kaos2405 Who can possibly do it better than Brooke.

nathenlover I don't recall saying that Haley was coming back to town. Brooke may have said something along those lines but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. As for whether Nathan will forgive her eventually well that remains to be seen.

Nathan4Haley I'm glad I managed to brighten your mood. Has been a very strange time the lastfew days in London. Thanx for such a complimentary review. Glad you think I manage to write Brooke's character correctly.

catc20 aka Cathy Glad you enjoyed the chapter. I have difficulty writing Brooke's character so I'm glad you felt that I did ok with it. Your wait to find out what is happening with Haley is over. Enjoy.

hilaryhilary I'm glad you thought I did ok with writing Brooke. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Britt As per your request here it is.

hesfadedme Glad you enjoyed it. Hope this one was worth the wait.

pinkpony Well at least I can still manage to surprise you sometimes. You haven't completely managed to infiltrate my mind. You're about to have one of your wishes fulfilled. Although it was actually something I've had planned for months.

RoseRows Don't worry this story has a hell of a long way to go. Glad you're continuing to enjoy it. Well once again I have fulfilled my part of things so the balls in your court.

unfolddream Yes it's fun writing Nathan that way. He is definitely going through a rough time at the moment but there is a hell of a lot still to come for him so guess you'll just have to wait and see how he manages to get himself together. Glad you enjoyed the chapter.

A.N I just want to say a huge thankyou to everyone who emailed and got in touch through reviews about the bombings over here. Luckily I think everyone I know is ok although I am still waiting to hear from some people. It's been as I'm sure you can imagine a very strange few days. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Thirty

Haley woke with the overwhelming urge to throw up. Lurching out of bed she made a dash for the bathroom only just making it in time before she began retching and emptied the contents of her stomach into the bowl. "You really want to punish Mommy don't you little one?" she said with a fond smile rubbing a gentle hand over her slightly raised stomach. "Would it have killed you to let me have a sleep in, after all it is the weekend." Standing gingerly from the floor she waited a moment to ensure that her bout of sickness had abated at least for the moment.

Making her way carefully to the kitchen she made herself some toast and a cup of weak milky tea. She carried her breakfast through to the living room and looked around barely registering the details of the room she sat in. The room was quite bland and she had done little to make it homely in the two months since she had moved in. Perhaps unconsciously she still hoped that if she did not allow this house to become home then there was some possibility that she would not remain here.

How she had gotten through the last two months she truly didn't know. Almost every waking moment had been consumed with thoughts of Nathan and the mess she had made of both of their lives. She still clung to the insane hope that one day out of the blue he would call her up and tell her that he was willing to talk things out but thus far her hopes remained unfounded. Hearing her phone ring she glanced at her watch and smiled slightly to herself. Right on time.

"Morning Brooke," she said brightly "and before you ask no I have not packed my bags and I'm not coming back to Tree Hill today."

Brooke started to speak but before she got more than the first syllable out Haley cut her off. "I'm not coming back tomorrow either Brooke."

Brooke sighed in frustration "Alright, alright," she said managing to sound only mildly put out. It wasn't as if they hadn't been having the same conversation for the past two months but she couldn't help but hope that one day her begging slash manipulation would have the desired effect and Haley would return to Tree Hill. But she wasn't quite ready to give up yet she had a baby due in less than two months that was desperately in need of a godmother and as far as Brooke was concerned no-one other than Tutor Girl could cut the mustard in that job.

"You know a certain little baby is still waiting on his God Mother to come to town?" Haley smiled at the wheedling tone in Brooke's voice. If only Brooke knew that there was more than one baby that would stand to benefit from her return to Tree Hill but there was no way she could tell her. The truth was she would love nothing more than to confide in Brooke about her impending pregnancy. She and Brooke had been friends for so long and it would truly be something special for them to be pregnant at the same time and be able to share all the weird and wondrous things that were happening in both of their bodies. But she knew that there was no way that she could share this news with Brooke. However wonderful a friend Brooke was if there was one thing Brooke was not known for it was her discretion and ability to keep a secret especially from Lucas. The last thing she wanted was for Nathan to learn that she was pregnant. If they were ever to mend their differences she wanted to be sure that he was not simply returning to her out of obligation to their unborn child.

"Tutor Girl are you still there?" Brooke asked impatiently leaving Haley to wonder what she had missed in their conversation because Brooke was obviously waiting for a response of some kind.

"Yes Brooke sorry I was miles away."

"Hah," Brooke said obviously put out by Haley's lack of attention. "So anyway Broody and I were talking last night and we were thinking we might make a road trip and come and see you, so why don't you give me your address and we'll be there next weekend."

Haley shifted uncomfortably in her seat on the couch although she couldn't help but smile once again at Brooke's persistence. For Brooke was not only bad at keeping secrets but she was also driven insane by knowing that someone else was keeping one from her. Brooke Davis did not like being left out of the loop. "Brooke I'm sorry I hate keeping secrets from you but I just really need to keep my distance from everything Tree Hill related right now. I'm still settling into my new job and my house is still a mess after moving in," she said looking around the spotless living room she was sitting in. She despised herself at that moment for the deceit she was so readily dishing out to her best friend. She did her best to push the guilt from her mind but it was a definitive presence in her psyche and no matter what she did it would not be banished.

Brooke made her blatant unhappiness with Haley's response more than apparent. "Tutor Girl quit making excuses if you don't want me there then just say so. We're too good of friends to be beating around the bush with each other."

Haley could feel a sob rising in her throat. "Brooke you have no idea how much I want to be able to tell you but I just can't."

"Tell me what?" Brooke said exasperatedly. "What's the damn secret this time? You know Tutor Girl this is the second time you have left town because of some deep dark secret don't you think it's starting to get a bit old. So why don't you just save us all some grief and tell me now."

