A/N: Minor alert. Filler chapter ahead. But some things have to get done before we can get to the juicy stuff. And I promise, this is a really good filler chapter. Not as good as last chapter though. I was seriously in love with last chapter. I wanted to take it to a beach and marry it...jk.


"Mommy, what's the matter?"

Haley looked up from her seat in their family room, tears creeping down her cheeks. She showed a watery smile to her son and tried to reach out to him. He was too far away though.

"Baby, come here. I've missed you."

"I can't," he said back, grinning.

"Well, go be with your daddy then. Ok? If I can't help you, stay with your daddy."

Jamie shook his head and his expression changed to one of sadness. "Daddy said you don't love him anymore. He said you didn't want me with him."

"That's not true, Jamie! I love you and I love your daddy. You know that!" Haley cried out, reaching for her son again.

Jamie turned away. "I miss you."

"I ain't missing you at all…since you been gone away."

Chris Keller's voice woke Haley up abruptly and she reached over for the phone on her bedside table.

"Hello?" She glanced at the clock and saw the face read 3:04. Whoever was calling her was extremely fortunate she didn't have an eight o'clock exam the next morning.

"Haley James?"

"This is she."

"Where's the trash can in my room in the beach house?"

Haley sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes out. "Nathan?"

"Well, do you know or not?"

She pushed the hair out of her eyes and ran her hand the rest of the way through her locks, contemplating. "You don't have a trash can in your room at the beach house. There's one in the bathroom next to the sink. It's a round aluminum trash can."

Nathan sat quietly on the other line for a few moments. Haley's preemptive sleepiness was vanishing and she was beginning to comprehend why Nathan would ask her a question like this.

"Where the hell did you get my number?" she asked.

"Can you tell me anything about that trash can?"

"Nathan, I don't have to prove anything to you."

"No, you don't," he replied.

Haley sighed. "Fine. When you were eleven, your dad tore up your favorite Michael Jordan card and threw it into that trash can. He said you didn't deserve it because you missed the final shot of your junior league game. You shot a thousand shots every day for the rest of the summer after that."

She heard his shallow breathing on the other end as he listened to her methodically rattle off a story he had never told anyone in his life. Not only had she answered the trick question about his trash can correctly, she had known in detail the reason his eyes were drawn to that trash can every time he walked into the bathroom.

Haley was not in the mood to try to convince Nathan she was telling the truth. She had sensed a hint of desperation, though, with him asking about that trash can. That story had been one Nathan had held in for a long time and she could tell it had affected him greatly when he had whispered it to her as they had lain in bed one night. It was hard for her to leave him hanging, hurting about that terrible moment in his life.

"I've got to go, Nathan. I have a Psychology exam tomorrow. Please don't bother me this late again."

He didn't reply so she hung up the phone and pulled the covers under her chin. She wanted very badly to go back to her dream and talk more to Jamie. She wanted to remind him that she loved her Nathan very much, no matter how far apart they drifted.

It was getting so hard to distinguish though. Her Nathan; their Nathan. It was all running together.

It was nights like these when she knew sleep would never come.

------------

Nathan's odd calls continued throughout exam week. Haley assumed by the frequency of the calls that he would start trying to think of the next absurd question he could ask as soon as she hung up on him. Sometimes she didn't even answer, but he would just keep calling and the constant ringing was getting on Lucas' nerves.

Sometimes she would amuse him and answer the question he would throw out. More often than not though, she would refuse to answer, always citing she had nothing to prove to him.

Friday morning found her and Lucas both on the floor of their den cramming for their last exams, each of which took place that afternoon.

Chris Keller's voice filled the air and Haley looked instinctively at her phone. She had already ignored three of his calls this morning, so she figured she might as well answer it. She picked up the phone and flipped it open.

"What did I dress up as for Halloween of '94?"

Despite his inability to see her, she threw her hands in the air. "How would I possibly know that? You probably don't even know that!"

"I do."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Do you have the picture sitting in front of you?"

"Whatever," he returned, telling her that her assumption was correct.

"I have an exam in two hours. Goodbye." She hung up the phone and tossed it unceremoniously onto the floor next to her.

"Who was that?" Lucas asked, looking up from his book.

"Wrong number," Haley replied distractedly. Lucas raised an eyebrow but held his tongue.

They both sat in silence for a few moments, Haley still fuming over Nathan's stupidity. Suddenly, Lucas looked up from his books.

"I've been meaning to ask you… Do you want to come to my house for Christmas this year?"

"What?" Haley asked, tearing her mind away from Nathan Scott.

"I just thought you might like to come home and spend Christmas with us. Mom said she'd love to have you."

Haley stared at him for a moment, trying to process. "…because my parents aren't here," she returned, unsure.

