Okay, i'm sure you guys must hate me...believe me, I would too. Just, life happens ya know? Not to mention the fact that i had this insanely long writers block. Well anyway, now that I've got a little more time on my hands and my head on a little straighter, I can finally update! Just know that I don't want to give up on this story, in all honesty I love it. Anyway, for those of you still reading, enjoy...Oh, and everything italicized is Haley's personal thoughts.

Chapter 11

"Go for him, save him, run-nooooo." I wake up in a sweat, sitting straight up in Brooke's guest bed. I hadn't had a nightmare in a long time, and this one was a bad one. In it, Nathan and I had gotten married and were on our way to our honeymoon when Rachel drove us off the road, drunk as hell. However it was on the middle of a bridge, and our limo crashed into the water. Nathan and I were both underwater, but rescuers only saw me, only saved me. They didn't believe me when I told them Nathan was still in there. They didn't even check.

It took me a minute to collect my bearings and clear my head. It was just a bad dream. Normally, when I used to have those, Nathan would wrap me in his arms until I fell back asleep. Except nowadays, there is no Nathan next to me to protect me.

"How is the situation with Nathan?" You might ask. The answer is, pretty good. It's not like we're back to being as close as we used to be, he's still with Rachel, but at least we talk and hang out now. I haven't seen him in a few days though, his parents whisked him off to his Grandparents for Thanksgiving. Our parents aren't coming home for the holiday though, last I knew they were somewhere in France. Lovely. So we spent Thursday at Peyton's house, filling up on turkey and mashed potatoes. It was like an orphaned Thanksgiving, the 3 of us and Brooke, enjoying a parentless holiday.

So it's been me and Rach for the past few days, and in all honesty I'm bored out of my mind. All she talks about is clothes, or sex, or how I need a boyfriend. And if I hear one more story about her and Nathan I do believe I'm going to scream. She could go on and on for hours about how amazing of a guy he is. Hello, I noticed it first. I just didn't react.

And you never will.

I check the alarm clock next to me, six thirty on a Saturday morning. And I definitely can't sleep now. There's no point in waiting for Brooke to wake up, that could take all day, I might as well go home. Quickly I scribble a note out to her saying I'll see her later, and creep out of the house. Driving back to my house, I realize what hell Nathan must be in right now because of his grandparents. I pull into the driveway wishing that I could be there to comfort him during his nightmare, which unfortunately just happens to be a reality.

I put my key in the lock and quietly shut the door behind me. I walk down the hall careful not to wake up Rachel; she's absolute hell to deal with in the morning. Heading in the direction of the kitchen, I hear faint traces of pots and pans clattering. This must be a record, she's never up this early. My curiosity gets the best of me as I walk in the kitchen and see a multitude of food cooking on the stove. There's plate upon plate of omelets and hashbrowns and toast. A figure appears out from the other side of the open fridge door.

"Rach, I didn't picture you as a morning pers- oh." An insanely hot guy says as he shuts the fridge door. "My bad. My name's Cooper, you must be Haley."

Ok, what the fuck is going on here? Who is this gorgeous guy, why did he think I was Rachel, how does he know my name, and why is he only in a towel?

My eyes graze down his tanned abs to the white towel gracing his hips. Whoa, this guy is fine. He's got dark hair and gloriously green eyes, and perfect white teeth. My breath catches in my throat for a minute until I realize I'm staring.

"Oh, um, yeah. I'm Haley." I say, still confused as hell as why this demi-god is in my kitchen this early on a Saturday morning.

He flashes me a perfect smile and continues to cook.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but what are you doing here?" I finally ask, feeling slightly naked in my shorts and tank top. Of course, when it comes to a lack of clothes award, this guy takes the cake.

"I'm Rachel's boyfriend, I go to Duke. I was actually supposed to drive back there last night but the weather kinda sucked so Rach had me come back here. Not that I minded too much." He winked. Right now my mind is racing. Nathan and Rachel broke up? But when? Why? I hear movement on the stairs and realize that my half-sister is indeed awake. She walks into the kitchen, "Hey bab-" She freezes. And looks slightly uncomfortable, not to mention that she too is underdressed, wearing only this guy's shirt. "Haley, hey." For a moment she looks like a deer caught in the headlights, yet she manages to play it off nicely. Then the pieces in my head finally begin to come together. Random images float inside my head for a moment; Cooper with his golden abs wearing only a towel, Rachel looking nervous, Cooper's announcement that he's dating Rachel. The picture I see most clearly in my mind though, is Nathan sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner with his parents, completely unaware that his girlfriend is two-timing him with some college kid.

"Can I uh, talk to you for a minute?" She asks, biting on her bottom lip like she normally does when she gets caught doing something she knows is wrong. Without waiting for my reply, she latches onto my arm and pulls me down the hallway and into the living room. Closing the doors behind her, she finally turns to face me. "Cooper is just a friend. We got drunk last night, thought it was unsafe for him to drive back, so he crashed here. That's all."

