The rest of the night was uneventful. Haley, as promised, took a long, relaxing shower and left Nathan to entertain his parents for a while. When she emerged, feeling finally refreshed, she took a deep breath and walked back out into the living room. She couldn't help feeling like she was walking into a lion's den.

She and Nathan didn't just fall comfortably into the role of a happy couple. They eased into it slowly, awkwardly, and Haley was sure that Dan and Deb could tell that something was off about them. Haley was reluctant to initiate contact between herself and Nathan, so he was always the one to do it… and when he did, she continuously tensed up for at least a second before forcing herself to relax. It was difficult to pretend that everything was perfect, all the while knowing that nothing was as it should be.

By the time the couples went to their respective rooms for the night, Haley and Nathan were exhausted by their efforts.

Unfortunately, they had yet another issue waiting to be resolved before they could go to sleep.

Haley paused and froze within the room as Nathan closed the door behind them. Her eyes were riveted on the king-sized bed before them, her lower lip pulled in between her teeth as she thought about the night ahead. "What are we going to do about this?"

"About what?" Nathan shrugged and walked across the room, stripping off his shirt as he went in preparation for bed. "I thought we did okay with them out there. I mean, we probably looked a little weird to them but it's not like they're experts on how we act around each other."

She expelled a breath and averted her eyes from his half-naked form as he made his way into the bathroom. "I don't mean that. I mean this. Sleeping arrangements."

He emerged from the bathroom with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, his chest still immodestly bare, and muttered an almost unintelligible, "I don't see the problem."

"One bed. Two people. And I can barely understand you with that foam in your mouth. You look like you have rabies."

"Thanks." He held up a finger and went back into the bathroom to finish his nightly routine. Sighing, Haley brushed out her hair and sat tentatively on the edge of the bed, waiting. "Okay, why can't we just share the bed?" Nathan asked when he was done.

"Doesn't that seem weird to you?"

"We've done it hundreds of times before," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but we did lots of things before that you can bet your ass won't be likely to happen now." There was an unspoken implication behind that statement, and he picked it up loud and clear.

"Well we already decided that we can't sleep in separate rooms without being found out," he rationalized. "And the bed's a lot more comfortable than the floor is."

She frowned, looking down at the bedspread. He had a point, sure, but the prospect of sleeping in the same bed as Nathan again set off a whirl of conflicting emotions—some of which she would rather not confront anytime soon. Finally she got up, went to her normal side of the bed, and started pulling back the covers. "All right. I guess we'll just share the bed."

He laughed and took his place at the other side of the bed. "Reasonable choice."

Needing to change the topic, Haley voiced another concern of hers. "I think we might need to decide what to do with your parents while they're here. We need a plan. Letting them run rampant around here—especially your dad—sounds like asking for trouble."

"Fine, but can we do that in the morning? I think we could both use some sleep right now."

"Okay." She lay down on the mattress and carefully moved her pillow so that it was only on one half of the bed. "Stay on your own side."

"This coming from the one who always woke up draped across me," he chuckled quietly.

"Oh, shut up."

"Good night to you, too." An amused smile was on his face as he clicked off the lights and pulled the covers up over him.

It was hard to drift into sleep that night. Both of them were hyperaware of the others' presence, the sound of breathing, every slightest movement. Nathan could smell a gentle whiff of Haley's shampoo—an odd mixture she found at a small shop that made her hair smell like vanilla and roses, a smell that reminded him of a particular weekend they had spent on vacation in Florida. Likewise, when she turned her head just right she could catch the scent of his aftershave, a very subtle spicy, masculine fragrance.

It may have taken them a while to finally ignore each other enough to fall asleep, but once they were out it was smoother sailing than it had been in weeks.

It was a little after eight when Haley was able to fight her way through the misty haze of sleep. She began to stretch, as was part of her daily waking routine, and immediately her hand came in contact with a soft form. A low groan filled the air and she shrieked, shooting up in the bed with wide eyes and subconsciously pushing anxiously at the body next to her.

"What?" Nathan demanded, sitting up just as quickly and realizing too late that Haley was giving him a hard shove. His right leg slid off the bed and, still half asleep, he couldn't stop himself from tumbling unceremoniously onto the floor, taking the blankets with him. "Oh, shit! What was that, Haley?"

Her heart was beating quickly as she moved to the edge of the bed to look at Nathan. Staring down at her sleepy-eyed husband, Haley began to giggle at her own stupidity. "You scared me."

"I scared you? You were the one who threw me off the bed!" he shot back, rubbing his eyes in attempt to wake himself up a little.

"Sorry? Okay, I'm not really sorry—"

"You threw me off the bed!"

"Actually, I think it's kind of funny," she went on as if he hadn't said a thing.

"You threw me off the bed!"

She finally managed to swallow her laughter, but barely. To see Nathan Scott tossed on his ass by her own hand—albeit an accidental move—was just too good. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting anyone to be in bed with me." At his dubious glance, she added, "I had a dream that I was in my apartment and I guess I forgot where I was."

"You're home," he informed her blandly as he climbed back into bed, dragging the tangled blankets with him.

Haley merely shrugged. "Sometimes it's hard to tell where 'home' is." There was a moment of silence while Nathan tried to absorb this information. "So, about how to keep your parents occupied while they're here…"

He blinked and looked over at her, studying her face. He didn't know exactly what he was looking for—answers, maybe?—but he didn't find them there.

"Nathan?" she prompted, aware that he was looking at her as if she'd just grown another head. Well it really wasn't her fault that she'd freaked out upon waking up and she couldn't change it now. "Any suggestions?"

"I don't know. Dad mentioned that he wanted to go golfing, and I'm sure mom wants to go shopping while she's here. What else? Disneyland?"

She snorted inelegantly. Dan Scott at Disneyland? She just couldn't see it. "Perfect. Yeah, that way Dan will take his bitterness out on all the excited little children instead of us. We just better call them in advance so they can rearrange their slogan. I can see it now: Disneyland, the Crappiest Place on Earth."

He grimaced at the thought. It was too early; clearly his brain wasn't working properly. "Okay, bad idea."

"Bad idea," she agreed. "Today we'll see if they feel like shopping. Maybe I should just try to plan out the rest of the week."

"Better idea."

Under some circumstances, she would have been angry at having the responsibility pushed on to her, but not now. Now she saw it as another way to keep herself busy, and that was a good thing. Haley got up from bed and went to the bathroom to clean herself up a bit. Then she walked out of their bedroom, only pausing when Nathan called out a sleepy, "Where are you going?"

"To start breakfast."

"Oh." He rolled over, apparently going back to sleep.

She didn't know why, for a fleeting moment, she had hoped he would offer to help her.