"Hey, Hales."

She turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing. Did he really think she wouldn't find out? Not only had Brooke told her, but Peyton and Lucas had come clean as well. While she was slightly irritated at her best friend for tagging along, nothing could compare to her anger towards Nathan.

"Hales?" Nathan questioned, innocently tilting his head in confusion. "What's wrong? Talk to me, Haley. What's going on?"

Haley shook her head, throwing her rag down onto the counter. She couldn't really berate him in front of Karen's customers, but she also couldn't pretend to be okay with the fact that Nathan, her Nathan, had actually caused harm to someone.

"Haley?"

"Do anything fun this weekend?" She asked, reaching for the coffee pot. Someone needed a refill.

"Um..." Nathan shrugged. He hadn't really been planning on telling her about the prank, Brooke and Peyton already knew. "Nah, not really. Just hung out with Tim, Luke, and the guys. Nothing special. It would have been a lot more fun if you were there, Hales."

Did he really think she was that stupid?

"That's it?" Haley demanded. "Really. That's all you did this weekend?"

"Yeah... Why?"

She grabbed Julian's muddy sweatshirt from underneath the counter and threw it at him. Brooke had asked her to wash it, since the seventeen year old cheer captain knew nothing about laundry.

"It's funny." Haley muttered. "I used to think you'd never lie to me."

Nathan's heart stopped. Lucas was angry with him, Peyton was barely speaking to him, Brooke had said she'd call him the next day, but he had yet to hear from her.

"Haley..." He began. "Look, don't be mad, alright? In a way, I did it for you, okay? I did it for all of you. No one messes with one of my girls, and gets away with it."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this!"

Despite her best efforts, the two teenagers were earning stares from the occupants of Karen's Cafe. Nathan jumped the counter, grabbing her hand to pull her back towards the storage room.

Before this, she had only seen the good in Nathan Scott. She saw the guy who made it his mission in life to protect her from all the bad. Why was she so upset over something that really had nothing to do with her.

Because it always felt so much worse expecting more from the people you loved... The people you were in love with.

Haley yanked her hand back, going to cross her arms as she faced him. She knew what would happen, he'd give her a million and one excuses, and eventually, she'd give in, and tell him that it was okay.

It wasn't okay, and she couldn't forgive him, at least not yet anyway.

"Hales." He said, reaching out to grab her shoulders. She stepped away from him. "Just hear me out. Please."

"Nathan..."

Nathan sighed. "Haley, I saw you that day, crying, and I saw Peyton on the ground, and I've never been able to get that image of Brooke, completely broken out of my head, and I just... I lost my mind, okay? Please. You have to forgive me. You've no idea how hard it is for me to see you like that."

Haley knew exactly what he was talking about, seeing Brooke break down that day still made her cringe, but it had been almost two years. Brooke Davis wasn't a little girl anymore, she could take care of herself.

If a guy disrespected one of them, then she would have had no problem with Nathan or Lucas laying into them, but the prank had been about twenty steps too far, and she wasn't sure if, or when she'd be able to forgive him.

"Not as hard as it is for me to see you like this."

Before he could make a grab for her again, she bolted, running out the door and down the street. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She had seen him pass by only minutes before Nathan had walked into the cafe.

"Julian!"

He turned the second time she called his name, reaching out to steady her before she could face plant into the cement.

"Haley?" Julian asked, raising an eye brow. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry." Haley cried, backing away from him. "I'm so sorry, Julian. I just wanted you to know that."