"Well, yeah. You said a couple of weeks ago their latest letter said they were in Montreal, didn't you?"

"Oh, did I? Yeah, I guess they are. They've been gone since I came to college, huh?"

Luke nodded. "I know you went to Chase's for Christmas last year, but I figured-"

Haley cut him off. "Chase's?"

"You know, Chase Adams. Your ex-boyfriend," Lucas went on, a frown forming on his face.

"The clean teen Chase?" she asked, her eyes widening. Had she dated him?

"Well, you were both clean teens, but yes. Chase the clean teen."

"I'm sorry, Luke," Haley said, putting a hand to her forehead. "It's all these exams. My brain is totally fried." She smiled at him apologetically and he gave her a half-smile in return that she could tell was anything but genuine.

"So," he continued, "do you want to come home with me for Christmas?"

Haley hadn't even thought about Christmas. She wondered why it hadn't crossed her mind immediately; of course as soon as exams ended, students went home for winter break to spend Christmas with their families. When she thought about it though, she knew why it hadn't entered her mind. She had never had to worry going home to be with her family during college; she was always with her family.

That thought took her back to all the wonderful Christmases Nathan, Jamie, and she had spent together. She thought back to Jamie's first Christmas and his amazement with the small tree she and Nathan had put up in their apartment. She remembered when she and Nathan had taken Jamie to meet Santa Claus for the first time. He had let out an unearthly scream when they tried to sit him on Santa Claus' lap. So Haley had put Jamie in her lap and sat on Santa Claus' lap with him, Nathan looking on jealously…

"Hales." Lucas waved a hand in her face, bringing her crashing back to earth.

"What? Oh, yeah. You know, Lucas, I think I'd rather stay here for Christmas."

"Alone?" he asked, looking confused.

"You should be with you family on Christmas," she said sadly.

"Hales, you know you're like family to us."

"I know, Luke, but I'd rather stay here."

He looked a tad confused but did not question her anymore. Haley turned back to her books, trying not to succumb to tears. She should have been back in her home by now. She should be there for Christmas. She shouldn't be here for Christmas, without her family. She knew she couldn't face it at Lucas', knowing what she knew.

A thought that had been hovering around her more and more lately finally gripped her.What if none of it was real? What if I imagined it all and this is really my life and I've gone crazy? Maybe Nathan never loved me, maybe Jamie was just…

"Hales, are you ok?"

"What?" She looked back up, blinking several times.

He laid down the book he was looking at to study her. "You just don't seem like yourself lately."

"I told you," Haley replied, not at all surprised that Lucas had noticed the change in her behavior. "It's just these exams."

"It's not," he said, shaking his head. "Hales, you've been acting different for weeks. You're always looking sad or out of it and now you're getting these phone calls at all hours of the day. It's just unusual for me to not know what's going on with you. If there's something, you need to tell me."

"Luke, I-" Haley stared at him sadly, at a loss for words. "I wish I couldexplain it but I can't. I'm just going through some stuff right now."

Lucas nodded, putting his arm around his best friend. "Ok, I understand. As long as you understand that I'm here for you."

She smiled up at him. "I know. I'll get through this."

He rubbed a soothing hand on her back. "I know you will. Cause you're one tough little girl."

"Big girl," she corrected.

"Well," he bobbed his head, "that remains to be seen."

"Luke!" She shoved him playfully. She wriggled out of his grasp and got up from the floor, feeling moderately better. "I'm going to go get dressed."

Haley went to her room and threw on a pair of sweat pants. She began to go through her drawer looked for a t-shirt, when the shining of her ring caught her eye. She stared at it for a second, feeling around the ring for the words on it. She let out sigh of relief. "Of course it's real," she whispered to herself.

She stopped short as she heard Lucas' voice in the den. Wondering who he could be talking to, she walked out of her room. Suddenly, an angry yell made her stop short.

"What the hell are you doing calling my best friend?!"

Luke!" She dashed into the den and pulled her phone out of Lucas' hand. She heard Nathan cursing on the other end so she slammed the phone closed. He stared up at her with a very accusing face.

"Has he been calling you?"

"What?"

"Nathan! Has he been calling you?!"

"Why would you ask that?"

"I was going through your phone and I noticed every call was from the same number, so I dialed it. And guess who picked up?"

"Lucas, why would you go through my phone?" she asked, annoyed.

"That's not the point! Has he been calling you?"

"This is none of your business!"

"It became my business when he brought you into the equation. It was one thing for him to torture me in high school, but if he doesn't stay away from you- is this why you have been acting so odd lately?"

"You wouldn't understand," Haley replied.

He gave her a cold look. "No, I suppose when you have problems, you'd rather talk to the other Scott." He sat up and went to grab his keys from the counter. He headed toward the door.

"Luke!"

