I know I promised you that updates would be more frequent since I was out of school and I have yet to live up to that promise. The truth is, the last few weeks I haven't been in the greatest of moods. I have a history of really bad anxiety and depression. I haven't really had a problem with my anxiety or depression since my sophomore year high school, but I have a feeling that it's coming back. Lately, I just haven't had any energy and I don't have the motivation to do much of anything. I've tried to force myself to write but sometimes that just isn't enough. I've already made an appointment with my doctor and everything. I know I just got real personal and real serious with you guys, I just wanted to ask you all to be patient with me. I know I seem to ask this a lot of you guys and I do apologize.

Just two other quick notes before I get into this chapter. I know on the show that "Hales" was a nickname for Haley that originally came from Lucas and then as time went on, everyone started calling her that. For this story, things are going to be a little different. You'll see what I mean once you read this chapter. I hope you guys don't mind me changing that little detail from the show. Also, this chapter is heavy, but necessary, dialogue.

Haley leaned against the wooden fence along the Market Street Dock, her camera tight in her hands. The sun was low in the sky, glistening in the reflection of the water. For the last hour or so, she had been roaming around Tree Hill and snapping random pictures. She needed the fresh air and she needed to get out of the house before her mom drove her absolutely crazy.

Lydia James popped open a bottle of wine as soon as she returned home from work and within an hour, the bottle was almost completely empty. Usually, that meant a rough day at work. A drunk Lydia James meant a cranky Lydia James and that's the last thing that Haley wanted to deal with. By now, Haley was used to her mom turning to alcohol. It had become a bad habit after the passing of her father.

Like reading, her camera was another escape from reality for her.

A flock of birds were passing across the sunset and she lifted her camera to snap a few pictures. Feeling content that she had wasted enough time—her mom was probably passed out by now—she started walking down the dock and back towards the street that would lead her back to her house. For the most part, the Market Street Dock was empty. There were a few stragglers—an older couple sitting on a bench under the cluster of trees, a young kid riding his bike along the dock, and an older man walking his dog along the sidewalk.

Haley kept her head down as she scrolled through the new pictures on her memory card. She couldn't have walked more than a few feet when her body collided with something hard. A gasp left her lips as she stumbled backwards, her camera falling from hands. Luckily, the holster strap was securely around her neck. Before she could fully register what was happening, she felt a pair of hands grip her waist to steady her.

Looking up, she was met with a pair of unfamiliar hazel eyes. His eyebrows were furrowed together in concern, instead of annoyance. His brown hair was shaggy, falling into his eyes. He looked to be older, more mature. If she had to guess, he was in his early twenties. He wasn't that bad on the eyes, either.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his grip never loosening from her waist.

"Oh, yeah. I'm good," Haley stumbled out. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. It's kind of a bad habit of mine."

He shook his head. "It was completely my fault. I was texting on my phone and didn't see you coming."

Haley shifted uncomfortably to pull herself out of his grip. A chill ran down her spine when his gaze darkened without warning. The hazel orbs trailed unabashedly over her body and she suddenly felt like she was naked, instead of wearing a black crewneck and jeans.

"I guess it was a little bit of both our faults then. Sorry, again." She smiled as warmly as she could manage before walking around him. She didn't make it very far before she heard him talk again.

"You know, I walk the streets of Tree Hill almost nightly, why haven't I seen you around before?"

"I just moved here a few weeks ago," Haley responded while turning around to face him. Nervously, she began to twirl the cap on the lens of her camera. The vibe that this guy was giving off wasn't a very good one and she was desperate to get away from him as soon as possible.

"That explains it," He said with a smile. He took a step closer to her and extended his hand. "I'm Damien West."

Haley tensed, her body visibly going frigid. She'd heard that name before, she was sure of it. She remembered Julian saying something about him in relation to Nathan, but she couldn't remember exactly what it was. Whatever it was, she knew it wasn't good.

"Haley," She answered as she hesitantly reached out to shake his hand. She didn't miss the way he purposely caressed his thumb against her skin before pulling away.

