A/N Is everyone satisfied with the story so far? I'm kind of shooting in the dark during these college years. They are 100 imagination. I feel like they aren't as good as the rest of the story. Please let me know what you think. I'm new at this so you know I'm nervous. I Want the story to be good. I really do.

Chapter 26 Feel My Pain

It had been four weeks since the accident. Nathan, Haley and Deb were back in Tree Hill as well as the rest of the group. Brooke was glad to be reunited with Cooper. She had decided that she was still going to transfer to UNCW the following year. Haley was really depressed that Brooke would not be with her at Duke the next year. She had been helping her deal since the first day they step foot on the campus. Peyton was a very good friend but she wasn't Brooke. Lucas and Peyton were checking on some wedding plans. They were getting married next summer. They wanted to get things booked this year so they could have their choice of dates. They left the beach house a few hours ago. Nathan and Cooper went over to Deb's to move some furniture for her and took Jamie with them. The rest of the group was on the beach leaving Brooke and Haley inside.

"Tutor Girl, what are you doing?" Brooke asked as Haley came to sit in the living room floor with a bottle of Smirnoff.

"What does it look like Tigger? I am getting drunk." She poured herself a shot and threw it back, choking as the fiery liquid worked its way down her throat.

"Ok Haley what is happening. What's going on with you?"

"Does something have to be going on for me to drink?"

"I don't know Tutor Mom you tell me. You've never done this before."

"Brooke, I just have a lot on my mind, ok?"

"No Hales. It's not ok. This is so out of character for you. Tell me what's going on."

"I guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself that's all."

"Sorry for yourself? Why?"

Haley poured another shot and dumped it down her throat, sputtering the entire time it traveled. She might not be used to this but she would get that way before the night was over. "I don't know. I mean Nathan's been hot and cold lately. He's upset about the guys that died in the accident of course, but it seems to be so much more than that. He barely talks to me anymore and when he does it's as though I were only a casual friend. I miss the way we were before all of this."

"Haley, Nathan loves you. You have to know that."

"I do. He's just acting really weird. And the worst part is I have to face next year without you to talk to."

"Tutor Girl you know you can always call me. We've been through so much Haley. You are surely my best friend. I love you girl. You can call me anytime you need to talk. I just will be on the phone instead of in the same room with you."

"I love you too Tigger. I really do. I just don't know what to do. I feel like I've failed Nathan somehow? I don't even know what's causing this. I just know I've had about all I can handle." Haley poured another shot and Brooke grabbed the bottle.

"Ah I think you need to back off of this a little Haley"

"No Brooke. I need an escape. Give it back"

"Do you know what Nathan Scott will do to me when he comes back here and finds you drunk off your ass?"

"Please Brooke he won't even notice."

"Yeah right. Well if I have to deal with that I'm getting drunk too. I can handle him better when I'm drunk. Besides, Coop would love some drunken action tonight I'm sure. It's been a while."

"Ok Brookie Monster you're on" Haley went to the kitchen and grabbed another shot glass. She and Brooke sat at the coffee table in the living room and poured shot after shot.

By the time Lucas and Peyton made it back Brooke and Haley were wasted. "What in the hell are you guys doing?" Lucas asked the girls.

"What des it look we are doing Luukus" Brooke asked.

"Haley I know you are not drunk."

"I so nnnnnooooo I is I mean am" she giggled.

"Hales, what's going on?"

"Nuffing."

"Hales, it's me, Luke, you know your best friend, the person that knows you better than anyone."

"Nuffin I said. I'm peficky fine"

"Yeah you're perfectly drunk Haley"

"Thuck you Lucas"

"What?"

"She said Thuck you Lucas" Brooke repeated.

"I know you are responsible for this Brooke" Lucas scolded.

"She his not"

"Go to hell Lucas. Haley wanted to drink because of your ass of a brother."

"Hales, what's wrong? What has Nathan done?"

"Nuffin I don't ish to talk bout it"

"Well that's just too damn bad Haley. I've known you for like ever and you've only been drunk one other time that I know of. By the way that too was my ass of a brother's fault."

"Back off him Luukus." Haley warned. "This nun of your bidness"

Haley was so drunk she could barely hold her head up. Lucas pulled Peyton to the side.

"We need to get a hold of Nathan. This is not right. Something is up."

"Ya think? Lucas, stay out of it. Haley is a big girl. Let her handle it. It's going to be bad enough when Nathan gets here."

"Haley come on, let's put you in bed."

