Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone who's been reviewing for their extreme dedication to this story and apologize for how long it's taken for this update to come. I had some extreme writer's block and I didn't feel right continuing to write the story when I knew the chapters were going to be poor quality and the story was going to go downhill. I received many reviews asking me to finish this story and it really helped motivate me so I searched my old laptop and found that I had had the next chapter written but had not had the chance to publish it before I left for university. I also found my old outline for the story and have gone over and started to try and continue where I left off on my old plot-line. I've also re-read this story and, if you guys are still interested in reading it and would me to continue writing it, I will gladly finish it. So please let me know what you think and what you would like! Sorry for the ramble! Enjoy!

Nathan walked over to Haley's the next day, all the events of the previous night still circling around in his head. Everything was going great, after all the work and drama he was finally relaxing and having fun with his friends and his girlfriend, and then Chris had to show up and ruin everything. Nathan sighed as he reached up to knock on the door; however, he found that it was already open. That's strange, Nathan thought to himself, Haley never leaves her door unlocked.

"Haley?" Nathan called out as he walked into the house. He heard heavy breathing coming from the living room. Nathan started to panic. "Haley? Are you okay?" He rushed into the living room when he heard no reply, and his breath caught in his throat at what he saw.

There was Haley, lying in front of the fireplace, in nothing but a blanket, and Chris' arms were wrapped tightly around her as they kissed. "HALEY?"

Haley didn't seem to hear him, she appeared too wrapped up in Chris to care.

"HALEY? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

Haley seemed to turn at that. "Oh…hey Nathan." She smiled sheepishly at him. "Did you need something?"

"Haley, what are you doing with this prick?" Nathan shot Chris a disdainful look. "He doesn't deserve you."

Haley laughed at that. "What? And you think you do?"

"No, but…I least I…I…"

"You what? Love me? Come on, don't look so surprised that I know, you're so obvious about it."

"Well do you…do you love me back?"

"Aww Nathan." Haley gave him a sympathetic smile. "Don't you know? I love Chris."

Nathan shot up in bed, breathing heavily, with Haley's words still echoing in his mind. "I've got to go see her," he muttered to himself as he jumped out of bed and headed towards the shower. He sighed as he felt the warm water wash over him, although he still couldn't get thoughts of Chris and Haley out of his head. He remembered when he had first heard about her and he had decided to look her up. He remembered finding all those articles about the two year relationship between Haley James and Chris Keller. How they made the perfect couple. How no one understood what could have possibly caused them to break up. And their relationship had only ended a year ago, what if Haley still had feelings for Chris? What if he was just a rebound? Nathan couldn't stop these thoughts as they raced through his mind. He couldn't handle losing Haley, he knew that. He didn't know what he'd do if she decided she wanted Chris instead, only that it would break him. He'd only known Haley for a few months but he'd fallen fast and hard, she was the first and only girl he'd ever been in love with and the thought of losing her hurt more than he ever could have imagined. He couldn't lose her, he wouldn't.

With that thought in mind Nathan jumped out of the shower and dressed quickly before heading out the door. He needed to see Haley more than anything; to see her face and know that she cared for him and not Chris, and so that he could convince himself that his nightmare wasn't about to become his reality.

Nathan pulled up outside Haley's house and jumped out of the car before hurrying towards the front door. He knocked impatiently.

"Coming!" He heard a voice answer. That was strange, that voice sounded much too masculine to be Haley's. In fact, it sounded like…

"Chris Keller."

"Can I help you?" Chris smirked as he leaned against the doorframe.

"I need to speak with Haley." Nathan glared at Chris.

"She's a little pre-occupied at the moment. If you know what I mean…" Chris leaned in with a wink.

"Chris! Who's at the door?" Haley called out as she walked towards the door in a night robe.

Nathan's eyes widened as he saw her. He looked from her to Chris and noted her sheepish expression beside his smug one. "This can't be happening…" Nathan muttered to himself. This was like his dream all over again. "I have to go." Nathan turned and ran towards his car before driving off down the street.

"Nathan!" Haley called out as she ran down the driveway. "Nathan!" She turned frantically towards Chris. "Chris I'm sorry but I have to go."

"It's fine." Chris smirked. "The Keller can show himself out."

Haley just shook her head before running into the house, pulling on some clothes, and running out the door.

