Here it is, chapter 14! Things are really getting going now! I am so excited to see what all of you think as the story goes on so please share with me, even if you aren't happy I would like to hear your opinions.

Enjoy :)

Nathan heard a banging on his door and sighed as he sauntered over to open it. He looked up, expecting to see either an extremely pissed off Brooke or a silent, crying Haley. He was partially right on one account. Unfortunately the person standing in his doorway was a pissed off Whitey. This was something that he had grown accustomed to during high school, but it's a little different when you are getting yelled at for not passing the ball enough compared to when you basically dump your coach's favorite granddaughter.

Whitey glared at Nathan and didn't even wait for an invite before pushing his way through the door.

"Look, Whitey, I don't want to deal with the yelling right now. Can we just do this later?" Nathan asked and ran a hand through his hair, looking down.

"Oh, you don't want to deal with this right now?" Whitey asked. "I guess I should just leave then. I mean it's not like I came over here just to talk to you about this or anything." He said and turned to leave. "Actually, I didn't come here to talk to you about this. I came here to yell at you. So sit down and shut up because you are going to listen to me, got it?" He waited for Nathan to take a seat on the chair behind him. "I realize that your life has been rough Nathan. I get that, but that doesn't mean that you have to hurt Haley. She is one of the best things that has ever happened to you, if not the best, and guess what? I have seen the difference she has made in your life in just a few short months and it has been for the better." Nathan shook his head and looked up.

"You think I don't know that? Do you honestly think that I don't know that she is the best thing I have in my life and that losing her is going to be harder than anything I have dealt with, next to losing my mom." Nathan yelled. "I also know that she deserves better than some low-life basketball player who's dad abandoned him. She's got some guy at her school who is going after her, and she should be able to let him into her life. No matter how much it kills me."

Whitey sighed and pulled up a chair next to him. "Nathan, I know my granddaughter, and despite the fact that her heart is breaking right now she loves you more than you could ever know. No other guy compares to you in her mind. You've found your Camilla, son, don't let her go." He said and put his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "You just need to be honest with her and tell her everything you just told me, not quite at that decibel though."

"I can't do that," Nathan said "and you shouldn't want me too. I'm too messed up."

"Maybe you're right." Whitey sighed and stood up. "This is not the Nathan Scott that I know. You are acting like some immature teenager with a bone to pick. Haley should be with the man she fell in love with. When he comes back you come find my granddaughter and make things right, but be sure this 'messed up' boy is gone for good." With that he turned and walked out the door, leaving Nathan to sit there by himself and think about everything that happened.

Brooke walked into the kitchen from the living room. She and Haley ended up sleeping on the couches last night while everyone else went upstairs. Lydia and Camilla had started a pot of coffee and were standing there talking quietly.

"Good morning, Brooke." Lydia said. "How is she doing?"

"She's alright, in her own way she is dealing with this. I would expect some fake happiness for a little while but soon enough she will break again. I just wish that she would open up about it some more, you know. She's so strong that she feels like she doesn't have to share her problems with anyone else." Brooke explained.

"I know what you mean. I remember when she was seven and she got her first fish. She would sit and watch that thing swim around that little tank all the time. She loved it. Then, one day she walked away from the tank with a sad expression on her face. I immediately knew what happened but she just faked a smile and walked away, refusing to talk about it. She isn't one who likes to accept change." Lydia said.

Brooke and Camilla just nodded in response.

"So what do you ladies say to getting this dinner started?" Camilla asked. "This bird isn't going to prepare itself."

"Ah, right!" Lydia said and stood up from her stool. "Let's do this."

"Yeah, sure. It can't be that hard, right?" Brooke asked, lifting up a bag of vegetables and looking around inside it.

"Have you ever cooked before Brooke?" Camilla asked.

"Define cooking." Brooke smiled sheepishly.

Lydia laughed and shook her head. "Sorry Brooke, but I have tasted your experiments. You are staying away from all things food until we are done cooking."

"Come on Lydia, she has to learn some time." Camilla commented.

"Actually, Mama James is right. I've tried to learn before, she actually tried to teach me. I'm just one of those people who is not meant to be behind the stove." Brooke said. "But that is perfectly fine because I can make a table arrangement or something."

"Good idea sweetie." Lydia said and pointed to the decorations over in the corner of the room. "Go ahead and look through there for anything you need. Feel free to get creative."

"Oh, trust me, it will be fabulous." Brooke winked and turned just in time to see Haley walking in behind her. "Morning best friend. How are you doing?"

"I'm ok." She said and gave everyone a half smile. "I'll be back to help cook in a little bit, I just want to go for a quick run and I'll be back."

"Don't worry about it darling. You take all the time you need." Camilla said. "Be safe though, and watch out for cars." She said as Haley made her way out the back door. "I really hope that she cheers up soon."

