Are You Brave Enough to Leave With Me Tonight?

Her parents despised him. They couldn't even bear to look at him. They hated him more that most people could even dream of hating some one.

The feelings were mutual.

They hated him for taking her away from them and he hated them for hurting her, time and time again.They never cared about her. They were too selfish to think of someone other than themselves. That's part of the reason why they hated him so much. They hated him for tarnishing their image of the perfect family.

They were oblivious to how their actions were affecting her.

They never saw her cry at night. They never even noticed her puffy, red rimmed eyes the morning after. They never bothered to notice that their daughter seldom laughed, or smiled for that matter.

She was sinking, sinking like in quicksand. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop sinking, and to her dismay, not a single soul was left to come save her.

One by one, they had all left. First her father, then her mother, next her parents' friends, Dan, Deb and Karen. And finally, her only friend Lucas.One by one, they all deserted her.

Everyone sympathized with her but no one had the courage to come and save her.

Sometimes she cried herself to sleep at night. She just wanted to stop feeling so lonely. She was a good student, she went to church every week, and she always helped others. She was the good girl. The child that would make any parent proud. And yet, no matter how much she tried, she could never please her parents. They always found something to pick apart. Slowly and steadily, over the years the fire in her dwindled until one day, it burned out. At that point, all her hopes and dreams were gone. She was just going through the motions. She hads lost her will to fight in life. She only waited for that glorious day when all this would end. The day that she could leave this wretched world and move on to a better, happier place.

Little did she know that one day, heaven would come and grace itself on earth.

Heaven, is another name for Nathan Scott, a boy, or should I say a man, since he had the courage to do what many grown men would never be able to do.

He had the courage to fight for her.

It all started on a day, much like today, or any other day. It was just one more day out of the thousands that one encounters in their lifetime. However, this day was so much more in the life of sweet Haley James. This was the day that brought a new meaning to her formerly futile existence.

Nathan came like a storm and whisked her away to a world she had only dreamt about.

She was sitting on a bench near the docks, watching the ships go by. She wanted to be in one of those ships. She wanted to sail away into the unknown. At least, get away from the mundane and utterly meaningless life she was leading here. Everyone around her was moving on. Others around her age looked forward to parties, college and a whole new and exciting life that awaited them in the near future.

She envied them oh so much. She felt like she was stuck, enclosed in a tiny box from which she would never be able to escape. This was one of those days when all she wanted was to get away from all of her problems.

Suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts. Why? Because Nathan Scott was currently in the process of blatantly staring at her. She didn't know how long he'd been sitting there but she knew that he'd been there long enough to see the tears that were freely flowing from her eyes.

Sunday Mornings

“Why do you do that? He asked

“Do what?”

“Cry? Every Sunday I come here to shoot some hoops and every time I find you sitting here crying and staring at the ocean. Why do you do that?”

She hesitated for a moment. She wondered if she should tell him. She had been holding it all in for so long and she knew that sharing her sadness with someone would certainly lighten the burden.

“I come here to think. Every week, after having done all the things that are expected of me, I come here to take sometime for myself”

“Okay… but you still haven't answered my question. Why do you cry?” Nathan asked once more

“I don't know, I think it has something to do with my parents I guess”

“Do they really treat you that badly?”

Everyone knew about her parents but no one wanted to go against Henry James, one of the most powerful politicians of North Carolina.

“Its not that they treat me badly, that would require them to actually take an interest in my life. Its just that all I ever wanted was for them to love me, they couldn't even give me that” replied Haley, as more tears fell from her emerald eyes

Nathan felt really bad for her. True, he didn't really know her that well but he had this strong urge to help her. He didn't know why but it really hurt him to see her cry like that. He wished he could take away all the pain, but he knew that that was not possible. Not knowing what to do, he did the only thing he could. He took her in his arms and held her while she washed all her sadness away.

They stayed in each other's embrace for a little while longer, until it was late in the morning and the previously vacant streets began to fill with cars, and a multitude of passer-byes.

It was time to go.

Their short time together has ended and the two were compelled to move on and go about their own businesses. However, one good thing had come out of this encounter, both Haley and Nathan knew that come Sunday morning, the two could once again be found sitting at that bench together in each other's arms, sharing their innermost thoughts and feelings.

This weekly early morning rendez-vous continued for months on end thereafter. Over the course of this period, the two grew closer and closer until they became the best of friends. And the funny thing was that no one other than themselves knew about this newly formed but strong friendship. Its not that they were hiding it from anyone per say, it was more like they wanted their friendship to stay true. If others were to know about their bond, then many problems could be created. People would protest, they would try to separate them. They would say that he, being from a poor background did not deserve to be around a girl like Haley. They would try to ruin their friendship.

That was the last thing they ever wanted.

Over the course of these few months, the two had become one. They couldn't imagine life without the other. And so in order to salvage their friendship, the two kept their special bond a secret from the outside world. During the week, they would act like they were strangers but come Sunday mornings, the two were bound to be together, rain or shine.

