Oh, a simple complication,
Miscommunications lead to fall-out.
Too many things that I wish you knew,
So many walls that I can't break through.

Nathan's eyes shot open in a panic as the small beads of sweat lay dotted on his forehead. He sat up, and felt a sense of déjà vu run through him. There he was, asleep on Haley's couch, again. But this time she wasn't lay beside him, she was on the opposite end of the couch, curled up into a tight ball as she slept uncomfortably. Probably to give him some space, but not leave him at the same time. He was thankful for that, he was still mad, but he could barely sleep with out her there either.

His dream, it was so vivid. Like he was there, it was real. He could feel it; he was so happy, then just... gone.

It started with him bouncing a basketball on the river court, then suddenly he was in this massive arena, and thousands of fans were screaming his name, but he could pick out hers instantly.

Go, Nathan! You can do it, baby!

He had smiled and ran across the court, when he scored his first basket he had glanced down at his jersey. Charlotte Bobcats. Him, a Bobcat!

And then he had played with everything inside of him, and his heart would race wildly as he could hear Haley cheering him on with Brooke by her side, while Julian was by hers. Mia and Chase were there too, even Rachel and Damien? Clay was stood a few rows to their left, with his arm wrapped around some blonde girls' shoulders, she looks vaguely familiar... he had thought when he glanced at the two, not that he was playing much attention to them. Peyton was there as well, but she was wearing a different colour, cheering Lucas, Lucas!

That's when Nathan realised that was who he was playing against.

Lucas was being pretty violent, nudging into him discreetly so he wouldn't get in trouble. Glaring at him when he had the ball (which seemed to be throughout most of the game). When Nathan had reached the basket, he squared his shoulders ready to shoot.

Then it just went dark.

Nathan! he had heard her scream through the darkness, over the gasps of fans, and the clicks of camera's. Nathan, wake up! Don't you leave me, don't you dare leave me!

Suddenly he felt so light, and he could see everything... but from above. He saw everyone, dressed in black? Surrounding something near a church. Most of them were fighting back tears, while others had them trailing down their cheeks. That blonde girl was there again, comforting Clay as he took deep breaths so he wouldn't cry. And Lucas was stood, his eyes dark as a tear rolled down his cheek while Peyton held onto him tight, as if he was going to fall apart with out her there.

Then he saw it.

His coffin.

I didn't say anything, she whispered against Julian's chest as she sobbed into it while they lowered his coffin further into the ground, cold. I knew and now he's gone. It's all my fault.

And that's when he woke up.

He felt somewhat delighted when he saw her, because she wasn't crying into Julian's chest, she wasn't begging him to wake up. She didn't make his heart break with her puffy eyes and devastated eyes. Haley actually looked quite peaceful, less than she usually did, because she still had a worried look on her face, even while she slept.

But what if that could have happened? What if that dream was a twisted reality of what could have happened if Lucas and Haley never said anything? Or was that just what it was... twisted?

Because there was no way Lucas would play against him. There was no way Lucas could even be in the NBA with his condition. And there was no way Damien West would attend his basketball game.

Calm down, man. His mind shouted, forcing him back into reality. It was just a dream, just a dream. You're not dead, you're fine. Haley's fine.

But they weren't. Physically she was. Him, well, he's not so sure about that. But emotionally they were both shattered, which did show on the outside, too. Nathan had just pretended to fall asleep so they didn't have to have a conversation last night, and he could tell she was hurt, he had heard her cry in the kitchen. So maybe this could almost be hurting her more than this was hurting him. Maybe.

Maybe she cares more than he can ever understand. And this whole thing was just a mistake. God knows he's made his fair share of them regarding their relationship. But he just can't bring himself to empathise with her decision to keep this from him, he could have lost his dream, his life. And he just doesn't want her to think he's going to take this lightly, just like she didn't when he caused problems between them.

So he stood up quietly, and exited the house.

Haley marched across the quad, wide eyed. Nathan's been avoiding her all day, not that she can really blame him, but she can't help but feel mad. She had saw him in the hallway, so he turned and walked the other way. In the class they shared he sat on the opposite end of the room, furthest away from her as possible. She knows that it's her fault, but she thought he'd be mature enough to at least talk to her about it by now. Haley wanted to explain herself, but she couldn't do that when she couldn't even have a chance to look at him for more than five seconds.

''Nathan!'' she shouted, before he could spot her and discreetly walk away.

