A/N: Here's another chapter for all my fans! I'm surprised at the low amount of reviews though that I've got for this story. Oh well, enjoy! Reviews are always nice!!

We finally arrived at the mall and Brooke lead us to her favorite store. I looked around at all the clothes and knew that I wouldn't look good in any of them. Brooke picked up an emerald green halter top and a pair of dark skinny jeans and then handed them to me. "Go try these on," she said.

"Um I don't think so," I whispered.
"And why not? I mean its fall and you don't need to be wearing those long sleeved shirts all the time," Brooke stated.

"You wouldn't understand. Maybe it was wrong of me to come," I said trying to hold back the tears that were beginning to form.

"Haley what's wrong?" Peyton asked.

"There's something that I should tell you about me or rather show you," I answered pulling up my sleeve, "The reason I can't wear clothes like that is because of this."

"OMG! What happened?" Brooke shrieked after she saw all of my bruises.

"Could we maybe go somewhere and sit down first? I'll tell you guys everything, but I just don't really feel comfortable talking about it here," I replied.

"Of course," Brooke said, "we'll skip shopping for today and head to my house."

We arrived at Brooke's huge two story house and made our way inside. I sat down on the couch and Brooke and Peyton sat on either side of me. "So tell us what happened to you, please," Brooke said.

"Well it all started after my mother died about three years ago. She died of a blood clot in her brain. After the funeral, my father began drinking heavily. Some days he would come in from work and things would be good, but then there other days where it wasn't so good," I started, "On the days that were bad, I never knew what to expect. Sometimes it was just a slap across the face for not having dinner fixed. Other times he got more violent and would throw me up against the wall, grab a hold of my arms really tight, or throw me down on the floor. He always blamed me for everything that went wrong in the house, at his job, my mother's death, just anything that he was angry about."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Peyton wondered.

"Because he was my dad and at the time my only legal guardian. I didn't have any friends at school that I could talk to. The only friend I've ever had was my mom. Teachers would notice some of the bruises that I couldn't cover up, but I would always make up excuses. I didn't want people feeling sorry for me, so I just took the abuse for three years," I confirmed.

"I understand he's your father and all, but still he had no right to hurt you like that," Brooke said.

"That's why I'm here. He died in a car accident a few days ago and since I didn't have any other family members to take me in, the only other option was my mom's best friend. That's why I'm living with Karen though because I had nowhere else to go," I confessed.

"Does Karen or Luke know what your father did?" Peyton asked.

"Karen saw the gash on my forehead and some of the other bruises and pieced it together, but you guys are the only ones that I've told," I answered.

"Well no matter what you have us," Brooke stated.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"Of course," Brooke grinned, "I look out for my friends."

I smiled before the tears slowly began to fall. Peyton threw her arm softly around my shoulder and whispered, "We won't let anyone else ever hurt you, and you have my word on that."

"You guys are the greatest. I don't know what to say," I said through my tears.

"You don't have to say anything. Besides, you're still beautiful to us. The bruises will eventually heal and I can help apply makeup the cover the rest," Brooke explained.

The three of us all continued talking about our lives. I found out that Brooke and Peyton were both cheerleaders, and Brooke asked me to join as well. I was unsure at first, but I agreed after much begging. After a few hours, Brooke brought me back over to Karen's and told me she would see me in the morning.

I waved bye before walking inside. Luke was home from practice and playing video games in his room. I peeked in his room and said, "I just wanted to let you know that I was home. I'm going to go take a shower before Karen gets home."

"Want me to join you?" a guy who was lying down on the floor joked.

"Nate shut up," Luke said.

It was then that I noticed the dark black hair and those blue eyes that were looking directly at me with that famous smirk.

"I-I… later," I stuttered and ran off.

I vaguely heard his laugh as I made it to the bathroom and shut the door. No one had ever got to me the way he could. Was Brooke right, did I really have a crush on Nathan Scott? I hopped in the shower and once again tried to block it out. It seems I keep doing that a lot lately. Oh well, I thought, maybe he'll be gone when I get out of the shower.