Author's note: Thanks to everyone for reading. I am fairly new to this site and just checked the stats of my stories for the first time. I was shocked to see how many people look at my story, so where are all the reviews? I absolutely love this story and have tons of ideas for it, I hope to keep it going for a while, but I do get frustrated with lack of reviews. I am not asking for anything fancy here guys, just a simple I read it and like it or don't like it, give me the ammunition to keep this going! For those of you who do review, thank you so much. On the days that I feel like just not updating it is you guys that convince me to do it…so thanks a lot!

Chapter 22- Ghosts From the Past

"Haley, what are you doing here?" Nathan was shocked to see his ex-wife standing in front of him. Nathan hadn't seen Haley in at least three years. He couldn't believe she was just standing there, right in front of him.

"I came home for Thanksgiving. My sister Vivian is having everyone over for Thanksgiving, all of my brothers and sisters are here. It's a big old James family reunion. What about you?" Haley hadn't thought Nathan would be in Tree Hill, she figured he would have a game or something, she knew very little about what he was up to, but she did know that he was playing for the NBA. All that aside, what were the chances that she and Nathan would end up at the same little store at the same exact time?

"Wow. Sounds nice. Yeah, so I am here for a few days. We didn't have any games or anything, I play for the Miami Heat, so I decided to come and see my grandparents and Lucas." Nathan still couldn't believe that he was standing there with Haley, "So, how have things been?"

"You mean for the last few years? Quite a lot has happened. Do you maybe want to go and grab some coffee, catch up?" Haley wasn't sure what his answer would be. She had no hidden intentions or anything like that, she just wanted to see how he had been.

"Sure, yeah, why not? I still have a little while before I should be back. Let me just pay for this stuff." Nathan headed towards the cash register with Haley behind him. After they both paid they headed out towards the parking lot. "Where should we get some coffee?"

"I would say we could go to Karen's Café but it seems like somewhere neutral would be better." Haley looked towards Nathan.

"Yeah, how about if we just swing by the Starbucks and that go and sit down near the water." Nathan definitely wanted to avoid the café, he knew that Brooke was there with Lucas. Not only did Nathan want Brooke to think he was checking up on her, he didn't know how she would react to seeing him with Haley. He also knew that Haley had no idea about Nathan and Brooke and he wanted to tell her himself, he didn't want Haley to just catch them together.

"That sounds perfect." Haley looked around the parking lot, "Did you drive here?"

"No, I walked, I am staying with Jake and Peyton, it is so close by so I figured the walk would be nice."

"Well, I have my car so why don't we just take that?" Haley gestured towards a black Saab convertible.

"Wow, pretty nice ride Hales." Nathan was surprised, Haley wasn't usually the type to splurge on a car like that.

"Yeah right, I can't even imagine what you drive Mr. NBA star." Haley teased him a little.

"Guilty as charged. I have a Lexus SUV." Nathan had grown up with the best of everything, until he married Haley. They had little money and had to drive a beat up old car that Nathan had fixed up with his Uncle Keith. Once he was in the situation where he could afford something nice he jumped at it. Nathan was proud of how well he was doing, he wasn't ashamed to show off a little bit.

Haley and Nathan made small talk all the way to Starbucks. When they arrived they both went in and got their orders, Haley got a non-fat latte and Nathan a coffee, black. They headed out towards a bench near the water.

"As much as I love Florida I will miss days like this. Days when there is a chill making the air feel crisp. That doesn't really happen in Florida." Nathan breathed in the cool air and savored it, he knew that it would be a long time until he was able to enjoy it again.

"So your in Florida now? Playing for the Miami Heat right? I read something about it in the paper. How is that going?" Haley had kept up on the sports pages through the years, it was the only way that she could keep up with what was going on with Nathan. She was so proud when she read of him being drafted by the Heat.

"It is great. I am doing really well, I get along with the whole team and everything. And, while I hate to brag, I am one of the top scorers this season." Nathan knew that Haley wouldn't see it as bragging or cocky, he knew that she would just be proud. "What about you? What have you been up to?"

"Well I toured for a few more years and then recorded a couple of CD's." Haley looked towards Nathan.

"Yeah, I know. I bought both of them. They were great Haley, really great." Nathan felt a little weird buying her CD's and supporting the career that had broken them up, but he wanted to see how she was doing.

"I am glad you liked them. Well, after a little over two years of touring I was sick of it so I went back to school. NYU to be exact. I will be done in about two and half years there." Haley had been unsure about going to school up north, away from everyone that was important to her, but she had done well on the tour so she figured she was up for the challenge. The city went well with her, she was really happy there. "I sing a couple of nights a week at some different places, restaurants and stuff, so that makes pretty good money. Everything is going well. I can't really complain." Haley looked at Nathan, "It is really good to see you Nathan. I have missed you over the years. It was so weird the way everything happened with us, it was just done one day."

