I'm baaaackkkk... lol... I have a new chapter for you guys... Hope you enjoy it! By the way... Please read the authors note at the end of this chapter. Thanks! Enjoy!

Mercedes and Haley walked out of English, their arms looped around each others, to find Nathan leaning up against the wall beside the door. Z smiled when she saw him and he smiled back.

"Hey." He said leaning down to kiss her lips.

"Hi." She answered smiling brightly.

"How are you doing?" Nathan asked looking over at Haley, and taking Z's free hand as she began to walk down the hallway.

"Fine." Haley answered with a weak smile.

Nathan looked at her unconvinced but shook his head anyways. Haley looked down at the ground and walked along, avoiding his gaze. They walked her to her next class, and then walked to Z's next class. Nathan stood beside the door with Mercedes and held her close to him.

"Have you talked to Lucas?" Z asked looking up at him.

"About Peyton?" She shook her head and waited for him to answer. Peyton had told both her and Haley that morning that she and Jake had talked to Lucas about what was going on between them. By the end of her story she was almost in tears. Lucas didn't take it well, and now he wasn't speaking to either one of them. "I tried but... he's pretty upset. All he said was that he didn't wanna talk about it."

"I was afraid of that."

"He said he was gonna skip out on lunch today and shoot hoops instead. I say we try and talk to him."

"I think we should."

"Ok. Then I'll see you at lunch."

"Ya."

She kissed him and headed into her class. Mercedes watched as Peyton sat in psychology and stared sadly into space. She felt horrible when she had to leave and let Peyton walk to lunch alone, but she was trying to help her out in another way. She just hoped that Lucas would understand. She met Nathan outside the gym and they walked in together hand in hand. They found Lucas sitting on the bleachers drinking from his water bottle. Lucas looked up at them when he heard the door open but dismissed them quickly, getting up and picking up a basketball.

"Hey" Z said coming up to him.

"Hey." Lucas answered dribbling the ball.

"So..."

"Look... I know why you guys are here." Lucas said frustrated.

"Then you know we're trying to help." Nathan said as calmly as he could.

"I don't need your help!"

"Come on Luke-" Mercedes pleaded.

"No! There's nothing you can say! Peyton and Jake both stabbed me in the back!"

"Why? Because she's trying to move on?" Lucas was silent, but the look on his face was full of anger.

"Z..." He looked at her intently. "Don't push me."

"Hey!" Nathan stepped in. "Don't Luke..." Nathan threatened.

"Look... Z... I'm sorry." Lucas' features began to soften, and is expression of anger faded, and was replaced by sadness, and hurt. "I just... I cant believe her."

Z looked up at Nathan and let go of his hand, walking over to Lucas and engulfing him in a hug.

"Luke..." She pulled away from him and looked up into his eyes. "you're my best friend, and I hate to see you hurt this way but... Peyton is one of my best friends too... and she's hurting too. I don't want to pick sides, and I want to be there for both of you... but... Peyton isn't doing anything wrong."

"She's trying to move on Luke." Nathan said walking over to them "Just like you are with Ciara. And if your upset at Peyton for feeling this way then you're being a hypocrite. You cant be mad at her for doing something that your trying to do to, and you know that."

Lucas was quiet Z stood back next to Nathan again. She didn't expect him to give in easily, she knew he wouldn't, but she needed him to know that treating Jake and Peyton this way was wrong.

"Thanks guys..." Lucas finally said looking up at the both of them. "but... I need to be alone right now."

"Sure." Z said giving him a hug before going back to Nathan and taking his hand.

"We'll see you later man." Nathan said giving him a fist pound.

"Yeah." Lucas answered quietly.

Mercedes and Nathan walked out of the gym and towards the lunch tables. They still had some time before the bell rang. Nathan looked over at Mercedes and saw the worry on her face.

"He's gonna be ok." Nathan said reassuringly.

Mercedes looked up at him and smiled, squeezing his hand a little and cuddling up to him a little more. When they finally got to the table only Peyton and Haley were sitting there. Both of them looked like they were having a rough day. They sat down and tried talking to them but... didn't have much luck considering both Peyton and Haley weren't in the talking mood. When the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, Haley reminded Z that she needed to get her books out of her car before she left.

