Chapter 6

"Do you think that she knows?" Nathan asked Lucas who in return looked back at him confused.

"Who knows what?" he asked.

"Haley. Do you think she knows that I sleep on the couch and that I have kind of been avoiding her this whole week?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. She has noticed that we all have been avoiding her and I know that because I've seen the hurt in her eyes. But I don't know if she knows that you sleep on the couch which I still can't believe you are actually doing."

"I feel really bad about it. I mean, she is the one whose going through something and we are not even there for her."

"I know. I feel the same way. Guilty."

"Yeah, but I still can't help feeling..."

"What?"

"Relived. That I don't have to go through what she's going through. And also, and I feel awful just thinking this, but I feel angry and disappointed."

"Why?"

"I don't know. It's like a part of me blames her for what happened."

"But it wasn't her fault."

"Not entirely anyway..."

She was going to talk to them. She had to. She was going to talk to them, right? She needed to find out if they could ever go back to the way they were before.

It had been a week since the accident and all of her friends had pulled away from her.

'I guess I could go and talk to them now' Haley thought to herself.

She knew that Lucas and Nathan were at Karen's and she could just call Brooke and Peyton and tell them to meet her there.

So that was exactly what she did, and they both agreed to meet her at Karen's in 20 minutes, even though Haley thought she sensed some hesitation in their voices. But she didn't care as long as she would get them there. She took her jacket and her keys and then left the apartment…

About 15 minutes later, Haley arrived at Karen's Café and saw that Nathan, Brooke, Lucas and Peyton waiting for her.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it." Haley greeted them.

"Hey!" they all greeted back, doing their best to look as confident as they could.

"So you mind telling us what we are doing here?" Brooke asked.

"I just wanted to nag out with my husband and my friends for a night, is that a crime?" she said and smiled at them but that smile quickly turned into a frown. "Okay, that was a lie...I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what is it?" Peyton asked concerned.

"Well, I..."

"Haley!"

Haley was surprised when she heard someone calling her name from behind her and when she turned around it was none other then...

"Harry!"

"Hey, little sis! Come over here and give your big brother a hug!"

Haley did as she was told and went up to hug Harry, one of her four older brothers.

"What are you doing here?" she asked surprised. She hadn't seen them since Christmas and her family didn't usually just drop by unannounced.

"Well..."

"Hales!"

The next thing Haley knew, all her family was coming through the door to the café. Her brothers Matt and Anthony, her sisters Taylor, Vivian and Quinn and of course her parents Lydia and Jimmy.

"Hi...! What...what are you all doing here?" Haley asked, now even more confused.

"We heard about the accident and we came to see if you were okay. Are you okay?" Lydia asked concerned for her daughter.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. At least as well as you can expect."

"Good. Oh, I missed you so much." Lydia said and pulled Haley in for a hug.

"I missed you guys too."

"Nathan, it's good to see you," Jimmy said, shaking Nathan's hand.

"You too Mr. James."

"Well, for us who haven't had the pleasure of meeting your husband and your friends, maybe you could introduce us Haley?" Matt suggested.

"Yeah, sure. Siblings, at least all except for Taylor who has already met them, this is my husband Nathan, my very close friends Brooke and Peyton, who are off limits by the way," Haley warned her brothers, "and you remember Lucas right?"

"Vaguely," the brothers said at the same time.

"We're just kidding," Tony said. "How could we forget you? Our little sister's best friend, which I really hope that's all it is..."

"Very funny," Lucas said.

"Anyway...Guys, this is Harrison, Tony, Matt, Quinn, Vivian and of course Taylor who you already know," Haley told Nathan and the others, pointing at each of them as she said their name.

"Hey, it's nice to meet all of you," Nathan said to all of Haley's siblings.

"It's very nice to meet you too," Quinn said. "Taylor was right, Haley, you got yourself a hot one."

"Don't I know it," Haley joked back.

"We got so much catching up to do. Nathan, you won't mind if we steal Hales for a little while, would you?"

"No, of course not."

"Good. Come on Haley," Quinn said and dragged Haley by the arm along with her other sisters.

"Wait! I just need to ask Haley something before you go," Nathan said.

Haley got herself free from Quinn's grip and walked over to Nathan.

"What is it Nathan?" she asked and looked him in the eye.

"I thought you wanted to talk about something with all of us."

"I did but we can talk about it later..."

"Why not now?"

"My family is here, I should be with them."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We can talk later."

"Okay. I'll see you later," Haley said and gave Nathan a kiss on the cheek. "Are you guys coming to?" Haley asked her brothers.

"Yeah..." was all they said and walked out of the café.

"Mom, dad?"

"No, I think we're just going to stay here and talk to Nathan and your friends for a while, and maybe Karen if she gets here," Lydia told Haley. "We'll meet up with you later."

"Okay. Bye guys!" Haley said to Nathan, her friends and her parents before she too walked out the door.

20 minutes later Haley and her siblings were at Nathan and Haley's apartment, catching up on all that had happened lately.

"So...how are you really doing?" Mat asked Haley.

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Come on Hales, don't lie to me."

"I'm not."

"You want to know a secret? I have always been able to tell when you are lying, actually we all have and you know why? It's because frankly, you're a terrible liar."

"I am not!" she protested.

"Yes, you are. Even if mom and dad can't see it, doesn't mean you can fool us. So tell us, honestly, how have you really been doing?"

