Wow. Thank you all so much for those amazing, amazing reviews. You guys are seriously the best. Thank you! And so, without further ado, another update from yours truly … I hope you like it.

----Sera

P.S. By the way, somebody asked me what were Haley and Nathan wearing when they went to the living room. Just so we're clear, Haley was still wearing only Nathan's polo, and Nathan was only wearing basketball shorts and a shirt that he just threw on, which I forgot to mention. So I hope that clears everything up.

Disclaimer: I own nothing concerning One Tree Hill but this story.

Haley was completely stunned as she stared at what Peyton was motioning to. Her throat had run dry, and she was frozen in her spot. It took a while for her to take everything in, and she didn't realize that it had already been a couple of minutes when she felt Nathan's arms wrap around her small, quivering body.

"It's going to be okay, Hales." He whispered to her.

Okay? Okay?It was never going to be okay. Haley thought desperately, as she felt tears well up in her eyes.

How was it possible that only a few moments ago, she and Nathan were so happy, so carefree – lost in their own world – and now – it was like that entire world came crashing down on them. And the worse part of it all was that everyone knew. Everyone knew about them.

"If it makes you feel any better, Tutor Girl – you look really hot in this picture," said Brooke tentatively, trying to ease the slowly growing tension in the room.

No one said a word.

For a while, Haley clung to Nathan, her face buried into his chest as she tried to take in everything she saw – to calm down and handle the situation, if it was possible. When she lifted her face, she looked around.

Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, and even Jake stood in their living room, all watching her with nervous, concerned expressions on their faces. In the middle of it all was the coffee table, and on top of it were piles of every popular tabloid magazine known to mankind, each one of them with a picture of Nathan and Haley on the cover.

Still trembling slightly, Haley untangled herself from Nathan's arms and went to the coffee table, and slowly picked up the topmost one.

It was US Weekly, and on the glossy cover was a picture of Haley and Nathan, kissing in front of the gymnasium where Nathan usually went for basketball practice. And on the bottom were the huge, yellow words … Nathan Scott's Secret Love Affair; the Secret Romance No One Has Ever Known About.

Haley moved on to the next magazine that was right below the one she was holding. It had the same picture on the cover, but instead, the caption read Nathan Scott's Big Secret: What Has He Been Hiding?

The next one had a picture of Haley and Nathan exiting the club on their first date when they had followed Brooke and Lucas on theirs. Nathan had a regretful sort of look on his face, and Haley seemed to be highly distressed. The caption read, Nathan's Latest Romance: On the Rocks Already?

Shakily, Haley sat herself down on the couch, trying to make sense of it all. Was it really possible for news to spread that fast? How much did they know?

"Haley – I'm sorry – I didn't think –" Nathan began, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Haley's voice was wavering as she spoke. "How could this happen? How could everyone just find out about us like that? How is it even remotely possible for every goddamned tabloid magazine to know about us?"

"There's something else you should see," said Jake as he switched on the television.

Instantly, Ryan Seacrest's voice filled the silent room as he announced, "Just days before the Lakers' big game with the New York Knicks, Nathan Scott drops a bombshell on us all. A few months after his highly publicized break-up with supermodel girlfriend of four weeks, Monica Cruz, the basketball superstar had already gone on the rebound with this mysterious new girl that no one has ever seen or heard of. The two were first seen entering and exiting the club Rush two weeks ago, but since they have not been seen together anymore after that, the tabloids decided to disregard that small piece of information.

Then, just yesterday, the two lovebirds were once again spotted, this time outside LA Staples Center, where the Lakers practice for their games. This time was no longer disregarded since they were actually seen kissing a couple of times, and even canoodling once in a while. The two seemed to be very happy and content as they walked to their car and left the area. No word yet from Nathan Scott's rep on the matter, or more importantly, who exactly is the new girl seen in the talented basketball player's arms."

"I can't believe this is happening," whispered Haley.

"How could you let this happen, Nathan? I thought you promised not to make any more headlines other than basketball until the two months were up and the article has already been published! Thanks to your stupidity, the whole world now knows that you're having some torrid secret love affair with a girl no one knows! How the hell are we going to come up with a good explanation to the press about this?! More importantly, how stupid could you possibly be to expose Haley to this – to the press, and it that way? This is the exact thing we were trying to avoid, and now you go and act like the idiot that you are and now – this happens! You signed a damned contract, Nathan! None of this should have happened!" Lucas shouted. He tried to keep his voice cool and collected, but instead, he couldn't help but raise it.

Nathan immediately stood up and leveled himself with his brother, his intense blue eyes boring deeply into his. "Lucas, I didn't mean for any of this to happen! Do you think I actually want this to happen to Haley and me?"

"I don't know. Maybe you just want the attention, as usual," said Lucas coldly, his lips curling as he sneered at him.

"You're going to regret saying that, asshole." Nathan growled as he lunged at his brother with a punch before Jake quickly stepped between them, trying to keep them apart but to no avail. Nathan pushed Jake away, and threw himself on Lucas as they both fell to the floor. Brooke tried to pull Nathan off of Lucas, while Peyton helped Jake up.

