A.N Well finally after such a long delay I can give you a new chapter...I hope that its worth the wait and I can tell you that I have began the next chapter and am hoping to have it up much sooner than this one...So review and tell me what you think and I'll do my best to get up a new chapter in the near future...

A Time Best Forgotten

Part One

Brothers In Arms

"I'm moving in, well at least temporarily anyway," Brooke's words echoed in Lucas' mind.

That had come as a surprise to say the very least. Taylor's face as she had digested the words had been one of pure horror but she hadn't argued the way Lucas had expected her to. Instead her face had changed to one of resignation as she obviously accepted the truth behind Brooke's words. After all Taylor herself had been the one who had said that she could no longer do this alone and as much as he hated to admit it Brooke had been right when she pointed out that there was no way that Haley would cope with a male presence in the house at the moment.

It had upset him to hear the two women so vehement in their decision that he should not move in. He was after all Haley's best friend in the world or at least he had been. Surely if anyone could help her then it was him but the more he thought about it the more he realised that everything they said was the truth.

So now for the second time since he had first heard the news of Haley's return he found himself making the drive to Fitzgerald St once again confronted with the unenviable task of confronting Nathan with news about Haley.

He had tried several times to call Nathan since that day at his house to get him to talk about the contents of those envelopes that Zach had found but had been unsuccessful. Nathan it seemed had not wanted to talk period. He could only hope that he would fare better confronting him face to face and would be able to get him to listen and maybe talk to him a bit. Lucas had seen Nathan far too many times in the past deal with his problems by cutting himself from everyone and he knew the damage that could be done. It was time for them to talk and Lucas didn't care what he had to do to achieve this goal.

He didn't hesitate with indecision this time when he pulled into the driveway of that house on Fitzgerald St. He got out of the car walking determinedly to the front door and pounding impatiently on the wood. Barely allowing time for a response he began to yell for him determined not to be ignored. The door opened and Nathan stood there more than a hint of irritation marring his features.

"What do you want Lucas?" he asked quietly.

"I need to talk to you," Lucas said without preamble, "I was just at Taylor's and I found out some things that I really think you need to know."

"Oh shit Luke do we really have to do this now, I really don't want to hear it."

"Well you know what Nathan I don't give a shit what you want or don't want to hear this is important and you are damn well going to listen to me."

Nathan sighed resignedly, he knew what Lucas was like in this mood and he knew that he was not going to be able to get rid of him easily. He stood back allowing Lucas to walk in ahead of him.

"Let me guess you want me to sit down," Nathan said sarcastically.

"Look Nate I really don't need the attitude but yeah you probably should sit down."

Nathan considered arguing; wanting to procrastinate as long as possible but knew that it would be a waste of breath whatever it was Lucas wanted to say he was going to say it and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He sat down and looked at him waiting for him to begin.

"Well lay it on me," he said with a grimace quelling the urge to put his hands over his ears.

"Taylor showed me something today," he said pausing to search for the right words to tell him what he had heard and read.

"Are you sure I need to know this," he said trying to lighten the moment.

"I saw a journal today that Haley wrote while she was married to Chris, it was pretty graphic."

"Yeah well I doubt it could have been much worse than that picture I saw," Nathan said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Wait here," Nathan said standing up and walking to the TV cabinet, he rummaged behind some DVD's before pulling out an envelope. Opening it up he pulled the photo and letter out holding them out to Lucas.

"Here knock yourself out," he said waiting for Lucas to take them before gesturing to the couch.

"But take it from someone who knows you might want to sit down."

Lucas looked down at the photo that had so obviously been torn up before being painstakingly put back together. Even the transparent tape holding together the tears did not detract from the horror depicted in front of him. He held the photo in his hands a moment more and physically blanched before turning his attention to the letter. He scanned it quickly before slowly reading it once more. After finishing it he leaned back bringing his hands up behind his head and exhaling loudly.

"Wow," he said lost for anything else to say.

Five minutes went by before he spoke again. "You never told me this. I never knew she came back. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know man, there was so much going on and after she left I just wanted to try and forget about it. I just couldn't talk about it Luke, besides you wouldn't have understood. The rest of you had no idea what it was like for me, having her just leave like that."

