Summary : Haley James and Nathan Scott got married when they were 16. But a year later, something happened and she left town and eventually filed for divorce. Now, 5 years later, she comes back to Tree Hill, with a suprise.
Struggles Of The Heart
Home
She had just left New York, their home for the past 5 years and was driving a long drive to Tree Hill, her home town. She hadn't been there or talked to anyone in over 5 years. Things were so different now, she wasn't a 17 year old married girl in turmoil with her feelings anymore. No, now she was a 22 year old divorced mother.
She looked at Jamie, sitting in his children's seat, sleeping. He had his father's eyes, his uncle's hair and his mother's eyes. She never imagined on going back there, but the more Jamie asked about his father, the more she knew it was unfair to him that he never knew his father because of her doing.
So, after much deliberation, she decided to move back to Tree Hill. She had already found a job there as an English teacher in the high school. She had bought a place by the beach, it wasn't cheap, but after selling her place in NY and some of her stuff, she could afford it.
She hadn't called him, he had no idea she was coming back or that he had a son. She never told him why she had left. Back then, she thought it was her only option, that she had no other choice. She had regretted it from day one, but she did it for him and he could never know the real reason.
"Mumma ? Are we there yet ?" Jamie, who had just woken up, asked, rubbing his eyes in the process.
Haley looked back for a second at her son and smiled.
"Not yet. We still have to drive a while. Go back to sleep." Haley said to her 4 year old son, almost 5 years. She loved him to death. She looked back again and saw Jamie had closed his eyes again. She smiled, he was such a sweet sweet kid.
She dreaded seeing him again. She loved Nathan with all of her heart, after all these years, she's still not over him. She knows it's her own fault that they're not together anymore, she left, she had now choice, now she had to deal with the consequences.
She drove for hours untill she finally reached the sign that said Welcome To Tree Hill. All she wanted to do was turn around and go back to the life she had known for the last 5 years, but she couldn't, she made a promise to Jamie. She promissed him he'd get to meet his father. She owed that to him and to Nathan.
The only thing she could do was postpone the moment she had to see Nathan. She had no idea how he would react to the fact he had a son. But she didn't think he'd react well to the news. She knew he was still living in Tree Hill, she had no idea what he did for a living, but she had informed, so, she knew.
She had decided to go by the school first, to go see the principal, inform about her class, since she started next monday. It was friday today, so she knew the school was open. It was only 1.45 pm.
She drove up the parking lot of the school and parked her car. There were some students outside, probably students who had a free period now. She got out of her car, opened the back door and woke up Jamie.
"Jamie, sweety, wake up." She said, gently rubbing his hands, Jamie slowly opened his eyes.
"Is daddy here ?" Jamie asked as Haley helped him out of the car, she softly smiled at him as she bowed down so her eyes met his eyes.
"No, daddy's not here. Mommy has to do something for work, it may take some time. It could be that we're going to see daddy tomorrow." Haley said, Jamie's smile dissapeared.
"But I wanna know what my daddy looks like." Jamie said as he sighed, he had never seen a picture of his father, because Haley hadn't taken any pictures with her, to make it easier on her.
"You will, I promise. Come on, let's head inside, I'll try and be quick." Haley said as she stood up and took a hold of Jamie's hand.
Haley and Jamie walked inside the school, thankfully Haley still knew where the principal's office was. They walked through halls for several minutes untill they reached the door of the principal. Haley instructed Jamie to sit down on a chair near the office.
"Okay, so I'll try to be quick. Just wait here for me, and if anything's wrong, just yell really loud okay ?" Haley said, she never wanted to leave Jamie alone for too long. When he was 3 years old, she had had a nanny, but it turned out she was some crazy woman who tried to kidnap Jamie. Luckily, she's locked up now, but Haley still worries a lot.
"I will momma." Jamie said, Haley smiled and brushed her nose against his, it was a thing they did.
"I love you, James Lucas Scott." Haley said, she almost always said his full name when she said she loved him, Jamie smiled.
