Nathan groaned inwardly as Alex went on and on about one of her zillion friends who had started dating another one of her friends. She had been on a non-stop rant since he had showed up at her place, over an hour ago.

The reason for his visit was that he needed help with an essay that had been assigned to him by their English teacher. His initial thought was to run over to his friend Haley, whom he had last seen over a week ago. But his girlfriend had assured him that she would help him out and finish it within minutes.

As promised, Alex had helped him and together they had managed to write off his essay in just under twenty minutes. He had already gathered his stuff together and was about to leave when she had grabbed him and was kissing the hell out of him. As soon as their lips had collided, Nathan knew that it was wrong, it was all wrong. It's true that when he had first met Alex over a month ago, he was instantly attracted to her. But that was just it. Attraction. He liked her a lot and he still liked her but the spark that he had felt back when they had first started dating had vanished. Completely.

On top of everything else, he was going through another crisis. A one which he felt was absolutely ridiculous. It had a great link with one of his closest friends. It was absolutely absurd. He had tried to figure out what all of it actually meant but had failed to crack the exact reason. It was also one of the main reasons why he had temporarily broken his connections with her. But the more days and time passed, the more he realized that all of his efforts were running futile.

When him and Alex had shared their first ever kiss, a picture of his beautiful and smiling auburn haired friend had briefly flashed before his closed eyes. He was baffled at first but had simply shrugged off the weird feeling.

The same happened the next time, then again the next time and it went on and on. He couldn't ignore it any longer. Something was obviously wrong with him, may be his mind was just playing sick tricks with him. He hadn't seen Haley for a very long time. He obviously missed her. Missed their playful banter. Missed hanging out with her. May be that's the reason why he would see her stunning and gorgeous face everytime he kissed Alex. 'Brooke and Peyton are also your friends whom you haven't seen in a long time. Then why do you only see Haley's face and not theirs you idiotic pest?' He heard his sub#conscious shout and look down at him with a scowl. He shook his head, ignoring him and stood up from the bed that belonged to the brunette who was now eyeing him with confusion marring her pretty face.

"Hey, where're you going?" Alex stopped with whatever she was babbling and mirrored his action, waiting for him to respond back.

"I...uh...I just remembered that...I...um..had to get back home early. My dad said that...that he needed to have a talk with me regarding my mom. So, I will have to get going." He stuttered nervously and felt bad about lying to Alex but no matter what, he had to get out of there. Had to know what the hell was going on in his head.

Pressing a quick kiss on her forehead. He gave her a shaky smile after muttering a quiet goodbye and got out of her room as fast as possible with the help of his long legs.

Alex sat back on the bed, her forehead still crinkling in utter confusion and asked no one in particular, her voice reverberating in the quiet room.

"What the heck just happened?"

Nathan tentatively made his way towards the table where he once used to hang out with his friends. A wide grin effortlessly attacked his lips as he watched all of them having their usual playful banter. His sparkling blue eyes quickly travelled from left to right, from one person to another and the smile from his lips instantly dropped as he realized that the one person he was desperately looking forward to meet was missing from her seat.

Where the heck was Haley? Did she skip classes today? Was she out in the library? Was she sick? His mind started reeling on its own account as he tried to think of a reason why his gorgeous 'friend' could be missing?

He had had a restless and a sleepless night, tossing and turning on his bed, the auburn haired girl invading his already messed up head. As soon as he had returned from Alex's, Nathan had ignored his father's inquisitive eyes and quickly climbed up the stairs with the help of his long legs and locked himself in his room, wanting to be left alone.

He had furiously wrecked his mind all night trying to figure out what all of it meant. His hair had been mussed since he had tugged and pulled on the strands in exasperation. Why oh why did the vivid images of one of his closest friends flashed before his eyes? Why did he long to see her beautiful face? From where had he suddenly developed the urge to hold her? To kiss her? He was going absolutely nuts!

Nathan cleared his throat upon reaching the table and watched as four sets of eyes looked up at him with extreme surprise while the other two new people whom he recognized as Jake and Sara greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Hey guys." Nathan greeted all of them with his cheshire grin.

"Uh...Brooke, do we know this guy?" Clay, whose left arm was draped across Sara's shoulder asked the bubbly brunette and received a nonchalant shrug in response.

Nathan rolled his eyes in clockwise at his friends and sat down on the flat surface of one of the empty chairs beside Lucas.

"Ha ha. So not funny dude. I know that I've been MIA for a while and I'm sorry for that."

"By 'for a while' you mean a long month and a week." Lucas raised his eyebrows and smirked in triumph when his raven haired friend sagged his shoulders in defeat.

