Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters

Thanks for the reviews I got on the first 2 chapters. I would really love to be getting more reviews, but I'm thankful for the ones I do get. And thank all of you who've put this on their favorite stories and story alerts. I really appreciate it! Please review for this next chapter and let me know what you think!

Chapter 3: Teenagers

Haley woke up Monday morning and the sun was shining through her window illuminating her room. She sat up and ran her hands through her hair before standing up and walking over to her mirror. Her hair was shiny once again and held the body it had days before. Her skin was no longer the pale color it had been. Her natural tan had come back. Her lips were once again full and held the cherry color they had before. Her eyes were no longer dull, they showed the dark brown chocolate color and the flecks of green. She was so glad that she had fed that weekend. And not only did she look better because of it, but she felt better.

She could already tell she wasn't as cranky and her attitude towards the day was improving. The only thing she had to worry about was Carrie and what she did to Nathan.

Haley walked over to her TV and turned it on. She saw that it was on the local news channel and she kept it there as she looked through her closet for something to wear. She picked out a black and red bra and put on a black tank top over it. She pulled a tight long sleeve V neck shirt out of her closet and slipped it on. She walked over to her dresser and looked through her drawers for a pair of shorts to wear. She was looking through her drawers when she heard something on the news that caught her attention.

"And the search continues you for two boys who went missing late Saturday night," the news anchor said. Haley stood up and walked over to her TV and turned it up to hear more. Soon two pictures flashed on the screen. One boy she recognized instantly. He was the one Rachel brought to the party. "Tree Hill High senior Andrew Hartman and Duke University sophomore Cory Morris were last seen Saturday night at a party at Duke University. Both the friends and family of Andrew and Cory said they have not seen or heard from them since late Saturday."

Haley couldn't believe she was hearing that these boys had gone missing. One of them went to school with her. He was the one that she last saw with Rachel. Rachel had to know something, Haley knew she had too. She was with him that night. She looked at the screen at the two pictures, Cory, had short dark brown hair with blue eyes and dimples when he smiled. "The police are urging anyone who may have information about what's happened to these two boys, to come forward." Haley shook her head and quickly shut her TV off. She knew what she'd heard was going to be bugging her all day. All she wanted was to figure out what happened to them.

She walked back over to her dresser, trying to put the news of the disappearing boys out of her head, and she continued to get dressed. She settled on a pair short black pin striped shorts and a pair of red flats. She straightened her hair, which she rarely ever did and made her eyes darker by wearing dark eye shadow. Haley slipped a necklace with a long chain over her head. It had a heart charm on the chain. She flattened it against her chest before checking her reflection again. She decided she was fine with the way she looked that day.

She was about to walk out of her room before she heard the phone begin to ring. She knew that her parents weren't up yet so she went to answer it. "Hello?" she said and waited for the person on the other line to answer. God only knew who was calling this morning. Most days she got calls from the boys at her school who casually called to ask about an assignment and then said something about going on a date. Every once in awhile she would say yes, but usually the answer was no.

"Did you see the news?" Brooke's voice asked. Haley let out a sigh of relief at hearing her voice. "Isn't that the boy that Rachel took to the party? I had no idea he went missing!" she said barely taking time to breathe.

"I saw it," Haley said, "and the boy from Duke who's missing too. I wonder what happened. Do you think Rachel might know? I mean I'm not saying she had anything to do with it or anything, just I wonder if she knows anything."

"I heard from Peyton that the police had already questioned her and cleared her yesterday. Apparently she and Andrew went "separate ways" during the party and she hooked up with one of the frat guys. They even asked him and he confirmed it."

"Well that's good," Haley said, "I mean at least that way Rachel won't look like she had anything to do with it. Not that she did."

Haley could hear Brooke talking and going on about things she'd heard about the boys that went missing. Haley was still pretty much in shock that they were missing. When that night started, it just seemed like any other night. But it sure didn't end like one. Haley's head was still reeling with the news she'd learned. There had to be an explanation. She didn't know why she was getting so worked up about it, she didn't have anything to do with it. She wasn't going to get herself worked up about it. She was going to leave it to the police to figure out what happened.

