A.N Alright everyone just want to make sure you've all had a chance to read Chapter 13 before you read this one. The author's note that was there has been replaced with another chapter and its one that you really need to read to understand what's to come in this chapter and the ones following it. I want to say a special thankyou to Amanda and Nats for their help with this chapter it was really appreciated. Well for the first time since I began this story I am actually going to give you two updates in one day. Take advantage of it because lets face it. It's not a common occurrence for me. Hope you like it. Even if you don't let me know so I know what I'm doing wrong.

Chapter Fourteen

OK for those of you who don't read the author's notes this is your last chance to go back and read chapter 13 before moving onto this one. I can assure you that its an integral chapter to this story and as an added incentive you will be missing out on some major Naley action if you don't read it. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Half an hour later she sat staring blankly at the pile of marking in front of her that she hadn't finished the night before, but try as she might she could not focus on anything other than what had happened in that supply closet with Nathan.

As much as she hated to admit it she had told the truth in that supply closet with him.

She did still want him more than she could imagine ever wanting anyone else but that just wasn't enough anymore and the simple fact is that she has a fiancé who she loves.

She knew she was just going to have to work harder at controlling her feelings around him and with any luck by the time tonight came around she would be back in her own house safe in her own bed.

As if on cue she heard her cell phone start to ring and reached into her bag to grab it.

"Hello."

"Hi is that Haley James?"

"Yes this is Haley."

"Haley my name is Jimmy I'm an electrician.

Your boyfriend called me early this morning to ask me to take a look at your house."

"He's not my …." Haley started to interrupt but Jimmy continued to speak.

"He said you had a blackout last night."

"That's right," Haley concurred well at least it seems that Nathan has done something helpful for a change.

"Well I've just finished taking a look and I'm afraid you've got a problem."

Haley felt her stomach plummet at his words.

Please don't let him say that I'm going to have to spend another night away from my house.

"From what I've seen it looks as if you're going to need the whole house rewired."

"What?" Haley spluttered "but that's impossible it's a brand new house."

"Yes well apparently the contractor who did the wiring in the first place took a few shortcuts and now the whole lot is going to have to be replaced."

"Are you absolutely certain?" Haley asked desperately.

"Afraid so," Jimmy answered.

"Well it doesn't sound like I've got much choice then does it.

I guess I can stay away for another night."

I got through last night surely I can survive one more.

"Miss you don't seem to understand this is not going to be fixed by tomorrow.

This is going to take at least a couple of weeks to fix."

Haley abruptly fell back into the chair that she had been pacing in front of.

"Two weeks," she choked.

"There's no way I'll be able to last for two weeks."

Realising that she had spoken out loud she rushed on.

"Ok well thanks for all your help Jimmy.

Keep me updated on how the work is going."

"No problems Haley, I'll speak to you in a couple of weeks."

Pushing the off button on her phone Haley had to fight the rising panic she could feel coursing through her body.

Two weeks of staying with Nathan, of sleeping in the same bed, of being with him almost constantly.

How the hell am I going to get through this?

The sound of the bell to end first period sounded and she pushed aside her thoughts as she gathered up her books for her next class.

Within minutes of her leaving Nathan entered the teachers lounge where he would spend the next period while he didn't have a class.

Looking around to ascertain that she was definitely already gone he pulled out his cell phone punching in some numbers that he had written of a piece of paper.

Hearing a response at the other end he launched into speech without bothering with any small talk.

"Hey Jimmy, its Nathan Scott.

Just ringing to see if you did it yet?"

"Yeah no problem Coach I just spoke to her I've told her its going to take me at least a couple of weeks to fix it."

"Perfect," Nathan told him.

"I'll drop by that cheque for you later on."

"Sure thing coach.

If there's anything else you need me to do just let me know."

"Will do Jimmy.

Thanks a lot." Nathan said before hanging up.

Things are going perfectly and tonight I'm finally going to have Haley again.

