Hi guys. Sorry for the wait. My exams are over so I hope I can update more regularly now. Wow poor Haley hahaha. Glad to know that she's getting reactions from you guys. So here's the next chapter. I was struggling a bit with the part with Skills in it . I hope you guys like it and as usual keep the reviews coming. I've really been enjoying reading every one of them. Cheers! ;)

Chapter 10

Haley lied awake in Nathan's bed, tossing and turning for hours. She was exhausted but her brain seemed to be working overtime. She had been starting to think that dating other people might not be a good idea. She knew in her heart that nobody could replace Nathan and what they had together. With a sigh, she gingerly made her way through the quiet beach house to the kitchen for a glass of water. "Maybe there's some rat poison somewhere in the kitchen I can drink," she muttered to herself.

"Well well well. What have we got here? Haley James Scott sneaking around the house." Skills voice made her jump.

"Skills!" She whispered loudly. "You almost gave me a heart attack! And what's with the Scott?"

Skills smirked. "I'm just saying that's what I would've called you if you and Nate got hitched last year. Whatcha doing girl?"

"Well we didn't, so stop calling me that! Anyway, I couldn't sleep. What are you doing up so late?" She asked him.

"Couldn't sleep either. Mouth kept wanting to hug me in his sleep. Ugh." He shivered at the thought. Haley laughed. Skills always had that effect on her. "So Haley, I know it's none of my business but what's the deal with you and my dog Nate?"

Haley sat down sipping his water. "Nothing. We're friends."

Skills sat down next to her. "Come on girl. You and Nathan ain't friends. You ain't never been."

"It's complicated Skills." She said with a sigh.

Skills reached for her hand. "Look it's only complicated coz you're making it complicated. Now I'm sure everybody's been telling you to give him a chance and all that shit. Well, guess what, I'm gonna say the same thing and I'll be damned if I can't put some sense into that pretty head of yours."

"Oh God not you too?" She groaned in frustration. "Skills you know what I've been through..."

"Sure I know Haley." He interrupted. "Everybody knows. But Haley let me tell you something. You can deny it all you want but I ain't never seen you smile like you're smiling now, now that Nathan's back. Man if anybody can put a smile on your face like that, it's gotta be Nate. If you ask me, it looks like you have lost sight of things Hales. So tell me what's holding you back? I know you still love him."

"Yeah but I just need to listen to my heart this time, you know?" She answered.

He looked at her sceptically. "But you ain't really listening to what your heart tells you, are you? Anyway, come on it's getting late. You should go to bed. And Hales, whatever you do, you know I gotcha back. You may not be my bitch but I do love you." He said smiling at her.

"You know the way you talk scares me sometimes." She grinned. "Thanks Skills. I love you too." She said giving him a hug and started to walk to her room.

Brooke eyed the girl talking to Nathan at the counter in Karen's Cafe suspiciously. They had all just got back from the beach and stopped by to grab some lunch. "Hey who's the skank talking to Nathan?" She asked.

Everybody at the table turned around to look. "Hey I've seen her before. I think her name's Carrie or something like that. She's the Adam's nanny. She's pretty hot!" Jake offered the information.

"Jake! Stop checking her out!" Peyton pinched him on the arm making him almost jumping out of his chair.

"Geez Peyton that's gonna leave a mark." Jake exclaimed rubbing his arm furiously.

Haley didn't even look up from the book she was reading and said, "Serves you right Jake. You're getting married in two weeks and you're checking another girl out. You're lucky she didn't kill you."

"Emmm Hales I have to say she is pretty hot. Check her out." Brooke said giving her a nudge. Haley gave a sigh and reluctantly looked up to see Nathan and Carrie, heads bent down deep in conversation. Nathan said something which made her laugh, and as much as she hated it she was jealous. But then again, she was the one who said that they should see other people. They all watched as Carrie wrote her phone number on a piece of napkin and slipped it into his hands before giving him a wink and walked out the door. Nathan looked at the napkin and after a while tossed it in the garbage can. The guys immediately jumped up of their chairs upon seeing what he had just done and the girls laughed as Mouth scrambled to retrieve the number.

