AN: Thanks for all the nice reviews, they mean the world to me.

This chappie is pretty much foreshadowing all the way. :) Read and review, as always.


Quote of the day: Will & Grace

Karen (entering Will and Grace's apartment panicked): "Help me. Hide me. She's after me."

Will: "Wh-what's the matter, does your stepdaughter want a hug?"


Chapter 8. Anxiety.

Week 4.

So, I guess hell has frozen over. Because that's how unlikely it was for Nathan and I to make up and let the bygones be bygones.

It all started when we lost the previous challenge and we were automatically sent to Elimination. But the weirdest thing happened, we got a Free Pass! So, there was no Elimination last week. Afterwards TJ talked to us, told us we should get over our feud, make up and yada yada yada.

Nathan and I had a big talk and we came to an understanding that if we don't get a grip of ourselves, we'll never make it to the end. So, now we're both focused on team work and winning something.

I wouldn't necessarily call us close friends, but we are getting along. We still bicker a lot but it's not hostile or mean anymore. And Taylor was right! Nathan is pretty nice. Kinda. You know, in that funny, nice sorta way. I mean, I think he's cool. Nice. Very nice. A good guy. A nice guy. A good, nice- Argh, never mind. Shutting up now.


So, I guess you heard the news, huh. Well, who hasn't? I'm so sick and tired of everyone asking questions and butting into our business. So, let me make this Q & A easy!

No, Haley and I are no longer fighting.

Yes, we are actually getting along for a change.

No, we no longer try to destroy each other mentally or physically.

No, there's nothing more going on.

Yes, we will win this entire thing and that 200 grand.

And lastly: YES, I will kick your ass if you ask me or her one more time any of the questions I just answered.

Got it? Good. Now leave us the fuck alone.


"…and we should definitely try and be the last team to go so we can see what the others do."

"Yeah, like see their strategy and all."

"Exactly."

It was week 4 and Haley and Nathan were working out in the gym.

"Who do you think is the biggest threat out there?" Haley asked a bit quieter to make sure they had privacy.

"Skills and Taylor, without a doubt." Nathan said.

"Really?" Haley said surprised. "I always thought Lucas and Rachel were stronger because of Lucas' smarts. I mean, I'm not saying that Tay or Skills are dumb or anything. It's just that if it did come between them and there was a puzzle involved, I think Lucas would beat them."

"Yeah, maybe but with this game you never know."

"Yeah, that's true. What do-" Haley started asking but was interrupted when someone came in the room.

"Hey, we got another clue." Chase said from the doorway.

Haley and Nathan followed him to the den where most of the group was.

"Alright, here it goes." Brooke said holding the Sidekick and reading the clue they'd gotten. "Get ready for your fourth Challenge, Newbies. In order to succeed in this Challenge, you must be able to overcome all OBSTACLES. Be ready to leave on Tuesday morning, 9 am." She read and turned to look at the others. "Obstacles is written in all caps."

"Obstacle course." Lucas said and everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Sounds like fun." Nathan said with a grin while standing up and walking back towards the gym.

"Sounds like rough." Haley said with a worried look, following him.

"Don't worry. We've got this in the bag." Nathan said reassuringly.

"A bit cocky, don't you think?" Haley asked.

"Just confident." Nathan said while sitting down on the soft floor. "Hold my legs, please."

Haley kneeled in front of him and put her hands around his ankles as he started doing sit ups. She looked at him worried.

Haley didn't like the sound of 'obstacle course' at all. It screamed another physical challenge, which Haley was slowly but surely starting to get sick off. She knew she wasn't weak or slow but she also knew that she wasn't in the best possible physical shape she could've been.

The entire week she had hoped that the challenge would require at least a fraction of puzzle solving or memory skills. She wanted to show Nathan how good and strong she could be. She sighed sadly when she realized that it wouldn't happen yet.

"Whatcha thinking there, partner?" Nathan asked between sit ups when he saw Haley's worried look.

"Huh?" she asked startled. "Just thinking about tomorrow's challenge."

"What's there to think about it? We'll go there, do what they say and kick some ass!"

"Yeah, sounds good..." she said and then continued hesitatingly. "But, I just... I mean, obstacle course sounds really tough and difficult."

Nathan sat up once more and stopped to look at Haley.

