Haley sighed and walked down the street to her house. School had let out a good half hour ago, and instead of getting a ride home with Maddie, she decided to walk.

The whole school day could not have gone any slower. Sure, she didn't want to leave her school..but she couldn't take any more of Maddie and Trevor's incessant fighting. She had every class with the two, and they never failed to pick at eachother during any of them.

Sadly, tomorrow would be her last day. Haley thought about what Maddie had said earlier that morning. Why was she so cool about the whole thing? Well really, she wasn't exactly cool with it. She just accepted it. There wasn't anything she could do about it. She could still be a bitch to her parents, but regardless, she'd be going to that school bright and early on Wednesday morning.

Breaking away from her thoughts, Haley heard a car horn beeping next to her. She looked over to see Nathan rolling the passenger side window down.

"Want a ride?" He screamed from his side of the car.

Haley stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. "No. I'm walking." She started to walk again and Nathan followed her, keeping the car at a slow, steady pace.

"You're seriously going to walk all the way back to your house? It takes like twenty more minutes to get there."

Haley groaned and walked over to the black mustang, leaning her arms over the window. "What are you doing, stalking me?"

Nathan laughed. "Don't flatter yourself. My basketball coach lives around here."

Raising her eyebrows, nodded her head. "Booty call." She stated matter-of- factly.

"Riiight." He shook his head "Old men are quite a turn on, ya know."

Haley wrinkled her nose. "I bet."

"So are you going to get in?"

Haley thought for a moment, her eyes raising towards the sky, then settled back on Nathan's face. "My mother told me never to take rides from strangers."

The wrinkles in Nathan's forehead became visible and he rolled his eyes. "I'm not a stranger. And if you don't recall, I drove you home yesterday. Or do you just have a foggy memory?"

"No, my memory is just fine thank you very much."

"So is your ass." He said, snickering.

"That's enough Nathan, I'm leaving." Haley turned on her heel and walked back over to the sidewalk, continuing on her way back to her house.

"I'm just going to keep following behind you!" Nathan screamed.

Haley turned her head towards him, then turned so she was staring straight ahead. "Good, then you can have a great view of my 'fine ass', because I'm not getting in your car!"

"Aw man, come on!" He whispered to himself. "Why won't you just get in? You could get mugged by old skanky guys out there!"

"I'll take my chances." She shook her head and laughed slightly. "I already told you, I'm walking. I need the exercise."

"You look fine to me."

Haley stopped and felt a smile tug at her lips. She turned around and walked back over to the car, making sure to go to the drivers side window this time. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Nathan shrugged his shoulders. "I've always been nice to you."

"I'm such a bitch to you though! Why the hell do you even bother?"

"Why are you such a bitch?"

Haley thought for a second. There were a million things she could have said to him, but she didn't want to start a fight. This guy was nice to her..and she felt bad being rude. She just opted for the one answer that wouldn't get her into trouble. "I don't know."

"Well then I don't know why I'm nice to you."

Haley furrowed her brow. "Wait, are you only saying that because I said I don't know? Or because you really just don't know?"

Nathan smirked. "I don't know." He replied coyly.

She laughed slightly and pulled away from the car window. "Whatever."

"What, don't you trust me?"

Haley crossed her arms over her chest and laughed. "Honestly, no."

"And why not? I took care of you the other night, didn't I?"

"Yes you did, and I still have no idea why."

Nathan shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, so why not trust me in driving you home?" He waited for an answer from Haley but she just stood there. "You know you want to." Haley grinned and turned her head, looking away from him. "Oh come on, Haley it's not like I'm going to attack you."

"How do I know you're not gonna!? You're insane!"

Nathan gave her a sarcastic smile. "I am not."

She fought with herself but of course, caved. "Fine." Walking over to the passenger side, she opened the door and got in. "Don't think I actually wanted this ride." She pointed her finger in his face and he smirked.

"Whatever you say."

"So, truth or dare." Nathan raised an eyebrow, looking over in Haley's direction.

"You can NOT be serious." She looked back at him, but when he didn't say anything, she laughed and shook her head. "I'm not playing truth or dare with you, Nathan."

"Why not? I don't wanna sit in the car and not talk..that's like death for me. This will liven things up a bit."

Haley mumbled something under her breath and propped her head up with her hand. "Fine, truth."

"Ah, going for the easy way out, I see."

"Well, if I picked dare, you'd probably make me do something dirty and I'm sorry but there's a limit."

Nathan held his hands up in protest. "Alright, fine. I'll roll with that."

