Hey all. Here is chapter 2. I wanted to get it up sooner, but life got in the way.

I just want to make something clear - I am very pro Haley on this show. A lot of the story is from her POV and a lot of the story will go further into the tour to see Haley's side of the "coin". So don't worry, this story is not intended to punish Haley. If anything, it's to show how much she's punished herself - maybe too much. I want to explore that a little. I also want to play with "asshole" Nathan a bit... :)

Anyway, enjoy and leave some love. Stressful week ahead, so I may need some added inspiration to write. lol.

Thanks for the support so far.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Haley, who was currently waiting in the massive line for the toilet, tried to ignore the looks of disgust she was receiving from her fellow classmates. She hadn't noticed it during the school day, but it was evident at the party. Haley James (Scott) was not to be recognized as anything other than a home-wrecker. Hurting Nathan Scott, the most popular jock, was the worst thing one could do. His little soldiers (the whole student body it seemed) were very protective of their ruler. Haley had always despised the "class" system in high school – popular vs. the unpopular. The notion of it always confused her and even angered her. She didn't fall in love with Nathan because of his high school status. She fell in love with him – the amazing guy behind the smirks and stern looks. The one who would bring her coffee in the morning because he knew she had a big test that morning or the one who would change the channel when ANY clown appeared on a television series. He was thoughtful and caring… He was her everything.

And now.

Now, he wasn't.

He wasn't her anything.

Finally, it was her turn to use the toilet. Of course, as she entered the bathroom that smelled of a lovely mixture of poo, vomit, and booze, one of the girls purposely ran into her, causing Haley to spill some of her drink on her jeans. Lovely.

As she entered the bathroom, another girl ran ahead of her, took off her pants and sat on the toilet. "I'll be quick, I promise," she smiled drunkenly.

"Oh please, take your time," Haley informed her sarcastically. This was why she hated parties. People were always such idiots when they were wasted.

CRASH!

"FUCK! Do you know how expensive that was?!?!!?" Haley knew this would be the beginning of yet another party fight. It would not be a party without two guys trying to punch each other, yet missing due to their intoxication. Why did she come again?

"I thought you were fast," Haley spoke. This girl was just sitting there looking at toilet paper as if it were a piece of modern art – looks interesting yet no one understands its meaning.

"Sorry, I didn't realize I had to take a shit."

"Oh my god!" Haley yelled in frustration and ran out of the bathroom.

Ridiculous!!

As Haley continued to walk through the house, one guy felt the need to get in her face and announce, "I have a fucking small penis!"

Huh? Haley did not know how to respond to such a lewd comment. She tried to ignore it, but he was back.

"My penis is so fucking small!!"

"Good for you," she mumbled as she started to push her way threw the crowd of drunk students.

"Haley!!"

"What!?" She snapped.

"Where are you going, friend? I have barely seen you all night!"

"Sorry Brooke, but you were too busy macking on Lucas. Where is he, by the way?"

"Oh, he tried to break up that fight. It turns out there was no need since David tried to punch Wally and ended up tripping over his own shoe and passing out. They're trying to wake him up now," Brooke smiled as she retold this "fascinating" story.

"Wow, I did not see that coming," Haley replied dryly. "I think I am going to go outside for a bit. The smell of beer is starting to make me want to vomit."

"Don't go out the backdoor. A bunch of the guys are taking hits on Jamal's bong."

"Seriously?" Haley questioned with an annoyed tone. "Maybe I'll go join them. Anything to make this party better," she smiled. That would definitely be the shocker of the night. Haley James stoned off her ass. It almost sounded appealing.

"I think Nathan is out there. . ." Brooke smiled.

"Of course he is," Haley muttered. "I'm going to the beach. I'll talk to you later"

Haley then walked out the front door, towards Brooke's car, and took her guitar out of the trunk. THIS was her drug. She only needed a quiet beach and her acoustic guitar to take the weight of the world off her shoulders. As she sat on the cold sand with her guitar, her fingers took over and her voice soon followed the rhythm.

