A/N; Thanks for the positive feedback! Keep it coming!!!

CHAPTER 3

Dan sat quietly eating his breakfast as his wife pottered around the kitchen, having decided to take a rare day off from work, choosing instead to drive him crazy.

"I was thinking that maybe the three of us could do something today." Deb suggested, loading up the dishwasher and hoping her husband wouldn't choose something sports related.

"I have an important meeting this morning." Dan retorted dismissively.

"It's Saturday." Deb pointed out just a little bit scornfully.

"Just because you take a day off work Deb, doesn't mean the world stops turning."

Deb slammed the dishwasher door closed and glared at her husband Why do I even bother? she wondered, not for the first time. She knew he was still reeling from the loss at last nights basketball game, but that was no reason for him to act like a complete bastard, especially when she was making an effort to spend time with her family.

"Well maybe Nathan and I will do something." Deb smirked.

"Yeah right." Dan grunted. "I'm sure a 17 year old boy wants to spend his Saturday hanging out with Mommy. Be real, Deb. You work 6 days a week and sleep off your hangover most of the 7th day. You wouldn't even know the first thing about what to do with your son today."

Deb balked at him and suppressed the urge to slap him. "And you do?" she argued. "You think waking him up at 5.30 every morning to work out and berating him about basketball is classed as 'quality time'?" Deb laughed. "Maybe you need to get real and stop forcing him to live out your unfulfilled dreams."

"I'm preparing him for his future. He'll thank me one day." Dan picked up a newspaper and began to read, conversation over.

Deb threw a damp towel onto the counter, the snap causing Dan to look up sharply. "Did you ever stop to think, Dan, that what you want might not be what Nathan wants?" she yelled before storming out.

"And you're such an expert…" he muttered after her.

Nathan had overheard his parents fight and chose to avoid both of them today. He didn't want another lecture from his father and he really didn't feel comfortable hanging out with his mom all day. Haley was working today so he decided he would go and hang out at Lucas's place. He spent a lot of time there, much to the annoyance of both his parents, but he didn't care. Karen had always been really cool with him and when he was younger and Deb and Dan were working, she would always make sure he had a good dinner in his belly and helped him with his homework.

"Hey Nate!" Karen greeted him cheerfully as she always did when he entered the house through the back door, years past the point of knocking. She dropped her laundry basket onto the floor beside the washing machine and sighed. "No rest for the wicked, huh? I don't know how Lucas wears so many clothes in one week." she joked. "Help yourself to a drink or grab a bite to eat. Have you had breakfast yet? There's bacon left over in the microwave. It's crispy, your favourite."

"Thanks. Is Lucas around?" Nathan asked as he seized a bottle of soda from the fridge and picked at the plate of bacon and cold toast.

"No he's doing a shift at the café this morning. I had to get the laundry done so I sent him to cover for me. He'll be back by lunch if you want to hang out until then?" Karen answered, now preoccupied with separating her whites from her colours.

Nathan smiled gratefully and grabbed a pile of clothes. "I'll make myself useful."

Haley opened the front door wearily and stepped inside her dark house. She flicked the light switch on the wall and nothing happened.

"Shit!" she cursed as she quickly came to the conclusion that her father had not yet paid the electricity bill. She felt around until she found the candles that she kept scattered around the house for such an occasion and lit each one. The candle light gave the house an eerie glow and Haley noticed for the first time that her father was passed out on the couch, the remains of a barbecued chicken box on the floor next to him. She also noticed the empty bottle of whiskey next to it.

"Great." she muttered to herself as she quietly began to tidy up the mess Karl had created. The last thing she wanted to do was wake him up before he got sober. He stirred and turned on the couch, but began to snore softly. Haley breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she wouldn't have t deal with him tonight. She was exhausted after a very long day at work and she would have to get up again tomorrow morning for the breakfast shift at Karen's.

