Lucas had made it to the only place that he could think of at the moment, his brother's house. And when he said brother's house, it was also the home owned by his own birth father. Nathan -- more then Lucas even -- never wanted to be like Dan, nevertheless at the present time, Nathan was more like Dan then anyone would have ever have imagined. Dan hurt the women in his life that he claimed to love, and Nathan was doing the same thing with Haley. When Dan heard that Haley was back in Tree Hill, he happened to be the first person to see her. Lucas remembered that night vividly, it was the first time that he had seen his best friend so weak and in so much pain. And it was the first time that he couldn't do anything about it.

Haley had just gotten off of the bus; she was finally back in Tree Hill, ready for things to go back to some normalcy. Not that many people knew that she was coming back; in fact the only person that she told was Lucas, who then told Karen. Lucas had offered to pick her up at the bus stop, but she told him that there was something that she needed to do first, and she needed to do it alone. She made it to Nathan's house, since she left him, he had moved back in with his father. Haley rang the door bell, and the worst possible thing that could happen, happened. Dan answered the door, "I didn't know that they came to the door now."

Haley's whole world crumbled slightly, but she could not falter, she still had to get through a conversation with Nathan about where they stood, "Mr. Scott, this is none of your business, but the only person that I have ever made love to was your son, and we were married. We still are."

"Are you so sure about that? When is the last time that you spoke with your husband, Haley?"

"He hasn't been responding to my messages. But I am here now, and that is all that matters. I did not come here to talk to you; I want to see my husband."

"I am not quite sure that he wants to see you. Did you not get the hint when he did not return your calls? That means that he doesn't love you anymore, he doesn't want to have anything to do with you."

"That isn't true. I know he was upset that I left."

"Upset? He was devastated, you broke his heart. And I can honestly not tell you why he cared so much that you were gone; he just got his freedom back."

Haley cut him off, "I do not know what you are implying Mr. Scott."

"Who gets married at 17 and thinks that the love and marriage is going to last forever. You were way to naïve. My son is a basketball star; there is no room for a wife in his future. I think that it would just be better if you left."

"No, I came to see Nathan. Nathan, you know my husband. We did not get married as a joke and spit the scarcity of marriage in the face. We got married with the intention that we would be together forever."

"Nothing lasts forever, Haley. Your marriage with my son is over, he no longer loves you, he has moved on."

If Haley was not in the presence of Dan Scott she would have crumbled to ground with his words and get in a ball and sobbed. Nevertheless, Dan Scott was the most evil man that she had come across, and as much as he tried to hurt her with her words, she knew that he was not always truthful. "I want Nathan to tell me that, and then I will leave."

"What do you not understand little girl? Nathan never really loved you."

"You are lying. He recited vows to me telling me that we would be together even if the beach was to wash away, and that is not something that you just say to someone that you supposedly love. It takes a long time for a beach to wash Mr. Scott."

"Oh is that true? What did you tell him then?"

"I told him that I would love him forever, and I meant it. I never stopped loving him, vows are vows and I have no intention of breaking them."

"Did you vow to never leave him as well? Or did you vow to go run off on tour with a sleaze ball and have sex with a man that is not your husband?"

"I never had sex with Chris Keller, and that is no way your business. I want to see Nathan, and if you do not get him, I will get him myself."

"Wait a second; I need to look after my son here. He marries you claiming that he loves you, you the same, and then only a few months into the marriage you go off on tour with out him for two months. Then you think that you can come back after all that time has passed, and things just go back to normal? Have you no heart at all?"

Though she was trying to be strong, the words that this man was saying in front of her were tearing her heart into pieces, "He told me to leave," with each word her world crumbled, and Dan Scott, being the man he was took advantage of her pain.

"Oh is Haley going to cry now? Can you not take the truth?"

"You are not worth my tears; now let me in so I can talk to Nathan."

"He is not in here."

"You have got to be kidding me, you berate me this entire time and Nathan is not even here. This was a waste of time, you were right, I should have never had come here thinking that things would just go back to normal."

