Brooke opened the door and smiled when she saw Haley on the other side.

"Hey you."

"Hey yourself", Haley hugged her.

"What brings you by? Lucas or Nathan, because neither one of them is home now. Nathan is working and Lucas is…well, I don't know where Lucas is…"

Haley rolled her eyes.

"Actually I'm here for neither and I just ran into Lucas."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah", she folded her arms. "Remember how I told you I wanted to avoid him at work?"

"Yeah?"

"Well that does a lot of good considering I see him everywhere else."

"What do you mean?"

Haley took a deep breath.

"Lucas is following me."

"What?"

"You heard me?"

"Like actually following you around? Like psycho stalker status?"

"Yes."

Brooke couldn't believe it. He was a little weird and he could be rude but she had never pegged him as the crazy type.

"Since when?"

"Since a few nights ago."

Brooke swallowed hard. A few nights ago. A few nights ago Lucas had rescued her from sudden death in the freezer and she had also let it slip that Haley had left the diner in the middle of the day with a mystery man. He had been quiet the entire ride home, angry even, but Brooke hadn't read much into it. Maybe there was more.

"Oh."

"I'm not worried about that. I can deal with him later. Actually, I dropped by to see Deb. I haven't talked to her in a while. Is she up to visitors?"

"Sure", Brooke managed to smile. "Um, go on back. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

Haley walked back to the master bedroom and tapped gently on the door.

"Come in!"

She opened the door and was happy to see Deb sitting up in bed looking as healthy as a horse wearing pink silk pajamas.

"Wow. You, you look so much better, Deb…"

"I feel better", she smiled. "That little stint in the hospital did me good, I suppose. And so does the rest although I absolutely hate this bed rest deal and I'm dying to get back to the Den."

"I bet you are."

"Get on over here and give me a hug, honey."

Haley smiled and crawled onto the bed into Deb's arms.

"So you're really going to be okay?"

Deb nodded.

"I think so. The doctors seem pretty optimistic. I just have to learn how to take things slow"

"I'm sorry. I had no idea you were that sick…"

"Of course you didn't, Haley. No one knew, not even me. I guess I didn't pay much attention to all the warning signs my body was giving me."

"I know but I saw how much stress you were under and I wish I would have done something more to help you."

Deb stroked her hair.

"You're a good girl, Haley. You've been a great friend and employee…you're just like a daughter to me. You've really been there for me over the years and I appreciate that. I love you."

Haley smiled.

"I love you, too, Deb. And I'm so glad you're going to be okay."

The two embraced again and there was another knock on the bedroom door. It opened and Nathan walked in.

"Nathan!" the mother exclaimed, her whole face lighting up as soon as she saw her son.

"Hey, Mom. I just dropped in to check on you."

For the first time he noticed Haley. Their eyes met briefly, then they quickly looked away.

"Well, I'm glad you stopped by. How are things at the Den?"

"Busy but under control. I can handle it, Mom. Now how are you doing? Do you feel okay? Did you get enough to eat today?"

Deb playfully rolled her eyes.

"I am fine. I feel great and I ate all my food like a good little girl."

"You've been in bed all day?"

"Yes sir and I have the bed sores to match. Would you like to see?" she joked.

"Ha, ha, Mom."

"Nate, I'm fine. Really. I appreciate everything you're doing for me, son, but you don't have to worry."

"Um, maybe I should go…" Haley suggested softly.

"Oh but you just got here", Deb said. "But I do imagine you're tired with the double shifts and all."

"Yeah…"

"This is just like old times. Remember guys? It would be the three of us working our butts to the grind when I first opened. You guys spent so much time together, Haley, you practically lived with us."

"Yeah…"

"But things are going well now, right?" Deb questioned skeptically. "I trust my son and I know Nathan you're doing a hell of a job but I know that you don't want me to worry so that means you might tend to…well, sugarcoat things. So Haley, give it to me straight. Is everything really okay?"

"Yeah. Um, it's good. We're holding it down. Nathan is uh, really doing a good job."

Deb's smile quickly faded as she noticed the underlying tension between Nathan and Haley. Something was horribly wrong and she could tell.

"Haley…"

"Um, I'm sorry to cut it short, Deb but I do have to get going. I'll call you tomorrow to check in and I'll drop by later this week."

Deb nodded.

"Sure. Um, that's fine, sweetie, if you have to leave. I understand. Thank you for stopping by."

Haley nodded and smiled, kissing Deb's cheek before she brushed past Nathan without so much as a good bye. Nathan sighed.

"Look, I can't stay long either. We're busy as hell. I just wanted to see you…"

"What's going on, honey?"

"Nothing, Mom. I'm just busy with work."

"I'm your mother, Nathan. You know that means I can see right past you and something's wrong."

"Mom…"

"Did something happen between you and Haley?"

"No…"

"I know this is tough. You give up your life to return to the very place you couldn't wait to get away from and you did it all because of me. I'm so grateful but I can't help but feel bad. Because I know you aren't happy. And I know it can't be easy being stuck in the middle of two people you care about. Haley is your oldest and dearest friend and Lucas is your brother. This is a messy, unfortunate situation and as hard as it is, just promise me you won't take sides."

"I'm not, Mom."

"I know. He's your brother and he loves you and he needs you. But Haley needs you too. Remember that."

"Yeah…"

"And I know how much you love her…"

"Mom!"

Deb sighed.

"I know what it's like. It's rough loving someone who doesn't love you back."

Nathan felt his ears burn. Damn right it was rough! But those days were long behind him.

"It's cool. It's not like that anymore. I moved on a long time ago."

His mother nodded.

"I hope so."

"Look, I have to get back…"

"Alright. I know."

Nathan walked to the door.

"I'll see you, Mom."

"Nate?" she called out.

He turned around.

"Yeah?"

Deb winked at her son.

"Thank you. Thanks for everything."

He knew exactly what she meant. He blew her a kiss and headed out the door, saying good night to Brooke as he headed out to his car. To Nathan's surprise, Haley was sitting on the hood of his Camaro.

"Hey", he said surprised.

"Hey", she looked away, cursing herself silently for even sticking around. "Um, you're headed back to the Den?"

"Yeah. I have to close tonight."

"Yeah. Um, okay. That's cool."

"Yeah…"

She stood up and out of his way.

"So I guess I'll see you later…"

"Yeah, later."

"Later", she repeated.

Nathan opened the door. He watched her until she got in her own car. He cranked the ignition, then pulled up next to her.

"Hales!" he called out.

She turned to look at him.

"Listen, Nathan…"

"Look, I'm sorry for all this stuff that has happened. I know it's been weird between us lately and I hate that."

"Me too."

"It's never been like that and, I don't know…maybe we should talk."

"Nate…"

"I'm not on in the morning and neither are you. Could we get together? Maybe have some coffee?"

"I don't know…"

"Please", he pleaded. "Around nine a.m. at Starbucks, okay? You don't have to say anything. Just promise you'll be there."

And with that, he pulled off. Haley closed her eyes. She didn't want to meet him there. That's the last thing she wanted but she knew exactly where she would be come nine the next morning. She couldn't imagine being anywhere else.