A/N; I'm so sorry again for taking so long to update, I've been getting really lazy lately and I'm working on an outline for a Gilmore Girls fic so it's been tough getting this chapter out. Hope you all like it! Please review!

Song is Sway by Bic Runga

CHAPTER 13

Karen Roe wiped the counter clean for the third time in five minutes and sighed as she looked around the now empty café. The last of the lunch time crowd had just left, leaving Karen to begin her routine of restocking and refilling, wiping and sweeping. She poured herself a cup of coffee, grabbed the copy of 'Time' magazine that she kept under the counter and ambled over to the corner table by the window where she could people watch for at least an hour before the high schoolers got out and came looking for their next caffeine fix. She could hear Sally and James, her part-timers chatting and cleaning in the back.

Karen sighed again as she blew gently over the steaming cup, waiting for it to cool. Today was going to a long day since Peyton had called in sick and Karen would have to cover her shift at Tric tonight. She had hoped to go to the hospital to see Lucas and drop in the new books she had found for him at the used bookstore that morning, but until Haley came in to take over at 6 and she was needed at Tric at 7, Lucas was going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Flicking through the pages of the magazine, Karen was only half paying attention. She didn't even hear the sound of the bell behind her but she smiled fondly when Deb sat down opposite her, struggling with her bags and her huge bump.

"I swear, Karen, I have a serious problem. You have to take away my credit cards or I'll be broke before she's even born!" Karen rolled her eyes at her friend and chuckled softly.

"What more could you have possibly bought, Deb?"

"I went to Charlotte this morning and found the most darling baby clothes store. Did you know Christian Dior has a baby fashion line? I also ordered the stroller and crib. They're arriving next week." Deb gushed.

"What about the crib Lucas and I bought you?" Karen asked, almost offended.

"It's in her room, I love it. The new one going to my parents house. For when we stay there." she replied simply.

"Deb, how often do you stay at your parents?"

"It's just in case we visit them at Christmas or Easter or next summer or whenever."

"Deb, you do realise that she is never going to wear all of the clothes you've bought for her, not to mention all the outfits you got as gifts. She'll grow out of them within weeks." Karen tried to reason, but she knew there was no stopping Deb. As her due date neared, Deb was getting more and more excited. Karen couldn't believe that she was almost 7 months. It only felt like yesterday that she was in the car coming from the airport while Lucas broke the news to her. "Just don't go crazy, Deb. Although, a lot of charities will benefit from your generous donations in the next few months." Karen finished her coffee and closed the magazine. She got up and fixed Deb something to eat as they chatted easily about the pregnancy and the boys.

The bell rang again and Karen looked up to see a ghost standing before her. Those familiar brown eyes pored over her intensely but she had frozen completely, only for the smell of burning eggs did she jump back into the present.

"Keith" she whispered. Karen finally tore her eyes away from him to glance at Deb who struggled to get to her feet and greet her former brother-in-law. Keith rushed to help her, his eyes wide at her condition.

"Hello ladies." He smiled, glancing from one to the other.

"Keith, what are you doing here?" Karen finally managed to say as he hugged her.

"Nathan told me what happened to Lucas, and I got the first flight back here." Keith shrugged.

"Well we're glad you're here" Deb chimed in "We've missed you."

"Clearly" Keith looked at Deb's belly in amusement and poked her lightly. "Nathan left out a few details in his e-mails. That, and he waited 2 weeks to tell me about Lucas. How is he?" he asked, concerned.

Karen's mind was reeling. What e-mails? "Nathan e-mailed you?"

"Why don't we talk about that later?" Deb interrupted and pulled Keith back to her table, motioning for Karen to join them. "Keith, where on earth have you been?" Deb questioned as she tried to find a comfortable position in her seat.

"I've been in Chicago. When I left Tree Hill I managed to track down Emily and I got a job at an autoshop so Em and I got a place together. Things are working out nicely."

