A/N: First of all I'm sending a big thank you to all who have been reviewing. Then just a few things, the flashbacks are always going to jump from them being young or to being in school/high school. They aren't following any specific chronological order. The fic is going to move relatively quickly from here on out.

Happy reading. Please review.

Chapter 3: I've Got You On My Mind

'Come on, Hales!' Lucas shouted out and looked over his shoulder. Haley was still standing there, one hand on her hip, the other clutching her book.

'Luke, I just want to read.' He turned around and smiled widely at her.

'I promise you will like this.' He held out his hand for her. Haley eyed it and then gently took it.

'Where are we going?' she asked but Lucas didn't answer. A few minutes later Haley was standing in front of a café. Lucas pushed open the door and Haley followed him inside.

'Mom!' Lucas called as he stepped inside. A brown haired women, who was busy with a cake stopped and focused on Lucas. She smiled at him and then noticed Haley.

'Lucas, who is this?' Lucas sighed.

'I told you, Mom, this is my new friend Haley.' He said while gesturing towards her. Haley shyly smiled at Karen- just watching the exchange.

'Haley, hey?' Karen asked and walked out from behind the counter. 'You're new to town?' Haley nodded. 'What made your family move here?' Karen asked and then turned back to cut two pieces of the cake she had been busy with a moment ago. Haley faltered, her eyes immediately went to the ground.

'Um,' Haley said softly. 'My mom,' she paused and something in her voice made Karen look back over at her. 'My mom passed away recently and my dad,' Haley's voice cracked, 'thought it would be better if I came and stayed with my older sister for a bit. She stays here.' Karen put her knife down, and glanced at Lucas. The little boy was staring wide eyed at Haley.

'Oh, Haley,' Karen said and walked to stand in front of her. She put her hand on her shoulder. 'I'm sorry about your mom.' Haley swallowed once again looking at the ground.

'It's ok.' Haley shifted her feet, avoiding looking at either Lucas or his mom. Eventually Karen cleared her throat and turned to Luke.

'Where are you two heading anyway?' Karen asked Lucas, she watched as he merely pointed up. Karen smiled. 'Take the cake with you- its caramel.' She said as Lucas moved towards the counter to grab the cake.

'Come on, Hales.' Lucas said and after one quick glance at Karen Haley followed after Lucas. He lead her through the café and then up some stairs.

'This,' he said as he pushed open a green door. 'Is the roof.' Lucas stepped out onto the roof of the café. Haley did the same and couldn't believe what she was seeing. All around were fairy lights, there were some bean bags and strikingly of all a miniature golf course had been set up.

'Wow,' Haley said doing a twirl and looking all around her. 'Who did this?'

'Nathan, Brooke and I. My mom helped.' He then pointed to a bean bag. 'You can read here.' Lucas added and they both walked over to the bean bags. He sat down and so did Haley. He then reached behind him and pulled out his own book. 'I read here all the time. Sometimes Nate and Brooke will play golf while I do.' He explained and handed Haley her piece of cake. She took it. She looked down at the cake, her book, around her and then back over at Lucas.

'Why are you being so nice to me?' Haley suddenly asked. Lucas looked over at her.

'Why wouldn't I be?' he said it with such simplicity that Haley didn't argue with it or question it any further.

'Uh, earth to, Haley!' A hand was waving in front of her face. Haley came back to the present.

'Sorry,' she mumbled and pointed at the cake in front of her. 'The cake distracted me.'

'The cake?' Brooke asked in disbelief.

'Yeah, its caramel.' Haley added as if that explained everything.

'All right,' Brooke conceded. 'So are you going to come?' Brooke pushed on.

'Brooke, I honestly don't think it's a good idea.' Brooke placed her palms down on the table and took a steadying breath.

'Haley,' she said firmly. 'You are in college, here at Duke, you have to start integrating yourself.'

'It's just a lot right now, Brooke.'