Look at you

You bite your tongue

You don't know why or where I am coming from

But in my head, I am close to you

We're in the rain still searching for the sun

You think I want to run and hide

I'll keep it all locked inside

I want you to find me.

I'm not lost; I'm not lost

Just undiscovered.

Haley placed her bag in the bus' luggage compartment – a sullen expression upon her face. "This is what I want," she repeated to herself as she walked onto the bus.

"I'm proud of you," Chris told her as he walked on to the bus and took the seat next to hers.

"Yeah . . .," Haley responded looking out the window. She was about to leave Tree Hill – the only home she's ever really known. She was 17 and going into the unknown. It was scary, but it was what she needed to do. This was right. It had to be.

"Haley. . ."

"Don't," She stopped him from touching her. "If you comfort me, I'll break down, and I can't break down," she told him, tears already falling from her eyes. "I can't…" She repeated this until the words had left her voice only to be replaced with rapid sobs.

"I guess Nathan didn't take it well?"

"No," she whispered as her sobs began to slow and she was regaining a normal breathing pace.

"Then he doesn't deserve you."

"Or maybe I don't deserve him," Haley sighed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Ok, enough crying. What do we do next?"

Chris watched her struggle and a part of him wondered if he should kick her off this bus. Was she really ready for this? She may have been 'married', but she was just a kid.

"Tomorrow, we go to Raleigh and we do a couple of radio interviews in the AM. We then practice our set since we need to transition you into the show. You then play your first show, and then we hang out and most likely go to sleep at 3am. And then we do it again in Nashville!"

"Yay!" Haley smiled jokingly. "That actually sounds really cool."

"It is. You'll forget about Nathan after the rush of the first show. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Haley sighed. "This is going to kill him."

"It might. But it would kill you NOT to do this. Do you really think you and Nathan would survive him taking away your dream? Your opportunity to be something more than you ever imagined?"

"This is what I want," Haley said again. She did believe that. She did want this. She knew the cost was high, but sometimes the greatest things in life required the greatest sacrifice. Was this it?

You see that look that's on my face,

You might think that I'm out of place

Well, I'm not lost, no, just undiscovered.

"That was amazing!"

Haley, startled by her audience member, fell over, causing her guitar to hit her in the chest. "Ow!"

"Sorry, Hales. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok, Luke. What are you doing here? Brooke move on to her next target?"

"No, but she did tell me that you were out here."

"Oh, well, the party was pretty lame."

"I agree. Everyone is so wasted. Tim was hitting on a mop as I was leaving."

"I'm sure the mop will tell him to get lost," Haley smiled. She got to know Tim while she was living with Nathan, and she came to the conclusion that he's the most delusional guy she has ever met. It was what made him Tim though, and she actually learned to love that about him.

"That song was beautiful, Hales. Did you write it?"

"No, it's by James Morrison."

"Who?"

"A musician. He's a pretty good guy."

"Good guy? As in you know him?"

"I met him when the tour was in New York. We got to talking about life and love."

"It wasn't. . ."

"No, we didn't have a romantic connection. We were both dealing with similar experiences. He had broken up with his girlfriend recently, and he was missing her like I was missing Nathan."

"I feel like such a terrible friend for never asking about the tour. . ."

"Don't feel like that. Everyone seems to consider it the worst thing ever, right?"

"But it's not. Haley, that tour is a part of who you are now. Maybe I didn't understand it. . ."

"No one understood it. Sometimes, I didn't even understand what I was doing. I guess I just wanted to see if I could make it, you know?"

"You did make it."

"No, I just realized that making it wasn't worth it without Nathan in the audience supporting me."

"Have you told him that?"

"No, he won't even look at me."

"I'm sorry, Hales. I know this is hard on you."

"It's not fair, you know? People just assume that I wasn't hurting. Like I wanted all of this to happen. Yes, I am the one who ran, but he was the one who said it was over if I did."

"He didn't want you to leave. . ."

"And I didn't want to leave with him hating me. We all can't get what we want, can we?" Haley replied angrily. "I'm sorry," She sighed. "That wasn't fair. I'm just frustrated and pissed off and tired. . "

Lucas finally sat next to her and pulled her towards him, placing the guitar in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her air. "I wish I could take the pain away. . ."

