Sorry it's been a while since the last update. What can I say, school's a bitch. Anyways, thank you all for all the great reviews! You guys rule! Anyways, here's chapter 8. Hope you enjoy. Remember to review:)

Chapter 8

After waking up about the 4th time that night, Haley finally got up from the floor. She climbed the stairs and went into her room. She pulled the covers over herself and drifted off to sleep.

Next morning she woke up feeling awful. Her head was pounding because of crying so much and her eyes were red and puffy. She looked at her watch and saw that she only had 30 minutes to get ready for work. She had just gotten out of the shower when her cell phone started to ring. She ran to the phone.

"Lucas?" Haley asked hopefully.

"No, it's me. Nathan. How are you feeling?" he asked concerned. Haley sighed.

"Like crap." She finally said.

"Haley, I'm so sorry." He said feeling guilty.

"You have no reason to be sorry." Haley said. She really didn't blame him for anything.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked.

"For instance, you can stop saying you're sorry." Haley said smiling a little.

"Done. Anything else I can do?"

"No, just the homework I gave you." She said.

"Already working on it. You wanna hang out today?"

"Can't. I'm working at Keith's and right after that at Karen's." Haley said and sighed.

"Oh, well I'll guess I'll see you tomorrow at school then." Nathan said disappointed.

"Yeah, I guess." She said. "Actually, there's one thing you can do for me." Haley then said.

"Really? What?" Nathan asked curious.

"Give me a ride to school tomorrow." Haley said.

"Sure." Nathan said. Haley looked at her watch and cursed.

"I gotta go before I'm late." Haley said.

"Ok, I'll call you tonight. Bye, Haley."

"Bye." Haley hung up. She looked at the phone and then dialled Lucas' number. She let it ring for a while but then sighed and hung up. He wasn't answering. She quickly put some clothes on and left for work.

On her way to work, she stopped in front of Lucas' house. She noticed that the truck was on the street so she went to knock on his door. He didn't answer and when she tried the door, it was locked. Lucas never locked his door. Haley sighed knowing that it was because of her that he had locked his door. He didn't want to see her so Haley left.

She and Lucas had made plans to hang out at the garage and work on the car in the morning. Haley doubted she was gonna see him there. And unfortunately she was right. Haley worked on the car for about three hours and left for Karen's café for her shift in there.

All day Haley tried to call Lucas but he never answered. Haley went to his house twice but his door always remained locked. It was almost seven and her shift at the café was almost over. Karen, who had been working since the morning decided that now was her time to speak up. The café was empty so no one could bother them. All day she had noticed that Haley wasn't herself. She hadn't talked to Karen a word and she hadn't smiled a real smile to any of her customers. Not that they noticed, but Karen had. Karen signaled for Haley to come behind the counter where she was. Haley stopped wiping the tables and went to Karen.

"Haley, are you ok?" Karen asked with a worried voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" she asked trying to sound cheerful. But Karen was smarter than that.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Haley thought about lying to her but then she sighed.

"Lucas and I got into a fight last night." Haley said.

"What happened?" she asked. Haley looked at her. She couldn't tell her. She didn't want her to hate her too.

"Nothing." She said and sighed.

"Haley, please tell me." Karen pleaded. She loved the girl and wanted to help her but she couldn't if she didn't know what was wrong.

"I don't want to tell you." Haley finally said. Karen looked at her concerned. "I don't want you to hate me like Lucas does." Haley finally said. She blinked the tears away that were starting to form on the corner of her eyes. Karen looked at the girl in front of her and hugged her.

"I could never hate you. And neither could Lucas." She said. They both sat down on the kitchen counter.

"What happened? I know you were at Nathan's party last night and something must have happened there because when Lucas came home, he went straight to his room without coming to say anything to me. And he locked the door." Karen said.

"Where should I start?" Haley wondered. "Well, did Lucas tell you I was tutoring Nathan?" Karen nodded her head. "Well, I've been hanging out with him so much during the last week in classes, during lunch and at tutoring center that somewhere during all of that we became friends. More than friends actually." She said and looked at Karen expecting to see a disappointed face. Karen just smiled a little at her and asked her to continue.

"Last night Nathan held a party and Lucas and I both went there. I hung out with Nathan and we kissed. We talked about it and we decided to start dating. When Lucas found out he went crazy." Haley said and sighed. "I don't blame him really. He has hated Nathan for so long and now his best friend just started dating him. How selfish am I?" Haley asked and turned to look at Karen.

"You're not selfish, Haley. You're one of the sweetest persons I know and I've always thought of you as my daughter. And those facts won't change no matter who you date." Karen said and put her arm around her.

