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Chapter Twelve

Nathan saw Haley look over Brent's shoulder and catching her gaze; Nathan looked into her big brown eyes and finally admitted to himself that he wanted her. When she moved past Brent to him, he moved to meet her halfway…

Luke smiled at Brooke while they were dancing, while covertly stealing glances at Peyton. She was dancing with some guy not too far away from them.

Luckily Brooke wasn't talking; he would have a hard time paying attention to the conversation. Looking over at Peyton again he saw the guy she was with pull her close to him and start kissing her. Wincing, Luke vowed that he would get over Peyton, no matter what it took.

With that thought in his mind he put an arm around Brooke and pulled her closer.

Reaching Nathan, Haley felt slightly breathless.

Glancing up she smiled and breathed out, "Hi."

"Hi," Nathan echoed, and reached down pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "I'm glad you came."

Laughing a little Haley pulled back and started talking, "So am I. It is still a little weird that I'm at these parties though," Haley was looking around the room.

Nathan caught Haley's chin in his hand and turned her toward him and softly said, "I don't think I think so. I think it's right, maybe even perfect that you're here."

Haley bit her lip and stared at him, does he mean what I think he means?

When Haley stayed quiet Nathan rubbed a hand over his recently shorn hair and changed the subject, "Do you want something to drink?"

"I don't think so, not now," Haley shook her head, then slowly ventured. "Nathan, can we go somewhere and talk? I want to say something to you in a quieter place."

Nathan's heart sped up, and he nodded. "Yeah, we can go up to my room."

Haley smiled at him, "Good lead the way, Nat-."

She was interrupted by Theresa who was coming up from behind Nathan.

Haley blinked in confusion as Theresa wrapped herself around Nathan.

Theresa smirked at Haley and asked Nathan, "Why are you still hanging around this loser?"

Nathan's face hardened and he started to reply…

Peyton pulled away from Craig; god, this was stupid. It was the same thing she did last weekend and look at how that ended up.

After giving Craig an excuse she walked outside and sat down on the back porch.

She wasn't happy, but she was used to that. What scared her was that she might be happy and she could just be throwing all that away because she was scared to be in a relationship with Lucas. And it was not just because she knew that eventually everyone leaves her, but because even before they had gotten to know one another Lucas had put her on such a high pedestal that she didn't think that that she could live up to it. Lucas didn't know everything about her and everything that she had done. Would he still feel the same way about her even if she knew?

Peyton could admit that she was scared that she would give in to what she felt for Lucas and then one day Mike would tell Lucas. For a while she had been saying to herself that she would tell Haley the truth, but she was running from it. Every time she had a chance she also had an excuse to postpone it she did. But why? If she and Lucas weren't going to be together, then why was it so important that he not know what happened before?

Peyton realized that she still had hope for them; regardless of what had happened before and of Brooke's feelings she still wanted them to be together. She was just waiting to for her brain to catch up to her heart.

Sighing Peyton sat back, now that she could admit it the only thing left for her to do was find Lucas and tell him what she felt. At least part of it, she wasn't sure how honest she was going to be. Peyton stood up; she just needed to catch him without Brooke…

"Theresa? Don't talk about Haley that way," Nathan told her, while smiling apologetically at Haley.

Haley smiled back at him, and Theresa's temper rose. She and Nathan were perfect together and he didn't even notice her because of this…… person always hanging around him.

"Why? Is that only reserved for you?" Theresa shot back at Nathan, deciding to put her plan in motion.

"What are on?" Nathan asked, confused.

"You know, Tutor Girl's little love note that you passed around earlier 'Call me, if you need anything… anything at all'." Theresa quoted mockingly. "We all such a great time laughing at this pathetic little nobody trying to flirt with you.

Haley's mouth dropped open in shock and pain flashed through her eyes. She turned hurt eyes to Nathan.

Nathan blinked, "All right, Haley…"

Haley shook her head in pain and disbelief, "Stay away from me." She told him before she hurried out of the party.

Nathan started to follow her, "Haley wait."

Theresa grabbed a hold of his arm, "Don't worry about that nerd, I did you a favor by getting rid of that dead weight. Come dance with me."

Nathan looked at her like she had three heads and with his voice ice cold told her, "You are unbelievable."

