A/N: As I sat here, wallowing in self-pity after reading James Lafferty's tweets to his girlfriend, desperately wishing I was her, I decided to put my current thoughts about him to use and write this chapter!

Also, in case you care, I am preparing for the SAT, therefore I need to expand my vocabulary. So, for now on (as long as I remember) I am going to pick a vocabulary word to use in each chapter. I will write the word and definition below just in case you don't know it:

Loquacious- (adjective) talking or tending to talk much or freely; talkative; chattering; babbling; garrulous

Warning: There is some not nice language in this chapter. I hope it doesn't offend.

Disclaimer: I forgot this on the last two chapters, but nothing's changed in the span of three updates; One Tree Hill is still not mine.

We're going down and you can see it too,

We're going down and you know that we're doomed,

My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room- John Mayer

"What the hell was that?" The blonde asked her friend as he sat back down in his seat across from her.

She watched the interaction between Nathan and Haley and only grew confused. She doesn't know how he managed to already screw up with this girl. She's only been in Tree Hill for a few weeks.

Peyton's confusion quickly transformed to sympathy as she looked at the distraught boy in front of her.

"What the hell was that?" Brooke repeated Peyton's question for her, awaiting a response herself.

"I know her." He mumbled, sadly. He wasn't in the mood for their interrogation but he knows that he has to put up with it anyway.

He received silence and strange looks from his answer. He sighed in irritation, knowing that he would have to explain himself to them.

"She's my best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend." A certain shaggy haired boy frowned as he sat down at his regular lunch table.

"I don't understand." Peyton stated in complete confusion. If this girl was his best friend, then how was he just telling them now?

"From California. She was my best friend before I moved here." He clarified with another sigh.

He didn't know what to do. Of course he wanted to run after her after she sprinted out of the quad and back into the school. Of course he wanted to hug her and talk to her and laugh with her; tell her about how his dad is still a jackass, his mom is home more, about his brother. But he also knows Haley, and he knows that she just needs some space right now.

With that thought, he shakes his head at himself in disgust. HeknowsHaley. It doesn't really appear that way. Her words keep ringing in his head; "Notenoughtorecognizeme".

He involuntarily shudders at the interaction that happened, in reality moments ago, but felt like an eternity. Nathan could feel his head and heart pounding harder with each thought and emotion that kept creeping into his mind.

He didn't know what to feel. His initial reaction to seeing his best friend was guilt. Not happiness, not nostalgic, not shocked, but guilty and embarrassed. He didn't know how to handle that.

The thing that got to Nathan the most right now though, was he sudden recollection of a rather insecure Haley. This was not something that she needed, and of course not anything she deserved. He started to feel nauseous.

"Nathan!"

He was broken back into the real world when a hand was waving in front of his face and he heard someone calling his name and everyone at the table giving him weird looks.

"I have to go." He mumbled before leaving with his lunch tray. He couldn't just sit there and pretend he was fine.

+++++++++++++++She Paints Me Blue+++++++++++++++++

As she sunk down against the wooden door to the tutoring center, Haley viciously rubbed her eyes in a desperate attempt to clear the tears out and finally enable herself to see again, although it didn't really work.

She silently thanked God for spending so much time in the tutoring center so that she was able to get there blindly.

Haley knew that she should probably be happy that Nathan noticed her, but she wasn't. How did he suddenly figure out anyway? Probably Deb. She was never the most trustworthy person.

Not that it mattered to Haley anyway. He obviously didn't care enough about her in the first place. She knew he didn't deserve her tears either, but she just couldn't help herself.

When she was finally able to stifle her tears, she stood up and sat at one of the tables in an attempt to not look as pathetic as she felt in case anyone were to walk in. She already convinced herself that Nathan wasn't worth her thoughts from when she first got here and he didn't remember who she was. This Nathan didn't mean anything to her, since she clearly didn't mean anything to him. Why should anything change now? It's the same Nathan either way.

"I know I'm doing this way too often, but I'm sorry my brother's an asshole?"

Haley looked to the door, where she heard a voice interrupting her thoughts and spotted the two boys who had befriended her since her first days in Tree Hill.

