Hi guys, as you may have guessed this is my new Naley story. Don't worry I'm not abandoning "Ashes & Wine" at all. I guess I'll have to juggle between these two. Lol. This story is different from "Always & Forever" and "Ashes & Wine" and you'll see why as you read along. I hope you guys will like it. Let me know if you do, and even if you don't, let me know too so I'll know what I did wrong. Cheers!

Chapter 1

Haley James watched the moving men unload her things from the truck, although there wasn't much to unload in the first place. She had left most of her things behind thinking she would never be able to look at them again without remembering what had happened to her. And a lot had happened to her. A lot more than she told her friends and family back in Los Angeles. At least what little of her friends that she had left. She closed her eyes momentarily as she tried to block the memories that had come flooding back. Will this pain ever go away? she thought silently.

"Hi there. Are you moving in?" she jumped at the sound of a voice and opened her eyes. Standing before her was a man with sandy blond hair who had his arm around a pretty girl who had dimples in her cheeks when she smiled.

"No, I'm just moving in my stuff for fun," she said sarcastically. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just been a long day. Yeah, I'm just moving in today."

The man looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I'm Lucas. Lucas Scott. And this is my wife, Brooke Davis. Well, Brooke Davis Scott," he said and looked at Brooke adoringly before giving her a soft peck on her cheek.

Brooke smiled and held out her hand. "Hi. Sorry about my husband. We just got married. And you are?"

"Haley James."

"Well, Haley James. Welcome to Tree Hill. We live next door by the way and we saw the moving truck. So we decided to drop by," Brooke said with her eyes twinkling.

Haley looked at her with amazement. "Wow, Brooke. Are you always this happy?"

Brooke grinned at her. "Yeah, most of the time. What's there not to be happy about?"

A lot of things, Haley thought. "Well, thanks for stopping by."

It was Lucas's turn to speak. "Do you need help? I think you could use some extra hands," he offered.

Haley bit her bottom lip. She could use their help but that would mean letting them in her house and inevitably in her life. And she wasn't sure she was ready for that. "No, it's ok. Thanks for offering though."

"Ok, you know where we live if you need anything," Lucas said before linking his arm with Brooke's and headed back home.

"So what do you think of Haley James?" Brooke asked Lucas as she unlocked their door.

"I dunno. There's something about her. Like she's hiding something," Lucas said.

"Well, you're right. But I like her."

"Of course you do, Pretty Girl. You like everybody," he said giving her a kiss. That was what attracted him to her. Her big heart.

Haley looked around at the mess in her house and sighed. Well, I guess it's too late to ask for Lucas and Brooke's help now. She started to take her things out from the clutter of boxes around her when eyes caught a picture frame. Picking it up, she traced the picture of her and another man. She almost didn't recognize herself in the picture. She had the biggest smile on her face in it. Well, that girl is long gone, she said silently before throwing the picture in the trash.

An hour later she was almost done except for a few bits and pieces and gave a satisfactory look at her new home. I need a walk, she thought. She walked along the streets of Tree Hill, taking in the smell of the new place. She watched the leaves fall in the autumn breeze and pulled her jacket closer. Without looking where she was going, she crashed into another body.

"Whoa! Are you ok?" she heard the sound of deep throaty voice. Looking up, her brown eyes met the deepest shade of blue she had ever seen.

Her cheeks turned bright pink as she managed to stammer, "I'm fine. I'm sorry. I should have looked where I was going."

"I've never seen you around here before. You must be new in town. I'm Nathan Scott."

"Yeah, I just moved in today. Did you say Nathan Scott? I'm neighbours with Lucas Scott. Are you guys related?"

Nathan laughed. "Yeah, he's my brother. So you've met him and Brooke, huh? Well, it looks like I'll be seeing you a lot then."

"What? Why?" she said panic rising in her voice.

"I'm like a permanent fixture at Lucas's house. I drop by almost every day. What did you say your name was?" he asked.

