A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter 4. I really hope you guys like it:)

Chapter 4

…

Nathan was lucky. At least that was what the doctors had told him. He only suffered from dehydration; it could've been much worse.

How the hell did he end up here? Just a few hours ago, he was in the gym in Tree Hill High School. He was playing against Cove City and was playing pretty fucking good, although some of it might've been due to the drugs he had taken. Third-quarter is when it changed though. His head started spinning uncontrollably. Whatever, it's probably nothing, he kept telling himself. Soon enough, the corners of the room started to dim. Before he could process what was happening, his body gave up on him. In the brief moments, before he made contact with the wooden floor, he searched through the crowd to find the face of a loving, concerned father, but he never saw him. There was nothing loving or concerning about Dan Scott.

It's been hours since Nathan had left the hospital. He didn't get discharged. He just left. He couldn't deal with everything. As he heard angry steps coming closer, he knew the hell he was in for. He braced himself for him.

As Dan made his way into his bedroom, Nathan studied his father's facial expression. Pissed wasn't even close to the right word. He knew he wouldn't make it out of this without some type of physical remembrance.

"Nathan, what the hell was that?!" Dan took the plate that was on Nathan's desk and smashed it against the wall.

Nathan didn't even flinch."I'm tired, Dad." Rather than the usual anger, Nathan would express, his voice sounded drained. Drained of every emotion there was.

"You know how hard I need to work to make sure the scouts don't find out about this! You could ruin everything."

"I...I'm sorry. I just wanted to make you proud." That's what he had been trying to do all his life. That's why he took the drugs tonight, despite how stupid it was.

"Proud?" Dan laughed dryly. "When have you ever made me proud? You're just as worthless as the mother who left you. Get up!"

"Dad, I'm tired."

"I fucking told you to get up Nathan."

It took everything in Nathan to get up from his bed. He attempted to prepare himself for what was coming, but that didn't help. Dan's harsh blow met with one of Nathan's previous bruises, causing the pain to magnify. More than anything, Nathan wanted to take his fist and fight back, but he knew the attempt would be futile. His body was already so weak after tonight. If anything, hitting back would just cause Dan to deliver more forceful blows to his already broken body.

Nathan didn't even bother begging Dan to stop. He knew from past experience that it just gave him satisfaction. That was something he would never give his father. So no matter how hard it was, Nathan acted unaffected.

After a few more blows, Dan finally backed away. "That's for screwing up tonight. Tomorrow we're going on a run. I want you up by six o'clock."

Once Dan left the room, Nathan looked over at his abdomen. The pain hurt like a bitch, but he would never admit that. For some relief, he grabbed an ice pack from the mini-fridge in his room. He had been using them a lot lately ever since his mom had left him two months ago.

After icing his injury for a good thirty minutes, Nathan placed the ice pack back in the mini-fridge and got ready to go to sleep, hoping to escape the horrors of this day. Just before he closed the fridge door, the soft lighting that emitted from the fridge illuminated the eyes of a figure standing a few feet away from him. He could never forget those eyes. "Haley?"

"I'm sorry, Nathan."

"What are you talking about? What are you doing here? How are you here?"

"I came to see you, Nathan. What happened?" Haley made his way over to Nathan's bed and took a seat right next to him.

"I...I messed up so bad tonight Hales. I wanted to make him proud, but I just messed up. I messed up like I always do."

"You don't need to make him proud, Nathan. You made so many other people proud. You made me proud."

After all these months, Nathan felt himself reliving that night - that emotionally and physically painful night. Everything that happened that night replayed in his dreams exactly the same. That is, until tonight. What was Haley doing in his dream? What was she doing in this dream? Hell, Haley was in Oak Lake when that incident occurred. That wasn't important, however. The biggest question was: Why was she able to soothe his pain in the dream, just like she did last night?

Unlike all the other times, he didn't wake up with a layer of sweat covering every inch of his body. His heart rate wasn't accelerating. His breathing wasn't rapid. The pain Dan Scott inflicted on him that night didn't haunt him. Instead, a strange warmth crept through his body as he remembered the last moments of his dream with Haley sitting beside him.

