Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

A/N: Hey guys. Thanks to all of you who keep reading this and for all the feedback on the last chapter. Glad to know that most of you don't completely hate me for that, even while not necessarily liking the ending…lol. And a few of you have already figured out what happened. Very perceptive. It was only one little line that I, myself, probably never would have caught. Haha. Anyway, on to the chapter and hope you all enjoy.

"Ok, this better be good," Rachel grumbled as she got in the passenger's seat of Peyton's car. "Otherwise, you're about to be sorry that you dragged me out of bed so early on a weekend."

Peyton glanced at her friend and smiled. "It's 11:00," she pointed out.

"Yeah, and I'm hung-over from that party. Speaking of, why weren't you there?"

"I was there for a bit," Peyton told her. "But I didn't stay. I spent the night at Ellie's."

Rachel pushed her sunglasses over her eyes as the sun shone brightly against the windshield, not helping her hangover any. "So, why didn't you wake her up?"

"She was already awake, but, as great as she is, this isn't something I want to do with my mother."

"And what is this exactly?"

Peyton grinned impishly. "Shopping," was all she answered.

"Oh no, no, no, you've got to be kidding. Stop the car right now."

Peyton chuckled. "Come on, you and Brooke have dragged me shopping enough times that I think it's time you return the favor."

"And I will," Rachel said. "But right now I'm in no shape to spend half the day in the record store…"

"It's not the record store, I promise," Peyton cut in quickly.

"Fine," Rachel stated flatly as she leaned back against the seat. Her brows lifted curiously as Peyton pulled into a familiar parking lot and parked the car. "The Slut Barn?" she asked with amusement.

"Up for a little lingerie hunting?" Peyton returned.

"Sure, but I didn't realize you and Lucas had progressed that far."

"We haven't," Peyton admitted. "In fact, we broke up," she added just before stepping out of the car and heading toward the building's entrance.

"Ok, hold up," Rachel replied as she ran to catch up to the blonde. "When and why?"

Peyton looked her friend in the eye and responded. "Last night, because I'm going back to Nathan."

Rachel wasn't saying anything so Peyton continued. "Listen, I know you probably think I'm crazy, and you're probably right, but I can't stay away from him. I've tried."

"And if he hurts you again?"

Peyton lifted her shoulders uncertainly. "I don't know," she admitted. "But it's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Ok," Rachel replied. "Then let's go get you the hottest, sluttiest lingerie they've got. Make Nathan regret what he's missed out on these past few months."

"Thanks, Rach," Peyton said, grateful that her friend didn't hit her with another dose of her brutal honesty.

"Ey," Rachel said with a shrug. "It's your life. Besides, I saw this coming weeks ago. It was only a matter of time before you two stopped dancing in circles around each other."

"Yeah."

"But, before you take him back, I should probably tell you, last night, at the party, Nathan was…"

"No, don't tell me. I don't want to know," Peyton interrupted. She didn't want to hear that Nathan had hooked up with someone last night and she had a feeling that was what Rachel was about to tell her. It hurt to think about it but she couldn't really fault him for it. After all, that was Nathan, plain and simple. And last night, he was single. "Let's just shop, ok."

"Ok," Rachel responded. As much as she disagreed with Peyton's decision, she wouldn't say any more on the subject. Especially since her mind was clearly already made up. "But while we shop, I want the play-by-play on how all of this came about."

Peyton nodded. "Fair enough."

Nathan lay on his bed, throwing a basketball in the air and catching it, repeating the process absently. He didn't understand why he didn't feel any better right now – why revenge hadn't come as sweet as he'd anticipated. He had sex with Haley and Lucas was going to be pissed, which was the whole point, so he should be happy. He should be gloating. So, why wasn't he?

Maybe once the word spread, he would feel more triumphant – once he could see the anger on Lucas' face. He hoped so because at the moment, he kinda felt like a dick. He wondered if Haley did too. She'd pretty much stared at him blankly when the deed was done and he'd stood up to dress, so he didn't know what the hell she was thinking.

