Wow...this chapter has been a long time coming. I am so sorry it took this long. I don't think it turned out as well as I wanted it to and that is probably part of the problem. A huge thank you goes to the girls who have kept me sane the past few weeks and who have read just about every draft of this story. Thank you to all of those who have replied. I am going to try very hard to get the next chapter to you soon. I want to post a warning that this chapter is a little dark at times but I promise I will make it up to you with a fun next chapter! Love you all!

Stephanie

Chapter 7Remember To Breathe

The tension at the Scott house had been palpable since Nathan and Haley had arrived. There was no turning back now, in just a few minutes Lydia and Jimmy James were going to walk through that door and when they did, all their lives would never be the same. It was if a plan had long ago been set in motion and now there was no way to stop whatever the universe had in store for them.

Nathan stood in the middle of his old living room. He drank in the familiar sight and let a calm wash over him for the first time in days. The baby grand piano that had belonged to his grandmother sat in the far corner and in front of him was the table that he had split his head open on when he was 12. He and Lucas had been running, despite all warnings that they shouldn't, and he had tripped, hit his head and required five stitches. But his favorite part of the whole room were the pictures that sat above the fireplace. There were pictures of all the family at some reunion they had had years ago. Some of him and Lucas. But his favorites had always been the pictures in the center. It was a picture of his parents on their wedding day. They both looked so happy and so in love, he had always yearned for that. On the right of that sat a picture of Lucas and Brooke on their wedding day just over two years ago. And now on the left sat a picture of him and Haley. They were both staring into each others eyes, like nothing in the world mattered. That picture and that feeling were Nathan's ultimate sense of calm even when he knew that they were headed right into the eye of a storm.

Haley stood in the kitchen with Brooke thinking about the hell that was she was sure was about to break. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. It had been there for almost two days now and the only time it had subsided was when she was kissing Nathan. A slight blush began to creep over her cheeks as she remembered just how good it had felt. She had never remembered feeling so alive as she felt when Nathan's lips were on hers and when she was running her hands over his perfect washboard abs. But that was all in the past and now the present was staring straight back at her in an almost taunting manner. She knew what was headed towards them all yet they were all powerless to stop it. She felt her eyes well up for a second, knowing that all of this came back to her. As much as she loved Nathan and the entire Scott family it wasn't fair that they were having to go through all this just because of her.

"You alright girly?" Brooke asked casting a sidelong glance at Haley after noting how quiet her new sister-in-law had become in the past few minutes. She knew that Haley had a lot on her mind, it was to be expected, but she also knew that the worst thing Haley could do was shut everyone out.

"Yeah I'm good. It's just...well you know." Haley said attempting to give Brooke a smile but failing miserably.

"Why don't you go see if you can find that husband of yours, Hales. I bet he is going crazy because he hasn't seen you in like five minutes."

"Thanks Brooke." Haley said giving her a genuine smile this time. If there was anything or anyone rather that could make her feel better it would be Nathan.

Haley walked out of the kitchen and began to look for Nathan, who was no longer in the living room. Haley knew his second favorite room in the house had always been the den. She opened the door that closed off the den from the rest of the house and walked inside. Seeing that Nathan wasn't there she had every intention of walking right back and continuing her search but something sitting on the small table next to the large leather couch had caught her eye. Karen was famous for her love to scrapbook and this was one that Haley had never seen before. The bright blue color contrasted with the deep mahogany of the table. Before she knew what she was doing she sunk down on the couch and pulled the book into her lap. Flipping through she looked at the pictures that reminded her of a time when life was simple.

Nathan came down the stairs from his room. He finally felt like he had gathered himself enough to face what was going to happen later. He stopped by the kitchen to see if Haley was there but instead of finding his wife, he found Brooke. Before he could even ask where she was, Brooke pointed towards the door to the den. Nathan gave her a grateful smile and headed out to find Haley.

