Happily Ever After
Summary: Brooke reflects on Nathan, Haley and their current situation. A look into the past and present via Brooke's ramblings. Set right before their scene in episode 8x02.
First, Happy 7th Birthday One Tree Hill ! 7 years ago tonight, OTH aired for the first time and how ironic that it was on sept "23." In honor of this special day, I had to write this quick one shot. I've sort of been on a OTH high, especially since I came from Wilmington early this week. Anyways, this story is something different that I never done before, writing in first person other than that person being Haley or Nathan. This takes place while Nathan, Haley and Brooke wait in the cafeteria. As much as this is a Naley story, there's more to this story than just that. It's sort of all over the place, talking about this and that, well you'll know what I'm talking about. I hope I don't confuse anyone while reading this but again this takes place in the cafeteria at the hospital and this is a peek inside Brooke's mind. Hope you enjoy and please review! Please also check out my other story "The Search For Something More."
Enjoy and please review!
You get the sense that they are all going to live happily ever after.
I remember saying that to Julian not too long ago and I look at Nathan and Haley in front of me and those words certainly ring true but not today. Definitely, not today. Happily ever after, yeah right? Your sister shot, your friend shot, it's all so crazy and surreal. Being here in this hospital cafeteria with their sticky seats and bitter coffee is surreal. Being here with Nathan and Haley, this is all surreal. I try to think of the last time the three of us were together and I draw a blank. Sure, we just came back from Utah but it's not like we spent much time together, well at least the three of us. It was a group trip and while I had a blast.. and getting engaged was certainly a key factor in that, I realized how long it's been since we were last together, alone just the three of us. As horrible as the situation is, I am quite enjoying spending time with two of my oldest friends and I wonder exactly when was the last time the three of us shared the same space.
Unfortunately, that horrible coffee has my mind lagging and the only memory I'm drawing up right now is after Keith got shot and I found those two playing cards at the tutor center. Those two are such dorks. A party was going on outside and these two snuck away to play cards. But I guess that's what love does to you. Well I guess that's what loves does to Nathan Scott. Playing goldfish or whatever they were doing was definitely Haley's cup of tea. But then again, they could've been playing strip poker then it would've definitely been Nathan's idea. Anyway, I remember giving the key to the apartment, their apartment. How far those two have come.
My God, when I look back on these two and when I look back at my whole role in this, and the word "opps" comes to mind. I totally felt like ass for screwing Haley at Nathan's parents house, saying I passed that little love note around. I expected anger, hatred from Nathan but all I got was a cold stare and disappointment. I can take mad or yelling but it definitely hit me hard to see that I had truly wounded someone. Nathan Scott was a man of steel but in that moment, I saw him hurt and I knew, just knew that there was something there between Nathan Scott and Haley James.
Setting them up on that scavenger hunt date was such a blast. I had to admit that it was one of my best piece of meddling. Too bad, hot shot here had to screw it up but from what I heard from Haley, the next morning certainly made up for it, so score for me. I remember Lucas not being so happy with that. Actually from what I remember I had to lock my lips with him a night or two just so he can get his mind off his best friend and brother. Kind of creepy if you ask me but I guess that was one of the qualities that drew me to Lucas, his sense of loyalty to Haley. I remember one drunken night that Nathan admitted the same thing to me, that as much as he hated Lucas back then he admired Haley's loyalty to Lucas.
I can tell Haley misses Lucas, I caught a glimpse of that notebook Haley had been carrying around with her and the first thing that came to my mind was nerd, but I laugh, that is so Lucas and Haley. I might be engaged to Julian but seriously Lucas is hot, I don't understand how those two remained just friends after all this time, well at least before Nathan came along. I had to admit that Nathan is looking good right now with his rolled up sleeves and his hair combed back, dark and sleek, I wonder what shampoo he uses. Come to think of it, did Haley's hair change color?
I shake my head and laugh to myself, I'm turning into a geek like Haley and Lucas. And I admit that I miss Lucas too. When I saw the photos Haley put in her little collage, my heart did melt a little bit. He was my first love, is my first love. I wondered before that if I didn't push him away during our senior year if things would've been different. Then I remember he kissed Peyton during the school shooting and I'm reminded why. Peyton. I love the girl too death but man did she piss me off. But that's love for you. You can't help who you fall in love with, you just do and unfortunately for me and Peyton, we fell in love with the same guy. And he fell for us, both of us.