Karen stood there stunned. All of this was a lot to take in but she didn't have much time to process as the first of the High School crowd loudly entered the café. Keith opened his mouth to say something to Karen, but she quickly turned away. "I better get back to work." she mumbled as she shuffled behind the counter.

Keith looked helplessly at Deb, who smiled sympathetically. "I should go to the hospital - but first I want to know exactly how you got yourself knocked up, Deb Scott."

Lucas was engrossed in one of his 'Ultimate X-Men' comic books - which he hadn't read in years, but by sheer boredom, was now addicted - when a soft tap on the door jolted him back to life. Lucas's eyes widened in shock as his Uncle Keith poked his head around the door. "You must like the nurses in this place." he joked as he shut the door behind him. Lucas didn't make any reply. "How are you feeling?" Keith sat down on the chair beside the bed, its material beginning to wear down with all the visitors Lucas had over the last few weeks.

'I'm fine, Uncle Keith. How are you?" Lucas replied shortly.

"Actually, I'm good. I've been living in Chicago."

"Yeah I heard."

"You did?"

"Yup. I happened across your e-mails to Nathan. It was real nice of you to keep in contact. Congratulations on your new life." Lucas lifted his comic book and resumed his reading.

"I'm sorry I didn't call, Luke" Keith said sincerely. He understood why his nephew would be angry with him, he knew the damage his leaving had caused, but he still wasn't prepared for Lucas's coldness. He remembered the last time he saw that comic book - Lucas was 11 and Keith had bought it for him on their way to the zoo. He certainly wasn't that innocent, sweet little kid anymore. "I'll be honest with you Lucas. When I left here, I was so mad and hurt by what you did. It took me a long time to realise that you were doing it for me, to protect me. I convinced myself that you chose Dan over me, after all these years and everything he'd done. I had to leave - I thought the only two people I trusted and depended on had betrayed me. That's no excuse, I know. I wish I'd done things differently."

"It's a little late for apologies, Keith. 11 months too late." Lucas threw his comic onto the pile of books beside the bed and clenched his jaw in frustration. "Do you know how many nights my mom stayed up by the phone, waiting for you to call? Just a quick call to tell us you were ok. She didn't deserve that. Neither of us did."

"I know you didn't. I'm sorry. I fucked up and I want to make it up to you."

"I think you should leave. My doctor doesn't want me getting stressed out." Lucas said coldly and picked up his MP3 player, the sound of Artic Monkeys coming from the headphones.

Keith nodded and stood. "I'm glad you're ok, Luke" he said, even though Lucas was no longer listening.

"What was that?" Karen yelled over the noise of the band.

"A vodka with sprite- no ice, no lemon!" the gutsy teenager shouted back confidently. Karen raised her eyebrow and held out her hand expectantly. "ID?"

The kid rolled his eyes and walked away, shrugging and smiling helplessly at his friends. Karen eyed the group warily, just to make sure they hadn't sneaked any alcohol past her bouncers. She stifled a yawn for the second time in as many minutes as she grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge for the only two guys at the bar. I must smell or something Karen thought as she surveyed the growing crowd in front of the stage. The band were pretty good tonight - and they were very popular with Tric's female patrons. Karen took in their uncombed hair, unshaven faces and unwashed clothes and wondered what on earth young girls saw in that. If they couldn't even be bothered to put on a clean shirt in the morning, would they bother trying to keep a woman happy? Karen had always been partial to a clean-shaven, smart, good boy with an edge. The kind of guy who your father would approve of but could be bad without getting caught. It occurred to Karen, that every quality she looked for in a man both Dan and Andy had, yet they were both so completely different. Both completely different to Keith. Woah, where had that come from? she thought uneasily. Well, he had been on her mind all day, ever since he had shown up so suddenly at the café that afternoon. He seemed so different than the man he was when he left Tree Hill. Everything about him had changed - he'd cut his hair really short, his clothes were new - gone was the unkempt lumberjack look and the 5 o'clock shadow - now he was driving a saloon and wearing Abercrombie. It wasn't Keith she had seen earlier, it was Dan. There was one major difference that for some reason unsettled her more than the rest. Keith looked happy. Not just life-is-good-happy, but deliriously-I'm-on-top-of-the-world-happy. The only time she had ever seen Keith that happy was when Lucas was a child and the three of them would do things together. Things were very different now, Keith was with Jules, or Emily as she is now known, and Karen was with Andy, as much as she could be seeing as he was on the other side of the world.

