AN – Okay guys, I know I'm still only 14 chapters into Kiss The Rain (you can check that story out on my profile page) and I still have so much to tell in that story, but this idea came to me and I couldn't help myself! I hope you all like it, I have been amazed at how well you guys have received Kiss the Rain and your reviews have really inspired me, and the result of that is this new story.

Of course it's Nathan and Haley and completely AU again... and just like Kiss The Rain, there will be a lot of drama/smut to come, hence the M rating.

So all that remains for me to say is that I hope you like it... I'm a little nervous about posting this given how well Kiss the Rain has done, but we'll see what you guys think... x

Think About Me

Chapter 1

Haley closed her eyes as she stood patiently at the bottom of the Subway stairs. She was being pushed and shoved from one way to another, these annoying people were so inconsiderate. They all failed to realise that they were all trying to do the same thing, just get out onto the street, but yet each one that pushed past her was more thoughtless than the previous person that had sent her tumbling into someone else. She sighed at how normal it all felt though.

She dragged herself slowly up the stairs, the crowd were moving at a torturous pace, she didn't understand these people jams, why everyone couldn't move at a continuous pace was beyond her, and it happened every single morning. She finally reached the top, where she found that it was pouring with rain, which was just another crappy thing to add to the list of why today was a disaster, given that without an umbrella she was going to have to turn up to the office completely soaked. She walked in the direction away from her office building, down Wall Street towards Starbucks. She was late, but she was always late, and she was going to make herself even later, but damn did she need that coffee.

She opened the door to the coffee shop and looked around, trying to spot whether he was there. She did this every single morning, ever since she had first started working in Manhattan two months ago, it was her ritual. She would have the shittiest morning known to man, mainly because of her hour and a half long commute, walk into Starbucks, order her latte, sit down next to him and all her troubles seemed to melt away.

She didn't know why she had started talking to him in the first place if she was honest with herself, she was usually far too shy to start conversing with a complete stranger, but there was something about him, something about their conversation, it was so easy and free flowing. They talked about anything and everything, sharing problems, telling tales about their families, she didn't know the basic things about him, she only knew his name, she didn't know where he worked or where he lived but she liked that, he was like her mystery man; she could make him be anything she wanted him to be in her head.

She ordered her latte and walked over to where his head was buried in a paper, much like how she found him every morning.

Nathan sat in his usual spot, just like he had been for the last half an hour. He looked down at his watch, checking the time; she was usually here by now. He didn't think anything of it though and continued reading, sure that she was just running late, again. He felt the chilly breeze on his ankles as the door opened but didn't glance up. If it was her, she would come over, she always did. He flipped over the page of his newspaper and smelt that horrific smell of the girly coffee she liked and smiled. She had arrived.

"You're late this morning." He said to her without even looking over to see that it was in fact her who had sat down next to him. It was the best part of his day, being able to chat to her. He liked that they would meet in the morning too, it made him excited to get to Wall Street, wondering what she would be wearing, wondering in which direction their seemingly pointless conversation would flow to that day, wondering if her hair would be up or down...

Haley laughed as she sat down next to him. "Nathan, how did you know that was me?"

"I can smell that disgusting coffee you drink from a mile off." He smirked at her as he put down his paper and turned to face her. She looked flustered and her black trench coat was covered with rain, her hair was soaked too but she still looked absolutely stunning.

His eyes were sparkling as he turned to face her and Haley couldn't help but play along with his teasing. "There is nothing wrong with the coffee I drink, thank you very much, and quite how you can drink four espresso shots in one sitting is beyond me."

He laughed. "What can I say, I need the caffeine, and by the way, this," he started as he gulped down the rest of his coffee, "is my fifth, and I wouldn't be able to last the sixteen hours I need to if I didn't have it."

Haley just shook her head at him. If she had five espresso shots in the morning she would be bouncing off the walls for the rest of the week. She took note of what secret he had revealed about himself in that sentence, he must have a very demanding job if he was working sixteen hour days. Although they never talked about anything personal, like what they actually did for a living or where they lived, as a whole conversation, little snippets of their lives often crept into their chats, and Haley found herself storing up all the little pieces of his life that he had divulged to her, trying to fit all the pieces together.

"So did you have a good weekend Haley?" He asked her, waiting to hear about her escapades.

Now that really was the million dollar question. Had she had a good weekend? She mused. "It was average I guess."

