AN:

Many thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I'm hoping people are still reading this story and liking what's happening. Keep reviewing please so I know..

~~~ "I'm Never Alone, I'm Alone All the Time" ~~~

* Chapter Thirty- Four*

A combination of utter shock, confusion, fear for Haley's safety and blind rage began to consume Nathan Scott as he sat next to his girlfriend who was lying in a hospital bed. Her injuries were no longer classified as life threatening as the swelling surrounding her brain had decreased and her left lung was starting to function more efficiently. The sheer fact Haley James was alert and able to carry on a conversation should've put his mind at easy. And it had for all of five minutes that is until Haley spoke a name he'd learned to hate. The moment his name escaped her lips Nathan Scott saw red.

"Who's Damien?" asked Detective Yates for a second time rattling Haley to continue her recollection of the events before her car accident. She'd been awake for a few hours and slowly her mind was becoming clearer.

Haley glanced down at the hand Nathan had previously grabbed in a gesture to provide comfort and support as she gave her statement. Both of which she needed now more than ever as she prepared herself to try and remember what had happen before the accident.

"West. Damien West….uhh he's my ex-boyfriend. He showed up at the club as I was about to leave." Haley answered then took as deep of a breath as her fragile body would allow.

"That fucking little weasel! What the hell did he want now?" Peyton demanded as she shifted her weight on her feet nervously.

Nathan looked over at Peyton after her previous demand of Haley. It was clearly obvious Peyton and he had at least one thing in common. They both despised all things Damien West.

Haley offered Peyton apologetic eyes and answered in a hoarse voice, "I didn't see him coming. My back was turned and he came up right behind me. If I'd known he was there…I would have.."

"What's the deal with his Damien guy? Did the relationship end badly between the two of you?" Detective Allen asked.

"He's an pompous asshole that's what!" Peyton replied before Haley had a chance to even speak.

"We didn't part on the best of terms and I've actively avoided him because of that until last night." Haley confessed and then gave Nathan's hand a quick squeeze. She turned to her right to look at him and was surprised to see him staring down at the blanket on her bed. His shoulders moved up and down as he appeared to be making an effort to remain calm. She saw his knee had begun to bounce up and down something he'd grown accustomed to doing when he became angry.

"Can you remember what transpired between the two of you last night at the club?" Detective Yates questioned.

Haley's mind was racing and the steady pounding was become too much to bare. She could feel the detective's peering eyes on her as they waited for her response. She wanted nothing more than to take a deep breath to center herself but the shooting pain in her chest served as a reminder that was impossible.

"The more details you can remember the better we can help figure out who is responsible for your accident Haley. We reviewed the traffic cameras at the intersection of your accident and we have reason to believe there could be multiple parties involved in this." Detective Yates stated hoping he'd be able to get Haley talking.

"Some of it's still fuzzy.." Haley started.

"There's footage of the crash?" Nathan stated in disbelief.

"Just start from when this Damien character showed up and see what comes to you." Detective Allen added ignoring Nathan's remark.

Haley looked at Nathan once more, her eyes connected with his immediately and she finally felt ready to continue.

"He came up behind me at the bar and asked if he could buy me a drink. The second I heard his voice I just froze. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't move. I just stood there facing the bar, wishing I was wrong. He stepped right behind me and I could feel his breath on my neck. The smell of him…. He uhh… then he reached his arms around either side of me and held on to the bar basically stopping me from going anywhere. When I saw the watch on his wrist I knew for sure it was him. He commented on how I looked and how he hadn't seen me in a while." Haley managed to say and then paused to recall details for a moment before she continued.

"He said something about Peyton finally being gone and that he'd been watching me at the club. I tried to use my phone and he grabbed my hand to stop me. He said something about no one being able to come to my rescue this time."

"What does that mean "this time"?" Detective Allen questioned.

Haley thought for a second and answered, "We're both celebrities and our managers helped contain the damage from the press when we broke up. That's probably what he was talking about." She watched the detectives both nod their heads in agreement.

"Then he implied I was going to call Nathan." Haley added and watched Nathan's head pop up in surprise.

"He said my name?" Nathan asked out of the blue in a growl as he looked at Haley for an answer.

She merely shook her head and then continued, "He pretty much implied it was you when he said something about my boyfriend being too busy playing basketball to answer if I tried to call."

