Setting People Straight

TWO DAYS LATER

"Thanks a lot for helping me out, Haley," Craig said.

"Anything to get out of that house," Haley said, shaking her head. Craig laughed.

"Come on, it's not that bad," he said. Haley looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you kidding? Brooke lives there now. Peyton and Lucas come over almost every three hours," Haley pointed out.

"Well, it's not that bad for the rest of us, at least. I can understand why it might be an annoyance for you," he said. Haley dropped the shelf she was holding. "Haley, be careful! That's Brooke's and it's very expensive," he said. She was helping him move his and Brooke's stuff over to their new apartment that they would start living in once the wedding was over.

"What did you mean by that?" she asked.

"What?" he asked. Haley gave him a stern look and then widened her eyes as if he should know. "I meant that there's a reason that you don't like being there," he said, shrugging. He didn't see what the problem was.

"Maybe I should just rent a hotel room," Haley said.

"What? Look, I'll talk to Brooke," he said. Haley burst out laughing.

"Oh, please. I can handle Brooke," she said. "Besides, I don't need my big brother protecting me," she said.

"I think you do," he said. Haley looked at him.

"I'm only going to be here for a few more days," she said, laughing. Craig looked at her pleadingly. Haley shook her head.

"Come on, Haley. I feel like I've hardly spent time with you," he said.

"Whose fault is that?" she asked, looking at him. He had been going out with Brooke almost every day since she'd come back to Tree Hill. "Besides, now that you know where I am, you can always come see me in Olympia," she said. Craig shook his head. Haley shrugged and lifted the shelf back up and walked into his apartment. She put them down and sighed. Craig came in a few minutes later.

"Are you going to at least come to Peyton's club opening tomorrow night?" he asked. Haley laughed at him in amusement.

"She probably told the bouncer to keep me out," she said.

"Why would she do that?" he asked.

"Well, it is her club and Nathan will probably be there. She probably doesn't want him to get hurt," she said.

"From what I've seen, Nathan is more than capable of fighting his battles himself," Craig said.

"Well, according to Lucas, Nathan's not doing so well," Haley said.

Craig stopped at the worry in his sister's voice. Well, what do you know? Little sis still cares about him, he thought to himself. "And what do you think?" he asked.

"I don't know. He seems fine to me and even if he wasn't doing well, I don't think it'd be my place to say so," she said.

"Haley, Nathan loves you. That much is obvious," he said.

"So?" Haley asked.

"So, if anyone could get through to him, my bet is it'd be you," he said. Haley shook her head. "Why do you think everyone's so hard on you right now? It's because they know that Nathan is not doing well. They're being hard on you in the hopes that out of guilt, you'll try to help him," he said.

"But I won't," she said.

"Haley," he said.

"Can we just drop this, please? I don't feel like having another deep discussion," she said. Craig looked at her for a minute then he coolly got back to work. He sighed.

"So, you don't care, is that it?" he asked. Haley laughed.

"I wish I didn't," she said.

"Haley, if you care about Nathan, why don't you try to help him? You must realize that he's not happy," Craig asked. Haley nodded.

"If Nathan wanted my help, he would ask for it. The others have told me to stay away and Nathan more or less told me to go to hell," Haley said, walking out of the apartment. Craig decided to drop the conversation.

"Nathan, when did you get here?" Peyton asked, coming into the kitchen of the James' house.

"Lucas told me to come over. He said Craig needed help," Nathan said. Peyton looked at Lucas. He shrugged at her.

"Nathan, you are aware that Haley's helping, right? She and Craig just left with a load. They'll be back," Peyton said. Nathan nodded.

"And you're ok to be around her?" Brooke asked. Nathan nodded as if it were nothing.

"Any luck finding that singer yet?" he asked, changing the subject. Peyton rolled her eyes as she shook her head.

"I thought you were calling talent agencies in Boston," Brooke said.

"And when I said that I needed a group for Tree Hill, they either laughed at me or asked where the heck Tree Hill is," Peyton said shaking her head in annoyance.

"How about Raleigh?" Nathan asked. Taylor James came into the room.

"No one available for that night. Apparently, I have to book talent months in advance," she said.

"What're you talking about?" Taylor asked.

Nathan yawned and then said, "Peyton's trying to find a singer for the club opening tomorrow night." Taylor laughed.

"And you called Raleigh and Boston?" she asked. Peyton looked at her and nodded. She laughed again.

"What's so funny?" Brooke demanded.