"How comes it was only average?" He prodded. He loved hearing about her life. It was so different to his, his was chaotic and everything seemed rushed, whereas she seemed to have a lot of time on her hands, which was something he craved. He didn't even know her last name, what she did for a living, where she was from, but her life, or maybe it was just her, completely enthralled and captivated him.

"It wasn't the best weekend I've ever had in my life, nor the worst." She shrugged. "How about you, how was your weekend?" She asked as she took a gulp of her drink. His life was far more interesting than hers.

"Great, actually, I went to the Knicks game on Saturday with my brother." He started to ramble on about how great the game was.

Okay so he has a brother. Haley thought to herself, adding that new piece of information to her stash, waiting for him to talk about something other than sport, which was so not her forte.

"And then yesterday I flew down to Tree Hill in North Carolina to visit my parents, whom I hadn't seen in about two months so my Mom was freaking out. I decided it was best for me to go and get that trip over and done with..."

His parents live in North Carolina, was also added to her collection of 'Nathan Information'.

"And then I flew back into New York last night and did some work for a few hours before finally getting to bed at about one in the morning." He finished.

He has to work on the weekend, okay, forget very demanding, his job must be extremely demanding if he's working sixteen hour days during the week and has to spend time working at the weekend too. She didn't know how these city tycoons lived like that. "Sounds like an action packed weekend!"

Nathan smiled. "So why was yours only average? You know you should always do something fun on the weekend, you should always make time to enjoy yourself."

"I did some fun things." Haley defended herself. She wasn't a total bore!

"Like what?" He questioned, eager to know what she had been up to.

"I... did some shopping." Haley revealed.

"What did you buy?" Nathan asked.

Haley looked down at the ground. "Food."

Nathan roared with laughter. "So you are telling me that the most exciting thing that happened to you this weekend was food shopping?!"

Haley gasped at his teasing. "I wasn't finished telling you about my weekend yet, if you would shut your mouth for a second and let me finish!" Haley crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

Nathan held up his arms. "Okay, I'm sorry, I'm listening; tell me, what else did you get up to this weekend?"

"I went out with my boyfriend on Saturday night." Haley continued.

"Ah the boyfriend! How's that going?" He hated that she had a boyfriend. He hated that she was unhappy and yet still had a boyfriend. He was a lucky bastard as far as Nathan was concerned yet he didn't seem to realise it, not from what he had heard from Haley anyway. From what she had revealed, he treated her like shit, she totally deserved someone better than that, Haley deserved someone who was going to respect her, someone who was going to treat her right, someone like him.

"Better now, I think. He's getting used to the idea of me working in New York with him and even though we both work for the same company, I still never see him when I'm here. We're still living separately, with him in Manhattan and me an hour and a half away but we're getting on a bit better than we were before."

"How can you not see him when you work at the same company?" Nathan asked, confused.

"Same company, different buildings." Haley explained. "He wasn't too happy when he found out I had got a job at the same place he worked at, as you very well know, but I think it's good that our working lives are still separate from each others, it makes it a bit easier, we don't feel like we are constantly on each other's toes."

"I still don't understand why you don't just move in with him, it makes no sense you living so far out when he has a place here." Nathan shook his head. How someone could be going out with someone as beautiful as Haley and not want to share a home with her, he didn't know, if it was him, he would have asked her to move in the moment they started dating, just so he could be near her all the time.

"Well I don't think we're ready for that yet." Haley said quietly, wishing she hadn't mentioned Tom now that she and Nathan were starting this conversation again, it always ended badly.

"How long have you been with him Haley?" Nathan questioned, trying to see if he could understand what this dude's problem was.

"Two years." Haley sighed.

"Two years! Come on, my brother had gotten engaged and married in two years, so why won't you two live together?" He had got to be the biggest asshole on the planet! Either that or he must be blind, if he couldn't see what was right in front of him, which as far as Nathan was concerned, was the most perfect girl he'd ever met.

Haley hated this subject. She had been wondering about it too, wondering why it was so hard for Tom to make that commitment to her, but every time she brought it up, he would change the subject, or just say that he was happy with the way things were going with them and she hadn't wanted to push the subject any further, he was already so stressed out at work, what he needed was a supportive girlfriend, not one that moaned constantly. So she had dropped the subject and not brought it up again. She sighed, she didn't want another lecture from Nathan about it; she'd had so many in the past and so she swiftly changed the subject back to him. "Well, what about you?"