"You got a last name, Haley?" Damien asked her next, his lips curving into a small smirk.

Haley's only response was the narrowing of her eyes.

Damien shook his head, chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry. I must seem like a freak to you—asking you for your full name, in the middle of the night, when you just met me. I'm not the greatest conversationalist, especially when I'm talking to a girl as pretty as you."

Haley forced a smile, along with a short chuckle. "That's okay. Listen, it's getting late and I need to be getting home." She began to walk backwards, hoping that he would get the hint that their conversation, if it could be called one, was over.

"Maybe I'll see you around?" He called after her.

"Yeah, maybe," Haley yelled back, quickly turning her back and walking swiftly along the sidewalk. She stole one more glance at Damien to find that he was watching her walk away. Quickly looking away, she sped up her walking and tried to calm down her now rapidly beating heart.

~x~

"You ran into Damien West?" Brooke asked as she plopped her backpack down on one of the tables in the courtyard.

"Literally," Haley confirmed. She swung one of her legs over the bench so that she was straddling it and sat down at the table. Unzipping her backpack, she pulled out her lunch and grabbed her sandwich, taking a bite.

"Where at?" Peyton questioned, sitting down as well.

She quickly chewed her bite of food before swallowing. "Market Street Dock. I just remembered Julian saying something about him at your party, figured it might be worth mentioning that I ran into him."

"Damien's a bad guy, simple as that," Peyton stated, chewing a bite of her own food. "Stay away from him."

Haley sighed. That was exactly what she expected and hoped that her friends would say. "You know, that's exactly what you guys said about Nathan. Damien seemed nice when I talked to him. A little too touchy for my liking and a little too evasive, but still nice."

"Look, Tutor Girl, I can already tell that you're one of those people that likes to see the good in everyone," Brooke said, reaching over to place a hand on Haley's forearm. "But, Damien and Nathan are completely different people."

"She's right," Peyton piped up. "Nathan hasn't always had the reputation of being a bad guy. Damien, on the other hand, has always been known as the rebel child."

"What's so bad about him?" Haley asked coyly. She honestly couldn't think of one good thing that could be good about him. It only took five minutes with him for her to know that something wasn't right with him. But she wanted answers and she figured acting coy with her friends was the only way to do it.

"What's so good about him?" Peyton scoffed.

Brooke nodded, quirking her eyebrow. "He's a corrupted drug dealer. Well, I mean, all drug dealers are corrupted, but he's especially fucked up."

Haley leaned forward, her interest piqued. "That look on your face tells me that you definitely have some juicy stories to elaborate on that statement."

The eyebrow that Brooke had quirked raised even further. "You've only known me a few weeks yet you already know what my facial expressions mean?"

Haley laughed, shrugging her shoulders in an innocent way. "Picking up on people's mannerisms quickly is just one of my many talents."

"Good to know," Peyton mumbled.

Brooke just shook her head, smiling slightly. Her smile faded when she began to talk again. "Damien was a senior when we were all freshmen. Most people stayed away from him, apart from the typical druggies. A week before the seniors last day, he was kicked out of Tree Hill High because he brought a knife to school. Apparently, some guy that bought drugs from him gipped him on the money. He planned on stabbing the guy as revenge."

Haley's eyes widened at that, an accompanying shiver running down her spine. "How the hell is he not in jail?"

"Daddy's rich," Peyton mumbled bitterly. "They got him the best lawyers that money could buy and he walked with a warning."

"I'm guessing that's why he hasn't been caught as a drug dealer, too, huh?" Haley muttered, her bitter tone matching Peyton's.

Brooke nodded. "Basically. So, our warning about him—unlike our warning about Nathan—is one that you don't wanna disobey, trust me."

"You sure attract all the bad boys in this town," Peyton joked lightheartedly.

Haley cracked an uneasy smile. "Trust me, I don't want anything to do with Damien. I was just curious about him."

