AN: Thanks for the wonderful reviews to: jeyton4ever, Nathanlvr (that arranged marriage thing sounds so cool. Unfortunately this story's already all written. I hope you like how it plays out anyways, lol.), Liz457, and chelle2911. You guys have no idea how happy it makes me to see that you are enjoying this story. Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews, they mean a lot to me!

Chapter 21

Where we love is home,

Home that our feet may leave,

But not our hearts. Oliver Wendell Holmes

Home. Home. The word followed Haley around all the way to Nathan's house. She thought of it as though it was rocket science. Dissecting the word and it's meaning, and wondering about it. She asked herself what her true home was. Is home where the heart is? And in that case, where is Haley's heart? The big house that she grew up in. The one she has been invited back to. It never felt like a home to Haley. But was it ultimately her home?

Another string of thoughts like those crossed Haley's mind as she finally came to the conclusion that home is where she loves the most. And no maternal, or paternal bond that she had with her parents could outlast her love for Nathan. Her heart did and always will reside with him. Her home, her real home, was with Nathan, not with her parents.

And it was that same string of thoughts that convinced Haley that she could never end things with Nathan to move back with her parents so her dad could get a partnership with Jared's father. She knew that Jared would pressure her more, and it might be very hard to fight him, but whatever was to come, it would be easier to fight him off with Nathan by her side.

She finally reached Nathan's house and let out a reassured breathe. What a relief, she thought, if this isn't my home, than it definitely feels comfortable enough to be. She got inside and found that it was empty. The clock read seven o'clock. That was weird, she knew that Nathan's mom was working and Nathan and Lucas were suppose to hang out after school but she didn't expect it to last that long. It was their first time hanging out and Haley was really nervous that they might get into a fight or something but since they had been hanging out now for three hours, Haley guessed that everything must be going rather well.

xXxXxXx

After about five minutes of thinking only of Nathan, she decided to call him, just to see what him and Lucas were up to. She went to the home phone and dialed his cell phone number she knew by heart.

"Hello?" He answered after the first ring.

"Hey! Where are you?" Haley asked, trying not to sound like the worried-girlfriend or anything.

"I'm still with Lucas at the River Court, why?" Nathan asked then looked at his watch. "Oh, man. Sorry, Hales, we completely lost track of time."

"That's OK," Haley said relieved that nothing bad had happened. "So you and Luke are really getting along, hun?" Haley said with a smile. Her best friend and boyfriend becoming friends... this could either be a very good thing, or something to be careful about, thought Haley.

"Uh, yeah I guess." Nathan said. The truth was Lucas was actually a really cool guy. Him and Nathan were pretty different, but they did have two main things in common. The love for basketball, and the need to be close to Haley. Nathan knew that Lucas had Haley's best intentions in mind and Lucas knew the same about Nathan, making them both respect each other quite a bit.

"OK, well when will you be back?" Haley asked, anxious to see him. She was still feeling a little- well, a lot- sad about what had happened, and she needed to see Nathan and kiss him and tell him she loved him.

"Soon. I'll leave right now. Sorry I kept you waiting, Hales. I love you." He said and then hung up.

xXxXxXx

Haley spent the next ten minutes just sitting in the same place, waiting for Nathan to walk through the front door. But she figured there must be traffic or something, and if she sat still doing nothing for a minute longer she would probably go crazy with all the thoughts running through her head.

So she got up and went into her room, and before she knew it, she was feeling very tired. All the emotions and drama that had happened that day just overwhelmed her. She lied down on her bed and shut her eyes and fell fast asleep. Something about crying just puts you to sleep like a baby.

xXxXxXx

About an hour later, she woke up to the sound of the front door opening and closing. She woke up and rubbed her eyes. They were still a little puffy from crying a couple hours earlier. She looked at the clock that read 8:07 p.m. OK, she knew it didn't take an hour to get from the River Court to here. Maybe Nathan had come home while she was asleep and this was his mother. Although, Haley distinctly remembered his mother saying that she would be back around ten.

Curious, Haley get out of her room and went to see that sure enough, it was Nathan who just got back.

"Nathan, what's going on? Why'd it take you so-" Haley said but she stopped abruptly when he turned around. Haley gasped. Nathan had a bruise right under his eye and his lip was bleeding. Haley's hand covered her mouth in shock. "Nathan, what happened?" She barely whispered.

"Um... nothing," Nathan lied. He had just had a really bad time. Not because of Lucas though...

Haley looked at him weirdly. "Nothing? Nathan, look at yourself. Tell me the truth, Lucas didn't...?" Haley asked, not being able to finish the question.

"No, Hales, Lucas didn't hurt me. It's just, well... I got the basketball hit in my face when I wasn't paying attention, that's all," Nathan said avoiding her eyes. He didn't want to lie to her, he hated liars and did not want to become one, but it was to protect Haley. He didn't want to burden her with his problems. When he finally looked Haley in the eye, he noticed that her eyes were all puffy, from crying no doubt. "Hales," He said concerned, "What's wrong? Have you been crying?"