Putting the last of the trash into the can out in the yard, Haley lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply. Yeah, she knew all the health warnings but it was her guilty pleasure and she only ever indulged during times of great stress or worry. No one knew about her secret habit, not even Lucas. She was smoking a little more than usual lately as her stress levels had gone up and up. How was she supposed to tell Nathan that she wasn't going to college? That she wasn't even going to graduate? After years of working her ass off in school and out, she had missed too many classes and too many assignments and had failed to keep up. It was quite ironic. Those she tutored were going on to better things but she wasn't going anywhere. She'd had her heart set on Duke University since she was 11 years old and now she was watching her dreams being torn away from her. What's the point anymore? she wondered as she ground the cigarette into the grass. She might as well give up school now and get a full time job so she can support herself and Karl. She might as well get used to it, this was her life now.

"Haley! Haley? Where are you?" the groggy voice called. "HALEY!" Karl screamed. Haley wiped away her tears and went back into the house where her dad was struggling to stand up. "Why aren't the lights on? Why are there candles?" he demanded.

"The lights aren't on because you didn't pay the light bill, Karl." she had stopped calling him dad a long time ago. "You bought a few six packs instead." she said dryly.

"Don't you give me cheek, girl!" Karl warned. "I paid the damn bill!"

"No you didn't! Again, you spent the money on booze, Karl. Just like always. I knew I shouldn't have let you have it." Haley retorted bitterly.

"I'm warning you." Karl stumbled toward the kitchen and reached inside the fridge for another beer.

"Wasn't the whiskey enough?" Haley muttered and shook her head in despair. The glass bottle whizzed by her head and shattered against the wall, just missing her.

"STOP IT! Just shut the fuck up! I don't need another lecture from Ms. Perfect!" Karl screamed into his daughter' face.

Haley narrowed her eyes at him. "Get out of my face." she warned but it went unheeded. The punch came out of nowhere and Haley flew back against the wall, his fists working furiously as he used his body weight to hold her down. She kicked and punched back as hard as she could while shrieking for him to stop. Suddenly, Karl seemed to lose all his strength and he fell backwards in a heap. He was weeping hysterically and staring wide eyed at his daughter whose face had already started to swell and blood poured from her lip.

"What have I done?" Karl whispered.

Haley stood carefully and winced as she leaned her weight on her right foot. "You feel better now?" she asked defiantly, her voice hoarse from screaming. "That's it. No more. I can't take this shit anymore." she looked around her, knowing that this was the last time she would see this house. "You were right about one thing, Dad. I am like mom. I'm packing my stuff and I'm getting out of here. You'll never lay your hands on me again. First and last time, Karl." She began to walk away but turned back before climbing the stairs. "The accident wasn't your fault, Dad. Please believe that and get help. Get help before you kill yourself." she continued up the stairs, leaving her father weeping on the floor.

"Don't leave me, Haley. Please don't leave me baby." he cried after her.

Nathan woke up to the sound of a heavy pounding downstairs. He could hear his parents waking up in the room next to his and his father rushing down the stairs, cursing the disturbance. Nathan crept out of his bed and reached for the baseball bat he kept under it, and went to the top of the stairs to see what the commotion was. At the sound of Haley's voice, he dropped the bat and bolted down the stairs.

"What the hell is this? Do you have any idea what time it is young lady?" Dan boomed at an hysterical Haley. He saw her bruises and swollen lip and took a step back when Nathan pushed past him, taking her into his arms.

"What happened?" Nathan's eyes were filled with fear as he took in his girlfriends appearance.

"My dad…" Haley stammered. "He…he lost it."

Nathan snapped his jaw shut, afraid he might scream and he clenched his fists as Haley sobbed in his arms, recalling what happened.

"I'm going to kill him!" Nathan yelled and smacked his fist into the wall. He stormed up the stairs and came back down with the baseball bat firmly in his hands, his knuckles white. Deb had joined her husband in their hallway and gasped in horror when she saw Haley's face.

Haley cried harder and grabbed hold of her boyfriend tightly. "No! Please don't go there. Just leave it!" she cried. Nathan gritted his teeth and stared stonily at the door as he tried to push towards it. Dan stepped in and held him back and wrestled the bat from his hands.

"You're not going anywhere, son. Haley, I think you should leave. This isn't our business and I don't appreciate you trying to drag my son into your mess."