"What about me?" Nathan asked nonchalantly.

"Where is your girlfriend?!" Haley enquired, knowing how much he hated this subject matter, but if he was going to bring up the whole 'why don't you live with your boyfriend?' scenario, then she was going to bring this up.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Nathan stated.

"Exactly. Why not?" Haley asked.

"No time." Nathan explained.

"That, Nathan, is a poor excuse. How can you not have time for a girlfriend?" Haley shook her head at him.

"I work too hard, and besides, I'm not looking to play the field, I've been there and done that more times than you would care to know." That was definitely no lie. While he was at college he was the serial dater, who never had a girlfriend. That behaviour had continued when he had first moved to New York, but once he hit twenty five, something hit him, and he knew he couldn't continue living this way, so he had calmed down and concentrated on his business, and hadn't found the right girl for him in those two years he had been kind of, but not, looking.

Haley definitely didn't doubt that. There was no denying that Nathan was extremely attractive. He was always so well dressed, his suits fitted him to perfection and she hadn't failed to notice his body was, well nicely toned. But in the two months she had known him, he hadn't even been on a date. "But that's the past, what about now?"

"Now, I am waiting for the right person to come along." Nathan answered honestly.

"Well, you aren't going to find her while you sit in a coffee shop with your head buried in a paper. You have to actually date Nathan!"

Nathan thought about what she had said to him. What he really wanted to do was go on a date with her, she was the one he wanted, but she was taken. She was in a relationship where she wasn't happy, where she wasn't appreciated. And he hated that because he knew that he would appreciate her, treat her right, he would do whatever it took to make her happy. He could feel his temper brewing inside of him, for no reason other than the fact that she was telling him to date, when he couldn't date the one person he wanted to. "Well you aren't going to move forward in your relationship if you won't tell your boyfriend what you want from him!" Nathan bit back. He'd had his Mom on his case all day yesterday about finding the right girl for him, about how he was getting old and needed to settle down and he'd heard enough, without Haley being on his case too. Christ, he was only twenty seven! Who said you needed to be married and have kids by the time you were thirty?!

"And what is it that I want from him?" Haley goaded. He was moving into dangerous territory. Why she had brought up the subject of Tom she didn't know, it always caused them to bicker.

"I don't know, but it's clear you aren't happy. Why else would you have sat here for two months complaining about it?"

Haley didn't say anything. She just played with her coffee cup.

"Come on Haley, tell me you're happy and I'll drop the subject?" Nathan dared her.

Haley sat back in her chair and gulped down the rest of her coffee, Nathan's words leaving a very sour taste in her mouth. She had to get to work; she didn't have time to discuss this with him. She placed her now empty cup on the table in front of her and stood up to leave.

Nathan saw that Haley was getting up to leave and he knew that he had overstepped the mark with his last comment. "Haley, I'm sorry, it's just the whole girlfriend issue has been rammed down my throat all weekend. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"No, you know what, you're right, I do need to talk to my boyfriend. But don't think that you know what I want from my relationship. That is my issue and my problem; you don't know me or us or how we are together."

"I wasn't implying that I did Haley, it's just I can tell..."

"You have no right to pass judgement Nathan okay."

"Okay." Nathan sighed and watched as Haley put her coat back on. He knew when to shut up. He picked up his paper and walked out with her, just like they did every morning. Once they were back out on Wall Street Nathan spoke. "I didn't mean to upset you Haley." He said softly.

"I know you didn't." Haley offered him a small smile as her way of showing him that it was over and done with, that she was past it.

"Good. Well have a nice day and I'll see you tomorrow?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"Yeah, same to you and I'll see you tomorrow."

Haley turned and walked towards her office building, glancing behind as she watched Nathan walk briskly in the opposite direction. She knew he was right, she did need to talk to Tom, she just didn't want to hear that something was wrong in their relationship from anybody, even though it was glaringly obvious. She sighed as she walked into the office, pushing all personal thoughts out of her mind as she took the lift up to the seventeenth floor, ready to excuse herself for being late, once again.

~*~

Lucas Scott sat in his office, sighing at the empty desk just outside his door. Haley was late, but what was new? He shook his head and continued typing away on his computer; doing some research for the conference call he had in ten minutes when he heard Haley come running from the elevator. He laughed as she almost tripped over her chair and when she looked around to check that no one saw, she made eye contact with him.

