Just wanted to add in the disclaimer...I own nothing related to One Tree Hill.

And by the way, thank you all for the replies! I seriously love getting them, and they make me want to continue on with the story. You guys rock and keep them coming! :)

-Lindsay

Brooke Davis leaned her head on her boyfriend's shoulder and sighed. They had been waiting at the airport for Haley for like an hour now. She blamed Lucas totally that they had been there so long. He had wanted to be there just in case her flight got in early but of course, it didn't. So now she was sitting there bored out of her mind while her boyfriend tapped away at his laptop.

"Luke," she whined. "I'm bored."

"I know." He turned and kissed the top of her head. "Just wait. I'm sure it'll be in soon."

Brooke nodded and gave him a tiny smile, letting him get back to his work. She was so excited that Haley was coming to Tree Hill for Peyton and Jake's wedding. She hadn't seen her since Christmas time when she and Lucas had flown out to California for a visit, and Haley rarely went back there. She only came home for big things like weddings and funerals and the occasional holiday. Never just for a visit, which Brooke would have really liked.

She and Haley had been extremely close in high school. It hadn't always been that way, though. Brooke was a cheerleader and Haley was just a tutor in the library after school. She wasn't social and Brooke was. When Brooke started dating Lucas Scott, best friend to Haley, they had grown close. Eventually, Brooke considered Haley one of her best friends, and it killed her when Haley had left. She, however, was the only one that didn't hold grudges about her leaving. Brooke knew what it was like to have a dream and want to chase it. She wouldn't ever hold that against her. She and Haley had continued to talk constantly since high school, and she was still one of her best friends.

She was nervous for what was about to come. She knew how excited everyone would be to see Haley after her rare returns. That wasn't what scared her. What scared her was the fact that Haley would be in Peyton's wedding party, and so would Nathan. Haley's ex. Haley had broken Nathan's heart and although he wouldn't ever admit it, she knew it still hurt him to this day. She knew he would be completely bitter with Haley when he saw her and she didn't want that for her friend. She just wanted some peace. It was Peyton's week and Peyton didn't deserve to have her week turned upside down by some grudges from a high school marriage that hadn't even lasted a year.

She looked up when she saw the people around her moving and a smile formed on her face. People were getting off the plane now and coming into the terminal. She had been so focused on her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed it land. "Lucas." She nudged him and he looked up at her.

"What's up, pretty girl?"

She felt her heart warm at his nickname for her. It made her so happy to know that she had found someone as great as him. "The plane's letting passengers off," she replied. "That means Haley's about to get off soon!"

He could see how excited she was and he quickly saved his work before shutting his laptop. Standing up, he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend so they could see Haley when she walked through the gate. Brooke latched onto him tightly. She was so excited for this. She hadn't been able to sleep for days. In fact, she was currently awake because of Starbucks Frappuccinos and Caramel Macchiatos.

Her eyes searched for her friend. She squealed when she saw her flip her long blonde hair over her shoulder and look around. "Luke! There's Haley!"

Lucas grinned. "Hales!" he called out. "Over here!"

"Luke! Brooke! Oh my God!" Haley ran over to them as best she could in the stiletto heels she had so stupidly worn that day. She wasn't even thinking when she grabbed them out of her closet. "Look at you guys!"

"Look at you!" Brooke squealed in return. "Your hair is so blonde and long now! I mean, I've seen pictures but nothing compares to having the real fake blonde Haley James in Tree Hill!"

"She means you look great," Lucas translated, pulling Haley in for a tight hug. "We've missed you around here, buddy."

"I've missed you guys too. So much!" She let Lucas go and put her arms around Brooke who held on for dear life.

"It's so good to see you, Tutor Girl!" she told her, using the nickname she had given her junior year. "Peyton was going to come, but Jenny ended up having a dance recital so we're all supposed to go out to dinner later once we get you settled."

"Okay." Haley nodded.

"So, Hales, how was the flight?" Lucas asked.

"Actually, it was -"

"Hell."

Haley, Lucas and Brooke all whipped around to find none other than Nathan Scott standing there. He looked extremely pissed off and he dropped his carry on bag beside him. Brooke glanced between the two of them nervously. Here it was. The thing she had been worrying about was here.

