hey! Thx so much for the reviews. Love them! Keep em coming. I enjoyed reading them so much, that I posted two chapters. So, thx again. and Happy New Year.

30 minutes earlier

Nathan looked at himself in the mirror for about the fiftieth time. He was wearing a pair of tan cargo pants and a blue T-shirt. Not bad, he decided. Not too formal, pretty casual. Looks like I'm going on a second date with someone I'm not really interested in. He groaned inwardly. First of all, not only was he interested in her. He was crazy in love with her. Second, it wasn't a second date. It was a dinner...with his parents. As in his mum and Dan.

Why even bother?, he thought, she probably doesn't even remember me. He cringed at the thought of what happened that day in the cafeteria. Blowing him off was one thing, but running away? Talk about mixed signals, a few seconds before that, the way she was staring at me, I thought she actually... He brushed that thought away. As much as his heart broke at the thought of it, maybe loving her and waiting for her all those years were all a waste. Maybe she's in a serious relationship. Maybe...maybe I should just forget my promise to her...

"Nathan, you coming down out or what? I need your help", Deb said, sticking her head inside his room.

"Yeah, mum, coming", Nathan said, running his hand through his hair before following his mum down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Okay, I need you to set the table and light all the candles", Deb said before adding a few spices into the frying pan in front of her.

"Mum, you do know I'm a guy, right?" Nathan said, staring at his mum.

"Yeah, what's your point?" his mum said, staring him in the eye, waiting for her son's next words.

"Nothing, happy to do it".

"That's my unsexist macho son", Deb said, trying not to laugh.

Nathan laughed then walked into the dining room to prepare for the evening. Fifteen minutes later, Deb walked in.

"Thanks Nathan. The table looks great", Deb said, smiling.

"Ok, Mum. I gotta go get something. Be back in five".

Nathan ran up to his room and quickly changed. Two minutes later, he was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white button down shirt. Before he could change his mind again, the doorbell rang. He froze, but not for long. Because just then he heard the door open and someone saying in a sarcastic voice "Why Paley, so nice to see you again".

He ran out of his room and down the stairs. Halfway down, he heard the voice say again "Oh, I'm sorry, Haley. You just looked very pale; I assumed that was your name. Are you not feeling well? You look very sick".

Nathan didn't stop to think. He jumped down the rest of the stairs and ran into the foyer that led to the front door.

Haley was standing in the doorway, staring at Dan insulted. Just then Deb came into the room, taking off oven mitts as she walked towards Haley.

"Haley! So glad you came! Ah, Nathan, there you are! Dan, do you mind helping me with something in the kitchen?", and with that Deb grabbed Dan by his hand and practically dragged him to the kitchen with her.

And just like that, Haley and Nathan were left alone.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Nathan stuffed his hands into his pockets and said "so you figured if you can't be me, then you wanna dress like me and see how far that takes you?" jokingly, referring to their similar color combination.

Haley didn't say anything. She just walked up to him and hugged him. After a moment of being stunned, Nathan wrapped his strong arms around her waist and returned the hug. And for a moment they were two three year olds again without a care in the world.