A/N: Thank you guys for all the support, as always. It makes writing that much more fun for me!

Chapter 6: Back to Basics

"Haley?" Lucas knocked on Haley's door. Haley opened her bedroom door.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Haley asked her brother in law.
"Mac's gone... Did she say anything to you about going home?" Lucas asked.
"No, she never said anything about leaving..." Haley replied.
"Haley, tell whoever is out there to go away," Nathan called from the bathroom.
"One second, sweetie," Haley called back as she stepped into the hall, closing her door behind her.
"Look at this," Lucas spoke as he handed Haley a piece of paper.

Lucas,
There was an emergency at home with my mom. I'm catching the next flight back to North Carolina. Don't worry, I want you to stay here and enjoy your time with your friends. I'll call you when I land. I love you.

Mackenzie

"I'm sure she'll call you, it'll be okay," Haley tried to reason with her friend.
"I tried to catch her at the aiport, but I was too late," Lucas shook his head.

"Haley, seriously," Nathan said a little annoyed as he opened his bedroom door, wearing only a pair of boxers.
"Oh, tonight, you guys wanted to be alone... I'm so sorry," Lucas apologized as he turned to walk away.
"Mac left," Haley whispered to Nathan.
"Luke, wait up!" Nathan called as he followed his brother down the hall and out of the house.
"I'm really sorry Nathan, I had forgotten," Lucas apologized again.
"You wanna talk about it?" Nathan asked.
"Not really, besides, you and Haley need your night alone. It's one of those lucky things before a game, right?"
"Yeah, but we have all night for that..." Nathan argued.
"It's okay, really. I'll just call Mouth and find out where everyone is... Oh, and Nathan, I'm really sorry about everyone accusing you of cheating on Haley. We were all out of line," Lucas apologized.
"It's alright. Shit happens. I just thought you guys understood what Haley and I have together. It's solid, ya know?"
"Yeah, it is. We can all only wish to be so lucky," Lucas smiled as his brother as he walked down the driveway, pulling his cell phone out to call his friends.

Nathan walks back inside. Haley's waiting for him on the couch.

"Is he okay?" Haley asked.
"Yeah, he'll be okay... Now, where were we?" Nathan grinned as he scooped his wife up and carried her back to their bedroom. Candles were lit all over the room. It was beautiful. He gently layed her down on the bed.

"I love you, so much," Nathan breathed heavily as he kissed her.

"I love you too... but wait, you know the rules," Haley smirked.
"Ugh, movie first... What will it be tonight?" Nathan asked as he rolled over to his side of the bed.
"Hmm, something romantic... The Lake House?" Haley grinned at her husband.
"Yeah, okay," Nathan agreed as he stood to set the DVD player up. He loved these pre game nights with Haley. It started out as a night where they would do nothing but be together, the whole night. But the first night they had watched the Notebook first and ever since then, they repeated the ritual every time Nathan had a home game. And every home game, Nathan played the best game of his life. It was tradition.
"How many times have we seen this movie?" Haley asked her husband.
"It's been a couple years, but I actually really like it," Nathan laughed.
"The house is quiet," Haley giggled.
"It's kinda nice after the last coupld days," Nathan smiled as he sat back on the bed, wrapping his arm around Haley.
"It's nice having you here, too..." Haley smiled.
"Seasons almost over and then you'll be stuck with me every second of everyday," Nathan playfully started tickling her. He let his hand drop to her belly.
"Can you believe we're actually going to be having a baby with us soon," Nathan grinned as he kissed her belly.
"I know... everything is finally coming into place, just how we always dreamed."
"Except your music... Are you really finished performing? Haley, that always made you happier than anything..." Nathan spoke.
"No, you make me happier than anything. Our baby makes me happier than anything... and having our friends here, makes me happy too," Haley smiled as she put her hand over her husbands.
"You know, we've all changed, but at the same time it feels like we're all the same," Nathan sighed.
"Not exactly... Look at Rachel and Mouth. Who would have ever seen that coming?" Haley laughed.
"Yeah, Rachel has been really nice," Nathan agreed.
"And Peyton is a mom, I would have never guessed that," Haley smiled.
"Me either... Well, I could have seen it if she had stayed with Lucas. He's going to be a great dad," Nathan smiled.
"Yeah..." Haley spoke hesitantly.
"What's wrong?" Nathan asked.
"If I tell you something, promise me, you won't say anything."
"I swear, Haley," Nathan looked concerned.
"Mac isn't sure that the baby is Lucas's."
"What? And you haven't told him?" Nathan asked with huge eyes.
"Part of that whole mind your own business thing we all agreed on," Haley sighed. She could tell Nathan was disappointed.
"But Haley..." Nathan started.
"It's not my place, Mac will tell him," Haley pleaded.
"That's why she left. She told you and she panicked."
"And Brooke heard too," Haley commented.
"Brooke will tell him for sure. You saw the way they were flirting..."
"Maybe, I just don't want to lose Luke again. We need him around," Haley begged.
"I won't say anything, Haley. You have my word," Nathan kissed his wife.
"Thank you," she kissed him back and before they knew it, neither were watching the movie anymore.

