I was very pleased with the feedback from the first Chapter! Thank you so much! Since I already had this typed up, here's Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Haley sat on the beach, shifting slightly on her sand covered beach towel, shaking her head. She knew it was a bad idea to come to the beach and possibly soak up some sun while she read her book. Now her book was just covered in sand. She'd probably never get it off any of the pages. A wet kid had run past her and flicked water all over it. This was definitely a bad idea.

She let out a deep breath, adjusting the t-shirt that she was wearing, looking around at all of the people. California always had a lot of people. Everywhere she turned there was someone new, or cars stuck in traffic. She had come to visit the Stanford campus, and her parents cut out on her to spend the day together, telling her to explore the city that she would hopefully attend college in. After researching the best and closest beaches, she settled on one that was about a half an hour car ride away. Mistake on her part. The sun was nice, and the beach was beautiful. But she could not figure out why there were so many people on the beach at nine o'clock in the morning on a Thursday? Most of them looked like they should be in school. She herself had taken the week off school to come explore the campus, returning back home tomorrow morning.

She looked up from her book when a volleyball landed next to her, letting out a small sigh. Reading was pointless at this beach. In Tree Hill, the beach would be fairly quiet at this time. California was different.

She looked up when a dark haired, very fit boy that looked around her age came rushing over, scooping up the volleyball before she had a chance to hand it to him.

He nearly turned away without a word, before looking down at her, the smirk on his face growing.

"Sorry about that." He said, tossing the ball back to where his friends were.

Haley looked up at him, raising her sunglasses on top of her head. "Don't worry about it." She said, sending him a small smile, before looking down at her book.

Nathan couldn't help himself from staring. She was damn beautiful, and he'd never seen her before. Something about her caught his attention. Maybe it was the fact that she was reading on the beach. Or the fact that she was wearing a t-shirt rather than trying to flaunt her body. Or the fact that his future may have flashed before his eyes when he looked into her brown ones. So he made the decision, and took a seat next to her.

Haley raised her eyebrows, dropping her sunglasses back down over her eyes once again, ignoring his presence next to her.

He waved over towards his friends, telling them to continue without him. "What are you reading?" He asked her.

She blew out a deep breath, looking in his direction once again. "Shakespeare." She said, nodding at him.

"To be or not to be, that is the question." He said, smirking at her, digging his hands into the sand behind him, leaning back and stretching out his legs.

She raised her eyebrows once again. "You like Shakespeare?" She asked him.

Nathan shifted slightly, "Uh..." He looked down. "No." He finished. "I couldn't even tell you what that's from. Romeo and Juliet maybe? To be honest, I didn't think that through. Didn't know you would ask follow up questions."

Haley smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Hamlet." She said slowly, nodding at him.

"That's your name?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows.

"No, that's what the quote is from." She laughed, rolling we eyes.

He may be thinking crazy, but that laugh was the one he wanted to hear for the rest of his life. But he could tell that she was different. He glanced over towards his friends, letting out a deep sigh. He'd slept with every one of the girls over there. This girl wouldn't fall for him.

"My, uh, half-brother likes that stuff." Nathan said, gesturing to her book, shrugging slightly. "I don't know why I said half-brother. It's not like you know anything about me. We'll just go with brother."

"Do you know his favorite?" Haley asked, wiping the sand off the pages of her book, placing a marker in, and turning her head to look at him.

Romeo and Juliet, and now Hamlet were the two names that he could think of off the top of his head. Those were lame answers. She said she was reading Shakespeare though, so he glanced down at her book, before reading the title out loud.

"Julius Caesar." He said lamely, mentally kicking himself when a knowing look spread across her face.

"Oh, really? That's so weird, that happens to be the one that I was reading!" Haley said, holding up the book.

"Funny how life does crazy things like that." He said, smiling at her. "Maybe I was supposed to meet you so I could tell you that interesting fact about my brother. Fate, possibly. Who knows."

She laughed, feeling her stomach flutter. He was really cute. And toned. She had a nice view of his torso from where she was sitting.

"Or maybe it's like you looked down at the cover of my book and read it out loud." She said, nodding at him.

"Who knows." He said, shrugging his shoulders, taking the book from her, flipping through the pages, before handing it back. "Too many words for me."

"If a book has a lot of words, that just means you get to read it for a longer period of time." She informed him, pushing on his inner elbow, causing one arm to collapse a little bit.

"Hey!" He laughed, shaking his head and smiling at her. "You got a name?"

"Maybe." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey, "Maybe." I'm "Possibly." It's nice to meet you." He said, smirking at her.

