Two months later –

Nathan was back in Seattle for Sonics practice. Lucas had returned to New York but the brothers were in touch at least once a month. Peyton was back in Los Angeles continuing work for her tool of a boss at the record label.

Deb and Karen had asked the brothers to come back for Lilly's birthday. Both had agreed that they would be there.

~~
"It's good to be back!" Nathan exclaimed when he walked into the café. Lucas had gotten to Tree Hill earlier and was seated at the counter eating apple pie while his mother was taking a customer's order.

"We're closing up early and having a cook out tonight to celebrate you and Lucas' homecoming," Deb smiled.

Nathan grinned, "sounds good to me!"

~~~~~

Deb and Nathan were sitting out on the patio of the Scott mansion catching each other up on what had happened in the past couple of months.

"So, is everything going alright?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, the café has been doing especially well and Tric has some more headline artists lined up for the concert series," Deb explained.

Nathan smiled, "I'm glad to hear it. I really want you to be happy, Mom."

"Thank you, Nathan," Deb smiled. "I really am happy…for the first time in a very long time."

Karen and Lucas walked over to sit down while Lilly played with one of the neighborhood children. "So, how's the rest of the gang?" Deb asked.

Nathan half smiled, "You'd have to ask Lucas – he's the only one I really stay in contact with from home."

Lucas was quiet and almost seemed hesitant to say anything. "…well, Peyton is still in L.A., Brooke is in New York again but comes back here pretty often to check on her store."

"Yeah, she stops by the café to say 'Hello' when she's in town," Karen replied.
"…and I just saw Haley yesterday and I know she's back for good." Lucas closed his eyes and immediately Karen knew she had said too much.

Nathan's eyes shot to Lucas for an explanation. "What? Haley is back in town? What about Stanford?"

Lucas' smile faded altogether. "Haley dropped out of school, at least for now."

"Uh, Karen will you help me in the kitchen?" Deb asked, getting up from her spot at the table. Nathan looked over at Lucas after they had walked away, "what the hell is going on here, man? Why are they acting so weird...and why would Haley drop out of Stanford? School was always so important to her. Is her family okay?"

"Calm down, I don't really know the whole story...I just found out about an hour before you got here – Haley and I haven't gotten to talk in over a month. She only briefly told my mom and your mom that she had some things to deal with and that she needed to be here in Tree Hill."

Nathan exhaled. This sort of information would put anyone on edge. If it was enough to keep Haley James out of school, it had to be pretty major.

"Did he stay with her?" Nathan couldn't help but ask. He had done well not to mention Haley's name in the times he had spoken to Lucas since their last trip home. Now, he couldn't resist.

"Uh, no," Lucas replied. "...but surprisingly, it was her decision not his. He had wanted to stay with her and work things out...but she broke it off with him, saying she needed to be alone."

Nathan nodded slowly.

"I guess I messed things up pretty good, huh?" he asked.

Lucas shrugged, "we're all adults here...everyone has choices ya know? You had a part in it, but she did too...so you can't really be blamed for 'messing things up' for her..."

Nathan nodded.

"Your mom did tell me a couple of days ago that she was asking when you were coming home," Lucas stated.

Nathan looked at him, confused. "She didn't really seem like she wanted to keep in touch...that's kind of odd."

"She said there was something she wanted to talk to you about..." Lucas said.

"What is it?" Nathan asked.

Lucas shrugged, "Dude, I don't know…that's all she said. That's all any of us know."

"Maybe you should call her and find out what's going on," Lucas said.

Nathan was a bit curious himself. He got up and went inside the house to make his phone call in private.

~~~~~

Nathan walked up the steps to Brooke's apartment. Vague and hazy memories of the last time he was here flooded his mind.

Haley opened the door and smiled.

"Hi, thanks for coming over," she said, opening the door for him to come inside.

"No problem...is Brooke here too?" Nathan said walking into the living room.

"Uh, no, she's out of town. She kind of signed the apartment over to me," Haley replied.

"So, it's true…you're here for good?" Nathan asked carefully.

He sat down on the couch and she sat across from him in an armchair.

"Yeah...I'm here at least for now…can I get you anything?" she asked.

"Uh, no, thanks," Nathan said.

"So how are things?" she asked lightly.

"Practice is tough but going well," Nathan replied.

"I can imagine—are you excited for the season to start?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, I am," Nathan said.

What is going on here? he thought to himself. I know she didn't want me to come over to make small talk....

"So, Lucas mentioned that you wanted to talk to me about something," Nathan said hoping to start the conversation.

Haley nodded. "Yeah, I had mentioned that to your mom a few days ago...guess word travels fast."

"So...what's going on?" he asked.

"Well, obviously you know that I dropped out of Stanford," Haley answered.

"Yeah, I have to admit that surprised me...you've always been so school-oriented," Nathan replied.

"It's temporary-- I hope...I mean, I want to go back to school eventually..." Haley trailed off.

Nathan shook his head, completely confused. "Haley, what's going on? Is everything alright?"

Haley took a deep breath, "yes, Nathan...everything is fine...."

Nathan looked at her, waiting.

"...the reason I asked you to come over today is because I needed to tell you something..." Haley took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Haley, what? What do you need to tell me?" Nathan asked, growing a little impatient.

"Nathan...I'm pregnant."