"I know how it feels to be in love with a Scott. It can be the most amazing thing. And even after everything I had to put up with Dan and all the heartache, I got something no man can ever give me. Lucas. Even though Lucas was the best thing that ever happened to me, I don't want you or anyone else to make the same mistakes as I did. Just be yourself, trust your instincts and keep your eyes open." Karen said and squeezed Haley's shoulder. "Lucas will come around." She said.

"Thanks, Karen." Haley said and hugged the small woman fiercely. "You're the best mom anyone could have." She whispered. Karen hugged the girl back.

"You should go home, Haley. Take a bath, go to bed early." Karen said. "This weekend has been long enough for you."

"Ok." She said and smiled at Karen. Haley hugged Karen one more time, took her purse and left.

Exactly one hour later Haley was getting out of the bath tub. She had been there for about 30 minutes when she decided it was time to get up. She wrapped a towel around herself and turned off the cd-player she had in the bathroom. She went to her room and changed into her pyjamas. She went into the living room and took her cell phone out of the charger. She was about to call the pizza delivery when her cell phone started to ring. Haley looked at the caller i.d.

"Hi, Nate." She answered.

"Hey, gorgeous. Where you at?" he asked.

"Home." Haley said smiling. "What about you?"

"Outside your front door. So get your cute lil' ass here and open the door." Nathan said smirking. Haley flipped the phone shut and went to open the door. She opened the door and indeed there was Nathan.

"Hey!" she said excited. Nathan opened his arms.

"Can't a guy get a hug from his girlfriend?" Nathan asked joking. Haley smiled at him and hugged him.

"Come in." She said and they both got in. Haley then noticed that Nathan was carrying a bag. "Whatcha got there?" Haley said.

"Nice outfit." Nathan said when he noticed that she was wearing a tank top and a pair of pyjama pants that were white with tiny black cars in them.

"Thanks. What's in the bag?" Haley asked again.

"Chinese take away." Nathan said. Haley looked at him with wide eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Uhhuh. Figured you probably haven't eaten anything today." Nathan said.

"You are a god!" Haley said snatching the bag from him. Haley started to go through the bag.

"So I've been told." Nathan said smirking.

"And you got egg rolls!" Haley squealed. She set the small containers on the living room table and got them plates.

"What's on TV?" Nathan said. He grabbed the remote and started to go through the channels until they heard a familiar tune on MTV.

So, if you wanna be a player.

But your wheels ain't fly.

You gotta hit us up,

to get a pimped up ride.

"Pimp my rideeeee." Haley and Nathan both sang.

"I love this show." Haley said while eating some chinese.

"Me too." Nathan said. "I love fast cars."

"Me too!" Haley said. "Hey, speaking of fast cars... Didn't you get into an accident sometime ago?" Haley asked concerned.

"Yeah, it was my "end of school year" –party at the beginning of summer and we were all wasted. Someone got the genius idea to race. We were all pretty drunk and I crashed Peyton's car."

"Drinking and driving? Nathan, that's stupid." Haley said a little bit disappointed.

"Yeah, I know. Haven't raced since." Nathan said. He wasn't exactly lying. He hadn't raced after the accident but he also didn't mention that he was going to race the next Saturday.

"Did you get caught?"

"My dad took care of everything."

"Good." Haley said and took another bite from her food. "You didn't get hurt, did you?" Haley asked concerned.

"No, I got lucky." He said. He looked at Haley who was busy getting food from the containers and watching X make fun of another crappy car. Nathan couldn't help but notice that even though she had no makeup on and hair was still wet from the shower, she looked more beautiful than ever. Haley noticed him staring.

"What's wrong? Do I have something on my mouth?" she said and started wipe her mouth thinking there was some sauce or something on it. Nathan just smirked and pulled Haley on his lap.

"Yeah, you've got something on your mouth." Nathan said smirking. "My mouth." He said and started kissing her. Haley dropped the plate of food on the floor but didn't notice it. She wrapped her hands around his neck and started to draw circles on his neck with her nails. Nathan pulled her as close as possible and kissed her even more passionately.

After Pimp My Ride was over and half of the food was on the floor, they separated.

"So, I think it's your time to give me a tour around the house." Nathan said grinning when he noticed Haley's swollen lips from all the kissing.

"Sure but there's not much to see." Haley said and got up. The second she left Nathan's arms she felt cold and lonely. They quickly cleaned the living room before starting their tour. She showed him the basement, the kitchen, the living room, her parents bedroom, her siblings' bedrooms and finally her own.

