Hello everyone! As I promised, here is the sequel to A Summer to Remember. (I suggest reading that one before this one because things that happened in there will be brought up again in here.) I'm going to try to make the chapters longer for this one so the updates will probably be a little less frequent than my other story. I hope you all enjoy it and know that reviews are greatly appreciated. ;-)

P.S. There will be quite a few flashbacks in this fic, in the beginning at least, and all of them will be in italics.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

Summary: After 4 years, Nathan, Haley, Brooke, Lucas, Peyton, and Tim are heading back to the beach for another summer of fun. Some hold secrets, some have suffered through heartbreaks, and some are their same old selves. They will encounter a few familiar faces and unimaginable surprises as they return to the past in this sequel to "A Summer to Remember."

Return to the Past

Chapter 1

She sat in one of the chairs at Karen's Café, looking around at the familiar sights that passed her by. She remembered how she would wait tables at this very restaurant all through high school and couldn't help but smile at the way it all came back to her so quickly.

She remembered how she would sit at the bar and talk to Karen as she rolled silverware up in napkins. She remembered how she would save up her money only to spend it on first edition copies of her favorite books. She even remembered the distinct smell of the coffee maker when she turned it on in the morning.

It was amazing to her how the clock seemed to turn back every time she set foot in the café. It had been a good 3 years since she had worked there but it still seemed like yesterday. So much had changed since those simple days.

As she felt the warmth of the strong arm of the man next to her spread across her back, she absentmindedly played with the two shiny rings positioned on her left hand.

3 Years Ago...

"Nathan, why are we here? Tell me already!" Haley laughed as Nathan pulled her through the parking lot in the rain. It was the day after their high school graduation and Nathan had insisted that they drive all the way down here to the beach to visit a certain IHOP that was special to both of them.

Haley looked up at him with an adoring smile when he shrugged his shoulders coyly. They had been together for almost a year now and she had loved every minute of it. Sure, there had been a few rough patches once they got back to school and real life set in, but they had been able to overcome them, together.

The rain had begun to fall down heavily so they hurried until they were safely under the awning at the entrance. Haley started laughing at how soaked they were from just going to the restaurant from the car. Nathan smiled but seemed distracted, and Haley noticed. She also noticed that his hands were shaking slightly. He had tried to hide it by putting his hands in his pockets, but it didn't work.

"Nathan, what's wrong?" Concern was very evident in her voice as she looked up at him through her warm brown eyes. He never acted like this. His ego was normally too big to be nervous.

He seemed to relax a little and he pulled her hand into his. "Nothing, I'm just a little cold." That was a lie, and it was a terrible one. Nathan would be surprised if a 2 year old believed that, much less Haley. Oh well, she didn't really need to believe it, she just had to let it go for awhile.

"Ok, well, let's go get something to eat then." She suggested as she opened the door and entered the sweet smelling building. She loved the smell of maple syrup.

"Scott, party of 2." Nathan said casually as he greeted the host. The man nodded knowingly and started to gather up menus and silverware.

"I had no idea you could reserve tables here." Haley whispered to him with a playful grin as she latched onto his arm and the host made a motion for them to follow him.

Suddenly, all of Nathan's nerves seemed to vanish as a calm washed over him. It was weird, he had been nervous as hell moments ago, and just by her touch he was calm. They followed the man to their table, which happened to be the same table they had sat at the last time they were here, on their first date.

"Wow, coincidence much?" Haley joked as she took a seat on the same side of the table that she sat at last time. "Oh my gosh. They have little purple flowers as the centerpiece?" She said in almost disbelief when the small bouquet of purple flowers on one side of the table caught her eye. Could this get any weirder? It was as if someone had perfectly planned this meal to coincide with their past.

Nathan watched her with a smile as she picked up one of the flowers and brought it to her nose, just like she had done the first time he gave her a purple flower. He knew that those would be a nice touch. God, she was beautiful.

"Hello, welcome to the International House of Pancakes, may I take your order?" The voice startled them a little because of the familiarity.

