A/N: Hello, my happy readers. This story idea has been stewing around in my brain for a while and I just want to get the first chapter down and see where that takes me. My usual rule is that I don't start a new story until my previous one is finished because it is hard enough for me to update one in-progress story, but I had to get this out.

Throughout the seven seasons that OTH had been on the air Nathan and especially Haley have had many different appereances. So, everytime I start a new story I like to let the readers know what Nathan and Haley look like in my story. In this story, both Nathan and Haley look the way they looked towards the end of season 3. Nathan's hair is starting grow longer than the buzz cut and Haley has long dark blonde curls.

Okay, this loosely based on a conversation I had with two of my best friends and VERY loosely based on the song Breathe by Taylor Swift. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 1: Happiness

Happiness damn near destroys you
Breaks your faith to pieces on the floor
So you tell yourself, that's enough for now
Happiness has a violent roar
-The Fray

What is happiness? Is it having a loving family? The greatest best friend that a girl can ask for? Good grades? A promising future? I have all of those, I had all of those. I was happy.

I was standing on my best friend's porch, the porch of the house that was basically a second home to me. Doing anything to delay knocking on the door and seeing his bright, unknowing face, my mind travelled to that day two weeks ago.

"What do you mean, leukemic tendencies?" the shortness of breath she had been recently experiencing becoming increasingly worse.

The doctor looked down at the ground and nervously shifted from one foot to the other. He looked back at the patient in front of him and began to explain. "Your blood work came back and there was a startling increase in your white blood cell count which is common in acute myeloid leukemia."

"Leukemia? Like cancer?"

"Yes, I'm so sorry, Miss James. Is there someone I can call for you, your parents?"

"No", was all that she could say. She couldn't even explain to him that they were working. She had cancer. She had cancer. Her body was fighting against itself. How would she tell her parents? How would she tell Nathan?

I told my parents that night. My mother fell to her knees, crying. My father was in shock, his eyes glazed over as he tried in vain to pick my mother off the floor. Later that night, I heard broken sobs coming from his den.

I hadn't cried. While watching my mother's heart break and hearing my father's gut-wrenching cries, I hadn't cried. What kind of person is given nine months to live and doesn't shed a tear?

My eyes focused on several horizontal lines carved into the white wood of the door frame and a slow smile spread across my face. When Nathan and I were eight when he stole a pocket knife from his father and decided that he wanted to start keeping track of our height. He decided to do so on the door frame of the front door.

His mother had been furious when she found out. She grounded him for a whole week. Nathan had, of course, charmed his mom into letting him see me.

That memory reminded me why I was here, on this porch, where so many memories were made. Taking a deep breath, I lifted my shaking fist to knock on the door.

***

Hearing a faint knocking at the door, Nathan pushed the nameless blonde that was kissing his neck off his lap and stood from the couch, pulling on his t-shirt. He handed the girl her skimpy shirt, saying, "You should go." as he headed to the foyer. When he opened the door he was met with his best friend who had a extremely solemn look on her face. "Hey, peach. What's wrong?" he asked as the girl came up from behind him and placed a sensual kiss on his cheek. She shot Haley a cocky look before leaving. "Sorry about that, come on in." he said, moving to the side, allowing her to enter.

Wringing her hands nervously, she exhaled a shaky breath. "I have to tell you something, Nathan. You should sit down."

Nathan closed the door slowly as he looked at her as she chewed on her lip, a habit that she had done ever since her teeth grew in. "Hales, you're scaring me. Whats going on?"

"Maybe we should go up to your room and talk."

"Okay, lead the way." he said, before following her up the staircase.

Once they were both in the room, he closed the door and leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest. "Okay, I'm ready. Lay it on me." he said with a slight smirk on his face.

Taking her shoes off, she sat on his queen- sized bed and grabbed one of his pillows and hugged it to her chest. She breathed in, it smelled like him.

"Nathan, this is serious. You should really sit down."

Finally realizing the seriousness in her demeanor, he focused his eyes on her face. "I think I'll stand."

She clenched the pillow tighter between her fingers. "Now, Nathan, I don't want you to freak out..."

"It's a little too late for that, Hales." he laughed nervously.

"Okay, well, you know how I've been feeling like shit lately?" she asked and he just nodded his head. "Well, I went to the doctor today."

"And? Come on, I'm dying over here."

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly. "So am I."

"What?" It wasn't a question, it was a breath.

"I have leukemia, Nate. Cancer." she said, unconsciously holding her breath.

Nathan stared at her for what seemed like a lifetime before bursting out into hysterics. He couldn't catch his breath, he was laughing so hard. Haley watched as her best friend doubled over in laughter, gripping cloth of his pantleg. His fit slowly subsided as he struggled to catch his breath.

Nathan's eyes met Haley's. "You're not laughing." he stated.

"It's not funny." she responded.

"How long?"

"Without treatment, nine months."

He stood there, motionless, straing at her. His lip began to quiver and his eyes slowly filled with tears. "Hales", he croaked, bowing his head as the tears cascaded from his eyes. He began to feel his chest constrict before he heard her voice.

