So this song "Break First" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill literally came out today and I've been obsessed with it since this morning and I knew I had to write a Naley fic about it. It's super short because I wrote it in about 40 minutes while procrastinating from everything else I should've done tonight. Oh well. Hope you like it and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

I've got another one-shot planned soon, and of course, Halo update within the next two weeks!

. . . .

Standing at the bar trying to get a drink

Got one I hadn't touched at the table

somebody said you're here

but I ain't gonna leave

maybe I'll just act like you're a stranger

Haley pushed between the throngs of almost-wasted mid-twenty-something-year-olds crowding around the bar. She needed a damn drink. A stronger one; not the lousy cocktail Brooke had bought her earlier— the one that was ninety percent fruit juice and ten percent alcohol.

No. Haley needed something straight out the bottle. Vodka, maybe. Make it a double. Somebody just told her that he was here, and there was no way she'd be able to face him sober. Not tonight.

The thought of leaving crossed her mind for the slightest second, but she was here to have fun, and damnit, Haley was over it. Over him. At least that's what she tells herself when it's late at night and she's alone. Nobody else would believe the blatant lie anyway.

She decided if they ran into each other, she'd pretend he's a stranger. It'd be easier that way.

do you know how hard it is

trying to hold a conversation

not when you're right there across the room

so I don't hear a word that they're saying

no I don't hear a word that they're saying

Brooke stood next to her at the bar, gabbing on about some guy she met earlier, and how oh my God, you wouldn't believe how hot he was, but to be honest, Haley hadn't really heard a word from her lips; not since her eyes landed on Nathan across the room. Damnit, he looked good, she thought almost bitterly. He was wearing that form-fitting gray sweater she'd always loved. It could be criminal for the way the sleeves clung to his bulging biceps.

"Hales, are you even listening?" Brooke asked, detecting the glazed look in her friend's brown eyes.

Haley mumbled an incoherent 'uh-huh' but could not pluck her stare from Nathan. It was utterly transfixed and followed his every move. It took every fiber of her being not to walk over to him and say hello. If he wanted to talk to her, he would. She wasn't moving from her spot at the bar— no matter how tempting it was to lean into his strong chest and tempt his lips with hers.

You or me baby

Who's gonna break first?

You or me baby

Who's gonna break first?

Who's gonna walk up and say hi and lean in

a little too close to whose lips

say what the hell are we doing

you and me baby

who's gonna break first?

Nathan had a feeling Haley would be at Tric tonight, and his stomach tilted when the thoughts were confirmed. He saw her at the bar immediately upon entering, and as hard as it was, he knew he had to look away. He'd spent the past eight weeks building a wall around his heart, and damnit, he wasn't going to break it down tonight. It was hard enough to get off his brother's couch and throw away the bottomless beer cans.

I'm dancing with a girl

got my eyes closed

acting like I'm lost in the music

All I'm thinkin' bout

is holding you close

I don't know how much longer

I can do this

The only way to act like he didn't care was to find the first willing bimbo who threw herself at him and drag her on the dance floor. Maybe if he clamped his eyes shut hard enough he wouldn't have to see Haley's colliding stare. He was wrong.

When Nathan closed his eyes, all he saw was her. Every version of Haley that lived in his memory taunted each corner of his mind. He saw her in that God damn red dress he peeled off of her the second she finished zippering it. He saw her pressed against his chest and the grass, laughing wildly as the rain fell around their bodies like confetti. He saw her on a Saturday morning, dressed in nothing but his t-shirt, pressing the keys of the piano. He saw her everywhere.

Now all he wanted was to hold her close to him and sway to the beat of the music, instead of with this nameless chick he couldn't care less about.

Do you know how hard it is

being in this situation

knowing you were everything

and now having to act like we're nothing

and pretending that I don't still love you

You or me baby

who's gonna break first

you or me baby

who's gonna break first

who's gonna walk up and say hi

then lean a little too close

to whose lips

say what the hell are we doing

you or me baby

who's gonna break first

It was the middle of the song and Nathan had to walk off the dance floor. He couldn't take this any longer. It was all too hard. Seeing her hurt more than a stab to the spine. The sight of Haley James alone was paralyzing enough.

Who's gonna say

what were we thinking

who's gonna cut

right through the tension

who's gonna admit

that they miss who worse

who's gonna tell who

how bad it hurts

you or me baby?

Haley let out a small gasp as she watched Nathan start walking over to the bar. By now, the crowd had since dissipated, leaving her in direct line of sight. Of course Brooke now chose to go fix her make-up in the bathroom. Damnit, Haley knew she should've gone with her.

As Nathan approached her, he silently wondered if she'd lean in first. Maybe she'd be the first to say how bad it hurts, that she misses him as much as he misses her.

You or me baby?

Haley felt his presence beside her and wished to hell she had a knife to cut the growing tension.

They turned to look at each other, a small smile carving away on their lips.

"Hi."

Who would've thought they'd break simultaneously?