A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Flashbacks are in italics! I should have the next chapter up by the end of the week. Also to those of you who read Never Let Me Go and are now reading Bring Me Back to Life- thank you! It means a lot!

As always please review!

Chapter 2: Catching Up

She looked up and moved her hair out of her face. Nathan watched her as she did this and then his body turned an entirely different type of cold that had nothing to do with the rain that was beating away at him. He stopped breathing, his whole world had just come crashing down and he didn't know quite what to do. He didn't move and neither did she. The rain didn't cease and Nathan stood there unable to process the situation. Until out of the corner of his eye he saw the traffic light that was a few feet away from him, his car and her, turn red. He took one step forward.

'Haley,' he breathed out and she moved for the first time since she had frozen in terror, watching as a car had raced towards her. She let her hand drop from the car and brought her gaze to meet the eyes that she could feel were staring intently at her.

'Haley,' Nathan's voice was more forceful now. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

Haley didn't move. She didn't exactly know how to answer that question there were so many layers to it. So many explanations to give. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She figured eventually this was going to happen, that the past was going to catch up to her, she just hadn't at all thought it would be like this.

Nathan seemed to know she was contemplating what to do. He stepped even closer to her, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Haley James was standing here in front of him, soaking wet.

'Get in the car,' Nathan finally said. His forceful tone was still there. Haley eyed him- her stunned silence finally evaporating.

'No,' she said evenly and shook her head.

'No?' Nathan questioned and threw his hands up in the air. 'Haley, it's pouring.' He paused and motioned to his car. 'A moment ago I almost ran you over. Where are you going anyway?' Where was she going- it was the presiding thought running through his head. Yet, a small voice told him that he already knew the answer to that question.

'No, I'm ok.' Haley replied. It was the furthest thing from the truth but she went with that reply anyway- saying it with as much conviction as she could muster.

'Haley,' Nathan's voice flat toned. 'You can't want to avoid me that much.' She laughed and the sound surprised Nathan- he hadn't heard it in so long.

'Nathan Scott, what makes you think any of my decisions have to do with you?' she cocked her head at him. 'I love the rain.' Her last few words made Nathan falter, it was the exact same thing she had said to him once before. It was the exact same words from the memory that had plagued him a few minutes earlier. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, willing himself not to let the rest of the memory back in. He concentrated on the cold sensation the drops were leaving behind as they hit his skin, he concentrated on the fresh smell of the air. He opened his eyes and turned back to Haley.

'Haley,' Nathan said and walked over to the passenger side door. Haley turned around watching him do this. 'Just get in. Please.' Haley looked at the open door, looked at Nathan and felt her resolve break. She gave him one short nod and walked over to where he was standing and got in the car. Nathan closed the door and quickly made his way over to the driver's side. He got in and sighed in relief, the dryness of the car was a welcome relief from the furious downpour they had been standing in.

'Your car seat is going to be soaked-' Haley began while eyeing Nathan nervously.

'I don't care.' He cut her off and reached for his seat belt before starting the car. Haley was still watching him- he didn't seem all that different but he did seem put together in way that he wasn't before. His hair was as dark as ever and his eyes were still that blue-grey that Haley had etched into her memory. His muscle were definitely more defined and Haley thought he was slightly taller.

'Where are you going?' Nathan finally said bringing her out of her daze and catching her gaze. Haley sighed.

'To Duke,' she answered quietly and turned away from Nathan focusing her gaze out the window and on the rain. She felt the tension and could feel Nathan's anger.

'What?' Nathan asked pulling off. He must have misheard her or he just didn't understand. Maybe she was visiting someone at Duke. 'What are you doing at Duke?' Haley kept staring out the window.

'I attend Duke University now.' She said simply and then felt the car jerk to a stop. Nathan had pulled into a parking lot. He didn't turn the engine off but he did turn his entire body towards Haley.

'Are you being serious?' Nathan said to the back of Haley's head. She still wasn't looking at him. She kept quiet for a while and the silence was too much for Nathan to handle. He reached over and grabbed her arm. The feel of her skin shocked him, making him fully realise for the first that evening that this really was happening.