"Oh for fucks sake Nathan when are you going to get it through your head, you're not the only one who loves her. I love her too, she's my best friend and it hurt me like hell when she walked away. Don't you think it tears me up inside knowing that I wasn't there for her when she needed me?"

"That is so not the point Luke. You just don't get it she came back to me and I turned her away. I sent her away. Do you have any idea what it's like for me now, living with the knowledge of what I did? If I hadn't sent her away that night do you think she would have ended up married to that scumbag?" Without waiting for an answer he continued, "Of course she wouldn't. This is my fault Lucas."

"Nathan stop it, you didn't know what was going to happen. You couldn't."

"What is that supposed to make it ok? You don't even know the worst bit. Do you know that she tried to call me one night? I came home one night and there was a message from her on my answering machine. I heard how upset she was and I ignored it, I deleted it from the machine and I deleted it from my mind but it didn't matter how hard I tried I couldn't delete her from my heart. But you know what I made it through all those nights when I wanted nothing more than to have her back in my arms and I moved on. For the longest time Lucas my life was a living hell. I would see her up on the stage and it really seemed as if all her dreams had come true and it killed me knowing that leaving me behind seemed to be the thing that finally allowed her to be all that she wanted to be."

Lucas looked at his brother in shock, for so long the two of them had avoided the topic of Nathan's ex wife and now it seemed as if nothing could stop the torrent of words flowing from Nathan's mouth. Lucas had tried so many times after Haley had first left to get Nathan to talk to him and he never would. All this time he had kept every thought and every emotion about her bottled up inside and now that floodgate had been broken and there was no holding back anymore.

"I did this to her Luke, me, no-one else. I sentenced her to a life in hell and at the same time I signed my own death warrant. At least that's how it felt. The day I turned her away it felt like something died in me Luke. For the longest time I didn't know what that something was but I do now. I know that it was my hope, my belief in love and everything that it could bring me. I don't know if I can ever get that back Luke. It's just gone."

His voice broke and Lucas looked up in stunned silence as Nathan sat with his head buried in his hands. Lucas could see his shoulders shaking silently with suppressed emotion and was for a moment at a loss. He was so used to dealing with Nathan the big tough man; he didn't know what to do when he saw him like this. Tentatively he walked towards him placing a hand on his shoulder and speaking quietly.

"Nathan you can't blame yourself for this. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen." Despite his reassurances to his brother though Lucas was now questioning his own culpability. Shouldn't he as Haley's best friend have made more of an attempt to stay in touch to make sure everything was as it should be? Instead he had taken the easy way out used excuse after excuse to cut her out of his life. He had told himself that he was being loyal to his brother when in reality it had been nothing more than his own fear that Haley would reject him the way she had rejected so many others from her life in Tree Hill. He had seen the way Brooke was after she returned from New York after her one brief visit to Haley and he had heard from Taylor how she had not wanted to see her when she had gone to tell her the news of her pregnancy. So he had taken the cowards way out and allowed Haley to disappear from his life. Now he had to live with his own conscience and the regrets he faced on a daily basis.

As selfish as it might sound though it irked him that Nathan seemed to be the one that everyone had sympathised with when Haley left. While they had all rallied around Nathan trying to ensure that he didn't disappear into a quagmire of self pity no one had spared a thought for the best friend that Haley had left behind. No one had stopped to think about just how much he too had been hurting because as usual it was all about Nathan. He had spent the majority of his life paling into insignificance in comparison to Nathan and while he could understand to a certain extent why people had been so worried about Nathan when Haley left he couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't given him even the slightest amount of compassion for what he too was going through.

Looking at his brother hunched over in front of him though he was struck by only one thought. In all the time that Lucas had known him and in the short time that they had actually been close this was the first time he'd ever seen him cry. Even in his darkest days after Haley had left he'd never let his guard down like this at least not in front of anyone and now here he was sobbing uncontrollably.

Feeling at a loss he moved towards him reaching out an arm to put it around him shoulders in a consoling fashion. Nathan stiffened for a moment before accepting his brother's comfort.

"How could I let this happen to her," he said and that was all it took for Lucas' own tears to form.

"It's not your fault," he tried to tell him "we both let her down. It wasn't only you."

