Lucas pulled into the beach parking lot and waited for Haley to come up to his car. As he waited, he reminisced about the first time he kissed her.
It must have been five or six years ago, they were in the 7th grade. They were lying in Haley's bed, and Lucas was extremely close to falling asleep.
"I love you," he said, his eyes drooping shut.
Haley shot up from her lying down position. "Really?"
"Yea… how can I not?" His eyes were fully open then.
His arm found its way behind her back, and the other crossed her front. She laid back, and was now comfortably lying in his arms, and the thought made her want to scream from happiness. Her head leaned on his shoulder, and his head turned down. She looked up and the moonlight hit his face just enough to give it a magical glow. He pressed his lips gently against hers, and shifted to his side.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, and one hand worked its way down his back. He slipped his tongue into her welcoming mouth, and her tongue responded playfully. He pulled away after a few more seconds.
"I love you, Haley." He laid back down.
"I love you too, Lucas." And with that, she snuggled into his arms and fell into a deep sleep.
Lucas glanced down at his watch, and noticed that he had been there for fifteen minutes, and he had not seen Haley yet. He decided to go look for her.
"Haley? Are you out here?" He walked the length of the dock, and after he saw that she wasn't there, he began to panic. "Haley?" He was shouting now. "Haley, are you out here? Haley?" When she still didn't answer, he ran to his car and stretched for his phone dialing Haley's number. One ring… two rings… three rings… she wasn't answering, but then he heard the familiar sound of the recording that he and Haley had made.
Far off in the distance he could faintly make out their laughs, and he heard his voice saying, "Haley! Pick up you're phone! It could be me!" Then, "No, it couldn't, you're standing right next to me you dork!" He ran in the direction of the voices until they got extremely loud. He looked around and spotted a dark mound lying under the boat rental shack.
Lucas ran over to it, and realized that it was Haley.
"Haley! Oh my God, wake up! Haley! Haley, wake up!" He gently turned her over, and saw a deep gash on her forehead, blood leaking from he nose and mouth, and her right arm and leg were bent in such a way that he knew that they must be broken. Her eyes were turning black and blue, and she had cuts all up and down her arms and legs. She wasn't wearing a shirt, and her jeans were ripped and down to her ankles. Her bra and panties were blood stained, and there was a clear gel all over the top of her thighs.
"Jesus, Haley! What the hell happened to you? Who the fuck did this to you?" He picked up his phone and dialed 911.
"Hello, 911 dispatcher, what is your emergency?"
"I'm at the beach, and I was coming to pick up my friend, but I couldn't find her and then I found her, and she's lying under a boat shop unconscious, and she has all these cuts and I think she was raped and attacked! Please help me, send an ambulance fast!"
"I have sent word to an ambulance, and it should be there in a few minutes. Just relax and don't move the victim until the paramedics arrive, do you understand?"
"Yes, thank you!'' He hung up the phone and cradled her limp body in his arms. "It's going to be okay, Hales. I won't let anything more happen to you. I'm going to find the son of a bitch that did this to you and kill him. Don't worry, baby, just get better. Please don't die. I don't know what I'd do without you. You mean so much to me and I love you so much. Please… please Haley."
The lights switched back on in the bathroom after a few seconds, and Nathan's eyes squinted from the sudden flash of light. He saw Peyton sitting on the edge of the tub and Brooke text messaging on her cell phone.
"You guys, something's up with Lucas. He just messaged me and said to come to the hospital cause somebody's hurt… I'm waiting for him to respond." Brooke said. Peyton pulled herself out of the tub and sat next to Brooke to see her text message.
"Do you know who it is?" Nathan asked, hoping it was Dan.
Brooke quickly stood up and gasped. "Haley."
Peyton's mouth dropped open. "What? Haley?" She looked over at Nathan. "Are you alright Nate? Do you want to go see her?"
Brooke lifted on eyebrow. "Aha! So that was the Ha—before the lights turned out! You're in love with Haley? Jesus, of all the thousands of girls in THH that want you, you chose Tutor Girl? Weird, but kind of cute… But back to the topic of the moment, do you want to go see her?"
"For being the two most popular girls in school, you are pretty dense, aren't you?" He grabbed his jacket and walked out the door.