Yes he definitely had a lot to be happy with at the moment.

Haley on the other hand could not have been less happy with the way things were going at the moment.

She knew from her brief chat with Deb the night before that the remodelling of her house was going to be continuing for the next month or so.

Which meant that she was going to have to stay with Nathan for the entire time it took to have her wiring fixed and what was worse was now she was going to have to deal with the fact that Nathan knew how much she still wanted him and she could pretty much guarantee that he was going to hound her continuously for the next couple of weeks.

Looking up she saw that most of her class of juniors had finished the pop quiz she had set them and were now sitting staring at her inquisitively probably wondering what exactly had gone on in that supply closet this morning.

After another five minutes went by she heard the bell ring and asked the students to bring their papers up to her desk on their way out of the room.

After they departed she took her time wanting to take up as much time as possible before she left the room wanting to decrease her chances of running into Nathan again unless she had to.

Hearing a knock at the door she cringed.

I should have known he would find me.

When she looked to the door though she was surprised to find Kelly from her freshman class standing nervously at the door.

"Kelly," she exclaimed in surprise "is there something I can do for you?

We don't have class today you know."

"Uh yeah I know," Kelly responded "but I was actually kind of hoping we could talk."

"Sure," Haley replied frantically searching her mind for some idea of what the nervous young girl could possibly need to speak to her about.

Gesturing to her to pull up a chair she settled herself back into her own chair.

"So what can I do for you Kelly?"

"You're probably going to think this is stupid." Kelly's first words came out in a breathless rush "but I've heard the rumours about you and Coach Scott and my Aunt Theresa went to school with you guys so I know a bit about what you were like back when you were my age."

Haley found herself having to listen closely in order to understand any of the torrent of words that were flowing so freely from Kelly's mouth.

"Ok" she said uncertainly wondering what sort of rumour she was going to have to correct this time.

"Well the thing is," Kelly, continued, "I was just wondering how did you get Coach Scott to fall for you?"

"You want to get Nathan to fall for you," Haley asked his real name slipping out in shock.

"I mean Coach Scott," she amended quickly.

Kelly was looking at her as if she had lost her mind.

"No of course not," she said and Haley couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that escaped her lips.

Then it occurred to her exactly where this conversation was leading.

"You want to know how to get Jason to fall for you don't you?" she asked knowingly.

Kelly blushed a deep red.

"How did you know that?" she asked "I mean is it that obvious?"

"Probably not to anyone else," Haley admitted quietly.

"Kelly perhaps first you should tell me why you think I can help you with this.

To be honest I'm not exactly known for my relationship expertise."

Kelly looked down for a moment staring at her hands contemplating the answer she would give.

"Its just that from what I've been told you were a lot like me when you were younger and Jason and Coach Scott are both kind of similar too."

Haley was stunned.

Sure I've noticed certain similarities but I thought that was just me being melodramatic but if Kelly sees them too then maybe I was right.

"Ok," Haley answered again, "so what exactly is it that you think I can do for you?"

"Tell me what I'm doing wrong," Kelly answered self reproachfully.

"I don't know whether you've noticed," Kelly began "but he doesn't even seem to know that I exist.

I just want to know what I can do to get him to notice me."

Haley paused she still didn't really understand why Kelly had decided to confide in her about her feelings for Jason and was completely unsure what advice she could possibly offer.

Kelly noticed her hesitation and hurried on.

"Look I know this is probably really inappropriate of me to come here and ask you about this stuff but I've seen the way Coach Scott looks at you and I guess I just want to know how you originally got his attention."

She continued on obviously on a roll and not wanting to give up the momentum that she was gaining with each word.

"I mean I know he may not ever love me the way Coach Scott obviously loves you but I have to at least try.

Right?" she finished off uncertainly as Haley remained where she was enveloped in a stunned silence.

"Look Kelly I really don't know how much help I can actually be I mean you've obviously got the wrong idea about Coach Scott and I.

