A.N Hey guys well since I have no idea where I will be living or staying as of this weekend I thought I better take advantage of all the internet access and give you as many updates as I possibly can. I hope you enjoy the chapters that are to come and the frequency of the updates makes a nice change. Lookingforward to hearing what you all think in some nice long reviews.

heather dawn I hope this one is worth the wait too and I'm so glad that you enjoyed the last one so much. Thanx for the birthday wishes. No luck on the job front yet but I'll keep trying.

Cap'n Keira Sparrow Glad you enjoyed the chapter and hopefully this one will give you a bit more of an insight into Haley and Josh's relationship.

MeSpikeAndAngelinA3sum Well to use your words Nats Ah. Yet again another awesome review. You sure know how to bring a smile to my face. I'm afraid I can't answer the question as to how I do it because to be honest I'm still surprised every time someone actually enjoys what I write. Things were going along rather nicely for Naley weren't they but hey whats the fun in reading or writingabout the perfect relationship. Have to throw in a bit of drama and upheaval every now and then to keep things interesting. I actually listened for once and didn't keep any of you waiting very long for an update. Figured I better update as much as I can this week because who knows when I will get a chance to do so again.

Jenna Everytime without fail I read one of your reviews and I find myself with a huge grin on my face. It's so great when you hear that someone is really enjoying your story that much. Just hope that I manage to continue at the standard you obviously now expect of me. I'm glad that you appreciate the updates but to be honest I do it as much for myself as I do it for you guys. Gives me something to distract myself from all the shit going on. Thankyou so much for your best wishes regarding my job situation. To be honest its been a bit of a nightmare to put it mildly but I guess these things happen. Anyway enough about me I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll look forward to another one of those smile inspiring reviews.

JAELI Wow once again a very enthusiastic review from you. I'm so glad that you are getting so much enjoyment out of my attempt at writing. It was good to have some Naleyness but unfortunately if I just left them happy it would make for a bit of a boring storyline esp since I have plans to keep the story going for at least fifty chapters so I hope you're prepared to stick with it for the long haul. At least you can be happy that the updates should be nice and frequent this week. Can't wait to hear what you think of this chapter.

Britt No need to stress any longer now you can see for yourself what's going to happen and I haven't even made you wait very long for an update this time around. Thanx for the review.

kennedy Ok so I'm going to hazard a wild guess here and say that you liked it. Just kidding. Thankyou so much for the enthusiastic reviews that you always give. They make my day. Hope you enjoy this chapter too.

hilaryhilary Surely you can't be surprised by the fact that Josh made an appearance. He was bound to turn up sooner or later. So you really intend to not let me in on any of your future storylines huh. Oh well I guess that means there's no point in me emailing you as I was planning to do later to share some of what I have planned for this story. I did try to warn you that there were lots of twists and turns to come and believe me you haven't seen anything yet. Wonder what you will think of this chapter?

Enjoy the chapter everyone and I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. If anyone has any questions they want to ask about the storyfeel free to email me or ask in a review.

Chapter Twenty

Haley stood limply in Josh's embrace unsure how she should respond although she wasn't looking at Nathan she could almost swear that she could feel his eyes boring holes into her back as he watched them.

Risking a quick glance over her shoulder she could see Nathan looking at her with an expression of disbelief.

Nathan saw Haley look back at him and the consternation on her face caused his heart to clench in his chest he knew from that one brief look at Haley's face that the man who still stood with his arms around her was the infamous Josh.

Although she looked uncomfortable with him she was making no effort to break away and that gave him the only answer he needed and without another thought he started the engine and roared out of her driveway not wanting to witness the reunion between the two former lovers.

As he drove his mind was filled with images from the last two weeks but the predominant image that kept coming back to him was that of five minutes ago, Haley in the arms of another man.

Oncoming headlights broke him out of his trance as he swerved back to his side of the road and braked sharply bringing the car to a stop.

