Woohoo, back again! Let me first just say that feedback for last chapter was phenomenal! I totally would have had this chapter posted a few days sooner but I've been working non stop and have no free time. Also, I'm leaving on vacation on Friday. I wanna try to update before I leave but I have no idea if it'll happen. I'll do my best to write while I'm away, too. I get home next Tuesday so look out for the chapter that week at the latest and I'll also be posting my new story Only If For A Night.

Chapter 25

So much for being selfless. It had been all of twelve hours since the rehearsal dinner when Nathan decided to let Haley move on with her life and he was about ready to lose his mind. Today was wedding day and even though he had only actually briefly seen Haley once or twice through the morning, those encounters had been nothing short of painful. They were awkward and tense and he wanted nothing more than to go back in time to that last lunch with Haley. Not to mention, getting ready at the church with that punk Jake around the whole time had him hating the guy even more.

Every time Jake opened his mouth, Nathan wanted to knock him out. He hadn't even brought up the subject of Haley but it didn't matter. Nathan knew there was something going on between them again and that was enough. Now he'd have to attend this wedding and sit through the reception watching them together and dancing and having a great old time together. It was sure to be hellacious.

Nathan looked at his watch and saw that the guys still had about half an hour before guests would be arriving at the church. "I'm going to go get some air," he announced and left promptly before Lucas or Julian could object.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding; Nathan just couldn't see the beauty in it. The sun was shining and it was the perfect temperature, not that it mattered for the indoor, air conditioned ceremony and reception but it was still a good omen, wasn't it? Unfortunately for Nathan, the beauty was overpowered by the perpetual state of darkness his mind was in and had been ever since he silently watched Haley leave the Dixie Grill.

"Hey," it was her voice. He'd know it anywhere. Even if she was speaking while an atomic bomb was going off, he'd be able to pick up her voice and the way words rolled off her tongue. It was poetic, music to his ears. "What are you doing out here?"

"I just needed some air," he shrugged. He didn't think he should offer her any more information at the risk of opening his mouth and saying too much.

"Yeah, me too. All this wedding stuff is a little overwhelming."

"Well at least it'll all be over by tomorrow," he commented and she smiled in agreement.

Shuffling from one foot to another, Haley wracked her brain for something to say. At the very least, this short conversation was awkward and unnatural but she didn't want it to end for some reason. "So it sounds like you guys had fun in Las Vegas?" she asked, cringing to herself as she said it. Of all things to ask about, she came up with Las Vegas, really? It was the last thing she wanted to bring up but also the only thing she could think of to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied uneasily. "Listen, Hales. About what Lucas said yesterday."

"You don't have to explain anything, Nathan. There's nothing going on between us, right? You're free to do whatever the hell you please. Granted, I hoped you wouldn't go and sleep with another girl the first opportunity you had but what can I expect? You didn't want a relationship with me so obviously you didn't want to give up your old lifestyle."

"That's not how it is, Haley!" he objected. It pained him to hear those words come out of her mouth. He couldn't blame her though; it's what his actions were portraying.

"Then how is it, Nathan?" she countered heatedly. She wasn't about to stand there and listen to him deny this. How else could it be? Once a playboy always a playboy. That was the reason behind her pain right now.

He sighed and ran a hand roughly through his hair, not caring if he'd have to re-gel it thanks to the action. "When you told me you had feelings for me, you scared me. I didn't see it coming, okay? How the hell did you expect me to react? You just dropped a bomb like a pregnancy scare and wanting a relationship on me out of nowhere! Maybe if you had of stayed instead of running away from your problems, I would've had a chance to actually respond!"

"What would you have said?" she asked her voice noticeably softer, intrigued by his words.

"I don't know to be honest. Can't we just go back and forget that conversation ended the way it did? I like you a lot, Haley," he admitted quietly.

"Yeah," she scoffed in disbelief. "Which is why you didn't call me or anything afterwards, right? Instead you just flew off to Vegas with the boys and had a kick ass time partying! Just tell me one thing, how many girls did you fuck while you were there when you supposedly liked me so much? Excuse me, I have to go back inside."

"Hales, wait!" he halted her before she actually had a chance to even move. Without thinking, he swooped down and touched his lips forcefully to hers.

Haley furrowed her brow in shock but instinctively kissed back. When she realized what she was actually doing, she pushed him away as hard as she could. "What do you think you're doing? You can't do this to me, Nathan! It's not fair to have me pour my heart to you and get a response like this days later, after you get home from a trip where I wasn't even a second thought. Not having you has hurt me enough, please don't do this and make it hurt even more," she finished yelling at him, her tone ending up sounding like a plea.

"I'm sorry," he threw his hands up in defense. He saw that he had hurt her and realized the degree of damage he had done. He knew it was going to take a lot more than an amazing kiss to fix things with her. He had made a gigantic mess of things and needed to figure out how to pick up the pieces. "Have fun with Jake tonight."

