2004 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

Lucas Scott moved in with his father Dan. He found out that Dan paid Keith's girlfriend Jules to fall in love with him and then break his heart as revenge because Keith slept with Deb the night Dan had his heart attack. Lucas was also moving in with Dan because Dan was the only one he told the truth to about his HCM and Dan is footing the bill for Lucas' medication.

Haley left.

After that night in TRIC, she left with Chris, Jessica, and Michelle. Aurora wasn't sure if she believed that Chris wasn't part of her decision-making. She knows that Haley loves music, and she knows it's a big part of her and she wants her sister to pursue her dreams, but she doesn't like that it's with the guy she cheated on her husband with. Taylor did go down to Florida, insisting she didn't want to impose on Aurora and Alex anymore.

Aurora was with her best friends Peyton and Brooke as they were walking towards the school entrance. "Okay, I still cannot believe that Haley left Nathan for Chris," Brooke said.

"She didn't, okay? She left for herself. The tour is an amazing opportunity," Peyton said.

"Yeah, to screw up her marriage," Aurora muttered under her breath. She had never seen Nathan so heartbroken. She went to the apartment the night Haley left to check on him, and she walked inside, right as Nathan threw the keyboard he got for her into the wall.

It was a long night for them.

"Okay, just because she's married does not mean she has to give up her dreams. Okay? She's really talented," Peyton said.

"And nobody is denying that Peyton, but if she was going to drop her life to go on tour, she probably shouldn't have gotten married first," Aurora said.

"Exactly! I know she's talented, but you really think Chris has nothing to do with this?" Brooke asked. Peyton shook her head.

"No, I know it doesn't. She's not into him. She told me," Peyton said.

"Yeah, and Haley also got really good at this thing called lying before she left, so don't count that out," Aurora said. Brooke nodded and Peyton sighed. Aurora wasn't trying to be against her sister, but she had been lying.

"Okay, let's think about what Nathan was when Haley met him. Good looking, rude, sexy, arrogant, and talented," Brooke said as she counted it out on her fingers.

"Okay, right... Like Chris," Peyton said and Brooke nodded.

"Yeah, and then Haley changed Nathan, for the better. I'm thinking she misses the challenge," Brooke said.

"You really think she changed Nathan?" Peyton asked.

"Oh come on, Peyton. Is the Nathan she married the same Nathan you dated?" Aurora asked. Peyton remained silent and Aurora pointed at her. "Exactly, before Haley, Nathan was like the bad boy of Tree Hill and now he's just... Nathan, the married guy," Aurora said.

She went to check on him before coming to school today. He was sitting on the couch, playing on his PlayStation. Nathan had skipped the last few days of school since Haley left. Aurora knew not to push him, because he was still feeling a lot of emotions over the situation, but his apartment smelled ripe. But Aurora just told him she loved him before she left for the day. She's tried calling her sister a few times since she left.

It goes to voicemail every time.

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Later during the school day, Brooke caught back up to Aurora and Peyton, linked her arms through theirs, and pulled them into her side. "I know I've been a little busy with the election but how could either of you hold out on me like this?" Brooke asked.

"What?" Aurora asked.

"What do you mean?" Peyton asked.

"Don't either of you play dumb with me. Aurora, Lucas told you he still has feelings for you! Peyton, you've been playing house with Jake Jagielski," Brooke said with a smile.

"Oh," Peyton said.

"And neither of you were going to tell me?" Brooke asked.

"That...-That's nothing," Peyton said and then she turned to Aurora. "But Ari... Lucas told you he still has feelings for you? What does that mean for you guys?" Peyton asked and Aurora shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I told him I just needed to think about things and he told me to take all the time I needed, so that's what I'm going to do. Drag this out for as long as possible while I process the information and make a decision," Aurora said.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Brooke asked.

"Of course, I do... but it's hard to get back into the ring with the person who knocked you out of it in the first place," Aurora said and the girls nodded.

"You know we're here for you and we support you, whatever you decide," Brooke said and Aurora smiled.

"Onto you, P. Sawyer. I would say that living in a house together, with a baby... that's definitely something," Aurora said. Brooke nodded and Peyton laughed.

"Next thing we know, you're gonna tell us you two have been sharing a bed," Brooke said. Peyton remained silent, which made Brooke and Aurora's eyes widen. "P. Sawyer!" Brooke exclaimed. Peyton smiled as Brooke made some freshmen hang-up posters for her. "Okay, give us details," She said and Peyton laughed.

"Sadly, there aren't any. Jake's made it very clear that he doesn't have time for anything detaily," Peyton said. Aurora raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, no. Forget what he says because I've seen the way that boy looks at you!" Brooke said.

