Chapter 16: That Feeling

Haley stood in her doorway staring at the person standing there. She was so happy.

"Brooke! oh my gosh. What are you doing here?" she asked her old friend.

" Well, you know I heard you were back and thought I should stop by and see you."

"Well, I'm glad you did. Come on in."

"Thanks. So...Lucas told me...about you and...Nathan. With the kids and all. And I still can't believe you have two kids and never told me."

"Yeah. Well, let me tell you it's hard to keep that from the people you love."

"Like Nathan?"

"Exactly. But to be completely honest...he's been pretty great. With Nathan at least. Since Holly will barely speak to him. But he's been spending so much time with Nathan and I actually think he might be having a positve influence on him."

"Wow, Hales. That's great. But how do you feel about him?"

"Honestly? I feel the same way I did 16 years ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean it's kind of strange...you know? You leave and live a completely different life for 16 years and then all of a sudden you come back to your old one and everything comes back. You see old friends. And even the love of your life and everything changes. And with me...well that means my kid's lives changing too."

"That must be really hard,Haley. So where are you kid's now?"

"Well, Holly is tutoring at school till five."

"She's just like you,tutorgirl."

"Yeah."

"And your son?"

"He is at basketball practice with his father."

"So he's exactly like Nathan?"

"Yes. In every way. And even weirder...I have a feeling he's up to something. And with him...just like his father...it's not a very good thing."

"Hmm...well...he sounds like trouble."

"Yeah. He's a tough one."

"Hey, Hales I gotta do something. But how about you call me and we do something soon. You know shopping. Movie. Whatever."

"Okay, Brooke. That sounds great."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later then. It's so great to see you, Haley." Brooke said as she hugged her friend.

"Yeah, you too. Talk to you later."

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As Brooke left Haley's she headed over to the high school. She really needed to talk to Nathan. For his and Haley's sake. When she got to the high school she headed directly to the gym. When she entered the gym all the memories of high school came back to her. There was nobody in the gym. So she figured practice was over and headed to Nathan's office. When she got there she knocked lightly on the door.

" Hey, Nate...Oh hello."

"Hi. You looking for my dad?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Who are you exactly?"

"I'm Nathan Scott."

"Oh! So your Nathan and Haley's son, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Oh, I was just over talking to your mom. And she said you were here with your dad."

"Oh. Great. And you are?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You probably think I'm crazy rambling here. I'm Brooke Davis. I'm a friend of your mom and dad's."

"Oh. From high school?"

"Yeah. Anyway,do you know where your father is?"

"No idea. I'm waiting for him. I mean he was here a few minutes ago. But now he disappeared somewhere. But he should know i'm not leaving until he goes and talks to my mom."

"What do want him to talk to your mom about?"

"How he truely feels."

"And hows that?"

"He's still in love with her."

"Yes! Oh my god. That's exactly what I came to talk to him about."

"Really? Why's that?"

" Because the world is such a lesser place without Naley. And if they both feel the same way... then maybe we could have that again."

"Naley?"

"Yeah. That's what we called them in high school."

"Oh. Cute. I guess. But he's not gonna budge. I'm trying so hard."

"Well, what do you say if we both work together. Then maybe we can convince them to come together."

"Really? You'd help me?"

"Yeah. What do say we go down to the rivercourt and try to figure this out?"

"Sure. Thanks."

"Let's go."

Nathan Jr. and Brooke left Nathan's office and headed out of the locker room. Just then they ran into Nathan.

"Nathan?Brooke? Where are you going?"

"No where." They both said in unison.

"What are you to up to?"

"Nothing,Nathan. All i'm doing is going to...get to know your son. I'm just giving him a ride home. That's all."

"I don't know. You two look suspicious. I'm on to you Davis."

"What? Have I ever done anything bad?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Maybe once or twice. But i'm just giving Nathan a ride home. Talk to you later, Nate."

"Bye Dad." Nathan yelled to his father

"Bye Nathan." Nathan yelled back to his son.

Nathan stood in his office. Thinking about those two. And what they could be up to. And both of them together...god they could be cooking up something really bad. But his thoughts got distracted by the thoughts of Haley. Should he listen to his son and tell her how he feels? But what if Nathan just told him that Haley still had feelings for him? He knew what he had to do. He had to go and tell her. No matter what. He loved her more than anything. And nothing was ever gonna change that. He grabbed his keys and headed to his car. As he drove to Haley's he ran this over and over in his head. When he got to her house he walked up to the front door nervously and rang the door bell. When the door opened it revealed Haley.

"Nathan? Hey, what's up? May I ask where my son is?"

"He left with Brooke. I don't know. Their up to something."

"Oh. Okay. Then what's going on?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay. Um...come on in."

Haley led Nathan out to the deck because her daughter was home and whatever he needed to say looked important so he didn't want her to be listening.

" So, Nate...what do you need to talk to me about?"

"Well..."

-------

Nathan Jr. and Brooke pulled up in front of the house. They got out and walked inside.

" I'm telling you, Nathan, it will work. It did the first time."

" Are you sure? Because-- Oh my god, Brooke. Look, their talking outside. Maybe we don't need to do anything at all. Yes, dad. Please tell me you listened to me."

" Nathan, what do you say we go upstairs so they don't see us."

"Okay. Good plan."

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Outside Haley and Nathan were standing there very uncomfortable until Nathan finally spoke.

" Haley...Ever since you left. I mean...when I really knew you weren't coming back. I just got this feeling like deep inside me. Like maybe someday everthing would be okay again. Even if at that time it wasn't. But then 10 years pass and nothing changes. I still have that feeling in the pit of my stomach. That feeling that maybe you'd come back. And now 16 years later...here you are."

"Yeah. I know what you mean."

" You do?"

" Yeah. I mean...all those years ago... I thought about coming back. And thought okay...everything could be okay again. Everything could go back to normal. And you have no idea how many times I packed the kids up and headed to that airport. And saw the flight to Tree Hill. But...then I hit a wall. That maybe...you were still angry...and hurt. So I never did. But you have to know Nathan...I wanted to like a million times over the past 16 years."

" Then why didn't you? I mean...I swear if I knew where you were I would have gotten on a plane and came to see you."

" Really?"

"Yeah." Nathan said as he came closer to Haley. They were inches apart and Nathan finally said what he'd been wanting to say. " I mean...I love you,Haley."

Haley stood there just staring at him. Not sure of what to say. She knew what she wanted to say. But that would change everything. This was way to fast. I mean...she felt like she just got there. And now she and Nathan were just going to pick up where they left off 16 years ago. Actually that sounded pretty great to Haley. She Stood there staring at Nathan. Admiring how amazing he looked. Unable to say anything. Just this moment made her want to tell him the absolute truth about everything.

"Nathan..." Haley started