Hey guys! Your reviews were, once again, awesome. I can't thank you enough for replying to my writing. Anyway, I hope you like the next chapter...chapter 36.

Disclaimer: Never ever will I own One Tree Hill.

Summary: Nathan Scott is the most popular guy in school and Haley James is just an average girl who happens to be friends with Nathan's half-brother, Lucas. What happens when each of their groups of friends end up staying next door to each other all summer?

A Summer to Remember

Chapter 36

"So I guess now we just have to wait." Lucas said sullenly as he leaned against the railing of the boat next to Nathan.

"Yeah, the police boat should be here any minute." Nathan watched as the small boat that held everything important in his life disappeared from view.

"You guys have to come see this!" Tim shouted from the other side of the boat. Nathan and Lucas hurriedly made their way over to him.

"What?" Nathan asked when he saw Tim standing next to a short light haired guy.

"This is Randy." Tim began.

"Tim! In case you haven't noticed, the damn boat's on fire!" Nathan snapped. Why was Tim introducing them to someone new now? Nathan didn't care about meeting someone knew, he cared about getting off this boat before the flames dismantled it.

"Yeah, I know." Tim defended himself. "That's why you have to see this. Randy was coming down the stairs when the upstairs caught on fire." He explained.

"Are you ok?" Lucas asked quickly.

"Was anyone else up there?" Nathan added.

"No, I was the last one." Randy said slowly. Obviously he was still traumatized by what happened as he descended that flight of stairs.

"Randy, show them your back!" Tim encouraged enthusiastically. Randy did as he was told and turned around so his back was facing Lucas and Nathan.

"Oh my God." Lucas whispered. There were holes burnt out of the back of his shirt and there was a large bald spot on his head where some of his hair had been singed off. "Are you ok, man?"

"Yeah, I stopped, dropped, and rolled." Randy said quietly as he turned back around to face them.

Nathan put a hand to his forehead. This could not be happening. This was supposed to be a fun night, his last night of vacation, but now he was stuck on a burning boat and he had to watch the girl he loved be taken away on a flimsy blow up boat. Who the hell knew if that thing was safe anyway? For a second, he contemplated whether or not sending her away was the best choice.

Suddenly, a piece of a metal railing fell from the upstairs and landed right in front of him. No, sending her on that boat was a good idea. He slowly bent down to pick it up, forgetting that this rod had fallen from the place that was on fire. "Shit!" He yelled when the metal came in contact with his hand. The piece of the railing had been so hot that after touching it for less than a second, his hand had been burnt to the point that it was throbbing.

"Oh, God, you're hand." Lucas said, noticing the situation and what probably happened to his hand. "Come here." He grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled him to the gate that the raft had left from just a few minutes ago.

Nathan looked at Lucas thankfully as he dipped his hand into the cool water. It wasn't until he felt the chilly water surrounding his hand that he realized how much he was sweating and how hot it was on the boat. "Thanks." He mumbled.

"No problem." Lucas replied in a low tone as he sat down next to Nathan. This was weird. They didn't even know how to have a conversation with each other, much less a formal statement of gratitude.

After about a minute of uncomfortable silence of both brothers listening to the cackle of the fire overhead, Lucas finally broke the ice. "So, I heard what you said to Haley."

Nathan continued to look down. Lucas was obviously talking about their "I love you's". He really wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

"Did you mean it?"

This time Nathan did look up at Lucas, taken a little off guard by the question. "Yeah." He said firmly but still in a soft voice. He wasn't being defensive, he was being honest.

Lucas just looked off into space, trying to decide whether or not to believe him. Nathan could see Lucas's doubts plainly plastered on his face and decided to go on. "Lucas, I know you don't believe me, but what you don't know how much I love the way she smiles at me when I do something nice, or how much I respect the way she always defends you, or how much it's killing me to not know where she is or if she's even safe right now." Nathan looked back out to the dark horizon, hoping to catch a small glimpse of the boat, just to assure himself that it hadn't deflated or anything.

"I understand." Lucas said quietly. "It's killing me to not be with Brooke right now too."

"What's that?" Nathan said loudly.

"I said it's killing me to not be with Brooke right now." Lucas repeated in a louder tone, slightly annoyed that all of a sudden, Nathan couldn't hear him.

"No, what's that over there?" Nathan clarified as he pointed into the distance to where a faint light could be seen. "Is that the police?"

"I don't know." Lucas sighed. He felt as if the temperature had just risen another 10 degrees. "I hope so."

Just then, a large crashing noise was heard as the entire roof caved in, sending a large gust of flames and heat outward toward the outermost railing where everyone was clustered along as they waited.

