Hey everyone! I know it took a little longer than expected, but hey, at least it's the right day, right? Anyway, thank you for all the incredible reviews. Just a few responses:

Sw33t Lavender: My name's Ashley. Glad you asked. And thanks for the awesome review. :)

daddyzangel108: Thank you so much! And of course it was a good review. Sad to say, it's looking like it may have to be chapter 8, but I will update often, so, it might come later today; definitely by tomorrow. Thanks again!

JLsNaley: You do not suck at giving feedback! I love reading your reviews. ;)

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed also. I really wish I had time to give individual thank yous to everyone. Unfortunately, I only have to time to address those with questions, concerns, etc. But know that all feedback is very much appreciated!

Anyway, on with the story...

Chapter 4:

Michelle Peterson sprawled on the sand at the beach in their home of California. She thought of how Nathan had just hung up on her with no explanation. She knew he was trying to avoid her. She just didn't know why. Or maybe she simply didn't want to know why.

It was for the same reason he'd been distant since the beginning of their relationship. And that reason was some girl named Haley. He'd told her numerous times that he was over this Haley character and each time, she'd wanted so badly to believe him. But she knew that he would never be over her.

Michelle didn't necessarily know much about Haley or anyone from his past for that matter. He didn't like to talk about it and she'd never met anyone from Tree Hill. He hadn't wanted her to. But she knew that whoever Haley was, she'd done something terrible to him. She could see it in his eyes every time her name was mentioned. Haley had broken him and he couldn't be fixed.

And Michelle hated her for that.

Yet, at the same time, she was intrigued. What kind of person was this Haley that she could capture the heart of someone so amazing as Nathan and make him fall so deeply in love with her that she had this kind of effect on him when she decided to leave? She must've been one hell of a person.

Michelle loved Nathan. She loved him with all her heart. But she knew he didn't love her. And it hurt, but she had learned to accept that if she was to be a part of Nathan's life, she should just pretend it didn't matter. So, that's what she did. Day after day after day, she hid the weary sadness behind false happiness. And, the sad thing was, he never knew. Or at least he never seemed to. Maybe, like we all tend to do when we don't like the truth, he had twisted it a bit, convincing himself that he couldn't possibly be hurting her. But he was. More than he would ever know.

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Miles and miles away in Tree Hill, Nathan was back at the River Court again, back in a place that held so many memories. Usually, he tried to push such things to the back of his mind. They were always there, but if he ignored them, it made it easier to forget. He never completely forgot, but if he avoided the topic as much as possible, it eased the pain a little. This time, he wanted to remember. He came here to remember.

Swish. He remembered teaching Haley how to shoot a basketball. He remembered them growing closer and closer when he started coaching her. They'd been 12, so young, but they had a deeper friendship than most people ever can find. Lucas was still an immense part of their lives, but Nathan and Haley, though they didn't realize it until much later on, had always had a connection not everyone could comprehend. It often caused their respective others (adolescent boyfriends or girlfriends) to be jealous of their relationship, though they were too ignorant to understand why.

He sighed. They'd always been too blind to see what was right in front of them. Through all the crushes Haley had, through all the girlfriends Nathan had, they'd never seen what they could've been together. It had taken Haley leaving, then returning completely changed, needing someone to save her, for them to finally figure it out. Nathan had been the only one who could reach her. He'd conquered her past, even if only for a short time, and he'd been foolish enough to believe it could last.
Now, with her gone, it seemed as though nothing in his life could last. College hadn't lasted. His relationships with everyone he'd once cared deeply for had deteriorated. His first few jobs hadn't lasted. The first few places he'd traveled to hadn't lasted as his permanent home. None of his girlfriends or f uck buddies had lasted. None of his friends had lasted. Since Haley, no one in his life had lasted.

No one, that is, until Michelle. Nathan wasn't so blind that he didn't see how lucky he was to have found her, let alone to have kept her for this long. But he couldn't help but think of how obvious it was that he didn't love her. He knew he never would. And he knew that she knew that. But he couldn't bring it up with her. Because he knew that when he did, she would be gone. She would leave him, just like Haley had. And he didn't think he could handle being left again. It had happened to him once and it had almost killed him. But to have it happen a second time, he knew, would be much worse.

He hated the feeling of loneliness that wouldn't go away when Haley decided to leave; hated the silence, the empty memories, the false happiness she left behind. He'd experienced a lot of things in his life; had a lot of people hurt him, had hurt a lot of people. But never had he felt like he had the day he knew it was really over between him and Haley.

