Disclaimer: You know the drill

It was strange. The whole scenario was strange. There she was, supposed to be all sad and depressed about her divorce and how Nathan wasn't coming, but it seemed like Haley forgot all about it.

She never felt that carefree in weeks. She was smiling, laughing and having fun now. So what if a couple of people stared at her and whispered? She was happy, and that was something she didn't think she would be in a very long time. They should understand that. Besides, she and Chris were just friends. And he was only trying to make her feel better. That was it.

Suddenly, she felt someone nudge her side. She looked up to see Peyton looking very worried. "What?"

"Haley, let go of Chris' hand." Peyton said in a rather panicky voice.

"Let go of what? What's wrong?"

"Do it, he's here."

"Who's here? What's going on?" Haley looked around the room, wondering what made Peyton suddenly anxious. Her eyes fell on a familiar face – a face she hadn't seen in a long time.

A horrible feeling overwhelmed her and she felt like she wanted to be anywhere but there. She looked down to see her hand holding Chris' and she immediately let go. "Nathan!"

He simply looked at her, his face expressionless. Then he turned to leave. Haley swore under her breath and followed him. "Nathan, wait!"

She bumped into Lucas on the way out. "Whoa, Haley, where are you going?"

"It's Nathan, he saw me and – I have to go." She went outside, feeling the strong bitter cold once again. She scanned the parking lot and saw a shadow disappearing behind a black car. "Nathan!" Haley shouted, running towards the shadow. She grabbed his arm. "Let me explain!"

"You don't have to, I've seen enough." Nathan said quietly.

"You don't understand, Nathan." Haley said desperately.

"No, actually I do."

"You saw the wrong thing!"

Nathan looked at her straight in the eye. "I saw what I saw, Haley."

Haley stared at him, dumbfounded. "Nathan, please!"

He stared at her for a few seconds, then he walked away and all Haley could do was helplessly watch him. She heard footsteps approaching her. In a moment, Lucas stood next to her, panting. "What just happened?"

"Nathan saw me and Chris talking and he was holding my hand. He took it the wrong way and stormed off –" Haley began.

"Hold it, Chris Keller was holding your hand?!" Lucas repeated incredulously. "That wasn't part of the plan."

"Plan? What plan?"

"It's nothing –"

"Don't tell me it's nothing. What's going on?" Haley demanded.

"We brought you and Nathan here so that you could fix things with each other but seeing as how well things turned out, I'm guessing the plan failed." Lucas explained.

"Why didn't you tell me? If I knew this, I wouldn't have talked to Chris in the first place!"

"If we told you, you wouldn't have come!"

"Yes, I have! I'd give and do anything to fix things with Nathan." Haley threw herself on the ground and buried her face in her hands. "God, why do things always screw up with me?"

Lucas sat down and hugged her. "Things will work out, Hales."

"No, it won't. I'm going to school tomorrow and everybody will look at me like I'm a total loser who flirts with a moron just when her marriage is over," Haley said miserably.

"Would you feel better if I take you home right now?"

"Please."

He helped her up. "Come on, before anyone notices."

Haley awoke early the next day to Brooke's alarm clock ringing loudly on the bedside table. She groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She turned the alarm off and dragged herself to the shower.

She heard Brooke humming in the kitchen so she shouted a quick "Good morning" before entering the bathroom.

When Haley walked into the kitchen an hour later, Brooke handed her a cup of brewed coffee.

"What, no breakfast?" Haley asked teasingly.

"Not today, I'm meeting up with Lucas before school." Brooke said happily.

Haley raised a brow. "Really?"

Brooke playfully punched her on the shoulder. "Don't look at it that way. It's more of a Lucas-Being-Nice-for-Once-In-His-Life sort of thing."

"He's always nice. He took me home last night."

"Speaking of last night, what the hell were you doing holding Chris Keller's hand?" Brooke demanded.

Haley sighed. "Well, you're the first of a hundred to ask me that today so I'll be honest with you. I have no idea."

"So you just took his hand and said 'What the hell, I don't care'?" Brooke asked.

"No! He was hitting on me and then he was so nice all of a sudden and the next thing I knew, I saw Nathan." Haley explained.

"What kind of person holds the hand of a guy who's hitting on her?" Brooke asked incredulously.

"Okay, I was stupid. Don't rub it in." Haley said as she gazed into her now half-empty coffee cup.

"What did Nathan say?"

"Just – stuff. I don't want to think about it," Haley was quiet for a moment. "You think I could walk with you until the bend? I don't want to be seen alone. I'm pathetic enough already."

"Sure, c'mon,"

The pair of them started walking. Haley noticed how guys always did double-takes at Brooke and she smiled. Brooke always had that effect on guys wherever she was. It was something that made Haley a little envious.

Confidence was not Haley's forte and she was probably the last person in the world who could pull it off. Aside from Lucas, Nathan was the only guy who saw through her shyness. Maybe that's why she felt so much like herself with him.

"You gonna be okay, Hales?" Brooke asked once they reached the bend.

"Yeah, don't worry about me."

As soon as Brooke left her side, she heard someone jeer, "On the rebound already, James?"

Haley closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was going to be a long day.

Here's chapter 4! Hope you liked it! Don't forget to R&R! ----Sera