"You know what? I deserve this. I deserve all of it. I was such a fool. I got so busy with Alex that I-"

"Nathan, dude, just chill. We are just messing with ya. Besides all of us know how amazing it feels to be in love." Peyton smiled and watched him shake his head which had her quirking an eyebrow in pure interest.

"I'm not... I mean Alex and I, we are not in love. We just like each other." Nathan explained and surreptiously eyed everyone who shared secretive looks among each other. Ignoring them, his forehead crinkled as something clicked inside him. "What do you mean you know how you feel to be in love?" His eyes went wide, almost bulging out of his sockets as he took in the goofy smiles on each of their illuminating faces.

"Holy crap!" Nathan shouted pointing towards the six people sitting at the table along with him. "You guys are together." He said looking at Brooke and Lucas who nodded in confirmation. "You guys are together." He pointed towards Clay and Sara who shared a french kiss to everyone's disgust and finally he rested his gaze on Peyton and Jake. "And finally you both." He sighed as Jake pressed a kiss on the back of Peyton's hand. "I can't believe that I missed so much." Looking back at them with a genuine smile he reached across to hug his friends. "Congratulations guys and welcome to the gang." He told Sara and Jake who thanked him in return.

Settling back into his seat, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, finally managing to ask the question that he'd wanted to ask since he had joined them ten minutes back.

"So, where's Hales?" He asked trying to sound nonchalant but failing to do so. His eyes travelled from Lucas who was sitting to his left, moving around in a clock wise rotation and ultimately rested on Peyton who was sitting to his right, a couple of seats away. "Is she in the library or somewhere else?"

"Oh she's definitely not in the library." Brooke answered, her gaze fixed somewhere in the distance.

"What do you mean?" Nathan looked at the brunette who was looking past him and over his shoulders. He shifted a little in order to follow her gaze and after a brief search his eyes found the one person he had been looking for. That one person...who had her head down on some guy's shoulder, trying to calm down her body vibrating in immense laughter? What the-

Before he could process the scene happening before his eyes, his body stiffened; his face mirrored a look of horror; his stomach churned and twisted in the most painful way as he watched the guy tilt his head and press his lips upon hers.

Nathan quickly turned around and looked down at his feet with eyes shut tightly, trying to evade the feeling of someone stabbing his heart with a sharp knife. He tried very hard to get the sickening image of Haley kissing someone else out of his head but everytime he succeeded in doing so, it would all come back to him again. Chancing a quick peek at the others, he noticed the look of surprise on the faces of Brooke and Peyton. Also Clay and Lucas. He wanted to get out of there. Nedded to get out of there before he puked his guts out infront of everyone which wouls be embarassing or cry his heart out which would be humiliating. He released a massive sigh of relief hearing the unmistakable piercing sound of none other than Alex.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." Alex stated dramatically and pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. Looking up at the others, she greeted everyone cheerfully. "Hey guys, how have you all been?"

Nathan hastily stood up, grabbed Alex's hand and bolted out of there. Away from his friends who were watching his retreating back in bewilderment. Away from the girl who was kissing some other dude. Away from the girl who was probably still engaged in a lip-lock. Away from the girl who he thought missed him like the way he missed her. Away from the girl who was unknowingly shattering his heart into a zillion small pieces. Away from the girl with whom he had fallen in love. God! What was he gonna do? Of all the time he had to realize about his feelings, Did it had to be this? When he had a girlfriend and when Haley had a-

Why? Why now? Why not back when they had no one to think of?

He glared looking up at the clear blue sky that seemed to be mocking him. Laughing at his miserable state, a state of agony and enjoying the hurt and pain it was causing him. He closed his eyes as heard the quick footsteps following him. Sighing loudly, Nathan entered an empty classroom and put his head down on a retractable desk.

He was in some deep shit!

As soon as she felt Chase's lips upon her own, Haley's eyes flew open and she quickly stepped back at the same time pushing him away.

"Oh my God! Haley, I'm...God I'm really sorry. I didn't-"

She nodded in understanding and gave him a shaky smile, her heart rate accelerating but not in a good way. "It's...It's okay, Chase. I know you didn't mean to." Haley closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

After managing to get herself together, she opened her eyes and looked at the guilt stricken guy standing before her.

"I'm sorry. You are a really good friend, Chase and I thought spending some time together with you as friends would get my mind off Nathan but it's just not working. I just...I can't do this. I really hope you understand." She told him, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes any second.

Chase nodded still feeling angry at himself for kissing the most amazing girl standing before him. He had definitely ruined all the possible chances of asking her to prom. Then again, he guessed he never really had any chance. He stepped forward to give her a brief, awkward hug.