"Just like you're curious about Nathan?" Brooke pondered with a raised eyebrow, her fingers drumming against the table.

Haley shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her heart skipping a beat at the mention of Nathan. "Completely different situations."

"It better be," Brooke declared. "Now moving on to more important matters—Tree Hill High's haunted house next weekend…"

Haley tried to listen to Brooke's rant about how she was having a hard time coming up with a costume that was as equally as unique as it was sexy. At first, she was all ears, but then something across the courtyard caught her attention—Nathan. He was leaning against one of the white brick pillars, his arms crossed over his chest. As usual, he was wearing his leather jacket and jeans.

Nathan's smoldering gaze was fixated on her. His eyes were narrow, from the glare of the sun or out of concentration, Haley wasn't sure. His eyebrows were furrowed and his forehead was creased. The way he was looking at her…it brought goosebumps to her skin and chills down her spine. It was like he staring straight into her soul and it caused her stomach to knot.

Flashes of whatever had transpired between them at his apartment on Saturday entered her mind, causing her face to heat up and her heartbeat to quicken. They hadn't talked since then. She saw him in English, but he always left before she had a chance to talk to him, not that she had any idea of what she would say to him.

She couldn't look away from him and evidently, he wasn't backing down either.

After what felt like hours of them just staring at each other, he moved off of the pillar. With a nod of his head, he motioned for her to come over by him. Glancing over at Brooke and Peyton, Haley was relieved to see them immersed in some magazine Brooke must have pulled out of her backpack. She grabbed the brown paper bag that her lunch was in and crumpled it before standing up. Walking over to the garbage can that was closest to Nathan, she threw her lunch away and then, discreetly walked over to him.

"Uh, hey," Haley greeted him.

The first thing she noticed was how jumpy Nathan seemed. His hands were now stuffed in his pockets and he was rocking on the heels of his feet.

"Can you meet me at the River Court at three?" Nathan asked, his voice low.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just-can you meet me?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

With a quick nod and an uneasy smile, he quickly walked away from her.

Haley would be lying if she said she wasn't one hundred percent confused by their interaction. In the short amount of time that she'd known Nathan, she couldn't recall him ever seeming nervous. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she took a deep breath before making her way back to Brooke and Peyton.

"What as that all about?" Brooke interrogated with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Haley plopped down on the bench, her cheeks heating up at Brooke's smirk. So much for being discreet.

"Honestly, I have no idea."

~x~

Nathan was sitting on the patch of grass surrounding the River Court, his body facing the Cape Fear River. His knees were propped up and his arms were loosely wrapped around his legs. The rush of the water and the howl of the wind was doing little to calm him down. His heart was pounding in his chest as he waited for Haley's arrival.

He wasn't sure what had come over him or why he felt this sudden need to talk to her. For the last few days, he had made a conscious effort of avoiding her as much as he could. It was childish, he knew, but he couldn't let himself get wrapped up in her again. So, he forced himself to keep his eyes off her during English class and to steer clear of places that he could possibly run into her, like the Tutor Center. Every time she crept her way into his mind, he forced himself to think about something else…anything else. In simpler terms, all of his spare time was spent on the basketball court, the only thing that usually helped him clear his mind.

The whole reason he chose to avoid her was simple—she absolutely terrified him. Every time he was around her, he felt as if the foundation of the walls around his heart he had spent the last few years perfecting became unstable. She made him want to open up—to tell her everything that he had spent most of his life bottling up. She made he want to abandon the person that he was. And most importantly, she made him want to forget all of his pain. No one had ever made him feel that way before and it scared the hell out of him.

It wasn't until he saw her standing in his apartment that he realized just how intense her effect on him was. When she touched him, he felt a warmth that he'd never felt before. The walls around his heart began to shake. There was a genuine concern in her eyes when she asked him what happened and especially when she said that maybe she could help him. He was so close to giving in, to just defying that stupid voice in his head…but that was something he couldn't do. He just couldn't, not if he wanted to keep them both safe.

So, he made a vow that he would stay away from her. It was the best solution for the both of them.

