A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter... Without furthur ado... here's chapter 8!

"No Joy in Mudville"

After the phone call from Peyton, and then the phone call from Lucas, Haley's thoughts had drifted away from her husband's news and to her friends most recent drama. Knowing Luke and knowing Peyton, this was going to be bad and because of that Haley vowed to herself she would remain neutral.

"Nathan?" They were still standing in the kitchen by the phone, quietly processing the phone calls they had received from two very important people in their lives.

"Yeah Hales?" Nathan could guess what was coming next. Haley had heard them discussing Brooke and she was going to ask him what her best friend had to say. He figured she'd definitely be upset with what really went down and wasn't sure it would be best for her to know prior to her visit with Peyton this weekend.

"Why did Luke bring up Brooke? And why did you go into protective big brother mode?" Haley had spoken relatively quickly, almost as though she was fearing the answer. The answer to those two relatively simple questions could complicate the matter even worse for all of them.

"Well-" Nathan began to reply but was cut off by his wife who really didn't need him to answer the question. She already knew.

"He's left Peyton in hopes of getting Brooke back hasn't he?" She questioned again, even more sullenly this time.

Sighing, Nathan could only nod. At least this way he didn't even have to consider lying to his wife, she had already known the answer to the question she posed and he knew they were about to be sucked back into the drama of Tree Hill.

"Do you think we can stay neutral?" Worry showing through on her face.

"I certainly hope so babe…" He was more than unsure of himself when it came to this. The Brooke/Lucas/Peyton triangle had always been a tough one to stay neutral on. How could you not be mad at any one of them at any point in time for all this. Lucas was the key though, he had crushed both these girls on more than one occasion. "It might be best if Brooke not enter the conversations you have with Peyt this weekend hun…"

It was Haley's turn to just nod in response. Her and Brooke were really close but she felt a pull that she needed to be there for Peyton this weekend. The curly blonde was hurting and as her friend, Haley would support her, without taking sides.

"Hey Nate…." She waited for her husband to look up at her and when he did she continued. "Does Luke know that Brooke is actually moving on with her life? Does he know she's with Jason?" She knew she hadn't mentioned Brooke's beau, but she had no idea if Nathan ever had.

"I've never mentioned him…" How on earth could this be happening. Lucas left Peyton for Brooke, whether he chose to admit fully to it or not, his questions about her earlier in the evening had proven that point. Now, if Brooke would even see him after all the hurt he had caused her, Lucas could very well cause a second love triangle, with Brooke being in the middle this time. She'd have to decide between Lucas, the man she'd loved for years, or Jason, the man who cared about her so much from day one that went through all the steps of friendship, slowly turning to more patiently without pressuring Brooke in the least.

"This is going to be such a mess…" Nathan continued. "I thought we escaped this drama when we left tree hill?"

"Sometimes I wonder if it's possible to ever escape the drama of tree hill…"

After Haley muttered that last sentence, Nathan decided it would be best to jump to happier news. They deserved some good news and he hoped this would make Haley happy.

"So Hales? How about we get of the love triangle topic for a while and talk about other things?" He was grinning widely already, just at the thought of telling his wife.

"Well, I have to say Nate, I'm definitely on board with that idea!" she knew whatever he had to tell her was exciting. Nathan rarely showed this much emotion unless it was big, so this had to be big.

"Well, after practice today coach pulled me into his office." He started out rather nervously, hoping she would share his initial reaction. She just nodded for him to continue. "There was a guy there from the NBA and well…"

"What?!?" Haley cried out. She was only guessing what he was going to say, but if she could trust his grin to give anything away…

"James is sleeping Hales…" She instantly quieted down at this. "As I was saying, there was a guy there from the NBA, a scout… I was slightly shocked myself." He was actually starting to ramble and had to reel himself in to stay on track.

"So anyways, Coach said that Mr. Bradner had a couple of things to discuss with me and that's why I was called into the office."

"-What'd he want to talk to you about?" Haley cut in excited for her husband.

After the points shaving thing, it took some time for Nathan to prove himself again. Under Whitey's influence, Haley and Nathan had both moved from Tree Hill away from their dreams of Duke so Nathan could play ball for just a little longer.

After a year of playing for Whitey, and proving that he wouldn't screw up again, UCLA began to show some interest in him. The following year, they moved once more to LA and started attending there. This benefited them both as Haley would receive a better education there and managed to receive a full ride for the rest of her college career. Nathan was playing ball again at a higher level and people were starting to take interest in him again.

"He said they were interested in me as a first draft pick Hales…" His grin now spread across his face, almost as though it would be permanently plastered there. "Do you have any idea what this means? You'll be able to go to Stanford. We won't struggle anymore babe… I can support my family"

She knew he was excited, and she was excited for him, his dreams were going to come true. But she had a sinking feeling that this would not go as smoothly. Despite her reservations, Haley put on a smile equally as wide as Nathan's. "That's awesome babe!"

"I know, it's great! Isn't it?" To say Nathan was relieved to see his wife's excitement towards the matter was an understatement.

Despite Nathan's excitement, a realization had just hit Haley like a brick wall. She really didn't want to bring up the possible downside, there was a possibility after all that they would stay here, he'd get picked up locally, but after the point shaving incident, she wasn't so certain that the Lakers would be the team to sign him. "So Babe, not to be a downer, but do you know what team? I mean, does this mean we might have to move?" She cringed as she asked this question, cringing even further when the reality and the possibilities from her question made her husband's face drop.

He hadn't even thought of it. How could he not think of it? Completely frustrated with himself for not thinking everything through. Running his hands through his raven hair more thoughts entered his mind. What about school? He was smart enough to know that players got career ending injuries every day and he needed a back up. He needed to be able to support his family no matter what.

They had a lot to think about, many questions to ask and an important decision to make.