Author's note: Please be advised and aware that the ending of this chapter deals with suicide. If the content is too sensitive, you may skip over the part and my intention is not to glorify suicide or make jokes about it but to raise awareness of it and those who may be battling depression. There are a number of hotlines that can be called if you ever feel that you are struggling with depression or the thought of suicide. The end of this chapter is very similar to what happens in the show in season 4.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 31: When the Stars Go Blue

Nathan and Haley were getting ready for their first night as husband and wife when Nathan's phone started to buzz. He didn't recognize the number but felt compelled to answer it.

"Hello?"

A voice recording came through the line explaining that this was a collect call from the local prison and that the line would be monitored.

"Hello Son."

"Dad? I mean Dan? Why are you calling me? I thought I told you not to talk to me ever again." Nathan was annoyed. This was not how his wedding night was supposed to go. He was supposed to be making love to his new wife and spending the night cuddling each other until the morning when they would leave for their honeymoon.

"I just wanted to say Happy Wedding Day and congratulations."

"This is a joke right? How did you even know that I was getting married today? I sure as hell didn't tell you."

"I saw it in the tabloids son. You might not be a pro basketball player yet but your name has certainly drawn some attention to the media. You're starting your celebrity status."

"Thanks, I guess but what's the real reason why you're calling me Dan? We all know that you of all people don't just call someone for no reason. There is always strings attached." Nathan was getting even more annoyed the longer this conversation dragged on and Haley was waiting for him. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to hang up just yet. He cursed himself for even giving Dan the time of day. That's exactly what he wanted. It was a way for him to crawl back in.

"How is my grandchild doing?" Nathan felt a stab to his heart when Dan asked this question. He had never managed to tell his father that Haley lost the baby. I guess now was as good of a time as ever.

"There is no grandchild Dan. Haley lost the baby." Nathan still couldn't bring himself to talk about it. It still pained him every night that they had lost their child and he knew that Haley felt it too.

"Oh wow, I'm so sorry son."

"Bullshit Dan. You're never sorry for anything." Nathan's words were cold but he knew how his father played.

"Nathan, I'm being sincere here. I would never wish a miscarriage on you and Haley despite what you may believe. I wish you would just give me a chance here." Dan's voice sounded sincere but Nathan didn't want to believe it. His father had always been a manipulator anyways so what made this time any different?

"Because you're never sincere. What's the real reason you called Dan?"

"I wanted to wish you a happy wedding day. It's lonely here and I'm trying to change but you're not giving me the chance."

"You had your chance and you lost it. You lost it the second you pulled that trigger not once, but twice. You'll never change."

"You do know that I did this for you right? That I turned myself in for you Nathan?!" Dan's voice was almost pleading and for a split second Nathan felt a tiny bit of sorriness for Dan.

"Just go back to your good ole prison cell and don't bother wasting my time by calling me again." And with that Nathan hung up. He needed to calm down before he went back inside. He knew Haley was going to ask him twenty questions and he didn't want to blow up on her on their wedding night. So instead, he sat outside for another 10 minutes before he entered their room."

"I was wondering where you disappeared to. I was afraid you realized that this marriage thing wasn't for you or something." Haley joked but Nathan stared back at her blankly. "Relax, I was just kidding." He still didn't say a word. "What's going on?"

"My dad called me."

"What?! Why?" Of all days, Haley couldn't believe that Dan would call today. Of course he would. She thought she was going to get through her wedding day without any trace of Dan but he always found a way to make his presence aware.

"To wish me a happy wedding day."

"Um, what? That's really odd. There must have been an underlying reason."

"He went into some bullshit about how he's a changed man now and that I need to allow him to change and that he turned himself in for me." Nathan rolled his eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed. "You know what the worst part is Hales? I actually felt sorry for the guy until he told me that he did this for me. How is this for me? I didn't ask him to kill Keith and Chris. It's like he just can't take blame for his actions. You would think prison would change him, but I guess not."