'Yes,' she finally said. 'I'm being serious. I had to transfer over to Duke because the department I was studying in got shut down at Stanford. Duke has the only other department.' Haley paused and watched as Nathan processed her words.

'How long have you been here?'

'Since the start of the semester.' Nathan dropped his hold on Haley's arm and turned to his dashboard hitting it with all the force he could muster. His anger would have been apparent to anyone in the vicinity.

'For fucks sake, Haley!' he said through gritted teeth. She had shifted a bit in her seat, she was suddenly very nervous. 'You have been here for months and you what!? Just FORGOT to call?' Nathan yelled sarcastically, he wasn't looking at her, his focus was on his curled up hand placed on top of his dashboard. Haley shifted uncomfortably but then her own anger started to set in.

'Nathan, I DO NOT have to justify what I did or didn't do.' She unclipped her seatbelt. 'Anyway, I didn't think you would want to hear from me.' Nathan's head shot up at her words and he finally looked over at her. All the air in Haley's lungs escaped her when she saw the look he had on his face. He was still angry, sure, but now he was sad.

'Haley,' he said softly. 'I have been trying to talk to you for a year and a half.' He stopped for a second and ran a hand through his hair, it came back wet. 'But I guess you don't care. Do you?'

'Nathan,' Haley said her voice cracking. 'We don't need to do this. I can get out of the car and find my own way back to Duke.'

'No,' Nathan said dryly and began to pull out of the parking lot. Haley sighed and put her seatbelt back on.

'Does Brooke know?' Nathan asked harshly a minute later.

'No.' Haley stated softly. She tried to suppress the guilt she was feeling.

'Of course, she doesn't. She would have told me.' He added as an afterthought. He finally pulled into Duke. He stopped the car and looked over at Haley.

'So let me get this straight, Haley. We haven't heard from you or seen you in a year and half, after you just took off without telling anyone. Then you transfer over to Duke and decide not to call me or Brooke? Did I get that right?' Haley kept quiet she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

'Nathan,' she began but stopped herself. This was harder than she ever thought it would be. 'I think I should just leave.' She said softly and grabbed the door handle.

'Yeah,' Nathan said as she opened the door. She looked back over at him, once, quickly. 'I think you should too.' He said softly but severely. His knuckles white from gripping his steering wheel so hard.

Brooke heard the buzzing sound of her phone and groaned. She did not understand why someone was calling her so early! With her eyes half opened she located her phone and answered the call.

'What?' she grumbled into the phone, she hadn't even bothered to check who was calling her.

'Haley's here at Duke.' Brooke processed the words and then pulled her phone away from her ear, and sure enough saw Nathan's name on her screen.

'I'm sorry what?' Brooke said sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She heard Nathan sigh into the phone.

'Haley is here.' He said and Brooke could clearly make out Nathan's tense tone. 'At Duke. She's attending Duke!' Nathan said the last part a bit too loudly and Brooke moved her phone away from her ear. She could feel her heat begin to race and sweat was beginning to stick to her palms.

'Nathan,' she said. 'Start from the beginning.'

Brooke ended the call and sat back down on her bed- she looked at her phone's display debating what to do next.

Brooke barely registered her surroundings, she kept her head on her knees and stared down at her phone's screen. In the back of her mind, she heard the door open and then a few seconds later she felt warm hands on her arms- but she didn't look up.

'Brooke, Hun,' a soothing voice said to her. She still didn't look up until Karen called her name again. 'Oh, Brooke.' Karen murmured and ran a hand through her hair. 'What are you doing up here?' Brooke shifted, feeling just how stiff her muscles were.

'I just don't understand,' Brooke shook her head. 'I needed somewhere I could think.' Brooke took a deep breath, trying and failing to stop the tears that were springing to her eyes. 'We're barely keeping it together and Haley-' Brooke's voice broke. 'Why won't she call me back? Why did she leave?'

'Brooke,' Karen cooed again, 'People do what they need to when-'

'But we need her.' Brooke broke down completely. 'I don't understand why any of this happened!' Brooke yelled out in between her tears and without really thinking about it, she chucked her phone across the roof of Karen's Café. Karen watched the phone fly through the air and turned back to the broken girl sitting in front of her.