He pushed open the door to the den and shut it behind him quietly. He was sure that she had heard him come in but Haley was rooted in her spot on the couch, immersed in the scrapbook. Nathan walked over and sat down next to her. She immediately moved into his side and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, peering down at the book on her lap. They sat in silence for a few minutes, just flipping through the pages.

Haley stopped on a particular page. It was a picture of Nathan and Haley at her 12th birthday party. Nathan had his arms wrapped securely around Haley's waist. Both were soaking wet and grinning into the camera.

"I remember that day," Nathan said with a smile. "You slipped and pulled me into the pool with you." Haley raised her eyebrows at him.

"Umm...think again. You were chasing me and when you caught me you threw us both into the pool." Haley said with a look that just dared him to challenge her.

"Dang, I was hoping you'd forgotten that."

"Nope, not a chance. How did we get from there to here Nate?"

"What do you mean, Hales?" Nathan said picking his words very carefully. He was forcing himself not to jump to conclusions but he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that she meant that she wasn't happy with him or with the situation or maybe both.

"I mean how did everything go so wrong? We were so happy in this picture, so carefree and now..." she trailed off. Nathan inhaled a sharp breath, she had pretty much confirmed his worst fears, she thought their marriage was a mistake. He knew it was unexpected but he had thought that they were definitely on the same page, especially after what had happened in the bedroom.

"I didn't know that everything was so wrong." he said coldly, putting an emphasis on the word everything. "I thought we were on the same page about this but apparently I was mistaken."

Haley was taken aback, she had never heard Nathan speak to her is such harsh tones. She hadn't been talking about them but that was obviously how he had taken it.

"Nathan..." Haley started but she was immediately cut off.

"I mean really Haley, I thought we were together in this marriage, both of us committed to making it work. I sure as hell thought we were both on the same page in the bedroom." Nathan pushed himself up off the black leather couch and began to pace around the room. He could feel his control slipping and that was definitely not something that was familiar to him. Nathan had always prided himself on his ability to keep himself in check whether it was on the court or in relationships. But with Haley, everything was different. It was impossible for him to feel completely in control.

Haley rose from the couch and walked to where Nathan was now standing, his pacing finally ceasing. She placed her hands on his back which was now facing her. She felt him tense and it made her feel horrible, this was all a big misunderstanding.

"Nathan, I wasn't talking about us. We are on the same page. Please, Nathan you have to believe me, in fact if it was my choice we would still be at home, in our bedroom right now." She felt him relax and he turned to face her. He clasped his hands with hers.

"Then what were you talking about Hales?" Haley sighed and returned to the couch with Nathan following behind her. "Do you remember this day Nathan? I mean truly remember it? We were all happy. You, me, all our parents. And now here we are, dreading dinner with my parents, not knowing what is going to happen. How did we fall so far that I am now afraid of my own mother? The person that I used to want to be more than anything else in this world."

Nathan now felt lower than he could ever remember feeling in his life. He had jumped to conclusions and he had made his wife feel even more uncomfortable than she was already. He should have known that she was just scared, hell he was scared too. But he knew that if they bonded together they could overcome anything, and everything, that came their way.

Nathan pulled Haley to his chest and stroked her hair, just breathing in her entire existence. Part of the reason he was so scared was because he didn't know what he would do without Haley in his life and this dinner had the potential to change it all. Haley lay silently listening to the steady rhythm of his heart beating beneath her ear. She felt him lean down and press a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm sorry Hales," he whispered. "It's going to be alright. I promise you."

Haley pulled away and looked in Nathan's eyes, her own bright with unshed tears. She knew that he would do everything he could and that was more than she could ever ask for. In turn she vowed to herself in that moment that she would protect him too because she knew he was going to need it whether he knew it or not. Haley leaned in and pressed a soft, tentative kiss onto his lips before pulling herself away from the comfort of his body once again.

"We should get out there," Haley said, her voice shaking a little. Nathan stood and extended his hand to her. As she pulled herself up from the couch she took notice of his wedding band glinting in the low light of the room. If this had been any situation, it would have been truly romantic. Haley took a deep breath to steady herself and glanced up into Nathan's eyes. As she lost herself in his eyes for a moment, that was when she knew that she was truly the luckiest person in the world.