"Right." Z answered. "Should we go get them now?" She asked looking at Haley.

"Yeah, please." Haley answered picking up her book bag and throwing it over her shoulder.

"Ok." Z answered walking up to Nathan. "So... you're coming over tonight?" Z asked hugging him.

"Definitely. I'll be there at around 6:30."

"Ok." She leaned up to kiss him and pulled away completely. "I'll see you then."

Nathan and Peyton walked in one direction while Mercedes and Haley walked towards the parking lot. As they walked through the parking lot Haley spotted Chris and slowed down. Mercedes looked over at Chris and then back at Haley. Chris came up to them both and Z quirked an eyebrow when she saw a large bruise on his jaw.

"You gonna be ok?" Z asked looking over at Haley.

"Yeah." Haley answered quietly. "I'll catch up."

"Ok." Z said walking away from them both, but not before giving Chris the dirtiest look she could muster.

When Chris saw that Mercedes was out of earshot he looked back at Haley.

"Listen Haley, I know that Nathan said that if I came near you again that he would do a lot worse than he already has..." He pointed up at his jaw. "But-"

"Wait..." Haley cut him off. "Nathan did that?" She asked confused.

"That doesn't matter." He said changing the subject. "Haley, I'm so sorry about what happened. I swear that she didn't mean anything to me-"

"Chris, stop." Haley let out a deep breath.

"No, I need you to listen to me. I didn't mean for you to see that. I'm sorry."

"You mean you didn't mean for me to find out about that. There's a difference."

"Haley..."

"No. Chris it's-"

"I'm leaving Haley." He said cutting her off. "I'm going overseas." Haley felt a rush of sadness sweep through her. "And... I want you to come with me."

She looked up at him stunned, all the sadness she felt gone.

"Goodbye Chris." she said beginning to walk away. "Have a nice life."

Chris stood there for a second looking after her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to his car, knowing it was all over. He had lost her, and he was never gonna get her back.

Haley walked over to Z's car and Z handed her her books.

"You ok?" Z asked looking at her and rubbing her shoulder.

"I'll be ok." Haley said with a smile, and for the first time she meant it.

Z smiled and looped her arm through Haley's.

"Come on... I'll take you to class." Haley smiled and walked back towards the school with Z. "So what happened to him?" Z asked curious. "I mean... someone really messed him up."

"Oh" Haley said unsure if to tell her that Nathan had been the one that did it. "Umm..." She said nervously. "He said that Nathan did it."

"Wait..." Z said slowing down. "Nathan?"

"That's what he said. But remember Z... it's Chris."

"Right."

Mercedes dropped Haley off in class and walked back to her car, passing by the gym on her way. She looked through the glass in the door and saw Nathan laughing with Tim about something. She smiled at the smile on his face and headed to her car. On her way home she heard her cell rang. She fished it out of her book bag and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey there best friend." Ciara said cheerfully.

Z smiled. "You don't know how glad I am that you called."

"Why? What's up?" Mercedes explained the situation with Chris and Haley, which Ciara already knew, Lucas had called her and told her what had happened. Then she explained about Chris showing up at school with a bruise on his jaw, claiming that Nathan had been the one that put it there. "Wait..." Ciara said confused. "Nathan? Your Nathan?"

"Yeah."

"Well... what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know..." Mercedes said confused... "I think I'm just gonna let it go."

"What! Ok... who are you and what have you done to my best friend?"

"Ciara..."

"Z... this isn't like you. You'd never let anything like this go... I mean.. .he hit his ex-girlfriends... whatever Chris was.. That doesn't bother you? And if you say no I'm gonna stop talking to you cause you'll be lying to me."

"Of course it bothers me... I just...I don't know."

"Ok... if this was happening to me what would you tell me to do?"

"I'd tell you you'd have to talk to him about it."

"Exactly. So why don't you take your own advice and talk to Nathan."

Mercedes let out a deep breath and shook her head.

"I really hate it when you're right." Z said with a smile.

"I know... but it happens frequently so... you must be pissed all the time."

Z laughed and walked up to her room.

"How about you Ciara... I'm assuming Lucas talked to you about Peyton."

"Yeah. He did." She answered in a voice Mercedes knew too well.