Nathan stood up from his table that he was sharing with Lucas and Peyton. Brooke never sat with them anymore, she always sat with Julian and Mia, and Clay and Tim were currently in the gym practicing their free throws, while Bevin and Skills were probably making out somewhere.

''What do you want, Haley?''

''I want to talk,'' she told him softly. ''Please,''

Nathan laughed bitterly, feeling all the hurt and anger rise as he looked at her now. So she wanted something from him, when she couldn't tell him that he could have HCM. The dream kept spinning around in his head, making him more and more angry whenever he thought about it. ''So now you want to talk? Sorry, Haley. But you're a couple of days too late.''

''I was going to tell you...'' Haley trailed off weakly, not knowing what to say to make him less mad. The look on his face scared her, he just looked so mad. And it was all her fault.

''Going to, but you didn't. You didn't tell me about it, because Lucas told you to. That's just great, isn't it? You'll keep a secret for my brother, but won't tell me, even though it's my life on the line here.'' he spat angrily. His chest was aching, he didn't want to talk to her like this, but he couldn't help it. The words just kept flying out of his mouth.

But she could handle it, she's handled worse things before. Despite how the words stabbed her chest when he said them, but she tried to keep her composure. ''I wanted to tell you so bad, but then we had that fight at TRIC-''

''So I deserved it?'' he presumed. ''Because I was an ass I deserved to have my life on the line? God Haley, I could have died, can't you understand that?''

Yes. ''You don't deserve it, of course not.'' Haley denied. ''I was just so mad, and then everything was so amazing between us and it just kinda slipped my mind slightly. I knew you would find out soon anyway, and I didn't want you to hate me.''

''I'm such an idiot,'' Nathan muttered, running a hand through his hair. ''Just- just don't talk to me.'' he told her, before storming away towards the parking lot.

''No!'' she shouted, running after him and grabbing his arm, forcing him to turn around and look at her. ''Nathan, Nathan, please don't walk away, you do it all the time.''

''That's because it keeps me from saying things you don't want to hear!''

The people around them started to look as the nerd and jock's voices got louder, and she smirked. It looked like she didn't have to destroy their relationship, they were doing a perfectly good job at that themselves. Soon Nathan Scott would be hers, she just knew it. Because Naley are in trouble, and he's not going to choose his nerdy bad girlfriend over her. No way.

''It wasn't my secret to tell,'' Haley told him sternly, feeling the tears form in her eyes as they stood merely inches apart. ''It was killing me, okay? I was so worried about you. I didn't want to ruin things between us.''

''Haley,'' he said through gritted teeth. ''I keep thinking back to those times playing on the river court these past few days, and I could have died doing that. And I'm supposed to appreciate it, but I don't, I'm just angry.'' Nathan explained, and then shook his head. ''You don't understand.''

''Please, please just forgive me. I didn't want to ruin it. But I guess... I guess I've done that already.'' she paused, trying to think of some words that would fix this awful thing that she did. ''I can't lose you- I can't.'' her voice broke. ''I care about you, so much. And being with out you just hurts... I'm so sorry, Nathan.'' Haley whispered, grabbing his hand desperately. ''Just don't- don't go.''

Nathan pulled his arm away, like she had just burned him with her touch. ''You lied,'' he stated. ''And I just... I can't handle this right now. You know, I could still have it. I could still die playing basketball.'' Nathan said, before turning around and walking away, muttering another, ''You don't understand.''

''Yes I do!'' Haley finally exclaimed, a tear fell from her eye which she quickly wiped away. ''Stop saying that I don't understand, because I do!''

Panic ran through him as he turned to face her again, his heart breaking at the broken look on her face. ''What?''

''Where did your scar come from?'' he finally whispered against her forehead.

She blinked rapidly before smiling at him wryly. ''I- um, there was a... car accident.''

''Being in a coma for a week,'' she said, another tear fell, she didn't even bother to wipe it away this time. ''That's almost dying. So don't say that I don't understand, because I do. And you don't understand how guilty I feel. Do you think I set out to kill you or something? You really think I would want you to die? It's the last thing I would ever want!'' Haley exclaimed, her voice was rising with every word as more tears rolled down her cheeks. She was angry and hurt, and it all sucked. She just didn't want to feel like this anymore, it wasn't stopping. It wasn't going away.

Nathan stared at her wide eyed, his mouth was even formed into the shape of a little 'o'. His Haley... was in a coma. His Haley was in a car accident. His Haley almost died. ''Haley, what-''

''No,'' she stopped him, her mind suddenly clouded with his words. Because I was an ass I deserved to have my life on the line? God Haley, I could have died... Just- just don't talk to me.

