Hey guys! Thank you so much for the reviews last chapter, I'm glad you guys are enjoying this because I'm really enjoying writing it! I'm leaving for California in 3 days for 2 weeks with some friends for a little vacation so updates won't be that frequent while I'm away. I'll try to get another one up before I leave. I didn't have time to proofread this so please excuse any mistakes. Also I took a scene from the show with another couple and applied it to Haley and Nathan. It was just too cute not to use and it fit in with the characters and their personalities in my story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill

Chapter 4

Haley quickly jumped off the back of the bike when it came to a stop. She removed her helmet hastily placing it on the backseat and moved away.

"Haley." Travis called out.

She stopped and turned to face him. "What?" She bit out.

"The silent treatment is getting a little old don't ya think?"

"No." She shook her head. "But I think you being a psycho maniac is getting a little old." She huffed and all but stomped her way into the school leaving a disgruntled looking Travis behind.

Haley slowly made her way to her locker and her hardened demeanor instantly softened when she saw Nathan standing by it.

"How bad was it?" He asked hesitantly when she had finally made her way to him.

"I can handle Travis." She waved off.

"Guess we should've been more aware of the time." He noted.

"Please, Travis is the biggest hypocrite in the world. I was 12 and covering for his sorry ass when he was sneaking out." She puffed out opening her locker and shoving a few books inside.

"So I shouldn't be afraid for my life?" He joked.

Haley looked at him and laughed. "You, no. Lucas on the other hand…"

"Ouch."

"Yeah, I've been warning him to stay clear of my house for a little while. Travis will eventually get over it." She shrugged.

"What did he say?" Nathan questioned walking in step with her down the crowded hallway.

"I cannot believe you two!" Travis voice carried out throughout the James house.

"Will you cool it?" Haley responded starting to sober up.

"Two rules!" He shouted looking between Lucas and Haley. "One am and no drinking." He shook his head. "Newsflash its 3 in the morning and I found one of you doing a keg stand and the other skinny dipping in the ocean with a stranger!"

"I was not skinny dipping!"

"He's my cousin." Lucas and Haley replied at the same time.

"It doesn't matter." Travis said holding up his hand. "Lucas it's late, you're staying the night."

"Oh, no that's-"

"You're staying the night Lucas." Travis repeated firmly. "And I actually trusted you with Haley."

"You still can." Lucas protested.

"Uh, yeah, because tonight was such a great-"

"I'm right here!" Haley yelled out exasperated.

Travis shook his head. "Just go to bed…both of you."

"Sorry." He began sheepishly.

"Don't be." Haley shook her head. "I wanted to be there."

Nathan smiled at her. "We were having a pretty good time before we got busted."

Haley laughed. "From the bits I recall."

"We should do it again sometime." He suggested.

"Are you asking me out?" She questioned teasingly.

"Are you saying yes?"

"Depends is the date sober and fully clothed?"

"Would you say yes if it wasn't?" He smirked.

She shook her head with a grin.

"Then sober and fully clothed." He nodded firmly.

"Sure." Haley laughed and closed her locker she proceeded to walk down the hall while Nathan followed her to her destination.

"Great." Nathan smiled. "Tomorrow's a teachers work day so how about tonight?"

Haley inhaled deeply.

"Travis?" He questioned.

She nodded. "It's no big deal we could just try for another night." He smiled.

"No, its cool." Haley shook her head. "I'll sneak out."

"You're gonna sneak out?" He questioned surprised.

Haley chuckled and stopped when she realized they had reached the door to her classroom. "I told you Scott, there's a lot you don't know about me." The bell rang signaling the warning before first period. She moved toward the classroom. "Text me with details."

"Hey slut, where were you on Friday?" Rachel said coming up behind Haley and looping her arm through the blonde's.

"Well, I was there but you were preoccupied." Haley laughed.

"Oh yeah." Rachel recalled with a smirk. "So what did you end up doing?"

"Lucas was busy being Skills' wingman so I hung out with Nate."

"And what's going on there." She asked wiggling her eyebrows up and down for an added effect.

"Nothing." Haley huffed out.

"Nothing?" Rachel repeated skeptically.