"Aw Nathan, don't let him get to you because that's what he wants. Your dad is never going to change unfortunately. And you're right, you would think prison would change him but he's only been there for a couple of weeks. Change takes time and if he actually wants to change, then he'll do it but there's nothing you can do. You don't owe him anything." Haley said, as she sat down next to her husband and put her arms around him.

"You're right."

"Of course I am." She joked. Nathan didn't laugh. "Again, another joke. But hey, let's not let him ruin our wedding night for us, we only get one of these. I don't know about you but I want some newlywed sex with my hot husband before we have to be on a plane at 6:30 Am."

"I thought you'd never ask." Nathan teased as he lifted Haley up and threw her down on the bed, attacking her face and neck with kisses.

- Friends First then Love -

It was 4:30 AM and Lucas hadn't slept. Between Brooke throwing up from drinking too much and Keith crying all night, he didn't know what to do. His eyes were drooping and he felt so exhausted that he might break out into tears at any second. He had called his mom three times because he thought Keith felt hot but she wasn't picking up the phone. It was nights like these that made him realize how hard being a parent really was and how clueless he was about parenthood. He didn't know what to do, or how to tell if the baby actually had a fever or if he was just overheating himself.

"You're still awake?" Brooke groggily asked as she sat up in their bed, turning on the bedside lamp.

"Yeah. I'm surprised you're alive right now. Do you need some water? There is aspirin on the end table." Brooke smiled at Lucas.

"I'm okay for right now but thank you Broody. What's the matter with our baby boy?"

"I think he has a fever. He feels hot and my mom's not answering her phone and I am so tired."

"Lucas, why didn't you wake me? We are a team you know." Brooke said, smiling at Lucas. He looked horrible.

"You had been throwing up and I didn't want to wake you. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, this whole fathering thing, but he wouldn't stop crying and now he's just staring at me with this scrunched up face. He's probably going to cry any second." And if on cue, Keith burst into tears. Brooke felt his forehead.

"His forehead is really hot Luke. Maybe we should take him to the hospital."

"Yeah, you're probably right. But I can't drive. I might fall asleep behind the wheel."

"That's okay, I can drive. I'm sober now, I promise. Thanks for letting me drink a little last night. It was nice to get a little break you know?"

"You don't need to thank me pretty girl. Now, let's get this kid to the hospital."

- Friends First then Love -

When Haley woke up at 5:15 to get ready to head to the airport for 6, she had 7 missed called and 17 unopened text messages, all mostly from Brooke and Lucas. She decided to listen to the voicemails before she woke Nathan up, so she slipped outside onto the balcony of their hotel room.

"Hey Haley, I'm sorry to bother you on your wedding night, I'm sure you Nathan are having hot sex right now but I'm at the hospital. Keith has had this fever all night I guess and we don't know what to do. I'm so scared; I hope he's okay. I don't like seeing my baby boy cry. Give me a call when you can, love you."

Haley moved on to the next voicemail which was from Luke.

"Hey Hales, it's me. Sorry to bother you and Nate but I am so tired. God. Keith has been up all night crying with a fever, and we are off to the hospital. I just feel so lost right now. Give me a call when you can, enjoy Hawaii for me okay? Love you Hales."

Haley decided she should call them back before she even listened to the other 5 messages. If on cue, Brooke picked up on the first ring.

"Hey tutor wife!"

"Hey Brooke, I just got your messages. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, you must have not listened to the last message. I don't blame you, I left like 600 messages on your phone last night. Everything's okay. It was just a slight fever so they are just monitoring him for a little but they think he's just fine."

"Oh that's great Brooke. Is Lucas with you? He left me a message too."

"Yeah, he's actually passed out in the chair next to me. It's kind of cute actually."

"Ew. Don't ever tell me that Lucas is cute, that's weird. He's like my brother."

