A/N: Hey! I'm glad you guys are liking the story so far! Also, to the guest reviewer, this will be a story where I pair Brooke with Julian, since I'm more of a Brulian person, but in one of my future stories I may put Brooke and Lucas together along with Peyton and Jake. :)

This chapter is slightly shorter than the last few, but the length will pick up again soon. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

…

"You look tired," Lydia pointed out while placing her phone in her purse swiftly.

"I'm fine...I just slept late last night," Haley lied while trying to ignore the growing nausea that was pooling in her stomach.

"Haley Bob, you sure you're going to be ok?"

"Yes, Mom. It's one night."

"Ok. Well, we are staying at the Wests' house tonight once we deal with the people renting our old house in Oak Lake. Call if you need anything."

"Ok, Mom."

"Bye. Be good."

"I will. Bye."

Haley heard a very angry honk coming from the car, which was probably Jimmy signaling for Lydia to hurry the hell up. Judging by the intensity of the honk, she figured her parents got into another fight. What else was new?

Immediately after her parents left, Haley gave in to the rising sensation in her throat and rushed over to the toilet to empty her stomach contents.

After being awoken in the middle of the night, Haley had been excessively throwing up, along with having a low-grade fever and some chills. She figured she probably had the stomach flu. Not that she would let her parents know that though. Telling her parents about her being sick would just make them not go to Oak Lake for the night, and that's the last thing she wanted. They were already fighting, and she didn't want to spend the whole time distressed with their torture. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself...except for the part where she was so exhausted, she could barely get up.

Despite how awful she was feeling right now, being sick wasn't the worst part. It's the fact that she couldn't go to school that bothered her the most. Not only did Haley never miss school, but she would also miss seeing him today. The homecoming dance was only the day before yesterday, but it felt like forever since she'd seen Nathan.

She often found herself replaying the moments she shared with Nathan from Saturday constantly, hoping that one day, she could dance with him that intimately again. It scared her to realize her feelings for Nathan were indeed real, but they also made her feel so alive. She no longer felt like she was just letting life pass by.

What felt equally as good as that night though, was the fact that Nathan had called her after the dance. They had talked for hours about the most random, and simple things, but nothing had ever felt so good. For two people who don't sleep easily, sleep came effortlessly to the two insomniac souls that night.

Reminiscing those moments intensified the intense ache to see Nathan that already existed within her.

Haley made her way over to the sofa to lay down since it was futile carrying her exhausted body upstairs. She remembered she had a shift at the cafe today, so she texted Lucas to let Karen know that she would be making the shift up another day.

Once she scrolled down to Nathan's contact on her phone, a smile mechanically appeared on her face. Just as she was typing her message to him, her phone died. Great. Unfortunately for her, all the charges were upstairs. Haley inwardly cursed her body for being so tired.

Nathan was never a morning person. In fact, he despised them. In spite of that, he consistently got up extra early on school days because he knew we would see her.

Like every morning, the anticipation simmered through his body as he made his way down to the tutor-center. The anticipation just seemed to strengthen after the rather intimate dance he and Haley shared on Saturday. Well, it felt intimate for him. He wasn't sure if Haley's feelings were identical to his. He pushed those thoughts aside though, knowing that dwelling on them for any longer would just ruin his mood.

As he walked into the tutor-center, Nathan's eagerness instantly shattered when he discovered it was empty. What the hell? Nathan knew that Haley never missed school. He pulled out his phone from his pocket to check if she called or texted him. Nothing.

As the first half of the school day progressed, Nathan became increasingly worried as to why Haley didn't come to school. His rational and logical side told him that nothing was wrong. However, his emotions prevailed over his logical side. He just couldn't help but worry about Haley. Even during chemistry, Nathan asked Jake if he knew the reason for her absence. Once again, nothing.

Now, walking over to the lunch table, he was praying that at least one person in the group would have an answer to where Haley was. Hell, it didn't even matter if he couldn't see her right now. He just wanted to know that she was alright.

"Hey, have any of you guys seen Haley?" Nathan asked in a slightly anxious tone.

"Oh yeah. She said she was throwing up, a lot. She texted me in the morning, so I could tell my mom that she wouldn't be coming to the cafe today," Lucas responded while taking a bite of his sandwich. "It must be pretty bad though since we know Haley hates missing school."

"Aww, poor Tutor-Girl. I'm gonna check up on her later," Brooke sympathized.

