Sorry for such a long wait. Well...school's out now!


"This. Is. So. Good." Haley exclaimed.

"So we should keep these menus?"

"Absolutely. Try this." Haley said, putting a piece of sushi into Lucas' open mouth.

"Jeez…put all of it in why don't you?" Lucas said, his mouth full.

"Shut up. Don't talk with your mouth full." Haley teased.

"Yes dear."

Then phone in the kitchen started to ring.

"That's my mom." Lucas said, standing up and running to answer the phone.

"Hi honey. How's everything?"

"Great, great. How is it there?"

"It's nice…I'm still working on making things right. I just need to show him somehow that I care."

"You will."

"I hope so. So what have you been up to? I'm so sorry I haven't checked in."

"It's okay. Haley came home."

"Oh that's great! Is she and Nathan working things out?"

"Not exactly..."

"What do you mean?" Karen asked.

"He left for camp. It…it doesn't look good for them."

"Oh well, he can cool off and then-"

"Well another thing is…Haley and I…we're…" Lucas stammered.

"You're what?"

"We're together, Mom."

"What?"

"It just kind of happened…neither of us can explain it."

"But what about Brooke? What about Nathan? Did you two even think about this?"

"Yeah, we've done nothing but think about it for over a week. Brooke doesn't want to be with me Mom. Nathan left for camp, and he won't talk to Haley"

"Did you ever think they might just be scared?"

"I don't know…but I feel like this is right with Haley. You can't say anything to change my mind." Lucas said firmly.

"Well…okay."

"Really?"

"I always knew you had a crush on her." Karen laughed.

"Uh huh…you never let me forget it."

"Well…if this is what you want…"

"It is. I'm so happy."

"Well good."

"Thank you."

"I just have to warn you Lucas…you better be prepared for the fallout from all this."

"I know…I don't know what to do Mom…"

"If it's right, everything will fall into place."

"Then that's what I have to go with I guess."

"I guess so."

"Yeah."

"Well, I should go."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too."


"How is she?" Haley asked.

"Alright…I told her about us."

"Uh oh."

"Oh, don't uh oh me. Once I explained the situation she was happy for us."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah…um…well kinda."

"Uh huh." Haley nodded.

"It's fine."

"We should think about this."

"About what?"

"Well…how do we tell people?"

"I was thinking 'We're dating now' would be a good start."

"How do we tell Brooke and Nathan?"

"Oh. That. I don't know."

"I don't know what to do."

"It'll be fine."

"I guess so."

"So Hales when's the next time we can go to the café? Because I really want dessert."

"I just don't want to run into Deb. She'll throw me out or something."

"She can't give you trouble. My mom owns the place."

"Aww." Haley smiled.

"Let's go." Lucas said, standing up and taking Haley's hand.


"Hey Deb."

"Hi Lucas…Haley." Deb said.

"I guess we'll have two hot chocolates and those pastry things to go." Lucas said, squeezing Haley's hand.

Deb didn't respond, she just looked down at where Lucas and Haley were holding hands.

"Deb? Something wrong?" Lucas asked.

"No…just a second." Deb said distractedly.

"Okay." Lucas said.

Deb quickly got the order together and handed Lucas the bag.

"Thanks." Haley said quietly.

"Um, Lucas? May I speak to you for a moment…alone?" Deb asked, glancing at Haley.

"I'll be outside." Haley said, grabbing the bag and walking outside.

Lucas didn't say anything, he just waited for Deb to speak.

"You two seem close again."

"We never stopped being close."

"Do you…do you always hold hands like that?"

Lucas sighed.

"Deb…um, this is hard for me to tell you…but…we're together now." Lucas said shakily.

"What?" Deb gasped.

"Haley and I have decided to be a couple." Lucas said firmly.

"You can't be serious."

"I am…look I know its weird for you, considering everything."

"It's wrong!"

"That's for me and Haley to decide."

"You know what? Do what you want. Just stay out of my way. Stay out Nathan's way when he comes back." Deb snapped.

"I'm sorry that this is so complicated, Deb…"

"Lucas. How could you do this?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just really happy right now, and I know it's really complicated."

"You're betraying your brother!"

"He doesn't want to be with her. Brooke doesn't want to be with me. Haley and I want to be with each other. I am not going to shove this in yours or anyone else's face."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Because I wanted to be the one to tell you and not some stranger."

"Well now I know."

"Okay…" Lucas said, heading outside.


"That didn't look pretty." Haley commented.

"It wasn't. But now we've told someone."

"And how does it feel?"

"Good." Lucas said, putting his arm around her and pulling her close.

"What should we do now?"

"Eat these things."

"Then what?"

"I just kind of want to hang out at home. How does that sound?"

"Perfect." Haley smiled.


Haley rested her head on Lucas' chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat as he was sleeping.

Lucas opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Hey." He said quietly.

"Hi…did I wake you?"

"No, not at all."

"I was just watching you."

"That doesn't sound creepy at all Haley." Lucas teased.

"I was watching you sleep."

Lucas smiled and kissed he tip of her nose.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"Yeah. Did you?"

"Yeah. Listen…your phone rang earlier. I didn't answer it, but it was Brooke."

"Oh. Jeez." Lucas sighed.

"I'm sorry, its none of my business, I just didn't think when I looked at the caller ID."

"No…it's okay. I better check if there was a message."

"Here." Haley said, reaching over to his bedside table and handing him his phone.

"Yup…voicemail."

Hey…Lucas. It's Brooke. Look, I know our last meeting did not go so well. You have to understand, that was a lot you put on me. I thought you still had feelings for Peyton or something, and I was just so scared. Our first time dating didn't end well, and then that whole thing with Felix…it was just so messed up. Anyway…I'm sorry. Please call me. We need to talk.

"Are you okay?" Haley asked.

"She wants me to call her." Lucas said simply.

"I think you should."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I do. Look, Lucas…if we're going to start something here, I don't want you to have any doubts."

"Me either."

"I should try and get a hold of Nathan then too, huh?"

"We need to work these things out before we can really do anything about…you know…falling for each other and stuff." Lucas smiled.

"Yeah. I'll call him…soon."

"Real soon, promise?"

"I do." Haley said, kissing him before she went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Lucas stared down at the phone in his hands.


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