"I'm sorry again. Nathan doesn't know what he's missing out on. You're an amazing girl Haley. I pray that you get everything you ever wish for."

"Not all wishes come true, Chase." Haley smiled sadly and walked away after patting his upper arm.

"Are you okay?"

Nathan reluctantly dragged his head up and leisurely rubbed his face. He still felt as if someone was deliberately squeezing and twisting his heart inside of him.

"Yeah." He croaked out.

"Do you know what I think?" Alex asked and continued to speak when he shook his head from side to side. "I think that you are in love with Haley. I think that you guys are made for each other."

To say that he was shock would be an understatement. Nathan was beyond shock. There wasn't a word invented to describe the look marring his features. How could she know? How could Alex-

The words halted in his reeling mind as he watched the serious look fade away from her pretty face.

Alex burst into a fit of laughter as she took in the undescribable expression etched upon her boyfriend's handsome face. She covered her mouth with both of her hands in order to stifle her high-pitched laugh but failed miserably.

"Oh my God! I was just kidding. But the look on your face." She spoke in between her laughter. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." Alex hugged him but grew confused when he pulled away from their embrace.

"No, Alex. I'm the one who's sorry." Nathan muttered, loud enough so that she could hear him.

"What do you mean?" She whispered warily.

"I'm sorry, because you are right. I do love her. I am in love with Haley."

She burst into another fit of laughter, this time laughing harder than before. "Now, you are just messing with me." Alex's laughter turned into soft chuckles but then it ceased completely when his lips didn't even break into a smile. That's when she realized he was dead serious. Proving all of her doubts correct.

She sighed sadly and took a seat next to him. "I guess, I always knew. I wish it was just my imagination but unfortunately, it isn't."

"I'm really very sorry Alex. I did not want any of this to happen. But-"

"The heart wants what it wants." She smiled softly, finishing his sentence.

Nathan nodded. "You're a great girl Alex Dupre. I'm sure you'll find someone worthy enough to be with you." He leaned in to pull her into a hug.

"I know. After all I'm Alex!" She spoke proudly as they both shared a hearty laugh.

"You should go and tell her before it's too late. Before someone else comes in and sweeps her off her feet." She advised and frowned as he slumped his shoulders sadly.

"I think someone already has."

"It doesn't matter. You should still tell her. You'll never know anything until you give it a try."

"You broke poor Chase's heart." Brooke stated when Haley finished telling them the whole story. She was in her room, dressed in her PJ's , sulking when the girls had barged in without permission demanding details of the interesting event to which had been an audience, earlier in the day.

"I'm sure he'll live, Brooke. It's not like he's ugly or anything. He can get any girl he wants. I'm sure he'll find someone to be his date at the prom."

"Speaking of prom. Who are you gonna go with?" Peyton inquired arching one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"Actually, I'm gonna skip going to prom."

"Haley James, you did not just say that."

Haley cringed as Brooke and Peyton shouted in unison, looking at her as if she had confessed to commiting the most dangerous crime of all time.

"You are going and that's final. No buts." Brooke declared before she could open her mouth to protest any further.

"You know? You can always go with Nathan." Peyton suggested with a mysterious glint in her eyes.

"Hello, miss short term memory loss. In case you've forgotten, Nathan is already going with Alex. His girlfriend, remember?" Haley informed her with a wave of her hands.

"Not anymore." Brooke piped in.

"What do you mean?"

"What she means is that Nathan and Alex broke up today." Peyton revealed to the oblivious girl with a smirk.

"What?" Haley asked shocked but inwardly sighing in relief, a ray of hope surging inside her. "How do you guys know?"

"We ran into Alex at the end of last period who told us about it. She said he was in love with someone else and that she already kinda knew about it. She looked perfectly fine to me by the way. No traces of heartbreak or a single tear on her face. Nothing. She was her usual bubbly self."

"He's in love with someone else?" Haley asked at the two smiling girls who nodded eagerly.

"Hmmm...I wonder who she is." Peytom mused, enjoying the perplexed state of her friend.

"What are you guys not telling me?" Haley asked inquisitively, the frantic pace of her heartbeat accelerating further in anticipation.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out."

With that last cryptic comment, Brooke and Peyton strolled out of her room, laughing mockingly, waving and then finally blowing her a flying kiss.

"Ughh...I hate you both." She screamed at the top of her lungs as the door to her room closed shut.

Haley fell back on her bed with a sigh and stared up at the ceiling, a wide smile attacking her lips.

"Could it be possible? Could that someone be me? The one person that Nathan said he is in love with?" She wondered aloud, her heart skipping a few beats and her stomach fluttering with butterflies at the pleasant and heavenly thought.

