Chapter 10

She wasn't coming. It became clear the second his phone had changed from 7:00 to 7:01. Haley was never late for tutoring. Needless to say, Nathan was well aware that she was still pissed at him. No text or phone call to let him know she wasn't going to show up either. Sighing dejectedly, Nathan walked over to the nearest trash can and dropped the bouquet of flowers he had bought for her into it. If he was being honest, Nathan really didn't understand exactly why Haley was this pissed off at him. She was being a bitch and blowing everything out of proportion.

"Hey, you've reached Haley, hopefully you know what to do with the beep," Nathan heard her recite her voicemail message for the third time this morning. He sighed as he disconnected the call, there was no point leaving a third message when he had said all he needed to in the first two.

Knowing he didn't have much else to do, Nathan hopped into his parked car and drove to school. When he arrived he was surprised to see how many people actually got there with a half an hour before classes began. He had never been one to get to school early and never realized that people actually enjoyed hanging around campus in the morning.

Nathan quickly spotted Peyton, Jake, Lucas, and his girlfriend seated at their regular lunch table and walked over to them. He greeted them with a smile and sat down next to Haley. She immediately slid closer to Lucas and ignored him. The other three appeared to be engulfed in conversation already and Nathan moved closer to Haley so that his lips were hovering near her ear. "I waited for you this morning."

Haley rolled her eyes and continued in giving him the silent treatment. He had some nerve to waltz up to her this morning and basically act like nothing had happened yesterday.

"So that's how it's going to be then? You're just going to ignore me like you're five?"

Haley scoffed. "Like you don't deserve it."

"I don't! What did I do that was so wrong?"

"If you really have to ask then you're even more clueless than I thought you were."

"Hales, if you don't tell me what I did that's got you so upset then I won't be able to fix it."

Haley turned so that she was fully facing him. "Well you were a jackass in class yesterday, but I'll let that go because you're obviously stressed about your dad and the game today. What I'm really pissed off about is how you tried to force having sex with you upon me not once but twice, after I already told you no. Then you storm out without another word. You know what my first time was like, Nathan? My ex boyfriend and I had been dating for three months and he guilt tripped me into having sex. After forcing himself on me and I said no, he told me if I didn't then he was going cheat on me. He told me if I really loved him then I would sleep with him and that I would like it. Yesterday felt no different than how Damien treated me. All you were thinking about was yourself and what you wanted that you didn't stop to think for second about how I might feel."

Nathan looked at her remorsefully. "I guess I get it now. I'm sorry for being an asshole. Sometimes I just don't stop to think about the other person in the situation and how they might be feeling. I promise I'll try harder to consider you when I do something."

Haley smiled at him. "That's all I ask."

Nathan smiled back and kissed her softly. "So I'm forgiven then?"

Laughing softly, Haley nodded. "Yes, you're forgiven."

"Does that mean you'll be at the game tonight?"

"Of course. You know I wouldn't miss it."

"Good," Nathan smirked. "I want you to see me break that scoring record."

"I'll be there," Haley confirmed and the couple kissed softly until their friends' protests tore them apart.

"Okay, we know that you guys are still in the honeymoon phase, but please keep the PDA to a minimum when we're around," Lucas said uncomfortably.

Nathan glared at the interruption and pulled Haley so that her back was against his chest. "You're heart is beating really fast," she said quietly to him.

Nathan kissed the crook of her neck. "That's what happens when you're around me."

Haley blushed at his words and tried to focus in on the conversation going on between her friends. She felt Nathan chuckling softly at her embarrassment and she elbowed him in the side. "That wasn't very nice," he commented.

"It wasn't very nice to embarrass me either," she replied good naturedly.

Nathan shrugged. "I can't help it if it's the truth, babe."

