"You keep distracting me with that beauty, leaving me wanting more. Reminded me of my duty to lock these eyes with yours."

Strolling around for hours was kind of well, dull. He was in New York, but it all seemed so boring. He also was regretting the fact he hadn't paid perfect attention to where he was headed when he left, and he was feeling kind of lost. He passed the infamous Starbucks, and knew where he was again. He started to head back. It was almost five-thirty, he hadn't realized how much time he had just spent people-watching. Chris soon realized he would have to buzz up to the apartment after remembering he didn't have a key. Only problem was he didn't know Julianna's last name, and all the names were listed with the first letter of the tenants first name and the last name. There were 5 tenants with the first letter "J," so he went for "J. Diaz," because it reminded him of Cameron Diaz. What a typical guy.

"Julianna, you there?" he timidly asked, kind of confused by whether or not he had hit the button properly or if he was talking into the speaker.

"Yep, who is it?" He had guessed right. "Nice job, Keller," he thought to himself.

"Hey, it's Chris," he replied.

"Wellll, lets see…should I let you in?" she joked.

"Pleeeease," he pretended to beg.

"What's in it for me?" she asked, playing the game.

"Hmmmm…" he pretended to think about it. "How about a kiss?" he coyly asked.

"Alright," she replied, pressing the button from the apartment, opening the door for Chris. As he climbed the flight of stairs to the second floor, he started to think about how fast his life was moving. Just that morning he had arrived in New York. He'd had an interview with the CEO of Maverick and met a girl, possibly the girl of his dreams, all in one day. Six years in Tree Hill couldn't even compare to his one day in New York.

Julianna stood at the door waiting for Chris to make it up the stairs. She jokingly blocked the door when he tried to walk in. "Where's my kiss?" She pointed to her cheek. Chris instead went for a kiss on the lips, his eyes on the prize, he didn't even notice one big difference about Jules. After the kiss he finally noticed.

"Wow, you changed your hair!" He gently ran his hands through her hair, giving her another kiss.

"You sure you like it brown?" she asked.

"I love it, you eyes look so pretty with that color," he replied.

"It's different…" She grabbed his hand, bringing him inside. "Today has been the fastest day of my life. I can honestly admit I have never kissed a guy, nor asked him to stay with me within the first 12 hours of meeting him." She smiled, looking into his blue eyes. "Everything just feels so…So right."

"And to that I'd have to agree."

Nathan swung around Main Street to pick up Haley from work. She waited, constantly glancing through the window for her Prince Charming to come pick her up. Hopping in the car, she asked Nathan about their plans for that night. It was Friday, and they had only had a half day of classes that day, so she wasn't nearly tired enough to suffer through a night at home doing nothing.

"You wanna go to Tric tonight?" she asked Nathan as they started to head back to the apartment.

"Isn't it just a DJ tonight, though?" He kind of wanted to spend the night in. Well, in bed at least.

"Yeah, but Peyton will definitely be there, it's a Friday night after all. She practically lives there. Plus, Jake is still gone. I really want to make sure she doesn't feel too alone right now."

"Alright." He couldn't argue with a point like that, but he could amend it. "Two conditions Mrs. Scott."

"Oh no, what would they be Mr. Scott?" she asked. Then suddenly shocked about what she said. "Ewwww!" she started laughing, and he joined in. "Mr. Nathan Scott," she corrected the earlier slip. He started laughing even harder.

"Nice one Hales! Anyway, the two condition are, you must adhere to your earlier promise, AND…"

"And what?" she asked, somewhat curious.

"I want you to sing tonight at Tric," he replied.

Haley's face kind of went blank. She'd kind of had enough music drama for the week. Or maybe her life. "I don't know Nathan…"

"Awwww, come on Hales" he whined, giving her the puppy dog eyes once again.

"How about we just worry about condition number 1 first," she said with a half smile as they pulled into the driveway.

"Well, that'll just have to do for now!"

"You almost ready Jules?" he knocked on the bathroom door. He looked at the clock on the wall, it was 7:45 and he didn't know where the place even was. He just knew that one of Jules' good friends was going on at 8.