''Haley,'' he whispered, glancing around at everyone staring at them. ''We can't talk about this now.''

''You're right. I messed up. Maybe- maybe this is what's meant to happen.'' she paused, as realisation hit her. If Nathan and her were that happy, then she wouldn't have lied. And if Nathan cared so much, then he would have given her a chance to explain. This isn't what she wanted, she wanted it to be easy. She isn't looking for drama right now. And Nathan Scott is the one who is going to bring heap loads of it into her life. Brooke, Rachel and Mia talked about them like they were meant to be, they always go on about Naley the perfect couple. It was supposed to be, but it's not. They're just hurting each other.

''Maybe we were never supposed to be together.'' Haley stated shakily, before wiping her eyes and walking away as her stomach twisted uncomfortably in pain.

''Haley,'' Nathan said weakly, watching her retreating figure walk away brokenly.

He wanted to run after her and apologise, find out what happened to her and tell her that they were meant to be together. But something just kept him stood there, fear? She hurt him, and now he's hurt her. And Nathan just wanted it to stop. But he still had to deal with the fact that he might not be able to play basketball anymore, and despite everything, he may not be able to do all of this with out her.

Because she was wrong. They are supposed to be together.

But not us! An' why? Because. . . . because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.

Haley reread the line over and over again in her book, trying to distract herself. She just wanted to get her mind off Nathan, just for a second. But no, there he was, spinning around in her head, along with the words he said to her. Sometimes the nice words popped into her head, like, I want us to be this, happy, like we are. I want us to get kicked out of movie theatres and pig out on your couch in the morning, and eat your mom's pancakes, and fall asleep on your lumpy couch. Because I don't think I've ever been as happy as I've been today, with you. But then so did the bad ones, even the ones from previous fights they've had, You. Used. Me.

Maybe we were never supposed to be together. She doesn't even know why she said that, because she's pretty sure that they are. But she just freaked out. It just killed her when she thought that she was fighting for their relationship more than him, that maybe he didn't care as much. And she just said something that would hurt him, to protect herself from the pain (that plan failed miserably, she had thought a couple of minutes after she said it, once the heartbreak caught up with her).

Nathan cared, of course he cared. But maybe that wasn't enough. What if they weren't strong enough? What if they couldn't deal with these problems? What if he just didn't care enough to fight for her, like she just tried to fight for him?

But not us! An' why? Because. . . . because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.

Haley wanted to look after Nathan, especially now he's dealing with all of this. She knows how he's feeling, she's experienced losing something you love unfairly. Even though her loss was more painful, and heartbreaking (she knows it was, because he didn't lose one of his parents in the same night as she lost her dream), that doesn't mean she doesn't want to help him through it. Who knows, he may not even have HCM. There's a 50/50 chance, and Lucas already has it, so there's a chance that Nathan may not.

But would Nathan even look after her? Silly thoughts, she chided. Nathan has already looked after her. The night she hurt her knee, he got her ice and carried her up the stairs. The time she burned her finger, he ran it under cold water. She remembers feeling her heart swell when he did those things, that wasn't going away.

And despite how much he tells her, she can't help but wonder if he cares as much. But maybe it was true, actions speak louder than words.

A knock on her bedroom door interrupted her train of thought. Mia popped her head through the door, her smile immediately faded when she saw her best friend. ''Hales, why are you crying?''

Whoops, through her thinking she hadn't even noticed the tears that had started to fall down her cheeks like raindrops. She quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve, shaking her head. ''I think Nathan and I broke up. I'm- I'm not really sure.''

''I heard you had a fight, some people were talking about it.'' Mia stated, walking into the room. ''But I thought it was just gossip.''

''I wish it was,'' she whispered.

Mia pulled Haley into a hug, holding her tight and rubbing her back when she felt more tears soak her shirt. ''It's gonna be okay, Haley. He's gonna realise how much of an idiot he was and come here.''

Haley broke away from their embrace and shook her head again. ''It wasn't him, it was me.''

''Haley, what happened?''

''I can't tell you,'' she said shakily. Nathan could have HCM, she wasn't going to tell people when she didn't even tell him. It wasn't her secret to tell.

Mia didn't object, or argue, she just pulled Haley into another hug. That's the thing with best friends, sometimes you don't even need to know the facts, you just need to be there. So Mia was going to be by Haley's side, helping her fight her battles and be there during the good times.