"Hurry! Turn the TV on!" Haley yelled as they entered their condo a half an hour after leaving the burning yacht. Surprisingly, Felix had done an acceptable job of guiding the boat safely back to the marina. She hurriedly opened her call phone and dialed Nathan's number again. He hadn't answered at all ever since she left…

Both she and Brooke had wanted to stay at the marina and wait, but the police told them that the place was off limits because an investigation would soon begin and that they should go home and get some rest. He obviously didn't realize who was on the burning yacht or why they were determined to wait…

Brooke ran up to the TV and pressed the power button. Instantly, a news report on the situation was heard echoing through the room.

"The boat caught on fire after reportedly shooting fireworks off too close to its own deck." The newswoman said as she stood on a little boat with the small image of a fairly flat boat with flames overtaking it over her right shoulder.

"Oh my God! Is that the yacht?!" Brooke screamed in disbelief. It was so…flat.

"The police just recently pulled what is believed to be the only 12 people off the boat." The newswoman continued. "We are receiving reports that 5 of them are being taken to the hospital, two with very severe burns or injuries. The other 7 are being released with minor injuries. Another puzzling factor to this case is that…"

"Why won't Nathan answer his phone?!" Haley screamed in frustration as she plopped down on the couch next to Brooke.

"Lucas hasn't answered either." Brooke said grimly, never taking her eyes off of the TV. "You don't think they're…?"

"Brooke, no, they're fine." Haley said through her confident mask. On the inside she was asking that same question, and basically answering them in a very pessimistic manner.

Another 30 minutes later they were both dialing frantically at their cell phones, desperately trying to get a hold of someone, anyone, who could tell them where Lucas and Nathan were.

"I can't take this anymore." Haley stated through tears. "I'm going down there."

Brooke nodded in agreement through her own sobs as she ran ahead of Haley and threw open the door in order to get to her car as fast as possible. Maybe it was because she was so focused on getting back to the marina, or maybe it was because her tears were clouding her vision, but whatever the reason, Brooke ran right into the front of tall, very masculine figure.

"Lucas!" She screamed as she jumped up into his arms, almost giddy with excitement. Then all of a sudden she pulled back and slapped him hard across the face. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you call?" She sobbed as he just took her back into his arms.

Although Haley was extremely relieved to see her friend in the doorway, she noticed that something, or rather someone, was missing. "Luke, where's Nathan." She asked, choking back tears.

Before he could say anything in return, she hurried past him out into the hallway. She felt as though she was hit by a freight train when he wasn't out there, he wasn't right behind Lucas like he should be. She suddenly found it difficult to breathe as she frantically turned back to Lucas, her eyes demanding an explanation. "Where is he?"

Lucas turned to see that his best friend's face was flushed completely white and her eyes were red and puffy. "He was right behind me…"

Haley didn't understand what he was saying. Was he telling her that Nathan was behind him on the boat? Did something happen? Oh God, where was he?

Just as Lucas was preparing to speak up again to clarify what he meant by his earlier statement, footsteps were heard on the stairs behind them and Haley quickly turned around to see Nathan reach the top of the flight of stairs looking very exhausted.

She started sobbing uncontrollably as she made her way towards him and he pulled her in as close as she could possibly go. "Hey baby." He whispered into her ear, getting a tad bit emotional himself. He could feel a small lump forming in his throat as her tears quickly soaked onto his shirt and she buried her head deeper into his chest.

"Don't you dare ever do that again." She managed to get out as more and more tears kept flowing to her eyes. These tears were mainly of joy and relief, but were also being shed in a delayed reaction she was having to the overwhelming fear she had felt for him when she left him on the yacht.

"Shhh." He soothed as he gently ran his hand up and down her back. That's when she felt it. She instantly pulled away from him and grabbed the hand that had been rubbing her back.

"What happened?" She gasped as she looked at the brown bandage on his hand. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him, waiting for his explanation.

"I touched a hot rod piece of a railing. It's no big deal." He said in an attempt to prevent the worrying that was sure to come next.

"Does it hurt? Did you get burned anywhere else? I knew I should have stayed on the boat with you, maybe I could of-"

Before she could continue her fretful rambling, he pulled her face to his in a sweet kiss to silence her. One last tear rolled down her cheek as she reached up to run her hand down his face as she returned his kiss.

The sound of a car backfiring interrupted them and sent her arms around his neck, grabbing onto him for dear life.

"A little jumpy, are we?" Nathan teased as she laid her head on his chest and his arms went securely around her waist.

"Can you blame me?" She whispered with a slight giggle. "I'm sorry, you're probably really tired…" she said as she looked up and noticed for the first time the slight bags that hung under his eyes.

