Hey all last chapter, Hope you like.

Hayley's P.O.V

"You're lucky that you made me your maid of honor, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered coming out this far to get you," Peyton said to me with a hint of a smile on her face, helping me get into the car. She stuffed the skirt of my gown into the small, cramped Mini Cooper, successfully managing to cram everything inside.

I didn't say much as she got into the driver's seat and started the engine, driving away from the lake as she pulled onto the road. I focused my attention on the windshield, watching as the wipers moved frantically from side to side, pushing aside the never-ending onslaught of rain. A streak of lightning flashed threateningly across the sky, but I paid it no mind; even the thunderstorm couldn't lift my spirits.

I felt as though the end had finally come. Even as Nathan had walked out the morning after we'd slept together, I'd silently hoped that he'd be back, and after he came back everything would be different between us. But now, as we drove back to Tree Hill and the empty flat that awaited me there, I knew that he wasn't going to come back. He had had so many chances to change things, but he had chosen to walk away. I couldn't change the decision he seemed to have made long before the night we'd slept together. We had played the game, but now, finally, it was over.

"So," Peyton said timidly, drumming her fingertips against the steering wheel, "are you going to tell me what happened, or are you going to let me use my imagination?"

I sighed, pressing my forehead against the cool glass of the window. I didn't want to say anything at all. If I told Peyton about everything that had happened, it would make it seem too real. I almost wished that I could live the rest of my life in an ignorant oblivion, never feeling, never knowing.

"I don't know what to say," I said quietly, refusing to look her in the eyes. "Except, I guess, that it's over."

"You and Nathan, you mean?" she said, her tone barely changing.

"Yes," I replied, nodding.

"How can it be over if it never really began?" she asked, turning to face me. "I thought you never picked up where you left off all those years ago."

I could feel my face heating up as vivid images from the night Nathan and I had shared together flashed through my mind. "We slept together," I said simply, and suddenly I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my chest.

Peyton slammed on the brakes, and I felt my world spinning as the car swerved off of the road. The car finally screeched to a halt in the middle of a grassy patch of land; trying desperately to catch my breath, I turned towards Peyton and stared at her in bewilderment.

"Are you insane?" I shrieked, pulling at the ends of my hair. "You could've killed us!"

"It's your own fault for dropping a bomb like that on me while I'm driving!" she yelled, her eyes wide and surprised. "I can't believe you slept with him, Hayley! And more importantly, I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"I didn't want anybody to know," I said, calming down slightly. "I was ashamed. And, besides...he rejected me. Obviously."

"When did this happen?" she asked, shock still etched into every inch of her face.

"January," I said, suddenly finding it very difficult to look her in the eyes. "That night we all went out to the club."

"I should've known," she said, more to herself than to me. "I should've known something was going on when you left with him."

"I didn't plan for it to happen, if that's what you're implying," I said somewhat defensively. "We got caught up in the moment. That's all."

"And then what?" she asked.

"And then...nothing," I said, sighing. "He told me he couldn't be with me. He told me he had made a commitment to Natalie that he couldn't break. And then he left."

"God, and I always thought you were the thick-headed prat," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Thanks," I said, rolling my eyes.

"No, really," she said, suddenly serious. "I can't believe he walked away from you."

"Not only once, but twice," I said, feeling my stomach give another sickening lurch. "He had another chance tonight, but he walked away. I just feel like now...maybe it's finally the end. You know?"

"Maybe not," she said, resting her head against the cool leather of the seat. "Maybe he's just scared, Hayley. Just like you used to be."

"I think it's a little different this time around," I said, shaking my head. "He's getting married, and he won't back out of it. He's made his choice. So now I've got to make mine."

"And what's that?" she asked quietly, her eyes staring deep into mine.

I took a deep breath, my resolve slowly strengthening. "I'm going to move on," I said, shrugging. "There's nothing else I can do."

She stared at me for a moment before turning the ignition and pulling back out onto the road, her eyes focused on the windshield. As was her custom, she remained silent instead of telling me what she thought, something I was both grateful for and resentful of at the same time. I felt like I needed her to tell me that I was wrong, but at the same time I needed her to support me. I didn't know what I felt or what I was thinking; sighing, I returned my attention back to the window, watching as more rain pounded against the pavement outside.

"Let's just go home," she said, a smile in her voice. "You've had a rough day."

"Yeah," I said, once again resting my head against the cool glass of the window. "Let's go home."

The early May sunshine was warm against my skin as I walked down a street, a cold frappuccino tightly secured in my hand. The large sunglasses I had chosen to wear that afternoon partially concealed my identity from passersby in the street, many of whom still recognized me from the various tabloid articles that had been printed in the days following my wedding, or lack thereof. The last thing I wanted was for someone else to ask me how I was after my little fiasco, as if being left at the altar in front of two hundred people wasn't already humiliating enough.

