AN: This chapter was a little hard to write b/c it was so personal. But I hope you will eventually like it. I really hope it doesn't suck. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED SO FAR! Please continue to do so!!! Enjoy!

Chapter 22: The Moment We've All Been Waiting For

When Lucas and I arrived at his apartment, he collapsed onto the couch and continuously complained about Nathan and Daryl's violent antics.

"They need anger management classes. Haley, we should hold an intervention and confront them about their atrocious behavior. I mean, they used childish tactics to resolve their stupid feud. What they did today was disgraceful and downright obscene. It hurt too. I have a big puffy black eye. Cheyenne's not gonna like this. And I have to go to a big meeting tomorrow. They are going to think that I am some rowdy violent ass. They'll see Nathan as the good guy and me as the bad guy. This is so fcuking great. We need this intervention. They need to stop," Lucas ranted.

I barely listened to his blabber for two reasons. One, Lucas always did this sort of stuff. Two, I was worried about Nathan and Daryl. That idiot and the idiot I love could be tearing each other apart.

While all these thoughts rushed through my head, Lucas kept on talking. I had finally reached my listening limit.

"Ok Lucas, enough. Now shut up. If you don't, then I will be sure to apply the alcohol as painfully as possible," I said.

"You wouldn't dare," he exclaimed.

"O I would."

I got up and grabbed the first aid kit. I slowly pulled out the bottle of disinfectant alcohol and showed it to him. I gently swayed the bottle back and forth. His eyes followed it like he was being hypnotized. Slowly, his eyes bent into those cute puppy dog eyes.

"Please Haley. I'll do anything," he whined with his puppy dog eyes.

"O no, I don't need you to do me anything. But I am up for some entertainment. Who's up for some delirious fun of disinfectants? I sure am," I teased.

I carefully applied the medical stuff. He continuously winced and his body was trembling with sheer fright. After I was done, he got up from the couch and leaned against the wall. He then started to hyperventilate.

"Thatta boy, just breath in, breath out, in, out," I mocked.

"Shut up," he mumbled while breathing. When he was finally done, he got some drinks.

"So you think they are going to come up in one piece?" I asked him casually while sipping my vodka.

"Nope, but I think they'll try. Except one of them will do something stupid and then they'll fight again. It's the circle of Tree Hill life," he explained.

"A circle of what?" I asked bewildered by his reasoning.

"The circle of Tree Hill life. I was thinking about why our lives are always getting messed up. I mean, it's like we are on a really bad teen angst tv show. Our life in Tree Hill just follows us and repeats on and on. It's a cycle. Like, for me, first I screwed Brooke over, then Peyton, and then they screwed me over."

"Hmm... that's a good theory, except you gotta admit it. You kinda deserved some of the pranks. O remember that one with the diapers..."

"Hey! That was mean and childish."

"It was mean, childish, and funny."

Just then the door busted open and in came Nathan who looked weary and exhausted. He slowly dragged his legs to the couch and sat down quietly. His body was visually stiff and his eyes were rigidly cold. His hands were gently shaking and his face was pallid. The color had been drained from his face. His eyes menacingly glanced at me, then turned away.

"Nathan..." I whispered. What had happened?

"Don't worry, we made up. Your lover is safe from me," He said angrily while swiftly getting up and walking upstairs. I followed him completely confused by the entire situation.

"Nathan... what are you talking about?" I called as I went upstairs. Something in my gut told me that it was bad. I opened a door and saw Nathan lying on a bed, his hands over his face.

"He told me about it, ok," He said gruffly and turned away.

"What are you talking about?" I asked again.

"O don't play that sh!t with me, you know what I'm talking about," he said coldly. His tone sent shivers down my spine and it wasn't the good shivers. They were ice cold and burnt through my heart almost as if it was a cold flame.

"I truly don't," I whispered. Why was he being so mean? I felt tears roll down my cheeks. What had I done? Why is he blaming me?

"Remember that night at the promenade?"

"Yeah... it was Christmas Eve."

"That night I told you I loved you and you said you did too. You promised me that we were going to be together, but that you had family over. So you left early. I never questioned you. I trusted you. I thought you broke up with him, but no, you didn't."

A silent pause filled the air for a moment as I wiped away my tears and he breathed in deeply.

"I... I—" tried to explain, but he cut me off.

"You left that night, that night I said those three words to you. And you went to Daryl and fcuked him like the whore you were. You didn't even give a damn about me, did you?" he said angrily.

"Nathan, I..."

"You what? You're sorry? Yeah well I don't give a sh!t anymore. We pieced the whole damn thing together. We figured out why we were enemies. It's because we were just victims of jealousy. And to make matters worse, you almost got pregnant. You almost got knocked up, didn't you?"

"What do you want me to say?" I cried incredulously. Tears streamed down my face and blinded me. The lump in my throat sent a sharp searing pain down my neck.

"I want you to tell me the truth. Just tell me you don't love me and stop this torture. Haley, I can't go through this. I love you with my whole being, but I can't live knowing you don't. I can't be near you. Just tell me the truth."

Tears rolled down the sides of his face as he laid down on the bed. His voice was cruel, but shaky.

"I was scared, okay? I was fcuking scared."

"... Why?"

"Because that night, I said the truth, the most truthful thing I have ever uttered, but I doubted us, our love. Do you know what hell I was living through? Girls constantly telling me how you were in bed, how you seduced them. This one girl even told me you said that you loved her. I couldn't believe it, but I knew it was true. So I thought you lied to me. I thought I was just another quick knock-me-up before practice. How was I supposed to believe you?"

