A/N: Yes, Madison is a whore and Nathan isa jackass. Yes, love will save Nathan but sadly does not get rid of Madison. Stupid whore, i know. Anyway, this is the third to last chapter. I know you're sad. So enjoy it while you can. :)
A/N2:For those general fans of mine out there yes, i know i haven't update She Is, Havoc, and A Game we Shouldn't play. slaps wrist. I am promising updates on sunday. Try not to crucify me too much if that doesn't happen. There will at least be an update for Havoc b/c I have that half way written...I think. Hmm...
Passion
Nathan walked into Madison's room that night with one thing in mind. To get her out of his life. He was tired of the games and he was tired of the lying. He didn't want to be with her, even though she was trying to tie him down. And this was his mission tonight. He had a sinking feeling she was lying and the little brown sack he held in his hand was going to tell him the truth.
"Nathan…" she grinned, sitting up straight in the bed.
"Here, take this." he said tossing the brown bag on the bed next to her. She looked at him curiously before opening up the back and pecking in. Her glee quickly turned to rage as she picked up was inside.
"What the hell is this?"
"A pregnancy test. If you want me to marry you I want you to prove to me that you're pregnant."
"No."
"Then I'm not marrying you."
"I shouldn't have to prove anything to you." she gritted out. "Besides that, I've already showed you a test."
"Yeah, a test. Not necessarily the test. So if you are, in fact, pregnant than it won't matter either way. I'll apologize and well get married, done deal. I want proof though."
"Fine Nathan." she cried going into the bathroom. Nathan patiently waited on the bed and five minutes later Madison emerged and threw the test at him. He picked it up and dropped it in the trash can.
"That's what I thought. Goodbye Madison."
Haley woke up next morning and rolled over to slam right into a drooling Peyton. She racked her brain trying to figure out how Peyton had ended up in her bed, but she couldn't come up with a solution so she shrugged it off. She stretched out and yawned, causing Peyton to start wiggling around and mumbling incoherently.
"Peyton." Haley said, shaking her, trying to wake her but to no avail. "PEYTON!"
"Wha…what?" Peyton said jerking straight up in bed, nearly knocking Haley out.
"How the hell did you end up in my bed?"
"Oh that. I got in late and I stumbled into the first room I could find. Surprise!" Peyton replied, rubbing her face.
"It wouldn't be the first surprise this weekend." Haley grumbled and Peyton looked at her curiously. "Nathan's and Brooke's mom and step dad were here when we showed up…Madison in tote."
"Oh, that had to be, uh, interesting."
"Yeah, something along those lines. Madison spent the evening fawning over Nathan, Jake and Brooke were cuddling, and I schooled Lucas on the fine art of kicking his ass in NBA Live."
"So you hung out with Lucas?" Peyton asked a slight hint of jealousy in her voice.
"Oh God, you two are hopeless." Haley laughed, rolling her eyes.
"What?"
"Why don't you two just admit that you love each other and move on? You know you are. I know he is..."
"Really?"
"Yeah and the sooner you get over whatever fear you have and move on, the sooner you get to you know, get it on." Haley winked, causing Peyton to giggle. They stopped laughing once they heard a knocking on the door. "Come in."
"Hey." Nathan said peaking in behind the door. "Oh hey Peyton. Lucas is looking for you."
"Oh ok. That's my cue. Thanks Haley." Peyton said patting Haley's leg and getting up.
"Sleep ok?" Nathan asked coming further into the room once Peyton had left.
"Uh yeah, it was fine. I thought I'd let you know first that I uh, I'm leaving tomorrow instead of the end of the week."
"Why? When did this happen?" Nathan asked sitting on the foot of her bed.
"Your mom hates me, Derek leers after me, and Madison wants to kill me. I just this is really useless and a waste and I have so much to do before the semester starts…"
"Stop making excuses Hales." Nathan said cutting her off. "This is about me and you and this is about me and Madison."
"Fine then, it's about all that and the fact that I don't belong here. It was a mistake."
"This is just complicated okay? Why don't you stay the week and after that we'll go back to the city and we won't have to be around any of them?"
"Why are you doing this? Just let it go." Haley yelled getting up to move away from him.
"Haley…"
"What!" she screamed facing him holding out her arms. "What do you want from me? I don't understand why you're doing this. This conversation is growing a little bit tiresome. You don't even know me."
"I know you're obsessed with some stupid show on the WB about two half brothers who the don't get along. I know you love music even though you refuse to play. I know you miss you're mom and you're dad and you won't admit that. I know you love wildflowers. You're favorite food is mac and cheese. I know more than you think. I know I see this going somewhere. And I only want to know more."
"You are the most impossible person I have ever met!"
"Come on." he said getting up, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the bathroom.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked as he turned on the shower, still holding her hand. "Nathan."
"You're going to get in the shower and I'll meet you down stairs when you get done."
"Who are you to tell me what to do?" she inquired, jerking her hand away from his and placing her hands on her hips.
"Are you going to undress yourself or am I?" he challenged. She glared at him before dropping her hands in defeat. "That's what I thought."
"Well don't just stand there. Get out!" she commanded and he smirked before he left.
Twenty minutes later she stepped out of the shower and dried herself off, only to see an outfit already laid out on her bed. She got dressed and threw her hair up in a messy, wet bun and went to put on her shoes. As she was slipping on her second snow boot she did a double take at what was sitting at the edge of her bed. Ice skates.
