Nathan and Lucas walked in the front door to the Scott mansion and Nathan dropped his bags near the hall table.
"Hey, my boy's home!" Deb grinned as she jumped up to hug Nathan.
"Hey mom," Nathan said, hugging her back. "How are things going?"
"Good...except I've missed you. I've just been helping Karen with Tric and the cafe, same ol' same ol'," Deb replied.
Karen walked out from the kitchen to say hello.
"The boys are finally home at the same time," Karen smiled as she hugged Nathan.
"So, what's for dinner?" Lucas grinned.
After dinner, Nathan was helping Lucas clean up the kitchen for their moms. The two were silent for several minutes until Nathan spoke up.
"How is she?" Nathan asked quietly.
Lucas continued rinsing a dish in the sink, "I didn't think we were really going to discuss this - you just got back...."
Nathan just looked at Lucas. Lucas read his expression immediately - Nathan didn't want to argue. He just wanted information - and he wasn't going to back down until he got what he wanted.
"She's doing alright I suppose. Like I said, I've only seen her a couple of times here in Tree Hill and once in New York."
"I hope this hasn't affected your friendship," Nathan replied.
"Well, I mean, its certainly complicated things," Lucas replied. "You and I finally reach common ground and become friends and then she breaks up with you...you're my brother, I don't want to see someone cause you pain, much less my best friend -- it's not the easiest thing to handle."
Nathan looked at the sink, "I'm sorry this has affected your friendship with her. You two were friends long before I ever came along," Nathan responded.
"Haley's always been my best friend. We've had rough times in the past, but we'll make it...don't you worry, little brother...I just didn't know it would end up like this...she's not quite the same person," Lucas admitted.
"How do you mean?" Nathan asked.
"It's just strange – I mean, I would have never pegged her as the type – Haley was always too shy to even pursue a guy—"
"—I don't really think I need to hear about this right now," Nathan interrupted him.
"I'm sorry," Lucas said quietly. "I don't think anything happened with this other guy until you had broken up, if that's any consolation."
"—well it's not," Nathan could feel his patience wearing thin.
Lucas remained silent for several minutes.
"How about we hit the ice cream place when we're done here?" Nathan spoke up. "I could use some cake batter ice cream now that I'm on a break from training."
"Okay, sounds good," Lucas smiled.
They finished cleaning up the kitchen and drove to the ice cream shop. It was a locally owned establishment that was so popular with locals it stayed open year round.
Lucas parked the car right in front of the shop and Nathan stepped out of the passenger seat.
Lucas could see in the window of the ice cream shop and immediately turned around. "Uh, hey, let's go someplace else."
"What?" Nathan asked, unaware of what Lucas had seen. "What are you talking about? This is the best place to go."
"Seriously, I want to go someplace else," Lucas said sternly.
Nathan looked at her, "Lucas, don't be a baby- we already agreed to get ice cream and my mom wanted me to pick up a cone for her---"
Luca tried to stop him from proceeding but he got to the front door and saw what Lucas had seen before.
Sitting in a corner table by the window on the side of the ice cream shop, was Haley…and her new boyfriend.