Hi guys! I'm so so so sorry for not updating. A lot has been happening lately and I just couldn't find the time to do it. But that didn't stop me from watching the season finale though lol. I was literally shouting "no!" when it ended. Oh well, four months till the next season. I suppose we all could wait it out. Anybody upset that there just wasn't enough Naley moments this season? I am! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Took me a long time to write this but here you go. I hope you'll like it. Sorry it's a bit shorter than normal. As usual, let me know what you guys think. Cheers! ;)

Chapter 7

Nathan came out of the bathroom after a long shower. He looked around the bedroom for Haley but the room was empty. He walked over to the bedside table and noticed a note. Opening it slowly, he read Haley's handwriting. Sorry, I have to go to the office early. I'll see you later. Haley. A jumble of thoughts went through his head at that moment. He couldn't make out what the note meant. Sure it said that she had already left for work, but he had a feeling it meant much more than that.

With a sigh, he picked up his clothes from the floor. He remembered last night and couldn't help but smile. He couldn't get over the fact that she had been in bed. With him. He reached over for his cell phone on the bedside table and noticed that there were a few messages for him. He didn't want to be bothered with them just yet. He had more important things to do right now. Like seeing the woman he loved. Images of last night flashed in his head, making him smile again.

Flashback

He woke up with a jolt, his eyes darting around the darkened room looking for signs to tell him that it was real. Or wasn't. He didn't need to look far when he felt something heavy on his arm. He looked down and smiled and brought one hand to her face, softly caressing her cheek. She gave a small sigh and her eyes fluttered open, confusion written on her face.

"Hey, sorry. Did I wake you?" he said into her eyes. He still couldn't get over the fact that she was here, in bed next to him.

"No, you didn't," Haley said shyly, suddenly remembering where she was. She turned her head so she didn't have to look at him. Looking out the window she saw that it was raining.

Nathan touched her chin gently. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked worriedly, his worst fear that maybe she was regretting it came to mind.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just trying to take this all in."

"Are you regretting it?"

"No, it's just that-" she let her words trail.

He propped himself up on one elbow to give him better access to her face. "What is it?" he asked.

She looked at his handsome face and said, "What's gonna happen tomorrow? Where do we go from here?"

"The only way we can go. Forward," he said softly and brought his face down to give her a soft kiss. She kissed him back hungrily making him moan. "You are seriously driving me crazy, Haley James," he managed to say before pulling her to him again, unable to wait to explore her body again.

End of flashback

Nathan quickly got dressed as his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and sighed. "Hi Rachel. Look I can't talk right now. I'll call you later ok," he said and quickly hung up before she got a chance to reply.

Peyton walked into her office to find that Haley was already in her room, her head bent as she looked through the papers strewn all over her usually neat desk. "Wow, am I late or are you weirdly early?"

"I'm early," she said without looking up.

Peyton looked at her friend curiously. She knew that Haley was always came to the office ahead of her, but there was something unusual about her today. She seemed to be working on an overdrive, her hands moving in swift motions as she flicked through the stacks of paperwork on her table. "Haley, are you ok? You seem oddly robotic today."

"I'm fine. I just realised last night that I've got a lot of things to do, so here I am."

"Ok, if you say so. But I still don't believe you," she said and walked over to Haley, making herself comfortable on her desk. "So," she said carefully. "Are you still going on that date with Michael?"

"Yes I am," she answered simply.

"But what about Nathan?"

Haley put down her pen and dared herself to look at Peyton. "What about him?" she asked Peyton, watching her as she traced the rim of her coffee mug.

"Nothing. Nevermind. Anyway, what did you do last night while I was away?" Peyton asked. She couldn't believe that they still hadn't let each other know how they felt. It seemed really ridiculous to her as they were obviously made for each other.

Haley felt a rising panic in her throat. Shit! Does she know? she wondered, but as she looked at her friend, her face didn't reveal anything.

"Nothing, I went out with Nathan. We watched a movie and that's it," she said carefully. "Anyway, could you not tell Nathan about me going out with Michael tonight? I don't want him to freak out on me."

Haley tapped her pen nervously. Her decision to go out with Michael tonight might not be the best one she had ever made, but she needed the distraction. And she needed someone to talk to. Someone who didn't know Nathan, which ruled out Peyton and the rest of the gang. And for some reason she trusted Michael.

"Haley, he's going to find out anyway but if that's what you want, my lips are sealed," Peyton said, reassuring her.

Haley looked at her gratefully. "Thanks P. Sawyer. So enough about me, how did last night go for you and Jake?"

For the first time that morning, Peyton's face broke out in a smile so wide, Haley had to grin. "It was really good. It's been so long since we last spent time together, I mean just the two of us. Not with you guys hovering around us. And the sex. Wow!"

Haley made a disgusted face and covered her ears. "Ewwww I so did not need to know that. Ugh! I think my ears are bleeding."

Peyton laughed out loud at her reaction. "Ok fine. I suppose I should get to work," she said and went over to her office.

Haley mulled over her date tonight with Michael and thought of Nathan. Just thinking about him automatically brought her back to last night. She felt a rising lump in her throat and quickly swallowed. She was a million miles away when somebody walked into the office. Looking up, she saw that it was the last person she wanted to see at that moment.

"Hey," Nathan said and went over to her to give her a kiss, surprised when she turned her head so he would kiss her cheek instead. He looked at her in confusion.

She managed to muster a smile. "Hey yourself. What are you doing here?" she asked. She couldn't help it but just the sight of him made her heart flutter.

