The Office

I don't own OTH.

Chapter 2

Nathan's eyes followed Haley as she walked across the room. She was so beautiful. He so badly wanted to stand up and tell her she meant the world to him, but there was just one thing stopping him. The engagement ring on her left hand. The one that appeared there shortly after he started working there, and the one that always stopped him.

Lucas stopped behind him, slapping the back of his head softly. "You're drooling, Nate." He chuckled, shaking his head.

Nathan rolled his eyes, turning in his chair to look up at his brother, "Get back to work, Lucas." He grumbled, shaking his head slowly.

"You too, little brother." Lucas chuckled, nodding at Haley when he walked past her.

Nathan shifted his attention to his desk mate, Chris Keller. "Hey Chris. I was told that the camera actually someone punking us. But I also heard that they're apparently huge fans of you, and they watched you sing at a talent show in high school." He said.

Chris looked over at him, "I don't think that's true. You've been known to lie to Chris Keller." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh come on, Haley told me that. And she's been known to tell you the truth." Nathan said, nodding over at Haley.

"Let's go ask her then." Chris said, standing up and walking over to the counter. Nathan quickly followed after him over, smiling at Haley.

"Hey Hales. Chris doesn't believe me about the thing you told me about either? How this is all a joke and the cameras are really here for him?" He said, nodding his head.

"Chris. Why? After all these years?" Haley frowned, shaking her head.

"Well I didn't know. Nathan lies to me all the time." Chris said defensively, shaking his head. "Maybe Chris Keller should go introduce himself, I'll see you guys later." He said, smirking and walking away.

Nathan leaned on the counter a bit, looking down at Haley. "You look nice today, by the way." He said, smirking slightly.

"Oh shut up, I look like I rolled out of bed, put my hair in a bun and put on a skirt. Which may, or may not be what happened." Haley said, smiling up at him.

"Well you look good, don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He said, shrugging.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head and chuckling. For some reason, when he said that to her she felt like her heart had skipped a beat. Owen hadn't said anything really to her today, but he didn't often compliment her appearance anymore, unless she made an extra effort specifically for him.

"So, got any plans this weekend?" Nathan asked her, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I'm making Owen take me to dinner and a movie." Haley said, nodding at him.

His jaw clenched, and he dug his elbows into the counter, avoiding her eye contact because he was sure his head was about explode from the jealous rage he felt inside. "Oh? That should be fun." He forced himself to say in a steady tone.

"Yeah. What about you?" She asked, glancing up at him.

"I'm probably just going to stay in. See if I can find a good basketball game on TV." Nathan said, shrugging.

"You could go out and shoot some hoops?" Haley said, smiling at him.

He looked at her, shaking his head. "Yeah, I don't know about that." He grumbled.

"Come on, Nathan. Lucas told me how much you miss it. You can get it back, you know?" She tried, resting her hand on his forearm.

"We'll see." He said, sighing softly. He noticed Dan watching him through his window. "Well, I better get back to work. It's been fun." Nathan said softly, before walking back to his desk, tugging on his tie a little bit.

Lucas watched his younger brother, sighing at how miserable he looked. Nathan had been sitting by Haley at lunch, when Owen came up and sat with them, totally stealing Haley's attention. He frowned, walking to H.R.

"Hey Luke." Brooke said, waving at him.

Peyton turned her chair around, smiling up at him. "Hey you. What brings you all the way back here?" She asked, grinning.

"Oh, you know. I'm here to see Brooke." He chuckled, sitting down on Peyton's desk.

"I just thought I would come back and talk to the two people that give the best advice." He said, looking at Peyton, then at Brooke. "Well, go ahead." Peyton said, smiling.

"So... I have this friend. And he's been sort of pining after this girl for awhile, but he can't date her, and lately it's gotten a lot worse." Lucas began.

"Nathan and Haley. Got it." Brooke chuckled, shrugging. "Well, Haley has known Owen forever. But they have terrible chemistry. And, they've been engaged for a long time and there's been no date set." She shook her head. "Owen is hot, but Nathan is better. In my opinion, at least." She added.

"There is that." Peyton laughed, looking at Lucas.

"I think that we should stay out of it, but it sucks to see Nathan so down all the time." Lucas sighed, shaking his head. "I mostly just came back here to figure out what to say to him." He shrugged.

"Just tell him to be patient. Because eventually someone will come around." Peyton said, smiling slightly.

"No, no. Here's what you do. You march in there, and you set him up with my neighbor, Carrie. He'll like her. She likes to swim naked. Go on, Lucas. Help him out at least." Brooke said, pulling out her phone and writing down Carrie's phone number.