He needed to get his head together before he attempted to go any further.

Hearing his cell phone ring again he looked down at it and was disappointed to see Lucas' name appear in the caller ID.

Answering it with an abrupt "Yeah," he waited for his brother to speak.

"Nathan are you ok?"

"Yeah I guess."

"What happened before?

You hung up so suddenly."

"Luke man you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Lucas urged.

So Nathan proceeded to tell his brother everything from when they had arrived in Barbados right up to the moment that he had pealed out of Haley's driveway leaving her there with Josh.

"Shit man what have I done.

I've just left her there with him."

"How can you even be sure that it was Josh?" Lucas asked perplexed.

"Trust me man one look at Haley's face and I knew."

"So what are you going to do?" Lucas' voice was filled with concern as he asked the one question that Nathan didn't have an answer to.

"I really don't know man.

I guess I should just go home and try to figure this all out."

"Ok Nate but if you want to talk just call or better yet come around."

"I will Luke.

Thanks."

Hanging up he started the engine and slowly drove home feeling more confused than he could ever remember feeling in the last five years.

He hadn't been this unsure of himself since Haley had left all those years ago and he didn't like revisiting these feelings one bit.

Arriving home he found his mother lying in wait.

As he entered Deb got up from sofa where she had obviously been awaiting their return.

"Nate honey it's so good to see you."

Then in her next breath she uttered the question he had been dreading more than any other.

"Where's Haley?"

Not wanting to get into a heavy discussion with Deb he kept his answer short.

"Uh she decided to stay at her place tonight Mom.

If you don't mind I'm really tired so I think I'll just head up to bed."

He walked out of the room not noticing Deb's forlorn expression.

"I really thought this holiday might be just what the two of them needed." she said with a sigh.

"I guess I was wrong."

Haley meanwhile was doing her best to act natural despite the unnatural situation she found herself in the middle of.

Never in her wildest dreams would she have expected to return from holiday with her lover to find her sort of fiancée waiting for her.

Josh seemed not to have noticed her preoccupation and was rambling on about how much he had missed her since she was away.

Finally he stopped to draw breath and she jumped in with a question of her own.

"So Josh how long will you be staying?"

He looked at her slightly perplexed that the first words she had offered after almost half an hour were simply a question about when he would be leaving.

"Uh I'm just here for a long weekend I'll be heading back in three days."

As yet he hadn't asked any questions about the man that she had been with when she arrived home that night but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there was something going on that he didn't know about and he was fairly certain that it involved the other man.

He didn't want to pressure Haley unnecessarily and so hoped that if there was indeed something going on that he should know about she would tell him voluntarily.

To the best of his knowledge she had never kept secrets from him before and he hoped that this would continue to be the case.

Haley could sense his unease and felt slightly guilty about it.

"I'm sorry that I've been so quiet Josh but I'm just really tired so I think I might just head to bed."

"Oh ok well I'll join you soon."

"Alright," she agreed unable to project any enthusiasm into her tone despite her best efforts.

Walking over to where he sat she pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek and left the room glad to be escaping the suffocating atmosphere of the room.

Going into the bedroom she quickly changed into some pajamas and buried herself under the covers praying that sleep would overtake her but it stubbornly eluded her.

Almost an hour later she heard the door open and Josh entered quietly doing his best not to disturb her sleep.

She kept her eyes closed wondering if like Nathan he would see through her pretence but Josh simply slid into bed beside her and settled down to sleep wrapping an arm around her waist.

Haley however did not find it so easy to go to sleep and found herself lying awake long after Josh had fallen asleep.

She didn't want to close her eyes because every time she did Nathan's confused expression danced across her mind and her own confusion grew.

Only weeks ago she had been so sure of her love for Josh and then the trip to Barbados had happened.

Now she wasn't sure of anything and found herself questioning things that mere weeks ago she had believed to be set in stone.