And then, the inevitable happened.

Some thing had to go wrong. That's just the way the world works. Life is like walking on a hill, first you go upward, then you reach the peak and from then onwards, everything goes downhill. Life loves to play tricks on people.

He was going to leave for college in two weeks.

She was happy for him. And yet she was sad as well. Once he left, she would go back to being all alone once again. She knew that it was awfully selfish of her, but she wished wholeheartedly that something would happen. Something, anything, anything that would force Nathan to stay back, in Tree Hill. As usual however, nothing went her way. Knowing this, Haley decided to spend every waking moment with him. She always thought that she wanted him to stay back so desperately because she was in dire need of a friend. What she didn't know was that she felt this way out of love. Not the friendly kind of love, but the kind of love that you feel for one and only one person in life. It was the kind of love that would one day result in marriage. She didn't realize it until it was time for him to leave. Nathan on the other hand, had known it all along. How he knew, no one knows but he just knew that she truly was the one for him.

On the day that Nathan was supposed to leave, Haley clung to him. She never wanted to let him go. She begged from him to stay but she knew that in the end he had to leave.

He was just as reluctant as she was. He couldn't imagine life without her.

He loved her too much.

He hated seeing her this way. He never wanted to see her sad. More importantly, he never wanted to see her cry, especially because of him. He wished he could stay with her but he knew that it wasn't possible. After years of hard work, he had finally been able to get a basketball scholarship at the University of California. He knew that it was the chance of a lifetime. Falling in love was something unplanned. He couldn't let such a thing get in the way of achieving his life long goals. Hence, after much debate and emotional struggle, he had finally been able to bid farewell to Haley and move on to a new chapter in his young life.

Once he had left, Haley once again reverted back to her old self, the person who lacked any type of emotion. She reluctantly returned home, back to her life of sadness and misery. What made thing even worse was the fact that her sadness gave pleasure to her parents. When she came home, she found her parents sitting together, laughing, celebrating the fact that he was gone. Their fear of Haley tarnishing the family's reputation was finally over. They no longer had to worry about Haley falling in love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. As long as Nathan was gone, they could have full control of Haley's life. They could once again manipulate her life to their heart's desire in order for personal satisfaction.

How cruel they were.

They never once cared for her. The least they could have done was to mask their joys in front of Haley. Unfortunately, that was too much to ask from heartless beings such as Haley's parents.

After seeing their joyful state, Haley broke down. She had tried to be strong for Nathan. She had tried as best she could to hide her sadness, though she knew that her efforts would be futile since Nathan had always had the ability to read her thoughts like the pages of a book. She tried nonetheless to be strong and supportive. However, seeing her parent's sick pleasure had been the breaking point. All the emotions she had been bottling up for the past few weeks finally exploded. She went into a fit of tears. She couldn't even make it up to her room. She fell to the floor, and wept, using the front door for support.

And then the unexpected happened. Out of nowhere, she heard someone knocking on the door. She didn't know what to think. Haley cautiously opening the door to a panting Nathan.

“I was on my way to the airport. I'd gotten as far as Charleston before I realized what I was leaving behind”

He took a moment to catch his breath and continued.

“For so long, I had been convincing myself that basketball and my future was what mattered most, and that I shouldn't be thinking of anything else. I was so good at convincing myself that eventually I started believing that it was actually true. While driving to the airport this afternoon, I kept thinking about you, no, us, and everything we had been through this past year. And I realized, what kind of future would I be having if you weren't part of it? As cheesy as it sounds, you are my past, my present and my future, you mean everything to me. What I'm trying to say is that I love you Haley James, and I have for a long time. I've just never had the courage to tell you before.

Almost immediately after Nathan's proclamation of his love, the smashing of glassware was heard. It was her parents, their time of celebration had ended prematurely. What they feared most was coming true. Nathan Scott had succeeded in taking away their daughter. They had tried oh so desperately to prevent it from happening but in the end they had failed. For sometime now, they had noticed that their control had been slipping away, and today, they knew that they had completely lost control over their daughter's life.

Haley was too stunned to notice what was happening around her. She was having trouble believing that Nathan was indeed standing in front of her and saying all the things she had been wanting to hear. For all she knew, this could all be a part of her vivid imagination. Therefore, in order to distinguish thought from reality, she did the only thing she could think of. She kissed him.

This was DEFINITELY not a dream, she knew that now.

Once they came out of their sensuous kiss, Nathan looked into her eyes and asked “Are you brave enough to leave with me tonight?”

And the answer was …

“Yes!”

And so, Haley packed her bags and set out on an adventure into the unknown, leaving behind all she had known in the past 17 years of her life. You would expect for her to be scared, it at least nervous, but she was neither. She knew that she had nothing to be afraid of as long as Nathan was by her side.

She was the happiest she had been in the longest time. She was no longer alone in the world. And what made things even better, was the fact that for once in her life, her parents were powerless against her. Yes, Haley James was finally free!

~The End~