Sorry for the long wait! I'm really happy with the way this turned out, so I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for all the love.

Nathan took a deep breath, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand in attempt the remove the beads of sweat that were dripping down his face. He walked over to the small picnic table near the court, and grabbed his water bottle. He quickly unscrewed the cap, and took a long hard sip. After drinking about half of the water, he placed the bottle back on the table, and picked up the aged basketball next to his feet. He ran back onto the concrete and dribbled the ball fiercely to the hoop. His legs pushed off the court and jumped through the air, as he grabbed the rim and dunked the ball through the net. The ball fell to the ground and bounced against the concrete, as Nathan let go of the net and landed back onto the ground. He turned around as he heard loud clapping, and he smiled softly.

"Nice shot, hot shot." Brooke called as she walked onto the River Court, where Nathan was standing shirtless holding the basketball.

Nathan playfully rolled his eyes, "What are you doing here Brooke?"

Brooke smiled coyly and walked over to the picnic table, and sat down. She gently patted the spot next to her, signalling she wanted Nathan to sit next to her. "I came to talk to you."

Nathan let out a loud groan. "Look if this is about Hales-"

Brooke grinned widely as she heard Nathan call Haley by her nickname. "No, it's not. Well sort of, but not really." She intervened.

"The whole reason I came to the river court was to get my mind off of her, and be alone. How'd you even know I was here?" Nathan asked.

"I stopped by your hotel room, but you weren't there. I figured you'd be here. You're just like your cousin." Brooke smirked. "Lucas always comes here when he's in a 'mood."

"I'm not in a mood." Nathan said incredulously.

Brooke laughed, "Right, and I'm not a girl." She joked sarcastically, causing Nathan to roll his eyes.

"Okay, so maybe I'm in a little bit of a mood. How'd you know?" Nathan asked as he took another sip of his water.

"Well I just went to see Haley, and she was in bed crying. Do you know anything about that?" Brooke asked as she looked over at Nathan.

Nathan put his head in his hands and sighed, "I didn't mean to make her cry. I was just doing what I thought she wanted." He explained. "and I thought we weren't going to talk about her!" Nathan scolded.

Brooke bit her lip, "Yeah, sorry, we won't. I actually had something else I needed to talk to you about."

Nathan chuckled lightly, "Okay, what is it?"

"Do you remember your first basketball game you played at Duke?" Brooke asked quietly.

Nathan furrowed his brows. Why was Brooke asking him this? "Yeah, of course I do. It was the best game I ever played." Nathan smiled. "Why are you asking me this?" He asked when he looked at Brooke.

"Do you remember what you did after the game?"

Nathan knit his eye brows closer together. "Yeah, I went to a party. Again, why do you care?"

"Nathan, be honest with me. Who was there, that night?"

Nathan looked at Brooke like she had twelve heads. "You're asking me who was at that party? How the hell would I even remember that? I was probably drunk-"

"No, I mean, did you like hook up with anyone that night?" Brooke asked.

Nathan frowned, "No. I didn't. You know I didn't. I wasn't with another girl until junior year-"

"Don't lie to me Nathan!" Brooke lightly scolded.

"I'm not lying!" Nathan said defensively. "I couldn't even look at another girl that year. I was still depressed about Haley. You know that. Why are you even asking me about this?"

Brooke huffed, she didn't want to hint around anymore so she cut right to the chase. "Who was the girl who hugged you after the game?"

Nathan scratched his head. Who was she talking about? "I don't know Brooke, a lot of girls hugged me!"

"No, the one who ran into your arms- the blonde one."

Nathan racked his brain, for memories of that night, and his mind went straight through a vivid flashback:

Nathan stepped out of the showers, and changed into his pre-game clothes. A light blue button up shirt, and a pair of khakis. Once he finished changing, he walked back to his locker and grabbed his belongings. He felt a light tap on his back and turned around.

"Great game, Scott! That hot chick in your picture is definitely proud." Devon Fox said as he opened his locker.

Nathan's smile fell. "She probably doesn't even know I played tonight,"

"Who knows, maybe she showed up. The crowd's pretty big." Devon advised.

Nathan shrugged, "Nah, I doubt it. She's probably in California."

"Maybe she watched on TV?" Devon asked lightly.

Nathan smiled at his friend who was desperately trying to help him, "I love her man, but she doesn't love me, so trust me- she didn't watch."