Great, so not only am I late but now my boss is laughing at me. Haley thought to herself. She made her way into Lucas' office. "Luke, I am so sorry I'm late."

Lucas shook his head at his secretary, smiling at her. "Close the door and sit down for a second Haley."

Haley did as she was told and placed herself in the spare seat in front of Lucas' desk, trying to smooth down her damp hair. She really needed to invest in an umbrella.

"Haley, you know I think you are doing an amazing job right?" Lucas started.

Oh no! Haley thought, this doesn't sound good.

"But you can't keep being this late every day!"

"I know, I'm so sorry, it's just it takes me so long to get here, but I always work later so I make sure I make up my hours..." Haley said in a worried tone, wondering where this conversation was headed.

"I know you do Haley and don't worry I'm not about to sack you or anything, I'm more concerned about you, travelling for three hours a day to get to and from work must be taking its toll on you."

Haley smiled at his concern; he really was a great boss. "I guess so but it's my choice to do it."

"Why haven't you managed to find a place to live that's closer to work?" Lucas asked.

"Everywhere is so expensive and the places that I could afford aren't in that safe an area..."

"What about your boyfriend? He lives in Manhattan right?"

Haley rolled her eyes. She really didn't want to be talking about this twice in one day. "We're not quite ready for the whole living together thing."

Lucas sighed. He really was concerned about Haley. She was amazing at her job and he didn't want to lose her because she was getting tired from the commute. He'd had this idea a week ago but hadn't thought of the right way to approach it with her. He took a deep breath and continued. "I'll tell you what, my friend has an apartment that he hardly uses in Manhattan, which I'm sure he'd be more than willing to let you rent out."

Haley's head snapped up. "What?" She was sure she was hearing things? He knew of an apartment in Manhattan that she could rent?

"It's a really nice place, has three bedrooms, rooftop terrace, it's a duplex penthouse. But like I said, he rarely uses it, and even if he does use it, it would only be for a short amount of time."

"Why doesn't he use it?" Haley asked. Surely if he didn't use it the place would be rented out anyway.

"He has a bigger place just outside the city which he prefers to live in."

"But I wouldn't be able to afford to pay him market rate." Haley stated the obvious, there was no way on her salary she would be able to rent a duplex penthouse, complete with rooftop terrace.

"I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem, it's not like he needs the money you know, and all it's doing at the moment is sitting there empty."

Haley shook her head in amazement, this really sounded like it was too good to be true. "Well that sounds great Lucas."

"Let me call him later on today and see what he thinks of the whole idea and I'll let you know."

"Thanks Luke, I really appreciate it." Haley said gratefully. She was stunned; it seemed her hour and a half commute was hopefully going to be drastically reduced.

"No problem. Now get back to work." He said with a smile on his face as he motioned for her to get out of his office.

Haley walked out of his office and sat down at her desk, praying that his friend would say it was okay for her to rent his place, when the phone started to ring. "Good morning, Scott Investment Management, Haley speaking."

"Haley, its Tom."

"Hi Tom." Haley said down the phone to him.

"Good journey to work?"

"Same as always, I was late... again. You know that the only day I managed to get to work on time was the very first day; every other day since I started I have been late."

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Tom asked, wondering quite how this was his problem.

Haley sighed; there was no point in bringing this up over the phone with him.

"Haley, I know you want us to live together but I'm just not ready for that yet." Tom chose his words carefully.

"Well when are you going to be Tom? I mean we have been seeing each other for two years now! This isn't some high school romance, we're adults."

"I know that..."

"So then why won't you offer me any sort of commitment?" Haley huffed down the phone at him. Her conversation with Nathan earlier was playing on her mind and she knew things needed to be said.

Tom was silent for about five minutes before he spoke. "Haley, I can't talk about this with you now but I'll pick you up after work and we can grab some food and chat about this okay?"

"Fine." Haley said as she slammed the phone down.

~*~

Nathan walked into his office and sat down at his desk, ready for another relentless day. He opened his calendar and saw that it was crazy, just like always and sighed to himself. He grabbed his pad of paper and started writing down some notes on his thoughts for the potential investment he would be discussing with his Board of Directors in half an hour, when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." Nathan called out as he shut his pad of paper.

"Hi Nathan."

