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7.
Haley had managed to not dwell on Brooke's words too much on Saturday and now she was at the café closing up on Sunday evening. It was missing Poppy that was upsetting her more then Brooke at the moment.
In a way she had managed to convince herself that it hadn't really happened because when she thought back on it, the situation was just too surreal, Brooke who she didn't even know defiantly didn't have some big vendetta against her.
She was just sitting in one of the booths eating some dinner when suddenly all the lights went out, she cursed under her breath, it was pretty much pitch dark it was 9 in the evening and the last thing she needed was to try and struggle finding the fuse box.
She slowly made her way out back feeling her way and cursed again when she stubbed her toe on the edge of one of the ovens.
She kept hearing noises but she tried to convince herself that it was just her mind playing tricks.
She looked into the cupboard out back that held the fuse box but it was pitch black and there was no way she was going to be able to find it so she slowly made her way back to the front of the café hoping to find some candles. She found a box under the counter and was turned around to go light them on the hob when her heart stopped beating.
Stood just by the entrance to the kitchen was a man dressed all in black with a balaclava on holding a baseball bat.
Haley screamed dropping the candles and saw the guy slightly flinch before starting to walk towards her. Haley had never been so scared in her life, it was like something from a nightmare, she ran towards the other side of the café trying to work out what the hell to do.
Her heart was beating so fast and loud she was sure it would give her away.
She tried to make a dash for the back but the guy got in the way so she made a dash for behind the counter then as quietly as she could crawled towards one of the booths and hid.
Her mind was racing yet she had no idea what she should do, the guy was taller then her and had a weapon so she was pretty sure she couldn't over power him and she had left her phone in her bag behind the counter and she probably wouldn't be able to find it in the dark.
She heard the guy stumble around the café and felt her heart hammering in her chest while she tried to keep the tears in.
The guy headed towards the kitchen and so she decided to take a chance and she made a run for the front door.
She started fiddling with the locks as the guy started to advance towards her, she realised too late that the door was locked with the keys so she had no way of opening it.
She moved out the way just in time as the baseball bat went smashing through the glass door, the guyed pulled it out of the door but lost his balance and fell back wards.
Knowing this was her chance she pushed through the broken glass out onto the street, with so much adrenaline coursing through her veins she didn't noticed the damage that the broken glass did to her arms.
Her instincts told her to go to the river court as it was the closest place so she ran their too scared to look back to see if the guy was still there.
As she approached the river court her lungs were bursting from the running but she was so happy to see the forms of Lucas and Nathan even though all their other friends including Brooke were also there.
She screamed out their names causing everyone to look over at her and as Nathan approached her she fell into his arms sobbing.
Nathan had gone to the river court on Sunday night as more of a relaxing thing then an actual warm up, Lucas Jake and Skills were also there, it was normally Tim but he was apparently ill that evening which surprised Nathan as when he had seen him that morning he had seemed fine. Lucas had also called Brooke, Peyton and Bevin, Skills girlfriend, to come much to Nathan's annoyance he would much rather hang out with just the guys when playing basketball.
They had been playing for a few hours when he heard a voice scream out and he immediately turned around surprised that Haley would come here because of all that had happened.
His surprise quickly turned to horror as she ran closer and he saw the look of fear on her face and the dark red stains that were growing larger on the arms of her white shirt. She ran towards them and when she fell into his arms he sank to the ground while Haley panted hard into hid chest.
He pulled back her sleeves seeing the deep ragged cuts on her arms as well as lots of little scratches.
"Call an ambulance." He shouted to no one in particular and he heard Peyton dial then speaking to someone, by that time Lucas was at their side.
"What happened?" He asked Haley his face pale. She was still panting hard and crying but she managed to get out a few words.
"There was no other way out, I was just so scared." She said seeing the cuts in her arms for the first time.
Lucas felt like he was going to cry, Haley had just tried to kill herself was the only thought running through his mind.