I was on my way to Rachel's flat, which, naturally, was on the opposite end of town. Taking a taxi had not seemed appealing that afternoon as I'd stepped out of my building, realizing what a beautiful day it was. I hadn't had any amount of proper exercise since April; I had chosen to stay locked up in my flat, only emerging when absolutely unavoidable. I had been so upset about Nathan and so humiliated over Ethan that I hadn't wanted to face the world, but now the wounds were starting to heal. I took a large sip of my frappuccino, my feet carrying me ever closer to Rachel's building.

The street was becoming more crowded by the minute, and I hurriedly pushed myself through the tangles of people that had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Someone roughly bumped against me, causing my drink to drop from my grasp and splatter all over the warm pavement. I sighed, looking at the culprit in annoyance; when my eyes met his, my heart stopped.

"Oh, god," I said in a barely audible whisper, my mouth hanging open in shock.

"Hayley," Ethan said, a mix of relief and panic splashed across his face. "I..."

He stopped, staring at me for several long, agonizing moments. People were moving all around us, shooting us annoyed glares, but neither of us seemed to notice. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster, my stomach churning uncomfortably.

"Can we go somewhere and talk?" he said at last, his eyes shining.

"Yeah," I said without really thinking about it. I found myself following him down the street into a quiet café, suddenly realizing that I needed to hear what he had to say. I suddenly desperately needed to know the reason behind him walking out of the church that day, leaving me at the altar all alone.

We found a small table in the back of the café and we sat down, staring at our hands for several long moments before either of us spoke. Finally, Ethan cleared his throat and brought his eyes up to meet mine, a sad expression taking over his features.

"I'm so sorry," he said, reaching for my hand. "God, Hayley. I'm so, so sorry."

I remained silent, feeling the pressure of his hand against mine. I merely looked at him, biting my lip, silently asking him to continue.

"If I could take back what I did, I would do it in a heartbeat," he continued, shaking his head sadly. "I wish I would've gotten the nerve to end it before the wedding. But I was so nervous, so afraid of hurting you. But I ended up doing just that, and I did it in the worst possible way."

Still, I said nothing. I did not quite know what to say to him, so instead I chose to say nothing at all.

"I know you must be furious with me, and for good reason," he said, squeezing my hand tighter. "But...it's like I told you before I left the church. We both knew that it wasn't what either of us wanted."

"So you didn't want to marry me?" I said, my eyes staring straight into his.

He hesitated. "I thought I did. I really did. And, to be totally honest with you, Hayley, I still love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my life. But to get married...it wouldn't have been fair to either of us, would it?"

I shook my head, but said nothing. I was finally understanding what he meant.

"I know that you're still in love with him, Hayley," he said, and I noticed how he refused to say Nathan's name. "And I think I always knew. I couldn't marry someone who was still so obviously in love with someone else."

"Ethan," I said, feeling tears spring to my eyes, "I'm so sorry. You deserve so much better than what I gave you."

"You can't help how you feel, Hayley," he said, shrugging. "You love him. And I know you love me, too, but I also know that it's not the kind of love I wanted you to feel."

"I'm sorry," I said again, determined not to let the tears fall. "I should never have made you believe that I felt differently. I was just...I thought if I married you, I'd forget about him. I know that sounds terrible, and I'm so sorry, but I don't know what else to say."

He squeezed my hand again, a small smile spreading across his lips. "You don't have to say anything else," he said. "We were both wrong, and we both realize the mistakes we made. I just wish it would've ended better, you know?"

"Yeah," I said, a smile of my own coming to my lips. "I mean, if we could've sorted all this out before we were at the altar, it would've been great."

He laughed, shaking his head. "Leave it to you to make a joke out of a serious situation."

"Of course," I said, shrugging. "How else do you expect me to deal with the bad things in life?"

He stared at me for a few moments, his smile fading slightly from his lips. "I do love you, Hayley," he said, squeezing my hand for a final time. "And I really want you to be happy."

I shook my head, a sad smile on my face. "He's getting married. And, I think he's a bit more determined to go through with the ceremony than we were."

"The Hayley I know doesn't give up," he said, his eyes penetrating my own. "Take it from me, Hayley. If you've found someone you can love, you don't want to let that go."

"Maybe," I said, my sad smile still spread across my face.

We stood from the table then, and without hesitating I reached for him and pulled him into a hug, inhaling his scent one last time. It was bittersweet, knowing that we'd probably never see each other again; after a few moments, he let me go, his eyes shining as he walked out of the café. I turned and watched him go; within seconds, he had disappeared into the busy street outside.

