One Door Closes While Another One Opens

TWO WEEKS LATER

Haley was still in Olympia packing up her things when someone knocked on her door. She opened it and was surprised to see Trey at the door. "Hey, Haley, you're finally back!" he exclaimed. Haley smiled.

"Hey, Trey, um, what brings you here?" she asked.

"Well, you remember that blind date you refused to come on with me?" he asked. Haley nodded. "I'm so glad you did," he said. Haley looked at him in confusion. "We really hit it off," he said, smiling.

"Oh, that's so great!" Haley exclaimed, hugging him. Then, he looked around her apartment.

"Are you going on another trip?" he asked, seeing all of the suitcases. Haley bit her lip.

"No, this one's a little more permanent, actually," she said. He looked at her in confusion. "I'm moving," she explained. His eyes widened in shock.

"Where?" he asked.

"I'm going back to Tree Hill," she replied.

"Ok, I feel like I've entered an alternate universe here. I thought you weren't happy about going back there in the first place and now you want to live there," he said looking at her as if she were crazy.

"I've been hiding here this whole time because I was afraid of going back home and seeing everyone again," she replied.

"And now everything's ok again?" he asked. Haley shook her head and laughed.

"No, but its better than it was when I left," she said. She started to explain that at first her old friends had been really mean and cruel, but soon warmed up to her again and apologized. She even reconnected with her older sister Taylor and brother Craig, who was now married to one of her old friends. "I miss my home and my family and my friends," she explained.

"And what about your old boyfriend?" he asked.

"Ex-husband, actually," she corrected. Trey nodded.

"Even worse. What about him? Isn't he still in Tree Hill?" he asked. Haley nodded and then explained what had happened. "So, you still have feelings for him?" he asked.

"To tell you the truth, I never stopped having feelings for him," she said. Trey looked at her in shock. "He's the love of my life," Haley said.

"Gee, thanks," he joked. Haley's brow furrowed. "You know, as your ex-boyfriend who you were with longer, by the way, that's very insulting," he said. Haley laughed.

"Oh, please. You're so full of it. You know as well as I do that we would never have amounted to anything. You were flirting with everything in a skirt at the end of our relationship," she said, laughing. He nodded.

"Ok, that's true," he admitted.

"And if it hadn't ended, you never would've have hit things off with your blind date," she pointed out.

"Good point. But even so, I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by moving back to Tree Hill," he said.

"To finally stop hiding," she said.

Nathan walked into his brother and Peyton's house. "So, Nate, what brings you here?" Peyton asked as she walked out of the kitchen.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked.

"Brooke's out of town, Lucas is already here, my dad's still on his boat. Who else would it be?" Peyton said, shrugging. He nodded. "So, who did you wake up with this morning?" she joked. He glared at her.

"No one," he admitted. Peyton looked absolutely shocked. "You can remove your jaw from the floor now," he added.

"Are you kidding? Nathan Scott woke up alone?" she asked. He nodded.

"I'm off the market," he admitted. Peyton put down the bowl and cereal she had in her hand. She sat down on a stool that was pulled up to the counter and looked at him curiously.

"Who are you?" she asked. He looked at her in confusion. "What I mean is: why all of a sudden no dates?" she asked. He sighed. Peyton nodded.

"Uh-huh," she said.

"What?" he asked.

"You're finally admitting it, aren't you?" she asked.

"Admitting what?" Lucas asked, coming into the room.

"That he's not happy with his player ways and string of women," Peyton replied. Nathan glared at her.

"I didn't admit to anything," he said. Peyton looked at him for an answer. "Maybe I'm just ready for a change," he admitted. Peyton laughed.

"That change wouldn't happen to include a certain singer, who's moving back to town, would it?" Lucas asked.

"Of course not. Haley and I are over," he snapped immediately. Peyton tilted her head at him and smirked.

"You know, you answered that pretty quickly, Nate. Are you sure?" Peyton asked.

"Of course I am. I don't want to be with her no matter what feelings she has for me," he said.

"Methinks thou doth protest too much," Peyton quoted.

"Give it a rest," he snapped. Peyton laughed.

"You still love her and you know it!" she exclaimed.

"So what if I do?" he asked.

