Hey ho! I bet you guys were not expecting me to update so soon huh? Lol...You guys have been great to me all this while and I really appreciate you guys taking the time to read my stories. Your reviews are awesome and I notice that there are new readers coming on board which is awesome. So here's another chapter for you guys. Let me know what you think ok. Cheers! ;)

Chapter 18

The night was getting late and the gentle breeze made her shiver. She looked at Nathan's expectant face and struggled to find the words to make him understand. She hated that things had gotten so awkward between them and wished that she would finally wake up from the nightmare of the situation, part of which she had contributed.

"Haley, will you please answer me?" Nathan asked urgently. There was something she was not telling him and he needed to know what it was.

"Nathan, will you stop yelling already?" she said impatiently.

"I would if you would just answer me," he retorted.

"You're an ass, you know that." She didn't wait for him to respond. "Okay fine. That morning I snooped around and read Rachel's message," she said reluctantly.

Flashback

She woke up and turned her head, only to find Nathan sleeping soundly next to her. She smiled and gently stroked his cheek, not wanting to wake him up. They had made love again that night and her body was deliciously aching. She couldn't believe how happy she felt at that moment. She continued watching him sleep when she heard his cellphone make a sound, indicating that he had received a message. She felt him stir and saw him open his eyes. The moment he did, the biggest smile broke out on his face.

"Hey, good morning," he said sleepily.

"Good morning," she said shyly. He raised himself up and kissed her tenderly.

"You've got a message," she said against his lips.

"Leave it. I've got more important things to do here," he said playfully as he pushed her down against the pillow, making her giggle.

"Nathan, stop it. We're gonna be late for work."

He groaned and reluctantly pulled away. "Okay fine. I have to go to the bathroom anyway. Wanna shower with me?" he offered mischievously.

She quickly got up from the bed and raced to the bathroom. "I call shower!" she yelled and squealed when Nathan grabbed her and carried her like a truant child to the bathroom. He turned on the shower making her squeal even more. He relished the sound of her voice and watching the water trickle on her beautiful face, he kissed her tenderly catching her by surprise. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer and playfully massaged his tongue. He groaned at her mischief and pinned her to the wall.

"You do know the consequence of doing that, don't you?" he said, his voice coming out in a ragged breath against her already bruised lips.

"I think I have an idea," she replied coyly. She then gently caressed his chest and playfully tweaked his nipple.

"God Haley," he groaned as he kissed her again, one hand cupping her face while the other cupping her breast. She shuddered and moved her hips more suggestively against him, her hands grasping his shoulders tightly as his mouth moved over first one breast and then the other. He hoisted her up and her legs instinctively wrapped themselves around his waist. Nathan felt as if he could explode from the intensity of that moment and couldn't hold back any longer.

"I have to be inside you Hales," he whispered, his lips never leaving hers.

He felt her nod and he pulled away and looked deeply into her eyes. "I know. I want you so much Nathan."

That was all he needed to hear as he plunged himself into her. They both moaned at the contact as she held him tight. He continued his thrusts, each movement eliciting a moan from her. Their movement grew frantic before she felt the delicious feeling, the telltale sign that she was going to fall over the edge. She matched his every move until finally she exploded, her loud gasp sounded like bells in his ears.

"Nathan, oh God Nathan," she groaned. He didn't stop, he couldn't stop.

"It's okay," he rasped in her ear before falling into his own climax, buried deep within her. He gently let her legs go and wrapped his arms tightly around her. When their heartbeats had returned to normal, she quickly showered knowing full well that they were going to be late. She got out of the shower first and as she toweled her hair dry, she heard another sound coming out from his cellphone. She looked over her shoulder and bit back a smile as she heard him sing in the shower. She walked over to her bedside table and picked up his cellphone. She knew she shouldn't snoop around but her curiousity go the better of her. She opened the first message on his phone and her body went still as she read that it was from Rachel. Hey Nathan, why haven't you called me? I miss waking up next to you. When are you coming over again?

She snapped the phone shut and her mind went black. Who was she kidding? He couldn't possibly be faithful to her if they pursued this. There would always be a Rachel tempting him. She knew him well enough to know that he couldn't be loyal to a girl for a week, let alone a lifetime. She quickly dressed and wrote to him, telling him that she had gone and closed the door quietly behind her.

End of flashback

"That's why you left?" Nathan asked her. "Because of that message? Haley, Rachel didn't mean anything to me."

