A/N: Hey everyone, thank you so much for your great and wonderful feedback, you know I live for it. I just wanted to reiterate to anyone who's slightly confused, that this is an AU fic. Which means it's set in an alternate universe and not the one we know from the show. So yes, in this story the gang all grew up together but their relationships are very different from what has played out on t.v. Ok, hope that clears some stuff up for ya. If you already knew all of this then don't pay any attention to my blathering and please do read on!

TOXIC

Chapter 5

Trapped in Ecstacy

3:07 am.....

"Well fuck me," Nathan laughed, reveling in the fact that he had just unintentionally locked the two of them in this dank little room.

Haley looked at him with disdain.

He partly wanted to curse his friends for bringing him to the club in the first place, and immersing him back into the world he'd happily left two and half years ago. Not that he'd really ever taken much joy out of life in Bayview in the first place. Another part of him saw this as chance to benefit, to corrupt the innocent girl, and in a basement no less. One of his more mild fantasy's, but something that would still provide him with a small amount of sport. And Nathan Scott never backed down from a challenge, never had, never would.

However looking at Haley in her current fury, made him think this newest conquest, might take a little more persuasion than usual.

"I don't see why you're laughing, there's absolutely nothing funny about this," Haley finally spit out at him, pacing back and forth.

"Oh chill out Harriot, it's not like this is a life or death situation."

"It might be, if you don't stop laughing and start thinking about a way out of here," she replied, continuing to pace, her eyes skipping around the room, and then back to him every few seconds. Mentally, Haley was running different ideas through her head about how she could get out, each option becoming less and less possible to manage.

Nathan, meanwhile pulled out his cell phone with a jovial smile, and flipped it open. The screen only read: Searching.... He tried dialing a number, and still got no luck. He flipped it shut and put it back in his pocket.

"I'm not getting any reception, try your phone," he told her.

"I don't have one," she replied dryly, still pacing rapidly, chewing on her bottom lip.

"You don't have one," he looked incredulous, awestruck even at her words.

"Not with me, Captain Obvious," she growled.

Nathan could tell her anger was building, and found it to be quite amusing. So with a fair amount of liquid courage in his body, he decided to see how much farther he could push the envelope, before she really lost it.

Coming up behind her and placing his hands lightly on her shoulders, Nathan leaned down, and breathed a warm stream of hot air down her neck, causing Haley to shudder, her knees turning to jelly. "I know just how to loosen you up Hilary," his voice silky and smooth, as his hands traveled down her chest.

Suddenly Haley realized what exactly it was that Nathan was implying, and more importantly what his hands were doing. With lightening quick speed, she twirled out of his embrace, roughly  shoving him away from her.

Nathan tried to feign innocence, holding his hands up in mock surrender, even as a cocky smirk crossed his face. Haley immediately saw through his act.

"Listen Pervert, just because we're stuck in here together, does not give you a free pass to grope on me."

"And yet you still let it happen."

"You came up behind me, without my knowing," she ranted, as Nathan gave her a disinterested look, and then sat down leisurely on an old box against the wall.

"Oh give it a rest Harmony. It's not like we had sex, although if you're offering—," before the next word left Nathan's mouth, the sound of shattering glass rang through his ears.

Nathan instinctively jumped back to see the black shards of glass from the Guinness bottle Haley had thrown at him lay in scattered pieces, only inches from his body. When he realized none had actually hit him, he jumped in front of Haley, and turned an angry glare at her. "Are you out of your fucking mind? That could've cut me."

"For the last time, my name is Haley. HAY-LEE. Not Holly or Heather or Helga, or any of the other stupid-ass names you can possibly think up. It's just Haley. If you want to call me something it will be that got it? And more importantly never, ever, touch me again. Or next time when I throw something at you, I won't miss."

So surprised by her total outburst and unaware that she could even be that intimidating, Nathan simply gave her a small nod of recognition and went to sit across the room from her. He watched her do the same. And he began to realize that if he was going to get anywhere with her, he might need to start rethinking his plan.

..................

4:34 am......

The silence had been deafening.

Mostly because neither Haley nor Nathan had spoken for over an hour. Merely sitting in their own separate corners, staring, but not really staring at each other. Every few minutes Haley could feel herself drift off from exhaustion. The reality that she was still stuck like a caged rabbit with the "Prince" of Bayview, was the only thing keeping her from completely losing consciousness.

