A/N: You and Iall know that Taylor was the "slut" that Nathan slept with while he and Haley were still married and in this chapter, another character making their debut into the story in this chapter will accidentally spill the beans and then just sit back and watch the aftershock. Interested? Leave some words. Enjoy

Part 5

One year and six months later…

Haley got out of her car and walked into her old high school on Tuesday afternoon. She walked passed her old locker and smiled as she remembered the times when Nathan would be leaning against it to surprise her in between classes. It was another lifetime and the memories were so vivid that it was as if it happened just a few days ago. But she knew that that wasn't so. She shook her head as she rounded the corner to the Visual Arts teacher's office. She knocked on the door. There were two hushed voices and a lot of things were being moved. She could hear high heels clicking against the floor as someone approached the door a few minutes later.

It opened and the curly blond woman before her smiled at her. "Haley James, what the hell are you doing here?" Peyton exclaimed, taking her outstretched hand and yanking her into a hug.

"It's a long story," Haley replied as she pulled away. Peyton nodded and walked to her desk. Haley looked at the man in the room and smiled at him. She had completely forgotten that someone else was in the room. "Hey, Jake."

"Haley," Jake said quietly. Haley frowned at the odd tone in his voice. He looked at Peyton. "I'll see you this afternoon. Bye." He walked over and pecked Peyton on the cheek. He turned to look at Haley and shook his head in what Haley guessed was disappointment and walked out the door. Peyton turned back to Haley and smiled.

"So, how have you been?" she asked. Haley shook her head.

"No way," Haley said.

"What?" Peyton asked.

"There's no way you're going to change the subject to me. What was that all about?" Haley asked.

"What was what all about?" Peyton asked. Haley glared at her old friend.

"The Mr. Freeze thing. What did I do now to offend Jake?" Haley asked. The annoyance in her voice stuck out like a sore thumb.

"He doesn't like the fact that you're here," Peyton said.

"Where?" Haley asked.

"In Tree Hill," she replied.

"I live here," Haley said.

"Not for the last few months," Peyton pointed out. Haley scoffed.

"I left for my parents' sakes," Haley said.

"I know that," Peyton said.

"Well, your tone would suggest otherwise," Haley countered. Peyton looked away for a second. "Peyton, Taylor and Nathan were going through a divorce. Taylor walked in on us kissing. Can you imagine her reaction?"

"I could imagine but I don't think she has a right to be upset," Peyton replied. Haley looked at her in confusion.

"Nathan was her husband and I was kissing him. How does she not have the right to be upset about that?" Haley asked.

"Well, he was your ex-husband and she had no problem with moving in on him," Peyton said.

"That's different," Haley said.

"No, it's not. In fact, what she did to you was worse," Peyton said.

"Nathan and I had been over for over two years by then. I admit that I wasn't happy that Nathan moved on with my sister but he and I weren't together so I really don't have any right to be upset," Haley said.

"What about when you were together and she slept with him?" Peyton asked without thinking.

Haley paled. "What?" she exclaimed.

"Damn it! Never mind," Peyton said, trying to dodge Haley's gaze. She looked up and Haley was looking at her with a 'like that's going to work' look in her eyes.

"Did you just say that Nathan and Taylor slept together while we were married?" Haley asked her voice full of pain.

"Yes," Peyton replied with a shake of her head. "I'm so sorry, Hales. I found out a while before Luke died." Haley stopped to think for a second and her eyes widened as if she had just realized something.

"I have to go," Haley said.

"Go where?" Peyton asked.

"I need to talk to Nathan. Is he working today?" she asked.

"Yeah. He has a spare right now. He's probably in his office," Peyton replied. Haley nodded and walked out of Peyton's office.

◊◊◊

Nathan was sitting at his desk looking over some assignments from his Health class when all of a sudden the door burst open and he looked up to see Haley staring down at him. Or more like glaring. "Haley, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to see Peyton, but I realized that I needed to talk to you," she replied.

"About what?" he asked.

"This might seem a little late in coming but we never really talked about what happened," she said.

"I'm not following," he said, shaking his head in confusion.

"Why didn't you ever tell me who she was?" Haley asked.

"Who she was?" he repeated slowly, clearly not understanding what she was talking about. Haley looked away for a second.

"The one you ignored your vows for," Haley replied.

"Oh," he said and nodded. "Why is that important now?"

"Was it Taylor?" Haley asked. Her voice was breaking. Nathan hesitated and she let out a breath. "Wow."

"Haley," he started.

"You really did sleep with my sister while we were married?" she asked.

"Look, I know this is a big shock, but that happened a long time ago," he said brokenly. It was almost as if he knew there was nothing he could say.

"You told me she was just some girl you met in a bar," Haley said.

"She was," Nathan said.

"My sister is not just some girl, Nathan. I grew up with Taylor," Haley snapped. Nathan closed his mouth. Haley shook her head. "And to think that I actually felt guilty for kissing you."

"I'm sorry. I never should have slept with her but I was drunk out of my mind that night, Hales. I didn't know who she was until the morning after," Nathan said. Haley glared at him.

