Sorry everyone for the long wait on this chapter.. I have just came home from two weeks with relatives (a nightmare I'll tell you) over Christmas.. I have also been getting ready for year 12 this year..

Not to mention not being able to find inspiration for this chapter..

I'm also sorry to say that this is the last chapter I'm going to write (but not the end of the story) I am willing to leave it for you people to continue on.. Please send me the chapter you would like me to put on and I'll see what I can do..

Oh and

THANK YOU - FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS

Hayley's P.O.V

There was absolutely no way of escaping the news of Nathan's engagement as I walked to work each morning. The streets were lined with vendors selling papers with his face plastered on the covers, normally accompanied by the bright, smiling face of his brand new fiancé. The jewelry shop on the corner had a sign stretched across its window that proudly boasted that they carried a ring similar in design to the ring Nathan Scott had picked out for his bride-to-be. I heard rushed, excited conversations of giggling girls as they passed me on the street, often speculating where the location of the upcoming wedding might be. And once I stepped into my building each morning, I was bombarded with the latest gossip; sometimes the bolder women in the office would ask me how I felt about the whole thing, considering that I was his "first real love, after all."

It had been nearly three weeks since the engagement party; normally, the press would have moved on to a different story, something more current, but "Nathan Scott's" engagement was all Tree Hill could talk about.

"Miss James, there's a call for you on line two," said the receptionist over the intercom, her voice sounding a bit shaky.

I sighed, briefly turning my attention away from my computer screen. "Janice, could you please tell whoever it is that I'll get back with them later? I'm in the middle of something." Lie, I thought to myself with a sigh.

"Well - I would, Miss James, but - they've said it's urgent." She paused; I sighed once more, wanting nothing more than to throw the telephone out of the window.

"All right, put them through," I said a bit sharply. No sooner had the words left my lips when the phone rang, dull and quiet, vaguely reminding me of the waiting room in a doctor's office.

"This is Hayley James," I said into the receiver, my eyes drifting back to the computer screen. The case my father had given me was displayed across it.

"Hello," said a slightly muffled voice. I narrowed my eyes in confusion.

"Hello? How can I help you?" I said a bit louder; it sounded as though the person on the other end was in a bad reception area.

"Hayley?" the voice said, and suddenly it felt as though I had fallen into a pool of ice-cold water; I knew that voice all too well. "Hayley? It's me... it's Nathan."

I felt momentarily paralyzed; my voice seemed to have abandoned me. We sat in what felt like an eternity of silence when I finally said, "Oh...hi."

"Hi," he replied, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," I said automatically; it was a question I'd been asked repeatedly over the last three weeks. "Er...how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks." He paused. "Listen, I just wanted to ring you so I could apologize for my behavior at the party. I didn't mean to be so rude, it was just such a shock seeing you after so long, especially there..."

"No need to apologize," I said briskly; my stomach was doing flip-flops, but my voice remained calm, even cold. "I understand."

He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Hayley." Something in his tone made me think that he was apologizing for much more than the party.

"I know," I said, my voice warming slightly. "I, uh...well, congratulations on the engagement. I never did get a chance to tell you."

"Thanks," he said, "Congratulations on your new job."

My face flushed, "Thank you."

"So you're living in London now? Permanently?" he asked, almost out of nowhere.

"Yeah. Well, for awhile, anyway." There was a significant pause, seemingly indicating the end of the conversation. It had been too long, far too long, I knew, for the conversation to continue any longer; so much had happened over such a long period of time that it seemed impossible to catch up and go back all at once.

We said our good-byes, and I heard the click of his phone as he ended the call, but I waited to hang up until I heard nothing but a dark, dead silence.

"Rachel Gatina calling. Accept or ignore?"

I groaned as I looked at the glowing screen of my cell phone, Rachel's name printed glaringly across it. This was the second time she'd called in less than ten minutes; Peyton had tried to get through for a half-hour unsuccessfully. It wasn't that I was avoiding them - I just simply did not want to be bothered at the moment; I was currently inhaling another bowl of ice cream as I sat watching television. Reluctantly I chose "Accept" and said, "Hello?" somewhat grudgingly.