Her time in Barbados with Nathan while amazing if truth be toldhad not been real.

They had spent their time in a tropical paradise with none of the pressures of the real world and the simple fact was that they had failed to discuss anything of any great importance.

There was no way she could make any firm decision on their future relationship until they had really talked.

The only thing she knew for certain at this precise moment was that she could not spend another minute in this bed or she was going to go crazy.

Throwing the covers off her heated skin she slid out from under Josh's arm and crept out to the kitchen padding on her bare feet to where the phone lay on the kitchen bench.

Picking it up her fingers hovered over the buttons that would dial his number but she couldn't bring herself to push them.

Her fear of what he might say was overwhelming but even more frightening was the thought that he might not speak to her at all.

After the way he had left earlier she had to admit that this was a real possibility.

He hadn't even taken the time to remove any of her luggage from the back of his car so he still had at least half of her clothes.

Gathering her courage she forced herself to dial the numbers and when she heard his voice answer almost immediately she knew he too had been lying awake possibly waiting for this very call.

"Nathan, its Haley.

I hope it's not too late to be calling."

He inhaled deeply before launching into speech.

"Haley don't give me that shit.

Of course it's not too late to be calling."

She sighed with relief at least he was still talking to hereven ifhis tone was gruff.

He continued then and her sense of relief dissipated abruptly.

"As long as you're calling to tell me that Josh is gone.

I am right in thinking that that was Josh at your place when we arrived back aren't I?" he asked even though he was fairly certain that he knew the answer but he couldn't help but hope that maybe that man who had seemed so familiar with Haley was perhaps a brother or cousin who he had never met.

"Yes Nathan that was Josh."

"So is he gone?

Is that why you're calling me Hales?"

"Um not exactly" she admitted quietly.

"Then in that case I really don't think you and I have anything to talk about at the moment.

Call me when he's gone or you actually know what it is you want because correct me if I'm wrong but you have no idea what it is you really want at this moment do you Hales?"

He waited briefly for an answer and when none was forthcoming he hung up leaving Haley staring open mouthed at the phone unsure of what her next course of action should be.

She was fairly certain that if she tried to call him back now he wouldn't answer but she couldn't ignore the feeling that she really wanted and needed to talk to him.

Before she could reach any definite decision on what she should do she was interrupted by Josh's voice calling to her from the bedroom.

"Haley where are you?"

Placing the phone back onto the bench she turned towards the bedroom.

"I'm just getting a drink I'll be there in a minute."

"Ok," he called "hurry back."

Filling a glass with water she headedtowards the bedroomhesitating outside the door momentarilybefore forcingherself to push it open and take her place in bed with Josh.

Once again he put his arm around her and pulled her in close to his body.

"Sweetheart is something bothering you?

You really haven't seemed yourself since I've got here."

"No Josh I'm fine.

I'm just having trouble sleeping." She told him with what she hoped would pass as a reassuring smile.

"Ok as long as you're sure you don't need to talk.

You know I'm always happy to listen."

"Yeah I know Josh I'm fine really."

"Alright then, well maybe we can have a talk in the morning."

"Ok well goodnight."

"Night Haley sleep well."

She could feel his warm breath on her neck as he settled back into sleep and had to restrain the urge to move away from him in the bed.

Across town Nathan lay wide awake certain that sleep would be a long time in coming.

He couldn't stop imagining Haley and Josh wrapped around each other in her bed sleeping probably exhausted from their lovemaking and they were the least disturbing images that were flitting across his mind.

More disturbing were the pictures of what would have occurred to make them so exhausted and he felt physically sick as he imagined the other man touching Haley the way he himself had touched Haley so many times in the last few weeks.

He didn't know what was going to happen between him and Haley but he knew he couldn't leave things as they were.

A faint noise broke into his thoughts and he paused listening again.

There it was a slight rattle, glancing towards his window where it seemed to be coming from he got out of bed.