"All set?" Nathan asked once she entered the kitchen, ice skates in tote. "I, uh packed a picnic, figured we could have some brunch."
"I don't skate." Haley deadpanned, dropping the skates on the kitchen floor with a dull thud.
"We'll see about that."
"Yeah, we will. Where' Madison anyway?" Haley asked looking around.
"Shopping with my mom. Lets go."
Haley followed closely behind Nathan, every one in a while holding his hand for support as they trekked through the snowy hills. After about fifteen minutes of walking in the woods, Nathan came to an abrupt stopped and looked around as if he were lost. Haley started looking around too and then it hit her. They were lost.
"We're lost." Haley stated, throwing up her hands in annoyance.
"We're not lost."
"We're lost. We're in the middle of the woods, in freezing weather, lost." Haley pointed out as Nathan spun around. Finally he stopped, grabbed her hand, and practically drug her through the trees until they were at a small frozen pond. He pulled her down on the make shift bench that was sitting on the edge of it and began to pull on his own skates. Haley watched in for a few moments before sighing and pulling on her own.
"You coming?" Nathan asked from the middle of the pond. Haley shakily stood up, nearly falling and tried to skate her way over to him.
"The first and last time I did this I ended up in the ER with a broken foot." She shouted as she stopped for a second to get her bearing.
"Well I promise not to let you get hurt." he grinned. He skated over to her and took her into hands into his own twirling her around. "The last time I was here my dad was alive. He took me and Brooke here to teach us how to skate. Honesty, I sucked at it. Brooke, now she was graceful as ever. I kept falling flat on my ass every time I moved but Dad just kept helping me up and telling me I could do it. Eventually I got it and from all the years in New York and playing ice hockey at school, I'm really good at it."
"So why come back here now? With me?" she asked, skating around a bit.
"I dunno…I just thought it would be fun for us. Let us end on a happy note."
"Oh Nathan, look it's snowing." she gushed, sticking out her tongue as the snow flakes came cascading down. Her smile quickly faded as she lost her footing, struggling to stand up but failed horribly as she came crashing down, bringing Nathan down with her with a loud oomph. "That was beautiful." she laughed, Nathan still on top of her.
"You're beautiful." he told her honestly. Before she could respond he had planted a sweet and lingering kiss on her lips.
"What was that for?" she asked quietly.
"I wanted to? Look, I couldn't help it okay. This, whatever it is, I just can't explain it but I feel it, it's there and I cannot stop thinking about you."
"You won't even let me break up with you when we're not even dating." she replied, slightly smiling.
"Come on." he said getting up and pulling her with him. "I have something to show you."
"More? This is going to hurt me again isn't it?" she asked.
"Hmm…maybe not physically but maybe a different kind of hurt." he said winking.
They skated around for a bit more before sitting down and pulling their boots back on. Quietly, they made their way through more woods as the snow kept falling. After what happened the previous night with Madison, Nathan was more than positive that he wanted Haley. Yeah, he barely knew her and that was okay with him because right now he felt a connection and that was really all that mattered. Finally, they arrived at the tiny cabin.
"So um, what are we doing here?" Haley asked once they shook the snow off their boots and entered the small, one room with only a couch, coffee table, and fireplace.
"This used to be me and Brooke's 'play house.' It came with the property. We used to come up here as kids and Brooke would make me play house with her; had the tea parties and everything. It was a serious blow to my manly hood."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Well if you look in that corner over there, I think that will." he said pointing to the guitar resting against the wall. She walked over to it, gingerly picking it up and lightly began strumming the strings. Nathan watched her as he set up the fire, smiling to himself.
"You set this up last night didn't you?" she asked as she set down on the couch.
"Quite possibly. Or it could just be that that the guitar just happened to be here." he replied getting up, satisfied that the fire was good and settled on the couch beside her. "Sing something for me."
"What do you want me to sing?" she asked skeptically.
"Anything."
Carefully, she began strumming an all too familiar tune. Nathan sat back against one end of the couch, completely mesmerized as her voice rung out through the tiny cabin. Haley had never once in her entire life sang for anyone. Except with her mother. But for some reason she felt safe, she felt confident, and she felt incredible. Gradually, her voice picked up as she gained her confidence more and more in each verse.
I love your imperfections.
I love your everything.
Your broken heart,
Your broken wings.
I love you when you hold me,
And when you turn away,
I love you still.
And I'm not afraid.
'Cause I know you feel the same way.
And you'll stay.
'Cause when we're torn apart,
Shattered and scarred.
Love has the grace to save us.
We're just two tarnished hearts.
But in each other's arms.
We become saints and angels.
As she finished the remaining of the song, she let out her breathe, waiting for some kind of reaction. Anything at all. She was met with silence. Finally, she set the guitar down beside the couch and willed herself to look at Nathan. His eyes said everything. She was good and he saw that. She smiled at him and in turn, he leaned forward, cupping her face and kissing her.
"That was incredible." he told her honestly. She took a gulp, wondering if what she was about to do was the right decision. For once though, she didn't want to make the right or wrong decision. She just wanted to live for that moment and for that instant. So tentatively and hesitantly, she tugged as the bottom of his shirt pulling it over his head. "Haley…"
"Shh…it's okay. I want to."
Passion.
So for this winter she was experiencing something she had never felt before and right now that was okay with her. She needed something different, something special. Something she wouldn't regret.
At least, not at that moment.
Woo Hoo!
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