"I turned her away Luke and look what happened. If I'd only done what I wanted to and taken her back none of this would have happened."

Lucas gripped onto him tighter. "You had no way of knowing Nathan. You can't blame yourself."

"Well if I don't blame myself who do I blame Luke? No one else was there that night. No one else told her that there was nothing left for her in this town and she should go back where she came from."

"You should blame the same person that we all do Nathan. Blame Chris; hate on him all you want. He's the asshole; he's the one who did this to her, not me and sure as hell not you."

"Of course I blame him Luke, there isn't a day that goes by lately when I don't think about wrapping my hands around his scrawny little neck but the truth is he never could have done this if I didn't push her back to him. I fucking handed her to him on a silver platter and that is something I can't escape from no matter what I do."

"Nate I need you to come with me to Taylor's. We're going to find some way to help her but we need you to come too. She needs you Nate."

Nathan looked at him in shock. "I can't do that Luke. She doesn't want to see me and I can't even look at her at the moment without wanting to smash something."

"Nate I know this is hard on you. Hell it's hard on all of us. Do you think it doesn't kill me seeing the way Brooke looks at me as if I'm something she scraped off the bottom of her shoe? But I'm dealing with it Nate because at the moment nothing matters more than helping Haley anyway I can."

Nathan pushed back from Lucas going to stand on the other side of the room his gaze dropping to the floor.

"I didn't know Brooke was back," he said quietly.

"Yeah well she is and she sure as hell isn't happy about it and you can imagine the way Taylor feels about having her here but we're all putting that stuff aside the best we can because Haley is what matters here and only Haley. It wasn't that long ago Nate that you were the most important person in the world to her surely if anyone can help her than it has to be you. She barely speaks to any of us Nate but Taylor told me what happened after you saw her the other day and it seems no matter what happened in the past you can still reach her the way none of the rest of us can. You have to help us Nate."

Nathan looked up at him considering his words.

"But what if I can't help Luke, what if me being there only makes it worse?"

"We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it but you've seen her Nate do you really think things can get any worse?"

"I don't know but I'm not sure I'm prepared to take that chance."

"You have to Nate not only for her but for you too. Can you really tell me that a day has gone by since she left where you haven't lain awake thinking about her and dwelling on all the 'what ifs'? This is your chance to lay all those demons to rest and in the process help her too. Can you really turn your back on that?"

Nathan stared at him a million thoughts chasing across his mind but one thing was clear. What Lucas had said was the truth and it was time to confront his demons. It was the only hope he had of ever being able to lead a normal life again. Maybe helping Haley would be his salvation. He didn't know but it was time to find out.

Shrugging his shoulders he sighed. "I'll come," he said simply before turning away to grab his keys. Turning back to Luke he saw him still standing there in the exact same position. "Well what are we waiting for?" he asked walking towards the front door not bothering to turn back again to see if Lucas was following.

Lucas walked behind him hoping like hell that he had done the right thing. Bringing Nathan into this was a dangerous move and he could only hope he wasn't about to make things a hell of a lot worse.

They drove in near silence only the radio in the background breaking the overwhelming silence that existed between the brothers, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

As they turned onto the street where Taylor's house was Nathan inhaled sharply hardly able to believe what he was about to do. God only knew what lay in store for him inside that house and he could only hope that whatever it was he had the strength to deal with it.

Pulling up outside the house Lucas looked over at Nathan. "Are you ready for this?"

Nathan didn't look at him as he spoke. "As ready as I'll ever be," he said quietly but firmly.

Stepping up to the door Lucas raised his hand to ring the bell then paused as he heard the anguished voices from inside. Taylor was speaking loudly but incoherently, he could hear Zach crying loudly and Brooke yelling Haley's name. Looking at Nathan he opened the door running inside to the kitchen where he was confronted with what appeared to be pure chaos.

Haley was slumped on the floor crying, great wracking sobs shaking her thin frame. Brooke was holding onto her shoulder begging her to tell her what was wrong and Taylor was trying desperately to console her son, looking worriedly in Haley's direction.

Lucas moved into action immediately as Nathan hung back observing the scene in front of him trying to take it all in and make sense of it. The phone lay on the floor beside Haley off the hook, a chair tipped on its side beside her.