I'm not going to lie, when I saw Lucas in New York a few years ago and we pretended to be engaged, I let myself pretend that it was real at least for a moment. That night, I could picture spending my life with Lucas and after I moved back to Tree Hill and Lucas helped me out with Angie… those nights where Lucas fell asleep with me while trying to put Angie to bed, I can picture us doing that with our own daughter, son. He was such a sweet heart then and it reminded me of why I fell so hard for him in the first place. I can play the what if games, what if the school shooting never happened, what if Nikki hadn't come along and forced Jake to move away so that Jake and Peyton would've had their chance to be together, like really be together instead of being torn apart that by the time those two saw each other again it was too late.
Peyton's heart was with Lucas.
Lucas will always have a place in my heart and I know in his but it wasn't enough. You can't help who you fall in love with and I can't help that he and Peyton are in love. I couldn't keep being mad at Peyton. Peyton deserves love like anyone else. We had gone through so much together. When her mom died, my heart broke for her. I remember the first time Peyton smiled after her mom died. I made some comment about her mom not being Victoria. It did the trick. Our friendship has stood the hardest tests and trials, though it all, we learned to get pass all the bs we put ourselves trough. When I say I am happy for her, I mean it with all my heart, even though I am still mad at her for leaving Tree Hill. Seriously woman, a visit from New Zealand wouldn't kill you. Still, with those two I had gone through so that I couldn't help but think back at their wedding. But you grow up, you realize that some thing's were not meant to be, that some how things will work out somehow. In my case it's ironic how that turned out. I fell for Peyton's ex-boyfriend, oh the irony.
I love Julian and he loves me. It's amazing how quickly you can fall in love and that was definitely the case with Julian. He's smart and quirky in his own way. He makes me laugh, smile, makes me safe in this unsafe world. You live and learn and you love and I'm blessed to find love. Looking at the epic couple that is Naley, why bother calling them by their real names, I wondered if I'll ever get the love they had. Even being engaged to Julian, I can still say no. I don't think anyone can have a love like theirs. When I was feeling down or depressed or lonely, I'd think of them and say, at least they made it. I think I said it best at their wedding, well their second wedding. They give me hope. They do. I look at them and I see a world better because there are at least two people in this world that love each other so much, it can make the rest of the crap out there seem trivial. I look at them and realize that if I'm ever going to find that happiness that I better get off my high horse and get on a plane to LA and tell Julian that I love him. I did that and well look at this giant rock on my finger. After staring at my bling, I look back in front of me and I'm looking back at Nathan again.
I'm back to wondering what shampoo and conditioner Nathan is using cuz I'm thinking of dying my hair black again. Then I find myself thinking how different Nathan and Lucas are because his hair is dark while Lucas is blond. And Jamie is blond. Oh god, this silence. What is it doing to me? And speaking of brother, it's not hard to see why Nathan is so sad. Clay had become a second brother to him, a second protector to his precious family. Like Haley, I know Nathan misses his brother. I can tell because the last time Nathan looked this somber was when Lucas left town. Luke may have not liked it when he and Haley started dating but he quickly turned into their biggest fan and supporter. He reached out to Nathan the beginning of senior year when he and Haley were on the rocks. Despite getting turned down by him over and over again, he stood by him and he never looked back. Lucas stood by him through college and helped Nathan and Haley raise Jamie and basketball.
One thing I never thought would happen would be Nathan and Haley living the rest of their lives together. The second thing I would've never believed was Lucas and Nathan actually getting along and being brothers. Luke was Nathan's best man and Nathan was best man at Lucas wedding.. both weddings. I know Haley and Lucas are close but I remember Haley bitching to me how Nathan and Lucas spent all their time yelling at each other in the living room while they played NBA live. As annoyed as Haley sounded, I knew deep down she secretly loved it. She once told me that she knew that if they just to know each other then they would find something amazing in each other. That's what siblings are for and seeing Nathan and Lucas and now seeing Haley distraught over Quinn. I know that now. In fact, I remember Lucas going crazy trying to find the right agent for Nathan. Lucas had his own family to think about but that didn't mean he wanted to leave his first family behind. At least Luke got it right by getting Clay.
