"We were starting to wonder if you were ever coming back," a male voice called out as Haley led Nathan into the studio.

"Oh hush, Andrew," Haley laughed. "It's only been a couple of days."

"Says the girl who made us be here every day for the last three months," another voice called out. "At all hours of the night, mind you."

"Shut up, Walker," she said, lacing her fingers through Nathan's. "You'd think you boys would be thanking me for giving you a break."

They'd walked through the front doors of the studio to see a group of guys sitting on a circular black leather couch in the main lobby are. Nathan could see why Haley liked going into the studio based on the lobby. The walls were a warm red reminiscent of Haley and Brooke's kitchen back in their apartment. Framed tour posters lined the walls and Nathan immediately spotted one from Haley's first tour when she was just an opening act.

The guys on the couch all looked to be about his age. Andrew was thin with curly shaggy blond hair and an oversized Led Zeppelin t-shirt and Walker had short light brown hair with a slightly crumpled red and black plaid button-up shirt over a t-shirt for a band Nathan didn't recognize.

"So, this is the guy who you've been spending all your time with?" Andrew asked, gesturing towards Nathan.

"Oh," Haley said, turning to smile up at her boyfriend. "Boys, this is Nathan Scott. Nathan, this is Andrew and Walker. They're in my band."

"It's nice to finally meet the guy who makes Hales smile so much," Andrew said. "She hasn't shut up about you since you started doing physical therapy together."

"That is so not true," Haley said, smacking Andrew lightly on the arm.

"Seriously, man," Walker said. "All we've heard is 'Nathan this' and 'Nathan that' for like the last three months."

"That is also not true and you boys know it," she said. "Don't listen to a word those two say. They lie about everything all the time."

"I'll keep that in mind," Nathan laughed.

"Glad you could join us again, Miss James," another male voice called out and Nathan felt Haley's grip on his hand tighten. "We were starting to think you were never going to get this album done."

A pale man quite a few inches shorter than Nathan stepped out into the lobby in an impeccable grey suit. Nathan thought he looked like a tool, but Haley was obviously intimidated by him by the way she stepped closer to his side. Nathan really didn't like how the man was looking at her with his rather beady black eyes, like she was some sort of possession or prize, and Nathan wrapped his arm around Haley's waist to pull her close to him.

"I'm here to record the last track today, Mr. Mills," Haley replied.

"Good," Mr. Mills said, crossing his arms over his chest. "We've wasted more than enough time and money on your album and tour."

"It'll be finished today, sir," she said quietly and Nathan tightened his grip around her, rubbing her bare arm softly.

"Fine, get to work then," he said and then looked Nathan up and down with a glare. "Let's just hope you can focus."

"Yes, sir," Haley said, looking down at the floor.

Nathan looked on frowningly as Mr. Mills gave Haley one last disapproving look and then turned on his heel to make his way back towards his office. Haley's lighthearted mood had completely disappeared and she wrapped her arms around Nathan's waist, burying her face in his chest. She sighed heavily and then pulled away from him.

"Let's get into the studio," she said, still looking down at the ground.

Andrew and Walker stood up and followed Haley down a wide hallway with Nathan close on their heels. He was amazed by the difference in the demeanor of the three musicians in front of him after talking to Mr. Mills. Haley stopped by the third door on their left and turned back to Andrew and Walker, holding her hand out towards Nathan. He immediately took it and drew her close to his side again.

"Boys," she said to her two band mates. "Can you give us a minute."

Walker gave her a wry look and they both nodded as Haley opened the door to the recording booth and pulled Nathan in behind her.

"Kiss me," she said, pushing him back against the wall and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Nathan wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he wasn't about to turn her down. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. She pulled his head down towards hers and pressed her lips softly against his. Almost immediately she sucked his lower lip in between hers in the way she'd learned that he liked best. Nathan moaned against her lips and immediately moved to deepen the kiss. She wrapped her arms tighter around him as she felt his hands travel up her back to the bare skin exposed by her halter top and softly stroked the fine hairs at the base of his neck.

He broke their kiss for lack of air and then started trailing kisses down her neck, causing Haley's hands to fist into his hair. She sighed happily when he stopped at her pulse point to nip lightly at the skin and felt her knees go weak beneath her. Nathan felt her sag against him and quickly flipped them around so that she was the one pressed against the wall. After about a minute or two, Haley finally pushed him away and let her feet slide back down to the floor.

"What was that for?" Nathan asked with a smirk. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"I just needed a little inspiration before I sing this song," she replied, giving him one last peck. "I better let the boys in now. They're gonna get grumpy if I make them wait too long."

