Hey! So, I know I haven't really been giving as many updates lately, but hey, still doing pretty good, right? lol.

You know, I was thinking to myself that I'd probably get more reviews if I waited a little longer to post between chapters and actually gave people a chance... but then, I realized I'm fine with what I get and I'm probably making everyone happier this way. :)

This chapter is for daddyzangel108who always reviews and left me a review begging me to update. Well, maybe this'll keep you alive, right? lol.

Hope you guys like. And, as promised, there's more naley.

Chapter 10:

At around 10:00 that same morning, Tim and Michelle emerged almost simultaneously from their rooms. Michelle offered a friendly smile, but her eyes immediately returned to the slip of paper in her hands. Tim held an almost identical slip of paper in his own hands. They looked at each other in confusion and began comparing their notes. Tim's read:

Tim, I'm sorry to leave you to wake up alone, but Nathan and I went for breakfast. We needed to have a talk. I''ll be back later. Love, Haley.

Michelle's read:

Michelle, please don't be mad. Me and Haley have a few things to work out, so we've gone to get breakfast and talk. Love, Nathan

Truthfully, both knew what might happen if they let the ones they loved spend time together and talk things out. They knew they could potentially lose them, in fact, they knew it was a definite possibility. And they didn't want that to happen.

Michelle couldn't help being a little angry. She had agreed to come here because she thought it would be fun to finally meet one of Nathan's best friends from Tree Hill. She'd also come because Nathan had begged her too and she could never resist him. Now, his ex girlfriend, the girl he still loved, was here too and he takes off with her. Michelle didn't like the idea of spending time here with people neither she nor Tim knew (Haley's friends) while her boyfriend and his used to be lover went and explored the city, but what could she do?

On the contrary, Tim was hurt. Perhaps he had a better understanding of what was happening; he'd known them for so long, it wasn't hard at all to grasp the situation at hand. They were still in love. That had been obvious from the moment Nathan walked through the door. And now, they were searching for a way to get a second chance. Even if unconsciously, they were already looking for excuses to be together again. And all he and Michelle could do was sit back and watch the people they loved the most find their way back to each other.

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Haley and Nathan were sitting in a corner booth at the Starbucks a few miles away, both looking anywhere but at each other. Since waking up that morning, they'd said little to each other, the only time they'd spoken was when making arrangements to have breakfast together.

Haley sighed. This was ridiculous. They had to talk sometime, that was the whole point of this little excursion. "So……. last night……"

He cut her off. "Haley, what we did last night was wrong."

She rubbed a hand over her face in a tired and irritated manner. "You think I don't know that? I mean, what were we thinking?"

He shook his head and looked away. "We both know what we were thinking Haley. Or what we weren't thinking. I mean, you have Tim and I have Michelle. What would they say if they found out about this?"

She groaned. "I don't know and I really don't want to think about that right now."

He raised his voice slightly. "But we have to think about it Haley. You've got a new boyfriend and I have a new girlfriend and we can't just be so careless with their feelings."

She looked pleadingly at him. "They never have to find out though."

He sighed. "I guess."

She breathed out in relief. "Nathan, you know we still have a lot we need to talk about, right?"

His blue eyes peered into her brown ones, piercing her soul. "Yeah, I just don't think I want to right now."

She sighed, something they'd both been doing too often. "Me either."

He stood from the table and offered his hand. "So let's not. We can save it for later."

She looked up at him and wanted so badly to just get lost in him, in what they used to have. To lose herself beyond reality, in the dream she still held onto that they could be together. "OK," she whispered, taking his hand.

He threw some money down on the table and they walked out into the cold, still holding hands.

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Back at the house, Tim, Michelle, Andrea, Rebecca, Alex, Sam, and Steve all sat awkwardly spread out around the den. It was quiet all through out the house. None of these seven people knew what to say to each other.

"So……" began Andrea. "where did Haley go again?"

"Out to breakfast," Tim answered shortly, not bothering to elaborate; not really wanting to.

"Yeah, but with who?" she prompted.

When Tim didn't answer, Michelle knew the question made him uncomfortable, so she decided to save him the embarrassment of answering it. "With Nathan," she spoke up.