"Hales, can we please just talk later?" he asked before wrenching open the door and walking out.

All the good feelings Haley had just had instantly vanished. Her mood did not improve as the day wore on, bring with it an especially hard psychology exam and a lonely lunch in Duke's cafeteria.

She was sitting at her table eating when her phone went off again and she managed to answer it before Chris even got to his first 'missing you.'

"If you call me again, so help me I will-"

"Hales?"

Haley took her phone from her ear and looked at the front screen. She laughed in relief when she saw the name on it.

"Marcus! I'm so sorry. Some jerk has been calling my phone all week. What are you up to?!"

He didn't answer her question. "Please tell me you're still on campus."

"I am. I'm in the cafeteria."

"Don't move." She heard nothing else and looked at the phone curiously. It showed that the call had ended. She hung up, grinning to herself.

A few moments later, the dark figure of Marcus was sauntering up to her table. "Hey, baby girl." He slid in across from her. "What 'chu doing?"

She giggled. "Hey, Marcus."

"So, ask me what I got for my favorite tutor."

"What did you get for your favorite tutor?"

"Along with an A in Creative Writing…" He stuck his hand in his pocket and whipped out what looked to be a blue piece of paper. "A ticket to our game next week."

"Oh, Marcus, thanks!" she said, pulling the ticket out of his hand to study it. It proclaimed that the Blue Devils would be playing East Carolina on December 22 at 7:00 pm. "This is really sweet."

"Yeah. There won't be many people there because of Christmas break and this seat is off the hook. You will be there, won't you?" he asked quickly.

"Of course."

"Good."

She looked up from the ticket. "Don't you get to go home for Christmas?"

He shook his head. "Nah. We have that game on Tuesday and a tournament that starts the day after Christmas. I couldn't fly to Chicago in that amount of time. I get to go home for New Year's though."

"I'm sorry, Marcus. If it makes you feel any better, even if I went home for Christmas, no one would be there."

"Sorry, Hales."

"Trust me, that's the least of my worries."

"So, you coming to my game?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

------------

Haley drove over to Cameron Indoor the next Tuesday, securely wrapped up in a jacket. To say it was freezing outside would have been a bit of an understatement.

It had been getting a little lonely in the apartment since Lucas had left for the holidays. After their argument, she had explained to Lucas that Nathan was calling about tutoring. Though he had been much friendlier after that, he didn't seem completely convinced. Her suspicions were confirmed when his goodbye on Saturday night was decidedly cold.

Nathan had thankfully stopped calling. If she admitted it to herself, though, she knew she missed his voice just a little bit.

Since she had left early, she got a very good parking spot close to the gymnasium. Marcus had been right when he said not many people would be there since Christmas break had started.

Her seat wasn't hard to find as it was courtside. Since she was early, the team was still out on the court warming up. Her eyes automatically sought out the form of Nathan Scott. He was one of the shorter boys on the team, but he also looked to be one of the most talented. And a fan favorite, she thought as a quick look around the gym revealed an absurdly large number of Nathan Scott jerseys being worn. She realized Marcus had gotten her exceptionally good seats because she was not in the student section.

Not long after the team had left the court, she heard a familiar voice coming up from behind her.

"And he seemed to be under the impression that alcohol is free!"

Haley turned in her seat and saw Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis walking through the aisle toward her.

"Haley!" Peyton called, plopping down in the seat next to her.

"Peyton!" she replied.

"Brooke!" Brooke yelled out.

"Oh, sorry. Haley, this is Brooke Davis. Brooke, this is Haley. She used to go to Tree Hill and she goes to Duke now."

"You're Lucas Scott's friend, right? I didn't know you went to Tree Hill."

"Yes and yes," Haley responded.

"So, which one of these fine basketball players do you date?" Brooke asked.

"Excuse me?"

Peyton rolled her eyes at Brooke. "This section is unofficially called 'The Girlfriend Section,'" Peyton explained, making air quotes. "Because all the players get one extra ticket before the game and usually they give it to their girlfriend. What Brooke fails to mention is that she is not a girlfriend either. So, let me rephrase for her and ask who gave you his ticket?"

"Marcus."

"Oh, he is fine!" Brooke said, giggling. "Well, I have Chad's. Do you want to trade?"

Haley laughed. She specifically remembered Chad.

"And while we're at it, can I have Lucas too?" Brooke continued.

Peyton raised an eyebrow. "Anyway…"

"Duke University welcomes you to Cameron Indoor Stadium," came a loud voice over the speakers as the lights dimmed.

Haley sat back in her seat to enjoy the game. When they introduced the players, Nathan easily got the biggest cheer. She was used to this though.