"Did you really have to make out with us on the other side of the door?" Andrew asked as they walked into the studio. "Like, was that really necessary?"

"Well, we could have done it in front of you," Haley shrugged. "But I didn't think you'd like that very much.

"Damn right we wouldn't have," Walker said. "Peter and Charlie will be here in about five minutes, by the way."

"Okay," Haley said. "Let's look over the song we're doing today."

When everything is lovely
When everything is fine
It's the right time
To hold on to you

Haley's voice filled the studio as she sang. In Nathan's opinion, the song was beautiful. She was beautiful. He had to admit that rap music was more his thing, but he could listen to her sing all day.

When everything is broken
When everything's all wrong
It's the right time
To hold on to you
It's always the right time
To hold on to you

They'd been in the studio for about three hours. The first hour and a half had been laying down the instrumental track for the song and then Nathan finally got to hear Haley sing. She sounded good on the radio, he had to admit, but nothing could beat Haley singing in person. She was amazing. He couldn't take her eyes off her for the first forty five minutes. He thought every take sounded amazing, but Haley still wasn't quite satisfied with it and Nathan's attention was starting to waver. He was still bothered by Haley's interaction with that executive when they'd first gotten there.

"So, what's the deal with that Mills guy?" he asked Andrew, who was sitting in the booth next to him.

"You mean why's he got it out for Haley?" Andrew chuckled. "No one really knows. He's treated her like shit pretty much since Haley started recording here. He's a partner for the company and isn't a fan of hers for some reason."

"Why does she put up with it?"

"Mills excluded, Bright Star's been really good to Haley over the last two years," Andrew shrugged. "From what she says, they took a chance on her when no one else would. Mr. Carter was the guy who was running things then and he really took Haley under his wing. She's like another daughter to him. But he retired at the beginning of this year and things haven't been the same since."

"Bright Star's the name of the label, right?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah," Andrew replied. "Most of the people here are really cool, but Mills wants to deal more with hip hop artists than pop stars. Thank god none of the other executives agree with him because then we'd all be out label shopping again and that is not a good place to be right now."

"She's so talented, though," Nathan said, smiling as he watched Haley for a minute before turning his attention back to Andrew. "Why would they want to give her up?"

"It's only Mills that's trying to force her out," Andrew said. "Everybody else loves Haley. He was the ass who started threatening to cut Haley's tour after her accident. I'm still kind of worried that he's going to try to pull something else. She's worked really hard to get where she is today. The girl's a total slave driver when it comes to studio time. This is the most relaxed I've ever seen her. You want to come with her every day?"

"I don't think she'd let me," Nathan laughed.

"Seriously though, man," Andrew said, turning to face Nathan fully. "You've been really good for her. She smiles more now. We were really worried about her there for a while."

"Why was that?" Nathan asked.

"Haley's really sensitive," Andrew replied. "I don't mean that in a bad way. She just takes things really deeply. You know she dated Damien West for a while, right?"

"Yeah," Nathan said. "I heard about it. She broke up with him, right?"

"She did," Andrew said. "But she broke up with him because she caught him cheating on her. We got back from our last tour a night early. He had a game here in LA that night and she went back to his place to wait for him and surprise him. Turns out she was the one who was surprised when he came home with another woman. Apparently, he was cheating on her the entire time they were together."

"Wow," Nathan said.

"Yeah," Andrew said, nodding his head. "Haley took it pretty bad. She wouldn't set foot in the studio for months. We finally got her back in and the label agreed to her solo tour and then she had her accident. I think it's been one thing after another for her for about seven months or so. Then she met you."

"Then she met me," Nathan repeated, leaning back further in his chair.

"I guess it goes without saying that if you ever hurt her, I'll kill you," Andrew said. "Then again, I'll probably have to get in line."

"What?"

"Well, you know Haley has like three older brothers, right?"

"Yeah," Nathan nodded.

"Well, Matt, the oldest, was a linebacker for the Patriots before he blew out his knee a couple of years ago," Andrew said. "The guy's like 300 pounds of solid muscle. He threatened the entire band within an inch of our lives if any of us hurt Haley. I'm still a little surprised that West is still alive."

"What about the other two?"

"I thought you would have heard of them," Andrew said. "The James twins? They play basketball for Miami."

"Those James brothers are Haley's?" Nathan asked incredulously. "She never said a word."

"She probably figured you knew," Andrew shrugged. "She doesn't talk about her family much, though. She never has. She loves them and all, but they smothered her. She's the baby of the family and they tried to spoil her rotten, but Haley's pretty independent."

"Yeah, she is," Nathan said.

