AN: Thanks for the wonderful reviews to: Liz457, jeyton4ever, Michaela, Nathanlvr (I'm really sorry to hear about your brother, and so glad to hear that at least reading my story has helped. I hope that it continues to help!), and chelle2911! so this chapter is all Naley fluff, to take a break from all the drama. But don't worry, the drama will be back! Enjoy!

Chapter 22

The light seeped through the curtains at around six o'clock in the morning the next day, making Haley's eyes flutter open. She took in her surroundings as she did every morning, and finally realized where she was, and what had happened yesterday. A bad day, followed by a beautiful evening. She turned around- quite a hard task to pull, when she was tightly enveloped in Nathan's loving arms- and faced a sleeping Nathan.

He looked so adorable, perfectly, peacefully asleep, with a very light smile on his face. Soon after, he woke up too, it had been a while sense he had woken up smiling. And as soon as he opened his eyes to see Haley looking, smiling at him, his smile widened by a mile. Haley's heart skipped a beat, in a good way, when he lowered his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.

They kissed for a while, just kissed, and then Nathan finally pulled away, for the need of air, and the need to talk to Haley. Haley gazed into his deep blue eyes, that were no-longer the dark color they had been yesterday after his run-in with Jared, the were now the bright, vivid blue that Haley loved.

"Haley about last night-" Nathan started saying, with a serious tone, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Nathan I told you already: It was my choice, what I wanted." Haley said clearly, no hesitation or hint of regret in her voice.

"Yes, but that could have been just in the heat of the moment," Nathan said, wanting to make sure.

"Well, I'm saying it again, now. I love you, and this is what I wanted, and I will never regret it ever. It made me happy, there is no where I would rather be, than right here in your arms," Haley said firmly. She inched closer to Nathan, if that was even possible, and kissed his bare shoulder, which was where her head reached at that moment.

"I love you too," Was all Nathan said. The way this girl made him feel, it was like nothing he ever felt before. She had changed his whole life, his whole perspective on things, all these years of putting himself first, all of a sudden that changed and he was putting Haley before everything. She was his number one priority in life, and the only thing he really needed to survive. If she were even taken away from him, his heart would break, and he wouldn't be able to live. The thought that something could come between then and the fact that there were so many people that wanted them apart, just scared him to death. Last night, was all he needed to restore his faith that him and Haley could make it though anything.

FLASHBACK TO LAST NIGHT

Haley took his face in her hands and kissed him ever-so-lightly on the lips to not hurt him. But he grabbed her waist before she could pull away, and intensified the kiss. His cut hurt like hell, but it was worth it. Haley's heart beat faster, her head was spinning, she had butterflies in her stomach. It was just like when they had first kissed that day at Echo Park. And Haley all of a sudden wanted more. She felt more mature, more ready.

They had already had sex one time, at Brooke's party, but that was different. Haley had been drunk and it was somewhat a mistake, Haley didn't feel that she was ready. She would cringe or feel uncomfortable every time someone would mention sex. But now she wasn't afraid of it at all.

So after a couple minutes of making out, Haley pulled away only to notice the same need and wanting and love in Nathan's eyes that Haley held in her heart, and she pulled her shirt over her head.

"Haley-" Nathan said.

"It's OK, Nathan. I... I'm ready," Haley said, hesitating at first, but then stated what she was thinking. She wanted him, she wanted him badly. And she could tell that he wanted her. And more importantly, that he loved her, just as much as she loved him, meaning that he would never make her regret it, not for a second.

"Hales, are you sure? We can wait-" Nathan said, seriously. He wanted to more than anything, and he would never do anything for Haley to feel bad about it, but he didn't want to pressure her. She did sound a little hesitant, and he would rather wait until she was positive that she wanted to. His heart was still racing from before and it wasn't going to slow down anytime soon, but he kept his mind straight.

"I'm sure," Haley said, not hesitating this time, just speaking from the heart, "Come here," She said sexily and pulled him down for his lips to meet hers again for another breath-taking kiss.

And so, tongues battling it out, hearts racing, clothes being discarded, they made their way, without detaching from the mouth, to Nathan's bedroom. Haley pulled away for a second when she noticed Nathan wince after she touched his stomach. She looked there and gasped at what she saw. From where Jared had beaten him, he had huge red marks and bruises. She touched his stomach lightly brushing it.

"Nathan..." She whispered. She couldn't believe how much he had hurt him. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe how selfish I'm being. I'm so sorry, Nathan. Wow, I'm such an idiot, you're really hurting right now, I should just let you rest." Haley said really fast, feeling ashamed. Still panting, she got up quickly, but Nathan grabbed her arm and stopped her from going any further.

"Wait, Hales," Nathan said, "Stay... please..." He said softly and honestly looking her in the eye. "I need you... I want you..."