At one point Haley had even begun to let herself relax, believing that maybe Nathan wasn't going to make this whole experience a living nightmare, like she had previously assumed.

But then it started.

It was soft at first, the sound so faint that it didn't really bother her. And then it got more consistent as he continued to do it, over and over again, faster and faster as the minutes ticked away.

Haley could feel her toes curl up in irritation, her jaw twitch, as he continued to tap his foot against the floor. She couldn't handle it anymore. She'd rather hear a baby screaming, than this monotonous, repetitive tapping.

"Could you stop doing that please," she gritted out through clenched teeth.

Nathan turned to her, his foot only moving faster. "What?......This," he asked, as he kept up his firm rhythm.

Pain. Lots and lots of pain, Haley thought, while she watched him taunt her with joy. "Ahhh, why do you have to be such an ass," she said point-blank, shaking her head as if she was a disapproving elder, rather than his peer.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch," he through back at her without a blink of an eye.

"I'm just reacting to you. You are the one that got us stuck down here after all."

"Oh right, like I did this on purpose. Yeah, cause this is how I really wanted to spend my Saturday night."

"Well I don't see you trying to figure a way out, Boy Genius."

"What and help you get free? I'd rather watch you suffer," he answered coldly, his eyes dark. His guard up and ready to fight.

Haley looked away from him, and rested her head up against the rack she was sitting by, her eyes cast up to the ceiling as if she was trying to find some kind of guidance, while she shook her hands towards the sky. "Why me God? Why? What did I do to deserve this," she pleaded.

Nathan watched her in amusement, "What question would like me to answer first?"

The smirk on his face was enough to make Haley want to scream. His entire being, beginning to grate on her very last nerve. "Please–please, shut the fuck up," she implored.

 Nathan gave her another arrogant grin and shook his head at her. "Such language James. Not quite like the girl I remember from high school."

"What can I say Scott, you bring it out in me.  And by it, I mean the worst," Haley shot him an venomous glare.

"Oh I'm touched, really," his lips curled up into a smile, as he touched his hand to his heart.

Haley tried not face him. "Can you try not speaking for more than five seconds?"

"Probably. But why would I want to do that, when I know you're having so much fun talking with me?"

Obviously ignoring him, wouldn't work. Mr. Popularity was too use to getting his own way, to simply be disregarded.  So Haley figured if she was going to make it through the next 15 hours unscathed she would have to be straight with him. Honesty was the best policy. Right?

"If we're both going to make it through the night, without killing each other, that would be great. It requires that you not drive me mentally insane though. Ok?"

Nathan bit back the retort he had stewing in the back of his mind, and simply shrugged his shoulders. She gave him a skeptical look at which he smiled at internally. If she wanted the cordial, sensible type of guy he could do that.

Silence befell the room once more, but only for a few minutes until Nathan spoke again. "So why'd you stay in Bayview," he asked, appearing interested.

"What," Haley looked at him, unsure of his attitude change. The Nathan she'd remembered had always been somewhat moody, a little all over the place, and his sudden flip to make polite conversation seemed off.

"I'm just saying, you want me to be civil, and considerate. Here it is. Let's talk then. Tell me, why didn't you ever leave Bayview?"

Haley contemplated him for a moment. Finally deciding that however strange this entire night had been, or how weird Nathan was beginning to act, she could still humor him even if it was solely to get him to stop pissing her off.

"I like it here. I don't really have anything to run away from," she replied pointedly at Nathan.

"And I do," he asked immediately on the defensive.

"Your dad, basketball, both. I don't know that's just what I assumed when Lucas told me you were going to Michigan."

"That's right, I almost forgot, you and Lucas, the great couple of Bayview High. You guys were so tight. It would've almost been cute, if it hadn't made me want to puke," he folded his arms in front of him, his eyes focused on the box in front of him now, rather than her.

Haley and Lucas. Lucas and Haley. Their two names in connection with each other, God it felt like a lifetime ago. Haley even forgot sometimes that they had ever really been a couple. The whole thing started as a joke really, to begin with. He'd come to her for a couple books in the middle of their Senior year. They'd began talking and before either of them knew it they were friends. True friends, not like the ones that pretended to be his, in that group that followed him and Nathan around. What was entertaining, however, was that people like Nathan and Tim, and Kelly, all thought he was warming up to her to get some kind of academic crutch. To get out of doing homework, or essays, or calculus problems. But if any of them had paid close attention, they would have all known that Lucas never needed any tutoring from Haley. Which was what she loved about him the most. They felt like equals. She felt at ease around him, and he did with her. Or so she thought, until he'd broken it off with her two weeks after graduation. The same time Nathan had chosen to let go of Brooke, and their relationship of four years. Something Haley still begrudged Nathan for.

