Thank you for all the kind replies. It really puts a smile on my face. You are the best. Enjoy.

Z

Chapter Seven

Adding to the Noise

All I have to say, is I'm such a coward. All summer I told myself that Nathan was just using me and that I deserved so much better; that I would never give in to his bullsh!t again. I promised I would stand up for myself and not let him get under my skin, but here I was in the same position I had been in a month and a half ago, not being able to say no…this time going farther than before.

That being because there were no mysterious phone calls in the middle.

When he got up and gathered his clothes together, I suddenly realized my mistake again. I had allowed myself to forget how wrong it was during, but it managed to hit me after…which probably wasn't the best timing. I don't know what I had been expecting to happen, I knew that he was just going to pick up and leave again but I guess I had some optimism that he would suddenly change his mind.

Needless to say, he didn't.

"See you." He said nonchalantly, throwing his shirt back on and making his way out the door.

I almost said something, I almost yelled after him as he made his way out but I covered my mouth before I could make a fool out of myself. Not that I hadn't made a fool out of myself already. I winced at my reflection in the mirror; I looked so dirty, but not half as dirty as I felt. I could just imagine Riley's reaction. She wouldn't even be angry, she would be more disappointed than anything. I tried not to cry every time she would say something about how disgusted she was with the brainless sluts he would bring home over the summer. It killed me to know I was one of those girls.

You could say that I was most definitely ashamed.

What I couldn't figure out is why I kept letting him to get to me. By now I had managed to understand his cycle. First, he ignored me…then he was rude…then he would act all seductive and flirtatious and then he would pretend to be genuine. And the stupid part is I knew that I would fall for it all again.

He just had that stupid affect on me.

Damn him.

I made up a lame excuse to Riley as to why I didn't need to ride with her and Nathan to school and begged Lucas to pick me up. His car was in the shop but he borrowed his moms after some cursing and yelling over the phone. I did see Nathan at school the next day, but I went above and beyond to avoid him. I totally went out of my way, even if it meant being late to each of my classes and ditching some all together. I was not in the mood to be ashamed of myself so I did everything I could to make sure I didn't see him.

Of course, I still saw him, standing in the hallway with different girls. And of course, being me, I noted every new one that I saw. First it was Mandie Silverman, and then it was Callie Weathers…then some girl I couldn't recognize and finally that bitch from fourth period who kept on smacking her gum in the seat behind me.

Ok…ok…so I was a bit jealous but it didn't change the fact that I knew I couldn't get within a mile radius of this kid. He would suck me in again and before I knew it I would be doing the nasty in the one hundred percent unsanitary janitor's closet.

To sum it up…I was avoiding the inevitable awkward meeting/seduction.

Riley noticed how tense I was the whole day but she didn't say anything. I could tell though, from the look on her face. She always did that thing where she furrowed her brow and eyed me suspiciously. She didn't need to say anything...Iknew that sheknew something was up. She always did, no matter what it was impossible to hide things from her. That's why I was so surprised she hadn't figured out the whole me and Nathan relationship. If you could even call it a relationship…

There was something off about Riley as well though.

I didn't see him coming. I didn't even hear him approach me from behind because I was too busy talking to Lucas after the last bell rang.

"The nerve of that Angelina Jolie…" Lucas told me, shaking his head while I searched through my locker. "I mean, Brad and Jennifer gave the rest of us some kind of hope. If they can't work, how are the rest of us supposed to be optimistic?"

"Lucas," I sighed. "Sometimes, I swear to God, you're just such a girl! I mean…that's why we're friends remember? Because you're not a girl…and sometimes, too much estrogen is hard for me to handle!" Lucas had been mumbling beside me and I had been completely zoning out as I managed to put my books in my backpack. "So anyway, are we up for the record store later?"

"Of course. I'll pick you up in front of your house at seven?"

"As always."

I should've seen him coming…but I didn't.

"So she's alive…" he commented, slipping in between Lucas and I so that he blocked Lucas from view. "I was beginning to think you were avoiding me but then I just looked in the mirror and realized that would never happen." He laughed.

Apparently he thought he was funny.

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes. "You think that I would go out of my way to avoid you? You're not worth the trouble."

Ok, so I lied.

I wasn't looking at him because I feared I would lose my sense of right and wrong if I did. There was something so intoxicating about his blue eyes and it was almost impossible to say no.

Drugs don't have anything on Nathan Scott.