"No," Haley lied. If he was going to lie to her about his injuries than she was going to lie to him about her crying. Besides, she didn't know if she wanted to tell Nathan all about her parent's deal with Jared, it would just make him feel uncomfortable. She had already made her decision, to stay with Nathan, she didn't need to drag him into the whole issue.

"Why are you lying to me?" Nathan asked, but not out of anger, just out of concern. If something was making Haley cry, Nathan wanted to fix it. And if someone was making her cry, than Nathan wanted to beat the crap out of them.

"Why are you lying to me?" Haley asked, looking up at his beautiful blue eyes that for some reason, seemed darker than when she had last seen him. Nathan sighed. She was right. They had already agreed to be completely honest in their relationship, and for it to work they had to be. But Nathan was not prepared for this. His whole life he got in trouble and danger, but he had no idea how hard just going out with Haley James might be.

"OK, I'll tell you," Nathan said, "I just got off the phone with you and...

FLASHBACK

"I love you," Nathan said into the phone right before hanging up. Haley had sounded weird on the phone. Not bad or anything, just anxious maybe. To see him. And the truth was he wanted to see her too. He wasn't used to spending a whole three hours not seeing her, not counting when he was asleep, because she always occupied his dreams. But he was spending a great after-noon just shooting hoops and talking to Lucas that he didn't even notice how much he missed her until she had called.

Lucas was about to say some comment on his 'I love you' to Haley. Of course, it was nothing that Lucas hadn't said to Brooke, but still, it was a guy's job to make fun of another guy for saying it. But someone beat him to it.

"Awww, how cute," Someone behind them spat out sarcastically. Nathan gritted his teeth and turned around, not surprised to see Jared standing there, the guy who held most of Nathan's hate. Lucas barely knew the guy, but he just recognized him as the guy that Haley got mad at at the kissing booth. Just one look at him and Lucas could tell that he was a brat.

"What do you want?" Nathan asked, impatiently. "Other than my girlfriend." He added just to piss him off.

"Look man, you can bag me all you want, but let Haley go." Jared said. He was wearing his designer sunglasses, as usual, and his face was one you just wanted to punch.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked.

"It means, you're keeping her from the life she was meant to live. Haley has potential to do great things that her family can offer her, but because of you, she can't do them. She has a chance to mend her mistakes and move back in with her parents and have the better life she was born into, but you're standing in the way of that." Jared said. Nathan had to say, he was surprised by this news, but he didn't show it. For all he knew, Jared could be lying.

"Right, like you care about Haley and what she could accomplish. All you want is for me to be out of the way so you can get with her," Nathan spat at him, "Well I've got news for you, a$$hole, she doesn't like lying, cheating, smug bastards like you." He said.

"As opposed to what? Poor, good-for-nothing losers like you?" Jared replied. "Look I'll say it one more time: Break up with Haley."

"Or you'll do what?" Nathan taunted. While Jared was six-feet tall and not tiny, Nathan was six-foot-two, and could hold up in a fight way longer than he could. Jared lunged himself at Nathan punching away at his face and gut, and Nathan was surprised at his strength. Lucas, who had just been watching their conversation decided that now would be the right time to intervene so he tried to get in the middle of them and break it up, succeeding, but receiving a couple of hits himself. In the end, Nathan turned out in better condition than Jared, as he had expected, but not by much. And Nathan knew that Jared had connections. If there were a 'next time' than Jared would definitely be able to find someone to beat Nathan.

"You need to get lost!" Yelled Lucas to Jared. Jared spat out some blood on the floor, smirked and then walked away. And Nathan swore he heard him laughing, which was a pretty stupid thing to do considering he just lost the fight.

END OF FLASHBACK

Haley stood still for a moment, not wanting to believe her ears, but knowing that it was true. She reached up and touched Nathan's face where he had been hit. Nathan winced a little at her touch, and Haley bit her lip to stop the tears that had formed in her eyes from falling.

"I really hate that guy," Haley whispered as one single tear rolled down her cheek. That was all she could say. "Let's get you cleaned up," She managed to add. They walked to the bathroom and Haley got out the first aid kit. She cleaned up his face and neither of them said a word.

When she was done, Haley asked, "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" Nathan looked up at her sweetly.

"You could kiss me..." He said softly. He knew it was a corny line, but it was the one thing he wanted more than anything. Haley looked down at the cut on his lip.

"Won't it hurt you?" She asked.

"The only thing that could hurt me right now is if you reject me." Nathan said with a smile, making Haley's heart melt. Haley took his face in her hands and kissed him ever-so-lightly on the lips to not hurt him. But he grabbed her waist before she could pull away, and intensified the kiss. His cut hurt like hell, but it was worth it.