She rolled her eyes, looking out at the ocean, letting out a deep breath. "I don't know if I should give out my personal information to random guys I meet on the beach."

"I'm not asking for your social security number. I just want to know the name of the beautiful girl that will be appearing in my dreams tonight." Nathan said, smirking at her.

"That was such a line! Now you're going to have to wait even longer before I decide to tell you." She laughed, shrugging her shoulders.

"All I'm hearing is that you want to continue spending time with me." He said, taking her sunglasses off her face, placing them on his own.

He already frustrated her. But in a good way. What, did he think he owned the place? Taking up space on her towel, flipping through her book? Now taking her sunglasses? Normally, it would annoy her a lot. But with him... She found it oddly charming.

"What about a story? Do you have one of those?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows and smiling, adjusting her sunglasses on his face.

"I'm here touring Stanford." Haley informed him, shrugging slightly.

"You've caught my attention. Keep going, please." He said sarcastically, shaking his head.

"You asked!" She said, reaching over and pulling her sunglasses back, smiling slightly when their eyes connected. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen eyes so blue in her life.

"Where are you from?" Nathan asked her, letting out a deep breath.

"You think information is cheap? I've got another thing coming for you, buddy. I expect breakfast if you want to know more about me." She teased him, shaking her head.

"Okay." He said simply, standing up.

"No, I was just kidding." Haley responded, shrugging slightly. "Really, I was."

"I'm not." He said, holding out his hand to her. "I want to take you to breakfast."

Haley looked up at him, taking his hand slowly, blinking as he pulled her up to her feet very quickly. He was strong. She slid her shoes on, setting her book in the bag she'd brought, picking up her towel and shaking it out before it followed the book into the bag.

"Let me tell my friends I'm leaving." He said, nodding at her.

Haley expected him to leave her standing there, waiting for him. But instead he grabbed onto her hand, a smirk on his face as he led her over to the people he was previously with. He definitely was cocky.

"Hey guys." He said, smiling over at Haley. "I'm going to head out. I'll catch up with you later." He said, sliding on his socks and shoes, picking up his t-shirt and pulling it over his head.

"You wear running shoes to the beach?" Haley asked him, raising her eyebrows.

"I do when I run here." Nathan chuckled, grabbing onto her hand once again. "Let me show you where the best place is to get breakfast."

This was crazy. He was already holding her hand, and she wasn't even close to pulling hers away. In fact, she wanted to hold on even tighter.

He reached over, taking the beach bag from her, shifting it on his own shoulder. "I've always thought there were advantages to carrying a purse, you know. Plenty of space to keep things. And I know this isn't a purse, but I think that I'm seriously pulling it off. What do you think?" He asked her.

Haley laughed, making the decision to return his flirtatious banter with some of her own.

"Sexy. It suits you well." She said, winking at him.

Nathan felt his smile grow as he led her into a little cafe just off the beach. "I appreciate that." He said, pulling out her chair for her once they were led to their table, taking a seat across from her.

He ordered pancakes and water, raising his eyebrows when she ordered french fries and apple juice.

"It's morning." He stated, smirking at her. "French fries for breakfast?"

"I'm from the east coast. It's lunch time there." She said, smirking at him. "Unless there's a problem? I can always change my order."

"Of course not. In fact. I like the way you think." He said, standing up quickly, rushing over to the waitress, quickly changing his order, before heading back over to the table. "I threw in a milkshake as well. Told her to bring two straws, because you never know." He said, winking at her.

Haley smiled at him, laughing and shaking her head. "I suppose not." She responded, crossing her legs under the table. She felt his foot nudge against hers, raising her eyebrows. "Are you really doing that?"

"Accident." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Won't happen again." He said, grinning cheekily at her.

He was arrogant. She both disliked it, and loved it at the same time, if that was possible. One morning of flirting with a hot guy was harmless.

"So, East Coast, hm?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows. "I have some family over there. Which state?"

"North Carolina." She said, smiling at him.

"My uncle lives there. Cooper Lee? You know him by any chance?" Nathan questioned her.

Haley shook her head, feeling a little disappointed. She didn't know him, yet she suddenly wanted to.

"What brings you all the way to Stanford?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's my dream school." She said, smiling at him. "I went with my sister when she toured it, and I just fell in love."

"So you have a sister." He said, leaning back, folding his hands behind his head.

"I have three sisters. And three brothers." She informed him, shrugging. "There are seven of us."

"Really? That's so many." He chuckled, letting out a deep breath. "Where do you fall on the scale?"