"And what about me? Do you want know what hell I was going through? I had my dad beating on me, my grades were sh!t, teachers were disappointed, and you weren't there. I only had random girls, but I dreamt they were you. Guys would talk about you and I couldn't take it. I even heard Daryl telling the guys about you in the sack. I thought you just didn't care about me anymore. I was scared too Hales, but I didn't run. I didn't fcuk around either."

"I don't know what to say Nathan. I thought you lied to me, so I got drunk. Daryl was there and... Listen Nathan, I loved you then and I love you now. What I did was a mistake. I shouldn't have done it, but I couldn't go through with us... I felt so horrible... I just kept thinking that you were using me for sex and a cheap thrill. I—"

"Haley, you were never a cheap thrill to me."

"I didn't know that then. I always thought I was never good enough for you. And it hurt to think that the one thing I wanted, wasn't gone, but just wasn't meant for me."

By now, I was sopping with tears. My face dripped with pain and I bowed my head in shame. I should never have slept with Daryl that night. Nathan sat up on the bed and faced me.

"We were meant to be. I just can't believe the most memorable night of my life has just been washed away. I just can't believe you did that," his voice choked out. I could hear the strain in his tone.

I leaned hard against the door frame and slowly slid down to the floor. I hugged my knees and hid my head. I felt like I was being suffocated, smothered to death. I wanted him to understand.

"I'm sorry," I heaved as my voice cracked.

"I guess I shouldn't blame you. It seems like our whole high school thing was sh!t. We were always hurting each other," he said softly. I could tell he was looking at me. His eyes were cold and cruel, but his heart was trying to heal.

"You're right. All we ever did back then was try to hurt one another."

I turned my head over to look at Nathan, who was intensely staring at me. I slowly unwrapped myself and stood up. My body floated towards him like a ghost. I gently plopped myself down onto the bed. His body arched down next to me and leaned closely against me. His heart pulsed violently, but his face was calm. He gently placed his hand over my cheek and grazed my burning skin. His hand reached to my chin and he pushed my face to look at him.

"Haley... I know you are hurting just as much as I am. God... we were so happy and then the past just haunts us..." he whispered.

"Nathan... Maybe we can just forget about all those times we hurt each other. Act like it never happened. Can we?" I murmured.

"Yeah... let's just forget all of those times. I—we were so happy before we brought up the past."

"Yeah... Nathan, I love you."

"And I love you."

"I'm sorry for that night. I—"

"It's ok. I'm sorry too."

With my head tucked under his, I lay down next to him. I drifted off into a quiet slumber. Gently, he prodded me awake.

"Haley, I've been thinking... I want to tell you something," he whispered.

"What is it?" I keenly asked. His face was so calm as if he had reached a point of tranquility and clemency. His blue eyes were quiet pools of sapphire beckoning me to swim into its depths. He breathed in and stood up while holding my hand. I followed him as he led me down the stairs and out the door.

As were walking, I looked up at the sky. The dazzling white moon had replaced the baking sun. The gray clouds flew scattered in the sky with twinkling stars peeping through. The New York streets were lonely, but I knew they weren't empty.

His arms were wrapped around me. His face had a genuine smile, a real smile. His eyes glistened with a faintness of hope. I couldn't help but wonder what he was doing.

And there was one question that was plaguing me: What the hell was going on? First, he was mad, angry, and hurt. Then, he's just not. He's happy. What's going on?

After a silent walk, he led me to a quiet park.

"Where are we?" I asked nimbly.

"Central Park," he replied.

"Don't they close at like 6?"

"Yeah, but I had a special request."

He beckoned me to a pond and made me sit at a rickety bench. The water of the pond rippled as a soft breeze blew by. The moon's reflection on the pond made a big white circle sparkle on top of the water. The trees swished and the sky darkened. It looked peaceful, yet deadly quiet. Almost as if the park had a mystery. And it didn't help that Nathan was acting strange...

He sat there relaxed, his blue eyes filled with happiness. After staring at the pond, he finally spoke.

"When you were asleep, I thought about us. Our whole relationship—the past, the present, and... the future... I remember when we were in high school, I used to hate how you split us apart. I didn't know why. I mean, I thought we had everything, but you just didn't want it. I thought it was an excuse and that made me angry. To think that you not only didn't want us, you just didn't want me."

"Nathan—"

"Let me finish Hales. And I think I finally understand why. Why we couldn't be together. God, we were so fcuked up. Just look at that Christmas Eve. We screwed up so many times. I don't think we could've lasted so long with all of that pressure. Today, I felt so... hurt. I was thinking about breaking us up and leaving. But, I couldn't. I looked at you and then it just dawned on me. If we were together back then, we would be screwed up. And that night was just an example. And you knew that. I love you so much more for realizing that. You make everything right and perfect. I don't want to lose you."

He turned his face towards me and then slid his hand into his coat pocket only to reveal a diamond ring. He got up slowly and put one knee on the ground.

"Will you marry me?"

Those four words rang in my ears and sent my heart pounding.

Wow... People always said that this moment would be special, but I never thought it'd be like this. So breath-taking, mind-numbing, and heart- warming.

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I lunged towards him and engulfed him in a hug. I pulled my face up to his and kissed him passionately while my arms draped over his shoulders. Then I leaned over towards his ear and whispered the words that would change us forever.