"Thank you for still being my best friend. I am so grateful. . ."

"Don't be grateful. You should expect this, ok? You are my number one, and you always will be! Always!" He assured her as he ran his hand over her car comfortingly.

"What would I do without you?" Haley asked and left the comfort of his arms and brought her guitar back to her chest and played a few random notes.

"You'll never have to know," He smiled.

"The same goes for you. You know I am always here for you too, Luke."

"I know that. Now, play me another song!" He demanded as she started to play an acoustic version of "Last Resort" by Papa Roach. "Tomorrow, we work on this dark place you're in."

Haley simply smiled and continued to play.

Nathan had been watching Lucas and Haley ever since he noticed Lucas walking toward the water. He watched at he wrapped his arms around her, kissed her head, and rubbed her back. Nathan was tempted to go down there and end the BFF bonding that seemed a little more BF than BFF… He then realized he had just thought that and grabbed the bong from some girl next to him and took his first hit of the night. He needed something to take the pain from seeing her again away.

"Yes, Nathan!!!" She called out encouragingly.

What was her name again? Brenda? Bernette? B-cup? No, that was her bra size… The weed was not helping his memory.

"Hey, I think there's a donkey riding around the beach… the donkey has dreads like bob Marley," one of the guys in the group observed.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Nathan asked as he looked at the beach.

"Over there!"

He then looked over and saw Haley "riding her guitar" like a horse with Lucas encouraging and laughing at her.

"That's not a donkey, you shithead."

"No, it's a girl riding her guitar. What I wouldn't give to be that guitar. . "

"She sure has skill. . . If she were riding me…"

"Fuck!!" Nathan interrupted. The weed slowed him down a little, so he thought he had interrupted them a few minutes ago only to discover his voice was on delay at the moment. "If any of you talk about my wife like that again, I will kick your asses."

"I thought it was over," The B named girl spoke.

Nathan looked over at Haley. Even completely wasted on booze and weed, there was one thing he knew. It would never be over. No matter how much he wanted the pain from it all to go away. "No, it's not over until I say it is." He told them and then began to stumble towards the beach.

"Nathan…" Haley called out to him as he stumbled toward her.

"Do you mind, Luke?" He asked as he pulled Haley away, leaving Lucas and her guitar behind.

"What the hell, Nathan? You can't just stumble toward me. . ."

With that, he kissed her. His lips roughly captured hers and soon his tongue was pushing itself through her rigid mouth.

"Na-" She tried to voice but his tongue invaded her mouth, and she could not stop him from dominating her like this. The truth was that she didn't want him to. It had been too long. Finally, giving into temptation (knowing it was wrong), she kissed him back, rubbing her tongue against his. As soon as she responded, however, he ended the kiss.

"I just wanted to make a point," He told her. He then looked over at his group of friends who all hollered in response, and he left her and ran towards them.

"NATHAN!!" Haley called after him. "Nathan! You can't do that!" She yelled as she ran after him. She caught up to him easily since he was running in the most exaggerated zigzag pattern. She was wondering if he even knew where he was going.

"Woosh, Woosh… crunch crunch" Nathan mumbled drunkenly as he ran in his pattern. He seemed completely oblivious of what he had just done. Haley wondered just how wasted he was. Without another thought, she pushed him, forcing him to lose what little balance he had and fall into the sand… "Whoa, the earth is moving. . ."

"Nathan!" She screamed to get his attention. "If you EVER pull something like that again, I will. . ."

"You'll what? Run away on another rock tour??" He slurred. His hurt, however, was still evident in his tone.

"No," She sighed. He was hurting. He was lashing out at her. Did she try to understand his motives or did she reprimand him for being a self-righteous pig? "No, but I will do this." As soon as she said this, she kicked him in his "family jewels" as hard as she could and he screamed out in pain.

