Chapter Fourteen

Haley, wondered up and down, street after street. She had no idea where she was headed, and for the first time, she didn't care. She couldn't believe he could claim to love her, but hold in such a big secret. Even still, she knew that wasn't what hurt the most. How could her so called best friend lie to her, not only that but withhold the truth for so long. How could she not feel just as guilty as Nathan.

She stopped dead on, when she saw a café in front of her. She remembered hearing Nathan mention something about it. She walked in the front door, as she was greet by a woman, who appeared to be in her early forties.

"Well hello there, My name is Karen Roe, and you are?" Karen asked Haley.

"I'm Haley James," Haley said, hoping she wouldn't know who she was.

"Oh, your that singer that's from here," Karen said.

"Yeah," Haley said.

"No, worries, I won't alarm the press," Karen said with a giggle.

"Thanks," Haley said, swiping her brow.

"So what would you like?" Karen asked.

"I don't know, what's good here?" Haley asked.

"How about I make you up a special," Karen said.

"That sounds great," Haley said with a smile.

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Nathan ran down the stairs, when Haley never came back up. He found Peyton, sitting in a chair, crying holding her face.

"What did she smack you?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah," Peyton said, as she turned to face him.

He was shocked to see that her face was black and blue on one side.

"Look, put ice on it, I gotta find Hales," Nathan said, as he grabbed his jacket and ran out the door.

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"I gotta tell you Karen, that was wonderful," Haley said, as she grabbed hold of her stomach.

"I'm glad you liked it." Karen said with a smile.

"What's good for dessert?" Haley asked.

"Well, I just so happen to make the best apple pie in town," Karen said, getting her a big fat slice.

"This looks delicious," Haley said, getting a nice big piece on her fork.

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Nathan wondered aimlessly through the streets of Tree Hill, looking for any sign of Haley. He got up, next to the school, and decided to check the other side of town. His pocket started to vibrate, as his cell was ringing. Please be Haley he thought. He grabbed the phone, and put it to his ear.

"Hello," he answered.

"Nathan, it's your mom, where are you?" Deb asked, feeling dumb knowing he was in LA.

"I'm in town, I'm in Tree Hill," he said.

"Why?" she asked, in an almost apologetic tone.

"I have this girlfriend, you may have heard of her, Haley James, anyways she needed to take care of some issues. It turns out she's from here too, and I was coming with her to meet with her mom. Well it turns out her friend is Peyton Sawyer, so the shit hit the fan really hard. Now I'm out looking for her, and I can't find her," Nathan said, suddenly feeling really bad, for all the pain he had caused.

"I'll check the café maybe she wanted a bite to eat," Deb said, hanging up the phone.

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"Hold that thought," Karen said, as she got up to answer the phone.

"Hello," Karen answered.

"Hey, there doesn't happen to be a rockstar there named Haley James is there?" Deb asked.

"As a matter of fact there is," Karen said.

"That's Nate's girlfriend, he's been looking for her," Deb said.

"Well, I'll stall her, just tell him to get here fast," Karen said.

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Nathan, was half-way back to town square, when his phone rang again.

"Hello," he answered.

"Nathan, it's me again, she's at Karen's Café. Karen said she would stall her, but for you too hurry," Deb said.

"I'm on my way," he said, hanging up the phone.

He turned left the next time he could, and took off running down the street, he was just glad he was still in good physical condition.