Hi guys! Thank you again for all the reviews; they were amazing. Just to warn you guys, I'm not sure when exactly I'll be able to update, because I'll be pretty busy with school for a while. Plus, I recently contracted the flu (again) and writing heavy, dramatic stuff can really take its toll on someone. I'm not promising anything, but I'll update as soon as I can. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter! Have you guys figured out what really happened between Nathan and Haley on their first night? You'll find out soon enough!

--Sera

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

"There's something else…" Peyton waited with bated breath as Haley paused, wondering what else could have happened that night. A million and one guesses ran through the head, but with each possible idea, Peyton couldn't believe it would be something that her best friend would do. Maybe something Brooke would do – but definitely not Haley. Haley's big, brown eyes were full of anxiety and nervousness and her grip on Peyton's arm was getting tighter by the minute. Peyton wondered how bad it really was to make Haley act like she committed a crime.

"Hales, you know you can tell me anything. It's alright," assured Peyton.

"You don't understand, Peyton – it's not alright! It's anything but alright! Something happened that night that I can't take back!"

"Well, what happened then?"

"We –"

Before Haley could continue, there was a great deal of slamming on the front door, interrupting them. She stood up and was met by both Brooke and Nathan standing on the doorway. "Brooke? What are you doing here? And what is he doing here?" She demanded.

"He is here, because he is supposed to be over here, fixing things with you! Instead, I came home to him sitting in front of the door to my apartment, waiting for my boyfriend to fix his problem with you!" Brooke shouted.

"He shouldn't even be here!" Haley cried.

"He shouldn't even be kicked out of his own house! How the hell does that even happen?!" Brooke threw back.

"You threw him out of here? How did you do that?" Peyton suddenly asked interestedly.

"I'm right here, you know." Nathan said indignantly.

Brooke turned to him, and Nathan could have sworn he saw her dark eyes flash red. "Which is where you should be, you asshole," she turned back to Haley. "You know what else, Hales? I asked him what else happened between you and him that night you first slept together, and do you know what he said? He said the exact same thing you told us, which tells us nothing about what really happened!"

When Haley spoke, there was an obvious tone of panic in her voice, but she tried to keep it as steady as possible. It didn't fool any of them. "Nothing else happened but sex!"

"Really, Haley? Because we have been best friends practically our entire lives and have gone through our shares of ice cream buckets and cheerleading competitions, so I would obviously know that you're lying." Brooke said flatly.

Haley couldn't meet Brooke's eyes, much less for Nathan's. She was afraid that if she would gaze into those hypnotizing dark blue orbs of his, the secret would be out before she could even stop herself. "Brooke, nothing happened, I swear."

Seeing that Haley couldn't be persuaded until she and Nathan were alone, Peyton grabbed her arm as well as Nathan's, and began dragging them into the bedroom. "This worked for you both before, it should work again. Tell him everything, and do not leave until you and Nathan have fixed everything."

Before either of them could protest, the door quickly slammed shut, followed by a thud of something jamming the door closed. Haley swore under her breath and threw herself on the edge of the bed, burying her face into her hands. She couldn't handle this, not now – not with so much hanging above them.

"Haley, what really happened that night?" Nathan asked her, his voice obviously forced to sound as even as possible.

She refused to look up at him, not wanting his piercing gaze to break her resolve. She couldn't tell him now – it was too soon. And she sure as hell couldn't look at him now – she was certain that if she did, all the unspoken words would come tumbling out of her mouth, and she would cry. She didn't want to cry anymore – she didn't want to be vulnerable in front of him. She didn't want him to see how much she wanted him or needed him – or loved him. "Sex happened, Nathan. That's it."

"We made love that night, Haley."

"It was one time!"

"But it made all the difference, didn't it? We made love and I fell in –" Nathan stopped himself before he could admit something he wasn't ready to say. It was insane enough as it is – he couldn't immediately fall in love with a girl after making love to her once. But he did, and he didn't know how or why. It scared the shit out of him when he realized it, but there it was. "I mean, we made love and something else happened. I need to know what happened, Hales."

Haley instantly flared up, fire blazing in her hazel eyes. Her entire body was shaking from anger. "Don't call me that! Don't you ever call me that! You have no right to call me that after what happened - after what you did – after you broke my heart!"

"I already came clean – told you everything down to the last letter, and apologized! What more could you possibly want?!" Nathan shouted back.

I want you to tell me that you love me! I want to know that you feel the same way! I want to feel the way you made me feel that night – that you wanted everything with me – that you fell in love with me! Haley screamed in her head, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn't find the words. Her eyes were brimming with tears again, and as she struggled to hold them back, she could feel her heart break even more with every unspoken word.