However, that was shot to hell when he saw her sitting in the courtyard during lunch. Nathan wasn't sure what it was but once he saw her, he couldn't look away. Maybe it was the way the sun was shining down on her, the rays presenting her as the angel he knew she was. His heart was in his throat the entire time. It felt like he couldn't breathe, yet like he just taken a deep breath of fresh air at the same time. He had become mesmerized by her and before he knew it, he was waving her over and asking her to meet him.

The smart thing to do would have been to stand her up, something he had spent the whole rest of the day battling with himself over. A battle that he quickly lost, no matter what way you looked at it.

"Is this grass taken?"

Her voice carried through the wind and he ignored the way his heart skipped a beat. Swallowing hard, Nathan shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her sit down. She crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap, her gaze also fixated on the river in front of them.

"Is there a reason that you wanted me here?" Haley asked cautiously. She had spent the last few hours trying to come up with some explanation as to why Nathan wanted her at the River Court. Her first thought was that maybe he had found out about Damien. From what she gathered, they used to run in the same crowd, for all she knew, they still did.

"I thought maybe we could talk?" Nathan offered up after clearing his throat.

Haley looked at him directly for the first time since she'd arrived at the River Court. He had shed himself of his leather jacket, leaving him in just a dark blue t-shirt. His normal worry lines were still etched on his face, but his eyes looked lighter than she'd ever seen them before. It took her a moment to process what he said. He wanted to talk? The boy that she swore had a fear of conversations actually wanted to talk?

"Okay," Haley mumbled. "What do you wanna talk about?"

Nathan took in a breath of air as he turned to look at her. "Listen, I know that I've been really back and forth with you. I just…I don't want you to think that I don't appreciate you trying to help me, because I do. I just—"

"—don't like opening up to people," Haley finished for him.

"Basically," Nathan replied with a dry chuckle.

Haley changed positions so that she her body was facing him. She leaned back, resting her body weight on the palm of her hands. "Can I ask you something?"

Nathan nodded.

She chose her next words carefully. "Why are you so scared of opening up to someone?"

Nathan mulled over how to answer her question for several seconds. "Because opening up to someone means being vulnerable. And with the things that I've done and been through, I can't afford to be vulnerable."

"You should haven't to deal with the pain you're experiencing all by yourself."

'But, I deserve to' is what he wanted to say, but he bit it back. "Can I ask you something, now?"

"Go for it."

"Why do you want to help me?" He asked softly, his eyes never once leaving hers. In the sun, her brown eyes looked even more beautiful. Their soft and warm colors had tingles spreading all over his body.

Haley chewed on the inside of her cheek as she shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question without coming off as creepy. "Because we've been through something similar. I know, at least to an extent, of what you're going through." And because I can't seem to stay away from you.

Nathan swallowed thickly as he nodded his head. He found the same genuineness in her eyes that he always did. He clenched his jaw as he tried to contain the fringe of anger that surged through him. She didn't know anything about his pain and he highly doubted that she would ever be able to understand it. But he managed to keep himself in check. Haley didn't deserve to be at the receiving end of another one of his mood swings.

Taking a calming breath, he spoke in the softest voice he could manage. "There is a lot more to my past than the death of my parents. Things that make me—"

"Dangerous?" She cut him off and cringed when he nodded. She was getting real tired of hearing that. "You keep saying that but somehow, I don't believe it."

"Don't be stupid, Haley," He spat out a lot more harshly than he intended. He inwardly cringed.

Haley widened her eyes at that. She could sense his mood changing but she wasn't backing down. This was the most she'd ever gotten him to talk—which didn't say a lot considering it wasn't much—so she wasn't going to let him go that easily. There was no telling if or when she was going to get a chance like this again.

"I suppose that I should be offended by that, but I'm not. You're not going to scare me away, Nathan," She reminded him. Maybe it was naïve of her to claim that. For all she knew, he could be a serial killer and his past was full of skeletons, literally. But for some reason, she felt as if even that wouldn't make her abandon him.