Haley finished singing the song and came back into the booth. She took a seat on Nathan's lap as her producer, Gary, played back the last recording for her to listen to. Nathan toyed with the ends of her long blond hair and watched Haley smile in satisfaction as she listened. She relaxed against Nathan and took his free hand between both of hers.

"It sounds great, Haley," Gary said. "Are you satisfied?"

"Yeah," Haley said, grinning and sliding off Nathan's lap. "I am. We did it Gary. We finished another album."

"Never thought I'd see the day," Gary laughed, hugging her tightly.

The other boys in the band came in and Haley hugged them all. Nathan felt like he probably should be jealous as she hugged all of the men in the room, but Haley's smile made any jealousy he felt dissipate. Her joy was contagious and it was fun to watch her interact with the boys in her band. The easy camaraderie between them wasn't unlike that between him and his teammates in basketball. Haley finally came back over to him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"You did it, babe," he said, hugging her back tightly. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," she said softly, not letting go of him.

"How about we go out tonight to celebrate?" he suggested, pulling back so that he could look her in the eye. "We can go back to your favorite restaurant. I won't even tease you for ordering macaroni and cheese."

"Sounds perfect," she said, rising up on her tip toes to give him a quick kiss.

Nathan laced his fingers through hers as she said goodbye to everyone and promised to meet them the next day to let the executives listen to the album. They walked out of the building and to the parking lot where Haley's Lamborghini was waiting for them. She stopped a few feet away from it and dug around in her purse for the keys. She stopped and looked down at them for a minute before handing them to Nathan.

"Are you serious?" he asked, arching his eyebrows as he stared down at the keys she'd just placed in his palm.

"Just don't get used to it," she laughed. "Are you going to unlock it or stare at it?"

"Don't be a smartass," he said with a playful glare as he pressed the automatic unlock button.

"You love me anyway," Haley said.

"You're right," he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. "I do."

"So what'd you think of the song?"

"I knew you were going to ask that eventually…"

"Did you hate it?" she asked worriedly as he opened the passenger side door for her.

"I loved it," he assured her after taking the seat behind the wheel. "When did you write it?"

"Yesterday," she said.

"When?" he said with a frown as he put the key in the ignition.

"When I was waiting for you to get out of the hospital," she said. "I was sitting on my bed worried about you and I just poured everything I'd been feeling over the last few days into that song. It came out pretty well, didn't it?"

"It's amazing," Nathan said, leaning over to kiss the side of her head. "You're amazing. And just so you know, babe, I'm holding onto you too."

"You know," Haley said, laying stretched out across her bed. "One day we're not going to live together and you won't be able to pick out all of my clothes anymore."

"You're not planning on shacking up with Boy Toy or anything," Brooke called from inside Haley's closet. "Are you, Tutor Girl?"

"Not at the moment," Haley said, rolling over onto her stomach so that she could look at Brooke as she shuffled through Haley's dresses to find one appropriate for the evening. "But maybe one day. I mean, we probably won't 'shack up' but… I don't know…"

"I get what you're saying, Hales," Brooke interrupted, coming out of Haley's closet with a dark blue knee length dress. "What do you think of this one?"

"Nathan's favorite color is blue," Haley replied.

"I guess it's a yes then," Brooke laughed. "We're seriously going to have to go shopping sometime in the near future. I think you've been photographed in most of the dresses you've already got."

"You know," Haley said, sitting up on her bed. "It's not a crime to wear a dress more than once."

"Tutor Girl," Brooke said, shaking her head. "You're a celebrity. It's practically a felony for you to wear a dress more than once in public, and I, as your manager and best friend, refuse to let that happen."

"Fine, Brookie," Haley chuckled. "How about we go one day next week? I finished the album today, so I have some free time now."

"It's a date," Brooke said with a wink. "Now let's find you the perfect pair of shoes to go with that dress. I'm thinking silver stilettos."

Haley's cell phone rang and she reached across her bed to her nightstand to grab it.

"It's that's Boy Toy," Brooke called. "You tell him that it's going to be at least another hour and he can't come over until I say so."

"It's not Nathan," Haley said. "It's Vivian. I've been meaning to call her. Hey Vivy, how are the kids?"

Brooke heard Haley gasp and then the clatter of her phone hitting the hard wood floor. She quickly walked out of the closet as Haley scrambled down off her bed to grab her phone. Haley raised the phone back up to her ear with shaking hands and Brooke came over to sit next to her on the bed, wrapping her arms around her friend and leaning her chin on Haley's shoulder.

"Okay," Haley said softly. "I'll be there as soon as I can… Yes, Vivian. I know. Have you called everyone else? Okay. I'll get the first flight I can. How long until… Okay… Yeah, I know… Vivian, I know… I'll see… Of course I'm coming… Don't even go there, Viv... Okay… I'll see you soon."