"Mouth? You still work here?" Nathan asked incredulously. This was one thing that surprised both of them. He had driven down here a few days ago to set everything up with the managers about their reservation and everything, but he never even guessed that Mouth would still be working here.

"Do I know you?" Mouth asked bluntly. Obviously someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

"You probably don't remember us." Haley pointed out politely, not wanting to go into the details of what happened last time they were here. She looked up to see Nathan smirking at her, obviously enjoying the fact that she was slightly embarrassed about pretending to have diabetes. She sent him a warning glance to advise him against bringing it up.

"Ok, well, can I take your order?" Mouth moved on quickly.

"Oh, um, yeah. I'll have the pancakes with bacon please." She said politely as she handed the menu back to Mouth. She looked over at Nathan who had both eyebrows raised as if to tell her that she forgot something. "Oh yeah! And a side of fruit."

"I'll have pancakes and bacon also." Mouth snatched the menu from Nathan's hand and then hurried off towards the kitchen, only to be stopped by the host on the way there.

Haley watched curiously as the host whispered to Mouth and subtly pointed to their table. 'What is that about?' she thought. "Ok, so remember the first time we came here and I gave you that true love test?" She questioned, turning back to Nathan.

"Yeah, how could I forget? I got a 134 percent out of who knows what and then you cheated and beat me in tic-tac-toe." He laughed.

"I did not cheat!" She defended herself. "Anyway, I talked to my sister the other day and she told me how to interpret the results of the true love test. It's out of 100 percent, so I guess I did it wrong."

"Nah, I do love you 134 percent." He said sincerely as a small blush spread across her face. He loved that after a year together he could still make her blush.

After another 20 minutes or so of light conversation, Mouth finally came back with their food. Haley looked at the tray in front of her in confusion. When did they start serving the meals with lids on them? Mouth quickly walked away as Haley reached to uncover her precious pancakes.

Nathan surprised her by reaching his hand out and placing it on top of hers, preventing her from lifting the lid just yet. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled back at him. "And I love you too. But I'm starving so can I please eat my pancakes now?"

Nathan smiled as he pulled his hand away from hers and watched her carefully lift the shiny lid from her plate. Her eyes doubled in size and her mouth hung open slightly at what she saw.

Instead of pancakes and bacon, a small velvet box sat inside with a gorgeous diamond ring sitting in it. She was speechless. Did this get delivered to her by mistake?

Nathan smiled at her reaction, he had assumed that she would respond that way. He reached over and grabbed the ring out of the box, got out of his seat, and walked over to her. After seeing him get down on one knee, the entire restaurant became silent.

"What are you doing?" She asked the question so softly that Nathan had to resist the urge to kiss her on the spot.

"Haley, I love you. More than I ever thought was possible. And if there's one thing that I've ever been certain of in my life, it's that I want to spend it with you... So, Haley James, will you marry me?"

A small tear escaped from her eye as a large smile spread across her face. "Of course I will!" Her hand was shaking as he put the ring on her finger. She was in awe of how perfect it fit. She automatically launched herself into his arms and kissed him with all the love that she felt right then as the crowd that had previously been eating their breakfast applauded in approval.

Present

Both she and Nathan had attended Duke that fall and they tied the knot during the summer before their junior year. Now they had now been married for almost a year and Haley was still shocked by how fast time seemed to move.

"Weren't Lucas and Brooke supposed to be here 20 minutes ago?" Nathan asked lightly as he leaned over and buried his face in her hair. It was weird that over the course of 4 years he had gotten close to Lucas, or at least closer, now they could almost be considered brothers.

"Yeah, but you know Brooke, it will probably be another 20 before they get here." Haley laughed. "What do you think she wants anyway?"

Brooke had called them this morning, their first morning back in Tree Hill for the summer, and said that she had something big to tell them and to meet her and Lucas here at Karen's for lunch. Both were left guessing as to what this gathering could be about. One thing was for sure though; it was Brooke so it had to be interesting.

"Who knows." Nathan joked as he reached out and took a sip of the water that a young waitress had just set down.

"Haley, it's so good to see you again!" Karen said joyfully as she came out from the back and engulfed her in a big hug. "You too Nathan, it seems like forever since I've seen you two."

