Not too happy with how I wrote this one… it feels rushed but I wanted to get it up because I felt bad about the cliffhanger. Anyway, hope you like it.

"Nathan!"

When Haley saw him standing in the doorway— with a look of utter betrayal marring his features— her heart stopped. She immediately pushed Chris off of her and bounded towards Nathan. She wasn't expecting him, but she was so glad he was here.

As she ran towards him with a giddy grin, disappointment flooded her veins when he scoffed and walked right out of the dressing room.

She knew her position with Chris probably didn't look innocent, but surely Nathan couldn't think anything more was going on, could he?

"Nathan?" Hurt seeped into her voice when she made a grab for his arm but he flinched as if her touch burned him. It was then that Haley noticed the flowers he had been holding, dropped to the floor. "Baby—"

With a set jaw, Nathan finally turned towards her and folded his arms across his chest. "Save it, Haley. You know, I thought I would surprise you by coming to your show tonight, but jokes on me, huh? So surprise, Nathan— your girlfriend's fucking another guy."

The venom laced between his words scorched Haley. "Oh, come on, you can't possibly think that!"

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to think? I walk in to find another guy on top of you!"

"It wasn't like that, Nathan." Haley fumbled desperately. He had to believe her. She couldn't lose him. Not like this. Tears prickled behind her eyes, "I swear."

Nathan shook his head. This wasn't what tonight was supposed to be like; it was supposed to be him on top of Haley, causing her to giggle and scream excitedly when she saw him. But this? This was unbelievable.

"I just," he sighed tiredly, feeling the prickling of the tears behind his own eyes. "I can't do this anymore, Haley."

"Can't do what?" Her voice was strained as her grip on his arm tightened. She wasn't letting go.

"This!" He gestured in the small space of air between them, "The waiting around all day just to hear your voice! The long distance and going weeks without seeing you! I worry about you and think about you constantly! I have to listen to people tell me I'm not good enough for you, but I come here to surprise you anyway because I can't go another damn day without you, and this— this is what I find?"

"You really think I would cheat on you? That hurts, Nathan." Haley interjected.

"Oh, you mean like you accused me when you met Alex? That's rich, Haley."

"God! Would you just listen to me for a second? I know it looks bad but please just let me explain!"

Nathan waited expectantly, but before Haley could even explain, the guy who had just been tickling her came up behind her with a shit-eating grin. It took everything in Nathan not to lunge and choke the skinny punk to death.

"You must be Nathan. I've heard a lot about you."

Nathan clenched his fist, "Who the hell are you and what do you think you're doing with my girlfriend?"

Chris chuckled lowly and turned towards Haley, "I'm guessing you didn't tell him, huh?"

"Tell me what?" Nathan grit, narrowing his eyes between the two.

Chris laughed again and eyed Nathan with an appreciative grin, "Nice work, Hales. He's even hotter in person."

Nathan's dark eyebrows crunched with confusion. Did this guy seriously just have the nerve to fucking call him hot?

"Chris is gay, Nathan." Haley said. "He's another musician on tour and is dating my guitarist, who's a guy. Okay? So I'm not cheating on you. I'm sorry you had to see us like that, but I swear to you, it's purely innocent. We've been friends for years."

She watched as the previous anger that overtook Nathan's body begin to deflate. If she wasn't so upset, she would've laughed at how his emotions seemed to change in the blink of an eye. Now he was simply shocked.

Chris nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Haley's like a little sister to me. I'm the last guy you need to worry about. If you wanna punch somebody, though, find the beefy creep who grabbed her ass in the bar last night-,"

"What?" Nathan nearly exploded, "some guy grabbed your ass?"

"Chris!" Haley admonished. "You're really not helping right now."

"Sorry," the blonde musician drawled, "I guess I should leave you two to talk. Nice, uh, meeting you, Nate. Don't let this one go. She's crazy about you," he winked then disappeared around the corner, leaving Nathan and Haley alone in the dressing room; the blonde girl had scurried off a while ago.

Silence overtook the couple, neither knowing what to say first. Haley fiddled nervously with her hands; her fingers were itching to run through his scalp and her lips begged for his. She knew they had to talk first though.

"So, some guy grabbed your ass?"

Haley released a heavy breath, "Nathan, that's not important right now. We obviously have a lot to talk about."

He nodded, "You're right, we do." Stuffing his hands in his pockets nervously, Nathan began to apologize. "I'm sorry, Haley. I am, but how was I supposed to know he was gay? I was so excited to see you and I guess it just threw me off when I saw another guy making you laugh."

Haley took a step closer to him and delicately ran her hand over his cheek, "is that all it is, babe? You seemed pretty upset when you said you can't do this anymore. Did you mean it?"

Nathan couldn't look into her eyes because it would break his heart. "I don't know, Hales. This long distance thing is slowly killing me." Peyton's words from the other night kept replaying in his mind. A battle began in his own brain; he couldn't stop the confliction.

Haley's blood ran cold at Nathan's doubt. She hated how insecure he felt, and it worried her to no end. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hid her face in the crux of his neck. He felt like home. "It's killing me, too. But what do we do? I don't want this to end, Nathan."