"I love you too, momma." Jamie said as Haley gave him a kiss on his cheek.
"I'll be right back." Haley said before she knocked on the door and walked inside.
"Ah, Mrs. Scott, it's a pleasure to see you again." Principal Turner, who had stood up from behind his desk to shake Haley's hand, said.
"It's just Mss. Scott now, and the pleasure is all mine, and thank you for giving me a job on such short notice." Haley said as she sat down.
"You're welcome. We just happened to need a teacher, so I was glad to get your call. I always wondered what happened to you. I'm glad to see you turned out well, that you didn't neglect your studies." Turner said, Haley smiled.
"Yeah, so am I. I thought I'd come by before the weekend, to look over my schedule for my classes." Haley said, Turner smiled, walked over to his file cabinet and started to search for some papers.
Meanwhile, Jamie was still waiting outside, he was so bored. He wanted to play or do something, he hated sitting still. He looked at the door his mother had gone through, he knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help it, he stood up and started to walk around the school.
It wasn't too long before Jamie found himself lost in the big school. He had forgotten where the door was that his mother had gone through. He looked around him and found he was scared. He didn't know where he was, he started to walk faster.
He finally stopped before two big doors, which had a sign on them that said it was the Gym. Jamie pushed hard against one door and walked inside. He saw a lot of teenage boys in blue jersey's playing basketball. He loved basketball.
He just forgot all about the fact that he was lost in the school and started watching the game. Two men, a little older than the boys playing, were giving them advice on how to improve their game. Probably the coaches.
A whistle went of, Jamie startled a little bit.
"Come on guys, you're gonna have to do much better than that if you want any chance at the State Championship this year !" A dark haired male said as he looked at his team.
"If you're not giving all you have, you don't stand a chance. I want 20 suicides from all of you, maybe that'll knock some sence into you!" Another male said, he had dark blonde hair. Both of the coaches were wearing a suit.
The blonde haired man blew his whistle again and all the boys started to run. He was watching them when he felt someone poke him in his side.
"What ?" he asked, annoyed when he looked at his brother, Nathan Scott.
"Look." Nathan said, pointing at the doors, now Lucas saw it too, there was a small boy standing there, watching them. Lucas wondered where his parents were. He and Nathan walked over to Jamie and bowed down so they were at equal height as the boy.
"Hey kiddo, what's your name ?" Lucas asked as he smiled at Jamie, he didn't know why, but the boy seemed strangly familiar to him.
"Jamie, I think I'm kind of lost." Jamie said as he looked from Lucas to Nathan. Nathan felt a strange connection to this kid, as if he knew him from somewhere. He just brushed it of.
"Where are your parents ?" Nathan asked as he looked around to see if anyone was looking for them.
"My momma's with the principal, I forgot where." Jamie said, Lucas smiled as did Nathan.
"Ah, we know where it is. Euh, we'll take you there." Lucas said and he took a hold of Jamie's hand. Lucas blew his whistle once again.
"Listen up, we're going to the principal's office, we'll be back as soon as possible. I want to see everyone playing one on one games when I get back. No fooling around!" Lucas yelles, everyone yelled 'Yes Coach!' and with that Lucas and Nathan headed out to the principal's office,
Haley had finished discussing everything with the principal, he opened the door for her and she walked outside, but froze when she saw Jamie wasn't where she left him.
"Jamie ?" She called out, the principal still standing behind her.
"Are you looking for someone ?" He asked, Haley sighed, she hadn't told him about Jamie either.
"My son, he was sitting here, now he's gone. Crap, Jamie ?!" Haley yelled out again, but she didn't see him anywhere. She then decided to go inside the classes, to see if Jamie was there.
"Have you seen a small boy, blonde hair, 4 years old ?" Haley asked, she couldn't imagine that Charlotte, the crazy nanny, had gotten out of jail and followed them. When the suprised teacher said she hadn't seen anyone, Haley tried all the other classes.
Quickly, she was rushing in every class, looking for Jamie as most of the classes had come outside to see what the comotion was about.
