Haley was in her room pacing with her cell phone to her ear. "Nathan? Hi," she said softly. "It's me. I—I went to the hospital but…well your dad said I was wasting my time." She sighed. "I just…I hope you're OK. And I'm really sorry about this morning. I…I overreacted."

"No you didn't," she heard from behind her.

She spun around and saw him standing there. Her eyes immediately filled with tears and she started to sob. She walked slowly towards him and cautiously put her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his chest and he could feel her tears through his shirt.

Nathan lifted one arm around her waist and the other one was stroking her hair. "It's OK," he said softly, then chuckled. "Well, except for the fact that your front door was unlocked after dark. Where are you parents?" he asked.

"They're gone for the weekend," she told him.

"Well, you're lucky I came in and locked the door behind me." He waited a minute, and then pushed her away. "You OK?" he asked tenderly, taking her face in his hands.

"I am now," she told him.

He kissed her on the forehead. "Good." He sighed and went over to sit down on her bed. "I'm sorry about Monday morning."

She didn't say anything, just bit her lower lip and leaned against the frame of her bedroom door.

"My dad—he just gets to me. And I let him really get to me right then, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry I was such a jerk." He took a deep breath. "You said again that you don't know me, but, Haley, that's not true. You do know me. Or at least—you know who I want to be."

"And who's that, Nathan?" she asked softly.

"I wanna be somebody who's good enough to be seen with you," he said honestly.

She sighed. "Then be that guy, Nathan. I saw him at High Flyers. Why is it so hard for you to be him here?"

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know," he said in frustration. "I guess because…it's never who I've been here. People have certain expectations of me, Haley. Of who I am…the way I'm going to act."

"Well, maybe those aren't the kinds of people you need in your life, Nathan. Not if they expect you to be less than who you are."

"I think you're right," he agreed.

Haley took a deep breath, walked over to her bed and sat down beside him. "So, what happened out there tonight?" she asked.

"I—I took some performance enhancers," he told her.

Her eyes flew to his face. "You what?" she asked.

"It was stupid," he said before she could.

"Yeah, it was," she said angrily. "Nathan, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I was sick of seeing that smug look on my father's face and I wanted to break his scoring title," he said.

"Well, congratulations," she said dryly.

"For what?" he asked.

"You don't know?" she asked.

"Know what?" he asked.

"Your shot went in, Nathan."

"Are you kidding me?" he asked.

She shook her head. "You broke your dad's record," she said quietly.

"Oh," he said mildly.

"That's it?" she asked. "Just a little 'oh'?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't seem so important now," he admitted.

"It's been less than two hours," she reminded him.

"Yeah, well I've gained a lot of perspective in those two hours," he told her.

"Nathan, I—"

"Give me another chance, Hales," he said.

She didn't say anything, just swallowed past the lump in her throat.

"Haley, please…" he begged.

She nodded slowly and leaned into him. He took her face in his hands again and brought his lips down onto hers. They moved so they were lying down side by side on the bed, and Nathan lifted his hand to the small of her back underneath her shirt and pulled her as close to him as possible. He pulled his mouth away from hers, his breathing ragged. "Haley, I—"

She shook her head. "Don't stop, Nathan. Just…don't stop," she said, pulling his face back to hers. He reached for the top button on her shirt and had her shirt halfway undone when her cell phone jarred them apart. "That's Lucas!" she said, jumping up on her bed and over Nathan. She stepped over him and landed on the floor in a run. She reached her desk and grabbed her cell phone. "Hello?" she said after she'd flipped it open. She turned around to Nathan and put a finger to her lips, urging him to stay quiet.

He rolled over onto his back, and with a sigh, lifted the back of his forearm to his forehead.

"Hey, it's me," Lucas said. "Why is the front door locked?"

"My parents are out of town," she said quickly.

"You knew I was going to come over after the game," he said.

After what had happened to Nathan, their plans to hang out had completely slipped her mind. "I'll be right down," she said, shutting her phone and tossing it down on her desk. "Is your car in the driveway?" Haley asked.

He shook his head. "I took a taxi from the hospital."

Haley nodded. "Good," she said, heading for her bedroom door. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, making sure to shut it behind her.