"So you are admitting that it was all a mistake? Our whole entire relationship wasn't worth it?" Nathan said from behind her, "Then what the hell are you doing here? Because you left me Haley, I never told you to get on that bus, I never made you leave. That was all your doing, you walked away from me, you walked away from us."

Haley couldn't believe it, Nathan was standing right behind her, she turned around as he spoke and tried to not let the words that he was speaking get to her, because she was going to defend herself, but with each word he spoke, she became weaker.

"I do not even know if you are back in Tree Hill for good or just another gig. And to tell you the truth right now, I hope it is the latter," she was completely crushed. "And I hope that you did not come here thinking that I would just let you back into my arms, because you sure as hell was mistaken. When you got on that bus, you did not only leave me, your husband, you left any chance of reconciliation."

This was the first time that she spoke, and it was hard to even form words, she looked into his eyes, and they were not the same eyes that she would stare into as they lay in bed together, they were full on anger, and it really scared her. "I love you," she fought inside to figure out what to say to him, anything, anything at all to respond to what he had just told her, but those three words were the only thing that came to her mouth.

"Well then there is one of us."

Haley broke down, there in front of the two Scotts, how could he possibly make her feel so much pain? If he had ever loved her at all, he would have never had done this to her, it hurt to even speak, but she did anyways, pain was all she felt, "Are you saying that we are through? That you don't love me anymore?" tears spilt down her cheeks, pained that she just asked those two questions.

"I don't know Haley. I just don't know. You have been gone for two months, two months. And though I never stopped loving you, I do not know if I can tell you right now that I feel the same about you as the day that we got married. And as to us, I don't know either. I am just going to need some time, time to get over the pain that you caused me. If you are willing to give me that time, then maybe there is still a chance for us. But I wouldn't hold your breath."

"And you thought I was lying, naïve girl," Dan Scott had the nerve to hit her while she was down. "He doesn't love you, move on, there has got to be someone out there that wants to be with someone who breaks their heart. Just you wait and find them."

"Dad," Haley actually thought that he was going to defend her, or tell Dan to stop, but he did nothing of that sorts, "I am sorry that I didn't listen to you."

I am sorry that I didn't listen to you. Did he really just say that? And to what extent was he talking about? With tears running down her cheeks, with no intention of wiping them away, she spoke, "You were right, I was naïve. I was naïve to think that my husband that said the most beautiful vows to me would follow through. I was naïve to think that 'always and forever' was in fact that long. Maybe I was just naïve enough to think that you loved me as much as I loved you. But then again I was too naïve to know the difference." With that she walked past Nathan, she walked past the only one that she had loved so much that it hurt, she walked past the one person that had ever made her cry, and she walked past the one she loved the most.

Haley was distraught; she didn't know what to do now. Her parents were half way across the country, she had no place to stay, it was late at night and it was beginning to rain. She picked up the phone and dialed the number of the only person that she had left to count on. And though she tried to stop the tears, they continuously flew as Lucas answered his phone, "Hales? Is that you?"

"Can you come pick me up? I have no place else to go."

"Haley, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Luke, can you please come get me, I don't want to be alone anymore."

"Yeah, yeah, where are you Hales? I will be right there."

"Umm…I am in front of your mom's café. Please come get me."

"I will be right there, be careful Hales, it is getting dark and it is unsafe."

What he didn't know was that it wasn't the world that was unsafe it was the people inside of it struggling each day. Haley just stood there as the rain came pouring down, it was as if she had never felt it touch her face. She was drenched when Lucas made it in front of his mother's café. He was shocked to see Haley just standing there in the rain, she looked so lost. Lucas quickly got out of the truck and ran towards her, his first intention was to get her out of the rain into his truck, but when he saw her, he completely embraced her, and she fell apart. He hadn't seen her in two months, but he was still her best friend, and it hurt him to see her like this, especially the first time he had seen her in a long time. Haley was sobbing so hard that Lucas thought that she was going to break. He lifted her up and opened the café door and placed her down on one of the sofas. Lucas went into the back and got some towels and brought them back to his shivering friend. He wrapped her up in one of them and just held her tight, he held her as if he was never going to see her again, and he held her as he was never going to let her go. She never said good-bye to him, and as it hurt Nathan, it hurt Lucas as well, he felt like he lost his best friend. But he got over it easier then Nathan did, and still loved Haley for the person that she was, even if she struggled to determine that.