Squatting beside Taylor and his son he grasped Taylor's arm bringing her eyes to him. Relief flooded her face as she saw Luke. "Oh God Luke thank God you're here."

He picked Zach up off the floor trying his best to comfort the distraught child. "Hey buddy what's going on? What are all these tears for?"

Zach's arms wound tightly around his neck as he buried his face in his fathers shoulder. "Aunty Haley is crying Daddy and she broke the chair and Mommy and Brooke are scared," he said stating the simple truth as only a child can.

"It's ok buddy. I'll sort it out. Now why don't you get Mommy to take you upstairs and maybe read you a story huh? Wouldn't that be good?"

Zach nodded his tearstained face showing such relief at the idea of getting away from everything that was going on in his house.

"Luke I can't," Taylor said, "I have to…."

Lucas interrupted her. "Taylor you need to get him away from this. Once you've got him calmed down you can come back down but right now he needs you. I'll deal with this," he said doubtfully looking at the scene in front of him as he wondered what exactly it was he was about to deal with.

Taylor looked at her child in Lucas' arms and nodded. "Ok but if she needs me…."

"I'll get you straight away Tay. Don't worry I'm going to take care of this." Looking back at Nathan who still stood there staring at Haley on the floor he spoke again. "We'll deal with this."

Taylor looked over for the first time noticing the younger Scott man's presence in her home. "Lucas are you sure about this? She's really upset at the moment. Maybe this isn't the best time."

"This is exactly the right time Taylor now please just take Zach upstairs," he said passing the child to her. He leaned in for a moment kissing his son tenderly on the forehead. "It's all going to be ok buddy, I promise."

Zach looked at his father for a moment before nodding his faith in his father's ability to right all wrongs unshakeable. Taylor walked past him heading towards the stairs but not before stopping once more to look at her sister crumpled on the floor her sobs now the only sound in the room. "Haley I'll be right upstairs if you need me," she said uncertainty playing on her face as she wondered once again if she should be leaving her. The feel of Zach's arms tightening around her neck though was enough to push her into action and she once again walked towards the stairs.

Lucas looked again at Nathan wondering if he was ever going to move from his spot where he seemed to be frozen in place and for the first time since he had entered uncertainty shot through his body. Seeing Zach crying the way he was his paternal instincts had come to the fore and his first priority had been his child but now he wasn't sure what to do. Making a decision he walked to Brooke pulling her up to stand in front of him.

"Brooke you need to tell me what's going on here." But she appeared deaf to his words as her gaze remained steadfastly on Haley. "Brooke please you have to talk to me. What the hell happened?"

Finally she turned to look at him surprise registering on her face as she saw him. "I uh, I…." She paused once again looking to Haley.

"Brooke," Lucas said more forcefully shaking her arm trying to make her focus on him, "You need to tell me now." But still she could not formulate the words and looking at Haley's form on the floor Lucas found himself growing more desperate. He needed to do something now but he couldn't even begin to guess where to start if Brooke wouldn't tell him what the problem was. She was obviously in shock and he needed to break her out of it right now if he was going to help Haley. He shook her arm once more and when she still didn't answer he raised his hand bringing it to her face in a stinging slap. The sound of Haley's screams pierced the room as she saw Lucas shaking Brooke's arm. Lucas looked at her in shock feeling physically ill at the look of fear present in her eyes as she stared at him.

"No Hales, I wouldn't hurt Brooke, please don't tell me that you think I'm capable of that," he took a step towards her hoping to reassure her but Haley's screams only became louder.

"No," she sobbed "don't hurt me, please don't hurt me."

Looking at Haley he was unprepared for the fist that connected with his nose and he fell back in shock.

"Don't you ever hit me again," Brooke said firmly.

Lucas stopped unable to comprehend what was going on here. Haley actually believed him capable of hurting a woman and Brooke well she hadn't exactly helped matters surely she must have known that he was only trying to bring her out of the state she was in but all she had succeeded in doing was reinforcing Haley's belief that he was as capable of beating a woman as the next man. He needed to know more than ever what had occurred to upset Haley so badly before he and Nathan had arrived.

