Author's Note: Hello to everyone reading this. I'm glad that you're still into it. I promise that more drama will be coming up really soon, so don't worry about that. I wasn't sure if anyone was still interested in this, so if you are, please tell me so I know.

-OTH-

"You guys scared the hell out of me."

Tim had been running a little late, because he and Lacy had gotten sidetracked when she was helping him pick something out for her to wear. Lacy was currently parking the car, saying that she didn't trust Tim's driving skills. Tim didn't mind though, he was totally smitten with her to care what she said. He was surprised that Lacy had actually stayed with him for an entire week, but he was even more surprised that he felt like he was falling in love with her. And if he was reading the signs correctly, she might be feeling the same way.

"We thought you were Karen," Jake explained, trying to hold back a laugh at the petrified look on his friend's face. "Sorry, to scare you."

"I'm not sorry," Brooke admitted, stepping out from behind the counter. She stalked towards him and he backed up slowly, clearly scared of what she was going to do to him.

"Hey, Brookie," he greeted nervously, giving her a little wave. She didn't stop her movements and continued to walk towards him.

"Do not 'Hey Brookie' me, mister," she warned him, holding up a finger so it was in his face. "You just ruined the surprise. I can't believe you blew it." He, thinking she was just joking, took a step forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Aw, come on," he tried. "Don't you think you might be overreacting just a little bit?" The glare she sent him was completely lost on him. The gang watched them and shook their hands at Tim's mistake. Defiantly not something he should have done.

"You're lucky that I'm already a little buzzed and I can't tell which one of you I should be hitting," she told him, stepping out of his grip. She held up her hand that had her cup in it. "Just for this, I'm going to make you do something tonight that will be really embarrassing."

"Sweetie," Luke interrupted, stepping out from behind the counter. "Do you really think that's completely necessary?" She wiped around and leered at him. Tim smiled; glad to have the heat of him. He took this opportunity to slip past her and join the others at the counter.

"I'll make you do it do," she shot at him. "Now, what could I get you and Tim to do together that would be really embarrassing?" Haley's eyes lite up and she raised her hand.

"Oh, how about pay back for all those lesbian jokes Tim makes?"

"Good idea, Hales," Brooke cheered, a smile replacing the tight frown she was wearing before. "It's no wonder why you're considered the smart one in the group." Brooke sauntered past her wide-eyed boyfriend and stood beside Haley. Luke stared at the spot his girl was just standing in for another moment before turning around, looking at her with pleading eyes.

"She was joking, weren't you, Hales?" he begged, looking at Haley with his lost puppy dog eyes. "Tell her you were joking." Haley could only take it for a moment longer before bursting out laughing at the real fear she could see in her best buddy's eyes.

"I was joking," she told Brooke, bumping her with her shoulder. Brooke pretended to pout, but soon a smile broke through. "I think you should just stick to ruining Tim's life." Luke let out a breath, glad that he wasn't going to be subjected to Brooke's wrath and rejoined them.

"Hey, guys," Lacy greeted, just walking through the door. Everyone turned to smile and wave at her. They were all surprised at the fact that they actually liked her. They figured that if she could like Tim, then she had to be an airhead, but it turns out that she's really a great girl.

"Hey! "they all called at the same time. Tim walked over to her and hugged her, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips. Before he could say something, Lacy cut him off.

"Just thought you all might to know, I saw Karen's pulling onto the street right before I came in."

"Okay, everybody hide!" Keith instructed. Luckily almost everyone was still in their hiding spots from before, so they could hidden quickly enough. Lacy and Tim joined the others behind the counter; Brooke had Tim by the ear so he couldn't do anything stupid. "Nobody say anything."

"Okay."

"Shut up, Tim!" Brooke scolded him, giving his ear a pull. Before he could let out a yelp, Brooke covered his mouth so he wouldn't make any noise. She squeezed on his ear harder to make sure he kept his mouth shut.

Karen frowned when she saw that the Café's lights were off. Deb had told her that she had everything under control for the day, to go out and get pampered. She shrugged it off and opened the door. Just when everyone was about to yell surprise, they were cut off.

"God, Brooke, let go!" Tim screeched, jumping up from behind the counter. Karen jumped in surprise at the sudden out burst and quickly flicked on the lights to find Tim standing alone, holding his ear and trying to fight back the tears.

"Tim?" Tim's eyes widened when he realized what he had done. He looked at her and then looked around at all the people in their hiding places. He waved at her.

"Surprise?" It wasn't until just then that she looked around and noticed all the decorations that were hung up around the Café.

"What's going on?" Deciding now was the best time to do it, everybody jumped up.

"Surprise!" Karen was quite happy and very surprised to see everyone there and they all made their way over to wish her a happy birthday. Tim took two steps before he felt someone grab his collar and pull him back.

"I'm sorry, Brooke," he told her, trying to get free from her hold. He finally got free and bolt around the counter, Brooke chasing after him

"I'm going to kill you!" Everybody just ignored their game of tag and began to converse among themselves. Karen looked away from the conversation she was having with Deb to see Haley wrapped in Nathan's arms, a huge smile plastered on her face as they talked to Jake, Peyton and Luke.