Yes we used to date and we are seeing each other again" Haley almost choked on the bitter lie she was being forced to tell "but Nathan is not in love with me."

She was so caught up in denying the young girls words that she wasn't even aware of the fact that she had referred to him much more personally than would be considered professional in front of a student.

"Oh," Kelly said clearly deflated from Haley's lack of response.

"Kelly to be perfectly honest with you if Jason is like Nathan then I would say that you can do better."

Haley looked at the young girl sitting across from her and immediately wished she could take back what she had said.

She could see the tears welling up in her eyes and was filled with remorse at how obviously upset Kelly was with her words.

"Kelly I'm sorry," she began but Kelly cut her off before she could say anymore.

"No I'm sorry I shouldn't have come here.

Thank you though for trying to spare my feelings.

I mean you obviously think that Jason would never be interested in a girl like me that's why you're trying to discourage me isn't it?"

Haley opened her mouth to answer but the words would not come.

She desperately wanted to tell Kelly that nothing could be further from the truth but she could not summon the words because if she did then she would have to admit that what she had just said about Nathan was also a lie.

She would be forced to admit to this fifteen year old girl that she still had feelings for Nathan and that there was still something between them after all this time and how could she possibly do that when she couldn't even admit it to herself.

Kelly looked so distraught and more than anything Haley wished that she could offer her some comfort but she knew that anything she said now would be false and Kelly was far too smart to not see through it.

She watched helplessly as Kelly gathered up her things and left the room despondently her head hanging down trying not to show the tears that were still present on her face.

After she left Haley laid her head down on her desk and managed just barely to hold back the tears that were forming in her own eyes.

Lately things had been so out of control in her life.

She had come close to destroying her relationship with Josh, she couldn't seem to work out what her feelings for Nathan were and now the wreckage that was her life was starting to seep over into other innocent people's lives and insidiously work to destroy them also.

Nathan was walking down the hallway on the way to the teachers lounge when he passed by the open classroom door.

As he ventured past he glanced in and was surprised to see Haley at the desk her head buried in her hands and although he knew most people would not notice anything amiss he could tell just from that brief glance that she was upset about something.

Silently he stood and debated his options he hated seeing Haley like this and if he had come across this scene five years ago he would not have hesitated to go in and comfort her but things were different now.

Remembering the last instance that he had seen her upset he hardened his heart against the overwhelming instinct to go and offer whatever comfort he could.

She was probably just upset about being away from Josh again and there was no way he was going to reassure her about that.

Taking one last look at her he walked away without Haley ever having been aware that he was there.

Haley looked up she had had the strangest sensation that someone was watching her but when she looked around there was no one there.

She swiped a hand across her face chasing away the few tears that had managed to escape her eyes and gathered her books pasting a brave smile on her face and headed off to class.

Surprisingly the rest of the day passed by very quickly and she was relieved when it ended and she could go home.

The only problem was of course that she couldn't go home the only place she would be going was Nathan's house.

She was dreading the ride home like she had dreaded few other things in her life.

She was sure Nathan was going to torment her about what had happened between them that morning and she could hardly forget the promise he had made to her about what would happen that night.

What's wrong with me?

Why would I admit to him that I still want him?

She had no answers to these questions though or at least none that she wanted to consciously admit to.

As she entered the teacher's lounge she saw him waiting for her his blue eyes watching her approach intently.

When she arrived in front of him he placed a hand on her back ushering her to where her belongings were.

"Come on," he said gruffly "I'll drop you home then I've got some things I need to take care of."

Haley did as he asked and followed him towards the car neither one of them speaking as they walked.

The drive home was also completed in silence and Haley for once found herself wishing that he would speak to her because all this silence was unsettling.

She wanted to try to make small talk anything to lighten the atmosphere inside the car but she could see by looking at his face that any attempts by her to start conversation would be unwelcome.

Ten minutes later they pulled into the drive but Nathan remained in the car not even bothering to turn the engine off.