He moved his finger to my chin to get me to look at him but I closed my eyes immediately. "I'm not gonna turn you to stone, Haley." He laughed. "Why so afraid all of a sudden?"

I shook out of his grasp. "I'm not afraid." I growled, looking back into my locker. "I was just having a conversation with Lucas that you so rudely interrupted and I would like to continue it, thank you very much." I pushed him out of the way so that I could see Lucas, who unsurprisingly was watching with quite amusement.

"Oh look Haley…" Lucas smirked "…it's the whore." I blushed in embarrassment and cursed Lucas under my breath for making fun of me. I had called him a whore the other day and apparently Lucas hadn't forgotten.

Damn Lucas and his good memory.

"Whore?" Nathan asked, raising his eyebrow at me.

I raised my palms and tried my best to remain calm. "Don't look at me…Lucas is the one who called you a whore."

Before Lucas could tell Nathan otherwise, and I knew that he would, I nudged Lucas in the side and slammed my locker, moving in the opposite direction of the both of them. I brushed them both off and decided that I was just going to have to find some other way of getting home.

This is why I need more friends.

"Riley, where are you?" I demanded, yelling into my cell phone as I approached the parking lot.

"Whoa babe, chill." She said back. "What's got you so tweaked?"

"Bad day." I sighed.

"Sounds like. Anyway, what can I do ya for?" She asked.

"Are you riding home with Nathan?" I asked, walking towards the parking lot.

"Yea, aren't you?" She asked.

"No." I said a little too quickly with a little too much hostility in my voice.

"Why don't you like him Hales? He's not that bad. Honestly. I didn't like him at first but he's nice when he wants to be…just give him a chance." If only I could tell her that I had given him a chance, that I had given him more than a chance I had given him my virginity. But of course, I couldn't tell her that so I just mumbled something about making more of an effort and then hung up without saying goodbye.

Sometimes a girl just needs to take her anger out on something. Too bad Riley had to be the one.

So it appeared I would be taking the public bus home.

"Hey."

I jumped.

"Oh, hey Reed," I said, catching my breath. "You scared me. What's up?"

"I don't know. You didn't show up to English today. Were you avoiding me?"

You. Nathan. Everyone.

"No," I lied, "I wasn't feeling well so I spent that period in the nurse's office. I'm all better now. But I really should get going, I have to catch the bus."

"The bus? I'll give you a ride."

"That's not necessary," I insisted.

"Come on, Haley."

I sighed. I guess that wouldn't do any harm.

The car ride wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. He was nice, I was surprisingly calm and we seemed to be able to reminisce about old times quite nicely. I forgot some of the things we used to do and some of the embarrassing moments that he will never let me live down. It was all fine until the end.

That's when he kissed me.

Short. Sweet. Simple.

Nothing like Nathan.

"See you tomorrow," he said, smiling awkwardly as he walked back down the porch steps. I think he knew that something was off because I had looked at him strangely after he kissed me. It wasn't that he was a bad kisser, which he definitely was not; it was that I didn't know if I wanted to get back into a relationship with him. Did I want a relationship with anyone?

I watched him drive away and then groaned loudly. "What am I getting myself into?"

Lucas and I loved hanging out at that particular record store near school. The manager and many of the workers knew us by name because we came so damn often. It was so familiar and comforting and for once, I knew that I wouldn't have to deal with Nathan…or I thought I wouldn't have to deal with Nathan.

It was beginning to bug me how much Nathan was having an affect on me. I mean, after all, I had only just met him at the beginning of the summer. The whole relationship…friendship… thing just wasn't working out for me in the least.

It was driving me insane.

He was all I could think about and even though I knew that he was all wrong for me he was what I wanted as much as I denied it.

"Hey." Lynette, the woman behind the counter shouted at us as we walked in. "Long time no see Luke…hey Haley." The girl was a couple years older than both of us but it was obvious she had a thing for Luke. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a thing for her too.

"It's all Luke's fault…" I teased, nudging him in the side playfully "…he was so busy with his latest summer romance he didn't have time for his old buddies." Lucas blushed beside me and I simply rolled my eyes.

Lucas and I headed over to the Alternative/Classic Rock section and scammed some CD's. We swapped opinions on certain bands and I almost had Luke convinced that I had grown to like O-Town over the summer. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack he was so ashamed and when I told him I was only joking he looked more relieved than I'd ever seen him in my entire life.