"I know this isn't the best time to tell you this, considering everything that just happened, but you're my best friend and you deserve to know first," Peyton said at lightning speed, her face flushed and her eyes twinkling brightly. She held up her left hand, a sparkling diamond ring sitting comfortably on her finger. "I'm getting married!"

I felt a surge of happiness for her, my face breaking out into a large grin. "Peyton! That's awesome! Congratulations!"

She was still smiling, but something in her gaze had changed. "Are you sure it's awesome? I mean, I know you're probably the last person on earth who wants to talk about a wedding."

I shook my head. "Actually, Peyton, everything's okay. I talked to Ethan today."

"You did?" she asked in bewilderment, her eyes going wide.

I nodded. "Yeah. And everything's okay now. Really."

"Everything's okay?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows slightly. "He left you at the altar, and you have one conversation and suddenly everything's fine?"

"Basically," I said, shrugging. "There's no reason for me to be angry anymore. He apologized for walking out on me, but he didn't apologize for not wanting to marry me. I respect that."

"I'm not following," she said, looking baffled.

"Peyton, I didn't want to marry him," I said, slightly exasperated. "You knew that. I know you did. And, it just so happens that he knew it too. He told me he loved me, but it wasn't fair to either of us to enter into that marriage. He was right."

"That's true," she said, nodding. "It was what you wanted, just not the way you wanted it to happen."

"Exactly," I replied, settling back into the comfortable cushions of the couch. "I don't think Ethan and I will ever see each other again, but...I'm okay with it. We made our peace, and that's all that matters."

"Listen to Miss Positive Attitude," Peyton said, a grin beginning to form on her lips. "You never cease to surprise me, Hayley."

"What's the point in dwelling on the negative?" I said, ignoring the pang in my stomach as Nathan flashed briefly through my thoughts. "It doesn't get you anywhere. Besides, there's a lot to be happy about. For one, you're getting married."

Peyton beamed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "I almost can't believe it. I've wanted this for so long, and now that I've finally gotten it, it doesn't seem real."

"Well, that diamond sure as hell is," I said, grabbing her hand and examining the ring more closely.

She laughed, her eyes finding mine; her smile still spread wide across her face, she said, "So, you know what I've got to ask you now."

"What?" I asked, staring at her curiously.

"Hayley," she said dramatically, taking hold of my hand and staring deeply into my eyes, "will you be my maid of honor?"

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask!" I squealed, and we both dissolved into a fit of laughter. After a few moments, I stopped chuckling long enough to ask, "So, have you lovebirds set a date yet?"

"We want a long engagement," she said, her eyes straying to her ring once more. "We don't want to rush it. We're thinking sometime next September."

"That will be a long engagement," I said, nodding. "But I think that's for the best, you know? You'll be able to plan the wedding you've always wanted to have."

"Exactly." She smiled at me, her eyes still sparkling with a happiness I'd never seen within them before. I couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement for her as I stared at the diamond sparkling brightly on her finger; even though I didn't get my own happy ending, at least Peyton would. Somebody had to, after all.

The sky was clear on the early afternoon of June seventeenth, the sun shining brightly, bathing Tree Hill in its warmth. I sat at my window, staring blankly at the millions of scenes unfolding before my eyes. My stomach had been in knots for over a week, silently dreading the day that was finally upon me. I had been reminded repeatedly that it was Nathan Scott's wedding day. His face was plastered over every magazine cover I laid my eyes on, my heart sinking a bit further into my chest each time I saw his bright, smiling face staring back at me.

I had planned on spending the day in a state of numb oblivion with a never-ending supply of rum in the fridge, but I had yet to pour myself a drink. I was tired of temporary fixes and small moments where the pain didn't feel as real. I was tired of numbing myself to everyone and everything; for once, I just wanted to feel. I could feel my heart pounding faster and faster as the minutes passed; I nervously bit my lip as three o'clock came and went, my stomach churning unpleasantly. Releasing a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding, the truth hit me: Nathan was now a married man.

"Oh god," I said under my breath, my head spinning. I knew I could not be so foolish as to believe that his wedding had gone the way mine had. As I was feeling my heart breaking into a million little pieces, he was on his way to his wedding reception, a smile on his lips as he pressed them against his wife's.

His wife, I thought to myself, a chill racing down my spine. Any hope I'd been harvesting in the back of my mind had shattered as the full, agonizing truth hit me. Nathan had finally made his choice; his new life was about to begin, and there was no room left in it for me.

I turned away from the window and threw myself onto the couch, closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths. "Everything will be okay," I said to myself, not fully believing the words that had just left my lips. I shook my head, knowing that I would never truly be okay ever again. I had lost the one thing in my life that had made me feel like I was more than I ever thought I could be, and it was my fault that he was gone. He was afraid now, just like I'd been, and I'd done that to him.

