Nathan woke with a start. He peered over & saw it was half four. That was five mornings in a row he'd woken up at this time from the same dream. What was it trying to tell him? He sighed & rolled over. The same as every other morning-no Haley.
Flashback-"I'm just gonna get the last few bags from the car," Nathan smiled at his mum, glad to be home.
He opened the door. Haley was standing there, looking as gorgeous as she always did.
"H-hi," she stuttered.
Nathan didn't know what to say, so he just stood there staring at his wife. What did she expect of him? Instant forgiveness? No, she wasn't that stupid!
"Say something, Nate, please," Haley blinked to stop the tears from running down her face.
"Like what, Haley?" Nathan asked. "Am I supposed to forgive you?"
"No, I didn't mean that. I understand you can't forgive me as easily as that. I just want to tell you," Haley was now letting the tears stream down her face. "I-I love you. So much Nate. & I'm so sorry for leaving you-I was stupid, I know that now. Trust me, if I could turn back time I would & I would never leave you. I promise you Nate. I don't want you to say anything because I don't really think I'll want to hear it. Just think about it-okay.?" She turned & started to walk away. She could feel his eyes fixed on her. She stopped, turned around & walked back to him. "I love you Nathan Scott." She kissed his cheek & left him standing there.
That memory haunted Nathan like a bad dream. Why hadn't he ran after her instead of just standing there?
0oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo0
Chapter Two
Three hours later, Haley woke up. As usual, she got up straight away, got dressed, spent about 20 minutes in the bathroom & was eating breakfast by the time her flatmate Brooke got up.
"Hales, explain something to me. How do you do the exact same thing every morning at exactly the same time without an alarm?" Brooke moaned.
Haley smiled at Brooke's confused face. Brooke shook her head knowing she'd never really understand.
"So…any plans for Saturday night?" Brooke gave Haley the 'you-are-free-you-cancel-any-plans-for-me' look.
Haley put on her 'hard-thinking' face. She picked up a book & flicked through it as though it was a diary. Brooke stared impatiently.
"Brooke, am I ever busy?" Haley smiled.
"Well no, but you are now. You have a date!"
"Oh, do I now?" Haley smiled sarcastically. "& how would that work?"
"Well that would be telling!" Brooke winked & skipped off to the bathroom where she would spend the next hour.
"Great!" Haley said to herself. "Just what I need." She stood up, grabbed her bag & opened the door. She turned around & shouted 'bye' to Brooke. As she turned back around, she walked into Lucas. She automatically hugged him & said, "Hey Luke!"
"Hey Hales, how are you?" He tried to hide his concern for her.
"Stop it Luke! You should know by now that I hate people being concerned about me!" She smiled to let him now she was at least half joking. "Apart from that I'm good." She remembered her 'date' on Saturday night. "But I'm slightly concerned about Brooke-she has something planned for me for Saturday night & I know what she's like so God knows where I'll end up! Last time she set me up Nathan & I ended up in a lingerie store!"
Lucas laughed. "I think you'll be happier with this plan!" He smiled at her confused face.
"Lucas Scott what do you know?" Lucas shook his head. Haley's shoulders dropped in obvious disappointment. "Lucas tell me" Haley looked at him with her puppy-dog eyes.
"Haley I'm not going to tell you! & you should know by now those eyes don't work with me!"
"Fine, fine! Next time you want something from me-forget it!" Again she smiled to show her slight sarcasm.
At that there was a knock at the door. Haley dodged around Lucas to answer it. It was Nathan.
Flashback-As Nathan was getting ready, the phone rang. He hopped to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Nate, how are you?" Brooke's cheery voice made Nathan smile.
"I'm good, thanks."
"Excellent. When you're ready, & by that I mean decent, come over, please."
"Ok." Nathan was intrigued. "Why"
"Wait & find out. See ya." Brooke teased.
"Yeah, bye." Nathan hung up.
Brooke wasn't the kind for casual meetings. She wanted something, Nathan thought. But anyway, he was curious, so he rushed to get ready & was out the door ten minutes later.
As he walked to Brooke's apartment, he wondered whether Haley would be there. He started thinking about what he'd say to her if she was. She'd been back a year & they'd hardly spoken. His father had been so happy, thinking he'd won the 'it will never work, you're way too young' line. He didn't even realize how miserable Nathan had been.
Last in his thoughts, Nathan hadn't realized he was on Brooke's doorstep. He knocked on the door, praying Brooke would answer. His prayers weren't answered. The door opened & his & Haley's eyes met.