"I know, thank you." Theresa grinned at him, her smiled fading slightly as he continued as if she didn't say anything.

"You are nothing; just some whore." Nathan said coldly, the anger rising in him. "If you ruined anything between Haley and me you are going to regret it. I will destroy you. This 'popularity' you've built for yourself will be gone." Nathan turned and walked out the door. Theresa felt fear at his words, he had been acting differently lately but Nathan Scott still wasn't a guy to mess around with.

From across the room Lucas saw something going down with Haley, Nathan, and some dark-haired cheerleader. They were too far away to hear, but he drew Brooke's attention the them across the room and they edged closer.

Lucas saw Haley storm out of the house he quickly said to Brooke, "Something is wrong with her, I need to see what happened."

Brooke nodded with understanding, "Do you want me to go with you?"

Lucas thought about it, but turned down the offer, "No, I can handle it. Thanks for offering though."

Brooke nodded and reached up to give him a kiss at the corner of his mouth. "I'm going to go see if I can find out what happened."

Lucas saw her gesturing toward the dark-hair cheerleader, "Okay. I'll see you later Brooke."

"Bye Broody," Brooke waved before she disappeared in the crowd.

Lucas started to leave, and he had just reached the door when Peyton stepped in front of him.

"Lucas… can we go someplace and talk?" she asked quietly.

Lucas hesitated; on one hand he really wanted to find Haley, on the other hand Peyton might be ready to open up.

Lucas opened his mouth to agree when he remembered that he was going to try and get over Peyton; ditching his best friend and going off for secluded talks was no way to achieve that goal.

Lucas shook his head, "I can't right now; something is wrong with Haley."

Peyton watched in shock as Lucas left her standing there alone.

Hearing a slight chuckle from behind her Peyton turned and saw that Mike was standing behind her; a red cup in hand and a smirk firmly in place on his face.

Groaning she spit out, "Shut up Mike."

Peyton tried to step around him but he stepped in front of her.

Frustrated Peyton hissed at him, "What are you doing? Don't you have Nathan's ass to kiss?"

Mike's eyes grew cold, "What did you say?

"You heard me, you're pathetic," Peyton said.

"That's rich, you calling me pathetic. Didn't I just see your loser ass get denied by Lucas?" Mike smirked.

Still hurt by the rejection Peyton said weakly, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, but I think I do. You and your little crush on Lucas is pathetic. You are too much of a head case and a slut for him to ever want you for him for more than an easy lay."

Peyton shook her head, "He does want me."

Mike looked to the door that Lucas had walked out of, "Oh, I think he just proved that he didn't. And haven't I seen him hanging around his cute little girlfriend Haley and your best friend Brooke Davis? What are you stealing guys from her now?"

Peyton just kept shaking her head, "You don't know anything."

"Right…" Mike said doubtfully. "Keep telling yourself that."

Peyton grabbed Mike's arm when he started to walk away, "You don't understand, he does really want me." For some reason Peyton was desperate for Mike to believe her.

Mike shook his head and said with pity, "He doesn't even know you Peyton."

This time when Mike started to walk away, Peyton let him go.

Haley tried to brush the tears out of her eyes as she walked. She felt like an idiot, she really shouldn't be so mad. Nathan and her weren't even a couple, they were just friends. So what if he made fun of her little note. It really wasn't that big of a deal.

That is what her head was telling her.

Her heart was telling her something entirely different.

Which was stupid; tonight was the first night she had looked at Nathan as something as other than a friend.

Not counting the times she had checked him out. But who could blame her? The man was gorgeous and had one seriously hot bod.

But besides those moments when she looked at him and recognized how attractive he was she had him firmly pegged into the friend hole.

But it hurt.

Really hurt that Nathan was laughing at her.

Sighing Haley continued walking; walking away from the party and back to her old life.

Lucas rushed through the doors of the café; it was the second time he had checked there. Once he had left Peyton he tried to find Haley but she had already left the house and he had no idea where she was. He had tried the café first but she hadn't been there. So he went to some other places he thought she might be, but she hadn't been there either. So he decided to start at the beginning again.

Seeing a light on in the kitchen he felt a rush of relief; she was here and was okay.

"Haley? Hey, Hales!" Lucas said as he walked towards the rear of the café.