"She's right, Peyton," Aurora said.

"Don't the two of you have Health class?" Peyton asked. Brooke and Aurora looked at each other and shrugged.

"We're healthy enough. We have watched you mope over this guy for weeks; now you have him... literally in your bed," Aurora said as she turned to her.

"So?" Peyton asked.

"So, take a chance!" Brooke exclaimed. Aurora nodded and Peyton sighed. Aurora did have class, but it wasn't health class like Brooke. She said bye to her friends and then made her way to class.

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Aurora was sitting in her science class, with Lucas. She was next to him, and she hated science, she was barely paying attention. Lucas was whispering to her how Haley didn't say goodbye to him either before she left, and Aurora empathized that it sucked to be left out of the loop because Haley didn't say anything to her or Alex either.

Nathan walked into the classroom.

"Well, Mr. Scott. Long time, no see," Their teacher Miss Ham said.

"It's about time you pulled yourself together," Lucas said when Nathan sat down at the empty desk in front of him. Nathan shrugged as he went through his bag.

"Whatever. I'm only here because my PlayStation broke," Nathan said. Aurora shook her head and then Nathan pulled out a can of malt liquor and Aurora's eyes widened. She leaned forward and grabbed his arm.

"Nathan, have you lost your mind!?" Aurora whispered. Nathan pulled his arm away from her and opened the can. Another student turned around when she heard the hissing noise of the can opening and her eyes widened.

"Pro-metaphase, anaphase, and t...-" Miss Ham cut off from her lecture when she saw Nathan drinking. "Okay, please tell me you are not drinking beer in my class," She said.

"Technically, it's malt liquor," Nathan said and Aurora sighed. Aurora didn't know what to do. In the years she's known Nathan, she's never seen him this upset to the point of drinking in class about anything.

"Nathan!" Miss Ham exclaimed.

"It's okay," Nathan said as he smiled and pulled out another can. "I brought enough to share," He said as he set a can on Aurora's desk. Aurora's eyes widened as Nathan continued to hang out cans. Miss Ham walked around to the desks and took the liquor from them and then she turned to Nathan.

"Come with me, please," She said. Nathan laughed and grabbed his bag as he stood up.

"That's a nice skirt, Miss. Ham. You know, I bet if more teachers dressed like sluts, attendance in this place would skyrocket," Nathan said. Aurora's eyes widened.

"Funny. Principal Turner's gonna love that one," Miss Ham said before turning around and walking out of the room. Nathan shrugged before following behind her, and when he was gone, Lucas turned to Aurora.

"What is going on?" Lucas asked.

"He misses Haley... I've never seen him act like this before. In all the years I've known him, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells around my own best friend," Aurora said as she shook her head.

"Yeah, I understand the feeling," Lucas whispered back. Aurora gave him a knowing smile and he smiled back.

"I'll go check on him after school."

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After school, Aurora stuck to her word and went to the apartment to check on Nathan. The front door was unlocked and Aurora sighed as she looked around. "Nate?" She called out through the apartment. She heard shifting in the back and made her way to the bedroom. Nathan was sitting on his bed with his suspension papers in his hands. Aurora quietly walked in and sat down next to him. "I miss her too, Nate, but this isn't you... Bringing malt liquor to class? Getting suspended?" Aurora said.

Nathan turned and looked at his best friend and she saw something in his eyes she had never seen before. He was broken. Nathan laid his head down on her shoulder without saying a word and Aurora laid her head on top of his. Then they heard a knock on the door. "I can go tell whoever it is to go away," She said. Nathan nodded and lifted his head to allow her to get up.

Aurora went to the front door and when she opened it, her eyes widened. Dan, Deb, and Lucas were standing on the other side. "Uh, Nate... you might actually want to come out here," She said. She heard his footsteps a few moments later.

"Look who it is, Ari. The Scott family," Nathan said sarcastically. Aurora frowned as she took a step back to let Nathan handle it.

"Wow, from one James sister to the other. I thought my son lived here. Kinda looks like you," Dan said. Aurora rolled her eyes at his first comment. "Only less pathetic," He said.

"We heard about Haley, honey. What happened?" Deb asked as she entered the apartment and Aurora scoffed. She never approved of Nathan and Haley being married. And Aurora understands that it's upsetting for your teenage son to get married, but she didn't like how Deb was disrespecting her sister.

"Like you care!" Nathan snapped. When Lucas walked inside, Dan closed the door.

"We do care, Nathan... all of us," Deb said.

