A.N: Wow! Guy thanks so much for all of the reviews!! They really inspired me to continue and not take a break from the story!! So as a reward we have a little bit of angst/ but some definite fluff in this chapter!! I hope to read your reviews letting me know how you feel and where you want this to go! THanks again! I really mean it!! Enjoy!!

"No, Haley I am not leaving you!" Nathan waited for a response, but heard nothing. He couldn't believe he had breached her trust like that, but at the same time he knew what he saw, and he didn't know what to think of it. He sat by the front door at the base of the stairs and waited for Haley to come down. He sat on the hardwood floor for what seemed like hours. Every so often he would make a plea for her to come down and talk to him. At one point he heard water running. He assumed she was taking a shower. He waited patiently for her to finish, hoping she would eventually come back downstairs. Another hour passed, and then another. The water was still running. Two hours the water had been running, and Nathan was growing concerned. He stood and started to pace. Should he go up there? He called out to Haley again, and there was not response. Honestly though there hadn't been a single response for hours now, so he wasn't surprised that she hadn't answered him. He paced faster. The sun was quickly fading and Nathan was growing more uneasy by the minute. Thoughts of what Haley might be doing to herself scared him enough to walk up the stairs and confront her. He knocked softly on her door.

"Hales? Please let me in, I just want to make sure you're okay." He didn't hear anything from her bedroom. He turned to the bathroom where the running water was coming from. The door was slightly cracked. "Haley, please baby, are you okay? I'm so sorry. Just let me know that you are okay, and I'll leave." He heard nothing. "Haley I'm coming in." He pushed the door open further and rushed in. Haley was sitting in the tub with the shower going. He skin was bright crimson. Nathan noticed steam everywhere and realized how hot the water must be. Haley hugged her knees to her chest and had her left ear resting on her lap. Her face was turned away from Nathan, and she was barely responsive. Her gauze bandages sagged under the weight of the running water. "Haley, sweetie…" Haley slowly rocked back and forth, tears streaming from her eyes. Her tears and the water became one. Nathan turned the water off. Instantly her skin started to look less red. He tentatively touched her and she flinched dramatically. Not knowing what to do her turned the water back on, but made it cooler. He sat on the floor and waited a few more minutes until her skin looked less red. When he touched her again, she didn't flinch quite as much. He reached for a towel to drape over her. He turned the water off and wrapped the towel around her shoulders. Afraid that if he moved her, the roughness of the towel would be too much for her sensitive skin, he continued to wait. Noticing again that her bandages were about to fall off, he went to the medicine cabinet and pulled out some more gauze. "Haley, I'm just going to put fresh gauze on…okay?" Haley nodded slightly. Nathan tenderly removed the bandage on her left wrist. He took it in his hand, and softly traced her wounds and scars. He was sure that she had cut herself at least once. But that scar looked very old. It was the cigarette burns that made him want to scream. He didn't know if she had done this, or if someone else had, but he wanted to demolish something it made him so angry. There were some other marks that he was unsure of, but he covered them in fresh gauze and placed her wrist back on her knee. He reached across to her other wrist and Haley seized slightly. Without much motion she shook her head. "No? Okay, I'm going to move the towel over your wrist and replace the bandage without looking. Is that okay?" Haley didn't respond, but she relaxed her arm just enough so Nathan thought it would be okay to do what he had proposed. He had an intense desire to see her wrist, but he knew now how fragile Haley was. He wasn't sure how she managed to keep it together as well as she did. He reprimanded himself for exposing her fragile state and hurting her. Haley started to shiver from the absence of the warm water. Nathan knew it was time for her to get out of the tub. He carefully lifted her out of the tub, and wrapped the towel around her more securely. She wrapped his arms around his neck and let him carry her to her bedroom. He placed her on the bed, and Haley whispered,

"I need to get dressed. Could you please turn around?" Nathan nodded and turned around. Haley put on some flannel lounge pants, and a shelf bra tank. She quickly pulled her hair back into a hair tie. She breathed deeply and stepped towards Nathan. "Thanks. You can turn around now." Nathan turned back to Haley, and before he could say anything, Haley embraced him in a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and hugged him deeply. Her left cheek rested on his broad chest. Nathan wrapped his arms around her shoulders protectively. Haley started to cry.