"Is this your family?" Nathan asked. He was looking at a framed picture in Haley's room that had her parents and a bunch of kids in it.

"Yeah, that was taken about 6 years ago at Christmas. The last time we were all together. Nowadays it seems that you need a crisis to get this family together." Haley said smiling.

"Are you wearing braces?" Nathan asked smiling.

"Why don't you give me that..." Haley blushed and snatched the photo frame from his hand. "I'm gonna go hide this." She said while leaving the room. Nathan looked around and saw a bunch of other framed pictures on her desk. Most of them had Haley, Lucas and Jake in them. Some were taken recently, others in the elementary school.

There were also few pictures of Haley and what Nathan assumed to be her brothers and sisters. One framed picture had been turned over so you couldn't see the picture. Nathan turned it over and saw that it was a picture of a young Haley and another young girl. They were both hugging each other and smiling at the camera. Right then Haley walked in the room. She looked at Nathan and then the familiar frame in his hands. She took it from him.

"Who's the other girl?" Nathan asked.

"Taylor." Haley said and sighed.

"Your sister Taylor?" Nathan asked.

"Yep."

"She's the..." Nathan said searching for a word.

"Disgrace of our family, yes." Haley said. She put the frame back on the desk front turned down. "We used to be best friends. You know, when we were kids." Haley started. "We were even closer than Lucas and I are. Were. I don't know." Haley said confused.

"What happened?" Nathan asked.

"High school." Haley said. "She started drinking and smoking and skipping classes. She could barely graduate. My theory is that the teachers just wanted to get rid of her." Haley said. They left the room and went back downstairs.

"I should start doing my homework." Haley said.

"Yeah, me too. Haven't even started yet." Nathan said.

"I thought you said you were doing them when we were talking in the morning."

"No, I said I was doing the homework you gave me. I never said anything about doing the ones for actual classes."

"Nathan, tutoring won't help if you don't do the homework for the actual classes." Haley said.

"I'm just making sure I'll get to see you during my seventh period for the rest of the year." He said and winked. Haley put her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly. Nathan wrapped his arms around her.

"Or you could do your homework and eventually we would have seventh period free." Haley said and kissed him. "To do..." she kissed him on the mouth "...whatever..." she kissed him on the neck "...we want." She said and looked at Nathan. She grinned when she saw Nathan looking at her with lust written all over his face. He kissed her fiercely and pushed her against the wall. Haley wrapped her legs around his waist and started to pull his shirt off. Haley thought about continuing their actions in her bedroom but the sound of a ringing phone snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Don't answer it." Nathan mumbled.

"I have to." Haley said and lowered her legs back to the ground. Nathan still wouldn't let her go.

"It's just someone trying to sell something." He said while kissing her neck. Haley thought about not answering the phone for a second. She definitely didn't want to leave Nathan's arms.

"No, it might be Lucas." She finally said. Nathan let her go. She kissed him before answering the phone.

"Hello?" she asked hopefully. "Hey mom." Haley said and sighed in disappointment. Nathan wrapped his arms around her in comfort. Haley smiled at him. "Everything's good... Yeah, I got the money you send... How's Vivian?... Good, good...What! You talked to her! How is she! Where is she?... Unbelievable... Well, tell Vivian I said hi... Love you too, mom... Bye, mom... Wait! When are you coming home? Hello?" Haley hung up and turned to look at Nathan who was looking at her.

"What was that about?" Nathan asked.

"Taylor called my mom." Haley said still not believing it to be true. "She's in New York." Haley said smiling.

"What's she doing there?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know. She only called to say she was in New York and that she was doing great and that she was sorry for all the trouble she's put everyone through. She hung up before mom had time to say anything." Haley said.

"Maybe she's changed." Nathan said and went to get his shirt that was still on the floor.

"Yeah, maybe." Haley mumbled forgetting every thought about Taylor. All her focus was on a shirtless Nathan. Nathan put his shirt on and turned to look at Haley.

"Like what you see?" he asked smirking.

"Uhhuh." She said and kissed him before opening the door. "But you've got homework."

"It can wait." He said and kissed her.

"No, it can't." She said while pushing Nathan outside. She followed him on the porch.

"You sure you don't want me to hang out here? Keep you company." he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've got homework and I'm planning on going to bed early." She said. "But you're still picking me up in the morning, right?" Haley asked.

"Of course. 7.45 ok for you?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, see ya then. Bye Nate." Haley said and kissed him once more before waving him goodbye.

