"Hi."

Nathan stood there, staring blankly at her. Haley. His wife. His thoughts couldn't complete themselves. He felt a head rush of emotion swirling over him: Pain, fear, anger, confusion, happiness, hope. He couldn't make sense of them and ended up stupidly looking at his feet and nervously wringing his hands.

He heard footsteps hurriedly racing down the stairs. He and Haley both looked back to see Deb hastily pulling on a sweater, cell phone in hand. "There's been a fire! Dan was trapped inside! No time to explain- we have to get to the hospital!"

"Dan." Nathan said aloud. "Perfect timing."

His mother ran out the door to the car. Nathan stood there looking at Haley. He didn't want to leave her. He needed some answers.

Deb looked at Nathan from the driveway. "He's your father, Nathan. He's made some mistakes, but…" She looked at Haley. "But, then again, we all have."

Nathan looked at Haley, who bit her lip, looking distressed. He turned, tearing himself away from her, and ambled over, still with a slight limp from the accident, to the car.

"Aren't you coming, Haley?" Deb questioned, as though she had never left. Haley was dumbstruck by the question. "Um… yeah, I'm coming." She grabbed her purse off the top of her pile of suitcases, and ran to the car. Nathan climbed into the passenger seat as Haley got in the back. He looked at her in the rearview mirror and sighed. His mother looked at him and smiled tightly before putting the car into gear.

Haley pulled out her cell phone, and dialed a number. Nathan didn't pay much attention to it, thinking she was probably telling some big New York executive she'd be late for a meeting.

"Hey, Peyton? It's Haley."

Nathan leaned back in his seat, only to hear Haley's side of the conversation.

"It's so good to hear your voice. Yeah, I miss you, too! Guess where I am right now. In the car with Deb and…and Nathan. Hah, no, it's nothing like that. He's barely spoken to me. He doesn't want me back. Can't say I blame him."

Nathan was in pain to hear her say words so far from the truth.

"Listen…someone tried to kill Dan. Yeah, I know, what's new, right? We're actually driving to the hospital right now. Could you come? To the hospital, I mean. I really want to see you, and… I need to talk to you. You will? Peyton, you are amazing! Okay, hold on." She put her hand over the mouth piece and turned to Deb.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Scott? Which hospital is Mr. Scott in?"

Nathan smiled at the thought that Haley still spoke to his parents so formally, after such a whirlwind year of marriage, while he used to call her parents by their first names.

"Saint Martin. On Province Street."

"Thanks."

Haley turned back to her phone. "Saint Martin. Oh my god, Peyton, I love you!"

Nathan's heart skipped a beat, hearing her say those words, even if they weren't directed at him.

"Okay…wait, can you call Lucas and Brooke? You know, fill them in? Thanks, you are saving my life. Bye." Haley settled back in her seat, until her phone rang again.

"Oh…um…" She flipped the phone open.

"Hello?" Nathan saw her face freeze in the rear view mirror.

"Why did you call me? No, Chris, I'm not coming back. My life is here." Nathan sat up at the mention of the Satan himself.

"Why the tone? Hmm, maybe because I just realized first-hand how you totally ruined my life!" Haley yelled shrilly into the phone.

"Well, let's start with Nathan! I had an amazing husband, who loved me and who meant the world to me, and then you came along, and now, my marriage is non-existent!" Nathan looked at Deb, who gave him a sad half-smile. Haley lowered her voice, fuming mad.

"My marriage was not a mistake, Chris, I can't believe you said that! I can't believe you even called! I don't want to see you, or, or, hear from you ever again, do you understand? Stay away from me." Nathan had never seen Haley yell like this before.

"No, you know what, Chris? Go to hell!" With that, she slammed her phone shut, and threw it angrily into the seat next to her. A tear escaped, and rolled down her cheek as she curled up into a fetal position. Nathan had never seen someone look more scared and alone.

Nathan looked at Deb again, and she touched his leg sadly. He didn't know what to do, or even what he wanted to do.

When they got to the hospital, Deb quickly ran ahead. Nathan watched as Haley climbed out of the car. As she walked ahead of him, he got a glimpse of her tattoo. 23. He smiled sadly, remembering the day she got it.

Nathan followed Haley into the hospital. When they got to the waiting room, Peyton was already there.

"Peyton!" Haley cried, running to her embrace.