"Don't try to excuse it, Nathan. You still cheated on me. The fact that you didn't know it was my sister until afterwards doesn't change that," Haley said.

"I know and I should've told you about Taylor," he said.

"Why didn't you?" Haley demanded.

"I didn't want to ruin your relationship with her because of a mistake that I made," he replied.

"Well, Taylor already did that when she slept with you," Haley spat.

"I was trying to protect you from being hurt like that," he said.

"I don't remember ever asking you to protect me," she said. Nathan sighed.

"You don't have to ask me, Haley. It's a reflex," Nathan said. Haley raised her eyebrows.

"That reflex didn't stop you from sleeping with her. It didn't stop you from hurting me then," Haley said.

"And there's nothing I can say to excuse that or explain why I did it because I honestly don't know," he said.

"That doesn't really matter now. It's all water under the bridge," she said. She picked up her purse and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I have to pick Marie up from my parents' house," Haley replied.

"I thought that they dropped her off so you don't run into Taylor. Wasn't that what you told your parents before you left?" Nathan asked. Haley nodded and laughed.

"Right now protecting Taylor from being hurt isn't exactly one of my priorities," Haley said. She was fuming.

"You're going to subject Marie to that?" he asked. Haley stopped moving for a second as she realized he was right.

"No," Haley said, "I'll have the sitter bring her home while I deal with Taylor."

◊◊◊

"You have a lot of nerve to show your face around here," Taylor hissed as she walked into their family's kitchen.

"I came to pick up my daughter who was visiting her grandparents. And I have just as much right to be here as you do," Haley said as she looked up from the table. She was sitting with her father chatting about what her column. He had it spread out in front of him.

"Well, I live here now. No thanks to you," Taylor said. Haley scoffed.

"You're not seriously going to try to blame me for Nathan leaving you? You did that all on your own," Haley said.

"Well, someone motivated him to want a divorce," Taylor said folding her arms across her chest as she leaned against the wall. Haley leaned forward and crossed her arms over the table.

"Yeah, it was the same person who got pregnant by someone else and tried to pass the baby off as his," Haley said. Taylor's eyes widened a little. Haley only smiled.

"We would've been able to get through that," she said.

"Keep dreaming, Taylor. No guy would ever get passed that especially Nathan," Haley said.

"That's not the point. Nathan was my husband and I walked in on you kissing him," Taylor said. Haley scoffed.

"Well, you had sex with my husband, Taylor, and turnabout is fair play!" Haley exclaimed. Their father's head darted up at the announcement. He looked at Taylor.

"You had sex with Chris? How did you even meet him?" Jimmy asked.

"Not Chris, Dad. Taylor was the one Nathan had sex with," Haley said, getting up and walking over to her sister, fixing her with a glare, "while we were still married."

"Taylor, how could you?" Lydia demanded from behind her older daughter. Taylor merely shrugged.

"He was lonely. Someone had to give him what he was practically begging for," Taylor said with devilish smirk. Haley's eyes went wide with pain.

"Taylor Vivian James," Lydia scolded. Taylor rolled her eyes in response.

"Give me a break, Mom. Haley's old enough to hear the truth now. We all know that she was too much of a prude to really satisfy a guy like Nathan," Taylor said. Haley recovered and smirked at her sister with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Maybe I was too inexperienced back then but I always knew more than you when it came to love. That's something Nathan and I had down and that was what you walked in on last year," Haley said. Taylor's jaw clenched.

"If that's true then I feel sorry for Chris. It's probably a good thing that he's dead. This way he'll never have to know that he wasn't the one in your heart," Taylor spat. Haley raised her arm and slapped her sister square across the face. Taylor held her face in pain and Haley walked out the door.

◊◊◊

"Haley, she's wrong," Nathan said as he sat down beside her. Haley had called him over to her apartment after the blow-out with Taylor.

"Is she?" Haley shot back. Nathan looked at him. "I cared about Chris a great deal, Nathan, but what I felt for him has never held a candle to what I feel for you." Nathan stopped himself from smiling at the admission.

"That doesn't mean that you didn't love him," Nathan said.

"Sure it does. If I truly loved Chris, I never would've kissed you that day," she said.

"I kissed you, remember? And Chris had been dead for three years, Haley," Nathan said. Haley looked away from him. "Moving on is not something to be ashamed of. Chris wouldn't want you to be alone for the rest of your life."

"I know that, Nathan, but some part of me can't help but wonder if Chris hadn't died, would we still be together?" Haley said.

"But Chris did die, so there's no point in beating yourself up over this," Nathan said.

"Mama!" Marie's small voice cried. Haley smiled at him, got up and walked down the hall. A few minutes later, she returned.

"Is everything ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, she just needed some water," Haley replied as she sat down on the couch beside him again.

"Are you all right now?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. He smiled and started to get up but Haley pulled him back down beside her. "But I don't want you to go yet." He looked at her in surprise and Haley smiled only smiled at him and leaned her head against his shoulder in response.