"I know, I was just thinking about how much has changed since I worked here." Haley admitted with a smile as she pulled away from Karen and took a seat next to her husband, motioning for Karen to sit across from her. "So how are you?"

"I'm good. The Café is doing good, Tric is doing good, Keith's body shop is doing excellent." Karen and Keith had gotten married about 3 years ago, a few months before Nathan and Haley got engaged.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it." Haley said enthusiastically. Although Karen was about 18 years her senior, she thought of her as more of a friend than a mother figure.

"So tell me, how's school going? Lucas tells me that you both love it up there at Duke." Karen smiled. Her own son had gone to UNC with Brooke while Haley and Nathan ended up at Duke.

"Yeah, it's great. But I think we're both happy to be graduating next year." Haley took a look at her husband and could tell that he was pleased about that as well.

"How's basketball going, Nathan? I caught one of your games on TV the other day." She said as she turned her attention to her son's half-brother.

"It's good. Coach K was nice enough to give us the summer off from practice." Nathan smiled. He was extremely happy to get to spend the whole summer relaxing in his hometown with his wife.

"That's nice. I'm sorry, I really should get back to work, but I'll talk to you two later." Karen said as she stood up and draped the rag that had been in her hand over her shoulder.

"Bye Karen." Haley watched as she retreated back into the kitchen and then turned to her husband. "I feel bad, maybe we should have told her?"

Nathan just laughed as he pulled her close to him. "I love you, you know that?

"Yeah, you've told me once or twice." She giggled and put her hands to his face and pulled it down to hers in a sweet kiss.

"Haley!" Brooke yelled as she burst through the door to the café and ran over to her friend. She instantly pulled Haley away from Nathan and into a bone crushing hug.

"Easy Brooke, don't break her." Nathan laughed.

"And you. How are you?" She moved over to him and gave him the same hug that she had just given his wife.

At this time, Lucas finally walked in and Haley ran over to him and hugged him. "Luke! I missed you."

"Hey, you didn't say that to me." Brooke pouted as she watched the exchange between her friend and her boyfriend. Brooke and Lucas had been going out since that summer four years ago and everything seemed to be perfect in their relationship. But underneath the smile that she always displayed, Brooke secretly felt a little insecure around him. They had been going out for four years now and she was in love with him, as she was sure he was with her, but yet he still hadn't even suggested marriage. Not once.

"I didn't get the chance before you moved on to my husband." Haley joked.

"Sorry, it's just that I haven't seen you guys in forever." She complained good naturedly.

"Brooke, we just saw you on Easter." Nathan laughed as he wrapped his arms around Haley's waist.

"Oh yeah. Well, it seemed like so much longer than that." She replied as she dismissed the topic and sat down at the table, the other three following suit. "Oh my God, did you hear about Skills and Bevin?"

"No, what about them?" Haley chuckled. She knew how much Brooke loved her gossip.

"They eloped last week!" Brooke was practically falling out of her chair with excitement.

"What?! I did not see that coming." Haley admitted with a cheerful laugh as the guys started their own conversation on the other end of the table. They really didn't care about the latest scandals.

"So, did you catch the Yankees vs. the Red Soxs game last night?" Lucas asked casually, purposely blocking out the conversation that the girls were having.

"I, um… saw the first half." Nathan said, a hint of discomfort obvious in his posture.

"What? Why only half? Dude, you missed the best 9th inning I've ever seen!"

"I uh, got distracted." A small smirk spread across his face as he recalled the events of the night before. He didn't care how great of a 9th inning it was, he would never regret missing it…

"By what? That game was intense." Lucas asked in disbelief.

"By my wife." Nathan said honestly as Lucas grimaced.

"Ok, never again will you tell me something like that." Lucas said in disgust. Ew, Haley was like his little sister! He definitely didn't want to think about what she could have possibly done to tear Nathan away from the best game of the year so far.

"Do you want me to tell you guys why are here now?" Brooke questioned with a playful smile on her face as she addressed the whole group and not just Haley.

