Much like many other mornings, Haley woke to find herself on the floor. Then came the pain. It was almost unbearable, but she had been through worse. From what she could tell, her wrist was definitely at least sprained, and it was possible she had broken a few ribs. She got up off the floor and dragged herself into the bathroom, to ready herself for the day. She wrapped her wrist as best she could in an ace bandage, and covered the now forming bruises that were visible. "God Lucas," she thought. "Why couldn't you just leave it alone."

Haley crept out of the house, not wanting to disturb her father, who was passed out in his bed for a change. She made it to school and to her locker without problem from anyone. That's when Lucas came.

"Haley, can we talk? Please?" Lucas said, cornering her against the lockers.

"No Lucas. I said all I needed to last night." Haley started to walk away, but Lucas grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her. This caused a blinding pain to shoot through Haley's torso, where she was now positive of the broken ribs. She screamed out in agony, causing the entire hallway to look at her. Lucas dropped her arm immediately, and looked on in confusion as Haley clutched her side. She looked around, unsure of what to do.

"Haley? What's wrong? What happened?" Lucas shot questions at her.

Haley took this opportunity to wander to the nearest girls bathroom, which was luckily only a few feet away.

"Haley! Wait!" Lucas tried to follow her.

Haley collapsed onto the ground, praying there was no one else in the bathroom. She breathed heavily, trying to compose herself to get through the school day.

Out in the hallway, Nathan had witnessed the scene between Haley and Lucas.

"Lucas, what was that?"

"I don't know man, I grabbed her arm, and she just screamed, like I hurt her or something."

Nathan stared at the girl's bathroom, and before he or Lucas could stop himself, he was pushing the door open.

He looked around for a few moments, before realizing Haley was on the floor.

"Haley!" Nathan knelt by her side. "Are you okay?!"

Haley was beyond surprised, and she really didn't know what to do in this situation. She looked at him for a second, before blurting out the best lie she could think of.

"I'm fine Nathan, I swear. Just clumsy. I fell down the stairs last night, and I just have a few bruises and I twisted my wrist. Lucas just caught me off guard."

Nathan looked at her, not really believing a word she was saying. To Haley's surprise, he lifted up her shirt, and before Haley yanked it down, he got a glimpse of the shoe shaped bruises on her abdomen.

"Nathan! Stop!" Haley did her best to scramble away from him, and with some trouble, made it to her feet.

"I'm sorry Haley, but that does not look like you fell down the stairs."

"Nathan. Leave it alone. I'm clumsy. That's it. I don't even know you, and I certainly don't need your help. I'm going to say it again. Just fuck off!" Haley stormed angrily out of the bathroom and past a bewildered Lucas.

Nathan was met in the hallway with a bombardment of questions from the confused blonde.

"What'd she say? Is she okay?"

"Look Lucas, the girl is definitely not okay. She's got some serious bruises and they were not from falling down the stairs."

"Who would want to hurt Haley?"

"I don't know Lucas, but she needs help."

After school, Haley was still reeling from her encounter with both Scott boys that day. She couldn't believe Nathan had the nerve to follow her. Again! Although, she did see concern in his eyes. But no. Why would anyone ever care about Haley. She didn't need their help anyways. She was perfectly fine.

Her father arrived home, and ignored her, heading straight for the fridge to grab a beer. Or six.

When the doorbell rang, Haley was beside herself. This time, she was met with both Lucas and Nathan. Could this day be any more difficult?

"What do you guys want?"

"Haley we just want to help you. Nathan said that you were really hurt. Who did this to you?"

"No one did anything to me! I fell down the stairs! That's it! You don't know me anymore Lucas! So leave me alone!" Haley screamed, which was obviously a mistake, because it called her father's attention to the front door. He shoved Haley aside, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. Both Nathan and Lucas darted forward to help her, but were stopped by Jimmy James.

"What are you doing on my property?" he said in a drawling tone, his breath smelling obviously of alcohol.

"Excuse me Mr. James, but we're here to help Haley." By now, both Lucas and Nathan had put the pieces together, and Nathan had to restrain himself from pummeling Haley's father on the spot.

"Haley doesn't need anybody's help! She's perfectly fine, aren't you Haley?"

Haley's answer was a low whimper that they almost didn't hear. "No."

"What was that?" Jimmy turned to face his daughter, who was now standing.

"I said, NO! I'm not fine. And I do need help! I need to get out of this house and away from you! I'm leaving!" Haley screamed. Her sudden outburst surprised the two boys, but they were ready when Jimmy lunged at Haley.

There was a swirl of punches and fists flying, but Lucas and Nathan managed to subdue the older man.

"Haley, call the police." Lucas said, never taking his eyes off the monster in front of him.

Haley stood in shock. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Had her life just changed, all in a few moments?

"Haley!" Lucas called, breaking her out of her trance. She went as fast as she could to call the police.

They showed up a few moments later, and as her father was being taken away, she began to cry. Nathan saw this, and immediately wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't stand to see this girl in any pain, let alone what she must be feeling right now. She was tense at first, but after a few moments, she relaxed into his embrace.

Lucas stood in awe at all that had just happened. He found out why his best friend pushed him away, why she was hurting, and had apparently gotten her back all in a split second. Haley broke away from Nathan to stand in front of Lucas.

"Lucas, I just want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry I pushed you away, and I'm sorry for how I treated you." Haley spoke, still crying.

"Aw Hales, you have nothing to be sorry for, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." They both hugged, two best friends again.

As Nathan watched the scene before him, he knew everything in his world was about to change.

Thanks for the reviews guys, keep them coming! I'm not really sure where to go from here, but I've got a few ideas. Feedback please!