Not that he cared one way or the other. She was obviously a little whore who played innocent really well. She'd certainly had him fooled until last night.

His bedroom door swung open and he glanced over to see Rachel. "What do you want?" he asked sourly.

"To tell you what a jerk you are," she replied.

Of course. He sighed, not in the mood for this at all. "What did I do now?"

"Friday night, you took advantage of Peyton's vulnerability to make a move on her. That was low."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Nathan replied, instantly defensive. "She's the one who came over here and kissed me."

"But it went a lot further than that and you knew she was upset about her mom and you let it happen anyway."

"I don't think she was thinking about her mom right then."

"Yeah, be a smart ass instead of taking responsibility."

He sneered at her. "You know, I'm getting sick of these lectures from you. So I didn't stop her? So what? I didn't want to, alright. I'm a dick. Is that what you want to hear?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Nice to know you can admit it. But what I really want to hear is why you didn't come to me about her mom instead of Haley and Lucas. I've been her friend a lot longer than they have."

"Yeah, well, in case you didn't know, you're a bitch. You probably would have told her to just get over it and move on."

"That's not bad advice actually. But at least I wouldn't have abandoned her or try to sleep with her," Rachel said pointedly. "And then bang her friend the very next night."

He looked up sharply. "She tell you that?" he asked, wondering if word had already spread to Peyton.

"I was there, Nate. I saw you making out with her and then take her upstairs."

"Oh, see, I thought you were too busy stripping for those guys to notice. D'you end up doing them all or d'you finally settle on one?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Not really," he grumbled. "Just seeing how you like someone poking at your sex life for a change."

"Doesn't bother me since I have sex for the pure enjoyment of it and not as some kind of band-aid."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You know what it means. Peyton hurts you or upsets you, you turn around and go sleep with someone else. That's how you work and you do it all the time. These girls are your band-aids and I say it's high time you leave your wounds open for a while so you can finally stop hurting Peyton. Instead of talking about how much you want to change, how about, for once, you actually do it?"

She took a deep breath and waited for him to respond, frustrated when he didn't. That's when she spotted the pile of Thud Magazines on his dresser and she really snapped. "You are such an idiot," she said.

"So you've said a million times," he grumped.

"Why do you do stuff like this?" she asked, holding one of the magazines up.

"Like what?"

"Like be a total ass in public, but a sweet, sensitive guy in private? Like make Peyton think you don't give a crap about her art, yet keep a stash of her sketches in your bedroom? Why are you so quick to show your bad side but hide your good side? What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing."

"Do you have any idea how much it would mean to Peyton to know that you actually do appreciate her art and don't think it's a waste of her time?"

"Look, Rach, none of this even matters anymore, ok. So spare me the lecture. You're too late with it."

"Meaning you would have listened sooner?" she asked doubtfully.

"Meaning there's nothing to listen to now. I've already lost her so nothing matters anymore."

"It's never too late to show someone you care."

"I've told her plenty of times, ok. She doesn't want to hear it."

"Of course she doesn't. You've told her a lot of things you didn't mean. I said show her. Actions speak louder than words."

She left him to ponder that, hoping she'd gotten through. Because if Peyton was going back to him like she said she was, then he needed to learn to be a better guy for her.

He was shooting hoops when Peyton arrived shortly after. Or at least he was trying to. The ball, however, didn't seem to want to cooperate. It kept bouncing off the rim and refusing to fall into the net. He cursed it every time.

"Your free throws look like crap," he heard from behind him. He froze at the sound of her voice. It sounded smooth and casual and teasing, like so many times before.

But this wasn't like before. "What do you want, Peyton?" he asked harshly without even bothering to turn around.

His icy tone hurt but she'd expected it. He was still angry with her. She couldn't blame him. She'd said a lot of hurtful and horrible things Friday night and she'd known coming here, that before they could move forward and talk about it, she'd have to get past his pride first. Not an easy feat but one well worth it once she did. And then maybe they could pick up where they'd left off on Friday.