"Shh…baby it's going to be okay. I'm here." They stood together for a very long time. Again, Haley started to shiver. "Let's get you under the covers." Nathan pulled back her comforter and let Haley get in. Haley motioned for him to join.

"I'm not ready to…you know…"

"Haley, no please…I wasn't even thinking…"

"No, I know, I just wanted you to…"

"I know," He said, slipping in next to her. Her skin was cool to the touch, although it was a bit pink still. He pulled her into his body and draped one arm over her and his other hand stroked her hair. She let him protect her as she moved closer to him. "We fit together perfectly you know." Nathan was referring to both their spooning position and their hearts. Silent tears dripped from Haley's eyes and she felt for the first time in her life….truly protected.

The next morning, Haley awoke and noticed Nathan staring at her. She smiled very slightly. He reached out to stroke her hair as she scooted closer to him.

"What time is it, Nathan?" Nathan glanced at his watch and replied,

"Like 4:45 a.m."

"Wow, is it really that early?" Nathan nodded and tentatively kissed her. He paused not sure if he should continue. When Haley responded with enthusiasm, he decided it was okay. He breathed heavily as he pulled her closer into him. His hands found their way under her shirt, and caressed Haley's back. Haley moaned softly as Nathan's tongue explored the regions of her mouth...her lips...her neck...and her shoulders. Haley wrapped a leg around Nathan's waist and crushed any lingering space between their bodies. Nathan removed one of his hands from her back and placed it on Haley's breast. He heard her inhale sharply. She kissed him deeply letting him know it was safe to continue. Nathan kissed her hard on the mouth and pulled Haley on top of him. Haley straddled his lap and Nathan removed her tank. He reached out and gently cupped her breasts.

"You're so sexy Haley."

"You're so fucking dirty baby girl."

"What?" Haley asked.

"I said, you're sexy...you're amazing."

"You're such a fucking dirty slut. C'mon, tell me how daddy's slut likes it."

"Stop!" Halley gasped. Nathan quickly removed his hands.

"I'm sorry, I thought it was..."

"You fucking cunt, give me what I want!"

"No!" Haley shook her head, as she covered her face with her hands. She reached out for the sweatshirt lying next to the bed and hastily pulled it on.

"Haley? Are you alright?"

"Spread your legs baby doll," Haley's father pushed her legs apart. Haley tried to resist by clenching her legs together. Frustrated, he slapped her across the face. "Spread your fucking legs!"

Haley looked up at Nathan realizing she was ruined forever. The things her father did to her had ruined her. She was dirty. She didn't deserve Nathan's love.

"I can't....I'm so sorry." Nathan pulled her onto him.

"Hales, it's okay. I don't want to do anything if you aren't 100% okay with it."

"Thank you," she whispered. "And I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

"What? What for? You don't have to be sorry about this." Haley looked at him in disbelief.

"Last night, everything."

"What happened last night? From what I remember, we watched Fight Club, you loved it and then we fell asleep...seems like a nice normal night to me," he smiled. Haley reciprocated his grin.

"Thank you,"

"Let's get to school shall we?"

"Nathan it's like 5:00 a.m. The sun's not even up yet.

"Well then Miss. James, how about we get a couple more hours of sleep?" Haley nodded in agreement. Once again, Haley pulled Nathan's arm over her waist, and snuggled into him. After about ten minutes, she rolled over.

"Nathan? I can't sleep." Nathan opened one eye to look at her and smiled.

"Okay," Nathan turned Haley over and traced his fingers along her back. Softly he started to sing in Haley's ear. "In the midnight sun, watching color's run- bring back electric green. When the morning comes, we'll be overdone-time for my favorite dream- uh huh. Bring back electric green..." Nathan continued caressing Haley's back. He heard her breathing even out. "Hales?" No response. "Haley are you awake?" He whispered into her ear. No response. Nathan leaned in close and quietly whispered, "I think I love you Haley James."