The sun was still filtering in through the open windows when I felt my phone vibrate, my eyes falling to the screen. Peyton Sawyer calling. Accept or ignore? Sighing, I pressed ignore and let my head fall back onto the soft cushions of the couch. I closed my eyes, shutting out the world as I fell into a fitful, restless sleep.

It was the knocking that pulled me out of my slumber, incessant and urgent. I sat up on the couch, wiping my eyes distractedly as I stood up and walked towards the door. I glanced quickly at my cell phone, ignoring the three missed calls; I was only interested in the time. It was nearly midnight. Once more, my stomach began to churn; who would be visiting me at this hour?

Tentatively, I unlocked the door and placed my hand on the doorknob, slowly turning it. I pulled the door open, my stomach dropping at the sight before me.

Nathan was standing there in his suit, his tie loose around his neck; his eyes were blazing with something I hadn't seen floating within them since my eighteenth summer. Without a word of explanation, he stepped over the threshold and cupped my face in his hands, bringing his lips crashing against mine. Suddenly, everything seemed to make sense.

He pulled away from me, his eyes penetrating my own. "I love you," he said breathlessly, his hands finding their way into my tangled hair.

"What?" I said, entirely confused, my eyes wide and disbelieving.

"I love you," he repeated. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my life, and I thought it was time I finally told you that."

"But," I began, my mind spinning, "your wedding was today. You're not supposed to be here. You're supposed to be celebrating with your new wife."

"I couldn't do it," he said, shaking his head. "I walked into the church and I knew I couldn't go through with it. I thought about everything you said to me that night at the lake, and I finally realized that I was about to spend the rest of my life with a woman I didn't love when I had the chance to be with the love of my life all along. I was such a bloody fool, Hayley."

I felt as though the moment wasn't happening, like I was still stuck in a state of semi-consciousness. It seemed like everything and nothing made sense all at once. He wasn't supposed to be in my flat, telling me that he'd made a mistake. He was supposed to be with his wife in a posh hotel room, celebrating his new marriage.

But he wasn't, and that had to mean something.

"I heard everything you said that night at the lake," he continued, his hands finding mine. "And I knew that you were right. But I was scared. I was so afraid that you were going to run away from me, just like you'd done before. But today I finally realized that I'd given you every reason in the world to run away – I'd rejected you twice, for Christ's sake – but you didn't. And that's when I knew that you were different."

My stomach flipped as he moved even closer to me, his eyes burning with intensity. "I'm so sorry for running away from you," he said softly, squeezing my hands tightly.

"You can't – you can't expect everything to just be okay now," I said shakily, my hands falling away from his.

"I know," he said, his eyes shining. "But I want to try to make things better. Let me, Hayley."

Every ounce of logic I possessed was screaming at me to tell him to go. He thought he could waltz back into my life at his convenience and just expect me to forgive him, to just pick up where we'd left off. My pride was damaged and begged me to hurt him as much as he'd hurt me, but I knew that I couldn't. For the first time in my life, I was going to choose happiness, the happiness I should've had all along.

Without saying a word, I wrapped my arms around his neck and placed my lips gently against his, kissing him softly. We stood there for what felt like hours wrapped up in each other; I wasn't sure how much time had passed. Eventually we found our way to the couch and we sat beside each other in comfortable silence, our hands laced together.

"You know, this seems entirely too much like the movies," I said after a few minutes of silence had passed between us. "My wedding is called off, your wedding is called off, and then you suddenly appear and declare your undying love for me. If I wasn't so happy, I think I'd have to vomit from the sappiness."

He laughed, his head resting against the back of the couch. "Maybe it is a bit clichéd," he said, shrugging, "but after every bad thing that happened to get us to this point, don't you think we deserve our own happy ending?"

I stared at him for a moment, a small smile making its way onto my lips. I realized at that moment that I would never love anyone like I loved Nathan, and that I had finally gotten the ending I deserved.

"Besides," he said, wrapping his arm securely around my shoulders, "I think I always knew that, in the end, it was you I'd end up with."

Still smiling, I leaned into him and placed a small kiss upon his lips. "I love you," I whispered, realizing that it was the first time I'd truly said those three words to him. "I really do."

He smiled, bringing me closer to him. As we sat there on the couch, nothing but time stretching ahead of us, I knew that I'd finally reached my destiny. Finally, I'd ended up exactly where I was supposed to be. I rested my head against Nathan's chest, a feeling of contentment settling over me, a single thought resting in my mind.

The oddities of destiny would never cease to amaze me.