AN: Thanks for the replies: chelle2911, TREEHILLADMIRER, OTHlover04, Nathanlvr, and JmQt831. I cannot thank you guys enough for the wonderful replies, I'm always so happy to receive them!

Chapter 16

Nathan and Haley listened to the whole concert up on the roof in each others arms, occasionally singing along or bobbing their heads to the beat. They didn't speak much, and they didn't need to, after saying those three little words, it didn't seem like there was anything left to say.

When the concert was over, the gathered all their things and headed for the door to the stairs.

"Alright, here's the thing, we have to make sure no guards see us down the stairs, but once we're down there, we'll just blend in with the crowd and it'll be fine." Nathan said.

"Ok," Haley responded. "That shouldn't be so hard."

"Think again," Someone said, not Haley, not Nathan. So who was it? It was a deep voice coming from behind them, where the door was. They turned around to see two police men in the doorway, their only Exit. "Are you aware," The same police man continued, "That it is against federal law to go to a concert without actually having tickets. Coming here, and sitting on the roof of a building that you do not own is also against the law."

"Listen sir, if I can explain..." Nathan started and the man nodded. "Me and my girlfriend, we... we've kind of been having a rough time, we both love this band and we just wanted to enjoy their music, since we were unable to get tickets to the show. It was my idea to come up here, not hers. We didn't mean any harm, I just figured that it wouldn't make much of a difference. We would just come up here, listen to the concert, then leave, no harm done."

"Nathan Scott, right?" Nathan nodded, confused at how he would know his name. "Mr. Scott, when we got a call saying that you were here doing this, we were surprised. Since you are still on parole, we are forced to take you down to the station." He said, he looked sympathetic towards him, but he wasn't doing anything to prove it.

"What? That's a little out of line, don't you think, sir?" Haley asked. Not again, she couldn't stand this again. It's not like Nathan had the money to pay whatever fine they were going to charge him, and now that Haley wasn't associated with her parents, she didn't have the money either.

"I'm sorry, but those are the rules. Miss," He said addressing Haley, "You can go with just a warning, but we need to take Mr. Scott."

"But-" Haley tried again, but Nathan interrupted her.

"Hales, it's OK. I'm so sorry for this mess, we'll figure it out, I promise." Nathan said as he let the two police men grab him by the arm harshly.

"I'm going with you." Haley said to Nathan, and then turned to the police men, "At least let me follow you in his car." She said. The two men nodded, and Nathan was able to get his keys out of his pocket and hand them to Haley. "OK," Haley said, trying to sound confident, but inside she was breaking, "so I'll see you there. Hang in there," She said softly to Nathan, reassuringly. She figured, he would have probably said that to her, but come on, he was the one getting arrested, again, he was the one who needed the reassuring.

xXxXxXx

Nathan was glad that Haley wasn't upset with him. It was his fault that they had come up there, he just figured the fact that it wasn't exactly allowed would make that more romantic. Something like that. But he had to admit, it was stupid thing to do when he was still on parole.

As he walked down the stairs with the two men pulling him along, he couldn't even find himself strong enough to look behind him, into those loving brown eyes that were helping him get through this. He figured maybe she was ashamed of him now.

But there was one weird thing on Nathan's mind: Who had seen them? And plus, who would see them and then call the police? I mean, that's going a bit too far... Nathan could have sworn that when they entered the stairs downstairs before that no one was around to see them. Maybe he had been too naive.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and when they went outside, they were all of a sudden crowded in a sea of people all around, trying to get to their cars.

"Great concert, hun?" Nathan heard a slightly familiar voice saying. He figured the guy wasn't talking to him, but he turned to see him anyway, there was just something about the voice. He turned to find a pair of the most menacing eyes on him. Jared. He had a sort of evil looking smirk on. He seemed greatly amused at the fact that Nathan was being held by the police, but not surprised.

Of course, Nathan thought, how could he be so stupid? Who was the one person that wanted to get back at him the most, and that had the power to do this? Why none other than Jared Gabriel.

xXxXxXx

Down at the station, Nathan was bring interrogated by another police man. He was sick of it. He just wanted to know what he had to do to get out of this, do it, and then be done with it. His mind was racing with what Haley must be thinking at this point, she was waiting in the waiting room right now, and Nathan could hardly concentrate on what the men were saying to him.