"I'll see you later." He said as she exited driving off before she had a chance to reply.

For the next forty-five minutes he drove around aimlessly trying to figure out what was bothering him so much.

Eventually it dawned on him that recently he had been almost kidding himself into pretending that Josh didn't exist then when he had seen Haley so upset today it had appeared to be blatantly obvious that not only was there a Josh but she was still thinking about him.

He had to try to put this out of his mind, his plan was finally starting to go the way he had hoped and there was no way he could stop now.

As much as he hated seeing her like that it would be worth it in the end because she would finally understand how it had felt for him to have his world torn apart by her.

His resolve back in place he turned his car towards home.

Tonight is going to be a very interesting night.

After Nathan had drove away leaving her standing alone in the drive Haley had briefly debated the idea of turning and walking away too.

Her emotions were too raw at the moment to be able to deal with any heart to heart conversation with Deb and she had a feeling that that was exactly what the older woman had planned.

Deciding that she truly was not up to it at the moment she turned resolutely from the house and headed for the sandy beach removing her shoes as she went.

Sitting herself down on the sand she reflected on everything that had occurred that day.

But despite the rather dramatic circumstances that had occurred between her and Nathan before school that day the one thing her mind kept being drawn back to washer conversation with Kelly.

She could not get the devastated look the young girl had worn out of her head and was filled with guilt that it was her words that had caused it.

She honestly hadn't wanted to upset her like that but the whole situation between Kelly and Jason was hitting a little too close to home at the moment and in her desperation to convince herself that she had no feelings for Nathan she had quite possibly just destroyed any chance that Kelly and Jason might have of having a relationship.

Deciding that she had spent enough time dwelling on her day Haley picked up her shoes and bag from the sand and turned back towards the house.

As she approached it she heard her cell phone start to ring and pulled it out.

Looking at the caller ID she grimaced and then put her phone back into her bag without answering it.

"Who was that?" Nathan's voice questioned her as he joined her on the steps leading up to the deck.

"That's none of your business." Haley exclaimed turning to look at him.

"I see," Nathan said cyrptically "so it was Josh."

Haley's eyes widened as she realised just how easily he could still read her.

Normally she would have tried to deny his assumption but she could tell that it would be pointless.

"Well this is getting interesting," he continued as he realised she wasn't going to say anything.

"Now you've stopped answering his calls.

Does that mean that there's trouble in paradise?"

"It doesn't mean anything." she retorted turning away so he would not be able to read the truth in her eyes.

Because the truth was that she was confused as hell.

She had come to Tree Hill absolutely convinced that she had found the one that she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with and then Nathan had re-entered her life and now she didn't know what she wanted.

Nathan was no longer the boy he had once been.

The tenderness that had always been such a big part of their relationship had disappeared and in its place was this raw physical passion that she could not seem to resist and yet was that all he had to offer.

Because if it was no matter how much he turned her on she could not throw away someone who genuinely loved her to be with someone just because they could arouse her physically.

She needed more than that.

Nathan stood watching her he could see that she was doing some heavy thinking and was pretty certain that that did not bode well for him.

He reached his arm out wrapping it around her waist.

"Come on lets go inside."

Haley allowed herself to be led in and was relieved when Deb did not immediately appear.

Raising a hand to her head Haley rubbed at her throbbing temples.

The headache that had been brewing all afternoon had now hit with a vengeance and it felt like her head was going to explode.

"What's wrong with you Hales?" Nathan asked trying to sound as if her answer did not matter to him when in reality he was waiting anxiously to hear what had caused her pallour.

"Just a headache," she replied "I think I'm going to go and have a lay down."

"Do you want some company?" Nathan asked even though he knew what her answer would be.

As expected she answered negatively and he watched as she turned and walked up the stairs to his room.

Walking into the kitchen he looked in the cupboard for some paracetemol and filled a glass with water for her.

Carrying it upstairs he stopped in the doorway as he saw her lying on top of the covers still fully dressed a hand pressed over her eyes.