Haley laughed; she wasn't even really upset with him for making her turn into a pile of goo. If she was being honest, Haley was just overjoyed that her and Nathan were able to put their fight behind them and would now be able to move on from it. She sat in his arms contentedly and revelled in the feeling of it. She was acutely aware of her boyfriend rubbing her sides gently and she tried her absolute best to ignore it until the first bell of the day finally rang signalling first period would be beginning in a matter of minutes. The entire group rose from their seats and headed towards their respective lockers and homeroom. Nathan walked Haley to her first class and kissed her gently when they made it to the door. "I'll see you later," he told her and walked off to his homeroom. Haley smiled happily and made it to her assigned seat still in a Nathan induced haze.

The final bell of the day rang and Nathan and Haley walked hand in hand out of their last period class. Since today was game day, coach Whitey Durham wanted the boys to be rested for the game and therefore didn't have a practice scheduled. "So, we're gonna go back to your house until I have to be back here for the game?"

"Yeah," Haley confirmed. "I just have to go to my locker and get some of my stuff."

Nathan allowed Haley to lead him to their lockers and he grudgingly grabbed his own books when she looked at him expectantly. "Don't think just because its game day you don't have to do any of your homework."

Nathan smirked. "I guess. Will you help me though?" he said and locked his eyes with hers.

"Well, when you look at me like that, it's pretty hard for a girl to say no."

Nathan was on the verge of expressing his thanks to his girlfriend when a loud voice sounded from across the almost empty hallway. "Yo, Nate dawg!"

Nathan and Haley stopped walking and turned around to see Tim quickly approaching. "What do you want, Dim?" Nathan sighed agitatedly.

Haley smacked his arm. She didn't understand why Nathan was being so rude to one of his best friends. Tim seemed unfazed by Nathan's reaction however and continued the conversation. "You pumped for the game, man?"

"Yeah, sure. I feel really good about it."

"So they worked for you then?" he asked over excitedly.

Despite wanting to punch Tim in the jaw, Nathan remained calm. "Yeah, those training tips you gave me really helped improve my workout. Now, if you'll excuse us, me and Haley have some stuff to do before the game," Nathan said and dragged Haley away from his big mouthed friend.

Haley was still confused about their encounter with Tim during the brief drive with Nathan back to her house. She didn't bother asking Nathan about it though, knowing he was on edge about the game made her think twice before bringing up certain topics. When they arrived at Haley's house, they both quietly got out of the car and took a seat at the kitchen table with their books. It was clear to both Nathan and Haley that the other had something on their mind, but both were too anxious or confused to bring it up.

They passed the time in silence doing their school work. It didn't take long for an hour to pass and the time for Nathan to head back to Tree Hill high to prepare for the game to come. Packing up all his belongings and heading to the door to leave, Nathan gave his girlfriend a soft kiss on the lips, mindful of her aunt and uncle in the next room. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Yeah, I'll see you," Haley said and Nathan left with a smile. Haley headed back into the kitchen where Karen had begun cooking dinner. "Are you guys coming to the game tonight, too?"

"Yes. Are you going to ride with us?"

Haley nodded and went back to her school work. "So, I take it you and Nathan made up today?" Karen asked moments later.

Haley looked up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, yesterday night Nathan left looking pretty angry and judging by the inappropriate word you screamed after he had gone, I'd say you were just as angry."

"You were home?" Haley asked embarrassed.

"I got home right as Nathan was storming out. Care to explain what happened?" the older woman prodded and took a seat next to her niece.

Haley sighed. "Nathan was just being kind of aggressive and when I pushed him away he tried to keep going. Finally, I told him to leave and he got pissed at me."

Karen looked slightly confused. "You mean Nathan was trying to push you into having sex?" At that moment, Keith walked into the room. He heard his wife's question and immediately turned and left the room.

Haley blushed deeply. "Yeah. He apologized this morning though."

Karen grimaced. She had had a short discussion with Haley about sex and Nathan, but a lot had already changed between the two of them. Their relationship had progressed abnormally quickly for high school and she couldn't help but worry that sex was the next logical step and the young couple would be stupid about it. "Haley, do we need to have another conversation about sex?"