Even in his dreams, he couldn't escape Haley James. No matter how much he tried, his thoughts somehow ended up back to Haley, especially after last night. He never understood how a person's mere presence could have a calming effect on a person. He woke up today feeling less of the weight that's been holding him down. He felt ready to start the day.

Nathan had actually done his homework for Chemistry today. As a matter of fact, he had done his homework for every period he had today. Normally mid-way through the lesson, Nathan's thoughts would drift off to Dan and basketball. Today, they drifted off to Haley. Focus on the equation in front of you Nathan, not Haley. Of course, that didn't work. Equations reminded him of studying, and studying reminded him of how Haley loved to study.

He was brought back to reality when the irritating redhead beside him started opening her mouth. She was talking to the girl on the other side of her, Theresa.

Theresa, like Rachel, was no good. They were best friends. Before Rachel started hitting on Nathan, Theresa did. Nathan even hooked up with Theresa once in ninth grade. Looking at her now, he couldn't understand how he could ever do that. That girl was just so damn annoying.

"I know right. I can't believe she was at the party. Did you see what she was wearing? It was so ugly, just like her," Rachel snickered.

Nathan picked up on the words Rachel was saying and was curious to see who Rachel was talking about.

"What was her name again?" Theresa asked.

"Haley James. She's new here. I don't know why everyone seems to like her so much." Rachel in particular had it out for Haley.

At the mention of Haley's name, Nathan felt a part of himself involuntarily get angry. How the hell could they talk about her like that? "Shut up, Rachel."

Rachel turned away from Theresa and faced Nathan, clearly confused. "What?"

"Stop talking about Haley like that. You don't even know her."

"Like you do?" Rachel scoffed.

"I do know her, so lay off." Nathan didn't know why he had the strong urge to defend Haley, but he knew he couldn't let Rachel talk about Haley in such a degrading way.

During lunch, Nathan and Haley didn't talk to each other as much as they did with the rest of the group. They knew they couldn't just jump from having a deep conversation to casual conversation without talking about it alone first. That didn't stop them from exchanging glances periodically. Those glances didn't go unnoticed by a certain brunette sitting at the table who was definitely going to bring it up later.

After lunch, Nathan and Haley were finally alone as they walked to their Anatomy class.

Breaking the tension, Nathan decided to speak up. "I'm sorry, Haley."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"I shouldn't have dumped all that on your last night. I just...I don't really know why, but I did."

"Nathan, I'm not mad. I'm grateful actually."

"You are?"

"Yeah. It made me understand you better. I meant what I said last night Nathan, you can't let your guilt add to your pain. You're going through a lot as it is. I'm here for you whenever you need."

Looking at Haley, Nathan could see that she actually meant it. Normally when people told him that, Nathan would shrug it off, but he knew he could depend on Haley. "Thank you, Hales."

"Hales?" Hales. She wasn't aware of it, but her heart started beating slightly faster. She didn't know why she liked it so much. Maybe it was just the nickname itself she liked so much. Anyone could call her "Hales" and she probably would like it. Yeah, that's it, Haley tried to convince herself.

Nathan didn't realize what he just said. He remembered how he naturally called Haley, "Hales," in his dream and it seemed to fit so perfectly. "It just came out. I can call you Haley if you want."

"I like Hales."

"Ok. Hales, it is then."

They made their way over to the classroom and took their seats next to each other. Nathan pulled out a thick stack of paper and placed it on his desk.

Haley looked over at his desk and saw the stack of papers. Needless to say, she was shocked. After the party last night, she was so sure Nathan forgot about the project. "You...you did your half of the project?"

"Of course I did. I told you I was going to."

"I know, it's just…"

"You thought I wasn't going to do it. It's ok to think that Hales. I haven't given you many reasons to show I'm dependable yet. Anyway, where's your half of the project? I know Mr. Lewy scares you, so I'll turn it in for you."

Haley felt her heart race once more when she heard Nathan called her by her nickname. It just felt so good hearing it. Haley grabbed half of the project from her backpack and handed it over to Nathan. "Thank you."

After school, Nathan was sitting at one of the cafe tables in the corner with Lily, Keith, and Karen's daughter. He wasn't able to spend time with Lily a lot due to his busy schedule, but he was glad for the times he did get to.

