Hey guys, sorry this didn't get up earlier, but hey, life gets in the way. I didn't get as many reviews in the last chapter, and I hope that all of you are still liking this story. Tell me what you think, your reviews really inspire to me go on. And I must say thanks to lac-18 because her reviews really gave me a great idea for this chapter. So thanks for all the reviews, I love them all.

On with the story….

Chapter 15- I Shall Believe

I'm broken in two
And I know you're on to me
That I only come home
When I'm so all alone
But I do believe

"Scott men are so predictable. If you have a problem, anyone can find you here."

Peyton smiled as she approached the boy on the court. She could tell immediately from his stance that he was frustrated, and after speaking to her best friend she knew exactly why. And that was the precise reason that she ventured onto the court to see if maybe she could talk some sense into that thick Scott skull of his.

He didn't turn around. Mainly he wanted to piss her off, but the other part just didn't want to talk about it, and he knew that if he turned around, she would drag it out of him. Hell, she was probably the only girl around that wasn't the least bit intimidated by the Scott temper he was so famous for.

"What do you want Peyt?"

"I want you to talk to me," She replied to the back of his head, unfazed by the fact that he still hadn't turned around.

"I thought you were sick of all of us and our love lives," He mocked. Maybe if he pissed her off enough, she would just go away and let him wallow.

"I am sick of all of your drama, but it doesn't mean I don't care about you all. And I just want things to go back to how they should be."

"And how is that?" He asked again, his tone still mocking.

"Well you giving your WIFE another chance, would be a great start." She mocked right back. If he was going to be an ass, she was just gonna have to be a bitch right back to him. It always worked.

And with that, Nathan whipped around, eyes blazing, ready to vent his frustrations to the one person who could always get him to open up. And, unknowingly, he walked right into an argument that Peyton Sawyer was more than prepared to win.

"I can't do that, and it's none of your damn business." He spat, anger radiating off of every inch of his body.

"It is my damn business Nathan. I just left one of my best friends crying her eyes out because her husband basically told her that she was the worst person to ever walk the face of the earth. So excuse me if I feel a little more than entitled to have an opinion in this situation."

"So you saw her, she told you what happened?" He asked, his tone slightly softening at the mention of the pain he had previously caused Haley.

"Yes, I talked to her. But she's not the only one I'm worried about Nathan. I know this is hurting you just as much, but you can't be that vindictive guy anymore, not to Haley. It's just hurting you both in the end." She said as she walked over to the picnic table and hopped onto it. He sighed and followed her, coming to rest right beside her.

"I just don't know how to let her back in Pey."

She sighed and grabbed his hand, happy that at least he wasn't screaming at her anymore.

"I mean, do you know how it feels to have the one person you love most in the world walk out on you?"

He voice was slightly hesitant, and her voice barely audible as she whispered the answer, "Yes."

"Oh Peyt, shit, I'm a dick. You miss Jake don't you?" He asked.

He should have known better than to ask Peyton if she knew how it felt to have someone leave. She had more than her fair share of loss. Maybe that's why he could open up to her, she actually did know what he was going through.

"More than you could ever know. But I know that he had to go and chase after Jenny, and he had to leave to do what was best for him." It felt good to actually talk about Jake, she had held it all in for so long, and it was nice to have someone to relate to.

"Would you welcome him back with open arms if he just showed back up here?" Nathan asked, somehow needing to know what she would so if the one person who left her came back.

"In a split-second." She answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Look Nathan, he left and it hurt, but he did what he needed to do for himself, and maybe in some way, that's what Haley had to do too."

She waited for the explosion at the mention of Haley's name, but it never came. Instead, he looked at her and asked in a voice that made him seem so innocent.

"Why couldn't I have just been enough?"

She just hugged him, and tried to figure out what to say to him that would make him realize why Haley actually left in the first place.

"Nathan, I think you were enough, but I think she had to figure out who she was outside of the image that she created with you to know that you were truly meant for each other."

"So that's it, I should just forget that she nearly ripped out my heart, and pick up where we left off?" He asked, his voice lacking hostility, but instead having an empty quality to it. An emptiness that only Haley could fill.

"That's not what I'm saying, but I do think that you should actually give her a chance to prove that she is in it for good this time."

"And what if she's not." He asked. It was the question that had been plaguing him for months. 'What if Haley really wasn't in it for good this time?'

"Nathan, do you remember that drawing I gave you, "Sometimes they come back" well she did, and I think that's all the proof that you need."

"And what if I say that's not enough?"

Peyton smiled slightly as she pulled out a cd and handed it to Nathan. She knew him well enough to know that he would need some sort of proof. He was after all a Scott, and they had to be the most stubborn people in the world. She was so glad that Brooke had told her a little secret and just hoped that Haley wouldn't be too mad when she found out what Peyton did.

"What's this?" Nathan asked as he studied the blank cd that Peyton had just handed him.

"More proof that even though Haley wasn't with you, her heart always was." She gave him one last hug, and began to walk off; satisfied that maybe she had helped two of her friends find their way back to each other.

"Peyton" He called out as he watched her figure retreat back to her car.

