A/N: Hi! This is the penultimate chapter, i.e. the next chapter will be the end of this story! I can't believe it's so soon! Anyway, I'll have more about that next time when I'm writing my last author's note!  Hope you like this chapter

Chapter Ten

Nathan leaned back in his chair and sighed again. He had arrived at the foundation dinner about ten minutes ago and still couldn't find any of his family. The hall was far too crowded to even find space to move so he had finally decided to sit down and hope that someone would find him. He glanced at his watch and wondered if he could leave – he had, after all, turned up like his mother asked him too. If he waited until he met someone he knew they would probably force him to stay longer, and there was somewhere else Nathan would much rather be.

Smiling, Nathan flipped open his phone and dialed. She picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hey gorgeous."

Back at her apartment, Haley felt her heat flutter at the mere sound of his voice. "Nathan? I thought you were at your Mum's dinner thing?"

"I am, but it's really boring. I can't even find anyone here, it's so crowded. I could always come home and then come over," Nathan offered.

Haley grinned. "As tempting as that sounds, you know you have to stay. It means a lot to your Mum. Besides, you spent the whole day with me."

Nathan smirked as he remembered the day's events. Haley had woken him up, as promised, and then he had had breakfast with her and the kids, and spent the morning with them. After they had left because Haley had work, Nathan had hung around his apartment for a while, before heading out to the café and spending the rest of his time there. "So," Nathan joked, "you've got fed up of me already?"

"No! I would very much like to see you again, but I know and you know, that you have to be there."

Nathan groaned. She was right. As Always. "Well, if this thing finishes early can I come see you?"

"Of course. Now go find someone you know."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed after a few seconds.

"Yes?"

"You didn't hang up."

"Well, I was waiting for you to hang up," he explained.

"Well, I was waiting for you." They both paused and grinned when they realized what they had said. "We're not going to have that fight, are we?"

"I think we are."

Haley giggled.

"Well, I can see Uncle Keith nearby so I should probably talk to him before he disappears in the crowd."

"Yeah, I have to give the kids their dinner."

"Give my love to Annie and Michael."

"I will. See you tomorrow?"

"Or tonight. You never know, you might get lucky."

Haley laughed again. "I'll keep my hopes up, then." Letting out a deep breath, she finally said, "Bye."

"Bye." Very reluctantly, Nathan hung up and walked over to his Uncle Keith.

"Nate, there you are," Keith said when he saw him. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your grin is threatening to swallow your whole face. Now, I know we get along well, but I don't think you like me that much. So, I'm guessing it's a girl…possibly Haley?"

Nathan had informed Lucas about him and Haley when he called him that afternoon, so he momentarily wondered whether his brother had told Keith, but Keith seemed more like he was teasing Nathan than that he actually knew. Nathan paused before saying, "Haley and I are dating."

"Yes!"

Nathan and Keith turned around to see who had shouted. "Katie?"

"So you finally worked up the guts to ask her out, huh? Or did you two just suddenly start passionately making out on the couch?"

Nathan stared with wide eyes at his cousin and hoped that his voice wouldn't give away his embarrassment. "Er…I don't think I'm gonna answer that question."

Karen came up to the group as Keith started laughing. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nathan got together with Haley," Katie said.

Karen looked confused. "What's funny about that? Haley's a lovely girl; I'm very happy for you Nathan."

"Thanks, Aunt Karen."

"No, Mum, Dad was laughing at something else I said. And I like Haley too; she'd definitely be a great cousin-in-law."

It was Nathan's turn to be confused. "What do you mean 'cousin-in-law'?"

"Well, you're my cousin, so when you get married she'll be my cousin-in-law."

"Katie, we're dating, we're not getting married," Nathan said seriously.

"Well, obviously not today, but someday! You have to marry her Nathan, 'cause I need another cousin-in-law. If I have to hang out with Brooke again I'll go crazy!"

"What?"

Karen smiled. "Lucas and Dan started talking business so Deb asked Katie to show Brooke around the place."

"I take it wasn't much fun," Keith said.

"For, like, every single person I introduced her to she had something to say about their outfit. I don't how I survived without running away and leaving her somewhere."

"Brooke's not that bad," Nathan said honestly. "You just have to get to know her."

"Yeah, well, you know her real well," Katie raised her eyebrow at him.

"Katie!" Karen exclaimed. "Why don't we go take a look around?"

"Okay, Mum. Say hi to Haley for me, will you?"

"Yeah, ok." Nathan nodded as his aunt and cousin walked off.

"So, Nate, do you think –" Keith began, but was interrupted by a loud booming voice coming from the left of them.

"Nathan!"

Nathan closed his eyes with a sinking heart. He didn't have to turn around to recognize that voice. Its owner soon appeared at their side.

"Dan." Keith tried to keep the situation light, but Dan took no notice of his brother.

"Nathan, we need to talk."

……………

Haley quietly tip-toed out of her children's bed room and closed the door behind her, making sure to leave a small gap. She walked back to the kitchen and as she finished putting away the dishes her thoughts drifted back to Nathan. Ever since he had phoned and said he might come there tonight she kept checking the clock to see the time. Whereas the time they had spent together that morning had gone by so fast, now that she was waiting for him time seemed to pass really slowly.

She recalled the day with a smile. He had surprised her by turning up at the café less than an hour after they said goodbye at the apartment. He said that he had missed her and Haley was so happy that she kissed him in front of everyone. She was pretty embarrassed about that afterwards, but Nathan was worth it.

The phone rang, pulling Haley out of her thoughts. "Hello?"

"Hey, future-step-sister-in-law."

"Oh, Peyton."

"Gee, you sound super pleased to hear from your best friend who you won't see till Monday."