Jamie, Lucas and Nathan were almost at the right corridor when they heard a voice screaming Jamie's name.
"Momma." Jamie smiled as he ran around the corner, when he saw his mother, he ran over to her.
"Jamie!" Haley called out when she saw Jamie running towards her, she grabbed him in a hug, almost crying.
"Don't you ever, every do that again! You had me so worried." Haley said as she hugged Jamie.
Meanwhile, Nathan and Lucas saw who Jamie's mother was now too. Lucas was shocked as was Nathan.
"Haley ?" He asked, in disbeliefe, he hadn't seen her since she had left him. He had never gotten over her or the pain she had caused him.
When Haley heard the voice, she knew all to well who it was. She let go of Jamie, but still holding his hand, and looked at Nathan and Lucas.
"Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that Nathan is a basketball coach here, I hope that won't be a problem ?" Turner asked, Haley shook her head and told him it was fine. With that note, Turner sent the students back into their classes as he himself headed back to his office.
Once everyone was gone, and it were just Lucas, Nathan, Haley and Jamie standing there, Lucas sighed and walked over to Haley, he gave her a small hug.
"I missed you." He said, which was very true, but he was also angry at her for leaving and never saying goodbye to him or anyone or never even calling.
"Yeah, me too." Haley said as Lucas let go of her again.
"What are you doing back here ?" Nathan asked, still in shock, stunned.
"I'm a teacher here now, 12th grade english." Haley said, she saw Nathan's eyes moved from her to Jamie.
"You have a son now ?" Nathan asked, he looked at Jamie and now realized what that strange feeling was about, he saw a part of Haley in him.
"Momma ? Who are these men ?" Jamie asked as he tugged at her shirt and looked at Nathan and Lucas.
"Jamie, that blonde mister is Lucas and that handsome man is Nathan." She said, knowing that Jamie would put two and two together. Jamie looked like Nathan, Nathan was the name of his father, he knew. He also knew, his middle name was the name of his uncle.
"But momma, then..." Jamie began, but Haley interupted him.
"Yeah, that's right." Haley said as she took his small hand and walked over to Nathan and Lucas, who had rejoined him after he had hugged Haley.
"Jamie, this is Nathan Scott. Nathan, this is James Lucas Scott, you're son." Haley said, Nathan turned completely white as he looked from Jamie to Haley.
"What ?" Lucas said in shock, he was the first one to say anything in over 5 minutes. Haley stayed quiet, she didn't know what to say as Jamie was looking at his father very carefully, he wanted to take him in completely. Nathan was about to try and formulate any sort of words when he got interrupted by a yell.
"Coach Scott ! Coach Scott ! You guys gotta come, Quentin and Jason are kicking the crap out of each other!" A young, 16 year old boy named Conner yelled as he came rushing to Nathan and Lucas. He was one of the players on the basketball team. Lucas and Nathan looked at each other, Lucas nodded.
"I got this, you have some things to discuss." Lucas said before running of with Conner, to the Gym.
"Hi... Jamie, right ?" Nathan said, he couldn't bare to look at Haley, he was so angry at her right now. He was still angry for leaving him, he was angry for not telling him he had a son and he was angry she was here with him now.
"Yeah, you're my daddy, right ?" Jamie asked in a very cute manner, Nathan smiled, even though he was still shocked and could hardly believe that the cute boy standing before him was his son.
"Yeah, Jamie, I guess I am." He said as he rubbed Jamie's hair, but then turned his attention to Haley, showing his anger.
"We need to talk." Nathan said, Haley could hear the bitterness in his voice as she knew the only reason he wasn't yelling was because of Jamie.
"Not here, not with Jamie." Haley said, Nathan looked from Jamie to Haley and nodded.
"Lucas can look after him for a while." Nathan said.