"Yeah, but I can stay up-"

"No, you, um, you should get some sleep." She forced out. She really didn't want to leave him yet, it seemed like only moments ago she found out her boyfriend was alright and not lying in a hospital bed with third degree burns.

Giving in, he kissed her lightly on the top of the head. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said softly as he moved to turn around and head back to his condo. "Wait." She called in an even softer voice. She wasn't even sure he heard it until her turned around. "I thought I was ok, but I'm not." She admitted.

"Ok, well, what can I do to fix that?" He asked sincerely as he made his way back towards her.

"Please don't leave me." She pleaded. "You can stay in my room tonight. I just don't want to be alone." That was the truth, partially. The whole truth was that she didn't want to let him out of her sight. After the events of the night, she was absolutely terrified that something would happen to him the next time she closed her eyes.

"Ok." He soothed. He knew that what happened tonight had really freaked her out and he wanted to do everything he could to help her feel safe again.

They made their way into Haley's condo, noticing that Brooke and Lucas were already in his room with the door shut. They both took off their shoes and climbed into the bed, not even bothering to change into their pajamas because they were so tired.

Nathan slipped his arm around Haley's waist, pulling her close to him as her head rested on his arm, just like old times…

Dan woke up the next morning still inside of Dan Scott Motors. I must have fallen asleep here last night. He looked around and noticed that the TV was on, watching a live news report. On the screen, a large charred looking boat was being lifted out of the water by a crane and onto the grassy ground. Then, Dan remembered.

Tom is so stupid! He still couldn't believe that Tom had been careless enough to actually aim the fireworks so close that they caught the whole boat on fire. At least no one can trace this back to me…

Suddenly, the phone rang on his desk and he jumped to pick it up. "Tom, you better have a good explanation."

"It's Deb, your wife." Deb said bitterly.

"Oh, what do you want?" Dan spat out.

"You know what Dan? I was calling because you didn't come home last night and I wanted to make sure that you were ok. Never mind, just forget I called." Deb retorted angrily. Dan always had a way of making her feel worthless.

"Deb, wait, I'm sorry. I'm just a little…preoccupied." Dan defended himself.

"You know what, Dan, you've been preoccupied a lot lately. And I think I know what it's about." Deb said sternly.

Dan instantly stiffened up. Did she know? "Deb, you have to realize that Tom shot off the fireworks so technically, I'm innocent."

"What are you talking about?" She said venomously. She was going to say he was preoccupied because of the state of their marriage, but it seemed like Dan had something bigger to explain.

"Nothing." Dan covered quickly.

"You said something about fireworks. I heard it!" She exclaimed. "Oh my God!" It had just hit her what had happened just the night before involving fireworks… no! He wouldn't! Would he? "Were you the reason for the fire on that boat?!" She yelled incredulously.

"No." He responded firmly. Over the years had become quite a good liar, but his lies never made it past his wife.

"You are a sick ass of a man!" Deb shouted. "Did you even know that our son was on that boat?!" As she gave her husband a verbal beating, she promptly took out her cell phone and texted her brother Cooper to call the police. Cooper lived just down the road from her and would no doubt do as she asked and turn her husband in. All she had to do was keep him on the phone until the cops got to the dealership.

"What? Nathan was on there? I swear I didn't know! Is he ok?" Dan yelled back.

"He's fine, he called me this morning. Not that you care."

"Come on, Deb, of course I care." He retorted.

"Really, because your heart was stone cold enough to set fire to a boat! A boat with kids on it! I cannot even believe that I'm married to a bastard like you!" She screamed. At this moment, she got a text back from Cooper saying that he called and the police were on their way there. She smiled smugly to herself as Dan started yelling vulgar comments into the phone.

A few minutes later, Dan was still in the middle of his rant when he heard a pounding on the dealership door. Who the hell is that? Dan wanted desperately to ignore the person on the other side of the door, but then he realized that this was his chance to get off the phone with his psycho wife. I mean, talk about nut cases…

"What do you want?" Dan said flatly as he opened the door, only to be greeted by a pair of police officers dressed on sleek navy uniforms.

"Mr. Scott, you are under arrest for attempted murder and arson. You have the right to remain silent…" The police officer promptly spun Dan around and slapped handcuffs onto his wrists.

"What so you think you're doing? You can't arrest me! There's no evidence!" Dan yelled in his own defense as the police officer walked him towards the car with shiny red and blue lights spinning around on the top.

"Actually, there is." The other one smiled, as he hung up his cell phone. "It seems that your wife recorded the conversation you had with her just moments ago."

Deb did this? Now he remembered how much he despised her. He had been wrong to waste his entire summer going after Haley James, the real target was right under his nose, sharing a bed with him. Dan let out a huffy breath as he was shoved into the police car. He wasn't going down without a fight…