Author's Note: Flashback Sequence written in Italics...

The apartment was empty when he arrived home. It was late. She was probably still cleaning up at the Den. He easily could have dropped by but decided against it. There would be questions about where he had been all night. Questions no doubt he would hear at home but there was something slightly comforting squirming in the privacy of your own living room as opposed to having it out in the middle of a some hole in the wall bar.

Lucas looked around. Nothing had changed. The furnishings and the soft knick knacks she liked to go around collecting at Saturday morning yards sales still adorned the place. There was artwork and pictures of both their families. And the place smelled, sweet and soft almost like fresh flowers. It was a nice scent and her perfume wasn't much different. He loved the way her skin and hair always smelled.

He took a deep breath to inhale the room's fragrance but instead caught a whiff of his own aroma…and it wasn't pleasant. Sweat mixed cigarettes and alcohol. And the harder he sniffed, the more he smelled her. It was like the stripper had sprayed herself on him to mark her territory so to speak.

He had been a good boy. He hadn't done anything too bad. She had offered sex and when he declined that, there were the two remaining options of a blow job or hand job. Lucas wasn't in the mood for either. Of course his manhood was hard as a rock pressed up against the constricting denim of his jeans. He was a man, he was only human and it was a natural reaction as her naked body grinded on top of his. He'd let his hands explore her but that was about it. He had come back to be with his wife, not get laid by some dancing stranger in the local champagne room.

Lucas stripped out of his clothes right there in the living room and immediately tossed them in the washer. Then he headed for the shower. The spray of hot water felt heavenly against his tanned and toned flesh. Lucas felt like he could stay there for hours and he did, at least until the temperature turned ice cold. Grabbing a towel, he quickly dried his face, body and hair before wrapping it around his waist.

Once outside the bathroom, still in darkness, he heard her key turn in the lock. He stood silent and still as the petite frame entered the living room. Even with no lights on, it was easy to see she looked tired. Her pretty face was worn, worried even. She yawned and stretched, lifting her arms that showcased the lower part of her flat belly. The she put her bag and keys on the counter before sifting through the mail. Opening the refrigerator, she reached for a bottle of water before heading towards the back. A nice shower was apparently what she had in mind as well as she began disrobing upon her way to the bathroom.

She wasn't expecting the tall, lone, shadowy figure by the door. She jumped and let out a little scream.

"Lucas", she put her hand over her heart. "You scared me."

He looked at her as she used her shirt to cover her bra clad upper torso. God, she was beautiful.

"Hey", he said softly.

"Hey", her eyes darted around. "What are you doing here?"

He managed a small smile.

"I live here…remember?"

She did not return his amusement.

"I remember very well, Lucas. It seems you're the one who needs his memory refreshed."

He took a deep breath. He expected that. Hell, he deserved it…and a lot more.

"Look…"

"Save it. I don't want to hear it anymore. Luke, I'm done."

She brushed right past him and shut on the hallway light. He grabbed her arm and she looked right at him, her brown eyes beseeching him. Her long auburn hair, which had been pinned up in a messy bun was beginning to fall on her smooth shoulders.

"Haley…"

"Get out of my way", she tried to move around him.

"Hales…"

Just the soft way he called out the childhood nickname for her instantly made her soften.

"Lucas…"

"We need to talk."

"We already tried that route, remember?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. About us…about everything. I know I messed up…"

She chuckled in spite of herself.

"That's an understatement."

"But I want to change. I have to change."

"That's good."

"But I don't want to lose you. I'm not ready to give up on us just yet."

Haley shook her head.

"What do you want me to say, Lucas? Huh? What am I supposed to do with that? I mean, what do we have to save?"

Lucas sighed. He remembered the first time he ever saw Haley James. They had attended school together their whole lives but he'd never really looked at her until he was competing with his brother for the High Fliers spot. Then she was just the half decent looking chick who wore the weird hats and ponchos. After the game, when he and Nathan began getting to know each other, Lucas got to know Haley as well. She and Nathan were a tight little pair, and starting a friendship with one was like taking a two for one deal.

They had been friends for a few years when he began to notice she had a crush on him. It was harmless, friendly flirting at first but then it began to take on a more serious tone. Lucas might never have paid any attention to it until a conversation one night at the Docks…

"I think I'm gonna ask Haley out."

Lucas stopped bouncing the ball.

"Come again. Haley? Haley James?"

Nathan blushed and grinned.

"Yeah."

"Where is all this coming from?"

Nathan shrugged.

"I don't know. We've been best friends since the first grade and lately I just look at her and everything is different. The way she smiles, or the way she plays with her hair, or even the way she's always singing even though she's tone deaf", he chuckled. "I pretend to get annoyed but it's pretty cute."

Lucas looked at his brother. Nathan was giddy almost. He had never seen him like that.

"Okay. Okay, man. Um, go for it."

Nathan sighed and shrugged.

"I am. I mean, I will but it's just one thing. I, I don't know how Hales feels about me. I really like her but if she's not feeling it, then I don't want to make the friendship weird between us."

"That's understandable."

"It is? Good. Because that's where you come in."

"What?"

"You've got to talk to her, man. I mean, you guys are friends and all. Just see where her head is. Let me know if I have a chance."

The last thing Lucas wanted was in the middle of a possible love triangle but he complied. And the night they were to talk, he looked at her in her goofy hat and poncho and saw something else as well. Then it happened. He just kissed her. Lucas couldn't help himself. Never mind that his brother would be devastated. In fact, a tiny, competitive piece of Lucas basked in the glory of victory. Hell, Nathan got High Fliers…they were now even. Then the minute he thought that, he'd instantly feel guilty. But he couldn't escape it. Coveting his brother's woman seemed all too familiar. It was the Keith Scott in him…

"I'm sorry", he stated simply.

"Why should I believe you this time?"

"Because it's the truth. And because I can prove it to you. I've changed, Haley. I'm still changing."

A single tear slid down her cheek and she hurried to wipe it away.

"Do you have any idea how much I want to believe you? Because I do. But I can't anymore. It's so hard, Luke and my heart can't take it."

It killed him to see her cry and he knew it was his fault. Deep down he did love her. Despite the times he yelled at her, or ignored her, or slept with other women.

"Neither can mine, Hales. You have to believe me."

He touched the band on the fourth finger of her left hand.

"How long are you back for this time?"

"For good. I didn't come back just to leave again. I love you, Haley. And I didn't get married to just get divorced. You mean more to me than that. I'm sorry I ran away. I guess I was running away all that time searching for something more, trying to be happy. But all the while, I had it all along. It was here waiting on me."

She closed her eyes.

"It isn't that easy…"

"I know. And I don't expect you to just forget about everything that happened between us. But I want you to remember the good times, too. And we had plenty of them. Maybe…maybe there are still more to come. I don't know. I'm just asking for another chance, Haley. We can take it slow."

She wished she could close her eyes and when they opened, he would just magically disappear. But it wasn't that easy. Nothing ever was. He was her husband and she did love him in spite of himself and what he had done.

"Things have to change", she sniffled. "We need to be able to talk to each other. And if we don't have trust…"

"I know, babe."

More tears fell and he wiped them away. The rest he kissed. And she melted in his arms.

"I love you, Lucas."

"I love you, too."