Lucas was frantically calling everyone he knew to tell them about Haley. The paramedics had let him ride in the ambulance with them, but he was told to sit in the waiting room for further notice until the figured out what they needed to do to Haley. He knew that he had to call her parents, but they were in Africa on some sort of an archeological dig. Ever since Haley turned 17, they had basically left her on her own.
He finished making his calls and sat in one of the uncomfortable blue hospital chairs near the room where Haley was.
"Are you here for Haley?" A doctor had come up to Lucas.
"Yes, do you have any information?" He had certain desperation in his eyes that made the doctor not want to say what he had to say.
"Are you sure you want to know? It's pretty extensive."
"Yes, just tell me, please."
"Son, we took a few X-rays, a CAT scan, and did an overall inspection of Ms. James' body, and this is what we know. Her skull is fractured in two places, her face was so badly bruised that we are assuming that she was the victim of an attack, her right leg and arm are broken, and we did a DNA test and determined that she was raped. The gash on her forehead is infected, and all we can do right now is give her antibiotics and pain killers. We're wrapping up her arm and leg, and stitching up the cuts on her arms, legs, and forehead. I know that this is a lot to take in right now… but the good news is that she's waken up from her unconscious state, but she's a little out of it from the medication."
If only he had been there faster! If only he hadn't taken so long to find her. Good job, Lucas, you let your best friend almost die!
"Is she going to be alright?" He asked, holding back the tears that threatened to fall any minute.
"We have to keep her here until we're sure that her arm and leg will heal completely, that her skull can mend it self, and that the infection doesn't spread. To make a long story short, we need to keep her here for about three weeks, and by then, if all goes well, she should be 90-95 healed," the doctor finished.
"Thank you, doctor."
The doctor went back into Haley's room. Tears were freely running from Lucas' eyes. He didn't care if anyone saw him. He had a right to cry.
A few minutes later, Nathan ran into the Emergency room. Lucas looked up when he heard his voice, and saw him frantically speaking to the receptionist.
"Nathan!" Lucas ran over to him and hugged him.
"Hey Luke. Is Haley here already?" His eyes were tinged red, and it looked as if he'd been crying.
"Yea, she's in room 12. The doctor's supposed to come out and tell me when we can go see her. I'm so sorry Nathan…" Lucas trailed off.
"You're sorry? This is my fault. I let her run off at the dock, and I didn't even go find her. It's my fault that she's in there right now, Lucas." Nathan sank down into a chair a held his head in his hands.
"It's nobody's fault, Nate," he said, ignoring the thoughts he had had a couple of minutes earlier, "The good thing is that the doctor said she'd be alright as long as she stays here for a few weeks."
"OK.. Thanks a lot, Luke."
In the following twenty minutes, Karen, Deb, Dan, Brooke, Peyton, Peyton's boyfriend Jake, Nathan's friend Tim, and Lucas' River Court buddies had showed up at the hospital.
The doctor came out and said that one person could go in to see her at a time. Nathan stood and said that Lucas should be able to go in first because he had arrived first. Lucas got up and went into her room.
The door squeaked open and then he was inside. He saw Haley lying in her bed, playing with the loose strings of her arm cast.
"Hales?"
She glanced up and saw him standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Lucas! I thought they'd never let anyone in here! Come here." He walked over to her and she hugged him with her left arm and sobbed into his shoulder. "I know it's only been a little while since I last talked to you, but I missed you so much!" He held onto her and they hugged for what seemed like an hour. She continued to cry and her tears produced bigger ones in his eyes as well.
"There's a lot of people out there to see you, Haley, I don't want to hog up all the time there is." He stood up from sitting on the bed and squeezed her hand. "I'll come back a little later, ok?"
"OK…" She settled back into the large stack of pillows and waited for the next person to come in.
Before leaving, remembering what made him late for Haley he said, "I love you, Haley," and kissed her. Then he walked out the door.
Dazed, she didn't even realize someone had walked in until they sat on the edge of her bed.
"Nathan…" He scooted closer to her, and kissed her.
"Haley, I'm sorry for earlier. I just wanted to be with you so badly, and no one's ever rejected me before… you're so different from all the other girls at school, I think that's what made me fall for you. And I have fallen for you. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it did, and there's nothing I can do about it. I love you, Haley." His speech sounded so serious that it made Haley burst out laughing.