After what seemed like hours, Haley spoke for the first time, "He doesn't love me anymore Lucas. Nathan does not love me."

Lucas did not know where all of this was coming from, so he asked her, "Hales, Hales, why are you saying this? Where is this all coming from?"

He watched as his best friend looked up into his eyes, almost telling him that it was too hard to even form words right now, that the reason that it was true was because Nathan had said it to her face. He looked back into her eyes and he held her tighter as he brushed away her tears. After what seemed like a century was only 10 minutes, Haley finally told Lucas of what had happened, from how Dan basically insinuated that she was prostitute to Nathan telling her that any chance of reconciliation was slim. "That bastard."

"Which one," she had to ask him, because honestly as much as she loved Nathan with everything that her heart had to offer, he hurt her worst then anyone had ever done. And she did not know how to react to that.

"Dan is a bastard, which is a known fact, but Nathan, for him to not even falter as he hurts you with his words, I do not even know what to say to that."

"But I deserved this Lucas, I left him, it hurts that he doesn't love me anymore, but there is no reason that he should after what I did to him."

"What you did to him? Haley, you left him to pursue your dreams, and for him not to recognize that, for him to not support you, he is not being the husband that he needs to be to you. He needs to support you in all of your dreams and passions."

"I left him Luke, that is all that he sees."

"He should see how happy you are when you are on that stage, he should see the talent that you possess, and he should be happy with it."

"I am not happy with out him in my life, and if that means that he is not in my life as a singer, then I am not happy as a singer."

"No Haley, you love to sing, it is your passion. You should not have to give up anything to be with the one that you love."

"All I love is him, Luke. And all I want is for him to love me back. But right now it hurts too much to do anything. I do not know how I am going to make it through a day, it is too hard to go to sleep knowing that I was the cause of him stop loving me."

"Haley, he cannot just shut off his love for you, please, you have got to know that he loves you, he is never going to stop. And as much as it is hard for you to believe it right now, he is going to come around and love you even more."

"He told me not to waste my breath waiting for him, how can I go on knowing that he does not believe in reconciliation?"

"You have to go on Hales, you have to, and you have to for me. I would be lost with out you and I love you too much for you to ever leave."

"I am sorry that I hurt you when I left. Nathan made me choose and the way he was going at it was that he didn't want to be with me anymore, that he did not love me, so I ran, I ran away from coming to realization that I hurt him. That is why I did not say goodbye, I was on a whim, the bus was leaving, and there was nothing else that I had time left to do. But I called him Lucas, I called him everyday for the first month, I sent him emails telling him how the tour was going and that I have never loved anyone more then I loved him. He never responded to one email, to one phone call. He never responded to me."

Before Lucas had a chance to even speak, he had to turn his head because he heard the bells on the door ring, he looked and saw his mom, "I say the light on, and I got concerned," she walked over to the couch and it was not until then that she saw a tiny, broken Haley in Lucas' arms. She bent down, "Oh no, Haley, sweetheart, what happened?"

Haley looked into the eyes of the one of the most caring persons in the world, and broke down again, there was nothing left for her to do, but let the pain that she was still feeling flow out once more. Lucas let up his grip on her and allowed Haley to go into Karen's arms. Karen held her as a mother would; rubbing her back, soothing her, telling her that is was going to be okay. Karen looked up into her son's eyes, and she saw a tear about to fall. He wanted to be strong, he did not want to let the tear fall. But it hurt Lucas too much to see his friend in this state, and there was nothing that he could even do to make the pain go away, so he left the tear fall. He let it fall for her.

That was two months ago, two months and his best friend was still struggling each day. He had faith in his brother that he would not allow his best friend to hurt this much, but he was wrong. It hurt Haley to wake up each morning because as much as it could be the day that Nathan turned around, she knew that it was more likely for it to just be like all the rest, alone. Lucas knocked on the door, he hated this house, he hated the people in it, but what he hated the most was that he was unavoidably one of them.