Lily was coloring a page from her Disney princess coloring book, while Nathan watched her. He didn't know much about Disney princesses, but the one she currently was coloring had blonde hair. Haley has blonde hair. Dammit Nathan, stop thinking about her. He finally was able to snap out of his thoughts when he felt the table thud as Karen placed a plate of french fries down.

"You look pretty Mommy," Lily said as she glanced up from her coloring book. Karen looked all dressed up.

"Thanks, honey. And thank you again Nathan for looking after her tonight. Keith planned a late-minute date for us."

"It's no problem, Karen. I like spending time with her."

"We'll pick her up at about nine. Bye, Nathan. Bye Lils."

"Bye Mommy," Lily enthusiastically said as she went back to coloring.

"So Lils, what do you want to do tonight?" Nathan wasn't the best with children, but he at least put an effort with Lily.

"Can we watch a Barbie movie? Ooo and make some cookies! Please Nattey." Lily loved calling Nathan "Nattey."

Nathan Scott did not mix well with Barbie or baking. That was a recipe for disaster. However, he couldn't deny the five-year-old sitting in front of him. "Sure. My Dad's in Charlotte, so we can go to my house."

"Ok. Your Daddy scares me."

"Yeah, me too," Nathan muttered to himself while picking up a french fry.

Even though she could drive, Haley preferred to walk around Tree Hill. It was beautiful seeing all the different locations. Each day she spent here, she felt herself missing Oak Lake less. It's not like she significantly missed Oak Lake in the first place. It never felt like home to her, despite the number of years she lived there. As she got closer to her destination, her phone began to ring. Haley smiled to see who it was. She knew this person would have big news.

"Hey, Brooke."

"Tutor Girl! Guess what! Actually, I just want to tell you. Actually, never mind, guess!"

"Uhhh something about Julian?"

"He asked me out, Haley! I mean we were just talking during the club meeting after school today, and he asked me out on a date tonight!"

"Brooke, that's amazing! You're excited, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. I'm just nervous."

Brooke Davis was nervous? "Brooke, why are you nervous? You're like the most confident person I know, and you're totally into Julian."

"Yeah, but I've never been on an actual date before. I just hooked up with guys. What if I do or say something wrong."

"Just do what you've been doing. Julian likes you, Brooke. As long as you keep being you, everything is going to go okay."

"Tutor-girl is such a perfect nickname for you. Anyway, what are you up to?"

"I'm on my way to the cafe to ask Karen for a job."

Principal Turner was more than happy to give Haley a job as a tutor after they had their meeting yesterday. He was highly impressed with her, and the tutoring center was low on tutors anyway. Now, Haley was hoping she could waitress in Karen's Cafe for some more extra cash.

"Good for you. Well, I'll leave you to it."

"Let me know how the date goes!"

"You know I will. Ok, I gotta go. I only have two hours to get ready."

Haley put her phone back in her pocket and opened the cafe doors. She went up to the register where she saw Karen searching for something under the cash register. She had grown closer to Karen in the past two weeks. She would come to the cafe with Lucas occasionally and hang out. There was something so comforting about Karen. As hard as it was for Haley to admit, it's been a while since she received that type of comfort from her own mother.

"Haley, it's good to see you!" Karen greeted as she got up from under the cash register.

Haley noticed Karen's fancy attire and figured she was heading somewhere. "Sorry, I was going to ask you something, but you look like you're going out. I can come by another time."

"No, no it's ok. I got a little time before I left. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Uh, I was actually wondering if I could work here? I don't really know what the requirements are, but I really wanted to get a job."

Over the past two weeks, Karen had come to know Haley as a bright, hardworking student with immense dedication. "Tell you what. Can you do a two-hour shift on Monday? If everything goes well, then I can give you the job."

"Sounds perfect. Thanks, Karen!"

From the corner of the cafe, Nathan was gazing at Haley as she talked to Karen. He kept telling himself to look away, but his eyes were so fixated on her.

"Do you like her?" As Lily looked up from her coloring book, she saw Nathan looking over at a girl with blonde hair. She saw that girl with Lucas sometimes but didn't get to meet her yet.

"What? Why do you think that?" A bit of nervousness seeped its way into Nathan's voice.

"You're staring at her," Lilly giggled. Her cousin was never the type to have a crush on a girl.