A part of Nathan felt unsettled, knowing that Haley had texted Lucas but not him. Especially after Saturday, he thought he and Haley were close with one another. For a few moments, the doubts in his mind magnified, leaving him with the realization that his feelings for Haley were in fact one-sided. Right now, however, he couldn't focus on those thoughts. What mattered now was making sure Haley was alright, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

After spending the day so far alternating between the sofa and the bathroom floor, Haley's body felt weaker than ever. Somewhat lucky for her, the bathroom was near the living room, so she didn't have to walk a long distance.

Laying down uncomfortably on the sofa, she had just finished her favorite episode of Gilmore Girls, which was the one where Luke and Lorelai finally kissed after four seasons of them having feelings for one another. She couldn't help, but swoon over them. Just watching them together made her got thoughts of Nathan swirling through her mind, which caused the butterflies to return in her stomach.

As Haley heard the doorbell ring, she reluctantly got out of the couch. Upon standing, she had to take a few seconds to steady her balance as she felt a surge of lightheadedness rip through her.

While opening the door, her heart rate accelerated - not because she was sick, but because of the figure standing right in front of her. "Nathan?"

"Hey...Luke told me you weren't feeling well, so I wanted to check up on you." Nathan couldn't help but make a note of Haley's appearance. While she still appeared beautiful, she looked visibly sick.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not Hales. Your face looks pale and you look like your gonna faint any second. Are your parents home?"

"No, they went to Oak Lake for the night to deal with something there."

"Wait so they just left you here while you're sick?" Nathan really had thought that Haley's parents were sweet and nurturing. Why would they just leave her alone like this?

"I didn't tell them I was sick."

"Why not?"

"Because...it doesn't matter. I just didn't want to interfere with their plans."

Nathan really wished that Haley would let someone else in, instead of dealing with everything by herself. He had been the same way until he started letting Haley in. It was the smartest move he had ever made. "Hales, I doubt you being sick would have interfered with their plans. Anyway, I'm here now and I come bearing chicken noodle soup with extra noodles from Karen's Cafe."

"You remembered?" Haley recollected the memory when she and Nathan had one of their tutoring sessions at the cafe. She ordered chicken noodle soup with extra noodles that day due to the slight cold she had. That moment felt so insignificant that she was sure Nathan wouldn't have remembered that. Again, she found herself being surprised.

"Yup." I remember more than you know.

"That's sweet, but I'm kind of nauseous now."

"No worries. I'll just put it in the fridge."

Haley gestured for Nathan to come inside. Normally, she would feel uneasy about letting people into her house, but her parents weren't here now, so she felt more tranquil.

As Nathan, the soup of the fridge, he saw Haley plop herself down on the sofa. Based on the way the sofa was structured, he was sure she would suffer some neck pain laying down like that. "Hales, you seriously can't be comfortable like that."

"Well...I'm fine. I'm just tired, so I can't really go upstairs."

"Do you want me to carry you?"

Carry me? The offer was too nice to refuse, especially if meant being in close proximity to Nathan like she was on Saturday night. "Uh...sure."

Nathan swooped Haley from the couch and carried her bridal style up the stairs while pressing her body against his. It hadn't even been two full days, but Nathan missed the feeling of having Haley this close to him. He didn't want to let her go.

"It's that room over there," Haley pointed to her bedroom across the hall on the top floor.

Nathan made it to the doorway of Haley's room and saw that her door was closed. Still carrying Haley, he used one arm to open the door.

"Please don't drop me," Haley joked in her weakened state as they made their way into her room.

"Drop you? If I wanted to, I could shoot you across this room like a three-pointer," Nathan joked back as he laid Haley down in her bed. He then took the blanket that was laying at the edge of her bed and wrapped it around her to subdue the chills she must've been experiencing.

Haley wished that Nathan didn't put her down. It felt much nicer being in his arms rather than the sheets in her bed. The warmth radiating off Nathan was so strong that she felt the chills caused by her fever dissipate during the brief moments he was carrying her.

"Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed as she suddenly remembered something.

Nathan panicked as heard the intensity of her voice. "What? Are you ok?"

"Yeah. It's just that you have basketball practice...God, I can't believe I forgot. I'm sorry Nathan. I would've never asked you to stay if I remembered. You should go." Even though I really don't want you to go.

"Don't be ridiculous, Haley. You couldn't even come upstairs by yourself."

"Nathan, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can, but your parents aren't even home and you're not feeling well, so I'm staying."

"Nathan…"

"No. I'm staying. Whitey will understand. It's just one practice," Nathan firmly said.

"You're a stubborn ass," Haley joked.

"I know," Nathan smirked.

Haley's lighthearted tone shifted to more sincere. "Thank you, though."

"Of course, Hales." Since this was his first time being in Haley's room, Nathan took a few seconds to let his eyes roam around the room. Everything was perfectly organized and had the familiar vanilla scent. Everything in this room was so Haley. In the corner, he saw a guitar."You play?"