Devon frowned, "I'm sorry man. That sucks. But hey- we just won our first game of the season, so let's go out and celebrate! You better not be depressed all night. Go out and have fun, meet new girls!" Devon smirked.

Nathan chuckled, "Alright man, we'll see."

The rest of the team congratulated Nathan, and the team's big win. Nathan was happy, but he knew he should've been happier. But the truth was that all he could think about was Haley and how he wished she was here to celebrate with him. His heart continued to ache as he thought about her, and he walked out of the locker room. In order to celebrate, he was going to need a ton of alcohol. Nathan felt his heart stop as he noticed in the corner of his eye a girl sitting on a bench who looked exactly like Haley. He mentally scolded himself. He had been doing that a lot lately. One day he was eating in a restaurant with a group of friends, and he saw a girl sitting with his back to him, who had long honey blonde hair, and he swore it was Haley. So he got up, and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. His heart sunk in his chest when the girl turned around. It wasn't Haley. Another time, he was in a library, and a girl dropped a book, so she bent down to pick it up. Her wavy blonde hair fell in front of her face, and Nathan once again thought it was Haley. As he got closer, he realized it wasn't her, so he left. He knew his mind was just playing tricks on him, so he wasn't even going to bother to look over at the girl who was sitting on the bench. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't because all of a sudden he felt a girl running into his arms.

When Nathan saw who it was, he couldn't help but smile. "Ally!" He laughed, and picked her up in his arms. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde girl hugged Nathan tightly and pressed a light kiss on his cheek. "I came to visit you silly!"

"Did you watch me play?"

"Yup! You were awesome!" Ally praised him.

"Is Josh here too?" Nathan asked as he searched the crowd. In the corner of his eye he saw the girl who resembled Haley leaving the gym.

"You bet your ass I am!" Josh joked as he lightly punched Nathan in the arm.

Nathan let go of Ally, and pulled Josh in for a quick man hug.

"You killed it out there!" Josh cheered.

Nathan smirked, "I know."

"Cocky son of a bitch!" Josh joked. "How are you man?"

"I'm good. I can't believe you guys are actually here! I thought you'd still be at the University of North Carolina."

"Nah, classes let out early. Ally and I decided to surprise you." Josh smiled.

"Well I'm definitely surprised." Nathan stated.

"So any cool Duke parties tonight?" Ally asked.

"Still a wild partier, huh?" Nathan joked.

"You know it!" Ally cheered happily.

Josh laughed, and pulled Ally in for a sweet kiss.

"You guys are gross!" Nathan wined.

"You're just jealous." Josh smirked.

Nathan's smile fell, and Ally placed her hand on Nathan's arm. "How's it going buddy?"

Nathan shrugged, "I still never heard from her."

Josh realized his mistake, and frowned, "Hey, man. I'm sorry, I totally forgot."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." Nathan shrugged.

Ally bit her lip, "I was hoping that you'd tell me you got back together. I really wanted to meet her. Any girl who put up with your ass for an entire summer, must be a saint." She joked.

Nathan smiled, "Yeah, she was amazing. I wish you could've met her too. You would've loved her."

"I still can't believe that you fell in love." Josh smiled. "I never thought I'd see the day. What happened to you man?" Josh joked, "You pretty much slept with every girl in Charlotte and you always made fun of me and Ally. You go away for a summer and you turn to mush."

Nathan smiled, "What can I say? Haley was special."

Ally clapped her hands excitedly. Ally always reminded Nathan of Brooke. They were basically the same person, but Ally was blonde. He knew that if his best friends Ally and Josh, met Lucas and Brooke, they would all hit it off. Josh Sanders and Nathan were practically brothers. They grew up together. Josh lived next door to Nathan, and they were on little league basketball together, and instantly hit it off. They were inseparable. In high school, they both went to a prestigious prep school, with their other friend Ally Woodbury. She also lived close to Nathan and Josh, and became good friends with them in elementary school. Nathan and Josh instantly gained the popular jock title for being the two best basketball players in the school, and Ally became the pretty cheerleader. At first, Nathan and Josh both thought Ally was hot. Everyone did. She was one of the prettiest and most popular girl in the school. Nathan and Josh fought over her, but Nathan knew he would only sleep with her, where as Josh actually wanted to date her. Nathan was considered the bad boy of the school, who used girls. Josh actually liked relationships, and he wasn't as much of a player as Nathan was. In high school, Josh instantly became smitten over Ally, and the two of them fell in love. Where as, in elementary school, the three of them were considered the 'three amigos'. Ally was more of a tom boy in elementary school, so neither boy liked her like that. Ally lost touch with them in middle school because she hung out with more of her girlfriends, but when they went to high school, they reconnected. Josh and Ally dated all through high school, and Ally became like a sister to Nathan. The three of them ruled the school. At times, Nathan would feel left out because Ally and Josh were so in love, and he would never openly admit it, but he was jealous of their relationship. Nathan just continued to use girls through high school, and had flings. The closest thing he had to a relationship was a friends with benefits kind-of thing with a girl named Ashley for a while.