"Nathan – Lucas – stop! This is insane!" Haley shouted as she helped Brooke pull Nathan off, and once they managed to successfully do it, she pushed Nathan away. "Stop, okay? Just stop – all of this – I want it to stop. Things are bad enough already and having you two fight over something that already happened isn't going to do or solve anything."

"Luke, can't you just tell the press the truth?" Jake asked.

Before Lucas could say anything, Haley cut in, "We can't. The deal was to live with Nathan for two months and get to know more about his personal and private life without exposing to the whole world what we're doing," she looked at a disheveled Nathan who was still glaring at Lucas, and she felt her eyes fill with tears. "None of it ever said that we could have a relationship."

Nathan immediately noticed that Haley was about to burst into tears. He walked towards her, his arms outstretched but she took a step back away from him. "Hales –"

"I have to be alone," she whispered, and without another word, she left.

"Tutor Girl? Are you okay?"

Haley was sitting on one of the swings in the backyard of Nathan's house, facing the huge infinity pool as she stared at its pristine blue waters. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, or how long she had been crying, and she didn't need to look up to know that it was Brooke and Peyton.

They both sat down next to her, and immediately, Peyton put an arm around Haley's shoulders. "Talk to us, Hales."

"Do you know that I could lose my job over this?" She asked them, her words so soft that she wasn't quite sure if they heard her. "You guys, my job is all I have."

"Hales – you're not going to lose your job, okay? Maybe lose your dignity – but not your job," said Brooke brightly then pouted when Haley raised her brows at her. "Oh, c'mon Hales, you're supposed to laugh when I make a joke."

"I'm sorry Brooke, but I don't really think this is a good time to laugh."

"Haley, you're amazing at what you do, and one small mistake isn't going to take it away from you. So you decided to have some sort of romance with the subject of your article. When is that ever wrong?" Brooke asked.

"When the deal clearly said that no one should know about the interview," replied Haley. "You guys, no one is supposed to know about the interview. It's more than just an exclusive, and if word leaked out about it, it wouldn't be worth the time and effort anymore. Now that the tabloids know about Nathan and I, people might start talking and eventually, the interview is going to be known."

"You don't know that, Hales," said Peyton. "I mean, you could just invent some romantic love story with Nathan, and no one will ever know."

"You know what, P. Jagielski? That is a brilliant idea. I'm really starting to grow on you, aren't I?" Brooke remarked proudly. "You could totally make a romantic love story between you and Boy Toy – like The Notebook or something! Then you can act out the really hot after-the-rain love scene they had!"

"Okay Brooke, that is just nasty." Peyton said, making a face.

Despite Haley feeling miserable, she couldn't help but laugh. "I just hope everything will work out. How are the men doing in there?"

"Bad. Jake had to sit in between Lucas and Nathan so they wouldn't pummel each other to a bloody pulp. I'm just worried that they will have to pummel Jake into a blood pulp first to get him out of the way," Peyton answered. "Before we left to look for you, Nathan and Lucas were still going at it with the fighting."

Haley sighed. "This is all my fault. None of this would have happened if I just made things between Nathan and me completely professional. Instead, he just had to be really hot and a really amazing kisser, and now everything is just falling apart."

The three of them were silent for a moment.

"And you know what's the craziest part of this all? Not once – in this entire disaster – did I ever consider ending things with Nathan. In fact, it never even crossed my mind. I just felt like – we were in it together, no matter what. We were going to face it together."

"Why not?"

Haley considered her answer, as her mind looked back to everything that had happened to them for the short time span since she had moved in. "I just – I don't want us to end. I know it's only been two weeks – but I've never been happier with anyone else. I just figured that – we would get through this mess together."

"Hey. Are you alright?" Nathan asked her, as he pulled her against him so her back was leaning into his chest.

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you and Lucas," she replied. "No matter how much you two fight, it's not going to make things any easier for us."

"I know. I'm sorry about that. It's just that – the things he says – they can be so goddamned infuriating sometimes."

"He's only trying to be your brother, Nathan. Cut him some slack, okay? He didn't want things to escalate like this, and he was just taking it out on you. Let it go," said Haley, as she turned around to wrap her arms around his neck. "We need to talk to my boss tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know. I can just imagine how fun that will be," said Nathan sarcastically.

"We're in this together, right?"

"Always," he pressed a kiss to her lips. "You better go to sleep. We both have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Nathan watched her as she crawled under the covers, and soon, her soft breathing was the only sound that could be heard in the room. He took a quick shower and changed into boxers. He crawled under the covers as well, and wrapped his arms around her waist, inhaling her scent – letting it fill in his nostrils, and immediately, he began to relax.

He had never felt more in sync with another girl before. Normally, if things got that bad with a girl, he would immediately end it, but with Haley, he didn't even consider it. In fact, it was the very last thing on his mind. Here was a woman – who finally made him happier than he could ever remember, and everything else just didn't seem to matter anymore. He felt such a strong, magnetic connection with her, and the truth was; he didn't want those two months to end.

Damn it, Nathan was in love with her. How could he possibly let her go now?

He pulled her closer to him. "Always and forever, Hales."

I don't know. I'm not as satisfied with this chapter as I should be. Anyway, I'd still love to hear your thoughts.