"No, I wasn't." Nathan attempted to defend himself, but he couldn't deny that he was staring at Haley.

"Yes, you were. Daddy stares at Mommy too. Daddy likes Mommy, so you like that girl."

"Lily…" Nathan's words trailed off as Haley made her way over to them, and she looked beautiful.

"Hey. I saw you here, so I thought I would just stop by." Haley's voice sounded calm, but internally she felt unnerved. She saw Nathan sitting with a little girl at a table and something compelled her to walk up to him.

"Hey, Hales. This is Lily."

Ever since Nathan started calling her Hales, she couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth that would channel through her. It's just a nickname Haley, stop it. "It's great to finally meet you, Lily."

"Hi, Haley. You're pretty."

"Aww thank you."

Nathan already thought Haley looked amazing, but Lily's words got him looking at Haley all over again. Not wanting her to catch him staring, he decided to shift the topic of the conversation. "Anyway, what are you doing today?"

"Nothing much. I was going to get a book from Lucas, but he had to help Peyton since her car broke down. I'm probably just going to go home and watch Gilmore girls or something."

"You were going to get a book from Luke? Man, you guys are such nerds."

"Be quiet. The Great Gatsby is a very good book if you must know." Haley was glad she was able to joke around with Nathan. It was weird how they were able to go from joking around to suddenly having an intimate conversation. She never had that with anyone before.

Lily sat there amused by them. Her five-year-old brain was already seeing a happy ending for these two. Knowing that Nathan wasn't going to make a move anytime soon, Lily thought she should play the role of matchmaker. Tonight was a perfect opportunity to fulfill the five-year-old's dreams of having Nathan and Haley together. "Nattey? Can Haley come with us because she doesn't have anything to do tonight?"

That question caught Nathan completely off guard. His body was fighting the urge, but he desperately wanted to be around Haley. Every minute he spent with her, he found himself feeling at ease. At the same time, he didn't want to make Haley uncomfortable. "Uh…"

Lily picked up on Nathan's hesitancy and used her five-year-old cuteness to give him a little push. "Please Nattey. She can watch Barbie and make cookies with us."

"It's up to Haley I guess."

Haley had to admit she was a little disappointed that Nathan wasn't eager to spend time with her as his answers seemed so uncertain. However, a part of her still longed to be near Nathan, and she didn't want to disappoint the little girl sitting in front of her with a pout on her face. "Sure."

"Yay! Let's go!"

While Nathan and Lily were picking out the movie, Haley took the time to glance around the house. Nathan's house was easily one of the biggest houses she'd ever seen. Near the staircase, she noticed photos with Nathan, Dan, and another woman, who she figured was Nathan's mother, Deb. As she stared at the pictures, she could easily differentiate between Nathan's emotions. In the pictures with Dan, Nathan had a forced smile, one that looked like it was hiding years of pain and torment. In the pictures with Deb, he seemed to be much happier. Looking at these pictures, Haley got reminded of her own house. There were pictures everywhere with her family, but none of them were genuinely happy moments. It seemed that both she and Nathan were living in houses that didn't feel like homes.

As she finished looking around, she went back to the living room and saw Nathan lifting Lily up so she could see the DVDs on the top shelf. Something about watching them warmed her heart. With every passing moment, Haley found herself being exposed to different sides of Nathan. Last night, she saw his vulnerability. This morning at school, she saw his dedication. Now, she was seeing his loving side. The more time she spent with him, the more she began to realize that this Nathan Scott was far from the person she'd met the first night she moved to Tree Hill.

It had now been about thirty minutes since the movie started. While Lily enjoyed every Barbie movie there was, she insisted on watching Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. The three were all sitting on the couch in the living room, with Lily in between Nathan and Haley.

Nathan was trying his best to avoid sneaking glances at Haley, but it became increasingly harder as her strong, vanilla scent kept invading his senses. It took everything inside of him to keep his eyes plastered to the movie screen. He decided to make fun of the movie in his head in hopes to gear his mind away from Haley, which definitely didn't work since his mind had the talent of tying everything back to her.

After a while, it became too silent for Lily's liking. This evening was supposed to bring Nathan and Haley together, not make them grow apart. "Nattey, you look like Aidan, and Haley looks like Annika. They both fall in love."