She reached towards the nightstand, getting hold of her phone. Scrolling through the names in her contact list, she stopped her movements finding the one that she was looking for. Selcting the 'Call' option, Haley put the phone against her left ear and heard as it started ringing. Suddenly feeling scared and nervous, she pulled it away and quickly hit the 'End Call' option.

Haley cradled the phone into her chest and took in a deep breath, trying to calm her heart that was bouncing off her ribs and beating at an abnormal speed.

"Thank goodness young people do not die of heart attacks." She muttered as her heart started beating back at a normal and sensible speed. Pulling the phone away, she looked at the bright screen for a long period of time and after another pause, hit the 'Call' option again. She was sure that he wouldn't receive her call. He hadn't for a long time.

The phone from her hands slipped away and she jumped in surprise, hearing the ringtone of his phone echoing throughout her bedroom. What the-

Turning to her left, she gasped when she found one of his long legs inside her room through the window while he desperately tried to get his other leg in too, trying very hard not to trip and fall head first on the ground twenty feet below.

Fearing the worst, Haley got into action. She jumped off her bed and rushed towards the window to help the struggling boy. As she tried to get him in, Nathan's leg accidentally hit hers and they both went flying, gasping and ultimately falling onto the tiled slippery floor, thankfully inside her room.

They remained locked in their position with Haley lying flat on top of him, her flushed face buried into his neck. Unfortunately she had to move. They couldn't remain in that same position forever.

Haley reluctantly pulled away and stared into his captivating eyes, her hair forming a protective cacoon around them.

Nathan gazed deeply into her radiating brown eyes and pushed her hair back, trying to get a clear and unadultered view of her beautiful face. He hadn't seen her up close for the past month and a half. He missed it. Missed everything about her.

His long fingers danced over her cheekbone and moved slowly, sensually down across her jaw and rested on her chin. He ran his thumb across her bottom lip and watched as her eyes closed appreciatively, her breathing getting shallower with the passing of every single second.

The intimate moment between the two tangled bodies ended in a blink of an eye.

Nathan frowned when she abrupty pushed herself off him, turning away and gazing out of the window. He closed his eyes and released a long breath before standing up straight. He watched her back and noticed as she clenched and unclenched her fist repeatedly. He knew she did it- either when she was nervous or at times when she was extremely angry. In the current situation, he was sure that it was the latter option.

Gulping the enormous lump of spit down his throat, Nathan took a few tentative steps in the direction where she stood with her back at him and whispered warily.

"Hales..."

"What are you doing here, Nathan?" Her voice was surprisingly calm but her icy glare when she turned to look at him, gave her away.

"I came here to see you. I missed you." He replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"You missed me? You. missed. me?" She seethed in anger, enunciating every word through gritted teeth. Moving towards him, she pushed her pointer finger painfully into his chest, almost digging the perfectly manicured finger through and across his body.

"Yeah..." Nathan felt another lump in his throat that he swallowed fleetingly. "Uh...I...You..." He stammered, failing to get a single coherent word out of his dry mouth. When he had set out of his house in determination, he knew what he had to do. He'd planned everything, repeating everything in his head like a mantra. But now, standing infront of her fuming form, he couldn't even remember a single sentence that he could choke out, which could actually make any sense. He could only fold his hands and watch her outburst in pure amusement. God, he loved her!

"We tried to get a hold of you everyday. I," she emphasised pointing her thumb towards herself, "I called you everyday, left a dozen messages on your phone but you were so damn engrossed with your pretty girlfriend that you didn't even care to reply any of them or even call me back. Did you even stop and think for a second how I was doing? What I was feeling? Whether or not, I was lying in a ditch somehere? You say you missed me. Well, then I've got to say- you've got an amazing way of showing it, Nathan Scott." She finished without pausing to breathe in any air, her body heaving with an urgent need of oxygen.

"Are you finished? Can I speak now?" Nathan asked, a shit-eating grin spreading across his lips and emitted a low chuckle as she scowled back at him.

He walked forward until he was right infront of her. Gently grabbing her shoulders, he pushed her backwards until the back of her knees hit against her bed and she was forced to sit down. Dropping down to his knees before her, he took both of her hands in his and stared into her mesmerising eyes.

"Do you have any idea how hot and sexy you look when you're furiously angry?" His voice came out in a husky whisper and her eyes went wide in surprise. They had never shared such an intimate conversation ever. She had never, ever heard him speak so damn sexily. A shiver ran across her spine and she felt the hair at the nape of her neck stand upright, goosebumps forming across her skin.

