After the final bell signalling the end of classes had rung, Nathan walked up to the front of the school with his backpack, in order to meet Haley. He had already called his mom earlier, telling her that he would be late coming home that day. He was his mom's only child, after all. She had a tendency to want to know his whereabouts at all times.

Haley walked up to him, with her backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Hey," she said. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Nathan replied. "Are we taking the bus or…"

"Yeah, this one over here. It's a five minute ride. I don't have a car or my licence, so Lucas usually gives me a ride home…"

"Yeah, me neither," Nathan said, to fill up the awkward space that had arisen after Haley mentioned Lucas's name. "I mean, I have my licence, just not my own car…"

"Well, just as well," Haley smiled. "Not everyone has a daddy that owns a car dealership. I mean, sometimes it seems like all Lucas can talk about is his Mustang."

Nathan didn't say anything. After all, he did, technically, have a daddy that owned a car dealership. That daddy just refused to pay any kind of child support to his mom all while buying his other, chosen son expensive cars.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Haley realized that another awkward gap had arisen. "That was so inconsiderate. I just keep forgetting that you two are brothers, you know. You look nothing alike and it's not like you talk…"

Nathan waved her apology away. "Don't worry about it. I don't really consider him my brother either."

Haley smiled. Talking about cars and brothers, they had reached her house.

"Okay, this is where I live," Haley said, opening the front door with her key. "My parents aren't home yet, so we can use the computer that's in the den. It's faster."

"Yeah, sure," Nathan said, with just a hint of disappointment in his voice. He had wanted to see Haley's room.

"So how do you think this PowerPoint should look like?"

They sat down at the computer and got to work. It was after they had gotten in a solid hour of work done that Haley's mom came in.

"Hey, Haley," she said. "I see you brought a friend…"

"Yeah, this is Nathan, a friend from school," Nathan smiled and shook Haley's mom's hand. "We're working on a project together."

"Nathan Scott, by any chance? Lucas Scott's brother?"

"Um, yeah," Nathan replied, not wanting to get into it deeper than that.

"Uh, mom, we should really get started on the project…" It was just like Haley to save the day.

"Well unfortunately I need the computer now. So why don't the two of you go use the one in your room?"

"Okay," Haley said, saving their work and emailing it to herself. "Come on, Nate."

Haley's room, Nathan soon discovered, was like a museum. It wasn't particularly messy, it was just filled to the brim with things. There wasn't a space of wall that wasn't covered with a poster, a collage, a photo frame or a painting. There were two bookshelves, where every shelf was filled with not only books, but little knick-knacks like stuffed animals, miniature figurines and small plastic toys. The desk had its own compartments for everything: CDs, pens, paper, memo notes….

"Your room's… cozy," Nathan said.

"I guess it is cozy, isn't it," Haley laughed. "I know I should just get rid of most of this stuff, but I can't bear to throw any of it away. I save everything from old notes to report cards to candy wrappers... You know?"

"Well, not really, but I think it's great that you do. You never know what will become useful one day…"

"I know, right?" It was then that Haley suddenly changed gears. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure, anything…"

"I don't want to pry or anything like that, but… How did it happen that you and Lucas have the same dad, but don't talk to each other outside of school? I mean, shouldn't you see each other on weekends or something like that?"

"Um, no, we don't. Lucas lives with his parents and I live with my mom. The only reason I have the same last name is because Dan signed the birth certificate when I was born, then bolted out of that hospital. Since then, he never did anything to acknowledge me as his son."

"That's terrible! But you're born in the same year, how does that work."

"Lucas is three months older. Dan had an affair with my mom, but when he found out that she was pregnant he left her and came back to his real family."

"But that doesn't explain why Lucas hates you so much…"

"Well, it kind of started when I joined the basketball team. He and Dan don't want me on it because it's embarrassing for them. I'm sure you can ask him yourself, though. He is your boyfriend," Nathan said, with a little bit of resentment.

"No, I don't really talk about those kinds of things with him. It'd feel awkward even trying"

"What kind of things?"

"His family and his feelings and stuff… We don't do a lot of talking."

"You've been dating him for almost a year! So what do you do together?"

"Um, go to parties and stuff… And, you know…"

"Yeah," Nathan added quickly. "I know."

"But you're different," Haley added, shifting away from the subject of what she had been doing with Lucas for one whole year. "I mean, I don't really know you all that well, but I feel like I can talk to you."

"That's good," Nathan said. "Because I feel like I can talk to you too."

"You're not like Lucas… you care about things other than popularity and high school… You care about people."

"Haley," Nate said, putting a hand on her arm. "If you're so unhappy with your relationship, why don't you just leave?"

Haley stared at him for a few seconds, unbelieving. "I can't… You don't understand. Who I am at school is deeply rooted around who Lucas is. I can't just… break away from all of that."

"What are you talking about? Of course you can. You're smart and deep and… beautiful."

Neither Haley nor Nathan could properly explain what happened next, but in a few minutes, they were in each other's arms, kissing. Kissing as if there was and never had been any boyfriend, any history, any popularity rift. Kissing as if they were meant for each other.

But storybook moment never last very long and a minute later Haley was pulling away.

"I'm sorry… I can't…"

"But…"

"I like you, but… it's wrong..."

"Okay. I guess I should go," Nathan tried desperately not to ruin the moment, even though it had already been ruined. "Um, the project…"

"I'll email you the PowerPoint. We'll talk tomorrow at school."

"Okay. Bye, Haley. You have a nice house."

Nathan showed himself out. He went downstairs, said goodbye to Haley's mom who was by now done using the computer and working on something in the kitchen and headed towards the door. It was as he was heading towards the gate that let him out of Haley's house that he noticed a very familiar Mustang parked nearby. Huh. It looks a lot like Lucas's… Then again, there could be other Mustangs here… With that in mind, Nathan headed home, not giving the car and its owner any more of his attention.

What he didn't know was that at that very moment, his half-brother Lucas Scott was sitting in the car, angrily watching him. He had come over to check on Haley a few minutes earlier and was just about to go in when he noticed Nathan going out. Now there would really be hell to pay.