Haley, Nathan and Jamie walked towards the gym, Jamie was holding Haley's hand but also Nathan's hand. It felt very strange to Nathan, he, Nathan Scott, had a son. He didn't know what to think of it really, his mind was on overdrive. Finally, after what seemed like an endless walk, they reached the gym. As they walked inside, they saw Lucas yelling at two boys with bruised faces and bloody noses, Quentin and Jason.
"You have got to stop acting like rivals and start acting like a team! Fighting isn't getting you anywhere, if I would report this, you are both expelled! I'll let it slip, this time. But I swear, if this happens again, you're off the team! Got it ?! Now hit the showers and head to your next class!" Lucas yelled as the boys nodded and took of to the locker rooms.
"Lucas !" Haley called out for him, Lucas looked around, saw Nathan, Jamie and Haley and walked towards them.
"Nathan and I need to talk. Could you watch him for a while ?" Haley asked, Lucas smiled and nodded.
"Sure, you can come pick him up at my place tonight, Peyton will love him." Lucas said, Haley was shocked to hear he was with Peyton now, last time, he was madly, deeply in love with Brooke.
"Peyton ? What happened to Brooke ?" Haley asked, she knew she and Nathan had to talk, but anything to postpone it for just a little while was good.
"Long story. Peyton and I got together senior year. We've been married for two years now and yeah, Brooke's okay with it." Lucas said, giving her the short version without all the drama in between.
"Okay, euh, here's my cell number, text me the adress." Haley said as she gave Lucas a card with her number on it, Lucas nodded. Haley bowed down to face Jamie.
"You're gonna go with Uncle Lucas for a few hours, okay ?" Haley asked Jamie, Jamie nodded.
"Okay, I love you, give me a kiss." Haley said, Jamie gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before going to Nathan and giving him a hug, which kind of threw him off guard.
"Okay, let's go." Haley said before thanking Lucas and taking of with Nathan. Haley gave him the adress of her new place, they were going to drive in seperate cars to her house.
All during the ride Haley couldn't think of anything else but how mad Nathan was going to be at her. She didn't want to face him at all, she knew he'd ask her about why she left and that was one thing she would never be able to tell him.
Nathan's heart was racing as he drove over to Haley's house. Haley, the woman he hadn't seen in over 5 years, but whom he still loved. He hadn't had a serious relationship since she left, yeah, he had had some flings, but no one he really cared for. He wanted to tell her how much he had missed her, but knew that would be impossible, he was simply to angry at her to do that. She had betrayed him in more ways than one.
Haley was already sitting on the couch, the house had came with furniture, when the bell rang. Haley swallowed, before getting up to let Nathan in. She asked him if he wanted to sit, but he refused, he seemed to be taking some time to find his words.
"Why did you come back here ?" Nathan asked, giving her the impression that he never wanted to see her again, which was wrong. Haley was hurt, but she understood.
"Jamie wanted to know who his father was. I figured I owed him that... and you." Haley said, trying to avoid looking into his eyes. She loved his eyes, she always had, they were the first things she had ever noticed about him.
"Jamie, let's talk about him. Why didn't you tell me I had a son ? Didn't you think I had the right to know ?" Nathan said, trying his best not to yell. He wasn't that person anymore, he wasn't that person who just started yelling everytime something went wrong, he had changed.
"Off course you deserved to know. I... honestly, I don't know why I didn't tell you. I'm sorry, I really am." Haley said, she was trying so hard to fight back tears and just break down and tell him everything. She knew he would understand then, but she couldn't, she was too ashamed she had let it come so far.
"Well, it's a little late for sorry. Breaking my heart wasn't enough, you had to my right to know my own son from me too ?" Nathan said, his voice choked, he was angry and hurt and all he wanted to do was yell or break something, but he didn't.
"I know you must be so angry with me right now and you have every right to be. But my... our son wants to get to know his father and I hope you'll spend some time with him, get to know him." Haley said as she know looked into his eyes for the first time. She felt her heart melt as she fell inlove with him all over again, not that she ever stopped loving you.
"I want to get to know my son, I do. But we'll have to find someone to communicate through, cause right now, I don't want anything to do with you." Nathan said, knowing that was a lie, but still, he said it. As he headed to the door, but before he did, he turned around to face Haley.