'You mean Nathan is a lot.' Brooke shot back and watched as Haley flinched a bit. Ever since that day at Haley's dorm Brooke had been making a point to see Haley as much as possible.

'I don't-' Haley began but stopped talking, a shadow came over Brooke and she glanced up. Nathan was standing behind Brooke, looking down at her while she looked up at him.

'Brooke, what are you doing?' Nathan scolded while pointedly avoiding Haley.

'Well, hello to you too,' Brooke retorted, her neck was starting to feel stiff with the angle she was holding it at.

'What are you doing? And why didn't you answer your phone?' Nathan ignored her previous comment and pushed on with his questions.

'Well, I'm having coffee and cake with Haley,' Brooke emphasised Haley's name and then pointed at her, forcing Nathan to acknowledge her presence. He finally looked up and over at Haley and he had to pause for a few seconds, her hair was up with a few strands framing her face, she was in a white top and was fidgeting with her hands, and suddenly it struck Nathan just how much he missed her. The problem was, as soon as that thought entered his head, he instantly became frustrated and angry.

'Ex-act-ly,' Nathan drew out the word, 'my point. What are you doing here with her?' Haley flinched at the tone and finally looked up at him. She knew he was pissed, she let her eyes trail down and noticed his curled up fists.

'Nathan,' Haley rushed out and put her hand on his chest, the action caught him by surprise and he focused on Haley. 'Don't let him get to you.' She was watching him carefully and speaking to him softly.

'Hales, did you hear what he said about you?' Haley went red she had clearly heard what he had said about her.

'Yes,' she exasperatedly said. 'But it is Damien, what more do you expect?' Nathan watched Haley, still not moving but still not calm. 'His trying to get you to throw the game,' Haley briefly glanced over at Brooke who was standing with Lucas. They were watching her, ready to step in and stop Nathan if they had too.

'Let it go and beat him on the court.' Haley motioned with her free hand to the basketball court. They were on a brief time out and the Tree Hill Ravens were ahead in the game- which was exactly why Damien had begun pushing Nate's buttons. Nathan had managed to maintain his cool until Damien had started cat calling Haley and bragging about how he was going to make sure he got "in there" with her later that night.

'Hales,' Nathan began. Haley looked down and saw his fists- which were still curled up in balls by his sides. 'Can you at least change out of the cheerleading uniform, so that he doesn't have something to look at?' Haley's eyes turned back to Nathan and she gave a small laugh.

'No one is looking at me when I'm standing next to Brooke,' Haley commented trying to break the tension. She glanced at his fists they seemed to tighten at her words.

'Hales,' Nathan growled and shook his head. She just didn't get it- Nathan thought to himself- she never did. Haley glanced at him and without really thinking about it changed tactics. She was currently in her cheerleading uniform but she had the Raven's cheerleaders jacket on, she normally wore it as much as possible during games. She wasn't completely comfortable with how revealing the cheerleading top underneath the jacket was. Haley moved her hand off Nathan's chest, stepping closer to him and reached down for his clenched fists. She let her one hand rest on his one fist, while her other hand slowly made his other hand move up.

'Relax, Nate,' Haley said while holding his gaze. Slowly, Nathan uncurled the fingers of the hand Haley was moving. She brought it to the zipper of her jacket, and carefully curled her fingers around Nathan's and brought both their hands forward. Then she moved their hands down a bit, slowly unzipping the jacket she was wearing as their hands moved down. She let go of Nathan's hand after a few more centimetres and looked expectantly at Nate. Hesitantly, he unzipped the rest of the jacket and Haley felt the fist she was still holding unclench. Nathan moved his hand up and slipped into under her now open jacket, resting it on her shoulder. Haley cocked her head at him and let go of his other hand, without missing a beat Nathan moved his other hand to her other shoulder and slowly he began to push the jacket off of her, running his hands all the way down her arms. Haley caught the jacket as it reached her wrists and pulled it off.