"So tell me…" he started, and I immediately felt an awkward topic coming on "…what's up with you and Riley? I mean…don't get me wrong, I love all the extra time you have for me but it feels off sort of because it always used to be the three of us, you know? I can't tell if you're avoiding her or she's avoiding you." He looked genuinely concerned that my friendship with Riley was slipping and it just made me love him even more for caring so much.

"I don't know…" I answered truthfully, flipping through some CDs "…I thought that I was the one avoiding her but now it seems like she's avoiding me. The whole thing with me and he who shall not be named…"

He cut me off. "Nathan?"

"He who shall not be named…" I said again, glaring at him "…sort of made me feel bad, you know? Like I'm betraying her trust or something. I just feel like it's not fair that I'm keeping it from her and to be honest, I don't even know why I am keeping it from her…"

He raised his eyebrow.

"Ok…so I do know why I'm keeping it from her." I sighed, "I just don't want her to be ashamed of me, you should have heard the way she was talking about the bimbos Nathan banged over the summer. Riley's important to me and I don't want her to think any less of me. Does that make sense?"

He nodded. "It makes sense Hales. But you still need to tell her, regardless. Keeping it from her is only making the situation worse." I knew that Lucas was right. That kid was always right…and for that, I hated him.

Just kidding.

"I guess…but what's got me so confused is why she seems like she's avoiding me. I feel like I've been seeing her less and less since school started. I don't know…something's off." It had been bothering me all day and saying it aloud made it feel worse for some odd reason.

"So…speaking of you and Nathan…" he said, easing into something he knew would not end pretty.

"There is no me and Nathan." I snapped.

He shrugged. "Man. I should have been more subtle about it." He turned to look in the other direction. "Hey, I'm gonna go talk to Lynette for a second, alright? I'll be right back."

I laughed. "Knock m' dead, tiger."

He rolled his eyes. "Must you mock me?"

"I must."

After he left, I began to flip through CDs. I wasn't really paying attention, but more thinking about my current situation with Riley. It was really bugging me but I was hoping I had just been overreacting. The fact that Luke noticed made it true.

That's when I heard that familiar voice. "Fancy meeting you here."

I turned around to face him. "You." I growled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He shrugged and made his way to the CDs next to me, acting completely nonchalant. "It's a free country." When I didn't answer him, and instead just glared, he still didn't look up. "So what a coincidence." He remarked. "You…me…same record store. Maybe it's fate…"

I rolled my eyes. "Or maybe you're just stalking me."

"What can I say? I'm your secret admirer." He smirked proudly.

"Yea? Well there is a fine line between a secret admirer and a stalker." I shot back.

"Harsh." He sighed.

"But true." I squeaked, pleased with myself as I looked back down to the CDs in front of me.

It was official. This kid was stalking me and it made no sense whatsoever. I mean he made it so painfully obvious to me that I was only for pleasure yet everywhere I was, he was and I was starting to get mixed signals.

"Seriously Nathan…" I started when he didn't leave "…what are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, just looking for some CDs." He told me.

"Why is it that everywhere I go, you go?" I asked, irritation in my voice.

He shrugged and then turned to watch me. I could see him out of the corner of my eye but I refused to look up. "You love it," he taunted.

"What gave you that impression?" I glared. "Because I was almost positive the vibe I was giving off was that I wanted to be nowhere near you."

"Which is why you were practically on top of me yesterday?" He smirked, moving closer by the second.

He got me there. What was I supposed to say to that? I mean, in reality…I pretty much had been. There was something so infuriating about the way I wanted to strangle him when he was talking to me but my knees weakened every time he came near me.

Why did he have to be so sexy?

He laughed when I didn't respond and then turned back to the CDs in front of him. "That's what I thought."

Before I could smack him across the face, Lucas returned. "Nathan? What are you doing here?" He asked and I didn't have to turn around to see that Lucas was slightly amused. Sometimes Lucas could get all protective over me but he always got amusement out of my awkward encounters with the opposite sex.

Why I still hung out with him was beyond me.

"Lucas." Nathan acknowledged and then turned his back to me while he began to talk to him.

I could see Lucas smirk at the corner of his mouth though he was trying desperately to hide it because he knew I would kill him later. "I see you've been talking to Haley." I rolled my eyes at the mention of my name. "She's a cutie, huh?" He laughed.

I couldn't hear Nathan's response because I dropped the CD I was holding and it made a crashing noise on the ground. I could feel Nathan's smirk above me and my eyes met his as I rose slowly to my feet.

"Haley…we should probably get out of here." Lucas said softly, eyeing me protectively. "My mom needs me back early anyway. We'll see you later…Nathan." As I turned around to follow Lucas, Nathan grabbed my shoulder.

