Authors Note- Hey guys! Chapter 7 is here. I didn't really think that I would have the time or energy to get this chapter posted today, but I was driving and the song Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls came on and for some reason it really made me want to write. More specifically it made me want to write Naley. The comments people have left also helped, so thanks to everyone who comments! HAHA. So here it is. I hope you enjoy reading it, because I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 7 :: Iris

I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am

Dear Haley,

Mouth here, writing to you via snail mail all the way from Tree Hill. This might seam slightly strange to you, given that we live in a society that is extremely dependent on the Internet and cell phones. But, I couldn't take the chance of some cyber space genius getting a hold of it. Plus Skills always figures out my password and reads my stuff. Anyway, that just goes to show you how important this is. Or at least how pathetically paranoid I am. But, anyway I've always gone to you for advice on girls. And, I really need some advice right now. Even more than I did back in third grade...

Flashback - 3rd Grade

"What happened?" Haley eagerly questioned one of her best friends Mouth as he approached her on the playground. The awkward boy had decided to bravely ask Claire Young, the girl he had a gigantic crush on, to be his girlfriend. It took a lot of coaching from Haley, but the spikey haired boy had finally done it.

"I knew I shouldn't have bothered." Mouth mumbled as he hung his head low and fought back tears. Boys weren't supposed to cry. He was already considered a geek, so crying really wasn't an option. He had to be tough.

"What? Don't tell me she said no." The future scholar asked in disbelief. Haley James just couldn't understand why people made fun of Mouth so much. In her eyes he was one of the sweetest, most caring boys she knew. While the other boys in the third grade enjoyed placing bugs in girls hair, Mouth would leave dandelions on their desk and hold doors open for them. Although he was small for his age, Marvin McFadden was light years ahead of other kids in the maturity department.

"I'm not really sure. The only words I could understand through her laughing were 'geek', 'loser', and 'nose picker'." He replied with slumped shoulders. Haley immediately felt bad for forcing her friend to take an action that ended with him being humiliated.

"I'm sorry Mouth. She's stupid anyway. Besides, you only got caught picking your nose that one time and even then you thought a bug flew up it." She comforted with an arm around his shoulders.

"Well, now I'll never get a girlfriend. Everyone thinks I'm gross." He moped sadly. Haley looked over to Claire and her group of friends. They were all laughing and pointing at Mouth every so often. With a determined glint in her eyes Haley began to march over to them.

"Haley! What are you doing?" Mouth shouted, following her.

"What up with our girl yo?" A pint sized Skills questioned, bringing the game of 2 on 2 the boys had going to a halt. Luke, Fergie, Junk, and Skills all peered at an angry Haley as she approached Claire Young. If there was one thing about Haley they all knew, it was that when she was mad...she was really mad.

"Let's go check it out." Fergie suggested. Dropping the ball, the boys hurried to catch up with their friends and figure out what was going on.

"He picks his nose! Like I would ever let him hold my hand." Claire was joking as she stood in the center of a circle of girls. Haley heard this comment and pushed her way through the girls before standing directly in front of Claire with her arms crossed beneath her chest.

"May I help you Baley?" The pug nosed girl asked snottily.

"No, but someone should help you with your attitude." She retorted wasting no time to make her anger apparent.

"Oh no, did I hurt the little nerds feelings when I turned him down?" She sung causing her friends to laugh. Luke, Skills, and the rest of the guys shook their heads knowing that Haley was about to make her eat those words.

"Look, it's fine if you don't want to be Mouth's girlfriend, but you don't have to be so rude about it. You could have just said no. It's mean to make fun and laugh." Haley insisted diplomatically.

"I can make fun of him if I want. He picks his nose!" Claire fired back pointing at Mouth and giving him a disgusted glare. The look on the girls face made something inside of Haley snap.

"It was one time! And, who cares? Everyone picks their nose! No one wants to admit it, but everyone does it!" She yelled before taking a deep breath and doing the unthinkable. As everyone watched in shock Haley purposefully stuck her tiny finger up her nose and pulled out a booger. With wide eyes, Claire watched as the normally gentle girl flung it right at her. The playground was silence as the green nose fungus landed on Claire's shoulder. Then...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" She shrieked, crying and stomping her foot. Her friends all backed away from her and scrunched their faces up in disgust.

"Much better. Now, I'm going to go wash my hands. You should really take a bath or something Claire." Haley smiled before turning around and walking away.

"Good aim James." Skills said as he and the rest of the guys followed her laughing. Mouth smiled at her widely and whispered a 'Thank You'. No one had ever done something so nice for him.