Haley stood there, looking at him. Didn't it hurt him? Well, obviously it hurt him since he had winced, but did he really want her that badly? "Nathan, it's ok, we can do this another-"

"I don't know if I can wait," Nathan answered truthfully. Once he got the idea in his head that they were going to do it tonight, he couldn't exactly get it out. "Please, Hales... I mean, if it's still OK with you...?" Haley considered this. Then she smiled and climbed back in his bed and kissed him passionately. He kissed her back with a strength you wouldn't think could come out of a guy that had just been in a fight, making Haley's knees weak. And soon, the feeling and anticipation that they had both felt moments earlier had returned. They made love time and time again, leaving them both exhausted and asleep by ten p.m., before Nathan's mom even got home from work.

END OF FLASHBACK

It was Saturday, so Nathan and Haley were in no rush getting up that morning. Nathan had fallen back asleep, but once Haley woke up, she stayed awake. So she took a shower, got dressed and went out for a quick run, leaving Nathan a note on her pillow.

For her whole four-mile run, Haley held a smile on her face. However hard she tried, it would not go away. She even tried worrying about Jared and what he would do next, but even that didn't do it. She just kept thinking about what a poor bastard he was, and how she felt sorry for him because he would never have the love that her and Nathan shared.

--

Nathan woke up alone, to his disappointment. He rolled over and felt something make a noise beneath him. He got up to see that he had rolled onto a note, that he noticed was from Haley. He couldn't help but smile as he read it.

Nate,

I hope I didn't wake you. I just went out for a run. You're mom left for a meeting or something, said she'll be back for dinner. I'll be back around ten-ish. Love always,

Hales

Nathan sighed, he missed her already. He looked at the clock and saw that it was nine thirty. Thirty whole minutes before Haley came back. It sounded like an eternity. He decided to take an extra-long shower to pass the time.

After what he thought was a long shower, he realized that he still had twenty-five minutes 'till ten. He tried to kill time for a couple minutes, but he ended up driving himself crazy. When he couldn't take not seeing Haley anymore, he went out to find her. He knew which road she normally took to jog, so he started running in that direction, figuring their paths would cross since she was probably on her way back by now.

--

Haley was now on her way back, it was nine forty-seven. She was missing Nathan, even though it had only been a couple of hours. In fact, she was really dying to see him right now. She started singing to distract herself. She sang softly to herself as she jogged the deserted streets. Then she got really into it, and considering no one was around, she just started to sing louder and fuller. One thing she wasn't insecure about was her singing, she had gotten many compliments on it, and she actually liked how her voice sounded.

She sang songs from Greenday, to Michelle Branche, to The Supremes, but her mind still stuck to Nathan. He hadn't heard her sing, other than singing along to music that was playing, or singing a little in the shower, but he had never actually heard her sit down at a piano and just sing her heart out. Of course, she didn't have a piano anymore, but that wasn't the point. She would love to share that side of her with Nathan.

--

Nathan was running still, and getting a little out of breath. He was running twice the speed he normally ran at, but he soon slowed down. And once the beating of his heart and the panting of his breath had lowered in volume, he could hear the faint sound of singing. Now, he had never truly heard Haley sing before, not for real, but he at once recognized that it was Haley singing, there was no doubt about it.

It was beautiful. A low, sexy voice, and it was coming closer. Nathan decided to stop and wait for Haley to find him there. He caught his breath in no-time and then just waited till he saw her coming, listening to the beautiful sound of her voice, now singing "She Will Be Loved". And the goofy, love-struck smile appeared once more on his face.

--

Very soon after, Haley arrived in Nathan's sight. Haley noticed him right away, and stopped singing, a little embarrassed, but mostly just happy to see him there. She picked up her pace and ran into his arms. She kissed him as strongly as she could, since she was a little out of breath from the jog.

"I didn't know you sang, Hales." Nathan said when they pulled apart. But he kept her close, his arms locked around her waste.

"Well, I don't really... anymore. It's just something I like doing." Haley said, shyly.

"You should definitely do it more often. It was amazing." Nathan said truthfully. Haley let out a barely audible 'thank you'.

"How's the cut on your lip feeling today?" Haley asked, smirking. Nathan smiled and answered.

"It's about a kiss away from feeling great," He answered and bent down to kiss Haley again. They were lost in the kiss, in each other, and at that moment nothing mattered at all. All that mattered, was that she loved him and he loved her, and they were where they belonged, in each others arms. As long as they were together, all the problems were pushed aside.

--

AN: OK so that was a nice, fluffy, cute chapter with only pure cute Naley. I hope you liked it! please review! Thank you guys so much for reading.

NEXT:

Jared strikes again, but who this time?

The drama returns!