"No!" She grabbed the bottle and shot out the door to the beach.

"Good going dumbass" Brooke screamed. She followed Haley stumbling out the door behind her. "Haley wait"

Haley stumbled down the stairs of the dock and feel to her knees when she reached the sand. Standing back up she stumbled on. Brooke followed her friend to make sure she was ok. After making it a few hundred yards down the beach Haley stopped and sat down. Brooke staggered up to her and flopped down beside her.

"Tuter Mom. You have is in so much shhhhhittt"

"You shuda stayed Tiger, I mean Tigger" she hiccupped. Haley had the vodka bottle by the neck. She turned it up to her mouth and took a long gulp. "I jus want it to stop"

"Want what to stop Hales?"

"Pain"

"Haley I'm sorry. Nafan doesn't mean to hurt you. You nnnoooo he luvvvvvvvvvvves you."

"Does he? He's not have time annneeeeee more for me"

"It well get bettor"

"Not sure now" She drank from the liquor bottle again.

"Haley" Lucas called.

"DAMAGE!" Haley screamed. "No Jamie not here. DAMNIT"

"Hales, please come back to the beach house. Nathan is going to beat my ass."

"Good! Leave me lone" She got up and started down the beach again. Lucas and Brooke followed her until Brooke turned on Lucas.

"Can't you see you're jest making it worse" she asked.

"Brooke if you let anything happen to her you're not only going to answer to Nathan Scott. You'll answer to me too"

"OOOO I scared"

"You should be. When Nathan gets his hands on you, you'll wish you had been scared before she started drinking."

"She don't need a babysittor Luukus. She needs her loving attentive husband back. OOPS" Brooke started back down the beach after Haley. She knew she had said too much. Lucas started back to the beach house.

After several minutes Haley looked behind her and stopped. She sat down hard right in that spot and began to cry. When Brooke reached her she pulled Haley's head to her shoulder and let her cry it all out.

"Peyton where's Haley at?" Nathan said as he came back downstairs after not finding his wife.

"I really don't think you want to know Scott"

"What?"

Lucas came in the French doors from the deck. "What in the hell have you done to Haley?"

"What? I haven't even been here. What do you mean what have I done to her?"

"Your wife and Brooke are staggering down the beach both of them are drunk as hell. Brooke let it slip that Haley needed her loving attentive husband back. Now what in the fuck have you done?"

"Lucas I don't know what you're talking about. I honestly thought things were good between me and Hales."

"Well obviously that thought should have split your damn head open Nathan" Peyton replied.

Nathan sat down hard on the couch. He had no idea what had happened since he left. Cooper finally came in the beach house. "Where's Brooke."

"Ask King Asshole" Peyton told him pointing to Nathan.

"What did you do nephew? I told you that I won't tolerate you being a shit to my girlfriend. You said you were ok with us being together."

"I am Coop. I came in and apparently your girlfriend has gotten my wife drunk and strung her ass down the beach. And she's got everybody believing that I don't' love Haley."

"What?"

"I'm going to find them" Nathan said.

"Oh hell no, you're not Nathan" Lucas said grabbing his shirt to stop him. "I'll go get both of them in a little while. Before Haley gets back here you need to do two things. First calm the hell down. Second you better be figuring on how to fix this shit and fast. You know as well as I do Haley James does not drink"

"Haley James SCOTT! Lucas. Haley James Scott! Don't ever call her Haley James again."

"This damn shitty day just got worse if that's possible" Peyton muttered under her breath.

After Cooper, Lucas, Peyton and Nathan had finally finished their shouting match they went outside on the deck. Nathan moved to the sand and looked both ways down the beach. He didn't see any signs of Haley or Brooke. He walked over to the sand dune beside the steps and sat down. He thought back over the last several days trying to figure out what had Haley so upset. As he replayed everything he realized his mistake. He hadn't had any time for his wife since the guys were killed. He had been stuck in Coach K's office every available minute. He was getting home late and leaving early most days trying to finish out the semester. Haley and Nathan had passed each other on their way in and out. When he finally came in each night she was asleep and she was usually gone by the time he got up. Damn it, how had he let this happen? He had gotten so consumed with Basketball he had neglected his wife and son. That was never his intention. He had sent the message that basketball was more important. That was just not the case. He got up and brushed the sand off of his shorts. He started walking, hoping that he would soon find his wife. He needed to tell her how much he loved her. As he thought back to right before he left to go to his moms with Cooper, he realized he hadn't even kissed her goodbye. Come to think of it he hadn't even kissed her at all today. "Shit! I am an idiot" Nathan fussed at his self.