"Look, gentlemen, I'm not interested in all the different analysis of what I did, I just want to know what I can do to make it right again." Nathan said.

"Well, Mr. Scott, normally for a crime like the one you just committed the fine would be somewhere roughly around maybe 200 dollars." OK, Nathan thought, I can come up with that much money. "But, since you were still on parole..." Nathan's heart sunk. "The fine rises by quite a lot." He said.

Nathan took some time to process this. He took several deep breaths to clear his head, then swallowed.

"How much?" He asked.

"Probably somewhere around 800 if not a thousand dollars," The police man said. Nathan closed his eyes. How was this happening? In all his life, and all the bad things he had done, he never expected to find himself in such a rut.

"How much time do I have?" Nathan asked, wondering how he was going to tell Haley this, or worse, his mother.

"Well, I can't quite say, but I'd guess about a week." He said.

"A week? No, no, there's no way. Just give me a little more time... please," Nathan said, practically begging now.

"I'm sorry, but it's the law." He said firmly. Nathan sighed, so there was nothing he could do. "You may go now, but we will be paying you some visits. Again, I'm sorry Mr. Scott."

"Yeah, well," Nathan said as he got up to leave, "So am I." He said as he exited the room to go tell Haley the news.

xXxXxXx

Nathan and Haley rode back to him house in silence. Nathan had told her right away about the fine, but since then, both of them were too involved in their own thoughts to talk to one another. Haley was trying to do the math in her head.

"Well, if I can pull an extra shift a day at Karen's Cafe, and if you get an extra shift too..." Haley paused trying to figure out the numbers. But Nathan didn't have hope, he had already tried a million solutions in his head, and none of them worked. "That would still leave us a little short..." Haley said, stumped. She was on the verge of tears. What was going to happen if Nathan couldn't pay the fine, which he probably couldn't? But she was trying to act strong, for Nathan. "We'll figure something out. Don't worry, Nate." She said, still trying to sound confident, but her voice was shaking and Nathan could tell.

"Too late," Nathan said. He couldn't look her in the eye right now, so he just focused on the road ahead. How the hell was he going to get out of this mess? He figured he'd change the subject, sort of. "So, I think I know who called the police..." Nathan started.

Haley turned her head sharply when she heard this. She couldn't wait to hear this. Who would do such a thing? "Who?" She asked.

"OK, don't freak out. There's nothing we can do about it now, OK?" Nathan said, knowing that she would probably freak out anyway.

"OK, I won't." Haley said, but she didn't promise anything. Right now she felt like killing who-ever it was.

"OK, well, remember, I'm not sure if it's him. I just saw him, and it just... kind of seemed like it.. OK? I'm not sure... but I just think..." Nathan stuttered.

"Spill it." Haley said impatiently.

Nathan sighed, "I'm pretty sure it was Jared." Haley sat there silent for a while. "Jared Gabriel." Nathan said, making sure she knew who he was talking about.

"I know which Jared you're talking about." Haley said and then she was still silent.

"Hales...?" Nathan said, worried. What was she thinking? "Are you OK?" He asked. By now, they were already parked outside Nathan's house, but they stayed in the car.

Haley couldn't help it, she just started sobbing. "No, I'm not OK, Nathan!" Haley managed to get out. "I'm sorry, I said I wouldn't freak out. But this guy, Jared, he's trying to ruin out lives..." She said and Nathan brought her close and enclosed his arms around her. She sunk her head in his chest and cried into it.

"That'll never happen, Hales. My life can't be ruined as long as you're in it." He said trying to calm her down, but inside he was screaming, he really wanted to kill this Jared guy. "Come on, Hales, don't cry. It'll all work out. I promise." Nathan said, trying to convince himself of this.

Haley pulled away a little. She had calmed her sobs down a little. "How do you know? How are things going to work out?" She asked, helplessly.

"Because as long as you're here by my side, I'll be happy, and everything will be fine. Jared can take whatever he wants from me, but he can never take away my love for you. No one can," Nathan said, gazing lovingly in her eyes.

A small smile crept on Haley's lips and she reached up to kiss him. It was a short, but passionate kiss, just what they needed.

xXxXxXx

AN: OK, I hope you guys liked it! Please reply! thanks so much.