Real quick, I meant to upload this two days ago, but just as I started to upload it my internet went down. Sorry about that and for the extra long delay for this chapter. I will try to do better for the next one. Have a nice day.

I've had a really bad month and today was my first day off from school, work, drama, and such in a really long time. I'm really sorry for the extended delay in updating.

Happy Thanksgiving by the way, and if you're not American and so don't celebrate Thanksgiving, Happy November 27, 2008. It only comes once in a lifetime after all.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of the characters and such.

Bold face is reality with Haley in a coma, Normal is the dream world, and Italics are the thoughts and memories.

The next installment of the story shall now begin on a boardwalk that holds so many memories….

Drowning

"How ya doin babe? Finally get tired of the ol' ball and chain?" Damien slurred. "Decided to get wit' a real man?"

"Get off of me Damien," Haley said as calmly as she could manage while Damien wrapped his arm tightly around her.

Damien laughed, "Okay babe." He quickly pulled her closely into him. "I got a room up in the bar, you can get on me then."

"No Damien. Let go of me," Haley said clearer and with more force.

"No Haley," Damien mocked. He smirked and slowly caressed Haley's face. "You know I see why Scott likes you so much. You really are a babe." Damien started to lean his head in towards Haley.

Haley could smell the alcohol on his breath and wanted to throw up. She hated it when Nathan drank, but she could tolerate it. Anyone else drinking and putting their face anywhere near hers disgusted her to say the least.

"No Damien! GET OFF ME!" Haley flat out shouted. She heard a bottle in the bar she was by shatter.

"You know, I like it when you shout my name like that. Let's go," he started to walk towards the bar, dragging Haley along the way.

Haley started to kick Damien, but even in his drunken state he was stronger. After a minute of fruitless struggling, Damien picked Haley up. "PUT ME DOWN DAMIEN WEST!" Haley finally screamed at the top of her lungs.

Once again, Haley heard a bottle shatter. Except this one wasn't from inside the bar, it was from right by her ear.

"Thanks for your time Mr. Donavan," Nathan said politely as they finished the interview. "Haley may have hurt me, but that's between us. She doesn't deserve people thinking she's evil for just following her dreams."

Herc Donavan grinned. "Thank you Mr. Scott for making me a rich man. My editors are going to love this story. Just, can you make it an exclusive? Only talk to me for a while?"

"As long as it's published without slander," Nathan answered.

"Oh that won't be a problem Mr. Scott."

Nathan waved goodbye to Herc Donavan with a sincere smile. He felt like he had finally put everything right with Haley. They were going to get through the tour this time, no matter what Chris said. An article was going to get published letting people know the real Haley, not the stuck-up heartless rock star Haley.

As Nathan left the hotel, Herc Donavan checked his cell phone. The small envelope signaled showing he had a voicemail was up on the corner.

"Oh, now this is interesting," Herc said with an evil grin after listening to the message.

"What is with this town?" Chris moaned as he finally pulled himself onto a dock. "Thank God it was low tide or the world would be without the Keller!" Chris exclaimed as he shook his wet head and got water everywhere around him.

"I need a drink," he said to himself as he emptied his shoes of water.

"There. That place looks respectable," he said to himself once he got up to the street. Quickly, Chris walked into a seedy bar to get a nice strong drink and forget about the day.

Chris was starting to down his screwdriver and talk to a big-guy in a leather jacket about his motorcycle when he heard a commotion going on outside.

"Should we go check on that?" He asked the big guy.

The guy simply stared at Chris. "Alright, I'll go check it out. But I'll let you know if the Keller needs any back-up, alright?"

Chris walked to a window where he saw a familiar figure. She was all-too-close to someone that didn't look familiar at all.

"She doesn't love him after all, she just wants a cheap thrill with whoever she can get, first Nathan, then me, and now this guy," Chris said to himself in shock. He felt his grip on his drink loosen.

Then he heard the figure shout in a tone he had never, in all the time he had known her, heard, "No Damien! GET OFF ME!"

Chris dropped his screwdriver in anger. Haley did love Nathan, she didn't want a cheap thrill. This guy was taking advantage of her. Only Chris could ever even be accused of doing such a thing, not anyone else.

Immediately, he started to walk outside to give this creep a piece of the Keller's mind and it wasn't going to be pretty.

However, as Chris walked out the door to the back lot where Haley was, he heard a bottle smash.

"Hales!" Chris shouted as he started to run towards Haley who had suddenly fallen onto the ground next to the creeper.

"She's alright. I think she just fainted out of fear," a gruff voice said to Chris.

Chris went over to Haley himself and checked her over. Sure enough there were no obvious injuries. "Who are you?" Chris asked bluntly to the man.

Even in the dark, Chris thought the man looked familiar. He had short dark brown hair with dark stubble and dark eyes. He wore hiking boots, jeans, and a t-shirt. He looked nothing special.

"I guess you could say I'm Haley's uncle," the man said. "Are you Chris Keller?"

"How-how did you know!?" Chris asked excitedly. "You a fan?"

"How about we just say you're a little famous in this town?"

"Do you want an autograph? It could be payment for saving Haley's life!"

"No," the man said shortly as Haley stirred. "I don't want payment. I want you to take her to her apartment and tell Nathan to meet you there. Don't make any stops and don't tell anyone else, got it?"

Chris nodded as he picked Haley up and she stirred again.

The man put a hand lovingly on Haley's shoulder, "Take care of her. She's a good kid."

