A/N: I AM BACK! SO sorry for the 6 month waiting period guys. I understand fully if none of you EVER read my fics again and I know that nothing I can say will be believed BUT, believe it or not, I had EVERY intention of updating back at the beginning of May BUT, as fate would have it, my laptop crashed and I lost EVERYTHING that I wrote. It took me almost a month to get an appointment with to get a new hard drive. So, I get it back and low and behold, I no longer have a program compatible with fanfiction SO new dilemma arose. I NOW DO and guess what that means!? REGULAR UPDATES! Thanks for understanding!

Song used in this chapter:

Don't Take You Love Away - Vast

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"I'll be back exactly one hour before the wedding."

Victoria bore an evil smirk on her already twisted expression. There was a gleam in her eyes that made any inmate cringe at the thought of what she could possibly be thinking. Nodding to Rollo, allowing him to know that she was departing, she turned on her heel and passed Nathan's cell, but not before Nathan could feed his long, muscular arms through the spaces in between the bars of his cage. He took hold of Victoria's slim physique, thrust her back against that in which was confining him to the world outside, a world where the only thing that truly mattered to him was caged in a cell adjacent to his.

The crook of his elbow wrapped Victoria's neck, resting her chin on his arm, nearly choking her.

"Let her go," he whispered, venom leaking off his tongue. "She's done nothing wro-"

Nathan had been pushed back into his cell by Rollo. He was keeling over for the large man had gutted Nathan in the ribs with his night stick that he was so fond of using.

"NATHAN!"

The shrill of Haley's pained and anguished voice was all Nathan could hear, but it was a mere echo that he heard for he could swear, with no exaggeration, that his right lung may have collapsed.

"KEITH IS HE OKAY?!"

Her worrisome voice made the smirk on Victoria's face grow and she let out an obvious scoff.

As Nathan rolled on the floor of his cell, clutching his center and trying to regain control of his breathing, Haley turned to Victoria with a look of pure hatred and spite. Victoria walked dangerously slow towards the entrance of Haley's cell, but stopped a mere inch from it.

"Having an affair with the hired help..." She shook her head in fake, but obvious, shame. "...And here I thought you could sink no lower."

Backing away from Haley just as slowly as she approached her, she grinned evilly and turned once again and left whom she held beneath contempt. Rollo shortly followed behind her wearing a smirk of equal praises to Victoria's. The glint in Rollo's eye was almost maddening. They chuckled with vengeance and hatred, gleaming with pride of what he had just accomplished.

The door slammed behind the pair of Satan's children. Nathan struggled to get back onto his feet, even as Keith aided him in doing so. Haley watched in worry as Keith helped Nathan stumble over to his bed, but Nathan resisted.

"No. The other way, Keith."

Keith's head shot in the opposite direction of Nathan's bed, only to find that where Nathan wanted to go was where Haley stood, her hands gripping the metal bars that served as a barrier between them. Sighing heavily, Keith did as he was told, bringing Nathan to Haley. Nathan felt the pain in his abdomen decrease with every step closer to Haley that he took.

Finally reaching the bars, he gripped his hands around one of Haley's, which still remained encasing the bars. With her free hand, Haley brought it to Nathan's face, stroking his scruffy face, trying to comfort him in some way.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Of course, you're right here." He smirked. She furrowed her brows with a face of desperation and shook her head lightly.

"I meant your stomach, where that idiot stabbed you." He smirked again.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it. I'll just have a big bruise or something."

"I do worry. Don't tell me not to. It's like a reflex."

Nathan moved as close to her as he could. He fed his arms through the cell and wrapped them around her waist, savoring whatever time he had to share with her.

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A heaving sigh was all that could escape Jimmy James' mouth. His mouth was dry and he tried to un-chap his lips but was failing due to the lack of moisture inside his mouth. He felt himself crumbling physically. He had been feeling more ill in the past three days than in the past three months and he knew that he wasn't even, truly, that sick to begin with. He should not have been progressing as quickly as he had. Looking to his bedside, he grabbed the small cup of water that had been sitting there for the last couple of hours. Bringing it softly to his lips, he stopped as a scent drifted across his nose. It was pungent and repulsed him. A wave of nausea drifted over him and tossed the cup back onto the bedside table.

There was a vapid knock at his door. Sliding further into his bed, he grunted and the one behind the door came in. He turned his head to see Victoria waltz into the room in a perfectly content mood. She had a smirk on her face, which could only mean one thing, and Jimmy James knew this, something was going her way. The wave of nausea had ceased to exist and was replaced with curiosity. She rounded his bedside to retrieve his cup of water and took a look inside, it was half full.

"Sweetheart," she said with a near fake tone, "you haven't finished your water. Aren't you parched?"

"No, I'm fine." His voice was raspy and Victoria wasn't fooled. Smiling as sweetly as she humanly could, making a massive attempt not to seem artificial.

"You should drink up Jimmy. Wouldn't want you to feel any worse than you have been."

Victoria held out the cup to him, which he took and held onto. She leaned on her right leg with her arms crossed expectantly. Jimmy gazed up at his wife and took note of how she was eying him, waiting for him to drink. He sighed and placed the cup back in its place on his bedside table.

