Thanks for all the reviews you are far too kind…. Here's the second chapter.

Chapter 2

Lucas didn't take the couch as he originally intended, they ended up talking all night and sharing his bed in a platonic sense. Haley talked and he listened, they finally fell asleep just before dawn. Not surprisingly they slept through Lucas' alarm and they didn't wake up until his mother came in to draw the shades and started yelling at them. The only words Lucas's muddled mind could process were, "–with your brother's wife!"

Haley sat up, "Karen! Lucas and I didn't sleep together; we just slept together like when were kids nothing happened."

"That's just the thing Haley, you two aren't kids anymore. You have a husband, and Lucas is having a hard enough time making things right with Peyton and Brooke." Karen said.

"I know but Nathan and I had a fight last night, because he doesn't trust me. I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me." Haley said.

"Maybe part of the reason he doesn't trust you is because you sneak out to climb into bed with Lucas." Karen said.

"Mom, this is the first time this has happened since we were thirteen, nothings going on I swear." Lucas said.

"You two don't seem to understand other people are going to get hurt because you just up and decided you wanted to be together. You have to consider Nathan, Brooke, and even Peyton before you do anything. You can't let things get as bad as they did last year. They might not recover from it this time." Karen told them.

"You're right I need to talk to Nathan." Haley said.

"Do you need me to come along?" Lucas asked.

"It could make things worse." Haley said, "Besides I think he's probably at school, I'll just take this time to pack and find some place to go. I'll talk to him when he comes in to get ready for work."

"Are you going to give up on your marriage that easily?" Karen asked.

"I don't know what else to do; I can't stay with him knowing how I feel about Lucas and how he feels about me. I've hung in there as long as I could thinking things would get better thinking that just because he loved me that one day I would feel for him what I've always felt for Lucas. I put it with a lot of things from him, but when he accused me of cheating, it was over. I made a mistake, and now I must deal with the consequences." Haley said.

Karen smiled, "Well, you can stay here if you like. Provided the two of you don't carry on sleeping in the same bed."

"Thank you." Haley said.

"That not sleeping in the same bed does not count on movie night does it?" Lucas said.

Karen rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.

Haley moved to get out of bed but Lucas grabbed her hand, "I've got to go back to the apartment and start packing, we've already missed three classes today. Will you go and get the notes from Mouth for me?"

"For which class?"

"History, English, Science, and the assignment from Math." Haley said.

"I'll get them. Hales, you know you don't have to do this alone." Lucas said.

"Yeah I do. I need to end things with Nathan and I have to tell him the truth, and I'd like him to just be angry with me and not with you. You two are finally beginning to act like brothers and I don't want you guys to ruin it on my account." Haley said.

"He's gonna be so pissed Haley, at both of us."

"We didn't do anything wrong. I'm going to try and get him to see that. Lucas you know I didn't mean for things to end up this way, I should never have gotten married. It was a stupid thing to do knowing how I feel about you. No matter how much I cared for Nathan, I just don't love him the way I love you." Haley said.

"Hales, it wouldn't have been right to for you to have waited around putting your life on hold while I come to my senses." Lucas said.

"I know." Haley said stroking his cheek, "but it would have been the one sure way no one would have gotten hurt."

"You would have." Lucas said taking her hand and kissing it.

"I'm not important." Haley said.

"You're important to me Haley." Lucas said.

She smiled and said, "I'll meet you later at the café okay?" she said.

"Alright." He said this time allowing her to go.

Haley left the house and walked back to the apartment, it was a good twenty minute walk but it gave her a chance to think. She could make it in ten, she was ready to move on ready to start over. She hadn't changed her mind about leaving Nathan, and she wasn't going to.

Finally she reached the apartment complex; she walked up that one flight of stairs to their apartment and unlocked the door using her key. She dropped her purse and jacket on the couch and continued through the small living room and into the bedroom.

Before she could even reach the open door, out of nowhere the tall shadowy figure of her husband loomed. She didn't remember it being so dark in their bedroom before.

"So you spent the night with Chris?" Nathan asked.

"No, crashed at Peyton's place." Haley lied easily.

"I guess you can't turn a whore into a housewife, I should have listened to my pops on that one." Nathan said taking sip of his bear.