But first things first. "I thought we could talk."

"Is there anything left to say?" he asked.

He still hadn't turned around and she wished he would. Granted she could stare at his back end all day, but it didn't make for easy conversation. Plus she really wanted him to notice that she wore the jeans he especially liked on her, along with the shirt with all the tiny buttons that drove him crazy trying to get into. He always threatened to rip them all off the next time. Maybe she'd let him do that today. And then he could feast his eyes on the new lingerie she wore underneath. She shook her head, mentally berating herself for getting ahead of herself again.

"I think there's a lot more to say," she told him.

"Like what?"

"You think, maybe, you could turn around?" she asked him.

He didn't want to. He didn't want to look at her. He knew she'd look hot as hell, like she always did, and that would just make him crave her even more. And he definitely didn't want that. "I can't, I'm shooting hoops," he said, cursing silently at how lame that sounded.

"Nathan…"

"Look, I can still hear you, alright, so just say what you came to say."

She sighed at the lack of choice he gave her. "Fine," she said. "I just thought you should know that I broke up with Lucas."

"Why?" he asked simply, not clarifying which part of her statement he was questioning.

"Why did I break up with him or why did I think you should know?"

"Both," he replied with a shrug.

"Well, I broke up with him because I'm still in love with this ex-boyfriend of mine, and, well, I guess that pretty much answers the second question too."

His heart skipped a beat at the words he'd longed to hear since the day she'd stood in this very driveway and broken up with him. She still loved him. But his head said not to jump on that too quickly. "That's not what you said two days ago," he reminded her. Not that she needed reminding.

"I know," she admitted. "Listen, can you turn around and look at me, please," she pleaded, touching his arm lightly.

He pulled back from her touch, which was painful to her, but he did turn around and face her so she was grateful for that.

He took in her attire and swallowed hard. Of course, just like he'd presumed, she looked hot. Damn her and her ability to get to him so easily. "You can't keep doing this, Peyton," he said, his voice coming out gruff with emotion. "You can't keep playing these games."

"It's not a game," she assured him.

"Oh, it's not?" he scoffed. "I fucking begged you to stay with me, but you left to go back to Lucas. You said you stopped loving me, that you wanted him. But today you love me again? And what? I'm supposed to come crawling again, right?"

"I'm actually doing the crawling right now," she pointed out. "And I know what I said the other night. But the truth is I feel the same way you do. I never stopped loving you either. Ever."

He closed his eyes to wade off the emotions building within him. He'd wanted to hear those words but now that they were coming out of her mouth, he wasn't sure he could believe in them. She was all over the map lately. "Then why did you say you did?" he asked.

"Because I was scared," she confessed. "Scared of letting you back in, scared of getting hurt again. Scared of loving you." As she spoke, the tears she swore she wouldn't cry, streamed down her cheeks.

"So, what happened?" he said challengingly. "All of a sudden, you just stopped being scared?"

She chuckled humorlessly. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I've never been more terrified. But I've never been more sure either," she added, reaching for his hand, relief washing over her when he didn't pull away this time. "I love you, Nathan, and that's never going to change. And I don't want to spend one more day without you. So please, tell me you still love me too and that I didn't completely blow it the other night."

His eyes penetrated hers, searching for the truth of her words. He found it as she gazed at him with all the love she felt in her heart.

This was for real. She wasn't just testing him. Wasn't playing a game. She truly loved him still.

His heart rejoiced in that knowledge and he smiled and put a hand gently against her cheek. "I do still love you," he whispered hoarsely. "And you could never blow it." He bent his head and kissed her deeply – a kiss she reciprocated whole-heartedly.

But it wasn't long before his conscience started to tug at him and he pulled away.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly after trying unsuccessfully to draw him back in.

He wanted to say nothing was wrong and stay in this moment a while longer. For an instant he considered not telling her. Then they could be happy – at least until she found out. But then he could always deny it if she did. Haley probably didn't want her to find out either so she'd probably back his story up.

