Sorry, this is a short one...But I hope it's alright. It's setting up for the later drama and slightly addresses the whole "is this story going in circles?" issue...And hey it's only been a couple of weeks since my last update, I'm improving right? Though because of evil things like AP Testing and Final Projects, I have no idea when I'll update again.....Sorry.

Anyway, please Read and Review!! Reviews really are the greatest things invented....

The next installment of the story shall now begin in a beach house where an odd reunion just occurred...

Lonely Sadness

"What's going on Keith?" Nathan asked as he glanced down at Dan's unconscious body.

"How about I explain on the way back?" Keith asked as he too glanced down at Dan. "Let's go Nate."

"Can we really just leave him like this?"

"Did you see what he did to Mouth? Just leaving him knocked out is too good for him."

Nathan nodded as he looked around the kitchen. "You're right Keith, it is too good for him," he grinned maliciously as he spied the rope he had just cut off of Mouth. Quickly, Nathan grabbed it and with Keith's help, tied Dan up to the kitchen cabinet's handle.

Nathan then left the kitchen with Keith, who was having a hard time walking.

"You all right Keith?" Nathan asked quietly while the two stopped at the door so Nathan could pick Mouth up.

Keith simply shook his head, "I'll be fine. Let's just get out of here. You drove right?"

Nathan nodded.

"Good, I took a bus."

The unlikely trio climbed into Nathan's car and Keith instructed him on where to go, and it wasn't the place he suspected it to be.

"Hey Nate," Lucas said quietly when he entered Haley's hospital room.

Nathan glanced up and gave Lucas a grin. "What's up Lucas?"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Nathan you can't fool me, I know you're not doing well. You still have the dead look behind your eyes."

In a flash, Nathan's neutral expression changed to one of anger and pain. "I'm trying Lucas alright?! But it's not the easiest thing to be happy and carefree when your wife is sitting unconscious on a hospital bed in front of you and you know it's all your fault!"

"Good, I see life in your face now," Lucas said with the smallest of smiles. "Haley's going to wake up Nathan."

"I know she will," Nathan replied quickly.

"And when she wakes up, how mad do you think she'll be when she realizes you haven't done any of your schoolwork?"

Nathan shrugged, "She'll understand why I didn't go to school."

Lucas rolled his eyes, "I thought you would say that." He grabbed his bag so he could get into it, his movements were stiff because he was still recovering from cardiac arrest, but eventually he pulled out a nice stack of books and papers.

"I brought all your homework Nathan, and now I'm going to try to teach something to that block of wood you have for a brain."

Nathan groaned, but Lucas saw in his eyes a glimmer of happiness at a distraction away from the torture he was still feeling, even though he tried desperately to hide it.


When Lucas opened the door, he yelled and froze.

Before anything else happened, a small woman with dark hair came around a corner with a coffee mug in her hand. "Lucas Eugene Scott, what on earth possessed you to yell like—"

Karen dropped her coffee mug when she saw who it was standing in the doorway.

After an awkward silence, Mouth looked up at Lucas and said, "'Ey Lu, ca I lie dow? I hur."

Lucas nodded and Nathan helped Mouth to Lucas' room where he put him on the bed to sleep and recover a little before going to the hospital.

"Hey," Keith said awkwardly to Karen and Lucas as they stood alone in the hall.

That was all that was needed to break the tension and the three rushed into a tight hug.

"Where have you been?" Karen cried into Keith's shoulder as he held her tightly to him with one arm, the other on Lucas.

"A sort of prison," Keith replied sadly. "You two were what kept me going…the thought of getting out and seeing you again. When I got back it was all I wanted to do, but I knew I had to get rid of Dan first if I ever wanted to be truly happy."

"You've been taking on the devil?" Karen asked quietly.

Keith nodded solemnly, which resulted in Karen hitting him hard on the chest. "Keith, how idiotic can you be? Facing off with Dan by yourself?"

"I wasn't doing it alone. I had help from Deb and Nathan, though I don't think he knows how big his role is."

"Where is Dan now?" Lucas asked as he pulled away from the uncle who had always been like a father to him.

"Knocked out on the beach house floor," Nathan replied simply and coolly as he walked back in from Lucas' room. "He had kidnapped Mouth and was keeping him tied up. I went there to ask him for help with Haley and found him and Keith fighting."

