AN: Thanks so much for the reviews, and sorry for the wait: TREEHILLADMIRER, JmQt831, that70slover, chelle2911, beachiegal, Nathanlvr. I say this everytime, but again: you guys are amazing, thanks so much for the really kind words.

CHAPTER 14

After Nathan and Haley had had sex, several times actually, Haley fell asleep right away. Nathan took a minute to call his mom and tell her that they were going to stay at Brooke's house that night. This wasn't the first time this had happened, and it wasn't like Nathan's mom didn't know the things Nathan did, so she just insisted that he be safe (which he always was) and that he get home the next morning. Soon, Nathan too fell asleep, but not without thinking thoroughly about the events that had just happened.

It's not that he felt bad himself, but he just felt bad for Haley. Her first time was supposed to be special. And it was really really special for him, but what would Haley think? He didn't want her to regret it. Or worse, resent him for it. But maybe she should, it was all his fault. He could have been a better person and stopped it before it happened, that would have been the right thing to do. But unfortunately, the right thing to do was almost never what Nathan did.

xXxXxXx

The second Haley woke up, she needed to throw up. She turned around and threw up in the trash can next to the bed. Her head was still spinning a little. So this is what a hangover feels like, she thought as she silently vowed never to get drunk again.

It took her a few minutes for her to realize what had happened. It hit her when she noticed that she wasn't wearing anything and there was a dent in the pillow next to here where someone else must have been sleeping before, who wasn't there anymore. Oh God, she thought. Yes, all the pieces were getting put together now, and she remembered everything about last night.

She suddenly needed to vomit again, and thinking that the trash can wasn't exactly the right place again, she quickly wrapped the sheet around her and ran to a bathroom. When she was done, and sure that she wasn't going to throw up anymore, she walked out to the kitchen, to find Brooke (who Haley just remembered that it was her house she was in) and Nathan making breakfast.

They turned around when they saw her, not even trying to hide their concerned expressions. Haley took a seat at the table. Nathan walked towards her with a tray.

"Water, aspirin, and fruit loops. The perfect hang-over cure," He said as he set the tray in front of her. Haley sent him a thankful smile and Nathan was happy that she wasn't cold towards him. Even thought most of his mind was filled with concern for what Haley must be feeling and thinking, he couldn't help but notice how hot Haley looked wrapped just in that thin sheet.

Brooke had guessed that they probably wanted some time alone so she went to her room. Unlike Nathan and Haley, Lucas, Jake and Peyton had all left late last night. Or, I guess early this morning.

Nathan took a seat next to Haley. And thinking that Haley was probably feeling pretty low, he decided not to make small talk and get to the point. He wanted Haley to know the subject wasn't taken lightly or anything. He didn't want her to feel like she had to keep all her thoughts about it to herself. They needed to be honest with each other.

"Haley, about last night..." He wasn't able to finish before Haley burst into tears.

Haley didn't know what came over her. But now Nathan was talking about last night, and it was all so real now. It was overwhelming and Haley just couldn't keep it all in. And she just started crying.

"Oh, Hales, don't cry," Nathan said soothingly, caressing her hair. "I'm sorry, Hales, please don't cry."

"I'm sorry Nathan," Haley stuttered out in between sobs. She didn't want Nathan to think she was some kind of immature little girl. The thing is: Sex was a really big deal to her. And while, she didn't want Nathan to think she didn't want to or anything, she wasn't even sure herself if she was happy about it. And the fact that she was drunk last night just made it that much worse.

"What? No, Hales, you have nothing to apologize for," Nathan said. It killed him to see her this way. Haley who, just recently was so strong for leaving her parents and all. And now it hurt him so see her so... broken. He wished that it wasn't him who did this to her. But he knew that he to blame for this. And that killed him even more.

"Yes, I do. I'm a mess. I didn't want it to be like this. I got drunk, Nathan! Drunk! And my parents won't have anything to do with me now, and-" Haley rambled in between sniffs, as she slowed down her sobs.

"Wait, hold on a second. You're parents what?" Nathan asked surprised. Haley hadn't told him about this part before.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." Haley said, not wanting Nathan to feel bad for her.

"Hales, it does matter. We can talk about this." Nathan said.

"Nathan, I'm sorry, I just want to be alone for a bit." Haley said, not wanting to hurt his feelings or anything, but she needed some time to sort hers out a little. Get everything straight in her head. She got up and went to the bedroom where she and Nathan had slept, got dressed in her clothes from the party, and before going out the front door, she added: "I'll meet you back at your house." And then she left.

Nathan didn't move for a while. He kept going over things in his head. Haley's parents didn't want anything to do with her? How could that be? They were her parents! His mom would never do something like that to him. It made him thankful for all that he had.

He figured that things between Haley didn't exactly go well, but they could have gone way worse. She didn't seem to be as mad at him as she was at herself. And Nathan couldn't exactly figure out why. It was his fault, he didn't want Haley to beat herself up about it or regret it or anything.

A little while later he left Brooke's house too, figuring that he should probably get home and wait for Haley to come. He really needed to talk to her. All the things he had wanted to say about last night, he didn't have time to say them. And she really needed to know them.

xXxXxXx

Of course, Haley ended up at Echo Park, her single favorite place in the world. She just hoped that Nathan didn't go looking for her. Because he probably knew that she would be there. He was the only one.