"You haven't approved of my sister marrying Nathan since day one. Now all of a sudden since she's gone and Nathan's hurt you want to pretend to care? You don't fool me, Deb. You've been horrible to my sister. You were disrespectful to my sister, and my parents, and you slept with your husband's brother. It doesn't get any worse than that," Aurora snapped.

"Yeah. I hate to disappoint you guys, but she'll be back in a few weeks," Nathan said.

"Look, Nate...-" Nathan cut Lucas off.

"...-You can shut up, by the way," Nathan snapped. Aurora looked at Lucas and shrugged. She didn't know what to say. Nathan was hurting and upset.

"How can you live like this, Nathan? This place is a pigsty! You're skipping school, drinking in class," Deb said.

"It's not worth it, son. Pissing your life away over some girl," Dan said. Nathan's eyes widened.

"Some girl!? She's my wife, Dad!" Nathan yelled and Dan smirked.

"Really? Well someone may wanna tell her that," Dan said. Aurora was grateful that Nathan punched him because if he hadn't, Aurora was definitely going to slap him. Lucas ran in between them to separate them.

"Hey, come on!" Lucas exclaimed. Dan touched his lip where Nathan had punched him and then he smiled.

"Nice punch, son. It's good to see there's still a man in there somewhere," Dan said. Nathan shook his head and walked out of his apartment. Aurora rolled her eyes and looked at Dan and Deb. She was about to go after Nathan.

"Did you really think coming here was going to help? You've been making Nathan miserable his entire life. I don't know why you thought this would be any different."

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Aurora was at her apartment, and she felt herself being shaken. When her eyes opened, she realized she was on the couch and that she must've fallen asleep during the movie she and Alex were watching. "Ari, your phone is ringing," Alex sleepily mumbled. Aurora groaned as she grabbed her phone from the table and answered it.

"Whoever this is, somebody better be dying if you're calling me at 1 in the morning," Aurora said into the phone.

"Ari, I'm sorry! Were you sleeping?" Haley's voice rang through the phone. Aurora slowly sat up and shook Alex awake.

"You leave without saying goodbye, you don't call for three days, and when you do call, you choose to do it at 1 in the morning," Aurora said.

"I'm sorry, I know. I just finished my set. I wish you would've come out here with me. It's crazy here, there's so much to tell you!" Haley exclaimed.

"You can start with why you left without saying goodbye," Aurora said and Haley sighed.

"Uh, yeah. I feel awful about that. Um, everything just happened so fast," Haley said and then she sighed. "How's Nathan?" She asked.

"He misses his wife, Haley. How the hell do you think he is?" Aurora slightly snapped.

"Ari, don't do this," Haley said.

"Don't do what? I didn't do anything," Aurora said.

"He said that we were done," Haley said.

"And you believed him? He was saying whatever he could to make you stay. How do you think he felt when you still left anyway?" Aurora asked and Haley sighed, so she knew she was thinking about it. Aurora heard Haley say something to someone in her background and then her voice came through louder on the phone.

"I have to go. I'll call you later, okay?" Haley said. Aurora didn't say anything. She hung up.

"You okay?" Alex asked when Aurora hung up the phone. She looked at her brother and shrugged.

"I'm going back to sleep."

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Nathan didn't come to school the next day, Aurora hadn't heard from him, so she went looking for him. The first place she tried was the River Court, and she let out a breath of relief when she saw him there, playing basketball by himself. Aurora went over and sat on the picnic table.

"What are you doing here, Aurora?" Nathan asked when he saw her.

"Looking for you, Nate. You've been worrying me, and I figured this is where I would find you, and I was right," Aurora said. Nathan sighed as he put the basketball down and sat down next to her on the bench.

"When Haley told me about the tour, I got mad at her. I told her that if she left with Chris... it was over," Nathan said. Aurora frowned as she looked at him. Haley had just told her that same thing, and she knew that Nathan didn't mean it. Nathan was finally opening up to her since Haley left. "I didn't really mean it," He whispered as he looked up at her. Aurora frowned when she saw his eyes were rimmed red and watery. "And she left anyway,"

"Nate... I'm so sorry," Aurora whispered as she wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back with her hand. Nathan leaned into her as he sniffled. "She called me last night... at 1 in the morning," Aurora said.

"What did she say?" He asked.

"Just that there were so many things about the tour she wanted to tell me. Didn't ask me how I was, didn't apologize for not saying goodbye, nothing," Aurora said as she frowned.

"She's not coming back, Ari... what am I going to do?" Nathan asked. Aurora frowned as she sighed.

"I am a little pissed at her, but I love her and I know my sister. Even if she doesn't always make good decisions, she's still a good person. She'll do the right thing. We just have to have faith in her, the same way she always had faith in us," Aurora whispered. Nathan laid his head down on Aurora's shoulder and started crying, which broke her heart more as she squeezed him a little tighter.