"What's going on?" Brooke asked after Haley had hung up the phone.

Instead of answering, Haley turned in Brooke's arms and buried her face in her best friend's shoulder. Brooke felt the fabric of her shirt grown damp from Haley's tears and she rubbed soothing circles up and down Haley's back. Haley didn't sob. Except for the dampening cotton against her skin and the shuddery breath every now and then, Brooke wouldn't have even known she was crying. Suddenly she heard the front door open and Lucas called out. She called him to come back to Haley's room and he stopped in his tracks when he saw Haley wrapped up in Brooke's arms crying.

"What should we do?" Brooke asked softly. "She won't tell me what's wrong."

"Call Nathan," Lucas said and then sighed painfully. "Give me her phone and I'll do it."

"I can do it, Luke," Brooke said, knowing that calling his brother would be hard for Lucas.

"No," he replied. "I can do it. You stay with Haley."

Nathan finished buttoning up the buttons on his black long sleeve shirt and stepped back to look at himself in the mirror. He was wearing the button-up and a nice pair of dark jeans with his favorite sneakers. He still wasn't all that comfortable in any other type of footwear when he could avoid it. Satisfied with his appearance, he walked over to his dresser and grabbed his wallet to tuck it into his back pocket. He'd just picked up his cell phone to tuck it into another pocket when it started to vibrate in his hand. He smiled when he saw Haley's face pop up on the screen and pressed the talk button before bringing it up to his hear.

"Hey, baby," he said. "I was about to leave to come pick you up."

"This isn't Haley," a familiar voice replied. "It's Lucas."

"Lucas?" Nathan frowned. "Where's Haley? Why do you have her phone? Is everything okay? Is Haley okay?"

"No, Nathan," Lucas replied. "Haley's not okay. Her sister called and we don't know what she said, but whatever it was, it was really bad. Haley won't talk Brooke or me."

"I'm on my way," Nathan replied, snatching his keys off the dresser and practically sprinting for the door. "Take care of her for me, okay Luke? I'll be there in about thirty minutes."

"Sure thing," Lucas said.

Nathan wasn't there in thirty minutes. He was there in fifteen. He was pretty sure he'd broken about thirty different traffic laws to get there so fast, but Haley was hurting and little things like speeding didn't matter. He'd also nearly crushed an elderly couple in their tiny Honda Civic with his Escalade, but didn't particularly care about that either. The door to the apartment was unlocked and he ran inside and back to Haley's room. The sight in front of him nearly broke his heart.

Haley was laying there on her bed with her head in Brooke's lap as Brooke softly stroked her hair. Tears were coursing down in cheeks in a silent rain and her eyes looked so lifeless. Lucas was pacing back and forth nervously, running his fingers through his hair helplessly ever few seconds. All three of them looked up at him when he walked into the room and Haley immediately sprung up off the bed and threw herself at him.

She launched herself into his arms and he had to take a step back at the sudden impact. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping her from drowning. He held her tightly against him for a moment before shifting her up a little higher against him and carried her over to the bed like one might carry an exhausted toddler. Nathan motioned Brooke and Lucas towards the door and Brooke sprang up off the bed. Lucas looked at him a little skeptically, but Brooke grabbed his arm and dragged him out the room, closing the door softly behind them.

Nathan carefully laid down on the bed with Haley sprawled across his chest and rubbed her back softly as she continued to cry, soaking the soft fabric of his shirt. As he rubbed her back, he whispered comforting words in her ear and every now and then would kiss the top of her head. He knew at that moment what she needed was to be held. Words would come eventually. Slowly, she released the stranglehold she had around his neck and her tears stopped flowing. He continued to rub her back in slow circles until her breathing returned to normal and he felt her sigh against him.

"You want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked softly.

"My sister called," Haley replied.

"Okay…"

"My parents were in an accident in Kansas," she continued emotionlessly. "They were in their RV and a gust of wind pushed them onto the other side of the road into oncoming traffic. They didn't make it. My parents are dead. They're gone."

"Shh, baby," he said, squeezing her lightly. "It's gonna be okay."

"Vivian, my oldest sister, is having their bodies sent back to Texas," Haley said with a heavy sigh. "That's where I'm from. I don't know if I ever told you that."

"You did," he said and then kissed the top of her head again.

"I'm supposed to be finding a flight to Texas right now," she sighed again and then snuggled a little closer to Nathan. "Vivian's going to be pissed if I take too long to get there. I guess all of my siblings are coming. It's a good thing Vivy has a really big house. Her husband's family is in oil or something."