"I know what you mean. I missed you too. As much as I know that we definitely made the right decision, it was still a really big adjustment. But, I have to say, we are both doing pretty well." Nathan took a deep breath, he knew he had to tell Haley about Brooke. "I should really tell you something."

"What Nathan?"

"I am dating someone. We have been together for about six months now, and things are really great between us. Pretty serious actually." Nathan knew that he was leaving out the most important part, but that wouldn't last long.

"Anyone I know?" Haley knew that there was more than what he was offering up.

"Yeah, actually, it is Brooke." Nathan braced himself, he really didn't know how Haley would react.

"Wow." A thoughtful look, that Nathan knew all too well, crossed Haley's face. "Good for you Nathan. Really, Brooke is great, obviously I love her to death. I can see why they two of you would get along. I am glad that you are happy."

"That means a lot to me Hales. It really does. There's more though. I think I should tell you." Nathan took in another deep breath, "I am thinking about proposing her. I know, it seems fast. But the way things are going with us, I just know that this is it. I know that she is it for me Haley. I feel really bad to tell you this, to say these things to you about someone else, but I want you to hear it from me."

Haley had just been nodding as he talked, "It is a little weird to hear it, but I am glad that you are telling me. It would have hurt to just find out through the grape vine." Haley paused for a minute to gather her thoughts. "I am happy for you though. You have grown up a lot Nathan, that is evident. I know that you aren't going to rush into anything that you aren't sure about."

"You are the first one I have told. And it isn't something I am going to do right away or anything. But I have been thinking about it so I know it is out there. I would really appreciate you not saying anything about it to anyone." Nathan needed Haley to let him know that it was okay, it would be one thing if it wasn't one of Haley's friends, but since it was he owed it to Haley to tell her himself.

"No problem Nathan, I won't say anything." Haley patted Nathan's hand, she could tell that he was a little uptight, she knew that it must have been hard for him to tell her everything.

"Haley, we are all having Thanksgiving dinner together, me, Brooke, Jake, Peyton and Lucas. It would be great if you would stop by after, have a few drinks with us or something. I know that you want to have dinner with your family, but afterwards, what do you say?"

Haley thought about it for a minute, "Sure, that would be nice." After talking to Nathan she knew that it would be okay if she was there. She hadn't seen her friends in quite a while.

"Good, I know everyone will be glad to see you."

Haley thought for another minute, "How about you don't tell anyone. I will surprise them all. I will come by around 7. We are eating an early dinner. Does that work for you?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. We are eating dinner around 5 so that should be perfect. I have to tell Brooke though, I know that she would be shocked if you just walked in, she would know that someone told you about it, I don't want her to worry. After all, her and I don't have secrets. Don't worry, I will tell her it is a surprise."

ooooOoooo

Nathan walked into the guest room where he and Brooke were staying. He saw her lying on the bed flipping through a magazine. He walked over and kissed her.

"Hi there boyfriend. Did you get the stuff for the sweet potatoes?"

"Yeah, I did. It was quite an interesting morning. But before I tell you about that, how are things with Lucas?" Nathan hoped it had all gone well.

"It went fine. I got the closure I needed it. From now on, we are going to just focus on building a friendship. He will be there for dinner and I am not worried about dinner being uncomfortable, it will all be fine." Brooke was still relieved at how everything had gone. It turned out that she just needed to tell him how she felt and how what he did affected her, but she really wanted to let it be in the past, and know she could. "So what made this morning interesting?"

"I ran into Haley at the store while I was getting your stuff." Nathan tried to assess how Brooke felt, but her face was pretty expressionless.

"How was that? I get the impression that it had been a while since you two had seen each other." Brooke was surprised, normally she would feel threatened by something like this, but she really wasn't. She knew that Nathan wasn't going to do anything to hurt her.

"It was good. We got some coffee, talked, caught up. It was nice. Things are good with her, I was glad to hear that. There is one more thing though."

"What?"

"I invited her to stop over after dinner to hang out and have some drinks with us. It has been so long since we have all been together, I just thought it would be nice. She wants to surprise everyone, so don't ay anything." Nathan looked towards Brooke waiting for her reaction.

"I think that that is great. I am thrilled that we will all be together again." Brooke looked Nathan in the eyes, "I guess today was the day for both of us to deal with some ghosts from our pasts."

"Yeah, it was. It's good though, makes me feel like you and I are really starting fresh. Starting new or something." Nathan wasn't quite sure what he was trying to say.

Brooke smiled at him, she knew what he was getting at, "Baby, with you and me it is fresh all the way."