Nathan Scott frowned as he straightened his tie. He hated wearing suits but apparently they were a necessary evil, the appropriate attire for a business meeting like the one he was headed to in Boston. It was supposed to be the tying of the final loose ends for the ten million dollar endorsement deal on the table to advertise for Cingular wireless phones. The limousine pulled up to the front door and Nathan climbed in the back, pulling out his phone to send a quick text to ensure his lawyer would be meeting him there. It would be quick and painless, just the way he liked it. The best part, there would be no Dan. His father was the last person he felt like being around. In fact, he didn't feel much like being around anyone. He had a lot on his mind and it had been that way ever since the disastrous end of his date with Haley Webb.

"Hey man, can I get some ventilation back here?" he asked his driver. "It's stuffy as hell."

"Sure thing. Right away, Mr. Scott."

Nathan closed his eyes and leaned back into the seat.

"My sentiments exactly."

He jumped at the voice. He hadn't realized that someone was sitting in the back with him. Opening his eyes, Nathan simply rolled them.

"Now that's just scary," he mumbled. "How the hell did you get in here?"

"I have my ways," she answered. "Just call me Houdini."

"Whatever," Nathan sighed. "What do you want, Peyton?"

"We need to talk."

"Fine. But I don't see what the big deal is. You don't need to sit in on this meeting. You've already closed the deal. I just have to sign the papers."

"This isn't about Cingular."

"Then what's it about?"

Peyton raised an eyebrow.

"It's about Haley Webb."

Nathan frowned. He definitely wasn't in the mood for talking about Haley.

"What about her?" he asked coolly.

Peyton looked him right in the eye.

"I think you know what this is about."

Nathan shifted in his seat.

"Did you talk to her?"

"Does it matter?"

"Don't play your games with me," he spat.

"No, Nathan don't you play your games with me. It's me. It's Peyton, Nate. I know you. I know you probably better than you know yourself."

"What did she say? What did she tell you?"

Peyton shook her head.

"What are you doing?"

"Look…"

"You just don't listen, do you? Tell me, why do you have to be such a rebel all the time? And why are you so damned stubborn? Why don't you listen to anybody ever?"

"It's none of your business."

"Great. Sit there and pout all you want to but this is pretty serious."

"Fine," he conceded. "How much do you know?"

"I know everything and I just have one question for you. Why?"

He shrugged as he stared out the window.

"I don't know why," he answered, sounding more like a little boy responding to a scolding.

"Don't give me that. Dammitt, Nate, I told you. I warned you. I warned her. Now look at what's happened. Everything is a mess."

"And let me guess, you're gonna clean it up."

"Hell, somebody has to. I've been cleaning up your messes for a long time now."

"Who asked for your help?"

"Well, it certainly appears like you need it. You messed up big this time."

"You sound like my dad. Look, I don't pay you to tell me what a screw up I am. I get enough of that for free with the Old Man."

"You can't do this."

"Peyton…"

"She's not like the others. She's a nice girl. She's a normal girl. She thought she was taking a regular nursing job, instead she gets dragged into this crap. You and your crazy celebrity and this family. How fair do you think that was?"

"Haley's a big girl. Besides, she knew exactly what she was getting into."

Peyton looked him right in the eye.

"Did she?" she asked quietly. "Did you?"

"I don't want to talk about this right now."

"What were you doing?" Peyton pressed on.

Nathan sighed, releasing his growing frustration.

"Hanging out. Jesus, what's the big deal?"

"What was your plan?"

"I didn't have a plan, Peyton. I don't. Damn. Not everybody has their life on a calendar like you do."

"You know, you're not a bad guy, Nathan. I've just seen you do a lot of bad things. Tell me you weren't planning to sleep with this girl, then act like nothing happened. Tell me this wasn't gonna be another fling."

"It's not like that. I mean, it wasn't. I guess it's nothing now."

"Whose fault is that?"

"Whatever."

"Listen to me and listen good. Haley is in deep…she's in way deep. She knows too much, she has seen too much."

"Peyt, don't start. I mean, why does it always have to be like that? Protecting the Scott family image, standing up for some name, keeping everything picture perfect for the public. It's you, it's Lucas…God, I hate when you do that. You sound just like Dad."

"It's more than that. Haley is a good person. She's a good nurse. I told her myself that she has been a very good influence on this family. For that sake alone, I don't want to lose her."

"Lose her? What are you talking about?"

"Look, I don't know the whole story, just bits and pieces but whatever you did, you really hurt her feelings."

A softened expression washed over Nathan's face.

"I didn't mean to," he answered softly.

"What happened?"

"She came to my hotel room a while back. I had this girl in there, this meaningless, faceless girl to help pass the time away. Hales kind of just showed up. She was trying to tell me that she liked me as more than a friend, that she had real feelings for me. It freaked me out. I didn't know what to do or say so I was really mean to her."

"Nathan…"

"I felt bad. Then I started thinking about it and I kind of came to realize that I like her too. So we talked about it and I apologized and we were supposed to go on a real date. We did and it was awesome then at the end, the damned paparazzi showed up and ruined everything. They were asking all these questions like they always do and I just wanted them to leave her, us, alone."

"So…"

"So a taxi pulled up and I put her in it. Told those stupid jerks that I was going to party over at Tabu."

"Did you?"

He shrugged.

"I had the driver take me over there but I didn't go in."

"Nathan, why? Why'd you do it?"

"I told you. I did it to protect her."

"Did you do it just to protect her or to protect yourself?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"It's hard, okay? Haley is great and we really have a good time together. I didn't expect that. You're right, she's not like all the other girls. I guess it kind of freaks me out."

"I know what you've been through."

"Don't," he warned tersely.

There were some subjects still off limits.

"How many times have I told you not to even get mixed up in it?"

"I know what I'm doing."

"Really? You could have fooled me because it really doesn't look that way right now. It's not a good idea for anybody. If you really like her then I guess you can't help that. But if it is real, then it's not fair of you to keep yanking her chain like that and hurting her feelings. Did you know she was considering leaving?"

Nathan's blue eyes widened considerably.

"What?"

"Yeah. Do you blame her?"

"When? Did she tell you that? Why? What exactly did she say, Peyton?"

"She was very upset. Things ended pretty badly between you guys and she thought leaving was best for everyone."

"Well, did she?" he asked anxiously.

"I don't think so. Brooke was trying to talk her out of it."

"And you?"

"I did as well."

"Do you think it did any good?"

"I don't know. I hope so."

"Dammitt."

"Nathan…"

"What am I supposed to do? Huh?"

"Normally I would say you have to stop it now."

"It's a little too late for that one, Peyton."

"I know."

"So now what?"

"Man up. Do the right thing. Apologize and I don't mean mutter you're sorry with some candy ass excuse. Really apologize and mean it. You owe her that."

"Shit," Nathan reached for his phone.

"Not like that," Peyton scolded. "Not over the phone. It's gonna take a lot more than that this time. She needs to look in your eyes and you need to look into hers."

Nathan nodded. He knew she was right.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because she's good for you. She's good for us. Maybe you don't understand that right now but one day you will. You can't keep shitting all over people and getting away with it. And doing it in the name of protecting her doesn't make it better just like it doesn't make it better when your dad pulls his stunts trying to so called protect you. You're running out of time, Nate. And you're running out of chances, too."

Nathan tapped his fingers against the arm rest. He had made a real mess of things this time. He had hurt Haley. He had hurt her enough to make her want to leave. That in itself made him sick to his stomach. He didn't want her to go. In fact, it was the last thing he wanted. And now it was up to him to make it right. But how?