"It hurt you didn't it? Hearing him say he still has feelings for Peyton?"

"Nah."

"Ciara... you cant lie to me."

"I didn't expect him to fall in love with me Z."

"But he does like you Ciara... you'd be stupid not to notice."

"I guess. But you know what... I think it's better if nothing happens between us. I mean... for one, he still has feelings for Peyton. For two, he's there and I'm here. Long distance relationships never work out."

"You know that's not true. You could make it work if you wanted it to."

"Maybe... but whatever. It doesn't even matter. You're gonna talk to Nathan right?"

"Yeah, I will."

"Alright. Well... when you do call me and tell me what's going on. Ok?"

"Sure thing."

"Ok.. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok bye."

Mercedes hung up and collapsed on her bed, thinking about how she was going to talk to Nathan about what was going on. Nathan walked into the Davis household and up to Z's room. He opened the door and found her laying on her bed a clipboard in hand and her iPod in her ears. She was in a tight spaghetti strap and a pair of boy shorts. She saw him at the doorway a big smile on his face. She pulled the earphones out of her ears and put her clipboard down and swung her legs over to the side of the bed slipping some sweat pants on.

"You don't have to do that" Nathan said walking towards her, a smirk on his face. Mercedes looked down at her hands and sat on the edge of the bed. "Hey..." He sat down next to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nathan... there's something that I need to ask you.." She spoke quietly.

"That doesn't sound good" He looked away from her, taking his hand off her shoulder. "What is it?"

"Did you hit Chris?" She asked quietly, looking over at him.

He was quiet, and she knew from his lack of words that it was true. She looked back down at her hands for a second and got up, walking towards the other end of the room.

"Mercedes..." Nathan started.

"Why?" She asked looking over at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"What was I supposed to say?" Nathan said getting up from the bed, frustrated.

"You could have told me Nathan. I'm not upset at the fact that you hit him. He deserved it. But the fact that you kept it from me..."

"I didn't want you to find out..."

"Why not?" She asked looking at him upset. He was quiet.. "Nathan, why didn't you want me to find out?"

"I thought that if you found out... you might think that I still have feelings for Haley."

"Do you?" She blurted. Nathan scoffed and turned his back to her. "Nathan... do you still have feelings for Haley?"

"You know.." He turned back towards her and crossed his arms over his chest. "I cant believe you're even asking me this question." Nathan was pissed, and upset.

"Really?" She said sarcastically. "I don't know why you're so surprised. You're the one who hit the guy that broke you guys up in the first place."

"Whatever." Nathan said heading towards the door. Mercedes watched him head to the door and open it. "Call me when you calm down" He said walking out.

Mercedes watched him leave and walked over to her bed, sitting on the edge and thinking about what the hell just happened. A part of her was pissed that he walked out on her, but a bigger part of her was sad that he didn't answer her question. She looked down the floor and thought.

Nathan walked out of the house and quickly got into his car. He turned it on and sat in the drivers seat looking up at Z's window. He was upset that she was acting the way she was but knew she had a right to be. He had kept something important from her and then blew up at her for it.

"Damn it!" He hit the steering wheel and turned the car off getting out and running back up to her room. He opened the door to her room and walked over to her, Mercedes looked at him as he headed towards her. He didn't take a moment to say anything and he took her face in his hands and kissed her. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you" He said quietly. "I do love Haley... but just as a friend. I haven't thought about Haley romantically for a long time." He caressed her cheeks as he told her, and she closed her eyes listening. "God... I love you... and only you."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, reaching up to kiss him.

"I love you too" She said after she had pulled away.

He smiled at her and kissed her again. She kissed him back and he lay her down on the bed. She helped him take his jacket off without breaking the kiss. He hovered over her while they kissed.

There you go guys... I hope you liked this chapter. I know it took me forever to finish this chapter but.. .I promise I'll update more often. One thing tho... the chapters will get shorter. Not ridiculously shorter of course but considerably shorter. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, review this chapter if you read it.. It's the only thing that's gonna keep me writing.. I love when I get reviews and makes me want to write more so I can get more reviews... so please guys.. Take a few minutes of your time and let me know what you thought of the chapter. Thanks! I'll update as soon as I get some reviews... :