A/N: So guys, I'm starting a new story. You guys voted and the winner is the idea I had that is loosely based on the movie "The Family Man". Don't you guys fret, I will still update NOHTSM regularly on the other hand Highly Addictive won't be updated. I am actually thinking of pitching that idea to a production company so if I do, I can't write it anymore. I will be sure to keep you guys up to date on that.

Summary: Nathan Scott is a prominent business man but what happens when he woke up one morning married to his high school sweetheart who died so long ago. Will he be able to go back and save her or will this blessing become a curse?

Chapter 1: Spirit in the Night

December 24th, 2010

Looking out the floor to ceiling windows of his ninety-eighth floor office, Nathan Scott marvelled at the bright lights of the city that never sleeps. He had moved to New York six years ago and still after all this time, the glitz and glimmer still fascinated him. He would always be a country boy at heart.

He pushed up the sleeve of his Hugo Boss suit and looked down at his Rolex. It was 9:48 p.m. on Christmas Eve and he was still at his office. Some life he had. A soft knock came from behind him and he turned around to see his assistant enter the room. "Do you need anything else, Mr. Scott?" Ella asked, twirling her modest wedding ring around her finger.

He smiled at her, she was the closest person that he had here. She was simply dressed, her blonde hair pulled back into neat bun and her soft green eyes were kind. "No thanks, Ella. It's Christmas Eve, go home to Jake and the boys. I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Thank you, sir." she smiled before leaving quietly. She was the last to go, everyone in the building has left instead of him and the on-duty security guard in the lobby.

Plopping down in his plush leather chair, he ran his hands over his head messing up his perfectly combed hair. He opened up the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out an empty glass along with a half empty bottle of bourbon. He poured the amber liquid into the glass, swishing it around before finally taking a sip.

Nathan closed his eyes as the smooth alcohol slid down his throat, burning along the way. As he went to put bottle of liquor away, he noticed the Christmas card that Brooke, Lucas and their new daughter, Hope, sent to him. The looked so happy, he couldn't help but be envious. Under the Christmas card was a familiar worn photograph on the bottom of the drawer. Picking up the picture, he could feel his chest constrict and his eyes prickle. He had looked at this picture probably twice a month for the past six years but it still killed him everytime.

It had always been his favorite picture of them. The way her big brown eyes danced with happiness still made his breath hitch in his throat. It had been taken just before their Senior Prom, she was standing in front of him in an elegant deep royal blue dress as he stood behind her in his tux. He had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as he kissed her cheek causing her to smile brightly at the camera.

Looking at this picture always brought him back to that night. The night that changed his life, the night that tore him and Haley James apart forever.

xxxxxx

February 9th, 2002

Nathan lay on his bed panting as his girlfriend of three years snuggled up to his side. "Maybe you should do this whole Habitat for Humanity thing more often because the reunion sex is almost worth you being gone for six weeks. Almost."

"I missed you so much, baby." she murmured against the skin of his chest before she reached up and kissed his chin. "I came over here as soon as I got back."

"Thank God you did because if we did what we just did in your dorm room everyone on your floor would think of you in an entirely different way." he chuckled, dragging his fingers up and down her bare back.

Briefly covering her blushing face with her hands, she looked up at him, "Was I that loud?"

He laughed at her sudden embarassment. He couldn't believe that one moment she can be so sexually confident then so shy the next. "Let's just say that this is a time that I'm glad that I have an off campus apartment."

"Oh God", she giggled, burying her face in his chest.

"I like it." he said, smiling down at her. "God, you're beautiful." he breathed as he quickly captured her lips with his.

Pulling back, she propped herself up on her elbow, looking down at him. "I love you babe, so much." she whispered, running her hand over his dark hair while her other hand made it's way down his torso. She bit her lip when his eyes closed and breathing quickened as her hand slipped beneath the sheet.

"Hales", he groaned, his head moving farther back into the pillow.

