Chapter One - Deepest Cuts Are The Hardest To Heal

She wanted him to believe in her, believe in everything she had to say, believe that someday, soon, they could be together and be happy. He wanted her to know that it wasn't working, that this, this thing between the two of them, just wasn't what it was supposed to be. She had no idea what was coming. He didn't know how to tell her.

He closed his eyes tight, shutting out the world never to let her in again. Closing his eyes, he remembered how things used to be. He remembered the first time they made love, the way their bodies moved together almost seeming like one. They were an intricate puzzle to which the pieces fit perfectly, or so he thought. He peaked out of his left eye to scan across the room. He saw her in the corner. She ran her guitar-callused fingers through her light brown hair and glanced at him. He quickly clinched his eyes. You are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me.

She wanted him so badly. She just wanted to hold him like she used to. She just wanted to lay in their bed with him. She just wanted to be with him.

He glanced back at her. Their eyes met. Deep down she has to know, he thought to himself as he grabbed his book bag and threw it onto his back. She stopped talking mid-sentence and ran toward him.

"Nathan! Please!" The pain in her voice was like a knife in his heart. He looked over his shoulder at her. You are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me. He turned back around and kept walking. "Nathan, you can't avoid this forever." Her short legs were nearly in a dead sprint.

He quickly turned around and dug his hands deep into his pockets, "No, I can't, but I can avoid you." The main building couldn't come soon enough. He just wanted to get away, from her and from… him. There he was next to Nathan's locker. For a second Nathan forgot that was Lucas' locker space too.

Lucas started to open his mouth but before any words could come out Nathan immediately slammed the locker door. "You can't do this forever Nate." Lucas called out to him. Nathan slammed the glass door and irately walked to his next class.

There she was, again, sitting right in front of his seat. For a second he forgot that seats were in alphabetical order. "Damn alphabet." He said as he tossed his book bag to the ground.

Haley turned around in her seat and stared at him with the big brown eyes that made him fall in love with her months before. They now seemed empty, meaningless… to him. He remembered things about her eyes that no one else could possibly know about. Like the way her eyes were swollen when she woke up in the morning, and the way her left eye was slightly smaller then the right whenever she got out of the shower. Like the way she could only wink her right eye and the way her eyes changed colors whenever she cried. He looked into her eyes trying to see something, anything. He saw the same thing he had been seeing since she got home, nothing. You are beautiful, but you don't mean a thing to me.

"Nathan. Would you please just listen to me for once? You know how I feel about you… you know you mean more to me than anything ever has before…"

"Oh, and that's how you show it. By leaving town? By traveling the country with Chris? Is that how you show people how much you love them these days? Wow, I didn't get that memo…" Nathan didn't even know what he was getting so upset about. He didn't even care anymore. The deepest cuts are the hardest to heal regardless of what you want to think.

He watched her slowly run her fingers through her hair and down her neck. She had her wedding ring on. He took his off months ago. She twisted her ring around her finger. He knew she was nervous. She did this when she was nervous. He knew her far too well. He knew her in's and out's. He knew that when she got upset she chewed on her bottom lip and when she was about to cry she would cross her arms over her chest. He knew she had a tiny birthmark on the back of her right leg and a freckle in between her index and middle finger on her left hand. He knew that it took her approximately eighty-six minutes to get ready to go out and that she sang show tunes in the shower. But none of that meant anything anymore. You are beautiful, but you don't mean a thing to me.

"You know it wasn't like that. You told me to pursue my dreams and I did…"

"Oh, so it was my fault." He lowered his chin between the crevice of his thumb and index finger and sarcastically said, "Right, I totally forgot." He grabbed his book bag and threw it over his shoulder. "I am not talking about this right now."

Nathan stormed out of the room without looking back.

Haley sat quietly at her desk. She pulled a pen out from behind her ear and slowly scribbled out the Scott in her name on her calculus test. She traced over the James and put the pen back behind her ear. She turned around.

In the very back corner of the room sat Peyton. Haley gave her a half smile, the only thing Peyton gave in return was a shaking head. Peyton did not agree with anything Haley had been doing lately, but did respect her for fighting for Nathan.

The last thing Peyton wanted Haley to do was give up the fight. Peyton wanted so badly to have something to fight for. She was tired of fighting over her mom, and boys, and stupid, juvenile things. She wanted something to fight for. Something that was worth all the trouble you put into it. She wanted Jake back.

Peyton picked up her black shoulder bag off of the floor and put it over her shoulder. She kept her eyes on Haley as she walked out the door. "Nathan! Hey, wait up!" She called after him. He stopped and turned around. "Hey Nate, she is still crazy about you and…"

"Peyton listen, its not that, its just, its not there anymore. You understand, it happened with us…" He said jokingly.

"Haha, very funny." She readjusted her strap on her shoulder, "but seriously Nathan, what are you doing?"

"About?"

"Haley, the way you are treating her. Even she doesn't deserve that. Nathan you know better…"

"Peyton listen, its complicated okay." Nathan looked down at his feet. "It's just…"

"Hi best friend. Hi... kind of married Nathan." Brooke looked Peyton and Nathan up and down. "Is a sex-capade about to occur?" She looked around and whispered, "Should I leave the hall?" Neither replied. "So I was thinking, I'm really into Lucas and I am pretty sure he is really into me so I was thinking, I know thinking right," Brooke pushed her hair off of her shoulder and readjusted her weight onto her other hip, "But I was thinking, maybe I should do something for him… like make him dinner…"

"Brooke you can't cook." Peyton said now focusing her attention on her clueless best friend.

"Okay, by cook I meant order take out, but its all the same in my book." Peyton rolled her eyes. "So, Nathan, if a girl was trying to win you back what would she have to do?" As soon as the words escaped her lips she realized the mistake she had made. "Nathan, I'm sorry… I didn't mean it…"

Nathan turned around, back to his classroom. She walked out of the room and glanced at him. She gave him a half hearted smile and continued down the hall, in the opposite direction. He watched her hips sway and her light brown hair flow. You are beautiful, but you don't mean a thing to me.

So guys I hope you liked the first chapter to "You Are Beautiful...". I am sorry it took me so long to get back into writing and I promise someday I will finish those other stories, but for right now I am going to try and focus on this one so READ AND REPLY!

love to love ya
em