A/N – Hey everybody this is Crashspike again. Thanks for all of the reviews and the support. This chapter is a little longer and it has Haley and Rachel actually talking, lol.

On with the show….

Hello Stranger - Chapter 3 – Bitches and Friends…

"BEEP BEEP BEEP" the alarm clock blared through the quiet apartment waking the sleeping beauty with a mumble.

"Why couldn't you give me five more fucking minutes?" Rachel glared at the alarm clock while shutting it off. She reluctantly pulled her tired body from the comfort of her bed going into a full body stretch. She needed the extra five minutes. It seemed that after a rough night of tossing and turning she was finally able to put her mind at ease well not at ease but enjoying the images of Haley doing very naughty things.

"At least she's not tormenting me anymore…well at least not in a bad way," she chuckled to herself remembering some of the 'R-rated' things her and 'dream Haley' had engaged in. What she would do to make her dreams come true. "I guess a cold shower is in order this morning."

Padding over to the bathroom Rachel turned on the water making sure that it stayed at a nice cool temperature. She didn't need her body being all worked up on the first day of school, her nerves would be enough. It was strange, Rachel Gatina was never nervous, but the thought of being able to start with a clean slate frightened her. What if this doesn't work? What if someone finds out about…don't think about it. You stop thinking about it and soon it'll vanish, right?

She stepped under the cool water, the chill running through her body ceasing all thoughts of her past and future lives. All she could think about was the cute little blonde who had stumbled into her life and maybe even her heart; I wonder what she's doing?

~HS~

The next morning arrived and Haley James Scott was still lying on the floor where she had passed out. As she opened her eyes all she saw was carpet. Then she remembered, the pills had done the job. She was numb and her mind was blurry, just the way she liked it. A lazy smile grew across Haley's lips.

"This is nice…"

She still hadn't moved from her spot. Her body felt like a giant noodle and something about the feeling was comforting, it felt normal.

Not moving was great.

Just lying there.

On the floor.

Nothing to do.

Haley turned her head and saw that the clock said 8:15am. Good thing she was still on the tour and she didn't have to get up and be at school. Because if she had to be at school then she would only have fifteen minutes to get up and get ready for class.

"But I don't have to go to school…" Haley mumbled and turned her face back into the carpet. Then the one part of her mind that wasn't mush started to whisper to her. She tried to focus on it. But it was like trying to hear someone at the end of a tunnel. Her eyebrows furrowed and she listened again. Then she finally realized what the voice was trying to tell her.

"I have to be at school in fifteen minutes."

Haley's eyes shot open and she placed her palms flat on the floor. She wasn't used to having to move so immediately after taking the pills. She usually would just sleep it off and by the time noon rolled around she would be good to go. She gave herself one strong push and got up onto her knees. She wiped some drool from her mouth and stretched a little. Her body still felt loose but she could feel a little bit of control returning. She looked over at the clock again. It was 8:23.

"This is going to be a long day…" Haley mumbled.

~HS~

"Tree Hill High, home of the Ravens," Rachel read aloud as she drove past the sign. She looked around taking in all the new faces and surrounding. At least it doesn't look like a total drag. She found an open parking spot and started to pull into it when a light blue Volkswagen Beetle almost smashed into her side.

"What the hell!" Rachel screamed out the window to the driver.

"This is my spot," the driver yelled back.

"Well I don't see anyone's name written on it so I'm thinking that it's fair game," Rachel smirked upon noticing the glare she was receiving from the pissed off brunette, I guess I'm still gonna be Rachel Gatina, Queen Bitch. "Plus I doubt that you wanna press your luck against my car."

She watched as the Beetle pulled into reverse and sped off in the opposite direction. She just smirked as she pulled into her parking spot. "This is definitely gonna be fun."

Rachel wandered around campus trying to get a feel for everything. Just like every high school in America Tree Hill High consisted of clicks and nothing more. And like most schools it seemed the jocks ruled, the numerous sports banners being the dead give away, but not just any jocks, the basketball jokes. She glanced to her left spotting a group of them.

"It seems that I've spotted the alpha female ranting to her pack," Rachel snickered as she watched the same brunette that she pissed off not five minutes ago, I bet she's talking about me. She noticed the brunette point and glare in her direction, definitely talking about me.