"Here," he said gruffly "take these," he held out the two small white pills to her and the glass of water.

As she sat up to take them he sat on the bed behind her his long legs stretched out either side of her body and gently eased her back so that she was leaning against his chest.

His hands came around to the buttons on her top and he started undoing them slowly.

Haley swatted at his hands feebly.

"Nathan, stop it."

He continued as if she hadn't spoken pulling her shirt gently from her shoulders, next his hands went to the top of her skirt sliding it slowly from her hips.

"What are you doing?" she groaned.

"Ssh." he told her.

Moving to a standing position he pulled her up to stand in front of him holding her against his chest as he pulled back the covers of the bed with his other hand.

Scooping her up in his arms he laid her down into the bed pulling the covers up snugly around her.

"Get some sleep Hales, I'll wake you when its time for dinner."

As he walked out for a moment Haley lay in wonder at his behaviour but then sleep took over and she sank into oblivion once more.

Within minutes of closing her eyes she slipped into a dream that there was no escape from.

It started innocently enough with her sitting in a bubble bath.

She could almost feel the warmth of the water as the image in her head felt so real.

There was a feeling of peace deep inside her as she lay there in the warm soapy water.

She relaxed back into the tub with her eyes closed stretching her legs out in front of her.

A pair of rough hands caught her legs as they rested either side of his muscled torso the fingers stroking over the silky smooth skin of her calves.

She opened her eyes lazily smiling at him as she moved closer to him sitting in his lap and wrapping her legs firmly around his waist.

His arms came around her wet slippery body holding her in place as she began to move seductively against him.

Sliding her hand down between their bodies she grasped his length in her hand moving her hand rhythmically up and down and feeling his almost instantaneous response.

His lips latched on to her neck sucking and biting at the sensitive skin uncaring of whether there would be a telltale mark for others to witness.

She gasped in pleasure at the sensations he was able to elicit in her body with such a simple movement.

Tilting her head back to allow his mouth better access to her naked flesh she caught sight of Josh standing watching them a look of disappointment clouding his features.

"Josh," she gasped as she felt Nathan's tip pressing against her entrance.

"What are you doing here?" She moaned as she finished her question feeling Nathan enter her more fully.

Her fingernails bit into his shoulders as she felt her body adjusting to the feel of him inside of her

Nathan looked up as he heard her voice, smiling when he saw Josh there.

"Hey Josh, glad you could make it," he said with a smirk.

"Yes well you told me there was something I needed to see and I guess you were right," he said seemingly unconcerned.

"Goodbye Haley," he said as he turned on his heel and started to leave the room.

Haley began to struggle against Nathan trying to free herself from his grasp but his hands continued to stroke possessively over her body.

"Josh," she yelled "wait, don't leave me.

Josh please come back.

JOSH."

Nathan was on his way to check on her as he heard her voice start calling out from the bedroom.

He quickened his pace wanting to see what it was that had her sounding so anguished.

He couldn't quite make out the words she was yelling but there was no mistaking the sound of panic present in her voice.

He felt that protective instinct rising up inside of him again much as it had earlier when she had appeared so helpless in the clutches of that headache.

Finally reaching the doorway to his room he saw her twisting and turning in his bed tangled up in the sheets obviously in the midst of a disturbing dream.

Suddenly she stopped thrashing and lay dead still opening her mouth she said the one thing guaranteed to override all of Nathan's caring instincts towards his former fiancee.

"JOSH," she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Nathan had been halfway to the bed when he heard her voice and he recoiled as if he had been shot.

He didn't know why he was so surprised by this but he felt as if he had just taken a punch to the solar plexus and the room seemed to spin before his eyes.

Everytime he thought they might be able to forget about this spectre that hung over their heads in the form of Josh something would happen to bring him crashing back down to reality and the reality was that Haley was involved with another man a man she intended to marry.