'She needs you guys too,' Karen finally said. 'She just doesn't realise it, yet. And in the meantime,' Karen paused and took a hold of Brooke's cheek. 'You know what to do, Brooke, you got coached by the best person.' Brooke stared at Karen letting her words sink in. Was she right? Did she know what to do and how to fix this?

Brooke sighed, reliving any of those days were painful but the words in that memory stuck with her. She dialled a number and waited two rings before the person answered.

'Hey,' she said happily, 'I need a favour. Do you still have connections in administration?' Brooke laughed. 'Yeah, ok, we can. But first I need you to find out which dorm room someone is staying in please.'

Haley placed her laptop down and rubbed her eyes, she had been working for a while, trying to distract herself from all the thoughts running through her head. She took a deep breath and leaned back against her couch, staring up at the ceiling. A big part of her constantly wondered if she had made a mistake transferring to Duke and she couldn't quite settle on an answer. She was just about to get up and grab a bottle of water when she heard a knocking at her door. She froze, rooted to her spot, debating whether to just ignore it. She couldn't think who it could be- but the knocking didn't stop. Hesitantly she walked to her door and swung it open- Haley looked up to see Brooke standing in front of her, hands on her hips.

Haley squinted at her book, there was a shadow across the page making it harder for her to read. Confused, she looked up to see a small, unimpressed, brunette standing in front of her with her hands on her hips.

'Uh, hi?' Haley said softly.

'Hi,' a voice behind the girl answered and Haley shifted to see a blonde boy standing just behind the brunette- he was smiling widely at her.

'Luke!' The brunette scolded, 'I want to play already.' The girl whined. Luke stepped forward and placed himself directly in front of Haley.

'I'm Lucas Scott,' he said and Haley-not sure what exactly was going on- just nodded.

'Haley James,' she said to Lucas eventually.

'This is Brooke Davis,' Lucas added and nudged her, she still had her hands on her hips and was eyeing Haley.

'Do you want to play with us?' Lucas added a moment later. Haley felt her mouth drop open, since she had moved to Tree Hill she hadn't really made any friends.

'It's ok, I just want to read.' Lucas moved to sit down next to Haley.

'What are you reading?' Haley was about to answer when her voice was drowned out by someone else.

'Brookie!' Another dark-haired boy came running. 'Are we going to play? We are only allowed to be at the River Court for an hour!' The boy barrelled into Brooke and they both fell to the ground.

'Umph,' Brooke said and shoved the boy. 'Nathan!' He stood up and then helped her up. 'Luke is busy making a new friend.'

'Oh,' for the first time the boy named-Nathan- noticed Haley. He walked over to her, he was slightly taller than the rest of them. 'Who are you?'

'Uh, Haley James?' she answered unsure of what else to say.

'Well, come on Haley James, Lucas can use all the help he can get.' Haley looked up at Nathan who was smiling at her, then over to Brooke who, finally, also seemed to be smiling at her and then lastly she looked at Lucas whose smile seemed the most genuine.

'Yeah, come on, Hales.' Luke stood up and held out his hand for her. 'We can read later.'

'I heard Nathan almost ran you over last night,' Brooke's words reached Haley and brought her out of her memory. She didn't say anything, still taking in the sight of Brooke in front of her, with her hands on her hips. 'I'm trying to decide if you would have deserved it or not.' Haley raised her eyebrows and then couldn't help it, she laughed. It seemed to break the tension between the two girls and Brooke dropped her arms from her hips.

'I definitely deserved that,' Haley said finally. Brooke took a deep breath and let out a small chuckle, and then readied herself for her next question.

'Why didn't you call, Haley?' Brooke asked. An array of emotions were coming across in her voice: sadness, disbelief, and relief.

'I didn't know what to say,' Haley answered honestly and dropped her hand from the door frame. She could feel those damn tears stinging her eyes again. Brooke watched her, and then without a word, she walked a few steps forward and pulled Haley into a hug.

'This doesn't mean I forgive you,' Brooke said to Haley- still hugging her. 'But I really missed you.' Haley could feel the tears run down her cheeks.

'I missed you too,' she whispered out. 'More than you know.'

A/N: Please review!