A.N Very short Author's note because I am currently really annoyed at myself and my own stupidity. But just want to say a huge thank you to Jess who completely snapped me out of my writers block and most of the credit for this chapter should definitely go to her. Thanx so much Jess I owe you one. Thanx to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Hope you all enjoy this one.

I'm having another go at submitting this chapter as I have managed to majorly stuff things up last night so hopefully you will all be able to access the chapter correctly now and review if you so desire. Sorry about the mix up with it all. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Haley stood looking between the two men in disbelief. Turning to Dan she spoke quietly but clearly. "Get out." She said opening the door once more.

"Nice try honey," Dan said cockily "but you don't get to tell me to leave my son's house. If anything you're the one who should get the hell out. We're family; you're just the woman who destroyed my son's future."

Nathan looked at Dan everything inside of him was telling him to stand up to Dan and defend Haley, everything that is except for one tiny voice inside his head that actually agreed with Dan and what he was saying. Haley had destroyed his life when she left the first time and she had come damn close to doing it again but there was no way he was going to allow that to happen for a second time. This time he was in control.

"What are you doing here Dad?" he asked cautiously.

Dan shrugged nonchalantly "Like I said I'm here to see my grandson. So why don't you come down here and let me take a look at the little tyke?"

Nathan saw Haley flinch at the very idea of Dan going anywhere near Cory. The truth was he didn't much like the idea either but he was the child's grandfather after all. Surely he had some sort of right to see him if that's what he wanted. He walked down the stairs going to stand in between Dan and Haley. Dan peered at his grandson.

"Well there's no doubt you're a Scott is there?" he said proudly. "Let me hold him." He told Nathan.

Nathan looked at Haley and saw the silent pleading in her eyes. Reluctantly he placed Cory in Dan's outstretched arms. Smirking at Haley he told her "You can leave now my son and I can handle things from here."

"I'm not going anywhere," Haley responded "Brooke wanted me to care for her son and that's exactly what I'm going to do until she is well enough to do it herself."

"Hah you shouldn't be trusted with the care of a hamster let alone a child. God knows what Brooke was thinking when she chose you. I'm just glad I came back when I did. At least someone will be here to protect my grandson from the likes of you. I may not have had the foresight to be able to protect Nate from being hurt by you but I can guarantee I'm not about to let that happen to another Scott male."

Haley turned to him tears in her eyes but while some may have expected tears of self pity Nathan knew her well enough to see that her overwhelming emotion at that moment was anger. He wondered briefly if he should tell his father to duck and cover but then figured that he had brought it on himself so he should be forced to deal with the consequences. There was however no need for Cory to be subjected to the slanging match which he could almost guarantee was about to start. Moving towards his father he took Cory quietly from his arms and moved towards the stairs ready to take him away from what was sure to be the makings of world war three.

Dan watched as Nathan moved towards the stairs and couldn't resist having one last dig at Haley within his son's hearing. Nathan needed to hear everything that he was going to say if it was to have the desired result. "Well at least we can be grateful for one thing hey Nate. At least you never got her pregnant with your child. Aren't you glad that she won't ever be the mother of your offspring?"

Nathan paused mid step whirling around to face Dan. "What did you just say?" he asked quietly.

"Come on Son no need to act all coy. You heard what I said. Let's face it, its something our family should give thanks for every single day. The fact that you never procreated with this one." He said jerking his head in Haley's direction not even bothering to look at her.

Haley opened her mouth to speak but before the words could leave her lips Nathan burst into speech. "Just where the hell do you get off speaking about her that way? You know nothing about her or what sort of mother she would have made," Haley saw him blanch as he said this and knew he was thinking once more of Schapelle breathing deeply he continued "and will make in the future. So why don't you keep your God damned opinions to yourself because no one here is interested in hearing them."

"No need to get so worked up son." Dan said placatingly "I'm just telling it like I see it."

"Yeah well in case you didn't notice," Nathan continued "nobody asked for your opinion so in the future feel free to keep them to yourself. In fact if this is the way you're going to be, feel free to just stay away from us all together."

"I really don't know what you're getting yourself so worked up about Nate I'm only speaking the truth. If anything I would have thought you would have been glad to have someone else to see things from your side in this whole mess."