"I don't want it to end either," he dropped a kiss in her hair and finally let his arms nestle around her waist. He was slowly calming down, but the blended mix of shock and anger still lingered in the space between his bones. It was a lot to process.

She looked up and watched the anguish flash through his eyes. It was like watching lightning through a window. Haley gulped. He'd never looked more upset. "Talk to me, please," she encouraged. "You're still in pain."

"I'm not going to lie, Haley, I don't feel like I deserve you sometimes."

"Nathan…" she felt a piece of her heart crumble onto the floor and cupped his cheek. "Why do you think that?"

"Because you're the most beautiful soul I've ever met. Everyone in America knows your name, and I'm just a washed-up-could've-been. You deserve so much more than I can offer-"

"Nathan," she tried to interject, the tears started to stab at her eyes. She wished he knew how much he deserved her.

He licked his lips when he felt how dry they became. "God, I feel like such an insecure girl right now," he grumbled. "I hate this."

She squeezed his hand that was still laced between hers, "what can I do?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, "it's not your fault, baby, it's me. I guess I'm just scared."

"Of what?" Haley whispered.

His eyes fell from her steady gaze. He couldn't even look at her as the words started to bubble on the edge of his tongue. Haley felt his hands starting to shake.

"Nathan, you're shaking. What's going on?"

He swallowed a hard breath and nearly choked on the air. "I, uh, there's something I need to tell you, but I don't know how-"

"Oh my God," Haley wasn't sure if she said the words out loud or not, but her stomach almost expelled its contents onto the floor. Her eyes snapped shut, hoping this was a nightmare. She didn't think it could come to this. Nathan was going to break up with her-all because she didn't make him feel worthy enough.

"Don't!" She shrieked, "please, stop. You can't do this- I, I…"

Nathan withdrew his hands from hers and wiped the sweaty palms against his jeans. "What?"

She was staring at him intently just seconds before and just as he was about to tell her how he felt, she freaked out. Did she know what he was about to say? Did she not feel the same? Oh God-

"I love you, Nathan!"

Haley's mouth clamped shut. She couldn't believe she just said that. She's been feeling it for a while now, but this wasn't how she wanted to tell him- not as a desperate attempt to stop him from breaking up with her. Next time tell him you're pregnant why don't you, Haley thought to herself bitterly. How desperate was she?

She watched as Nathan's eyes widened like the moon, then a child-like grin exploded over hips lips. "You do?"

It's as if their moods did a swap; now it was Haley who fiddled insecurely with the hem of her dress. "Yes, I do," she said hastily. "I love you, Nathan Scott. So much. More than you can ever know, but I understand if you want to break-up."

Nathan felt like he was in the middle of a tornado with the way his mood kept changing. "Break up? Why the hell would I want to break up?"

Haley's head snapped up, "you said you wanted to tell me something and you sounded really nervous. Were you planning on breaking up with me? Oh my God, that's why you're here aren't you? Oh, God!"

Nathan laughed before swooping down and cutting off her rant with a long, hard kiss. Haley gasped into his mouth, utterly surprised, but didn't question it.

"What was that for?" She whispered breathlessly after he pulled away.

"I love you, too, Haley James."

"Say it again," she cried.

Nathan smirked, "I love you. I wasn't going to break up with you. I was going to tell you I love you but I didn't know how. That's why I was so nervous. You make me kinda nervous, Hales."

"Oh," she bit her lip, "I'm an idiot."

"No you're not," he smiled and they shared another kiss, this time, it was a lot deeper as their tongues danced in a fiery tango. "Well," he said with a dopey smile after they pulled apart, "you're crazy enough to love me."

"Stop it," Haley's face turned serious. "You've gotta stop feeling like you don't deserve me. You're it for me, Nathan. I wouldn't be in love with you if I felt like I deserved more. There's nobody else out there that I want. You are the only man who has ever made me fall in love. You, Nathan. Nobody else. I don't want anybody else. I love you. I love how big your heart is and your shy smirk and nervous laugh. I love your passion for the Ravens. You're a role model for those boys. And I love how much you love your family, and how good you are with Sawyer. It makes my heart race. You are a good man, Nathan Scott. One of the best I know. Please believe that."

He nodded softly, a growing smile stretching over his lips. "Thank you, Hales. I really needed to hear that."

"I should've said it sooner. I love you."

They stood in each other's embrace for an inordinate amount of time, neither wanting to move for they were much too comfortable.

A comfortable silence settled among them until Nathan spoke up again.

"Just for the record, though, if Chris wasn't gay I would've killed him and then ran off."

Haley's arms tightened around him. She almost laughed but the fear of losing him for real stopped the sound from escaping.

"You have nothing to worry about. I promise you, Nathan, I could never, ever, cheat on you."

"I know. I think I overreacted a little."

She shook her head against his chest, "No you didn't. If I saw you on top of some girl, tickling her, I would've ripped every hair out of her head."

Nathan laughed and this time Haley smiled. She loved that sound. It brought a lightness to her heart. "That's hot."