A/N: Hey! Keep the reviews coming! I hoped you all enjoyed the last chapter. It was definitely one of my best. More drama to come…ENJOY! Chapter 10 is UP!


The sun beating in on her face felt warm on her soft cheeks. She barely squinted as she opened her eyes. It looked like a really beautiful day outside. And she loved this, the morning time. It was her favorite part of the day. And there wasn't any better way to wake up than to wake up in his arms. She had hoped that they weren't moving things along too fast. But the other part of her didn't really care if they were. She was so unbelievably happy. That was the ambitious Haley James.

"Good Morning…" Nathan had woken up.

Haley smiled sweetly at her beau. "Morning."

"Did you sleep well?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"I slept great." She replied, laying her head on his chest.

"Good." He kissed her on the top of her head.

How could it have taken him so long to realize how wonderful it was to have Haley around? He cherished every single moment they spent together. And as he held her in his arms, he never wanted to let her go. She was so amazing.

"Promise me this is real." She said to him.

"I couldn't imagine this being any more real Haley. I…" Nathan struggled for those three words. He wanted to say them, but he felt it might be too soon, so he held off.

"You what?" She questioned.

"I love being with you. Things have never felt this good to me."

Haley smiled. Lucas couldn't have been more wrong about Nathan. She didn't even want to think about how wrong he was, or him. She just wanted to keep this moment between her and Nathan. It was incredible.

"What time is it?" Nathan asked her.

"Um...it's 9:30" She informed him, glancing over at her clock.

"Oh crap!" Nathan gasped.

"What? What is it?"

"Uh…nothing. I have this thing, I…I gotta go. I'm sorry." Nathan quickly threw on his shirt and rushed out of Haley's bedroom door, down the steps, and right on out of her house.

Haley sat alone in her bed, puzzled. Absolutely puzzled. What was the urgency?


Brooke felt a headache coming on as she sat up to answer her cell phone that morning. She reached over and picked the phone up. It was Peyton.

"Hey Peyts…" She answered

"Brooke? Are you alright? You sound a little bit, um hung over." Peyton told her friend.

"Um, no I'm fine I just have little bit of a headache."

"Oh, well alright. So, how did the dance go last night?" Peyton was curious.

"The dance…oh. Um, it was okay. Nathan and Haley are all mushy now. They never took their hands off each other. It's so cute. Gag." Brooke showed her bitterness over Lucas to Peyton.

"Well that's awesome for them, but what about you? Who were you with?"

Brooke hesitated. She didn't want to admit how low she had sunk.

"Brooke, you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm sorry, I um…I have to go Peyton."

Peyton laughed into the phone. "Are you gonna puke?"

Brooke wanted to thank Peyton for giving her an excuse. "Looks like it. Bye Peyt."

"Later."

Brooke hung up the phone and laid back down in her bed. Out of nowhere she felt an arm begin to wrap around her.

"Hey Baby…" The person said.

"What the hell?" Brooke thought to herself. She turned around to see who the mystery man was. It was Tim.

"Tim?" She couldn't believe her eyes. What was HE doing in her bed with her?

"What's wrong babe?" Tim asked, a bit confused.

"What, um why?" Brooke was so lost.

"Are you okay? You seem a tad freaked out baby." Tim tried to get her to come to her senses.

"I'm just…um, you? Why are you here?" She asked him, putting her hand on her forehead as to express her confusion.

"I came over after the dance last night, don't you remember or were you so wasted you don't remember anything?" Tim chuckled at the brunette.

Brooke's heart sunk. She had done it. She had led him on. She had done the one thing she didn't want to do, and she instantly felt terrible. All she could hope was that they didn't do anything stupid the night before.

She tried to get all the info she could. "Look Tim, I don't remember what happened last night. Could you please just go through the evening with me after the dance, play by play?" She asked him.

"Sure babe." Tim was so excited to be back with her.

"Well, after the dance we went to Nathan's because he was having a party. There were drinks there and you just kept throwing 'em down." Tim laughed again.

Brooke began to feel a sickness in her stomach. "Go on…"

"Then, you told him and Haley that they were so cute together and that you could just eat them up. I think that's when we all discovered you were a bit on the hammered side."

She couldn't believe what a mess she had made; she just hoped she didn't do anything serious with Tim. "Uh…well, what happened next?"

"You told me you wanted to leave, and so I took you home and walked you to your bedroom door. Then, you invited me to stay over. So, I said yes."

"Is that all?" Brooke had hoped it was.

"Well, then we made out for awhile on your bed…"

"Oh God" Brooke thought to herself.She felt like the worst person in the world. She didn't want to hurt Tim but she didn't have feelings for him like that and twice she had made the mistake of kissing him.

"And, then we went to sleep right?"

"Yep."

She felt relieved to know that they didn't go too far. She just wished none of it had happened. She wished she had never asked him to the dance in the first place, it only caused problems in her life that she didn't need. She didn't want to be one of those girls that used a good friend as a rebound. She wasn't like that. Her and Tim had always been good friends, even after they broke up and she couldn't imagine him ever treating her this way. So she did the only thing she felt she could do to spare his feelings. Pretend. She had to pretend that she wanted to be with him and wait for him to dump her, or just end up breaking up with him sometime soon. That was her plan until she heard him utter these words.

"Brooke, listen to me…" He began. "You're the most amazing girl I've ever known. I've been with so many girls, but they just don't mean a thing to me compared to you: because, no one compares to you Brooke. And I don't know why Lucas would break up with someone who's so beautiful in every way. You're just so perfect, and I know they say that no one is, but someone would have to be absolutely insane if they didn't make an exception for you. You mean the world to me, and I promise you that I will always care for you. No matter what happens, I'm never gonna let you go. I already lost you once and I'm not about to do it again. I don't know how you feel about me, but I know that this is the way that I feel about you, and I'm willing to spend as much time as it takes to make you feel the same way."

Brooke couldn't move. She couldn't speak. Nothing. This was simply the hardest situation she had ever been in, in her whole life.

After about a minute and a half of silence, "Please say something…" Tim muttered.

Brooke still couldn't move, but she still managed to get something out. "I…really don't know what to say. I don't know what to do with this right now." She told him with all the honesty in her heart.

"You don't have to do anything. Just be with me." Tim smiled at the girl by his side.

She didn't want to hurt him, but at the same time she knew her plan would never work. If she was going to be his girlfriend, there was no way to get out of it without hurting him. He wasn't going to break up with her. And if she broke up with him, it would hurt him too much. Maybe she should just do it now? She had no idea what to do. Part of her was also throwing in that maybe it would be different with him the second time. He was obviously crazy about her.

Brooke had no expression on her face except for the occasional strains in her forehead from thinking too hard.

"Brooke…" Tim tried to get her attention.

She looked him in the eye. "What's on your mind?" He asked her.

"I…I don't know what to do."

"Sweetie, I just told you, just be with me. I'm never gonna leave your side." He said, placing his hand on top of hers and reaching around for a grip on it.

She knew he was serious, and that's what scared her. Never meant forever, and forever was a long time.

He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. "Well, you just let me know when you're ready. I'm gonna be waiting." He said as he got up to leave. As he walked to her door, he turned around and said, "I love you Brooke."

Her heart sunk.


Okay, so kind of a short chapter but pretty good from Brooke and Tim's storyline. Wasn't any Leyton this chapter, I'm sorry for everyone who likes them. But I'm developing their storyline, I promise! So next chapter you'll find out what Brooke decides to do, where Nathan had to go, and what's up with Peyton and Lucas! Reviews would be awesome, thanks!