Hi guys. Here's the new chapter. I hope you guys will like it. Let me know what you think. Cheers! ;)

Chapter 9

"Tutorgirl, it's my wedding. And if my bridesmaid is gonna pout and sulk on my wedding, I swear to God I'm gonna scream." Brooke looked at Haley with a mixture of annoyance and concern. Haley had been broody ever since her fight with Nathan, and until now they had barely spoken to each other. Not that Haley hadn't tried but everytime she did, all she got was the occasional one word sentence. She finally gave up and decided it was best to let Nathan cool down at his own pace.

"Oh God Brooke, I'm sorry. I just keep thinking about Nathan." She looked at Brooke guiltily and bit her lower lip, a sure sign of distress. "By the way, Peyton's your bridesmaid and she's broody and angsty all the time."

"True, but she's from a different planet. And as much as I want to feel bad for you right now, I don't really care."

Haley grinned. She knew she couldn't be offended by Brooke's words. She straightened herself and looked at Brooke. "You're right. It's your wedding and you look gorgeous."

"I know! Who would've thought that this day would finally come." Brooke admired herself in the mirror, feeling a surge of pride as she saw that the wedding dress of her creating fit perfectly with her body.

"Oi! The ceremony's starting!" Peyton poked her head at the door of the girls' changing room. "Oh Brooke, I think I'm gonna cry. You look beautiful. Come here you." She pulled Brooke into a tight hug.

Brooke took a deep breath and pulled herself together. "Ok no crying guys. Or I'm gonna start crying too and ruin my make up. How's Lucas holding up?"

"I dunno. He looked like he wanted to run away and never come back," Peyton said with a worried look on her face.

"What?" Both Brooke and Haley cried out. "He'd better be there when I walk down that aisle or I'm gonna hunt him down. I swear to God I'm not joking," Brooke said with gritted teeth. She was about to mutter some more curses when she heard Peyton chuckle.

"Will you come down Brooke Davis soon to be Scott. He's there waiting for you. Geez, remind me never to get you angry at me."

"Don't you joke about that P. Sawyer. Not today."

Peyton stepped up to face Brooke and looked at her mockingly. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do?"

"Oh boy," Haley muttered. "Guys, can we just keep quiet until it's time to go. I think I'm getting a headache." She sat down and watched her two friends continue to bicker.

"Hey, I'm sure that's what you'd like to do. Just keep quiet. Maybe that's the problem with you and Nathan. You never talk," Brooke said, her voice slightly rising.

"Hey! What did I do to rile you up? It was Peyton who made the stupid inappropriate joke!" Haley yelled, suddenly angry.

Peyton came to stand between them. "Whoa. Hang on. I made the joke coz Brooke was so tense, so don't blame me. And yeah Haley, what's the deal with you and Nathan?"

"You know what? That's none of your business," Haley retorted angrily.

They started shouting at each other until Nathan entered the room, looking perfectly bewildered by the scene before him. It would have been pretty funny if only Haley wasn't there, because then he wouldn't have to see her and feel the dull ache in his heart.

"Emmm guys. They're about to start the music. And eh, you guys were pretty loud," Nathan said.

"Get out!" The three of them shouted at the same time, making Nathan scuttle hurriedly outside.

The girls scrambled to get ready and with a deep breath, Haley followed Peyton out of the room nervously, knowing that Nathan would be right there next to Lucas. She also knew that he couldn't miss seeing Michael sitting in the pew. Maybe inviting Michael wasn't such a good idea after all. Shit what was I thinking? She muttered to herself.

The ceremony went without a hitch, much to Haley's relief. She didn't think she could take a another blow out from Brooke. Thankfully the weather was perfect for an outdoor reception. She looked around for signs of Michael and just as she spotted him, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Haley? Hi, have you seen Nathan?"

Haley stood rooted to the ground when she saw Rachel. "Hi Rachel," she stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"Nathan invited me but I can't seem to find him. Any idea where he is?"

"No sorry. I haven't seen him. I gotta go." She was about to leave when Nathan appeared next to Rachel. "Oh there he is," she said, giving Rachel a fake smile. She felt a sickening thud in her heart when she saw Nathan touch Rachel intimately on her waist.

