Nathan's chest rose and fell as he raced down the black top by the river, dribbling the ball in front him. Once he reached the tall white pole, Nathan jumped and dunked the ball into the basket. He let it bounce once back on the ground before taking it in his control again. As he wiped his face with his already damp gray tank top, a voice spoke from behind him.

"Lucky shot." The voice spoke and Nathan turned around. "It could use some work though."

Nathan smiled when he saw his brother standing in front of him.

"Hey Luc," he said, hugging his brother, "it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Nate." Lucas said as he pulled out of the hug. "Long time no see."

"Really." Nathan replied. "I haven't been dreaming much lately because I've had some trouble sleeping. But I think I really needed to see you tonight. I miss you."

"I miss you too. So how are the boys?"

"The boys are great." Nathan replied. "Andrew is at a stage where he wants to argue with everything Haley and I tell him to do."

"Sounds like you." Lucas said with a smile.

Nathan smiled back and continued, "James will be four in October and he's really rambunctious and energetic like you. And Cooper is finally out of those terrible twos and he'll be three in September."

"You've got your hands full. So how about Haley? How is she doing?"

Nathan's smile faded as he answered, "She's okay…at least she says she is."

Lucas squinted his eyes and followed Nathan over to the picnic table and they both sat down on the table top.

"What do you mean, Nate?" Lucas asked. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Nathan replied. "Nothing…yet, maybe something. I'm worried about Haley. She's sort of been pulling away from me lately. I finally got her to talk to me, but there's still something she's not telling me and I still can't understand why she's not. She says she needs to work out her own feelings, but I don't understand why she can't just tell me so I can help her work through her feelings about whatever it is that is bothering her.

"I love her so much, Luc, and I want her to feel safe enough to be able to tell me anything she needs or wants to tell me. I just don't know what I did this time to make her think she can't trust in me to help her."

Nathan and Lucas both fell silent, thinking. After a minute, Lucas gave his advice.

"Hey Nathan," he began. "I know you're worried about Haley and you think you did something to convince Haley that she can't talk to you. But have you ever considered that maybe she's afraid. Not necessarily afraid about telling you what's bothering her, but maybe afraid of herself and her feelings?"

Nathan considered that thought. After thinking about for a minute. He still didn't have an answer.

"But how can I help her not be afraid? How can I do that without knowing what it is that she's afraid of?"

"But you do know." Lucas said and Nathan gave him an even more puzzled look. "You know what Haley is afraid of because you've been afraid of it too."

"What—

Lucas interrupted, "Trust me, Nate. If you want to help Haley, if you want to get her to tell you what it is that she does want to tell you about, then try showing her that you are not afraid antymore. I know that you won't be afraid anymore once you tell her how you really feel. Every thing will be okay, Nathan, I promise. And you can promise Haley that too."

Lucas smiled and touched his brother's shoulder. He stood up and too kthe basketball from Nathan. From the picnic table, Lucas threw the ball and it soared into the basket.

Nathan woke, startled by his dream. He lifted his head off his pillow and looked at the clock. It was nearly four a.m. Haley rolled over in the bed, still asleep. She seemed to be dreaming too…