Even with all the lights on, Tric still had a dark atmosphere. Nathan had always thought the place reflected Peyton perfectly. He walked into the large room and approached the bar where Peyton was standing. When he made it all the way to the counter, she finally looked up. And rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here, Nathan?" she asked as if she were bothered by his presence.

"Are you going to tell Lucas?" he asked with no preamble.

Peyton looked up and studied his face. "You're fighting her battles now?" she asked. "You know, you really should be wearing shining armor. Or at the very least, white."

"Come on, Peyton," Nathan said. "Are you gonna tell Lucas?" he asked in an edgy voice.

"No," she said with conviction.

Nathan flinched at her answer. "Why not?" he asked. It was exactly what he'd wanted to hear, he just didn't expect that he was going to hear it this soon.

"Because he's my friend, Nathan. And it's going to break is heart when he finds out that his new best friend has been frolicking with his brother," she said sharply.

"We're not frolicking, Peyton. We haven't been frolicking for months," he told her.

Peyton slammed the glass she was wiping down on the counter. "Why did you even take me back, Nathan? If you knew you wanted someone else, then why even bother with me?"

Nathan shrugged. "Because you were convenient," he admitted.

He saw the pain in her eyes and he felt like a jerk, but he didn't want to lie to her. "Look, when Haley and I parted ways at High Flyers, we didn't even know where the other one was from. And trust me—I definitely didn't know that she was moving to Tree Hill."

He watched a struggle play across Peyton's face before she finally placed her palms on the counter that separated them. "What does she have that I don't?" she asked, hating herself for even asking the question.

"It's nothing that she has, Peyton," he said softly. "It's who she is."

Peyton shrugged. "Who is she?"

Nathan sighed. "I'm not gonna stand here and explain myself to you, Peyton. You cheated on me with my brother," he reminded her.

"It was just a kiss, Nathan. It didn't mean anything. I'm not even sure why it happened, and I told you that!" she said.

"Yeah, well it's too little too late," he said. "I don't even know why we're still fighting about this anyway. It's over and done with. We're over and done with."

"So…what? Haley tells Lucas about you guys and then you live happily ever after?" Peyton asked dryly.

"She doesn't want me," he admitted.

"But you're in hot pursuit of her, aren't you?"

"What do you want me to say, Peyton?" he asked. "Anything I tell you is going to be twisted to fit whatever the hell kind of mood you're in."

Peyton stood there for a minute, just looking at him. "Leave her alone, Nate."

"Are you warning me away from her?" he asked in disbelief.

"She's a good girl."

"Afraid I'll ruin her?" he asked.

"Look what you did to me," she said, turning and walking away.

777

"You never called me last night," Lucas said, plopping down onto Haley's bed beside her.

"Lucas?" she asked groggily.

"Haley, it's one o'clock in the afternoon," he said. "What are you doing still in bed?"

"I—I got carried away last night while I was studying," she lied, pulling a pillow over her head. The truth was, after leaving Nathans, she was too wound up to sleep. She could feel her lips tingling for hours after she'd gotten home last night. But she certainly wasn't going to tell Lucas that.

"What were you studying?" he asked.

She thought for a minute. "Anatomy and Physiology," she finally said in a muffled voice.

"I'm going to the River Court," he told her. "Fergie, Junk and Skills are gonna be there. You wanna come?"

She groaned. "Lucas, does it look like I want to leave this bed?" she asked harshly.

She heard him chuckle. "Do you know how long I've waited to hear a woman say that to me?" he teased.

He heard her sigh and then she sat up. "I'm sorry I didn't call you last night," she told him, rubbing her eyes.

"It's OK," he said. "I was on the phone with Brooke most of the night, anyway."

"Brooke Davis?" Haley asked in surprise.

He nodded.

"Hmm," Haley said thoughtfully.

"What?" Lucas asked.

Haley shrugged. "I just figured Brooke to be more of a…doer than a talker."

"Oh, she's a doer," he said huskily. "She is definitely a doer," he said again, as if to himself.

"Get out of my room, Lucas Scott," she told him.

He grinned and stood up. "Call me when you're fully awake. I want to discuss this Brooke thing with you."

"Why? Women problems already?" she teased.

"No. I just want your opinion on some things. And…I'm not really sure what's going to happen with Brooke and me, but it's going to cut into our friend time. I just…are you OK with this?" he asked sincerely.