"Where's my favorite niece?" Nathan suddenly asked.

Ally smiled, "She's with my parents. There was no way I would be able to bring her to a crazy college party."

Nathan laughed, "Yeah good idea. I still can't believe she's almost one!"

"I know! It's crazy!" Ally said referring to her and Josh's daughter, Annabelle. She got pregnant during Senior Year, and Josh soon popped the question, and they had a small wedding a few months later. Josh was originally going to propose at prom, but decided to do it earlier once he found out that she was pregnant.

"I miss her. I can't wait to see her." Nathan smiled.

"She got so big. She's beautiful. She looks just like her mom." Josh smiled as he looked at Ally.

Nathan laughed at his two best friends, but on the inside his heart was still aching. It just reminded him of how much he missed Haley.

Nathan came back to reality, and laughed.

"You mean Ally?" He asked Brooke.

"Yeah. Was that the hoe you used to get over Haley? I can't believe you lied to me! Here I was thinking you were actually in love with Haley, but two months later you jump in bed with the next slut that you see-"

Nathan kept laughing as he heard Brooke ramble.

"You think this is funny Nathan? How about if I told you that Haley was there that night? Would you laugh then?" Brooke chastised him.

Nathan instantly stopped laughing. Was it true? Was Haley really there that night?

"Wait- Brooke. Are you serious? Haley was there that night?"

Brooke nodded. "Yeah jack ass! She saw you and that slut Sally hugging, and ran away."

Nathan felt the breath in his throat hitch. Haley was there. He couldn't believe it. He wanted to smile, laugh, cry, and punch something all at the same time.

That must mean- oh my god. She was the girl sitting on the bench. That's why she ran away. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Nathan thought.

"Shit." Nathan muttered out loud.

"Yeah! 'shit' is right! Haley went to your game that night to tell you that she loved you, and she saw you all over that girl. You're a real idiot, do you know that?" Brooke scolded.

Nathan banged his fist against his forehead. "Yeah, I know Brooke. I know. I'm a screw up and an idiot."

"So was she worth it?"

"What?" Nathan asked.

"The girl, Sally-"

"Ally." Nathan corrected.

"Yeah- her. Was she worth all of this pain and heart break?"'

Nathan laughed sardonically. "Ally is my best friend. Not my girlfriend. She and her husband- my other best friend- came and surprised me that night. I can't believe Haley thought I was dating her!"

Brooke's jaw dropped open. "Wait are you serious?"

"Yeah! I had no idea they were coming and Ally is practically my sister, and she ran into my arms and kissed my cheek."

Brooke laughed at how ridiculous the situation was. "Haley thought you guys were dating."

Nathan almost gagged, "Ew, no way. She married to my best friend!" He groaned, "I can't believe she was there that night! I thought I saw her but then I figured my mind was playing tricks on me, so I didn't do anything about it." Nathan smiled lightly, "She was there! She kept her promise! She watched me play!"

"Yeah, and she was going to tell you how she loved you." Brooke stated softly.

Nathan sighed, "I don't even know what I would've done."

"What do you mean?" Brooke asked.

"I mean, I was really upset about it. I would've been mad at her. She was two months too late." Nathan sighed.

"So if she told you she loved you, you would be mad?"

Nathan shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know what I would've done. I just can't believe this right now."

"Well how do you feel about her?"

Nathan inhaled deeply, "I don't even know anymore. She changed, and so did I. She's not the same person I fell in love with. I'm just going to give up."

Brooke punched Nathan in the arm, and he rubbed it. "Ow! Why'd you do that?"

"Because you can't give up!"

"Brooke, I'm done trying. She made it clear she doesn't want me, so I'm not going to fight for it. I'm not in the mood to get my heart broken again." Nathan slumped dejectively.