"Yeah?" She asked as she turned around one more time to face him.

"I don't think that Haley's the only one who's going to come back."

She smiled as she thought of Jake and answered, "I hope your right Nathan, I hope you're right." And with that, she was gone.

After she was gone, Nathan continued to stare at the cd that Peyton had mysteriously given to him, wondering what it could have on it that would make him want to let Haley back in.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he walked to his car, turned on the engine and popped in the cd, wondering just what he would hear.

"I've been behind on the events of the last seven days, I've been sleeping in my bed and missing you, like sometimes crazy girls do."

The voice coming out of the speakers was undeniable. Haley, it was all Haley, and she sounded amazing.

As he listened to the words as the song continued to play he got a feeling that maybe she hadn't forgotten about him.

"Only you baby keep me up at night, sometimes crazy's alright."

As the song finished playing he found himself warming up to the idea of slowly letting her back in.

But as he heard her voice come on after the song, he knew what his heart was telling him to do.

"Thanks, California. That song was written for someone I love dearly, and someone I miss twice as much." The sound of her voice was lost in the applause, but her words would never be forgotten by Nathan.

And sitting in his car at the Rivercourt, Nathan made a decision, and he just hoped that maybe this time everything would work out.

All he knew though was that he needed to see his wife.

That not everything is gonna be the way
You think it ought to be
It seems like every time I try to make it right
It all comes down on me
Please say honestly you won't give up on me
And I shall believe
And I shall believe

"Brooke, if you wipe that spot on the counter any longer, I'm not going to have to use plates." Karen laughed as she walked up to the distracted brunette, who had been staring off into space, wiping the same spot for more than five minutes.

Brooke and Haley had both started helping out at the café upon their return, and Karen was happy that her girls were always around.

"Sorry Karen, I was just thinking." She replied.

"And what were you thinking about?" Karen asked as she looked at Brooke, the younger brunette searching for a way out of the conversation that was about to follow.

"It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with my son, would it?" Karen asked already knowing the answer. It was written clearly across her face, Brooke was head over heals in love with Lucas, and Karen would do anything she could to help them work things out.

"How did you know?"

"Oh, honey, a mother always know when one of her kids has something on her mind," Karen replied, as Brooke hugged her, touched that Karen referred to her as one of her children.

"He's just shutting me out, and I hate it" she said, the tears already threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Sam, could you watch the counter, Brooke and I need to talk," Karen yelled over her shoulder as she led Brooke over to the couch so they could have a proper conversation.

"Okay, what's he doing?"

"Well you know that when I left, we had some words," She said, and when Karen just nodded she continued.

"Anyway, I just left and couldn't talk to him all summer. Karen I was scared, scared that he would hurt me again. But I'm over that now, and I just want to be with him. I am in love with him, but he got mad that I stayed in California for so long, and now he has completely shut me out. Well not completely, but I just want to be with him, and I don't think he wants to be with me anymore." Brooke rambled on.

"Brooke sweetie, I love my son, but I know when he is being stubborn. He loves you too."

"Then why won't he be with me."

"Brooke, there are a lot of things that Lucas just doesn't like to face. The impact Dan had on him is one of them."

Brooke looked at Karen, confused as to what Dan had to do with her and Lucas, but she just waited and listened to what Karen had to say.

"Sweetie, he always pushes away the things that matter most to him, because he doesn't want them to walk away from him. He's watched Dan do it, and since he was little, if he thought someone he loved was going to leave him, he pushed them away first so he wouldn't have to feel the pain of being walked away from." Karen said, hoping that Brooke would understand what she was trying to say.

"And then I just made it worse by leaving him without so much as a second glance." Brooke said, finally understanding exactly why Lucas was keeping her a safe distance from his heart.

"So what do I do now?"

"Don't let him walk away. You mean so much to him Brooke, and I know that with everything he is going through right now, that he is scared. Just don't give up on him."

"He told me about the surgery," she said and saw the look of surprise cross over Karen's face.

"Well, it sounds like he is letting you back in little by little. I thought he wasn't going to tell anyone. I'm glad he did though."

"I want to be there for him. I just don't know if he would want me there." Brooke said, as she fidgeted with the rag she still had in her hand.

"I think he would, and I think it's hard for him to admit that. Just remember what I said, and don't give up on him Brooke, just give him time."

"Karen, the delivery guy has a question for you," Sam yelled from behind the counter.

"Go see about the delivery guy, Karen, and thanks." Brooke said as she watched Karen scurry behind the counter to avert whatever problem was about to take place.

Brooke returned to waiting on the few regulars that were in the café, but her thoughts were on Lucas, and the information that Karen had just shared with her.

Now she understood a little better, why he reacted the way that he did, and she was going to do just what Karen said. She was going to stand by him and give him time.

And more importantly, she wasn't going to let him push her away.

That not everything is gonna be the way
You think it ought to be
It seems like every time I try to make it right
It all comes down on me
Please say honestly
You won't give up on me
And I shall believe
I shall believe

The title for this chapter was 'I Shall Believe" by Sheryl Crow. Review and I will love you forever… Thanks for reading