Nathan didn't respond. Instead, he looked away from her and ran a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. She was getting to him, again. Her soft words caressed his skin like a prayer. He found himself at a crossroad. He could fight against it, like he always did. Or, he could give in and give a little piece of himself away.

His choice was made for him when she began to speak again.

"You know, my dad died two days before my thirteenth birthday," Haley began quietly. She wasn't sure if he was actually listening but she continued on anyway. She figure that the best way to get Nathan to open up would be to open up herself. "I was at school when I got the news. I can still remember how nervous I felt when my teacher pulled me in the hallway during class. I thought for sure I was in trouble or something."

Nathan smiled a small smile when he heard her giggle softly.

"But then she told me that I needed to gather my things and go to the office, because my mom was waiting for me there. I saw the look of sorrow and sympathy in her eyes. My stomach dropped and I just knew something bad had happened. When I walked into the office, I saw that my mom was crying and the feeling of dread inside of me only grew. It was seconds later that she threw her arms around me and told me what happened. I can still feel the carpet burn on my knees from how hard I fell to the floor. I can still feel the tightness in my chest and the dread in my stomach. It was the worst day of my life."

Nathan watched her carefully as she told her story, his own heart hammering in his chest. The way her voice cracked and strained caused his knuckles to tighten. He could see the unshed tears in her eyes, mixing in with the unbearable pain. He felt the sudden need to comfort her. He itched to toss an arm around her shoulder, to pull her into his chest, to whisper soothing words to her…but he remained still. He didn't want to suffocate her like so many other people had done to him over the years.

"I'm so sorry," Nathan croaked out, his throat dry.

"Thanks," Haley said shakily as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I know that I said I've learned to move on from his death, and I have, but I still carry it around with me. I have my days where he's all I can think about, especially when I think about how he won't get to see me graduate or get married. I have my days where I miss him so much that it feels like I can't breathe without him. But I found that it doesn't hurt like it used to. Like I've mentioned before, my dad was the type of person who believed in living life to the fullest. I know he would want me to do the same."

Nathan stared at her in awe. His mouth felt dry. He envied her strength and her outlook on life. If only things were that easy for him. "I wish I could look at things the way you do. But then again, you weren't the reason that your dad died."

He regretted those words as soon as they left his mouth. Haley was going to start asking questions and there was no way he could answer them. This is what Nathan meant when he said she made him want to let his walls down. He felt like he had no control over himself, over the things he would say or do.

"What do you mean by that?" Haley asked, her eyebrows furrowing together.

Nathan shook his head, the panic rising inside of him. "Nothing. Never mind."

Haley knew what that blank expression on his face and hard tone of his voice meant. Nathan was pulling away from her and if she didn't do something fast, she was going to lose him.

"Tell me about the best memory that you have of your parents," Haley rushed out.

Nathan was taken back by her question, his panic forgotten. "What?"

"What is the best memory that you have of your parents?" She asked again. When she saw him hesitate, she scooted closer to him, placing her hand on his arm. "Come on, I'm not asking you to tell me your deepest and darkest secret, just a happy memory."

All it took was the touch of her hand and he felt himself giving in.

"My thirteenth birthday," Nathan stated without even having to think much about it. "My dad took all of us—my mom, Lucas, and Jake—to a waterpark in Charlotte for a weekend."

"That sounds nice," Haley commented with a smile. She removed her hand from his arm and placed it back in her lap.

"The first night we were there, he surprised me court side seats to a Bobcats game. All of us were able to go. My dad owned a car dealership and I guess one of his customers worked for the organization. He was able to pull a few strings," Nathan explained further.

Haley sighed a silent breath of relief when she saw the hard expression melt from Nathan's face. In replace of it, was a small smile. His usually dull eyes were a little lighter, it brought goosebumps to her skin.

"It wasn't just the materialistic things of that weekend. It was the fact that we were all together that made it so special. My parents were busy people. My dad had the dealership and my mom worked for a nonprofit charity organization that included a lot of business trips. We tried to get together once a month. And when we were together, we made it count," Nathan concluded.

