Thanks to Nathanlvr, lilmonkeygirl31, HaleyJamesScott2323 and Emily Carol for replying.

Here's eleven for you. Leave some words and enjoy. :D Katy


Chapter 11

The present

Tree Hill, North Carolina

"You will never change, will you?" Haley demanded of her older sister, glaring at her with blazing eyes. She had come home after a long night at the café, hoping to spend the rest of the night in peace and quiet while she and Nathan worked on putting the last touches to their project for about two hours before she drifted off to sleep and had to get up for an early shift the next morning.

But as soon as Nathan had pulled into her driveway, Haley had recognized all the telltale signs of yet another of Gretchen James' infamous all-night parties. Music was blaring, every single light in the house was left on and there was a stench of stale beer in the air as Haley furiously dashed out of Nathan's car, into the house, leaving the door open for him so he could come in after her, run to the expensive stereo she had bought with three weeks' worth salary from the café and turn it off.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Gretchen asked innocently, rejoining her sister in the living room after saying goodbye to her guests.

"You're leaving first thing in the morning. You're far too drunk to do anything right now so who do you think is going to be left to clean up your mess? And I have to work at eight in the morning tomorrow." Haley exclaimed. Gretchen sighed.

"I'll clean some of it up," she promised. Nathan could barely make out the slurred words of Haley's sister but judging by her dubious expression, Haley had.

"I seem to recall hearing snippets of your arguments with mom while growing up where you promised to do the same thing and yet the next day, she would wake me up, hand me a mini apron and announce yet another cleaning day! So I'm not going to hold my breath that you're going to follow through this time." Haley ranted.

"That was most likely Taylor," Gretchen argued.

"No, Taylor was usually already up in her room serving out her latest grounding. And she was smart enough to know not to throw a rager while she was supposed to be babysitting," Haley corrected her.

"Haley, I was nineteen and I was saddled with babysitting a four-year-old plus four other siblings every night," Gretchen said, trying to get Haley to understand. Instead, Haley stiffened.

"Just exactly what do you mean when you say, 'saddled'?" she demanded.

"Our parents worked almost every night, sweetie, who do you think was the one that looked after you at the time? I was young and I wanted to party. So I figured I should throw a party at the house. Mom and Dad couldn't exactly say that I wasn't looking after you when I was still at home," Gretchen said.

"But I could," Haley retorted.

"Haley, it's late and I have one hell of a headache. Do you think we could talk about this before I leave?" Gretchen asked, massaging her temple with her hand.

"Give me a break," Haley complained with a roll of her eyes. Gretchen looked at her in confusion. "You're not tired and even if you do have a headache, we both know the real reason you want to talk about this before you leave."

"And that is?" her sister asked irately.

"Because you know we're not going to talk about it. You'll either wake up late and be in a hurry or leave before I even wake up because that's the way you deal with confrontation," Haley said.

"That's running away," Gretchen pointed out. Haley nodded.

"That's exactly the point I'm trying to make," she said.

"What point?" Gretchen asked.

"You don't deal. You either run away or ignore it," Haley said.

"I most certainly do not," Gretchen said indignantly.

"Oh, yes, you do! Do you remember when I found out that you were married? I lashed into you and rather than arguing with me or apologizing to me, your husband jumped in, made things worse and then you both just walked away!" Haley exclaimed. Gretchen opened her mouth to argue, but Brad spoke first.

"You ungrateful, selfish little bitch!" he exclaimed. Haley turned to him in shocked fury. "We came all the way out here to visit you because you're always alone here and what do you do? Not only do you ignore us completely but on our last days, you insult us. We came here for you."

Nathan felt like punching the guy in defence of Haley, but she was already turning on him. Her jaw was taut and her eyes were narrowed into slits. Expecting her to start screaming at them in rage, Nathan was perplexed when Haley started laughing.

When she calmed down, she shook her head and in a low, smoky voice she said, "You were sent here by mom and dad because they felt a small amount of guilt for leaving me alone yet again," and turning to Gretchen with a smouldering glare, she continued, "You left this house and you never looked back. Do not insult me further by claiming that you actually came here of your own accord. You should have done us all a favour and stayed away."

"Haley, I'm your sister," Gretchen said.

Haley scoffed. "Since when?"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Brad demanded. The couple looked at her. Gretchen was shaking her head in disbelief. Brad was looking at her with a warning in his eyes. He guessed his sister-in-law didn't notice but the truth was that she just didn't care. She just raised her eyebrows pointedly.

"Who do you think you are, calling me a bad sister?" Gretchen asked angrily.

"If the shoe fits, Gretchen," Haley retorted. She gave them one last steely gaze before retreating downstairs with Nathan to work there.


"Are you feeling better?" Nathan asked. Haley turned around from the computer and shrugged.

"I have no words," she replied.

"About your sister?" he asked.

"About any of it," she clarified.

"I'm not sure I understand," he said. Haley turned back to the computer and hit a few keys to save her work.

"I don't really talk about my feelings that much. Never to my family," she said.

"You talk pretty freely with Chris and Peyton. Even me sometimes," he reminded her.

"It's different with them," Haley said.

"Why?" he asked.

"In my family, it's always about someone else's problems. My siblings were the ones my parents worried about. Especially Gretchen and Taylor. With me, they kind of sit back and relax because they think that they've seen it all and they figure I've learned from watching my siblings and seeing all of the mistakes they've made," Haley said.

"So they were tough on your siblings but with you, they just kind of sit back and relax?" he asked.

"Pretty much. If I had a problem, they didn't want to hear about it," she said.

"Your mom wasn't even there for you when you broke up with Lucas?" Nathan asked.

"I doubt she even remembers I had a boyfriend let alone broke up with him," Haley said.

"That sucks," Nathan said, shaking his head in disgust. His family was the exact opposite of Haley's. Sometimes his mom wouldn't even let him leave the house until he told her what was bothering him. And she could always tell. He didn't know how but she knew but she always did.

"Yeah, it really does, but I'm used to it. I'm used to not talking about it so opening up about how I feel to one of them is very new to me. I'm still processing what it means." she explained. Nathan put his arm on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"Well, I'll be here for you when you figure it out," he promised. Haley smiled at him gratefully.

"Thanks. You're great," she said, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. Nathan turned his head and their lips touched. Haley pulled away and started panicking because she was afraid Nathan would freak out but when she looked at him, he was actually smiling.

"Now look at what you've done," he teased as he brought her close to him again and kissed her softly at first but then his kiss grew fervent. When he broke the kiss, he studied her face for signs as to what she was feeling. She grinned at him as she leaned in again and kissed him hungrily.