"Are you serious?" she yelled at him in shock. "Don't you dare bring Jake into this. He has done nothing to you! Why don't you just do us both a favour and stay away from me, Nathan?" she said, angry and frustrated tears welling in her eyes.

"Okay, fine. If that's what you really want," he stared at her levelly. He didn't believe that she truly wanted him to stay away and he was letting her know it.

She was unnerved by the way he was looking but refused to back down. "It's what as I want. As far as I'm concerned, anything that existed between us is over now and we need to move on, doing anything else will only cause more pain. We can be civil for work's sake, but that's as far as I'm able to go."

Nathan nodded, not wanting to accept her response but knowing it would do more harm than good to keep fighting her on it. He didn't bother saying anything else to her so he turned and walked back into the church. Haley remained outside for a moment, making sure she was put together before going back to the girls. Her mind was racing after the things that Nathan just said but she didn't really have time to analyze it right now. She put on a brave face and went back to the girl's dressing room.

Peyton was in her dress and Brooke was doing last minute touches on her hair and makeup. She looked stunning in her traditional white gown and Haley smiled broadly at the sight of her friend looking so excited. Haley was happy to see Peyton this way and found herself hoping that she would experience the same thing some day. At that thought, Nathan's face flashed in her mind. It would always be a what if. If the circumstances were different, could she and Nathan have worked as a couple and gotten their happily ever after? It was practically masochism for Haley to think about that and picture her future in an alternate universe, but she couldn't help herself.

Peyton, Brooke, and Mia were all staring at her and she knew she had missed a question or something directed to her. She shook her head in an attempt to rid her mind of thoughts of Nathan and tried to slap a decent, 'I'm perfectly fine' smile onto her face. She knew she failed miserably when Peyton and Brooke's expectant looks turned to ones of worry. Before they even had a chance to question her, she addressed them. "I'm fine. Don't worry about my problems. This is Peyton's big day and I'm not letting you two be preoccupied with me."

"You just saw him, didn't you?" Peyton asked completely ignoring what Haley said. Whatever, she was the bride, she could do whatever the hell she felt like today, right?

"No," Haley tried to lie pathetically. She didn't even know why she made the attempt in the first place, Brooke and Peyton were experts on knowing when she was lying and being truthful. When they looked at her with disbelief she shrugged. "Okay, so I did. That doesn't matter though, let's just drop it and focus on how Peyton is getting married in half an hour!"

"We'll drop it for now but don't think we won't be on your case again later," Brooke warned her with a comforting smile.

Haley accepted that and joined the girls with their last minute touch ups. She couldn't wait to watch Peyton marry the love of her life. She loved attending weddings and this one was even more special. She vowed to herself that she would enjoy herself at the reception and not let Nathan Scott put a damper on the night or any of her days to come. She was moving forward from him regardless of how difficult it was going to be to get over her feelings for him.

The ceremony had come and gone and the reception was just kicking off. It had been truly beautiful watching Julian and Peyton together and hearing their vows to each other. The reception was bound to be just as beautiful and have everyone envious of the overjoyed couple. While waiting for the newlyweds to arrive, Nathan managed to get a couple glasses of champagne in him already and was feeling the effects slightly. The best part about a wedding reception was the endless amount of liquor available.

As soon as Julian and Peyton arrived they did their first dance as a married couple to some song Nathan couldn't identify. Immediately afterwards everyone was told to take their assigned seat as dinner would be served and toasts from the bridesmaids and groomsmen would be taking place. Lucky for him, being part of the wedding party had him sitting at a table directly across from Haley and Jake, who apparently was now her date to this thing. He wasn't paying any mind to whatever Brooke was going on about in the middle of the dance floor right now; he was too busy watching Haley and Jake carefully. He had his arm around her chair like he was some tough guy and she was leaning slightly onto his side. It was making him want to be sick.

He noticed Brooke take her seat again next to Owen and Haley and watched Jake take her place in the centre of the dance floor. His speech went by in a blur, but he did manage to hear the best man's last words to his best friend.

"Congratulations, J. I hope someday I can find a girl to love as much as you love Peyt and give me the happily ever after you two have managed to find," he smiled and Nathan stared him down as the man's gaze turned to Haley intently.

Jake made it back to the table and Nathan immediately scoffed. "Do you have a fucking vagina, man?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nathan!" Haley reprimanded, not liking where this was going.

"Seriously, do you? What dude starts talking about finding a fucking 'happily ever after?' Especially in a room full of strangers. I'm now convinced you're a chick," he started laughing, not caring if anyone at nearby tables heard what he saying. Not that they would though, the audience seemed clearly moved by Jake's speech and were clapping loudly for it still.

Haley sat across from him glaring heatedly. "Nathan," she began with an even tone full of warning. He knew what she was saying. She was telling him that he was pushing the limit and was going to get himself into some serious trouble if he kept his behaviour up.

