A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese.


Chapter Twenty

Quinn was chatting with Andy when Haley came into the room. They stopped their conversation and turned to her. "I just got a call from Nathan. He told me that they are having trouble confirming that Lucas and Brooke are on any flights to Las Vegas," she told them. "They are thinking about just taking a flight over to Las Vegas and asking around, but I don't think that will work. It'll be trying to find a needle in a haystack." She was quiet as she pondered the whole situation.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked her sister curiously. She could tell that her sister was in a deep thought.

"I've been thinking about what Mom said about Brooke and Lucas," Haley told her. "I really don't think that they would go all the way to Las Vegas just to get married. Where would they get the money to pay for the plane tickets, cab and hotel room? They don't have that kind of money."

"Wasn't Lucas planning to get married after high school anyway?" Quinn asked her. "Maybe he used the money he had saved for the wedding."

"Yes, but Lucas changed his mind about getting married after high school was over," Haley reminded her. "And he told me that he was planning to put that money away for college."

"So if you don't believe that they went to Las Vegas, then where did they go?" Andy asked.

Before Haley could answer, her cell-phone started ringing. She checked to see who it was and saw that it was Cooper. She let out a groan. "Great. Now Cooper is going to yell at me for losing Brooke. Can this day get any worse?" she muttered to herself before she put the phone to her ear. "Hello Cooper."

"Ms. James, please tell me that you didn't allow Brooke to run off with Lucas so they could get married." Haley was about to defend herself when Cooper didn't let her interrupt. "Do you realize that you just put your case in jeopardy?"

"Victoria was the one who had Brooke in her custody," Haley reminded him gently. "How is it my fault that they ran away?"

"Because you're her teacher who she looks up to," Cooper replied. "And you're the person who is taking her daughter away. Believe me. Victoria will find plenty of reasons to hold you responsible for this."

Haley knew that was true. Yet, she still had one question for him. "That doesn't explain why you are blaming me. I had nothing to do with it. I didn't even know about their plans until Nathan came by the house, looking for them. And if you really think I'm involved in this, maybe I should find another lawyer," she exclaimed angrily. She didn't let Cooper answer as she hung up the phone. She then turned to the two people who were still in the room. "Andy, stay here in case Lucas and Brooke come back. Quinn, you and I are going to visit Mom and Dad." Quinn gave her a confused look, but she followed her sister out the door.

Once they arrived at the house, Haley knocked rapidly on the door, knowing that they would probably answer. However, both she and Quinn were surprised when it was Taylor who answered the door. "If you two are looking for Mom and Dad, they aren't here. They left for a weekend at a cute little bed and breakfast."

Haley raised her eyebrows in surprise. "And they left you to house sit for them?" She didn't believe her older sister for one minute. If they really had left, they wouldn't have left Taylor in charge of the house. "Yeah right. Where are they really?"

"We're in the living room, Haley Bob," her mother called.

Haley hurried past Taylor and into the foyer. She was relieved to see Lucas and Brooke were in the house, along with Mouth and Millie. She tried to remain calm before Lucas spoke up. "I know we're in big trouble, but I had to do something to get Brooke out of that house."

"Don't you think that I want to do that too? Why do you think I'm trying to fight for guardianship of her?" Haley exclaimed angrily. Her mother was about to reply when Haley gave her a warning finger. "Don't even think about it." She shook her head in disbelief as she looked at the people in the room. "I don't know what I'm more upset about: you and Brooke running away to get married or my parents lying to me and allowing this marriage to happen. Either way, I'm going to be the one who will get blamed for this."

Her father knew it was safe for him to speak. "Can we talk to you alone?" he asked. Haley nodded as she led her parents into the kitchen, interested to hear what they had to say. "We will take full responsibility for marrying them without their parents' consent."

Haley looked at him shocked. "You not only allowed this to happen, but you married them yourself? How the hell that happened? You aren't even a minister." She was getting frustrated by the minute. "Why would you allow two teenagers to manipulate you like that?" she exclaimed. She couldn't believe that her parents had gone behind her back like this. "I know you two can relate to them because you married young yourselves, but you do know that Lucas is only really doing this because he wants to make sure that Brooke won't be able to return to her mom's custody, right?"

