Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters

Thanks for the reviews ya'll(: and I'm sorry I haven't been updating anything, I've been sick for awhile and busy with school, but I'm on break now so hopefully I can get some writing in! Happy Holidays to ya'll(:

Chapter 3: Nobody Does It Better

Laying in his bed he let his thoughts race through his head. For the life of him he couldn't seem to slow them down. All he wanted to do was get out of the bed he was currently occupying and march down the hall towards Haley's room. He didn't exactly know what he would do when he got there, or what he would say, but he just knew that he wanted to see her. Or talk to her. Well, if he was being honest he wanted to do a lot more than that, but he couldn't.

Nathan glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 2 in the morning. He wasn't tried at all. He couldn't sleep. Every time he shut his eyes they popped back open. He threw the blanket off himself and got out of bed before walking towards the door. He threw it open and looked down the hall. No one was awake. He made his way down the long hallway and towards the stairs. Once he made his way down them he continued down another hallway towards the room where the pool was. When he opened the door he saw the large pool that was completely motionless.

He walked along the light blue tiled floor and towards the stereo system. He pressed a few bottoms and music boomed through the room. He knew that it wouldn't be heard anywhere else. Except Haley's room. He smirked before turning back towards the pool. He pushed his black boxer's off and jumped in the pool. He feel of the cold water on his skin surprised him, but it wasn't long until he got used to it.

After a few minutes he got out of the water and grabbed a towel from a near by chair and wrapped it around his neck. He ran it over his air leaving it damp. After a few minutes he heard the thick glass door open and he turned his head and saw Haley standing near it. Her long hair was swept over her shoulder and she wore a pair of green pajama shorts with a loose white tank top. Under it he could see her black bra.

Haley looked around the room waiting until she saw Nathan. She gasped when she saw his naked form standing near the stereo on the other side of the pool. "I'm so sorry," she said turning to look away from him. Nathan smirked and dropped the towel onto the ground.

"It's ok," he said, "just let me put my suit back on."

He watched as she continued to face the wall. He smirked again before jumping back in the pool. She turned around a few seconds later and then walked towards the gold railing that lead down into the water. She leaned against it and said, "do you know that your music is playing in every room of the house?"

"It isn't," Nathan said, "just yours."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Of course."

She walked over to the stereo and looked at the buttons before hitting one that turned off the music. She sent another look in his direction before turning back towards the door. She started to walk towards it. "Goodnight Nathan."

"Wait," he said, "why don't you join me?"

"I'm not wearing a swim suit," she answered and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're wearing your underwear aren't you?" he asked. He saw the look that crossed her face. It said that he was crazy and there was no way she was going to strip down to her underwear in front of him. "What?" he said, "look, I won't look," he said turning in the water so his back was facing her.

Haley ran her hands through her hair. Every part of her was screaming at her to turn towards the door and walk away from him. She was not the kind of girl who did things like that. It just wasn't her. Besides, she knew what kind of a guy he was. She'd been warned about him. But there was also something inside of her that told her to do it. What was going to happen? Nothing that she didn't want. She sighed before grabbing the end of her tank top and pulling it over her head. She dropped it to the ground before undoing the tie on her pajama shorts. She pushed them down her legs and tried to push away her nervousness as well.

She walked towards the stairs that lead into the water and she began to make her way into the cold water. She held her breath as she felt the water come up over her chest. When she released the breath she'd been holding she saw Nathan turn around and face her. Something about the way that he was looking at her got her heart racing again. It wasn't the typical smirk that he'd been wearing since she met him, only hours earlier, but there was a seriousness in his eyes.

Nathan watched as she hesitantly made her way towards him. He could tell that she was nervous to be around him. His eyes swept over her, what he could see of her at least. There were goose bumps covering the skin he could see. Her long blonde hair was beginning to submerge more in the water the closer she got to him. Her face was free of any make up that she might have been wearing before. She had her bottom lip between her teeth while she watched him. He could feel his heart racing in his chest. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked after a minute.

"Like what?" he asked.

"I don't know. Different than before."

He sent her a crooked smile and shrugged his shoulders. "I was just noticing how beautiful you are."

She rolled her eyes, "what a line. Do you use that on all the other girls too?"

"What other girls?"

"All the girls that you've lied to, to get them to have sex with you. The girls that you promise the world to."

She moved around in the water and he counted her movement with his own. "Don't you think you could at least tell me who it is that's telling you all these things about me?"

Nathan was really pissed that someone would go as far as to send her some letter telling her what a bad person he was. Whoever this person was must have really hated him. But it made no sense. Who would do that? They were really causing damage to him in Haley's eyes and he didn't know how he was going to fix it. He needed her to trust him or he wasn't going to get anywhere with her.

"I can't do that."

"You mean you won't."

"That too."

"I'm not a bad person Haley," Nathan said, "whatever that person told you…"

"You'll have to prove that to me."

"Well I must have a little bit of your trust. Or if I don't, there's still something about me that you like. Or you wouldn't be right here with me right now."

