A/N: Like I promised, here's another chapter! I'll write some more tomorrow and post at some point tomorrow afternoon! Enjoy

Nathan woke up the next morning and went into Mallory's room to find her not there. He then quietly made his way to the guest room and found the door cracked. He peeked inside and saw Haley and Mallory sound asleep. The sight of them both brought a smile to his face. What is this girl doing to me, he thought, I rarely ever smile this much.

He finally decided that he needed to go wake them up. He walked over to the bed and whispered, "Wake up ladies, I believe there are some chocolate chip pancakes calling your name."

Haley opened her eyes and came face to face with Nathan. She then looked down and realized Mallory was still sleeping. "She couldn't sleep, so she asked I she could stay in here. I hope you don't mind," she said gesturing to the little girl.

"It's fine, besides I was kinda worried about you being alone last night anyway. I'm glad to see you had company. I have to say, though, she usually is the first one awake," he replied.

"I am awake daddy," Mallory answered, "I was waiting for you guys to quit talking, so we can go get breakfast."

"Well in that case, you need to go get ready. I'm going to go get dressed and then I'll drop you off at the café. I've gotta run Miss James to her house, so she can grab some clothes. Now run along," he responded.

Nathan was about to leave the room when he stopped. "By the way, you're pretty cute in my clothes," he said with a smirk, "I could get use to that look."

Haley buried her face in the pillows while Nathan simply laughed before leaving.

Nathan dropped Mallory off and then drove Haley in direction of her house. "Would you like me to go up with you?" he asked.

"I'll be fine. I shouldn't be but a minute or so," she replied.

She went upstairs to find it empty. Brooke must be with Luke, she thought. She went towards her bedroom to find some clothes. She was in the process of finding a shirt when she heard, "I told you I would be back."

She jumped and tried to run, but she wasn't quick enough. He grabbed her and threw her against the wall. He slapped her across the face before saying, "You know you shouldn't run from me. Don't you know that only makes me angrier."

"Please just let me go. What do you want from me," she begged.

"What I want is my wife back, but since you took her from me. You don't deserve to live either," he said forcefully. He grabbed her by the neck so tight that his fingers left their mark. He then threw her and her head hit the side of a table. As blood was running from her head, he began kicking her in the side to the point she had stopped moving.

Nathan was beginning to get worried because it had been about fifteen minutes since Haley had went inside. He decided that he would go check on her, just in case something had happened.

He made his way inside when he heard yelling coming from another room. He recognized that voice and ran to the direction it was coming from. He saw Haley lying on the ground and her father standing above her. He ran towards him and held him against the wall. "I swear she better be ok because if not, you will regret it and I'll have no say over my actions," he said getting into Mr. James' face.

Nathan was stronger than him, so he was unable to get out of his grasp. Instead he simply said, "She's dead."

Nathan heard a gasp come from behind him and then a scream. He could tell it was Brooke without turning around. "Brooke, call 911!" Nathan yelled.

Brooke hurriedly dialed the numbers while her hands were shaking. Tears were falling from her eyes seeing her best friend laying on the floor unconscious. She finally got someone and told them the address.

"Why did you do this?" Brooke whispered, "Hales, can you hear me?" Haley just laid there motionless.

Nathan pressed him arm harder against Mr. James' neck before saying, "You are going to rot in jail and trust me you'll never get out. I'll be damned if I ever let you near her again. You are nothing but a pathetic father, and a disgust to me. Haley deserved so much more from you and you made her life hell. For that, I would kill you right now, but you aren't even worth it."

A few minutes later the police and paramedics showed up. A cop approached Nathan and asked, "What happened here?"

"This man assaulted the girl lying on the floor. The girl is Haley James, his daughter. Arrest him and make sure he suffers," Nathan said releasing Mr. James so the cop could handcuff him.

Nathan walked over to where Brooke was and she looked up. "She's going to be ok isn't she? I can't lose her," she said through her tears.

"I hope so," he replied as his own tears began forming in his eyes.

The paramedics loaded Haley on a stretcher and asked either of them if they were family. "She's my sister," Brooke replied.

Nathan gestured for her to ride with them to the hospital. "I'll go tell the others and will be there in a few minutes," he added before Brooke got in the ambulance.

Coming:
Is Haley really dead?
Nathan makes a confession