As if jumping out of her thoughts, Keith suddenly appeared at the bar, smiling at Karen and signalling for a beer.

"Well how did it go?" Karen asked, knowing full well what Lucas's reaction was going to be.

"Not too good. He hates me." Keith said before taking a long mouthful of his beer and cradling it in his hands.

"He doesn't hate you. He could never hate you - he's just hurt. I was too."

Keith looked up quickly but lowered his eyes again when they met Karen's. Everything that had happened between them in the last 18 years was written in those eyes and Keith wasn't ready to face that just yet. "Karen, surely you can see where I was coming from? I was rock bottom."

"Of course I could - but you shut us out completely, Keith. You were the only father Lucas had and you rejected him - just like Dan." Karen felt her cheeks redden, she was unable to hide the anger she felt for her son. Keith could treat her whatever way he wanted - she could handle it - but he broke her son's heart and she wouldn't forgive that easily.

Keith avoided her gaze once again and picked at the sticker on his beer bottle, peeling it away. "I'm sorry" he mumbled as he looked up to face her and then, more clearly "I'm so sorry."

Karen backed down a little and placed a bowl of peanuts in front of her oldest friend. "Give him some time to cool down. That hospital bed has given him a lot of perspective the last few weeks. He'll come around." Karen smiled forgivingly at him and the anger melted away when he smiled back. So much for not forgiving easily…

Haley cleared her last table, turning the sign on the door to 'closed' as she passed. The evening had been pretty slow and she was looking forward to putting her feet up and strumming on her guitar. The whole day had been a complete nightmare - avoiding Nathan hand Peyton at school had taken up so much energy that she could barely concentrate on her classes.

Brooke had finally caught up with her and informed her that Peyton had took off that morning bumping into her was one less thing she had to worry about. Nathan, however, had proved to be a challenge as he spent the entire day hounding her, hanging outside her classes waiting for her to come out and it was even more difficult ignoring him. When she did manage to lose him, there was always some annoying basketball player or cheerleader who would text him her whereabouts. He wasn't giving her any space and it was driving her crazy.

Haley dumped the dirty dishes in the kitchen and idly made her way around the tables, giving them the once over. Passing by the door again, she stopped suddenly when she saw Nathan standing on the other side, peering in at her. Screaming inwardly, Haley marched to the door noticing that Nathan smiled as she moved toward him. She reached out and turned the latch, locking Nathan out of the café and smiled as his face dropped. He obviously thought that the door had already been locked and that she was going to let him in. She smirked at him and folded her arms across her chest, waiting for him to leave. Instead of walking away, Nathan pressed his forehead against the glass door and began to tap incessantly with his fingers. Haley rolled her eyes, ignoring him and went back to checking all the tables. Looking over her shoulder, Nathan was still tapping away and breathing against the door, creating a large foggy circle on the glass. Noticing he had her attention again, Nathan stopped tapping and drew a little heart in the fog with a H+N in the middle of it. Haley suppressed a smile and turned away again, pretending he wasn't there.

After a few minutes, a squeaking noise once again attracted Haley's attention. She turned around and gasped when she saw Nathan writing across the window with a magic marker. Frustration was building up inside Haley as Nathan continued to write across the entire window, but her curiosity peaked as she tried to read the backwards writing. After a minute or two, the lyrics to one of her favourite songs became familiar to her;

Don't stray, don't ever go away, I should be much too smart for this. You know it gets the better of us sometimes when you and I collide, I fall into an ocean of you, pull me out in time, don't let me drown, let me down - I say it's all because of you, all because of you. And here I go, losing my control, I'm practising your name so I can say it to your face, it doesn't seem right to look you in the eye, let all the things you mean to me go tumbling out my mouth, indeed it's time to tell you why, I say it's infinitely true.