"You don't have to go, Haley. I can take you home," Lucas raised his eyebrow at me, secretly questioning what I wanted. I shrugged and he smiled weakly. It's such a difficult emotion, ambivalence. Sure, I wanted to avoid Nathan all together because I know that he'll ultimately break my heart but the other part of me wanted to just give in. Part of me just wanted to care less.

"Haley?" Lucas asked. "It would be easier for me if he took you home. I was going to go run a few errands for my mother. But I could always just take you home first. Whatever you want to do." I looked from Lucas to Nathan and then back to Lucas, not being able to make a fucking simple decision.

Nathan laughed and then began to head out the door. "Whatever…"

I followed him. "No, wait…I'm coming with you."

It's not like I rationally thought through it all. I mean, if I had, there would be no way that I would have ended up sitting in his car but somehow, there I was. When I got in, we sat in silence for a couple of minutes until I finally spoke. "What were you doing over in that direction, anyway?" I asked.

He didn't look over, just stared straight in front of him, not moving an inch. "I just had some things to take care of," he answered elusively.

"Oh," I shrugged. "Like what?"

Again, he didn't move. "Just…things." I took that as a none of your business so I just frowned and continued to stare out the window. A couple of seconds later I felt his stare out of the corner of my eye. "Look…it's nothing," he assured me suddenly "…just part of my past." When I looked to meet his gaze I saw his eyes glaze over with what I could have sworn was guilt.

"Okay," I shrugged and then looked back out the window. Seconds later my phone went off and I pulled it out my pocket to find that Reed was calling me. That was the last thing that I needed so I cleared my throat and put it back in my pocket. I liked Reed, he was safe unlike Nathan, he would care for me like a boyfriend would but I'm not sure if that's what I wanted at the moment…especially after everything that had happened between us.

"Reed or Lucas?" He asked after a while.

I sighed. "What makes you think it's either one of them?"

"Because it is…" he answered simply. "It was Reed, huh?"

I groaned. "Yes…"

"How come you didn't answer it?" He pried and I shook my head at him.

"I just didn't, okay? It's none of your business."

"Okay, okay…" he laughed "…I was just trying to start conversation."

"You and I? Have a normal conversation?" I scoffed. "Impossible. Either you'll end up seducing me into bed or I'll end up screaming and yelling at you. How about we just ride in silence?" Strangely enough, I liked it when I was yelling at him. I felt like I had more control if I was the one yelling, if I was the one putting the wall up between us.

When he put the wall up, all I wanted to do was pull it down.

"We're having a normal conversation right now. I just want to know about things with you and Reed. Are you guys reconciling?"

I scoffed. "No…" and then sighed "…I don't know."

It was silent for a few minutes until he turned the radio on and the car is filled with the voice of Dr. Dre. There's one more thing we don't have in common. When we pulled up to my house fifteen minutes later, the both of us saw a figure waiting on my front porch in the dark. It couldn't have been my parents because they were still out of town, surprise surprise, and my brother was away at college. Who else would come visit me?

As we grew closer, it became clear that the figure was Reed. Nathan got out of the car as well and when he recognized him he rolled his eyes which I found to be strangely cute. "Hey…" Reed said awkwardly when he saw Nathan "…I tried calling you but you weren't picking up. I really need to talk to you."

"Okay," I said hesitantly.

He looked over to Nathan. "Were you on a date?"

"No…" I scoffed "…he was just giving me a ride home from the Record Store."

"I thought you always went to the Record Store with Lucas." He asked.

See, Reed knows everything about me.

"Long story…" I said and then folded my arms across my chest "…so what's up?"

He pulled me over closer to him and I turned slightly to see that Nathan was still watching. He raised his eyebrow at me and I sort of smiled awkwardly, turning back to Reed to try to figure out what was going on. "I know you don't trust me, Haley. Hell, sometimes I don't trust me but I need you to give me a second chance. You're half the reason I'm back in Tree Hill. I missed you, a lot. And that kiss earlier…it reminded me of how good we used to be together. Don't you remember?"

I smiled genuinely and he smiled back. "See…you do remember. Why can't we go back to that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you want to go back to that?" He asked.

I paused. "Can I think about it?"

He smiled and nodded and before he turned away, he pulled me closer to him and kissed me long and hard on the mouth. I don't remember him ever kissing me with that much passion before and I almost wondered if it was because Nathan was standing very close by.

"Think about it," he said.