"I'm not thirsty. Besides...it's been sitting there for a while now and it's too warm for me to drink. Think you could get me a fresh, cold glass hun?"

He watched her with neutral eyes. Grabbing his cup, she nodded and left his bedroom. Sighing, he laid his head in its original position on his pillow and called Victoria back into the room.

She walked in with a lame grace, opening his door only slightly, popping her head in. Jimmy turned his head towards her.

"Could you please tell Haley to come here please? She and I have urgent matters to discuss."

Victoria was rendered speechless.

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Brooke paced inelegantly across the soft carpet of her bedroom, checking the clock on her cell phone in thirty-second intervals. Her hands began to sweat profusely and she had begun to lose all control of her nerves. They were wracking her body, shaking her almost violently. The butterflies in her stomach, from fear, fluttered with no sign of losing energy.

"She should have been back over three hours ago," she said to no one in particular in her empty room.

Brooke hadn't slept a wink the entire night, keeping herself on the balcony of her bedroom hoping to catch even the slightest glimpse of Haley walking in the distance but was let down entirely. It was nearly 7:00 AM.

She broke her stride by a soft tapping at her bedroom door. Praying that when she opened it, Haley would be gracing the frame. It was Lucas.

"...Hi," she said exasperated. He smirked.

"You don't seem too happy to see me."

"Has Haley come home yet?"

Lucas raised his eyebrows.

"She's not home yet?"

Brooke shook her head in worry and felt the tears beginning to form behind her eyes. She walked to her bed and sat, letting them fall uncontrollably. Seeing her despair and worry, Lucas strode over to her, enveloping her in a side hug, making some form of an attempt to comfort her. He did his best to withhold his position as "boyfriend" and prayed to any higher power out there that he was succeeding. He felt entirely helpless. He placed a chaste kiss to her temple and gave her a tight squeeze of reassurance.

"Now's not the greatest time to break down Brooke...Peyton's just arrived."

Brooke had risen her head from Lucas' shoulder and tried to stop her tears. Turning her head towards him, she rose her eyebrows to make sure that he was correct. Nodding, Lucas wiped her tears with the pad of his thumbs and then kissed her forehead, lingering for a moment or two.

Rising to his own feet, he held his hand out for her, which she took almost immediately. Leading her to the doorway, he peaked outside to make sure the coast was clear and then led her down the hallway to Peyton's former bedroom.

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"You must be the trouble-maker," said Keith with a playful smile on his face, letting Haley know that he was joking with her.

Easing her worries slightly and giving him a small smile of thanks, Haley fed her hand through the bars.

"Haley James. You must be Keith, the one who raised such an amazing man and beautiful writer."

Keith furrowed his eyebrows.

"Writer? I knew about the basketball and the butler-like stature this goofball is, but a writer? He's never written me anything except the odd letter letting me know that's fallen in love with someone and to ask me how to impress her, but other than that? Nope. No writing...no stories, nothing."

Nathan had turned a light shade of red and Haley looked at him.

"I've really only let you and, well, whoever you've shown, I suppose, read what I've ever written."

Keith remained standing behind Nathan at a distance.

"I never considered myself a writer..."

Haley brought her hand to caress his face again.

"That was probably the most embarrassing moment in my life. I felt like I was stalking you in some obsessed way. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Haley chuckled.

"I thought we were over this. I told you that those letters were an added bonus to someone I was already in love with..."

Nathan stuck his face in between the bars, pulling Haley closer to him, or as close as he could. He wrapped his arms around Haley's waist and he gently kissed, what he could, her lips. It was soft and almost chaste. He hadn't seen her for a while and their time close to each other in the cell was limited. Haley's eyes were shut so tightly, savoring and enjoying whatever moments she could before her stepmother married her off to Chris Keller. She kept her hands on his face and as he tried to pull away from her, she shook her head.

"No..." Haley said, sighing and bringing Nathan's lips to meet with hers, yet again. She didn't want to be away from him. She felt her heart pounding the quickest it's ever been and sighed in pleasure when Nathan had run his tongue across her bottom lip.

The lights had suddenly gone out. Time to sleep.

Tearing away himself from the love of his life, Nathan left her at the bars, but only for a minute. He walked over to where his cot was and pushed it towards Haley's so that they were adjacent. He felt the pressure of Rollo's nightstick on his abdomen, but ignored the pain, only wanting to get to Haley.

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Brooke made her way into Peyton's old bedroom where she was sitting on her bed with her husband, Jake, of two years. Peyton was three years older than Haley and had married young. She had fallen in love with Jake right out of college where she majored in art and music. Jake was the heir of a car dealership, his father's, who had passed away a mere seven months ago.

Peyton rose from her spot and embraced Brooke.

"How are you Peyton?"

Peyton blushed and took Brooke's hand, placing it over her stomach.

"OH MY GOD! You're pregnant!"

Chuckling, Peyton nodded and smiled largely.

"Yeah, I'm three months along." She then noticed something. "Where's Haley?"

Brooke had momentarily forgotten about Haley not returning to the house the excitement that had been built inside of her for a brief moment had transformed to worry, yet again. Brooke shook her head.