Because she's got Haley to look after her, and she's going to look after Haley.

Bounce. Bounce.

The orange basketball hit the floor again with a bounce as Nathan dribbled it while he ran across the river court. Yes, he knows he shouldn't be doing this with the possible HCM. But he needs to release his pain somehow, and he doesn't feel like having a hang over tomorrow morning. So basketball is the best option. It's something which he can focus on, he can escape reality for a while.

Yet Haley James still managed to slip into his mind.

Maybe we were never supposed to be together. Is that what she thinks? After everything, it should prove that they were. One fight shouldn't change that. But it was their first fight at a couple. And it wasn't exactly small. It was serious, and angry, and emotional. But that should just prove how much they care about each other, shouldn't it? Guess not.

''You know, that's not gonna be good for you.'' a voice quipped from the other end of the court.

Nathan turned around and saw Clay leaning against the other basketball net, with his arms crossed over his chest. ''What's it to you?'' he asked breathlessly as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

''Luke told me about the HCM,'' he informed him. ''And I heard about the fight you had with Haley in the quad today.''

''It's funny,'' Nathan laughed dryly as he walked over to the bleachers and took a drink from his water bottle, before sitting down. ''It seems like everyone knows more about mine and Haley's relationship than we do.''

Clay took a seat next to him. Resting his elbows on his knees, he said, ''We just care about you guys.''

''I know,'' he sighed. ''I just wish that everyone didn't get involved with our business sometimes.''

''We just care about you guys.'' Clay repeated, and then took a nervous deep breath. ''Listen, Luke told me all about what happened and about what Haley did, and I know it's none of my business, but if you care about Haley as much as I think you do, then you should give her a chance to explain.''

''And why's that?'' Nathan asked, forgetting to mention that he was already half convinced anyway. He wanted to hear what Clay had to say, he didn't realise his grinning friend cared so much about Naley.

Clay took another one of those nervous deep breaths. ''Okay, I'm gonna tell you something, and I've never told anyone before. But I think you should know.'' When Nathan looked at the expectantly, Clay took his third deep breath and continued, ''I guess until a couple of weeks ago, I was kinda... quiet.''

''Moody.'' Nathan corrected him. ''You hardly ever spoke, you always looked angry.''

''I know,'' he nodded. ''I, uh... Do you remember a girl who used to go here? Freshman year. Sara Kay.''

Nathan thought about it for a second, then he shook his head. ''I don't think so... wait, did she have blonde hair?'' he asked, thinking about the girl who was with Clay in his dream. Coincidence, much?

Clay smiled fondly. ''Yeah, she always curled it, and it reached about...'' he tapped the spot just two inches from his elbow. ''Here.''

''Was she your girlfriend?'' Nathan asked, he laughed when Clay nodded. ''Did she leave you for being so moody?''

''No, actually, she died.''

All of Nathan's laughter stopped and he stared wide eyes at his friend. ''Jeez Clay,'' he muttered. ''I'm sorry, man.'' Nathan shook his head, trying to clear some of the shock. ''Why didn't you ever tell anyone?''

''Look, I know I should have told you, or Tim a while ago. But I'm telling you now because you're making a mistake, shutting Haley out. Being mad at her right now, it's not worth losing her forever. Trust me.'' he paused. Taking deep breath number four, feeling his chest ache whenever he thought about the girl he lost. ''I met her the summer before high school year, I was on the beach with some of my friends, and there she was, she was just sat drawing a picture of the sea. She was gorgeous, and I remember thinking that if I didn't have her, then I'd die.

''We spent the whole summer together, and I fell in love with her. And I know what you're thinking, how could I have been in love when I was only fourteen?'' Clay asked rhetorically. ''But I was, I just knew I was. And then we went to high school, and we kinda kept to ourselves because I was too scared to join The Ravens. Then a couple of weeks later, a few days after my birthday we had a fight, just about some cheerleader who flirted with me. I went home, the next day she wasn't in school. I went to her house, and her mom was there, crying. She said- she said Sara had an aneurysm about an hour after our fight, she was just gone.'' he said softly, feeling a tear roll down his cheek.

Oh my God. ''Clay, man. How come we didn't know?''

''Because she was only at the school for a few weeks, they didn't do a memorial or anything. Sara was really shy, no one really knew her except me and her friend, but that's it.'' he explained. ''Didn't even get a mention in the fucking assembly.''

Nathan placed his hand on Clay's shoulder comfortingly. ''I'm sorry, Clay.''