'Relax, Nate,' she said again trying not to look hot from the contact they just had. 'I'd rather give you something to concentrate on.' She said softly, Nathan hadn't moved an inch. 'Beat him on the court.' She said once again, firmly, and then turned to walk away and walk towards Brooke. She reached Brooke and finally let out the breath she had been holding.

'You're going to drive him crazy,' Brooke said moving to Haley, 'or kill him.' Haley looked over at Brooke not saying anything, she finally let the jacket slip out of her hands and land on the floor next to her. Brooke laughed again. 'We should probably get back to cheering, the game is about to resume.' Brooke added a moment later and Haley nodded, she turned her attention back to the court and moved her eyes to Nathan. He was still watching her, she gave him a small nod, he nodded back and then the game started again.

Haley closed her eyes and pushed that memory out of her mind she was sure she was going red. She stood up looking at Brooke. It was hard for her to reconcile the fact that she used to be the answer to his frustrations- not the cause. Haley cleared her throat.

'I think I should leave,' she said evenly to Brooke- who was staring curiously at her.

'It is what you do best,' Nathan coldly said. Haley dropped her hands and for a moment looked defeated. Then she collected herself.

'See you around, Brooke.' Haley said turning.

'No,' Brooke called after her. 'See you Saturday evening.' Brooke watched her go and then a moment later Nathan sat down in the seat Haley had been in.

'Tell me,' Brooke said to Nathan and folded her arms. 'Does being an ass make you feel better?' Nathan cocked his head to the side.

'Just let it go,' he said between clenched teeth. Brooke gave a small scoff.

'I think you need to let it go.'

'I'm starting to think you are avoiding me,' a voice said behind Brooke and into her ear. Instantly she felt goosebumps run down her spine. A moment later she watched as Julian came to stand in front of her, she was currently sitting on a picnic table.

'I just have a lot going on,' Brooke said coyly.

'I tend to make time for the people I like,' Julian replied and smirked at her. Brooke broke out into a grin.

'What makes you think I like you, Baker?' Brooke raised her eyebrows and tilted her head at him- it was the end of the day and Brooke had needed a place to just distress for a bit. She found that navigating this new situation with Haley and Nathan was quite taxing. She hadn't had any time to just debrief herself- see how she was actually feeling. Julian watched as the sun set behind Brooke and seemed to wrap around her, he stepped forward and moved his one hand into her hair.

'Because of this,' he breathed out and then leaned down, pulling Brooke closer to him. He kissed her, slowly at first and then found himself stepping even closer to her deepening the kiss as she grabbed his shirt. He broke away a few seconds later and grinned down at her.

'You're right,' he said sarcastically, 'You definitely don't like me.'

'Oh, shut up,' Brooke replied and then laughed- for the first time in a few days she was actually laughing. She breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing. She stared up at Julian. 'So,' she began and jumped off the table. 'Are you going to take me to dinner or what?' Julian wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

'I thought you would never ask.' He replied while leading her away, she leaned into him and Julian instinctively leaned down and placed a kiss on her head.

Nathan let the ball go and watched as it missed the net again. Frustrated, he went to pick it up, but as soon as his fingers took hold of the ball he threw it across the court. He hated how he was feeling, he had felt like this only once before and he refused to think about that again. The court was empty, it was late and this wasn't helping. There was no point to dwelling on Haley, or letting her get under his skin. He just had to let it go, accept that she was here. He walked to the bleachers and sat down, he took a breath and then placed his head in his hands. For a moment he let himself go back.

'Nathan Scott,' Haley yelled as she swung his bedroom open. She walked straight in, gave him one look and yanked open his curtains. 'So, you lost one game.' She shot at him and then went to his cupboard pulling out a red shirt. 'It's time to get over it.' She threw the shirt at him and he caught it. He looked up at her, her hair was curly and she was in shorts with a spaghetti strapped top on.