"Where to next?" She spotted what seemed to be a bulletin board kiosk and decided to see what the small town had to offer for fun; if not fun she would at least get a better feel for this place. Bright fliers littered every inch of the board ranging in messages of babysitting services to yearbook notices. She was about to turn away when a hot pink paper caught her eye, hmmmm, do I dare?

The bell rang before Rachel could even think about her options. She walked towards the entrance hoping to get through this day unscathed. Despite her hard bitchy exterior she was still a nervous girl just trying to find her place in the world. She glanced down at her schedule. There was a note attached telling her that she needed to see a Principal Turner before she head to her classes, like I'm gonna miss out on an opportunity like this.

Rachel ducked her head as she walked past the main office, she didn't need to be told the welcome mumbo jumbo, all she needed was to find the gym. After a couple lefts and rights she found herself standing in front of a set of wooden double doors with the sign 'Gymnasium' written on a plaque. The unmistakable "CHEERLEADING TRYOUTS" sign telling her she had found the right place.

"Here goes nothing."

~HS~

The day wasn't as terrible as Haley thought it was going to be. Sure she didn't get to school until 9:30am, and had to endured all the snickering and pointing from the student body, and all of her friends seemed to be M.I.A. and she only had enough money for maybe one or two more nights at the hotel and didn't have any place to stay but, Haley knew all this was going to happen. It seemed that with each passing minute her laundry list of wrong doings grew longer and longer.

Tree Hill was just like any other small town, anytime something of significances happened the inhabitants would talk about it for weeks on end. She went on a big national tour and left it to come back home to a husband that didn't want her, gossiping was bound to happen.

"Yeah…they'll be talking about this for years…" Haley mumbled as a couple of sophomores passed behind her whispering and laughing. She wanted to say something back. Anything to try and defend herself but she didn't. What would be the point of doing that? After all they weren't the people she wanted to explain herself to.

She was standing at the door of the gym and she could hear the thumping of loud techno music from behind the doors. Brooke and Peyton were holding the cheerleader tryouts and she hadn't seen them since she came back to school. However, after standing there for the last five minutes, her body still didn't want to push those doors open.

"Come on, James. Just get it over with…"

She closed her eyes and pushed the doors open. As she walked through the hall that led to the gym, Haley started to feel uneasy. Her mind started to play out everything that could happen once she saw her friends. God, where they even her friends anymore? Nathan had been here this whole time. They had to be on his side. No one had called her or checked in with her to see how the tour was going or anything. Lucas used to call her but that had only lasted for the first two weeks. Brooke and Peyton had to know she was back in town. Everyone else knew and yet she hadn't seen them at all. Maybe they were avoiding her. Maybe they hated her now.

"Just go in there…" Haley walked into the gym looking around; did it get bigger in here? She took about three steps inside when she saw them.

Brooke and Peyton.

But they hadn't seen her yet. Just the sight of them caused her to lose all of the nerve she had built up. This wasn't the place to try and talk to them. She didn't even know what to say or what not to say. She started back out of the gym, when she saw Peyton and Brooke looking straight at her. They seemed to debating on if they should go and talk to her but Haley didn't want to stand around and deal with the uncertainty anymore.

"Fuck it…" Haley turned around and tried to leave but now between her and the nearest exit stood three of the meanest cheerleaders from the squad; Theresa, Julie and Sarah to be exact.

"Shit…" Haley hissed. She knew that this was going to happen sooner or later but she was hoping more for later. It was just like eighth grade gym class all over again. Haley was outnumbered but unlike before she didn't have friends to back her up. She looked back at Brooke and it didn't look like she was going to be getting any help from her.

"Look, girls, its Haley James fresh from her tour with Michelle Branch. Wow it must be weird to be back in little ole Tree Hill…" Theresa said making the first of what was sure to be several jabs at Haley.

"OMG the Haley James? Wait I thought she was married to Nathan Scott?" Julie chimed in.

"Well she was married but she left fine ass Nathan Scott behind so she could go and play rockstar. Did you get tired of playing house?" Sarah mocked.

"But now she's back in town so I guess we should all feel special because our own celebrity decided to come home…" Theresa said and then gave Haley a little shove.