"I don't know, maybe something…we're going out tonight." She shrugged. When Rachel gave her a look she continued. "Listen Rachel, we're a lot a like…I'd rather just have fun. My last boyfriend was totally out of convenience, hell half the time Julian was flirting with other girls. The thing is I didn't care because it wasn't like that with us."

Rachel nodded. "It may not seem like it but Nathan's a good guy."

"I know that." Haley agreed. "He gives off this cocky douche bag attitude but I've seen him with Luke and there have been moments where he's real with me."

"You should just be upfront with him Haley, I've never really seen Nathan go after someone like this…and he just met you last week."

"I know," Haley nodded. "But for the record I don't think he's 'going after me', we're friends."

"Friends that flirt and go on dates." Rachel added.

Haley laughed at her words. "Okay, so he's not horrible to look at…I can't help it!" She defended.

Rachel smiled. "I'm glad you moved here…this place was getting totally dry on the drama til you came, now everyone's talking about Naley."

"Really?" Haley groaned.

"Oh you'll get used to it." Rachel waved off.

"Hales." Lucas ran up to Haley outside of school slightly out of breath.

"Hey Luke." She smiled.

"How's home?" He questioned hesitantly.

"As expected." She rolled her eyes. "I'm actually waiting for Trav to pick me up now so you might wanna make yourself disappear."

Lucas nodded. "I'm sorry Haley."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because Travis trusted me and-"

"Lucas," Haley stopped him. "I'm a big girl, I make decisions for myself neither you nor Travis are my keeper."

"I know that." He nodded. "But I know how things have been with you and Travis since your parents."

"Yeah." Haley agreed while looking at the ground. "Things have been different."

"You know if you ever need me I'm here right?" Lucas questioned sincerely.

"I know Luke." She smiled. "And I love you for that, you're my best friend."

The sound of Travis motorcycle became clear and Lucas turned to leave but Haley caught his hand. "Haley what are you…"

"This is getting ridiculous." She shook her head. When Travis stopped in front of the pair Haley pulled Lucas towards her brother.

"Travis." She called out when he had yet to take his helmet off after a couple minutes of staring at the pair.

He complied and looked at his sister expectedly.

"This is bullshit." She stated bluntly. "You're blaming Lucas for something that is all me."

Travis looked at the two and nodded. "I know I probably seem like the biggest hypocrite in the world Hales but I'm only looking out for you."

"Travis, I can look out for myself. Trust, remember?"

"Now Lucas is going to start picking me up in the mornings again, is that okay with you?" She asked sarcastically.

"Yeah," Travis nodded. "I have more important things to do than bring your lazy ass to school anyway."

"Good, I don't want to be on this death trap anymore than I have to." She replied. "Now say sorry to Lucas."

"What?" Travis questioned incredulously. "Haley I-"

"Say sorry, Travis." She cut him off.

Travis looked at the boy who only seemed to be further intimidated and he nodded figuring he had put Lucas through enough suffering. "I'm sorry Luke, you know how I get with Haley."

Lucas nodded. "It's no big deal." He shrugged.

"Great!" Haley clapped. "Now we can all be friends again!" Travis rolled his eyes at his sister's enthusiasm.

"You guys wanna come by the café for dinner tonight?"

"I have some stuff to do, sorry Luke." Travis explained.

Haley was about to accept the offer but then remembered her plans with Nathan. He had texted her telling her to be ready around 9. "Lots of homework to do." She excused.

"Tomorrow's a teachers work day!" Lucas said trying to convince her.

"You know me, always the overachiever." Haley laughed.

"Alright, some other time." Lucas nodded. "My mom and dad really wanna see you Travis, they haven't seen you since you guys moved back."

"I've been busy." He shook his head. "Tell them I'm sorry."

Lucas looked at him unsurely and nodded. "Okay, well look I gotta go I'm meeting up with a couple of guys on the team for a pick up game, I'll see you two later!" He waved and walked off towards the parking lot where his car was.

Haley turned to her brother. "See, that wasn't so bad."

He handed her a helmet. "Just get on."

"Nate!" Lucas called walking into his uncle's house.

"Up here Luke!" Lucas climbed the stairs up to Nathan's bedroom and entered to see his cousin sorting through shirts on the bed.

"What are you doing?" He questioned with a laugh walking further into the room.

"Can you keep it to yourself?"