"I haven't the slightest idea. She had left like three hours ago to go somewhere and she hasn't come back yet. I've been watching the walkway for hours. I'm worried something may have happened to her and Jimmy's a little incapacitated at the moment."

Peyton's head shot up in worry at the mention of her father.

"How is he?"

"He's getting worse. Nothing's changed. I can take you to see him, if you want..."

Peyton looked at Jake who nodded.

"Go on. I'll be waiting here when you get back." He gave her a comforting smile.

Nodding and conveying thanks through her eyes, Peyton followed Brooke out of the room and headed for her father's bedside.

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"You want me to go and get Haley? Jimmy I'm pretty certain that she's asleep," Victoria tried to reason without sounding guilty or terrified.

Jimmy squinted so as to see the hour on the digital clock by his bedside. 11:39PM.

"It's not even midnight. I'm certain that she isn't asleep. That girl never could get to sleep before 1:00 AM, even when she was a baby. So, tell her that I'd like to speak with her."

Then there was silence. Victoria sighed as Jimmy continued to hold his ground by staring her down, knowing that she would crack at any point.

Before she could reply, Peyton had pushed passed her, opening the door fully and rounded the bed to the comfortable chair beside her father's bed.

"Daddy."

"Peyton!" A smile was drawn onto Jimmy's face almost immediately. He felt himself strengthening. He looked at Victoria who had left his room as soon as Peyton entered, now about seventy-five percent certain that she was guilty for something.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Jimmy focused on Peyton's hand in his.

"How are you baby girl?"

She chuckled.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You're the one who's bedridden."

"Yeah, but still. It's in my nature to ask you. How's Jacob?" He asked, genuinely.

"He's great. Very excited."

Jimmy grunted.

"For what? Your sister's marrying an idiot tomorrow morning. No one should be happy unless your name is Chris Keller or Victoria Davis-James."

Peyton looked somewhat baffled.

"Victoria? Why would she be happy?"

Jimmy sighed.

"She chose him for your sister. Why wouldn't she be happy? She..." Jimmy noticed the look on Peyton's face.

"What's the matter sweetheart?"

I am looking for inspiration
And I think I've found it in your heart
It's the kind of thing you get when you're not looking
It's the kind of thing you had from the start

Peyton took a sharp intake of breath and released it slowly, as if a sudden realization had dawned upon her head of golden locks. Sharing her own secret with her father would have to wait until all else was settled. She had a hunch and couldn't help the feeling that, somehow, Victoria was intertwined in all of this, controlling the outside result from the inside. She turned her attention back to her father.

"Haley's missing dad."

Put me on a ship that is sinking
On a voyage to an untamed land
Take away the freedoms I wanted
I understand

Please don't take your love away from me
Don't take your love away from me
Please don't take your love away
From me

Victoria stood alone in the kitchen of the manor, a small, colorless vile in between her slender and horrific fingers. She wore a smirk of the purest sin and dishonor, yet there was satisfaction, an unpleasant satisfaction. Filling the glass she held in her hand with ice-cold water, she unscrewed the cap on the vile and placed a single drop of the almond scented compound into it. Re-capping the vile, she placed it into her blazer pocket and began to walk back to her husband's bedside.

Please don't take your love from me
Please don't take your love from me

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Nathan lay on his bed in his cell while Keith remained on the other side of there four-cornered cage, keeping them from the outside world.

Keith looked over at Nathan and smiled as he saw his surrogate son resting knowing well enough that being trapped would not keep Nathan from what he wanted or wished for. Grinning at the fact that he knew all Nathan truly wanted was Haley by his side, it fell as his thoughts moved to the love of his own life.

Put me inside flesh that is dying
A ghost that wanders without rest
Buried by desires and weakness
I understand

Nathan had fed his arms through the spaces of his cell. He had previously moved his bed to be beside Haley's and the only source of lighting what the moon through the small skylight his cell gave him. Haley was now in his arm...well, somewhat. The point was that she was next to him, safe and her breathing sang to him. It seemed to him that with each breath she took, her heart spoke. It didn't matter to him that in the morning she would be forced to get married to Keller. What mattered was that right now, in this moment, she was next to him and she loved him.

Please don't take your love away from me
Don't take your love away from me
Please don't take your love from me
Please don't take your love from me
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm

Haley stroked Nathan's hands gently as they attempted to encompass her waist. She couldn't sleep knowing that when she woke, she'd have to leave his side. It was unbearable. She gripped his hands tighter. Nathan intertwined their fingers to strengthen their grasp and bond. With his thumb, he caressed the side of her hand, which she brought to her lips and placed a lingering kiss on his thumb and sighed. She really dreaded tomorrow.

"Hales?" Nathan asked.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

Haley turned to face him and sighed heavily.

"I don't know if I can go through with this Nathan," she said, worry not at all trying to mask it. "I can't marry him."

Holding her gaze to his, Nathan smiled softly.

"You won't have to...don't you worry. I'll think of something. I have to."

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A/N: Leave a review if I'm deemed worthy! And thanks again for understanding guys!