"There's no shame in being afraid. Hell, we're all afraid. What you gotta do is figure out what you're afraid of because when you put a face on it, you can beat it. Better yet, you can use it."

-Whitey Durham

A/N: I really want you guys to read this chapter. It's the one with the long-awaited Caley Breakup. Thank you all for your reviews the last chapter, appreciate them!

Enjoy!

Chapter 6

May 20, 2006

"What are you doing today, Haley?" Peyton asked.

Haley smiled, though she knew Peyton couldn't see her. She slid in some diamond earrings. "I'm meeting with Clay for dinner. He was free, and I haven't even spent that much time with him. I mean, we're in the city of love, and I've been spending more time with Nathan," she said.

Peyton gave a spurious laugh. I wonder why that is… "Well, where are you going?" she asked.

Haley shrugged. "Some fancy French restaurant. It has your name all over it," she teased.

"Yeah, okay. I don't even know French. It's like your second tongue, Haley."

"It is. Well, that is, if you're using 'tongue' to describe a language. Otherwise, I don't know," she said simply.

"You're a nerd, and I love you for it. So everything is going well between you two?" Peyton inquired cautiously.

Haley rolled her eyes. "He's not here to screw with some other girl if that's what you mean," she snapped.

Oh, well…you'd be surprised. Peyton and Rachel had spoken, and Peyton was well aware of what Nathan saw in the hotel room. Even though she thought Nathan should've told her about the girl in his room, she, too, knew it was no use; Haley would never believe him.

"That wasn't what I was asking. I was just wondering if things were all warm and fuzzy between you guys. You know what I mean," Peyton insinuated suggestively.

Haley shrugged. "It's been fine. Nothing extremely romantic or out of the ordinary. It was just…me coming to check up on him," she explained.

"Whatever, Hales. Have fun with Clay tonight. Don't do anything that Brooke wouldn't do," Peyton said.

Haley laughed. "That's not a lot of things, Peyt."

"Alright, fine. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she said.

"You're the one who had a drunken one-night stand which resulted in a pregnancy. I know I'm not doing that."

"There are worse things I could do," Peyton replied sheepishly.

"I've got to go. Bye, Peyton, Haley said before hanging up.

Nathan had just gotten out of the shower when he heard a knock on the door. He wrapped the towel around his waist, expecting it to be the hotel staff or someone like that. He could've turned beet red when he saw who it was at the door.

"Haley! What are you doing here?" he asked, trying his hardest to keep the alarm out of his voice, but failing.
Luckily, Haley didn't seem to notice. She was, in fact, enjoying the view. Nathan couldn't say that his was too bad, either. She looked stunning. Well, she always was, even when she wasn't trying.

"I just wanted to stop by and tell you that I wouldn't be in my room tonight. I'm going out with Clay. And don't wait up, okay?" she asked.

He nodded, wanting her to just go away. His towel suddenly felt extremely insecure, and the last thing he needed was it falling. Right now.

Lucky for him, Haley waltzed away, however, she had the image embedded in her mind. Nathan couldn't close the door quickly enough. He leaned against it, as if Haley would attempt to come back in. He wanted her to.

No, he didn't want her to.

Ugh, he was so confused. He sighed and sat down, seeing what shows he could watch in French that he might have a chance at understanding; his French from high school was a little hazy, but he was in French IV, so he was pretty advanced.

Haley sat down across from Clay. Suddenly, she didn't really want to be there at all; she didn't want to be in Paris, nor in this restaurant, nor with Clay. She felt obligated to be there.

She got the impression that this feeling couldn't be shaken.

She pressed on a smile anyway and glanced down at the ring on her finger. Suddenly, it didn't seem so sparkly, or so special.

She was falling out of love with Clay.

There was no working around it—she was. Things wouldn't—no, couldn't—ever be the same.

She would grin and bear it, but she suddenly knew what Brooke was saying when she said that she would be unhappy. She was unhappy. But as long as Clay didn't give her a reason to leave, she had to stick it out. For everyone's sake.

She sighed as she put down the glass of wine. She really didn't drink it but kept picking it up and putting it back down. She ran her finger around the rim of the crystal glass, making it sound.

"Haley, can you stop? The sound is irritating," Clay complained.

Haley put her hand back down on the table. "Sorry."

He shrugged it off. He took Haley's hand, the one with the finger trapped in the expensive sign of his affection. "Can we talk about wedding planning? We've sort of pushed it aside, and I wanted to talk about it," he said with a smile.

She nodded. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Where we're going to have it? What we're going to do? The honeymoon?" he asked with a smirk.

Haley rolled her eyes at him, portraying it as a good-natured eye roll, but she was truly sort of annoyed. "Where do you want to go?" she asked.