~*23*~

Nathan sighed as he stretched himself across the grass. He was originally going to the Rivercourt but he knew it would only be a matter of time before Haley found him and he didn't think he could handle what she had to say. He just kept picturing his encounter with Chris and Haley over and over in his mind. He knew he was probably over-reacting but he couldn't help it. He couldn't quell that voice in the back of his head that kept telling him that Haley was so far out of his league, and that there was no way that he would ever deserve her. And he couldn't help the fear that one day she would realise it too, and that she would leave him. And now Chris was here, and it was the perfect out for her. Nathan ran his hands over his face, he was a mess, he had never been in love before, hell, he'd never even truly liked a girl before, and now in the span of a few months he'd met this amazing woman and fallen in love. This was all so new and confusing. His emotions had never felt this out of control before and he'd never felt such a strong fear of losing anyone before, but maybe that was because he'd never met anyone as amazing as Haley before. Nathan groaned out loud. How was he supposed to do this? He'd never been the relationship type of guy. That had always been Jake's department.

"Nathan?"

Nathan jumped up and spun around at the sound of her voice. "How…how did you find me?"

"The more important question is why did you run away in the first place?"

"Look Haley, I can't do this right now," Nathan sighed turning away from her.

"No Nathan." Haley walked up to him and grabbed his arm, turning him around. "You can't keep doing this, you can't keep running away every time something happens that you don't like."

"That's not what I'm doing..." Nathan started.

"Yes Nathan, you are. This is what happened with Trevor and then again when the press found out about us. You just…you run, and you shut me out. I need you to open up to me Nathan, that's the only way this is going to work."

"I just…" Nathan looked away from her, he couldn't believe he was actually saying this. "I just don't think I can handle it if…"

"If?" Haley prodded after a few seconds.

Nathan paused once more before his words came tumbling out in an agitated rush. "If you decide that you don't want me anymore. That you want Trevor or Chris, or someone else instead."

"Nathan…" Haley searched his eyes, confused. "Why…? How could you possibly think that? It's you that I want Nathan, you're the only one I want. How could you doubt that?"

Nathan opened his mouth to say something before looking down at his feet.

"Nathan, please, just open up to me and tell me what's bothering you."

"It's just that…you're, you're perfect and I'm just this screw-up. And every time I look at you I know you deserve someone better, and I can't help but fear that one day you'll realise it too and then I'll lose you forever."

Haley could hear the coarseness in his voice and she reached up to cup his cheek in her hand, turned his head so that he was looking into her eyes. "Nathan, how can you think that? When I look at you, I don't see a screw up, I see this amazing guy. You're smart and you're caring and you make me feel wanted and…alive. And I've never felt that way before. I've never cared this deeply for anyone before." Her voice had quieted down to a whisper towards the end.

"Not even Chris?" Nathan asked quietly.

"Definitely not Chris." Haley shook her head. "My relationship with Chris was…complicated, to say the least. We just, we weren't right for each other. The only thing we had in common was our love for music, and I realised later on that as we sang the same songs together, we grew to love those songs, and we bonded over that, over the music. Somehow, as we performed and recorded together, we mistook our passion for music for passion for each other. But never did I feel as strongly for Chris as I do for you Nathan. And as soon as I realised that the only thing Chris and I had was a mutual love for music, I broke it off."

"I heard about you guys Haley. I know all that stuff about you guys being 'the perfect couple' and all that."

"Nathan, we seemed perfect because we weren't real. Not like you and I are. Chris and I fought all the time; he put his career before everything else and thought I should too. He was willing to compromise our relationship so that we could get ahead. Nathan, you are the exact opposite of that, in fact, you were willing to risk your career just so that you could be with me." She smiled lovingly at him as she rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

Nathan smiled down at her for a moment before he remembered something. His smiled vanished. "But this morning…"

"Chris just came by to say hello. He had written some new songs he wanted to record but he hadn't been able to find me. Once the press leaked that we were in Tree Hill, he came down to see if I would want to record with him."

"But the last time you two worked together…"

"That won't happen again, we won't make the same mistake twice. I have no remaining feelings for Chris and I'm sure that he feels the same way."

Nathan looked down at the ground. "I'm not so sure about that," he muttered to himself.

"Nathan."

He looked up into Haley's eyes.

"Please just trust me okay? I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know." Nathan nodded. "And I trust you, it's him I'm worried about."

"Well you have nothing to worry about. Chris and I are just friends."

Nathan looked at her for a moment before taking a deep breathe and nodding. "Okay."

"So you believe me?"

"Of course I do."

"Good," Haley smiled at him. "Now how about we go back to my place and order some pizza for lunch."

"What about-"

"Oh, Chris is gone."

"Okay then." Nathan smiled. "Sounds perfect." He grabbed Haley's hand and tried to shake away his doubts as they headed off towards Haley's car. He still wasn't convinced. Haley was perfect, she was smart and beautiful and incredibly talented, and there was no way any guy wouldn't want her…especially Chris. But he trusted Haley, and while he didn't feel he deserved her, he knew that she would never lie to him and would never cheat on him, and so the most he could do for now was to let it go…at least for now.

Thanks so much for all your support! Please let me know what you think!