"Yep, I'm coming out right now." She opened the door, unveiling an hours worth of getting ready. She was wearing a tight white halter and pink flowery skirt which accentuated her 5'6" dancer's body. Her hair was up in a lose bun, hair falling into her face as usual. Her eyes looked natural, with a touch of mascara, and her lips had just clear gloss. She looked a little taller with the wedge shoes she was wearing, they were a summery straw pair. It was like everything she did just made her amazing features look even more beautiful.

For a minute Chris felt outdone. He had just changed into a different t-shirt, although it definitely looked like Julianna liked it. It was tighter than the one he was wearing earlier. She couldn't wait to see him on stage with that guitar wearing that tight shirt. He held her hand as they left the apartment, even though he had no idea where they were going. "You better be leading the way, cause you know my extensive knowledge of New York," he joked as they stepped out into the street.

"Don't worry, It's just a few blocks from here," she replied.

"If I knew marriage was like this, I would have gotten married at 14 if it was legal!" Nathan kissed Haley as they both stared up at the ceiling of the bedroom.

"But then you wouldn't be married to me!" she frowned.

"Hmmm, true." He leaned over tickling her, making her beg for mercy.

"Nathan!" she shouted between laughter. "It's…almost…8." It took her forever to get out that one sentence.

"Awwww, but can't we just stay in?" he begged, finally releasing her from his torturous tickling.

"I really wanna make sure Peyton's okay though Nathan. Jake has been gone for a while now," she begged mocking his style.

"Alright Hales, If it's what you want. But remember the conditions," he replied getting out bed and heading towards the bathroom to hop in the shower.

"Damn you Scotts and your conditions!" she replied, somewhat jokingly, but it was sort of the truth.

Haley heard the water of shower being turned on, and Nathan calling her, "Are you joining me or what?"

The Bitter End was kind of dirty, but it gave him this amazing music vibe. This was his place to shine. It wasn't some fake suburban club like Tric, it was a real, hardcore music opportunity. He was even starting to wonder if his acoustic type rock was hardcore enough for a place like this. His worries were somewhat eased however when John's boyfriend, Andrew took the stage. He was another acoustic guy, and was pretty good. However, he was a lot more, well….flamboyant, than Chris.

"Isn't he great!" Julianna cooed as she held onto Chris' arm, pulling him over to where John was standing. "Andrew sounds amazing John!" she somewhat shouted over the noise of the speakers, as John pointed out the change in the color of her hair.Chris was just hoping Jules would be as proud of him if he got the opportunity to play as she was of Andrew. "Hold on Chris." She left him with John, and the two watched as Andrew finished 2 songs.

"Chris, come here" Julianna called over the crowd, trying to make sure Chris could see and hear her. He turned around and started to weave through the groups of people. Jul grabbed his hand when got close enough and told him she had spoke with manager and gotten him the open mic spot between Andrew and the band playing afterwards. He kissed her on the cheek and led her back to where John was standing. He was already nervous, and was actually scared about going up in front of a real audience. He'd tried to brush it off at Tric, but to be perfectly honest he had never played in front of an audience bigger than a coffeehouse. He was more of a studio guy, messing around with tracks and deciding what sounded best. He'd never actually admitted to Haley that when he pressured her to go on stage, that he himself had never even conquered that fear.

However, his nervousness was somewhat relieved by how well received Andrew was. He was kind of in the same genre, so he felt his chances for that night were better than they'd be with any other type of musician. He caught a glimpse of Julianna's watch and saw it was only 8:15. It was going to be a long 45 minutes.

"Awww, come on, don't make me Nathan!" Haley whined as they walked into Tric. Too late, Nathan had made a mad dash to where Peyton was standing near the DJ.

"Peyton! I have a surprise for you! You know how you've got an empty spot for tonight?" he asked, leading into his surprise.

"Yeahhh," she replied. He had to hurry up before Haley reached the DJ platform.