"Haley?" She pulled away so she could get a good look at her friend. "Look at you, you're gorgeous!"

"Look at you…you were in love." Peyton smiled embarrassedly, silently admitting the truth. The truth she tried hard to erase, but her heart could not forget.

"Um…" Peyton laughed unhappily. "How could you tell?"

Haley smiled sadly. "I've worn that look for the last 10 months."

"What did you want to talk about…I mean, you sounded pretty upset on the phone!"

"My life," Haley whispered. "Is completely ruined."

"Did he ruin it?" Peyton asked gently, indicating Nathan.

"No… I did." Haley smiled sadly. At that moment, Lucas and Brooke rushed in, hand in hand.

"Brooke?" Peyton asked, incredulously.

"Peyton!" Brooke squealed, and hugged her friend.

"Tutor girl!" Brooke turned and hugged Haley. "Or, dare I say…Tutor wife?"

Haley looked at Nathan for a beat, then burst into tears. Nathan's heart wrenched. Lucas eyed him suspiciously. Brooke, however, swung into full comfort mode.

"Oh god…come here, baby." She pulled her into a hug as Haley wept on her shoulder.

"I-I don't know what to do anymore! He-he meant everything to me…and..."

"Shhh...shhh…it's okay, come on-" Brooke and Peyton held her and led to some chairs a distance away from the guys. Brooke shot a death glare at Nathan before kneeling down in front of Haley. Peyton sat next to her, her arms around her, with a helpless look on her face.

Lucas looked at Nathan, both of them watching Haley in pain.

"Jeez, man…what did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything! Man…I still love her. I still want to be with her, and for her to be my wife. But…a part of me is like, what if I can't trust her again? What if things only get worse? I mean, what if our love isn't enough?"

Lucas looked at his brother sadly.

"What if it is?"

Nathan looked at Lucas, then at his wife, crying uncontrollably. Brooke ran up to them, a concerned look on her face.

"Do either of you guys have any tissues? We both don't, and by the looks of things-" She looked back at Haley and Peyton, "We're gonna need them." Nathan and Lucas both dug in their pockets. Nathan held out a few crumpled tissues, and Brooke snatched them from him and turned to Lucas.

"Luke, we're gonna need you over there in a minute. You need to talk to her."

"Okay." Brooke kissed him quickly, and then darted off.

The doctor approached the pair, a grim look on her face.

"Are you two here for Dan Scott? Because he can start taking visitors. Just one at a time, and only immediate family."

Lucas looked at Nathan. "You'd better go. I've gotta go see Hales." Nathan watched as Lucas walked to her, and knelt down in front of her. She smiled and hugged him, then put her tear-streaked face on his shoulder.

Nathan took a last look at her, and turned to Dan's room.

He opened the door, and couldn't help but gasp: Dan lay there, his body horribly burned. Dan looked up at Nathan. "Come here, son. Sit down." Nathan sat down next to his father, not sure what to do. "Your mother told me that Haley came back. What are you doing to do?" Nathan looked at his feet, not exactly sure what he was going to do. "Listen, Nate, I know we don't talk, but I have to give you some advice." Dan inhaled deeply before continuing.

"I was in the same situation you are now, believe it or not. The woman I loved, the woman I married, left me. For about a year, I cried and ached and wished with all my heart that she would come back to me. My heart was broken. But, one day, she did come back. She came back and told me she loved me and that she made a mistake. But I distrusted her some much, distrusted our love so much, that I never truly gave our marriage the effort it needed to be put back on track." He sighed. "You don't want to wake up one day, Nathan, old and dieing, and realize that you have nothing. And that all could've changed… if you had enough faith in your love. You don't want to wake up one day, with no-one to love, because you were afraid to love back." Nathan sat there, speechless. Who knew his father had a heart? Dan looked at Nathan, pained. Nathan stood up, and with a last look at his father, left the room.

He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Peyton approached him.

"Hey." He said unhappily.

"You stupid son of a bitch." She looked at him sadly.

"What? Look, Peyton…Haley wasn't the only one hurt in all of this. I was in a dark place for a while…I still kind of am."

"You're right, Nathan, you were hurt. And when you needed us, we were there for you. Now…Haley needs us." Peyton turned to him. "And if I remember correctly, the only thing you wanted at that time was for her to come back. It took her a little while, but she did. Think about that." She stepped back. Brooke walked up and turned to Peyton.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Nathan looked at them. "Wait, where are you going?"

