A/N: So this is going to be a short story and only five parts. Anyhow, here it is. Leave some words. Enjoy D

"I was hoping you'd come," 17-year-old Nathan Scott said as his gaze swept over the girl standing near the ocean.

"And here I am," she replied, looking at him with those eyes. Those eyes that had haunted him during the day and plagued his dreams at night.

"Where've you been?" he asked, his voice tinged with bitterness. She smirked.

"Oh, you know. Here," she replied, shrugging, "There."

"Well, which is it, here or there?" he asked.

"Everywhere," she said. He rolled his eyes. She always liked to play games with his head. When she didn't want to answer a question, she said the most ridiculous things to confuse him until he forgot the question.

"Give me a straight answer for once, Haley. No more games," he said. Her lips curled into a sarcastic smile.

"We both know that you don't really care where I've been, Nathan. You're just pissed that I left. I could've gone to Pluto and found the cure for cancer and it wouldn't make a difference to you. So what's the point?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm pissed, Haley. I get that way when my wife disappears in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again and then just pops back into my life like nothing happened," he said.

"Your wife?" she repeated and laughed at the phrase.

"Something wrong with your memory? We are still married," he replied.

"Legally. That's about it. I stopped playing the role of your wife the minute you ran around with that slut behind my back," she snapped. Then she gracefully dipped a toe in the water. She turned around and looked at him. "Maybe if you had remembered that you were my husband and the vows that you made, I might've stuck around. But you didn't."

"Oh, so now you're going to turn this around on me?" he asked.

"Why not?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows in question.

"I'm not the one who left," he replied.

"You left our bed," she pointed out. He sighed with frustration.

"Is this really what we've come to?" he asked, looking at her. "Exchanging petty insults because we're too stubborn to admit that we both made mistakes?"

"It would seem so," she said.

"Maybe it's time to put an end to the cycle," he said. Haley stood up straight.

"And how would we accomplish that?" she asked sceptically. Nathan looked away for a minute, summoning up courage he didn't know he had. Almost wished he didn't have. But it was the best thing for both of them, especially her.

"I want a divorce," he said flatly. Her face collapsed as she stared at him in disbelief. Within seconds the vulnerability was gone as the cold demeanour regained control.

Once upon a time, she would've hurled herself at him at the mere mention of the word, but he knew it wasn't going happen. This Haley Scott didn't seem to possess any of those "messy emotions" as she had once cursed herself for having. The messy emotions were love, joy, basically anything that would make someone vulnerable to another person.

Now she just met his gaze and nodded. "I suppose it's high time we ended our misery. I'll have my lawyer draw up the papers and send them to you," she said. She started to walk away.

"Wait a minute!" he called after her. She turned around and glanced at him questioningly. "That's it? After everything we've been through, that's all you have to say?" he demanded.

"What were you expecting, Nathan?" she asked as she glanced around their former wedding spot. "A trip down memory lane? Maybe a re-enactment?" She was referring to a re-enactment of their wedding day.

He sighed, unsure of what he wanted. She just looked at him. "Those days are gone, much like this place," she said, gesturing to where they were standing.

"It was paradise," he reminded her. She nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but paradise is gone now, Nathan," she said. She turned and walked away from him.