Find My Nest of Salt

Everything Is My Fault

I'll Take All The Blame

Haley looked up at the clock for the about the twentieth time in the last two minutes. She knew that in a minute or so her parents were going to walk through that door and she had never been so scared in her life. She currently sat on the brown couch in the middle of the living room. Nathan was on her left, their hands clasped. The only sign of nervousness from Nathan was his almost constant clenching of his jaw. Karen and Dan had retreated into the kitchen under the guise of needing to check on dinner one last time. Brooke, who had given up trying to get them to talk about five minutes ago, was sharing a chair with Lucas.

Haley glanced at the clock one more time and jumped as the doorbell rang. She had never wanted to run away more than she did in that moment. Karen called out for the group to come to the table, as Dan headed to the door. Haley walked past Karen, who squeezed her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look, to take her seat next to Nathan at the table. She wrung her hands over and over, until Nathan finally put his left hand on top of hers in an attempt to soothe her. She gave him a sheepish smile and waited for Hurricane Lydia to hit.

Dan opened the door, not sure of the reaction he would encounter, especially after the altercation that Jimmy and Nathan had had earlier that day. He thought that he had seen everything but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when the door was fully open. Lydia James was smiling brightly at Dan, holding a gift in her hands. Jimmy on the other hand stood behind her, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, looking very uncomfortable. Dan moved away from the front of the door, allowing both the James' to walk in. If this had been any other night, it would have almost been as if nothing had ever happened. But this wasn't any other night and Dan knew that before the night was over all hell was going to break loose, he just hoped they all survived it.

Lydia's smile was still plastered to her face as she and Jimmy came into the dining room to take their regular seats at the table. Dan shot them all a bewildered look as he took his seat. Normally, the room would be filled with laughter and general chatter but tonight the room was silent. Each person waiting for another to make the first move. Each afraid of what the night would bring and what speech would do to disrupt the balance that settled over the table.

Nathan glanced over at Haley, whose face was visibly paler since her parents had entered the room. He was anxious for someone to start serving so that they could hurry through this and he could get Haley home, where she would be safe. That was Nathan's one saving grace in all this. No matter what happened tonight, he knew that he could take Haley home and Lydia wouldn't know where they were.

Karen decided to be the brave one to take the first step towards the end of the evening, realizing that neither Nathan or Haley were capable of it in this moment. She smiled at the two of them as she started to pass around the dishes of food for each of them to help themselves. When the food made its way around to Haley, she glanced at Lydia before putting food on her plate. Nathan saw the look and decided to intervene, knowing that Haley needed to eat in order to fix all the problems that Lydia had caused with all the insane workout routines and lack of food.

"Hales, remember the doctor said you need to eat in order to get better." he whispered in her ear. She glanced up at him and took in the concern in his blue eyes. She felt to nervous to eat anything right now but she would do it for Nathan. Haley didn't want to put any more stress on Nathan than was necessary, he had done so much for her already. She nodded her head at him in understanding and put a few more items on her plate. Nathan watched as Lydia raised her eyebrows and bit back a smile. It wasn't a friendly smile however, it was a smile of a person who had something up their sleeve.

Take A Look Around

Everything In Turn Will Come Down

Don't Depend On These Broken Promises

They Won't Hear A Sound

Much to everyone's surprise the rest of the dinner had gone smoothly. A lot of this had to do with the fact that there was very little talking involved but they all preferred it this way. Nathan breathed out a sigh of relief. They had made it through dinner and now they were home free or at least that's what he thought until Lydia decided they should all go into the living room for drinks. No one wanted to upset the balance, each of them silently hoping that there might be the possibility that she would accept Nathan and Haley's marriage and things would return to normal. So, they all followed Lydia into the living room where she was already pouring the glasses of champagne.