"It's about bloody time!" Rachel shouted loudly in my ear. "We've been trying to get through for ages!"

"I didn't hear the phone go off," I lied. "Sorry."

She paused. "Is this Hayley James I'm speaking to?"

"What kind of a stupid question is that?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Normally if I get snippy with you, you don't hesitate to give me a good telling-off," she replied, and I could tell she was smiling. "You didn't sound like yourself."

"I'm engrossed in soap operas - what can I say?" I laughed for what felt like the first time in days.

"Don't tell me soap operas have claimed another victim," she said with a groan.

"Oh, it has," I said, still chuckling. "But I'm sure you called for a reason other than to make fun of me for watching soap operas."

"Yes," she said; I could hear Peyton talking in the background. "We were wondering if you'd like to come to dinner with us tonight. I've reserved a private room at that new restaurant that just opened in town."

"Sure," I replied without really thinking about it; I felt as though I had been trapped in my flat for an eternity. I had mostly kept to myself since the engagement party; I didn't want to run the risk of running into Natalie in the hallways.

"Great!" Rachel said happily. "I'll have the car round at seven."

"Okay," I said, and we quickly hung up; I glanced at the clock, realizing with horror that it was nearly six already. My hair was, as usual, a mess and my face was a disaster. I hurriedly set to work.

The restaurant was a small building, but it was decorated beautifully in deep, warm shades of brown and gold. There were small, dim lights along the walls, but as we entered the private room Rachel had reserved, most of the light came from dozens of candles placed decoratively throughout the room. It was quite beautiful.

The table was large and circular, draped with a cloth of deepest gold. Much to my surprise, there were not three place settings upon the table, but six; I turned to question Rachel, but as I did so my question was answered for me. Standing in the doorway were Lucas, Jake, and (my stomach felt as though it had fallen directly to the floor) Nathan. I felt my face flush as Nathan's eyes landed upon me; for a moment, it felt like we were the same people we had been four years ago, but as soon as his eyes left mine I was sent crashing back into the present. My eyes darted toward Peyton, fury in my gaze, but she merely shrugged her shoulders and smiled at Jake, who had just given her a kiss. Rachel, too, refused to meet my eyes.

I wanted nothing more than to run from the restaurant, go back to my flat and hibernate under my blankets for the next hundred years, but instead I smiled and began saying hello to the new arrivals.

"Hayley," Jake said, kissing my cheek as we hugged. "It's been too long. You look wonderful."

"Thank you," I said, grinning. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Am I going to have to keep an eye on you two?" Peyton said jokingly from beside him, her hand lightly entwined with his.

I went about saying hello to Lucas, catching up with him a bit; I inclined my head toward Nathan and smiled, and he returned the gesture.

"Hi," he said from a few feet away, still smiling.

"Hi," I replied, my smile lingering on my lips. "I didn't know--"

But I was unable to continue as another presence entered the room. My stomach churned unpleasantly; it was Natalie, dressed in a flowy lilac dress, her auburn hair pulled away from her face. She smiled at everyone in the room as she joined Nathan, catching his hand in hers lightly.

"Sorry I'm late," she said to him. "Traffic was murder."

I could not help but stare at them; they looked, from a distance, how we might have looked if nothing had changed between us. Beside me, Lucas shifted uncomfortably, flashing me a very sympathetic smile; I ignored it.

"Oh, hello Natalie," said Rachel brightly, although I could tell from the look splashed across her face that she had not expected her to be there. "So lovely to see you!"

"I hope I'm not being too much of an imposition," Natalie said as we took our seats. "I was supposed to have dinner with my parents this evening, but our plans changed at the very last minute."

"We're happy to have you here," said Rachel, giving me an apologetic look as she did so. "I'll have the waiter bring another place setting."

"Hayley, I'm so glad you're here," Natalie said to me after we'd all ordered drinks. "I haven't seen you in the building lately."

You unbelievable bitch, I thought angrily to myself. Of course you haven't seen me in the building lately. Excuse the hell out of me if I don't want to be best friends with the woman who's marrying my ex-boyfriend.

