CHAPTER EIGHT:

AN: I'm SO sorry it took forever to update, but better late then never right?? lol well I hope you like this chapter and leave me some love, I greatly appreciate it. ) enjoy

CHAPTER EIGHT: MOMENT OF TRUTH

"And so then I came here. All I knew was that I didn't want to be the person I was before. I knew I had to change, so that's exactly what I did." Haley had just finished telling DJ everything. She didn't want to look up into his eyes. She didn't want to see the expression that she knew would be written all over his face.

After what seemed like hours of silence, Haley looked up to find DJ just sitting there, staring at the ground. He looked over at her and his eyes pierced through hers.

"Please say something." Haley begged.

"I…I just don't know what to say. That's a lot to process." DJ told her truthfully.

"I knew you were going to hate me." Haley whispered as she stood up to leave.

"Wait. Haley, I don't hate you." DJ stood up and took her wrist to stop her. "God, it's just a lot to handle. I have to sort through it all. Don't I at least get that?"

"Just tell me now." Haley looked down at the ground. "Do you still want to be with me or is this all pointless?"

DJ took Haley by the shoulders and made her face him. He pulled her chin up so she would be looking at him. "Haley I love you. You know that. I just need time. I gave you time, can you do the same for me?"

"I love you, too." Haley stood up on toes to give him a passionate kiss. "Just something to remember me by, just in case you need a while." Haley told him as she turned and walked toward his door.

"Call me when ever you are ready. I'll be waiting." Haley walked out the door as a tear started rolling down her cheek. She knew he wasn't going to take it well, but that didn't stop her from hoping he would. It didn't make it hurt any less.

Haley walked back to her room to find Rachel and Peyton lying on Peyton's bed listening to music and reading magazines.

"Hey." Rachel and Peyton said simultaneously, as they both looked up and saw Haley walk through the door. She got closer and only then did they see the tear streaks on her face.

Peyton jumped off the bed and went to hug Haley. "What happened?" She asked as she ran a soothing hand up and down her back.

"I told him everything." Haley said as more tears started to fall.

Rachel came over and was hugging Haley on the opposite side of Peyton. "Shh. It's going to be okay." She told her, hoping to calm her down a little bit.

After a few minutes of letting Haley cry they pulled away and made her sit down on the bed, both of them on either side of her.

"How did he take?" Peyton asked hesitantly.

"Like I thought he would. I swear he's never going to want to see me again." Haley told them.

"Did he say that?!" Rachel asked surprised. "I'm going to kick he's ass. He doesn't know what he's losing here."

"Rachel calm down." Haley couldn't help but to laugh at her best friend. "He said he just needs time and that he still loves me."

"See, that's not bad." Peyton tried to get her to realize. "It was probably just a lot to process, but he still loves you."

"Yea, but you didn't see the look on his face. He looked…I don't know….disgusted, or something."

"I doubt that. He was just shocked." Rachel reasoned.

"Maybe. I guess only time will tell." Haley said as she walked over to her bathroom. "I need a hot shower."

"Okay. How about we do a girl's night in today?" Peyton asked.

"Yea, that sounds good." Haley agreed.

"I'll go get some junk food and Peyton you pick the movie this time." Rachel walked over to the door to go across to her room.

"Don't forget the skittles!" Haley yelled from the other side of the bathroom door.

"You and your damn skittles! I think you have a problem!" Rachel laughed.

"Yea maybe you should see someone about that." Peyton added.

"Just as soon as you see someone about your Peanut M&M's obsession!" Haley yelled back.

About twenty minutes later, they were sprawled across the floor in front of the TV, watching P.S. I Love You.

"Nice pick, Peyt." Haley said sarcastically as she leaned over and grabbed a tissue, dabbing at her eyes.

"Yea, this is definitely what we needed right now." Rachel added.

"It's not all sad. It's a great movie!" Peyton defended herself.

After the movie was over they were all pretty tired.

"I think I'm going to collapse right now if I don't go to sleep." Rachel exaggerated as she stood up and walked toward her room. "Night ladies. Love ya."

"Love you too, Rach." Peyton and Haley yelled across the hall as they climbed into their beds.

After about an hour, Haley was just starting to fall asleep she heard some light knocking noises. She sat up in her bed and looked around. Peyton was still asleep, of course; she could sleep through a tornado. She stood up and walked to the door, but when she opened it no one was on the other side. She turned her head to the right then to the left, but she couldn't see anyone. Then, she heard the noise again, coming from inside her room. She turned around just as she saw something hit her window. Haley walked over to it and opened it up. She could see a figure of someone standing on the lawn in front of her room, but it was too dark to recognize the face.

"Haley." She heard someone call out quietly. "Haley is that you? It's me."

Haley instantly knew that it was DJ. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Now?" Haley asked as she looked at her clock. "It's one o'clock."