"Excuse me," she told Deb and made her way over to them. They all greeted her with a happy birthday, which she thanked them for. "I was wondering if I could talk to Haley and Nathan alone for a minute."

"Sure," Luke nodded; figure this had something to do what happened last week.

"Yeah," Peyton agreed, pulling on Jake's shirtsleeve. "We should probably go rescue Tim." She pointed to where Brooke had Tim laid out on the floor, with both hands pinned behind his back. She was sitting on him, pulling his head back by his hair while he shrieked. Lacy was standing by, watching the scene in amusement, as were many other partygoers.

"Tell them I said hi," Karen smiled. They all nodded before making their way over to join the massacre leaving Haley Nathan alone with Karen.

"So, do you like the party?" Haley asked, getting a little uncomfortable with the situation. She had never felt uncomfortable around Karen, ever. She was like her mother. Karen smiled sweetly at her, wanting her to know that she wasn't coming to yell at them or anything.

"I love it," she answered, giving Haley a huge hug. "Thank you guys so much. When did you guys plan this?"

"Luke and I had started planning it a while ago," she explained. "We just figured that you should get a great birthday for once and we were more than happy to make it happen."

"Well, thank you," she said again. She looked up at Nathan, who was standing by and listening to the whole conversation. He looked a little scared of her, so she decided to lighten the mood. "Hey, Nate, can I get you a coffee?"

"No, thanks," he answered, finally cracking a smile. Haley watched the exchange in confusion and it was written on her face. "She dumped hot coffee on my pants that night after you ran off."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's so sweet," she gushed, crushing Karen in a bear hug. Nathan and Karen both laughed at her antics.

"Gee," Nathan cut in. "Thanks, baby." Haley pulled out of the hug and smacked him in the stomach. She didn't mean it like that and he knew it, she just thought it was nice that Karen cared that much about her to do that to Nathan.

"You were being a big meanie." She snuggled back into his arms and he kissed her on the head, letting her know that she was right. Nathan still couldn't believe that he had lost his control that badly. Haley caught the look in Karen's eyes, she wanted to talk and it wasn't with her. She pulled out of Nathan's grip. "I'm just gonna go over there for a bit..." Without waiting for a reply, she walked away and joined the others.

"I take it, this is the big 'mother to boyfriend' talk?"

"Let's move this into the kitchen," she suggested, motioning towards the room. He nodded and led the way, having just been back there with Haley only half an hour ago. Haley watched them exit, a smile on her face at how protective Karen was being. She was glad to know that someone cared about her.

"So, what did you want to say to me?" Nathan asked once they were in the kitchen. He didn't think this was going to take long so he didn't grab a seat.

"My kids worked really hard to throw this party for me," Karen began, waving her hand to the door they had just come through. "And I don't want to insult them by spending the whole time back here with you, so why don't we make this as quick as possible?"

"Works for me," he answered, surprised at the sudden attitude change she demonstrated. He had only ever seen her like this once before and that was whens he was yelling at his dad to stay away from Luke. This was definitely the mother/boyfriend talk he was dreading.

"Okay, so I'm going to just jump right to my point," she told him. She took a deep breath. "No matter what anyone says, Haley is my daughter. She is my family, okay? And nothing is more important to me than my family."

"I know that..."

"I've seen the way her parents treat her and it makes me sick," she continued, ignoring Nathan's comment. "Nothing hurts her the way they do when they leave her alone."

"I know that too..."

"And if I ever hear you say anything to Haley like what you said to her last week again, I'm going to do more than pour hot coffee on you, you understand?" He gulped and took a step back before nodding. He finally found his voice.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. Whoa, he had never called anyone ma'am before in his entire life. He never knew Karen could be so scary. He suddenly felt really bad for Lucas.

"Good," she said, going back to her regularly sweet self. She patted him on the chest twice before turning and walking to the door. Just before Nathan was about to let out a sigh of relief, she wiped around. "Oh and one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I love Haley very much,"she began, her voice going back to the scary one she was using before. "And if I ever see her crying because of something you said or did to her...just don't, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded, frantically. Her face immediately lite up again and she gave him one of her best smile before turning and walking back to the party. He let out another breath, happy to finally be alone. Suddenly he heard a scream come from the front room and he ran to see what it was.

"Brooke, please!" Tim cried from his position on the floor. He wiggled to get free, but it was no use. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Brooke just pulled on his hair harder causing everyone to laugh. Nathan shook his head and walked over to Haley, trying to ignore Karen's glare as he did so. He reached Haley and brought her into his arms.

"Hey, baby," Haley greeted him, turning her attention away from the 'fight' to kiss her boyfriend. "Everything okay? You survived the wrath of Karen?"

"For now," he answered. The things she said were really getting to him. She said that she didn't want him to hurt her and he didn't want to either, but he knew that he would. No matter how much he tried and no matter how much he lied, he was going to hurt Haley. Maybe too much that even she couldn't forgive him.

-OTH-

All done for now. Once again, thanks so much for the replies. Please keep them coming and tell me if you liked this chapter. I'm not sure if it was any good, so I need to know what you all think. Thanks for reading.