Haley knew he was right. But she would never admit that to him. She didn't even know what it was about him that drew her in. All she knew was that if she were smart, she'd stay away from him. But apparently she wasn't very smart. The voice in her head was telling her to get out of the pool and go back to bed. Telling her that he was bad news. But she couldn't seem to move away from him. Even when he moved closer to her, she could hardly get herself to take a small step back.

Nathan reached a hand out towards her and tentatively grabbed at her waist. The feel of her smooth skin in his hand surprised him. He was sure that she would have moved away from him. He moved closer to her again and pulled her towards him. It wasn't long before her body was flush against his. He smirked as he saw the nervous look cross her face. He was sure that this wasn't her thing. She wasn't the type of girl to just strip down to her underwear and go for a round of midnight swimming with a boy she'd just met. And he was positive that she didn't spend much time alone in rooms with naked guys. Her hands went to his shoulders and she gently pushed away from him.

"What?" he asked.

"I have a boyfriend."

"So?"

"So," she said, "this isn't ok. I shouldn't be here with you like this."

"We're not doing anything wrong."

"It feels pretty wrong to me."

She moved through the water towards the stairs and climbed back up them. She could feel the blush painting her skin as she went to grab her clothes that she'd dropped earlier. When she turned around she saw Nathan blatantly checking her out. Her blush intensified as she pulled her pajama shorts back on over her legs and pulled her tank top on over her wet skin. "I'll see you later Nathan," she said as she opened the door and walked out.

Nathan let out a frustrated groan. That was not how he pictured tonight going. He thought she would have let him get a little farther. Every other girl would have. But it was becoming quite obvious that Haley James was not every other girl. And as much as he hated that fact, it was also kind of sexy. He liked that she didn't fall at his feet at the drop of a hat like any other girl. It was also sexy that she didn't take his bullshit. He'd never met a girl like that before. Plus, that girl had a serious ass.

Nathan dunked himself under the water trying to clear his head. If he thought trying to sleep was hard before, there was no way he'd be able to now.

Rachel sat at the table in the restaurant that she'd been at for the last hour. She agreed to meet Katherine and Bevin for lunch. Of course she would have much rather found something else to do with her time, but whatever. If she was going to get them to love her, she had to play the part of the girl with the heart of an angel. But to say that she was bored out of her mind was an understatement. Katherine had been talking the whole time about Bevin's cello lessons and how excited she was for her to be starting at Manchester in the fall. All things Rachel already knew.

But Rachel couldn't help but wonder if Katherine knew about Bevin's little crush on her cello instructor. She didn't know how she could not. It was incredibly obvious to Rachel the second she walked into the room the day before. Anyone with eyes would have seen what she had seen. But Katherine was probably too caught up in herself to notice anything like that. Rachel knew what it was like to have a mother who didn't give a shit about you. Who cared more about the reputation that you carried around more than the person you really were.

Rachel almost felt bad for Bevin. Almost, but not really.

She might have felt worse if Mommy's Little Princess over there hadn't been the reason for Rachel's humiliation. Of course Bevin had no idea that Damien had dumped Rachel and she probably wouldn't ever know. Rachel actually preferred it that way. She didn't want the news that Damien West dumped Rachel Gatina for Bevin Mirskey to get out. She would be even more humiliated than before. It would have been the end of her, she was sure of it.

When Katherine's phone rang she excused herself from the table and took the call outside. Rachel took that as her opportunity to talk to Bevin about Skills. "So," Rachel began, "your cello instructor seems really nice."

"Oh Antwon?" Bevin said, her face lighting up, "he's great."

"You really like him don't you?"

"Yeah, he's awesome. He's only 19 but he plays better than most people twice his age. He's going to Julliard in the fall. He's amazing."

"Seems like it," Rachel said. She cleared her throat and rested her elbows on the table before interlocking her fingers. "So, how are things with Damien? I hear you two are going strong."

Bevin shrugged, "things are fine."

"You must be so excited about the fact that he's showing some interest in you."

"Yeah I guess," she said, "but he always talks about the girl he was dating before. It's kind of annoying."

That peaked Rachel's interest. Damien brought her up a lot? Well maybe he was finally seeing that he had made the wrong choice. "Really?" she asked, "what's he saying about her?"

"Mostly he's glad to be rid of her. He always says things about her being some drugged up head case."

Rachel dropped her hands to the table with a slam. A few people at tables around them glanced over. She laughed a little and smoothed out the table cloth before turning her attention back to Bevin. "A drugged up head case huh?" she said, "well then you have nothing to worry about. He's clearly falling for you."

"It's whatever," Bevin said, running her finger over the rim of her water glass.

"You have a crush on your cello instructor don't you?" Rachel said suddenly.

Bevin looked back up at her. There was surprise clearly evident on her face and Rachel couldn't help but smirk. The look on her face gave it all away. She might as well have just yelled to the whole room about how she felt for him. "How did you know that?" Bevin asked.

"Oh come on," Rachel said, "I mean it was pretty obvious."

"Do you think my mom knows?" Bevin asked, "she would be furious."

