Nathan walked into the apartment after his first day of practice. Overall all it was a good day, besides his interaction with Damien. He had outplayed most of the other players there, so he feels confident about his spot on the team. His true fear is now telling Haley about his confrontation about Damien after she told him to stay away from him.

"Hey babe, how was practice?" Haley said as she got up from the counter to give him a kiss when he walked through the door.

Nathan returned her kiss and they took a seat on the couch. Haley placed a hand on his thigh as he began to tell her how it went.

"I played well, I made friends with my teammates, well most of the anyway." He said trailing off.

"Oh right, Damien." Haley said remembering he was on the team also.

"Well I kinda had a run in with him." Nathan said looking at Haley as her face dropped.

"What kind of run in?" She said tensely.

"I told him to stay away from you, and then I shoved him to the ground." Nathan said confidently.

"You what?!" Haley said standing up.

"Hales, I was defending you, I'm not going to let some guy push you around."

Haley began pacing. "Nathan, I told you to stay away from him, your first day at practice, and your already starting fights. The last thing I want is for you to kicked off the team for defending me!"

"Haley, I'm never going to be a guy who watches as people hurt you." Nathan said now standing up to face her.

"No. You sunk down to some jack ass's level, and that's exactly what he wants."

"How can you even be upset right now? I was protecting you!"

"Because I'm fine. I can't believe you did that." Haley said storming out of the door, leaving Nathan in shock.

"So you yelled at him for being a good boyfriend?" Brooke asked Haley as she sipped on her Pina Colada.

"Brooke, he could've gotten hurt or kicked off the team, plus Damien hadn't even done anything really bad to me." Haley responded.

"Girlfriend I love you, but you are being insane right now." Brooke stated. "Nathan really cares about you, and he was protecting you from a guy who hurt you."

"But he didn't hurt me." Haley shot back.

"Really? Then what is that mark on your wrist?" Brooke said referring to the bruise on her right hand.

Haley looked down at her wrist in silence.

"Not only did he hurt you, he scared you, and flirted with you when your boyfriend is upstairs, Nathan care's too much about you to not do anything." Brooke continued as Haley sat in silence.

"I'm just scared Brooke." Haley said after a few moments of silence. "What if he defends me and he gets hurt or kicked off the team. Then he loses his dream, again, because of me."

"I think he is more scared of losing you right now then basketball." Brooke said as she looked over at Nathan who was pacing the beach with a concerned look on his face.

Haley looked over at Nathan, and then back at Brooke. "I'll be right back."

"Hey." Haley said to him as she walked over.

Nathan lifted his head up and half smiled at her.

Haley opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by him.

"Before you say anything, I need to speak."

Haley nodded.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I acted before asking you. But you need to know that I'm not the type of guy who will stand back watching the world hurt you." Nathan said inching forward.

"I care about you too much, and the thought of some guy hitting on you, not to mention hurting you! It's too much too think about." Nathan said looking down at her wrist.

"I know babe, and I thank you so much for that, I really do. It makes me really happy to see how protective you are of me." Nathan smiled at her words. "But I can't stand to see you lose your dream because of me." Haley said, intertwining her hands with his.

"I know, and I thank you for caring about me. But I'm not going to not be protective over you, just because I could lose basketball." Nathan said, sweeping a piece of stray hair off her forehead.

Haley leaned and softly brushed her lips over his. Before the kiss deepened she pulled back.

"Just promise me next time, you will talk to me first." She said lightly, staring into his blue eyes.

"I promise." He replied smiling and took her hand in his. "I made dinner upstairs if you're interested."

"I would love to." She replied smiling and leaving a chaste kiss on his lips.

The two sat at the small table in the living room in their apartment.

"Thank you for dinner, it was delicious." Haley said swiping a piece of bread off his plate.

"Well I did slave over the microwave for hours." He replied with a laugh.

"So, besides the Damien part, how really was basketball today?" She asked gently.

"I loved it. It felt so good to be back on the court again."

Haley watched the sparkle in his eyes as he talked about his day and smiled.

"It did feel really weird to be out there without Luke though" Nathan sighed.

"I know he misses being out there with you also." Haley said placing a kiss on his hand.

"So, Haley James, tell me something about yourself that nobody knows." He asked. Changing the subject.

Haley smiled and thought deeply.

"I have a real passion for music. I've always wanted to pursue it but I've never had the guts too."

"Ah, the infamous music talent, you told me that when we first met." He smiled.

"You remember that?" She asked shocked.

"Of course, I also remember you wearing that stunning light pink dress at the wedding."

Haley smiled widely, still shocked that he remembered that.

"You are amazing Nathan Scott." She smiled and squeezed his hand tighter.

"Right back at ya, Haley James." He smiled back.

"Well, your turn." She said to him, snapped out of her trance.

He thought for a while, scared to tell her about his complicated family.

"My family life was rough when I was a kid." He finally said after a few moments.

"We had plenty of money, but nobody was happy. My dad was a controlling, rude, psychopath, and my mom was a disconnected parent who traveled all the time." He said, staring at the wall.

Haley looked in his hurt eyes and her stomach clenched.

"My dad rode me hard when it came to basketball. He was never satisfied with how I played, and when I needed my mom the most, she was never there to protect me." Nathan continued, with a hurt tone.

Haley's eyes stung with tears threatening to fall. She gripped his hand tighter, staring into his hurt eyes. She had no idea he had been through so much, and it killed her to see him like this.

"I love you." She said through the tears streaming down her face.

Thanks for reading chapter 7! I hope you all enjoyed it and thank you for the positive reviews! Please continue to R&R!