In the Presence of an Angel Chapter 7, an one tree hill fanfic

Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! I don't think this is all that great of a chapter, given it's supposed to be one of the high points of the story. Even though I think it's less than my usual par, I hope you like it. As always, please read and review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. One Tree Hill and its characters belong to the nice people at the WB.

Rating: PG to PG-13

In the Presence of an Angel

Chapter 7

"Hey Hales, you coming to the game tonight," Lucas asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders while she was getting some books out of her locker. She turned to him and saw Nathan beside him and responded with wide, unbelieving eyes, "Well, isn't this a sight to see! You two actually hanging out. Yes, I'm coming to cheer on my two favorite Scott brothers, so you better win." "Of course, Hales. Otherwise the party wouldn't be as sweet after the game," Nathan said, "it's at my beach house." "Hell yeah there's going to be a party. There's going to be one whether we win or not. And I hear Tim is actually bringing a date to this one," Brooke said as she and Peyton walked up to them. "Yeah, but who would want to date Tim? He's such a perv; he once looked into the girls locker room while the cheerleaders were changing," Peyton added. "That's like an everyday occurrence Peyt," Brooke said back as she rolled her eyes.

"So, are you coming to the party tonight after the game Hales," Lucas asked. "I don't know, it's really not my scene," she replied. "Aww, come on Hales, please. You owe it to me because I'm still trying to make up with you," Lucas begged. "Oh please, you'll be too busy making OUT with Peyton to be making UP with me. She was gone for a whole, LONG, three days, four LONELY nights…" All of them laughed as Lucas and Peyton both blushed. "Come on Hales, come to the party. While those two are doing their thing, you can hang out with me. I'm going solo this week. No boys, just lots of drinking and dancing, and drinking," Brooke laughed. "Brooke Davis going solo at a party," Peyton looked at her with wide eyes then turned to Haley, "what have you done to my best friend? How could you corrupt her in just a week?" Everybody broke out into laughter again.

"I still don't know," Haley said nervously. How could you get over something if that was the one thing you couldn't get away from? Haley was desperately trying to avoid her feelings and get over Brooke, but how would she be able to if she kept getting put in these situations with her? "Don't worry Hales, I'll protect you from Drunky Brooke. She can get kind of touchy-feely once she's had a few. Oh wait, that's all the time," Nathan joked as Brooke slapped him in the back of the head. "Hey, what was that for," he asked as he rubbed the spot. "For being a smart ass," she replied. "Wow, I'm touched. Brooke Davis just called me smart," he said as he covered his heart with both of his hands. Brooke glared at him.

"Please Haley? You've been cooped up in that house all week and you're always spending nights at home. Come out and live a little with us. Plus, you can show everyone your sweet moves," Lucas smiled as he remembered her dancing in the café last night. Haley glared at him threateningly, telling him not to go there, "Luke! That was supposed to be a secret!" "Hey, I can't help it if I caught you. You were doing it in plain sight," Lucas replied. "You were supposed to be cooking dinner in the kitchen," Haley responded. "It was done. You are a great dancer Haley, you should be proud of what you can do and should show other people too. You can't just stay behind closed doors all the time. Please come Hales," Lucas pleaded with her. Sighing in defeat, Haley replied, "Alright, I'll come. But if someone tries to feel me up or tries something, I'm out of there." "And I'll take you home. Right after I kick him in the balls and beat him up," he responded as he hugged her, "tonight will be fun Hales, I promise." 'I hope so,' Haley thought as she glanced at Brooke from the corner of her eye.

Later that night, Haley was at home getting dressed for the party as she looked back on the night so far. The Tree Hill Ravens had gone to victory with Nathan and Lucas teaming up to make the winning shot. That, in itself was surprising, but what surprised her more was that Lucas had been the one to pass the ball to Nathan, something he had very rarely done and only because of orders from Whitey. Once Nathan had dunked the shot, both had smiled at each other and slapped high fives before joining the rest of the team.

During the game though, her attention was split not only between the two boys but Brooke as well. She looked amazing in her cheerleading outfit as she always did with her hair slightly thicker from mousse, her bright red lipstick, and a painted blue 'R' for Ravens on her left cheek. Haley watched as she jumped around and shook her pompoms while she cheered loudly along with the other cheerleaders. After the Ravens had won the game, Haley had made her way down onto the court to congratulate Nathan, Luke, and Jake as she kept an eye on Brooke, who was hugging Peyton and then hugging the boys too. Once she reached the group, she embraced the guys and then Peyton and Brooke came up to hug her while jumping around in excitement. When Brooke had pulled her into a hug, Haley had stiffened a little, for fear of melting in her arms. It had been hard the past couple days trying to avoid Brooke while being around her so much, especially in confined places such as her house. She wanted to hold her in her own arms and never let her go.

