I'm BAAAAAAAAAACK! Yay. I got back to school after spring break and in my homeroom, someone had turned in a red flash drive that looked strangely familiar to me. I plugged it into a computer, and even though it was quite a bit more beat up than when I had last seen it, it was my flash drive with all my files intact.

It seems there are some good people in this world after all. :)

I really want to give a thank you to everyone who offered me sympathy and support when I thought my stories were gone forever. It really and truly meant a lot to me.

Please read and review, the reviews really are what inspire me to keep writing despite everything. You guys rock and thank you so much.

Discovering the Truth

"What happened tonight Keller?" Nathan asked half an hour later while he was still on his knees in the cold, wet driveway, simply staring dejectedly in the direction the cabby had driven Haley. "Why was she with you? Why couldn't she support herself?"

Chris shook his head. He didn't want to tell Nathan right now. He was in a bad enough shape.

"Tell me Keller," Nathan commanded in a hard tone.

Before Chris started he made sure he was several feet away from Nathan. "I was in a bar getting a drink after your brother threw me in the river. Then after I bonded with this biker dude, he said he wanted me to autograph his bike so we were starting to go out back when we heard someone scream. I immediately recognized it and ran for Haley. This creeper had her on his shoulder and was carrying her towards the outside stairs to his room." Nathan cracked his knuckles loudly, causing Chris to take another step away. "Before I could show him what I've learned from you and The Karate Kid, someone hit the creep on the head with a beer bottle. Haley passed out and the guy told me to take her back to the apartment and call you, but I decided it'd be easier to take her straight here."

"Who was it?"

"The rescuer or the creep?"

"Both."

"The creep, Haley said something about the demon kid in The Omen I think…"

"Damien," Nathan said menacingly.

"YEAH THAT WAS IT! Haley didn't even remember that anyone else saved her besides me, but when the guy was talking she mumbled something about cooked cows."

Nathan gave Chris a penetrating stare, "Cooked Cows?"

"Yeah, you know, Beef? Geez Scott, get with the lingo."

Keith. Haley had said Keith. Keith had saved Haley out in the alley which meant Dan wasn't lying, Keith was back in town. But the question was: Why? And why didn't he tell anyone besides Dan?

"Thanks for bringing her back. Do you know why the guy told you to take her to the apartment?"

"I guess he knew something like this would happen. Sorry I messed your date up."

Without realizing Chris had been slowly walking towards Nathan as they talked, but regretted it as he felt himself be tripped onto the pavement.

"You don't actually think that was a date do you?!" Nathan asked angrily, suddenly off his knees and standing over Chris' fallen form.

"No man, of course not, I was just making a joke." Chris decided it would be safer to stay lying on the driveway than to risk standing back up only to get knocked down again.

"Get a better sense of humor Keller," and with that, Nathan Scott walked back into his house, leaving Chris Keller out in the rain with no way back to his hotel.

"Man, what is with this town!?" Chris asked no one in particular as he started to walk up the road in the cold rain.

"Haley, pick it up. He's not going to stop calling," Brooke said soothingly as Haley's phone rang for the fifteenth time that night.

"I don't want to talk to him Brooke. Besides, I need to pack."

"I can't believe you're really leaving again. You'll come back to visit this time right?" Brooke asked with a sly smile. Already, she was planning how to get Nathan and Haley back together when she came to visit.

"No. I'm never coming back to Tree Hill Brooke."

"Tutor-Girl! Don't do this! You were going to do it differently this time, remember?"

"Different just turned out the same. No matter what Nathan and I do, the same issues just keep getting in the way! We're going in circles Brooke, and I'm tired… I'm done this time. I have enough credits to graduate. I'll be fine with not being at the ceremony. It's time for me to move on, to get out of this vicious cycle."

"Tutor-Girl…." Brooke said sadly as she watched Haley's phone light up before it started to ring yet again.

"Hales," Nathan said quietly into his phone, his deep voice choked with emotion. "This will be the last time I'll call you tonight. I understand that you don't want to see me again, but I swear, nothing ever happened with Rachel and me. I know you had a horrible night and seeing what you saw must've made it worse, but Haley, please give me a chance to make it better. Look, I'll be in the tutor center all day tomorrow. I'll even put a sign on it so nobody else will come in at all. So please Hales, before you leave Tree Hill forever, come see me one last time. If you don't, I'll understand. I'll sign the divorce papers and send them to you first thing. Then you'll never hear from me again, but Haley James…." Nathan paused before he decided to add it, a word he wasn't sure if Haley would be glad to here, "Scott, I love you, always and forever."

Nathan closed his phone for the last time and dropped it on the ground. He put his head in his hands and tightly shut his eyes. No matter what he did, he couldn't get the image of Haley's face out of his mind; the hurt and sadness that she so obviously felt.

Nathan leaned back on his bed with a defeated groan and started to throw a basketball at the ceiling, trying to think of a way to fix things.

If there was one thing he actually knew in this world, it was that he wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight.

"It's weird ya know?" Peyton asked Brooke as walked the halls of Tree Hill High during school.