Rebecca's head snapped up. "That wouldn't be Nathan Scott, would it?"

Tim regained his voice. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

Alex scoffed. "Dude, he's like all she ever talked about when we asked her about Tree Hill. She was still so in love with him, it was scary."

Tim swallowed. "Really?"

"Yeah," Andrea said, "The longest relationship she had with a guy was like a week. She always said it just didn't feel right."

Michelle looked on as Tim became more and more uncomfortable. She wished she could tell him to stop, he was only hurting himself, but she could tell he needed to hear this; he needed to hear it from someone who'd known her those past four years to really believe it. So, she didn't stop him when he asked. "Did she, you know……. did she sleep with any of you guys?"

Sam piped up, "Yeah, she slept with one of us. My man Steve right here."

Tim turned to Steve. "Really, how many times?"

Steve had a smooth, relaxed voice that for some reason infuriated Tim. "Just once. She came to me one night and said she'd met someone just like Nathan in some club. She said Andrea and Rebecca had gone out and she needed someone to talk to. It took her the longest time to stop crying, so I just held her. I mean, that's what I'd want someone to do for me if I was a chick. Then, she just kissed me and the rest…… well, you know what happened."

Tim's head dropped back against his seat. "Yeah, I think I can guess."

Andrea looked at Tim and pitied the guy. She could tell he was in love with Haley, those kinds of things were obvious to her. Most dismissed her as a shallow blonde, but she was actually quite perceptive. "Um, well, we're gonna go out. Tell Haley to call me when she gets back."

"Yeah, sure," Tim mumbled.

The others slowly retreated from the room and Tim barely heard the front door open and close and the sound of several car engines roaring to life and speeding away.

He and Michelle just sat together in silence for a long time, both lost in thought; both lonely. It made them angry and sad to know that they couldn't stop the two most important people in their lives from leaving them. It was inevitable and had been for quite some time. They'd just been too blind to see it. And now, they were too far gone to stop it.

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Haley and Nathan had been walking for ten minutes now and neither knew what their destination was. They only knew they didn't want to leave each other's company just yet. And they certainly didn't want to face the wrath of Tim and Michelle yet.

But Nathan couldn't bear the silence anymore. "Haley?"

She looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Do you still love me?" his voice shook with the weight of the question.

She stopped walking and he stopped with her. They turned to each other. "Of course I do," she whispered. "I never stopped. Nathan, all I've ever wanted was to be with you again."

He looked down at her and wanted so badly to believe her. He just didn't want to get hurt again.

She could feel the tears forming and she wasn't quite sure what they were for. Maybe they were for all the promises they'd made that had been broken. Maybe they were for the chances they never got. Maybe they were for all the deception that seemed to follow her. She let out a strangled sob before asking her next question. "Do you still love me?"

He hesitantly took her in his arms. "You know, sometimes I wish I didn't. I wish I could just forget you were ever in my life. Because it hurts too much to think about what you did to me that day you left. But I do, and I think I always will. I don't want to, but it's always there. My love for you, it never leaves."

Her tears soaked his shirt as she buried her face in his chest. He held her tighter, knowing she had no right to be upset about this, but understanding why she was. He knew she'd loved him just as much as he'd loved her. And he knew how hard it must've been for her to leave. But she made that choice and he should be the one crying about how unfair it was, not the other way around. Nevertheless, he wanted to take all her pain away. "Come on," he whispered, taking her hand and leading her in the direction of Starbucks, where they'd left her car.

She sniffled and walked close beside him. "We're not going back, are we?"

"Not yet," he answered.

A few minutes later, they reached her car. He opened the back door for her and she climbed in. He followed close behind, sliding in and closing the door behind him. He took her back in his arms and set his lips on hers. He could taste the salty tears on her mouth and moved his lips to kiss them from her cheeks. She brought his mouth back to hers, knowing it couldn't possibly last, but wanting to think it could.

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Tim and Michelle both sat on the couch, watching TV. It was past lunch time and they were beginning to worry about Nathan and Haley. Michelle took the remote and muted the screen. "This is crazy!" she exclaimed. "They're out, no doubt reconciling and we're sitting here moping around and worrying that something's happened to them. We should be angry."