"No, we're not," Lucas objected as he came into the room. He didn't mean to interrupt, but he had to tell her what he wanted to say. "Look, I know what I said about not getting married until after high school. But it's different this time." Lucas turned to his wife and gave her a smile. "We listen to each other's problems and give advice on how to solve it. Yet at the same time, we respect each other's privacy when we don't want to talk. We enjoy doing the same activities together and never give into pressure." He turned back to Haley. "I know it sounds crazy, but I've found the person I'm meant to be with."

"What about your plans for college?" Haley asked. "Or starting a family? And what about your nephew? Is this the example you want him to go by? Getting married before you're out of high school and working to support you and your wife?" she exclaimed. Lucas was surprised to see how upset she was getting. He knew that she was against him getting married so young, but he didn't think she would get this angry. Haley then realized that she was getting a little too emotional. She took a deep breath as she started to calm down. "Would you excuse me for a few moments?" she asked. She didn't wait for an answer and went out onto the back deck.

Haley couldn't believe that she had let her emotions get the best of her. She never believed in falling in love and getting married at such a young age. Yes, people used to do it all the time. But they didn't go to college back then. It was normal for them to finish high school and then go to work while the women stayed home to take care of the children. But even when Lydia told stories about her parents falling in love or even her with her husband, Haley still couldn't believe that they got married so quickly. To her, she thought marrying in your teens was too soon for anybody to even consider settling down and starting a family. Lucas and Brooke had their whole lives ahead of them. She didn't want them to put it on hold for marriage.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked her as she joined her sister on the back deck. "You were really scaring us in there." Haley didn't answer. "This isn't just about the trial, is it? It's about your relationship with Julian."

Haley tried not to laugh. "Are you kidding? I don't regret turning down Julian's marriage proposal," she replied. "I was so not ready for marriage then. I'm still not ready to settle down."

Quinn was now confused. "Then what is the problem? Why are you getting so worked up about Lucas and Brooke getting married?" she asked. Haley gave her a look. "Are you really mad at them or our parents for marrying them?"

"It's everything that has been going on for the past few months: trying to get over Julian, Dad's heart attack and now this fight over guardianship of Brooke," Haley confessed. "I was supposed to start over in Tree Hill, but it's worse than when I was living in California." She was planning on saying more, but she started to feel a little lightheaded. She turned to Quinn, who was looking alarmed. Something was wrong. She didn't have a chance to ask her about it before she collapsed into darkness.


After a long day of trying to find his brother, Nathan was ready to give up. He and Victoria had no luck at the airport. After constantly fighting with the front desk, they considered the option to fly to Las Vegas and try to find them that way. However, Nathan started to believe that Lucas and Brooke hadn't flown to Las Vegas and they were still somewhere in North Carolina.

He had a feeling that Lucas would call him when he was ready to come home. At least, he hoped so. Lucas had done some pretty stupid things lately, but this one topped them all. He could tell that Lucas really cared about Brooke, but he didn't think that he would go this far and marry her.

Nathan then thought of his own parents and their journey to love. Thinking back about it, they had a similar love story like Haley's parents had except it was the opposite. His paternal grandparents didn't believe that Karen was right for their son. He was surprised that his grandparents didn't approve of her, but they had always been overprotective when it came to who was dating their son. Nathan was glad that his dad didn't listen to them. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been born.

As Nathan pulled up in front of his house, his cell-phone rang. To his disappointment, he saw that it was Peyton. He debated on whether to answer the phone or not. He then thought it was possible that she had heard from Lucas and he wanted her to pass on a message from him. He picked up the phone and put it to his ear. Before he could speak, she spoke up first. "Nathan, I just got a call from Haley's sister. Haley is in the hospital."

Nathan instantly became concerned for her. "Is she okay? What happened?"

"According to her sister, she fainted while she was over at her parents' house," Peyton told him. "But that's all she was willing to tell me over the phone. Jake and I are heading over there right now after we drop Ryan at his grandparents'."

"Which hospital is she at?" Nathan asked anxiously. After Peyton told him which hospital she was in, he said good-bye to her before he hung up. He wanted to get there as soon as possible. He hoped that she was alright.

It seemed like it took forever before he finally reached the hospital. Luckily, it was the same hospital that Haley's dad had been in when he had his heart attack. Once he finally arrived, he went past the front desk and went to the waiting room, where he assumed Haley's family were waiting to hear the news. Then again, it had been a couple of hours since Haley's fainting spell. So they could have found out what was wrong with her.