Haley smiled. "I am glad to hear from you; I just thought it was Nathan."

"Oh, how is lover boy?"

Before Haley could answer she heard Jake grumbling in the background and laughed. When Peyton and Jake had arrived at Charleston they had phoned, and Haley had spoken to them as well as her Mum and step Dad. Jake hadn't been too pleased when she had told them about Nathan. "What did Jake just say?"

"Oh, just something about 'doesn't Nathan ever go to his own apartment'," Peyton said. "Never mind him; he's left the room, so now you can give me details! What exactly happened last night?"

Haley took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her friend everything that had happened after she left.

………

Haley lifted her head up from the couch and pressed the stereo remote to change the song. After her conversation with Peyton she had been listening to some CDs with the volume on low so Annie and Michael wouldn't wake up. The next song began to play; it was slow and dreamy and reminded her of Nathan. Speaking of Nathan…

There was soft knock on the door, causing Haley to jump up from her seat. She put the remote down on the couch and smoothed out her hair before opening the door. "Hi," she smiled at Nathan.

He smiled back and then kissed her. "Hi," he said once he had broken away.

"Hi," she repeated. "I didn't think you'd come so early."

"I had to get out of there." He walked inside and she closed the door behind him. "You were listening to something?" he asked when he heard the music.

"Oh, yeah, I was just…killing time."

"Waiting for me?" Nathan raised his eyebrows at her.

Haley rolled her eyes at him although this was exactly was she had been doing. "Just relaxing."

"Nice song," he commented as he sat on the arm rest of the couch.

Haley smiled from where she stood opposite him. "Well, it's not exactly Kanye West, or whoever the latest rapper is, but I like it."

"What's to say I don't? I listen to more than just rap music, you know."

"You're a fan of Sarah McLachlan?"

"She has her moments." Nathan said, standing to move towards Haley. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, before kissing her softly and slowly. Then he moved his head to rest against hers.

They remained like that for a few minutes, Haley idly playing with the buttons of his white shirt and breathing him in. Finally she asked him, "So, what happened at the dinner?"

Nathan sighed. "I ran into my Dad."

"You knew he was going to be there."

"Yeah, but I was kind of hoping I could avoid him the whole night. No such luck."

Haley pulled slightly out of his embrace to look into his face. He was smiling, but something was obviously wrong. "Well, what did he say?" A thought crossed her mind and she added, "Was it something about us?"

"No – well, not exactly." He looked down at Haley and the sadness on her face made Nathan want to physically hurt Dan for making her upset. And not for the first time. "It's not like that, Hales, well it's not just about us –"

"You're confusing me."

He took a deep breath and began to explain. "Last week I got offered a promotion at my office."

"That's great. Isn't it…" she added when Nathan didn't seem too enthused.

"I didn't take it."

"Why?"

"Because I'd be on the road all the time and I don't want that. My Dad, however, wants me to take the job. This isn't the first time he's 'talked' to me about it."

"Oh…but, I didn't even know about the job."

"Uh…Dan sort of found out about us and he thinks that now I'm not taking it because of you."

"Oh."

"And he's sort of right."

"What?"

"Look, I don't want to be traveling non-stop like I'd have to, but I also don't want to be away from you that long. Or from Annie and Michael."

Haley had to bite her lip to stop her smile from spreading all over her place. "I don't want to come between you and your family…"

"Haley, it doesn't matter. My family does like you; Dan's just being an ass. I don't care if disowns me or –"

"He's disowning you?" Haley asked, shocked.

"What? No. He's taking away the apartment though."

"What?"

"My apartment. My Dad bought it and he said that he's taking it away now."

"But, where will you live?"

"I'll figure something out. Uncle Keith was there and he said I could stay with him, Aunt Karen and Katie if I wanted, till I could find another place. Then, my Mum got really mad when she found out and said she'd talk to Dan. Don't worry about it, Haley," he added when he saw her concern. "It's okay."

She hugged him tightly and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's not you fault," he said and kissed her head. For a while the only sound that could be heard was the music from the stereo; then, "Do you want to dance?"

"What?"

"Dance. Do you want to?"

"But, we're just here, in my living room –"

"So?" Nathan held his hand out to her and she placed hers in it. He led her away from the couch and into the centre of the room. They slowly swayed to the music, holding each other close.

"It'll be really strange; you not living next door," Haley admitted.

"Yeah. I think that's the only thing I'm gonna miss about the apartment." As he said this, an idea popped into Haley's mind. She pondered whether to share it with him or not, but the decision was taken out of her hands when he noticed the look on her face. "What is it?" he asked.

"Er…um…you know, you could always live here…"

"Here?" Nathan wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly.

"Yeah. I mean, only if you want to, and not permanently, if you don't want, just until you find your own place." When Nathan didn't say anything she wondered why she had opened her mouth. "It was just an idea, forget it, I –"

"No, Haley, I'd love to move in with you."

"You would?"

"Yeah. I'm here so often sometimes it feels like I am living here. I was just wondering whether the kids would be okay with it."

"Are you kidding? Annie and Michael love you. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

"Well, Jake's gonna love this," Nathan said, shaking his head.

"He doesn't hate you."

"Clearly you haven't seen the looks he's been giving me."

"It can't have been that bad."

"Let's just say that if he was a Jedi knight, I'd be dead by now."

Haley laughed. "He'll come around. With Peyton's help."

"How's she going to manage that?"

"The force." Nathan grinned at Haley's comment, but she noticed that he hadn't actually accepted yet. "So…are you staying?"

"Well, that depends on one thing."

"What's that?"

"Will I be sharing or sleeping on the couch?"

"Oh, you will most definitely be sharing."