"I was scared Nathan. I was finally ready to tell you how I feel about you, and knowing that only a few nights before that, you were sleeping with another girl. What did you expect me to do?"

He wanted to shake her so bad but he restrained himself. "I slept with her that day because I was upset about our fight. We were arguing about Michael. I was being a jerk to him that day."

"So what else is new?" she muttered under her breath. Loudly she said to him, "Nathan, that was the reason why I bolted. How do you think us being together will ever work when everytime we argue, you run off to another girl? And you know we drive each other crazy."

"Haley, you should know that you are the only person I've ever said 'I love you' to, and I mean it. Do you know how miserable you made me feel after you left? How you broke my heart when you told me that that night was a mistake." He took in a deep breath and let go slowly. "God Haley, you should have trusted me."

"How can I, knowing the person that you are," she said sadly. "So what are we going to do now?" she asked, only to be answered by a hollow look in Nathan's eyes.

"I honestly don't know Hales. I asked you to marry me and I'm still waiting for your answer." He sighed defeatedly. "I should go. You should too. It's getting cold. I don't want you to get sick," he said.

"You mean you don't want our baby to get sick," she said.

"Dammit Haley! Stop doing that! Why can't you just trust me when I tell you that I love you!" She lowered her gaze to the ground as he looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry if knowing me as a friend makes you scared to be with me. I know you need time to think about this, so that's what I'm giving you. Let me know when you have decided," he said. He gave her a lingering kiss on her lips and left without even waiting for her answer, carrying his aching heart along with him.

Haley grumbled as she sorted through the mail in her office, tossing them one by one into the dustbin. "Stupid catalog. Who the hell subscribed to this?" she muttered angrily and threw the rest of the mail into the bin. She felt a slight annoyance and realized that it was the pregnancy hormones.

"You did," a voice answered. She looked up and let out a squeal when she saw a familiar face.

"Michael!" She ran to him and gave him a bear hug before pulling away. His grin was later replaced with a painful grunt when she hit him on the arm. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Nice to see you too," he remarked sarcastically while rubbing the sore spot. "Damn, who knew being a mommy would give you so much strength."

"Serves you right for leaving. You didn't answer my question. Where have you been?" she said and leaned against the table with folded arms.

He fiddled through the mess on her table with interest, and without looking up said, "Chicago. You know the deal I got into when you first found out you were pregnant?" Haley smiled sheepishly remembering what she put Michael through. "Well, I need somebody to look after the Chicago office. The new office looks really good." He looked at her and noticed her guilty look. "Oh don't give me that look Haley James. The Chicago deal was the best thing that happened to me in a while and I'm glad I did it. It was pretty brutal looking for somebody I could trust to look after it but Rachel really helped me a lot."

Haley's eyes widened in surprise. "Rachel? She was with you in Chicago?" With all the drama that was going on in her life, she didn't even notice that Rachel hadn't been around in Tree Hill.

"Well, yeah. I asked her to help me with the Chicago office to sort out some legal stuff and she agreed. She's a great girl once you get to know her."

"Yeah, I know," she agreed. She made a mental note to meet Rachel to apologize for the trouble that she had caused.

"So," he said and walked over to her and placed his hands on her arms, holding her at arm's length. "What's going on with you? What trouble did you get into while I was gone?"

She looked away and muttered, "Nathan asked me to marry him."

He looked perplexed for a second and a while later a loud laugh was heard. "You're kidding right?" he asked and seeing that she was serious, he said, "you're not kidding." He let out a loud whistle and dropped her arms. "Wow, I knew I shouldn't have left you kids for long."

"What's with all the noise?" a disgruntled Peyton said as she entered Haley's office but as soon as she saw Michael, a big smile broke out on her face. "Hey stranger. I thought I heard your voice." She walked over to him and they hugged.

"Yeah, Haley just told me about the proposal. Pretty wild huh?"

Peyton shrugged, a far cry from her initial reaction when Haley first told her about it. "Yeah, well you gotta see it from his perspective too. He just wants to be a big part of Haley's life and the baby's and getting married is the obvious choice."

Haley looked at her in surprise. "Wow Peyton, yesterday you were ready to claw his eyes out when I told you. What changed?"

"He did. Haley, he's not the same person that you've known all your life. The person who wouldn't even blink when a pretty girl walks past him and wouldn't think twice about jumping into bed with her." She looked at Haley guiltily. "To tell you the truth I did go over to his place and literally attacked him," she said.