With those words, Nathan and Haley felt tense. There was a very awkward glance that passed between them.

Lily watched the pair's reactions and smiled knowing she got a reaction out of both of them. They still needed a bigger push, however. "Nattey, can you pause the movie? I'm going to get a snack. I'm hungry."

"Sure thing, Lils."

The five-year old left the room, hoping that the two teenagers would find something to talk about.

As Lily left, there was a large gap between Nathan and Haley on the couch, but neither of them moved.

"She seems like a great kid," Haley spoke in hopes of breaking the tension. Things were fine earlier in the day. They were joking around and talking to each other. Why did it get so awkward all of a sudden?

"Yeah, she is. I try to spend as much time with her as I can, but it's hard with basketball and everything."

"Doesn't practice start next week?" Haley could feel Nathan letting her in again. With that, the awkwardness around them started to vanish.

Nathan sighed. "Yeah. I bet it'll present my dad with more reasons to call me a failure." Why the fuck am I saying these things. Keep your thoughts to yourself, Nathan.

"But you work so hard. Lucas was telling me about how great of a basketball player you are. Doesn't your dad see that?"

This time, Nathan didn't fight his thoughts. "It's never enough from him. I could win a game, but he would focus on my faults during that game. He's never going to change. I guess I just accepted that."

"You know Nathan. You don't need to make him proud. He's not worth it. I mean I talked to Luke and he talks of you highly. I can tell he's so proud of you. And I see how you are with Lily. She looks up to you and seems proud to have you as family. You made so many other people in your life proud, Nathan, and all those people are more important to you than your Dad."

There it was again. The healing powers of Haley James. Once again, he felt his pain start to diminish as her words allowed warmth to travel through his body. He got a strange sense of deja-vu from her words. They somewhat mirrored the speech she had given him in his dream. The only difference was that in his dream, Haley had told him how proud of him she was. Now, he was longing to hear that. Maybe in the future, he will hear those words. For some reason, he needed to hear those words come from her. "You know you're really good at this."

"Good at what?"

"Comforting people."

"Eh, I don't know. I don't really know if what I'm saying are the right words."

"They are. Trust me."

The more time she spent with Nathan, the stronger the urge she had to tell him about everything in her life. She never imagined that she wanted to open up with anyone. She was planning on keeping everything buried. It seemed easier that way. Talking with Nathan, however, made her feel a strange sense of calmness. For a moment, she considered opening up to Nathan the way he had with her. She had a trust in him that she couldn't quite decipher yet - but she couldn't. Not yet. Instead, she swallowed the words that were so close to coming out.

Nathan could tell Haley was lost in thought and supposed it was due to whatever was bothering her. He wanted badly for her to open up to him. He didn't want her going through whatever she was alone, but that's something he observed about her. She always did everything alone. It seemed like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. As much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn't ask her though. As he told himself last night, he would wait for her to tell him. With that in mind, he wanted to give her space to get her thoughts in order. "I'm going to check on Lily. She's been taking a while in the kitchen."

As Nathan got up from the couch, he felt a jolt of electricity channel through his body as his hand brushed against Haley's arm. Both of them were completely unaware, but during their conversation, they closed the gap that was between them on the couch. Now, their bodies were barely touching each other.

Nathan made his way into the kitchen with his hand was still tingling from the contact he made with Haley. It doesn't mean anything, Nathan. You just touched her. No big deal. "Hey Lils, whatcha doing?"

"I was looking for the cookie dough recipe that Mommy has. She makes the best cookies."

"I thought you wanted to watch the movie?"

"I got bored. I want to make cookies now!" Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus could never bore Lily, but watching a movie didn't present Nathan and Haley with the opportunity to bond. By making cookies, they were more likely to be in contact with one another. Lily Roe Scott was one clever five-year-old.

"Ok. Let me get Haley."

Despite Nathan slowing down the process with his lack of baking skills, Haley and Lily were able to make progress on the cookie dough batter. Haley and Lily were getting along better than anyone would've thought. Normally, Lily didn't warm easily to strangers. However, Haley felt like a big sister to Lily.

"Nathan! What did you do?" Haley said while tasting the cookie dough. She grimaced at the strong salty taste.