"No that would be you and Brooke, if my memory serves me correctly," she finally managed to spat back.

 Nathan's eyes gleamed, at her abrupt turn of the conversation. "That was obligation, and nothing more. Our parents were friends, so of course we had to be together. She was a cheerleader, I was captain of the basketball team, and all that other bullshit."

"So you never had any feelings for her," Haley asked with dismay.

"Sure I did, it just wasn't true love or any of that other crap everyone feeds to you about high school sweethearts. Brooke used me to climb the social latter, just as much as I used her to get my parents off my back."

Haley shook her head in disgust, "So that makes dumping her right before you leave for school, ok then?"

"She was just as ready to be free of the relationship as I was," he replied.

"Is that why you left then, to get away from her," she asked with more canter this time, turning toward him.

"No. I was sick of this place. I needed get away. See life ya know, without the pressures this town puts on me. Don't you ever get sick of it here," Nathan through out, trying to change the subject. Feeling way to trapped and vulnerable to start discussing old battle wounds from his past.

Haley seemed to pick up on his unsure demeanor, and let it slide. "Sometimes," she shrugged," I wish I could travel more, have the money to travel. But I don't."

"Well you should try. Because the world's a whole lot damn bigger when you can actually look at this place from the outside," Nathan stated.

"If I had the luxury of leaving maybe I would. But I've never really had that option," she told him.

"Because......"

"Again with the no money."

Nathan watched Haley turn rigid, as she watched him speak. "Why are you looking at me that way?"

"What way," she snapped.

"Like I just shot your damn puppy. It's not my fault I have money and you don't," he declared with an innocent conscious.

It had been over two years since they'd been in high school, over two years since she'd had to deal with people like Nathan. And in that second Haley realized that's exactly what there was. People like Nathan. The ones like him, who grew up with everything given to them, never having to struggle to buy books, or pay rent. Never being grateful or appreciative, or even graceful about what they had been given, always looking for what they didn't have. Yes, there were people like Nathan, and then there were people like her. And the two would never mix. But Haley sure as hell wasn't going to let him get out that easily.

"It doesn't change the fact that you treated everyone outside of your little group like they were nothing. And you still do it even now," she accused, waving her arm at him, in anger.

"Hey," Nathan yelled back at her, "Just because you dated my brother doesn't mean you understand anything about my life, or why I did what I did."

"I see more than you me credit for," she set her eyes on him with a hard glare.

"Yeah I bet," he stared back at her, moving to get up.

Haley followed, pushing herself off the ground, "Take tonight for example," she began, "Other than making me run around like a chicken with my head cut off, for your own amusement. You would've never gave me a second glance if we hadn't got stuck in here together."

"Maybe, maybe not. You don't know me," Nathan muttered, as he walked around the room, avoiding her.

"You're so full of shit," she yelled, getting up in front of him. "We grew up in the same town together. Spent four years of high school together. And in all those years you never once said hi to me, I wasn't even a blip on your radar. So don't go preaching about your humble character in front of me. I don't buy it."

"Right, because the virtuous and innocent Haley James has never done anything stupid or regretful in her entire life," Nathan clamored, his face tight with unbidden anger.

"No your wrong. I'm pretty positive getting locked in here with you is at the top of that list," she turned away from him haughtily.

Nathan bit the side of his face, "Arrgh, why are you such a raging bitch," he finally let out.

Haley didn't even flinch. She'd expected him to resort to name calling when he couldn't think of an intelligent comeback. In most cases the Nathan Scott she knew of would just walk away, he always walked away. This time, however he couldn't, and Haley knew that was driving him crazy.

"I'm just being honest and you can't handle it."

With a resigned sigh, Nathan ran a hand through his hair, and slumped back down into his corner. "Forget it. Never mind.  You were right, let's just not talk at all."

"Fine," she went back to sit down, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Fine," he mumbled, resting his head against the wall.

This girl was unbelievable. Everything she said, everything she did seemed to get under his nerves. Screw trying to get anything out of her, Nathan thought.  Right now, he just wanted to be free.