A/N: Hey readers, this is my first OTH story. I'm in love with Naley, and honestly find the canon perfect. But I tried my best to come up with a different scenario embodying the characters Nathan and Haley were before they met. Thanks for giving this fic a chance, and I hope you like it.
Nathan Scott never believed in love. His past had hardened him, making it impossible to let anyone in. When he's forced to clean up his act in order to continue the path to his dreams, he meets a broken girl who has had her's ripped away after a tragic accident. Both are reluctant, but both needed someone to save them. Because silence was the most powerful scream, and he was the only one to hear her.
Chapter 1
Duke University had opened all sorts of doors for Nathan Scott. Already a natural born rebel and hedonist, college had offered him the freedom to attain the lifestyle he'd always dreamed of. After eighteen years of dysfunctional parents, there was nothing more that he wanted than to get out. He refused to be tied down any longer. The day he received his acceptance letter in the mail, a free ride athletic scholarship paying his way, he was gone.
He hadn't seen his parents in three years now.
He kept minimal contact with them, only calling on obligated occasions. Anytime he did return back to his hometown, he stayed with his previously estranged half brother. The initially hateful relationship between the Scott brothers had turned into a grudging respect as they played side by side on their high school basketball team. The two half siblings were polar opposites, save their gift and love for the game, and maybe the mutual contempt for the father they shared. They bonded reluctantly, and grudging respect turned out a strangely close fraternal connection.
Lucas was one of the only people who'd seen past Nathan's wall, one of the few to search beyond his younger brother's façade of tough and unemotional front. He was the only to see how desperate Nate was for someone to reach him, someone to pull him out of the darkness. Try as he might, Lucas knew he would never be the one to truly help his little sibling.
As they grew closer, it became more and more apparent how different the two brothers were.
The blood that ran through their veins might have shared the same parentage, but all in all the environments they were raised in determined the individual. Nathan spent his childhood and adolescence witnessing the worst marriage one could conjure up. Deb and Dan Scott often involved their only son in their fights, putting him through the brunt of it all. Nate was taught to be self reliant, to fight to protect his pride, and to never back down.
What resulted was a twenty one year old boy made of stone.
No one dared cross Nathan. There was a reverence and respect people had for him, but also a fear. He was unforgiving, aggressive, and highly temperamental. While the female population of the student body spent most of its time swooning over his bad boy reputation and brooding good looks, everyone else was wary around him. He was painted as the captain of the Blue Devils, a callous young man who never kept continued contact with any of his many conquests.
He was never one for romance. Most of the relationships he'd forged with the fairer sex were physical and non committal. All of them knew he didn't care for them, but they still slept with him in hopes of cracking the armor he wore. None of them even came close to being successful.
So here he was, a junior in college, ready for another year of wild parties, basketball victories, and meaningless sex.
But what he was really in for over the next ten months would forever change him and his life. He was to meet someone so bright that he couldn't avoid her. He was to find a stranger who understood him better than he understood himself. He was going to have someone who terrified him and overwhelmed him all at the same time. He was going to fight for someone who was even more broken than he was, someone who he would find himself hurting for.
Nathan was taught never to let anyone in. He didn't believe that true love existed. After all, love was simply a romanticized ideal of unbridled and unconditional affection that one being forged for another. And that was imposssible, right?
Wrong.
She would make him a believer.
She would come into his life without warning, just like he did with hers.
She was going to be the love of his life, and he never saw it coming.
-p-
A tall, broad shouldered, and dark haired young man walked into his empty apartment. Boxes of belongings had arrived the previous day, piled on top of each other in stacks above the floor. It was a spacious structure, light streaming in through the large paned windows on the east wall.
He dropped his gym bag unceremoniously onto the floor as he entered through the door. He was exhausted, his coach was a hard ass who didn't understand that the first day of practice wasn't the day to push his players to the extent of death.
The first semester of the school year was beginning in a little over a week, and things were already picking up into high gear. Soon enough, classes would begin, and hell would ensue. To be entirely honest, he wasn't interested in academics. He knew the only reason he'd been accepted into Duke was for his athletic record and nothing else. His grades had been short of failures, and nothing had changed too much. For the first two years of his college career, he'd been skimming close to the dangerous edge of flunking out.
Instead of studying, Nathan traded his time to celebrate his game victories and practice. He was dedicated, but not without reason. He knew he was a valuable asset to the team, so he trained and played hard. He wouldn't let something like his academic shortcomings to impede on his athletic success.
