Disclaimer: I do not own OTH

Hey guys having a small case or writers block at the moment but hopefull this still came out okay ;)

Chapter 15: The Pros And Cons Of Breathing

1 Month Later

"Nathan Scott of the LA Lakers was hit by a drunk driver over a month ago. His knee, which was injured in a previous accident has been badly damaged. The young stars career may be over. Some of the best sport related Doctors in the business have been sent to Scott's home town of Tree Hill were the athlete is residing right now, and diagnoses does not look good"

Lucas turned the TV off with a sigh. The last month a been a blur of activity. Nathan's coach had come up to visit with two different doctors to look at his knee and the rest of his injuries and things were not looking bright. They said surgery might help but chances were he will never be as good as he was. Nathan had of course been crushed. He was drinking a lot, but with Nathan that was no surprise. Haley had been around a lot, which Lucas noticed made Nathan's behavior a little less erratic.

"Broody" Brooke said happily as she walked into the house. Lucas smiled and jumped up to give her a huge kiss and hug. Brooke had been LA for a week organizing their move and getting all their stuff ready to be sent to Tree Hill.

"Babe... I'm so glad your back" Lucas had been looking forward to seeing her beautiful face all week.

"I'm so glad I'm back" Brooke replied with a smile. "Where's Nathan?"

"I have no idea, he was gone when I woke up this morning".

"How is he?" Brooke asked with concern.

"Um... He's dealing with it the only way he knows how" Lucas told her and Brooke made a drinking motion with her hands. Lucas nodded sadly.

"I ran into a few of our friends like Joanna and Paul and they were all talking about him as though he was dead. It made me sick, like if he wasn't a famous basketball player anymore then he wasn't worth knowing. I'm so glad we're leaving LA" Brooke told him as she hugged him again, "And people think I'm superficial".

"I think Nathan will stay here now, or at least I'm hoping he will" Lucas said.

"Same" Brooke agreed as she noticed the beer bottles in the trash, "Those his?"

"Yeah, mom found them all over the living room this morning. She and Keith are really worried about him".

"Haley said he was doing okay, not great, but okay" Brooke said with a sigh.

"He is different when he is around Haley. He still drinks but he keeps it under control" Lucas told her.

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Haley laughed as she watched Nathan build a mini tower with his french fries, "Playing with your food Mr Scott, oh how grown up you are".

"Don't laugh at me, I saw you watching powerpuff girls the other morning" Nathan said with a smirk.

"Hey don't knock the girls, they rule" Haley said with a grin.

"I'm sure they do" Nathan said sarcastically. He took a swig of his beer.

"Nathan... Honestly it's 10 in the morning. Isn't it a little early" Haley said to him in a calm voice. Nathan and her had been having many little fights over his drinking she always ended up backing down which is most likely why he was still talking to her.

"It's noon some where" Nathan smirked, "It's just one beer Haley get over it".

"Fine" Haley said un-happily. Haley had been really trying with Nathan over the last month but it was difficult. Every time the conversation got heavy Nathan would just shut down and there was no getting in. He didn't want to talk to any body about the serious issues going on his life. He smiled all the time but Haley knew it was forced or brought on by being drunk. The alcohol was becoming a real issue as well. Haley had seen him completely sober in almost two weeks. He was rarely full on wasted but he was always a little buzzed. She wasn't even sure if he was sleeping anymore. "You look tired"

"I'm fine" Nathan replied as his french fry tower fall apart.

"If you say so" Haley sighed.

"Haley... Look I enjoy spending time with you but if all your going to do is nag and sigh then maybe you should go and find someone else to be a mother to because I already have one of my own" Nathan said to her in a slightly raised and annoyed voice.

"Yeah well... Your not looking after yourself so somebody has to do it Nathan" Haley said to him. She didn't want to hurt him of piss him off but she was getting frustrated.

"Whatever... I'm outta here" Nathan said as he walked out of the bar they where they had been having lunch in.

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"Your brother in impossible!" Haley yelled as she walked into Lucas's living room.

"What happened to him being different around Haley" Brooke whispered to Lucas and he could only shrug in reply not knowing what had happened.

"He won't listen to anyone, he just keeps digging himself into this hole of depression. He won't talk about anything important, and his moods... Anybody would think he was a woman" Haley ranted. Mostly she was just up set that she had let him leave. She had no idea where he was now and she blamed herself more then anything.

"Haley, are you okay?" Lucas asked. He knew that if she was rambling than she wasn't okay.

"I lost him, I don't like him being alone" Haley said as she sat down on the chair.

"Well he won't be to hard to find, just check all the bar's in Tree Hill. He's bound to be in one of them" Brooke suggested. Haley and Lucas both looked at her. "What it was just a joke... Sort of".

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Nathan sat at the rivercourt with a six pack of beer. He was lost in thought. Lately his brain just couldn't be silent. He couldn't sleep or eat all he could do was think about how is life was now over. Haley had been so good to him and he was treating her like crap, he knew and she knew it. But still she stood by him. He was beginning to trust her again and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. It was almost as though he didn't trust his trust. 'Maybe that's the beer talking' he thought to himself.

"Hey Superstar" Skills flinched at his slip up and looked at Nathan waiting for his reaction.

"Skills" Nathan acknowledged as he sipped his beer and continued to stare at nothing.

"You alright man?"

"Just thinking" Nathan replied as he looked over at the basketball Skill's was holding in his hands. Skills looked down at the ball and then back up at Nathan.

"Sorry about your knee and stuff" Skills said with a sad voice.

"Yeah... Me to" Nathan looked down at the beer he was drinking, "It's just hard to let it go... I've never been good at letting things go".