Haley shifted in her seat, afraid of what Nathan would ask her. She despised this game, and playing it with him made her even more uneasy. He was unpredictable, and that's made her nervous.

"Okay." Nathan thought for a second, then stopped at a red light, looking over at her. "What do you really think of me?"

Haley looked down at her hands. Damn it, what was she supposed to say? She could be her usual bitchy self, make a smart remark and then feel bad about it afterwards. Or she could say something she truly felt. "Dare." She said quickly, turning her head towards the window.

"What? No, you chose truth, now you have to answer my question."

"I don't have to do anything." She replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You do that a lot, you know."

Haley furrowed her brow and looked over at Nathan who had an amused look on his face. "Do what?"

"Cross your arms over your chest. And you only seem to do it when you talk to me. I must rile you up a bit." He smirked and then continued driving.

"I DO only do it with you, because you piss me off."

"Now how do I piss you off if I'm nice to you?"

"That's just the thing! You're nice to me! I don't like it!"

Nathan laughed. "I don't get you."

Haley lifted her nose in the air and smiled triumphantly. "And you never will." She looked out the window again, noticing they were nearing her home. "So, truth or dare."

Nathan looked over at her increduously. "No way. You didn't answer my question so there's no reason I should answer yours."

"I didn't ask you a question yet." She replied matter of factly.

"No, but you will."

"Fine then, I guess that means you want truth."

"No."

"Okay then, dare."

"NO!" He was beginning to get annoyed. He didn't want either.

"Well then what the hell do you want?"

"I want you to stop acting like a damn schizo, Haley. Jesus."

"I'm not acting like a schizo. I just want you to pick one."

Nathan growled and then finally decided to go along with her. "Fine, truth."

"Why did you almost kiss me yesterday?" She bluntly replied, her eyes burning into his skin.

Nathan tensed up. He didn't think she'd ask something like that, but of course, she did. "Caught up in the moment." He answered quickly, shifting his gaze away from her and back onto the road.

"So it didn't mean anything." Haley stated, more of a comment than a question.

He hesitated for a moment before clearning his throat. "No, it didn't."

Haley nodded her head, not letting his words affect her. It wasn't worth it. "Fine." She continued to stare out the side window, not speaking another word.

"Are you mad at me?" He turned the corner to her house and drove down her street.

"When am I not mad at you?"

He didn't answer her as he drove up to the quaint two story house, the house that he'd seen only a day ago. There was something about it that made him want to go inside and investigate. He wanted to know more about it.

Haley reached for the door handle and Nathan grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back to face him. His eyes roamed her face for a few seconds and he looked down at her hands, then back to her. "I lied." Haley nodded her head for him to continue. "I almost kissed you yesterday because I wanted to, not because I was caught up in the moment. I wanted to since the first second you walked into that party."

Did she hear him correctly? He actually wanted to kiss her? Now that was something she had never expected to hear. Nathan Scott, her best friend's brother, actually liked her. That was never a good thing. But she couldn't ignore the sudden urges she was getting.

"Well what about now?" Came her husky reply, as she leaned herself closer to him. She pressed her lips against his gently and pulled away.

What in the HELL was she doing?! She coudln't believe herself. She kissed him. She honestly, truly kissed him. There had to be some kind of brain lapse going on inside her head because she couldn't figure out why she did it. Wasn't she just telling herself yesterday that even if he tried a million times, she'd still try to dodge his kisses? He was right, she had to have been schizo. But it just felt so right. She was drawn to him like a magnet.

He didn't answer as he pulled her lips back to his, increasing the kiss with all the passion he had inside of him. He couldn't think straight. All he could do was concentrate on how right it felt to be kissing her. And although he couldn't understand how her mind worked, he knew one thing. He had a major crush on this girl.

Haley moaned and pulled away slightly. "I lied too." She closed her eyes and trailed kisses from his ear, back to his mouth. "I think you're wonderful." She whispered before kissing him again and walking out of the car.

He smiled and touched his fingers to his lips. "Holy shit." was all he said as he felt an electric tingle run down his spine. He'd never felt anything like that in his entire life. He wondered if she felt it too.

Walking into the house, Haley leaned her back against the door and closed her eyes, remembering what had happened only seconds ago. She had never gotten that feeling before. She was supposed to hate this guy? How the hell could she have been so blind? And so...bitchy? Nathan was right, it was a front she put up. But on Wednesday, she'd have to put that front back up again. Lucas couldn't find out. She'd just act like this whole thing with Nathan never happened. That was the plan.

She ran up the stairs to her room and shut the door behind her, turning around, she stopped dead in her tracks. "Lucas?"