Without thinking, his feet led him to the fridge. Pulling the door open, he pulled out a water bottle, chugging the liquid to quench his thirst. He wiped his chin with the back of his hand, taking a moment to catch his breath after.
"Take it easy champ," a voice came from behind, "There's plenty more water, no need to down in all at once,"
Raising his eyes lazily upon hearing the familiar tone, Nathan looked up to meet the gaze of his older half brother. "Hey Luke, get all your crap out of my apartment, will you?" he said, skipping a usual greeting to emphasize his annoyance with the clutter in his home.
The blond haired boy looked amused, finding himself a comfortable place on the couch in the living room in front of the television. He reclined, placing his folded arms behind his head. He let out a breath. "Nah man, I don't so anymore. Brooke's been so amazing lately I'm not sure I want to move in with her anymore—"
"Not funny," Nathan cut him off, an edge of annoyance rising in his tone. He walked over and dropped himself on the leather seat beside the sofa. "If I have to hear you two 'studying' in the room next to me for one more night I might jump off the balcony,"
Lucas let out a laugh, "Alright, I get it. I'll be picking up the rest of my stuff tonight after the bonfire at the beach,"
"Great," Nate muttered in mock enthusiasm. He took a moment to stare up at the ceiling, his blue eyes glazing over despite attempts to fight off the desire to fall asleep.
"By the way, just a heads up," Lucas' tone suddenly turned serious, as it often did when he wanted Nathan to pay attention. From experience, Nate knew it was better to listen than to ignore what he had to say. "Peyton and Jake got together for real over the summer, they're official now,"
Nathan scoffed, "Peyton and I haven't been together since high school. She can date whoever she wants, I could never stand all her tortured artist whining anyways," he stopped to think, "In fact, I feel pretty bad for Jagileski who has to deal with all her bitching now,"
Lucas wasn't so easily appeased. Peyton and Nathan didn't quite have the conventional romance. They were the couple in high school everyone knew was always together, even if they were on the 'outs'. But by the time all of them had started college, Peyton was fed up with Nathan's promiscuity
Peyton was a cheerleader, and he was the stud basketballer. The break up wasn't as bad as their friends expected. Nate and Peyton had realized how little they actually cared about the other romantically. He hardly missed her, the meaningless flings he replaced her with equally as the mentality of treating Peyton as his property never fully ceased. He felt entitled, his blood boiling whenever he saw a guy even look at her.
"Nice to know you approve,"
Both boys heads snapped in the direction of the new female presence in the room. The girl had a thing for timing. Peyton Sawyer stood by the exit, leaning on the door frame. Her curly blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, a few locks of hair escaping from their bindings and framing her face. Her jaw was clenched, evidently irritated by what she had just overheard.
"Sure Peyt, just invite yourself in, it's fine," Nathan drawled, rolling his eyes. Her outfit caught his attention, the cheerleading uniform revealing and ample amount of flesh. Her legs were on full display, and he found himself staring, not that he cared. "Looking hot as always though. It's a shame you're being wasted on someone like Jake,"
"You're a pig, you know that?"
"And you're a bitch," he countered without hesitation.
"Nathan," warned Luke.
Peyton was ready to bit Nathan's head off, when someone else walked through the door. "Play nice children, if you want to fight do it some other day. Today is too important for it to be screwed up by your petty war,"
Nathan groaned as the brunette approached the scene, taking whatever liberties she wished as she found a comfortable place on Lucas' lap. "This is my apartment, what the hell everyone doing ?"
But no one was listening. Brooke turned towards boyfriend, placing a kiss on his lips before directing her attention to her fuming friend, "What are you doing here, P. Sawyer? I thought Jake was picking up right after we finished cheer,"
"He was, but Coach wanted me to drop a letter for Nathan off," The old man didn't quite understand that Peyton and Nathan had been broken up for over a year now. With that, she walked up to Nathan and shoved the envelope in his face. Nathan deflected it narrowly, catching the letter with one hand. His eyes narrowing at the attempt. She stormed out, slamming the door loudly behind her.
"Don't forget to come to the beach at nine tonight!" Brooke called after her.
A brief moment of silence passed between the remaining trio before Nathan looked up, realizing that he was subject to two harsh glares facing him.
"God Nate, do you always have to be such a dick?" Brook accused.
"What?" he defended, "I didn't do anything!"