A moment passed where he decided that's what he'd do and he took Peyton's lips again.

But once more the guilt gnawed at him. Damn it, he'd never felt guilty over anything before. Why now? Just when happiness was right at his fingertips. He tried to ignore it, but after the third time he failed at doing so and pulled away, Peyton all but demanded an explanation.

He closed his eyes in anguish, debating whether or not to come out with the truth. It wasn't anything he'd ever stressed over before. He could always come up with a lie on the spot whenever he felt cornered. But he knew his dishonesty had played as big a part in their downfall as his infidelity had – his lies, the ones she'd discovered, had caused major problems in their relationship.

And he knew he had to do it. Rachel was right. It was time to stop talking about changing and actually changing.

"I need to tell you something," he said several seconds later.

"Ok," she said, her brows furrowed with worry. "What is it? It sounds serious."

"It is," he said, his eyes locked on a piece of dirt on the ground. "I did something stupid and you're probably gonna hate me for it."

"Is it about a girl you hooked up with last night?" she asked. The way his head shot up, she knew it was. "Because if it is, I don't want to know about it, ok," she repeated what she'd said earlier to Rachel. "We weren't together then and that's my fault so whatever you did before right now doesn't matter."

"But…"

"No, Nathan, seriously, I don't want to know."

He swallowed hard, wondering if he should just take that and run with it. It's not like he hadn't tried to tell her. If she didn't want to know, what could he do about it? Nothing.

'Coward,' his conscience screamed out. He cursed it, wondering when the hell he'd developed it in the first place. But regardless of when and where it had come from, it kept nagging him to tell her the truth no matter how much she insisted otherwise.

He took a deep breath, gathering his courage and then blurted it out before he lost his nerve. "It was Haley," he said, knowing he'd probably lose her for good over this. But he had to do it. "I fucked Haley."

–––––

Meanwhile, Haley awoke, feeling groggy and a dull ache pulsing between her legs. "Where am I?" she asked as she spotted Lucas sitting at a desk across the room.

Luke glanced over at her. "Mouth's parents' room," he replied. "He got worried this morning when he couldn't wake you up so he called me." He glanced up at the clock. Nearly 2 p.m. "I got to say, I've never seen you sleep in this late," he joked. "Looks like you finally caved and had a few drinks, huh?"

She frowned and pulled the covers further up her neck when she noticed she wasn't wearing anything. "Why am I naked?" she asked.

He shrugged. "You got me," he replied. "Mouth and I figured you probably got undressed and were too drunk to realize you didn't have any jammies so just said, screw it."

She frowned again. That didn't sound right.

But Luke didn't seem to notice her discomfort. "Well, I'm glad at least one of us had a good time last night," he said. "You won't guess how my evening turned out. I got dumped."

"Really?"

"Yeah, that's why I didn't come back to the party," he explained. "I was too upset."

"I'm sorry," Haley replied almost mechanically.

"The worst part?" Luke went on. "It was so she could go back to Nathan. Yeah, guy treats her like crap the whole time they were together and even after that but she still goes back to him. And Friday night, you know how she said she wanted to be alone? Well, she wasn't. She went over to Nathan's and guess what? They almost…" He stopped abruptly when he noticed that Haley had started crying. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he asked, rushing over to sit at the side of the bed. His whole life he'd only seen Haley cry a handful of times so when she did, he knew something serious was up.

"Did you guys see me like this?" she asked, feeling humiliated at the prospect of being on display to anyone who came in the room.

"No, no, just your back," he spoke reassuringly. "We didn't see anything else."

She nodded but continued sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hales, what is it?" Lucas asked, full of concern.

"Luke," she said, staring down, her voice shaky. "I only drank soda all night. Not one drop of alcohol."

"But…"

She shook her head vehemently, cutting off anything he might have said. "No, listen to me. I wasn't drinking last night," she insisted.

A/N: Happy Valentines Day to all who celebrate!!!