9

"What the hell is going on you two!" Neither Peyton nor Nathan had ever heard that tone in her voice before. It was hard and caustic, and not Hayley at all.

They just stared at her. They couldn't bring themselves to say anything. Nathan was staring hard at her, and Hayley was staring hard at him. Peyton looked between them and felt her heart break in two, she could feel the tension in the air and she knew it was the because of the unresolved feelings between them. Peyton let out a tiny cry and bolted into Nathan's room. She threw on her pants from the night before, grabbed a sweater and bolted out the door pushing rudely past Hayley before Nathan could stop her.

I knew this would happen! I knew it! I knew it! Peyton raged at herself as she jogged down the street holding her arms close around her for warmth. The tears streamed down her face and she could taste the saltiness as they ran over her lips. She was running now, but to where she didn't know. The tears blinded her as she stepped off the curb and felt a hand grab the hood of her sweater and jerk her to the ground, as she fell she heard the wailing sound of a car horn and vaguely worried for a moment that she'd almost hurt herself.

She cried out in pain when she hit the ground, and her head whipped around to find the source of her pain.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" her hand flashed up to quickly wipe the tears from her eyes. "Answer me Nathan! What the hell did you think you were doing?"

Nathan stared down at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I was saving your life." He held out a hand to help her up, but she looked at it coldly.

"Go back to her Nathan." she said softly. "I seen the look in both your eyes. Just go back to her." Peyton hung her head. Defeated she started to get up, and felt Nathan's hand begin to help her. She pulled her hand out of his and turned her back to him.

"No." she turned around to face him.

"What?"

"No, I don't want to go back to her. She's not there anyways, I told her to leave. That look you saw? That was shock. And a little bit of anger that she just walked into my house without knocking. Peyton... I choose you. I want to be with you I told you that before. You're the one I want." She narrowed her eyes at him, but she could feel her heart melt, she could see the sincerity in his eyes.

"I trust you," was all she said. He held out a hand to her, and she took it, and together they turned around and began to walk back to the apartment, arms around each other.

"I love you" he murmured to her in her ear.

The End