Chapter 9

Nathan turned around to see Lucas walking up behind him.

"What do you want?" Nathan asked.

"For you to stay away from Haley." Lucas said as he walked up to Nathan.

"Since when did you care?"

"Since you started dating her. Its obvious you are dating her as a joke." Lucas said coldly. "How can you do that to her?"

"It isn't a joke." Nathan said.

"Bull- !" Lucas said angrily.

"Just back off man."

"And let you hurt Haley? You can be sure that won't happen." Lucas said as a glare formed on his face.

"The only one who has hurt her was you. After her fight with you guess who she called, me." Nathan said, the anger rising in his voice. "Maybe if you were around more often, things wouldn't have turned out like this."

"Its your fault everything's like this. You can keep selling her the lies, but you can be sure I'm not gonna fall for it."

"I'm not lying, I love Haley." Nathan said defensively. "And there is nothing you can do about it."Before he knew it, Lucaswas punchinghim as hard as he could. Nathan stumbled backwards as he grabbed onto his jaw." Nathan wiped away the blood that was trickling down his chin and punched Lucas back. Lucas lunged at Nathan and pretty soon they were punching and shoving each other left and right.

Just then Haley walked outside, "Nathan?" She kept on walking through the parking lot until she came upon Lucas and Nathan fighting. "Nathan!"

"Stay out of this Hales!" Nathan yelled as he lunged at Lucas.

"Stop!" Haley screamed as she walked closer. Neither Lucas nor Nathan listened to her. "Nathan stop!" Haley said once more.She walked up to pull Lucas away, but Lucas ended up pushing Haley out of the way. Haley stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

"Haley!" Nathan yelled as he ran over to help her up.

Lucas walked over to punch Nathan, but Nathan turned around and punched him harder than ever, he couldn't stand to seeHaley hurt.Lucas stumbled back for a moment wiping away some blood.

Just then Brooke came running over, "Lucas!"

Nathan helped Haley to her feet, "You okay?" She nodded slightly, a frown on her face. He then turned to Lucas and Brooke, "Why can't you just leave it alone Lucas?" Nathan said angrily.

Brooke glared over at Nathan, "What is your problem?"

"The bastard deserves it." Nathan said bitterly.

"The only bastard is you, Lucas hasn't done anything."

"Just back off Brooke. And don't ever threaten Haley again or I will make your life a living hell too." Nathan put his arm around Haley and the two of them walked away back into the club.

"Lucas what were you thinking!" she asked in shock.

"I wanted him to leave Haley alone, that's what I was thinking." Lucas said as he wiped his mouth once more.

"I know, but starting a fight isn't the answer. I told you not to worry about it."

"I just can't stand to see them together anymore."

"Don't worry, just leave it to me. Okay?" Brooke said reassuringly.

"Fine," Lucas said flatly as he turned to walk back inside.

Haley was sitting on the counter with Nathan at her side. Nathan tried cleaning her scraps with some rubbing alcohol. "Ow!" Haley yelled after he touched her arm.

"Sorry," Nathan said quietly."I'm sorry about what happened out there, Hales.I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll be fine, Nate. You're the one I'm worried about."Haley said as she picked up a tissue that was beside her and cleaned his lip.

"I'm fine Hales. Some cuts and bruises won't bother me." Nathan sighed, "I just can't believe Lucas is taking it so far."

"He is just really angry, but that still doesn't give him the right to do it."

Karen walked back into the room, "Are you okay now Haley?"

"Yeah," Haley said quietly.

"You two never really said what happened outside." Karen said as she stood behind the counter.

"Nathan went outside and Lucas picked a fight with him." Haley said, with disappointment in her voice.

"Lucas did this?" Karen asked in shock.

"Yeah." Nathan said.

"Well on Lucas' behalf, I'm sorry Nathan. That usually isn't like Lucas." Karen said, disappointment apparent in her voice.

"Its okay, I'll be fine." Nathan said with a small smile.

"You two should head out it's getting kind of late." Karen said as she turned to put something away.

"Yeah, I don't want my parents to be mad." Haley said.

"Come on, I'll take you home." Nathan said as he helped Haley down from the counter.

"Good night Karen." Haley said after she'd gotten down.

"Good night Haley. You were wonderful tonight. I was so proud of you." Karen said with a smile.

"Thanks," Haley said, a smile forming on her face now.

"Bye," Nathan said.

"Bye, see you two later," Karen said as she waved.

Nathan put his arm around Haley again as they walked out to his car. "I hope that fight didn't ruin your night, Hales."

Haley sighed, "It didn't. Tonight was great- besides that."

"Good, but you really were amazing tonight, Hales." Nathan said as he kissed her forehead.

Haley laughed, "I know, for the millionth time. I get it, I was just so amazing." Haley said with a smile.

Nathan laughed, "Yeah, but I just want you to know how proud Iam. I know it was hard for you at first, but seems like it was worth it."

"It was kind of scary at first, but after my first song I felt a lot better being up there."

"How come you never told Karen about your singing?" Nathan asked.

Haley shrugged, "I don't know. I just never thought I was that good. You were the first person I said anything to, let alone sang to."

"Well you obviously thought wrong, the crowd loved you tonight. I'm just glad you did it."

Haley sighed, "I don't know about you but I'm really tired. I can't wait to get to bed."

Nathan laughed, "Well I'll get you home as soon as I can." Nathan said as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Haley laid her head on Nathan's shoulder, before he quickly wrapped his arm around her. "You know, it really hurts that everyone doesn't want us together, especially Lucas. If anything, I would've hoped he'd understand. Now I have no idea what to do, things are only getting worse. I can't even talk t him, because we would probably be at each other's throats again."

"Don't worry about them; nothing else matters except how we feel about it, remember?" Nathan sighed, "But just try avoiding him for now,we don't want this to get too out of hand. If you have to, just tell him how you feel about all this."

"I guess you're right, again. I just don't want to fight with him anymore. It seems that lately everyone around me, doesn't really care anymore. My parents don't pay much attention to anything I do since they are so busy with work and now I am fighting with Lucas. I don't want to lose him; he is or was like a brother to me. I hope we can just fix this, but I don't think he will want to if I am still dating you." Haley sighed before she looked up at Nathan, "But if I have to end my friendship with him, it's worth it." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"I don't want you to end your friendship with Lucas though just because of me. If you have to, just try and talk to him about it.If he still won't stop then I don't know what you can do, Hales."

"I will just have to end my friendship with him if he can't agree with me. I know he won't like it but if he is that good of a friend he would stop and would be happy for me, right?" Haley asked.

Nathan nodded, "I am sure you will figure something out."

"I hope so," Haley said quietly as she laid her head back down on Nathan's shoulder.

Nathan drove up to Haley's house and parked the car. He smiled as he looked over at Haley who had fallen asleep. "Hales.." He said quietly.

"Hmm?" Haley said, half asleep.

"We're at your house now." Nathan said.

"Oh," Haley said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

Nathan got out of the car and walked over to her side.He opened the door and held out his hand for her. The two of them walked up to the front door, "Thanks Nathan, for everything."

Nathan smiled, "You're welcome," he said before he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "See you tomorrow, babe."

Haley nodded, "Good night."

"Night," Nathan said as Haley walked inside.