There was no answer, but he heard the sounds of muffled crying from the back. Once he reached the back of the café he saw her pressed up against the wall behind the counter.

Lucas kneeled down besides Haley, "Are you okay, buddy?"

When Haley saw Lucas next to her she put her hands over her face, trying to shield most of the crying from Luke.

Lucas sat down next to Haley, "Is the floor taken?"

Haley shook her head.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"No, Luke, not really," Haley said stubbornly. She didn't want to mess up the bond that the Scott brothers were forming, even if she was upset.

Lucas shook his head, "You can tell me anything. I know it had something to do with Nathan and that cheerleader."

"Theresa," Haley spat out. That girl had it out for her or something. During her walk to the walk to the café she had remembered that back at the first party Lucas and she went to, that Theresa was the girl who tried to embarrass her. Bitch.

Progress, good. Lucas nodded, "Right Theresa. I know it had to do with Nathan and Theresa. Did Nathan do something to you? Because I will go an-"

Haley interrupted him, "Stop, Lucas. Nathan didn't do anything."

"Haley, you're lying to me. Stop. I don't like it," Lucas said firmly.

"I'm not Lucas," Haley said. When Lucas started shake his head, she repeated, "I'm not lying. It's just that um… I kind of started to… um have feelings for him." Haley said in a rush.

Lucas absorbed that, and accepted it. Haley would do the same for him and he would do no less for him. "So what happened?"

Haley sighed, "Nothing, I started to believe that he might have feeling back for me, and he proved me wrong. Once again, the smart girl is really stupid." Fresh tears flowed down Haley's face.

Lucas gently took hold of Haley's chin and wiped her tears away, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. You are not stupid. Nathan would be lucky to have a girl like you."

Haley gave him a weak smile, "Thanks."

Lucas smiled back, "He really would be lucky."

Haley swallowed, and with one last sniffle scrubbed her hands over her face. "So how are things going with Peyton or is it Brooke these days?"

Lucas hesitated, "I know I told you about what happened at the basketball party, but before the... well... Peyton and I sort of got together last week."

Haley's mouth dropped open in shock and Lucas continued quickly, "You can't say anything Haley. Peyton doesn't want anyone to know."

Haley pulled back and hit Lucas in the arm, "I can't believe you hid this from me!"

Lucas shook his head, "I didn't have much of a choice, Peyton really didn't want it to get out."

Haley looked confused, "Why?"

"No idea," Lucas said, shrugging.

Haley started to get mad, "She isn't ashamed of you is she? Because that would be messed up Lucas, you don't have to take that."

Lucas shrugged again, "I really don't know why. Even Brooke doesn't know."

Haley bit her lip; now she suspected that she knew why Peyton wanted to keep it a secret. Brooke wasn't exactly shy about her feelings for Lucas and that might cause some awkwardness between the friends. Haley thought about letting Lucas know why she thought Peyton was hiding their relationship, but Lucas needed to hear it from his girlfriend. Haley didn't want to embarrass Brooke either by revealing her feelings.

Haley shrugged light, "Well, at least things are, uh, working out for one of us. It looks like you and Peyton are headed in the right direction."

Lucas shook his head, "Well, if it'll make you feel better about your own situation, that lasted all of about five minutes."

Haley laughed and leaned her forehead on Lucas, "It doesn't make me feel any better. Is this about what happened at Nate's party?"

Lucas shrugged, "Yeah, Peyton didn't want a relationship. I didn't know that at first, but as soon as I did we were over. I cared about her you know? I didn't want a relationship base on se… well you know."

Haley looked grossed out, "Yeah I know. Yuck."

Lucas nodded awkwardly, "Feel the same way about you buddy."

Haley laughed a little and pulled back to look at him, "Well, welcome back."

Lucas looked confused, "To where?"

Haley shrugged, "Normal. You have to admit that these last couple of weeks in the 'popular crowd' was different."

Lucas agreed, "Yeah, it was. Whatever, They can have their world." Lucas stood up and offered a hand to Haley. "Come on. Let me help you close up."

Haley accepted the hand but shook her head, "No, thanks. I'll do it. I just… I just want to be alone for a little while, okay?"

Lucas gives her the 'are you sure?' face.

