Summary: Haley and Nathan have been best friends their whole lives because of the attachment that their parents have. Before they could even remember their parents had been planning their spring wedding (with lots of sunflowers and bright colors). But it seems that ever since something that happened in their freshman year, the connection they once shared had vanished. No one other than the two of them ever knew what exactly happened to the two inseparable friends, but what exactly will happen when they're forced back together because of their conniving parents?

It's like I'm lost
It's like I'm giving up slowly
It's like your a ghost that's haunting me
Leave me alone
And I know these voices in my head are mine alone
And I know I'll never change my ways if I don't give you up now

-Kelly Clarkson

Chapter one: What I wouldn't give to have normal parents…

"Haley, stop fidgeting, it's not attractive." Lydia James told her youngest daughter as she stood on the front doorstep of her oldest and dearest friend's home.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I'm doing it." Haley told her mother sardonically and with a small sarcastic smile as she straightened her knee-length white skirt yet again.

Lydia rolled her eyes and gave her husband a look so that he should ring the doorbell. Please don't be Nathan, please don't be Nathan. Haley pleaded silently to any form of higher power that the planet possessed; but of course. She's Haley James. She doesn't get what she prays for.

"Mr. and Mrs. James how are you this evening? Mrs. James you look great tonight." Nathan greeted her parents with a large grin that didn't meet his eyes. Haley rolled her eyes and continued to pull at the bottom of her simple baby-pink t-shirt. Nathan always put on the same, they just didn't laugh about it with the other anymore; that bird had flown over two years ago. "Oh don't worry Hales, you look great too." He told her with the same mischievous glint in his eye that he had addressed her parents with.

Haley rolled her eyes again and entered the large house after Nathan had stepped out of the doorway. She followed her parents into the living room, and sat on the couch with Nathan, that seat seemed to be reserved for her every Friday night dinner since she was 6 years old.

"Oh, Lydia, Jimmy, Haley! I hadn't realized you were here!" Deb Scott said as she entered the formal living room with an apron draped around her small waist.

"Its fine Deb, we were just sitting here marveling the photo albums you've put out." And of course, a large leather bound photo album lay between the laps of the James parents, open to pictures of Nathan and Haley when they were little. Deb walked over to them and looked at the pictures upside-down.

"Oh I remember that day. When we were at the beach house in California and we were all sitting around on the beach. It was so peaceful. I wish we could do that again sometime." Nathan and Haley exchanged a terrified look at the mention of those two months that they spent in California two summers ago.

"Oh Deb! I have a marvelous idea!" Lydia exclaimed as she shot a pointed look towards the two teenagers that were looking at each other worriedly. She was curious, but wanted to follow through with the scheme that had just popped into her head. "How about we go there again this summer? We could spend a month at the beach house again, and just be a huge family again." At the older woman's idea, the two old best friends turned their fearful glances towards their mothers, pleading silently that they had heard wrong.

Deb caught the look that her friend had thrown their two children, and was immediately taken to the idea of a nice family/friends vacation again. "Oh that's a fantastic idea Lydia! Let me talk it over with Dan after dinner and we can set everything up." And that's precisely what they were going to do. Set up their children.

Haley and Nathan turned back to each other with the same heightened fear they had shared a few moment before. They of course knew what their mothers were up to, but were too afraid to mention what a bad idea it would be. "Oh, look at that picture of Nate and Haley sleeping in the same bed at the beach house." Deb cooed as she pointed out a certain picture to Lydia. "Oh aren't they adorable together? Oh, what are you wearing dears? Nathan, you should know to wear a shirt when in the same bed as a girl, and Haley, you must have been wearing one of those tube top things, huh?" Deb handed the picture to Nathan, whose eyes abruptly widened with shock.

He handed the picture to a very confused Haley who immediately started choking on the sip of water she had just taken. The picture was of the two of them in Haley's bedroom at their California vacation home. Haley had taken the picture herself as they both lay in bed together. "Um, Mrs. Scott? How did you get this picture? I took it with my own camera." Haley was so frightened at what the answer would be, she wasn't sure if she should run from the room, or tear the memory to shreds.