"Yeah, well that bonehead Nathan needs to come to his senses first." Brooke scoffed.

Lydia and Camilla turned to her and laughed a little at how protective Brooke was of her best friend.

"What? It's true and you know it." Brooke pointed out. "Actually, I think I might go have a nice talk with that boy to see what is going on in that oddly proportionate head of him." She said and walked toward the door. "I'll be back once I get some answers." And with a quick wave of her hand she was gone.

Brooke took the truck and started driving from memory to Nathan's apartment and after getting lost a few times she finally found it. She pulled into the parking lot and checked to make sure his car was there before walking over and waiting for someone else to walk in so that she wouldn't have to buzz up to his room. Getting to his room wasn't hard, but getting him to answer the door was another story. After knocking consistently for about two minutes he finally opened the door.

"I would really appreciate it if you would stop doing that." He said as he pulled the door open, revealing his messy, disheveled appearance.

"Yeah, well I would appreciate it if you would treat my best friend right, but we don't always get what we want." She said and looked him over. "Are you drunk?"

"No," He sighed, resting his head against the door "but I am hung over and your voice is extremely loud right now. So if you are going to lecture me could you use your inside voice?" He asked and opened the door further, granting her access to his apartment.

"Not that you deserve it, but I suppose I could do that." She said and walked over to sit on one of the stools by his counter. "I'm not here to lecture you either. I'm here to get some answers."

"To what questions?"

"Well, what made your feelings for her go away? I told Haley this before but I don't really believe you. You know why? Because you still look at her the same way you did on that last day of summer. So, unless you are really good at pretending to love someone, you still feel the exact same way."

"Look, I just need some space. I still care for Haley, I always will, we just don't belong together."

"Bullshit." Brooke said.

"What?"

"I call bullshit." She repeated. "If there was ever a couple more suited for each other I would be surprised. And you still 'care' for her, really? Because your appearance today suggests that you have more than just care for her in that heart and head of yours. You still love her, no doubt in my mind."

Nathan just glanced up at her and looked away.

"Look, I know how you feel, you know how you feel, but most importantly due to your stupidity Haley doesn't know how you feel. She thinks that you don't feel, as the case may be. So that brings me to my second question. What brought on said stupidity?"

"Brooke, I think that it is wonderful that you are looking out for Haley. Best friends should stick together, especially when guys turn into asses. So, that's what you should be doing right now. Go be with Haley."

"Nathan, whatever you are scared about isn't worth it." Brooke explained. "You and Haley can get through anything. So, grow up, be a man, and make things right before it's too late." She said and headed out the door.

Nathan sighed and picked up a pillow from the floor and launched it across the room. He pulled his cell phone out and once again dialed the number he'd been trying to reach for the last couple days.

"Hello, you've reached Lucas Scott. I'm a little busy right now but I'll get back to you soon." Nathan heard and waited for the beep.

"Luke," He paused "you don't want to talk to me. I get it, but at some point you are going to have to pick up the phone. I went to see him, but I don't really want to tell you what happened over your voicemail."

Flashback

Nathan walked into the restaurant looking for the man he never thought he would see again. They'd agreed to meet here at this time, but Nathan knew Dan well enough to know that he would be early and waiting for him. Some things never change, and Nathan was proved right when he saw Dan sitting in the back corner. He slowly walked over and wished that Lucas had agreed to come with him.

"Dan." He greeted roughly as he sat down across from him and nodded.

"Nathan," Dan smiled "it's nice to see you son. You've grown up well."

Nathan nodded in response. "Yeah, don't have you to thank for that."

"I guess I deserved that." Dan looked down. "I hope you don't mind, but I already ordered for you. I hope you still like macaroni and cheese. I remember that you used to love it." Dan smiled.

"Yeah, that's fine." Nathan shrugged. "Are you going to tell me what this is about?"

"We'll get to that." Dan said and took a sip of his water. "For now I want to know how your life is. Are you happy?"Dan looked around. "Where's Lucas? Is he running late?"

"He's not coming, Dan. And guess what, I'm not a little kid anymore. You can't just make small talk with me and ask me about my life when you chose not to be a part of it." Nathan said and looked away.

Nathan returned from his thoughts and remembered that he was still leaving a voicemail.

"Anyway, we need to talk. There's a lot going on right now, and there's some stuff that you really need to know about. So, just call me back when you can because shutting me out isn't going to make him go away." Nathan ended the call and leaned back in his seat, rubbing his hands over his face.

Haley felt herself getting lost in her head with each bound she took. Every time her foot hit the concrete she thought about Nathan. He was invading her thoughts and that was the last thing she wanted. She stopped running and placed her hands on her knees, leaning forward and catching her breath. When she finally looked up she noticed that she was outside the local drug store.

