Season on the Brink

If Haley had ever dreamt of the perfect date, Nathan was making it come true. Even winning their game that evening couldn't put bigger smiles on the couples' faces as they arrived at the riverside restaurant Nathan had chosen for dinner.

As he opened the car door for her, Haley felt like a princess. When he pulled a bouquet of small purple flowers out of the backseat, her tummy did a little flip-flop. "Nathan," she sighed, taking the flowers that had been so symbolic to their relationship in the past. "These are the flowers from the beach," she told him, as though he didn't already know that.

Nathan nodded, thinking back to the days they had spent weekends at his parents' beach house, hiding from the rest of the world, and laying in the sand. "They are," he nodded, dropping a kiss on her forehead before weaving his fingers through hers.

When the waitress showed them to their table, Haley was again surprised to find her favorite, macaroni and cheese, already waiting for them. Another purple flower had been placed in the center of her plate and she found herself fighting tears as she spread the cloth napkin across her legs.

They spent the first twenty minutes of dinner eating and reminiscing about the good times they had shared during the course of their time together. After their empty plates had been cleared, Haley wiped her mouth and cleared her throat. "Did you get a chance to talk to your dad?"

But Nathan just shook his head. "We're not talking about him tonight, okay?" When she smiled slightly, he reached across the table and wove his fingers through hers. "Are you ready to get out of here?"

She smiled and nodded, impressed when he stood quickly and pulled her chair out for her. "Where are we going?" she asked, happily swinging their joined hands as they approached the car.

He was like a smug child when he squeezed his lips together and shook his head. "I'm not tellin'."

------

Swish!

Lucas held his arms up in a casual sign of victory before moving toward the bouncing ball. Before he could grab it, a sneaker-clad foot stopped it's progress. He smiled at her as she picked up the basketball and bounced it back to him. "You haven't had enough basketball for one night?"

Aiming for another shot, he raising an eyebrow at her. "You can never have enough basketball," he smiled slightly as the ball found its mark once more. "What's on your mind, Pretty Girl?"

They moved toward the bleachers beside the court and sat side by side. Brooke took a deep breath and shook her head. "I thought you would be celebrating your big win with your girlfriend," she said softly.

Lucas shook his head. "Her dad's home for a few days," he explained. "Thought I'd give 'em some alone time." Brushing her dark hair from her face, her smiled again. "You feelin' alright?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, lost in the depth of his eyes once again. For the life of her, she couldn't remember a time when she hadn't known him, when she hadn't been enamored with Lucas Scott. She couldn't remember what life was before he had come into her sphere of influence.

There were a million questions that he wanted to ask her, but the crunching sound of tires on gravel interrupted his thoughts. They each turned toward the headlights and smiled as Nathan and Haley stepped out of the car.

"Are we interrupting something?" Haley asked, smiling as Brooke stood to hug her friend. "Are you okay?"

Brooke nodded and sniffled back the tears were threatening to fall. "I'm good."

"Dude, you wanna play a little one-on-one?" Nathan asked Lucas, grabbing the ball that was now resting on the bleachers. "I was gonna try to teach Haley how to shoot a free throw," he smiled, winking at the girl beside him. "Since I'm pretty sure she still sucks at it."

Haley pushed Nathan's arm. "Shut up," she protested. "I'm not that bad!"

"Oh, Haley," Lucas shook his head and grinned at his childhood best friend, "There are kids at the Special Olympics with a better shot than you."

Brooke jumped in to defend her friend, as the four of them began teasing each other easily. For a brief moment in time, it was as if nothing had ever changed between them. It was as if they were exactly where they were supposed to be.

"Is this a private party? Or can anyone join?"

Lucas turned immediately at the sound of Peyton's voice, jumping slightly. "Hey," he said with a nervous grin. "I thought you were with your dad tonight."

"Obviously," she answered coldly, staring more at her feet than the people around her. Though she was sure she was over-reacting, seeing all four of the people she considered her closest friends having a good time without her hurt. "So what's goin' on?"

"Nathan brought me out here for our date," Haley started to explain as Nathan slung his arm around her shoulder. "And apparently we were coming out here to make fun of my free-throw abilities, but then Luke and Brooke were already here," she rambled and then realized that she had said too much. "I mean," she started, but Peyton shook her head.

"Haley, it's fine," Peyton shook her head. "It's no big deal, right?" One thing she wasn't sure Lucas even knew about himself was that his eyes gave him away, even when he thought he was controlling his emotions. And the look he was shooting her at the moment said that he was guilty as hell.

There was a time when hanging out with these people would have been an ideal night for Lucas. But it wasn't really feeling like one of those nights. "You wanna head back to my house?" he asked Peyton, praying for a quick escape with limited incident.

"Not really," Peyton answered honestly, her eyes locking onto Brooke's. She had tried to be cordial, tried to make ammends for the horrible things that she had done to her friend. But she was tired of feeling guilty for being with the guy who had chosen to be with her. She was tired of doing pennance and feeling like it was doing absolutely no good. "Luke," she sighed, turning to the man at her left, fully aware that all eyes were on her.

When he met her eyes, he wished like hell that he hadn't. The pain and confusion he found there was equally as bad, if not worse, than the look Brooke had given him when she found out he had been cheating on her. "Peyton," he whispered.

"Just tell me what's going on, okay?" She didn't care anymore that everyone was watching her or that she might make a scene. She just wanted to know the truth. "You say you wanna be with me, but then you're meeting Brooke in the middle of the night. Just tell me what's going on."

Haley gripped Nathan's hand and wished she was anywhere but there. She was closer to Brooke, without a doubt, but Peyton was her friend, too. And then there was Lucas, her best friend when nobody else standing there had even known her name. She didn't want to watch whatever was going to happen next.

It was supposed to be their special reunion dinner, and at the moment, Nathan didn't give a damn about whatever love triangle his ex-girlfriend and his brother were involved in. This was his one chance to give Haley a night to remember before he left for Oakworth, and even if it was selfish, he wanted her all to himself.

Lucas looked from Peyton to Brooke and then at the ground. Things were so much more complicated than he could put into words. His life was more complicated than he ever imagined they would be. Especially during his senior year in high school.

Before he could say anything, though, Brooke cleared her throat and took a slight step forward. "I'm pregnant."