"The fact that you called agencies miles away who you'd have to pay an arm and a leg to even get them to agree to give you some talent when there's a singer in this very town with no work booked and who'd probably do it for free," Taylor said. Peyton laughed in disbelief.

"Like whom?" she asked. Taylor looked at them in amusement.

"Like Haley," she said.

"I don't think so," Peyton said indignantly. Taylor nodded.

"Ok. Suit yourself. I'm sure no one at the club will notice the lack of entertainment," Taylor said sarcastically.

"I'd rather sing myself than let her," Brooke said. Taylor laughed.

"We've heard you sing," she reminded her. Brooke glared at her. "Look, I know all of you have this unhealthy, ridiculous grudge against Haley, but there's no need to let your club suffer because of it, Peyton," Taylor said.

"It's not ridiculous," Peyton argued. Taylor scoffed.

"Um, actually it is. It's not your business what Haley does or does not do. She didn't leave you and Nathan here has not said anything that leads me to believe that he hates my sister and he's the one she hurt. He is the only one who has the right to be angry at her," Taylor said.

"There's a thing called loyalty," Peyton pointed out.

"I prefer to call it stupidity. Haley would sing at your club for free because unlike you, she's not petty. And she's a platinum artist so you'd be crazy to pass up that kind of publicity," Taylor said.

Nathan looked at Taylor. Then, he looked at Peyton who obviously realized that Taylor was right as well, but was still struggling to make the decision. "She's right, Peyton," Nathan pointed out. Peyton looked at him in disbelief.

"Nathan! After what Haley's singing did to you, now you're getting her a gig?" Brooke asked in disbelief.

"That was a long time ago, guys. You need to let it go," Nathan said.

"You mean like you are?" Brooke shot back. Nathan smirked at her.

"I'm fine. I'm not the one who's lashing out at her. That's you guys," he reminded them.

"Nathan, I don't think I would feel comfortable having her perform in my club with you there," Peyton said.

"Would you guys stop trying to protect me from her?" he exploded. "I don't want it and I don't need it. I was fine before Haley came back, I'm fine now that she's here and I'll still be fine when she's gone," he said. Peyton sighed as she nodded in understanding. Nathan smiled because he knew that it was going to be fun to watch Peyton Sawyer ask Haley to play at her club. Just then, the door swung open.

"Okay, it's somebody else's turn. I've had enough," Haley said, walking into the room.

"Haley, you can lift things," Taylor pointed out.

"Not of that. I'm sick of that music," Haley said. Taylor and Haley both laughed.

"He's still playing that crap?" Taylor asked in disbelief. Haley nodded.

"Top 1000 Country Songs! It's like he bought the CD every year and then made an mp3 CD and put it in just to drive me crazy," Haley ranted.

"Haley, I have to talk to you about something," Peyton announced. Haley looked at her in confusion like she couldn't believe that Peyton was being nice to her.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Well, you know my club is opening tomorrow, right?" Peyton said. Haley nodded carefully. "Well, it turns out that I don't have any talent playing," Peyton said.

"On your opening night? That's going to kill your business, Peyton," Haley said. Peyton laughed.

"I know that which was why I was wondering if you would be willing…" she started but her sentence trailed off. Haley laughed.

"Are you asking me to play at your club for you?" she asked. Peyton nodded. "Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events. You coming to me for a favour, that is," Haley pointed out.

"Haley, I'm trying here," Peyton said. Haley looked at her in disbelief.

"Am I supposed to be grateful?" Haley asked.

"I guess I had that one coming," Peyton said. Haley nodded.

"Yeah, you did. When should I show up?" Haley said. Peyton looked at her in shock and so did Nathan.

"Um, nine," Peyton replied in amazement. Haley nodded as she left the room. She's changed, he thought to himself. She was obviously stronger now, but she was still the same forgiving and generous person that he had always known. He couldn't help but be proud of the way she had handled herself. Then he shook his head as he remembered what she did to him. He hated always being torn between his love and hate for her. It was tearing him apart. One minute as he looked at her, he felt an unbelievable anger towards her for leaving and giving up on him and for being happy. Another minute, she did something that reminded him of how she used to be and he couldn't help but feel a wave of love for her. He was so confused. It was like he was a ship that had capsized and he didn't know which way was up or down anymore. He was getting tired of it. Lucas tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow him.

"Let's go help Craig," he said as he walked outside and grabbed one end of Brooke's huge bureau. Nathan slid the mirror on top and held it in place as he lifted the other end. They walked out the door carefully with it and then loaded on the back of Craig's pick-up.