In the mean time, she was going to focus on what was going on with her. Like Carrie and Nathan. She was really dying to know what had happened between them on Saturday. She hadn't seen Carrie since Saturday and she had no idea what happened between her and Nathan. And she didn't feel like she could casually bring it up in a conversation. What was she going to say? 'So, did you have fun at the party? Did you end up feeding off Nathan?' No! She couldn't say something like that. She was sure Carrie would bring it up on her own. She was one to talk about her conquests. And besides, she wouldn't even need to ask her. If she saw Nathan and saw that he looked drained and exhausted, she would know what happened.

I'm gonna go on
Livin' like I never met you
And it'll feel wrong at first
But I think I can forget you
Ignore the fact that we sleep
No more than three feet apart
I feel you now
You're all around me, underneath me
You're all around me, underneath me


Haley parked her Audi in her usual parking spot. It was like everyone knew she was going to park there, so they didn't. She got out of her car and grabbed her bag before starting to walk to the door. The stares and murmurs of the other students, mainly the guys, didn't go unnoticed. She could practically read their lips like a novel as she watched them. They were all saying the usually things they said about her and the other girls. She ignored the comments and continued to walk past the people who were talking to her. She got the same treatment when she walked inside. But she also heard them talking about the fact that Andrew, had gone missing.

She started to wonder what people would think about the fact that one of their own, had gone missing. She was sure Principal Turner would make an announcement about it and would say something about police being there if anyone had something they needed to say. She didn't think that anyone there knew anything more than she did. All she knew was that he went to the party on Saturday night and clearly he wasn't the one who ended the night with Rachel. Who knew how he ended the night.

Haley walked up to her locker and turned the lock to open it. She started to put her books away when she suddenly went tense. A familiar scent caught her by surprise and could feel that Nathan was somewhere near by. She didn't understand why she was so drawn to him when she'd never even had any physical contact with him. It wasn't like his hand had ever even brushed hers by accident. She'd never so much as touched him. So she couldn't understand why she was so connected to him. She didn't know why his scent and his presence affected her so much. She turned her head and he walked behind her and towards his locker.

She was happy to see that it didn't look like he'd lost any of his color. Which meant that he shouldn't have lost his blood. From the side she could see, it didn't look like there were any marks on his neck. That was another good sign. Nathan turned and looked in her direction and she quickly looked away from him. Nathan tried to hide his smirk and shook his head. He grabbed his books for his first class before going to walk past her again. He stopped a few steps away from her, wanting to say something to her, but instead, he shook his head and kept walking.

Well, how was I to know
That what we carved in stone
Would be so temporary?
Well, how was I to know
That my first crack in luck
Would not be the last?
It won't be the last

Haley turned and watched him leave before letting out a frustrated sigh. She shook her head before slamming her locker shut and walking in the opposite direction for her first class. She was annoyed that Nathan didn't seem to want to talk to her this morning. Was he mad at her? Or did he just not like her because of Carrie? What if she had said something to him that made him not want to talk to her? All these questions were flying around in her head and she didn't know what to do. The last thing she wanted was for Nathan to be mad at her. But at the same time, she couldn't help but think, what if it was a good thing? If he wasn't around, she couldn't be tempted to use him. And that was the last thing she wanted to do.

But then again, she couldn't seem to get him out of her head. She found herself thinking about him at the most random times, and wanting to be around him more and more. Which was weird since they hadn't ever really gotten to know each other. She'd never even seen him until last week. She walked into her class and tried to stop thinking about him. She didn't want him to be occupying her thoughts all the time. It wasn't doing anything for her, and she knew that. She was grateful for the distraction when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She pulled it out glanced up at her teacher to make sure that he wasn't looking at her. She saw a familiar name on the screen she saw that she had a text message. She flipped her phone open and opened the text. We need to talk. Meet me at your house after school. Haley didn't know what they needed to talk about, but she could tell just from this message that whatever it was, was serious. They hadn't talked in awhile considering they'd been away from each for awhile. She could only imagine what they needed to talk about. She wasn't sure whether she was excited or scared.