"Don't touch me again." Haley said looking over her shoulder. Peyton and Brooke were just standing there with their arms crossed and whispering to each other. She was really on her own.

"And if I do, what's going to happen?" Theresa asked as she pushed Haley a little harder causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Brooke making her way towards them but Peyton was holding her back. Haley sighed and started to get to her feet when suddenly her new friend, or acquaintance, Brooke-a-like was standing between her and the cheerleaders.

"Touch her again and I will break all three of you bitches in half." Brooke-a-like growled sounding just as protective as Brooke or Peyton would if they were standing there. And like before, the redhead looked amazing today as well despite looking like she had just finished her routine for the tryout, she was still fucking beautiful; there I go again with the beautiful remarks, what's happening to me?

"You better watch your step, you fuck with one of us, and you fuck with all of us, carrot top." Sarah said as the redhead kept blocking the girls' path to Haley.

"You fuck with her, you fuck with me. And trust me; I am waaaay scarier than your captain over there."

"Theresa, Sarah, Julie! Get your narrow asses over here!" Brooke shouted from the other side of the gym.

"You better watch yourself." Theresa said as she and her cronies walked away.

"Bitches…" Brooke-a-like smirked and turned around to help Haley up from the ground.

"You ok?"

Haley smiled as Rachel pulled her up from the floor. The intimidation this girl held over her was still evident, her nerves were screaming that this wasn't good but her heart was telling her the exact opposite. It was nice to see that someone in this place liked her. She stood there and stared at her for a second. There was something about her that was calming but exciting at the same time.

"Thanks..."

"It was nothing; I've been putting bitches like that in their place for years." Rachel smiled. She didn't feel the need to hide behind her sass and bitchiness around this girl, she finally felt like she could be herself. She couldn't understand why anyone would want to be mean to such a sweet and talented girl. She looked down at her hand and noticed that she and Haley were still holding hands. Rachel smiled as Haley blushed and dropped her hand.

"Standing up to those three is not a 'nothing'. They have been terrorizing me since 8th grade, why did you do that? Crossing the squad isn't the safest thing to do around here," Haley asked still trying to figure out why the girl who just a few hours ago told her to leave her apartment was now trying to help her. And why the urge to touch this girl's hand was so strong.

"No one deserves to be tormented. Besides they were asking for it. They should be worshipping the ground you walk on; they're not the ones that went on a national tour..." Rachel started to say until she noticed the change in Haley's expression. The terrified look on Haley's face was enough to let her know that she had struck a nerve.

"Who told you about that?" Haley asked.

"Let me explain...I found a box in my, well your old closet and it was filled with newspaper articles about you and the tour." Rachel said hoping to calm Haley down because she looked to be on the verge of a breakdown. So she did what she could to get the focus off of Haley and back onto her.

"Oh god now you probably think I'm some kind of stalker."

"No I'm sorry that's not it at all. It's ok. Everybody knows about it and everybody has been giving me shit for it..." Haley looked over to see that Brooke and Peyton were still standing there staring at her like she was doing something wrong. She wished that they would just come over to her and say whatever was on their mind but that would mean things would have to go in her favor for a change.

"And there are a lot people who aren't happy to see me back here..." Haley said as she kept looking at them.

"Friends of yours?" Rachel followed Haley's sight line and saw Brooke and Peyton staring at them. From the way they were looking at each other, they must have been very close.

"I don't really know anymore." Haley said.

"If you don't know then you should just forget about them and move on." Rachel snapped sounding like her old self.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you were on the ground and they didn't even make a move to save you. So, then that means they aren't your friends." Rachel didn't think she was saying anything wrong. How could Haley even try to defend them?

"Thanks for the advice, I guess." Haley said wondering where that came from. After all, the girl did just save her and if she wanted to give her some advice then fine she could deal with it. They stood there in silence for another second and Haley found herself looking at every single inch of the girl standing before her.

"So….I feel bad about last night, I was just in a mood after moving and I took my bitchiness out on you." Rachel started hoping that she wasn't about to sound really desperate.

"I was thinking that if you wanted to you could room with me? Y'know seeing that I kinda kicked you out of your old home," Rachel definitely sounded desperate. Why am I such a spazz around her?

"What makes you think that I need your help? You don't even know me…" Haley asked. There was no reason for this girl to be offering her any help.