They all stood on the outskirts of the room, each one of them thrown off by Lydia's sudden change of heart. Lydia busied herself getting all the glasses arranged. When she noticed that none of them were entering the room she smiled.

"Come on in guys. How are we going to celebrate if no one actually comes into the room?" she said with a wave of her hand. They all started to trickle into the room. As they did, Lydia handed them each a glass of champagne, everyone except for Haley that is. Lydia gave her daughter a wink as she went to sit down on the couch across from the one Nathan and Haley were situated on. Nathan held the glass in his hand, not drinking. He had a bad feeling about whatever Lydia was going to pull and unfortunately there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Bop, I hope you aren't too upset that you didn't get any champagne. It's just that you aren't 21 yet and besides it's not like you could have alcohol anyways, not in your condition." Lydia said with a smile as she made herself more comfortable on the couch.

Haley glanced up at Nathan, who had set his glass down on the table. His jaw was set in a firm line and his eyes were already blazing. Haley laid her hand on his arm, which caused him to look down at her and when he did, they shared a puzzled look.

"Condition, mom? I'm sorry, I know you think I'm stupid and all but I'm not following here." Haley said trying to be as diplomatic as possible. Lydia didn't say anything, instead she reached for the package that she had brought with her. She held the package out for Haley to take from her. Haley took the package hesitantly and set it in her lap. She played with the ribbon on the outside, not looking up and definitely not opening it.

"Well Haley, aren't you going to see what your present is? I know when you were younger you never could wait to find out what any present was. I didn't realize that you had found your patience in the past few years." Haley looked up at her mother unsure of what to say and still made no move to open the present. "Come on, Haley. Open the present. I can't wait to see what your reaction is." Lydia said, her voice showing evidence of irritation.

Haley's hands were shaking so bad that she could barely pull back the wrapping paper. When she finally managed to, she gasped at what she saw. Nathan, who had been intently watching as she unwrapped the gift, threw his hands up in the air in disbelief.

"Mom, what is this?" Haley asked as she held up the book which was designed to help parents choose the right name for their child. Brooke began to giggle the second she saw the book but quickly quieted herself when she saw the look that Lydia was giving Haley.

"It's alright Haley. I know you got married because you're pregnant. Honestly, I'm surprised it took me this long to figure it out. I mean you were gaining weight like crazy, no matter how much you exercised, that should have been my first clue. I know that you must have felt like you couldn't turn to me or your father but I wish you had Haley. We could have helped you so that your entire future wouldn't be ruined. You know, it's actually still not too late if you want help Haley, we will be more than willing to help you."

Haley was stunned, she couldn't believe that her mother had just accused her of being pregnant. She also couldn't believe that she had insinuated that Haley should abort her child, if she was pregnant. Haley glanced over at Nathan whose knuckles were white from being clenched together so hard.

"Well, mom. I'm not pregnant. We got married because I was going to die from how hard you were pushing me if we didn't. And even more than that, we got married because we wanted to get married."

Lydia wasn't fazed by Haley's protests, she had expected it and this would just make her daughter's downfall be that much sweeter in her mind. In fact, she had kind of been hoping that Haley would protest, it would give her a chance to use some of her best material.

"Haley, it's alright. I know that you were scared and that's fine. Honestly, though I wish you would have come to me for help. I mean if you really wanted to be a whore, I would have helped you pack your bags and driven you to Vegas. At least if we had done it that way, you could have made some money for yourself while you were at it."

Haley felt tears spring to her eyes, she couldn't believe her mother could say something so hurtful. She knew her mother had problems with the fact that she had married Nathan and the fact that she wanted to be her own person but she never dreamed that her mother would go that far. It was at that moment that she realized that Nathan was no longer beside her. When she looked up she could see her husband towering above the rest of the group.

Nathan didn't know when he had ever felt so angry. It was one thing for Lydia to call Haley fat and degrade her, that he knew how to fix. But this, was more than anything he could have ever expected from Lydia. He almost expected her to pull something but to hurt Haley like she had was something he would never stand for. Surprisingly enough though it wasn't Lydia he was mad at most, it was Jimmy. Jimmy had just sat there while Lydia ripped Haley to shreds, not even once trying to stop her.