The universe hated her. He was really asking her about dating someone? This was practically unprecedented in a male/female friendship. Here he was, genuinely concerned about her feelings regarding him dating, and she was lying to him every second of every day. She gave him a soft smile. "I'm OK with this," she assured him. "I'm your friend, Lucas. I don't have any claim to you. I'll be fine with whatever you decide," she promised. "As long as whatever you decide makes you happy."

"Thanks, Hales," he said.

She nodded as he left the room then threw her head back down on the bed with a groan. Less than five minutes later, there was another knock on the door. "Come in," she called, her head underneath her pillow again.

She heard her bedroom door open and then the mattress moved as someone lay down next to her. "Luke—I swear to God, if this is about Brooke Davis again…" she trailed off.

"So, this is the infamous Mr. Waffles," a deep voice said.

Haley flung her pillow to the floor then shot straight upward. And hastily grabbed Mr. Waffles from Nathans' hands.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed furiously.

He gave her that smirk of his. "You visited my house last night," he reminded her.

"Yeah, because I was desperate," she said anxiously. "Are you desperate?"

"You have no idea," he said hoarsely.

"How did you get past my mother?" she asked.

"Who do you think gave me directions to your bedroom?" he asked.

She jumped out of her bed to stand next to it, hands on her hips. The word sexy immediately sprung to Nathan's mind, and he couldn't help but grin. Her t-shirt and pajama bottoms were rumpled from sleep and her hair was a mess. The only problem from where Nathan was sitting was that sleep had mussed up her hair—not him. "You have to get out of here!" she said.

"What's the rush?" he asked, looking around.

"Lucas could see you here."

His eyes flew to hers. "Has he been in here?" he asked.

She lifted her chin defiantly. "More times than I can count," she said, immediately regretting the comment. Especially after the look in his eyes last night after he'd kissed her.

"And has his tongue ever been in your mouth?" he asked roughly.

So much for regret. She shrugged. "A kiss is just a kiss," she said off-handedly.

"And last night it was just a kiss," he concluded for her.

She nodded.

"And that's why I had to hold you up?" he asked. "Because we were just kissing?"

"I…had just gotten out of practice," she said nervously, grappling for excuses. "I was…tired. I'm out of shape."

He shrugged. "If a kiss is just a kiss, then let's do it again."

"No!" she said quickly.

He crawled towards the edge of the mattress, a predatory gleam in his eyes. "Come on, Haley. It's just a kiss."

She made a move to back away, but his hand shot out to grab her waist and she couldn't move. Truth be told, she really wasn't trying all that hard. The recollection of their kiss from the night before was permanently seared into her memory. And there's no way it could be that good again. Right? she thought, her breathing already ragged in anticipation.

Nathan sat down on the side of the mattress, giving her a height advantage. When he pulled her closer to him, she had to look down into his face. "I'm not gonna make the first move this time, Haley," he whispered gruffly, looking up at her.

"I don't think this is a good idea," she whispered.

He nodded, his eyes locked on hers.

"I just had to make that clear," she said softly, lowering her lips to his. She felt the same force of electricity she felt last night when his lips had touched hers, and she groaned—part dismay, part desire. Nathan didn't waste any time. His tongue found hers, and his hands moved beneath her t-shirt to touch the soft skin at her waist. When she lifted her hands to his shoulders, he lifted her up, and she placed her knees at his waist, falling backwards with him onto the bed. She deepened the kiss, unable to stop herself. Haley felt like she'd unleashed a desire inside of her that she hadn't even known existed. She straightened herself out so she was laying on top of him, sinking into him. He moved his hands up her bare back beneath her shirt and discovered that she wasn't wearing a bra. He growled at the thought, pulling her so close to him that he could feel her breasts against his chest.

"Haley?" they heard from the bottom of the stairs.

She quickly pulled away from Nathan and was surprised to see that her bedroom door was open. "Yeah, Mom?"

"I'm going to the grocery store. Do you need anything?"

She cocked an eyebrow at Nathan. "Tampons. And lots of them," she yelled back, and then placed a hand over his mouth to stop his laughter.

"All-right. I'll be back in a little bit."

"Thanks, Mom."

She lifted her eyes to the ceiling and then took a deep breath. She leaned down and lowered her forehead so that it was resting against Nathan's. He lifted his arms to her waist, pulling her in for a hug. "Oh, Nathan. What are we going to do?" she whispered raggedly.