Prologue: The Band-Aid Theory: Quick and Painless

June 2010

Love doesn't come in a pretty little package. Sometimes love isn't pretty. Opening your heart up to someone also means opening your heart up for heartbreak. And some people aren't prepared or strong enough to deal with heartbreak.

Nathan Scott was one of those people. His parents were anything but model parents, and his upbringing caused him to put walls up, not trust anyone, and definitely not let anyone in.

That all changed in freshman year when he met Haley James. She was assigned to be his tutor. While she helped him bring his grades up, she accomplished so much more than that. She tore down his walls to reveal the "real" Nathan. Past all the bullshit he gave everyone else was an extremely sweet person that only Haley had the pleasure of seeing… and sometimes their mutual best friend Tim Smith.

She was his soul mate and he was fairly certain she was the love of his life. The way Nathan figured it was, life gives you two great loves, a soul mate, and a love of your life, and sometimes, your soul mate is the love of your life.

She was his first love, and he wanted to be her last everything.

As Nathan stood in front of the mirror examining his outfit for what seemed the millionth time, he pondered his relationship with Haley, wondering whether or not all the heartache they both endured was worth it.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to run away.

"Hey man, are you ready?" Tim asked of his best friend Nathan.

"Yah… Um, I just need a few more minutes" Nathan replied, when in reality, he needed a few more lifetimes.

Tim left Nathan to his thoughts and walked back out the door he came from. Nathan took a deep breathe looked at himself in the mirror one more time, and followed Tim out.

As Nathan reached Tim, he noticed Tim seemed a little nervous. Nathan chuckled internally, wasn't he supposed to be the nervous one?

"Look Nate, I don't know how to tell you this, but I figured the good old band-aid route would be best"

Nathan turned to his best friend confused.

"You know," explained Tim "Quick and painless. Anyways, there was some food poisoning from last night and one of the bridesmaid's got sick and had to drop out. Well, you know how she's been with this whole wedding. It's madness I tell you. She wants the same number of groomsmen to bridesmaids, which is really stupid if you ask me…"

"No one asked you, now get on with it, the wedding's started." Nathan replied quickly.

"See, she was a bridesmaid short and she had no one to ask but.." Tim didn't finish his thoughts because Nathan could clearly see the dilemma walking down the aisle in a bridesmaid dress.

"Please tell me I'm hallucinating. Please Tim. Pinch me please." Nathan pleaded.

"Sorry man, I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen" Tim responded sympathetically.

Love defies all logic. Or maybe it isn't love that defies logic, but life in general. Just because life gives us to these great loves, doesn't mean we end up with them.

At that very moment Haley James was walking down the aisle is a dress made for the bridesmaids. Nathan thought he was going to faint.

There are certain people you just keep coming back to
She is right in front of you
You begin to wonder could you find a better one
Compared to her now she's in question

With his eyes trained on Haley, Nathan couldn't help but bask in her beauty. Whenever she was around him, everything seemed to disappear, and today was no exception.

And all at once the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same
Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you started to compare to someone not there

As everyone's eyes were trained on the bride making her way to the alter, Nathan couldn't stop staring at Haley.

With Peyton in front of Nathan ready to commit her life to his, Nathan stared at Haley in a trance and said "I love you."

Thinking he was expressing his love for her, Peyton responded with, "I love you too".

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you've started to compare to someone not there
Maybe you want it maybe you need it
Maybe it's all you're running from
Perfection will not come

It was then that Nathan broke free from his trance and realized one thing.

He was so fucking screwed.

Good? Bad?