"I'm the baby." She said, shaking her head. "I think my parents are relieved to be child free. Where do you fall?"

Nathan shifted slightly, looking down at the table, before looking up at her. "I guess you could say I'm the baby as well." He chuckled, shrugging. "I have the one brother. He's three months older than me."

"Oh." Haley said, suddenly feeling a little nervous about her question. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's fine. It's a little complicated." He said, waving his hand and leaning forward, resting his elbow on the table, his cheek in his palm. "Not to tell a girl I barely know my whole life story, but basically his mom dated my dad in high school. Dad got her pregnant, left her. Met my mom, got her pregnant. Married her." He said, chuckling. "I didn't start talking to him until this year, actually. When he joined the basketball team."

"So you play basketball." Haley said, changing the subject and smiling at him.

"Yeah, I do. So look for me in a few years, I'll be on billboards, all over your TV screen. You can tell your friends that you met me when I was junior in high school." He said, grinning at her.

"I'm a junior too." Haley said, shrugging slightly. "And I don't really watch sports."

"Check please." Nathan called, raising up his hand and grinning at her. "Just kidding. That's too bad. Maybe if we date I'll get you to like them."

"If we date." Haley laughed, rolling her eyes. "I live on the opposite side of the country. You don't even know my name."

"I'm sure it's beautiful. There's a certain type of mystery to this. Do you not consider what we're on right now to be a first date?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't even know you!" She said, shaking her head. "I don't know."

"Well, it's a date." He assured her, resting his hand on hers for a brief moment.

"Where are you from?" Haley asked him, raising her eyebrows.

"Stanford, actually. Believe it or not. Born and raised, unfortunately. I don't like it much. I live in a house between here and Stanford. About a fifteen minute drive to either places." He informed her, crossing his arms.

"You must know all of the great places to go. I do plan on attending school here in a couple years, so maybe I can have a leg up on everyone else?" She suggested, tracing her finger around the table.

"Are you actually suggesting we spend the day together?" He asked, grinning at her. "Because I say hell yes to that."

"Why aren't you in school today?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows.

"Day off today and tomorrow." He said, shrugging his shoulders, tugging on the collar of his t-shirt. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Flying home." She said simply, shrugging her shoulders. She desperately wished she wasn't, of course. After meeting him... There was something that made her want to stay. Pursue him.

"To?" He pushed a little, grinning at her.

"A little town called Tree Hill. Have you ever heard of it?" She finally told him, nodding her head.

"Nope." He chuckled, sighing. "But if you live there, it must be a damn good place. What are you like at home?"

"Well, I study hard." She said, shrugging. "It was difficult for me to take the time off school, not because I'd struggle to catch up, I just simply don't like to miss."

"Opposites attract, they say." He said, smiling at her. "Maybe you can help me with my homework while you're here." He joked. "My tutor sucks. I'm barely keeping my head above water."

"You may have just turned this into my dream vacation. I'd be happy to help, if you needed me to." She said, smiling at him.

He looked at her, raising his eyebrows. "I may just take you up on that. I don't know if I'd be able to focus, though. Having someone as hot as you tutoring me."

"I'm sure I could find ways to convince you." She hummed, winking at him.

"You really are something special. I can already tell you that." Nathan said, grinning at her. "I'm going to kiss you tonight, so be prepared for that. If you have a list of things you need to check off before then, so be it."

She blinked at him, raising her eyebrows. "You have to be under six-foot." She said, shrugging. "If I have to stand on my toes, you're too tall."

"I'm 5'11", so you're in luck." He said, winking at her.

"Really?" She asked him, shaking her head. "I don't believe you."

"Six foot two." He grumbled, shaking his head. "But you're like five foot, so really this isn't fair for me either!" He protested.

"Five-four!" She argued, rolling her eyes ad crossing her arms. "I guess if it's unfair to both of us, you won't be kissing me."

"Oh, I will be. If you don't want me to kiss you by the time the day is over, I guess I won't. But I already want to kiss you." He said simply, shrugging.

There was that cockiness. She really usually hated it on guys. But she was enthralled by him. If his words were true, she probably would let him kiss her.

Haley was about to say something when two plates of French fries were set in front of the table, as well as their individual drinks, then a tall milkshake.

"You weren't kidding." She laughed, looking at him.

He shook his head, setting a straw in, gesturing for her to do so.

She rolled her eyes, doing as she was told, before leaning forward and taking a drink of it, their eyes connecting.

