Nathan froze in his tracks. He had only been in town a few hours, he definitely didn't want to confront Haley, especially when she was with who appeared to be her boyfriend.
"You're right, let's go," Nathan said, walking back toward the car.
Nathan and Lucas sat in the car for several minutes.
Nathan was staring out the window, lost in his thoughts.
"I'm sorry….I didn't know she would be here, I didn't even know she was back in town yet," Lucas said.
"I know, its not your fault - how could you know that she would be there?" Nathan replied. "Want to hit the other ice cream place on 3rd Street?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Sure," Lucas answered.
They drove the short distance to 3rd Street.
They went into the ice cream shop, placed their orders and sat down at a table.
Nathan sat quietly.
"Do you wanna talk?" Lucas spoke up.
"…about?" Nathan asked.
Lucas rolled her eyes. "..you know."
"No, I really don't but thanks," Nathan said.
Lucas sat back, eating his ice cream in silence for a moment. "Well...Peyton should be back in a few days to visit."
Nathan looked up, "oh yeah, that's cool, Luke. How are things going for you two?"
"They're going really well. We try to see each other here and there, when we can. It's tough at times with her being in L.A. and me in New York."
Nathan looked at him, "yeah, I know a thing or two about long distance relationships."
"Peyton's friend is coming along with her too - supposedly she's pretty hot," Lucas said with a glint in his eye.
Nathan laughed, "oh yeah? Are you gonna try to set me up?"
"…only if you want to be set up…I'm done playing matchmaker," Lucas said.
"Ah…well, you never know I guess…" Nathan trailed off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two days later --
"Stacy, this is my brother Nathan," Lucas introduced them.
"Hi Nathan," Stacy said, smiling.
Nathan grinned back, turning on the infamous "Nathan Scott" charm that had been lying dormant, "Hi Stacy."
Lucas had wanted the four of them to get together – so he had arranged for Peyton and Stacy to meet them at the Scott's.
"You giving up matchmaking huh?" Nathan joked as he and Lucas walked into the kitchen, leaving Peyton and Stacy in the living room.
"Apparently, she had heard about you and had wanted to meet you," Lucas replied.
"Ah, so you didn't have anything to do with this?" Nathan smiled.
"No, I really didn't...she had heard from Peyton that you were in town and apparently has seen you play and wanted to meet you. Hey, we'll just hang out and it will be no big deal. If you guys hit it off, great. If you don't, no harm, no foul," Lucas rationalized.
Nathan nodded, "well she is cute."
The four had a good time just hanging out and talking. Nathan and Stacy were engrossed in a conversation about basketball when she happened to look at her watch.
"Oh, Peyton -- we were going to stop by that party...did you still want to go?" Stacy asked.
Peyton nodded, adding to Luke "Brooke is throwing a party at the beach house and wanted to see if we all wanted to stop by...I kind of forgot about it until just now but she'd probably kill me if she found out I was here and didn't at least drop in."
Lucas looked at Nathan who remained skeptical.
"Ah, I don't know -- maybe we'll just hang out here," Lucas said.
Stacy stood up and looked at Nathan, "I think it would be fun if you guys came with us."
Lucas and Peyton looked from Stacy to Nathan and to each other, observing the situation.
"Uh…yeah, maybe we could, ya know, go for a little while, Luke" Nathan replied.
Peyton and Stacy walked with Nathan and Lucas to Lucas' car.
Peyton got in the passenger seat while Nathan and Stacy sat in the back.
"So do you go to a lot of parties for the team?" Stacy asked Nathan once they were settled and on their way to Brooke's.
"Not so much-- not a big party guy," Nathan replied.
Peyton stifled a laugh, "since when is a party with alcohol and attractive women not your thing?"
Nathan shot Peyton a look and rolled his eyes before finally breaking into a grin, "well…."
"I think we could have a lot of fun," Stacy said eyeing Nathan before biting her lip and smiling.