"Huh?" Nathan asked innocently, even though he knew he probably messed it up.

"It's too salty."

"Yeah Nattey, it tastes gross," Lily added.

"I might've accidentally dumped a little more salt from the bag than I meant to…" Baking didn't bring back good memories for him. He remembered when he was little, he helped bake Christmas cookies with his mom one time. The whole thing ended with Dan getting mad and the batches of cookies were scattered across the kitchen floor as a result of Dan's temper. Even though he was messing up right now, it felt nice doing this with Haley and Lily. He felt himself creating new memories that overpowered the bad.

"Your cousin really has no talent for baking, Lils."

"Tell me about it," Lily said in a sassy voice.

Nathan chuckled as he saw Nathan and Lilly teaming up. Something about it made him happy.

"So, what should we do with the salty batter. It's not like we can make cookies out of it."

"I have an idea," Nathan smirked. He then took a scoop of the batter, wrapped his arms around Haley, and smacked the cookie dough across her soft skin. In that short amount of time, he felt a rush of warmth fill up every inch of his body. Instead of fighting it, he gave in. The strong scent of vanilla, Haley's smooth skin, and the immense warmth and comfort he got made him feel too good not to.

Haley felt a similar warmth as Nathan's strong arms were wrapped around her. She'd never felt more secure and content before. She just wanted to stay like this for a while and experience this foreign feeling for a while longer, but she knew she couldn't. Instead, she managed to free herself and threw some cookie dough on Nathan. "It's so on."

Haley and Lily teamed up against Nathan as they took the cookie dough and attacked Nathan with it, while Nathan attempted to fight back. Sadly for him, he didn't have much dough, so he kept getting cookie dough thrown at his face.

Throughout the whole time, Nathan thought of one thing: he didn't want this moment and this night to end. The pain that he'd constantly been enduring seemed so minuscule right now. It was times like this that he wished he got when he was a child. He wanted so badly to be surrounded by loving people and have simple moments like this. He might've not gotten these months back then, but he was getting it now with two different people - with two better people. For the first time in a long time, Nathan felt completely liberated.

Sometime in between, the doorbell rang, signifying the end of the cookie dough fight. All three of them were upset as their night was cut short.

"Hey, guys. Come on in," Nathan greeted as he let Keith and Karen into the house.

"Well, what happened to you guys?" Keith joked as he saw bits of cookie dough all over Nathan, Haley, and Lily.

"Uhhh we kind of were making cookies and the batter got messed up…"

"Because of Nattey!" Lily added.

"Anyway, we didn't want to waste it, so this is how it ended up."

Keith and Karen stayed in Nathan's house for a while. Normally, they would never come to visit here because of Dan. A half an hour later, Keith and Karen took Lily back with them. Lily couldn't stop gushing to them about how amazing Haley was. Before Lily left, she made Haley promise to spend more time with her.

Haley started speaking as Nathan started to close the front door, "So I think I should head back home too." She really didn't want to go. This night has felt amazing, but a part of her wanted to check on her parents. She needed to make sure they weren't fighting, and that her dad wasn't drinking. It's become a habit of hers over the years.

Nathan tried to mask his disappointment. He couldn't even deny it anymore. He liked being around Haley. Everything felt better when he was around her. "Ok, I'll take you home. Oh, and you probably need a new shirt or something."

"Oh umm…" She didn't know how she felt about wearing one of Nathan's shirts yet. "It's ok. I got most of the cookie dough off me."

"Ok. Let's go." Nathan had to admit he was looking forward to seeing Haley in one of his shirts.

"Oh wait! I need to help you clean up."

"Hales, it's ok. I can do it."

"Really? I feel bad."

"Don't. It's really ok. Plus, I never clean, so this will be good for me."

"Did you like spending time with Nathan and Haley Lils?" Karen asked Lily while they were in the car driving back home.

"Yes! Haley is so nice Mommy. She's like a big sister to me. Also, I think Nattey likes Haley."

"What makes you say that?" Keith asked. He was enjoying the idea of Nathan having a crush on someone. In the time Keith had known Nathan, not once did he genuinely have feelings for another girl.