"I didn't," Haley said before turning away. "I gotta go. I'll see you around," she said and left, giving Nathan no chance to say anything else.

Nathan watched her walk away. Something about her intrigued him. Why was she worried when he said that they would be seeing each other more often? And the way she dodged him when he asked for her name. But one thing's for sure. He had never seen anyone so beautiful in his life until now.

It was almost dark when she walked through the small town, familiarizing herself with the names of the streets and the shops. She stopped outside a cafe and looked up. Karen's Cafe. She needed a drink anyway and walked through the door. She looked around and almost smiled at the interior of the cafe. It looked so welcoming and cozy that she felt like she never wanted to leave. She chose a small table and sat down.

"Hi sweetie. Would you like to order?" she looked up and saw a petite woman holding an order chit.

"Hi, I'm new here. What would you suggest?" she asked.

"Well, since I own this cafe, I suggest everything," the woman said, grinning.

"You're Karen?"

"Yeah, Karen Scott."

Haley's eyes bulged open at the mention of her surname. "Another Scott?"

Karen looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

Haley's cheeks turned crimson with embarrassment. "Sorry, I just met two Scotts in one day, it's a bit too bizarre for me."

"Which ones? Lucas? Nathan? Dan?" Karen asked.

"There's a Dan Scott?"

Karen laughed. "Yeah, Dan's my husband. Lucas and Nathan are our sons."

"Oh," Haley said, remembering the blue eyed Nathan Scott. "So anyway, I'm pretty hungry. What do you recommend?"

"Well, the chicken pot pie is pretty good, if I may say so myself. But you'd better hurry up and order that if you want it. My sons will be coming in soon for dinner today and that will be the first thing they ask for."

Haley was torn between staying and leaving. For some reason, the thought of seeing Nathan again unnerved her. On the other hand, she was too tired to make herself dinner. Making up her mind she said, "I'll have the chicken pot pie then. Thanks Karen."

She waited silently for her order to arrive while trying her hardest not too look at the door every time a new customer came in. "Here you go," Karen said a few minutes later, placing a bowl of steaming hot chicken pot pie in front of her. The smell itself was enough to make Haley drool.

"Thank you Karen. This smells so good. I'm Haley by the way," she said.

"You're welcome Haley," Karen said, smiling. She was very taken with the girl sitting in front of her. She could sense a vulnerability in her and could tell that she was sad, although she tried to hide it. "Oh here comes my boys," she said nodding towards the door.

Haley's heart hammered in her chest as she watched Nathan enter, with Lucas, Brooke and another girl with curly blonde hair close behind. She watched Nathan walked over to Karen and gave her a hug. "Hi, mom," she heard him say. "Where's Dad?"

"He's still got work at the dealership. He'll pick me up later," Karen said.

Feeling that somebody was watching their exchange, Nathan looked down to see Haley who pretended to look away. "Hey, new girl."

"Nathan, don't be rude. She has a name. Sorry about Nathan, Haley."

Haley. He whispered her name softly.

"It's ok Karen," she said to older woman.

"Hey, Luke. Look who's here. It's your friendly new neighbour, Haley," Nathan said, calling his brother over.

Lucas walked over to the table, pulling Brooke along with her, who in turned pulled the curly blonde girl.

"Hey, Haley. I see you're trying out my mom's chicken pot pie. Good choice. Mind if we join you?" Lucas asked. Before she could answer, the whole gang pulled up chairs and sat around her table, with Nathan sitting right across her.

"Hi Haley, Brooke told me about you. My name's Peyton Sawyer," the curly blonde haired girl said as she offered her hand.

Haley took her hand. "Hi." She could feel Nathan's eyes boring down on her, watching her every move. She wondered if Peyton and Nathan were a couple but she quickly brushed it off her mind. Why would I care anyway?

"So, how do you find Tree Hill so far?" Peyton asked her.