In an effort to distract herself from her life she decided to go look at all of the random stuff inside. Each aisle had something different, but nothing was really grabbing her attention until she reached the aisle containing the hair dye. After thinking about it for a minute she decided that if one thing in her life was going to change regardless of her thoughts on it she was going to be in control of the next change she experienced.

She looked through all the colors until she finally decided that she, the naturally brunette Haley, was going to become a blonde. She grabbed the box with the exact shade that she wanted and took a picture on her phone and sent it to Brooke with a "this is going to happen" caption.

When she was about to put her phone away she noticed an unread message from Lucas responding with an ok when she asked how he was doing. Being impulsive, she decided to call him. So she paid for her hair dye and dialed the number as she was leaving the store.

The phone rang twice and then, when she was about to give up he answered. "Hey Hales." He said hesitantly. "Is Nathan having you call me for him now?" He asked, slightly joking.

"Hi. Um, no." Haley said and she knew that she wasn't doing a very good job of hiding the emotions that laced her voice.

"Haley, are you ok? What's wrong?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't mean to be interrupting your Thanksgiving with Peyton's family, but I just saw your message and I called you. I don't really know why I called you. I mean you are his brother so you probably are supportive of him and think that he made a good decision. But, then again you asked what was wrong which means that you don't really know what happened." Haley rambled.

"Woah, Haley, slow down there. What are you talking about?"

"It's over Luke. He doesn't love me anymore." Haley said quietly, blinking back the tears.

"What? You're kidding?"

Haley shook her head. "Nope, it happened yesterday. So, yeah, today's a good day to be thankful." She tried to laugh.

"Well, he must have gotten all the stupid genes in the family because he really messed up by letting you go."

"Thanks Luke. I just can't figure out why he did it. He said that he doesn't feel the same way about me anymore, but he's been acting weird for a while now and I can't help but feel like he met someone else. Do you know anything about what's been going on with him?"

"No, we haven't talked in a while actually. I've been busy and our schedules are opposite." He explained but Haley could sense some hesitation in his voice. "Listen Hales, I am here if you need me or if you just want to vent about my idiot brother but could you text me if you need me today. I am getting some weird looks from Peyton's dad and I need to go."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I'll just talk to you later." Haley said and hung up the phone. She put it back in her pocket and continued walking back toward the house as she wiped at the tear-tracks on her face.

"Haley," She heard Brooke's voice calling her and looked over to see her driving alongside the sidewalk. "Come on, get in the car. Let's get you back home." Brooke said and waited for Haley to get in the car before driving the car again, rubbing a comforting hand across her friend's back the whole way there.

"Fair enough." Dan said with a slight smile. "You always were very to the point. I guess some things never change."

Nathan just looked at him, waiting for him to get to why he got back in contact after all these years.

"Look, before I tell you what needs to be said, there are a few things that you should know." Dan and Nathan both shifted awkwardly. "I want you to know that even though I wasn't there for you I was still checking up on you every once in a while. I was there for countless basketball games in the background. I watched you and your brother graduate from the outside looking in, and the night that you made your commitment to UNC I recorded the announcement and kept every article I could find. I did the same thing for Lucas."

"Why are you telling me all of this Dan?" Nathan asked.

"Because, in light of recent news, I realized how you boys must think of me and I don't want that. I made a few mistakes and those mistakes have defined me for the longest time, but I decided that those mistakes had nothing to do with you or your brother. There is no excuse for me leaving, but I don't want you boys to be ashamed to have me as your father."

"That's the thing, Dan, we aren't ashamed to have you as our father because you aren't our father." Nathan said. "Biologically, yes, I supposed that is what you are, but we don't recognize you that way. We didn't need you growing up. What makes you think we need you know?"

"Hello," Nathan pulled his phone out from under his pillow and answered it without looking to see who was calling.

"What is wrong with you?" Lucas asked. "One meeting with Dan and you screw up the life of the one person you love the most? Like father like son, huh Nate?"

"Are you serious right now? Shut up, you don't know what the hell you are even talking about." Nathan responded.

"I know that Haley called me about 10 minutes ago crying her eyes out and she told me that you dumped her. I also know that you met with Dan. So do you want to tell me the whole story or should I just believe that you are an ass and leave it at that?"

"Well maybe if you had gone with me to meet with Dan you would understand what I am dealing with right now."

"I told you that I don't want to see him, and that isn't going to change. But guess what Mr. Avoider, we aren't talking about him right now. We are talking about Haley, the girl who's heart you broke for no reason what-so-ever."

"Lucas, stop it." Nathan warned. "There are so many people who have yelled at me already, I don't need you to do it to. Can't I have at least one person in my corner?"

"Look, Nate, you know that I will always have your back even when you are being an idiot, but I can't help you out if I don't know what is going on. Help me help you."

"Luke, it's not that simple. I can't tell you about that without talking to you about Dan, and you won't let me tell you about what happened with him."