"What the hell? That's not funny, I'm serious." His face was painted with confusion.
She continued to laugh. "Exactly! You're so serious!" She was full on convulsion mode at that point, and he was getting annoyed.
"Look, Haley, say something."
"I love you too, Nathan." And with that, she lifted herself up with her left hand and kissed him like there was no tomorrow.
After two weeks, Haley was looking extremely well. Her stitches had been removed, and the cuts were barely visible. Lucas and Nathan had equally come to visit her everyday, and her parents had returned and come to see her. She was watching The Price Is Right when Brooke walked in.
"Hey, Tutor Girl! How's Tutor Boy? Are you two still dating? Dish now or forever hold your peace," she handed Haley a Jamba Juice and sat in the chair next to the bed.
"We're good, Brooke. He's so sweet to me. He visits everyday and he brought me my CDs and recording machine, but he forgot that I can't use them because of my cast," she laughed and sipped the Caribbean Passion. "Brooke, you never cease to disappoint. I love Jamba Juice!"
"Well I didn't stop there, because I brought you the latest Juicy Couture from Paris! My mom and dad surprised me last weekend for an impromptu visit to my sister city, and I thought of you while passing the display window." She pulled out a lacy pink top that was too short to be a shirt and resembled a bra.
"Is that a corset?" Haley questioned, scared to know the answer.
"Of course it is! I thought you and tutor boy could use it in your next sexual experience!" She giggled.
"Whatever, Bee. I have to visit the little girl's room, so excuse me." Haley limped out of bed and walked towards the built in bathroom.
Brooke stood and looked around and noticed a folded piece of paper sitting on the nightstand. She picked it up and realized that looked like a song of some sort. It read:
he drowns in his dreams/ an exquisite extreme I know/ he's as damned as he seems/ more heaven than a heart could hold/ and if I tried to save him/ my whole world would cave in/ it just ain't right/ but it just ain't right/ oh and I don't know/ I don't know what he's after/ but he's so beautiful/ such a beautiful disaster/ and if I could hold on/ through the tears and the laughter/ would it be beautiful/ or just a beautiful disaster
'Intense', thought Brooke, but continued reading the song.
he's magic and myth/ as strong as what I believe/ a tragedy with/ more damage than a soul should see/ but do I try to change him/ so hard not to blame him/ hold on tight/ baby hold me tight/ oh and I don't know/ I don't know what he's after/ but he's so beautiful/ such a beautiful disaster/ and if I could hold on/ through the tears and the laughter/ would it be beautiful/ or just a beautiful disaster
'She's too into happy endings…' she thought, and continued.
I'm longing for love and the logical/ but he's only happy hysterical/ I'm searching for some kind of miracle/ waiting so long/ waiting so long/ he's soft to the touch/ but frayed at the ends he breaks/ he's never enough/ and he's still more than I can take/ oh and I don't know/ I don't know what he's after/ but he's so beautiful/ such a beautiful disaster/ and if I could hold on/ through the tears and the laughter/ would it be beautiful/ or just a beautiful disaster/ beautiful/ oh he's so beautiful/ he's beautiful
She heard the whoosh of the sink and quickly folded up the song and threw it back on the nightstand. Obviously she was way more in love with Nathan than Nathan was with her. Poor Haley. She had to tell her the truth.
Haley came out of the bathroom and sat back down on her bed. Brooke was gearing up to tell her the truth when the door opened and in walked Nathan.
A/N: This was the fastest and longest chapter I've ever written. It took me two days four hours to write 2,600 words. I was just getting so bored with this story, and I thought, No Liz! You cannot let your readers down! Ha. I'm such a drama queen.
But anyway, if any of you recognized that song, it's because I didn't make it up. It's "Beautiful Disaster" by Kelly Clarkson (KC 3). Just wanted to make that clear before anyone accuses me of stealing.
So it's 6/20 and I'm at my grandma's house on a laptop with no internet, so that means I won't be able to check the votes until the 22nd, but it doesn't matter because I'm not posting this chapter until the 22nd. So anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because I wanted to create controversy (I love it!). Though I thought this chapter sucked, so feedback will be appreciated. Blah, maybe it's PMS :) >?