"You did what?" Haley exclaimed, although Michael only chuckled.

"Man, the things I missed."

Peyton gave him a dirty look and continued, "yeah Brooke and I went to see him yesterday and we talked. Well, after I almost gave him a black eye. Anyway, Haley if you're wondering if his intentions to marry you are sincere, they are. He's not the same Nathan Scott, Hales. He's a Nathan Scott in love. With you."

"I know," Haley said quietly. "He told me yesterday."

Michael came up to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Well, what are you waiting for? Just marry the guy for God's sake. He loves you. You love him. What else is there to think about? It's pretty straightforward if you ask me."

Peyton looked at her intently. "So what's it gonna be Hales?" she asked. Haley looked at her two friends and hoped that the decision she had made was the right one.

Brooke munched on her sandwich while Lucas and Jake picked at her fries. They were at Karen's Cafe having lunch. The crowd was thinning which gave them a chance to talk.

"Hey Ma, do you need any help over there?" Lucas asked loudly, seeing that Karen was busy at the counter.

Karen looked up from the till and smiled. "No, it's okay. I can handle it," she said and winked.

"So what do you guys think about Nathan's proposal?" Brooke asked when she was done eating. She smacked her lips satisfactorily at the lunch she just had.

"I'm thinking it's not so crazy after all," Jake said. "We knew this day was gonna happen. We just never thought that there was going to be so much drama involved. But if anybody can make it work, it's gotta be them."

Lucas nodded in agreement. "That brother of mine sure has got a lot of surprised up his sleeves. But I know him and I know how he feels about Haley. If anything, as angry as he was, I know that the proposal came from his heart."

Brooke smirked as she sipped on her soda. "Yeah, I saw him yesterday and he looked like a little lost child. Who knew he has a vulnerable side to him?"

Jake nudged her and motioned for the door. Brooke looked up and saw Nathan walk in. "Huh, speak of the devil." She shifted her chair so Nathan could squeeze in. "Hey Nate. You look like hell," she remarked.

"Gee thanks Brooke. I didn't get much sleep last night," he admitted and smiled gratefully at Karen who brought him a glass of soda. "Thanks Karen." Karen squeezed his shoulder knowingly before getting back to work. She continued to watch him through the corner of her eyes and saw the pain in his face. Knowing his situation with Haley, she felt sorry for him but she knew that they needed to figure this out themselves.

"Let me guess. Haley?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah." Nathan covered his face with his hands before rubbing his eyes. "I just don't know what to do Luke."

Jake looked at him worriedly. He had never seen him act this way. He usually had a don't-care attitude when it came to girls. "Did you see her?"

Nathan leaned back in his chair and sighed loudly. "Yeah, I saw her yesterday. I told her I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her and our baby."

"And? What did she say?" Brooke asked curiously.

"She didn't say that she loves me too but she didn't say she doesn't either. She said she needs time to think about this. Do you guys think I'm crazy for wanting to do this?" he asked.

"No man. It's hard enough to find someone you love and whom you want to spend your life with. You have found that someone Nate. Don't ever let that go," Jake said wisely.

"He's right little brother. I think you did the right thing. Just be patient with Haley. You know how she's like. She's gonna think this through from every possible angle before making her decision," Lucas said and patted him comfortingly. He was relieved when Nathan nodded in agreement.

Just then Nathan's cell phone rang. He took it out and his heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was. He got up and went to a quiet corner before answering the phone.

"Hey Haley," he said.

"Hi," she replied. He felt his heart melt at the sound of her voice. "Can I see you? We need to talk."

"Yeah, sure," Nathan said nervously. Judging from the tone of her voice, he knew that she had made up her mind. "I'm at Karen's. Do you want to come over?"

"No, not really. Can you come over to my place?" she asked hopefully.

Nathan quickly returned to his friends. "Yeah, I'll be there in ten minutes. Bye." He hung up and looked at them. "That was Haley. I have to go. She wants to see me."

"Good luck buddy," Brooke said and smiled. "Call us if you need us okay?" After promising to do just that Nathan rushed to his car and sped away.

He made it to Haley's house in record time and knocked on the door impatiently. The door creaked open and Haley gave him a wry smile before letting him in. They stood facing each other, both not knowing how to start.

Nathan made the first move and said, "is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine." Haley wrung her hands nervously before looking at him. "I've made up my mind."