"Hey, don't worry about it." he said. "I've got your back."

"Yeah, I know. But what if-" she started.

"Stop right there. We're gonna be fine, got it?" he asked with a grin while going down and continuing his sit ups.

"Yeah, I got it."

"Good. Can you hand me my water bottle?" he asked nudging his head to the bottle that was on the bench.

Haley nodded her head and stood up quickly. As soon as she was standing, she could feel her head starting spin slightly. She quickly grabbed the wall for support.

"You okay?" Nathan asked while jumping up to make sure Haley was okay.

"Yeah, yeah, I just got up too quickly." She said while shaking Nathan's arm off of her shoulder.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course." She said and gave him a smile. She rolled her eyes with a smile when Nathan still looked at her worried. "Oh, come on, Nate. You do sports. People get tired, you know that. Stop looking at me like I'm this weak, fragile girl. My blood sugar's just running a bit low and I stood up too quickly, that's all."

"How's that possible when you're hanging out with a guy as sweet as me?" he asked with a wink while starting to push her towards the door.

"Oh, my god? Does that line ever work?" Haley asked with a laugh. "And where the hell are you taking me?"

"To the kitchen and yes, it does work, thanks for asking."

When they got to the kitchen they noticed Taylor, Brooke, Peyton and Lucas hanging out and eating lunch.

"What's up?" Taylor asked when she saw them.

"Nothing." Nathan said while starting to open the cabinets to get the stuff he needed for a milkshake. "Haley's blood sugar's low so I'm making her a milkshake that's sweet enough to put a diabetic into a coma."

Everyone laughed loudly except Taylor who looked at Haley with a stern look. Haley, knowing Taylor's reaction, looked at everyone but her with a forced smile on her face.

"Haley?" Taylor asked. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Haley looked at the rest of the people and few of the cameras before looking at Taylor and shaking her head as if saying 'not now'.

"Now, please?" Taylor asked with a tight voice.

Haley sighed and gave a forced smile to the others who were watching them with raised eyebrows.

"What the hell was that?" Nathan asked when the sisters had left the room.

"I don't know..." Brooke said. "But… Never mind."

"No, what were you gonna say?" Nathan asked.

"I'm sure I'm just being crazy but…" Brooke trailed off but then continued. "Do you ever get this feeling like there's something going on with those two?"

"Yeah!" Peyton said. "I've been wondering that for like a week now but didn't say anything! I just thought the paranoia from this game was getting to me."

"I don't want to speculate or spread any rumors but I've got to agree with you." Lucas said. "I've been hanging out with Haley for almost a month and I barely know anything about her."

"And the knowing looks that they give each other, the whispers…" Peyton added.

"You know what I just realized today when I was on the phone?" Brooke said. "That they never are."

"I haven't seen them on the phone, not even once." Lucas said.

"And they never talk about their family which is kinda odd since it's the only thing that any of us talks about here 'cause we're so goddamm bored." Brooke continued.

"Maybe they're just not that close with their family." Lucas said.

"Or maybe they don't have a family, like their parents are dead or something." Brooke wondered.

"That's kinda harsh, Brooke." Nathan snapped.

"What? I just wanna figure out what's going on."

"Nothing's going on." Nathan snapped, suddenly feeling protective of Haley. Brooke's gossiping reminded Nathan of a vulture circling around its defenceless prey, waiting for the moment of attack.

"Nath-"

"You shouldn't gossip 'cause it'll only spread rumors which causes animosity and I don't know about you guys, but the first three weeks of fighting non-stop kinda filled my quota for the rest of my stay here. So, everyone calm the fuck down!" he said bored while walking away from the room.

"Wow." Peyton said with a small smile as they all looked Nathan walk away. Brooke and Peyton gave each other a knowing smile. It didn't take a genius to realize that Nathan was becoming possessive of Haley, in that cute I-have-a-crush-on-you-and-wanna-protect-you kind of way.

"I don't think I've ever heard him correctly use the words 'animosity' and 'quota' before." Lucas said.


"What?" Haley hissed from Taylor when they got to their room and away from the others, one camera following them.

"What the hell was that?" Taylor asked motioning towards the kitchen where they had been a moment ago.

Haley nudged her head towards the camera man while glaring at Taylor as if telling her to drop the subject.

"Haley, remember what we talked about." Taylor said.