Nathan shifted in his chair as he listened feeling completely out of control and helpless. The tone of her voice indicated to him she was scared as she recounted the events.

"I finally was able to shake his hand off and bring myself to turn around to look at him. He was caught off guard when I asked him what the hell he wanted. He then uhhh he said something about me being feisty and being turned on by it. He tried to touch my face but I managed avoided him that time." Haley said feeling rather uncomfortable at the end. She couldn't bring herself to look at Nathan for reason. She hung her head feeling guilty as if she'd done something wrong.

Nathan was clearly struggling with the urges growing within his body. He could tell Haley's version of the night of the accident was far from over. He just didn't know how much he could take before he was forced to do something. He felt an overwhelming force in his body taking him in two different directions. The first was to stay right where he was to be there for Haley. The second force and stronger of the two was to find and destroy Damien West.

"He also admitted to watching Nathan and me a couple weeks ago when we were at a club with some friends. At that point I had an opportunity to get away from him so I just ran towards the door. I was trying to avoid a scene and really didn't want the press to get a picture of us together. Damien then….he uh….. he grabbed my arm and spun me around once he got to me. I lost my balance and started to fall but his hold was so tight on me it stopped me from ending up on the club floor." Haley recalled while subconsciously rubbing the arm he'd grabbed. She wasn't sure when she'd started crying but she had in spite of trying her best to keep the tears away.

"Did that bastard hurt you?" Nathan demanded as he noticed how she held her arm. He'd thought it was impossible for him to get angrier but he had and was convinced the only way to release that anger was to pound Damien's face in.

"Nathan….he….uhh..…I'm fine." Haley said trying to downplay the events. "I managed to get away from him and out of the club before someone could take a picture of us together I think. I don't know I guess. The paparazzi and other press were still camped outside when I ran out of the club. The club security helped me get to my car and out of the parking lot. I headed back towards Nathan's house and soon enough I saw paparazzi in my rearview mirror. I figured they'd expect me to head towards my house and thought I'd lost them as I continued on towards Nathan's house but then they showed up a couple cars behind me. The last thing I remember is sitting at the stoplight waiting for the light to turn green." Haley concluded feeling exhausted from trying to recall as many details as she could. She could see Nathan's tense frame next to her out of the corner of her eyes but decided to bring her eyes to Peyton first.

Peyton sat emotionless looking back at Haley somewhat in disbelief. Dan Scott had contacted her and made threats of Damien West coming back into Haley's life if she didn't convince Haley to end her relationship with Nathan. Peyton's actions had been driven by the fear of what might happen if Damien and Haley came into contact again. She couldn't help but think there might have been a connection between Damien showing up and her correspondence with Dan. She began to feel guilty fearing if she'd only succeeded in breaking things off between Nathan and Haley this accident might not have happened.

"Right now, we're looking into gathering as much information about the car from the video that is shown crashing into yours. Are you confident that people in the car were paparazzi?" Detective Yates asked Haley.

She nodded and answered, "Doing what I do, you recognize people that are constantly in your face with camera and the cars that are always behind you no matter where you're going. I'm confidant I've seen the black Audi before. If I can I see the video from the traffic camera I could tell for sure?"

Detective Yates quickly answered, "No that's not possible."

"Please, I need to see what happened to me." She pleaded back hoping she'd get through to the nicer of the two detectives at least.

Just then Peyton's phone began to ring making her jump. She searched for the phone in her purse, pulled it out and found Dan Scott's name displayed.

"Excuse me, I need to take this." Peyton muttered and then rushed out of the room.

"We're not allowed to release the video to the public." Yates refused again.

Haley let a shallow defeated sigh wincing through the burning sensation now in her chest. She tried her best to silence her painful cry but unfortunately it managed to escape.

"You're not releasing it to the public. You're letting the victim of the accident see what caused the constant agonizing pain she's forced to endure now. She could've died!" Nathan declared looking directly at Detective Allen knowing he'd be the one to break. He'd trained his whole life and perfected the ability to identify a basketball team's weakness and attack it. Slowly picking away and breaking it apart until it completely crumbled.

"Just let her watch it man. You know it's the right thing to do." Nathan added as he watched Detective Allen closely.

"Yates log in to your tablet and pull the footage up. You two did not see this video. Understand?" Allen finally said and Nathan gave him a nod. It took a few moments for Detective Yates to pull up the footage and cue it up. He slowly handed the tablet to Haley who held the tablet in her shaking hands as it began to play.

