Chapter Four

Disclaimer: Not mine!

A/N My parents are so annoyed at the constant playing of Jesse McCartney's song. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers you are really helping me write quicker! The reason that this took so very long was my computer decided to die on me literally!

Nathan groaned as he watched Lucas turn to him. Time for the lecture to begin. He thought in annoyance as he sat back in the sofa and looked at his brother. Lucas' face was set in one of those 'I'm very pissed off' expressions that Nate was almost coming to expect from him. It was just part of his daily lot now. "What the hell were you thinking?" Demanded Luke as he swivelled to face his little brother once more and stared him straight in the eye. "Smacking the Prince of Denmark! Kidnapping his fiancé! What the hell is wrong with you Nate!?" Lucas' voice was drilling through Nate's and he hated the feeling of the walls vibrating along with the floor. If there was one thing that Lucas could do it was yell.

"I wasn't thinking ok? I wasn't thinking! All I could see was some smarmy blonde with his arms wrapped around my Haley," spoke Nathan as he stood up and stared his brother back in the eye. His blue orbs alight with the anger and frustration that he had felt earlier that night. His mind was running with all that he had done, but sweeping Haley up had felt good and right to him. Everything was right when she was so near to him, he had never been able to think straight about anything that had to do with Haley.

"But she's not your Haley anymore Nathan! She's Jesse's! Remember?! The guy whose engagement ring she's wearing! The guy she's going to marry!"

"I bloody well know that Lucas! I know that I let her go! I let go of the one good thing about my crap life! I let her go and I can't go to sleep knowing that! I can't close my eyes and think that I won't see her when I open them! I wish I could get over her but I can't Luke! She's always going to be at the back of my mind!" The admissions roared around the room they were standing in and Lucas finally understood why Nathan couldn't let her go, and why he shouldn't. The heart chose who you loved, not the mind. He needed Haley to keep his head clear, to put a smile on his face. The same reasons that Lucas needed Brooke.

"I'll be back…" Said Lucas quietly as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, seizing his keys from the hanger.

"Where are you going?" Asked a confused Nate.

"To set someone straight…" With that he left the room and swore under her breath. Time to explain the bloody deal away.

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Haley James tossed and turned in her bed. There was an annoying tapping outside as if there was a tree that was forever tapping against it. She sighed with an annoyed huff and pushed the covers off of her. Jesse was sleeping peacefully and she knew that nothing could wake him. He was the heaviest sleeper she knew and no matter how many times she shifted or tugged at the covers he wouldn't stir even the slightest.

Pushing back the curtains slightly she got a shock when she realised that the tapping had not been a tree but instead of a figure throwing pebbles at the glass of her window. She gasped as the figure stepped into the moonlight and revealed that it was Lucas. Haley raised an eyebrow to herself as she watched him motion for her to come out. She shook her head but left the window and crossed to her wardrobe soundlessly. Slipping out of her pyjama's she quickly dressed. Underwear, T-Shirt, jeans, trainers and then a jacket.

She left the room in the shortest amount of time and smiled to herself and what she was about to be put through. Shaking her head as she made her way out of her room and then down the corridor of the hotel. In a moment she was out in the Foyer and looking around for her nighttime visitor. It didn't take her that long to spot him as she padded over to where he was and slipped into a seat. The bellboy turned his back to give them the privacy they required and then Luke started talking.

"Nathan." It was a singular word but it probed a response from Haley.

"What blew up in his head tonight?" Haley sat back in chair knowing that this wasn't going to be a fly-by conversation.

"Seeing you with Jesse."

"Jesse is my fiancé." She pointed out. On the outside Hales was trying to project this demeanour of being cool and composed. But the way Nathan had acted earlier had sort of shaken her up completely.

"A fiancé that you don't love, at least not the way I know you still love Nate."

"What? Lucas what have you been drinking?" Haley's face was shocked and dismayed. Had it been that clear? She had thought herself quite a good actress recently but obviously she wasn't.

"Nothing, it was Nate drinking, I'm simply speaking fact."

"I don't still love your brother Luke, I love my fiancé."

"But you don't… Which is why I'm here."

"Lucas look… I. Do. Not. Still. Love. Nathan." It was the first time she had used his name for seven years and it did more than assure what Luke had been thinking in his mind. She was being pushed onto the defensive and he could see that.

"You can lie with your mouth Haley but not with your eyes." She had always hated it when he got cryptic with her. It annoyed her.

"I don't know what you've taken Lucas but I'm not going to let you talk nonsense to me so I can talk nonsense back. I'm not some Jane Eyre."

"Let's not get into a debate about English Literature when we're meant to be talking about Nate here."

"It was you that proposed the stay away deal? You wanted me to stay away, why would you suddenly want me back in his life after seven years?"

"I thought that if you weren't there he would get over you quicker, I thought he'd stop drinking and get on with some other girl. But the moment I realised that wasn't going to happen he was too far-gone for me to change tact's. It was a few years ago that I realised how much I wanted you back there to help me but by then you were qualified and seemed to have such a perfect life, I didn't want to complicate it. We've both screwed up Haley but I bet neither of us realised that we were hurting someone that we both care for dearly."

"So what do we do now Lucas? I can't just drop my new life and run back into Nathan's arms. Life doesn't work like that, life lets you settle for second best." The words were out of Haley's mouth before she could think and sense had obviously forgotten to knock on the door of her mind.

"So he is second best?"

"Yes for god sakes Luke! But that doesn't mean I'm not going to marry him. I can't be with Nathan for everyone's good… Things are just better this way," the admission was obviously causing her great pain to say and Lucas could see it written it all over his old best friends face. Almost unconsciously he moved and sat next to her, his arm slipping around her shoulders in the brotherly embrace he always used to share with her. He realised then just how much he had missed his best friend and why.

"You haven't actually changed at all Haley," said Lucas with a smile as he surveyed her through now tender blue eyes.

"No I haven't… I still love Nate and I always will, but it wouldn't work. I promised Jesse, so I will marry him no matter what I feel. His family approves so I can't back out now."

"Even if it means you're miserable for the rest of your life?"

"Everyone settles Lucas. It's the way the world works nowadays."

"Whatever you say…" Lucas trailed off as he once more took a moment to glance down at his friend, he was yet to remove his arm and it was almost as if the bond of best friends was too strong to ignore anymore. At least one half of the Scott brothers were reunited completely with Haley. Maybe the other would follow soon…

A/N Reviews are my life blood…