Haley stared at the messages displayed on her cell phone as she walked down Main Street . Chris had texted her several times asking her to meet him at the studio. After the kiss and her talk with Anna, Haley had made up her mind. Chris, although not a bad guy, clearly had other intentions. Intentions not professional and ones she wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Sure she had considered him a friend but obviously he saw something more. He had crossed a dangerous line and had done so on purpose. All of Nathan and their other friends' warnings had been right and Haley knew what she had to do. This time she was doing it for herself. Opening the door and walking upstairs to the small rented studio, Haley found him waiting for her as he strummed tunes on his precious guitar.

"Hey", he said, looking up. "I was beginning to think you weren't gonna show. Anyway, I wrote this new song. I've had the music for a while but the lyrics just came to me this morning. I've been working on it all day and it'll be perfect for you. I…"

"Chris, we need to talk", she cut him off.

He could tell that she was nervous.

"Alright. What's up?"

"I can't work with you anymore."

"Are we on that again?" he smirked. "What now? Nathan tripping again?"

"No, it's not Nathan this time. It's me."

"Haley…"

"No. Please. Chris, let me finish. Look, I think you're a nice guy and I consider you a friend, okay? You have no idea how much you've helped me these past months. You've taught me so much about music and you've believed in me and I appreciate that more than you'll ever know. I know you're gonna go places with your music and I'm so proud of you and you have to know that I'm pulling for you but…we can't work together anymore. And that's coming from me, not Nathan. It's my decision."

"So you're just gonna give up on your dreams?"

"No. I'll never do that. You have inspired me way too much. Give up? Never. Postpone? Maybe. Who knows? I love to write and sing and music is such a part of me. Chris, it will always be my dream and I'll always work on it. Maybe, hopefully a big break will come for me one day. I pray to God that it does and I'll work my butt off for it. And if by chance it happens, it will be the right time and it will because I deserved it. And if never happens…then I'm okay with that, too. Because no matter what, the music will still be in me and at the end of the day when everything is said and done, I'll still have my friends and my family and the things that are most important to me. I'll have my husband who I love more than anything and knock on wood, I'll have medicine too because right now, being a doctor is real damned important to me."

"Is this what you want or is it what everyone else wants?"

"It's what I want, Chris."

He put the guitar down and stared at the floor. He could tell she was serious this time.

"Alright, whatever. Look, Haley if all this is about that kiss the other night…"

"If you're asking the fact that you hit on me like that is weighing in on my choice then the answer is yes. I won't lie to you."

"I said I was sorry."

"I'm sure you are but…God, it never should have happened. You shouldn't have done it and I shouldn't have kissed back but it's done and over with now so the best we can do is drop it and move on."

"It's okay…"

"Okay? No Chris. It wasn't okay. Trust me. It was anything but okay. You might be my friend and you may have been my musical partner but Nathan is my husband."

"So you made a mistake", he shrugged. "Are you gonna let that keep you from the rest of your life, Haley?"

"Wait a minute, I did not make a mistake. I love Nathan and how dare you say that to me!"

"It's real sad, you know. You're just fooling yourself. You think this is what you want. I bet every morning you wake up and try to convince yourself that you're happy. You wake up and spend all day slaving in a café only to come home to an empty house that you can't even afford while your husband spends long hours away at the office doing God knows what with God knows who. Then when he finally comes home, you get the pleasure of cooking him dinner and then you go to bed and it's time for…"

"Hold it right there", she warned. "Chris, just stop it!"

"You go to bed and your Old Man makes love to you and when he rolls off, I bet you sit and wonder what it's like to be with someone else. But you'll never know that because you're scared and you play it safe and Nathan was the one that took your virginity. But I bet you wonder what it's like to be touched by another man. Huh?"

"Chris…"

"Do you ever think about me?"

"No. No, of course not. I…"

"Bullshit."

"You're unbelievable", Haley said, shaking her head. "I don't get you. I thought you were my friend. When everyone else said you were just a piece of garbage trying to get in my pants, I defended you. I put you before my friends, before my own marriage even. The whole time I thought you just wanted to help me. Well once again, the smart girl is really stupid, huh? The whole time everyone was right. You were just trying to get me in bed."

"I'm not gonna lie, Haley. You're a beautiful girl. I like you a lot. You're sweet and intelligent and you make me laugh. I like talking to you and it feels good being around you. And when you sing…man, it just…I don't know, it touches me. We've spent a lot of time together, how could I not be attracted to someone like you?"

"Chris, I'm married!"

"I think about you. I keep thinking about our kiss. I keep thinking that I want to kiss you again", he breathed as he moved in closer.

"Stop it!" Haley yelled as she pushed him hard.

"You are so pretty", he whispered as he stroked her cheek. God, I want you. I want to take you back to my apartment and lie you down on my bed. Then I want to undress you and touch and taste every inch of your body…"

"That's it", Haley said disgusted. "I'm out of here. Have a nice life, jerk."

She nearly lost her footing when he grabbed her arm forcefully.

"You're not going anywhere", he growled.

"Chris! Ow! Let go! You're hurting me."

But he didn't let go and Haley was getting scared.

"Chris…"

"Shut up and don't say another word."

"Chris, what are you doing?"

He grabbed her wrists and backed her into the wall. None of it made sense and the sadistic look in his eyes made her nauseous with fear. Haley struggled to break free but the more she resisted, the more agitated he became. Placing one hand against her throat, he used the other to hit her on the side of the head. She cried out but continued to fight him. He hit her again and again, the third blow was so hard it made her ears ring. When he defenses were down, he grabbed her and turned her so that she was facing the away from him towards the wall. Her heart sand as she heard him seemingly fumbling with his pants and zipper.

"Chris…"

"It's okay, Haley", he said.

He grabbed a nearby chair and bent her over it, after loosening her belt in one quick motion. When his hands pulled down the zipper to her jeans so hard that it broke, the reality of the moment sat.

"No!" she screamed.

"It's okay, Haley", he kept saying.

Pushing her panties down her thighs, she gagged when she felt his fingers roughly pushing inside her. She tried to move, to run, anything to get away from him but it was no use. Then she felt him slam himself into her and not even a scream would come out. It was surreal. It was like watching a movie of the horrific act happen to someone else. The physical pain was unreal and Haley whimpered and begged for him to stop but it was no use. He kept going, harder and faster, moaning and groaning as each thrust hurt her more. Then she felt his body tense and there was warmth and a wetness that dripped down her legs. Then…it was over.

Struggling to regain a normal breathing pattern, Chris pulled his pants up.

"Haley…"

"Get away from me", she whispered.

"Haley, baby, I'm sorry, okay? If it was a little rough or I got carried away it's because you turn me on so much. I've wanted that for so long and I know you have, too."

Mr. Hyde had turned back into Dr. Jekyll and it blew away Haley's psyche that he could act like nothing had just happened.

"Haley…"

She dared not breathe a word.

"Look, I know this must be confusing for you but you can't tell me that you didn't want that."

Tears streamed down her face as shaking hands tried to old her pants together.

"No, I didn't want that!" she yelled. "Chris, you just raped me! I didn't want any of that!"

"I didn't rape you. You came here to me. We've kissed before. What are you talking about, rape? I'll leave you alone and give you some time or whatever but it's okay. Don't feel guilty about Nathan."

Nathan. The very mention of his name made her want to wail.

"You want a ride home?" he asked, walking closer to her.

Haley backed into a corner where she cowered, still trembling.

"Leave me alone. Oh God, please get away from me."

"Fine", he shrugged as he walked to the door. He turned and gave her one last look before exiting. "It was always there between us, Haley…whether you admit it or not."