"Ok, fine. I'll make you a deal." Luke offered. "I will listen to your Dan story if you promise to tell me the full story of why you broke up with Haley."

"Deal." Nathan agreed.

"Ok, so you don't need me per se, but you need to know this information for your own good." Dan explained.

"If this information is so important why haven't you told me yet?" Nathan asked, annoyed with the fact that Dan kept building up to his big news and then changing the subject.

"I have a genetic heart problem." Dan said and waited for a reaction from Nathan. "It is called HCM and it messes with the rate at which my heart pumps blood. If it goes untreated it can be fatal. There is a 50/50 chance of passing it on. That is why I wanted to meet with you and your brother. You both deserve to know what you are at risk for. I just hope that you both were lucky enough to avoid it."

"Wow," Nathan said. "How did you find this out? This isn't one of those diseases that are checked for very often."

"I had a heart attack a few months back and they discovered that this was the reason behind it. I knew that as soon as I was healthy enough I had to let you know so that you could get tested. This is the last thing that I would ever want for you boys."

"So you go our whole lives not giving us anything, but the one thing you might have given us could very well kill us? Way to go Dan."

"Nathan, I understand that you are upset, but if you would just find a way to get your brother to see me I would appreciate it. He needs to know this too. Or you could tell him. Either way, make sure that you two know what you are up against." Dan said and pulled his wallet out, placing more than enough money on the table for the food they ordered. He stood up and looked down at his youngest son. "Thank you for meeting with me son. I hope that you have better luck than I do."

"Are you serious? He's dying?" Lucas asked. "Are you sure he wasn't lying just to get close to us again? I wouldn't doubt it."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. So I looked around, made a few calls, and sure enough he was telling the truth." Nathan paused. "We need to know Luke."

"Nate, I don't know about this. I mean what if one of us, or even both, find out that we have this thing? Do you know what that means? We would be done with basketball. I mean that's it, playing one day and then the next it's just gone."

"I realize that, but what is more important your life, or the game? I love it too Luke, but there are some things that are just more important."

"Like Haley?"

"Yeah." Nathan sighed.

"Ok, so explain why you had to break up with her because that just isn't clicking with me."

"Look, I just put myself in her shoes. What if she were the one who had this and then one day something happens to her? I couldn't handle that, so why should I make her?"

"Ok, but if she were the one in the situation wouldn't you want to be with her every step of the way?"

"Well, yeah, obviously."

"Ok, so why can't she be there for you? Besides, you don't even know if you have it. Don't you think that you may be overreacting just a little bit?"

"No." Nathan answered. "I'm just preparing and not getting my hopes up. Besides, I overheard this guy asking her out when she was on the phone with me one day."

"When was this?"

"Right when I was about to tell her about talking to Dan."

"But you didn't?"

"No, I hung up." Nathan muttered.

"You hung up on your girlfriend when another guy was asking her out? Yeah that makes perfect sense to me." Lucas said sarcastically.

"Whatever, I realized that she had this whole other life and that I didn't need to burden her anymore."

"Wow, you really are a martyr, aren't you? You'll be ok if everyone else is happy, right?"

"Well if she's happy than I'm happy for her. If she's with me, she won't be happy."

"Ok, here's what I think, you are letting Dan get to you. Not directly, but in a way that causes you so much stress that you feel the need to cut everyone out of your life and be alone. I've seen it before, and I'm not going to let it happen again. So get off your hung-over ass, yes I know that you're hung-over because I know you little brother, and go tell the girl that you love that you are an idiot and beg her to take you back." Lucas advised.

"Sorry Luke, that isn't going to happen. I made appointments for us tomorrow in Boston to get checked out. I'm leaving now and I'll be staying at your house meet me there tomorrow morning." Nathan said and hung up the phone.

"You ready for this Hales?" Brooke asked. After picking her up they drove back to the house and Haley wanted to dye her hair right away. So they went upstairs and Brooke bleached and dyed her hair. Brooke had finished dying it and styling it, now she had Haley faced away from the mirror so that she couldn't see it yet.

"I'm ready." Haley said calmly. She hadn't looked in a mirror once since the process started but she didn't really care what it looked like, as long as she didn't look like the same Haley.

"Alright, but I'm going to warn you, you look a lot different. You probably won't recognize yourself at first."

"Even better." Haley said and turned around. Her hair had changed from the dark, natural brunette color that she had always had into this soft blonde that looked as if it could in fact be her natural hair color. "Brooke, it looks great. Thank you."

"Of course. I've got your back Hales, anything that you need, I am here for you." Brooke responded and hugged her from behind. "Now, what do you say we go show those family members of yours what the new, gorgeous Haley looks like?" Haley smiled, nodded, and stood up walking arm in arm with Brooke out of the room.

Let me know what you think! Please :)