She offered them a weak smile and watched as they walked to the table she was sitting at and sat down with her.

Haley began wiping at her cheeks and under eyes in a failed attempt at removing the mascara that she knew had to have stained her face the second she began crying.

The two boys in front of her shifted uncomfortably in their seats as they watched Haley try clean herself up. Neither knew what to do. They only knew Haley for about three weeks and had yet to see her in such an obviously upset state. The usually loquacious girl was now sitting silently in front of them.

"He's not an asshole." Haley finally spoke up, though it was only a whisper and wasn't very convincing.

"Haley," Lucas began, but was cut off when she lifted her hand, signaling for him to stop speaking.

"Really, Lucas, Nathan didn't say anything, okay? I'm fine."

Lucas only nodded his head, defeated. He clearly knew that it was Nathan; both he and Jake watched the incident between the two in horror. But he didn't want to further upset Haley.

Haley sighed and was somehow able to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. She knew they meant well, but all she really wanted to do right now was sit and not think about Nathan.

She had to, once again, prevent the roll of her eyes when she looked up and saw the two boys exchanging uncomfortable looks. This really wasn't that big of a deal.

"I know him, okay? I knew him. When he lived in California, he was my friend. He just didn't recognize me until today." She shrugged, forcing herself to stop there. Her fake nonchalance was getting to her and she could feel her voice cracking and the tears returning to the back of her eyes.

"Wait, your Nathan's Haley? The girl he didn't stop complaining about for the first year he was here?" Lucas asked in disbelief.

"Complaining?" Haley asked cautiously, in case she really didn't want to hear the answer.

"No, I mean complaining that he left. I never heard him say that he missed California, his old house, his old school, only you." Lucas clarified.

Haley felt a sudden wave of relief and happiness wash over her, before it went away again. It didn't matter what eleven or twelve year old Nathan felt, it mattered what sixteen year old Nathan did.

She faked a small smile in response; she didn't know how else she was supposed to react to what he had told her. He seems to have had appreciated it, but it didn't make Haley feel any better.

"Well I'm glad that you heard so much about me, but I never heard anything about you. He's supposed to be my best friend, but he never told me about his brother and then he couldn't even recognize me."

Haley suddenly realized her sudden lapse in her strong character and quickly redeemed herself. Standing, collecting her things and sending a smile to the boys in front of her, she walked to the door.

"Thanks for talking to me. I'll see you guys later."

She let out a long breath when she walked into the vacant hallway. This day had been nothing like she anticipated.

Haley didn't have that much time for relief, though, when she bumped into a girl in the hallway and she fell to the ground.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry." The girl finally looked up from her phone to see who she had sent to the ground. Smiling as she saw who it was, she extended a hand, which they girl on the floor gratefully took.

"Hi, I'm Brooke Davis, you're Haley, right?"

"Yeah," Haley began, smiling at the girl while she fixed the freshly picked up books in her hand, "You're Lucas'… friend, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. You're Nathan's, right?"

Haley's smile quickly left her face when she heard the girl speak up. She wasn't sure which kind of 'friend' she thought or knew Nathan was to her, but she didn't want to think about either.

"I guess." She mumbled back before turning in the hall and walking toward her next period class; the bell should be ringing soon.

"Wait," She heard Brooke yell and she saw her catching up to her in the hallway, "Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries or anything. It's just, Nathan's my friend, and he seemed really dazed and upset after he spoke to you. I'm just worried about him, I'm sorry."

"What did he tell you?" Haley asked, clearly uninterested in Nathan's feelings at this particular moment.

"Not much," Brooke started hesitantly, she could tell that this girl was already getting defensive, and she was sure that she was close to pushing her limits, but she wanted to figure out what the hell was going on, "Like I said, he was pretty dazed when he came back to the table. He just said that you were his best friend."

Haley swallowed hard. How many times was she going to have to avoid this conversation today? Especially when it came from a girl she has yet to even speak to.

Luckily, Haley was able to escape their conversation without seeming rude when the bell interrupted them.

"It was nice to meet you, talk to you later." Haley muttered out quickly before turning around and walking away as fast as she could, determined to not let the brunette follow her this time.

