Chapter 2
Haley walked into the house very slowly. Instantly, she was reminded of all the times she and Nathan shared in this house, and of course the one moment she wished she could do over again. Haley tried not to notice that Nathan was standing in a corner by himself, apparently hiding from her. What was she going to say to him? It had been three years, but Haley still hadn't thought of what to say to him after all this time. She was interrupted from her thoughts by a bouncing blonde right in her face.
"Omygosh, you must be Haley!" She shrieked, "Wow, am I happy to meet you. I know this must be a little awkward seeing as you and Nathan used to go out, but it's totally fine with me because he is soooo in love with me So I don't feel threatened by you what so ever. Oh, was that bitchy? I didn't mean to be bitchy. I'm just a little cranky lately because of this whole wedding thing. I mean, what is up with me not being in the wedding? I'm Nathan's girlfriend and since it's his brother's wedding I should at least get to stand next to him on the altar or something. Not to mention all this wedding talk is drawing my attention to the fact that I am 24, have been going out with Nathan for three years, and STILL don't have a rock on my finger!"
Haley was overwhelmed by all that came out of this girl's mouth. She chuckled slightly, "I'm sorry I didn't catch that,"
A look of concern dawned on the girl's face, "Oh are you," her voice dropped lower, "a little slow?"
That was Haley's breaking point, "Clare? Is it? I'm not normally like this but I drove six hours to get here, so I feel like being a little bitchy, as you so eloquently put it. I was actually referring to the fact that your stupid mouth was blabbering so damn fast that I didn't understand a word you said!"
The room stared at Haley in shocked silence, except for Rachel who was doing a little happy dance over in the corner.
Haley took a deep breath, "And now that I am royally pissed off, I will be going up to my room to sleep. Hi Nathan, sorry for yelling at your girlfriend."
With that Haley stomped up the stairs, leaving the whole room to brew over what just happened.
"Was it something I said?" Clare asked everyone
Rachel took a deep breath. It was taking everything Rachel had not to beat the shit out of the girl in front of her, "Why don't we figure out what to do for dinner tonight?"
"That sounds like a great idea babe," Lucas said, "You and the girls go into the kitchen. I want to talk to Nathan for a sec,"
Rachel lead the way and the three other girls made their way through the house to the kitchen.
"Hmm, what could you have to talk to me about?" Nathan said sarcastically
"Nate, I know this is weird, but I would like you to at least try and keep tabs on Clare so Haley doesn't self-destruct. Maybe you guys could learn to be friends on this trip," Lucas replied
Nathan sighed after a moment, "You're lucky you're getting married,"
Lucas smiled, "Thanks Nathan. I think this is going to be a good thing,"
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An hour and a half later, Haley walked back downstairs to talk to everybody. Haley decided to apologize to Clare. She had let her emotions get the best of her, and even though Clare deserved a pole shoved in her eye, Haley didn't deal with things this way. Before she could make it over to Clare, Haley was grabbed by Rachel and brought into another room.
"Haley I swear I have never been so proud of anyone in my entire life. You told her off! I have been wanting to do that for the past three weeks!" Rachel said
Haley laughed, "I'm glad to bring you such joy, but I'm going to apologize to her."
"Why?" Rachel whined
Haley laughed again, "Because as much as she deserved it, I'm a better person than that,"
"Fine," Rachel huffed
"Would it make you feel better if we bitched out a store clerk when we go shopping tomorrow?" Haley asked sarcastically
Rachel sighed, "I guess,"
Haley laughed, "C'mon, I'm sure they're dying in there with Dimbo"
Rachel giggled, "That's good,"
Brooke and Peyton jumped up when Haley and Rachel entered the room.
"Guys! We're so glad you're here," Brooke said desperately
"Brooke, we were just in the other room," Haley replied a little confused. Could Clare really be that bad?
"Right," Peyton said searching for an answer to cover Brooke's attitude, "But you know, you live in Charlotte, so we miss you,"
Rachel and Haley shared a knowing look, "Okay,"
"Hey, Clare?," Haley asked
"Yes?" Clare replied snippily
Rachel rolled her eyes.
Haley took a deep breath to control her temper "I just wanted to apologize about earlier. I was just really tired and I had no right to yell at you,"
Clare shrugged, "Whatever, It's okay"
Haley took another breath, Rachel was going to kill her for her next line, "Would you like to come shopping with us before the rehearsal tomorrow?"
Haley tried to ignore the three death glares coming her way.
Clare smiled, "I'd like that. Thanks Haley,"
Haley waved her hand, "Not a problem. Would you mind if I stole your boyfriend for a sec? I need to talk to him about something,"
"Sure, but know that I'll be watching," Clare said threateningly
Haley laughed nervously, "Alright! Nate, can we talk?"
Nathan nodded and followed her outside.
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Haley took a deep breath once they got outside, "Hi,"
"Hey," Nathan replied
"Look, I'm not going to lie to you. Three years ago you broke my heart and made me feel like shit. But, that was a long time ago and this is Lucas and Rachel's moment, so I wanted to know if we could just be friends for the time being and when this is all over we'll go back to normal. So Friends?" Haley said sticking her hand out
Nathan shook her hand slowly, "Friends"
Haley gave him a small smile, "Alright then, we better get back inside before Clare sends out a search party,"
Nathan watched her walk away and it hit him. Breaking up with her was the worst mistake of his life. He dumbass bitch of a current girlfriend basically called her stupid and threw their relationship in Haley's face and Haley handled it perfectly. Nathan still loved her and was determined to get her back and keep her for good.