She leaned her head down to his, taking his earlobe in between her teeth. "I bet I'm not the only one that can't keep quiet."

He let out a breathy laugh but it quickly died on his lips as he felt her take hold of him. Just as she was about to start her ministrations, her cell phone started going off the side table. "Let it ring." he breathed, fisting his fingers in his hair.

"You know I can't." she said, giving a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth before reaching over and looking and the caller i.d. before answering her phone. "Hello Brooke", she said happily, flopping down on her back. "Yeah, I'm at Nathan's."

At hearing his name, Nathan rolled over so he was hovering over his girlfriend and began kissing her neck. She broke out into a smile and bit her lip at the feeling of his mouth sucking on her sensitive skin. "Okay, uh, did you take a m-message?" she stumbled over her words as she brought her hand to the back of his neck. "Okay, I'll c-call them back in the moooorning. Brooke! Would I ever answer the phone if I were doing t-that?"

All Nathan could hear from the phone was "Get it, Tutorgirl!" before he reached up and took the phone from her. "Bye Brooke", he said, smiling and shutting the phone before he continued to kiss Haley. "What was that all about?" he mummbled against his lips.

"She just wanted to check that I landed fine and tell me that my gyno called while I was away."

That certainly got his attention, he stopped kissing her and looked at her. "Your gyno? Why?"

"Well that was a mood killer", she laughed, running her hand through auburn hair. "She wants to put me back on birth control."

A surprised look crossed his face before he moved off of her and started to get dressed. "So you're telling me that you not on birth control at the moment?" he asked with an attitude as he pulled a Duke t-shirt over his head.

Slightly shocked at how quickly he moved away from her, she pulled the sheet up to cover her. "Well, yeah. I mean, there's no way I could get my prescription filled in South America and I didn't exactly need it while I was there."

She could tell he was becoming frustrated as he started pacing and kept running his hands over his head and face. "So, knowing that we weren't protected you just let that happen?" he accused, motioning to the bed. "I can't believe this." he muttered under his breath before storming out of the room.

Haley quickly followed him in to the living room, pulling clothes on in the process. "You can not seriously be blaming me for this right now!"

"Haley you knew we weren't protected when we had sex!"

"Well, it takes two, guy without a condom." she retorted. "And all I was thinking about was being with my boyfriend that I hadn't seen in six weeks, sorry if that's such a HORRIBLE thing."

He sighed harshly, "You know that's not what I mean, Haley! I'm thinking about basketball, my future."

As the words left his mouth, her face dropped instantly and she had to try her hardest not to cry. "And apparently, I don't fit into that equation." she stated quietly as she began to collect her belongings.

"Haley..."

"No, Nathan! You don't have to worry, your future as a basketball player is totally secure. Your future with me, not so much." She shouted, emotions evident in her voice as she slammed the door behind her.

xxxxxx

Walking out of the liquor store on East 57th street, Nathan tucked the brown paper bag under his arm. He noticed a Salvation Army bell ringer on the corner and reached into his pocket, pulling out a hundred dollar bill. Folding it up, he placed it into the bucket causing the bell ringer, a middle aged man with soft brown eyes and thick stubble, to look up at him.

"That's very kind of you, Sir." the bell ringer commented. "What's a nice man like you doing alone on Christmas Eve?"

He sighed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his peacoat. "It's a really long story."

"I have all night." the older man smiled, motioning to a stack of newspapers next to him.

Nathan didn't know why, but something inside of him told him that he could trust this stranger. He took a seat on the stack of newspaper and took a deep breath, beginning his story. "Well, when I was a sophomore in college..."

xxxxxx

February 10th, 2002

A loud rapping at his front door woke Nathan up from his sleep. Looking at his clock, the red lights read 2:08 a.m. Groaning, he got out of bed and headed to the front door.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he opened the door and found Haley's best friend and roommate crying hysterically. "Brooke, what's wrong?" he asked, quickly taking her into his arms.