Lucas was relieved when Nathan answered the door, rather then his own father. Nathan and Lucas had been really close at one point, but at the present time it is just as amicable as possible. Today though Nathan was not Lucas's brother, Nathan was the guy that was stepping over his best friend's heart. Today, Nathan was Lucas's enemy. "Lucas, what are you doing here?"

"We need to talk Nate, and this is important."

"What do we possibly need to talk about, Luke?"

"Can I come in; this might be a long talk."

"What happens if I do not have time for a long talk?"

"You are going to make time."

"What is so important?"

"Do I really even need to tell you man? The sad thing is that I think that I do, you remember someone, yeah her name is Haley. Haley James, your wife. Do you remember her? She is that important."

"I do not have time for this right now Luke. I am meeting someone."

"Well I am sorry but right now the only thing that matters is that my best friend, your wife, wakes up every single morning with tears in her eyes. And the only reason she makes it out of bed at all is for the slight glimmer of hope that she has that today will be the day that you love her again. She doesn't think that you love her anymore. How can you live knowing that Haley can barely make it out of bed each morning to face the day?"

"Lucas, this is not your place, you need to just stay out of it."

"Oh, I have. I have for two months straight. But she cannot hurt anymore, she is just too fragile. And I am afraid if I don't do something then she is going to break. And there might not be anything that I am going to be able to do, but I am not stopping until there are no more options left. She means way too much to me to see her in pain each day. I just thought that maybe you would feel the same way. But I was wrong."

"She hurt me, she left me all alone."

"To pursue her dream, man. She wanted to pursue her dream, how dare you say that she left you all alone. It was not like she left you to be with someone else, and now she wants you back. You know that is not what happened. She left to pursue something that she loved almost as much as she loved you. You are selfish not to support her; you are selfish not to be there for her. You are selfish not to love her as much as she loves you."

"I never stopped loving her."

"Really? Because you sure have a hell of a way to show her. Haley does not know that, she wakes up thinking that you have, she wakes up alone."

"It is just too hard right now."

"Right now? It has been two months. And to tell you the truth, I have seen Haley and I have seen you, there is no way in hell that she hurt you as much as you have hurt her. I understand she left you and went on tour for two months, but it was not like she did not try to talk to you. She has been back for two months and you have yet to say anything to her other then that first night. Those words are permanently embedded in her head, there is not one moment in the day that she does not think that she hurt you and that you do not love her anymore for it."

"I still love her."

"Well she doesn't know that, maybe you should do a better job of showing that. Support her, why don't you? Let her know that you love her, so that maybe, just maybe she wakes up and there are not tears in her eyes because you are not there."

"I need time."

"You are selfish, you need time? Time is what has put you where you are at; time is not your friend. Time is your enemy, and if you don't watch out time is going to the end of any chance that you and Haley have at getting back together."

"Does she really wake up each morning with tears in her eyes?"

"I cannot believe that you even have to ask. Nathan, she loves you, she loves you more then anyone in this world. And you are not there with her right now; I would be surprised if she woke up with out them."

"I do not want her to be upset over this."

"Are you kidding me? Do you hear the words that are coming out of your mouth? Just because you want something to happen, does not mean that it is just going to magically work out. She is more then upset, she is devastated, and she is in pain. And the only person left to help her out is you. As much as I hate saying that it is true. I am her best friend and I cannot even help her out of this depression that she is in."

"I do not know what to tell you right now."

"You don't have to tell me anything. Haley is opening for Jimmy Eat World tonight at Tric, maybe you can be there for her. I really do not think that is much to ask. But then again, I have been wrong about a lot of things concerning you. The main one was me believing that my brother would never hurt my best friend."


hey dudes, i am going to be out of town until the 15th. i was wondering if you all liked this story. i have it completed already, it is quite long, and i promise you it goes some where. this is the first time i have let anyone else see my story, i just wanted to know how you all felt, and if you wanted me to continue to share my story. peace out dudes.