Turning to Brooke he spoke calmly but with an edge of steel to his voice. "Brooke I'm sorry for hitting you I was not trying to hurt you but you were in shock and I needed to get you out of it somehow. You know as well as I do that we're here to help Haley and I can't very well do that if you don't tell me what's wrong now can I. So are you going to tell me now or should I just guess."

"I don't know," she finally said brokenly. "There was a phone call for her. I think the man said he was from the sheriff's office and next thing I knew she was screaming. She dropped the phone and just sort of collapsed and she's been like this ever since."

Haley continued to cry, her sobs filling the room with their anguish and suddenly Nathan moved. Walking to her he picked her up from the floor, cradling her broken body against his chest for a moment before he walked quickly to the stairs taking her to her room. Haley it seemed didn't even register what was happening and Nathan felt an ache deep within his chest as her sobs continued unabated. Reaching her room he placed her on the bed noticing once again how fragile she now seemed. She'd always been small but seeing her now she no longer seemed to have that spirit within her that had always made her so alive. He stood there watching her, waiting for those god awful sobs to abate, not stopping to consider the driving need inside of him that had compelled him still to try and protect her from the world. All he could think about was the girl that he had married so long ago and wonder if he would ever see her again. Because no matter what anyone told him this was not the woman that she had once been. Something inside of her had broken and he wasn't sure that it could ever be repaired.

Meanwhile

Not so far away sat a man dressed in standard prison issue regarding the man who sat opposite him.

"So she's been called? She knows that they are going to try to take me to court, to throw me in jail?

The man opposite him nodded. "Yes Mr Keller she knows."

"So now I guess all we have to do is wait," Chris said confidently. "I know my wife and I know there is no way that she will let them do this. She knows that all I ever wanted was to make her happy. You're the lawyer tell me how is it a crime to love my wife and want to have a family with her. How can that possibly be a crime?"

The lawyer looked at him mentally licking his lips at the prospect of the case before him. This was his O.J Simpson, his Michael Jackson case. Sure Chris Keller hadn't exactly been doing so well lately in the music business but with the publicity sure to be surrounding the trial there was no doubt that they would all be thrust into the limelight once again and Chris Keller would be given his shot at a comeback. After all no matter what Chris had done lately he was the husband of Haley James and the woman was Pop Royalty. Hell the woman was right up there with Mariah Carey, she was the crème de la crème of the music industry at the moment and the press were just going to eat this up.

He was sure he could come up with some great little story about how badly she treated her poor husband. Ridiculing him about his failure to go anywhere with his career while she herself became the most popular artist of the noughties. How her constant barbs and criticisms just kept building up until one day the poor man had just snapped. Oh he could see it now. Barbara Walters would want to interview him and he would tell her the story of how he saved the poor innocent man from going to jail. This case was going to make his career. After this he would be able to pick and choose his clients. Only the best would want him. Not to mention the fact that he knew he was going to be a very rich man. Chris Keller had already promised him any amount of money to get him out of this place and for the numbers he was talking he was happy to oblige. Unfortunately though the judge hadn't seen it that way and had insisted on keeping him remanded into custody, though he probably shouldn't have expected any different from the woman. Only a woman could possibly keep a man locked up on such a flimsy excuse for a case before anyone had actually proved anything in court. He didn't care that the vast majority of the law fraternity referred to Judge Maggie Douglas as Brass Balls. When he thought of all of his colleagues who cowered to her he shuddered. God she was just like any woman always letting sentiment get in the way of the facts but for some reason he seemed to be the only one who realised that. Just goes to show that women should never have been allowed into the workforce and to add to the indignity his office had insisted on saddling him with some bimbo in a short skirt as his assistant in this case. Thank God he had managed to get down here today without her knowledge she was already making herself a royal pain in his ass, asking stupid questions about the guilt of Mr Keller. Who the hell cared if he was guilty or not? The sooner the bitch understood that, the better off they would all be. Turning back to his client Jeremy Brody smiled smugly.

"Don't you worry about a thing Mr Keller; we're going to have you out of here before you know it."

Chris sat back in his chair clearly pleased with the response he had received. "That's just what I needed to hear. I'll get out of this hell hole and Haley and I will put this all behind us. Did I tell you what I'm going to name our first son?