"Are you ready yet?" Peyton and Brooke called into the bathroom. Haley had been in there for almost half an hour and they were getting impatient.

"I don't think I can do this." Haley said simply as she stepped out of the bathroom. Brooke and Peyton gasped. Her hair was curled andhung loose at her shoulders.The dress was on and looked better then when they were in the store.

"Why not? You look totally awesome!" Brooke cried.

"Yeah, Hales, if Nate didn't love you before, he definitely will now." Peyton commented.

"Oh, God." Haley closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"Hey, at least this like won't be the first time you guys have had sex. I mean do you remember when you came home late that one night because some guy took longer then usual?" Brooke asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, so, what's your point?" Haley retorted.

"He meant nothing to you at all!" Peyton filled in. Brooke was bad at making points and she took forever to make them.

"I know, but that was just the same as any night. Go to a party, see the first guy whose worth my time, flirt, and then go upstairs. That night wasn't any different." Haley explained.

"Exactly. Nathan means more to you then just any guy that you met at a party. It's been like what four months since you guys got together. That's almost as long as me and Lucas." Brooke said.

"Ok, I'll only tell him if he tells me first." Haley compromised.

"Fine, just as long as you tell him." Peyton said. They finished getting ready and went down stairs. They had rented out the party room of the Ritz Carlton for the weekend and all the rooms on the tenth floor. The entire hotel was decorated for Christmas. There were lights everywhere and fake snow in the corners, mistletoe hanging from all the doorways and gorgeous people in gorgeous tux's and dresses.The party room had two seperate bars, one on the right and one on the left.In the middle was a glass dancing floor with flashing lights under it.The three girls scanned the room for their respective boyfriends. Not seeing them, they decided to slit up and see who all was there. Peyton found Theresa and Mark Shafer near the stage and went to talk to them. Brooke saw some fellow cheerleaders and Haley went, by herself, to the bar on the right to get a drink. She could use a bracer. Grant Fellows saw her sitting alone and went to make small talk. She was known to be easy. Especially because he was a Senior.

"Hey," Grant said leaning up against the bar.

"Hey, Grant." Haley had had a crush on him since the 5th grade, and he was a Senior! She turned fully toward him and crossed her legs in his direction.

"So, you're a Junior, right?" Grant asked, taking the movement as an invitation.

"Yeah," Haley laughed, "You're a Senior, I know." She looked away trying to see if Nathan had showed up yet.

"I like younger girls," Grant flashed his million dollar smile. That smile used to make her knees go weak, and not most guys could do that. Since Nathan wasn't here yet, she could have fun with this.

"Oh really? Well, older guys have always had their way with me." Haley joked.

"So, want to take this upstairs?" Grant asked. He couldn't believe it. Being a Senior was great. Getting the hot Junior girl was so easy!

"Oh, no. I'm actually waiting for someone." Haley objected.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him, we'll make it fast." Grant winked and tried to take her hand.

"Uh, no that's okay. Really, he should be here any minute." Haley stood up. Grant took her hand and started leading her away.

"Come on,"

"No! Really, I have to go." Haley tried to wrench her arm away but he had a death grip on her.

"Hey! Let her go!" Brooke yelled. She and Peyton had seen the whole thing and there was no way they were letting Grant, even though he was a gorgeous Senior, mess up their best friend's love life.

"Stay out of this." Grant warned, or they could have a hot four-some.

"Why don't you, we have connections." Peyton told him. She slapped him and took hold of Haley.

"Fuck off," Haley yelled.

"God, how did you get the name to be easy?" Grant asked putting a hand to his face.

"I…what?" Haley was astonished. No one had ever called her easy. And she hadn't been since the beginning of the year. By then, Grant was already half way to the bar on the other side of the room.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about. Forget it Hales. Nathan's here, you should go see him." Brooke suggested. Haley nodded, thanked them and walked off.

"Hey Nate," Haley said. She excused the other girl trying to talk to him by putting her hand on his leg.