"You sound like you guys were a tightly knit family," Haley said softly. Her heart broke for the sadness and the loss that she saw clear in his eyes. She may have not known Nathan as well as she could, but she still knew that he didn't deserve any of this.

Nathan nodded sadly. "We were."

The tightness was still in his chest and the pain was still vibrating through his veins, the usual things that occurred whenever he thought or talked about his parents. But for the first time, it wasn't absolutely crippling. It threatened to consume him, like it usually did, but he found it a little easier to fight off. That realization practically took his breath away.

For some reason, he didn't want to stop talking.

"The scar on my chest…" Nathan breathed out, his voice shaky. "I got it from trying to save my mom."

Haley tensed at that. "How?

The tightness in his chest increased. He should have just kept his mouth shut. He had said too much and now he was encroaching on uncharted territory. The voice in his head, that he was able to suppress for most of the afternoon, was absolutely shrieking.

"Nathan," Haley said softly, scooting so that she was almost touching him. Her hand was back on his arm, her fingers rubbing softly against his skin. "It's okay."

He looked over at her, meeting her warm and enticing gaze. "Hales…"

Goosebumps rose high on her skin at that nickname and a shiver trailed down her spine. No one had ever called her that before and she found that she liked it, especially coming from him. She swallowed the lump in her throat before speaking again. "What is it?"

He took a deep breath, his chest constricting. He never talked about the night of the fire, not even to Lucas or Jake. "I-I wasn't home when the fire started. I was here, playing basketball with Jake and Lucas. By time I got home, our entire h-house was engulfed in f-flames. I ran inside before anyone could stop me."

Instinctively, Haley sat up and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. The smell of his cologne swarmed her and she ignored the warmth she felt from being so close to him. Her heart was in her stomach as she listened to his pain-filled words.

"My mom, she was, uh, screaming. To this day, I still don't know what room my dad was in. I found her in our living room, a p-pillar of wood on top of her," Nathan paused to catch his breath. "I tried my h-hardest to get it off of her, but I couldn't. I p-pushed on it so hard that I broke skin, that's how I got the scar. I didn't feel a shred of pain, I was just too focused on saving her. But by time the rescue team arrived, she was already gone."

Nathan blamed himself for not being able to save her, which was clearly written on his face. Haley felt her heartbreak for him. He looked so broken and she wished she could take his pain away. It tore her to shreds.

"That was not your fault," Haley muttered softly, her hand rubbing up and down his back. "There was no way that you have predicted that to happen. It was a house fire, there was no way you could have stopped it."

If only she knew.

Nathan didn't say anything. Instead, he just leaned into her touch. He should have been running away. He just broke his number rule about not letting anyone into his mind and his feelings. To his surprise, he didn't feel like running. He let the warmth that she brought him in. The voices, the conflicting feelings…they were all there, but he successfully ignored them. That was something that he would hate himself for later, but right now…he was going to be selfish.

Haley eventually heard his breathing even out. Slowly, she backed away from him so she could look at his face. He was looking down at the grass. The pained expression was still there, but the pain was slowly dissipating from his eyes. She found herself smiling to herself. She knew that she was nowhere near breaking down his walls…but at least she had gotten somewhere. He wasn't running away from her or distancing himself from her.

Her heart was beating so loud she was positive he could hear it.

"You called me 'Hales'," Haley whispered after what felt like hours of silence. She was repeating everything that he had said in her mind when she had remembered what he called her.

"Did I?" Nathan pondered.

She nodded, smiling. "You did."

"I'm sorry, it just kind of slipped out," Nathan murmured. Everything that he had just said over the last hour felt like an out of body experience. The words just flowed out of his mouth like someone had opened flood gates. Calling her "Hales" had slipped out like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"There's no need to apologize," She reassured. "I never been called that before, but I like it."

A small smile tugged on Nathan's lips. "Okay…Hales."