Haley was brought out of her thoughts by her clock beeping; Luke would be there in half an hour. Haley put on her dress and applied a thin layer of light pink lip gloss then did her hair. She curled odd strands of hair, giving her hair a slight wave and a fuller look. Her dress was a dark magenta, almost purple, Hawaiian dress that fell just below the knees. It had spaghetti straps with a drawstring at the top but hidden on the inside and a white one inch trim along the outside of the dress. She added a pair of dangling sort of dream catcher looking earrings about the same color of her dress then strapped on some white three-inch sandals with flower embroidery on them to complete her outfit.

She ran her hands down the dress to smooth it against her body and made sure her hair looked perfect as she gazed in the mirror at herself. 'I hope Brooke likes the dress… Haley, stop it! You're going to go to this party to have fun and NOT think about Brooke.' She grabbed her purse and made her way downstairs to wait for Lucas to come pick her up. She was startled when she saw Lucas standing near the bottom of the stairs staring at her in stunned shock. "God Luke, you scared me. I didn't hear you come in," Haley responded a little breathlessly as she placed a hand to her chest. "Hales… you look beautiful," he replied, awestruck. "Thanks," she replied as she took in Lucas' outfit, "you look… like you." He was dressed casually in a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a double layered shirt; the top layer being of faded red and the bottom of white. "Thanks… I think," he responded, "so, are you ready to go to this party?"

"I guess… as ready as I'll ever be," Haley responded a little nervously as she slipped on a white sweater. "Save me a couple dances, okay," he requested as he held open the front door for her and led her to his truck. "Sure," she smiled and then climbed into the cab with help from Lucas. When they arrived at Nathan's beach house, the party was already in full swing with people dancing, drinking, and making out. "Either the party started a little early or we're arriving a little late," Haley said as someone staggered by. "Well, if you hadn't taken so long… I swear, you girls take too much time getting all prettied up for only a couple hours, especially if its going to get messed up or taken off anyway," Lucas replied nonchalantly, "me, I'm just fine with a girl in a shirt and jeans. That's one of the reasons I like Peyton; she can still look beautiful in a pair of beat up or torn old jeans and a t-shirt but still get dressed up once in a while."

Haley crossed her arms and turned from him, beginning to walk away, "I'm going to go find Nathan and see if he needs any help." Lucas realized his mistake and apologized, "I'm sorry Hales, I didn't mean it." "Yes you did," she said quietly then waved her hand to dismiss it, "but don't worry about it. I'm fine." "I really need to censor my mouth when I'm talking don't I? Anyways, please have fun tonight," he asked of her. As he and Haley passed by the drink table, Haley grabbed a glass of alcohol and downed it in one gulp with a scrunched face then smiled at him and raised the glass to show him, "See? Already having fun." He looked at her with a surprised expression; Haley wasn't much of a drinker. "Don't have too many of those," he warned in a serious tone then added jokingly, "I don't want to see you break dancing on any tables."

Haley laughed, "I promise. It might be better if I dance with you now before I get too drunk. Then you'll probably be embarrassed to be seen with me." "Alright, let's go," Lucas took her hand and led her to the large living room floor filled with teenagers dancing and gyrating to the music. "No grinding," Haley warned with a poke in the chest. "Gotcha," he replied. They danced to three songs together, two fast-paced and one slow then she danced two with Nathan before Lucas asked her to dance again.

"So, are you having fun? Honestly," he asked. "Yeah, I am," she replied as she moved her arms from around his neck to his waist to hug him. "How many drinks have you had," he inquired concernedly. "Only two," she responded, "No Peyton yet." "No, I don't know where she and Brooke are. They were supposed to be here an hour ago." Haley tried to hide the worry surfacing within her with a slight laugh, "Oh you know Brooke, she probably couldn't pick a dress out of the hundreds she has then took forever messing with her hair and makeup. Then there's shoes, accessories, and her purse. They're probably just running late because they had to change out of their uniforms after the game."

"Yeah," he replied. Someone cleared their throat beside them and tapped on Lucas' shoulder, "May I cut in?" They both turned to see Jake and smiled. Lucas stepped aside and Jake took his place, wrapping an arm around her waist and taking on of her hands in his. "You look beautiful tonight Haley," he said, "and Luke was right; you dance really well." "Thanks," she said sincerely with a blush at his compliment then responded sarcastically, "I'm a regular party girl." He laughed too, "I'm serious." Just then, Haley felt a chill run down her spine and looked to her right. Brooke had entered the house with Peyton on her arm, both dressed to the nines.