"Honestly? It's been hard. Ever since the accident it feels like everyone has pulled away from me..."

"Everyone?"

"Nathan, Brooke, Peyton and even Lucas. The list goes on and on...At school it feels like I'm Americas most wanted."

"Is it really that bad?" Tony asked.

"It is. But before you got here I was actually going to talk to Nathan and the others about it."

"Huh...Well that's us, always showing up at a bad time." Harrison joked.

"Yep, that's you."

"Hey!"

"What? You said it not me."

"Fine. But when are you going to talk to them?"

"I don't know…Tomorrow maybe. After you guys have left...When are you leaving by the way?"

"What? You're kicking us out already?"

"Of course not."

"Actually, we are leaving tonight," Taylor told her.

"So soon?"

"Yeah...Some of us have to go back to college and I have a job to get back to."

"Really? So where are you working at this week?"

"Trust me. You don't wanna know."

"You're right, I really don't."

Meanwhile, as the brothers and sisters kept on talking for hours, Haley's parents were still at the café talking to Nathan and the others...

"So how's my daughter? Really?" Jimmy asked.

"I think that she's doing better now," Nathan told him. "She's been doing her community service and I think she's beginning to get passed it. The accident I mean. She still feels guilty but I don't think that's going to go away anytime soon."

"Probably not...But she is very lucky to have friends like you. Being there every step of the way like I'm sure you are. It means a lot to her, you know?"

"Yeah..." 'Great, now she's making me feel even guiltier for not being there for Haley like I should've been,' Nathan thought.

"Lucas. You seem awfully quiet tonight," Lydia said.

"I guess I just have a lot on my mind…"

"That's understandable. You and Haley have always been inseparable. If one of you is hurting, the other one is hurting too."

"Yeah…" 'I wonder if anyone would miss me if I jumped off the roof. At least I wouldn't feel guilty about anything,' Lucas thought to himself.

"Brooke. You and Haley seem to have gotten very close. Haley told me that she lived with you for a while earlier this year."

"Yeah she did. Actually it was more like I lived with her since it was her old apartment. But we got close. Like sisters…" 'Could this be any worse? I wonder if the mall is still open so I can get out of here,' Brooke thought.

"Good. And Peyton, the same thing goes for you too."

"Great…" But Peyton's thoughts were a little bit simpler than the others. 'Please, God help me.'

A few hours later it was time for the James family to leave.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much!" Haley told her family, close to tears.

"We are going to miss you too Haley-Bub," Jimmy said and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to be with you and mom while you were here..."

"That's okay. It was good actually. This way you got to spend more time with your brothers and sisters. We get to see you more often than they do anyway so it was good."

"I'm still going to miss you. All of you," Haley said, turning to her siblings.

"Don't worry, little sis. You haven't seen the last of us. Besides, there are always phones and planes so we can talk and see each other whenever we want," Tony said reassuringly. "But right now I would like to exchange a few words with your husband over there," he said turning to Nathan.

"Okay...?" was all Nathan said.

Tony and the rest of the brothers took Nathan a little farther away from Haley.

"So we are just going to get straight to the point here," Harrison said.

"Should I be scared?"

"Nah, we just felt that since you are married to our baby sister, we think that we should say something."

"Okay...?" Nathan said, urging him to continue.

"Let's just say that we had a talk with Haley and if you hurt her in any way we are going to have to hurt you. Badly. Capiche?"

"Sure."

"Okay then. Then we hope that you have a wonderful life with our little sister."

"I hope so too."

"Good." Harrison said and patted Nathan on the back.

"Is everything okay?" Haley asked when Nathan and her brothers came towards her.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Matt answered. "Right Nate?"

"Right."

"Okay…?"

"Goodbye sis," Matt said and hugged Haley tight.

"Bye, Matt! Good luck in college and I better see you soon again!"

"You will," was all Matt said.

"Next time you should come to New York and come see my new apartment," Vivian said.

Haley laughed. "I'm going to miss you too, Viv," Haley said and gave her a hug.

"So I guess it's me now," Tony said.

"I guess..."

"I'm really going to miss you, sis."

"I'll miss you too, bro. Call me, okay?"

"You'll be the first one on my list," he reassured her and then went to join her other siblings.

"Our turn!" Taylor called out, grabbing Harrison in the process. "I'm going to miss you, Hales."

"We both will." Harrison added.

"Yeah, I can tell by all the phones calls I've been getting."

"Hey, the phone works both ways, you know?"

"I know but there is one problem with that statement. How am I supposed to call you when I don't know where you are half the time?"

"Well, that's for you to figure out and when you do, you can call us!" Taylor said.

"I will do my best."

"You know that everything is gonna be fine, right?" Harrison asked seriously.

"I know. I just wish it could be sooner rather than later." The three of them hugged.

"Now, on a more serious note, remember to call me if any of them misbehaves or if they aren't there for you after you've talked to them, all right? 'Cause I'll come and kick their asses."

"And remember to be careful and don't do anything that I wouldn't do!" Taylor added.

Haley laughed. "And that leaves what exactly?"

"Hm…Good point!"

"Bye, guys! Don't be strangers! That goes for all of you!" Haley said to her family.

After everyone had said their goodbyes, Haley's family left leaving Haley feeling alone again. 'I will talk to them tomorrow,' she decided.

Haley and the other left the café after a little while and went back to their own homes, everyone feeling too weird to say anything.

'Tomorrow…'