She pulled back, laughing and pushing it towards him. "I can't. It feels too cheesy."

"It's romantic!" He argued, shaking his head. "Whatever, more for me." He grumbled, letting out a deep breath.

Haley smiled at him, resting her hand on the table, poking out her fingers to brush against his, before turning her attention to the plate of fries in front of her. It was one day. This was going to be harmless flirting. A short-lived, day long romance that she could describe to her children one day. She was going to make the most of it.

"You don't have a boyfriend, do you?" He asked her suddenly, raising his eyebrows.

"No. I'm currently in the phase where I'm working to be valedictorian, and get into Stanford. Guys don't fit into there as well as you would think. At least not the kind of guys in Tree Hill." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"What kinds of guys do they have in Tree Hill?" He asked her, nodding slowly.

"It pains me to say this, but mostly jerks. My last boyfriend was an ass." She shook her head, rolling her eyes.

Nathan had never met this guy, and he most likely never would. But he wanted to punch him in the face, just from the way she said his name. He didn't want to pry, but he also couldn't help himself.

"What happened?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows, frowning slightly.

Haley shrugged, letting out a deep breath. "Well... It's not really your business, but basically I wouldn't sleep with him, so he fulfilled his needs elsewhere. After he tried to get with my best friend, of course." She said, tapping her fingers on the table.

"Dick." Nathan grumbled, shaking his head. "I'm sorry." He said softly, reaching over and giving her hand a light squeeze. "I used to be a jerk. I still am, but not as bad. I would go from girl to girl like it was nothing. I had a girlfriend at the beginning of the year. I never really cheated on her, not physically anyways. But we broke up a lot, and I took that as an opportunity to get with other girls until we got back together." He said, letting out a deep breath. "I bullied my own brother until finally he'd had enough, and told me where to put my big mouth. Now he's one of my best friends. Within the last six months." Nathan had no idea why he was telling her this. She could've gone on for the whole day, and thought he was this perfectly charming guy. But he wanted her to know him.

Haley nodded slowly, sending him a small smile. "I'm glad that I met this guy, then." She said softly, shrugging slightly.

"Me too. Because that guy wouldn't have even made it to sitting in the sand next to you before you turned him away." Nathan chuckled, nodding at her.

"What makes you say that?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"You seem like the type of girl that doesn't want to deal with the bullshit." He said simply, smiling at her. "Let me tell you. Starting now, I won't lie to you. Besides, I only lied about my height and my interest in Shakespeare." He chuckled, holding out his hand for her to shake.

Haley shook his hand, a smile playing at her lips. "Alright. I like that." She said, before turning back to eating her fries.

They spent the whole day together. Every minute. Haley had actually accompanied Nathan back to his house, to where she helped him with his homework, before going to lunch with him, which he considered to be their second date.

They were currently at dinner, which she had beat him to it, referring to it as their third date, which caused him to laugh. They'd spent the whole entire day, just the two of them. And they had yet to learn each other's names. She knew his last name. Scott. The only way she found that out was because it was imprinted on the mailbox in front of his house. Surprisingly, they knew nearly every other detail about each other's lives. He knew she hated the color pink. She knew his favorite color was blue. And just from looking into his eyes, it was quickly becoming her favorite color as well. She knew that he was proud of getting a 78 on a test. He knew she would breakdown if she got anything less than an 89. He knew her parents were free spirit, go with the flow types of people. She knew that he had a rocky relationship with both of his parents, especially his father since he befriended his brother.

Two people that had learned so much about each other in one day, still had yet to know each other's first names, it was ridiculous. But why would they need to know names if they were alone constantly, only referring to each other?

He briefly dropped her off at her hotel, waiting outside the bathroom so that she could change out of her bathing suit. Her parents weren't at the hotel, thankfully. It would've been odd to explain the situation to them.

And now they were at dinner. Nearing the end of their day together.

"So tell me..." He trailed off, smiling at her. "How am I doing? On a scale of one to ten. How would you rate these three dates?" He asked, thanking the waiter that handed them their menus.

"Really, falling in love with you all depends on how you react to my go to dinner order." Haley joked with him, smiling slightly. "I'd say you're at a solid seven. I'll throw in an extra point because you're easy on the eyes. An eight."

"Your dinner order? Couldn't be any weirder than your breakfast." He chuckled, tugging on the collar of his polo shirt, shifting in his seat.

"You enjoyed that!" Haley laughed, smiling at him. "I take pride in everything about myself. I like being weird."

Nathan smiled at her, reaching out and grabbing her hand, hesitating for a brief moment, before kissing her knuckles lightly. "I like that."