"It's quiet," Haley said.

Brooke laughed. "Yeah, it can be but it's a nice place to stay. Hey, how about me and Peyton take you around town tomorrow. Come on, it'll be fun."

Peyton looked at Haley warningly. "You'd better watch yourself, Haley. Brooke's idea of fun is a three-hour shopping marathon."

"True, but you have to admit, it is fun."

Haley picked at her food and carefully said, "I'm sorry Brooke. I can't. I have to look for work tomorrow."

While all this was going on, not once did Nathan take his eyes off her. He felt even more intrigued by her. It seemed to her that she had moved to Tree Hill in a hurry, without even looking for a job before she came.

"If you want, I can help you with that. What were you doing before you came here?" Nathan said.

"I was a teacher a few years ago but I quit when I got married a couple of years back," she bit her tongue as soon as she said the words, knowing she had said too much.

"You were married?" Nathan asked inquiringly. He felt a wave of disappointment, although he didn't see a wedding ring on her finger, nor was there a husband in sight. "So, where's your husband?"

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Haley said hurriedly and started to get up. "It was really nice to meet you guys," she said and practically ran to the door. Once outside, she placed a hand on her chest and could feel her heart beating so fast. She took in deep breaths to calm her down. She felt a tear threatening to fall and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she opened them and started walking in the direction of her house.

"Hey, wait up," Nathan's voice was heard as he caught up with her. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," he said apologetically. Haley nodded without saying anything. "Come on, I'll walk you home. I promise I won't say anything." Still there was silence. Well, at least she didn't say no.

They walked in silence for quite a long time before he spoke up, "Hales, I know I promised I wouldn't say anything, but are you ok?"

She turned away to hide the tear that had started to fall. Hales. Nathan was the second person to call her that. She quickly wiped away the tear so he wouldn't notice. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, when in fact she wasn't fine. She was far from being fine. She felt a rush of emotions as as she felt her fingers become wet from her tears. She felt a surge of relief when they stopped in front of her house. "Thanks for walking me home," she said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to miss dinner."

Nathan laughed. "It's ok. I have a feeling there'll be some food from my mom on my kitchen counter when I get home."

She played with the keys in her hands. "Tell your mom her pie was really good. I'm sorry I didn't finish it. I just-"

"Haley, you don't have to explain yourself," Nathan said, stopping her midway. As much as he was curious to know what had made her bolt before, he knew that if he pushed her, she would close up again.

She looked at him. "Thank you, Nathan."

He smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. By the way, my offer still stands. I can help you look for a job tomorrow. In fact, I know that Tree Hill High is looking for an English teacher right now."

"Really? How did you know?" she asked him.

"Well, it is a small town. Besides, I work there too. Me and Lucas coach the Tree Hill Ravens, the basketball team. So how about it? I can even put in a good word with Principal Turner for you."

"But you don't even know me," Haley said.

"I know that you need help, and that's what I'm doing. Helping you out. So how about I pick you up tomorrow on my way to school? Say around eight?"

Haley nodded. "Ok, thanks," she said, although every nerve of her being was screaming for her to say no. "Goodnight Nathan."

"Goodnight Haley. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, smiling at her. He could have sworn that there were traces of tears on her beautiful face, but chose not say anything about it. He watched her walk into her house and closed her door. He stood there for a few more minutes before walking away with his hands in his pockets.

Once inside her house, Haley closed the door behind her and slid down to the floor as her feet gave way beneath her. She could feel her fingers trembling and wished she hadn't agreed to Nathan's invitation. She slowly got up and walked over to her trash and picked up the picture frame that she threw earlier. She could still feel the presence of the man in the photo. She traced the outline of his face and saw a drop of tear fall on the glass frame. Before she knew it, she was sobbing as she felt all the hurt and the pain that she had tried to suppress surface. I can still feel you around me, Steve, she thought as she continued to sob.

So what do you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Let me know ;)