Lucas blinked a few times like he couldn't believe his brother was there. "Nate?" He quickly put his arms around his younger brother. He saw him a lot, but not as often as he would have liked. "Your flight wasn't supposed to be in for like three hours."

"Plans changed." Nathan shrugged. "Alyssa knew I was ready to go so she called the airline and got it changed."

Haley heard the name Alyssa and wondered if it was the name of Nathan's girlfriend. She knew he had to have one. He was Nathan freaking Scott. He was a star basketball player and a great looking guy. He wasn't going to stay single forever, she knew that.

"We're going to miss her this week," Brooke told him. "So, uh…you guys were on the same flight?"

"Unfortunately," Nathan mumbled.

"Nathan!" Lucas admonished, truly disappointed in his brother. He knew that Haley had broken Nathan's heart a long time ago but he thought Nathan could maybe show her some class. His brother was a good person, but he was not showing it now that he was around Haley again.

"It's fine, Luke," she said softly. "We were in the same section for a while, but things were too, ah, tense so I moved," she explained.

"Hmm. Awkward much?" Brooke asked the broken up couple.

Haley smiled at her friends. That Brooke. Always the blunt one. She admired Brooke for being the way she was. She always spoke her mind and everyone knew what she was feeling. It wasn't always the best quality to have because of peoples' feeling but at least she was always honest with everyone.

"Let's just get the bags," Lucas suggested, trying to ease some of the obvious tension. He wrapped his arms around both the girls, leaving Nathan to grab Lucas's laptop and his own bag.

"This is great," Nathan muttered. "My brother gets to be all over my ex-wife and I get stuck with the damn bags. Lovely." Brooke heard him and turned around to give him one of her infamous glares. He sighed. Her loyalty to Haley was showing through.

--

"Haley, you know you are more than welcome to stay at our place," Brooke offered for what seemed like the thirtieth time since they had gotten in the car. Haley had told everyone she planned on staying in a hotel as soon as they got out of the airport. She assured them it wasn't because she didn't want to be around them but because she didn't want to be a burden. "You won't be a burden, I promise."

She smiled. "It's fine. You guys don't need me lounging around your house when you just moved in together a few months ago. The hotel is fine."

Nathan, who had been unusually quiet in the passenger seat, finally spoke up. "Leave her alone, Brooke and let her stay at the hotel. As long as it's not the Covington we'll be just fine." He leaned back and smirked.

Haley nearly choked on her own saliva. "What did you say?"

"The Covington," he said slowly, turning around to face her. "You're not staying there, right? Because I've had reservations for -" He stopped when he saw the look on her face. "Shit," he swore, turning back around.

Haley's jaw dropped and Lucas had to stifle a laugh. It was just their luck to be stuck on the same flight and then in the same hotel after not seeing each other for six years.

He felt for Haley though. She was sitting there putting on her bravest face but he could tell that the way Nathan was treating her was hurting her. He knew she wanted a little bit of respect but he also knew that she wouldn't be getting it from his brother. Nathan was a stubborn, stubborn man and he would never admit he was wrong or apologize for things.

"I can stay at another hotel," she offered immediately. She could tell Nathan was already extremely pissed about how things had gone already and the last thing she wanted to do was piss him off even more.

He sighed. "No, it's fine. Chances are we won't even be close to each other."

"Yeah," Brooke jumped in. "It's a big hotel and you guys probably won't even be in the same hallway."

--

"Excuse me?" Nathan pounded his fist on the front desk at the Covington. "What do you mean you don't have my reservations? They've been arranged for a month now and I confirmed them last week."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Scott. Our system crashed a few days ago and unfortunately some of the reservations were lost. However, we're willing to refund you your entire deposit and give you another room."

"I don't want another room!" he argued. "I want the room I had planned to stay in for a month."

The clerk sighed. "I'm sorry, but it's not available anymore."

"Can I ask who's staying there?"

"I can't give away that information, sir."

"Look, sir," Nathan bit out. "I've just gotten off the flight from hell and I've been receiving death stares from my brother's girlfriend the entire car ride here. I'm tired and I have to spend days in this town with old memories coming up that quite frankly need to stay in the past where they belong. I'm stressed beyond belief right now, and I just want to know who stole the damn room out from under my nose because of your shitty computer system!"