Jake locked eyes with him and laughed at the pathetic raven haired man in front of him. "Whatever, man. I don't know what your deal is but it seems like you've hated me since the moment I walked into the restaurant last night. What the hell did I ever do to you?"

"What did you do to me?" Nathan repeated. "I'll tell you what. You fucking waltzed in there and."

"That's enough, Nathan," Haley interrupted quite loudly. "Just do everyone a favour and shut your mouth. I'm pretty sure we talked about this earlier and you're not making anything more amicable. This is Julian and Peyton's night and your antics are going to ruin it if you keep this shit up," she said angrily. She was pissed at him, that much anyone could tell. Haley seemed to decide to not even bother wasting her breath reprimanding him any further when she simply shook her head in defeat and rose from her chair, making her way to the microphone.

"Hi. For those of you that don't already know me, I'm Haley; Peyton's other maid of honour. I've known Peyton since we were kids and it is an honour to be standing before all of you right now. Peyton's love life over the years has been interesting to watch, to say the least. It has been dramatic, and tragic, and heartbreaking. She had to go through heartache with a few jerks that didn't know how amazing a girl they had," Haley's eyes fell upon Nathan harshly. "But now she's found Julian. I knew him before they met and when I found out they were dating, I knew Julian and Peyton would be the perfect couple. It feels so rewarding seeing them married and so in love today. Julian and Peyton give me hope and make me believe that true love does exist and is attainable despite how much of a battlefield the dating world can be. The people they fell in love with along the way to each other are just distant memories that should regret ever losing them, but Julian and Peyton have found their one true love and I look forward to watching them continue to fall more in love every day. Congratulations, you guys. I love you both."

The audience clapped politely for her and Haley made her way back to her seat. Everyone knew her speech had turned into a subtle dig at Nathan and were hoping it would be left at that. Except for Jake, they were all very aware of what went down between Nathan and Haley and wanted nothing more than for the two to save themselves any more heartache and move on.

Nathan made an exaggerated clap when she resituated herself and started whispering to Brooke about something next to her. "Nice speech, Hales. It was really touching."

Haley glanced at him and they locked eyes. She stared at him, daring the raven haired man to say anything further. When he didn't, Haley inwardly smirked and continued on with her conversation with Brooke and added Peyton into it as well.

The rest of dinner went by smoothly with only a slight air of tension coming over the group when everyone was included in conversation and Nathan and Haley clashed. Many people had made their way to the dance floor now as the party was actually beginning. Nathan watched from the table, nursing a scotch on the rocks as Haley slow danced with Jake. They were standing chest to chest and something inside Nathan twitched when Jake moved his hand down Haley's back, nearly touching her ass. He watched in horror when Jake bent his neck slightly and Haley moved her head up so their lips connected softly.

It took him zero point two seconds to be on the dance floor and next to the couple. They had already pulled away and Nathan angrily cleared his throat. "Mind if I cut in?"

"Actually, we're in the middle of something," Jake responded tersely. He didn't know about Nathan and Haley's history together but the man was smart enough to detect the tension between them and had a developed a strong dislike toward Nathan for it, and even more after the things he said during dinner.

"Well, I wasn't really asking for your permission, buddy."

"Oh yeah? Then what are you gonna do?"

"First, I'm going to tell you to never fucking put your hands on Haley again. Then, I'm going to do this," Nathan explained easily, slamming his fist into Jake's nose when his sentence dropped off.

Before Jake or Haley could even react a few guys had made their way over to the group and grabbed Nathan. With three men against one drunken guy, it took little effort to drag Nathan out of the reception. Haley knelt down to check Jake and saw that he had a bloody nose but otherwise appeared fine. Brooke and Owen were now behind her and Owen held out his hand to help Jake up off the floor. He dusted himself and turned to Haley with a bewildered expression, silently asking her what the hell just happened. Haley turned to Brooke helplessly and shook her head in shock. She couldn't formulate words but gestured to the door and Brooke understood what she was trying to get out.

"Give him a slap for me, too, Tutor Girl," she said seriously and added with a whisper, "I'll make sure Jake doesn't follow you."

Haley nodded in thanks and quietly slipped out of the building. She spotted Nathan sitting on a curb as soon as she stepped outside and marched over to him. "I asked you to do one fucking thing for me and you couldn't do it? Like, are you behaving like some jealous boyfriend to torture me? All I wanted was to let go and move on from you and what do you do? You go and punch a guy that I really care about. You don't have the right to punch him because you're jealous he kissed me. You had your chance, Nathan. I wanted to try to be civil at work, but forget it now. Don't speak to me, don't look at me. All I want is to forget you were ever even a part of my life."

"Haley," he protested.

"Save it, Nathan. I don't want to hear another word you could possibly have to say. I think your actions have done enough."

Haley turned on her heel and walked back into the reception. The only thought on Nathan's mind was that he just royally fucked things up even more. Haley hated him now and he didn't really blame her.