"So what? Are you mad at her or something?"

Nathan shrugged, 'I don't know how I feel about her. I just know that after the wedding, I'm going back to Charlotte and I'm moving on. I've had some stupid unrealistic idea in my head for five years, and it's time to move on."

"I think you just need to talk to her, and clear up the whole thing about Ally. That's why she was upset. She thought you moved on." Brooke advised.

"Even if I did move on, it doesn't matter! She told me to leave!"

"You should've called her or something!"

"Whose side are you on?" Nathan spat.

"Neither. I'm just trying to get you both to realize that you're made for each other."

"It's never going to work, Brooke. Even after I tell her about Ally, it's too late. Nothing matters anymore."

"So just start fresh!" Brooke suggested.

"It's not that easy. I'm still hurt, and I guess she is too."

Brooke let out a loud whine. "You have so many issues."

Nathan laughed, "I know."

"Just promise me you'll talk to her, and at least clear the air. I don't want drama at my wedding please." Brooke begged.

Nathan smiled, "Okay. I promise."

Nathan sunk into the leather couch in his hotel room, and cracked open a can of beer. He flipped the channel on the tv to an old basketball game, and took a swig of his beer. A few minutes later, he heard a quiet knock on his door. He glanced at the clock that read 9:23 pm. He didn't order room service, so he had no idea who it would be. He placed his can of beer on the end table, and got up to answer the door. His heart stopped when he opened it. There on the other side, stood Haley in a simple pair of jean shorts, and a plaid shirt, looking beautiful as ever.

"Haley? What are you doing here?" Nathan asked trying to hide to shock in his voice.

"I um- wanted to talk to you." She said shyly.

Nathan gulped. This can't be good. "Oh um, okay. You can come in, I guess." He said opening the door a little wider, letting her walk in.

Haley tried to look everywhere other then Nathan. He was only wearing blue, Nike basketball shorts, and a trace of his black and red boxers were revealed at the top. She gulped as she quickly checked him out. Her body temperature increased ten fold, and a large lump formed in the back of her throat. He was incredibly sexy, and she had to fight the urge to kiss jump right there.

Nathan knew Haley was checking him out, and he couldn't help but let his ego swell. Knowing that Haley still found him attractive, was a huge turn on.

After about two minutes of awkward silence, Nathan decided to speak up.

"I'm sorry for kissing you last night. I know I shouldn't have. It wasn't right, and I know that it didn't mean anything." Nathan said meekly, hoping that she believed his lie.

Haley felt her heart drop. Even though she told him that the kiss didn't mean anything, in her heart it meant everything. Hearing him say that, made her want to cry. "Oh, um, it's fine." She said quietly.

"No it's not. I feel really bad. I'm sure your boyfriend is going to kill me." Nathan sighed.

Haley couldn't help but let out a small giggle. "Don't worry. I don't have a boyfriend."

Nathan inwardly cheered, but quickly chastised himself. No not good. I need to get over her. It's so hard when she's standing here, in my hotel room. where my bed is three feet away, and she's looking so beautiful. Nathan thought.

"Unless you have a girlfriend, who might want to kill me." Haley joked lightly.

Nathan cracked a smirk. "Nah, I don't have one."

Haley smiled wider. She couldn't contain herself. He's single!

"So um what did you want to talk about?" Nathan asked.

"Oh." Haley bit her lip, "I um, wanted to ask you something, but you don't have to agree, it's just an idea, so don't feel like you have to say yes-" She rambled.

Nathan smiled, as he listened to her ramble. She was completely adorable.

"Hales, you're rambling."

Haley blushed profusely. "Right. Sorry. So, um, I was wondering, if, maybe we can be friends. You know, just put the past behind us, and start fresh. For Brooke and Lucas's sake, I don't want a repeat of what happened last night at the bar to happen at the wedding. Plus we're going to be in the Bridal Party together, so it would be easier if we were friends." Haley smiled hopefully.

Nathan sighed. There was no way in hell he could be just friends with Haley. It was truly impossible. He knew it wouldn't work, but he didn't want to fight with her.

"Okay." He said simply, and smiled slightly.

Haley's mouth broke out into a wide smile. "Thank you!" She said and ran to give him a hug.

Nathan was a bit taken back by her rash movement, but he wasn't going to complain. He hugged her back, a little to long.

While hugging, they both thought the same exact thing. "This 'friendship' is going to blow up in our faces."

thoughts?