The game was an easy win for Duke and everyone was already very bored halfway through the second half. Haley enjoyed talking to Peyton and Brooke. Brooke was a tad on the obnoxious side but Haley decided to forgive this due to the fact that she knew Brooke's high school years would have been significantly different without her and Lucas.

As the game ended, Haley turned to leave when Peyton grabbed her arm. "Do you want to go tell them good game?"

"We're not allowed to meet them after the game, are we?"

Brooke laughed. "She so naïve, Peyton. Let's keep her!"

"We'll show you where they come out," Peyton promised.

The three walked down on the court where some of the Cameron Crazies were celebrating the victory and parted through the people. They approached a side door that was being guarded by a Duke employee.

"Hey, Peyton," he greeted. "Brooke."

As they walked through, he put out a hand to stop Haley. "Come on, girls, you know I can't let you just bring people with you."

"Haley, show him your ticket," Peyton instructed.

Haley fished her ticket out of her purse and showed it to the man. He let her through and she followed Peyton and Brooke through a hallway and into another, bigger room where there were a couple more girls standing around, who all greeted Brooke and Peyton by name.

They sat around for a few minutes when a door to their left finally opened. The boys spilled out of it, all dressed in some form of sweat suit and with gym bags draped over their arms. The boys immediately flocked to their respective girlfriends.

Marcus walked out next to Chad and Haley dashed up to give him a hug. "Great game, Marcus!"

He smiled. "Thanks, Haley. I didn't expect to see you out here."

Haley pulled back from him and looked over at Chad.

"Do I get a hug?" he asked, his eyes sweeping over her body.

She smiled sheepishly and gave Chad a quick hug. "You sat on the bench wonderfully, Chad."

Marcus burst out laughing, as did two girls behind Haley. She turned to see that Peyton and Brooke had walked up behind her to talk to the boys. "And she's got a mouth, too," Brooke said, laughing.

Chad did not show embarrassment though. On the contrary, he seemed quite please. "So, you were watching me?"

A hand came out of nowhere to smack Chad in the back of the head.

"Dammit, Nathan!" He rubbed the spot where Nathan had just struck him.

Nathan met Haley's eye momentarily as he walked to wrap his arms around Peyton. Peyton game him a weak grin. "Good game."

"Thanks, baby," he replied, leaning down to kiss her. He looked back up and wasted no time in staring Haley down. He bent back toward Peyton and attached his lips to her neck. Haley looked away.

"Nathan, seriously, stop," Peyton said, swatting him away.

Nathan pulled away as Brooke laughed. "Get a room, you two!"

Nathan draped an arm around Peyton and caught Haley's eye again. "I plan to."

"So, what are you lovely ladies doing for the rest of the night?" Marcus asked.

"Something incredibly dull, I'm sure," Brooke chanted.

"We should all go out," Chad said, looking around at the group. "If you two can keep your hormones in check for that long." He looked pointedly at Peyton and Nathan.

"Let's do it," Peyton said. "It'll be fun."

"Hales, you up for it?" Marcus asked, looking toward her.

She shrugged. "I guess."

"You and Nathan have to make a truce," Marcus told them.

"I'll be nice if she will," Nathan said, his trademark smirk in place.

Haley raised an eyebrow and glared back at him coldly. Peyton glanced between the two of them, looking confused. It hadn't even crossed her mind that Nathan and Haley knew each other, much less that they didn't get along.

"Promise to play nice, James?" Nathan asked, sticking his hand out for Haley to shake.

"I think I told you about touching," she muttered to him, barely moving her lips.

She turned away from his still outstretched hand and clapped her hands together, smiling at the others. "If I can't say anything nice, I won't say anything at all. It's not like Nathan's been calling my phone all week, annoying me." She glanced at him and he looked very guilty for a moment. "If he did that, I'd really hate him."

"So, we're going?" Chad asked, looking amused by the entire confrontation.

"We're going," Nathan affirmed.

Brooke mimicked Haley and clapped her hands together. "All right! This is way better than dull!"

Haley cursed under her breath. "Yipee."


A/N: Yes, I have exams on the mind. I am so psyched for Christmas though. Not real Christmas, Christmas in this story! Lol

So, a lot of people have been asking if this is a Leyton or Brucas. The truth is, I'm pretty undecided. I've been toying with the idea of both but if it is either, it will not be a nauseating amount that would alienate any reader. This story is about Naley, and mostly Lucas, Peyton, and Brooke are just secondary characters. Which is totally how I think the show should be, but that's way out of my control. I like them all as characters, I'm just not attached to any of their relationships.

Want to know something random? Someone told me to put more Pathan in (this is not meant to insult that reviewer, it was just random). It might just be me, but I don't think I would ever want to be in the kind of relationship Pathan has in this story; I thought I was writing it as a pretty disgustingly using relationship…anyway, sorry for the insanely long author's note. I go on rants sometimes.