++++++++++++++++++She Paints Me Blue+++++++++++++++++

Lucas smiled as he entered his, what he still considered, new home. That's how it felt, even after five years; new. He appreciated it and he liked the house but it wasn't, and never will be, his home. He'll never get fully used to it, but that's just something he's accepted.

He enters the kitchen and sees Deb cooking and smiles again. He's not fully selfish. Lucas knows that the only reason Deb would be at home right now and not off on some business trip is because of what happened to Lucas. He's happy that Nathan was able to somewhat get his mom back.

"Hey Luke." Deb greeted the boy with a smile when she noticed him standing in the kitchen. She always greeted him with a smile. She felt that it was the least she could do and she was always determined to make the boy feel wanted and welcome by her family, because she knows that all the other members of her family didn't always do the same.

"How was school?"

"Pretty good." He answered with a smile, though they both knew that he was clearly hiding something.

Lucas knew that Deb had to know of Haley and he felt really bad for Haley's obviously terrible day at school, but he still wasn't sure if it was his place to tell Deb what happened. It clearly affects Nathan and he doesn't want to cause any problems.

"Are you sure?"

Before he could respond, they were interrupted by a loud voice ringing through the hallway.

"This is unbelievable!" A clearly angry Dan and Nathan finally appeared in the kitchen.

Deb sighed and rolled her eyes before interrupting the scolding that her husband was aiming at her son.

"What is it Dan?"

"That ass of a coach kicked Nathan out of practice. He doesn't know what the hell he's doing, never has. They better fire his ass soon."

"Calm down Dan," Deb started, annoyed by the man in front of her. Usually, Nathan was at fault for anything; Whitey was the only person that could do more wrong than him. "What happened Nate?"

"I already told you," Dan answered agitatedly for Nathan, "His coach is a bastard."

"Nathan-"

"His friend Haley's here." Lucas filled in for Nathan. He knew that this would cause Nathan to be angry with him, but he couldn't stand there any longer and listening to this pointless banter.

"Fuck off, Luke." Nathan retorted, turning his back to go storm up to his room.

"Nathan!" Deb scolded Nathan's language before asking, "She spoke to you?"

Her tone was now hopeful; she knew that Haley would help Nathan—take him out of his slump.

This appeared to have intrigued Nathan, because he turned back to face her with a confused face.

"What do you mean?" He demanded.

Deb smiled, "Well, when I spoke to her at the café, she said that she was just waiting until she finished unpacking to come and talk to you and tell you that she was here."

Nathan began to panic and felt even worse for what happened. Is that true?

"When did you talk to her?"

"I don't know, A couple weeks ago. I think she was only here for a few days when I spoke to her."

"Dammit!" Nathan yelled as he threw the water bottle he was holding on the ground. He couldn't take it anymore. The guilt, anger, sadness and confusion that he was feeling all day was certainly getting to him.

"Nathan!" Deb gasped, completely confused about what was going on with her son.

"What the hell is going on?" Dan finally spoke up, clearly upset, unknown to anyone else in the house, at Haley. He told her to stay away from him, why can't she listen.

"She talked to him on her first day here and he didn't remember who she was. In fact, she talked to him several times and he didn't figure out today, until his friend said her name." Lucas clarified.

"Shut the hell up, Luke. Why can't you just mind your own goddam business!"

"No you didn't Nathan," Deb started, shaking her head, disappointed in her son, "How could you forget her?"

"I—"

"Good work son." Nathan was interrupted by a chuckling Dan who began patting him on the back. Turns out he didn't need to threaten Haley after all; his son did a good enough job ruining that relationship.

"Ah, what a great day this has turned out to be." Dan said genuinely, while laughing and going up the stairs; leaving his upset, angry and confused family behind in the kitchen.

A/N: Yay, it's done! I'm sorry for the lack of Nathan and Haley, but I promise, there will be some major Nathan/Haley interaction in the next chapter! And I am super sorry for the long wait, and I am even more sorry for any grammatical errors; the only way for me to post it today was to not be able to re-read it and edit it.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed and please review!

-Megan AKA ToBecomeAClown