"Why did you leave ?" He asked, he needed to know, he needed to know what had went wrong. Haley sighed, now came the part where she could either tell him everything or lie.
"I was young and scared. I was stupid, I have no other explanation for it. I'm sorry." Haley said, deciding to go with a lie instead of the truth. Nathan sighed and walked out of the house, right at the time Haley's cell phone went of, it was a text message.
My adress is at Palm Drive 23. Jamie's fine, he's having a blast with Peyton. Come for dinner around 7. Lucas.
Once she had finished reading the message, she looked at her watch, it was only 3.45 pm. She sighed, not knowing what to do now. She decided that shopping was a good remedy for her heartache. Usually, she didn't have much time to shop, because of Jamie, but since he was safe with Lucas now, she looked forward to spending a few hours by herself.
She got in her car and started driving around. She suddenly realized she was really hungry and since dinner was still hours away, she needed a good snack. She decided to go to Karen's café, where she and Lucas had practically grown up, since Karen was his mother.
But once she got there she was suprised to see that the café was gone and had been replaced by a clothing store named Clothes Over Bros. She didn't know who owned it, but it looked cute and she wanted to see it. Even if it wasn't a café anymore, the memories were still there.
She stepped out of her car, walked to the store and headed inside. She was suprised, it was very beautifull, and even Karen's sign was still hanging above the counter. The sign that Haley loved so much.
'Somebody told me that
this is the place where
everything's better and
everything's safe.'
"Well, if it isn't our very own runaway wife, Ms. Haley James Scott." Haley heard a voice say, she didn't see who it was at first because she was looking up at the sign, but she recognized the voice. She looked at the entrance behind the counter and saw no one other than Brooke Davis standing there.
"Peyton told me you were back... with a son, haven't we been busy over the years ?" Brooke said, raising her eyebrows at Haley. She wasn't too pleased with her return, no one really was, she left quite a mess when she left Nathan without any explanation.
"Jamie is Nathan's son and it's nice to see you too Brooke." Haley said, not really feeling the love. She knew everyone was gonna be angry, but she didn't know they were all going to hate her. Even Brooke, whom she had gotten pretty close to before she left. She, Brooke and Peyton had gotten all pretty close.
"Oh, Nathan's kid, how about that. And, if it were nice to see you, I would have said it. You destroyed a lot when you left town, and the rest of us were stuck picking up the pieces. And now you come back with a son, Nathan's son. I mean, god, you should have told him Haley." Brooke said, she was never afraid to speak her mind, that was one of the things Haley admired about her.
"I know, and I'm really sorry. I know I can't just come back here and magicaly make everything right again, but I have to try, for Jamie. I hope you can at least understand that." Haley said, again, trying her best not to cry, she knew she had no right to.
"That, I understand. I get it, you love the kid, good for you. But trust me when I say, you've just turned this town upside down by coming back. Anyways, I gotta get back to work, did you want something ? Cause, if not, I'll see you at dinner tonight." Brooke said, Haley sighed.
"Everyone's coming to dinner ?" Haley asked, Brooke chuckled, but not in a friendly way.
"No, just you, me, Lucas, Peyton and the rugrat. They invited Nathan, but he didn't want to come, something about not wanting to ever see you again. Not that you can blame the guy, the blame is pretty much all on you." Brooke said, not holding anything back, Haley didn't want to fight with her, she knew she was right about everything.
"So, you work here ?" Haley asked, she wanted to have a friendly conversation before she left.
"No, I own it. Never heard of the fashion line Clothes Over Bros ? It's my line, my company, a multi million dollar company, actually. Anyways, bye." Brooke said, before dissapearing in the back. Haley sighed and walked outside, back to her car.
'Oh, yeah, dinner's gonna be a blast tonight. At least Nathan won't be there.' Haley thought before getting in the car and driving of. Scared of what the night might bring.
TO BE CONTINUED