Lets hope this time, it actually works! :b

"Nathan."

He looked up from the drink in his hands, hoping to see Haley standing in front of him, but instead saw Peyton...and Brooke. Oh joy.

Don't get the wrong idea, Peyton was great. Since their break up they hadn't been extremely close--but then again, they never were. He could always go to her if he was having problems, though. At least that part of their relationship was still genuine.

"What's up, Peyton?" He asked solemnly as he stirred the contents of his drink with his finger. He wasn't in the mood to get wasted. Plus, he had to take Haley home and she'd be so mad if he was too drunk to drive.

Peyton noticed the sad tone of his voice and felt a pang of sorrow for him. Nathan was a good guy, he just didn't really let anybody else know that. "You okay?"

He forced a smile as he leaned his back against the wall. "Yeah, I'm alright." However, he didn't sound too convincing.

"Trouble in Nathan and Haley land?" She joked.

"Something like that."

Peyton nodded and cleared her throat. She then looked over at Brooke who shrugged her shoulders. Why the hell was she following her around like a dog? Wasn't she supposed to be with Lucas? "So um, I just had a quick question." Nathan nodded, allowing Peyton to continue. "Did you by any chance find a bracelet from the last time I was here? It was silver with a heart. Had an engraving on it-"

"Oh yeah, I did. Sorry, I forgot to tell you."

She wanted to yell at him. To berate him for forgetting to tell her about something that was such an important piece of her life. If she didn't get that bracelet back, it would be like she lost a part of her past. And she wasn't willing to let that go. But she just couldn't bring herself to say something. He looked so upset. "It's alright. Where is it?"

"Up in my room." He put his drink down on a nearby table. "Come on."

Peyton followed after him, about ready to ascend the stairs when Brooke tugged her shoulder.

"Peyton, why don't I just go for you? I kinda need to scope out the available rooms if you know what I mean."

She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what that meant. "Alright, fine. But no slut sex until AFTER my bracelet is in my hands. Got it?"

Brooke brought her hand to her forehead in a salute. "Slut's honor." She then turned to Nathan and shuffled him up the stairs. "Come on, Nate. Hustle up."

"I need to tell you something." Haley mumbled, pulling away quickly. He just continued to place kisses down her neck and onto her collarbone.

Haley closed her eyes and cursed herself for pushing the issue. She knew she had to tell him, she just wished her mind wasn't so adamant about telling him now. Way to ruin the moment, Genius.

"Tell me later." He said softly as he began to unbutton her shirt.

She could feel her body temperature start to rise. If she didn't tell him now, she was going to burst into a million little pieces. The guilt was eating her alive. And Haley James wasn't one for keeping secrets from people she loved. To put it plainly, she sucked at it.

"It's really important." By that time, her shirt was removed and thrown across the room. God, why was he making this so hard for her to do? It didn't help that all the vodka she drank earlier had impaired her judgment. It was just making it that much more difficult to keep her attention straight and intent on telling him the truth.

He went back up to her mouth and kissed her in an attempt to quiet her. He finally got her to himself and he wasn't letting her go for any reason whatsoever. And she was willingly doing this with him, which surprised him more than anything. Of course he could taste the alcohol on her lips, but he figured she was well aware of everything that was happening around her. Haley wasn't usually reckless enough to get drunk. She was fine.

Haley couldn't take it anymore. She had enough of the guilt, the weight on her shoulders that wouldn't leave her all day. It was taking a toll on her mental well-being and she didn't know what else to do..other than to tell him. To let him know that she kissed Lucas. But to also let him know that it didn't mean a thing and that she loved him more than he could ever imagine.

It was a mistake. A stupid mistake that she wished she could have taken back but unfortunately, couldn't. Now she had to bear the brunt of it. Quite frankly, she deserved it. She deserved the guilt and all that would come along with Nathan knowing about what she did.

"I-"Haley opened her mouth to speak when the door slammed open and the lights were flicked on. She looked to the side and squinted, trying to see who had ruined her moment of confession. Sadly, too much alcohol was preventing her from doing so.

Nathan stared back at the two people in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Haley?" He looked over at her and then to the person on top of her. And that sight just made him want to kill somebody. "Lucas?"

"Nathan." Haley breathed out, noticing something terribly wrong with the situation. If Nathan was in the doorway, then who was on top of her? "Oh God." She moaned, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to readjust to the harshness of the bright lights.

Brooke then barged into the room and gasped at the two people in front of her. "Oh my God, Lucas. What the fuck is going on?" Her eyes began to well up with tears. It was like somebody shot a gun through her heart.

