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CHAPTER 9

Haley was lying on her couch doing her trigonometry homework. Things were going great between her and Nathan. She was still not a hundred percent comfortable around him and he's probably getting tired of her behaviour but she couldn't help it. Nathan was so good looking and the girls he has been with were so gorgeous. She was nothing compared to them. She was constantly worrying about her looks especially since all the girls at Tree Hill High seem to look at her with disgust.

She couldn't ponder much into her thoughts as she heard knocking on her door. She looked at her wall clock. It was midnight and she wondered who would visit her at this time of the day. Her body tensed as thoughts of serial killers and rapists invaded her mind. She grabbed her father's 'Billy Hamilton' autographed baseball bat from the shelf and walked over to her door. Her door didn't have a peephole so she opened her door slightly to see who was on the other side. She relaxed as she saw Nathan standing on her porch.

She opened the door wide for him and the sight before her made her drop her bat. "Nathan what happened?" she was mildly panicking at the sight before her. Nathan was standing before her with a split lip and a black eye.

"I kinda had an argument with my dad", he choked out. He was barely keeping it together. He felt like he might break down any minute now.

Haley didn't know what to do. She grabbed his hand and led him inside to the kitchen. She led him towards a stool at the counter, "sit". He did as she told while she examined his face. His lip was swelling up and the area around his right eye seemed to be getting darker by the minute. She went into the common bathroom to retrieve something to clean up his wound and also grabbed a pack of frozen peas from the refrigerator on her way back. "Hold this to your eye", she handed him the frozen peas and then poured antiseptic liquid into some cotton, "this is going to sting a bit but I need you to hold still", she said as she dabbed at the wound on his lip.

"Haley It's not as bad as it looks", he tried to stop her.

"Your lip is bleeding, that's certainly not a good sign", she tried to approach him again.

"Haley I'm fine", he didn't want her to worry too much, and it didn't even hurt that much, "I just need to wash it off".

"Will you please just let me do this", she yelled out, her eyes brimming with tears. She was trying really hard to stay strong for him but there was only so much she could handle. Her father had never behaved like this with her. She didn't think it was possible to hate anyone as she hated Dan at the moment. How could someone do that to their own son?

Nathan didn't utter another word as she cleaned up his wound. The liquid stung at his lip but he didn't react to the pain. Once she was done, she went to putting things back into their rightful places. He got up from his stool and placed the peas in the refrigerator. When he closed the door, he found Haley standing beside, looking at him with glossy eyes.

He placed a hand on the side of her face and gave her a small smile. "Thank you", he didn't know what else to say. He desperately wanted to kiss her but knew that wouldn't be a good idea.

She closed her eyes and a lone tear flowed down her cheek. He brush brushed it off with his thumb. Next thing he knew, Haley had wrapped her arms around his chest and embraced him. She laid her head on his chest and he held her back like his life depended on it. She was so overwhelmed by the emotions running through her. She wanted to know what had happened but before that she had to prepare herself to be strong enough.

She pulled her head away from him and looked into his eyes, "are you hurt anywhere else?" she was afraid what the answer might be.

"No" he said, "fortunately this is all that Dan could manage".

She nodded her head numbly. She grabbed his hand and led him towards her living room. They both sat down on her couch, neither speaking a word to each other for the longest time.

"What happened?" she asked.

Nathan took a deep breath, "My mum's cheating on my dad", he was still trying to absorb this information, "and my father found out".

"So you're not Dan's child? Is that why he beat you up?" Who would do such a thing?

"No!" he laughed despite the situation, "what made you come to that conclusion?" she just shrugged in response, looking a little embarrassed. Only she can make him laugh without even trying. Silence followed after Nathan's laughter died down. "My dad was drinking when I got home", he swallowed the lump in his throat, "he started blaming me for being stuck with my mother instead of following his heart and marrying Karen", his voice almost turned into a whisper, "next thing I know he was throwing punches at me, blaming me for ruining his life".

"Please tell me you hit him back", she hoped that Nathan had plundered him.

"Ya I think I broke his nose", he smiled, "there is only so much I could take without retaliating".

"That's my boy", she smiled back but it was forced, "how could your father blame you for something that happened before you were even born?"

"My father always loved Karen", it was hard to talk about his past, "he knew about her pregnancy only after he married my mother for getting her pregnant".

"So somehow he thinks it's your fault? That's crazy! Is he high or something?"

"He was drinking", he still remembered the look in Dan's eyes when he walked into the room. It was one of disgust, "he kept going on about how I made his life miserable", a lone tear escaped his eyes.

She wiped it away hating to see him so broken.

"I know Luke is your best friend and I know he's a good guy", he looked into her eyes, "but I just can't help hating him for having the better life".

It all hit her like a ton of bricks in that moment. She remembered how cold Nathan was towards his brother. He eventually stopped but it still angered her that he was treating Luke badly without any reason at all. She could see it so clearly now. He was jealous of Luke, jealous that he had a loving mother and an uncle who would die for him. Nathan never had the privilege to grow up in such an atmosphere. He never had a home, just a house where strangers lived together.

"Move out Nathan", she had been meaning to bring up this conversation with him ever since he collapsed on court but held herself back in case she was crossing her line, "you can live here".

Nathan was speechless. Was she suggesting that he move out? He was 16 for god's sake. "What? Haley! I can't do that".

"Of course you can it's not like you need to pay rent or anything, I own this house".

"Haley my dad will cut me off granted I manage to get away from him in the first place".

"You can get an annulment", she really didn't want him to go back to that hell hole, "with your mother's affair and your father's harassment, I think you can put up a good case".

"Haley I'd be living off of you, that's not right, plus don't you think it's weird that you and I would be living together?"

"I have enough money to last us for at least the next ten years so unless you lose all that money in a poker game, I think we're good", she smiled at him, "and it won't be like a live in relationship, you can have the guest room".

Nathan looked at her sceptically. This sounded more like a well mapped out plan. "This isn't the first time you thought about something like this did you?" he smiled.

She looked away from him for a moment. "Frankly I've been thinking about it ever since you collapsed on court", she looked back into his eyes "you deserve a better life Nathan. That's not a home you're living in".

Nathan's mind was clouded. Haley's preposition sounded really tempting but it's not an easy decision to make. No matter what she says, he knows that this step would change their relationship. He didn't know if it was for the better or worse. He hoped for the better.

"I know this is all very sudden but it's okay", she ran her hand along the side of her face, "just think about it okay?" she understood why he would freak out. Not many 16 year old boys move out of their house to live with their equally young girlfriends.

Nathan could only give her a small mod. She was always there for him, being his rock whenever life got hard. He never felt so cared by anyone before. He never had the chance to experience what a real family is. Looking into her eyes he felt like she was his only chance at having a real family experience. He took a hold of her hand on his face and kissed the palm of her hand.

"I love you so much", his heart was swelling up at the moment, she held a beautiful smile on her face and he knew this was his chance at happiness, "okay I'll think about it".

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