A/N: So we're back with another chapter *squeals of joy* this is OMGOTH23 just for the record. We seem to be switching off leaving A/Ns. Anyways, so this chapter gets more into the story. Some adult materials are mentioned in this chapter living up to the M rating.

That's it really so ENJOY!!!

Almost forgot to tell you BLOD = FLASHBACK

Hello Stranger - Chapter 2 - The Inner Ghosts of a Troubled Past

Twenty minutes later found Haley checking into the only hotel Tree Hill offered, the Nevermore At Home motel. "Yeah right," Haley laughed bitterly at the irony that had become her life. She was back in Tree Hill, her supposed home, and she was checking into a motel room, oh the irony. No time to dwell…I just hope I don't know whoever works here, how embarrassing would that be…I guess it wouldn't be that bad it's not like I have an outstanding reputation to uphold…that was shot the minute Chris Keller and that damn tour came into my life. Haley's thoughts continued to wander as she made her way to the front desk.

"Hello?" The clerk asked waving his hand in front of Haley's face. He had been trying to get her attention for the last minute but she continued to stare blankly at the wall behind him.

"Oh sorry," Haley blushed at being caught lost in thought.

"That's perfectly fine, I was just wondering if you came here for a room or to marvel at this amazing wallpaper," he joked liking the obvious embarrassment the young woman in front of him was experiencing.

"I'm here for a room. Are there any available?"

"I think I can squeeze you in," he chuckled lightheartedly. Truth be told there hadn't been many customers since the place opened, draw backs to opening a motel in a small town.

"Thank you," Haley smiled politely, it had to be her first genuine smile since she returned to Tree Hill and all because of a guy named Bill, or so his nametag said. Haley reached her hand out for the key card that Bill handed to her.

"You're gonna be in room twenty-three. It's gonna be on the second floor all the way at the end," Bill smiled politely.

Does everything have to remind me of Nathan? "Thanks," she smiled weakly before leaving the front desk with her luggage. "Well isn't this marvelous?" Haley asked herself sarcastically. The room wasn't terrible but it certainly wasn't what she was used to. On the tour she was living in the fanciest rooms in the nicest hotel the location had to offer. She walked inside taking in the lone double bed, lone chair, and lone dresser, just another reminder that I'm alone. She didn't even bother to unpack, it would make this living situation that much more permanent. She sighed as her body collapsed into the stiff double bed, definitely not like the tour. "I never would've thought that I would be wishing I was back on that tour."

"Another show down a million to go," Haley sighed entering her hotel room. She couldn't complain this is what she wanted. The screaming fans, big hotel rooms, famous rockstars, and all the partying she could wish for. As the days went on she found that she was secluding herself from everyone else. Like tonight, Chris had invited her to a little party he was throwing in his hotel room but Haley had denied, once again, wanting to head straight to her room so she could think of the life she gave up.

She sighed as she fell into the plush king sized bed, how did everything go wrong? I was just going after my dream, why can't anyone be happy for me? Another sigh escaped her lips, just the thought of what Nathan was doing at this very moment was driving her crazy; is he thinking about me? Does he even care anymore? Will he ever take me back? "Fat chance."

Haley tried blocking all the thoughts and images of Nathan by closing her eyes, listening to the beating of her heart. She was sure that it was beating slower than it normally did; it was like the absence of Nathan was causing her to slowly die. Can I get any more depressing? "This is ridiculous!"

Haley tossed her pillows across the room. All she wanted was some peace and quiet. Just something to make her mind stop going over and over what happened with Nathan. She grabbed her bag from the floor and started to shuffle through its contents. Were things really bad enough for her to go here? Did she really need to start this again? She had promised herself that her tour life would stay just that, but now, now tour life seemed easier than reality. And she desperately needed a break from reality.

"I know they are in here…" She mumbled to herself. As she continued looking a familiar panic starting creeping up from the small of her back and into the hairs on her neck. What if she couldn't find them? There was no way she would be able to sit there all night long reliving every second of the last few hours of her life. Analyzing each choice she made and how there was nothing she could do to make this better. And on some level, she felt like this was what she deserved. The darkness that had seemed to be following her since she left the tour was beginning to take root in her mind. And every second that she sat here, the feeling was growing stronger and stronger. She couldn't sit there in this feeling anymore. It was fucking eating away at her soul and if she couldn't find the goddamn bottle in this fucking bottomless pit of a purse…

"Hey kid, you look like shit."