Haley seethed with rage, "I am not a whore Nathan, I haven't cheated on you. At least not physically." She tried to side step him and get into the bedroom, but he pushed her up against the doorframe.

"I'm not stupid Haley! I know what you're doing with that Chris guy. I know about guys like that and I know about girls like you who can't resist guys like that." Nathan said.

"Let me go Nathan you're hurting me!" Haley said and Nathan only seemed to grip her arm tighter.

"Why should I? You surely don't care about hurting me." Nathan said.

"That's not true! I've done nothing but be a good woman to you, when everyone else thought you were this egotistical asshole I didn't."

He slapped her, she'd been steeling herself for it. Lately he'd always found some reason to hit her.

"Maybe I am an asshole." He said seizing her by the shoulders.

"Let me go Nathan!"

"Not until you tell me the truth." He tightened his grip and shook her hard.

"You're drunk."

Nathan laughed, "So what? You've been fucking Chris."

"I have not! You want to know the truth Nathan? I'm in love with Lucas I always have been." Haley said in an angry wail.

"Lucas! You've been with cheating on me with my own brother!" Nathan boomed throwing her back toward the living room.

Haley fell to her knees sobbing trying to scramble for the front door, "It wasn't like that Nathan and you know it."

"Oh really, Lucas can't make you feel the way I can Haley. No one can."

"You make me feel sick Nathan." She said.

He grabbed her by the hair and by her belt and spun her a bit before letting her go and causing her to fall backwards landing in the corner by the couch. She curled up hiding where he couldn't reach, he lunged for her a few times but left her alone and stumbled back toward the bedroom.

Not long after Haley left Karen came back into Lucas' room, "You are going after her aren't you? You know as well as I do that Nathan didn't go to school today and he's probably sitting at home still drunk waiting for her."

The thought had occurred to him, he got of bed tripping over his own shoes before finally putting them on.

"Let's go I'm driving." Karen said.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"You heard me I'm going too. I care about Haley; she's like the daughter that I never had to give birth to now go get in the car."

And thirty minutes later they arrived at Nathan and Haley's apartment. Lucas ran up the stairs with Karen on his heels. They could hear the noise that Haley and Nathan were making from the parking lot. There was an awful lot of yelling and a great deal of crying. Lucas knew it was only a matter of time before the police came.

He pushed open the unlocked door, to find Haley sitting in the corner curled up practically in the fetal position, she was sobbing loudly. Nathan was still ranting as he tore the place apart, throwing thing the living room was a wreck he didn't seem to notice or care that they had come in.

Lucas ran over to Haley, "Hales. What happened?" he asked.

She looked up at him and he finally saw that her lip was busted open and it was bleeding, her pretty face was further marred by a terrible black eye.

She didn't say anything she just carried on crying hysterically.

Lucas turned back to were Nathan was now throwing Haley's things out of the bedroom.

"You think you can just do that to me?" He said before coming face to face with Lucas.

"I suppose you're here to pick up the whore and take her to school," Nathan chuckled,

Something just snapped inside of Lucas, he tackled Nathan and proceeded to beat the living hell out of him. He was out of his mind.

"Luke, you're killing him!" his mother shrieked causing reality shift and come rushing back to Lucas.

Lucas didn't know he had beaten Nathan that badly, until Karen and Haley pulled him away.

"Hales." He said turning around.

"I'm okay Luke," Haley said new tears forming in her eyes.

"What?" Lucas asked, he took some deep breaths to calm himself; he didn't know why his heart was beating so fast or why his hands were so bloody.

"He's still alive." Karen reported.

"That's a good thing but we've got to go." Haley said.

"What happened?" he asked

"I don't know you were like a mad man, you beat Nathan to a pulp..." Karen explained.

He could hear the wail of the siren way off the day had been off to such a good start

"You don't remember what happened?" she asked.

"No…we came in and I saw you in the corner, did he do that to you?" Lucas asked as he started to fume with new rage he caressed the bruise on her cheek gently.

She nodded, "That's when you snapped Luke, I was sure you'd killed him."

"It makes me want to. He hurt you Hales, how long has he been hitting you?" he asked.

"He did sometimes when we were dating; this is the worst it's ever been though." She answered.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I was afraid that you'd do that." Haley said gesturing to the limp groaning barely conscious form of her husband lying on the floor.