"Wait, Lucas, you don't even know what this is about?" Haley questioned.

"Well, I have an idea, but I don't know." Lucas admitted. "Brooke, don't we need to wait for Peyton and Tim?"

"Peyton can't make it today because she had some job interview or something so I had to fill her in on the plan over the phone…and Tim…Let's just hope he didn't get the message." Brooke answered.

"What up all? Tim is officially in the hizzous!" Tim cheered for himself as he entered the café and made his way over to the group, pulling a chair up to end so he could sit in between Nathan and Lucas.

"Tim, I haven't seen you since senior year." Brooke commented with a fake smile. "No wonder these last 3 years have been so good." After that fate changing summer 4 years ago, the two groups had almost meshed together once they got back to school. Brooke had felt comfortable talking to Nathan because he was dating Haley and subsequently felt comfortable talking to Peyton. The only exception was Tim. Brooke never really got along with Tim.

"Funny, Brooke." Tim said sarcastically. "What did you want anyway?"

"Huh?" Brooke really didn't understand the question. What did she want? As in, to drink?

"Why did you make me come here?" He clarified.

"Well, Dim, I have a surprise for you. All of you." Brooke flashed a mischievous grin at the rest of the people sitting at the table as Lucas, Haley, and Nathan leaned in a little closer, anxious to hear what this big surprise could be.

"Come on Brooke, tell us already!" Haley scolded at her friend's inability to share what was apparently good news.

"Ok ok, I decided that it was time for a little reunion."

"Brooke, what are you talking about?" Lucas questioned at his girlfriend's coyness.

"So, I took it upon myself to plan the perfect summer for all of us. Which, unfortunately, includes Tim."

"What did you do?" Nathan laughed. Whatever it was had to be interesting.

"I booked condos 9 and 10 at the same place we stayed at 4 years ago!" Brooke said excitedly as the rest of the group's mouths fell open.

"Wait, what?" Haley was just a little confused. Did Brooke just say that she booked those same condos that held so many memories for the whole summer?

"You heard me Tutor-wife. We are all going to move to the beach for another summer of fun!"

"Brooke, you didn't even think to ask me about this first?" Lucas's face showed a mixture of amusement and hurt.

"I just wanted to surprise you, Broody." She pouted, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stay mad at her with that face on. "I talked to Peyton and she's going to come down next week. So, what do you say? Are you guys in?"

Tim immediately held up his hand. "I'm so there! I was beginning to miss all the girls in bikinis everywhere I looked."

"Great! Haley? Nathan?"

Both were almost too shocked to speak. Was she crazy? "We, um, need to talk about it first." Haley managed to say. This was so like Brooke. If they went, they would undoubtedly have a good time, but things were a little different now, they weren't carefree teenagers anymore, they had responsibilities.

"Sure. Take all the time you need." Brooke smiled, but made no attempt to get up and give them any privacy. Instead she stared at them along with Tim and Lucas.

"Hales, do you think it's a good idea. I mean because of…" He trailed off, knowing that the other three were listening to every word of their conversation. "We don't have to go if you think-"

"No, I think we should go. It'll be fun." She said reassuringly as she watched Brooke's face light up and couldn't help the smile that crossed her own face as well.

"You're sure?" He asked in a low voice. Lucas had to wonder what they were talking about, but decided to let it go, assuming that it was either a Duke thing or a married person thing.

"Positive." She laughed as she took her face in his hands. "Besides, it'll be fun to see Whitey again."

"Oh boy, don't remind me." He mumbled and tried to hide the grin that threatened to surface at the thought of his favorite old man.

"Yay! This is so exciting! So you guys are coming?" Brooke looked at them hopefully, awaiting their final answers.

"Yes, we're coming." Haley smiled.

"Ah! This summer is going to be so much better than that other one!" Brooke exclaimed as she got up out of her seat and engulfed Haley in a hug.

So they were returning to the place that had changed so many things in all of their lives. Everything was different now, though. New relationships had formed, some had grown stronger, and some had fallen apart since the last time they had visited those condos. None of them had any idea what an eventful summer they were headed for.