"Good morning Tom, have a seat." Nathan gestured at one of the seats that sat facing him. Tom was one of his three divisional heads, he worked incredibly hard and Nathan respected him a lot for it. He was a good guy too, always willing to go that extra mile and was someone Nathan would almost consider a friend.

"Thanks Nathan." Tom said as he sat down.

"So what can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if there was any way someone could cover the Smith meeting I have this evening?"

Nathan threw his head back; he didn't need these sort of complications, not right at the last minute. "It's a bit late to be asking Tom."

"I know, and you know I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't something important but I need to take my girlfriend out to dinner tonight."

"You want to switch your meeting so you can go for dinner with your girlfriend?" Nathan asked, unimpressed.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me tonight!" Tom blurted out.

Nathan's eyes grew wide. "That's fantastic Tom! Congratulations!"

"Well we don't know if she's going to say yes yet but thanks!"

"Wow, that's huge!" Nathan said as he shook his head. It seemed everyone was moving on with their lives, with someone else in their life but him.

"So is it okay to swap?" Tom asked.

"Of course it is!" Nathan said as Tom got up to leave his office.

"Thanks Nathan."

"Let me know how it goes, won't you?!"

"Of course." Tom said as he shut the door to Nathan's office.

Just as Tom had shut the door to his office, his phone started to ring. "Scott Investment Management, Nathan speaking."

"Nate."

"Lucas, how are you?"

"Fine thanks, you?"

"Yeah I'm good, how's everything going down in real estate. No disasters to report I hope." Nathan asked, not sure if he could take it if there were anything wrong. Today was officially a disaster.

"Not at all, in fact, this is a personal call."

"Okay shoot." Nathan said, relieved.

"Well, you know I hired that new secretary a couple of months ago...." Lucas started.

"Yes... don't tell me, you've had an affair with her!" Nathan joked, knowing there was no way in hell Lucas would ever cheat on Brooke, for she would castrate him if he did!

"Ha ha, very funny." Lucas rolled his eyes at his brother's antics.

"Well I've heard from a couple of people in your building that she's hot."

"I thought you were all set of finding 'the one'?"

"I am, but if she's hot, she's hot."

"You are unbelievable. Anyway, back to the conversation... You know that she lives like hours away from work right?"

"No I didn't..."

"Well she does and it's really affecting her work."

"So sack her." Nathan said simply. "Or tell her to move."

"She can't afford anywhere decent in Manhattan, and I'm not going to fire her, she's amazing at her job."

"Okay... so what has this got to do with me?"

"Well." Lucas cleared his throat. "You know your apartment..."

"Lucas..." Nathan warned, not liking where this conversation was headed.

"Nathan, just hear me out okay?"

"Fine."

"I was thinking that maybe she could use it, you know, to live in."

"Lucas, I really think that's a bad idea. I mean, I'm basically her boss, how weird would that be, the fact that she would be living with her boss? People would start talking, get the wrong idea..."

"You never use it, like ever."

"That's not true."

"When did you last use it?"

"Last week."

"For what, one night?"

"Yes for one night, but the fact still remains, I used it."

"Nathan please, she is so good at her job and I know that she's going to start looking elsewhere if this routine continues and I can't afford to lose her, not after the psycho I had before her.

Nathan sighed heavily. This was just a crazy idea but if Lucas had found someone who was good at her job... well didn't he deserve to have a good secretary? Especially after the last one who tried to seduce him.

"Nathan please." Lucas pleaded with him.

Nathan shook his head, not quite believing that he was going to agree to this. "Okay but you have to tell her that I may need to use it sometimes."

"Thanks Nate. That's fine. It's plenty big enough for the both of you anyway."

Nathan grumbled incoherently down the phone and hung up. His brother was mentally unstable, it was official.

~*~

Haley had just finished shutting her computer down. It was seven o'clock in the evening and she was due to meet Tom downstairs. "Luke, I'm headed off now, I'll see you tomorrow." She called into his office as she did the belt of her trench coat up.

"Okay, oh and Haley, I spoke to my friend and he said that you can take his apartment if you want to, so think about it and let me know okay?"

"Oh wow. Thanks Luke I will do. Have a nice evening."

"Same to you." Lucas said as he continued tapping away on his computer.

Haley walked over to the elevators and waited patiently for one to arrive. When she heard the doors open she walked in and pressed the button that would take her to the ground floor, as she mentally geared herself up for one serious talk with Tom.