The day he realized she would never walk back through that door. She wouldn't burst through it, apologizing and begging him to take her back. She wouldn't be waiting for him in some random place when he least expected it, telling him how much she loved him and how much she regretted leaving him.

A part of him still hoped that would happen someday. But the other part, the more rational, logical part saw the truth. That if she was planning on doing that, she would've done it years ago. She'd left their future together behind in the dust, vanishing from everyone who loved her.

He only wished he could do the same.

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Jack just watched as Haley cried, letting out her tears of anger, frustration, and maybe just a little of fear. Something deep within him stirred and he longed to comfort her, to take her in his arms and wish all her pain away. But how could he ever convince her not to open her heart if he couldn't even convince himself? No, he must remain strong, with unwavering conviction, and demand her attention. Otherwise, he knew she'd never listen.

After a few minutes, her sobbing died down and she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "All better now?" he asked quietly.

"What do you care?" she asked bitterly. "We're not supposed to feel anything, right? You and me, we're supposed to just not care, right? Well, I'm sorry, but I don't know if I can do that!" She stood so fast, her chair tipped and almost crashed to the ground. She steadied it gracefully with her hand before it could cause a commotion and stormed away from the table.

He threw some bills on the table and hurried after her, catching up with her a few yards outside the door. "Haley, wait," he commanded firmly.

She laughed contemptuously and kept walking, throwing over her shoulder, "Why? So you can harass me some more?"
He sighed in exasperation and quickly matched her pace, walking beside her. She rolled her eyes and glanced over at him. "You know, really, as fascinating as I find your company to be, I'd rather not have to endure it right now, thanks."

"Quit being so sarcastic. I know I'm not your favorite person right now, but Haley, you have to listen to me. How can I ever make you understand-

She cut him off. "Maybe I don't want to understand, Jack. Did you ever think about that? Oh, that's right, you don't think about anyone but yourself. And apparently, I'm not supposed to either."

"Haley, that's not fair," he protested.

She interrupted him again. "Yeah, well, life's not fair, Jack. And you know what? I've wasted enough of my time listening to you. So, now, I think it's time you listened to something I had to say. You think by doing this, you're helping me. That you'll somehow save me, right?" He nodded. "Well, you won't, so stop it. Did you ever think that maybe some people would rather live the rest of their lives ignorant to the kind of pain you've dealt with and just pretend it doesn't exist? I know I'll be hurt time and again, but did you ever think it might actually be better for me to live like everyone else does, not like you do? I mean, did it ever occur to you that maybe, without your help, I'll be just fine? That I'll be happier and less alone if I do things my way?"

She could see the fury blazing in his eyes as he interrupted her. "You don't know half of what I've been through, so you can't use that as an excuse. And you know what, you're right, maybe you'll live a nice little perfect life and you'll never be hurt like I was. But did you ever stop to think how close to impossible that is? I mean, Haley, everyone gets hurt. Everyone. No exceptions. Everyone goes through at least part of what I did at some point. It wouldn't be normal if they didn't. What I'm trying to show everyone is that if we just stop caring about people aside from ourselves, we could have so much more."

"I don't think so," Haley responded. "Cause from where I'm standing, that sounds like a hell of a lonely life to me!" Without another word, she stormed off, hailing a cab and not heeding his calls for her to stop and wait for him, slipping in and giving the driver her address.

Minutes later, he pulled up to her hotel and, distracted, she thrust some money at him, climbing out, and slamming the door. She slammed angrily through the front door and took the elevator up to her floor. Entering her room, she broke into tears again. Would he never stop? Would it never be over?

She was trying so hard to stay strong, to resist all that he offered her. She knew she'd never be the same if she did. She'd never have the love she and Nathan had shared. She'd never have friends like the ones she'd had in Tree Hill again. But after all she'd been through, was it really possible regardless?

Looking back at what had happened in Tree Hill, she wasn't so sure anymore. Her past had destroyed the life she'd built there. And it was beginning to be a frequent occurrence. One she knew, somewhere inside herself, would only continue.

Whipping out her cell phone, she saw she had 5 new messages. All from Jack. She deleted every one of them and threw the phone across the room. For the second time in two days, it hit the wall.

This time, it shattered into several pieces, scattering across the floor.

Just like the pieces of her broken life.

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I know, still know naley and you're probably all ready to kill me by now. I promise you, it's coming. Very soon in fact since I'm managing to update so often. I know it must get tough reading all these chapters with no interaction between them whatsoever, but I swear it will get so much better. I just have to set a few things straight first. Look for the next few chapters later on tonight.