He backed out of the room forgetting all about his purpose of coming there in the first place all he wanted now was to get away from her and the sound of her voice calling out to her missing fiance.

He went downstairs quickly, forcing himself to appear natural as he walked into the kitchen where Deb was.

"How's Haley sweetie, is she feeling any better?" she asked failing to notice how tense her son was.

"She's fine," he answered mechanically, "still sleeping."

Deb appeared satisfied with his answer as she continued her preparations for dinner.

Meanwhile upstairs Haley woke up feeling slightly disoriented.

Then the images from her dream came rushing back to her and she clapped a hand over her mouth absolutely mortified with what her subconscious had conjured up while she was sleeping.

She'd always known that the subconscious is capable of coming up with some wacky stuff but this was beyond weird.

To dream that she was having sex with Nathan was bad enough but for Josh to enter while it was happening and Nathan say that he had invited him well that just made no sense at all.

Throwing back the covers from the bed she stood dressing quickly, a slight flush covering her cheeks as she remembered how Nathan had undressed her.

For the first time since she had come back she had caught a glimpse of Nathan the way he used to be and it had woken up a part of her that she thought had long ago died.

Here she was doing her best to convince herself that there was nothing other than a physical attraction between them and he completely turned things around without warming.

Maybe she had been too quick to dismiss all the feelings for Nathan that she had been trying to ignore ever since she had first laid eyes on him again.

What if there is still something between us?

Her mind was racing as she left the room and made her way down the stairs to where she could hear the sounds of hushed voices coming from the kitchen.

Smiling sincerely for what she was fairly certain was the first time since Nathan had come up with this ridiculous idea of her staying here with him and his mother she entered the room.

She smiled briefly at Deb her eyes immediately searching out Nathan where he sat his feet resting on the table watching her impassively.

"Sleeping Beauty is awake," he said sarcastically.

"It's about time you decided to grace us with your presence." He said coldly.

Deb looked at him strangely but elected not to comment.

Nathan had been in a strange mood ever since he got home from school and she knew better than to get involved.

Whatever was bothering him it was up to him and Haley to sort it out between themselves.

Haley was slightly taken aback by his coldness towards her.

After what had happened earlier this was the last thing she had expected from him.

Deciding she would talk to him later about it she sat down at the table to eat the delicious dinner Deb had prepared.

It seemed to go on forever and was fraught with the tension that Nathan seemed to be exuding in waves.

By the time it was finally finished Haley was relieved to escape.

"Um I still have a bit of a headache so I think I might go to bed early."

She waited for Nathan's typical response but it was not forthcoming.

Saying goodnight to Deb she went upstairs wondering what it was that had Nathan so upset.

She undressed and put on her nightwear before climbing under the covers, there was definitely something strange going on here but she had no idea what had caused it.

Tossing and turning she watched the clock slowly count down the hours.

After her nap earlier there was no way she felt like sleep now and so she lay awake listening for some sign that Nathan might soon be joining her.

At last she heard his footsteps on the stairs and she snuggled down feigning sleep straining her ears for the sound of the door opening.

Finally he entered and she risked a peek at him from below her lashes.

He had his back to her and was removing all his clothes leaving only his boxer shorts on.

Turning suddenly he caught her watching him but failed to use what should have been the perfect opportunity to once again torment her.

Instead he walked to the bed and climbed in turning his back to her and offering her a curt "Goodnight."

She was at a loss to explain his behaviour she had expected him to come in and demand that they continue what they had started in the supply closet that morning but instead he had barely looked at her.

Deep down she knew she should be relieved but she could not ignore the slight feeling of unease and disappointment at being rebuffed in this manner.

Not that I would have let him go through with it of course she assured herself.

She glanced over to where he lay with his back turned resolutely to her.

It was obvious something had happened to upset him and sooner or later she was going to get to the bottom of it.

Spoilers:- A meeting with Principal Logan leaves Haley upset. A proposition from Deb leads to a very interesting situation.