Nathan and Deb both looked at him with repulsion. Haley stepped towards the door quietly, not sure where she should go. She knew Karen would take her in without question, but Lucas and Keith would react exactly the way Nathan had done. "I packed everything I could. I'm not going back there. I'm leaving Tree Hill." she tried her best stay composed and stop crying but she couldn't seem to make the tears stop.

"What?" Nathan wasn't sure if he'd heard her right. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know. Anywhere. Away from here."

"You don't have to leave, Haley. What about graduation? College is just a few months away, Hales. You can stay with Keith and Karen until then. You don't have to go anywhere!" Nathan was growing more panicked as he thought of her leaving town and leaving him behind.

Haley looked sadly back at him. "I'm not graduating, Nathan. I couldn't catch up. Working at the café, tutoring and taking care of Karl took up too much time. I'm not going to college." she whispered the last part, almost not believing it herself. Her whole life she had worked hard and studied hard and dreamed of the day she would be free of the weight she carried around. Now it was slipping away. She was slipping away. "I can't stay here. It's killing me." she said painfully.

Nathan took a step back and looked at her hard. He could feel his parents eyes on him, both still silent which was unusual for them. They probably couldn't wait for Haley to get out of there so she wouldn't be their problem anymore. "So that's it? You're just leaving? Why didn't you tell me any of this? I could have helped you!" Nathan looked at her pleadingly, his eyes watering. The look on his face was breaking her heart and she knew if he asked her to stay she would. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her, she loved him completely and would do anything for him.

"Please don't ask me to stay…" she pleaded with him. Please, please don't ask that of me.

"I won't ask you to stay." Nathan announced. "I'm going with you."

"WHAT?!" both his parents shouted in unison.

Haley shook her head no "I won't let you, Nathan. You have a life here, you're going to graduate and go to college…"

Nathan was shaking his head and his eyes were lighting up with ideas and possibilities. "I don't have a life without you. I'm leaving with you and you can't change my mind, unless you don't want me with you."

Haley stood there, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe what he was willing to do to be with her. Was he serious? Would he actually go through with this? "Of course I want you with me, Nate. But I'm not going on vacation, I'm leaving for good. Can you do that?"

"Over my dead body!" Dan intervened, having heard enough and grabbed his son's arm harshly. "You are not going anywhere, Nathan. Haley, get the hell out of my house!"

Nathan shook free from his fathers iron grip and gave him a steely glare, challenging him to grab him again. Father and son stood toe to toe, neither prepared to back down.

"Nathan, can't just leave. Think about this, sweetheart. Think about you're future. You'd be throwing it all away, everything you've worked so hard for!" Deb cried frantically, seizing her son's hand and forcing him to look at her. "Please, baby, think about this."

"There's nothing to think about. My future is with Haley, and where she goes, so do I." he turned to Haley and caressed her swollen and bruised face. "I love you. You're not leaving without me."

Haley nodded, quietly accepting his decision. It took less than 10 minutes for Nathan to pack what he thought he needed. His parents fought him the whole time, up and down the house, several times nearly coming to blows with Dan. He ignored his father's threats and his mothers pleas, even when Dan swore to cut him off if he walked out of the house.

Haley waited outside for him, trying her best to block out the yelling that was going on inside and convince herself that this was the right thing to do and bringing Nathan with her wasn't selfish.

"You'll be back in a week!" Dan screamed from the doorway as Nathan made his way over to his car. "It'll never work Nathan. The real world is gonna kick you in the ass and you're gonna realise that you made the biggest mistake of your life giving all this up!"

Nathan threw his and Haley's belongings into the car and opened the passenger door for her. Haley hesitated for a moment and looked up at him guiltily. "Are you sure about this Nathan?" she asked cautiously.

He smiled at her, his wide, warm and loving smile that was reserved completely for her. "Never been more sure in my life." he answered firmly. Haley grinned at him as much as she could with her split lip and hopped into the car.

You are now leaving Tree Hill Haley read the sign at the town border as they whizzed by and she leaned closer to Nathan and smiled up at him. She felt her worries begin to melt away. This was the beginning of their new life. Things were only going to get better for them now.

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