Haley's cheeks tinted red, letting out a deep breath. "I like that you like that." She said, nodding at him.

"I think that you're outstanding." He blurted out, looking down at the table, shaking his head. "That was terrible. Not smooth at all."

She laughed, looking at him. She couldn't help but admire him. To anyone around, they must look like two people that have known each other for awhile. And it almost felt like that. It was special. The connection they had. It was a shame that they lived on different sides of the country. She didn't think that she could handle a boyfriend, let alone a long distance relationship. She thought back to the brief moment they had laid on his bed earlier today. She was very unimpressed when he led her into his bedroom, about to protest, before he pulled another chair up to his desk, and grabbed his backpack off the bed, pulling out some books. After finishing his homework, they had both ended up laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, arms touching. Every once and awhile his fingers would brush against hers, briefly hooking them together, before they went back to informing each other about their different lives.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the waiter returning, smiling slightly and ordering her favorite: Mac and Cheese.

Nathan almost choked when she said that, his eyebrows raised. He ordered prime rib quickly, before looking at her. "You're crazy!" He laughed, shaking his head.

"I told you! It's the food of gods." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, okay. If the gods are five years old." He chuckled, shaking his head. "They put that on the kids menu. Not for anyone older than twelve."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter." She said simply, shrugging. "I like it."

Nathan's breath hitched in his throat, his gaze narrowing on her. He'd never felt this strongly about anyone, let alone after one day. It was a spectacular feeling. So comfortable around someone. He could tell her anything about himself, and not feel like she was judging him, or pitying him. She had left her mark on his life, that's for sure. He wanted to chase the feeling in his heart.

"Okay." He said simply, shaking his head and laughing. "You know what you want. I respect that."

"Thank you. You've officially become a ten." She joked, winking at him and smiling.

"Yes!" He said in victory, raising his fist up. "I think this is the highest achievement I've ever achieved." He said, shaking his head.

Haley laughed, rolling her eyes. "I'm glad that I could be the one you achieved it with." She said, nodding at him. She looked at him, smiling slightly. "You know, we never talked about what you're like at school."

Nathan looked at her, letting out a deep breath. "An asshole, like I told you earlier. But I'm working on it." He said simply, shrugging. "I used to make fun of people to make myself feel better, or beat up the freshman. Just because I could. But like I said, I'm working on it. I have a temper." He said, looking down. "It's hard to keep it in check sometimes."

She smiled at him, "The hardest thing to do is admit that you need to change. Followed by actually changing." She said, shrugging. "I think that you're a great guy."

Nathan smiled at her, letting out a deep breath. "That means a lot to me." He said simply.

"I'm glad." She said softly, nodding at him.

They continued to talk, the smile never leaving either of their faces. Both of them laughing a lot more than they had in a long time.

At around ten o'clock, Nathan led her up to her hotel room, stopping in front of the door and looking at her, smiling sadly. "This is where I leave you." He said, letting out a deep breath.

Haley looked up at him, frowning slightly. She didn't want it to happen. It was crazy, but she didn't want to leave him.

Nathan held up one finger, pulling out a box from his pocket. "One last thing to remember me by." He said, holding up a box of Cracker Jacks. "If it's a ring, I'll propose to you right now." He chuckled, winking down at her.

She laughed, watching him open the package. He closed his eyes for a moment, before tearing it open, pulling a colored bracelet out of the wrapping.

"This works, I guess." He chuckled, holding it open a bit wider with his hand, lifting hers and sliding it onto her wrist. "Don't say I never gave you anything." He said, smirking at her.

Haley looked up at him, her heart racing. This was absolutely crazy. She'd never done anything like this. She'd met people, and never seen or talked to them again plenty of times. But never had she spent the whole day with someone, and left them without learning their name.

She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him down slowly.

Nathan smiled, his arms wrapping around her waist, tugging her up lightly and meeting her halfway, kissing her softly.

Haley wasn't sure how long they'd kissed. Probably a solid five minutes. It escalated quickly from a soft kiss, to him pressing her body up against the wall outside of her hotel room.

But it ended too quickly. Much too quickly.

She blinked her eyes open when he parted, watching as he gave her another sad smile, pressing one last kiss to her lips.

He whispered a quiet goodbye, and then he was gone from her arms. He walked to the elevator, making eye contact with her, and raising his hand to wave goodbye to her, before the doors shut.

Haley let out a deep breath, leaning back against the door, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist. She didn't even know his name.

She'd never see him again.

Until now.