All Haley could do was try to stop from throwing up. Her ears were buzzing, not allowing her to hear anything except- "What?!" She screamed, sitting up and holding her head. "Get the hell off of me, Lucas." She pushed him off of her and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Nathan's eyes widened as the scene unfolded before him. "You mean you didn't even KNOW you were with Lucas? What in the hell were you thinking, Haley?"

She gulped. Good Lord, she didn't mean for any of this to happen. "Nathan, It's not what you think. I swear."

He shook his head as he tried to blink back tears that were forming in his eyes. "Oh so what, I'm supposed to believe that he tripped and your lips broke his fall? Then somehow or another you wound up in my bedroom and your shirt magically walked off your body?"

"No!" This was like a bad nightmare. She wasn't thinking clearly, Nathan was acting like a raging monster, Brooke looked like she was about to rip Haley's head off, and Lucas was still on the floor. "It wasn't like that! I thought Lucas was you-"

Nathan put his hand over his eyes and walked to the other side of the room. He couldn't look at her or that bastard right now. And to think that he loved her. That he spent hours on end thinking about her and how simply wonderful she was...how well they fit together. Now after all of this, he almost felt foolish for wasting time and letting her occupy his mind.

"I want you both out of my house." He whispered, still facing the wall. "Now!"

His tone caused Brooke to flinch and Haley to cringe, trying desperately to stifle any loud cries that could possibly come out of her mouth. Lucas was already gone...which was probably a good thing considering Nathan would have beaten him up if he had stayed any longer.

"Nathan, please-"Haley tried one last time. Pleading with her eyes to make him hear her out. It wasn't what he thought. It was all a big mistake.

"Just go."

It was at that point that she realized she had made an even bigger mistake than she would have ever imagined. She hurt Nathan a million more times than she thought were possible. All that time she was trying to come clean to him, she was with Lucas. It made her even sicker to her stomach to know that she almost had sex with him. She almost had sex with Lucas.

She bit her bottom lip and grabbed her shirt, pulling it over her head and walking down the stairs. Keeping a low profile wasn't possible since the whole party had turned their attention to the top of the stairs. There were even a few people standing in the hallway, relaying the news of what happened to the people throughout the rest of the house.

They all knew. And the worst part was, what they knew wasn't even the truth. It was a misconstrued situation that was so sick and twisted Haley didn't even want to think about it. She just needed to get out of there.

Nathan took a deep breath, stormed out of his room, down the stairs, and out to his car without so much as a word to anybody else. He ignored their penetrating glances and questioning stares. Everybody knew better than to say anything. Because if they did, he'd blow up on the spot.

He got into his car and slammed the door shut. "Damn it!" He screamed, pounding his fists on the steering wheel. "Damn it." It was more of a whisper the second time. He didn't know whether to cry or to find Lucas and beat the shit out of him.

He felt a tear slip down his eye and he quickly wiped it away. Nathan Scott didn't cry. Especially not over a girl. He didn't need her. He certainly didn't need her cheating. And he most definitely didn't need her lies.

Suddenly, the passenger side door opened and Brooke slipped into the seat. Nathan didn't even bother to look over. He just stared down at his hands. If he were to look at her, she'd be able to tell he was crying.

They were angry tears. Sure, he felt like a pansy for crying but it was the situation that was doing it. How could she do this to him? How could she be with him and then all of a sudden be with Lucas? He didn't know the answer to that. And that was the reason why he was getting even angrier.

"Nathan-"

"Don't." He said sternly, shaking his head from left to right. "Just don't."

Brooke nodded and bit her lip. Her and Lucas were finally getting to that point. They were reaching the part of their relationship where they were so close to being together. And then he was with Haley. It happened all too quickly. She couldn't help but wonder if Lucas had feelings for Haley all along and was just stringing Brooke along for the ride.

"I'm sorry." It was genuine. She meant it. She was sorry for what happened with Haley, she was sorry for attempting to bring it up. Most of all she was sorry that he had to go through that. Haley didn't deserve him after what she did. "Nathan." He looked over at her tear stricken face. "I really am sorry."

Without warning, he reached over and smashed his lips onto hers. Brooke equally responded, pulling at his collar to bring him closer.

And they both knew it was to get back at the ones they had involuntarily fallen in love with. The one thing they didn't know was it would come back to haunt them in the future. That maybe their assumptions on the situation were distorted. That maybe...their retaliation wasn't necessary.

Brooke pulled him into the back seat of the car.