Nathan moved closer to Haley and looked on as the video footage played out. They watched closely as Haley's car pulled up to the stoplight and come to a stop. The traffic heading in the other direction raced past for a few minutes until the traffic light changed. Haley's car began to accelerate and was nearly half way through the large intersection when out of nowhere a black Audi pulled out quickly and slammed into the driver's side door of Haley's car. Nathan felt his stomach drop as he watched the force of the Audi push Haley's car far away from the direct point of impact. When the cars finally came to a stop, they watched the Audi's driver's door open and a person stumble out. Haley watched closely as the person took a few steps towards Haley's car and peered through the broken window. Seconds later, the other driver rushed backwards to his car and grabbed a camera from the car and took off running.

"That mother fucker ran away! She could have died and he just left her there." Nathan yelled in anger.

Haley now sat there in shock of what she'd just witnessed. She was a victim of a hit and run that much was certain. She handed the tablet back to Detective Allen and then asked strangely calm after what she'd just seen, "How long will it take you to find the driver? I've given you a description of who I saw that night and with this video footage….are there any other witnesses?"

"Trust us Miss. James, we've got plenty of strong leads in this case and we're confident we're going to find out who is behind this." Detective Allen answered. He handed Haley his business card and instructed her to call him directly if anything else came to mind before they excused themselves.

Meanwhile, Peyton had made her way to the family lounge in just enough time to answer her call before her voicemail intercepted it.

"Sawyer."

"Well, is it done yet?"

"That's not going to work now since Haley is awake but there is another matter we need to discuss."

"Oh really? What's that?" Dan asked a bit off guard.

"I just wanted to tell you I'm out!" Peyton declared confidently as she paced back and forth in the lounge.

"Is that so? Are you sure you really want to do that? You haven't forgotten about certain images of your best client that will be released if you don't do what I say. You won't be able to contain this leak or spin the story so Haley's painted in a better light." Dan fired back loudly in anger.

"Whatever images you think you have of my client is nothing compared to what I could do to you now! Damien and Haley had an altercation last night prior to her car accident and I have reason to believe you've got a hand in it too." Peyton stated with a sharp tone to her voice.

Dan quickly recovered from the surprise of her accusation and replied, "Listen Little Girl, you have… you have no clue who you're playing with here. I will destroy you and everything you care about if you keep this up."

"You've forgotten something Dan, your "precious" money maker is currently sitting in a hospital room just down the hall from me and is desperate for any shred of information about who is responsible his girlfriend's accident. Do NOT push me!" Peyton warned and found it surprising when Dan neglected to respond right away.

"Bottom line here, we both want the same thing; Nathan and Haley broken up. Why don't we really work together and set West up to take the ultimate fall for everything and finish this once and for all?" Dan suggested.

Peyton contemplated Dan's proposal and tried to play out different scenarios in her mind. She knew the offer before her basically meant she would be knowingly joining forces with the devil himself but the idea of ridding Damien West from Haley's life for good had an appeal.

Nathan watched the door to Haley's room slowly close after the detectives left before he turned his attention back to Haley. Her head was resting back on her pillow and her eyes expressed a tired look back at him.

"How you doing? Do you want me to get a nurse or something?" He asked her as he reached out to hold her hand in his again. He rubbed his thumb lightly over the back of her hand while he waited for her response.

She was slow to answer him causing him a bit of concern, "No please don't call anyone. I just want to be alone with you for a little bit. I'm sure they'll be in here soon anyways."

He found a smile creep across his lips as he looked back at her. He brought their hands up to his lip and he placed a kiss on top of her hand.

"Whatever you say!" he added with a faint chuckle.

Haley found herself gazing back at that gorgeous smile and then said, "I just can't believe you're still here."

"Where else would I be?"

"I don't know…you're job and the real world out there and everything you've got to do…"

"Stop right there," Nathan started and then scooted to the edge of his chair and closed the gap between them. He let go of her hand and cupped her cheek lightly taking care not to press on the gashes on her face. "None of it is as important as you. I promise you Hales. The second I found out, I couldn't even think about what I was supposed to do. All I wanted to do was get to you."

Haley let her cheek lean into his hand and she let her eyes close as she took in his touch.