I roll my eyes. "Okay, now the truth please."

Rachel looks somewhat regretful. "Okay, so I'm kind of seeing him too. But I still care a lot about Nathan. You won't tell him will you?" At this point she's practically begging me.

"Wait. You accuse Nathan of cheating on you, when all this time you've been stabbing him in the back?" I ask angrily.

She seems more composed now. "Well, it's not like we ever said we were exclusive."

:"Like that solves anything. Nathan is my best friend Rach, I have to tell him." My tone is definitely sarcastic.

"You barely hang with him anymore! And, I'm your sister Hales, blood is thicker than water!"

"We're step-sisters Rach, blood isn't involved."

"Same-dif girlie. Pretty please don't tell him though? I just need time." She's pleading with me now, quite an unfamiliar sight. I can't help but give in.

"Fine. But you're gonna have to tell him sooner or later, otherwise I will. Nathan doesn't deserve this." She doesn't hear the last part though, she's already got her arms wrapped around my neck. "Thanks so much Hales! I love you!" Then she skips out of the room, quite an unpleasant sight for me, considering the fact she's only wearing Cooper's shirt. She sticks her head through the door again, "Quite a catch, isn't he? Cooper. Plus, he's a fucking god in the sack." She winks as I groan. Falling back in a chair, I wonder what the hell I'm going to do.

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It's later in the day now. It's only just starting to get dark now, and I feel my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. It's a text from Nathan, asking if we can hang. Since the cheating cat came out of the bag this morning, Rachel went back to Duke with Cooper. I quickly text him back saying he can come over.

Two minutes later I hear a knock on my bedroom window. I open it up to find him on the other side, looking more handsome that ever. And he's just wearing a shirt and jeans.

"What are you doing? You know my parents aren't home. The front door is totally accessible." I tell him as he crawls in through the window.

"I figured. But I just wanted to see you, no one else." He says, referring to Rachel.

"Well, I'm glad you came back bruise-less this time." I joke. "And no worries, Rachel's at - Theresa's house for the night." I lie quickly, and feel instant guilt. This time, he catches something.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I reply. Damn it. I'm such a bad liar.

"Whatever." He says, shaking it off. "So we have the house to ourselves?" He hints suggestively, winking at me.

"Oh yeah." I play along. "Wanna watch a movie?" Already knowing what his answer will be, I walk towards my shelf and scan through my list of movies. Picking one out, I turn around to see him already settled on my bed.

Just like the old days. I smile to myself. Nathan looks up and catches me.

"What?"

"Nothing." I reply, and put the movie in. I settle on the bed next to him, and he wraps his arm around underneath me so that I'm leaning into the crook of his neck almost.The previews start playing and he looks to me. "It's nice, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"This. It's like how it used to be." He smiles, and I can't help but return it.

It's the way it's supposed to be.

I snuggle in as the movie begins to play. I decided to watch Click, with Adam Sandler, because I figure that we've had enough drama lately, some that he doesn't even know about, and we both need a little comedy. I have never seen it before, otherwise I probably would've picked something that had me laughing, rather than crying by the end. Which is exactly how I am at the end of the movie.

The credits start rolling and Nathan tilts his head towards me. "Hales, it's just a movie." He says this after every movie where I cry, or am scared, or just plain happy at the results.

"I know!" I say with tears sparkling in my eyes. "But he, his life was almost completely wasted. He never got to watch his kids grow up, or tell his one true love that he still loved her! It's so sad."

His eyes go cloudy for a minute, like he's still staring at me, but not actually seeing me.

"Nathan?" I ask, wiping a few tears from my eyes. He shakes whatever he was thinking from his thoughts and smiles.

"I don't know. The duck thing was pretty funny." I hit him lightly and shake my head, but inside I'm agreeing.

I reach over him to grab the remote, and glance at the clock. It's only ten thirty, yet I'm extremely exhausted. Behind me, I hear Nathan stifle a yawn. "Damn, when we did we become so old?" He jokes, and I move back to my spot next to him, inhaling his scent once again. It's so hard to believe that Rachel could cheat on such an amazing guy.

"You sure you're okay Hales?" He asks, pulling me from my thoughts once again.

"Fine." I reply with a small smile.

"Did something happen this weekend? You seem different." He states worriedly.

"No. Well, yeah. I guess. My parents didn't come home." I answer. Honestly this bothered me a bit, not that I wasn't used to it or anything, but my parents were never away during the holidays. He's still looking at me, making me realize that he wants me to continue on.

"I don't know. I just, it just feels like they don't even know me anymore, let alone care to. I'm always trying to get them to notice me, just be proud of me for one second and I'd know it'd be worth it. But, they don't even care anymore. I just feel like I' m not enough to keep them around, or I push them away." By now I'm full on crying, so maybe this did affect more so than I thought it did. Nathan just wraps his other arm around me, pulling me even closer into his body.