Haley had stopped crying and was now just left alone to sort some things out. But as much as she thought about it, she couldn't help but think: What does Nathan think about it all? And what were they supposed to do now? They couldn't just act like it didn't happen. At least she couldn't. It was too big a deal for her.

It pretty much all depends on his reaction, Haley decided. If he is happy about it, than so is she. But if he acts like it was a mistake, than she will regret it. She suddenly really didn't want to be alone anymore. She just wanted Nathan to accept her and wrap her in his arms. She wanted him to see that even though she was a complete mess, and that she couldn't get her feelings straight, all she really wanted was to be with him. And then everything else will sort themselves out.

"Hey beautiful, why the sad face?" A guy's voice said from behind her. She could tell by the voice that it wasn't Nathan. And if it wasn't Nathan, she didn't really want to talk to him, but she turned around anyway.

"Jared, hi." She said, making sure to make her tone seem unhappy that it was him.

"Rumor 'round town is that you ran away from home." Jared said.

"mhm," Haley said, not really interested about what he had to say about her.

"So, I saw you yesterday at the party. You were pretty wasted," He said with a grin, he knew he was slowly getting to her. Haley gritted her teeth.

"Like you care," She said sarcastically.

"I do care. I didn't tell your parents about you and Nathan," He said.

Haley sighed. "They found out anyways, so it doesn't really matter." She said, really wanting to get away from him. She didn't want to talk about this with someone she hated. "I really have to get going-"

"Anyway, the reason why I came here," Jared interrupted, making Haley even more annoyed, "is 'cause I need you to pass on a message to your friend."

"Want to narrow that down a little?" Haley said.

"Nathan," Jared said with a smirk that made Haley just want to slap him hard.

"What's the message?" She asked.

"Tell him he better watch his back." He said, toughly. He obviously thought that he was all-that. It made Haley sick that a guy like that actually had friends.

"Why? What're you going to do?" Haley asked worried. She didn't need anything else to complicate her life.

"Just, tell him, K?" Jared said. Haley didn't answer, so Jared just walked off. And Haley ran off after him. She caught up to him and shoved him hard in the chest.

"What're you going to do to Nathan?" She yelled. Jared laughed. A menacing, hair-curling laugh.

"You're kinda sexy when you're mad, you know that?" He said and then continued to walk away. This time Haley didn't follow, she just walked off in the opposite direction towards Nathan's house.

xXxXxXx

Haley hadn't gotten a key yet so she was outside Nathan's house knocking on the door. She had ran all the way there and was so out of breath, but her little meeting with Jared at really freaked her out. Jared wasn't as strong as Nathan, but he had power, and he knew some people that could do some serious damage. Haley figured that Jared just wanted revenge for Nathan breaking their window.

Nathan opened the door and was so relieved to see Haley there, that he completely forgot that they were in a weird situation. He was just so happy to see her that he pulled her in for a tight long hug. Haley started crying a little.

"Hales, what's wrong?" Nathan asked, concerned, once they had pulled apart and walked inside. Nathan's mom was at work, so they were alone in the house.

"Nathan there's something I need to tell you..." Haley said in between sobs.

"Haley are you Okay? You want a glass of water or something?" Nathan asked.

"No, Nathan, listen to me. I ran into Jared. Jared Gabriel." Haley said and right at the sound of his name, Nathan tensed up a little, he hated the guy. "And he said that he wanted me to give you a message." Haley said, still crying a little, but managing to speak. "He said that you better watch your back." Haley said.

Nathan looked at her confused and then started chuckling a little. Haley looked at him surprised.

"What? What is so funny about that? Nathan this is serious. I'm scared for you." Haley said, not believing that he was actually laughing.

"Hales, don't worry." Nathan said," That guy couldn't hurt me even if he wanted to. Listen, people say that type of thing all the time, he was obviously just trying to scare you." Haley wasn't completely convinced, but she nodded anyway.

"Nathan, about last night, I just want to say-" Haley started.

"Wait, Haley, I think I should talk first." Nathan interrupted and Haley listened. "OK. So last night was... confusing, I guess. I mean, if you regret it and resent me for what happened, I completely understand. I should have been a bigger man. I know that you wanted it to be special. And I wanted it to be special for you-"

"Nathan, it's not your fault." Haley interrupted, "I was the one that got drunk."

"But that's just it. Even if you wanted to stop, you couldn't. And I knew that. It's just, you're amazing, and beautiful, and just so damn irresistible, I couldn't stop before things just... got out of hand." Nathan said, not sure if he really used the right words.

"So... you regret it," Haley said with a low voice.

"No, no, Haley. That's not what I meant." Nathan said, trying to make sense. "It's just that it was so special to me, but I only regret that it wasn't for you."

Haley felt better already. She would have thought that this conversation with him would have been much harder, but she found it so easy to tell him what she was thinking and actually be honest with him. Nathan pulled her in for another hug.

"Thank you," Haley whispered. She wasn't even sure what she was thanking him for. Maybe their little talk they just had. Maybe the way he made her feel complete. Or maybe it was just a thanks for everything he had done for her. She felt so much better about herself now that she knew him.

"Any time," Nathan responded in a low whisper. And they stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the feel of being in each others arms.

xXxXxXx

AN: OK, I hope you guys liked it! Please Review! Tell me what you thought!

thanks!

NEXT: Naley cuteness