'This game was important,' Nathan growled turning away from Haley and concentrating on the game he had been playing on his Xbox. Haley sighed in frustration and walked in front of him, blocking the TV. She leaned forward.

'Listen, if you don't get your ass up and ready,' Haley pointed at the door. 'Then I'll have no choice but to send Brooke in. And you can pout all you want but she will literally kick your ass if you don't come to her party.' Haley straightened. 'Not to mention, you owe me.'

'I owe you?' Nathan questioned her. She cocked her head at him.

'Oh, you don't remember?' Haley giggled in delight. 'Last weekend when you were oh so drunk at the party,' she paused for effect. 'You refused to dance with me, and so brazenly said that the only way that would happen was if you lost this game to the Blue Devils. Well, guess, what Nate?' she winked at him. 'You owe me a dance.' Nathan groaned and fell back onto his bed.

'I vaguely remember this.' He sat back up.

'Can't you just dance with Luke?' He ran a hand through his hair. 'I'm really not in the mood for this party.' Haley sighed.

'I dance with Luke all the time, plus him and Brooke are pretty touchy feely right now.'

'I've noticed.' Nathan groaned.

'I'm not going to this party without you. Whether you like it or not you are coming with me.' Nathan raised his eyebrows. Haley had her hands on her hips and she was eyeing him, her serious expression broke him down, and for the first time in a few days he started to feel better.

'I have a better idea, Hales.' Nathan said walking towards her.

'Oh, really?' she questioned- feeling a little on edge- Nathan still hadn't put a shirt on.

'Yeah,' Nathan said and then without further explanation he picked Haley up.

'Nathan, what are you doing?' Haley squealed trying to get out of his grasp.

'You'll see.'

'Nate,' Haley pushed against his shoulder. Then she looked behind her and saw exactly where he was heading. 'You better not be planning what I think you are.' Nathan grinned at her.

'Come on, Hales, neither of us really feels like going to this party and I need to cool off.' Nathan didn't say anything else because the next thing Haley knew he was running and had jumped into his pool with her still in his arms.

'Nathan Scott!' Haley scolded when she came up, she swam towards him and swiftly began spraying water at him. 'You did not just do that!'

'Oh, come on, Hales,' he laughed at her state. 'This is so much better than a party at the beach house again.' Nathan laughing made Haley stop and consider him. This was the first time in a few days he seemed relaxed.

'Ok,' Haley conceded. She reached under the water and swiftly took her shoes off- throwing them out of the pool. 'But I'm not explaining to Brooke why we didn't pitch. And you still owe me that dance.' Haley added as she went under the water once more.

Nathan came back to the present- that memory was one of his favourites. He had spent the entire day with just Haley, doing whatever they pleased, and he remembered how he had felt- happy and not disappointed with himself. That day was the start of a lot of things for him and Haley. Yet, here they were now barely speaking, and Nathan knew that he would have to see her again, that he couldn't escape her- the thought made his skin cold. He rubbed his temples, how the hell was he supposed to navigate this situation?

Saturday Night

Haley wrung her hands together and stared at herself in the mirror again- she had a bad feeling about this. But there was no backing out- Brooke had been insistent and the least Haley could do was pitch up. She closed her eyes for a moment and then readied herself for the evening. She grabbed her phone, and made her way out the door. Brooke had offered to fetch her but Haley had wanted the time alone and had rather agreed to meet her at the party. She knew where it was, it was a short walk.

Ten minutes later Haley stood at the door, she didn't understand why she was quite so nervous. She walked into the party and for a moment just took in her surroundings. The house was big and open, there were people everywhere but it wasn't too overcrowded. She walked around the place, there was an outside area with glass doors which looked out on to a pool. She was about to call Brooke when she heard her name being called.

'Haley!' Brooke yelled excitedly and Haley turned around. Brooke was walking towards her with a boy just behind her- they were both smiling. Brooke was wearing a beautiful dress that had an open back, as always she looked phenomenal. She stopped in front of Haley.