She made her way down the stairs and stopped at the front door. She looked down at her shirt and quickly buttoned it up, then took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair, hoping to smooth it out some. She unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"Hey," Lucas said, walking into the living room.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry I'm so late. Whitey wanted to lecture us after the game, and then Brooke met me in the parking lot and we talked for a while, so…that's why I'm late."

"It's OK," she assured him quickly.

Lucas studied her face for a minute. "You OK, Hales?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Not really," she finally admitted.

"What's going on?" he asked concerned.

Haley didn't say anything, so Lucas finally broke the silence.

"Is there something going on with you and Nathan?" he asked softly. "I mean…are you more than just his tutor?"

Her eyes flew to his face, and he knew.

"No one can find him, you know. Dan's called everybody looking for him. Apparently he pulled the IV out of his arm at the hospital and went AWOL," Lucas said.

"You might want to have a seat for this," she told him.

"I'm fine standing."

"He's upstairs in my bedroom," she admitted.

"Haley—"

She shook her head. "Let me finish, Luke," she told him.

He nodded. "OK."

There was a pause as Haley chose her words carefully. "I—" she hesitated. "I met Nathan before this school year," she said in a rush.

"Before you met me?" he asked.

She nodded.

"You met me the day you moved here," he reminded her.

"I know," she said.

"So, then when did you meet Nathan?"

"I met him a little over six weeks before I met you," she told him.

"He was at High Flyers," he said.

"So was I," she said softly.

Lucas let that information sink in and then took a deep breath. She saw his jaw start to tick and had to force herself not to fidget.

"So, our entire friendship has been based on a lie," he said angrily.

"No it wasn't, Lucas! I swear! I didn't even know who Nathan was until after the school year started. Until we saw him that day at Peyton's locker, I didn't have any idea that he even lived in Tree Hill!"

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"Because I knew how much you didn't like him, Lucas! And I was afraid of losing my friend! And I—I tried to stay away from him, but…" she took a deep breath and sighed. "I couldn't," she whispered.

"So when I told you that my brother's name was Nathan, the name Nathan Scott never rang any bells with you?" he asked doubtfully.

"I only knew him as Scott," she said, hating having to admit it.

"What does that mean?" Lucas asked.

"We decided that whatever happened that summer was all that would ever happen between us," she told him. "He told me his name was Scott."

Lucas laughed mockingly. "Oh, that's nice, Haley. The guy lies to you about his name, doesn't even tell you where he lives, and you can't stay away from him? Sounds to me like he was trying pretty hard to stay away from you!" he said.

"That's not true," Haley said.

"Yeah, well, I think he's using you just to get to me," Lucas shot back.

"That's not true, either. I get that you're mad, Luke, but you don't have to try and hurt me."

"I'm just trying to let you know what kind of a guy my brother is, Haley."

"Oh? And you've based this on…what? The one conversation you've had with him?" she said.

"I grew up here, Haley. I know exactly how Nathan is."

"Apparently, you don't if you think he'd use me just to get to you. That must be some high horse you're on, Lucas Scott, because this world, does not revolve around you! And you want to talk about using people? What about Brooke Davis?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lucas asked.

"You've lived in the same town as she has your entire life. She's never even acknowledged your existence, and then suddenly you make the varsity basketball team and she's all over you? That's a bit obvious, Lucas, don't you think?"

"And that fits into this argument how?"

"I'm just saying…maybe you ought to be reevaluating yourself in all this."

"Because my dating Brooke hurts you in what way?" he asked. "You're trying to compare…apples to oranges, Haley, and it's not going to work! You lied to me!" he reminded her.

"I'm sorry," she said honestly. "I didn't…plan for this to happen."

"And yet here we are," Lucas said softly.

"Luke, please…" she said desperately.

"You know what, Haley?" he said angrily. "The next time you see me, don't talk to me! As far as I'm concerned, this friendship is over."

"Luke!" she yelled. But it was too late. He'd walked out and slammed the door behind himself.

She sighed and sat down on the couch, putting her face in her hands and letting the tears fall.

She felt the couch shift beside her and then an arm wrap around her shoulders. "I heard the door slam," Nathan said softly.

"I told him," she said softly.

"And?" Nathan prompted.

She sighed. "It was awful," she admitted through her tears. "I don't think he's ever going to forgive me, Nathan."

He wrapped his other arm around her and pulled them back onto the couch. "I'm sorry, Hales," he said. And he was surprised to find that he meant it.