It's in the air now
Bitter tears and broken hearts
We're teenagers
We count the years we think we're smart
But we're not
We don't know anything


Nathan sat at a table in the quad with his friends during lunch. He wanted to be mad at Haley for the way she acted the night of the party, and for the fact that he saw her go off with some guy. That was the part that really got to him. He'd been falling for this girl from afar for a while now, and when he finally got the chance to talk to her, she started acting weird to him. He knew he wasn't the only one who was feeling something. There was clearly something there. But now she was acting weird and pushing him away. And going off with random guys at parties. He didn't know Haley that well, he knew that, but she didn't seem like the type do that. She wasn't Rachel or Carrie. But he didn't understand her.

"So how'd that party go the other night man?" Skills asked breaking Nathan's train of thought. Nathan shook his head and shrugged. "Oh," Skills said, "that good huh?"

"It was fine, I mean nothing really happened. I didn't stay that long."

"Did anything happen with Haley? I mean she was the one you went for? Did you even get a chance to talk to her?"

"We talked," Nathan said, "but nothing happened, she ended her night with some guy, so… obviously there's nothing going on with us. I did try to make her a little jealous though," he admitted.

"Oh yeah?" Mouth asked, "how?"

"I danced with Carrie a little bit."

"Carrie man?" Skills asked, "I mean she's hot as hell but, come on! Who knows what you might have gotten just from dancing with her. Girl's easy."

"I know, I just thought… I just thought it would make Haley jealous to see me dancing with her. But I really don't think she cared."

"Why do you say that?" Jake asked him while taking a drink from his water bottle.

"She was with some guy so… obviously she doesn't care about me that much."

Nathan shook his head just thinking about watching Haley go off with that guy. He hated that he couldn't get that image out of his head. It pissed him off just thinking about what might have happened between the two of them. He didn't want to think about it at all. He looked up and saw Haley and her friends walking through the quad to a table where they wanted to sit. Carrie looked at him and he could see the bit of an angry look on her face but he honestly didn't care. He looked away from her and over at Haley. She sent him a shy smile before walking with her friends to their table.

He wanted to be mad at her, but just seeing her, made him forget why. He didn't want to be mad at her, but he couldn't deny that he was hurt by what happened. And he hated that he let what she did affect him so much. He didn't even really know her. But he wanted to know her. He told her that and she pretty much blew him off and went with some guy. But he still couldn't help but not be mad at her. Not matter how much he wanted to hold on to this and just get over her, he couldn't.

"Nathan?" he heard a few moments later and looked up and saw Haley standing next to where he was sitting. Jake, Skills and Mouth all stared up at her in amazement. They couldn't believe she was standing there waiting to talk to one of their friends. Nathan looked her up and down before looking at her face. She was biting her lip waiting for him to say something back to her. She twisted the ring on her finger nervously as she waited. "Yeah?" Nathan said a moment later.

"Can I talk to you real fast? It won't take long… I just need to say a few things."

So don't ask me where I'll go
'Cause, frankly, I don't know
And I don't give a shit
Why must we all make sense?
Oh, I just won't make sense
For once, I'm just gonna live
I'm just gonna live

Nathan nodded and stood up and began to walk away from the table. Haley followed next to him trying to think of the right words to say. "So I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted on Saturday. It was rude and I'm really sorry about it." Nathan shook his head and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter."

"But it does," she said, "I feel really bad. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. I mean you came to the party to talk to me and-"

"That's what you think?" Nathan asked, "that I only went because of you?"

"Sorry," Haley said and tucked her hair behind her ears, "that made me sound pretty full of myself huh? Of course you didn't come just because of me."