But instead of vocalizing my thoughts, I said, "Yeah. I've been busy with work."

"Perhaps now isn't the time or place, but...I really want you to know that I had no idea that you and Nathan dated. If I had, I wouldn't have put you in such an uncomfortable position," she said to me, her blue eyes staring intently into mine. "I feel so horrible."

I felt as though a fire was raging fiercely inside of my chest, hot and sharp; I wanted to yell at her, scream at her, grab her hand and yank it out of Nathan's tight, protective grasp...

"Of course you didn't realize," I said calmly, a complete contrast to the fire burning in my veins. "How could you have known?"

The tension around the table was palpable; everyone looked uncomfortable and uneasy. Peyton and Rachel were watching me worriedly; I knew that they were almost as surprised as I was about the way I was handling the situation.

Natalie gave me a small smile. "I truly hope that we can be friends, Hayley. What happened with you and Nathan was a long time ago...I know that you both have completely moved on since then." She emphasized her point by looking at Nathan and squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"Of course," I said, smiling back. "I'm sure you and I are going to be great friends." Lucas coughed and Nathan flashed me an odd look; it seemed as though everyone had caught the sarcastic undertone in my statement but Natalie.

She smiled, but there was something different in it this time. "Well, now that that's settled...everyone, Nathan and I have set the date!"

Nathan grinned uncomfortably and his cheeks tinged pink; I knew that this was something he had probably wanted to tell his friends personally. Natalie didn't seem too quick to pick up on this, however; she continued on without a glance in his direction.

"We've decided to get married on the 17th of June," she said excitedly, finally looking in Nathan's direction as she beamed widely. He smiled, his eyes twinkling as he looked at her; a hot wave of jealousy washed over me.

"That's only eight months away," Peyton said incredulously. "Don't most people wait at least a year?"

"Well, some people do, I suppose," Natalie replied, her smile faltering slightly. "Nathan and I think eight months is too much time to wait, but it's necessary in order to plan the wedding we want to have."

Peyton glanced in my direction, but I merely shrugged my shoulders. "Well, then," she said, attempting to smile, "congratulations."

A murmur of congratulations rippled along the table, Lucas and Jake clapping Nathan on the back, Peyton and Rachel hugging him. I simply smiled, unable to do much else; I couldn't bring myself to stand up and congratulate him, not when my chest felt like it was going to explode.

As we began to sip our drinks (I had ordered a very large rum and coke) I found myself studying Natalie and Nathan, comparing them to us and what we had once been. It was fascinating, really, to see how drastically different yet completely the same it was. Nathan and I had never been much for public displays of affection, and neither were they; a simple gesture like holding hands was enough for them. It had been enough for us, too. And when you got past the fact that Natalie was excited for her upcoming nuptials, she really wasn't all that different from me. She was strong, determined, and unwilling to accept less than what she deserved - even I could admit that. And I knew simply from looking in her eyes that she was totally and completely in love with Nathan, and she wasn't with him for the money or the notoriety - she was with him because without him, she wasn't whole.

She was a good woman for him, exactly the kind he needed in his life. If Nathan and I had never been together, I knew that I would have liked Natalie. If we had never been together, I would have wanted them together.

As I looked around the table, seeing all of the happiness that surrounded it, engulfed it, I knew that I was missing out, like I was merely on the outside looking in. Peyton and Jake, Natalie and Nathan, and even Lucas and Rachel, who were without their significant others that evening, were happy and in love, and I had chosen not to be. I had let that opportunity slip through my fingers years ago. And that was what was really bothering me; it wasn't that Nathan was getting married to someone else - it was that I had no one, and I had no one but myself to blame.

There was a buzzing in my purse, and I reached inside to grab my cell phone. I excused myself and flipped it open to reveal a new call:

Ethan Graham calling. Accept or ignore?

I glanced back at the table; Nathan met my gaze momentarily but soon shifted his attention back to his fiancé, tightening his hold on her hand. In that moment he had made his choice, and now I was making mine; turning away from him, I took a deep breath and chose Accept.

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT - if you would like to continue on with this story please please let me know - thank you