"A very cute brother at that. Are you all set to go? Your plane leaves in like an hour right?"

"Yeah. I just woke up and wanted to make sure everything was alright before I woke the beast. He's not a morning person so this should be fun."

"Ahh married life. Hopefully one day I'll be right there with you. Besides, we knew Nathan wasn't a morning person. I mean, how many times did that boy skip homeroom? I'm still confused why we were all in the same homeroom."

"Brooke, you're rambling."

"Yeah, sorry. I get like that when I'm nervous, you know this."

"There's nothing to be nervous about. Keith is fine and Lucas is there with you."

"Call me when you land okay Hales? Otherwise I'm going to think the plane crashed or something irrational like that." Haley laughed. She loved how overprotective Brooke could be sometimes.

"I will, I promise."

"Wait, Hales. Did you tell Nathan about the song yet?" Haley's stomach dropped. She had been so caught up in wedding bliss that she forgot her song with Chris had been released today. They had recorded it before he died, just for giggles and she never told Nathan. She should have told him when Chris's mother brought over the CD and a letter for Haley explaining that she had sent it in.

"Oh no, I forgot. Is today really the day already?"

"Yeah, I've already heard it three times in the hospital. Like every station is playing it as a tribute to his death. And since your name has grazed headlines for being Nathan's Scott girl, everyone is talking about you and wondering when you'll release music."

"Crap. I better tell him before he finds out himself." As soon as Haley said the words she heard the door behind her open and then close.

"Tell me what?" Nathan's voice asked, confused.

"Uh Brooke, I have to go. Nathan just woke up. Keep me updated on my godson and I'll let you know when we land."

"Okay, good luck. Love you!" Haley hung up and spun around to face Nathan.

"Good morning handsome. How did you sleep?" She tried to avoid the subject at first.

"What didn't you tell me Haley?"

"Uh. It's kind of a funny story actually."

"What is it? Just tell me."

"Well, back when we were dating, Chris and I sort of recorded a song as a joke, just to see how we sounded. And when he died, and his mother brought over his demo, she also told me that she had sent the single in to the local radio stations just to see what could happen. It turns out they loved it so much, they decided to release it and today's the day that it was released." Haley said, hoping that Nathan wouldn't explode.

"Wow Hales, that's great! It really is but why didn't you tell me before? Like, when you found out?" Haley couldn't tell if Nathan was mad or happy for her.

"I didn't want you to get upset. We recorded it when you and I had that fight."

"You still could have told me. This is the first step for your music career Hales, and I'm hurt that you wouldn't think I was happy for you. I'm not that jealous asshole anymore Haley. I just hate when you keep secrets from me and then I find out months later."

"I know, you're right and I'm sorry."

"I really hope you stop doing that because how are we going to have a marriage if there's secrets?"

"I know and I promise to tell you next time."

"I hope so." He said, as he walked back inside and headed into the shower. Haley heard the shower start and she debated whether she should jump in with him or not. She decided not to, just so Nathan could have some time to cool off a little. Instead, she decided to sit outside and watch the rest of the sunrise before she was cramped on plane all day.

- Friends First then Love-

Dan couldn't sleep after Nathan hung up. He knew he deserved it, but he was really trying to regain control of his life. He hated his life and who he had become. He knew he should have been a better man and a better father but he was too prideful. He was too concerned on power and having the ultimate control of his life that he had lost sight of the good things that mattered.

After hours of pacing he knew what he had to do. He couldn't live like this anymore, he couldn't take it. He didn't want to be this man anymore but no one was giving him the chance to change. What was the point of living?

So, he took his bedding and he tied it to the ceiling, measuring the width of his neck before tying the bedding up. He was able to scrap up some paper from another inmate and a pen from the other and wrote a quick note, which he placed on his bed, hoping that someone would see it.

He took a deep breath and stood on top of his bed and placed himself inside the noose from the bedding and jumped.