"What is?" Brooke asked as they arrived at her locker, already refilled with pictures of her and Lucas.

Peyton glanced around the hallway and sighed as if she had been expecting something and hadn't seen it. "It's weird with Jake back, you and Lucas together again already, and without…"

"Nathan and Haley," Brooke finished simply. "But they'll be back Peyton and we can all finally be happy at the same time. Have you noticed that's never happened before?"

Peyton laughed, "Our luck has never been that good."

Brooke smiled as she looped her arm into her once again best friend's, "Positive thinking Peyton, that's what we need right now. If we think positive we're bound to get some positive karma or something right?"

"And that's why Lucas calls you Cheery," Peyton added right as they entered their next class together where Lucas and Jake smiled brightly up at the pair.


"Do you think we have enough?" Keith asked Deb as the two sat together in Keith's hotel room.

"We have the paperwork and Nathan's bugged room to prove he forced you into rehab. We have the prison guard's testimony that he used unconventional means to get the 'truth' our of people. We also have Nathan's testimony of his abusive nature."

"And the reporter. He has no idea that Herc Donavan is an undercover FBI agent posing as a freelance reporter."

"When the police get their hands on this evidence there's no way Dan won't be arrested," Deb said quietly.

Keith looked out the dark window. He was going to send his little brother to jail… "I'm going to see him," Keith said suddenly.

"Keith no!" Deb exclaimed and she moved to block the door. "Dan is beyond help, haven't you realized that yet? You can ruin this whole investigation! Everything we've worked for!"

"He's still my little brother Deb and I have to give him just one more shot."

With that, Keith sidestepped Deb and left the hotel room making his way to the beach house, where he was sure Dan was.

"Dan," Nathan whispered as he caught his basketball for about the hundredth time that night as he lay on his bead throwing it up into the air. "Dan, as big of an as he is…" Nathan suddenly sat up, "He's crafty. He can help me get out of this mess."

Nathan quickly threw on a jacket and ran to his car to make the drive to the beach house.

During the drive Nathan did some serious thinking about his future. Dan could get Haley's flight delayed so if she didn't show up to the tutor center, he could catch her at the airport. Then what am I going to do?

How much am I really willing to give up to convince Haley I want to be with her and will never again do anything to hurt her again?

Nathan realized the answer was simple. He would give up anything and everything, basketball, his money, his family, his future, because Haley was all that and more to him.

It was this realization that propelled Nathan out of his car and into the beach house to ask the person he least wanted to see for help.

There wasn't a need for Nathan to ring the doorbell. He could just walk right in, he had spent a lot of time here over his life. He quietly opened the door and walked inside. Just as he was about to call out "Dad" he heard a voice from the kitchen.

"What the hell Danny? You can't do…do whatever the hell you're doing! This is crossing a line that I thought even you could see!"

Is that Keith? Nathan asked himself as he crept quietly through the entrance hall and towards the dining room where he would have a clear view of the kitchen without being too conspicuous.

Dan's sudden and nearby laughter made Nathan stop in his tracks. "Keith, you're overreacting. Have you been drinking lately? It would be understandable if you had slipped up and had a little something with dinner, I mean, you did leave rehab a little early."

"You mean prison Danny, and no I'm not drunk, I'm finally truly sober. I don't think I've ever seen you so clearly."

"Keith, look, just sit down, take a little rest and then we can talk about this calmly."

"No Dan…I don't think there's any way to do this calmly. I think you need to turn yourself in the cops before you make things any worse for yourself."

Nathan stopped again on his way to the dining room, Cops? My dad is bad and all, but are cops really necessary?

Nathan's question was answered a second later when he finally reached the dining room and saw, to his horror, a bloodied and tied up Mouth McFadden in front of him.

"I don't think so Boozy," Nathan heard Dan growl menacingly.

A second passed and Nathan heard the unmistakable sound of fist on flesh. Plates and glasses started shattering as Keith and Dan tried to beat each other up.

Nathan didn't waste any time as ran over to Mouth and started to untie Lucas' old friend.

Mouth let out a small groan as he rubbed his wrists when Nathan had untied him. Immediately, Nathan shushed him. He carried Mouth back towards the front door, before carefully setting him down.

Then, he made his way towards the kitchen.

Dan and Keith were locked onto each other, like how Nathan had heard goats fight. They were stubborn creatures, Haley had told him once, just like Dan and Keith.

Both of them were bleeding and both looked as stubborn as ever. Luckily, Nathan had entered the kitchen so Dan's back was facing him and Keith could see him. Keith made no obvious reaction, so Dan couldn't tell, but Nathan knew that he had seen him, and didn't know what to make of it. Keith didn't know whose side Nathan would take. It was time for Nathan to choose, would he blindly follow the path of his corrupt father, or take a risk and set his own path by denying Dan?

Nathan answered Keith's unspoken question a second later when he grabbed Dan from beneath the arms and held him there in a half-nelson.

Keith promptly hit Dan on the top of the head with a flashlight that had been sitting on the counter so he was knocked out.

Nathan dropped Dan and before a second passed, Keith's face broke into a grin, "It's been a while Nate. Good to see you didn't get all his genes."