"Trust me," Rachel said and pushed her red hair behind her ears, "she doesn't know a thing." Bevin looked relieved. "If you want to get closer to him, I can help you with that."

"Really?"

Nathan pulled up in front of the large modern looking house. Most of it was glass paneling and he could see inside of it. He didn't really want to be here. It wasn't really his idea of a good time. He would have much rather been around Haley. But here he was, at Chris Keller's house. He sighed before shutting off his car and stepping out. He hoped he could make this a quick visit.

He walked along the sidewalk until he made his way to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited for it to be answered. When the door opened he saw Chris standing on the other side. He was wearing a tight pair of jeans and a button up shirt with a bright pattern. From the looks of his hair it appeared that he used the whole thing of gel in his hair that morning. He smiled when he saw Nathan and leaned back against the door frame. "Well, well," Chris said, "I'll be damned. What the fuck is Nathan Scott doing standing at my door?"

"Hey Chris," Nathan said, "um I actually came here for some help from you."

"Help from me?" Chris said and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's weird cuz the last time I saw you, it was when you threw your fist into my face and called me a fag. Now I find it hard to believe that you would have any sort of problem that you would need my help with."

"I'm really sorry about that Chris," Nathan said and looked down at the ground before looking back up at him, "I was out of line. I was really drunk."

"Mhmm," Chris said, "I remember that too."

"Look," Nathan said, "I know you probably hate me, but I really do need your help with something."

"The Keller doesn't hold grudges," Chris said, "so… what can I help you with?"

Chris moved out of the way and back into his house. Nathan followed after him shutting the door behind him. Chris walked into a large living room and sat down on the bench next to the large piano that occupied a lot of the space in the room. Nathan took a seat on the couch and faced him. "Well," Nathan said, "if I remember correctly, you always kind of knew a lot about people and I was wondering, how much do you know about Haley James?"

"Haley James huh?" Chris said, "why you got a jones for her?"

"So what if I do?"

"I'm just surprised. She doesn't really seem like your type."

"Can you just tell me what you know about her?"

"I met her at orientation last month. I'm sure you already know she's the new headmaster's daughter. We went out to lunch and I got to know her pretty well. She's definitely your typical virgin. So if you're planning on trying to get in her pants, it's probably not gonna happen. Sorry to tell ya."

"You wouldn't happen to know who it is that would send her a letter bad mouthing me, do you?"

"If you're implying that it was me," Chris said, "you're wrong. Trust me I don't waste my time with things like that."

Nathan nodded, "well someone did."

"And you don't know who?"

"Trust me if I did that person would be in a great deal of pain right now."

"Well that sure is a puzzle," Chris said before strumming his fingers over a few keys on the piano.

Nathan leaned back into the couch, "no shit," he said and covered his face with his hands before letting out a sigh. "Who do I know that would have a big enough problem with me to bad mouth me to her. Do I even know anyone who's close enough with her to send her a letter like that?"

Chris continued to run his fingers over the keys before something came to him. He turned on the bench and faced Nathan. "What about your cousin?"

Nathan sat up again and looked at Chris. "Lucas?" Nathan asked. "I mean maybe. I did sleep with Peyton last year after homecoming."

Chris laughed, "you know I don't think he really had a problem with that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Lucas doesn't exactly play for the boys team."

Nathan thought about if for a minute then let out a laugh. "You're telling me that Luke is gay?" Nathan laughed again, "no way."

"Oh, yes way. Trust me I would know."

Nathan thought for a moment before speaking again. "Ok," Nathan said, "but so what? That doesn't mean he sent anything to Haley. I mean do they even know each other?"

"You really don't know anything about your own family do you?" Chris said, "Lucas and Haley are old friends. She told me that they've known each other since they were kids."

Nathan couldn't believe he didn't know that. He would have thought that maybe she would have mentioned that to him. Or that Karen would have mentioned that to him. But then at the same time he wasn't surprised. She was staying with his aunt. Karen was Lucas's mom. He shouldn't have been as surprised as he was.

"Do you think that he would send that letter?"

"I don't know," Chris said, "you'd be surprised at what people do."

"Do you think you can arrange a meeting for him me and him tonight?" Nathan asked.

"Don't think this isn't going to cost you," Chris said with a smirk on his face. Nathan rolled his eyes before pulling out his wallet and pulling out a 100. He dropped it onto the table next to him and looked back up at Chris.

"That should cover it."

Chris shrugged, "I like that watch of yours too."

Nathan looked down at his wrist and then back up at Chris. "No way in hell."

"It was worth a shot."

Nathan stood up and walked back towards the door. "I'll be back tonight, say midnight?"

"That sounds good."

Nathan opened the door and walked out of the house before turning around and looking back at Chris. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

Nathan walked back out to his car before getting inside. He put the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. He couldn't believe that his own cousin would have something to do with this. He didn't know what he would have done to him to make him write a letter to Haley bad mouthing him. But he was sure as hell going to find out. This was why Nathan never trusted anyone. Everyone proved eventually why they couldn't be trusted. Even family.