"I will not let you treat me like crap, Nathan. We may as well end this now if you're going to," She informed him as tears welled up in her eyes. "I will not stand for this version of you!" She looked at the house and noticed a large group of drunken classmates watching their whole exchange. "You can hate me, ignore me, BUT you will treat me with the respect I deserve!"

"Hales, I'm. . ." Nathan began to apologize as he held his burning crotch in his hands, attempting to soothe the overwhelming pain.

"Save it. I'm out of here," She told him and went to pick up her guitar and walked away. Everyone watched her as she did…

"Haley!" Brooke called out as she entered their one bedroom apartment. "Haley! Where are you??? She ran around the small apartment and then found her crouched against their kitchen island, knees brought up to her chest, sobbing.

"Oh, Haley. . ."

"I can't fix this, can I?" She cried. "He's never going to love me like he did before. He's never going to look at me like he did. . ."

"He just needs time," Brooke responded soothingly. "He needs to know you're here for the long haul."

"I'm tired," She cried. "So tired," she repeated as she continued to sob into her knees.

"I know," Brooke sighed as she sat next to her inconsolable roommate.

"I wish.. I wish I stayed on that tour. . " Haley admitted as she continued to cry. "People liked me there. The audience loved me. Maybe it wasn't real love, but it helped, you know? Singing for people who appreciated my talent helped. Surrounding myself with people who believed in me helped.. this. . . this is.."

"What? What is this?"

"It's hell, Brooke. Only you and Lucas will talk to me. Nathan kisses me to prove some random point to his friends. Peyton has ignored every call and text I have sent. Some of my teachers even looked at me like everyone else does. . ."

"I don't know what to say,"

"You think I deserve it. I get it. Everyone seems to think I deserve this. Maybe I do. Maybe I think it a little too, but I am tired of apologizing for going after something I wanted. No, I shouldn't have kissed Chris, and for that I will always apologize, but I am done apologizing for the tour."

"Umm… I.." Brooke was at a loss for words. How did she respond without coming off like a complete bitch? Haley seems to forget that she left Nathan. She left him hurting here in Tree Hill and didn't even call him. . .

"I cared. I cared about Nathan everyday I was away, but I let the music and the fame distract me. I tried to let myself believe I was going after something that was destined for me, but I never stopped loving him. I never stopped caring."

"I know you didn't, but how could he have known that? You turned him down when he visited you."

"I got scared when he came to see me. We got married so young and then the tour came around, and I was so confused, and I was scared. I was scared… and he didn't get it. He just left with no explanation. He didn't let me tell him . . ."

Brooke had never heard Haley's side of the story. She remembered Nathan coming home and saying she didn't want him anymore and left it at that. Nathan seemed to have left out a few things. . .

"I didn't realize. . ."

"Well, it's hard to defend yourself when you're not here," Haley sniffled.

"Nathan was."

"I'm glad you were all there for him. I'm glad you all helped him through it. I should be grateful. . ."

"But you're not. . ."

"No, I am. I guess I just wish it had been me. I wish we didn't grow apart like this, but I can't take it back. I wish I could, but I can't."

"No, you can't, but you can try to change it."

"Yeah," She sighed. She questioned her strength to truly make this better. Did couples survive this? Could she and Nathan move on from this?

"Do you really want to go back on tour?"

"Honestly?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know," Brooke smiled, causing a small smile to form on Haley's lips.

"A part of me misses it – being in a different city every night. Playing for thousands of people. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't always easy. I wasn't always fully accepted by the crowds, but there were always a few who showed their support. It was a rush I definitely miss. . ."

"Then why are you here?" Brooke appeared perplexed. If she loved it that much then why come back to the uncertain?

"I miss Nathan more."

"Oh." She had her answer.

"I just need to get him to see that."

"And if he doesn't?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet. . ."

Before Brooke could make another comment, there was a knock on their door. "I guess I'll get that," Brooke quipped when Haley didn't move an inch from her position on the floor. The knocking got louder. "I'm coming! Geesh!" She opened the door, revealing a very apologetic looking Nathan on the other side.

"Is she here?"

Brooke looked over at the island, debating whether Haley had the strength to converse with Nathan right now. "She's. . ."