"I know what you're thinking. Stop it."

"But what if-"

"Tay!" Haley said angrily. "Stop it! Now! It's not…" she said trailing off.

"We can't be sure. We made a promise!"

"And no one's breaking it. Stop acting like a psycho before people start asking questions." Haley said and whispered the last words so quiet that Taylor almost missed it.

"Fine. But so help me god if you're wrong…" she mumbled while they walked outside.

"Everything ok?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, of course. Just some sibling stuff." Haley said with a forced smile.

"Good 'cause I need you on your best tomorrow morning." Nathan said while handing her the protein shake, not believing a word she had just said.

"Don't worry, the others won't stand a chance." Haley said with a smile, trying to change the subject.


So, the next challenge was an obstacle course like we had thought. It was pretty physical like I feared but we actually did pretty good. Nathan helped me through it all and for once we were communicating. Tay and Skills won once again which I'm very happy about. She's by far the toughest girl here.

The last team was Peyton and Mouth who lost to Anna and Jake, who fell at the end, by only few seconds. So, Peyton and Mouth are automatically going to Elimination. They'll face the team that gets chosen at the Voting, which will probably be held in few days.

About Nathan and I? We are finally at peace. I'm not saying that we'll be having sleepovers or that we'll be sharing our deepest, darkest secrets anytime soon, but we've established some sort of a trust. Like an alliance but more friendly, I guess.

We hang out but it's only to talk about the game. It's not like we're best friends or anything. We both still pretty much hang out with our own groups but we are getting to know each other. Feels good to have no drama.


So, the challenge went alright. I mean, I'm not gonna be satisfied until we win but at least we weren't the last or even the second or third last team. Haley and I are getting better.

Taylor and Skills won again which is troubling. They're starting to become almost unbeatable. I know Taylor is Haley's sister and all but I hope she realizes that Taylor and Skills need to go eventually. I mean, if they're in the final challenge, the changes of us winning the money will be so much worse.

But all in all, I'm happy how Haley and I did today as a team. It could've been better but it was much better than I expected. I think we're starting to trust each other more as a team which is making us much stronger. But before you start with the are-you-two-a-couple questions, let me save you the work. No, we're only team mates. I mean for god's sakes we just dropped all the drama shit and started to get along like a week ago. Hold on with the romance theories there!

I mean, I barely even know the girl which, to tell you the truth, kinda bothers me. I mean, I couldn't have cared less about her when we were still fighting but now when we're getting along, I would like to know at least something about her.

She's very reserved. She never talks about herself or Taylor or their family and I've seen the looks she and Taylor sometimes give each other. It's like there's something so much bigger going on that any of us have any clue. I don't know, it could be nothing.

But what if it's not…


Nathan was frustrated. He had just come back from his confessional where he was asked about his and Haley's relationship again. Relationship, Nathan thought and snorted out loud. He had known her for only a month and had spent a good portion of that time hating her guts. Now, after a week since they reconciled, the producers had been crazy with the love-theories.

As he was lifting weights in the gym and letting his iPod blast the newest rap songs he felt as if he was completely isolated from the rest of the world. He realized that it was exactly what he needed, to have a few hours just for himself and his thoughts.

He didn't enjoy discussing his personal life, especially when it came to girls and dating but he also knew that he had put himself in that position by going on the show. What people do for money, he thought and breathed out heavily.

He wasn't even sure why he was being so annoyed with the questions. It wasn't like he hadn't had the same amount or even more questions after he had hooked up with Rachel. But this time was totally different.

After the Rachel thing, it was very easy to tell everyone that it was a one night stand because that's exactly what it was. A one night stand, at least to him. And even if it hadn't been that for Rachel, which he seriously doubted considering the fact that she got around more than he did, he wouldn't have cared because it was only Rachel. No offence, Nathan thought half-heartedly.

But there was something different about Haley. She was something different.

Nathan still couldn't quite know where Haley and he stood. They had made up and weren't fighting anymore but that was it. What bothered Nathan the most, was that he couldn't read Haley. Half the time he would find her in her own little world, staring out the window with that deep, slightly worried look on her young face.

He couldn't shake off the feeling that something traumatic had happened to her. He could still vividly remember Taylor's worried voice and troubled expression when she had told him to stop being mean to Haley and she had added 'You don't know what she's been through.'

