We're A Happy Family
By Grace
Email: purplewitch10yahoo(dot)com
Standard disclaimers apply. Me don't own.
Pairing: Laley and Baley friendship. Naley and some Brucas. I do like Peyton, I just can't seem to fit her in this story.
Rating: PG 13
Spoilers: Some Season 3 (What-if sort of Season 3 episode)
Summary: Haley receives an invitation to the grand 60th Wedding Anniversary of her grandparents. Let the madness begin.
Author's note: Sort of sequel to The Shapes of Things To Come
Part One: It's A Long Way Back
It wasn't fair. The universe was conspiring against her. She went on a rock tour and abandoned her husband, fine, she deserved to be punished for that, in fact she was already being punished and she had no problem with the whole Appeasing the Gods of Karma and Nathan thing. But this was just cruel and completely unnecessary.
Haley stared at the answering machine for another five seconds, trying to mentally delete the message that had just turned her already bad day into a real suck-fest. She rewound the tape, pressed play again, hoping that she had misheard the whole thing. She probably was just hallucinating.
Too many meals missed and severe lack of sleep.
Right. That's what it was.
For her sanity's sake, she listened once more:
"Hey little sis, I sent you the invitation, like, a week ago, which is like totally weird, by the way, seeing it's a family event and we all know we're all going, but still, it's RSVP and no response from you yet. Not even a call to say yes or yes, because you better not say no. I am not going to be the talk of the whole tribe this time around. Better show up and enjoy it while it lasts. And oh, yeah, by the way, grandma thinks you married little Lucas Scott. Isn't that just hilarious? I didn't bother correcting her though, since you'll be at the must-not-miss James family night of drama and debauchery. You can tell her yourself that she's got the wrong brother. Better yet bring the right one. See you and Nate in Atlanta or die."
"Atlanta huh?"
If she hadn't been so upset, Haley would've jumped in surprise. She had always been sort of jumpy and easily spooked and Lucas just loved to sneak around, give her little heart attacks. And then there's Tigger, who's notoriously bouncy, literally bouncy, and who also just happen to have a way of slinking all over the house, all oh-so quiet and catlike.
It was a little unnerving, to be honest.
Haley was used to living with the sound and feel of Nathan's heavy footsteps inside the small apartment. And before that, she lived in a house that was filled with incessant yelling, slamming of doors, trampling, running and stumbling about. The Whole James Household of Chaos Concerto on Creaky Wooden Floors. Now it was Brooke, appearing, seemingly out of thin air, usually dressed to kill, letting her know she'd be out the whole night and that there was no need to wait up for her.
Of course she would always end up waiting for Brooke. The girl needed a keeper. Granted that Brooke had Peyton but a keeper shouldn't be as half-drunk as the keepee. Maybe Peyton needed a keeper too. But then again, Peyton wasn't really speaking to her and if she was it was only to remind her of her fantastic screw up, so Haley was keeping a safe distance even though it hurt her to have her friendship with Peyton disintegrate before it had the chance to really deepen. Another punishment-and-or-slash-consequence she has to deal with.
And anyway, this was nothing new to her. When she was younger she used to wait up all night for Taylor, who would be out partying, de-virginizing freshmen jocks, apparently.
Haley winced at that. Well, that still stung. She guessed that it will always feel like a little punch in the stomach so she therefore should avoid thinking about it. Focus on the now.
She let out a huge sigh, mutinously stabbing the erase button with her finger, watching with satisfaction as Taylor's voice got permanently, electronically deleted. She was supposed to be dead tired by now. After a long shift at the café, she was supposed to be on the verge of sleep or something closer to catatonia. Trust Taylor to ruin her chance at some semblance of rest and peace. Sometimes, she wished… well, she wished Taylor had been a boy. She could've dealt with another over-protective older brother. A slutty sister was just exhausting.
"Going out?" Haley asked glancing at Brooke who had just come out of the shower.
"As always." Brooke sing-songed, her red-painted lips curved in a pleased smile. "There's a party over at Bevin's and I need to look extra hot."