"Huh?"

"The guitar?"

"Oh...yeah. The piano and the guitar. I just really like to sing. Not that I let anyone hear me though," Haley chuckled.

"Well, you should sing for me sometime. Obviously when you're feeling better though."

"Yeah, you're funny."

"Why not?"

"Because you're gonna hate it."

"I promise you I won't."

"Well, we'll see."

"When did you get into singing?"

"I guess it's always been a hobby of mine for the past few years. Someone I knew in Oak Lake actually got me that guitar and then I started playing it. Oh, wait I think you know him...I saw you talking to him at the dance." Despite how much Haley loathed Damien, she remembered how touched she was when he got her a guitar for her birthday. It was because of that gesture, that she realized how much she enjoyed music.

"Damien?" Damien got Haley a whole ass guitar? The night of the dance, he was hoping that Damien was making up the fact that Haley and he had a history together. Now, he felt those thoughts slowly getting confirmed. Just thinking about it caused him to remember the images of Damien and Haley together that was nice. Jealousy was running through his veins once again. He needed more answers. "So you and Damien-"

"Trash can," Haley interrupted with her face appearing drained of color.

"What?"

"I need a trash can or something. I'm gonna throw up," Haley uneasily said, trying to hold in the vomit that was threatening to escape.

Nathan saw the trash can next to her desk and instantly brought it up to her head as she violently threw up it. Nathan hated seeing Haley suffer like his. He felt so helpless.

As he saw a lock of her hair coming dangerously close with the vomit, he decided to hold her hair back. He noticed a small scar on the side of her neck while doing so.

Haley definitely wasn't expecting Nathan to comfort her while she was throwing up. She thought for sure that he'd bolt since the sight was pretty disgusting. Nevertheless, she felt comforted by the fact he stayed. She wanted so badly to believe that his actions were because he felt something for her, but she didn't allow her mind to go there. Mostly because she knew it wasn't the case.

"You ok, now?" Nathan softly asked. As much as he hated it, he decided to let the matter of Damien go for now. He didn't want to interrogate Haley, especially when she wasn't feeling well.

"Yeah, I'm good. I think throwing up actually helped me feel a little less nauseous."

"You feeling up to eat?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Ok. I'll heat your soup up and bring it up."

"Thank you, Nathan." God, why is he so sweet.

As the soup was heating up in the microwave, Nathan started pacing around nearby. He came across photos of Haley and her family. He figured the unidentifiable figures in some of the pictures were Haley's many siblings.

Looking closely at them, he couldn't help but notice the contrast between Haley as a little girl versus now. The change in her went beyond a little girl growing up and facing the natural hardships of life. The Haley in the present pictures looked like she was carrying a weight around with her. He would give anything to see the happiness that channeled through the little girl in the picture back to the Haley right now.

The loud ringing noise of his phone caused him to deviate away from his thoughts. "Hey, Luke, what's up?"

"Man, where are you?"

"Uhh...Haley's house."

"What about practice?"

"She's sick, man. I can't just leave her like this. She's barely gotten up."

"Damn that sucks."

"So is Whitey mad?"

"He was pretty mad, but I'll explain it to him."

"Thanks, Luke, you're a good brother."

"I know," Lucas joked, "Anyway...how are things going with Haley?"

"Well I mean she's really sick. She's got a fever, and bad chills-"

"I meant between you and Haley."

"There isn't a me and Haley."

"C'mon, Nate. You admitted that you liked her on Saturday and now your skipping practice - which you never skip by the way - to be there with her right now."

Nathan sighed and proceeded to whisper, so Haley couldn't hear him. "I'm not denying how I feel man...It's just I don't think Haley feels the same way about me. I maybe thought she did, but that hope is going away now."

"Well, there's no way you can possibly know that unless you tell her about your feelings."

"Yeah like that's going to happen."

"Nathan…"

"I just...just can't do it right now Luke. Things feel good between us now, and I don't want to let the idea she doesn't like me back ruin that. I don't think I can handle that."

"She's gotta know sometimes though…"

Nathan didn't want to talk about this conversation anymore. "Anyway, just let Whitey know that I'm not going to be here today and that I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Ok, bye. Give Haley my best."

Haley was still amazed by the fact that Nathan had done so much for her today. It was more than a lot of people have ever done for her. Each day, she saw Nathan's walls breaking down, just like hers were when she was around him.

As she laid in bed, she heard her phone, which she earlier put into charging, ring. She reached over to her nightstand and picked it up.

"Tutor-Girl! How are you? Lucas told me you're sick."