"Does anyone really know anyone? You were about three seconds from getting a beat down…" Rachel asked with a standoffish tone to her voice. She was actually a little hurt that Haley didn't accept her offer right away. She needed to regain some form of her bitchy exterior; she couldn't turn to mush just because the star of her dreams had just turned her down.

"Exactly no one knows me. So thanks but no thanks..." Haley snapped back. She knew that maybe she shouldn't have been so short with Brooke-a-like just then but she always acted a little grouchy when the pills finally worked their way out of her system. Plus she was tired of feeling like a charity case. She walked out of the gym and into the hallway, already cursing herself for turning down the offer.

"This isn't over." Rachel stormed out of the gym doors right after Haley. There was no way she was going to let her just walk away from her and she wasn't about to let Haley have the last word.

"What do you think they were talking about?" Peyton asked Brooke when they were finally free from the squad.

"No clue," Brooke shrugged. To be perfectly honest she wasn't concerned about Haley, if Haley was a big enough girl to go off on a national tour then she sure as hell didn't need help fighting her battles. But a part of her was irked that Rach-ho or Rachel or whoever was the one helping her. "Doesn't matter anymore, she's Rach-ho's problem now."

"She really did get under your skin," Peyton snickered at Brooke's obvious agitation.

"Whatever P. Sawyer," Brooke huffed before making her way towards the locker room.

"If she bothers you this much then why in the hell is she the newest member of the squad?" Peyton yelled after her best friend loving the huff of aggravation she received for a response.

~HS~

"You of all people should be willing to take anything you can get. I mean it's not like you have friends lining up outside of your door offering to help," Rachel snapped as she followed after Haley.

Haley stopped in her tracks. She turned around and walked right up to the redhead. She could feel her body temperature rising, the problem was she wasn't sure if it was anger towards the redhead or raw passion that was causing it.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You don't know anything about me or my friends. And if this is the best 'help' I can get, then I am better off on my own."

"Friends? You honestly think that you have friends. I didn't see your precious Brooke or Peyton running over to help you. I didn't see any of them offering you anything but dirty looks and stares," Rachel cringed at the harshness of her voice. This was not how she wanted things to go with Haley. She wanted to stop but at this point her words were flying out of her mouth, the filter between her brain and mouth turned off.

"And you're right I don't know anything about you but I was willing to find out," Rachel said with a huff. She turned on her heels and walked off with her head held high, she couldn't let Haley she that she was on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe that the young singer had such an effect on her but the only thing she wanted was to get away from her. So she went off in the direction she hoped would lead her to a bathroom.

Haley stood there as she watched the redhead walk away. Her words stung her harder than she cared to admit. This day was pretty much ruined and the only option was to bail for the last remaining hours. She wanted to go after her but she didn't want to seem desperate. She started walking towards the parking lot groaning as a tear slid down her cheek.

"I should have stayed on the fucking tour…"

She wiped her eyes and headed for the hotel.

~HS~

Haley got back to the room and she didn't know how she should feel. She had just skipped out on the rest of school because some stranger seemed to know her better than she did. It felt weird, you would think that someone would know themselves better than a stranger but the redhead had her down pat. She knew what she was thinking and knew exactly what to say to make it hurt, in a good way. It didn't bother her though. It was nice that someone was being bitchy in the right way. The entire population of THH was bitching to her about her poor choices in the past and Brooke-alike was bitching to her about what choices she made now and it was this difference that told her Brooke-alike was someone she needed to befriend.

She plopped down on the bed and for once she wasn't thinking about the tour or the N-word or her friends. The only thing she could think about was Brooke-alike. How could she have been so mean to her? She blamed it on the pills but some of that was her own defensiveness. And despite all this she was still willing to help her with the three headed cheer monster.

Not even Brooke came over to stop them.

"What the hell and I'm gonna do?" Haley screamed to the empty hotel room. She felt that same level of worry and panic that had been following her around since she got to school today. God, she wanted to take some of her favorite forget-me-pills but she only had a few left so that was out. There was only one option left.

You're going to go over to her apartment and grovel to Brooke-alike, that's what you'll do. You don't have enough money to live in the motel for more than another day, Haley thought with a sigh. She was going to have to take Brooke-alike up on her offer. That is if the offer was still on the table.

