Hi guys!:) I'm back with another chapter! I wanted to apologize for taking so much time between my updates. I don't like it when authors just abandon their stories, so I'm really sorry that I've done it to you guys! I'll try to be better, I promise! Anyway, hope you like the latest installment! Keep reviewing..you guys rock!

-Lindsay

Haley finally found Jared back at the hotel, after searching all over Tree Hill. She had even gone down the River Court, but ended up finding Nathan and Lucas there. She made sure she hid so they couldn't see her and she left after a few minutes of watching them shoot around the ball, wanting to find Jared.

He was sitting in the lobby, his head in his hands. He looked so…distraught. She didn't know what she could even say or do to make him feel better. "You found me," he stated after she cleared her throat, looking up to meet her eyes.

"Yeah. I looked everywhere," she said softly, sitting down next to him. To her surprise, he didn't move away. "I think we need to talk about what you heard."

"Yeah, I think we do," he said. He was planning on marrying her, for crying out loud! And she had been lying to him for the course of their whole relationship! She told him that she'd never been married, that there was never anyone special to capture her heart. She'd been lying, and he had believed every word. "You lied to me, Haley."

"I know." She hung her head. "I know I did, and you didn't deserve that, Jared."

"You're damn right I didn't!" he exploded, causing a few people to turn their heads at the couple. "I don't understand how you can agree to marry me when you've been carrying around this lie!"

"Let me start at the beginning," she said calmly, ready to tell him everything now. It would be hard for him to listen to, but she owed him that. And if it screwed her over in the end, then so be it. "Nathan is Lucas's brother, obviously, but back in high school, the two of them never even acknowledged that. It's a long, complicated story, and quite frankly, I hate reliving it because I hate their father."

"Then don't relive it, Haley," he said sternly. "Just tell me what I need to know!"

"Before Lucas started playing for the basketball team," she continued, "it was just the two of us against the world. We were best friends, and we used to make fun of the people there for all belonging to these cliques and being part of teams or whatever. And then Lucas decided he was going to join the team, and Nathan hated that. See, Nathan was the star of the team, and Nathan was the son that Dan Scott picked after he had gotten two women pregnant. He left Lucas's mom to raise him alone, and Nathan got the privileged two parent life. Nathan had been raised to hate Lucas, and so his father told him to do what he had to do to get Lucas off the team before he stole Nathan's spot.

"Nathan decided that the best way to hurt Lucas was to go through me. He asked me to tutor him, and after some serious thinking, I agreed." She stopped for a minute, letting Jared take it all in. She knew how big of a load that was. That was part of the reason she never wanted to share it before.

"Then how did you end up marrying him?" he asked quietly after thinking it over.

"It wasn't part of his plan to fall in love with me," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "But he did, and I fell in love with him too. And by that time, Nathan's life was falling apart. His mom had cheated on his dad and his dad was pressuring him so much…he emancipated himself, Jared. Then one day, he asked me to marry him, so we went to my parents, and they gave us their blessing. We got married on the beach, and everything was going so well, you know?" He shrugged and she went on. "Well, then Chris Keller came to town…"

After explaining the rest to him, including how she came back after the tour to be shot down by Nathan, he stood up. "You gave me so much to think about, Haley," he told her, grabbing his bag. "I think that we need to just…take some time apart right now. The fact is, your life is a lie, and I don't know if I can deal with that."

"I understand," she said softly. "I understand, but I don't like it."

"Well, you did this," he reminded her harshly. "You did this, and whatever happens next, you have to live with. I'll talk to you later."

"Jared!" she called out when he was nearly out the doors. "Where are you going to go?"

"You seriously care?" he wondered out loud, walking out the rest of the way.

He left her standing in the lobby, wondering what the hell everything meant.

---

"Just repeat that last part," Lucas urged Nathan. "One more time."

Nathan rolled his eyes at his older brother. He had asked him to repeat the sentence about wanting Haley back like thirty times, and it was getting old now. "Last time, Lucas," he warned in a growl.

"Last time," his brother repeated, grinning from ear to ear.

"I think I want Haley back."

Lucas finally decided to leave Nathan alone and not make him repeat it again. As much fun as that was, he knew his little brother was going to have to talk about it sooner or later. And Nathan had come to him on the topic, so he seemed pretty ready and willing.

"What made you decide this?" Lucas asked calmly, taking a seat at the picnic table off to the side of the court.

"I just keep thinking about the kiss," he admitted, sitting beside his brother. The two boys watched as the sunlight reflected off the river. "You know, I've had a lot of what-ifs in my life, Lucas." Lucas nodded. That was normal. Everyone had those in their lives. "But after that kiss, the one that just keeps playing over and over again is what if I get back with Haley. I think I want to find out."

"Nathan…" Lucas didn't know what to tell his brother. He knew that Nathan loved Haley, and that Haley loved Nathan. Their love was real, and it was the kind that didn't just go away. But Haley was engaged now, and if Lucas knew his best friend, she wasn't going to take that lightly. She was probably going to fight for Jared.

"I know this sounds crazy, Lucas, okay? I know that. I know that I had my shot with her a long time ago, and I should have taken it. I really regret that I didn't. And I thought I was over her…I thought I was over all of it. But seeing her again? It just made me realize that I'm not."

"I didn't think you were," Lucas informed him, grinning when Nathan rolled his eyes. Lucas was always right, and it was about time Nathan understood that. "But she's supposed to marry this guy."

"She told me she was unsure of him!" he argued back. "She told me that she wished she had more time to think about his proposal, and that she's been having second thoughts since the moment she said yes!"