The more Nathan thought through the last four weeks the more certain he became that something was definitely going on with the sisters. There were so many little things that when put together, made so much more sense. Like all the times Taylor had been worried about Haley and her health, all the times when he had fought with Haley and he had accused her of not giving her all. Nathan could remember the haunted look on her face when she would say something like 'You don't know me'.

Nathan suddenly got an unsettling feeling in his stomach when he though about all those things together. What was going on? Did something happen to Haley? Is she sick? Married? With a kid? With a sick kid? What the hell's going on?

Nathan was ripped from his own thoughts and concerns when the music he was listening to, suddenly stopped.

Someone had pulled his earbuds off.

"Yo, Scott."

"Jeez, sneaky much?" Nathan said while looking around nervously because of being interrupted from his thoughts and brought back to the "reality". Or reality TV at least, Nathan thought.

Nathan took a calming breath and looked at Haley again who was sitting on the same bench as he was, right behind him. She was wearing some random green tank top and girl's surfing shorts, with matching flip flops and a pair of aviator sun glasses that were nestled on the top of her forehead.

"Sup, James?" Nathan said coolly after getting over the shock of Haley pulling him back to the real world.

He hoped to god she couldn't read him and realize that he had just been thinking about her.

"Just talked to Tay and Luke. They wanna party tonight 'cause they did well on the challenge but of course we can't say that to Anna and Jake who almost lost or to Mouth and Peyton who did lose 'cause it'd rude and we want them to party also which could be kinda awkward for them 'cause Peyton and Mouth are automatically going to the Elimination and Anna and Jake might 'cause they were the second to last team. So, hopefully even with the possibility of alcohol involvement, they'll behave but anyways the point is this: party tonight." she said with a smile.

Haley got up from the bench, stuck Nathan's earbuds back in his ears and waved him goodbye before Nathan even had time to say 'ok'.

Nathan stared at the open door with a smirk. That was Haley: fast, social and happy. He would be happy to share the money with her if they would win the whole $200'000. That's to say, they'd even make it to the end.

Nathan rubbed his head when he once again realized that there were still six teams left in addition to him and Haley.

There were Nathan's brother Lucas and his team mate Rachel, both in good condition and with Lucas' smarts, they were a tough competitor even in mental challenges. There were Brooke and Chase, who much like Lucas and Rachel, seemed to be in good physical condition and also smart. The only reason Nathan thought of them of a less of a risk was because Lucas was physically in better shape than Chase.

Then there were Bevin and Tim, who compensated their lack of mental power with physical strength.

To Nathan both Anna and Jake, and Peyton and Mouth were equally threatening. Both teams lacked some skills but had some other ones to keep them in the game. Both teams managed to fly under the radar but still do well enough in the challenges, with the exception of Mouth and Peyton who lost the previous challenge and were facing Elimination.

The final team he hadn't thought of yet was the most troubling to Nathan: Haley's sister Taylor and her partner Skills. Like many other teams, they seemed to have both physical and mental strength but what separated Taylor and Skills from the rest, was their drive and their connection.

It was the look in their faces when they were competing together that worried Nathan. There was some sort of passion and power in them, especially in Taylor. It was similar to what Nathan had seen in professional athletes' eyes. He couldn't quite describe it but it was like she didn't just want to win, but she needed to win. And that made her ruthless.

Taylor and Skills were both completely relaxed in the other's presence. They were good friends which made them into good competitors. They knew everything about each other. The last month they had spent in Mexico, they seemed to have developed a bond which helped them do well in the challenges.

Many teams were left in the game. Many teams left to beat. Nathan suddenly realized that if he and Haley wanted to make it till the end, they needed to up their game. No more 4th or 5th place or doing medium well.

They needed to start winning challenges. They needed to share that same trust and bond that Taylor and Skills had in order to gain the trust between one another that would help them get to that next level in challenges.

"Party it is." Nathan mumbled to himself while continuing lifting weights with a determined look.

Tonight, in order to make them into a better team, he would find out everything about Haley. And that included finding out exactly what was going on with her and Taylor and what they were hiding.


AN: So, any thoughts on the chapter? What do you think is going on with out favorite sisters?

Next chapter: Duh-rama! Big fights, big speeches and big revelations. :) Don't forget to review!

xoxo

Fes