Haley walked to where Nathan stood gently taking Cory from his arms. He barely even noticed as he continued to glare at his father. "I don't remember saying just what my opinion on this whole thing was. It must be great to be you Dad. Some sort of Superman who can read everyone else's thoughts without having to be told. That's pretty impressive. What would be more impressive though is if you had any idea just what the hell you're talking about because at the moment it's pretty clear that you have don't have a clue."

"Oh really," Dan said "so I'm wrong in thinking that Haley left you all those years ago because she was pregnant with a child that she didn't know who the father was, a child that she actually considered aborting."

Nathan stared at him in shock hardly able to believe the words that were coming from his mouth. How the hell does he know about that? But the shocks were far from over as Dan opened his mouth to continue speaking.

"Just like I'm wrong in my assumption that she is once again pregnant with your child and once again tried to keep it a secret from you."

"That is none of your damned business," Nathan yelled clearly disturbed by the extent of his father's knowledge of what was occurring in his life at this point in time.

"On the contrary Nathan I would definitely say that this is my business. I am after all your father and grandfather to both of those children. So I'm afraid Nathan that there is no way you're going to get away from me that easily. And as for you…" he said turning menacingly towards Haley.

Nathan stepped in between them immediately. "Get the hell away from her," he yelled.

"A little melodramatic aren't you son? I just want to talk to Haley alone for a moment so why don't you go upstairs with Cory and just leave us be."

"As if," Nathan said gruffly. "There is no way in hell I'm going anywhere so you can forget about that right now."

Haley though had seen a flash of something in Dan's eyes. Something she wanted to explore further and she knew she could not do that with Nathan in the room. "Nathan its fine. Cory could probably use a bottle and a sleep anyway. Why don't you take him upstairs and I'll be up shortly?"

Nathan stared at her in disbelief. Surely she wasn't serious why the hell would she subject herself to this monster of a man voluntarily. He looked around the room trying to find some possible plausible excuse to remain behind. Finding nothing he walked to the kitchen where he found the bottle that Haley had already prepared. Haley walked in behind him for a moment.

"Here," she said holding out her hand for the bottle "I'll show you how to warm it up" Nathan passed the bottle to her and watched as she placed it in the warmer. He waited for her to speak and at least try to explain herself to him but she remained quiet. The seconds ticked by in silence until after what must have been the longest four minutes of Nathan's life the bottle reached the required temperature.

Handing him the bottle she turned to walk out of the kitchen. His voice halted her just as he reached the door. "Haley why are you doing this?"

She ignored his question however and instead continued walking. "Just call out if you need any help feeding him." She said as she walked away.

Nathan looked at Cory lying contentedly in his arms. "I don't know about you little guy but I am totally confused." Cory's tiny face screwed up as he began to make small mewing sounds. "I guess that means that you're hungry hey. Alright well then let's go feed you." Nathan walked back through the living room watching as Haley perched nervously on a chair as Dan poured himself a drink. They were obviously waiting for him to be gone before they began their conversation. That pissed him off. Whatever the hell the two of them had to talk about you could guarantee that it involved him somehow. So why the hell couldn't he stay and be part of it. He didn't know what Dan was planning now but he would almost lay money that it wouldn't be good.

Walking into the nursery to collect a bib he spotted the exact thing he needed at that moment picking it up he walked back to the head of the stairs placing it on the floor before walking into Haley's room. Picking up the baby monitor from where she had left it in the bathroom he couldn't help but smile. There was no way they were going to talk about him without him knowing about it.

Sitting down on the bed he placed the teat of the bottle into Cory's mouth and settled back to listen to what was taking place downstairs. For a moment the room was filled with only the static of the monitor as everything downstairs remained quiet but then he distinctly heard Haley's voice as she began to speak.

"What the hell did I ever do to you?" she asked fiercely, her anger clearly audible despite the calmness of her tone.

"Haley relax. I was just testing the waters a bit seeing exactly what the state of play was here and now I know."

"Know what?" she asked testily watching him as he walked around the room, lifting pictures from the mantle piece and examining them before placing them back down.