Say you'll stay, don't come and go like you do. Sway my way yeah I need to know all about you. And there's no cure and no way to be sure why everything's turned inside out, it's still in so much doubt, it makes me so tired I feel so uninspired, my head is battling with my heart, my logic has been torn apart and now it all turns sour, come sweeten every afternoon.

Nathan waited patiently for Haley to finish reading the only lyrics he remembered from the song that Haley constantly listened to at full volume in his apartment just a few weeks ago. The words were burned into his mind. Several minutes went by before Haley slowly unlocked the door and stepped outside to face him. She looked up again at the lyrics. "It'll wash off if that's what you're worried about." Nathan offered.

"How did you remember all the words?" Haley asked softly.

Nathan shrugged. "It's kind of been stuck in my head. And I didn't sleep much last night so I listened to most of your CD's." Nathan looked around awkwardly "I've been trying to get your attention all day so that we could talk and this seemed to be the best way." he said, pointing at his handiwork.

Haley stood to one side and let him into the café. Nathan smiled gratefully. She wordlessly sat down at one of the tables as Nathan followed suit.

"Where do we go from here?" Nathan began the conversation tentatively. Haley hugged herself tightly and shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know. I don't think I can just forgive and forget."

"I can swear to that nothing like that will ever happen again. Ever. If you want me to leave right now, I'll go and I'll never bother you again, but I know you Hales, and I know you don't want this to end. I'll do anything to make it up to you…" Nathan pleaded

"Even if that meant never seeing Peyton again?" Haley looked at him sharply, saw him hesitate.

"I said anything…" Nathan cast his eyes downward and silently wondered if he could really cut Peyton out of his life. She was one of his oldest, best friends - could he do that to her? The answer, he knew, was yes he could. If Haley asked him to drive over the edge of the Grand Canyon, he'd do it.

Haley stared at her former husband whose silence now made her uncomfortable. Had she just asked him to give up his friendship with Peyton? Did she mean it? Haley wasn't quite sure if she was prepared to do that, if that was what she really wanted. A part of her had always been a tiny bit jealous of Nathan and Peyton's past - they had a lot of firsts together, things that only the two of them shared - but it was Haley whom he had married. She knew without a shadow of a doubt who he truly loved and that always outweighed the jealousy. Looking at him now, sitting in front of her completely wiling to do anything she wanted, Haley felt a little guilty. After everything she had done to him just a few short months ago, did she really have the right to be calling all the shots now? He had been able to forgive her, why couldn't she do the same. Maybe she was just getting what she deserved…

"Brooke told me that Peyton has gone to find Jake. Does that bother you?" Haley cut the silence.

"No. I hope she finds him - she loves him and he makes her happy. I want her to be happy. Is that wrong?" Nathan replied a little cautiously.

"What if she wants you instead?" she shot back

"That isn't the case. She doesn't want to be with me and I don't want to be with her. I want to be with you."

Haley sighed and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. She was so exhausted, she didn't sleep at all last night and she had a feeling she wouldn't be getting much tonight either. "Nathan, if this is going to work, I have to be able to trust you completely and I'm not sure if I do yet."

Nathan's eyes lit up as she spoke, filling with hope and excitement. "I promise I can make you trust me again." he interjected. Nathan reached for her hands and she didn't pull away this time. "I love you so much Haley."

"You sure as hell better. Now is there any other confessions you have to get off your chest before we put this behind us?"

Nathan thought for a moment and then fear filled his eyes. "Oh god, you're gonna hate me." Haley looked back at him worriedly, her eyes about ready to fill with tears. "I dirty danced with your sister on a bar." he blurted. Haley's shoulders slumped and she looked visibly relieved. "Oh thank god. Don't worry about that - everybody's done that. Let's just call it even." Nathan laughed and squeezed her hands harder. This is going to work he promised himself as he took Haley into his arms. It felt so good to have her back there again where she fit so perfectly.