"Come here, Nate." she whispered. With his head still bowed and his shoulders shaking he slowly made his way to the bed. Once he got there, he dropped to his knees right in front of her, resting his head on her crossed legs as he slipped his arm around her waist.

His shoulders shook with silent sobs and she stroked his hair as she just looked off into the distance.

Sniffling a couple times, Nathan pulled back and looked up at his best friend. She looked into his glassy eyes as she ran her hand through his hair to rest on the back of his neck. "You're gonna go through with the treatments, right?"

"I don't know yet." he responded, bowing her head.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" he practically shouted.

"Please, Nathan. Just let me think about it. It's alot to process."

"Okay", he whispered, semi-defeated. "Have you cried at all?" he asked in awe of her calm state.

"Not a tear." she laughed nervously before turning completely serious. "What's wrong with me?" she asked, her face solemn but still no sign of tears.

Nathan got up and sat on the bed next to her, pulling her into his arms. "There is nothing wrong with you." he whispered as her rested his chin on the top of her head. "You're just in shock. That's all." She just simply nodded, snuggling deeper into his embrace.

"Thank you for being here for me, Nate. I feel like my parents don't even wanna look at me right now."

"No problem, peach. That's what I'm here for." he replied, rubbing her back slowly.

With each soft stroke of his hand, her eyelids became heavier and heavier. Her mind was drifted towards semi-consciousness when his melodic voice caught her attention. "Do you wanna stay here tonight, Hales?"

Haley lifted her tired head to look at him. "No, I think I need to be alone tonight."

"Well, okay", he said, helping her stand up. "If you need anything, I'm only one house away."

"Okay", she nodded.

He looked down at her for along moment before muttering, "Come here", as he hauled her up against his body. "I love you so much, Hales", he whispered into her hair, turning his head to the side and kissing her cheek before hugging her tightly again. "You're my best friend."

She could hear the emotion crack in his voice as her hands shook, moving to grab enough of his t-shirt to gather into her small fists.

They stood there for several moments, just basking in each others presence and embrace before Haley patted Nathan on the back. "You better get some sleep, bud, you have a basketball game bright and early." She tried to say with a hint of normalcy as she moved across the room to grab her purse that had been forgotten on the floor.

"Haley, you don't have to go..." He started to say before she interupted him.

"Are you kidding me?" she said, giving him an incredulous look. "I haven't missed one of your games since we were eight. I will be there, front row as usual."

"Okay", he conceded, "Just try not to over do it."

"Alright, bye, Nate." she said as she turned to leave.

"Don't say that." he breathed. She turned around to look at him. "I never wanna hear you say that. I never wanna hear you say goodbye."

"You won't have to", she reassured with a small smile. "See you tomorrow."

***

Once Haley got safely inside her bedroom, she closed the door behind her and leaned her head against it. She tried to sneak upstairs as quietly as possible. She know it probably sounded horrible but she didn't want to see her parents right now.

Nathan's question registered in her head. "You're gonna go through with the treatments, right?" She didn't know. If she said no, would she be giving up or living the rest of her life to the fullest? Her chest constricted, throat tightened, and eyes prickled with tears at the weight of the question.

Clutching a hand to her chest, she slowly reached her other hand over to the light switch and flicked in on and off several times. She looked out the window and watched as the light in Nathan's room before she saw him run out the front door towards her house a few seconds later, leave it up to him to remember a signal they used when they were little kids.

She heard him say a quick greeting to her parents before ascending the stairs two at a time. He burst through the door, looking ay her with a worried expression on his face. She tried to smile despite the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. That failed as she broke down into a wave of gut wrenching sobs. "I can't breathe", she cried, clawing at her chest.

He quickly crossed the room and took her into his arms. She wrapped her shaky arms around his torso as she sobbed into his chest. "Shhh", he soothed, gently running his hand over her dark blonde curls.

"Come here", he said, moving them so they were laying on her bed.

Nathan turned on his side so he could look at her. Her cries were beginnig to subside as he tucked a loose curl behind her ear. She lifted her eyes to look at him, her long eyelashes wet and her eyes glassy. "I'm so tired." she whispered so quietly that he almost didn't hear her.

Laying his hand on her wet cheek, Nathan gave her a small smile. "Close your eyes, peach." he encouraged, using his thumb to wipe away some of the tear tracks. She closed her eyes slowly as he turned on his back and pulled her to his chest.

"Nathan?" she breathed against his t-shirt covered chest.

"Yeah, Hales?" he replied, rearranging the blanket on her bed so it was covering both of them.

"I want you to do something for me before I die."

"Haley, stop. I don't want to hear this." he tried to say as firmly as he could.

Deciding to completely ignore him, she continued. "I want you to have sex with me." Shocked, Nathan looked down at her. After a minute, she lifted her eyes to meet his. "I don't want to die a virgin."

***

So there it is. I have a couple of notes. I am not an expert on cancer and the treatment that goes along with it. I'll do my best to research some of it, but I will not go into detail with the treatment. You'll know she is getting it and see the side effects but you wont see her in the hospital getting it most likely.

You might have noticed that Nathan called Haley "peach" several times. I decided to add my own little twist to the story. I call all my closest friends peach and I thought it would be cute if Nathan called Haley that.

Reviews will make me the happiest author ever :)