"Hey, Brooke. Yeah, I've been throwing up since this morning. I'll be better soon though."

"Do you want me to come over?"

"No it's fine...uh...actually Nathan came over."

"Boy-Toy is there with you right now?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you say he doesn't like you…"

"He doesn't Brooke. There is no way he does."

"For someone who is so smart, you're just acting dumb. Haley, he skipped practice to be with you. Nathan takes basketball so so seriously."

"There's just no way…"

"Yes, there is Haley. Why are you so against the fact that Nathan may like you in the way you like him? Isn't that what you want?"

"Because it's gonna hurt too much when I find out he doesn't like me, ok? I'll admit there are moments when I feel like he may feel what I'm feeling, but then I remember who he is and stuff. I'm not his type, Brooke. I don't want to believe it because I know I'm just going to end up getting hurt." As Haley was finishing her sentence, she heard footsteps coming closer. "I gotta go, Brooke. I'll call you later. Thanks for checking in."

As Haley ended the phone call, Nathan came into her room with the chicken noodle soup.

"Hey, sorry if I microwaved it for too long. Oh, and Lucas told me to tell you to feel better. Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah. I'm not as nauseous anymore, and I think my fever is coming down."

"That's great, Hales."

For the next few hours, Nathan and Haley carried out their usual conversations, both thinking that the hours that flew by felt like only a few minutes. Over the time elapsed, Haley started out laying down on her bed, while Nathan took a seat at the opposite corner of the best. Now, Nathan was laying down right next to her as they both stared at the ceiling, simply enjoying each other's company with the closeness of their bodies emitting a scorching heat that replaced the bitter, coldness brought on by the October night.

"It's nine o'clock already?" Haley asked, surprised as she checked her phone.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Nathan replied with a voice that mirrored Haley's. It bewildered him how talking to someone for hours made him feel so at ease.

"Nathan, you really should go." Of course, Haley didn't want Nathan to go. It's the last thing she wanted, but he'd already done so much by being there for her today. Every action he'd done seemed sincere and filled with something she couldn't pinpoint just yet.

Does she really not want me here? Does she really not like my presence? "But Hales you sick and your parents are out of town."

"But your dad is going to be mad at you Nathan. First, you skip practice and now you're not going home because of me. I...I just don't want to make matters worse between you and you're a dad."

"I can handle my dad. I promise Haley. You need to let people be there for you sometimes. I mean I've seen you act like you're all okay, but it's ok to let people in sometimes. In fact, it makes things so much better when you do." I only know that because I let you in. "Also, do you mind if I use your bathroom real quick?"

"No, go ahead."

As Nathan left, Haley laid down on the bed and thought about Nathan's words. She knew Nathan was right. She wanted badly to let him in. It felt right talking to him.

Haley was brought out of her thoughts by two harsh voices dominating for control from downstairs. It couldn't be. Her parents were in Oak Lake. However, she knew those voices too well. Just a few seconds later, there was a loud sound that roared through the house. Haley figured it was glass shattering, which indicated that her dad was most likely drinking.

Strangely, she didn't feel her normal anxiousness coming to light. Instead, Nathan's presence in this house calmed her in a way never like before. For the first time, she didn't feel alone.

If it was anyone else with her right now, she would be panicking because she didn't want to let anyone else in. She didn't want to talk about her life with anyone. She didn't want anyone to be at her house when her parents were fighting. With anyone else, she wasn't ready to let her walls come down. But this wasn't anyone - it was Nathan.

Right now, she felt no barriers that were blocking the words from coming out. There was nothing holding her back. All she wanted to do was drown herself looking at Nathan's blue eyes and let some of the weight that's been burdening her go.

"Hales? What is that?" Nathan asked. He heard muffled sounds in the bathroom, but it wasn't until after he came out that he heard the loud noises of glass shattering. The sound of glass shattering reminded him of the times where Dan lost his temper, but these sounds were even louder. Suddenly, a protective urge came over him as he remembered no one else besides the two of them were in this house. "I'm going to check it out.."

"No, Nathan you can't."

Nathan was taken back by Haley's unusually calm tone, given the circumstances. Why wasn't she freaking out about this? "Hales, someone could be intruding."

"No one is intruding, Nathan."

"What are you talking about?"

More loud voices echoed through the house.

Haley took a deep breath. "It's my parents."

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. There will be a lot of stuff with Haley, in terms of her thoughts and her past, next chapter (and of course Nathan will be there).

Please review and thank you to all those who did! This is my first Naley AU story, so I'm nervous about it, but I'm glad to see you guys are liking it. It really means a lot to me that you guys are reading it:)