She hated seeing him like this.

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The next night, Aurora went over to Nathan's apartment and he was helping him clean up. He got himself together, shaved, cleaned himself up, and asked for help cleaning the apartment. As they cleaned, Aurora found a brown envelope on the floor with Nathan's name on it.

"Nate, something came for you!" Aurora called out. She had been picking up the living room while Nathan was working on his bedroom. He came out from the bedroom and Aurora handed him the envelope. When Nathan opened it, he showed her there was a drawing from Peyton inside.

"Should I call her?" Nathan asked. Aurora hopped on the kitchen counter and sighed.

"If you want... it might be nice to hear from her when I'm not half asleep," Aurora said. Nathan laughed a little and grabbed the phone. He dialed Haley's number, put it on speaker, and they both listened to it ring. It rang once before going to voicemail, which Aurora knew meant Haley hung up.

"Hi; this is Haley. I can't get to the phone right now. Leave a message and I will call you back," Her voice rang. Nathan shook his head and hung up. Aurora frowned and held her arms open for a hug.

"Come on," She said. Nathan rolled his eyes, but he did walk over to her, stood between her legs, and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm sorry, Nate," Aurora whispered as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault... why did she have to leave?" Nathan asked and Aurora frowned.

"She was following her dream. Does it suck she left with Chris? Absolutely. But I think Haley would've left regardless if Chris was involved on the tour or not," Aurora said.

"Did you know about the kiss?" He asked as he lifted his head from her shoulder.

"Yeah... but only because Taylor and I found it in her emails. Taylor was using Haley's laptop and an IM from Chris popped up. Taylor messaged him back. A simple, innocent message, and then Chris messaged back saying he wanted to kiss her again. That's how I found out," Aurora said.

"So Taylor was emailing Chris?" Nathan asked and Aurora shook her head.

"No, it was just that one time. Any other emails that happened between Haley and Chris were all Haley," Aurora said. Nathan sighed as he laid his head back on his best friend's shoulder. "What? Did I say something wrong?" She asked.

"She told me that all of the emails were from Taylor. That's why I had told her not to come around anymore, but I didn't think she'd leave from staying with you and Alex. But Haley was emailing him, she lied to me... repeatedly," Nathan said as he stepped away from Aurora and hit the counter next to her.

"Hey, Nate," Aurora said as she gently laid her hand on his shoulder. "I know she lied, and I'm so sorry that she did. But you two will work it out when she comes back. I know you will," Aurora said.

"How could we? She lied to me about emailing and kissing him. Then she ran off on tour with him and swears it's just about the music! She must think I'm the idiot I was when we first met!" Nathan exclaimed and Aurora frowned.

"You've never been an idiot, Nate. We could try calling her again," Aurora suggested. Nathan shook his head and walked over to the envelope Peyton had sent him. He grabbed the picture and brought it over to Aurora to let her see it. She saw on the drawing, "Sometimes, they come back," written and she raised an eyebrow. "What's this?" She asked.

"I went to Peyton's and saw her drawing. You know the one that says, 'People always leave," so she sent me this back. But my entire life, you are the only person that's never left me, Ari," Nathan said. Aurora frowned as she looked at him.

"And you know I never will," She said. Nathan nodded as he wrapped his arms around her again and they hugged.

She frowned when she heard Nathan crying and then she took a deep breath. "Please don't leave, Aurora," He whispered again.

"I won't, I promise," Aurora said.

"Will you stay here tonight? Please, like we used to?" Nathan said. Aurora smiled as she nodded.

"Yeah, I'll just text Alex and let him know," Aurora said as she grabbed her phone. "Where are the pillows and blankets so I can make the couch nice and comfy," She said and Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you think you're sleeping on the couch?" Nathan asked.

"Because where else would I sleep?" Aurora asked.'

"Ari, are you kidding me? We've been friends since we were toddlers. You're sleeping in the bedroom," Nathan said and Aurora shrugged.

"Look, I never want to assume," Aurora said.

"We've shared a bed before," Nathan said.

"That was before you married my sister," Aurora said and Nathan laughed.

"And even before we shared a bed in that way, we've shared a bed before," Nathan said and Aurora shrugged as she laughed.

"I know, I'm just messing with you. I'll meet you back there, I'm gonna call Alex," She said. Nathan nodded and gently kissed her forehead before heading back to the bedroom.

"Thanks for always being here, Aurora," Nathan said. She smiled as she nodded.

"I always will be."

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love my besties aurora and nate.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.