"Lucas, you made it!" Brooke squealed from the bed in Rachel and Mouth's hotel room. Lucas looked around and saw half empty liquor bottles all over the place. Rachel was sitting at a table eating some kind of take out while Mouth was typing steadily on his laptop beside her. He noticed Peyton sitting out on the balcony.

"Where's Mac?" Rachel asked.
"She had some things to take care of back home," Lucas sighed as he sat down in a chair.
"You wanna take a shot with me?" Brooke asked as she ran over to the table, grabbing two empty shot glasses.
"Sure, why not," Lucas agreed as he poured the remainder of the tequila into the glasses.
"Here's to us," Brooke grinned. They hit glasses and took the shot. Peyton walked in.
"Hey," Peyton smiled.
"Hey yourself," Lucas smiled back.
"So this isn't quite what I imagined when I planned on coming here," Peyton laughed.
"What do you mean?" Brooke asked.
"I thought we'd be spending time with Haley and Nathan... You know the couple that makes the rest of us believe in love," Peyton laughed.
"Yeah, they seem pretty solid," Lucas agreed, "What about you and Jake?"
"Things are great. Not perfect, but really what marriage is?" Peyton asked.
"None, I guess," Brooke chimed in.
"I don't care what Nathan says, I think he's cheating on her," Rachel added.
"No, he's not," Mouth glared at her.
"I don't know... I saw something today at the airport..." Peyton started. Everyones eyes got really big.
"Do tell," Rachel encouraged her.
"My flight got here really early and I never called Haley or Nathan to tell them but Nathan was at the airport... and he wasn't with Haley," Peyton sighed.
"Well, who was he there with?" Lucas asked confused.
"Some blonde girl... Aubrey was her name, he said Haley didn't have a problem with it," Peyton shrugged her shoulders.
"And you actually believed him?" Brooke asked.
"Well, how was I supposed to know. I haven't talked to the people in 6 years..." Peyton said defensively.
"Nathan wouldn't lie about cheating on her... He just wouldn't," Lucas shook his head.
"Nathan isn't perfect," Brooke agreed.
"I have to wonder though, I mean this Aubrey girl would have to be really good... Nathan wouldn't even cheat on Hales with me," Rachel remembered. Brooke threw a pillow at Rachel. They started laughing.
"Well, we need to promise to keep this to ourselves until we actually catch Nathan doing something... agreed?" Lucas asked. Everyone nodded.
"Think they'll slip up at the game?" Peyton asked.
"What do you mean?" Mouth asked.
"Aubrey is a Lakers girl..." Peyton added.
"Nice to know," Brooke grinned as she thought to herself.
"What? What are you going to do?" Lucas asked.
"I'm just going to introduce myself to the skany husband thief!" Brooke hissed as she layed back on the bed.