Disclaimer: I do not own credit for the characters/places used in this story. I am simply mucking around with them for my own enjoyment and yours hopefully.

"Haley! Haley are you up yet?" Called the voice of Jesse Gregory as he tapped on the mahogany red door in front of his face. Jess ran a frustrated hair through his hair, rumpling it handsomely in the process. Haley had had a late night and he knew it would more likely be a negative on the question he had posed. The assumption was proved to be correct when no answer came from the other side of the door. Jesse laughed and pushed his way inside. Taking a step into the bedchamber of his love he once more chose to pause just to take in her beauty. Honey blonde hair falling in silky waves around a fair-skinned angels' face. Her lips a soft pink set in a completely innocent expression as she slept peacefully. Jesse however knew very well that the most dazzling part of Haley's appearance was hidden at that moment. Hidden behind lids with long, naturally black eyelashes. Her eyes. A dark, glimmering, brown that could draw him under her complete control with a single look.

It was only when she shifted in her sleep that Jesse was brought out of his reverie and crossed to Haley's side. Shaking her arm lightly he dipped his head and whispered in her ear. "Good morning Mrs Gregory." He placed a kiss on her neck and watched as it stirred her amazingly well, it always had. Jesse took a moment to glance at the engagement ring now glistening on her ring finger. She was his'. Officially now. Wearing his grandmother's jewel, sleeping in his home, going to all the boring dinners he was pushed through, planning their wedding. He rejoiced that such a beautiful woman was to be his wife and companion for the rest of his life. Grinning all over his attractive face he looked down in surprise. "Good morning…" Spoke a voice from the bed that he adored hearing above all other sounds on the earth.

"We've got that state lunch to go to with Dad." Said Jesse gently.

"What time?" Replied a far from awake Haley.

"Two."

"Why do we have to go again?"

"Because Dad's announcing our engagement remember?"

"Oh" Yeah… I remember now." Her expression read of annoyance that she hadn't remembered. So many things were slipping Haley's mind at that moment in time and it was truly, truly frustrating.

"Hey don't worry about it… You are allowed to forget things sometimes." Said Jesse soothingly as he slipped a strong arm around Haley's petite shoulders. Haley was small and thin and Jesse was tall and broad. They looked good next to each other, but there was true love in his' eyes and hers', which made the general overall appearance of the couple even better. Haley didn't reply to his comment, just pecked him lightly on the cheek and rose from her bed. Crossing to her mall-like wardrobe she strode inside and held up two outfits. One was a light pink trouser suit and the other an elegant black with a simple string of pearls at it's hem. The dress had always been one of Haley's favourites. However the trouser suit looked less like she was dressed for a funeral, in the back of her mind she wondered if choosing it as an option that day was her heart giving her a message. But she brushed the thought away in irritation. She loved Jesse… Why shouldn't she marry him? "Which one?" She asked him with a smile.

"Neither." He grinned in response.

"Well what then?" She faked annoyance. "I swear you care more about what I wear than I do." Jesse simply laughed and walked towards her, into the wardrobe. He moved a small way along her array of clothes and found what he was looking for. It was a simple white summer dress made of the purist silk and moved with the slightest breeze. Also the neckline didn't show anything. Jesse didn't want anyone but him seeing Haley's breasts so had deliberately chosen something that covered the aforementioned area completely. The dress had a salsa feel to it when it reached the legs and had many different layers that lended to a feeling of it moving with the person. It had been a present from his mother to Haley. Jesse held the dress out for Haley to take with a smirk. "You have better taste in clothes than I do… Are you sure you don't bat for the other side so to speak?" Teased Haley sweetly.

"I've had more experience with these stupid dinners. I always had to pick out my sisters' outfits as well," he admitted with a faint blush that Hales only managed to find endearing.

"Awwwww you're so cute when you blush," she smiled but still with that hint of a tease evident in her merry voice. She walked past him to her bathroom. Slapping his firm arse as she did so…

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A few hours late Haley and Jesse were sitting next to each other at a grand dining table. Haley fit in perfectly with everyone around her, but it was all an act. Haley had learnt many years beforehand, when she first started dating Jesse, that to fit into the world he brought with him she had to put on airs and graces no matter what. Never let your second face slip. Was a piece of advice that Jesse's Mom had given her one day while they were discussing how things were going. Haley had always felt welcomed by the Gregory family, they knew everything about her and still welcomed with open arms. It would be lovely to have such wonderful people as her in-laws when the time came for her to say 'I do' for the second time in her life.

Haley felt Jesse slip his hand into hers and give a gently squeeze as they left the table and headed for the ballroom where the press were assembled. Haley took a deep breath; her engagement was about to become common knowledge. She had thought that after Nathan she would never love anyone again. When she had got on that tour bus it was the last time she ever saw Nate and had thought of him often, but it had been him who gave that ultimatum. A few weeks into the tour she had received the annulment papers by courier, cried her heart out, then signed them with a shaking hand. Haley didn't want to hold onto him if she couldn't make him happy, if tore her very soul from her body but she had to let go of the past and look to the future. He was free to be with someone who deserved his love and that was what forced her to get up in the morning and keep going.

Then four months later she had met Jesse. He was kind, handsome and so down to earth it was a wonder he could lift his feet. The perfect balm to soothe her tattered heart. Haley knew it was hard to find love at all; she was more than blessed to have found it twice. So that afternoon she was to be announced as the future Mrs Haley James-Gregory.

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"Esteemed and honoured guests! I would like to make an announcement of great importance. My son Jesse came to me a week ago with news so wonderful I felt my heart swell to proportions I never dreamed it possible. And what was this news you may ask? The news was that the beautiful rose that stands next to him has agreed to be his wife." The crowd around the man gasped in surprise and the journalists began to snap pictures ten to the dozen. "It is my great honour to properly announce the engagement of Prince Jesse Casper Arthur Gregory and Haley Bethany James!" He finished. William Gregory, Jesse's father, had never been an emotional man but at that moment the broadcasting world saw a tear form in his eye. Not something expected from the King of Denmark.

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Many, many miles away a young man rubbed his finger over the off button on his remote control. He dropped his dark head into his large hands and felt the hollow where his heart should be start to ache even harder. He should never have sent her those papers; he should have forgotten his stupid pride and gone after her on that tour. He should have patched things up while he still had the chance but now he had lost even that. She would be getting married soon. As he sat there in his hotel room a quiet word fell from his lips. "Hales."

A/N: Hate it? Love it? This is my first fan-fic so please review!