End

So, I guess I'll just come out and say it. I had sex. I, Marvin McFadden, had sex with a girl. You see, I took your advice and I asked some girls out. A few of them even said yes. Then there was this one girl Glenda. I didn't really ask her out. One of my dates ended badly, the girl said she was going to the bathroom and never came back. Glenda was stood up too, so we started talking. And, then we convinced the waiter to bring us some champagne. Long story short; we got wasted, went to her place, and I became a man. It was great and everything...but I don't know. I feel like I'm being dumb about this. I kind of regret doing it with her. We didn't exchange numbers or even last names. Does that make me cheap? I really need your opinion Haley. This isn't exactly something I can talk to the guys about. Love you.

-Mouth

"Whacha' readin' girlie?" Rachel asked when she walked into their room and saw Haley engrossed in a letter. It was about 8:00 and most of the teens were getting ready to either relax and watch a movie before bed... or sneak out.

"Oh, hey Rach. My friend Mouth wrote me." She explained folding the letter up and making a mental note to write him back soon.

"Mouth? Sounds kinky." She smirked, raising her eyebrows playfully. It was no secret that Rachel was...friendly. But, despite this fact Haley found her to be one of the most likeable and shockingly kid-like girls she knew. Peyton was the only real friend she had that was a girl. Issues with her mother among other things made her slightly weary of females. But, Rachel had some how managed to win her over and Haley found herself confiding in her a lot, especially about Nathan.

"Sorry, it's not. He's kind of dorky, but only in the most endearing way. Like, he'll be the guy that comes to the 20 year reunion rich and handsome, you know?" She mused out loud.

"Oooh, when can I meet him?" She asked excitedly. While Rachel had been with a lot of guys, she had never found 'the' guy and had always secretly hoped to find true love.

"Right, like I'd let you corrupt his innocent... well I guess he isn't so innocent anymore." Haley replied, intriguing the stunning red head.

"What does that mean?" Rachel questioned, emphasizing the word 'that'.

"Nothing. He just wrote to me about a situation he's having trouble with. See, Mouth is like the sweetest guy ever, but he doesn't have that much experience with girls. I guess recently he just... got in a little over his head." She shrugged trying to find the right words.

"Well if he ever needs another opinion, you send him my way. Got it?" The red head instructed smiling, but completely serious. Despite what many people believed, Rachel really did have a big heart.

"Sure thing Rach." Haley smiled back. But before anything else could be said, a figure walking outside caught Haley's attention as she looked out the window.

"Listen, why don't you read the letter over and then maybe you could write him. I'm sure he's sick of hearing my advice. If you want to that is." Haley said handing her the letter and slipping on some shoes.

"Hell yeah, I love me some potentially hot nerds." She cheered grabbing the letter and quickly getting started. Haley knew that Mouth wouldn't mind her letting Rachel read his letter. He was mostly worried about what the guys would think. Besides, getting mail from a hot girl who wasn't like a sister to him would defiantly lift his spirits.

"Cool. Later." Haley called over her shoulder. Rachel waved her off, already too engrossed in the letter to care where she was going this late.

Outside

"Nathan! Hey Nathan wait up!" Haley yelled to the boy about 20 feet in front of her. Okay, so she had fibbed during her phone call with Peyton. The smarty pants definitely knew Nathan from behind... you know the back of his head.

"Okay, so you wanna' make me run." She muttered before jogging to catch up with him. When she was finally next to his built body, Haley's mouth became dry and she forgot exactly what she was planning on saying. Obviously the girl didn't have much trouble speaking her mind. Even in the presence of Nathan's blinding good looks and charm she was still able to hold her ground... usually. But, as she gazed at his profile in the dusky sky, their was a sadness in his eyes that she had never seen before. His full mouth that normally shifted itself into a smirk was currently turned downwards and his strong jaw was locked. But, his eyes were what worried her most. Their playful sparkle was lost and they were placed straight ahead. He made to movement to indicate that he was aware of her presence.

"Nate?" She spoke in the most comforting voice he had ever heard. Finally he snapped out of the trance he'd been in and focused on a more appealing sight... the lovely Haley James.

"Hmm." He responded shifting uncomfortably. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Haley, he just didn't know how. Not at the moment at anyway. His visit from his father had left him shaken to say the least...

Flashback - 1 Day Ago

"You're pathetic!" The dominating figure bellowed to his worried looking son. Though the father and son pair came close in both height and weight, it was clear who had the control.

