Hello Again! I want to thank everyone for your input on the polls and for the wonderful reviews. I want to especially thank

coupling-all-the-time for your own idea of what chapter four should be titled. I didn't use it however because I think it would work better for an up-coming chapter. There is another poll at the end so please vote! Read and Review! :-)

"Peyton never had a chance."

"What?"

"She is nothing compared to you."

I see the sincerity in his eyes and all I want to do is kiss him and never let go, but then I remember. Felix. I finally talked to him yesterday and I told him that I couldn't marry him. He disagreed. He said that he understood I needed time, but that I will eventually marry him.

Whether I like it...or not.

"I'm sorry Nathan." I say as I start swimming for shore.

"Wait!"

"Haley!"

I just continue swimming as the tears start falling and Nathan is behind me trying to catch up.

I make it to shore and grab a random towel that was lying on the sandy beach and start drying off. Wet, hot tears are still falling down uncontrolably. I hear Nathan start walking towards me and I try to run away, but he grabs me and turns me so I am looking at him.

"What are you sorry for?" he asks confused.

"I'm engaged."

He just looks at me. His eyes are empty. I look away because it's to hard to look him in the face.

"What do you mean your engaged?"

"I'm getting married in two months. His name is Felix." I say ashamed.

"Then what's with us?"

"There is no us. There's a me and there's a you, but no us."

I look up and there, present in his eyes, are tears. When I first met Nathan in that graveyard two days ago, I never would have guessed I would ever see him cry. I hate to see him cry. The tears don't do his handsome face justice. I have to look away.

"Where is he?" he says with pure jealousy shining through his eyes.

"I want to met this punk also known as your fiance!" he yells at me.

"He's not here. He is in Tree Hill. It's a small town in North Carolina."

"Right. Of course."

"So why aren't you with him?" he asks.

"It's a long, long story."

"Well, I have nothing better to do. This party sucks ass anyways." he says while looking me in the eyes.

I laugh and at first he just sat there and I understood. I was mad at myself too. But then, he joined in and I was happy to see that the tears were gone and instead, were replaced with a smile. He had that twinkle in his eyes again too.

"So, you gonna tell me this long, long story or what?"

The akwardness is back and I just look down. He asks again and so I tell him. I tell him everything, how scared I am, how I don't want to marry Felix, why I ran away, and my feelings for him. Yes, I told Nathan that I liked him. A lot.

"But you are engaged." he says after I tell him.

"Yeah, but I only have one month until I have to go back to Tree Hill, and I don't want to spend it lying to everyone about my feelings. I do that enough already. So, I will say it again. I like you Nathan Scott. A lot."

He smiles, then says, "Well, I like you too Haley James. A lot."

We both laugh and he leans in.

"Nathan, I like you but I think we should just get to know each other first. As friends. I am still engaged you know." I say while turning the other way. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings.

"I know, I know. I was just going to give you a friendly kiss because we are friends and that is what friends do." he states slowly.

"You kiss all you friends?'' I ask while laughing.

"Yep."

"Even that Tim Smith dude?''

I laugh harder when I see the pure look of horror on Nathan's face. He is turning slightly green and start crying because I am laughing so hard.

"That is not even funny Hales. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit." he says while spitting in the ocean.

"But you said you kiss all your friends?" I say innocently.

"Ok, I lied. You caught me. I've just never been turned down before and it's a wee bit embarressing." he says while showing me how embarressing it is with his fingers.

"Really? I never would have guessed?"

"Yeah, Yeah. Laugh it up."

"Oh I will, but first, let's get dried up and out of these wet clothes. Brooke is going to kill me." I say.

"Brooke is the one that is dating Lucas right?" he asks.

"Yeah, that's Brooke. She dressed me tonight in her clothes because I apparently don't have style. She is going to freak when she sees me."

"Yeah sorry about that." Nathan says while trying not to laugh.

"I hope you don't get into to much trouble."

"It's ok. I think it was worth it."

I smile at him and he smiles back. We just sit there for a while admiring the ocean and how perfect and beautiful everything is at the moment.

"Well, what do you say about drying off?" he asks.

"I say it is about time you asked!" I say joking.

We both get up and start walking to the gorgeous beach house when suddenly he bumps me with his hip. I look at him and he pretends to be looking at something else.

You wanna play that way huh? Game on Nathan Scott! Haley Elise James never loses!

I playfully bump him back and he looks at me with a "what did I do" look on his face. We both start laughing and then out of the blue he says...

"Race you to the house!" and starts running.

"Oh you are SO on!" I yell back and start after him.

Unfortunatly, my short legs can't go as far and fast as Nathan's long ones. So, I lose. But it was fun. Being with Nathan is always fun.

A while later we are both inside and drying off. We came across a small problem when we saw Lucas and Brooke making out by the front door, but Nathan helped me climb through a window that lead to his bedroom. On the second floor! I know that it seems crazy, but I felt so alive, so happy.

I am falling hard and falling fast for Nathan Scott...

So, there is chapter five! This chapter has more of a friendly banter between Nathan and Haley because I really want them to have a place to build off of and not just have them fall in love right away. I liked writing all the joking between the two and I can't wait to continue this story. If you have any input at all, let me know.

POLL

What should the title of this chapter be?

A) Falling Hard and Falling Fast

B) Friendly Friends

C) I Never Lose

Should Haley stay the night at Nathan's beach house? (they will NOT DO anything)

A) No

B) Yes

Again! If you have any ideas on what you want to happen in the next chapter, let me know and I will consider all of them. I want you guys to get what you want out of this story, so tell me what you want.