"Bye, Hales. Try to get some sleep, babe." He said and left. Haley closed the door and went to do her homework. She tried to call Lucas on his cell and then on the house phone. Karen answered and said that she hadn't seen Lucas all day. Nathan called Haley one more time to say goodnight and after that, as Karen had instructed, Haley went to bed early.

She slept that night better than the previous one. She did wake up a few times but she always fell asleep right after.

In the morning she woke up to the sound of her alarm. She groaned and forced herself to get up and take a shower. After showering, putting on some clothes and eating, she was finally brushing her teeth when she heard the doorbell. She went to open the door while brushing her teeth. It was Nathan.

"Hey, jusssht a ssshhecond." She said and ran upstairs and finished brushing her teeth. She grabbed her stuff and ran back downstairs. She gave Nathan a big kiss.

"Morning." She said happily.

"Wow, you're in a good mood." Nathan said.

"I'm on a better mood." Haley corrected. "But I'll be on a good mood once I talk to Lucas." Haley said confidently.

"You sure?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, Lucas can never stay mad at me for too long." Haley said trying to convince herself more than Nathan.

"Let's hope so." Nathan said and opened the front door. They chatted the way from Haley's house to the school. Nathan parked his car on the parking lot and they got out of the car.

"So, you're coming to watch the basketball try-outs, right?" Nathan asked.

"Today? I totally forgot." Haley said while walking towards the school.

"Yeah, after seventh. You coming?" he asked nonchalantly. He acted like it didn't matter if she would come or not but in reality, he wanted her to be there.

"Yeah, of course." She said. They were right in front of the front doors of the school. Haley stopped walking.

"Nathan, I really wanna make things right with Lucas." Haley said.

"Yeah, of course." Nathan said.

"So I think we should keep our distance." Haley said. Nathan just stared at her for a second.

"Haley, you're my girlfriend. I'm not gonna hide that." Nathan said.

"I don't wanna hide it either. I just think that it'll be easier to get Lucas to listen to me if we're not all over each other in front of him." Haley said wrapping her arms around his neck. "Just when he's around, we'll keep our tongues in our own mouths." She said and winked. They opened the doors and started to walk towards Haley's locker. Nathan wrapped his arm around Haley. Haley could see people staring at them and whispering. The surprised looks were on former Wests' faces. They were the ones who knew about Nathan's dating history. Or the lack thereof. Nathan didn't date. He screwed.

"Sure. But when we're alone, your tongue is mine." Nathan said.

"Yeah, we'll see." Haley said laughing. "You didn't date much, did you." Haley asked when she saw another group of people whispering and looking at them.

"No, why?" Nathan asked. Haley pointed at the group of people.

"No, I didn't date girls. I did them." Nathan said grinning.

"Oh, is that so?" Haley said.

"But it's all changed now and you know it." Nathan said and kissed her on the forehead.

"Yeah, I do." Haley said smiling. They got to her locker right when they heard the first bell ring.

"Shit, I still gotta get to my locker before first period. See you at Spanish?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, see you then." Haley said. Nathan kissed her before leaving.

"So, you two officially together now?" Haley turned around to see Jake open his locker. Their last names were close alphabetically so their lockers were next to each other.

"Yeah, we are." Haley said looking at Jake trying to see his reaction. He had worried all weekend about Lucas so she hadn't really thought about what Jake would feel about the whole thing.

"Is he good to you?" Jake asked taking an algebra book out.

"Yeah, he is." Haley said smiling.

"You happy with him?"

"Yep." She said still smiling.

"Then I'm happy." Jake said and turned to look at her. Haley grinned widely and hugged him as hard as she could.

"Whoa!" Jake said trying to get away from Haley's death grip.

"Jake, you have no idea how much that means to me." Haley said still hugging him.

"Lucas didn't take it well, huh." Jake said. Haley let go of him and looked at him sadly.

"Saying he hates me would be an understatement." Haley said and they started to walk towards algebra class that they both had.

"He doesn't hate you." Jake said.

"Have you talked to him?" Haley asked him.

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"He doesn't hate you, Haley. Nobody can." Jake said.

"Thanks, Jake." Haley said. They walked into the classroom and sat down on their seats right when the bell rang. "Thanks again for being supportive of me and Nathan."

"Sure, of course. I trust you. If you say he's changed, then I believe he is." Jake said. Then before she had time to say anything, he added. "But if he hurts you in any way just say the word and I'll hurt him." Jake whispered to Haley once the teacher started speaking. Haley just smiled happily.

So, what do you think? I know it wasn't long and nothing really happened but please review anyways. Means the world to me!
-Fes-