"Hey, you made it. What took you so long?" Nathan said and gave Rachel a quick peck on the cheek without so much as looking in Haley's direction or even acknowledging her presence.

"Sorry, the traffic was horrible."

The scene was too much for Haley to bear and she quietly left, a lump forming in her throat when Nathan didn't even notice. She quickly made her way to where her friends were sitting and sat herself next to Michael.

"Hey, you okay? You look a little pale," Michael said to her. He did see her talking to Rachel justnow and had a feeling this was why she looked upset. "I saw you talking to the brunette. She's Rachel, isn't she?" Haley's silence confirmed his suspicion. "I have to admit, she's pretty hot." He grinned in an attempt to make her smile.

"You're an ass!" Haley said and punched him on the arm. "And I was right not to pursue this 'relationship' with Nathan, wasn't I? It's obvious he hasn't changed."

Michale nudged her gently. "You never know, he might just be doing this to make you jealous. Are you jealous?"

She was spared from answering his question when Peyton said loudly, "Hey, what are you two whispering about?" She had been watching the two interact for the last couple of minutes and was curious about their topic of conversation. Plus she was worried about Haley. Something about her mood had changed since her date night with Michael. She had been meaning to talk to her about it but with Brooke's wedding only a few days away, she never had a chance to.

Just then Nathan and Rachel joined them at the table. Haley couldn't help but notice that they were holding hands and felt a pang of jealousy and hurt overwhelming her. "Yeah, what's up with you too?" Jake joined in.

Haley was too upset to speak and she obviously didn't want to talk about Nathan with him around. She looked at Michael pleadingly. Luckily, Michael seemed to pick up her vibe. "Nothing, we were just talking about how beautiful the wedding is."

"Yeah, tell that to Brooke and she'll swell like a hot air balloon," Jake said grinning.

"Tell me what?" Brooke said and put her hand on Jake' shoulder, her other hand clasped firmly with Lucas's.

"That the wedding is beautiful. Congratulations Brooke," Michael said sincerely.

Brooke beamed at him in delight. "Isn't it? Thank you Michael. And thanks for coming."

"Yeah man, I'm glad you could join us," Lucas said and shook his hand. "Welcome to the gang."

Haley heaved a sigh when Michael's tactic to change the subject work. She looked up and saw that Nathan was watching. They stared at each other for the longest time, both with a look of pure longing. Haley was the first to look away. She turned to Michael and said, "hey, do you want to dance?"

"Yeah, sure. But I have to warn you. I'm a pretty good dancer so don't make me look bad out there with your two left feet."

"Shut up!" Haley had to laugh at that. "Come on, you goof ball." She took his hand and led him to the dance floor.

Nathan looked at the two of them sadly. It used to be him that Haley directed stupid name callings at. "Come on Rachel, let's dance," he said, pulling her out of the chair.

"Do they seem odd to you?" Peyton asked Jake.

"What do you mean? They always seem odd."

"No, I mean this time they're acting really weird. I haven't seen them speaking to each other at all today."

"Maybe they had a fight. Come on Peyton. You're worrying about nothing. It's nothing we haven't seen before," Jake said offhandedly.

Peyton still wasn't convinced and she was determined to get Haley to talk to her about it, knowing full well that Nathan wouldn't say anything to her.

"Well, looks like I got the wedding of my dreams," Brooke said happily as she rested her head on Lucas's chest, their bodies swaying to the music. "Thank you for putting up with my crap these past few weeks."

Lucas laughed. "Yeah, you'd better make sure I get rewarded adequately."

Brooke looked up to her husband and smiled slyly. "Oh yeah, you're gonna be rewarded alright. Hey, erm did Nathan talk to you recently?"

"What about?" Lucas said curiously. To be honest, he hadn't really spent that much time with Nathan lately. The wedding planning took up most of his time.

"I dunno. It's just that he and Haley haven't been talking much lately and I'm wondering if it's got anything to do with Michael and Rachel."

"He hasn't told me anything but you know him. He's not the sharing type of guy. Are you worried about those two?"

Brooke sighed. "I dunno. Maybe it's just the wedding. I'm just so happy right now and I want everybody to be too."