"You haven't changed at all." Nathan said before he glared at her and walked off.

Fifteen Minutes Before

Nathan, Lucas and Jake walked into the party looking for Haley, Peyton and Brooke. They didn't see them so they went to the bar on the left. Jake and Lucas left to find some one, Nathan wasn't really listening. He was trying to figure out how he was going to tell Haley. He spotted Brooke talking to some cheerleaders, knowing that she was here he knew Haley had to be to.

"Hey Brooke, do you know where Haley is?" he asked.

"Oh, last time I saw her she was brooding at the bar over there." Brooke pointed to the bar on the right and went back to her conversation.

"Haley? Brooding?" Nathan asked. Brooke shrugged but didn't answer. Nathan headed over to the bar but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Haley in a hot black dress talking to some Senior on the football team. He saw Haley laugh at some cocky joke he made. God she looked so beautiful. Why was she talking to this ass? What he saw next almost gave him a heart attack. Him, taking her hand and her standing up to go with him. He couldn't watch anymore. This was insane. How could she do this? He thought she had changed. She wasn't the girl who slept around with any guy, and he wasn't the same guy. He was in love with her! There was no way he was staying here, he had to get out of there. Then, she came up like there was nothing wrong. Thinking she was okay going and sleeping with any guy and then expecting him to act like he hadn't seen anything. What if he hadn't? He would have told her and she would have said she didn't feel the same way! How could believe her? Things would never be the same.

"Hey, where's Nate?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know! He just walked out, I don't know what happened." Haley sobbed. She didn't take break up's well.

"Did anything happen? Anything he might take the wrong way?" Lucas had seen the encounter with Grant also. He new Nathan would take off before he saw Haley put up a fight.

"Yeah, Grant tried to take me up stairs and I didn't think Nathan was here so I talked to him a little and then he was like dragging me up stairs. But Brooke and Peyton stopped him before he got to the elevator." Haley added seeing the look on his face.

"Damn, you have to tell him." Lucas said.

"I can't! He won't listen to me. Will you talk to him for me? Please, Luke." Haley pleaded. Lucas nodded and went to find his brother.

"Nathan?" Lucas yelled into the lobby. It was empty except for the few receptionists who looked at him weird when he yelled through the room. He wasn't there. Lucas ran out side, searching frantically. A big van moved on and there he was, sitting alone on a bench.

"Hey Nate, what you saw in there…" Lucas started.

"No, Luke, it doesn't matter. I know what I saw." Nathan dropped his head into his hands. Lucas thought he saw his shoulders shake. Never, in his entire life, had he ever seen his little half brother cry over a girl.

"Did you see the whole thing?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, I saw Haley, flirting with some guy and then him leading her up stairs and her not protesting at all!" Nathan cried. His voice was strong, maybe he wasn't crying.

"Are you sure? Did you see what happened after that?" Lucas asked again.

"No, I just left. How could she do this to me? I thought we were both changed."

"Nathan, she did protest! After Grant grabbed Haley's hand, she stood up so she could pull away but he just held on to her tighter. And then she started yelling and screaming at him, but since he's huge and much stronger then her he practically pulled her to the stairs. But Brooke and Peyton stopped him before anything could happen." Lucas explained.

"Really? You're not just saying that?" Nathan asked.

"Really, you can go find Peyton and Brooke and ask them." Lucas assured him. Nathan nodded and stood up. Now he felt really bad for letting that happen.

"I should have been there; I should have been able to protect her." Nathan yelled.

"No Nate, none of this was your fault. Just go in there and tell her you love her. Please, stop blaming yourself." Lucas pushed Nathan along into the hotel.

Okay! Another chapter done! I don't know how many are going to be left. I need ideas! There's going to be some major writer's block coming up until I get some ideas! Just tell me what you think and I might use it in the story! Keep reviewing, I wanna get to 100 soon!

Luv,

Emily