"Well, it's nice to have guys to work with. Haley's not much of a conversationalist these days," he said. Lucas and Nathan both glared at him.

"Okay, probably not the best person to bring up around the two of you. I get it," he said, holding his hands up in defence.

"You even push 'play' on that music and I'll jump out of the truck," Nathan warned. Craig looked at him in amusement. Lucas laughed with Craig. Nathan looked at them in confusion.

"Nate, Craig's not much of a fan of that music either!" Lucas said, his laughter reaching dangerous levels. Nathan looked at Craig in confusion.

"I only play that stuff when it's me and Haley in the car. It drives her nuts and it always has," he said.

"So you play it to get on her nerves?" Nathan asked his confusion apparent in his tone. Lucas put a hand on his shoulder.

"Welcome to the world of the James siblings," he said. Then, Nathan started laughing.

"Come on, let's go," Craig said, getting into the driver seat of the truck. Nathan sat in the middle seat and Lucas sat in the passenger seat. Craig grabbed a CD that Nathan couldn't make out and put it in.

I never promised you a ray of light

I never promised there'd be sunshine every day

I'll give you everything I have

The good and the bad

Why do you put me on that pedestal?

I'm so up high

I can't see the ground below

Then Nathan turned to Craig as the rest of the song was playing.

"Is that Haley?" he asked. Craig nodded.

"It sure is," he replied.

"I've never heard that song," he said.

"I wouldn't expect that you have. I doubt you've bought any of her albums," Craig pointed out.

"Albums?" Nathan and Lucas repeated. Craig smirked.

"She has two out," he replied. Nathan nodded.

"That's good for her," he said.

"What's that?" Craig asked.

"That she pursued her music career," Nathan replied. Lucas and Craig looked at each other and then Lucas looked at Nathan. Nathan caught him. "Stop looking at me like that," he said. Lucas' eyes widened innocently.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Lucas, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Every time someone mentions Haley, you look over at me to make sure that I'm all right. You can talk about her in front of me. In all these years, I never wanted her to be unhappy. Just the opposite," he said.

"Even though you're unhappy?" Lucas asked.

"Do I look like I'm losing any sleep?" he asked, shrugging. "I'm perfectly fine with the way things turned out. Haley and I just weren't meant to be," he said. Lucas eyed him doubtfully.

"When it's just you with other people, you're perfectly fine, Nathan. But when Haley's in the room, you clam up. You haven't really said anything to her," Lucas pointed out.

"And that's my business, not yours. My anger doesn't have to be yours too. Haley was your best friend long before this 'you're my brother' stuff," Nathan said.

"Yeah, and she skipped out on me too," he said. Nathan shook his head.

"She still talked to you and you went to see her in New York. Things were fine between the two of you back then. Then, she sends the annulment papers and you completely shut her out. I saw the unopened letters that she sent to you. There was probably three months' worth," he said.

"Why are you getting so worked up about this?" Lucas asked.

"I may not be able to talk to her myself right now, but that doesn't mean I like to see her hurt. I see what your coldness does to her, Lucas," Nathan said.

"My coldness, huh?" Lucas snorted.

"Okay, you two, that's enough. Jeez, I didn't mean for this to turn into one of your legendary arguments over Haley," Craig said. Nathan and Lucas both glared at him. Craig swallowed hard.

"We don't fight over Haley," Lucas pointed out. Now he smirked in amusement.

"Really? Brooke tells me that you used to warn Nathan to stay away from Haley back when they first got together," Craig reminded him.

"That was ages ago. I meant that we don't fight over her now. Besides, I'm engaged," Lucas pointed out. Craig laughed.

"Fighting over a girl doesn't automatically mean in a romantic sense. It wasn't back then, was it?" Craig said. Lucas shook his head.

"I was trying to protect her," he explained.

"Yes and now I am. Stop fighting over my sister because neither of you are being very nice to her at the moment," Craig said. Nathan opened his mouth to speak. "Don't you dare, Nate. Solve your inner problems on your own time. I appreciate the help, but I don't want to be a referee. Point your anger at who you're really angry at or shut your mouth," Craig said. Nathan looked at him in confusion.

"You're seriously telling me to yell at your sister?" he asked. Craig chuckled.

"No, I'm not telling you to yell at her. Just talk to her. It won't kill you," he said. Nathan looked down because he didn't know that it wouldn't.