After walking for nearly thirty minutes he finally found them. Brooke had her arm around Haley and he could hear Haley crying as he walked up to them. Brooke looked at him and was instantly furious. "Oh hell no. Get the hell away from her Scott. I'll kick you so hard you won't find your balls until you're eighty."

"Brooke stop. Hales, baby c'mere..."

Haley just continued to cry shaking her head. Nathan reached for her to pull her to him and before he could get his hand on her arm, Brooke had slapped him hard against the cheek.

"Let me tell you something Mr. Bigshot. You don't even deserve to walk on the same sand as this woman. She has given you everything Nathan, her heart, her soul, her body and a beautiful son. You have the fucking audacity to ignore her for your precious basketball? You need your ask kicked and I am certainly going to give it to you"

"Brooke.."

"Don't you Brooke me. I thought after the accident that you had finally woke up. I see now that I was wrong. I know you love Haley. I just wonder if you realize that you put things before her."

"Brooke I made a mistake. I swear it was not intentional. Hales, baby I love you" That only caused Haley to cry harder and piss Brooke off more.

"Nathan, get your ass back to the beach house. You will not fix this tonight. I will take care of her."

"Brooke you can barely take care of yourself."

"I can do as good a job as you've been doing lately. I got the damn Vodka away from her."

"Haley was drinking Vodka?"

"No Nathan she was main lining Vodka, straight from the bottle. She's already been sick twice. Her feelings are hurt and her heart is broke. Get the hell out of here before I start kicking your sorry ass myself."

Brooke's words hit hard with Nathan. He got up and crammed his hands in his pockets and turned toward the beach house. When he finally reached his family vacation home, he went to the deck and sat in one of the chairs. Haley and Jamie were the most precious things he had in his life. He had gotten so wrapped up in plans to help the coach for next season they had taken a back seat on his list of priorities and that made him madder than hell with his self because he had handled something just like Dan would. That within itself made him want to kick his own ass but the fact that he had done it to Haley, was something that he could never allow to happen again. He realized along time ago that Haley was the most important thing in his life. Now they had Jamie and his family as a whole was more important than anything but he hadn't shown it in weeks. That had to be fixed and fix it he would.

After several hours he woke up when he heard someone coming up on the dock. Brooke was helping Haley up the steps. They no longer had the bottle of liquor with them. Cooper had called Brooke's cell phone and she told him to go on to bed. Haley needed her tonight. She would see him in the morning. As the girls made their way up the dock, Brooke saw the silhouette of the man sitting in the chair watching them and stopped. Haley looked up and groaned. "Brooke I can't do this now"

"It's ok Hales; he's not going to bother you unless he wants me to jump his ass. I've already lost my buzz and I'm still so pissed with him I could claw his eyes out."

"Brooke, please" Haley begged. "Please don't start anything with him. Let's just go inside and lay down."

"Ok Tutor Mom but only for you"

Brooke helped Haley up to the doors of the beach house before Nathan said anything.

The girls barely heard him whisper. "Hales"

Brooke ignored it and moved Haley into the house. When they reached the couch, Brooke sat Haley down. "Brooke, should I talk to him?"

"Hell no! Let him stew in it until the morning."

"Brooke he's hurting."

"So not your problem Haley"

"It is Brooke he's my husband"

"You are too goodhearted for your own good. Do you know that?"

"Brooke, I can't leave him out there"

"Suit yourself Haley James Scott. I'm going to crawl in bed with that fine hunk of man that I get to sleep with every night"

Brooke looked back at her friend when she reached the bottom step and Haley had made it to the double doors. As she looked out at her husband, fresh tears stung her eyes. Haley opened the door and walked outside. Instead of walking over to Nathan she moved to the railing at the end of the deck. Placing her hands on it to brace herself, she gazed out at the beautiful moonlit water. Nathan walked up behind her and gently smoothed her hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist praying that she wouldn't try to get away from his touch. When she made no effort to move away he placed his forehead against the back of her head. "Hales, I'm so sorry. Baby, I didn't realize what I had been doing until tonight. I never meant to hurt you." He felt her tremble. "Please don't cry Haley. I can't stand it. I hate it when you cry. I promise you this basketball shit stops now. I'm not saying that I won't play, because I've already committed, but I promise you it will never take over my life again, Haley. You are my world, I know I haven't shown you that lately but I swear things will go back to the way they were. I've been too busy trying to keep my mind off of Steve and Braxton. I was trying to keep busy and trying to honor them at the same time. I screwed up. I won't let that happen again."