"But we're not," he retorted quietly. "Because we love them and somehow, we've come to realize they can never love us back."

She slumped into the couch. "Yeah……" her voice trailed off.

Tim turned to her. "You know, I'm glad he brought you."

She sat cross legged and turned to him. "Really?"

He smiled sadly. "Yeah, no one else understands. I mean, you and me, we have a lot in common."

She laughed. "Believe it or not."

He gave his trademark dopey grin. "Well, I mean, think about it. You're in love with Nathan, I'm in love with Haley. They're in love with each other. We're like the people they can fall back on when things don't work out with each other."

She sighed. "Yeah, and we want to be mad and stop letting them do this to us, but we just love them too damn much."

He looked away. "And we both know what'll happen when they come home."

She continued his thought. "We'll smile and pretend nothing's wrong. You'll kiss her, I'll hug him. And we'll just keep acting oblivious."

"It's sad really." He cracked a smile.

She laughed, really laughed, for the first time in weeks.

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Haley and Nathan had been making out in the back seat of her car for about 20 minutes and things were starting to get heated. "We should really stop," Haley said breathlessly, trailing kisses up his jaw line.

He sucked on her neck. "Yeah."

Their lips met again as they fell back across the seat together, Nathan on top. Haley lifted her chin and Nathan began kissing her neck. "Nathan, come on, we can't do this here."

He looked down at her for moment before sighing and carefully moving off of her. She sat up next to him and kissed his cheek. He pouted. "This sucks."

"I know, but we really have to get back."

He hugged her to him. "Do we have to?" he mumbled into her hair, breathing in her scent.

"Sorry, baby, but we can't have Tim and Michelle getting any more suspicious than they already are."

He groaned and lay his head back on the seat. "You just had to bring them up, didn't you?"

She brought his head around so he was facing her and smiled. "Yep."

He couldn't help but smile back, kissing her gently. She pulled away slightly. "Five more minutes."

They were soon back in the same compromising situation as before as the outside world faded away, leaving only them two.

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While Nathan and Haley were busy mauling each other in the car a few miles away, Tim and Michelle had been talking and had discovered they actually had more in common than they thought they did.

Tim had been telling Michelle more about life in Tree Hill. "So, tell me more about this Brooke girl. She sounds like someone I'd get along with."

Tim scoffed. "Oh, trust me, you wouldn't want to hang out with her."

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "But supposedly, you were friends with her?"

Tim faltered. "Well…… uh yeah, I guess you could say she was lovable in her own bitchy, sarcastic way."

Michelle laughed. "Wow, she must've done a number on you."

Tim pouted. "She was so mean to me when we were younger. Even when we were like four. She was the scariest, sassiest little four year old you'll ever meet." Both shared a laugh at this and Tim continued. "She knew how to hold her own, but once you got past that, she really did have an amazing heart. And she was a really great friend."

"Sounds like someone else I know," Michelle said, thinking of Nathan. Her expression darkened.

Tim, somehow knowing who she was thinking about, wasn't sure what to say. Though he barely knew her, she'd helped take his mind off Haley for a little while, and he'd never before met someone who could do that, so he thought he should do something. Leaning forward, he gave her an awkward hug. Surprised, she returned it.

When they pulled away, Tim smiled down at her. "Don''t worry about it. Nathan would have to be crazy to screw things up with a girl like you."

Michelle smiled back at him. Before they realized what they were doing, they were leaning forward, toward each other. Their lips were mere inches apart when they heard the front door open. "Timmy, Michelle, we're home," Haley''s voice rang out.

They sprang apart and stood as Haley and Nathan entered the room. Tim tried to smile and stepped forward, bringing Haley to him and kissing her sweetly. Nathan took Michelle in his arms and she hugged him tightly, looking over his shoulder at Tim and Haley. What were they all doing?

Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

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So, what did you think? Please r&r. And I might just update more tonight...

If not, you'll definitely get a bunch of chapters tomorrow. I don't think I have anything planned, so we might just have to make it a day for writing...