Peyton wore a dark jade green satin dress with matching heels and her hair in her normal tight curls but on one side, some of it was pulled back with a flower the same color as the dress. Brooke wasn't wearing her normal part dress that went to almost above her knees tonight. She wore a dark ocean blue dress that went to nearly her ankles and it wasn't tight like most of the others she always wore. Well, it was tight in the chest area of course, as Brooke always liked it, but the bottom of the dress flowed freely around her legs and seemed to flow behind her as she walked across the floor. It had a v-neck top and one inch think spaghetti straps and her hair was a in medium-sized curls all over her head. To complete her outfit, she too wore matching heels and a pair of hoop earrings.

When Brooke and Peyton had walked in, and as if it were some sign, the song changed to Leann Rimes' 'Right Kind of Wrong' from the Coyote Ugly movie over the speakers. Haley closed her eyes, tears beginning to well in them as she listened to the words.

Know all about
About your reputation
And how it's bound to be a heartbreak situation
But I can't help it if I'm helpless
Every time that I'm where you are

You walk in and my strength walks out the door
Say my name and I can't fight it anymore
Oh I know, I should go
But I need your touch just too damn much

Loving you isn't really something I should do
Shouldn't wanna spend my time with you
That I should try to be strong
But baby you're the right kind of wrong
Yeah baby you're the right kind of wrong

Might be a mistake
A mistake I'm making
But what you're giving me I am happy to be taking
Cause no one's ever made me feel
The way I feel when I'm in your arms
They say you're something I should do without
They don't know what goes on
When the lights go out
There's no way to explain
All the pleasure is worth all the pain

Loving you isn't really something I should do
Shouldn't wanna spend my time with you
That I should try be strong
But baby you're the right kind of wrong
Yeah baby you're the right kind of wrong

I should try to run
But I just can't seem to
Cause every time I run you're the one I run to
Can't do without, what you do to me
I don't care if I'm in too deep

Know all about
About your reputation
And how it's bound to be a heartbreak situation
But I can't help it if I'm helpless
Every time that I'm where you are

You walk in and my strength walks out the door
Say my name and I can't fight it anymore
Oh I know, I should go
But I need your touch just too damn much

She couldn't fight the hurt, pain, and jealously warring within her. The pain and hurt of loving someone who didn't love you back, of trying to get over Brooke but helplessly losing, and the jealousy of other guys getting to be with her when she couldn't. To fight these feelings, she did the first thing she thought of; she kissed Jake hard on the mouth. Abruptly she pulled away, and whispered as she ran from the room, "I'm sorry."

From across the living room by the entrance, Brooke saw the kiss and fought back the tears threatening to fall then walked over to the drink table and grabbed two drinks then gulped them both down quickly. She could already begin to feel the alcohol taking effect, giving her a slight buzz. Peyton had followed her and now said concernedly, "Whoa there Brooke. Just because you're not into boys tonight doesn't mean you should double up on the alcohol." "I changed my mind," Brooke said in almost a low growl then walked off, but not before grabbing another drink.

Haley raced to one of the empty guest bedrooms and slammed the door behind her, collapsing to the floor in a dark corner as she clutched her knees tight to her chest and buried her head in her arms. Tremendous sobs wracked her body and only seem to grow in intensity as the minutes ticked on.

Jake searched desperately for Haley after she had run from him, but he didn't know where she was. He knew she had been drinking but didn't know how much; he hoped she wouldn't do anything stupid or something that she would regret the next morning. He finally found her in one of the rooms near the back of the house and what he saw scared and worried him greatly. He carefully knelt down in front of the very distraught girl and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "Haley," he said softly, "what's wrong?" She shook her head vehemently and replied through choked sobs, "No… I c-can't t-tell you…" "Okay, then why don't we start with why you kissed me," he asked gently as he moved to sit cross-legged on the floor. "…C-Can't explain… you-you wouldn't understand…" she said almost incoherently.

"Well, you've got to give me at least a little information here so I can help you," he coaxed gently as he began to rub her back in comfort. Haley tore away from him and yelled harshly, "I don't need your help!" She broke into more tears and replied, "I'm sorry…" Jake hesitantly started comforting her again, hoping she wouldn't pull away this time, "Sh…it's okay…" "No! It's not okay," she shouted. Despite his will to comfort and soothe his friend, Jake was becoming very worried and scared. He had never seen her so upset before or yell at anyone like she had other than Lucas.

"Do you want me to go get Lucas," Jake asked softly. "No," she yelled again then dissolved into tears once more as she spoke in almost a whisper, "no one can help me… only Brooke…" Haley blanched at the realization that she mentioned Brooke and hoped the Jake did not discover her feelings. "Do you want me to go get Brooke," Jake inquired. "No," she said softer this time. Jake responded, "Then why…" Haley looked up when he stopped and he saw the tears, the vulnerability, the pain and hurt inside her. He then pieced together their interaction from dancing earlier up until now and then he knew.