"Hales, you're amazing. You're smart, witty, insanely beautiful, and you try so damn hard to impress your parents. If they don't notice you now, it's their loss. I just wish you'd realize how incredible you are. You're parents don't know what they're missing out on." He whispers into my ear, running his hand through my hair and up and down my back, giving me chills.

I pull away for a second. "Do you really mean that?"

He brushes a stray tear from my eye and I notice his are heavy again. "Every word." Then slowly, he bends down and kisses me lightly. Not on the forehead, not on my cheek, completely on my lips. He continues for a second, then pulls away, never taking his eyes off of mine. We stare into each other for a few moments, viewing each others' reaction, then I wrap my hand around the back of his neck and lean up as he leans down. We kiss again, this time with more certainty. I've dreamed about kissing him for so long, and now that it's finally happening, it feels better than I ever could've expected.

He continues to kiss me, and moves to adjust himself so that he's on top of me. I place both hands on the back of his head and pull him closer to me. It's feels so natural to be here with him, right now, doing nothing but feeling the heat of this kiss coursing through both of us. It's like all the drama, all the space between us, everything I feel about, is being thrown into this kiss. And I never want it to end.

Slowly Nathan removes one of his hands from my hips and uses it to slide my shirt up. Feeling his hand on my bare abdomen only gives me more energy and I moan slightly. I then move my hands and use them to slide his t-shirt off. Much to my disappointment he has to pull away for me to slide it off over his head. I pull mine off after and throw it on the floor. He straddles me, his eyes never leaving mine, and just for a second, I fear that he's regretting everything. If he is, he doesn't show it, especially when he leans forward again, smiling, capturing my lips once more. His hands roam my body as i use one of my hands to play with the hair on the back of his head.

I feel him unclasp my bra, and all thoughts of anything leave my head. Rachel is so far out of the picture I couldn't tell you who she is. There's something so incredibly sexy about thinking about Nathan and I making out topless on my bed, each of us wearing nothing but jeans. I run my hands up and down his six pack abs and smile into the kiss. His hands are running through my hair, our bare chests pushed together as if they were never supposed to be separated. I use one of my hands to undo his belt, feeling all of him beneath his jeans. He moans into the kiss, making me melt.

God, he's so sexy.

I undo his belt and unzip his jeans. He moves his hands to reciprocate the action. He slides my jeans down a little, massaging the skin above my underwear. I start to slide down his pants when all of the sudden I feel my phone vibrate. Nathan jumps from the shock of it, and panting, I struggle to answer. Trying to even out my breathing, I answer the phone. Standing up, I begin to pace the room.

"Heyyy ho. What's up?" Rachel asks, obviously drunk. I suddenly begin to feel really guilty.

"Not much Rach." I say, not elaborating at all. Nathan looks up, seems like he's coming to his senses too.

"You sound out of breath." She giggles. "Have you finally got a boyfriend?" Apparently this is hilarious to her, because she's laughing her ass off now.

"Uh, no. I was just rushing to get to the phone." I lie, and catch his gaze again. He moves to get up and begins to fasten his belt back together as Rachel keeps mindlessly babbling into my ear.

"That's nice Rach, but I'm uh- really tired, I got to go." I say quickly and hang up before she can reply. Nathan's searching the room for his shirt and shoes, and I put my bra back on. After, I effortlessly slide my shirt back on, and look at him.

"Look, I've got to go." He says, the first actual words we've said to each other in an hour.

"Nate." I begin helplessly, but I honestly don't know what to say. He looks at me again, and I know he's feeling exactly what I'm feeling. At least for a moment anyway, because a second later he changes his expression.

"Look, we just got caught up in the moment, right? I mean, I was just comforting you, and then...yeah. It was just one friend helping out another one, it didn't mean anything." His tone isn't mean, it's soft and gentle and reasonable, but the words bite at me like a blizzard.

His words sting, and it takes all I can do to not start crying again. I just shake my head. "I can't believe you." Defeated, I sit down on my bed, where minutes ago, Nathan and I were perfectly content.

He sits down next to me, careful to keep his distance. "Hales..." But I just shake my head again.

"I think you should go." He doesn't protest. Instead he gets up and and walks towards the window, turning around to try again. "I cheated on my girlfriend Haley, your sister. She doesn't deserve this." And with this he leaves. I wait until I hear his car peel out of the driveway and down the road to start crying. And not just any type of crying; I mean full on sobbing, crying my eyes out, type of crying. I rip my sheets off the bed, unable to even use the same blankets because he was all over them, we were all over them.

He didn't mean it, any of it. He thinks this kiss was a mistake, he likes my sister, not me. He'll sleep with my sister, not me. He wishes it never happened. He regrets this.

Maybe I don't because I know Rachel is doing the exact same thing to him, if not something much worse.

And with this, I fall asleep wondering how something I've longed for for so long could become such a nightmare.