Again, Haley blushed. "No, Aunt Karen. My mom had that talk with me a few months ago," she explained awkwardly and sadly, remembering her late mother."

"Okay. I just don't want to see you give into pressure Nathan might put on you to have sex. You have to be smart about these things."

"Trust me, I wouldn't do that ever again," Haley muttered but Karen still heard her. Karen cocked her eyebrow in questioning. "I lost my virginity to Damien because he kept pressuring me to have sex and I finally gave in, even though I knew I wasn't completely ready at the time."

"Damien?" Karen asked, her tone indicating she was asking if it was the same Damien that had been responsible for killing her sister and brother in law. When Haley shook her head yes Karen immediately wrapped an arm around her. "I'm sorry for everything he's done to you, Haley. I love you and I promise Keith and I won't ever let anyone hurt you like that again."

Haley smiled emotionally. "That means a lot Aunt Karen, I love you, too."

"I love you too, Haley," Keith yelled from the other room and both girls laughed softly.

Karen offered one last smile and stood up again, returning to the counter to finish preparing dinner.

"That's thirty eight points for Nathan Scott tonight and we're early in the fourth quarter. He's five points away from breaking the all time scoring record against Cove City, set of course by Nathan's father Dan Scott," the game's announcer said loudly into his microphone.

Haley sat anxiously in between her aunt and uncle. Nathan was having the game of his life out on that court but she couldn't help but notice how on edge and aggressive he was being. The last game she had seen him play in he didn't get into any altercations with the other team and rarely even had physical contact with them unless he was defending. Tonight though, Nathan was picking fights over nothing with players he hadn't even been playing near. It was safe to say she was worried about him. The last ten minutes of the game couldn't be going by any slower as the clock seemed to stop and start every couple of seconds.

Nathan ran with the ball in his possession to the basket. He jumped into the air and slammed it through the goal, while colliding with his defender and knocking the other boy flat on his ass. Nathan jumped down yelling in excitement, he had just tied his father's scoring record. The sound of the referee's whistle blowing knocked him out of his excited state though. He heard the older man yelling that Nathan fouled his opponent. He immediately walked over to the man and got into his face. He must've been blind, because it was obvious to Nathan at least that he didn't foul his weak ass defender.

"Coach, you better get your boy under control!" the ref yelled at Whitey and the even older man stalked over and grabbed the back of Nathan's jersey, pulling him over to the team's bench while calling a time out.

"Nathan! You need to get your temper under control now!"

"Coach, I'm three points away from beating my dad's scoring record. I didn't foul that punk. He and the whole rest of the team need to stand back while I score the next three points."

"Nathan, I don't care how many points you've got. You keep this up and I'll move you so far down the bench they'll have to pump air to you," Whitey said sternly.

Nathan grunted angrily and headed back onto the court. Now he was even more anxious than ever to score the next two points to tie the scoring record.

"What is he doing," Haley whispered to herself. Karen caught the girl's question and looked sympathetically at her.

"As soon as he beats that record, he'll be back to himself again."

"I hope so."

Nathan was back in possession of the familiar orange ball. He was running back down the court when out of nowhere he didn't feel like himself anymore. His heart was beating way faster than it ever had before and he felt himself becoming dizzy and light headed. As the world around him began to go black, Nathan's eyes locked with a terror stricken Haley's. That was the last thing he saw as he went unconscious and fell to the hard gym floor.

Haley stood up in panic. She was oblivious of the crowd around her that had all also stood to get a better look of what happened to the Raven's star player. She watched as the entire team, their medic, and coach Durham gathered around the still boy. She made a move to get off the bleachers and run onto the court, but Keith's hand on her shoulder stopped her. She watched helplessly as a stretcher carried her boyfriend off the court.

The Ravens were already up thirty points with five minutes left of the game. With no hope of Cove City catching up, the referee ended the game early and all the patrons began filing out of the gym still in shock. The ride home was silent as Karen, Keith, and Haley all worried about Nathan and prayed that he would be okay. As soon as they got back home, Haley walked up to her room and closed the door.