"Haley will sing tonight!" He just got the words out as Haley stepped up next to him.

"Will not!" Haley retorted. Peyton looked kind of confused, she never really had a hope in her mind that Haley would take any empty slot at Tric, but she thought it was worth a shot. Tric was dead that night, and if she could get Haley to play, maybe word would spread before she went on and the place would get a little busier. She could also use that to her advantage to get Haley to play, she probably would be more willing because there were less people there.

"Awww, come on Haley!" Peyton joined in with Nathan.

"But I came here to spend time with you Peyton!" she explained.

"Well think of it this way, It'd be a pretty good present! Plus, Tric is rather dead tonight, you won't have to perform in a lot of people," she added. She joined in with Nathan's pleading.

Haley had an "I can't believe you're making me do this" look on her face. She really wasn't in the mood, but then again Nathan hadn't even brought up Chris when he mentioned her music today. That was an improvement, and she figured she'd take the opportunity while she still had it. "I guess," she replied.

Peyton started to laugh and jump around like Brooke had taught her to do so well over the years. "Great, you go on at 9 Haley! Thank you so much!"

(ALTERNATING POV)

Andrew finished at exactly 8:59. Chris had basically been looking at Julianna's watch for most of the time before the manager came over to get his name and direct him to the stage. Walking up on stage in front of lights was his moment of truth, he couldn't run away like he had at Tric.

Haley was visibly shaking as she walked towards the piano in the dead center of the stage. Tric seemed to be a lot busier than it had been before, what had Peyton done? She sat down in front of the piano as Peyton hopped up on the stage to introduce her. She tried to get her hands to stop shaking before she actually started.

Chris walked up to the microphone, adjusting it to his height. He must have been at least a few inches taller than Andrew, because the stand was set way too short. At first he was too close to the microphone, but adjusted it as he introduced himself. "I'm Chris Keller, and I'll be playing 'When it Comes'." He knew his intro sounded cheesy, but he wasn't feeling real confident about coming up with anything creative on the fly. He adjusted his guitar strap and took a deep breath.

I study up my hollow
Piece of wood to follow
A day that doesn't come
To the lucky

Haley decided not to introduce the song she was going to sing at all. She didn't want to ruin the moment, and she didn't want to remind Nathan of the past weeks issues. After all, she was going to sing one of Chris' songs he had taught her just several days before. It was pretty and fit kind how she felt, but a lot more sugarcoated. As she played the first few chords, her hands stopped shaking and her voice became clearer. She got lost in the lights, lost in the adrenaline.

And I realize there's tomorrow
But I would rather wallow
In the rain then moods that seem
So pot-lucky

He looked over at Julianna. He was again lost in her beautiful bright blue-hazel eyes. He felt like he was only singing for her. He smiled and started to feel more comfortable. He even changed a few of the lines and started to get into it. He was starting to feel right at home, this was his element.

Well I'm cruising El Paseo
In my off-white coup back '65
Or I'm cruisin down my own street
And my hooptie says to me
You better hang on to your bench seat
I'm gonna take you for a ride

Nathan watched on, but Haley was too lost in song to even notice. She was singing her heart out, something he had never seen her do before. He could never remember a time he was prouder of her either. She was amazing, and she was all his.

And I'll let you know
When it comes, when it comes
I'll let you know
But don't stay up for me
Don't wait up for me
If I'm not home

As the final lines of the song rang out, Chris got lost in the applause. Everyone seemed to actually like the song, but then again why wouldn't they? It was a great song, and he knew it. It was just something about the spotlight that brought out his cocky attitude.

And I'll let you know
I'll let you know
Well I'll let you know

She finished the song perfectly in tune. Afraid of what everyone would think, even though she knew she nailed every note. Everyone in Tric seemed to be applauding, they loved her like always. She was what every girl wanted to be. An amazing voice with the brains behind it, and the married to undeniably the hottest guy in Tree Hill. Of course that title was only definitive after a certain musician had finally left. She could only think of Chris as she smiled at the cheering crowd. Just like the song, he would have to let her know when he made it, right?