"No," Nathan said and smirked, "I did go because of you." Haley smiled and shook her head before crossing her arms over her chest. "I did go because of you," Nathan continued, "but I shouldn't have. It was a stupid idea, because clearly, you wanted to spend your night with… whoever that guy was."

"Oh God," Haley said, "you saw me with him? I swear that it's not what it looked like. I mean I know what you're thinking and, it wasn't even that at all. I'm not that type of girl to just… find some random guy and sleep with him."

"I didn't think you were, but what was that about?"

"It was… it's… it's really complicated. You wouldn't understand. But I promise that it wasn't what it looked like." She hated that he'd seen her with that guy. She knew what he must have thought of her now and she wished more than anything that he hadn't seen her with him. She didn't want Nathan to think any less of her and she knew now he must have. She hated herself right now. First of all, she made Nathan think that she didn't want him, that he wasn't good enough for her. Second of all, she'd hurt him by making him think she'd went off and slept with some random guy.

"Haley you don't owe me any explanation or anything for that matter. So stop worrying about it. Really, it doesn't matter."

"I just, don't want you to think that I thought I was…" she struggled to find words to say.

"It's ok Haley," he said reassuringly.

She nodded as they started to walk back towards their tables. She knew that he said it was ok, and she knew he was right. They didn't know each other anyway and he was right, she didn't really owe him anything. But still keeping that in mind, she couldn't help but think that even though he said it was ok, it really wasn't. She still felt bad and she still felt like she had to worry about him and Carrie.

"So," Haley said, "did you have fun with Carrie?"

"No," Nathan said, "I didn't really want to hang out with her so I left early. Nothing happened with us if that's what you're wondering," he said and she didn't miss the smirk on his face. Haley tried to contain the smile that was coming to her face. She loved the fact that nothing happened between them. She knew she would have been devastated if something had happened. Nathan didn't know it, but that little bit of news he just told her, made her day.


Haley pulled up to her house after school and saw the sleek black Mercedes E350 Coupe parked in her driveway. She let out a nervous sigh as she parked her car next to it. She saw him sitting in the drivers seat with his sunglasses on over his eyes. She stopped her car and he turned and looked at her through the window. When she got out of the car she heard him turn his car off and then heard the door open. "Haley," he said walking over to her, "we need to talk."

"That's what your text said," she said as she walked towards the front door with him behind her. She unlocked the door and walked in with him behind her. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I saw the news this morning. About the two missing boys."

"And what, you think I had something to do with it?" she asked and turned to look at him. He was wearing a pair of dark washed jeans and white t-shirt. His hair was kept short like always and it still held the same light brown color as the last time she saw him.

"You know that's not what I'm saying. I don't think you had anything to do with it. I just think that someone… close to you had something to do with it. You know who I'm talking about."

"Yeah, I do. I knew she was with him the other night, but I don't know if she had anything to do with it. I mean I know that Rachel can be…"

"A huge bitch," he finished for her.

"Ok I wasn't going to say that, but now that you did, ok she can be a bitch. But she's my friend. And she has been since we were young and I don't think she had anything to do with it. I don't know how she could ever do anything to hurt someone. I mean not like feeding on them, but you know what I mean," she said stumbling on her words. "I just don' think she's capable of doing anything like what you're thinking."

"Haley," he said taking a step closer to her, "you may think you know her, but you could be wrong. Some people are capable of more than you know. Believe me, I would know. Look Hales, all I'm saying is… you just need to be careful. Rachel… and Carrie, I don't trust them. And I don't trust them around you. I just want you to look out for yourself. As your maker-"

"Do you really have to call yourself my maker?" she asked

"As your maker," he continued, "and as one of your best friends, I just want to make sure that you're ok. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Thank you," she said and hugged him. He held her tight and rubbed her back soothingly. "I really do appreciate it," she said.

"Of course," he said, "I promised that I would protect you. I promised you and myself that I would protect you from anything. Even if that means protecting you from people you think are your friends."

"Clay," she said, "I promise I can take care of myself."