As before with Taylor, she once made the mistake of lecturing Brooke on what a School Night meant and that had been a very bad idea. She ended up getting an earful on how she was, at the moment, currently married but without a husband and would she really like to practice her mothering skills, because if she did, she was going to find out, the hard way, how a seventeen year old daughter could make her life a living hell. She had smartly backed down and let Brooke have her fun. Of course fun for Brooke was parties every other night, School Night be damned.
God, was there really so many events in one year? And why wasn't she made aware of all these before?
Ah yes. At the time Brooke, Peyton and Nathan were being ushered into the raging party scenes of Tree Hill, she, plain old Haley James, had been sitting on the wooden bleachers at Riverside knitting and watching Lucas and the rest of the guys play basketball. Or she was at the café. Or she was at the rooftop playing miniature golf. Or she was cooped up insider her room, reading.
Mournfully, she dragged herself away from the answering machine, plopping herself down on her bed, the little corner that was a constant reminder of how much things have change.
This room used to be her – no – their room. The bed, the corner when Nathan always piled his clothes, the pictures on the wall. So unbearably painfully familiar and now all gone. The memories were still here though; they seem to cling on the walls, on every inch of space around her. Every time she turned around, some small spot would remind her of Nathan. Another punishment to endure. She briefly wondered when exactly her life had gone so bad, so fast
She used to have a simple and happy life that had consisted of school and hanging out with Karen and Lucas. She had been happy. She might not have had the full attention of her family, but she hadn't been an abandoned angsty teenager either. She didn't have a jackass of a father and half-siblings running around town kidnapping her and throwing her on mud puddles. She had been happy. But she had always felt a certain emptiness gnawing achingly inside her.
And she could feel it now. If she just closed her eyes and be still for a second. There it was: a dark void. Empty. A large, gaping hole. A space that was sad and lonely. A space inside her heart.
Haley sighed and pushed herself further into the bed, watching with half closed eyes as Brooke moved in and out of the bathroom ranting as she tried on several dresses and several shoes and several clutch bags all of which Haley had never seen before. Brooke probably had another shopping spree today. And no, she would not even dare comment on that.
What happened to letting them have their world?
Nathan.
Nathan happened. The marriage happened. And then bliss and then music and then this.
Now she had drama. Oh and plenty of it too. To be fair though, most of the drama was largely all her fault, but still… still, she could never really think of being anywhere else but here – right at this very moment.
Missing Nathan.
She closed her eyes, plucked out the memory of seeing Nathan today at school, flippantly tossing their kiss as a nice little moment that was over. Baby blue eyes cold and hard, broad shoulders shrugging carelessly. It was as though the kiss hadn't meant anything to him at all when to her it meant that she could breathe again without the constant ache in her chest.
First the divorce and now this, she wondered what else Nathan could think up to hurt her.
The worst thing was, she could see how much this was hurting him too. She wanted to make it all better for him, for them, but he wouldn't let her.
A nice little moment.
She had never thought four words strewn together like that could ever make her feel so… hurt and lost and dammit, she could feel the tears forming behind her eyelids. She had promised herself that she'd be strong about this. She had hurt Nathan, now it was her turn. She shouldn't let everything little thing that he said and do cut her to pieces like this. She was determined to fight for her marriage and not be a baby about it.
She understood what Nathan was doing; understanding though doesn't make it any less painful. She had broken his heart, his trust, and worst, their vows. She had to regain them all back and if she has to suffer for that, then so be it. She'll show him. She's back for good. For always. For forever. She just needed him to believe in her again. In them, again.
"Tutor girl are you crying?"
If it weren't for the nickname, she would've easily thought it was Lucas asking her that question. Same worried, gentle voice. Only more… feminine. Letting out a wobbly smile at the thought, she pinched the bridge of her nose, swallowed the burning lump in her throat and shook her head. "No. Just tired."
"Well, you sure look like it." Brooke said after a full moment of silence.
Haley slowly opened her eyes. She wasn't sure if Brooke meant that she looked like she had been crying or that she was tired. Maybe both. "Yeah. I'm…" God, she wished her voice didn't crack like that. "I'm… fine."