~HS~

"There is no way in hell I am letting her get to me," Rachel sniffled to herself. She wiped a few stray tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

After her little encounter with Haley she decided that school wasn't worth it, she would try again tomorrow, maybe this time I'll be able to avoid Haley. She pealed out of the school like a bat outta hell; she needed to get away from this god awful place and fast.

"I try to be nice one fucking time and she throws it back in my face," she sighed as a few more tears fell from her eyes. "And that's what I get for trying to be nice for once in my life. Never again!"

She shook her head, that's not true. Rachel knew that if Haley were to come back into her life at one point in time there was no doubt in her mind that she would be nice to her. There was just something about her that made Rachel want to change her hard ass bitchy ways. She didn't know if it was her big brown doe eyes, cute button nose, pouty lips, or her sensational body but she knew that Haley James meant trouble.

"It's Haley James Scott," she sighed to herself as she pulled her Denali into her parking space.

She went inside of the apartment and dropped her bag on the floor. She sulked her way over to the couch before falling into it.

"Why does everything have to be so fucking hard?"

There was a knock at the door. "Who the hell could that be?" She begrudgingly pulled herself off the couch and made her way back over to the door. "Well well well, look who we have here."

"Hi," Haley smiled sheepishly. She still couldn't believe that she was yet again on her old door step, it was just surreal. She was about to grovel and beg to a complete stranger if she could live with her, oh how the mighty have fallen. I guess I wasn't all that might in the first place but at least I had my pride.

Can she be any cuter? Stop it…be a bitch. "Have you come back to yell at me some more?" Rachel asked with a raised eyebrow. Stay strong, fight her cuteness.

"Sorry." Haley wanted to say something more profound but words seemed to be failing her at this point. She wanted to say how she had been on edge since coming back to town and how having everyone cutting her out of their lives wasn't helping matters. She wanted to tell her how grateful she was to her for stopping the bloodletting between her and the Cheer-monster. But instead of all of that, sorry seemed to be the only thing coming out of her mouth; I've missed too much school. Tutor Girl is never at a lack for words.

"Sorry? That's the best you can come up with?" Rachel asked her bitchy exterior coming full swing. She didn't like it but this was her natural defense, keep everyone away so she wouldn't get hurt.

"Yeah..." Haley said as she exhaled. "I am too tired to fight anymore. I was a jerk and you are right, you are the only person that has offered to help me. So I am sorry...and I hope you can forgive me."

Wow! She's actually being nice to me. That's not the twist I was expecting. "You better know that just because you're tired doesn't mean that I'm gonna forget about what you said to me?" She asked hating that she couldn't let her walls down for like two seconds.

Haley could tell that it was going to take something drastic to breakthrough this wall that had built between them since she had left school today. She walked up to her and slid her arms around Brooke-alike's back and rested her head on the taller girl's shoulder. Her body was humming from being this close to the girl. Her body felt so strong and amazing, unlike her worn and tired one, she felt protected in her arms. Just like she had with Nathan, only this time there was no doubt in her mind that Brooke-alike would do anything to protect her. After all she had already saved her without even knowing her.

"Thank you for protecting me...and I am sorry if I hurt you earlier."

Rachel's mind went to mush, she's hugging me. It was like every fiber of her being was about to explode with excitement. Haley was hugging her and there she was standing like a statue doing absolutely nothing in this opportune moment. Without telling them to her arms wrapped around the smaller girl like it was natural, like she was meant to be holding her.

"Don't worry about it," Rachel sighed relishing in how perfectly they seemed to fit together, snap outta it Gatina you're letting your guard down. She pulled back swiftly noticing the startled look on Haley's face.

"But don't think the next time I'll be so forgiving," Rachel said as she stepped back into her apartment. She noticed that Haley wasn't following her.

"You coming or what?"

"Yeah," Haley said as she hastily grabbed her bag and rushed into the apartment before Brooke-alike changed her mind.

"I'm Rachel by the way," she said with a grin before closing the door. Rachel knew that by letting Haley stay with her she was risking the chance of letting Haley into her heart but at this point in time, she was willing to take that chance.

Well, that was a fun ride and we are only three chapters in. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far.

Feel free to review or complain, I can handle both, lol

See ya next time…