"Well he keeps staring at her, and he never stares at a girl. And when I was in the kitchen, I saw them talking on the couch. Nattey never talks to people that much." Lily fiddled with her hair with the feeling of satisfaction as she felt like she brought Nathan and Haley closer tonight.

Karen became closer to Nathan over the past year. She knew Dan Scott for many years and could imagine how badly Nathan was suffering because of him. She really tried getting Nathan to talk about his feelings the past year, but it was useless. She felt a part of her relieved that he had someone now that he could depend on. She had been so worried about him lately.

"Wait, how do you almost drown in Sesame Place?"

Nathan and Haley arrived at Haley's house about fifteen minutes ago, but their conversation seemed to keep ongoing. They found that talking was their favorite thing to do with one another. If someone would've told Nathan Scott in ninth grade that just talking with a girl would make him happy, he would've never believed it.

"I was four ok. The lifeguard said I could go on the ride. I was expecting for there to be a floaty or something, but there wasn't. Anyway, I went down the slide, and then when I made it down to the water, I couldn't swim and kept choking on the water. After struggling for a few moments, a lifeguard got me up."

Even though it happened a long time ago, the thought of Haley drowning sent a sense of dread to wash over him. "Weren't your parents with you?"

"Oh no, they were fi…" Haley wanted to tell Nathan that her parents were fighting that day. After going on the ride, they had left Haley by herself as they got too caught up in their fight. She wanted to tell him, but she didn't. She didn't know how to. "They were nearby, but the lifeguard was just faster...anyway I should go. Thanks for the ride, Nathan. I had a fun time with you and Lily tonight."

Once again, Nathan saw Haley's facial expression change. He could tell she was so close to telling himself something but changed her mind. God, he just wanted her to let him in. "No problem, Hales. See you Monday?"

"See you Monday. Bye." With that, she shut the door of his car and walked over to her doorstep.

Nathan waited to make sure she went inside safely before driving away. As he saw her go inside her house, he felt an emptiness that was growing inside him.

"I had a great time tonight," Brooke said as she exited Julian's house.

Earlier in the night, Julian took Brooke to a restaurant just outside of Tree Hill. After, they got some dessert and went back to Julian's house to talk. They were taking things slow, but Brooke wouldn't want it any other way. If ninth grade Brooke would've gone on this date with Julian, she would most likely have complained about it. Things were different now. Brooke had changed, and this night was everything Brooke dreamed of.

"I did too. I'm sorry I was wrong about you Brooke. I just…"

"You thought I was the person everyone kept saying I am?"

Julian sheepishly nodded.

"It's ok Julian. I admit I used to be that girl, but I'm not proud of it. I'm really working on trying to change myself for the better."

"I can see that Brooke Davis because the girl I went out with tonight was nothing like the one people described. I'm sorry that you had to drive down here. My car had to be fixed and I couldn't even drive you around tonight. Now, I can't even drop you off."

"Hey, Julian. It's ok. I have an amazing time tonight."

"Was it your best date ever?"

"It was my first date ever, and it was pretty damn good."

After they said their goodbyes, Brooke started driving off. Julian lived in the same neighborhood as Haley. As she kept driving, she passed Haley's house but noticed a familiar car parked outside of Haley's house. The figure inside the car was watching as Haley shut the door to her house.

Brooke smirked knowing that a certain blonde and dark-haired boy was getting closer.

Thankfully Haley's parents weren't fighting. She didn't want their fighting to ruin the amazing night she had. In fact, she couldn't stop thinking about it. The night itself was so simple, but it was everything she felt herself longing for.

For one night, Haley didn't feel guarded. She didn't feel like she had to be on alert all the time. She didn't feel like she had to be responsible for those around her. For a few hours, she was able to just enjoy life without the constant worry.

In the kitchen, Nathan was cleaning up the bits of cookie dough that were all over the place. Normally, he would be pissed that he was cleaning. He hated to clean. However, looking around the kitchen, everything around him was a reminder of how great this night was.

His original plan to start out the weekend was to get drunk as hell since his dad wasn't going to be there. As he looked inside the fridge, he saw the multiple beers he had bought yesterday. For the first time, he didn't have the urge to drink them. He had no reason to numb the pain because the pain wasn't there tonight.

Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you guys liked it. Let me know how it's going:)