"Nathan Scott!" Brooke yelled, quickly walking towards him. "Nothing your father has ever said to you was right!"
"Whatever Brooke, leave me alone." Nathan said, gliding his hand through his shaggy dark hair that was now long enough to fall over his eyes.
"No. I am not going to leave you alone. You do not get to sit here and throw a tantrum and expect to get your way, not with me!" Brooke replied, her voice lowering in volume.
"Ugh fine! Haley an I got into a fight, okay?" Nathan yelled out.
"What did you fight about?" Asked Brooke.
"I am not really sure…well I mean she was asking me how I was and I like just snapped. I am so sick of everyone asking me if I am okay, if I need anything…I know what I have been through! When I need to talk I will, I…I just want to live life right now. I came so close to being killed, I had the frickin gun to my head!" Nathan cried out, tears running down his face. "I don't want, after living through that, to be the same kid I was when I got here. I want to be a man. I want to not cry, I want to talk with out stumbling over words…I want people to treat me as if I wasn't Nathan Scott the boy his father beat him…just, Nathan Scott."
"Why haven't you talked about this before?" Brooke asked.
"Because…now? Now, I am just sick of it." Nathan explained.
Brooke stared at Nathan. His appearance looked…disheveled at best. He had bruises from Dan, sure…but that was not what caught Brooke's attention, it was his eyes. They were full of so much pain, pain Brooke wished she could take away.
"People are not just going to let this go away Nathan, they want to help you. I want to help you. You need to let someone in! Shutting people off and just suddenly pretending everything is okay will not help you." Brooke replied.
"I know…but for a little while, it is what I need. I am not ready to talk about what happened in the basement with Dan." Nathan said.
"And that is fine, but it doesn't mean you have the right to snap about people when they are showing compassion towards you. Haley was asking because she loves you, you need to talk to her." Brooke retorted.
"She won't want to talk to me." Nathan replied.
"You have to try." Brooke responded.
"Can you talk to her?" Asked Nathan timidly.
Brooke sighed out loud. She really did not want to get in the middle of their fight…but then again maybe Haley would be calmer talking to her then Nathan.
"…Yes, but you are still going to have to apologize for the things you said." Brooke replied.
"I know, and I will…I just need help communicating with her…does that make sense?" Asked Nathan.
"Yes, and I get it, I am just saying I am not going to make up excuses for you." Brooke explained.
"Thank you Brooke, for always being here when I need you." Nathan said.
"Anytime Nate, I told you that." Brooke answered, leaning down to give him a hug.
A few hours later Haley came back home. Brooke had been waiting in the living room for her, knowing that she would most likely try to make a run right for their shared room.
"Hey sweetie, can I talk to you?" Asked Brooke quickly, catching Haley as she tried to creep in unnoticed.
"I uhh kind of wanted to go take a nap." Haley replied.
"It will be quick, lets go downstairs." Brooke answered, grabbing Haley's hand and dragging her to the basement that they shared.
"What is this about Brookie?" Haley asked.
"Nathan told me about your fight." Brooke said.
"Oh." Haley simply said.
"You know Hales, when I came home he was in tears…He told me what he said and I almost kicked his ass…but at the same time I understand." Brooke started.
"You understand? How do you understand him insulting me?" Asked Haley furiously.
"Hold on, let me finish. I understand why he is getting so frustrated. Should he snap at you? Take out his frustration on you? Of course not! But at the same time, you have to realize what you are dealing with." Brooke explained.
Haley let out a sigh before falling down on her bed. She knew that Nathan was going through a lot, she knew he wasn't yelling at her because he was mad but rather because he didn't know how else to release his frustrations. However, knowing that didn't make his words hurt any less.
"I know that Brooke…it just hurts. The things he says…it is like his mouth isn't attached to his brain sometimes." Haley responded after a few minutes.
"I know sweetie, but…just give him time. He really was broken up at when I got home…anyone could tell he didn't mean what he said." Brooke replied.
"Yea...I guess.." Haley trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
"Are you going to talk to him?" Brooke asked nervously.
"In a little while, I am going to take a nap first…I still am reeling from it all." Haley answered.
"Okay, I will leave you alone then, but remember I am always here if you want to talk some more." Brooke said, leaning down to give her friend a hug.
"Thanks Brookie, that means a lot." Haley replied.
"Anytime H. James." Brooke answered with a wink before skipping out of the room.
Karen was still working at the café, and Brooke and Lucas went out for the night leaving Haley and Nathan home all alone. The silence in the house was deafening as Haley was still downstairs trying to avoid Nathan.
Nathan however could no longer stand the tension between them. As gently as possible he stood up and started to hobble his way downstairs, he and Haley needed to talk, and they needed to talk now.