Lucas looked at him knowingly.

"I have a date with Haley tonight."

Lucas looked at him confused. "No you don't." He shook his head.

"Uh, pretty sure I do." Nathan nodded slowly.

"She lied to me?" Lucas muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Nathan questioned.

"Nothing." Lucas shook his head quickly. "It was nothing."

"Okay." Nathan looked at his cousin weirdly. "You okay?"

"Not really." Lucas replied honestly. "I mean did you forget when I told you that Haley was off limits?"

"When have I ever listened to you?" Nathan laughed going back and rummaging through the clothes on his bed.

"I'm serious Nathan." Lucas replied.

Nathan let out a long sigh and nodded. "I really like Haley, Luke."

"I thought you don't do relationships." Lucas pointed out.

"It's not a relationship," Nathan agreed. "It's a date."

"I don't like this." Lucas shook his head.

"Too bad Pucas." Nathan responded defensively. "What is your deal anyway, you have a thing for her?"

"No." Lucas retorted. "My deal is that Haley has been through a lot recently and… ugh whatever, do what you want." Lucas moved to leave the room but Nathan halted him.

"Is there something I should know?" He questioned.

Lucas shook his head. "Just be careful with her."

Nathan pulled up to the curb, as per Haley's request he had parked slightly behind her house so he was out of view from the front but he could see the back of her house clearly. He had texted her five minutes ago telling her he'd be there soon but there was still no sight of her. Suddenly a figure became clear in the dark and he saw Haley jogging towards his car wearing dark wash skinny jeans, flip-flops and a black v-neck t-shirt. It had amazed Nathan that she was so effortlessly beautiful. He hadn't realized he had been staring until she opening the door to his car and climbed in next to him.

"Sorry I'm late." She smiled sheepishly. "Travis isn't even home but I didn't want to take any chances by you parking in front of the house."

"It's no big deal." Nathan smiled turning the key in the ignition to start the car up. "What is your brother's deal anyway?" Realizing how bad that might've sounded he quickly recovered. "I mean no offence or anything its just he's pretty big on the alpha male role."

Haley laughed. "I wish I could tell you what his deal is because I'm still trying to figure it out." She shook her head and leaned in closer to Nathan and his heart immediately began to race and the smell of her lavender and vanilla honey blonde hair that was currently grazing his arm. "So where to?"

He smiled. "Figured we could go to the docks, the pier's really pretty at night…sometimes they'll have a jazz band set up."

"Hmm." Haley smiled moving away from Nathan and leaning back into her seat.

"What?" He questioned worriedly.

"Oh, nothing it's just…"

"It's just…" Nathan prodded.

"It's normal."

"Is that a bad thing, I mean I could drive us over to a tattoo parlor we could get something matching?"

"No," Haley laughed and smiled over at him widely. "Normal's good, I missed normal."

"So Haley James, tell me about yourself." Nathan looked over at the girl walking besides him.

"Like what?" Haley asked.

"Why'd you move to Tree Hill?" He asked innocently.

"Hm," Haley looked out in front of her for a good three minutes before facing Nathan once again. "Next question."

Nathan chuckled. "Fair enough…are you as really a bad girl as you led me to believe Friday night because Lucas holds you on a pedestal."

Haley rolled her eyes. "My relationship with Luke is complicated, we've been apart for awhile so he still sees me as that little four year old girl who needed protecting from Billy Anderson at the park."

Nathan smiled. "He really cares about you though." He felt bad about how his encounter with his cousin went down earlier and he felt the need to talk him up. "He kind of found out about tonight and flipped."

"Ugh, great." Haley shook her head. "I kind of lied to him about what I was doing tonight."

"Why?" Nathan questioned. "Embarrassed of me James?" He teased.

"No." She shook her head with a smile. "But Lucas can be like Travis sometimes, they treat me like I'm a porcelain doll but Lucas needs to realize that there have been a lot of Billy Andersons' since I moved away and I've taken them on just fine by myself and Travis needs to realized the we haven't lived together in five years and in those five years the innocent 12 year old Haley James he left behind for college is long gone."

Nathan quirked his brow up at the choice of her words. "So you're saying you're not so innocent anymore."

"I've done a lot of things I regret." She nodded honestly.