"I wanted to know if my son still has feelings for you and clearly he still does."

"What?" Haley sputtered "and just how do you arrive at that conclusion?"

For a moment he didn't answer as he stood watching her. "I always wished I could have done more for you Haley, after Schapelle I mean. I always regretted that I didn't find you sooner."

Nathan stared at the monitor sitting beside him in disbelief. His ears had to be playing tricks on him there was no way he could have possibly heard what he thought he did.

"You did more than enough Dan by doing as I asked and not telling Nathan where I was. I'll always be grateful to you for that. Besides I'd barely been in Vermont a week when I left this time and you had tracked me down. I still have no idea how you did that and I'm not sure I want to know."

"What I was saying before about him still loving you," Dan continued "well do you really think he could be as angry with someone else right now as he is with you and still defend them when someone starts to insult them? Insulting you like I did just bought all those feelings to the surface."

Haley looked at Dan with a new light in her eyes "Oh my God I never thought of it like that. Maybe you're right; maybe there is still some kind of hope for us and our baby. But I still can't believe you said what you did earlier about how Nathan should be grateful that we never had children."

Dan shrugged nonchalantly "yeah well I had to get a rise out of him somehow and when that didn't quite go the way I hoped well I decided it couldn't hurt to throw in your pregnancy now and what you did when you were pregnant with Schapelle. Luckily for me he was too angry to notice that I went from supposed ignorance of the fact that you were ever pregnant to knowing about both of them. I hope that wasn't too painful for you Haley having me say all that but at least now you know why I did."

Haley sat back as a wave of shock passed over her. It was surreal at the moment. Yes Dan had always seemed to find out where she was whenever she was away from Tree Hill and he had always been supportive of her relationship with Nathan when they were teenagers but she had always thought that he had ceased to support her after she had walked out on Nathan five years ago. The way that he was talking now though it seemed as if he was her number one ally in trying to put back together her relationship with Nathan.

Dan walked to where Haley was standing holding out his hand to her and pulling her to her feet when she took it. Leaning in he gave her a light kiss on her cheek. "I'm glad you're back honey," he placed a hand on her stomach "and I can't wait to meet my newest grandchild."

Neither one of them heard Nathan as he came down the stairs. It was only as he approached that they both turned to look at him. His face was a mask of pure rage but when he spoke it was with a calmness that belied just how angry he really was. "You know," he said tossing the baby monitor lightly up into the air before catching it again "these things are a brilliant invention. It's amazing just what they will pick up."

Haley glanced at Dan wondering what his reaction would be. She caught a look of surprise on his face which he quickly covered as Nathan turned to look at him.

"What are you talking about son?"

"Well you see," Nathan continued "I only needed to place this at the top of the stairs to hear every word the two of you just said."

Haley blanched as she realised just how much they had said not knowing that Nathan was listening from upstairs. Dan however retained his neutral expression giving away nothing of his churning thoughts to the naked eye.

Nathan turned to look at Haley, "How the hell could you do that? My own father knew what was going on and you still didn't think that I had a right to know. Not only that but you made him promise not to tell me. Where do you get off Haley treating me like this? What the hell did I ever do to deserve it?"

"Nathan it's not like that," she tried desperately to explain "I was never going to tell him anything. He found out on his own. He tracked me down."

Nathan threw his hands up into the air in a gesture of indifference. "You know what Haley I don't even care anymore. With you its just one deceit after another and personally I've had enough. If you want to stay to look after Cory then fine but don't expect us to be playing at being a happy little family because it's not going to happen."

Turning to Dan he continued "As for you well you can get the hell out and never come back as far as I'm concerned but I'm not sure your little protégé here will agree so at least do me a favour and have your little meetings away from the house. But know this, the two of you can plot all you like but it's not going to do you the least bit of good. We're through," he said gesturing to Haley "and as far as I'm concerned right now I don't have any parents. Don't let the door hit you on the way out," he said to Dan before turning and walking towards the stairs.

"Nathan wait," Haley cried "you don't understand."

"No Haley the problem is I understand all too well. What you don't get is that I just don't care anymore." With that he walked away leaving Dan and Haley staring after him in stunned disbelief.