She walked out of the building and saw Tom waiting for her. He kissed her on the cheek and they walked hand in hand towards the restaurant he had chosen for them to eat in.

Haley couldn't help but feel nervous, every time she brought up their living arrangements it ended in a huge argument, and she was sure tonight would be no different. He opened the door to the restaurant for her and she walked inside.

Halfway through the meal, Haley had built up enough courage to start talking about their relationship, which it had seemed both of them were avoiding like the plague. Haley put her knife and fork down and rested her chin in her hands. "Tom, we really need to talk..."

"I know we do honey." Tom smiled back at her.

He was really infuriating her, how he could just say that he knew they needed to talk and then just smile.... God he was annoying, why wouldn't he just talk!? "So..."

Tom kept smiling at her.

Haley sighed, deciding that she was going to have to take the lead. "Tom, when are we going to start acting like a couple that have been dating for two years instead of two months?"

"We don't act like a couple that has been dating for two months."

"Yes we do." Haley said in an agitated tone.

"Well I don't think we do."

"Tom, I live an hour and a half, if not more, away from you, we hardly see each other. I never stay over at your place, in fact, you have been living there for over a year now and I have been there all of three times. You never seem to want me around, you ignore me at work," Haley started rambling on and wasn't looking at him, instead preferring to play with her knife and look at the table. "I have never met your friends, and you show me absolutely no sign of any commitment." Haley finished the last part slowly as she looked down to find Tom sitting on one knee in front of her, with a small, ring sized black box in his hands.

"Haley..." Tom started.

Haley's mind began to race. What the hell was he doing?! He couldn't be about to propose surely? Not when everything seemed so wrong in their relationship.

"I love you. Will you marry me?"

Oh shit. He just proposed. "Tom... how... what... I don't know what to say?"

Tom opened up the box and Haley stared in awe at the beautiful ring sitting in the box. "Just say yes." She heard him say to her.

"But Tom, we still have loads to talk about..."

"Haley, you said I didn't show you any commitment, well this is it... commitment."

"I know but... what about our living arrangements."

"Let's just take this one step at a time. We don't have to get married right away but I want you to know that I love you and that I want to be with you."

Haley closed her eyes. She didn't know what to think. Her mind kept flashing back to that conversation she'd had that morning with Nathan, yes she was unhappy with Tom, but that was because she wanted commitment wasn't it, commitment that he wasn't willing to give her? And now here he was down on one knee offering her what she wanted. "Okay." Haley said quietly, smiling at Tom as he slid the ring onto her left finger, before giving her a kiss on the lips.

She smiled as she looked down at the ring once Tom had gone back to his seat, hoping with all her heart that this would solve all their problems, but unable to shake that feeling that lingered heavily inside of her that nothing could save them, not now.

~*~

Nathan sat alone in his office at home. It was eleven o'clock but he still had a mountain of things to do, that seemed to be getting larger instead of shrinking. It didn't help that he couldn't concentrate. His mind kept wondering to Haley and he couldn't get her out of his head. He had no idea what to do about these feelings he had for her, especially as she was in a relationship. He sighed as he picked up his phone and called his sister in law, looking for some advice.

"Nathan!" Brooke answered her phone.

"Hi Brooke."

"What's got you calling so late?" Brooke asked intrigued.

"I need some advice." Nathan said as she took a deep breath before revealing his secret, one that he had only told Luke about, and found his hands fiddling with the cord of the telephone as he thought about what to say to her.

"Come on then, spill." Brooke said impatiently.

"There's this girl that I met..." Nathan started but was interrupted.

"Oh you mean the coffee shop girl?"

Nathan stopped playing with the telephone cord. "You know about her."

"Yeah Luke told me about her."

"Damn him!" Nathan said as he shook his head.

"Nathan, we're married, we have no secrets, especially when they involve you and a girl! Those kind of secrets are far too juicy to be kept under wraps."

Nathan sighed. "So you know everything?"

"I know whatever you told Luke."

"Great so you do know everything." Nathan muttered.

Brooke shrugged and couldn't help giggling at Nathan. "So what do you need advice with?"

"Well you know I like her right? And I think she likes me... but she has this boyfriend who she is so not happy with... and I don't know what to do about it." Nathan let out a long breath.

"Have you talked to her about the boyfriend?"

"All the time."

"And?" Brooke asked.