''So that's why I was moody, I just didn't wanna talk to anyone. So my friends just gave up and went along with their own cliques. It was so sudden, it was like one minute she was there, and then she was just gone'' he wiped away another tear that fell from his eye. ''Remember that time when you and Tim came up to me on Valentine's Day?'' he asked shakily, his stomach still twisting in pain.

''Hey Clay, who are you sending your Candy Gram too?'' he asked as he and Tim approached him.

Clay looked at Nathan, a sad expression on his face. ''No one.''

''But you've got to.'' Tim said.

''Well I'm not.'' Clay snapped, slamming his locker shut and storming away.

Nathan nodded his head. ''Yeah,''

''Well that's why,'' Clay said. ''I guess when you started to talk to me more, and then I realised you liked Haley. I don't know, I felt like I needed to help you guys. Because you were wasting so much time just being friends, when you could have just told her how you felt. So I had to help you see it, that's why I said she was hot that time, and that's why I said you weren't good enough, I thought you'd prove me wrong.'' he explained. ''And then we started hanging out, and Tim sometimes followed me around. Then I realised we were friends, it made me feel better.''

Nathan smiled reassuringly. ''It's gonna get better.''

Clay nodded his head, wiping the tears that had fallen from his eyes. ''I know, that's what everyone says, right? I do feel better. I just regret fighting, because if I knew that would be our last time ever talking, then I would have made it special. It's like Lucas and Peyton, they have feelings for each other but Lucas is just scared of being with one person. And I hate that, because they're just wasting so much time.''

''I'm sorry, man.'' Nathan sighed, knowing what Clay was getting at. ''I just... I can't believe she didn't tell me.''

''It wasn't her secret to tell,'' Clay reminded him. ''And she was still gonna tell you.''

''I know, but she said- she said that she didn't think we were meant to be.'' Kick.

The honey blonde boy's eyes widened. ''I think she's scared,'' he mused. ''You guys are fighting, so she's pushing you away before you can hurt her first.''

Nathan chuckled, despite himself. ''You're more of an expert on this than Brooke.''

Clay grinned his typical grin. ''I know, now go and talk to her, you idiot.''

''You gonna be okay?''

''Yeah, sure.'' he waved his hand dismissively. ''You know, I might go and give Tim advice on how to steal Bevin from Skills.''

Nathan knocked on Haley's door eagerly (after stopping home to shower first, he didn't want Lydia to tell him to, again.), he bounced back and forth on his feet. He didn't know what to say, but he knew that they had to sort this out. He didn't wanna be like Clay, living with regrets and a horrible ache in his chest, wishing things could have happened differently. He wanted them to be Naley again, he didn't want to be mad anymore.

The door opened, and there she stood. Her hair was in a messy bun at the top of her head, in pyjamas, despite the time. Her eyes were puffy, red from her tears which presumably didn't stop after their fight. And she had no make up on (even though she only ever wears mascara and a little bit of light foundation) but she was smiling, and it made his insides melt.

She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tight.

Nathan rested his chin on the top of her head as he squeezed her back; he even kissed the top of her head.

Because they're meant to be together, they have been from the start.

AN: I'm so self conscious about this! I really don't think I wrote it well, but I guess it's too late now because you've already read it. Thanks to cuteyfruity for reading the fight for me, I was so scared in case it didn't sound okay. So please let me know if it did or not? And that's not it, they're totally gonna talk about everything in the next chapter, they're not just gonna fix everything that easy.

C - Thank you for reviewing. And I hope I do well on the exams, I've got results for one of them and I did pretty good. I think I'm getting some more results later on it the week, thanks. Haha, well this was the confrontation. And this ending lead to the reconciliation, which will be a nice, cute chapter which I will post on Friday. Thanks again!

goldenbabe - Thank you for my air hug, and thanks for your review!:) Peyton will be included more now, she won't be in every chapter, but she'll be more around than she used to be. Well, this chapter didn't exactly go well for them, but the ending did, right? Don't worry, they'll be some cuteness in the next chapter. Thanks again:)

mazzy - Thanks for reviewing! Don't worry, I'm just glad you're still reading the story. Keith isn't Lily's father unfortunately. Dan is just a terrible father. The whole car accident thing will be revealed in the next chapter, but this chapter kinda revealed something about it. Thanks again.

Yey, I finally used a Taylor Swift song. It was STORY OF US. I don't own it, well I kinda own the CD, but that's not the point.

Please review! I need to know what you thought. x