"Yes, now." DJ emphasized. "Please just come down."

Haley looked around her room, at a sleeping Peyton. "Okay. I'll be down in a minute."

She quietly walked to her closet and grabbed a hoodie and slipped it over her head as she slipped on flip-flops. She snuck down the stairs and out the door. When she got outside DJ was standing there, waiting for her.

"Hey," he faltered.

"Hey." Haley whispered back.

"Okay, I'm just going to spit it out. I thought about it all night, and I don't care about what happened. It was your past, I mean we all have pasts right?"

"I guess, but my past was pretty bad. Are you sure you can get past something like that? I don't want you to realize weeks from now that you can't be with someone like me." Haley told him, looking him right in the eye.

"Haley, I've thought a lot about it and I just don't see how your past, no matter how bad it is, has anything to do with right now. I know you've changed and that's all that matters." DJ persisted.

"So what does this mean now?" Haley asked walking closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well I was hoping it meant that we were going to be like we were before…better than we were before." DJ smiled as he placed his hands on her hips and brought her tight against his body.

"I think we can make that work." Haley quipped as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips lightly against his.

He quickly responded and soon glided his tongue across her bottom lip and she granted access by parting her lips farther. Soon their tongues were both fighting for dominance in a hungry kiss. When air became an issue Haley pulled away, tugging on his bottom lip as she did so.

"Thank you." Haley whispered as she laid her head on his chest and hugged him close, wrapping her arms around his back.

"For what?" DJ laughed as he gently laid his hands on her hips.

"For everything. Did anyone ever tell you that you are an amazing guy?" Haley asked as she looked up into his eyes.

"You're pretty amazing yourself." DJ leaned down and placed a soft, loving kiss on her forehead. "Okay well let me walk you back to you're room before we get caught."

They walked into the building and up the stairs and stopped in front of her room. DJ leaned down and gave her a passionate kiss. "I love you." He mumbled against her lips.

"I love you, too. So much." Haley told him as they pulled apart. "Even more for you being able to look past the person I used to be."

"Of course, that's exactly what it was, the person you used to be and as far as I can see you are pretty perfect now." DJ placed one last soft kiss on her lips. "Good night."

"Night." Haley whispered after him as he walked back down the hall.

Haley turned around and walked back into her room, straight to her bed. She instantly fell asleep. It was the most peaceful sleep she had in a long time, until the end of her dream.

She was sleeping next to DJ, after he had just forgiven her, and she was snuggled close to his body, her head lying in the crook of his neck.

"I love you." Haley whispered into the neck.

"I love you, too." When Haley opened her eyes, she was met with a pair of piercing blue orbs instead of soft green ones. She sat up and looked around. She wasn't in a school bedroom anymore; she was in a huge, beautifully decorated room. Haley sat up and just then a little girl came running into the room and jumped on the bed.

"Mommy, Daddy, wake up!" The little girl laughed as she jumped on the bed. Haley looked at Nathan sitting next to her, a huge smile placed across his face. She looked around the room and saw a few pictures. One of her and Nathan at what seemed like their wedding and a picture of her holding a baby in her arms and Nathan hugging them both, placing a kiss on her head. She instantly felt her eyes sting with tears.

Haley shot up in her bed, sweating and breathing heavily. What the hell was that? Haley reached up to run hands over her face and she realized she had tear tracks down her face. She got up and went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower and quickly got undressed. She let the water pour over her as the tears started to fall. She has never had a dream like that before. Sure for a few days after the abortion she thought about how her life would be with Nathan as a husband and a little son or daughter running around, but she has never had a vivid dream like that before.

Haley slid against the tiled wall and fell into a ball on the floor of the shower. Sobs took over her body. She sat like that, knees pulled tight against her chest, water just falling onto her, for what seemed like hours, until the sobs started to slow.

The next morning Haley was dressed early and went to the cafeteria by herself and grabbed an apple and went straight to her first period class, even though she was about twenty minutes early. Haley was sitting in one of the desks in her Brit Lit class, with her headphones in since class didn't start for a while and she was the only one there. She heard the door slam and looked up to see Nathan walking into the room. Nathan was reading of his sheet of paper so he didn't even see anyone else was in the room until he took a seat at one of the open desks. He looked up and saw Haley staring at him. He held her gaze a while until she looked away.

Haley turned up her ipod louder and bit into her apple. After a while she finished her apple and she didn't want it to just sit on her desk so she got up to throw it away, but when she stood up her foot got stuck on her bag sitting on the floor and she tripped, basically face-planting. She stood up and her light chuckling. She turned to Nathan and saw he was trying really hard to hold in his laughter.

Haley smiled and laughed at herself. When Nathan heard her laughing he couldn't hold it in any longer; he cracked up laughing, causing Haley to glare at him before breaking into a smile.

"Looks like you didn't get over you're clumsiness." Nathan smirked as Haley walked past him to throw away her apple core.