"What the hell Nate? She's fine." Skills said shaking his head.

"Nah, she's not my type." Nathan replied his face expressionless as he looked at Haley. She didn't dare look at him so returned her attention to the book. "Listen guys, I'm beat. I think I'm gonna head home first. Hey Jake can they hitch a ride with you?" He asked as he tapped Jake's shoulder. Lucas looked at him with concern. He thought Nathan did look a little pale.

"Hey you alright? You don't look so good. Come on I'll send you home. I can walk from there." He said, starting to get up before Nathan stopped him.

"No I'm fine. I just need some sleep. I'll see you guys." He said not bothering to wait for any response and started to walk towards the door. Haley eyed him curiously and got up to catch him.

"Nathan!" She called touching his arm slightly. He turned around to face her. "Hey, did you take your pills yesterday?" She asked.

He closed his eyes briefly and said, "Emm no I must have forgotten. Look I gotta go. I'll see you soon ok." He said and opened his car door.

Haley put a hand on the door and said, "I'll come with you. You can drop me off at my place."

"I'm fine. Don't worry." He said and started to get in and turned on the ignition.

"Nathan..."

"I said I'm fine Haley! What else do you want from me!" He yelled making Haley jump in shock. She took a step back, her face still looking stunned. He had never yelled at her before. Not like this. She turned around slowly and ran back into the cafe before Nathan could reach for her, his voice still ringing in her ears.

"Dammit!" He screamed in the car. He didn't know why he yelled at her. He knew that she really cared for him and what he did was unfair. He took a look inside the cafe, his eyes searching for her but she was nowhere to be seen.

Nathan didn't see her the following day in school. He was stricken with guilt for yelling at her yesterday. Countless times he reached for the phone to call her to apologize but he was afraid that she might hang up on him. Not that he could really blame her. What the hell is wrong with me? The truth was he knew exactly what was wrong with him. He hadn't been taking his medication lately and he knew that could cause him to have mood swings.

"Hey Nate! Where have you been? Everybody's waiting for you in the gym." Lucas called out to him when he saw him wandering in the hallway. School was over and Lucas thought of having an extra practice session for the team.

"Huh? Oh yeah I'll be there in a minute. Hey have you seen Haley today?" He asked Lucas.

"Yeah I saw her this morning but she left early. Brooke said something about her going on a date tonight." Lucas said guiltily.

Nathan looked surprised. "She what?"

"Sorry man." He said putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. Nathan couldn't believe what he had just heard. He didn't think that she really meant what she said. He quickly recovered from the shock and looked at Lucas.

"Yeah well it was something she needed to do and I can't really stop her, can I?" He said. "Come on let's go to the gym." The whole time the team was practising his mind drifted to Haley. "Ow!! Watch it!" He yelled as a ball hit him right in his face. Lucas ran up to him and couldn't help but laugh watching him rub his face.

"See that's why you gotta keep your eyes on the ball. Hey didn't you use to be a basketball hotshot here? You should know that man." His glee was cut short when he noticed that Nathan wasn't laughing along with him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." He said guiltily.

"No it's ok. My bad. My head's somewhere else." He tried to concentrate on the practice and said to Lucas. "The team's looking good Luke. I think we may have a chance of winning the championship this year." The team really looked amazing and they've been on a winning streak. He had no doubt that with Lucas being the head coach and him and Skills helping him out, the championship trophy could be theirs this year.

Lucas patted him on the back and smiled as he said, "Couldn't have done it without you little brother. Hey listen, we're almost done here. Why don't you head home and get some rest? We'll just continue tomorrow. I don't want to tire the guys out anyway."