It was the longest moments of his whole life as he waited for Brooke to compose herself enough to form words. She pulled away from him, trying to control her breathing. "I-It's Haley." she managed to get out before completely breaking down again.

He didn't need her to say another word. He quickly grabbed his jacket as him and Brooke rushed out of the apartment.

xxxxxx

Nathan and Brooke rushed through the doors of the emergency room. He did a bee-line for the information desk, "I-I need to talk to someone about Haley James."

The older woman looked up at him. "Take a seat, someone should be with you shortly."

They took a seat in the waiting room. It felt like forever before a doctor walked through the automatic doors, holding a biohazard bag. "Family of Haley James." he called.

"Yes, that's us." Nathan said, standing up quickly.

The doctor looked at the two young people in front of him. They couldn't be any older than teenagers. "You're her family?"

"I'm her boyfriend, her family is scattered all over the country." Nathan rushed out.

Taking a deep breath, the doctor spoke, "I think you should call her parents, Son..." Nathan almost felt his knees give out as he was handed the biohazard bag. Inside the bag, he saw his Celtics hooded sweatshirt that Haley had been wearing, a fair amount of it stained with blood. He no longer heard what the doctor said. He sank down against the wall as he took the sweatshirt out of the bag, hugging it to him.

It smelled faintly of her perfume, but the metallic scent of blood overpowered it. He emptied out the rest of the contents of the bag onto the floor next to him. On the tile, lay her cell phone and a colorful beaded bracelet. As he picked up the bracelet, he completely lost it.

His heart was shattered that night and it never fully recovered.

xxxxxx

"She was on her way home from my apartment when a drunk driver ran a red light. She died instantly, she never even saw it coming." Nathan explained. He didn't even realize that he was crying until he saw the drops on the sidewalk.

The man laid a rugged but comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

Nathan smiled at the stranger. "I don't know, I guess the worst part about it is that the fight we had was over something so stupid. In retrospect, who cares if she wasn't on birth control. I knew she was the girl I was gonna marry and have kids with one day, who cares if it was a little sooner than we expected. I had a ring and everything. It just kills me that I never got to give it to her, never got to see what our kids would look like." He took a deep breath and covered his eyes as he felt a round of sobs overcome him. "I just still can't believe that that was the last conversation I had with her. I didn't even tell her I love her."

"She knew."

He looked over at the kind bell ringer and smiled. "Yeah, I hope you're right. Well, there's nothing I can do about it now."

"I wouldn't say that." the mysterious man offered.

Nathan gave him a puzzled look before quickly shaking it off and laughing at himself for crying. Wiping his eyes, he stood up and straightened his coat. "Thanks for listening. I really appreciate it..." he said, waiting for that man's name.

"Keith." the older man stated.

Nathan nodded politely, "Keith. I'm Nathan."

"I know." Keith smiled.

He looked at him with a confused look and Keith just smiled at him, "Merry Christmas."

With an uneasy feeling, Nathan began the trek back to his apartment. A block or two later, something at a newstand caught his eye. It was a picture, a small one in the corner of the paper. Next to it a headline that read, "Local Mechanic Shot to Death at Point Blank Range". If he didn't know any better, Nathan would have thought the man in the picture was the man he had just poured his heart to.

He was suddenly overcome with a feeling that he had not seen the last of that kind bell ringer.

xxxxxx

December 25th, 2010

An unbearable pounding in his head was almost enough to make Nathan not want to open his eyes. He had no idea how much he drank last night until now. Feeling a warm body stir next to him was enough for him to ignore the pain in his head and open his eyes.

When he did, the sight he was met with was enough to knock the breath out of him. He was staring into the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen, brown eyes that he thought he would never see again.

"Haley?"

xxxxxx

Whattya think? Hate it? Love it? Please let me know. I have wonderful things planned for this story, I hope you all stick around to read them! Love you my happy readers :)