"I don't think that's something I can get over." Haley joked.

"Probably not." Nathan sighed, with a small smile.

Haley walked back to her desk and put her headphones back in. They spent the last ten minutes before class started in an awkward silence.

"Good morning class. Today you're going to get your copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte." The teacher went up and down the rows passing out the books. The rest of the class went by pretty fast, after talking about the book for a while the teacher allowed them to read silently for the rest of the period. When the bell rang the kids were already rushing out the door. Haley picked up her books from under her desk and walked to the door. She realized Nathan was still in the room taking his time getting his books into his backpack. She walked past him and he looked up at her right when she looked down at him.

"Hey." Nathan said after a moment of staring at each other in silence.

Haley blinked a few times; she didn't realize she was staring at him. "Hey."

"So this book should be interesting." Nathan said, trying to make small talk as they started walking out the door.

"Yea. I've already read it though."

"Of course you've read it." Nathan laughed.

Haley stopped walking and looked up at Nathan. "This is weird right?"

"What?" Nathan asked with a smirk, he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Us talking…small chat….you being here….this whole thing." Haley told him.

"I guess." Nathan agreed. "But it doesn't have to be."

"How does it not have to be? I mean this whole situation is screwy." Haley sighed.

"Yea it is but it doesn't have to be worst then it already is. I know you and Brooke didn't get off to the best start again. But I don't really feel like going through my senior year trying to hold a grudge against you." Nathan admitted.

Haley saw the sincerity in his eyes. "I don't really want that either. I mean we can at least be cordial to each other, right?"

Nathan smiled, "Right."

"Okay, well I'm off to math." Haley started to skip off.

"With Mr. Minter?" Nathan asked as Haley turned around.

"Yea, how did you know?" Haley asked confused.

Nathan held up his schedule. "Looks like you're going to have to put up with me for two classes in a row."

Haley laughed. "Come on, I'll show you how to get there."

Nathan caught up to her and they walked down a couple halls, in a semi-comfortable silence. This was still really awkward for Haley but if Nathan was going to try to be cordial she wasn't going to deny it. She was tired of all this crap between her, him and Brooke. And now that DJ knew the truth, she had nothing to hide.

After her first five classes Haley walked to the lunch room to find Peyton and Rachel. She got her food and walked to their usual table. When she got there DJ, Luke, Skills and Rachel were there.

"Where's Peyton?" Haley asked as she plopped down next to Rachel.

"Right here, love." Peyton said in a fake British accent before cracking up laughing.

"That was the worst impression I've ever heard!" Rachel laughed.

"Yea, sorry babe that was pretty bad." Lucas added as Peyton sat down next to him. He laughed when he saw the pout on her face. He cupped her face with his hands and pulled her close to him, meeting her lips with his in a soft kiss. "You were great."

"Thanks." Peyton smiled as they pulled away.

"We're only eating over here! No biggie!" Haley joked as she took a bit of her sandwich.

"Look who it is." Rachel pointed to the tabled diagonal from them, with only Brooke and Nathan sitting at it, laughing.

Haley couldn't help but smile at the site in front of her. She missed being with them, laughing like that. No, don't go there. Just because you are casually talking with Nathan doesn't change anything. It's way beyond repair. Haley scolded herself. She didn't realize she was staring in their direction when Nathan shot her a small smile. She quickly tore her gaze away, down to the food in front of her.

"I'm not really hungry. I'm going to lie down before my next class; I have a headache." Haley stood up and threw away her barely touched food.

"But we only have twenty minutes left of lunch." Peyton pointed out.

"I have an open next period." Haley told them as she went across the table and gave DJ a soft kiss.

"Feel better, babe." DJ told her after they broke apart.

"I will. Are you still coming over after your practice?" Haley asked.

"Yup. I'll see you later." DJ told her.

Haley walked to her room and went straight to her bed. When she looked at Nathan today in the cafeteria the image of her dream went rushing through her. She instantly fell asleep, but the dream suddenly appeared again. This time she didn't wake up right after the little girl came running into the room. She went through her day, her day with this family that she used to once wish she would have.

She slept through the rest of her classes because she forgot to set her alarm. When DJ didn't see her in eighth period he assumed she just over slept or her headache got worse. After his soccer practice he headed over to Haley's room. He quietly opened the door and saw Haley cuddled up on her bed. He walked over to her and noticed the tear tracks on her face.

He lightly shook her, "Haley. Baby. Wake up." When she didn't stir he kissed her forehead. "Okay I'll let you sleep, love you Haley."

He turned around to walk away when he heard her whisper. "I love you, too, Nathan."

He turned back and saw that she was still in deep sleep, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. His stomach dropped at what he saw and what he heard.

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AN: okay so that was chapter eight. Again I'm so sorry it took forever to update. I just didn't know where I wanted to take it. So leave me some love :)