"Where do you want to go? I wanted to go on a cruise. Or to someplace far, far away. So we could escape from Tree Hill for a while," he suggested.

She shrugged. "Anyplace is fine with me. Though I like the idea of a cruise," she answered.

He smiled. "Then, that's what we should do. I love that idea," he answered.

Once again, Haley faked a smile. She reached out for the wine, but put it back, reaching instead for water. What she really needed at the moment was vodka, but knew it probably wasn't a good idea.

About an hour later, after Clay attempted to woo Haley (the attempts were unsuccessful), the two walked back to the hotel.

Haley looked up at the stars, which managed to look bright and beautiful. The moon, which was shaped perfectly into a crescent, looked picturesque and illuminated Haley's fair face.

"You look beautiful in the moonlight," Clay commented quietly.

She couldn't help but try and contain a blush. It was Clay acting like this that made her fall in love with him. Haley remembered.

"I know we haven't gotten any real alone time except for tonight, but do you want to come over to my room tonight, Hales?" Clay asked.

Haley looked up at him. She nodded. "Just let me change into something a little more comfortable, okay?" she asked. Clay nodded.

Once they were off the lift and parted ways, Haley going to the seventh floor and Clay getting off at the fifth, Haley made a dash towards her door. She quickly took off everything she was wearing and changed into something much more comfortable. She threw a silk bathrobe on over it. She reluctantly took her phone with her and ran back outside. She got a phone call from Clay.

"Haley? Can you come over in like half an hour? I need to go get something from the store," he told her.

"What is it?" she asked, a little disappointed.

"What do you think?" he countered. Haley could sense the smirk on his face.

Haley heard the line go dead. She was about to re-enter her room but realized that in her haste, she forgot the key inside. So she decided to go over Nathan's.

She knocked reluctantly on the door. Nathan opened up (and, lucky for Haley, not wearing a shirt…though, he was wearing pants this time. He looked about ready for bed), surprised to see Haley.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going out with Clay," he said.

"I'm technically still on a date with him, but he had to get something and I locked myself out of my room," she explained, inviting herself into his room. She sat down on the seat in his room.

"But why are you here?" he asked.

"Where else am I supposed to go?"

He shrugged. "You could tell the front desk that you lost your room key and that you're Clay's wife. They'd give you another one. It's not really a lie; you're about to be his wife," he suggested.

She frowned. "I doubt that would work. Why? Did you want to make a phone call to some hot girl that you picked up in a bar while I was out?" she teased.

"No. It's just a suggestion," he said, shrugging it off.

"Whatever. I'll just go."

With that, Haley stormed out of the room. Nathan rolled his eyes. Women could be so difficult sometimes. He tossed on a shirt and followed Haley. As he reached the end of the door, he saw that the elevator doors had already closed. He decided it would be faster to just go down the stairs. That meant he had to run all the way back down the hall and run down six flights of steps. By the time he got down, Haley was already talking to the woman at the desk. Nathan caught up to her.

Haley was already walking towards the elevator.

"I'm sorry I made you mad, Haley. But I was just insinuating—"

"It doesn't matter, Nathan," she said, cutting him off. No, it really doesn't. Right? "I'll just hang out with my fiancé. You're right. Besides, I've spent most of this week with you instead of him. And I came here to be with him. So thank you for giving me that push," she said.

She walked into the elevator, and found herself in an enclosed space with him, subject to his questions. Still, they were both silent the entire ride up. Nathan found it uncomfortable while Haley found it relaxing.

Haley stepped out when they arrived at the floor, eagerly getting into Clay's room. Nathan was right on her heels and saw what made Haley stop dead in her tracks.

Inside of Clay's room was a woman, wearing only one of Clays's dress shirts. Haley couldn't find out this way. She dropped everything in her hands, staring at the girl, who was preening herself in the mirror.

"Haley—" Nathan began. Before he could choke out anymore, Haley was already dashing away, running down the stairs. She had thrown the ring on her finger into oblivion. Nathan saw that it hit the other girl. If it wasn't such a sombre moment, he would've laughed at the girl's reaction.

He chased Haley down the hall and down the stairs, racing after her into the street and into the rain.

Haley quickly broke down in a dark alleyway, surrounded by germs and dirt and filth. She didn't really care. She was so mad, and she couldn't believe how stupid she was. Why couldn't she have heeded to her friends' warnings? Why couldn't she have just cut him off when she began to fall out of love with him? Why did it have to end like this?

She began to sob uncontrollably, hearing someone walk up to her and sit beside her, but not bothering to look up. She already knew it was Nathan. It was always Nathan. He was always there next to her for everything.

"I can't believe they were all right…" she trailed off.