"Nathan." Lucas stepped forward. "Relax. They're going to get you another room. You don't need the exact one you were planning on staying in."

"Lucas, that is the only room I stay in when I come here because I refuse to stay at a house with anyone. I never go to other rooms and that's the room I want. I'm determined to get it too."

Lucas held his hands up in surrender. "Whatever."

"God, Nathan," Brooke snapped. "Quit your pouting and just take the room they give you."

He ignored Brooke and looked back at the clerk, throwing a fifty dollar bill his way. "You want to tell me now?"

"I could lose my job for this," the man objected.

"No one's going to tell on you, Robert," Nathan said, reading the man's nametag. "Just tell me who's staying there and no one will have to know except for these three behind me." He motioned with his thumb to them. "They won't say anything either. Haley, that one with the blonde hair…let's just say she's real good at keeping secrets."

"Nathan!" Brooke cried out in disgust. "Bite your tongue and leave her alone! She's sitting here trying to be all classy about this and you're being a complete ass. She hasn't said one bad word to you today so just leave her the hell alone!"

Robert's eyes widened at how crazy all of them seemed to him. He had seen some weird groups in his time working there, but never a group like this. He sighed again and pulled up the reservations of whoever had taken Nathan Scott's room. "It looks like a…Haley James has the room."

"Are you kidding me?" Nathan scoffed, throwing his hands in the air. "This is just great! Just perfect!"

Haley stepped forward then. She hadn't said anything at all since they had gotten to the hotel. Nathan was ranting and raving enough for all of them. She was taking everything he was dishing out and she was just tired of it. He had told her that they couldn't be together anymore so she didn't understand why he couldn't show her some respect like she was showing him. "I'm Haley James," she told the man behind the desk. "If Nathan wants the room, he can have it and I'll just go somewhere else."

"Oh no!" Nathan shook his head. "There is no way I am accepting anything from her." He pointed at Haley, unable to even address her to her face.

"Hey asshole." Brooke waved at him. "Suck it up and take the room if she's offering it to you."

"We can bring up a cot," Robert interrupted. "That way Nathan gets the room but he's not taking anything away from Haley over here."

Lucas shook his head immediately. There was no way that would work. He knew that Haley was taking shit from Nathan now, but he had a feeling that wouldn't last the entire time the two of them were in Tree Hill. She was bound to fire back at him sometime, and when she did, it wouldn't be pretty. The two of them would kill each other if they were in the same room.

"They can't do that," he argued. "As you can see, they really don't get along and sharing a room would be -"

"Perfect," Brooke broke in.

"What?!" the three of them exclaimed at the same time, all eyes on Brooke.

"I just think that you two need to get all of this crap off your chest that has been eating at you for the past six years. Just try it for now and if it doesn't work, you can get your own room, Nathan. But this way, Nathan has the room and he's not taking anything from Haley and Haley can kill Nathan in his sleep because let's face it…we all want her to."

"Fine," Haley relented, holding her hands up. "I'm tired of talking about it. I'm taking my room. Nathan, you can do what you want." She grabbed the key from Robert and grabbed her bags. "I'm going to go on up and take a nap or something. Brooke, Luke, call me about dinner and I'll be there. Thanks for picking me up. Nathan, if you're planning on coming up, whatever, that's fine." She hugged Lucas and Brooke one more time and got on the elevator.

"Don't do it, Nathan," Lucas told him once the doors were closed. "I know Haley's being quiet now but I have a feeling you're going to get it if she has to listen to much more of you today."

"I think you should do it," Brooke said, ignoring Lucas. "I know it's going to be shitty but obviously you have a lot to say to Haley and once you do, you'll feel better. She probably has a lot to say to you too and both of you will feel better once you get all of this stuff off your chests. If it gets to be that bad, stay in your own room tomorrow night, but just try this, Nathan."

He frowned, unsure of what to do. He really didn't want to stay with Haley. He knew he had been really mean today to her, but he couldn't help it. He had a feeling that if he did stay with her, he would just be even meaner, but then on the other hand, he wanted to stay with her. He wanted to know about her life and what she had been doing since that horrible night six years ago. Plus, he knew he had some insults he could still throw her way. He smirked to himself, then looked at Robert. "I'll take the room with Miss James."