"Like what?" He questioned.

Haley smiled over at him. "We don't know each other that well Scott."

He laughed and noticed that the jazz band was set up tonight. He looked towards Haley and held out his hand. "May I have this dance?" He jokingly bowed.

"If you must." She smiled.

Nathan took her hand and brought her closer to him as they both swayed softly to the music.

"You're turning out to be quite the surprise Haley James." He noted.

"I could say the same for you." Haley nodded. "Every one perceives you to be this ultimate bad boy player but for some reason I'm just not seeing it." She laughed.

Nathan nodded. "I was that though."

"Why?" She questioned.

"It was easier to be that person…I get a lot of pressure from people in my life." He answered vaguely. "So to have one aspect where I could just be a dick and not have anyone tell me what to do was kind of relieving."

Haley instantly knew he was talking about his Dad. She had remembered Keith's comment about keeping an eye on Nathan because his Dad pushed him to hard sometimes. But she kept this piece of information to herself.

"That probably sounds so stupid." He shook his head.

"No." She disagreed. "I know where you're coming from."

"You do?" He questioned surprised.

"Yeah." Haley nodded. And she did get where he was coming from. Haley was a different person in California. Someone she was wasn't proud of. But it was easier to be that bad person. It was an escape.

The music ended halting their movements. Nathan, not wanting to let go of her just yet intertwined their hands and pulled her towards the end of the docks.

"Where are we going?" She laughed.

"You'll see." He smirked.

They had finally made their way towards the end of the docks and Nathan's hand left Haley's as he starting climbing over the railing.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a panicked voice.

"Being bad." He smiled holding out his hand to her once he was sure he was secure.

"Nope." She shook her head. "I did not sign up for this."

He laughed at her resolute demeanor. "Come on James." He rolled his eyes. "I knew that bad girl act with the skinny dipping drunk in the ocean was all for show."

She scoffed. "One, we were not skinny dipping…I'm not that easy." She smirked. "And two I was drunk…key word right there Nathan, I'm not about to jump into his river at night sober."

"Why?" He questioned.

"Because there's no one around." She answered obviously.

"Uh, kinda the point Hales." She tried to ignore the fluttering in her stomach when he used her nickname.

"What if something happens to us! No one will be around to save us."

"Nothing is going to happen." Nathan shook his head. "I'll protect you." He held out his hand to Haley once again and she rolled her eyes at his cheesy line before reluctantly taking his hand and climbing over the railing. Once she was secure Nathan smiled at her and squeezed her hand tightly. "See, that wasn't so bad."

She scoffed. "Speak for yourself."

Nathan looked down at the water and his eyes widened. "Wow, that's a long way down."

"Thanks." Haley replied sarcastically. "That really helps me right now."

"Sorry, I'm just not a hug fan of heights." He shrugged.

"This was your idea Nathan!" She laughed.

"What can I say, being around you make me daring James."

Haley held tightly onto Nathan's hand. "I cannot believe you talked me into this!" She said wearily looking down into the water.

Nathan let out a loud laugh.

"What?" She questioned.

"Like I said, I knew that bad girl image was just for show James!" He teased.

"Shut up!" She laughed while rolling her eyes.

"On the count of two." He looked over to her.

She scrunched her eyebrows together. "Wait! On the count of 2? Nobody goes on the count of 2."

"Yeah, I know." Nathan shrugged with a smirk. "It'll be our thing, something we can tell the grandkids about." He joked.

"Well, I'm gonna tell them about the time we went streaking down main street." She replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, nobody wants to hear that from their grandparents." Realizing his words Nathan he out a chuckle. "Actually, I take that back. Everyone would love hearing that from their grandparents, atta girl."

Haley laughed loudly at his words. "You are such a guy."

Nathan shrugged. "Can you really blame me?" He looked down at the water and then back up at Haley. "You ready? On 2." Haley nodded at him squeezing his hand tighter in hers. "1...2"

They both leaped off the dock and emerged out of the water laughing.

"I cannot believe we just did that!" Haley laughed.

"How badass were you?" Nathan questioned with a smile.

He was immediately caught off guard when Haley pulled him to her and glided her lips softly over his. She pulled back at smiled at the look of shock that adorned his face. "Tell that to the grandkids."