Haley hadn't even noticed that someone had come in the dressing room. It was her favorite roadie, Tripp. He was wearing his standard black tour shirt, stonewash blue jeans and a backwards Wreckers hat. He and his cocky smirk always seemed to show up whenever Haley was feeling like shit. But even a visit from him couldn't distract her from her thoughts. She had been sitting there with her head down crying again. Nathan had came to see her and she told him to wait right there until she finished her set. However when she came back, he wasn't there. She just wanted him to wait for the couple minutes it would take to play her three fucking songs and he couldn't even do that for her. She should have known that was going to happen. As happy as this tour was making her, it felt like she was losing herself. Her mind was constantly going, Nathan, the music, leaving Tree Hill, being alone…

"Haley, you still with me here?" Tripp asked with slight concern. Even though Haley had only been with the tour for a short time he felt the need to look out for her, to help her in any way he could.

"Sorry…I was just thinking…" Haley quickly snapped out of her daze, yeah, thinking about how much life sucks…no not life, just my life.

"What about that guy who just breezed out of here?"

"Yeah, he's my…" Haley paused for moment. She was going to say husband but it didn't feel right. Why couldn't he have just stay? Did he really hate her that much?

"Haley, kid, you need to get out of your head. You stay in there any longer you're gonna pop," Tripp chuckled. He'd heard stories about Haley's old days as 'Tutor Girl' but he never believed it until now. Now he was able to see the extent to Haley's thought process, or at least how much time she put into her thoughts, I have just the remedy for that.

"Tell me about, I just haven't been sleeping that well and stop calling me kid, you're only four years older than me…"

"Yeah, but I have traveled these roads longer than you and I know exactly what you need," he said with a smirk.

"I know that smirk and just like I told Keller, there is no way I am sleeping with you."Haley rolled her eyes at the mere suggestion of her sleeping with him, why must all guys think with their other head? Tripp started laughing as soon as Haley finished her sentence.

"Please, Haley…you couldn't handle the Tripp. But I think you just need to get out of your head for awhile." Tripp reached into his pocket and tossed a prescription bottle at Haley. She caught it and read the label.

"Vicodin? What am I supposed to do with this?" Haley asked feeling a little insulted that Tripp would try to give her some pills. Just because she was on tour, didn't mean that she should start living that life. The tour had been like a nonstop party, even on stage she managed to have some of the most fun she'd had in her life. But this was pushing it, she had partied with The Wreckers and even Keller but she only drank slightly, always being the light weight, but she never accepted anyone's offer of drugs. It just wasn't her. She was responsible straightedge 'Tutor Girl', always doing what's expected, always doing what's right. Was she really going to risk that by take these? Taking them would just secure that her life in Tree Hill was over.

"Nah, Hales. You just have a lot going on up there which is why you aren't sleeping. So when you are sitting in the hotel tonight and the thoughts get too loud, those things will turn it down. Or you can just continue on your path to becoming an insomniac…" Tripp saluted her and walked out of the dressing room.

Haley held the bottle in her hand and stared at the pills inside, am I really gonna resort to pills? She gave the bottle a little shake. She didn't want to start having to take pills to deal with her thoughts but she really couldn't take one more night of thinking about everything that had happened. She gripped the top of the bottle and gave it a twist. She dumped one into the palm of her hand stared at it.

"How bad could it be?"

"Finally…" Haley said as her fingers found the pill bottle. She pulled them out as a wave of relief came crashing over her. Haley got off of the bed and walked into the bathroom. How did she ever live without these? It was like everything was less terrible after she took a few of these. Everything became simple when she was filled with these marvelous little pills. Her thoughts grew quieter as her body grew number; it was the perfect cure for the 'Haley Blues'.

At first one pill would do it for her but as the month continued she had been taking them more often and more at a time. She dumped three pills into her hand and tossed them into her mouth. She turned on the water and put her face down by the faucet and took a few sips. As she swallowed down the concoction, Haley saw herself in the mirror again. Is this what her life has become now? Her eyes were red and puffy from all of the crying, the only twinkle to them was the unshed tears, and she looked like she had been run down into the ground. She still felt like she wanted to just die but the longer she stood there, the more wobbly she started to feel. The room started to spin around slowly at first but the more steps she took forward the faster the room started to spin.

"Better…" Haley sighed as she fell onto the floor face first. Finally she was sleeping and finally she was given her peace of mind. No thoughts of the tour, music, Tree Hill, school. But most importantly she wasn't thinking about Nathan fucking Scott.

~HS~

"Damn…"

She couldn't stop thinking about that girl who came by the apartment earlier. Rachel Gatina had been tossing and turning for the last hour or so. She just wanted to get some sleep. However, every time she closed her eyes, the only thing she kept seeing was that girl's face. It was almost like her subconscious mind was trying to tell her something. Rachel turned onto her side again and tried to force herself to fall asleep.

"This is ridiculous! I haven't been so caught up on a girl since…maybe I'll count sheep," Rachel sighed cutting off her own thought. She closed her eyes yet again only this time instead of 'singer girl's' face little white fluffy sheep were jumping over a little white fence. "One, two, three, four…" she continued to count out loud sighing happily as it seemed to be working. "What the hell?" Rachel cried when all the little sheep heads turned into 'singer girls' face with that adorable sad smile she had perfected, how can someone so gorgeous be so sad?