"You don't have to let it go... Just cause your knee in injured doesn't mean you can't play the game still. Doesn't matter if it's pro or not, the game is the game".

"Basketball was the only thing I was ever great at. I'd rather never play again then only be okay at it. It means to much to me" Nathan said as he heard his cell phone ring. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Haley, he sighed as he answered the phone, "Hey".

"Hey where are you?" Haley asked him.

"With Skills at the rivercourt" Nathan told her. "Look I'm sorry about before, just walking out".

"It's okay" Haley said to him. He could hear the sadness in her voice. He hated how is misery was slowly becoming hers as well.

"Not it's not. I'm 23 not 5. I should be able to finish a conversation without throwing a fit".

Haley laughed, "Well you are Nathan Scott. The temper is part of the package".

"Yeah I guess it is" Nathan said with a small smile.

"Do you want have dinner with me and the gang tonight?" Haley asked.

"Yeah sounds like fun" Nathan lied. Truth was he hated being around the group they all looked at him with pity which was something he couldn't stand just one person doing let alone a whole group of people.

"Can you invite Skills while his their, Lucas was going to ring but we might as well save time" Haley told him.

"Not a problem".

"Cool well, see you at Peyton's around 7" Haley said.

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"Nate... Skills" Jake said happily as he let the two into his and Peyton's home.

"Jake man" Skills said as the did the 'man hug'.

"Bro where you been?" Lucas asked when he saw Nathan making his way towards them.

"Around" Nathan replied as he scanned the room. He spotted a bottle of scotch. "Jake, mind if I have a drink?"

"...Sure" Jake said uncomfortably. He really didn't want to give Nathan any alcohol but at the same time he didn't know how to say no.

"Thanks" Nathan said as he grabbed a glass and poured him self a drink. Haley and Peyton both walked into the living room laughing but immediately stopped when they saw Nathan with the scotch. Peyton walked over to Jake and pulled him into the next room.

"I thought I told you to hide all the alcohol" Peyton said with an annoyed tone.

"I thought I had but that bottle wasn't with the others... I completely forgot it was there" Jake said.

"Jake" Peyton whined.

"I'm sorry" Jake told her.

"No... It's not your fault. I just wish we could get him to stop drinking for a night. He's so un-happy and out of control. All he does his drink. He hasn't even been going to his doctor appointments... Says there is no point"

"Talking about me" Nathan interrupted them. The both looked at him with nervous faces.

"No..." Peyton obviously lied.

"Right" Nathan said with a smirk as he made his way past them, "You always were a really bad liar".

"O my god" Peyton said once he was gone, "I can't believe that happened".

"Now he's going to be in a pissed of mood all night, you know how he gets when anyone talks about his drinking" Jake sighed.

"What going on" Brooke asked as she walked up to them.

"Nothing" Peyton said as she headed back to the group.

Meanwhile Nathan said on the bathroom floor with the bottle of scotch which he had managed to sneak in with him. He couldn't believe that they were talking about him. Why couldn't people mind there own business and stay out of his. He was just so sick of it. 'Wait until they have had everything taken away from them and then see how they feel' He thought to himself. He opened up the bottle and took a mouthful of the harsh liquor. He looked up at the roof and sighed as he drank some more. 'Maybe I can spend the whole night in here and nobody will miss me'.

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"Where is Nathan?" Haley asked as she searched the living room and then the kitchen.

"I saw him about 20 minutes ago said he was heading to the bathroom" Mouth told her.

"Thanks" Haley said as she made her way to the bathroom and the knocked, "Nate!"

"Haley is that you?" Nathan asked as he tried to look through the key hole but slipped and landed on the ground, he laughed as he did so.

"Nathan... I'm coming in" Haley said as she placed her hand on the door handle and turned it, she was thankful that it wasn't locked. She walked in to see Nathan laying on the ground giggling to himself with an empty bottle of scotch beside him, "That was almost full last time I saw it".

"Now... All gone" Nathan said as he laughed even harder.

"Your really wasted" Haley said more to her self then to him and she knelt down on the floor.

"Ding, ding, ding... And the winner is Haley James, your prize tonight is the pleasure of watching Nathan Scott as his most pathetic" Nathan said as he still continued to laugh.

"Nathan we need to get you out of here" Haley said as she placed her hands around him and tried to get him up, but he was much bigger then her and seemed content with being on the floor.

"I like it here" Nathan smiled. "Here everything is simple, so lets just stay here" Nathan said in a soft voice as he looked at Haley. Haley looked back at him and for the first time in a while she could see how vulnerable he felt.

"Okay, we can stay right here" Haley said as she got into a comfortable sitting position on the floor.

"I hate my life" Nathan said to her with a sad voice after a few minutes of silence.

"... No you don't. Your just upset" Haley said.

"I do, I really hate my life. Nothing ever happens the way I want it to, nothing not even one little thing".

"I'm really sorry Nathan, I'm sorry about us, I'm sorry about your dad, and I'm sorry about basketball" Haley said to him as she placed her hand in his hair and massaged his head gently.

"What's the point of life if its always going to suck?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know, I guess you have to put up with the bad part of life to get to the good part of life. I mean if everything was wonderful then how would you know what wonderful is" Haley suggested.

"I don't know I guess, but I have to say... I'm sick of the bad, I want some wonderful" Nathan sighed as he continued to stare up at the roof while hoping that the room would stop spinning.

Haley moved in closer to him until she was so close that she could feel his chest moving up and down as he breathed, "Maybe something wonderful is happening" She said as she moved her self so the his face was facing hers. She leaned down slowly and kissed him gently.

TBC

As always thanks for reading :)