AN: Thanks to: stars, and Nathanlvr (yeah, I'm sorry for all the confusion, I took out the chapter that was out of order, and here it is now, in order. thanks for replying!)

Chapter 5

Haley was fuming when she was rushing down the front steps of her house. She never got mad that way. She couldn't even remember having tantrums as a kid. From the second she was old enough, it was uncomfortable dresses, curtsies, and fancy dinners for life. And she had never complained, never argued. But for some reason, when Nathan came up, she became very defensive. It's not like they were secret lovers or anything, but he was a great guy, at least when he was with her. He was different than people saw him as. And Haley knew what it was like to be a stereotype and she didn't know many people that truely understood what it was like.

Haley suddenly pulled out the hair elastic from her hair, letting her loose curls fall on her shoulders. Finaly free, she thought. She actualy injoyed the way the wind blew in her hair. It felt really new, but in a good, liberating way.

She was walking, walking. But where? Her mind was too busy to think about that, so her feet did all the work. And they brought her to her favorite place on Earth. The place she went when she wanted to be alone. It was the only place were she could forget about everything. This place was a small park called Echo Park. She sat down on the grass under a tree and just looked around.

She saw all sorts of little kids playing around and she couldn't help wonder why she couldn't have had that. A REAL childhood. She never played around in the dirt, or, believe it or not, went to a sleep-over.

xXxXxXx

Nathan was walking along the streets of Tree Hill trying to clear his head. Since when did he have to take care of him and his mother? They had made a pact to be in this together, but it didn't really seem like it.

He needed to do something. He didn't know what, but SOMETHING. Not just walk around like an idiot. He didn't care what he did anymore. It didn't matter. He was just tired of how his life was. What did it matter anymore? It didn't...

xXxXxXx

It had been over an hour and Haley was still sitting in the same spot just admiring everything. She didn't feel like going home any time soon, but she knew she had to. She was thinking about earlier that day. In the Tutoring Center with Nathan.

If she hadn't noticed the time... If she hadn't averted her eyes and seen the clock. Would they have...? Would her and Nathan have... kissed? Was her memory a little fusy, or did it actualy seem like they had had a moment. You know, one of those moments where you know what's coming next, you're just waiting for someone to make the next move. She wouldn't have minded... kissing him. But Haley wondered: will they ever have another moment?

She was woken from her thought, when she saw a familiar looking figure running towards the park. Nathan? It sure looked like him. He hadn't noticed her yet, but he was bound to soon since he was running in her direction. He kept on looking behind his shoulder as if someone were chasing him or something, but no one was.

Then he saw her. But he kept running towards her. That's a good sign, Haley thought. She knew that they had gotten along but they had never actualy hung out outside of school and she was a little afraid that if he would see her outside of school he would just run in the other direction. But he wasn't.

"Hey," Nathan said once he got to where she was. He was really out of breath. "What're you doing here?"

"Long story," Haley said, not wanting to go into details. She knew that she could talk to Nathan, but she didn't know if she was ready to tell people, even him, about her family issues. "What're you doing here?" She asked.

"Uh... Family problems..." Nathan said. He knew he could trust Haley and if he were to tell anyone about his mom's problems then it would be Haley, but he didn't want to take the risk of her thinking less of him because he wasn't exactly rich.

"Yeah, same," Haley said.

"What, trouble at the James's mansion?" Nathan said sarcasticaly, laughing a little. But Haley wasn't amused. She thought that maybe Nathan would be different. It's not like just because she had money, that would solve all her problems!

Haley glared at him. "You don't know anything about my family, Nathan! I know what people think of me as, Okay? But maybe there's more to me than people see," Haley said.

Nathan immediately felt bad for what he said. He didn't mean to insult her. "Look Hales, I'm sorry," He said, making Haley's heart jump at him calling her 'Hales'. "I know what it's like to be stereotyped." He said.

"Yeah, but it's one thing to be typecasted as the popularity king, and another to be the rich, stuck-up, smart girl!" Haley said. What was with her today? Normaly she never snapped at people. But today Haley was acting strange and she was really surprising herself.

"I'll make you a deal," Nathan said and Haley looked at him, "I won't judge you for being rich if you don't judge me for being popular." He said.

"Deal," Haley said, smiling. She had never felt so comfortable with anyone else before. It was weird that just a second ago, she thought he was just like everyone else, but it turns out that he was really special.

"Hey, I just noticed something." Nathan said. "You're wearing your hair down." He smiled. She looked really beautiful like that.

"Yeah," Haley said, blushing and looking down in embarrassment.

"It looks good," Nathan said honestly. He wanted to say 'sexy' instead of 'good' but he decided agianst it. She was so gorgeous and she was right there infront of him. He couldn't take it anymore. He was crushing hard for this girl. It wasn't often that you found a good-looking girl, that you also connected with. And why waste more time dancing around this? He wanted her and he knew that it was too strong a feeling for him to be the only one feeling it. He cuped her face in his hand and made her look at him.

She looked directly into his eyes and into his soul. His blue eyes were mesmerizing to her and she felt her heart get light as he leaned in closer...

xXxXxXx

AN: OK, next chapter will be up in like 5 minutes, so probably while your reading this, it will be up! I hope I was able to fix everything I screwed up! I hope you guys liked it! review please!