Walking to the window he pulled back the curtains and peered out into the night.

At first he didn't see anything then just as he was about to turn away he caught a glimpse of something white moving around on the grass out the front of his house.

Turning back he looked more closely sure enough he could see someone apparently hunting on the ground for something.

He opened his window to get a better view and as he watched they found what they were looking for and standing suddenly they turned back to the window launching the missile towards him.

Ducking he watched in disbelief as a small rock clattered to the floor at his feet.

"What the fuck?" he sputtered.

His eyes now adjusted to the darkness outside picked out Haley's vexed face as she realized that the window was now open.

"Haley what the hell are you doing?" he asked in low voice not wanting to wake his mother and have her input into this rather uncomfortable situation.

"I'm sorry Nathan I just had to see you."

"What about Joshy boy?

Does he know you're gone?"

"No of course not, he's asleep."

"Aren't you worried that he might wake up and find you not there?"

He noticed the flash of concern that crossed her face and knew that she hadn't even thought through her actions before leaving to come here.

"Nathan can I come in?

I really need to talk to you."

He sighed debating his options tempted to just tell her to go home but the truth was he wanted some answers and she was the only one that could tell him what he needed to know.

But hewas determined notto give in too easily.

"I already told you Haley I have no interest in hearing anything from you unless it's the news that lover boy is gone."

Haley grimaced atNathan's description of Josh's role in her life but didn't attempt to deny it ashervoice took on a tone of puredesperation betraying her utter confusion with their situation.

The only thing she knew for sure at this moment was that she needed to talk to Nathan.

"Nathan please just let me in.

You don't have to say anything just let me explain things and then I promise that I'll go." She watched his face as he appeared to consider her words.

She had never before felt so unsure about what Nathan may or may not do.

She had always prided herself on knowing him so well and now for the first time she had to admit to herself that she could no longer read him the way she once could.

"Fine Hale's wait there I'll be down in a minute."

She walked to the door and waited nervously for what felt like an eternity.

Tapping her foot on the ground for the first time she allowed the possibility that he may not come down cross her mind.

The Nathan she had known five years ago would never have dreamed of leaving her standing on the doorstep but this new Nathan she really wasn't sure about.

She knew he was angry but the strength of his anger was an unknown entity and left her full of doubts.

A few more minutes passed and her finger hovered uncertainly over the doorbell.

Should I push it?

What if I wake Deb?

As well meaning as she is, she would have to be about the last person I want to see right now.

Finally just as she was considering finding a way to break in to his house the door opened and Nathan stood before her glaring balefully.

She had never in her life felt so unwelcome arriving on someone's doorstep as she did at that moment.

Some of the bravado she had felt before he opened the door disappeared in the face of his obvious unhappiness in seeing her.

"Can I come in?" she asked timidly.

Without a word he stood back holding the door open allowing her to move past him into the house.

She walked in and he followed leaving the door open making it clear he expected their conversation to be short and to the point.

Moving into the kitchen she hovered uncertainly next to the table unsure whether she should sit down.

He gestured to the chair with a curt nod of his head and she sank gratefully into it feeling as if her legs were about to give out from under her.

"You wanted to talk so talk," he said with out preamble.

She hesitated for a moment lost for words.

The urge to talk to him was still there but now that she finally had the chance she had no idea what to say to him that could possibly explain everything that was going on in her head at the moment.

Impatient with her silence he looked down at her from where he stood with his arms crossed,over her in a pose designed to intimidate and for the first time since she arrived that night took in the details of her appearance.

She sat still dressed in her pajamas, her hair disheveled showing that she had in all likelihood been tossing and turning much as he had for most of the night.

For a moment he softened towards her until his mind conjured up its earlier images that could well be responsible for her current state of disarray.

"Well Hales are you going to sit there all night in silence or are you going to tell me whatever it was that lead you to leave your lover's bed in the middle of the night and come to my doorstep."

