Chapter 3

"Where the hell are they?" Nathan said out loud, impatient. He had been waiting at the police station for 10 minutes now, along with his brother Lucas who was also Haley's best friend, and their friends Brooke and Peyton. Nathan was getting worried. He had talked to Haley a half an hour ago and she still wasn't here. And it's not like Tree Hill was a very big place. But maybe he shouldn't be so surprised considering that he probably broke a few speeding rules trying to get there. Scratch that, try every rule there was. And it wasn't even his own car he had used.

"She'll be here soon," Lucas said, trying to calm his little brother.

That was Lucas, always trying to be the rational one, even when he was a complete wreck on the inside.

"I just can't believe it," was all Nathan could say, sitting down.

"None of us can."

"30 minutes."

"What?"

"30 minutes ago we were at the party, having a good time and look at us now. We are waiting for Haley to come down to the police station because she killed a man. How twisted is that?"

"It's going to be okay Nate," Brooke soothed.

"How can it?"

"It just is."

Nathan turned to look at the door so he could see the exact moment Haley walked in and about a minute later there she was, followed by two police officers.

"Haley!" Nathan exclaimed and ran over to his wife with the others not far behind.

"Nathan! I'm so glad you came!" Haley said and ran right into her husband's waiting arms. She never wanted to let go but when she saw the others, she went to hug them to.

"How are you feeling?" Peyton asked.

"I've been better..."

"I am so sorry..." Lucas said, holding his best friend in his arms.

"It's not your fault Luke. It just happened."

"Well, it shouldn't have."

"You're right. It shouldn't have but it did so if you want to blame someone then you should blame me."

"That's not what I said."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it."

"We should really go now. The chief wants to talk to you," inspector Theroux said from behind her.

"Okay. You'll be here when I get back?" she asked and turned to Nathan.

"Of course I will," he reassured her and gave her a kiss.

"Let's go," the inspector said and showed Haley the way to a interrogation room where she sat herself down in one of the chairs and waited for the "chief" to get there.

Meanwhile, the others sat outside the interrogation room, waiting for the interrogation to be over. Nathan noticed that the inspector from earlier come out from one of the rooms so he got up from his chair and went up to ask him the one question he had wanted to ask for a while now.

"Is Haley going to be arrested?" he questioned, getting straight to the point.

"And you are?" inspector Theroux asked without bothering to look up.

"I'm her husband," Nathan answered annoyed.

The inspector looked up and met his gaze. "Of course. Well...I can honestly say that I don't know right now. I doubt that if the accident really was an accident then I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about."

"If? My wife is not a killer."

"Well, if that's the case then she is probably not going to be arrested but there might be a trial."

"A trial?

"Yeah. The family of the man that was killed could sue or they might try and get Haley arrested."

"This is just a nightmare..." Nathan said, looking down at the floor.

"I'm sure that everything is going to be fine, son. Listen, I need to do some paperwork but if you need anything then don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

"Sure. Thanks."

The inspector walked away to his desk and Nathan went to the other direction and sat down on his chair. Again.

"So after you hit him with your car, what did you do next?" the chief of police Patrick Johanssen asked.

"I was unconscious for a few minutes but when I woke up, I opened the car door and went to check on him and when I saw that he wasn't moving I called an ambulance." Haley explained.

"What happened then?"

"The lady I talked to asked me if I could do CPR and I told her that I could since I had taken a class. So I just put the phone down and I did it. The man he...he woke up for a while but he knew that the ambulance wouldn't get there in time so he told me to tell his family something."

"Something?"

"He, um, died before he had the chance to say what he wanted to say."

"Okay. Is there anything else you can tell us about what happened?

"I don't think so. Can I just ask who the man was? That I hit?"

"I don't know if that's a very good idea..."

"Please...?"she begged.

The chief sighed. "His name was Peter Black. He was 42 years old and had a wife and two kids.

"Great..." Haley said, feeling even worse now if that was even possible.

"We recently found out that he was on some kind of medication, so he probably didn't even think twice before he stepped out on the street, which means that what happened is not entirely your fault," he told her.

"But it is! I was the one who decided to drive even though I had been drinking. I was the one who kept driving even though I knew it was a red light and I was the one who hit him with my car so he died. So if you want to blame anyone then blame me and not the man who just lost his life!" Haley yelled.

"Okay, just calm down. As far as we know, what happened was only an accident and we can't hold you for that so you are free to go. For now."

"You're letting me go?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes. I'm going to go call the family now and let them know what happened. I suggest that you go back to your place and get some rest. You have to stay in Tree Hill so you can't take any trips anywhere."

"Don't worry. That won't be a problem..."

"Good. I call you tomorrow and we'll see where we go from there," he said, getting up and opened the door so she could step out.

"Do you think that the family is gonna go to court?" she asked before she left.

"I don't know. Off you go," he said, ushering her to go.

With that Haley walked out of the room and went to the direction of Nathan and her friends.

"Haley!" they all said, getting up at the same time when they saw her walking towards them.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked her even more worried than before.

"Sure..." she said, giving them the most reassuring smile she could muster. 'I might as well tell them what they want to hear,' she thought. "I am free to go for now so can we just go home?" Haley asked Nathan.

"Yeah...let's go," he said without asking anymore questions, since he didn't want to upset her even more than she already was.

They all walked outside to the car and when they all were in there seats they took a quiet ride home. Besides, what was there to say? They all knew that life as they knew it was officially over.