Brooke looked at him fiercely. "We're going to look for a doctor. We have to see if you can die of a broken heart."

With that, they both turned and walked away.

Nathan sighed, and looked over to where Haley and Lucas sat. He cautiously walked over to them.

"Luke?"

Lucas, who knelt in front of Haley, looked up. The look on his face said 'Could you pick a worse time to talk?'

"It's about Dan."

"Oh god, look at me, dumping my issues on you when you've got problems of your own. Go!" Haley said quickly, pushing him away.

Lucas stood up, and sadly looked at her. "We all love you, Hales."

"Shut up." She said, annoyed.

Lucas laughed, and Nathan smiled as they walked away.

"What? I'm kind of busy right now." Lucas asked.

"You can go and see Dan now." Seeing the look on Luca's face, he added, "Visiting hours are almost over. You do want to see him, don't you?"

"Well, do you know where Brooke or Peyton is? One of them needs to stay with Haley so she doesn't throw herself in front of a bus."

Nathan looked alarmed. "Sorry, I don't know."

Lucas looked torn as he looked from Haley to Dan's room.

"I can watch her." Nathan offered.

Lucas laughed humorlessly. "Do you seriously think that is a good idea?'

"I-I want to talk to her, Luke."

"Okay, but if you hurt her…" Lucas trailed off sadly.

"I won't."

Lucas walked away to join Peyton and Brooke, who were watching the scene in front of them.

"What do we do now?" Peyton asked.

"Wait." Lucas murmured, "And hope."

"Hey." Nathan said. The first thing he had said to his wife in months.

She looked up at him, her eyes, for once, not saying a thing. Nathan sat down next to her, ready to speak, but she interrupted him.

"Listen, Nathan- I don't want your pity. I came back because I love you, and I wanted to own up to the mistakes I've made. I mean, the things I feel are as real as you and me." Haley stood up to face him.

"And if you came over here, just because I'm crying, then forget it. I don't want your pity. If you came over here to do anything other than save our marriage, then you can just go away." She looked at him expectantly. He smiled at her, the first true smile in months.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Haley looked at him, and then looked at the ground, biting her lip. A small tear rolled down her cheek.

Nathan stepped closer to her. "I tried to live without you, Hales, but I can't-"

He tipped her face gently to look at his.

"And I don't want to." She looked at him, scared and confused.

He did what he had wanted to do for many months: he pulled her into his arms her up to him, and kissed her. Her arms wrapped around him, and her body relaxed into his arms as she held him tightly, as if she was afraid he would fade away.

Brooke burst into tears, as Lucas pulled her to him. "Yay." She muttered softly through the tears. Peyton and Lucas also tried to hold back a crying fit. Peyton put her chin on Lucas's shoulder. He turned his face to her. "Sometimes they come back." he whispered. Peyton smiled sadly, her smile full of hope.

Nathan and Haley gently broke apart, still holding each other,

"I love you." Haley smiled, relieved.

"I love you, too." She pulled herself into his arms again, kissing him joyfully.

Brooke laughed as she pushed away tears. "It's just like a fairytale."

Haley pulled away and put her head on Nathan's chest softly crying. He smiled and put his chin on her head. "I'm never letting you go again, Hales." She looked up at him. "I'm not going anywhere." She smiled, then happily pulled away from him, and pranced and jumped into their pile of friends watching them. Brooke grabbed her first, hugging her as they both jumped up and down.

"You're married again!"

"I know!"

Peyton pulled her to her next. They hugged, and she murmured, "I'm so happy for you."

"Yeah…me too."

Then, Haley threw her arms around Lucas. He grinned at her, "I think, just this once, you deserve a big, fat 'I told you so'." She playfully pushed him away, then ran and jumped into the arms of her husband, reaching her legs around him. She kissed him again, ecstatic. She sunk to the ground, his arms around her, looking at her friends. The doctor came up to the group again. "Is that everyone for Dan Scott? Visiting hours are just about over." Haley looked up at Nathan in anticipation.

The door to Dan's room swung open. Nathan and Haley stood in the doorway. Haley walked over to Dan's bed, and quietly curled up next to him. "Thank you." She whispered kindly.