A/N: Hey! This is my first Laley fanfic, but definitely not my first fanfiction.. I won't make this message too long, and I know that this story may seem a bit "deep", but I'm addressing a serious topic that I don't think can be taken too lightly. It will becoming more fun as it goes along, since this chapter is a pure explaining chapter. I'm extremely nervous to what you guys think about this story, especially since I'm trying a different writing style. So, please, don't completely bash it! Hope you like it!



CHAPTER ONE:

Their arms were entwined as they silently walked back to her house. The moonlight shone onto both of their faces, bringing out the tears in the shorter figure's eyes. Her laughter followed, showing that those tears weren't brought by sorrow, like most of them had been recently. They were simply there because she was with him; the only person in her life who could really bring a smile to her face lately.

"Thanks Luke," Haley smiled softly, while hugging her best friend of many years. She lingered there for an extra second, breathing in his warmth and love.

"Anytime," he replied, while rubbing her back in return. As the two parted, he turned to face her, causing Haley's attention to be diverted towards him. "I really missed this Hales. We need more 'us' time." Haley nodded, enjoying the seriousness of their conversation, but feeling a bit uncomfortable at the same time. A sarcastic remark was in order.

Her mouth opened, brain working on overdrive to think of a comment, before an object in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She sighed as she saw the dark figure in her window move towards the entrance of the house.

"I gotta go," she mouthed, before giving him a friendly pat on the back. "Thanks again for tonight."

"What are best friends for..." Lucas glanced towards where Haley's eyes were facing, and noticed John walking onto the porch of her house. In some form of protection, he pulled her into a hug, not caring that this man was watching every movement they made. "Call me if he gets bad, alright?" Haley sighed and muttered a 'mhmmm' to his whispered advice, before releasing Lucas and walking towards her house.



Haley threw her large purse onto the sofa, before plumping herself down on it, in the same motion. She knew what was coming; there was no point to hide.

"Haley, what did we talk about the other night?" A voice came out, as it's owner walked into the family room where Haley was sitting. She rolled her eyes, as she predicted the way the rest of their conversation would be. Words they both didn't mean would be screamed, doors would be slammed and an uncomfortable silence would follow for a couple days to come, only to be repeated once again the next week.

"That's different. I was studying with Nathan that night. It was for school!" She repeated the same excuse she had yelled at him a few moons ago, but this time in a calmer manner. She rubbed her temples as she waited for his remark back, feeling a headache coming on.

"Is that what you kids call it now? Studying? Well Haley, I'm not as old as you think," he bellowed, standing over her to feel superior. "I know what you were really doing when you were over at Nick's house."

"Nathan, John. His name is Nathan," she spat, starting to feel her temper rising. "And me and him are over; we have been for months now. We broke it off when....." Her voice trailed off, and she looked down at her feet, trying to forget the moment.

"Well what were you doing tonight then?" He banged his foot down on the hardwood floor, changing the topic quickly and causing Haley to jump. She stood up from her spot, and moved away from him. She knew he'd never become violent with her, but at the moment, the more distance between the two, the safer she felt."Tell me Haley. What were you doing that was so important that you couldn't call home?"

Haley groaned once more in frustration. "I was with Lucas. At his house. With his mom there...So don't worry. No sexual intercourse was involved."

"Don't use that tone with me!" Her eyes grew larger, as he took a step closer to her.

"Well, don't try to lecture me like you're my father. You aren't and you never will be!" Her words seemed to hurt him at first, as his hazel-green eyes reflected images of rejection. However, as quickly as those feelings came, they vanished into thin air as the verbal fight continued.

"Right now, you live under my roof. I provide food for this family, and I've done nothing but be nice to you," he attacked in response, stressing his I's and my's. "You, on the other hand, have done nothing but disrespected me, my rules and yourself." His index finger pointed out, forcefully, nudging her in the arm.

"Well maybe if you stopped making so many frickin rules," she grumbled, her usual lower tone reaching a high squeak as each word rolled off her tongue.

"These rules are made to help you succeed in life," he tried to side with her. Haley shook her head and snorted, while turning on her heal to head up the stairs to her room. She refused to give in to his antics. He was just doing this to feel like the 'man' of the family; he didn't even know why he was yelling at her anymore. Actually, come to think of it, neither did she. Their fights seemed to have a hidden meaning, as each of their words got louder and louder.

"Haley James, I don't like that attitude. You should grateful that I'm here to set some ground rules. Before I arrived, your parents let you do whatever your precious heart wanted." He rolled his hands up into fists, trying to control his anger. With each argument, he found it was becoming more and more impossible to deal with her sudden attitude flares. "You weren't disciplined right from the start, and whether you allow me to play the role of your father-figure or not, I'm here. He's not. He's gone. Get used to it."

Haley froze in her spot on the fifth stair, inhaling deeply. "You did not just say that." John gave no response, and made no action to take back his harsh words. "Fine. I'm going upstairs. Is that okay? Or will that just be another huge disappointment, huh, dad?" She spat out her last couple words, before pounding up the remaining stairs, with each footstep forcing more weight onto the carpet.