Haley listened to Brooke's words and immediately felt her chest tighten in fear and anticipation. If Brooke continued this train of thought she could put the pieces together and then her secret would be blown completely out of the water. She couldn't allow this to continue. Latching on to the first thought that entered her mind she blurted out. "Is Nathan doing better?"

Brooke knew that Haley was deliberately attempting to distract her from her line of questioning but she also knew that Haley needed to hear this. "To be honest Haley no he's not really. He's going through the motions, going to work each day and hanging out with Lucas but it's like he's just treading water. He doesn't seem to know which way is up at the moment and who can blame him?" Brooke said. The truth was Brooke knew that more than a small portion of the blame lay at Nathan's feet also but she was hoping that if she kept baiting Haley then maybe she could get some sort of sign of life out of her. As far as she was concerned the behaviour of the two of them was bordering on the ridiculous both of them closing off from everything around them and doing nothing more than simply existing. If things continued this way then she was extremely worried for the welfare of both of them. Lucas could deal with Nathan but Brooke had made Haley her own personal project and she would not rest until she knew that the two of them were going to be ok and as far as she could see the only way that was going to happen was for them to be together again.

The guilt Haley felt at that moment was almost like a huge boulder pressing down on her and for a moment she struggled to breathe past the lump in her throat. Deep down she had known that Nathan would in all likelihood not be doing well but she had still held out some hope that maybe just maybe he was coping better than she was. That whole saying about absence making the heart grow fonder was once again proving to be true although in this case it was more like making it shrivel up. The only thing that was keeping her going out and living her life at the moment was the tiny baby growing inside of her and the knowledge that she couldn't allow the same fate to befall this one as she had her darling Schapelle. This time around she was doing everything possible to keep herself in the best possible health and had already on many occasions made many a mad dash to the local hospital's emergency room at the slightest twinge of pain. The nurses were all on a first name basis with her and more than one doctor knew her well enough by now to actually stop on the street for a chat. She was determined that this time around she would not be taking any chances.

"Tutor Girl what is with you today? Are you even listening to me?"

"I'm sorry Brooke I'm just really tired, things have been really busy at work."

"Yeah so you keep saying but you are yet to tell me anything about this mystery job of yours."

"There's no mystery Brooke, it's just a regular teaching job and no Brooke I am not going to tell you the name of the school so you may as well save your breath and not ask the question."

"Fine," Brooke huffed "But you know the only reason I keep asking these questions and pressuring you like this is because I love you. You do know that don't you Hales."

"Of course I do Brooke and I love you too. You're one of my best friends but I'm afraid this is just the way it has to be at least for now at any rate."

"I know, I know," Brooke said "I just worry about you and hey even Nathan sometimes, well at least when he's not being an ass."

Haley couldn't help but laugh. Some things never changed and one of them was without doubt Brooke's forthrightness. She never held back from giving her opinion even when or maybe that should be especially when it wasn't actually asked for.

"Anyway Brooke I think it's time you and I moved onto some other topic of conversation so why don't you tell me all the latest gossip from Tree Hill."

"Why do you think I'd have the gossip," Brooke asked in a fake injured tone.

Haley paused for a moment wondering if perhaps she was being slightly unfair to Brooke in treating her like she was some sort of gossip queen but before she could formulate an apology Brooke began speaking once again talking a mile a minute.

"Alright you obviously know me too well. Actually there has been one major piece of gossip floating around town and I'm actually in the prime position to be able to get the inside story."

"Brooke if you're about to start telling me that Nathan and I are still the number one topic of conversation then save it because I really don't want to hear it."

Brooke snorted "As if," she said incredulously "you two are old news no the big story going around Tree Hill at the moment is that it appears Dan has left Deb. You know that business trip he went on well he still hasn't come back and whenever anyone asks Deb about it well you know what she's like she puts on a brave face but it's pretty obvious something is going on."

"Oh no Poor Deb," Haley interjected genuinely upset for the older woman. She herself had never been a huge fan of Nathan's father but she adored Deb and she knew that this must have been devastating for her. "Is she ok?"

"Hell if I know," Brooke responded "she's not telling me or anyone else for that matter anything."

"Maybe I should call her." Haley mused to herself forgetting for the moment Brooke's presence at the end of the phone line.

"Or better yet you could come visit her," Brooke suggested.

Haley digested her words for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Brooke this is not just another one of your ploys to get me to come home is it?" she asked her point blank.

"Tutor Girl I can't believe you would think such a thing of me," Brooke said once again using that fake injured tone but Haley was not falling for it this time.

"Well Brooke even if that isn't the case the simple fact is I will not be coming home to visit Deb or anyone else in Tree Hill for that matter. A phone call will have to suffice."

Brooke made some disapproving noise under her breath but purposefully made certain that it was just loud enough for Haley to hear. "That's right Haley don't let any of us interfere in your efforts to run away and hide," and for the first time Haley detected some real bitterness in Brooke's tone.

"Brooke I know this is hard for you to understand but can you just trust me when I tell you that I'm doing what is best for everyone.

"Yeah sure Haley well you just keep telling yourself that. I have to go now." Brooke said before hanging up. Haley listened to the dead air at the end of the phone in shock she would never have predicted that Brooke would hang up on her like that and yet she had and now she was left with two very unappealing options. She could either call Brooke up and try to smooth things over or she could simply back off and give her some time to cool down and hope that when she did she may be a little more open to seeing Haley's side of things. There was of course one other option but it was not one that Haley particularly wanted to think about at this stage. No matter how horrible it was being on bad terms with Brooke there was absolutely no way she could even consider returning to Tree Hill.

Spoilers:- Nathan and Jason have a chat. Some less than surprising news for Nathan.