Nathan shook his head, rubbing Haley's back. "He's an ass. You deserve better than that," he insisted.

Her sobs began again, and Nathan enveloped Haley in an embrace. He hated seeing her cry more than pretty much anything in the world. He wanted to take her pain and heartbreak and give her his unconditional love in its place. But he knew that couldn't be done.

"Nathan…please tell me that it's going to be okay," she pleaded, rocking back and forth. "Tell me that…what I saw right now…wasn't real."

He took a deep breath. "I wish I could."

Hearing that, she sobbed uncontrollably. She was pretty much inconsolable. His heart was breaking as her tears fell and pressed onto his skin.

She closed her eyes, feeling the tears roll down, and the pain. She just wanted it all to be over. "Why did it have to be like this?" she asked weakly.

"Everything happens for a reason," he said, rubbing her back.

She buried her face into his shoulder. "Why did I have to fall in love with such a jerk? Why couldn't I fall for someone like you?" she asked, wanting to take back those words as soon as they came out.

He pulled back from her, looking into her eyes. Her eyes were still tear-stained and glassy from the tears, but she looked less vulnerable. He rubbed her shoulder.

"Nathan, I—"

Without thinking, Nathan silenced her with his lips. He was surprised to feel her kiss him back. She liked the feeling of his lips, soft as a feather on hers, and he didn't want to push too far, even if she wanted more. He liked that she knew what she wanted.

Reluctantly, Nathan pulled back, looking Haley in the eye. She stared for a moment, not sure what to say.

She sighed. "Once we're back in Tree Hill, this'll all be over, right?" she asked pessimistically.

Before Nathan could even register what she was trying to say, Haley had gotten up and gone back inside.

Haley quickly got back up the stairs and into her room. She began to cry again. This time, it was because she wanted nothing more than to be with Nathan, but she just couldn't. Not now. Maybe not ever. But Haley just wanted to know what it would feel like to be with him, even just once. It was selfish, at best, but she was heartbroken.

Reluctantly, she looked in her suitcase for something she was dreading for a while.

Haley nervously tore open a brown paper bag, taking out the test. She was just barely able to take it.

The entire three minutes she had to wait, her head was spinning. She couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. It was everything she wanted but…everything she didn't, too. She had wanted to kiss Nathan for such a long time. But she never wanted all of that to be on her mind when it happened.

It was like her worst nightmare. It was like a death sentence. Haley knew she was slowly going to deteriorate, all of her, and she would likely not love again.

But it wasn't for the reason you might think.

Haley's heart dropped thirty stories when she looked down. She had suspected it for a while, and it was the reason that she had given Clay so many chances. She didn't want it to be true, and she would've left him already, for good. If not for this one thing.

Haley looked down at the stick in her hands, a pregnancy test.

It was positive.

A mangled sob came from her throat. On what should've been one of the happiest revelations of her life, Haley felt as though the world was ending. She couldn't be pregnant with Clay's child. She couldn't be.

So I probably did a thoroughly good job at pissing some of you off just now, but I hope things make sense now. Haley isn't stupid (a little delusional, possibly, but not a moron).

The next chapter will be an eight-month time jump. Just warning you now. And you finally find out Brooke's secret!. OMG!

naley12: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one as well.

dianehermans: I apologize that you did not find out Brooke's secret or for the lack of brucas this chapter. But Brooke's secret will be heavy mind you. This chapter was mainly focused on Naley, but Brooke's secret will be revealed in the next chapter. I am too! I can't wait for Haley to realize that she's better off with Nathan than Clay.

lalez: Thank you! I know I feel the exact same way, it breaks my heart every time he has to let Haley go into Clay's arm, and despite everything he's done, she will always love him. That is definitely a hard pill for him to swallow for sure! The reason for his toxic behaviour towards Haley will come soon enough I promise, you will understand why he treats her the way he does. I do agree that as a 21-year man he does need to own up to his mistakes and realize the pain he has caused Haley, and himself, by doing these things. He's no longer young anymore, and can't get away with cheating. I know Peyton and Jake are the sweetest, it's hard to write them in their happiness knowing what ultimately destroys their relationship. But at least we still have the happy moments to look back on, right? Like I told diane, Brooke's secret will be revealed in the next chapter, despite the heaviness.

thibbs65: thank you! I do as well. Nathan will always be there when it comes to Haley it's hard to watch someone you care about and at this point love to be in pain. There's no doubt in my mind that when Nathan helps Haley through whatever she is going through, that her feelings for him will intensify. I hope this chapter gave you some of what you were looking for. Thibbs, are you psychic or something? How do you know what's gonna happen in my story before it's even published? Maybe it's just that predictable. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

With that being said, I don't know when I'll update next, but hopefully, it is soon.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time! -Sidney