"Hales.." he whispered causing her eyes to open again. Once her eyes met his he continued. "I was so scared Hales when I found out. I was miles away and I couldn't do a damn thing. I just wanted to be with you. Nothing else matter…not the game…stats…fans…my dad…it was you. I needed to be with you. God Haley, I love you so much!"

"Nathan, I love you too!" she replied through the tears that had collected in her eyes. He closed the gap and pressed his lips lovingly against hers. The force behind her kiss surprised him after everything she'd been through in the last 24 hours. Her hand reached up and her fingers found their way through his buzzed hair as they slowly parted. Nathan rested his forehead against hers and he looked into her eyes for a few moments until being forced apart by Nathan's phone ringing. He pulled it out and saw it was now the GM for the Clippers.

"Hales, I need to take this I'm so sorry."

"It's ok, I'm kinda tired. You don't have to leave though, just take your call." Haley said as she struggled to keep her eyes open all of the sudden.

Nathan spoke to the Clippers' general manager for quite some time. Nathan owed the entire Clippers team, owner and coach an explanation for what he'd done. He'd been granted permission to be excused from the next five games in spite of what Dan had warned him to do. It barely registered when he was told the amount of his fines for his actions the night before. It didn't matter. He was surprised Peyton hadn't been back to Haley's room by the time he finished his first call. Haley was fast asleep again so Nathan took the opportunity to speak with Lucas to give him an update on Haley's condition. He also found himself venting about his last interaction with Dan and Lucas was an excellent sounding board as usual. Lucas had years of experience with the shenanigans of all things Dan Scott. There were several instances in their youth when Lucas had no idea how Nathan tolerated let alone survived his childhood with Dan's parenting methods. Lucas never did understand why Nathan had agreed for Dan to be his manager in the first place when his career started out. He'd hoped by now Nathan would have moved on and transitioned his father out of the role. It was clear Dan Scott wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Nate, you know this is crazy! What else did he expect you to do when you found out your girlfriend was in a major car accident?" Lucas questioned Nathan hoping he'd make more progress compared to the first time he'd asked the same question the night before.

He glanced over and saw Haley resting comfortably once more in her hospital bed. A nurse had come in while he was on his first phone call to assess her vitals. She'd barely woken up while the nurse checked her over and was now fast asleep again. According to what the nurse had told Nathan on her way out, Haley's vital signs were continuing to improve greatly.

"I know Luke trust me. I know this is all bull shit but he's is my agent and my Dad." Nathan confessed in a timid tone of voice taking Lucas off guard.

"He may be your agent but first and foremost he should be your Dad! I know we've talked about this before but I think it's time you bite the bullet and fire…."

"Luke, he's my Dad and he's all I have left." Nathan interjected before allowing Lucas to finish his previous statement.

There was a brief silence between the old friends as they simultaneously recalled events surrounding Nathan's mother, Deb's suicide. Her death had affected Nathan greatly and still had a profound impact on his relationship with his Dad.

"I'll never understand how you can just let stuff go with him. The way he does business, what he expects of you and how he treats you. You just sit there and take it over and over again. Man, you deserve so much more than this." Lucas confessed sternly hoping he'd be able to make some progress and make his old friend see the situation clearly.

Nathan ran his free hand over his tired eyes as he took in what Lucas had said.

"Luke, I appreciate your concern I really do it's just….he was there for me after my injury and he busted his ass so I would get a chance for a comeback in the first place."

"Nate, you're the one who busted your ass through painful rehab to get yourself in playing condition not Dan."

Nathan replied, "I can't just forget what he's done to help my career though."

"One good thing doesn't erase years of bad ones." Lucas argued back.

There was silence once more between the old friends and it was clear they'd said all they could say in that moment. Nathan was the one to break the silence.

"I really appreciate what you're saying Luke and I promise I'm gonna think about it this time. OK?" Nathan said.

"I'm here for ya man. Haley too! Give her our best when she wakes up. Talk to you later."

"Later man."

Peyton and Nathan had managed to avoid each other for the remainder of the day with much surprise. Peyton had hung around the hospital for a bit and then excused her to work on a press release on Haley's behalf but also needed to deal with the impending issue of The Fire Pistols upcoming tour. Nathan had only left Haley's room that day long enough to hit up the hospital cafeteria to get her some "real" food. He'd grabbed something for himself and hadn't realized how hungry he was until he devoured his sandwich in a matter of minutes. She napped on and off throughout the day, woke when Chris and Walker had come to see her for a while, but then drifted off to sleep again. Her nurse had reassured Nathan it was completely normal for her to be groggy and have periods of confusion during the next day or so.