'Haley,' she said again and motioned to the boy standing next to her. 'This is Julian, and this,' she paused a grabbed one of the cups that Julian had been holding. 'Is for you.' She handed the cup to Haley. 'Drink up and go meet some people. Julian over here promised to dance with me, come find me later, ok?' Brooke bounced and before Haley could say anything they were off. Haley took a deep breath and looked around her- it was a party after all- she figured she just needed to relax a bit and she would start to fell better. She took a sip of the drink she had been given, and then without really thinking about it, she walked outside to the pool. She stood there, enjoying the breeze, when she glanced behind her she had a perfect view of the lounge area where the makeshift dance floor had been set up. Haley downed her drink- she turned around ready to leave and rejoin the party when her phone rang. She pulled it out and looked at the caller ID- immediately answering the call.

'Hey,' Haley said and the relief in her voice was apparent. She began pacing up and down the pool. 'You have the best timing.' Haley paused and listened to the voice on the other end. 'Yeah, it's going ok, Pey.' Again Haley paused to listen and as she did, her eyes drifted to the lounge area and she landed on Brooke and Julian. She watched as Julian wrapped an arm around her waist and said something to her that made her laugh- Haley remembered seeing Brooke look happy like that once before.

What are you looking at, Hales?' Nathan said from behind her, she glanced back and then motioned with her head. 'Luke finally asked her to dance.' Nathan took a few steps forward and came to stand next to Haley. They were at a Spring Dance and for weeks Haley had watched as Lucas floundered around Brooke. Five minutes ago he had walked over to the girls and casually asked Brooke to dance. Except there was nothing casual about it. Haley watched as Luke whispered something into Brooke's ear and saw Brooke laugh while blushing. Brooke had her arms around Luke's neck and he had his wrapped around the small of the back. She hadn't ever seen the two of them look so happy, as they just danced and danced.

Haley came back to the conversation. Her eyes still trained on Brooke and Julian.

'How's it going that side with you two?' Haley asked Peyton and waited for her response. 'It's a bit tense, Pey.' Haley said back and waited again. She sighed. 'I really don't think now is the right time for you two to come visit.' Haley turned around for a few seconds and when she turned back she was surprised to see Nathan standing with Brooke and Julian- the three of them were laughing-seeing the three of them like that made something in Haley feel like it was stinging. 'Yeah, it's really weird being here, Pey. Nathan's furious at me. I'm working on it with Brooke though.' Haley swallowed, she was starting to feel that stinging sensation in her throat. 'But like I said, I don't think now is the best time for you guys to come visit.' Haley paused while Peyton spoke and watched as Brooke nudged Nathan and as he smiled back at her. 'I know,' Haley said into her phone. 'I will keep you updated.' Haley added, she was about to turn around again when she felt eyes on her, she looked back over at Brooke, Julian and Nathan and saw Nathan staring at her through the glass doors. She blinked and looked away. 'Send my love, ok?' Haley added and then a second later the phone call ended. She shook her head, and looked up at the sky, turning around. She didn't belong here.

A movement caught Nathan's eye and he glanced up. He looked outside for a mere second and was about to turn away when he fully registered the scene. Haley was there, standing on the other side of the pool, he watched her. Noted that she was wearing a pair of black shorts with a strapless heart shaped top. Her hair was down and curly. He watched as she spoke into her phone, and then he watched as she looked up and caught his gaze. For a moment he froze, he knew what that look on her face meant. A second later she was looking away and had turned around. He still kept his eyes on her.

'I'll be back,' he said to Brooke and Julian -unsure of what he was actually doing. He began making his way towards the glass doors but he could already see Haley walking away from the pool. He pushed through the crowd and stepped outside, looking around, but he couldn't see Haley any more. He glanced around the pool area and back inside- he wasn't sure he was going to be able to find her now.

A/N: Next update will be up soon, hope you liked it. Please review.