Clayton smiled and the two of them sat down on the couch in the living room and he said, "believe me, I know you can. You came a long way from the night I changed you. I can tell. But just because you can do everything on your own, doesn't mean you have to. I'm here for you Hales."

"I know you are. And I love you for that," she said and kissed his cheek that had a little stubble on it. "You didn't shave today," she said and touched his cheek before leaning back into the cushions.

"You always get on me about that," he said rubbing his cheek. "I would have if I'd known it was going to get me in trouble."

"You're not in trouble," she said, "I was just simply making an observation," she said and laughed, "but next time shave."

Clay laughed and looked back at Haley and smiled. "There's something different about you," he said, "I don't know what it is but you seem… I don't know. Like there's something that's really getting to you."

"Well there kind of is," she said, "but I'm trying to not worry about it."

"What's going on?" he asked

"There's this guy…"

"That's what that smell is. I can smell him on you," he said and picked at the material of her shirt. "He's got a strong scent," he said.

"Yeah, I know. I don't know what it is about him. There's something about him that… it's not like any other guy. He's different some how."

"You want to feed off him don't you?"

"Well I do," she said, "but I don't at the same time. There's something about him that I just… I don't want to used him like that. I wouldn't feel ok with it. I couldn't just use him and leave him like that."

"It's not like he would remember it," he said.

"It doesn't matter. I would. And I'm not ok with it."

"You're a better person than me Hales," Clay said, "I would feed off whoever I want."

"Normally I would too," she said and smiled. She was so happy that Clay was here. At first she was worried about what would happen when he talked to her. When he texted her this morning, she thought he was mad at her for something. She couldn't think of what it would be since she hadn't seen him in months. But she was glad he was back now. When Clay first changed her that night, she would have never thought that he would end up being one of her best friends in the long run. But she was glad he was. She trusted him more than she would have ever expected.

We're teenagers
(We don't know anything)
We're teenagers
(We don't know anything)


Carrie walked up to her room and she couldn't deny the fact that she was in a bad mood today. She hated the fact that Nathan had left her the other night. She didn't get to feed of him like she wanted, and she was sure that Haley was just so happy about that. She didn't know what it was about Haley and Nathan, but the idea of them together pissed her off. Haley shouldn't get him if she couldn't have him. It wasn't fair. Everyone loved Haley, why should she get Nathan too? It wasn't fair at all!

She walked past Rachel's room and she saw that the door was open. She looked in and saw Rachel sitting on some guys lap. "At least shut the door if you're gonna be doing that," Carrie said. Rachel turned to face her and Carrie saw that she was feeding off him. They were only supposed to feed once a week. They never fed more than once. It was a rule. "What the hell are you doing?" Carrie asked, "we don't feed more than once a week!"

"You say it like I don't already know that," Rachel said using the back of her hand to wipe away the blood that was around her mouth. Rachel got off the guy that was sitting on her bed. Carrie saw the blood on his neck and down his chest. "Don't look so mad Carrie," Rachel said, "go have some if you want," she motioning to the guy on her bed, "I'm gonna go get a new pair of sheets," she said looking at the blood stains on her bed. She walked past Carrie and down the stairs. Carrie looked at the guy on her bed.

She could tell he was almost drained completely. His scent was strong and wafting through the air. She smirked before going over to where the guy was sitting. Even in his dazed state she could see the fear in his eyes as he looked up at her. "Oh," she said, "you're scared." She tilted his head to the side and she could feel him trying to resist, but he wasn't strong enough. She smiled at him and he saw her fangs and the venom on them. She leaned towards his neck and bit into his flesh and she could feel his blood flowing into her mouth. She didn't give a shit that she was breaking the rules. Screw the rules. Right now, she wanted to feel better, and this was helping.

Well, how was I to know
That what we carved in stone
Would be so temporary?
(I'm gonna go on)
Why must we all make sense?
Oh, I just won't make sense
For once, I'm just gonna live
I'm just gonna live