Haley still just stared down at the deep cuts on her arms as the blood continued to pour out and she suddenly felt very faint.
Nathan took off his hoody and gently wrapped it around Haley's wrists, he had no idea what to think he was just so scared for her.
"There was someone in the café, he tried to get me." Haley weakly got out.
"What." Lucas screeched getting to his feet and starting to run off in the direction of the café with Jake close behind him.
Haley lay against Nathan still panting feeling exhausted and like her arms were throbbing.
"Don't call my parents." Haley whispered to Nathan, he looked at her surprised "They might not come back and I couldn't bear it if they didn't care."
"Okay." He said and kissed her head.
The ambulance arrived and took Haley but as no one was related to her they didn't let anyone else come but Nathan promised he and Lucas would be there soon.
The ambulance pulled away just as Lucas and Jake came running back both out of breath from the running.
"Was he still there?" Nathan asked concerned. Lucas gave Jake a look.
"The place looks fine the lights are on, the only thing wrong was the door glass was broken but it was unlocked Nathan, I think she did this to herself he said sadly while unnoticed by the others Brooke smiled in the back ground.
Her arms were stitched up and she was given pain killers that made her feel drowsy, then she had spoken to the police and then Lucas and Nathan were finally allowed to come in and see her.
She noticed how nervous they looked when they entered but didn't say anything. They had been outside fighting for hours, Lucas believing that Haley had done this deliberately and Nathan arguing that she wouldn't do that.
"They say I can go home." She said breaking the tense silence, she really just wanted to get out of there but at the same time was scared to go home alone.
"Yeah we're going to take you." Lucas said smiling at her for the first time in ages.
"You can come back to mine, you shouldn't be alone tonight." Nathan spoke up. Lucas gave him a look.
"No you can come back to mine, I'm sure mum will want to see you." Lucas said.
"Lucas she may as well come back to mine I have a spare room." Nathan said glaring at Lucas.
"That would be great thanks Nathan." Haley said ending the discussion, it felt weird Lucas suddenly being nice to her after he had not believed her before.
"Well I'm going to go bring the car round the front." Lucas said feeling awkward, he really wanted to talk to Haley but he was also scared about what she might say.
"You don't have to have me stay." Haley said quietly when Lucas had gone.
"I want you to stay ok, I need to know your ok." He said seriously.
"You're a good friend Nathan." She said smiling up at him.
He just smiled back.
Lucas had dropped them off at Nathan's and Nathan had helped her inside, the pain killers still making her feel drowsy. He sat her down on the sofa.
"Thanks for not calling my parents." Haley said. Nathan looked awkwardly around for a second.
"Lucas thinks maybe you did this to yourself." He said indicating to her arms.
"What do you think?" She asked looking down unsure if she really wanted to know the answer. He crouched down in front of her and gently tilted her chin up so she was looking him in the eyes.
"I believe you." He said looking deep into her big brown eyes.
"I need to get some sleep." She said looking away from him.
He helped her up and then she went into the spare room and Nathan gave her a t-shirt and some shorts to sleep in and she climbed into the single bed.
"I'll be just next door if you need any thing." He said and switched off the light until he heard a slight gasp from Haley so he turned the light back on.
"You wouldn't mind keeping the light on would you." She said looking down her cheeks blazing with embarrassment "It's just earlier in the café it was pitch black and he just came out of the shadows." She said quietly her eyes wide as she remembered the horrifying details of earlier.
Nathan came and sat next to her on the bed.
"Don't worry you'll be safe here." He said "How about I stay just until you fall asleep?" Her eyes light up in gratitude and it was somehow the best thanks he could have got.
Haley lay down in the bed and felt Nathan lie down next to her so instinctively she lay on her side in a ball facing him and he gently rested his arm around her.
Her last thoughts before she fell asleep were how screwed she was as she was pretty sure she had fallen for Nathan Scott.