As she continued to run, she heard the distant words sounding familiar to "You're grounded!" coming from downstairs, but she decided to ignore it, not caring. It felt like she was locked up in this household more and more lately. She didn't need words to make it clear that she was caged in a world that she couldn't escape from.



Lucas rested his feet up on his desk, and placed down his book as he waiting, patiently, by the white coil phone, predicting that his shoulder would be in need soon for a certain best friend to lean on. He honestly did miss hanging out with her, and this was one of the rare times they had actually been able to hang out alone, without other people tagging along.

He bit his lip hesitantly, looking back onto the phone. Things with Haley and John had gotten worse lately, and he was beginning to fear how it was affecting her mental state. He loved her like a sister, and would do anything to make all aspect of sadness or pain in her life go away. However, when the family is the problem, it's harder to simply remove the anguish.

It had been nearly a year since Haley's closest family member lost his life. A simple heart attack was all that it took to turn her life upside down, but it was the long hours waiting for him to awake through his comatose stage that had ached Lucas in every way possible. Besides his sense of loss, and knowing inside that Mr. James had no chance of waking up, he saw how much it was affecting Haley and had no real way of comforting her. For once, he couldn't take away her pain.

After one long month of sleepless days, and empty stomachs, Mrs. James decided it was best to pull the plug. It was announced that if Haley's dad ever did wake up, he'd be unable to work, unable to talk and would remain crippled. Haley was devastated, to say the least and never was the same. Wanting a new start for herself, she changed her life around drastically to spend more and more time away from her home. It became just a constant reminder of what was missing in her life. Instead, she worked hard at the Café, with her school work and saw Lucas more and more. Karen quickly became her new mom, as her own became too caught up in her late husband's death. Haley had spent so much time ignoring her past, that it eventually caught up to her. Her mom was getting remarried.


The instant she found out the news, she refused to have anything to do with it. She and her step-father had never been the best of friends. He was trying to take the spot of her dad and naturally Haley didn't find him up to his mother's standards. What Haley hated in him, was what her mother cherished, and she knew she couldn't make her mother fall out of love with him.

Once again, Lucas was stuck with having to deal with the fact that he, her protector, could not do a single thing to stop her pain. All he could do was put a band-aid over the wound, hoping it would eventually heal, but he knew it was only covering up a problem that needed much more aid than a simple bandage.

He sighed once more, before looking at the time. It was well past 2 AM, meaning he had dropped Haley off at her house a couple hours ago. She was either fine, and found a way around the fact that she had stayed out past her newly made curfew again, or she didn't want his help. Maybe, she was even getting past this whole thing. He seemed to be believing it more and more as the days passed. 'I'll talk to her tomorrow about it', Lucas thought to himself as he turned off the light and allowed the lack of light to envelop him into a deep slumber.



Realizing her room wasn't where she wanted to be, Haley secretly travelled to the attic upstairs, making sure not to be heard. That was the last thing she needed; the beast waking up. Climbing up the stairs found in the far end off the hallway, she made her way up to the place where she had been spending the majority of her time lately. As weird as it sounded, she felt closer to her dad there, as if his spirit rested on the creaky, dusty floors. Although he had never spent a minute of his life in the small room, because of his dust allergies, everything that represented him, materialistically-wise at least, remained scattered around in medium sized boxes.

Haley smiled, sniffing away her tears when she spotted the 'photo box'. After his death, her mom refused to keep any of his stuff lying around the house. It was almost as if she wanted to erase the memory, but Haley couldn't complain. It was painful to realize that a family member was missing, never mind having to see it in the form of a picture every day.

"Daddy," she inhaled, before letting more tears out. "Why can't you be here now?" She looked back down to the picture in her hand, rubbing off the dust that had accumulated with her thumb, causing her to sneeze. The photo was solely a father-daughter moment; the day of her first ballet recital. Mr. James stood proudly, one arm around his pride and joy, with a gleam on his face. In Haley's eyes, that was how she wanted to remember him forever.

Gritting her teeth, she remembered the bitterness that had occurred since his picture perfect image was crushed. As he lay motionless in the hospital, he was no longer the best dad. Instead he was the father that would never awake; the one leaving her. She sobbed once more, before collapsing onto her needs. She wasn't sure whether she hated him or loved him, and the bitter-sweet relationship she had with him after his death was confusing her to no return.

"Daddy...come back," she cried out once more, before lying down on the hard wood floor, and pulling a blanket nearby around her. If this was the closest she could be to him, she'd have to take it.

TBC...

A/N: Alright I wanted to post this here, just so I wouldn't spoil anything in this chapter. I wanted to make it clear that Haley's relationship with her step-father (John) will not become an physically abusive one. I have nothing against stories like that, but since I know someone who went through abuse for several year, I can't write a story about it. I hope I don't lose any readers from this… but I hope to make this story a very realistic one and something most people can relate to.