged, "it's the truth."

Kali heard the knock on the door and groaned. "I hope nobody left anything here."

She jogged to the door, Haley right after her and opened it. "What'd you leave?" She asked bluntly. She was not in the right frame of mind to talk to him.

"Nothing, I want to talk to you." Jake requested.

Kali laughed harshly. "Are you joking? What happened to talking to me a year ago?"

"That's what I want to…"

"Save it." Kali said cutting him off. "Go out to eat with Peyton, New York is beautiful at night."

"Kali if you would just give me a chance…"

"Does Peyton know you're here?" She asked coldly.

Jake sighed rubbing his temples. "I'm guessing that's a no." Kali said smugly.

Haley cleared her throat. "Kali I'm going to head home."

Kali barely nodded at her as she made her leave instead focusing her angry glare on Jake. "Could you back up so I can slam the door in your face?" Kali asked acidly. "I don't have time to play games with you."

Jake seemed resolved now, he pushed his way past Kali pulling her into the room and shutting the door. "No." He said firmly. "We're going to talk. Right now."

Wish I could fight it

Just not tonight

TBC

Music Credits: Backstreet Boys – I Still…