"Fuck!" She wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. She got out of bed and went to the living room taking a good look around, maybe I'll be able to organize a bit more, that should ease my mind. Now that everything was out of the boxes and bags the place looked smaller to her. But it didn't matter, no matter how big or how small it was still hers.

"More or less…" She smirked as she walked over to the pink catastrophe on her wall. From underneath the pink smears she could still see the traces of the girl's eyes and smile. Whatever she did must have broken the poor guy's heart into a million pieces. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to make him do something like that.

"Better yet what am I supposed to do with it?"

She didn't hate the mural, it was a reminder of how powerful love could be. It showed the passion love created and the devastation it left behind. The painting, from what she could see, was amazing; the artist must've worked hard on it. But she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than meets the eye.

"There has to be more behind it," Rachel mused, why else would this guy take the time to paint over it, to ruin it? Obviously she moved away, but is it all that bad for someone to move, to take in a change of scenery? Maybe she just needed an escape like I did? I have to stop thinking about her!

"Right then Rachel, let's get organized." With a clap of her hands Rachel started to hustle around the apartment moving things here and there, kitchen stuff in the kitchen, bathroom stuff in the bathroom, bedroom stuff in the bedroom. "I don't understand why people complain about moving, this is cake."

An hour passed and Rachel was just about finished with placing everything in its rightful room. "Tomorrow after school I'll finish packing everything. But first I need to find a hiding place for this," she said with a sigh picking up a shoe box. "Where to hide it? Where does anyone hide their past? Oh god, the small town effect is already setting in, I'm talking to myself!"

"Right then, back on task," she looked around the living room, nah too public. She moved on to the hallway closet, more private but not private enough…hmmmm, AH-HA the bedroom closet. She scurried into the bedroom, it seemed like the box was burning her hands. It unnerved her being so close to the past she had so desperately escaped. Without much care she threw it onto the top shelf only to have it come crashing back down into her hands. "What the…" the box already on the top shelf catching her attention. Placing her box of secrets on the ground she grabbed the mystery box taking it with her to her bed.

Hesitating slightly, after all this box may have belonged to 'singer girl'; she opened it to find what had to be close to a hundred newspaper articles. "Not what I was expecting."

Local Girl gets Chance at Stardom

Local teen Haley James Scott, 16, was given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Wreckers,

Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp were recently in town performing at Tric. Mrs. Scott…

"Holy fuck she was MARRIED!" Rachel screamed to the empty apartment.

…was recognized by the duo for her amazing vocals and all around musical talent. Michelle

was quoted as saying "she has an amazing raw talent that the world needs to see. She's able

to fill her audience with such emotions, it's overwhelming. We offered her a chance to come

on tour with us in hopes that she will be signed." Haley James Scott, formerly Haley James,

was recently wed to Nathan Scott, Tree Hills chance for a state championship. There is no

word if Mrs. Scott has accepted the offer but…

"Shit!" Rachel sighed. She continued to shuffle through the articles, each headline repeating the praise of Haley and her continuing success on the tour. She paused coming across a heading that shocked her, well not so much shocked but clarified things.

Haley James Leaves Tour

New voice on the scene Haley James, also known as Haley James Scott, didn't appear at last

nights show with The Wreckers. Michelle was asked about Mrs. Scott's absence. "Haley left

earlier in the day. She realized that the touring life wasn't for her. She went home to her family."

The mood back stage was solemn, it seems the absences of Mrs. Scott has gotten to all those

involved with the tour. She was an amazing talent and we can only hope that she returns one day.

"She left the tour for him," Rachel sighed; this can't even be half the story. "My baggage is carry-on size compared to hers." Baggage was a funny thing, no matter how hard you tried to leave it behind it was always with you, mocking you, haunting you. Her baggage paled in comparison to Haley's. Haley had left her husband for a tour, Rachel, well Rachel had issues back home but at least she wasn't married.

"The poor girl…" she trailed off, the poor girl? Since when do I care about what happens to others? I'm Rachel fucking Gatina! I am the Queen Bitch…wow that was harsh. "Reality check, I'm never going to see her again."

Rachel sighed, now I just have to worry about school tomorrow. With that thought Rachel shuffled back to her room all thoughts of Haley James Scott or Haley James or whatever the hell her name was washed from her brain. The only thing running through her mind was ways to make this life better than her past life.

So that's the end of the second chapter.

So, what'd ya think? Good? Bad? Definitely not what you expecting…right?

The next chapter there will be more Haley/Rachel interaction just so you have an idea of what to expect.

Please let us know what you think by clicking on that little rectangle and leaving your thoughts.

=D