Nathan stared into space. He didn't really feel like being alone tonight. He knew that he'd think about Haley on her date and the thought of it drove him crazy. He turned to Lucas. "Do you mind if I hang out with you tonight? I mean you don't have any plans or anything right?"

"Yeah sure. Brooke's busy with her boutique. We can grab dinner somewhere. I'll call Jake and ask him if he wants to tag along. Guys night out. What do you say?" He asked, knowing that his brother needed the distraction. It really pained him to see the two of the people he loved most in the world and clearly belonged together growing further and further apart. He had really thought that with Nathan coming back, he and Haley could rebuild their relationship although he admitted that things were not looking so good for neither of them.

"Sounds good. It'll be just like old times." Nathan managed to muster a smile. He knew that he hadn't really spent enough time with his brother and his best friend since he came back but with all the things that had been happening with Haley, it didn't really leave him with much time. "How about Skills? Do you think he wants to join us?" He asked inclining his head towards Skills.

Lucas shook his head. "Nah I don't think so. I think he's got a date with the Carrie girl you met at my mom's cafe. That guy really doesn't waste any time."

"Wait a minute. I thought Mouth had her number?" Nathan asked looking confused.

"Yeah he did until Skills stole it from him when he wasn't looking." Lucas said laughing.

Nathan snickered. "Unbelievable. Ok come on. Let's wrap this thing up. I'm hungry."

Haley couldn't believe she was really going to do this tonight. She hadn't been on a date since Nathan. In fact Nathan was the only man she had ever gone on dates to. She half-heartedly put on her make-up and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had agreed to go out with Micheal, a teacher from school after being asked several times. She knew that everybody was telling her to give Nathan a chance and she really wanted to but she hadn't reached the point in time where she could. She thought about the night at the beach house and how Nathan had readily agreed that she started seeing other people. She had expected Nathan to put up a bit of resistance. Maybe I've pushed him too far. She didn't have the chance to dwell on it longer when she heard the knock on her door. Oh crap he's here. Ok here goes nothing. She forced herself to put a smile on her face as she ran to open the door.

"Hi Micheal. Wow you're on time." She said looking at the handsome man at her door. He handed her a bouquet of red roses which she took and tried to hide her disdain. She hated red roses. "Oh these are beautiful," she lied. "I'll just put this in vase. Give me a minute and I'll be right out."

He took her to a fancy restaurant in town and although Micheal had been a perfect gentleman, all through dinner she had to keep herself from yawning. Sure he was good looking but he bored her. Plus he wasn't Nathan. She pretended to be interested in what he was saying while her mind wandered. She thought about yesterday when Nathan had yelled at her. She still couldn't believe that he had really done that. And what hurt her more was that he didn't even call her to apologize.

"Haley, would you like dessert?" Micheal asked, snapping her back to reality. He was looking at her curiously. "Are you alright? You seem quiet." He was a transfer teacher and was new in Tree Hill so he didn't really knew about her past.

"Sorry I was thinking about how good the food is here tonight," she said as she forced a smile and sipped her wine. "I don't think I'm gonna have dessert tonight. I'm quite full, thank you." It was getting late and the truth was she couldn't wait for the night to be over and she could go home and put this night behind her. She was starting to feel a bit tipsy tonight from all the wine. She hadn't drank this much for a long time.

"Ok I'll just get the bill ok?" Micheal said and signaled for the waiter. The drive home was uneventful too as they tried to make small talks. Haley breathed a sigh of relief when his car pulled into her driveway.

He started to walk her to the door and before she knew it, she asked him without thinking, "Do you want to come in for coffee?"

"Yeah, coffee would be nice." Micheal answered smiling.

Oh God what am I doing? I'm such an idiot! She berated herself as she reluctantly brewed coffee. She tapped her fingers on her kitchen counter and turned to face Micheal guiltily. "You know what? I'm kind of tired. Would you mind taking a rain cheque?"

He looked disappointed but nodded anyway. "Yeah sure. Ok I'm gonna go," he said as he started to walk to the door.