I take a glance at Haley and then back to Nathan who looks like the weight of the world is on him. He also looks much older today, not like he's an old man, definitely not an old man. I've seen him with out his shirt and it's not hard to see why Haley never had her eye's on anyone else but him. Sure there was a bump with Chris Keller, but I'm not going to fault Haley for that. His stupid singing had me taking my panties off while she only allowed him a small kiss. Nathan was such a wreck back then, back when Chris Keller nearly broke them apart. Actually, he was a hot mess before Haley. She changed him in all the good ways one can change a man. But he is still Nathan Scott of course and he's had his ups and downs over the years and with his career but he always had Haley. Even when his back was broken, she stood by him. I don't know if I would have had the strength to do that but that's Haley for you. I guess Lucas helped too and the three of them, well four if you count Jamie showed me what a true family is. It's one of the reasons that after I moved back to Tree Hill that I wanted to adopt myself. I guess I owe that to the Scotts, score for them.
I always thought to myself how lucky those Nathan and Haley were to have each other but if I was really honest with myself it would be that Nathan was lucky to have Haley. I found that out first hand with me and her moved in together. I never would've imagined rooming up with Haley James but we did. I saw her so down, so depressed that I had to hold my self back from kicking Nathan's ass. Sure she made a mistake but it didn't mean that she didn't love him. And the poor girl was trying so hard, I'm so glad Nathan finally gave in. I was with her when she freaked out about her pregnancy, getting run over by Daunte, the whole point shaving scandal and all the years of raising Jamie in school while Nathan went to away games only for Nathan to get thrown out of a glass window and it was Haley keeping everything together. Nathan was definitely a lucky man.
Then something happened, something horrible happened. Haley lost her mom and it was quite shocking to see the Haley I've come to know and love go down such a dark road. I tried my best but it was Nathan that got through to her. Nathan was the one to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. He comforted her, took care of her and held her in his arms as if she was the most precious thing in the world. And then I realize it, that everything Nathan does is for his family. Basketball maybe his first love but spend time with him and his family and you'll quickly see that basketball is a distant second. He's done his best to provide for them, probably feeling guilty over the stumbles he's made along the way. Stupid Nanny Carrie comes to mind but when I step back and look at Nathan, there's this one underlying truth. Nathan loves Haley. Period. Wait he also loves Jamie. Shit, Jamie.
Oh God, I hope Julian is okay, that boy maybe seven but he's smarter than all of us, definitely gets that from his mom and he's sneaky, just like this dad. Still the little booger us a doll and I am so proud to be his godmother. Yes me godmother and don't forget I'm also Sawyer's god mother so yeah I'm totally awesome. If I can't have kids, I'll always have these rugrats and don't you worry. Once we get this wedding thing sorted out, I can focus in on how me and Julian can get our own little family. It still amazes me how Nathan and Haley were able to do it at 18.
Shoot, the boy asked her to marry her at 16 years old for crying out loud. This boy, the biggest playboy in the world, who treated girls, including Peyton like crap was asking Haley to spend the rest of her life with him. He went to Mr. and Mrs. James, he's the one who put everything he had into his marriage, which is why I can understand why he felt so bitter when she left, why he's here right now trying to comfort her while Quinn is lying in her hospital room, while his Clay is also near death's door but I know he's not trying to show it because he wants to be there for his wife and Jamie.
His pregnant wife and while I am totally jealous, I am so happy for them. They don't deserve this, they don't deserve any of it. They've come through so much, getting married early, Dan, Daunte, that stupid bitch Carrie, the other bitch Renee, cancer and now this.
"…they give me hope. I'm afraid to say it out loud because maybe if life found out, it would try to beat it out of them and that would be a shame..."
That's what I also said at their wedding, the second one just to be clear. I'm wondering if I may have jinxed them, that by saying that speech I may have let the world in on their little secret and life has been trying to get at Naley all this time. But there's something that mother nature does not know or maybe she does know and doesn't want to give up, which is that these will have their happy ending, these two love each other, will continue to love each other.
Always.
Forever.
And there's something that Nathan and Haley don't know. I got arrested today but that seems so small in comparison to what they're going through now with the shootings and the pregnancy. Wait, how come I didn't tell them about Clothes over bro's and wait up, did I even congratulate them on the baby? Oh crap, how long have I've been resting my chin on this cup.
"So.." I begin to speak and Nathan and Haley look at me as I lift my head up.
"I got arrested today."
The End.
I didn't mean to add so much Lucas but with the 7th anniversary of OTH first showing, I wanted to discuss all the big relationships on the show. And Lucas played a big role, esp with Naley. I obviously couldn't talk about everyone but I tried to keep the focus on the main 5 characters. Anyways, hoped you enjoyed and please review !