"Brooke, I don't know if this is a good idea." Lucas said, shaking his head.

"No, it might not be that bad of an idea. Maybe he'll like her." Peyton said, shrugging.

"If you guys say so." He grumbled, taking the phone number from Brooke.

"I love Haley, but I'm not too sure that Owen is her man." Brooke pointed out, "So maybe this will open her eyes, but maybe it will help Nathan move on too." She shrugged.

"Do I think that Haley and Owen are a good match?" Brooke asked, looking at the camera, shifting in her chair. "I think that they've been together for a long time, and maybe they think they belong together. I like Owen alright, but there's just something about him that I don't trust. I think that Haley deserves someone who treats her special. I'm not entirely sure how Owen treats her, but I know that he would rather go out drinking with his warehouse buddies, than go out drinking with her." She said, shaking her head and sighing. "But I don't know. I hope that she's happy, and if Owen makes her happy then go them. But I think he needs to buckle down on their relationship." She smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "And I'm not saying that Nathan would do that, but I feel like I know him pretty well. You didn't hear it from me though." Brooke laughed, shaking her head and standing up.

Lucas walked back into the break room, watching Nathan majorly third wheel to the long time couple. "Hey Nate." He said, smiling at his younger brother and sitting next to him. "Haley, Owen." He greeted them, tapping his fingers on the table.

"Hey Lucas! How're you doing?" Haley asked, smiling at him.

"I'm doing fine. I can't wait for the day to be over. The weekend should be good." He said, letting out a small sigh. "So, Nate. Speaking of the weekend? What are you doing this weekend?" Lucas asked him, raising his eyebrows.

"Probably going to stay in and watch some basketball. Thinking about going out and shooting around too." Nathan replied, smiling slightly at Haley.

"That's great, man. Listen, if you have a free night... Brooke gave me her neighbor's phone number to give to you. She said that she thinks you might hit it off." Lucas said, sliding the phone number across the table. "Her name is Carrie. Brooke said she's nice enough." He shrugged.

"Uh, yeah. Carrie. Maybe I'll give her a call." Nathan said, shifting slightly.

Haley's eyes narrowed in on the paper on the table, frowning slightly. She watched as Nathan picked it up, looking down at it.

"She also mentioned something about swimming naked? Sounds right up your alley." Lucas added, chuckling quietly.

"Lucas." Nathan scowled, shaking his head.

"Swimming naked? Oh damn, that's hot. I know that if I wasn't with Haley, I would be all over that and I would call her right now." Owen said, smirking at Nathan. "Call her, man. For guys everywhere. Call her." He urged him.

Haley looked over at Owen, shaking her head quickly. "Unbelievable." She said softly, standing up and walking out.

Nathan and Lucas glanced at each other uncomfortably. "Uh, maybe I'll call her. Thanks for this, Luke. Owen, it's been nice talking. But I've got to get back to work now." Nathan said quietly, standing up and walking back to his desk.

"What do I think of Owen?" Nathan sighed, letting out a deep breath. "You know, he's an okay guy. Sometimes he does things that I don't really understand. I can't really judge him though. I was a dick in college. Am I allowed to say that on camera?" He laughed. "I don't really even know what I'm doing, to be honest." He shook his head. "Haley? Haley is great. She's such a good person, and has such a warm heart. She cares so much for the people around her. This place would be so boring without her. I respect her so much." Nathan smiled slightly, before looking up. "Yeah, she's a good friend." He said, nodding his head slowly, looking down.

Haley looked up to see Owen standing at her desk.

"You're not still mad at me are you?" Owen asked her, smiling slightly. "Owen." She said, sighing softly. He walked around her desk, nodding down at her. "Come on, Haley." He chuckled, kissing her quickly.

"Well... I guess I'm not that mad at you." Haley grinned, kissing him again.

Nathan looked over at them, letting out a deep sigh. He jumped when he felt someone tap his shoulder.

"Nathan. I heard that you're thinking about playing some ball this weekend? Do you want to take on the master?" Dan asked, gesturing to himself.

"Oh, you know... That's alright. Thanks for the offer, Dan." Nathan said, clearing his throat.

"I'll go play basketball with you." Chris said, looking at Dan.

"No thanks, Chris." Dan said, shaking his head. "Well, get back to work." Dan said, patting Nathan's shoulder and heading back into his office.

"Damn you Nathan." Chris grumbled.

"Oh, whatever Chris." Nathan replied, glancing over at Haley and Owen again. Brooke walked over, leaning against Nathan's desk.