"And we argue about it. She doesn't seem to want to do anything about it. But she is so unhappy Brooke and I know that I could make her happy." Nathan closed his eyes and leaned his head back, he knew she would be a thousand times happier with him, why couldn't she see that?

"So tell her how you feel." Brooke said casually.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"She won't freak out or anything?" Nathan asked, wanting a girls opinion on this.

"She might... but at least she will know how you feel."

Nathan thought about it for a moment, unsure of what to do. "I guess I could try that."

"Good, do it Nathan, you'll only regret it if you don't... and don't forget to tell me how it goes! Night Nathan."

"Night Brooke."

Nathan hung up the phone and ignored the rest of his work, that could wait until tomorrow. Right now he had to think about what he was going to say to Haley.

~*~

Haley walked along the sidewalk, her gloves on her hands as she played with her ring through the material. She wasn't used to wearing her ring yet and the whole concept of being engaged felt totally alien to her. She thought back to last night, for once, Tom had invited her back to his place, which was a start but she still didn't understand why he was so against them living together. They were engaged now; surely living together was even less of a step forward than getting married?

Haley walked into Starbucks, seeing Nathan sitting at his usual spot, but with no paper today. He smiled as he motioned for her to come and see him.

"I got you your girly coffee." Nathan said with a smile as he pushed the cup towards her.

"Thanks Nathan." Haley smiled back, noticing his espresso cups stacked neatly on the table. "And how many of those have you had this morning?" She asked as she pointed to the table.

"Three."

"Not as bad a five then!" Haley teased as she sat down on the chair.

Nathan laughed. "So you have a good evening?"

"It was okay." Haley said as she took a sip of her coffee. Somehow, she didn't want to tell Nathan about her engagement, and she didn't know why she felt that way. Maybe it was because she thought it would change things between them or mean that they wouldn't meet up so much anymore, she didn't know. All she knew was that she didn't want to risk not seeing him every day.

Nathan noticed that she still had her gloves on. "You not going to take them off?"

"Nah, it's a bit cold today." Haley said as her cheeks flushed red. He must think she was a total weirdo or something, but she didn't want to reveal her ring to him, not yet.

"Okay." Nathan shrugged as he gulped down the rest of his espresso. He was so nervous, his palms were sweating and his heart was racing. He wasn't sure if he had the confidence to just tell her how he felt about her, not today. He shook his head. He definitely couldn't do it. He just knew he had to get out of there, he felt suffocated, his mind teasing him with the fact that he couldn't build up enough courage to say that he liked her. "Well I have a meeting in ten minutes so I need to go." Nathan lied as he got up from his seat and put his coat on.

"Oh, okay." Haley said in a disappointed tone. She really wanted to talk to him today. "I guess I could go to work too, though I might give my boss a heart attack given that I would actually be early for a change!"

Nathan laughed along with her as he walked out of the coffee shop with her.

Haley could tell something was wrong with him, he wasn't his usual self, and he never usually had to run to meetings, especially before nine. "Nathan, is something wrong?" She asked.

Nathan looked down at her standing in front of him. He looked into her soulful brown eyes that were full of concern for him. The wind had just blown some of her out of her ponytail so he reached out and brushed it away from her face, placing it securely behind her ear.

Haley closed her eyes when she felt him reach out to place her hair behind her ear. She didn't know what was happening between them in that moment, but when she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into his gorgeous blue eyes, getting completely lost in them. Her heart was beating so fast and she didn't even know why, he was just looking at her, he had just touched her hair, that was all. She was a confused mess, what with everything that was going on with Tom and now seeing Nathan look at her like that, she didn't know what she felt. She knew deep down that she liked Nathan; why else would she look forward to seeing him every day? But she loved Tom, she was sure of it, or at least she thought she was sure of it, for looking at Nathan now, those feelings for Tom were being diminished, extremely rapidly.

Nathan didn't know why he was doing it but he felt himself leaning in to her. He couldn't find any words, he was a nervous wreck, but he needed her to know how he felt. He needed to show her that he could make her happy. He felt his lips connect with hers and waited.

Haley closed her eyes when she felt his lips on hers. She knew she should have stopped it, but she didn't, she couldn't, her body wouldn't react to what her head was telling it to do. She felt his lips land on hers and before she knew it, she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and was kissing him back.

AN – Arghhh...! So what did you think? Please let me know what you thought, and also whether you think I should continue... I'm a bit unsure...! Thanks guys! x