Haley laughed a little, "I'll be fine. I'll be okay." Haley pushed his face playfully, "I'm okay."

Lucas reluctantly agreed, "All right. But Haley, stay the night at my house? I'm going to worry about you if you don't."

Making a face at Luke's blatant guilt trip, Haley agreed, "Okay, pick me up in an hour?"

"Sounds good," Lucas pated her shoulder and headed out the door.

Haley leaned against the wall, put her hands behind her head, crossed her arms and sighed.

Brooke glared at the brunette cheerleader.

"WHAT?" Theresa exploded, tired of it all.

"You can tell me what you just did and then just say 'what'? Like you don't know why I'm mad," Brooke rolled her eyes.

Theresa scoffed, "She's just a little nobody. I was helping Nathan out."

"You embarrassed her," Brooke corrected. "And you pissed Nathan off."

Theresa nervously chuckled, "Yeah, he was pretty mad. He threatened to ruin me if I messed up him and Haley."

Brooke's lifted an eyebrow, "Then you better be careful. I'm just going to add my warning to that. I will help him ruin you if you hurt Haley."

Theresa rolled her eyes but left without saying anything.

Brooke rubbed her hands together, from what she could see Haley and Nathan really liked each other. They just needed a push, and Brooke was the person to do it. Operation 'Naley' was about to go into effect.

Peyton nervously chewed on her lower lip as she stared at her cell phone.

Resolved she dialed the number. When a voiced answered she spoke up surely, not hint of hesitation in her voice, "Hi, it's Peyton. Yeah… I need you. Can I come see you for a couple of weeks?"

"Is this really important?"

"Yeah… it is. I need to get away for a couple of weeks. I wouldn't ask unless I really had to." Peyton replied.

"Um… sure okay. We'll work out the details later, I'm going to go check and see where and when we are going to be docked next."

Peyton grinned, relieved. "Thanks… I really appreciate this dad."

Nathan hurried down the sidewalk to the café. He had already tried the docks and Haley's house and he was hoping that she would be at the café.

Reaching the door he looked through the window and was relieved to see Haley wiping down the counter.

Reaching up Nathan knocked and smiled faintly when she turned around, "Hey."

Haley walked up to the door and crossed her arms, an angry and confused expression on her face.

Nathan felt like shit; Haley's eyes were red and puffy and he could tell that she had been crying. "Can I come in Haley?"

Nathan held his breath as Haley thought about it, when she reached over to unlock the door he left it out, relieved.

But instead of unlocking the door Haley switched off the light and started walking to the back of the café.

Nathan said through the door, "Haley, I didn't know. I swear I never showed Theresa your letter."

Haley paused when Nathan spoke, but with a slight shake of her head continued walking.

Panicked Nathan continued talking, "Come on. Please Haley, you have to believe me."

He sighed when she reached the point where he could no longer see her. Deciding to give her time to cool off, Nathan walked back to his car to go back home. He would find her in the morning and fix it.

Now he was going to go to the party and fix Theresa, that bitch was going to get what was coming to her.

Back in the kitchen Haley was leaning against the wall. Did I jump to conclusions? Maybe I overreacted and I shouldn't have believed that skanky cheerleader.

Haley settled down to wait for Lucas, still thinking about what Nathan had said.

Peyton was packing a duffle bag. Her dad had called her back and told her that they would be docking tomorrow night, so she had to get on a bus tonight to get to the port where they would be.

This was exactly what she needed, to get away from the drama, being somewhere without all the pressure for awhile. She would finally have a chance to think everything out.

Peyton was reaching for a zip-up hoodie that she wanted to wear when her cell phone beeped, telling her that she had a text message.

Peyton flipped open her phone and saw that the message was from Brooke.

P. Sawyer! Where are you babe? I didn't see you leave the party. B. Davis.

Peyton bit her lip and turned off her phone. Her dad was going to call Principal Turner and tell him that she had a family emergency, but she wasn't ready to talk to Brooke. A couple weeks apart would do them good.

Then again…… Peyton changed her mind. Brooke could get a little psycho and if she didn't know where Peyton was there was no telling what she would do.

Peyton quickly sent Brooke a text that she hoped would satisfy her. Closing her phone Peyton resumed packing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing; not OTH or its characters.