A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese.

Disclaimer: Don't own OTH


Chapter Four

That evening, it was just Lucas, Nathan, Haley and Jewel since Rachel was working late again. Haley noticed how relieved Lucas was. She couldn't help but be amused by it. She then started the conversation by asking a question. "So what does Rachel do?"

"Do you know of the club Tric?" Nathan asked her. Haley nodded. "She owns and manages it."

Haley was surprised. "She owns it? Wow, that must keep her pretty busy. Especially with all of the bands that go through there."

"The only reason that she was able to buy it is because our family has money," Lucas replied. Nathan gave him a stern look. "What? It's true. She certainly didn't buy it with hers because she doesn't have any." He knew he was getting his brother upset so he quickly turned back to Haley. "How did you know about Tric? I thought you were new here."

Haley laughed. "I may be new in town, but I'm not new to Tree Hill. I've been here before," she replied. "That's how I knew that I wanted to move here."

"Did you come here for the concerts at Tric?" Lucas asked her curious.

Haley nodded. "Yeah, my sister Quinn and I decided to see how different a concert in a small town was to the big city. Apparently, Tric was just as popular as the concerts in Wilmington."

Nathan smiled proudly. "Yeah, Rachel and I do a pretty good job in finding great bands to play at the club."

Lucas just rolled his eyes. He then changed the subject. "Have you lived anywhere else besides Wilmington?" he asked her.

"Well, I actually lived in California while I was attending Stanford University," Haley replied. Lucas and Nathan were impressed. "Even though I wanted to distance myself from my family, I didn't want to be that far away. But I also didn't want to go back to Wilmington. So that's why I chose Tree Hill. It is far away enough for me to let me live my own life, but it is also close enough for me to visit my parents and family in Wilmington."

"Did you like California?" Lucas asked her anxiously. "Was it nice there?"

Nathan knew what his brother was thinking. "I'm sure it is, but it's nothing compared to North Carolina," he said. "Tree Hill is home."

Lucas turned to him. "Maybe it is to you and Rachel. But I don't want to live here all of my life."

"I understand that, but that doesn't mean you should take off and get married the first chance you get," Nathan told him before they both remembered that they still had a guest. They became quiet before he spoke again. "We'll talk about this later."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before the conversation started up again. "So what made you choose Stanford?" Lucas asked her.

"It had been my dream to attend Stanford for years," Haley replied. "It was hard to leave my family, but I managed to come home every summer. It was harder during the holidays so I stayed with my boyfriend Julian in Los Angeles." She then corrected herself. "Well, he's my ex-boyfriend now. We broke up a couple of months ago."

Nathan nodded understandingly. "Let me guess, he didn't want to follow you back to North Carolina?" Haley didn't say anything, but Nathan could tell from her expression that he was right. "That long distance relationship never works out," he said. "Trust me."

Haley gave him a look. "Don't you think I don't know that? Julian and I were living in different cities. The only time we saw each other was holidays. What makes you such an expert anyway?"

Nathan immediately apologized for his rudeness. "I'm sorry. That was totally out of line. I only know because I was in a long distance relationship myself."

"Wasn't that with Renee? I didn't like her either," Lucas told his brother.

His brother gave him a look as he replied, "To be fair, I don't like Lindsey."

"Thank you for the lovely dinner," Haley told Nathan and Lucas as she got up from her chair. She really didn't want to get caught in the middle of their argument. "I haven't had a chance to cook my meals yet. And thank you for letting Jewel come over too. I really didn't want to have her stay in the house more when she already has been cooped up in there all day."

Nathan gave her a comforting smile. "It was no problem. You know that we love dogs," he replied. Haley was about to clean off her plate when Nathan stopped her. "You're the guest. Sit down and relax."

"I'll do the dishes," Lucas offered as he got up from his own chair and took Haley's plate from her.

"Do you want dessert or do you want to wait a few minutes?" Nathan asked as he went to the freezer. "I'm afraid that all we have is Rocky Road though."

"It's his favorite flavor," Lucas whispered to her. "Rachel didn't think about me when it came to buying ice cream."

"Rocky Road is fine," Haley told Nathan. "Although, I do prefer Mint Chocolate Chip."

Nathan gave her a smile. "I'll keep that in mind next time," he said as he got the ice cream container out. Jewel suddenly started growling as they heard the garage door open. "It sounds like Rachel is home."

Haley quickly held back Jewel as Rachel came into the kitchen. She was about to greet her husband when she saw their guests. She plastered on a fake smile as she said, "You must be our new next door neighbor. I'm Rachel."

Even though it was obvious that Rachel didn't want her there, Haley knew that she had to be polite. "Yes, I'm Haley," she said before she turned to a growling Jewel. "And this is Jewel." She then tried to shush her, but it didn't work. "I'm very sorry. She doesn't like strangers."

"Then why did you bring her over here if she's uncomfortable with strangers?" Rachel snapped.

"Because I invited both of them over here for dinner," Nathan said, immediately defending Haley. "And she is comfortable with me and Lucas."

Lucas had a feeling that there was an argument coming on. He decided to get out of there right away. "Come on, Ms. James. I'll help take her back over to your house," he offered as he walked over to Haley and Jewel.