Listening to his venomous tone Haley finally regained the use of her vocal chords and the words came spilling out.

"Nathan I just had to come here so I could tell you that I had no idea that Josh would be coming here like this.

He wanted to surprise me."

"How romantic," he ground out sarcastically.

"Please don't be like this," she begged.

"Like what Hales?

How exactly do you expect me to act after we spend the last two weeks together and we arrive back to find lover boy ready and waiting for you?

Sorry if my actions don't live up to your expectations but I'm at a bit of aloss to know what the proper etiquette is of how to act when the woman who has spent the last three weeks in my bed suddenly has her ex fiancé turn up and she jumps straight back into bed with him.

To the best of my knowledge Martha Stewart doesn't have any books on that topic.

Maybe that's one she could work on from her cell."

Haley had tried several times to break into his rant but had been patently unsuccessful.

"Nathan please it's not like that." she desperately tried to convince him.

"Oh," he said sounding mildly surprised "so Joshy boy is sleeping on the sofa is he?"

"Well no," Haley admitted but..."

"Save it Hales," Nathan interrupted her "I'm not interested."

"Nathan," she tried once more terrified that if she could not somehow manage to make him listen that this moment could genuinely spell the end for them.

She still didn't know who her future should be with but the idea of losing Nathan was almost unbearable.

Some might say that she was being selfish but Haley could notor would not see it that way.

"Look Nathan like I said I had no idea that he was coming and I'm just really confused now."

"Oh well Poor Haley in that case then we better all join up to your little pity party you've got going on.

I mean because obviously you're the only one being affected by all this."

"Nathan I never said that.

Of course I'm not the only one having to deal with all this but I don't think you understand just how hard this is on me."

Nathan looked at her for a moment as if she had sprouted another head.

"For fuck's sake Hales will you listen to yourself.

You come here because you need to talk and all I've heard out of your mouth so far is me, me, me.

Well I'm sick of you always only thinking of yourself.

You left me all those years ago without a word and you still have never told me why."

Haley was shocked for a moment throughout their time away she had kept expecting him to ask these questions but they had never come.

Now although as always it was never completely out of her mind she found it hard to swap from one set of problems to the other.

"Nathan I can't.

Please just trust me leaving like that was the best possible thing I could do.

I did it for both of us."

"Says you," he said angrily banging his fist down onto the table "but did you ever come to me and try to talk to me about what was bothering you or even take the time to make one little phone call to let me know that you were ok after you left.

I loved you Hales and you just walked away without ever looking back."

Haley's eyes filled with tears as she listened to his words.

"Nathan it wasn't like that I did think about you and there were so many times that I wanted to call you but I just couldn't."

She could tell by just one look at his face that he didn't believe her and she felt her heart contract in her chest.

"Alright Hales so you couldn't bring yourself to call me but we're both here now so go ahead tell me.

Tell me this deep dark secret of yours.

Here's your chance lay it all out on the table for me and lets resolve this once and for all."

Tears were now pouring down her face as she looked at him.

"I can't Nathan you don't know how much I want to but I just can't."

For the briefest of moments before she had spoken he had allowed himself to hope that maybe just maybe she would finally be truthful with him but as soon as she had uttered those two words "I can't" all of his dreams came crashing down once more.

"Fine Hales if that's the way you want it.

You know the way out.

I guess I'll see you around." He told her turning his back on her.

Barely able to see through her tears she staggered towards the door.

As she reached it she turned once more and looked back at him.

"I'm so sorry Nathan," she choked out between sobs.

"Yeah sure you are Hales.

Say hi to Josh for me won't you."

Turning back to face her retreating back he walked to the door behind her pushing it closed without another word.

Deb moved silently back up the stairs not wanting to alert her son to her presence.

As she ascended she wiped away a lone tear.

What is going to happen to my boy now?

Spoilers :- A meeting, a confrontation and an offer.