"So, you know she still loves you. Are you two going to get back together?" Lucas said.

"I don't know," he said.

"Well, you'll certainly have plenty time to mull over it since Haley's not coming back for another few months," Peyton said.

"What?" Nathan and Lucas both exclaimed.

"She signed a contract with that club she performs at. She can't leave for two more months," Peyton said.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Haley woke up and sighed. Her contract was finally over but she was almost positive that she was going to stay in Olympia now. She had told Peyton of her decision to not come back and when Peyton said she understood Haley didn't feel guilty anymore. She hadn't heard from Nathan in the past two months and she didn't think she could face seeing him all the time and not being with him. She had asked Peyton to tell everyone that she wasn't coming back after all. Then, there was a knock on her door. She ignored it because she was afraid that it might be her stupid landlord. She hated that woman with a passion. She was always so nosey and did nothing but complain. A few more knocks turned into banging.

She rolled her eyes but still did not make a move to answer the door until she heard a male voice scream, "Haley, it's me. Please open the door!" She was so startled that she ran right to the door and opened it without thinking. Nathan walked into the apartment without permission and walked right into the living room. Still shocked, she followed him without a word. He looked around and sighed. Then, he turned to look at her.

"Nathan, what are you doing here?" she asked when she found her mind again.

"What am I doing here?" he asked. She looked at him. "What are you doing here, Haley?" he asked. Now she was really confused. "You said you were coming back to Tree Hill and now Peyton tells me that you're not," he said.

"I don't understand what's so confusing about that. I changed my mind," she said. He looked at her.

"Why?" he asked. "What is so fabulous about Olympia that you changed your mind so quickly?" he asked.

"There's nothing for me in Tree Hill anymore, Nathan," she said.

"Then, why did you decide to move back to Tree Hill in the first place?" he asked.

"Because I thought there was, but I was wrong. I was really wrong," she replied.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'm signed to a good label here and I have a studio and…" she started. Nathan scoffed.

"This is about singing? Give me a break," he said. Haley widened her eyes in surprise. "You can sing anywhere, Haley," he reminded her. "Why don't you tell me what this is really about?" he asked. Haley chuckled bitterly.

"Fine, Nathan. It's about you," she said.

"Me?" he asked.

"Yes you! Isn't it obvious? I don't want to be in Tree Hill if you're there and I'm not with you. I know that I said I miss my family, but that's not the reason I wanted to come back. I thought that somehow you would decide that you still love me and want to be with me, but when I hadn't heard from you since I left, I realized that it would never happen," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, smirking.

"Are you really so immature that you're going to make me say it?" she asked angrily. He nodded. "I know that you don't love me," she said. He laughed. She glared at him. He closed the distance between them. He was still laughing at her as he looked down at her.

"Well, you couldn't be more wrong," he said. Haley stiffened and her face registered surprise and confusion. "Why do you think I'm here, Hales?" he asked.

A DAY LATER

Nathan woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. He picked it up and groggily spoke. "Hello?" he said.

"Nathan? It's Peyton," Peyton said. Nathan looked at the clock and groaned when it said that it was six in the morning.

"Peyton, you better have a good reason for calling me so early in the morning," he said.

"Your dad called. Apparently, he wants to see you and Luke tomorrow," she said.

"And you chose to call me now to tell me that?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. Well, I knew that you would be alone since you've kind of given up on women right now, which I think is pointless. You just need to find the right woman…" Peyton said.

"Peyton, you're rambling. I'm going to hang up," he said.

"Ok, fine. Bye," she said.

"By the way, don't call me this early unless it's a real emergency," he said. Then he felt a movement. A hand touched his shoulder and rubbed it.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"It was Peyton," he replied, turning over to face her. Haley smirked.

"What did she want?" she asked.

"To annoy me," he said, kissing her deeply. Haley giggled and wrapped her arms around Nathan as he continued kissing her. When the kissing stopped, Nathan exhaled. "I feel like staying here all day," he said.

"It has been a while and we're both tired," she said, laughing.

"I'm glad you're finally back," he said. Haley sighed and looked around the room. They were wrapped in each other's arms.

"Hmm. So am I," she said, leaning closer to kiss him.

THE END