"Hey buddy." She said, smirking at him.

"Uh, hey Brooke." Nathan said, looking up at her.

"Are you going to call her?" She asked, looking down at him.

"I was thinking about it. I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders. "Just call her. I promise you'll have a good time." Brooke said, poking his chest. "Here, let's ask Haley." She said.

"Wait, Brooke, don't do that." Nathan said quickly, but Brooke was already at the reception counter.

"Bye Owen." She said, waving at him.

Owen raised his eyebrows, "I guess that means I should get back to work." He laughed, kissing Haley one more time and heading out of the office.

"What do you need, Brooke?" Haley asked, smiling up at her.

"I need you to tell Nathan to call Carrie and ask her out." She hummed, tapping her fingers on the desk.

Haley hesitated, looking over at Nathan. "I don't think I should get in the middle of this." She said softly, shaking her head.

"Nope." Brooke said, chuckling quietly.

Haley looked over at Nathan again, "You should call her, Nathan." She forced herself to say, nodding over at him.

Nathan looked at her, forcing a tight smile onto his face. "Uh, yeah. I think I will." He said quietly, turning back to his computer.

"My work here is done. Now I have to go. My boys are both throwing up and the babysitter is going crazy. I will see you all on Monday." Brooke said, smiling at them and waving at them and walking out.

It was nearing five o'clock when Owen walked up to Haley's desk. "Hey Haley..." He began.

Haley looked up at him, glancing at the time. "Just a few more minutes." She said, smiling slightly.

"Well actually, the guys are going out for drinks and I was wondering if it would be okay if I went with them?" Owen asked her.

Haley looked up at him, sighing softly. "Yeah, I guess so." She said quietly.

"Great, thanks. And uh..." He looked around the room. "Nathan!" Owen said.

Nathan looked up from his computer, "Hm?" He asked.

"Can you give Haley a ride home tonight?" Owen asked him.

"Uh, sure. I guess I can do that." Nathan replied, sending Haley a small smile.

"Sweet, thanks man. Bye Haley. See you at home tonight." Owen said, nodding at Nathan and waving at Haley, before heading out.

Dan stepped out of his office, taking a seat on Nathan's desk, pushing some of his stuff onto Chris's desk.

"Alright, I guess you can sit there." Nathan said, glancing over at Haley.

"Are you sure you don't want to come out and play basketball tonight? I'm getting together with a couple guys tonight. Play some street ball." Dan asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I wish that I could, Dan. But I actually have plans... With Haley tonight." Nathan said, looking over at Haley, nodding slowly.

"Yeah, Owen is going out so we're going to hang out." Haley chuckled, smiling at Nathan.

"Oh, you can come watch." Dan said, nodding.

"Oh no, I hate basketball." She said, waving her hand.

"What a shame." He replied, walking back into his office.

Nathan stood up quickly, walking to Haley's desk, smiling at her. "I owe you one. Thank you." He said softly.

Haley nodded at him, looking at her computer.

"Hey, um... You weren't serious about that, right? The whole not liking basketball thing?" He asked, tapping his fingers on her desk.

"Oh no, I really don't care for sports, Nathan." She replied, typing one last thing, before standing up.

Nathan looked towards the camera with wide eyes, before shaking his head. "I wish you would've told me that when I started here, Haley. I wouldn't have wasted my time on this friendship." He chuckled.

"Well, I apologize. I didn't know sports was a deal breaker." She replied, walking over and grabbing her jacket.

Nathan rushed to her, "Allow me." He said, taking her jacket from her quickly, putting it on her. He made eye contact with Lucas, who shook his head.

"Thank you, Nathan." Haley said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, no problem. Let's get going." Nathan said softly, nodding at his brother and hurrying out of the room with Haley.

"I think that he should just get over her. He's my brother, and he shouldn't have to deal with the heartbreak." Lucas said, looking at Peyton, then back at the camera. "He's upset all the time. And giving her a ride home isn't going to help him. It's not like it's the first time it's happened, but he's getting worse." He shrugged.

"You know, I think he should just go for it. I think I know both of them pretty well." Peyton began, looking at Lucas.

"Surely not better than I do." He argued, shaking his head.

"Okay, okay. Well I think he should go for it." She said, shrugging.

"Terrible thought, really." He said, smirking slightly.

"You want to mess with me, Scott? Because I know that Haley has feelings for him, whether she would act on them or not. If he goes for it I bet she'll reciprocate. She's been engaged forever, and there's no date or anything. So there's your answer. Let's go home." Peyton shook her head, standing up and pulling Lucas out of the room.