"When I told you to call me soon, I didn't think it'd be the very next day," Jake joked when he answered his phone and saw that it was his best friend that was calling.

With tears forming in her eyes Haley let out a small sob. "Jake."

Jake's smile immediately vanished when he heard his friend's strangled voice. "What happened."

"It's Nathan. He was playing in his basketball game and he was fine one minute and then the next second he collapsed. They carried him out on a stretcher and I don't know what's wrong."

"Sh... He's going to be alright, Haley. I promise nothing is going to happen to him."

"What if he isn't?" she asked desperately.

"Haley. Nathan isn't going anywhere. They're going to take him to the hospital and they'll fix him up and he'll be fine."

Haley remained on the line with Jake as he tried as hard as he could to get her to calm down from across the country. It took only ten minutes for her to finally stop hyperventilating. "Okay, I'm gonna let you go now. Call me sometime tomorrow when you know what's going on, alright?"

"I will," Haley sniffled and hung up her phone. She sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands. She lay back onto her pillows and closed her eyes. Unaware of how much time had actually passed, Haley told whoever it was that had knocked on her door that she was fine and to go away. The door opened anyway though, and Haley gasped in shock when she watched Nathan walk uneasily into the room, using objects around it to support himself. She stared at him in shock as he leaned against her desk chair.

"The door was unlocked," he offered.

"Lucas stayed with the team so my aunt and uncle just kept it unlocked for him. How are you?"

"Not so good," Nathan confessed and Haley immediately walked across the room and hugged him tightly.

When they finally pulled away Nathan looked at her guiltily. "I've made a lot of mistakes, Haley. Sometimes because of my dad, and sometimes by choice. I just can't do it anymore."

"It's okay," she started to comfort him but Nathan interrupted.

"No. No, it's not okay. I'm not okay. When I fell on the floor tonight I was so scared. I'm still terrified. But then I saw you and I promised myself if I could just get up and walk over to you, and tell you how much I need you... how much I want you, then nothing else matters," he finished softly.

Haley looked at him lovingly and shook her head in disbelief. She gently cupped his cheek and kissed him softly. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Haley smiled at him and stood up to close her bedroom door again. She walked back over to her bed and lay down next to him. "What happened?" she finally voiced the question that had been plaguing her.

"My dad kept putting pressure on me. For once I just wanted to beat him. Tim's brother is a dealer and Tim got me some an... amphit.." Nathan sighed not remembering what the word was.

"Amphetamines," Haley supplied softly and he nodded. She hugged him even tighter knowing just how lucky he was to not have overdosed.

"It was stupid. I'm so sorry, Haley."

"Its fine, Nathan. I'm not mad, just go to sleep, you need to rest," Haley whispered and kissed his cheek. After that, it didn't take very long for Nathan's breathing to even out. Haley remained laying awake, worrying about her boyfriend. When her door opened about half an hour after Nathan fell asleep Haley focussed her gaze on her aunt. Karen looked surprised to see Nathan sleeping next her niece and walked a little further into the room.

"How is he? I got a call from Deb and she told me he was missing."

"He's okay. Just really exhausted now."

"This won't happen often, Haley, but Nathan can spend the night here, okay?"

Haley smiled gratefully at the older woman. "Thanks, Aunt Karen."

Karen nodded. "Now you should get some sleep, too. It's been a long night for you as well."

When Karen had backed out the room and closed the door behind her, Haley rolled onto her side and cuddled up close to Nathan. She closed her eyes and almost instantly fell into a peaceful sleep. Her worries had subsided now that she knew her boyfriend was safe and sound next to her. At least for the next eight to ten hours it was just her and Nathan in their own world. At that second, Haley promised herself to take in every single second of her life. Her parents' death and now Nathan's collapse had really managed to put her life in perspective and make her realize what mattered, what didn't, and that she needed to live her life to the fullest.