"Why don't you let me take care of booking us flights?" he suggested. "And I'll send Brooke in to help you pack."

"You're coming with me?" she asked hopefully, looking up at him with her large sad brown eyes.

"Of course I am, baby," he said. "There's no way I would let you go through this by yourself."

"Thank you," she said, closing her eyes and sagging against him.

They laid there like that for a few more minutes before Haley slowly rolled off of him so that he could get up and go make the flight arrangements. She got off the bed and went into the bathroom to splash her face with cold water and he went out into the kitchen where Brooke and Lucas wee waiting anxiously.

"What's going on?" Brooke asked as soon as Nathan closed Haley's bedroom door behind him.

"Haley's parents were in a car accident," he said. "They didn't make it. We're flying out to Texas tonight."

"Oh, god," Brooke said, sagging against the counter. "Poor Haley! Her parents were really nice people. I only met them a couple of times, but they were really nice."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "They were. How's she taking it?"

"I think she's still in shock right now," Nathan said, leaning against the kitchen island across from Lucas and Brooke. "Brooke, could you go help her pack? I don't know how long we'll be gone. I guess about a week or so."

"I'll take care of it," Brooke said, nodding her head, and then made her way back to Haley's room.

Both men watched her go and then Nathan sagged even further against the counter, supporting most of his weight on his forearms. He hung his head for a minute before straightening up and digging his phone out of his pocket. He called Jake to have him arrange a flight for them and then sighed heavily as he slid the phone back into his pocket.

"She doesn't deserve this," he said, leaning back against the counter behind him.

"Tell me about it," Lucas said, running his fingers through his hair.

"You know," Nathan said. "I don't get it. I never met Haley's parents, but I know they were good people. They didn't deserve to die. Yet, Dan, who's probably the biggest asshole on the planet, is probably going to outlive all of us."

"Do you really hate him that much?" Lucas asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Nathan said. "I do. I know I said this the other day at my session, but you really are the luck one, Luke. Don't forget that."

"I won't," Lucas nodded. "Do you ever wonder what life would have been like if Dan had chosen my mom over yours?"

"I used to," Nathan shrugged. "Back in high school I used to wish all the time that it was you he was riding instead of me. But, maybe it all worked out for the best in the end. I mean, if things hadn't worked out this way, I probably never would have made it to the NBA. I probably wouldn't have met Haley… We probably never would have seen each other again."

"We probably wouldn't have," Lucas agreed. "Do you think maybe we've been given some sort of cosmic second chance to get to know each other or whatever?"

"Maybe," Nathan shrugged. "Or maybe we're just lucky or something. But if you want to, I'd like for us to try. I'm not saying either one of us is really ready to be brothers yet, but I'd like for us to at least try to be friends. We are dating best friends after all."

"I'd like that too," Lucas said.

"Okay," Brooke said, leading Haley into the kitchen and dragging a large black rolling suitcase. "Tutor Girl's all packed and ready to go."

"You ready, baby?" Nathan asked.

Haley nodded as Nathan took the handle of the suitcase from Brooke and started wheeling it towards the door. She turned back to Brooke and Lucas and hugged both of them tightly for a moment.

"If you need us," Lucas whispered into her ear. "We'll be on the first flight out there."

"Thanks, Luke," she said tearfully. "I'll be fine. I've got Nathan."

Lucas watched as Nathan wrapped his free arm tightly around Haley's shoulders as he led her towards the door. He couldn't help but sigh painfully after the door had closed behind them. Haley was his best friend. It stung a little that she didn't seem to need him during one of the most difficult times in her life, but it was also a testament to how far Nathan had come since their days back in Tree Hill. Maybe they could be friends. Maybe, one day, they could even be brothers.

A/N: I'm sorry I'm posting this so late in the day. I tried to write this chapter without having an exact song Haley was singing and I just wasn't feeling it. I wanted all her songs to actually be the ones that Bethany Joy Galeotti sings and then I found "The Right Time," which she only sings the backup vocals for and Amber Sweeney sings the main vocals, but it seemed very Naley in this story. So it was perfect and I just had to add it in. If you haven't heard the song, I totally recommend looking it up on youtube because it's great. As always, I love you hear from ya'll and hope you leave a review.

P.S. This thing has over 15,000 hits. I'm pretty much in shock over that. I never thought this story would be so popular. Thank you, all of my awesome readers. I love you all tremendously. Oh, and I think I've come to a decision on the Chris Keller issue, but ya'll will just have to wait and see what I decided. However, if anyone wants to cast any last minute votes, if you present a very good arguement I might reconsider. We'll just have to see.