"What are you hiding from me, Haley?"

"You are such an asshole! How dare you demand to know what I'm hiding, when you're hiding so much from me! You have done nothing but make me cry and pine for you when you were gone, and when Peyton calls me into the living room, I see you shoving your tongue down some skank's throat – and you have the nerve to ask me what I'm hiding?!" Haley screamed at him.

"I told you everything! I was honest with you from the very beginning! Why can't you even bring yourself to believe me now? Have I hurt you that much, Haley?" Nathan asked her as he fought to keep his voice steady. Part of him wanted to shout in anger, and another part wanted to just stop. If something like this had happened to him before, he would have just walked away and let her believe what she wanted to believe. But now, he desperately wanted Haley to believe him – he didn't care if he had to fight for it.

Haley's hot tears began spilling down her cheeks when she heard those words from him. "Yes, Nathan – you have! You hurt me so much, and you don't even know it! You don't know how much I'm hurting right now! You have made me feel so many things for you and want so many things from you, and now that I'm feeling and wanting so much, disappointment is just too much to handle. You have made me doubt so much of this relationship, and so much of myself. I'm constantly worrying if I'm good enough for you, good enough for the Nathan Scott, who has had so much women in his life that it just makes me feel so inferior!"

"Haley, you are good enough for me – way more than enough! I don't deserve someone like you!"

"Then why do you always make me feel that you do? You're always pushing me away! You never let me in – not as much as I want you to! Don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about because I know you do! You've told me about Kiley, and your parents, and how basketball has been a part of your life, but when am I going to get that reassurance that you've let me in? Because every time I try to know something else about you, you just close up – you put up this wall and I can't get in."

"And like you don't? You're all about protective walls, Haley! You always have been. You had a protective wall that first night we spent together!" Nathan swore, angry at himself for shouting at her, making her feel that way, but right now – his temper was getting ahead of him. "Do you really want to know why I don't let you in? It's because I'm too scared to let you know how I feel! It's because I can't even trust myself with my own feelings, and now I have someone else to trust with my feelings too, and I don't know if I can do that. It's because I don't know what you would think or feel if I let you in. And it's because I have never let someone in like Kiley. She's my first love, and I feel as guilty as hell for feeling with you the same way I felt with her, if not more – so much more that it scares me, because we both know that it's way too soon."

"Nathan, everything is way too soon in this relationship!"

"And what is so wrong with that?! Haley, I've come to accept a long time ago that we're rushing into things – and I get that, it just scares me because it's not who you are, or who I am. It's not something we do, or something we have ever done, but it's there, and it happens, and we can't help it. I can't help it," he fixed his intense gaze on hers, letting himself get lost in her eyes. His heart was hammering against his chest, either from being so nervous or being in such a hurry to say it. He took a deep breath and steadily added, "Just like I can't help it that I fell in love with you."

Haley's eyes widened and she could have sworn she felt her heart stop. Was she hearing him correctly? She was so stunned that she couldn't say a thing. His words kept playing over and over in her head like a broken record, still in disbelief that he actually said it. "Nathan –"

"I love you, Haley. I fell in love with you the night we first made love and that was why I wanted to know your name. It was why I spent two years looking everywhere for the woman who made me want to be a better man, who – despite being a one-night stand made me want to see her again, and be with her for the rest of my life. It was why I couldn't let you in, because I was scared of what would happen if I told you. And, it is why I'm standing here, thinking of ridiculously long speeches so I could hear her say it back, or hear her tell me I'm forgiven."

If Haley had been speechless before, it was nothing compared to right now. Her throat had gone dry and she was frozen on the spot where she stood. Why couldn't she say anything? There he was, professing his love for her – doing what she had wanted him to do for so long, and she couldn't bring herself to tell him that she loved him back.

Nathan gazed at her utterly shocked face, and simply nodded. "Look, I understand if you're not ready. I kind of expected something like that to happen. It's way too early in this relationship, if there is still one, anyway. Haley, I'm willing to wait for as long as whatever. I don't care if it takes weeks, or months, or years – because I do want you, and I love you more than anything or anyone. This is more than just a job, or an arrangement, or sex, or a careless fling. It has always been more than that – since day one. I just never expected that on the day I talked to the hottest girl in the room that I would talk to the girl I would love for the rest of my life."

Then he turned to leave, but suddenly, she spoke up. Her voice was small, timid and slightly hoarse – full of fear. "Something did happen that night, Nathan."

He turned back to her, patiently waiting for her to continue. He watched her wipe away tears from her face, trembling as she did.

"I got pregnant."

I hope I was able to deliver the drama and the shocker well enough. I was sick in bed while writing this. So anyway, please review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated and duly noted. :)