"Look, I'm not saying this to stop you from going after what you want or whatever, but…well, remember after you and Hales got married and she kind of had that breakdown? You came home and she was freaking out when she was going through your CD collection? She was unsure then too, Nathan."

Nathan frowned at his brother. Of all people, Lucas should have known what he was feeling. Lucas had watched him fall apart after Haley left, and he was there to help him pick up the pieces. Lucas knew how much Haley meant to Nathan. "So you're saying what, exactly?" he questioned his brother, his blue eyes cold with hurt. "That I should just forget what I want and let her marry a guy she isn't totally sure about?"

"No," Lucas denied immediately. "I'm saying that you both have your own lives. You've got Alyssa and she has Jared…but if this is something that you really want, and you're willing to hurt the girl who's already in your life, then fine. But just remember that Haley might not want the same things you want now."

"Story of my life," he mumbled. It was just never the right time for the two of them. Every time he wanted her, she didn't want him, and when she wanted him, he didn't want her. It was that way in high school, and it was obviously the same way now

"Nate, I think if you really want to give it another go with Haley, then you should…just think long and hard about it. Think how it's going to affect your life and how it's going to affect hers. This isn't just about what you want."

He took in his brother's words before mumbling something about getting another room at the hotel, and took off for town. He ignored Lucas's calls of protests and just kept moving, needing to be alone.

He got about ten minutes away from the River Court, and breathed a sigh of relief. He knew Lucas wasn't following him, pressuring him for more information, and he was glad. He didn't feel like dealing with Lucas at the moment. He'd already given him enough to think about.

Haley was the girl he wanted, the only girl he had ever wanted. Sure, he'd been with plenty of girls before Haley, and plenty of girls after Haley, but none of them compared to her. None of them even came close. He hadn't realized it until kissing her, but each girl he'd been with, he compared to Haley. And every single time he found out that no one compared to her.

And he just had to convince her of that…that she was the one for him - that she always had been, and no one could change that.

---

"Aw, Hales," Brooke tried to soothe her friend, who had been sobbing over her mistakes for quite some time now. "You know, this is a good thing that everything is all out in the open now. Especially if you're getting married."

"Married?" Haley scoffed. "I don't think that's going to be happening anytime soon like Jared wanted…or anytime at all, for that matter. He seemed pretty done to me, Brooke." She noisily blew her nose in the tissue that Brooke had passed her a few minutes before.

After snapping out of her trance at the Covington, Haley had walked over to Brooke and Lucas's place, praying that one of them was there. She needed a friend to talk to. She needed someone to tell her that things would be okay, and that she'd been right by telling him the truth. Luckily for her, Brooke was there, and Brooke was the person telling her things would be okay.

"Well that's his loss," she said firmly, looking into Haley's chocolate brown eyes. "You told him the truth, Haley, and if he's not okay with that, then so be it. Move on without him."

"It's not that easy," she argued with her friend. "I'm engaged to him as of right now. I can't just forget that."

"No, but if the two of you break up, then move on. He obviously is not the right person for you if he can't accept what you did."

"I can never find the right person," she muttered, more to herself than Brooke. She wasn't looking for a pity party. "It's like any great guy I have, things end with them because of what I've done."

"Hales, you lost Nathan because you left him, and when you came home it was too late. You don't even know if you've lost Jared yet…but speaking of, dish on what happened with you and Natey!"

She blushed and looked away. What had happened with Nathan was so special, and she would always treasure the memory, even though it was wrong. "It was…an amazing kiss," she admitted guiltily. "I haven't felt what I felt then in…forever, honestly."

"Nathan always had magic lips." Brooke sighed wistfully.

Haley nearly choked on her own saliva. "I'm sorry. What? How do you know that?"

"What?" Brooke asked innocently. "You know, I did have to kiss the boy during spin the bottle a few times before you came into our lives."

"Right." She nodded.

"Well, what do you think then? Do you want Nathan back after having another go round on the carousel that is Nathan Scott?"

She groaned and buried her head in her hands. "I'm engaged!"

"Yeah, hmm. About that," Brooke began. "I still haven't seen that ring," she reminded her. "For all I know, you're making it up."

"Oh, shut up," Haley mumbled. She knew that Brooke was teasing her, but seriously? The teasing was not helping matters at all. She didn't know what to do about anything right now. She needed a serious opinion.

As if reading her mind, Brooke spoke. "Look, Haley, I already told you what I thought. I told you that you and Nathan go together. You're like…peanut butter and jelly or salt and pepper or…lime and tequila!" she squealed.

"Maybe so," she allowed. "But didn't that ship sail a long time ago?"

"Well, maybe the wind is bringing it back," she suggested, going along with Haley's metaphor. "Maybe this is that chance you guys were supposed to have when you came home, but Nathan didn't take it."

"Exactly." Haley looked up at her friend. "Nathan didn't take it, so what makes you so sure he's going to want a second chance now?"

"Because I saw the way the boy looked at you back then," she informed her simply. "He was head over heels for you, and I saw the way he looked at you today. He's getting the face back, Haley. The face that says, 'look out world, she's mine.' He's totally falling for you again."

She blinked in surprise. Sure, they had kissed, but was Nathan really falling for her again? After all the time spent apart, was he really going to go there again? And risk so much in both of their lives by doing it?

"You really think that?" she whispered.

"I think it," Lucas interrupted, dropping down on the couch beside his longtime girlfriend. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and looked towards his friend. "You didn't hear this from me, but…Nathan and I had a pretty good talk today, Hales, and I think he wants to try again with you."

"Wow," she marveled. "You guys, I don't…I don't even know what to do with that."

"Well then figure it out," Brooke ordered her gently. "No one can make any decisions for you. You're a big girl now."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "You have to figure out what you want."