Haley stirred in her bed and let her eyes flutter open slowly. She looked around and noticed the two chairs to the right of her bed now empty. She remembered Quinn and Clay coming to visit and sitting there but now they were empty. She saw the clock on the wall straight across from her bed and could make out it was now nearing midnight. The hospital room was illuminated by the bathroom light that had been left on shining through the slightly cracked door. She followed the trail of light across the room and her eyes were met with size 14 Nike basketball shoes. Her eyes slowly made their way up his legs, torso and finally rested on his face. Haley smiled to herself when she saw his eyes were closed and he was fast asleep resting his head on his hand. She was able to see through the darkness and notice the tired look on his face as he slept. She found herself feeling guilty as she studied his large frame bent and cramped in the chair sleeping next to her bedside. She attempted to move to lean towards Nathan to wake him but winced in pain as her body reminded her she couldn't move much on her own.

"Arghh" she muttered to herself quietly as she moved back to her original place.

"Hales.." Nathan called out as he was suddenly woken from muffled yelp. It took him a minute to dislodge himself from the chair.

Haley looked over at him with apologetic eyes before she answered him, "Nathan, your back and neck must be killing you. Go home and get a good night's sleep please."

He scooted to the edge of his chair and his hand found hers in the midst of the darkness. He leaned closer and placed a quick peck on her lips.

"Are you ok? Do you need something?" He asked out of concern.

Haley looked back at him with surprise, "If I need something I will contact the more than qualified medical staff at the hospital to help me. I'll be fine. Go home and sleep in that amazing bed of yours. Take a shower and come back tomorrow sometime."

Nathan shook his head no and replied, "I'm fine right here. I don't want to leave you alone."

"I love you for that but I don't want to be responsible for damaging your basketball body from sleeping anymore in that awful chair."

Haley reached up and touched his cheek tenderly slowly pulling his lips to hers once more.

Nathan finally responded once he pulled away from her, "Fine I'll go home but you better promise me you'll call me if something happens or have the nurse do it."

They said good bye and Nathan found himself making arrangements to leave the hospital. It took him a moment to recall he hadn't driven to the hospital and called for a car service to pick him up. He arranged for the car service to enter the parking garage to pick him up and was pleased they'd arrived in a car with tinted windows as well. He remained awake during the drive home and soon found himself letting himself into his dark and empty home. He kicked his shoes off by the door and wandered into his kitchen neglecting to turn the overhead kitchen light on. He pulled open the refrigerator door and rummaged around until he found a bottle of water behind a container of Haley's favorite breakfast juice. He grabbed the water and pulled the door closed again. He made his way into his bedroom and over to his bedside table. He flipped the lamp on and set his now half empty bottle of water down next to the book Haley had been reading before bed the other night. He promptly pulled his t-shirt up and over his head in one swift motion and tossed it in the hamper in his bathroom. He pushed his shorts and boxers down before placing them on top of his dirty shirt in the same hamper.

Nathan turned the water on and soon his shower was full of steam. He stepped in and soon found himself standing with his eyes closed as the hot water beat against his back. He took in the heat and water pressure and felt it slowly wash away the day's events. After a few moments, he reached out for his bottle of body wash. He smiled to himself when he saw not only his bottle but another smaller pink bottle on the shelf next to his. He squeezed out some soap and returned the bottle to its' previous location. He rubbed the soap up and down his arms and legs and lastly his chest before turning around to rinse the suds away. He moved to grab his shampoo bottle but found himself hesitating of which bottle to indeed pick up. He finally settled and poured a small amount into his palm. He briefly rubbed his hands together before bringing his hands to his hair. He scrubbed his hands and fingers back and forth and smiled again as the scent of her shampoo filled his nostrils. He leaned his head back and allowed the vanilla scented shampoo rinse clear out of his hair. He found his heart ache a bit less now that the familiar scent was entrapped in his nose.

Nathan finished up in the shower and within minutes was dressed in boxer briefs and crawling into his bed. He flipped the lamp off and tried to settle into his bed. He started off on what had become "his" side of the bed and found himself moving towards the middle as he rolled over yet again. Finally he gripped Haley's pillow in his arms and buried his head in it as he finally drifted off to sleep.

Anyone still reading this and liking what they read? Review please..