"You like Brooke," he said slowly as if he were approaching an injured animal and one wrong move it would flee. The droplets began to cascade down her cheeks and she stared at him for a few seconds before burying her head in her arms again. "Haley," he encouraged her to open up to him. Defeated at hiding her emotions, Haley nodded. Jake hugged her and Haley asked quietly, "What am I going to do Jake?" He stroked her hair and rubbed her back comfortingly, "I don't know. I wish I could offer you some sort of advice to help you through this but I don't know what to say. However, I can offer you a listening and very understanding ear. I will be here for you if you ever need to talk." "Thanks Jake, you're a really great friend," Haley replied as she hugged him tighter.

"You okay," he asked, pulling away and gazing at her. She gave him a sad, watery smile, "Not right now, but I will be." They sat in silence for a few moments until Haley spoke up quietly, "Jake, thanks for being here for me tonight. But I would like to be alone for a little while." He hugged her one last time before getting up and leaving the room, "You're going to be okay Haley." Once Jake had left, Haley asked herself, "How? How is it going to be okay?" She curled up just as she had when she entered the room and started crying again. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts and crying that she didn't hear the door open.

Brooke and some random guy from school were furiously making out as they made their way to one of the bedrooms in the back of the house. Brooke was backing up and the guy was pushing forward and soon he had Brooke pressed up against a door, fumbling for the doorknob. He finally succeeded in opening it and both moved inside, still kissing passionately. Brooke stopped and pulled away when she heard a noise. She searched around the room until her eyes landed on a huddled form, shaking, and caught a glimpse of a Hawaiian print in the dim light coming from the hallway. Brooke immediately recognized the form and pushed the guy forcefully out of the room, causing him to tumble to the ground, before slamming the door shut. She rushed over to her and knelt down on her knees, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder, "Haley?"

Haley shied away from her touch and Brooke became scared, "Haley, are you alright? Did-did someone hurt you?" Haley refused to look up at Brooke but shook her head in response. Brooke pushed aside Haley's hair and gently took her face in her hands but firmly enough so Haley couldn't pull away. Having no choice, Haley finally looked in her eyes. Brooke's were dark and hazy, clouded by the alcohol she had consumed, but she could see concern in them. Haley wrenched free and ran to the bed, flinging herself on top of it and curling into the fetal position. Brooke followed and sat beside her. "Haley, please talk to me," Brooke pleaded desperately. Brooke feared that something had happened to her, causing her to become withdrawn and mute.

Haley felt herself weakening by the minute, feeling overwhelmed by her emotions and thoughts. She couldn't get close to Brooke, it would only hurt worse. Her sobs lessened but her body continued to shudder. Brooke gathered Haley in her arms and held her while stroking her hair. She gently kissed her forehead and stroked her cheek. At these actions, Haley looked up at her with red, puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks. Brooke gazed down at her and their eyes met, their faces a few mere inches from each other. As if by some magnetic pull, their faces became closer and then their lips met.

Fireworks seemed to explode between them and soon the kiss became deeper. Haley pressed into Brooke's mouth harder and wrapped her arms around Brooke's body. Haley knew it was wrong to take advantage of Brooke while she was intoxicated, but all the emotions she had been feeling rushed back and she couldn't restrain herself. They continued to kiss as the music vibrated through the walls.

Can't see can't breathe
Can't get up off my knees
I don't know what comes over me
Whenever you come near

Heart's poundin' in my chest

Little voice inside my head
I can't hear a word it said
But the feelin's loud and clear

Love must be tellin' me somethin'
Givin' me some kind of sign
Love must be tellin' me somethin'
I must be fallin' tonight

Well I've been in love and lost
I swore us one and all
No matter what the cost
Gotta learn to live without

No you weren't in my plans
But baby here I am
I still don't understand
But I know there ain't no doubt

Love must be tellin' me somethin'
Givin' me some kind of sign
Love must be tellin' me somethin'
I must be fallin' tonight

No you weren't in my plans
But now baby here I am
I still don't understand
But I know there ain't no doubt

Love must be tellin' me
Love must be tellin' me
Love must be tellin' me

Love must be tellin' me somethin'
Givin' me some kind of sign
Spellin' it out for me
Love must be tellin' me
I must be fallin' tonight

Love must be tellin' me somethin'
Love must be tellin' me somethin'

I must be fallin' tonight

Haley knew it was wrong; they both were drunk and she was feeling vulnerable, but it felt so good, so right to be kissing Brooke. And it wasn't like they were going to remember any of it the next morning anyway. So why fight a good thing?