Nathan walked over to where Jimmy was still sitting. He glanced back to look at Haley, knowing that he would give up this fight in a second if she needed him. He could see his mother now sitting next to her with her arms wrapped around Haley. His mother nodded for him to go on, knowing that he needed to confront Lydia and Jimmy. Even his father stood back, letting him be the man he assured them he was when he first told them his plan about marrying Haley. Nathan wanted nothing more than to hit Jimmy in that moment, but he knew for his sake and for Haley's he had to control his temper the best he could.

Jimmy stood up when Nathan finally got over to him. He knew that Nathan was more mad at him than Lydia but he also knew that he had to a duty to protect his wife as well. The two men stood eye to eye, neither blinking and neither daring to make the first move. Nathan heard Haley's cries subsiding, they had been the only noise other than the ticking of the clock in the room since Lydia had made her proclamation.

"You know, Jimmy. I really don't understand you. You threaten me this morning and talk a big game about wanting your daughter back yet tonight you effectively ruined any relationship you could have hoped to have with her. You just let her get blasted by her mother and you said nothing. Is that because you don't have the spine to say something? Or maybe is it because you agree with your dear wife?"

Jimmy looked down at the ground but still he said nothing. He knew that Nathan was right about ruining his relationship with Haley. He sighed and brought his head back up, forcing himself to look Nathan in the eyes. When he did, he saw just how much Nathan truly loved Haley. The hurt that Haley was feeling was reflected in Nathan's eyes. Everything that Jimmy had been about to say dissipated, so instead he said the only words that came to his mind.

"I'm sorry."

Nathan began to laugh, this guy was truly unbelievable. He does nothing and now all he can utter are two words. Two, tiny, insignificant words. As all his thoughts caught up with him, Nathan felt himself lunging forward, almost as if it was out of his control. Just before his first fist connected with Jimmy's face he felt arms around him pulling him backwards. He fought and struggled against them, eager to make Jimmy feel the all the hurt that he and Lydia had inflicted upon Haley.

"Stop Nathan." he heard his father say from behind him.

Nathan once again glanced over at Haley, who still had tears coursing freely down his cheeks. He knew his father was right, Haley needed him more than Jimmy needed his face rearranged. He nodded at his father, who released him from his grasp. He walked over to Haley and picked her up out of his mothers arms. He pulled her to his chest, feeling her hot tears soak through his shirt. He quietly whispered to her, willing her tears to stop.

Jimmy watched the display before him and realized that Lydia had to stop. He had to step up and be a father for Haley. He would have to make Lydia understand that the best way to get Haley to come back to them was to leave them alone. He knew now that this thing between Nathan and Haley was much more than they had let on and Nathan was right, Haley deserved to be happy.

"I think it's time that the both of you leave." Dan said from beside him. Jimmy looked at his friend, who looked just as angry as his son had. Jimmy nodded his head and held out his hand for Lydia to join him. Lydia smirked as she walked out of the room. Everything was going just as she had hoped. She was confident that Haley would be home in no time and even if she wasn't, that certainly didn't mean that she didn't have another plan.

"Lydia, I think we need to back off of Haley. I think Nathan really loves her and I'm afraid that if we keep pushing like this we are going to lose her for good. At this point we might still have a chance at being a part of her life. Just give them some space, leave them alone for a little while." Jimmy implored to his wife once they were safely inside their car.

"I can't do that." Lydia said in a cold, raspy voice that sent chills up Jimmy's spine. He didn't fail to notice that the entire time he was talking she hadn't once taken her eyes off the house and more importantly she hadn't stopped thinking about two of the people inside.

The Dark Is Generous

And It Is Patient

And It Always Wins

But In The Heart Of Its Strength Lies Weakness

One Lone Candle Is Enough To Hold It Back

Love Is More Than A Candle

Love Can Ignite The Stars