Happy Holidays! I just wanted to thank everyone for responding. I hope I don't disappoint with this chapter. This story is all in Haley's point of view, so hopefully I'm doing the other characters' justice because its so hard to express emotions that they feel through their actions only...okay, anyways...this chapter may be a little dry, I dunno, but it's hard to write a sad story during Christmas, lol.

Unforgiven - Chapter 3

All the heartbreak all the pain
All the words you said in vain
And I'll never be the same

Haley James wasn't the person who would cut class, but she wasn't the same Haley that she was three months ago. The new Haley wasn't excited to learn new things. The new Haley didn't find satisfaction in seeing students she tutored succeed. She really didn't know who she was anymore. Second period had just ended, but she had enough of the school day. Cramming her books into her locker, she looked around to see that no teachers were looking before she made her way towards the exit. She knew exactly where to go once she left the school building. The docks. Her favorite place in Tree Hill besides the Rivercourt. She sat on top of the table and stared out into the water, wrapping her arms around herself. It was a cold day. She hated the cold. It only reminded her there was no Lucas to keep her warm. It reminded her of the times when Lucas would take off his Keith Scott sweatshirt and put it on her, yelling at her for not wearing more clothes and for trying to get sick. Truthfully, she just wanted to wear the Keith Scott sweatshirt that Lucas loved and treated as if it was a member of his family. It made her feel special knowing that Lucas would only let her wear it besides him. Now it belonged to her. She had gone over to his room and taken it after the funeral when Karen and Keith weren't home. She held on to it tightly and had cried on his bed for hours, remembering him through the scent that he left in the sweatshirt. His scent is almost completely faded and soon it would became just another ordinary sweatshirt.

"Trying to catch a cold?"

She wasn't sure if the voice was speaking to her, but she looked up anyway. It was none other than Nathan Scott, with his infamous smirk on his arrogant face. He was waiting for an answer, but she was not going to give him one. She shot him a glare then returned her gaze back onto the water.

"Aren't you suppose to be in class?"

"Aren't you?"

"I saw you sneak out, so I followed you." He stepped forward to her. "I was hoping you would change your mind about the whole tutoring thing."

Haley looked at him again, this time with anger and disbelief. "Why would I change my mind?" She hopped off from the table and stood right in front of him, with only inches between them. "Are you trying to deliberately hurt me? Why are you so cruel?" Her eyes were stinging with tears and she can see that Nathan was uneasy, looking down at her as if she grew two heads.

"What are you talking about?" He looked away from her haunting eyes. "I just want you to be my tutor. What is the big problem?"

"The problem?" Haley found his eyes, making sure he was paying complete attention. "The problem is that your brother that you and your dad tormented is dead." Her tears could not be contained any longer and she allowed them to flow freely down her face, not bothering to wipe it away. "The problem is that you act like you didn't play a part in my best friend's death."

"What? I didn't even -

"Shut up! I'm not done." Haley ignored the shock in Nathan's expression that her outburst had caused. "This is all your fault. You did everything you could to make him feel worthless. You and your friends hazed him. You did every horrible thing that you can think of to keep him away from the team. And the worst thing you did was telling him that Dan hated him, that he wasn't good enough."

All Nathan can do after her rambling was to stare at her. She can see that he attempted to speak, but then shut his mouth. He was at a loss for words, something that Haley didn't think was possible. Haley reached into the neck of her sweatshirt and pulled out a silver locket. Nathan watched intently at her actions, his eyes following her hands. She opened up the locket, revealing a picture of Lucas inside. She held it up to Nathan. "Did you even care that Lucas was your brother? That he was a part of you?" It was too hard for her to speak. Her sobs had consumed her and the memories of seeing Lucas being rejected by his father and brother caused her heart to break all over again. She kissed the locket before closing it and tucking back into her sweatshirt.

The cold wind was blowing out of control. She hugged herself tighter as she cried in front of him, her eyes never leaving his. She refused to turn and walk away from him. She wanted him to see her cry. She wanted him to feel bad. She wanted him to feel regret. She didn't know him very well, but from the sight in front of her, she may have succeeded. His arrogance was gone. It almost seemed as if he was sad. His hands moved towards her, as if he was going to touch her, but quickly let it drop.

"Look, Haley." His voice was shaky. "I don't know what to say -

"There is nothing left to say." She stopped him. She took a breath to compose herself before looking back into his glowing blue eyes that seem to be holding unfallen tears. "You broke my best friend's spirit. You pushed and pushed him until he couldn't take it anymore. For that, I can never forgive you."

There had been many times that she wanted to scream at him for being a bastard, for all the horrible things that he had done to Lucas. She wanted to tell him that he caused his brother's death. She finally did, but for some reason, she didn't feel better. She didn't expect to see sadness in his eyes. Unable to look at him anymore, she turned to leave, only to have Nathan grabbed her shoulders and spinned her around.

"I didn't want him dead. I just wanted him out of my life." His voice was defensive. "He was going to ruin everything."

"I guess you got your wish." She spat back. "He's never going to ruin your perfect precious pathetic life."

"You think my life is perfect?" He scoffed. "You have no idea what I go through everyday. You have no idea how much pressure I face. Don't judge me when you don't even know me."

Haley scoffed back. "I judge you by what I know and what I know is that you're a heartless jerk. You're so scared of sharing daddy's love that you would go to extreme measures to keep Lucas out of your life. Do you even think of the consequences?"

"How was I suppose to know he was going to kill himself? People don't just wake up one day and decide to kill themselves."

"You're right. It takes years of rejection. If it wasn't for you and your father-"

"What kind of a friend are you to not see the signs? If you want to blame someone, look in the mirror." He pointed an accusing finger at her, but let it dropped quickly when she flinched and looked up at him with those haunting sorrowful eyes. "Look, I'm sorry," he said guiltily. "I didn't mean that."

Haley knew that he was right. It had been her responsibility to look after her best friend and she didn't. She failed him. "Yes. Yes you did and you're completely right." She nodded. "This is all my fault."

"Haley-"

She touched his chest to stop him from talking. "Let's go back to pretending like we don't know each other. There's no point in talking about what we cannot change." Her voice was low and drained from crying. "Please ignore me when you see me and I'll do the same."