Brooke hopped off of Luke's legs, pulling down the hem of her short skirt as she stood up. "I better go after Peyton, she's been in a mood after getting back from New York," She leaned over and gave her beau a quick peck before following where Peyton had left.
Lucas had his hand out in the air, supposedly there to stop his girlfriend from leaving.
"Thanks a lot, man. Now my girlfriend's going to be in a 'mood' too,"
"You're welcome," he really couldn't care less.
"Whatever," the older boy ran a hand through his hair, "What's in that letter, anyway?"
His line of vision fell into the paper in his hands. Not thinking too much about it, he ripped the top of the envelope to retrieve the wording inside. Bored with what it had to say, Nathan was about to crumple it up and shoot it into the trash bin. But then he read something that he couldn't neglect.
-p-
Safe to say, Nathan was pissed.
He'd done what he needed to do during his freshman and sophomore years at Duke. And now something as trivial as his GPA was going to ruin it all. Coach had the nerve to send him a letter requesting that he take a more active initiative to earn better grades this year. He was teetering on the balance of getting kicked off the basketball team. He would need to get a tutor and put all of his extra time studying instead of partying in order to get the kind of marks Coach wanted from him.
"Hey cool it with the drinks, you're driving home tonight." Luke put a hand on his younger brother's shoulder, "What is that, like your seventh beer?"
They were all at the beach, the last hoorah of the summer, the first party of the year to kick off the coming months. Large numbers of students blurred the waterside, music blasting and wild dancing going late into the night. For Nate Scott, it meant getting wasted in an angry blur. He was fighting off the attention of females left and right, some of them bold enough to wrap their arms around his neck and go in for a kiss.
Any other night and maybe Nate would be impressed. But tonight he was just getting annoyed.
Pretending not to hear what his older sibling had to say, Nate continued to down the rest of his beverage. Of course Luke wouldn't understand why he was so mad. Luke was smarter, more worldly than he was. It was easy for him to do well in his classes.
"That's it, I'm cutting you off," Luke muttered, but Nate shoved him away.
"Like hell you are," he growled. He was buzzed, but not even close to drunk. He'd be damned if he was going to stop drinking now. Grabbing his keys out of his pocket, he headed towards his car. It took less than a minute for him to spot the black SUV parked less than a block away.
Hoping to find a nearby bar, he got in and started the engine.
-p-
A petite blonde sat at the café alone, holding the warm cup of tea between her cold hands. She always felt cold nowadays, her body trembling even when it the weather told her it was blazing. Ever since the accident, she couldn't help but feel as if all the heat and warmth in the world had disappeared.
She wore her wavy blonde hair in a loose single braid down her back. She closed her eyes as she listened to the music, bringing the rim of her teacup to her lips as she took another sip.
"Excuse me, Miss,"
Her large, doe like brown eyes snapped open. She met the gaze of a middle aged woman with a kind smile.
"I'm really sorry about this, but we close in ten minutes,"
The younger girl nodded in acknowledgement, sending a soft smile of her own. Something in her heart died whenever she smiled now, because she knew that it was always fake. There was no genuine happiness there anymore.
With that, she pulled out her purse and retrieved a couple of bills from her wallet. She took one last gulp of her drink before standing up and placing the money on the table. She looked the waitress straight in the eye to make sure they were making contact. She tilted her head down, as if in thanks.
The woman knew the girl wasn't saying anything, but somehow she understood. "You're welcome. Please come again,"
The light haired young woman nodded and turned around to leave. It was a long walk back to campus, but one of nice solitude. Being alone seemed to be the only thing remotely comforting. Having other people around just intensified the awareness of what she had lost.
The streets nearby the school were empty. Most Duke students were probably away at the party being thrown at the beach. At one point, she had considered attending but decided against it. There were no cars or oncoming traffic around her. But not being the type to break any rules, she waited patiently for the light to signal and allow her to cross the street.
The right signal flashed, and she began to walk. But when she had made it to the half way point, she heard it. Something speeding her way, she felt the powerful headlights in her peripheral vision. It all happened so quickly that she didn't have time to react.
One moment she was just standing there, the next her heart had jumped out of her chest. The vehicle was coming at her at full speed, breaking quickly at the last minute. She swore it was going to hit her, but then a solid screech was all she heard. The large car had stopped just in time, less than an inch away from colliding with her body.
She stood mortified, too petrified to move.
She squinted, unable to see who it was behind the wheel. She knew she hadn't been hit, but her legs gave out anyway. Her knees were trembling, and she was having trouble standing back up.