"What do you want me to say dad? I'm sorry? Well, I'm not because I didn't do anything wrong!" Nathan shouted back to his father. Unlike Brooke, Nathan often dished it back to his father. Was he scared of Dan? Hell yes he was scared. But, would he become a sniveling little coward because of that fear. You better believe the answer to that question is a big fat no!

"Didn't do anything wrong? Are you that damaged son? God, if I had know you were going to turn out to be such a little girl maybe I would have had another son." He fired back doing his best to hit below the belt. It was no use though. At this point in his life Nathan had become accustomed to cutting insults and accusations of failure.

"Given all the woman you've screwed while mom is away maybe you do have another son out there." Came the adolescents brave response. Dan Scott could put more fear or fire in his son's eyes than anyone else.

"Cute." The elder of the two remarked shoving him harshly into a wall and grabbing him by the throat. He preceded to squeeze the young mans neck until Nathan was gasping. When Dan Scott had marched into the work out room 20 minutes earlier and spotted his son, he immediately went off on him. After shouting back and forth for a while things finally came to a head after Dan called Nathan Pathetic. Nathan HATED being called pathetic.

"You wanna' be a smart ass Natey boy... fine. But, your inadequate remarks won't help in the end. Because, I'm the one with the power Nathan. Like it or not I control you. You will stop seeing that girl. You will focus on your game. And, you will do these things immediately. You know why Nathan? Because I said so. You know the rules of the game kid. Daddy always wins." He finished releasing the blue eyed charmers throat and letting him fall to the ground in exhaustion. As Nathan coughed roughly while struggled to catch his breath, Dan Scott walked away.

End

And Id give up forever to touch you
cause I know that you feel me somehow
Youre the closest to heaven that ill
Ever be
And I dont want to go home right now

Nathan was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of the song 'Iris' blaring from inside the girls cabin. He looked down to find Haley staring at him with her warm brown eyes. Eyes that he could look into forever. Wait. Did he really just think that?

"Are you mad at me or something?" She asked.

"No, why would you think that?" He asked averting his eyes to look at a tree behind her. The key was, not to make eye contact.

"You've been avoiding me since that day we almost..." She trailed off shrugging.

"Since we almost what?" He prodded, suddenly feeling like his old self. Often times a visit with his father would leave Nathan feeling angry and mean.

"You know what if you're just going to be a jerk about it then never mind." Haley huffed angrily as she turned to leave. She had been worried about him, and then nervous, and now she was plain old mad.

"I don't need you anyway!" He shouted, slightly hurt that she was giving up on him so quickly. It wasn't like he didn't deserve it. He just wished that for once when he pushed someone away they would push back.

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
cause sooner or later its over
I just don't want to miss you tonight

"URG!" She yelled facing him again and shoving him forcefully. Well, there you go. Ask and you shall receive.

"What the hell!" He yelled glaring at her.

"You are such an ass hole!" She hissed stepping closer to him.

"Well, you blow everything out of proportion." He accused her, stepping forward as well. At this point they were practically chest to chest.

"You're just too scared to admit that there actually is something going on here!" She shot back staring him directly in the eye.

"I'm scared? Please, you the one who's scared." He countered.

And I don't want the world to see me
cause I don't think that they'd
Understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

"So, what if I am." She bit back lowering her voice and touching his chest lightly with her hands. His breath became shallow and he swallowed hard to remember what they were fighting about. But, he could smell her and she smelt like apples and cinnamon. It was intoxicating.

"Let's be scared together." He mumbled before scooping her head towards him with both of his hands and lowering his lips to her own. The kiss was slow and sweet, but needy and intense at the same time. His tongue touched hers and she grasped his cotton shirt with her tiny fists. The small action sent a spark through his entire body and he deepened the kiss. Their eye lashes fluttered again each others faces as they reluctantly pulled apart. Every inch of their bodies was touching as they attempted to catch their breath.

"Not so scary." She muttered moving her lips against his own as she spoke.

"Really? Cuz' I'm terrified." He admitted opening his eyes to look into her own. Never had he felt this way. The way his hands itched to touch her skin. The way her heart beat rang in his ears and sounded like the sweetest music he's ever heard. The way he pictured them together, beyond the summer. It was all new to him. It was exciting and scary. It was unknown. Screw his dad. Screw everyone. He was okay with being scared if it meant he got to be with Haley.

Authors Note- So, this was one of the most enjoyable chapters for me to write. The flash back with Haley and Mouth surprised me because I had such a great time doing it. Also, the Mouth/Rachel thing was honestly NOT something I had even considered when I started the chapter. But the scene took on a life of it's own and I am seriously considering adding this couple to the story. Anyway, next chapter will pick up where it left off with lots of Naley! Comments please! Thanks!