Haley nodded her head and began to sob. Nathan turned her around in his arms and pulled her to him, holding her tightly and rocking her gently while she cried, trying to keep the tears out of his own eyes. 'What did I do?' was all Nathan could think.

After several minutes Nathan picked her up and carried her upstairs to their room. He knew she was spent. She had been drinking and if that wasn't bad enough she was emotionally exhausted and it was all his fault.

When they reached their room, he laid Haley down on their bed. He crawled in beside her and pulled her into his arms. She rested her head on his chest and he held her against him. Haley soon fell asleep but Nathan laid there until the wee hours of the morning mentally kicking his own ass for not putting his family first.

When Haley woke up the next morning and the sunlight hit her eyes, she openly groaned. Her head felt like it was going to split into. As she started to get up, Nathan woke up and asked "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom" Haley managed.

"Are you ok?"

"No"

Nathan gave a slight smile. He knew Haley probably had one hell of a hangover. After she came back to their room, she suddenly gasped and ran back to the bathroom. Nathan knew then that she was sick. He went in the bathroom to help her. Holding her hair back he realized that she had the dry heaves. He felt so sorry for her. This was not the fun part of drinking and Haley hadn't tried it before. When she finally made a move to get up, Nathan closed the toilet lid and helped her sit down. He reached into the cabinet under the sink and got out a washcloth. While he was wetting the wash cloth Haley rested her arms on the vanity and placed her aching head on top of them. She heard the water cut off and lifted her head. Nathan placed the wet cloth against her forehead and Haley slightly smiled. "Come on Hales, let's get you back to bed, baby. He held the cloth to her head and guided her back to their bed. After he felt comfortable that she was ok, he went down stairs and looked in the refrigerator. He grabbed three bottles of water and a straw and hurried back upstairs to Haley. He opened one bottle of water and drank a few swallows. Then he opened another and placed the straw in it. He reached behind Haley's head and helped her up so she could drink. "You need to drink as much water as you can today Hales. It will keep you from feeling so awful." She nodded.

Haley had been asleep for a couple of hours. Nathan really wanted to get her to drink some more water. It was now ten o'clock. He knew his fan club would be in here any minute. Around ten thirty they proved him right by knocking on the door.

"Go away" he called.

"Oh hell no you didn't Scott" Brooke yelled.

Haley moaned and began to sit up. Nathan told her not to move too fast.

"Nathan I'm coming in there" Brooke said as she opened the door. "You son of a bitch, what did you do to her?"

"Ah Brooke this is what you did to her when you allowed her to drink knowing she was upset. You can blame me for the tears she cried but you will not blame me for the hangover."

"Oh hell yes I will! If you hadn't fucked up in the first place, she wouldn't have wanted to drink"

Nathan couldn't argue with that logic so he remained quite. Brooke knew he realized that she was right so she arrogantly shook her head.

"You better not ever treat her this way again. DO you hear me?"

"Brooke?" Haley asked. "Doesn't your head hurt?"

"No. But let me guess this ass of a husband of yours hasn't given you anything to help yours has he?"

"Brooke it's right here. She was still nauseated before she fell asleep. I was worried it would make her sick. Hales doesn't take a lot of meds because they react on her and make her sick. See, only her husband would know that."

"Ok guys please." Haley said as she sat up quickly then winced as her head pounded.

"Brooke Nathan and I worked everything out last night. We're ok"

"Just like that?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah just like that. He realized what I was upset about. Told me he was wrong and apologized. There's no need to keep arguing about it. We have to put it behind us together. I need to be more understand and he needs to be more attentive. It's ok Brooke. Nathan didn't even realize what was happening until last night"

"He should have known, Haley"

"Yes I should have Brooke."

"He was grieving too Brooke. He lost two of his friends in that accident"

"Yeah and he could have lost you too. Have you thought of that Scott?"

"Of course I have Brooke. I screwed up. What more do you want me to say other than I'm sorry and I won't let it happen again"

"I guess there is nothing else you can say. Ok, if Haley forgives you I guess I can too. But Nathan, it really hurts me that this happened. Of all of the people in your life, I never thought that you would take Haley for granted again."

"I know Brooke. I shouldn't have done that. I never meant to do that. I love Haley, more than anything."

"Well you better start working at showing her that you damn idiot"

"Ok I deserved that"

"You're damned straight you did"