"What-"

"Sshhhhh..." Nathan pressed his index and middle finger against her kissable lips, stopping whatever she was trying to get out of her distracting mouth.

He reveled in this new feeling swirling inside of him. His heart was thudding against the thick layer of his chest and never in his life had he ever wanted to kiss someone as badly as he wanted to kiss her now. But before doing that, he wanted to declare his feelings for her. Open his heart out.

"You know? I thought I really liked Alex. She seemed nice and I liked talking with her." He paused as she averted her gaze, feeling hurt as he fondly spoke of his girlfriend...err...ex-girlfriend.

Nathan smiled and grasped her chin with his thumb, forcing her to look back at him. "I needed to get away from you because lately I'd been getting these pleasantly strange and weird feelings whenever you'd be around me. I reveled in the feeling whenever we'd share a hug or a friendly pat or kiss on the cheek. I'm ashamed to admit it but I guess I used Alex as a distraction. I shrugged those my new feelings for you off but the more time I spent with Alex, the more I kept missing you. Whenever Alex kissed me," he paused and watched as she closed her eyes in agony but he couldn't stop now. He had to get it all out. A minute ago he couldn't speak but now the words were flowing out of his mouth effortlessly. "Whenever she kissed me, all I could see was you. Your stunning face would flash before my eyes and I'd break the kiss feeling guilty as if I was cheating on you which was funny because we're just friends right?" He did not wait for her response, only continued further. "But today...today when I saw some guy kiss you..I...I just lost it. I felt like someone had punched me and then kicked me hard inbetween my legs. It was that painful."

Haley would have laughed at that funny description but the serious look and the way his handsome face twisted recollecting the said scene, forced her to shut her mouth and only listen intently to the boy kneeling infront of her, pouring his heart out.

"Look," Nathan said squeezing her hands, "I know you must be probably dating this guy but I just wanted to get this out. That guy obviously looked cool and pretty handsome and he-"

"Chase."

"What?"

"The guy who kissed me, his name is Chase."

Nathan glanced down at their joined hands. "Great! He's even got a cool name." he muttered sarcastically.

"And we're definitely not dating."

His head shot up as he heard her last comment. "You are not?" He sighed in relief as she nodded but then his forehead crinkled in confusion. "Then why were you guys-"

"None of that matters right now. Would you just hurry and utter those three magical words that I've been dreaming of you saying them to me for the past six months?"

"How did you know that I was going to say that I lo...uh...those magical words?" He asked arching his eyebrows so high that they almost reached his hairline.

"I just know, okay! Now say those words because I'm dying to say them back to you." She revealed eagerly, almost bouncing on her feet.

"If you are so damn impatient, why don't you say them to me first?" He smirked, urging her.

Haley rolled her eyes.

"If I wanted to be the first one to say them, I'd have told you six months ago. Now say them before I throw you out of my window." She threatened dangerously.

He gasped in horror. "Why the hell did I fall for you? Is it too late to back out now?" He asked making a straight face.

"Nathan Scott, I swear if you back away now, I'm gonna murder you and bury your rotten body in the backyard of this house."

"Okay okay, jeez!" He conceded while laughing and stood up, pulling her along with him.

Facing each other and both smiling insanely, Nathan caressed her cheek.

"I love you, Haley James. Despite of your dangerous threats, your fury, your unnecessary and never-ending lectures on trivial matters...I am in love with you."

She glared playfully at him.

"Did you really have to ruin it by adding those extra words after your sweet and simple 'I love you'?"

"Hey, at least I said the words. Now you've got to say them back. Come on." He waited and heard her sigh dramatically.

"Do I really have to? I mean, you get the picture right?"

"Hales..." He whined petulantly but smiled a sparkling smile as she stepped closer to him, twining her hands around his neck and resting them at the nape.

"I love you."

They leaned towards one another with smiles shining brighter than the sun in the morning sky and relaxed when their lips finally...finally met together.

Haley stood high up on her toes as he circled his hands around her waist and reveled in the mind blowing, numbing, exploding and every other '-ing' feeling. Their mouths opened and closed in sync allowing their tongues to tangle playfully, to taste and enjoy each other's company.

"Despite of you being such a lousy and bad kisser, I am in love with you too." She teased and squealed delightfully when he carefully flung her on the bed and pinned her vibrating body beneath his.

"Bad kisser? I guess I have no other option but to change your ridiculous mind regarding my heavenly kisses."

"Hmmm...I guess you better start right away 'cause it's gonna take you a very long time to get me to change my opinion." Haley muttered seductively and closed her eyes as he nodded in agreement and joined their lips together once again, determined to prove all of her accusations dead wrong and at the same time enjoying their newly formed romantic relationship.

THE END

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