Haley followed him and opened the door for him. "Thank you for tonight. I had a good time."

Micheal smiled and gave her a peck on her cheek. "I had a good time too. Maybe we can do this again," he said looking at her hopefully.

"Maybe." She answered with a small smile. "Goodnight." She closed her door and breathed a sigh of relief. She walked over to her wine cabinet and took out a bottle. She needed another drink after the gruelling night she went through. She was on her third glass and was feeling slightly drunk when she heard a knock on her door. She walked unsteadily and managed to get to the door without stumbling. "Oh it's you," she said, still feeling angry about yesterday's incident.

"Can I come in? And are you drunk?" He asked noticing the glass wine in her hand. He had come by after having dinner with Lucas and Jake, intending to apologize to Haley for yesterday.

She grudgingly let him in and looked at him saying, "a bit."

He looked at her nervously and asked, "Lucas said you went on a date tonight. So how was it?"

"It was ok but what do you care?" She asked and looked at him angrily.

"Haley that's not fair. You know I do care. And you were the one who suggested it in the first place!" He retorted, his voice raising slightly.

"Oh yeah yell at me again Nathan. What, yesterday wasn't enough? You came back for more?"

Nathan took a deep breath. He knew she was drunk and he couldn't really blame her for being angry at him. "Haley I'm really sorry about yesterday. I never meant to yell at you."

"That's great Nathan. You're sorry. I'm getting sick of hearing you say you're sorry. You're sorry for leaving me on our wedding day. You're sorry for breaking my heart. You're sorry for making last year the worst year of my life. Why don't you just leave Nathan and take all your 'sorries' with you?" She said slurring on her words.

"Haley I think you've had enough of that wine." He said as he took the half empty glass from her hand but she wasn't done.

"Why did you come back Nathan? To see how broken I was? To find out if I would come running back into your arms? You have no idea what I went through last year!" She started yelling at him, her eyes flashing with anger.

"Then why don't you tell me Haley!" He said, matching her anger.

"Fine! You want to know so much? I'll tell you." She said as tears started forming in her eyes. "I almost died when you left me Nathan. On our wedding day I wanted to tell you that I was pregnant. We were going to have a baby Nathan. I thought me telling you that I was carrying your baby would be the perfect wedding gift for you."

Nathan felt his head spin from the shock and felt bile rising in his throat. He couldn't believe his ears when he heard it. "You're lying. There's no baby." He stammered.

"I lost our baby! I miscarried a few days after you left. The doctor said it was because of the stress." She looked at him with such anger in her eyes which he had never seen before. "You killed our baby!" She said and sobbed as she crumbled to the floor. A second later there was a sound of glass breaking. Nathan had taken the wine glass from the table and thrown it at the wall.

"Stop it! Oh God oh God. What have I done?" He covered his ears and started shaking his head in disbelief. But Lucas didn't tell him anything about Haley being pregnant. He looked at her, a picture of a broken woman. He went to her and pulled her into his arms. "Oh God Haley I'm so sorry." He said as tears started falling down his face.

"Get away from me! I hate you!" She screamed as she pushed him away but he wouldn't let her go. "You killed our baby...you killed our baby..." She kept saying as she sobbed. "I think I'm gonna be sick." She said as she ran to the bathroom and started to throw up. She felt Nathan's hand rubbing her back soothingly and turned to face him tears still streaming down her beautiful face in a steady flow. "How could you do that to me Nathan?"

He pulled her into her arms again and just let her cry. For once he didn't know what to say to her as his own grief overtook him. "Sshhh..." He tried to soothe her as he let her cry. A few seconds later he could feel her body grow heavy as she fell asleep exhausted. Nathan carried her into her bedroom and laid her down on her bed as he started changing his clothes, his fingers trembling. Only after he had pulled the blanket over her did he let himself break down. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He sobbed, weeping for their baby that he lost, for the life with Haley that he lost.