Haley rolled her head and mumbled something that Chris could barely hear.

"Why'd she just say Beef? Is your name Beef or something?" Chris asked the man who had saved Haley.

The man laughed, and without another word, disappeared down the dark alley.

Chris shrugged and after "accidentally" stepping on the creep who had been harassing Haley, walked the opposite way up the alley.

"Why don't I just take you to Nate's house?" Chris asked the unconscious Haley as he hailed a cab. "I bet that's where he is anyway."

"Chris?" Haley asked weakly.

"Hey Hales," Chris whispered quietly as a cab parked in front of him.

"Where are you taking me?" Haley asked as Chris carefully put her in the seat next to him.

"Your husband's house Haley. That's where you need to be after the exciting day you've had." Chris then gave the cabby Nathan's address.

"Nathan hates me though, I told him I want to go back on tour."

Chris laughed. "If there's one thing in this world I know Haley, it's that Nathan Scott doesn't hate you and never could. He loves you."

Haley stared out the window, trying to remember what happened. "Thank you for helping me out back there Chris."

Chris reached out and put a comforting hand on Haley's shoulder. "Don't think about it Hales. Think about it tomorrow."

Haley stared down at Chris' hand. "Chris?"

"What's up Hales?"

"Why are you all wet?"

Chris groaned, "Ask your friend Lucas."

Haley gave him a questioning look but said nothing more. Nathan was not going to be happy when she told him what had happened with Damien.

Nathan was on his bed, throwing a basketball at his ceiling. He was trying to figure out how to word to Haley that he wanted her to go on tour. He would play college basketball and they would get together when they could.

All Nathan knew was that they would get through it no matter what.

The doorbell rang and Nathan confidently got up. He knew it had to be Haley. She wouldn't leave things the way they had at the boardwalk earlier. They had to talk this through. Nathan loved how she worked.

Tonight they would really get back together, he knew it. He was ready to face the future, he loved living in the moment with Haley, but he knew they needed a plan and he finally had things all figured out. Nathan Scott knew what he wanted and that was a happy Haley James Scott.

Nathan swung the door open, a special smile just for Haley across his lips.

"Happy to see me Scott?" A conniving voice asked from the doorway.

"Red?" Nathan asked, confused. Is she really here? After the shit she pulled?

Rachel grinned, "You look like you think you're about to get laid. And you're right."

Without another word, Rachel threw herself onto Nathan, her face practically eating his.

Flashbulbs went off from Nathan's plants. When he finally realized what was going on, Nathan shoved Rachel roughly off of him.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Nathan shouted.

"Oh c'mon baby, you know we do this all the time!"

Rachel moved to the side with a sly smile and she ran a finger down Nathan's face. Instead of pushing her off again, Nathan felt himself freeze.

Standing on the doorway on the front steps was an extremely angry Haley James Scott, holding onto a rather angry Chris Keller.

"I don't think I need your help anymore Chris. I think there's enough adrenaline for me to walk up and slap the life out of both of them by myself," Haley said icily.

Nathan couldn't find his voice. He knew he needed it, if there were ever a time for him to speak, now was it. But he just could not talk.

Haley walked up the steps with a purpose. Nathan had never seen her this angry in his life and he had seen her mad before.

First, she slapped Rachel. "That was for trying to ruin my reputation."

Next, she punched Rachel right in the face. "That was for trying, if not succeeding, to sleep with my husband. Now get OUT of this house!"

Rachel didn't need convincing. She had no gleeful smirk on her face as she ran disgracefully out of the Scott household.

Nathan still couldn't locate his voice. He merely stood there, feeling like an idiot as he watched Haley and Chris round on him.

Chris struck first. He hit Nathan right in the face too. Nathan barely flinched. He was sure Haley had hit Rachel harder.

Haley looked at Nathan and Nathan saw an unspeakable sadness and hurt in her eyes. He realized this was what she had been afraid of most: that Nathan had found someone else, that she, Haley, the only girl Nathan had ever loved, was somehow not good enough.

Her slap hurt more than anything, more than anytime Dan had ever hurt him, more than when Lucas had bruised him, more than his damn car accident. Nothing compared to the pain Nathan felt when Haley slapped him and he looked into her dark eyes.

Finally, Nathan found his voice. "Haley, Hales, you know it's not true! I would never do that! I just opened the door and there she was! You saw the flashbulbs didn't you? It was just a ploy to split us up!"

Haley was already leaving, heading out for the cabby that had stayed there to watch the scene in Nathan's doorway unfold.

"Haley, you know I love you! Just let me explain!"

Haley stopped as she put a hand on the door. "When I got back Nathan, all you did was try to hurt me. I've had one of the worst nights of my life, Nathan, and then I get here to see you with, with that horrible person! You finally got what you wanted Nathan. You hurt me like I hurt you. You won't hear from me again. I'll leave tomorrow afternoon for my tour. Things will go back to how they were before. You said if I left, we were done and I left."

Tears welled up in Haley's eyes. "I won't be coming back this time, so I guess we really are done," she said just as he got to her. Haley pulled a bracelet off of her wrist and dropped it down onto the wet pavement. She opened the cab's door and he drove off immediately.

"I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU ANYMORE!" Nathan shouted as loud as he could. "I would give up everything for you!" He added in a strangled tone as he fell to his knees and thunder clapped above.

The bracelet that was so symbolic of their relationship was getting swallowed up by the rain while Nathan tried to drown himself.