It was then that Karen noticed Keith was favoring his left leg and had a cut above his eye. "Are you alright?" She asked him simply.

Keith nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Then why don't you stand on your left leg?" She questioned in a skeptic tone.

"Because there's a damn piece of glass stuck in it," Keith said with a forced smile. "Danny always knew where to hit."

While Karen took Keith to the kitchen to get the glass out of his leg, Lucas turned to Nathan. "Why do you need help with Haley this time? I thought you two finally had things all worked out."

"Yeah well…As usual, Chris, Damien, and Rachel all got in the way."

"What'd you do this time Nate?" Lucas asked as he ran a hand over his head, waiting for the new story about how his little brother let his temper get out of control.

"Damien cornered Haley after she left me this afternoon. He tried to take her away to do God knows what, but Chris and Keith stopped him."

"I'm going to kill him next time he stops by," Lucas said menacingly.

Nathan continued without a reply, because Lucas knew very well what Nathan would do to Damien if he ever saw him again, "While that was going on, I was giving my side of the story to that reporter. Then I went home, waiting to get a call or something from Haley. The doorbell rang and I answered it hoping it would be Haley only to see Rachel who threw herself at me and started kissing me. When I finally realized what the hell was going on and pushed her off, Haley and Chris were standing there, staring at me. After the night she'd been through, Haley thought the worst and left. She says she's leaving for good tomorrow, never coming back, and won't answer her phone."

It was a moment before Lucas could think of anything to say. Finally, he replied with a smile, "For you, but I'm her best friend. She'll have to answer for me."

"Tutor-Girl, it's Lucas this time, can't you answer for him?" Brooke asked sweetly. "I mean if you really are going to leave tomorrow, don't you at least want to say goodbye to him. He was so hurt last time when you left without a word…"

Haley continued to stare at the wall from her bed. Everything was packed. All she needed was for the night to turn into day.

Brooke sighed and left the bedroom, Haley's phone in her hand.

She answered when she was out of Haley's ear-shot. "Luke, Haley won't answer for anyone…Apparently, her wall is more interesting than anything else."

Lucas sighed. "Can you tell her Nathan has had a really bad night and could really use a goodbye this time?"

"Bad night, what do you mean Broody?"

"Dan…" Lucas didn't need to say anything more for Brooke to understand what bad shape Nathan must be in.

"They never get a break. It's always the same people, the same sort of situations that are coming after them. How they've been able to stay together this long is a mystery to me."

"Their love," Lucas said quietly as Nathan gave him a questioning glance.

"Okay, I'll pass the message on. Good night Broody."

"Good night Cherry," Lucas said before hanging up the phone.

Brooke walked back into the bedroom. "Haley, I know things were bad for you tonight, but, something happened with Dan…and he's a mess."

As much as she didn't want to, Haley couldn't help being worried about Nathan. If anyone could push Nathan over the edge it would be Dan, but whenever she actually considered going to see Nathan all she saw in her head was an image of Rachel kissing him and then fury started through her veins.

Haley rolled over after a fresh wave of anger washed over her and glanced at the clock only to see it was 3 a.m.

With a sigh, Haley sat up and got dressed. "I probably should say goodbye to Lucas," Haley mumbled, "and find out what happened to Nathan tonight."

As Haley quickly left the apartment, Brooke Davis sat up in her own bed, a smile playing across her lips.

Nathan walked up the empty beach, desperately trying to gain peace in his head. However, he couldn't escape the images of Mouth bloody and tied up, Chris trying to punch him, the look of anger on Lucas' face when he explained the situation, Dan and Keith fighting in the beach house, but most of all, always lingering in the back of all the other mental pictures was Haley's face when she saw Rachel kissing Nathan.

No matter what he had done, Nathan couldn't get to sleep. All he wanted was to make up with Haley again. How many times had they been so close only for it all to fall apart now?

Finally, Nathan got to a construction site by the beach where there was a lone patch of purple flowers. Nathan sat by those flowers, at the spot where he and Haley had gotten married just a year before.

For the hundredth time that night, Nathan Scott planned what he would say to Haley if she did show up in the tutor-center before leaving.