That was when she heard it, his voice.
"Hey," he sounded concerned, "Are you okay?"
Her eyes were glued to the cement ground beneath her, her body somehow incapable of looking up. Her heart was beating rapidly. Someone had nearly run her over.
She heard a car door slam, she watched from the corner of her eyes as he got closer to her.
"Damn it," she heard him cuss, "Hey, can you hear me?"
She tried opening her mouth, but she knew the words wouldn't come out. She couldn't breathe, a full on anxiety attack was ensuing. She felt her hands cramp up, she couldn't move. She struggled to regain her strength, but all of it was futile. Before she could make another effort, she felt two strong arms scoop her off the floor and into the air.
Unable to protest, this stranger lifted her into the passenger seat of an oversized SUV. She had shut her eyes tightly, curling up into a ball as she sat. She felt him fasten the seatbelt over her anyway, she heard the door of her right side shut as he rushed around the front of the car to get behind the wheel again.
"I'm taking you to the hospital," it wasn't a question, but a statement.
She could smell the traces of alcohol in his breath.
In an instant, her eyes snapped open. Under the dim lighting of the street lights outside, she could make out his image. It wasn't the ideal situation, but she couldn't help but note his appearance. He was tall, much taller than her even sitting down. He was dressed in a white tee shirt, dark washed jeans sitting around his hips. He was of muscular build, probably why he was able to lift her up in his arms with ease before. Warm brown orbs made their way up, shocked at what they met as she looked up.
His eyes. Piercing dark blue eyes, an icy quality about them as he looked at her. She felt his harsh stare and found herself wanting to shrink away.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" he said slowly.
When she didn't answer, he just grunted something under his breath. He tore his keys out of the ignition, and she became aware that the car had stopped moving. The letters on the building beside them played out, they'd arrived at the medical center emergency room entrance.
That was when the panic sank in.
She couldn't be here, she couldn't. Not again.
So as he got out of the car to retrieve her, with a sudden burst of willpower, she forced herself to burst through the door and jump to her feet. She winced a little, realizing the ache in her ankle. She powered through it anyway, sprinting away.
"Hey!"
She heard him shouting after her, but she didn't stop. These things were better when they were left alone. She didn't want to have to explain things to anyone anymore. She wasn't in any mortal danger, and that was enough for her.
The only reason he was really afraid for her wellbeing was the fact that she didn't speak. Sure the panic attack had some to do with it, but other than that she was alright. She would survive.
"Hey!"
Nathan called after the girl. One second she was shaking in the seat next to him, bunched up into fetal position. He was terrified of what was happening. He knew he hadn't hit her with the car, but still, there was something about this girl that frightened him. She was damaged, he just couldn't tell where or why. He sobered up the instant he saw her collapsed on the street. He just wanted to make sure she was alright.
He watched helplessly as she sped away, half limping on her injured ankle. He wanted to follow her, but by the time he'd gotten back in the car, she was gone. She'd disappeared from his line of sight, and he couldn't find her.
He reached up to his chest, feeling the heavy beat of his heart.
He was panting, he leaned forward to rest his forehead on the steering wheel. He stayed like that for a while—confused, dazed, and utterly perplexed. But his moment of uncharacteristic concern disappeared just as abruptly as it had appeared.
Then it caught his eye.
In the place of the girl who had so desperately escaped his help, sat an abandoned purse. It was a small brown leather pouch with a long thin handle that was meant to go around neck and shoulder.
Not caring if he was invading some privacy boundaries, he reached over and picked it up. Nate emptied the bag's contents into the palm of his hands. There wasn't much inside.
A couple of neatly folded bills, a house key, a simple beret clip, and a flat smooth, perfectly rounded stone. He brought his thumb along the surface of the smooth rock, thinking of how peculiar it was for a young woman to carry around with her. He shook the bag upside down again, and one last item fell out.
A small card, similar to the one Nathan kept in his wallet.
And ID card that all Duke students were required to have with them at all times. Sure enough, it belonged to the girl from before. The picture was definitely of her, but Nate couldn't help but feel she looked different than the young woman he'd met earlier that night. Somehow the photograph looked happier, more cheerful. Looking over the card, he read over the name printed near the bottom.
Haley James.
End Chapter 1
A/N: What did you think? It's a little angsty, but isn't that what OTH was in the beginning? Please review if you'd like me to continue this story.