"Oh, your mother sent me all of the digital pictures off your cameras when we got home." Deb paused, not understanding what the big deal was. "Are you alright Haley? You look pale."

"I'm fine Mrs. Scott." She couldn't help but look back down at the picture, hoping that no one would question her anymore.

That night. She could remember it like it was yesterday. It was so fresh in her mind, she could probably write a whole book about that one night, and all the feelings that had been shared. Neglect, friendship, love---

"Haley, you really should consider wearing something a little less revealing when you're in the same bed as a boy. We know better than to try and keep you out of each others beds because we would drag you guys away from eachother when you were younger, but you're both growing teenagers with hormones—"

Jimmy James was reprimanding his daughter, when he was interrupted by the very embarrassed girl. "DAD!"

"Oh, don't be embarrassed Haley! I'm sure that you and Nathan have though of each other in that way a few times! You're both very attractive young people!" Dan Scott told the two teenagers as he entered the room and sat beside his wife.

"DAD!" This time it was Nathan's embarrassment that reprimanded his parent, but neither Dan nor Jimmy seemed fazed at all, they just seemed amused.

"So, Nathan, my daughter's not attractive enough for you?" Jimmy asked in a joking tone that was lost on Nathan who began to stutter.

"N-no, I… I… I just… D-don't…" Suddenly, he seemed to comprehend everything. "Know how to take a joke," he finished his previous stuttering.

The parents all gave a collective chuckle then went back to teasing their children. "Nathan, it's okay, I'm sure that Haley has thought of all your muscles before." Lydia said slyly as her daughter hid her face in her hands.

"And I think it's okay if you think of my daughter's chest Nathan. I would be worried if you didn't." Jimmy encouraged with a small chuckle as Nathan blushed.

"Oh, Dan, wouldn't they make the most adorable babies?" Deb asked her husband fondly.

"Yes dear; with his eyes and her hair." Dan said as he turned to look into his wife's eyes.

"And her nose, and his mouth! That child would be unstoppable! And we would spoil it so!" Lydia envisioned while staring at the two people in question.

"MOM! WE ARE NOT GETTING MARRIED, HAVING CHILDREN, ET CETERA! WE AREN'T EVEN FRIENDS ANYMORE!" Haley just lost her temper and exploded at her mother. She couldn't believe that neither sets of parents had noticed that the two of them never spent time together alone anymore. The only time they ever interacted anymore was when they spent time with mutual friends, or the times when their parents pushed them together. She couldn't believe that they were actually planning their future children!

"HALEY LAUREN JAMES! You do not speak to your mother like that!" Jimmy reprimanded angrily as he laid his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"I'm sorry dad, mom, Mr. and Mrs. Scott. I lost my temper. I'm sorry." Her voice was low, and she could feel the anger slowly subsiding, and she knew she had to come up with an excuse for her outburst. "Its just that Nathan and I don't think of each other like that, and it's weird to hear about having children with someone you don't picture in that sense."

"That's quite alright dear. How about we go into the dining room and start our dinner?" Deb asked quickly to cover the awkward silence. There were nods from everyone, and they all walk towards the formal dining room, and settled themselves in their usual seats before anyone spoke.

"So, Dan, how is the car dealership going?" Jimmy asked.

"Quite well, that's why I was late to join you all. I was on the phone with…" Haley phased them all out, looking across the table at Nathan, who seemed to of been looking at her as well. Their eyes met for a few moments, just staring at each other over their water glasses, but then Haley remember the thing that had broken them apart. The thing that could bring tears to her eyes in the happiest of circumstances, so she simply looked down at the photo still clutched in her hand, and slipped the thick paper into her pocket.

AN If anyone wants me to update this story, then review please! I'm not really sure if I like the story myself, so if you want to hear more, then tell me please!

I also am looking for a beta/music-guru for if I continue this story, so if you're up for the job, then let me know in a review. Basically I just need someone to read and help me with spelling/grammar errors, and helping me find a song that corresponds with my chapter, so let me know, because I'm not so sure if the one I chose at the begining was any good...

Keira

P.S. Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that the name Jimmy is a shortened version of the name James, so Haley's father's name is James James? Just one of my random observations.