A/N: So, there are three things for me to mention in this note. Firstly, I know this chapter is relatively short (well, it's shorter than all the others) but I promise that it will be more than made up for in the following chapters. As regards to the remaining chapters, for those of you who say its taking ages to get Nathan and Haley together, it's not going to take much longer. This story is nearing its end (I would say we are in the 'home stretch' but I know next to nothing about baseball so I'd probably end up using the metaphor wrong) but I'm not going to tell you exactly how many chapters there are left! And finally, I have now named all the chapters (if you use the chapter list at the top/bottom of the page to navigate you'll see) because I was bored of them being just 'Chapter 1', 'Chapter 2', etc.) All the new chapter names are titles of songs by Howie Day, taken off his album 'Stop All The World Now'. Oh, and to LiasonFan2: that link would be great. Thanks!

Chapter Eight

Nathan changed the station on his car radio. He was driving home from work and needed something to take his mind off Haley. Whereas most people he knew (for example, his father) didn't even bother to know their neighbours, he was having trouble lately thinking about anything other than his. The hot redhead, that is, not the 50-year old bachelor who lived on the other side of him. Somehow everything seemed to have some sort of connection to Haley. He had driven past the docks and thought about the conversation they had had there only a few days ago. He had also passed the lane to go to Jake and Peyton's house and recalled how excited she had been that he was going to meet her brother. He had even seen a girl eating an ice cream cone and remembered that Haley didn't like cones and would only eat ice cream out of cups or straight from the container for god's sake! To add to his dilemma all the radio stations seemed to be playing what Nathan called 'sappy' love songs, about a boy in love with a girl, and on one in three stations this love was unrequited. So not what he needed to hear right now.

Nathan looked out the window and realized that he was now on the same road as the café where Haley worked. As his car neared the café he quickly thought over the many pros and cons to stopping there – a significant con being the fact that his Aunt Karen now worked there – but eventually decided to forget them all. He parked and got out of his car without giving himself time to think over his actions. He strode into the café and looked around for Haley, surprised when he couldn't locate her. He checked his watch and saw that it was still her shift, since it wasn't time for her to pick up Annie and Michael from school yet. He thought of the possibility that she was sick, but told himself that he would probably know if that was the case. Then he heard a voice call out his name. Thinking that he had simply missed her in the crowd, Nathan turned around expecting to be greeted by Haley. However, the voice belonged to someone else. "Aunt Karen!"

Karen walked up to her nephew and gave him a quick hug. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I…I was on my way home from the office and I thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing on your new job."

Karen cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "And by that you mean you came in to see Haley."

"N-no! I mean, she's not even here!"

"Nate, honey, relax. I think the two of you would make an adorable couple. And you don't need to worry; Haley's just in the back."

"I-I we-" Nathan stuttered.

"Would you like me to go call her?"

"N-no."

Karen smiled. "If it makes you feel any better I think she likes you too."

Nathan stopped at this. "I-I really did come to see you," he said shyly.

"Of course you did."

At that moment, the back door opened and Haley walked out. Her eyes immediately fell upon the man and woman standing in the middle of the café. "Nathan? What are you doing here?"

"He came to visit me, isn't that right Nate?" Aunt Karen asked him knowingly.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and nodded more at the floor than anyone in particular.

"Well, I have to see to table 3." And with that, Karen left, leaving them standing there.

"Hi," Haley said, walking closer to him tentatively.

"Hey." He forced himself to look at her, feeling that it would seem rather rude if he didn't, and also a waste of his time since he had – despite his vehement denial of the fact – stopped at the café solely to see her. When he did finally look at her, he noticed she wasn't wearing her normal ensemble of jeans and a t-shirt. Instead, she had on a collared dress. "Is this a uniform?"

"Yeah, they decided that we had to get uniforms to look better presented or something. The owner's starting a franchise or something so…" Haley shrugged.

"But, Aunt Karen wasn't wearing one."

"They haven't got one for her yet since she only started working so recently. She's lucky, these things look ridiculous."

"I don't think you look ridiculous," Nathan said honestly. He actually quite liked the way Haley looked in the uniform. It was pink check with buttons all the way down to where it ended on her mid-thigh, and she wore it with sports trainers. Nathan gulped. This was definitely one image he would recall later that night. Scolding himself for being nervous, he did his best to stay 'cool'. "Actually, I think you look kinda sexy."

Haley felt her face heat up. "I-er-oh-thanks."

Nathan smirked. "Hey, I should really be thanking you."

"Why? – Oh!" Haley felt her face turn brighter, if that was possible. Taking a deep breath she swiftly changed the conversation. "So do you want to get something? Food? Coffee?" she asked, walking behind the counter as she spoke.

Nathan followed her, and sat down on one of the stools. "I'll have a coke."

"Okay." Haley was glad she had something to do that would stop her staring at Nathan. (Un)fortunately, a coke was not a very lengthy order to fill so she was back soon to place the drink in front of him. And resume the staring.

"Thanks." As Nathan picked up the drink and took a sip, Haley found herself staring at his arms. The short sleeves of his polo shirt showed them off and they soon formed the majority of her thoughts. They looked really…strong. "Hey…is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah! Everything's fine. Of course everything's fine. Why – why would you ask?" Haley then forced her mouth shut so that no more words spewed out.

Nathan shrugged, putting the drink back on the counter. "You just seemed a little spaced out."

Great. He had caught her thinking about his arms. Or rather, his arms being in very interesting places. Haley took a deep breath, forcing her eyes upwards before they strayed to his hands or anywhere lower down. "I'm fine. Just a little tired." That wasn't a lie, she thought to herself. She truly was tired. However, Nathan's presence seemed to dispel all feelings of fatigue in her. And replace them with a much more…exciting emotion.

Nathan nodded. "Well, I should get going."

"Oh, right." Just as Nathan was reaching for his wallet, Haley asked, "What are you doing tomorrow night?"

Nathan looked up. "Tomorrow?"

"Er…yeah." Haley said, still shocked that she had just asked him that.

"Nothing much. Why?"

"Well…" Haley began to explain. "There's gonna be this movie night thing at my apartment."

"You've been having movie nights and never invited me?" Nathan's tone was joking, but he took it to heart.

"No! Tomorrow's going to be the first one! Sort of."

"I am officially confused."

Haley sighed. "When we were in high school Jake and I, plus two of our friends, used to have this movie night thing. Then, when we started college, it was me, Peyton and Jake. But, when I got pregnant –"

"You stopped," Nathan finished for her.

"Exactly. I used to always have movie marathons and TV show marathons, but I don't exactly have much time for it now."

"But you were thinking of starting it up again?"

"Yeah. Anyway, there's a movie marathon on TV tomorrow night. It'll just be me, Peyton and Jake, and junk food. Annie and Michael will be sleeping. So…do you wanna come?" Haley asked, infinitely more nervous than she would have liked.

"Yeah, I'll be there." The two shared a smile, which almost caused both to revert to staring mode. "Oh, how much for the coke?"

Haley shook her head. "It's on the house."

Nathan smiled again. "Thanks. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow." Haley grinned, and it continued long after Nathan walked out the café door.