When he arrived in the waiting room, he found Jimmy and Taylor. Before Nathan could even ask, Jimmy answered for him. "Haley is going to be fine," he told him. Nathan let out a sigh of relief. "She just has had a lot of stress lately and her body couldn't take it anymore. So she will have to take it easy for awhile."

"Well, I'll do everything I can to help her," Nathan replied.

"I'm afraid you can't do that, Mr. Scott," an unfamiliar voice said as he joined the three people. Nathan was about to ask who he was when this man didn't let him interrupt. "You're Nathan Scott, correct?" the man asked. Nathan nodded, wondering who this gentleman was. "I'm Cooper Lee, Ms. James's lawyer. May I speak to you alone?" Nathan followed him away from the father and daughter. "Are you aware of what your brother did this morning?"

"Supposedly, he and Brooke Davis got married," Nathan replied, still hoping that it wasn't true. "What's the problem?"

"The problem is that he isn't a credible witness for Haley anymore," Cooper told him. "And from what I heard, Victoria has you in her pocket too." Nathan was surprised that he had heard about Victoria's request already. During the airport disaster, she had asked him to be one of her character witnesses. However, he hadn't given her an answer yet. Even though he still had his doubts about Victoria abusing her daughter, he didn't feel comfortable about testifying against Haley.

"Well, you shouldn't listen to rumors," Nathan replied. "I haven't told her what I was planning to do yet. And what does Lucas being married have to do with the trial? He just can't testify for his wife. And his wife isn't the one who is the defendant."

Cooper didn't answer him. "Just pick a side, Nathan. But if you do pick your boss, you won't be able to talk to my client until after the trial is over." He didn't say another word as he walked away from Nathan, leaving him lost on how to choose between his boss and his friend.

Nathan didn't think about that for long. He wanted to see Haley for himself to make sure that she was really okay. He waited patiently until Haley's family was done visiting her before he went into her room. He wasn't sure how she would react to him being there since they hadn't parted on good terms.

However, his worries went away when she gave him a wide smile. Nathan returned the smile as he went over to her bed. He didn't have a chance to say anything before Haley spoke. "Tell Lucas not to blame himself for this. I was the one who wasn't taking care of myself properly." Nathan frowned. He had no idea what she was talking about. Haley let out a heavy sigh. "My parents didn't tell you that Lucas and Brooke were at their house the whole time? And my dad was the one who married them?"

Nathan couldn't believe his ears. "So the trip to Las Vegas was just a ruse for us to focus on the flight instead of trying to find them in Wilmington?"

"I'm really sorry. I didn't find out myself until I went to the house and my dad admitted that he married them," Haley replied. "My mom told me that she encouraged them to go home and face the music. But I assume from the look on your face that he hasn't come home yet."

"No, he hasn't," Nathan admitted. He could see that Haley was feeling guilty. "Don't do that to yourself. You're already feeling stressed out. Don't make it worse. And it wasn't your fault."

Haley didn't answer for a moment. "That's not entirely true. After he told me about love, I started yelling at him about ruining his future plans for college and setting a bad example for his nephew. I then realized that I needed to calm down. Before I could apologize to him, I fainted."

"Let me take care of Lucas," Nathan told her. "You just focus on getting better."

"Well, it looks like I'm going to do that in another state," Haley told him. Nathan frowned in confusion. "My parents are sending me and Quinn off to a two week vacation to Florida. They think we both need a vacation. It's nice, but I wish it was after the trial. I really want to help Brooke. I can't do that if I'm on vacation."

"You need this vacation though," Nathan pointed out. "And maybe your lawyer can convince the judge to postpone the trial."

"I don't know if I even have a lawyer now," Haley said. Nathan looked at her curious. "It's a long story. And I'm not in the mood to explain it." Nathan nodded understandingly as they heard voices. Nathan turned to see Jake and Peyton in the doorway. They happily greeted their friends before Haley told them the good news. All three of them stayed until they were kicked out by the nurse so Haley could get some rest.

Jake and Peyton didn't say much to Nathan before they said good-bye to each other. As Nathan was heading back to his car, his cell-phone rang again. He picked it up once he saw that it was Lucas. Nathan didn't even let his brother try to explain his actions before he spoke. "Let's meet at the River Court. We need to talk."