Lucas pulled closer to him and buried his head in her hair. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I am happy too." He lifted her face and gave a tender kiss on the lips. "I love you Brooke Davis."

She smiled adoringly at him. "I love you too Lucas Scott. And it's Brooke Davis Scott by the way," she said shyly.

"Seriously? You're taking my last name?" a smiling Lucas asked.

"Are you okay with that?"

"Are you kidding me? That's awesome. You're awesome," he said before sharing another kiss with her.

From the distance Haley and Nathan watched the couple, wondering at the same time if that could ever be them. In a matter of seconds their eyes met. "Talk to him," Michael said to Haley as they danced.

"What? How did you-" She looked at Michael suspiciously. "Never mind. I don't know what to say to him."

Michael held her still and looked her in the eyes. "Haley, he's your best friend. Of course you'll know what to say to him. Come on, don't be an idiot. You know you wanna talk to him," Michael prodded.

Haley looked at him in wonder. Apart from Nathan, Michael was the only other person she could talk to about anything. And they had known each other for less than a month. She was a big believer in fate and looking at Michael, she believed that they were meant to be in each other's lives.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.

"Nothing, but if it were anybody else, I'd bludgeon him for calling me an idiot," she said smiling.

"So why aren't you bludgeoning me?" he asked playfully, at the same time thinking about their date night. He was glad that they kissed. He was even more glad that he didn't have any feelings towards Haley. He respected Haley too much to take advantage of their friendship.

Haley laughed. "Well, it takes an idiot to be friends with another idiot."

"So my idiot friend, are you gonna talk to Nathan or shall I do it for you, you wuss?"

"God!" Haley groaned in frustration. "Remind me why we're friends again. Coz right now you're just being a pain in the ass. Fine I'll go," she said begrudgingly. She felt her heart hammering in her chest as she looked around for Nathan. She spotted him talking to Jake and was just starting to bail out when she heard a voice behind her.

"Wuss."

"Michael! Leave me alone!"

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" he said, smacking her behind, making her jump. She gave him an evil look and started walking towards Nathan. She came up behind him and nervously tapped him on his shoulder.

"Nathan, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked nervously.

"Haley, yeah sure. Actually, I wanted to talk to you too. Why don't we go somewhere quiet?" He wasn't lying when he said he wanted to talk to her. Seeing her talking and laughing with Michael gutted him. It should have been him doing all those things with her. He didn't blame her for wanting to spend time with Michael, seeing that he wasn't much of a friend to her lately.

They found a place away from the guests and stood facing each other, neither knew where to start. "Haley-"

"Nathan-" they both started saying at the same time. "Sorry, you should go first," Haley said. She had been practising her apology speech in her head but she was to nervous to say it.

"Hales, I'm sorry for the way I treated you lately. I was just upset that you didn't tell me that you were going out with Michael."

"How could I tell you Nathan? I know how you feel about him," she retorted.

He looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. "And how do you feel about him?" he asked.

She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "Nathan, I told you, he's just a friend. And right now, he's being more of a friend to me than you are."

"I know and I'm sorry. It's just that things are a bit weird between us right now, which I'm sure you'll agree. But I meant what I said Haley, I do love you," he said although it seemed as though she wasn't listening to a word he was saying.

"Speaking of friends, looks like you're sure being friendly with Rachel. I mean, if she makes you happy, then I'm happy for you too," she continued to ramble.

"But Rachel and I-" This wasn't going the way he had planned, but seeing that Haley was oblivious to whatever he was saying, he decided to roll with it. Maybe making her jealous would make her see that they were meant to be together. "Yeah," he started to say. "She does make me happy."

"Then I'm glad. Wow, I'm glad we had this talk Nathan." Haley grinned at him. It did hurt her when he didn't deny his relationship with Rachel, but if that was what it took to keep him in her life, then she was prepared to swallow the bitter pill. "So, we're friends?"

"Yeah, we're friends."

"Oh come here you," she said and pulled him to her. They held each other close, as if afraid to let go.

"God I've missed you," he said, burying his head in her hair.

"I've missed you too," she said. More than you'll ever know.