Oh my word...I just am so excited to write this chapter because after this one, there are only a few left until the end! And I really don't have anything planned for after, so I may be thinking about a sequel. Not too sure yet.

Anyways, back to the main purpose of this very long author's note. I won a Tangled Web Award! Thank you to Janet and everyone over at TWA. Also thanks to the person who judged Best Plot (the category in which I won). I believe it was Bryana? I could be wrong but if I remember correctly, it is. I'm so grateful, and was really surprised to find out that I had won because I wasn't expecting it. So, thanks very very very much!

"You're ugly." Haley pulled a blue dress out of her closet and flung it across the room. She was rapidly pulling clothes out of their confinements and trashing them. "You definitely got hit with the ugly stick." A pink t- shirt was thrown into the same pile as the blue dress. "What the hell was I thinking when I bought you?" Two pairs of black shoes were smashed onto the hardwood floor next to her and she growled, walking over to her mirror. "Ugh and you." She pointed to reflection. "You have got to go."

Suddenly, she pulled out her silver hairbrush and smashed it into the mirror, sending pieces of glass flying every which way. "Damn it, I meant me, not the mirror! Stupid Haley. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

That outburst would surely get her into trouble with her parents later. They were out for the weekend...again. Was that any surprise though? It seemed as though they were never home. And when they were, she didn't want them there. It was one of those lose/lose situations.

She sighed and sat down on her floor, back against the wall, and just cried. She wanted to be a new person, and the only way she saw fit to go about doing that was to trash everything she owned and start over again. She didn't like the kind of person she had morphed into. Haley wasn't one to hurt the people that she loved and those who loved her back. Lately though, she seemed to be doing a good job at it.

What she wouldn't give to just go back to the way things were. Everything was so much simpler when Nathan wasn't involved. It was just her and Lucas, and the occasional Maddie. Now all she wanted was to ring Lucas' neck and to be with Nathan again. Too bad her whore tactics took the front seat and screwed her over big time.

Haley put her head in her hands and sighed. Guess she'd have to go out and buy another box of doughnuts. Oh no, another ten pounds added to her hips wouldn't hurt a bit. Note the extreme sarcasm dripping from that statement. Maybe drinking the alcohol wouldn't be so bad. Yeah, she'd get drunk and have a major hangover the next day, but at least she wouldn't look like Shamu after she was done.

A creek in the floorboard caused her to look up, her breath catching in her throat. There he was, standing right in front of her. Was she able to speak? Hell no. If she did she'd probably say something stupid. She was famous for that so she didn't doubt that she'd do it for a second.

"The door was unlocked." He answered simply. The silence in the room was deafening. Nathan shifted uncomfortably and crossed his arms over his chest. "We need to talk."

She nodded before getting up and walking over to where he was standing. Still, she couldn't fight the urge to be intimidated by him. He was so tall and she was so...tiny and pathetic.

"Nathan-"

"Why did you do it?" The question was blunt, straight to the point.

He wanted an answer, and his eyes that were boring into her skin forced her to look down at the ground. Her eyes began to fill with tears as her voice squeaked out in a barely there whisper. "I told you already."

"I want to hear you say it."

She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. "I was drunk, and stupid. My judgment was not at its best and I mistook somebody else for you."

"Lucas."

"Yeah. Lucas." Nathan nodded. "I never meant to hurt you, Nate."

He walked past her, going to her window and looking out at the darkness that consumed the sky. It was so depressing. "Did you ever want to tell someone the truth, even though the truth would hurt them so much? Even though you were probably more at fault than the other person who screwed up was? " Haley shook her head, indicating that she agreed to what he was saying. "I'm sorry that I can't do that."

Her eyes once again found the floor. She hated how she could never look someone in the eye when they were trying to tell her something important. "I can." Forcing herself to look up, she found him facing her once again, his back to the window. "I kissed Lucas."

"I know that, Haley." His voice sounded annoyed and tired. He felt like he was getting nowhere with her. "This is what this whole thing is about-"

"No, I mean before..."

"What do you mean, before?" His brow furrowed in confusion, his face taking on an angry expression. "You mean before the party." It came out more as a statement rather than a question.

"During the Romeo and Juliet skit we had to do, he kissed me. I got really mad and we got into this big fight in the janitor's closet and he kissed me again. I kissed him back but it didn't mean anything, Nathan. I swear."

"The hell it didn't. In the freakin' janitor's closet, Haley?" He screamed, causing her to flinch. "So at the party wasn't the first time. And you kissed him back! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Tears were streaming down her face. This wasn't the way she had expected things to go. They weren't supposed to be in this situation right now. "I don't know!" Finally she couldn't hold it in anymore. She began to cry hysterically, furiously wiping at her face in an attempt to clear the tears that had fallen. "I don't know, okay? Things were just so screwed up and I didn't know what to do-"

Before she knew it, she was being pushed up against the wall, Nathan's lips attacking her own. It was as if they couldn't get enough of each other, like they'd been apart for years without seeing one another.

"I hate you so much for this." He whispered, kissing her roughly on the lips and pulling her shirt apart, sending buttons flying every which way. "You don't want him, Haley." She shook her head before he pushed her against the wall again. "Tell me you don't want him." He growled.

"I-"

"Say it." He growled in her ear roughly. When she didn't answer, his voice took on an angrier tone. "God damn it, Haley. Say it!"

Haley looked into his eyes, full of anger and passion all at the same time. She couldn't do this to him. She felt guilty enough to begin with and to go any further would just make her feel even worse. She felt like a slut. "I can't do this."

She pushed him off of her and grabbed her shirt, putting it on quickly. "I'm sorry." It was barely audible, but he heard it. Before he could answer, she ran out of the house.