However, Nathan stopped him. "That's enough sucking up to me, Lucas. And they don't have to leave."

"Nathan, maybe I should go. I have papers to grade anyway," Haley replied. "Thanks again for the dinner." She then excused herself before leading Jewel out of the room and towards the front door.

Nathan waited until he heard the front door close before turning back to Rachel. He wasn't happy and he glared angrily at his wife. "What the hell was that, Rachel? Could you be anymore rude to her?"

Rachel sighed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting us to have guests tonight. Especially not a dog."

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Haley. In fact, I want you to do it right now," Nathan told her. Rachel was about to protest before he went on. "You go and apologize to Haley or we won't be doing it until you do." He knew that that was her weakness.

Sure enough, she groaned at the thought of not having sex with her husband. She knew that he was serious and couldn't be talked out of it. "Alright. I'll go and apologize to our new neighbor."

Nathan watched her leave before he turned to his brother, who was scooping out some ice cream into a bowl. "Ok, what plans did I ruin when I grounded you?" he asked him as he raised his eyebrows.

Lucas wasn't surprised that his brother figured it out. "I want to take Lindsey to see the Wreckers this weekend."

Nathan frowned. "When did you get tickets to that?"

"It was months ago," Lucas replied as he showed him the tickets. "They're really great seats too."

"When did you plan to ask me if you could go?" Nathan asked him.

"I thought that it was obvious since I usually go out with Lindsey on the weekends," Lucas replied.

Nathan sighed. He could see that his brother was close to pleading. He finally spoke. "I'll let you go on one condition. You don't stay over at Lindsey's house. You pick her up, take her to the concert and take her back to her house. That's it."

Lucas gave him a wide smile. "I promise. Thanks, Nate. I owe you one."

Nathan wasn't even listening. Instead, he went outside to make sure that Rachel had apologized to Haley and had done it nicely. There had been times that she hadn't. As he reached Haley's house, he could see that Rachel and Haley was having a nice conversation.

They suddenly turned towards him when they saw him coming. Rachel gave him a smile as he walked over them. "Hey, why didn't you tell me that she's a fan of my club?" she asked him as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Because you didn't give me the chance," Nathan replied.

"At the club, I heard a rumor that Peyton had her baby," Rachel said as she turned back to Haley. "And you were going to substitute her classes."

Nathan wasn't sure what Rachel was getting at. "Well, that isn't a rumor. It's true. Peyton had her baby and it's a boy."

Rachel was surprised. "Really? I thought she was having a girl." There was a short pause before she spoke again. "So I assume the other rumor is true too? You are going to take over her classes?"

Haley nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Well, I wish you luck. Lucas and his classmates can be a handful," Rachel replied before she excused herself. "It was nice meeting you, Haley." She then turned to her husband. "I'll see you at home." She was about to head back to her house when they saw a car pulling up in front of the Scott house.

Nathan smiled to himself as he recognized the car. "Who is that?" Haley asked him curiously, noticing the happy look on his face.

"It's the proud new father," Nathan told her as he gestured her to follow him. She did as he and Rachel walked over to Jake's car. Nathan waited until Jake had climbed out before speaking again. "Hey, there is the new father. How are your wife and son doing?"

Jake smiled proudly. "Both Peyton and Ryan are doing great."

"So you did choose a name for that new baby. I heard that you couldn't come up with a name because you two were expecting a girl," Rachel replied. "So what's his full name?"

Jake laughed. "Yeah, I know. Don't tell Peyton, but I had a feeling that it was going to be a boy. And his full name is Ryan Jacob Jagielski. I picked the first name and Peyton picked his middle name. She thought he deserved to be named after his daddy."

"Well, I agree with her," Nathan replied as he turned to Haley. "Did you two ever get a proper introduction?"

"No, we didn't," Jake replied. He then gave Haley a wide smile. "Hi, I'm Jake Jagielski. I believe that you helped my wife when she first went into labor."

Haley smiled in return. "I'm Haley James."

"Peyton would love it if you could go and visit her in the hospital," Jake told her. "She wants to thank you again for helping her."

"It was no problem," Haley assured him. "I was just at the right place at the right time."

"Still, we want to repay you somehow," Jake said. "If you didn't stop by, Peyton could have waited until the afternoon to go to the hospital. She can be a little stubborn sometimes. I hope that my son doesn't inherit that trait."

"You never know," Nathan said as he turned to the girls. "Why don't we celebrate with some ice cream? I'm sure Lucas didn't eat it all."

Jake laughed. "That sounds perfect."

Nathan turned to Haley. "Are you still willing to join us for dessert?"

Haley thought for a moment before answering. "I suppose a little bit of ice cream wouldn't hurt."

"By the way, will Ryan have a playmate anytime soon?" Jake asked Nathan as they headed towards the house. Rachel and Haley were right behind them.

Nathan gave him a smile. "I am sure he will," he replied as he turned to his wife. "Right, Rachel?"

Rachel returned the smile. "Of course," she told him. However, Haley could see that she wasn't happy at the thought of starting a family. She decided to keep her mouth shut and stay out of it. It wasn't any of her business.