"Well you left so early that I didn't get a chance to give you a morning kiss," he said, smiling down at her and noticed that she didn't look as happy to see him as he would like her to be. "Hales, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, I have a lot of work to do," she said and returned her attention to the papers on her table.

Nathan laid his hand on hers and said, "Hales, stop it. Will you look at me and tell me what's wrong?"

She pulled her hand away and felt the tears threatening to fall. "I told you, I'm busy."

"Obviously something's bothering you. Dammit Haley, I thought after last night we had something going here." He looked at her in frustration. He thought that knowing her for twenty four years would make her a privy to all her thoughts, but obviously she still found it difficult to let people in on her feelings, especially when it came to him. "Look, you're obviously upset about something. Why don't we talk it over tonight."

"I can't. Not tonight."

"Why not?"

"I have something to do tonight."

"What do you have to do?"

"Nathan, just because we had sex last night doesn't give you the right to know everything that's happening in my life."

"Funny, coz I thought I am part of what's happening in your life," Nathan said angrily. "And just so you know, maybe last night was just sex to you but it sure as hell meant something to me. So why don't you just go do whatever the hell is you gotta do tonight."

"Fine! I was planning to anyway," Haley retorted, her voice full of anger.

"Fine!" Nathan yelled and stormed out of her office, slamming the door behind him on his way out.

Haley closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Whoa! What the hell happened in here?" she heard Peyton ask ask she ran into her office. "Was that Nathan?"

"Yeah it was. We sorta had a fight."

"Obviously. He looked really upset."

"It's nothing. Just one of our stupid fights," Haley said, not wanting to share more. Luckily, she and Nathan had a long history of arguments and Peyton didn't ask more. I really need to go out tonight. She thought.

Haley was quiet most of the night from the moment Michael picked her up until now, when they were walking along the beach in Jacksonville. She had purposely avoided being seen in Tree Hill with Michael and had suggested they explore Jacksonville, although he didn't offer Michael any explanation.

"I'm guessing Nathan doesn't know that you're out with me tonight?" he asked in amusement.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you practically begged me to come all the way to Jacksonville by giving me some lame ass excuse that you wanted to see the beach. That kinda gave it away," he said grinning.

Haley sighed. She knew she was being unfair to Michael. "I'm sorry. This is awful. You're having a horrible time. I'm having a horrible time. I don't even know what the hell I'm doing?"

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm actually having a great time."

Haley looked at him in disbelief. "Are you crazy? We drove all the way to Jacksonville so that Nathan won't know I'm out with you tonight. The food at that stupid Italian restaurant was horrible. Who the hell puts tomato ketchup in spaghetti sauce?"

Michael laughed out loud. "Come on Haley. You gotta admit. It was pretty funny. The look on your face when you took your first bite? That was priceless."

"Shut up!" Haley said although she couldn't help but laugh, which quickly turned into a sigh. "Oh Michael, I don't know what I'm doing with my life anymore."

"Do you wanna talk about it? I'm a good listener."

Haley went quiet. She was torn between telling him and keeping it to herself, but she needed to tell someone. "I slept with Nathan last night," she said in a matter-of-fact manner.

Michael gave a low whistle. "Wow! That's good right?"

"How do you know it's good, smart ass?"

"Come on Haley. The first time I saw you at the airport, you brushed me off and practically flew into Nathan's arms the moment you saw him."

"Well, that's because at that time I thought you were a creep," Haley said guiltily. "Sorry."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that your face lights up every time you see him. And I see that every time I see you two together."

Haley looked the other to avoid Michael's gaze. "You don't know him Michael."

"But you do. I also know that you love this guy. So why is the fact that you slept with him make you sad?"

Haley laughed nervously. "Wow, you can tell all that from those one or two times we met?"

"Yeah, you are that transparent Haley. Now come on. Tell me what's on your mind."

She finally relented and told him what happened, from the moment he picked her up for dinner until the morning after. When she finally finished, Michael looked at the ground thoughtfully.

"Did you tell him this?" Michael finally asked. Haley shaking her head gave him the answer. "Haley, it could be nothing. And you running away from it instead of asking him about it is not gonna do you any good. And he came to see you this morning right? Isn't that a good thing?"

"I don't know Michael. I'm just so confused. I've never told this to anyone, but I do love him."

"Yeah, I figured as much. So how long have you known him anyway?" Michael asked, burying his feet in the sand.

"Since we were practically babies. I remember growing up, he was always overly protective," Haley said, smiling at the memory.

"You're lucky Haley, to have someone love you that much. Man, I'd give anything to have that," Michael said ruefully.

Haley laughed and looked disbelievingly at the handsome man standing next to her. "Come on Michael. You're handsome, successful and have more money than I could ever dream of. What girl wouldn't want you?"

"And that my dear girl, is where the problem lies. Most girls I go out with only like me because I'm rich and I'll have you know that it sucks."

"Yeah, I can imagine that it does. So tell me, what kind of girl do you like? Maybe I can set you up with someone."

Michael became quiet, his eyes vacant as he looked like he was a million miles away. "Someone like you," he said quietly.

Haley linked his arm with his and grinned. "Well, that's too bad, coz I'm one in a million."

"Yeah, I know," he said, and stopped in his tracks. He turned to her and held her at arm's length. "Nathan's lucky to have you to love."

Before she knew it and could muster a protest, he bent his head and captured her lips in a soft kiss. A few seconds later, they both pulled away and smiled.