"Well, if you say so." Brooke said, going back to dumping all her clothes on the floor, kicking them into a corner. Satisfied with maltreating all her dresses, she turned to Haley, twirling around, showing off the red dress that matched her lips and her shoes. "Hot or hot?" She asked.
Haley rolled her eyes. There had to be some internal switch inside Brooke Davis' head. It was impossible how she could switch from one emotion to another so effortlessly. "Smokin'." She finally answered without much emotion.
"Hm. Hopefully, the boys would be a little more enthusiastic than that." Brooke smiled, her dimples deepening as she raised both her eyebrows in what Haley could only think of as Brooke's 'I'm about to do something illegal' look.
Haley smirked. Trust Brooke to be… well, so Brooke. Poor Lucas, though. Trying to remain a loyal friend, Haley thought she might as well get some inside information on who Lucas would be pitted against with tonight. "So, who are you going with?"
"Peyton. It's a We'll Let The Boys Drool From A Far Night for us. So."
Haley didn't know girls had nights like that. Thank God.
Brooke tilted her head, pouting at her. "I'd invite you but I know you'll just sulk, like the way you're sulking right now. And no one likes a sulker in a party and I'm definitely not bringing one." Delicately shrugging her shoulders, Brooke flipped her hair back and offered her a small smile. "Besides, it's the b-ball crowd and after the big brush off from today, I think its best that you stay here."
If Brooke was trying to be sympathetic, Haley really didn't feel it. She scowled darkly. B-ball crowd. Nathan's crowd. Great. Now she was banned in all the basketball-related parties. Even Lucas didn't mention this to her. She had never been a social outcast before; since she never really considered herself a part of the high school social scene, but this sucks.
"So much for Haley James-Scott Party Girl." She muttered sarcastically. Looks as though being roommates with Brooke didn't automatically mean that she'd have her own five minutes worth of footage in Drunken High School Girls Gone Wild.
Good thing? Bad thing? Not even a thing to begin with?
"See, if you join the cheering squad, it's an automatic invite." Brooke wiggled her perfectly arched eyebrows suggestively. "Another thing to list under the Pros of Becoming A Cheerleader."
Haley gasped as she sat up, glaring at Brooke. "Brooke! You did not read that list!"
Brooke smiled at her and then as though remembering something, suddenly frowned. "I'm a little hurt with the Cons, though."
And she did look and sounded hurt. Great. Now Haley felt bad. She hadn't meant for Brooke to find that list, let alone read it. "Brooke, I…" She began but stopped as Brooke dismissively waved her hand in the air.
"I am willing to forgive you, though, out of the pure goodness of my heart, if you'd just…"
Haley's eyebrows raised, her jaws slightly dropping, she let out a small noise of utter disbelief. "Pure goodness..."
"I don't know why you're being mean, Haley," Brooke continued as though she hadn't spoken, "when all I've been doing is constantly defending you from Pey Marie."
Now Haley was confused. "Huh? Who?" Having a conversation with Brooke was insanity. She had no clue of what or who they were talking about. And Lucas and Nathan thought that her incessant ramblings were bad.
"You've been poisoned by the media who had, for the hundredth time, portrayed cheerleaders as skanky, mindless," at this point Brooke's voice had gone several decibels past shrilly, "shallow, little hussies!" Brooke angrily stomped towards Haley, her eyes blazing with fury. "Of course, some of them are, like Rachel, but not everyone! And if you join my squad, not only do I get the satisfaction of flat-out saying 'Hell No' to that bitch, it'll also show everyone that cheerleaders are smart girls too!"
"Wow, I didn't know you we're so passionate about the plight of misinterpreted cheerleaders." Haley couldn't help the slightly sarcastic tone in her voice.
Brooke obviously didn't appreciate it. She crossed her arms against her chest, glaring down at her. "Admit it; you used to mock us and now your roommates and friends with a pom-pom girl."
"You're just loving the irony of this, aren't you?" Haley asked, hating how piteously she sounded, already knowing that she'd be saying 'Yes' soon enough. So it was true. No one could ever really say 'No' to Brooke Davis and that in itself was a scary thought. God help us all, Haley thought, murmuring a quick prayer.
"Irony? Irony? What is that?! I don't see the irony in you joining the squad for me. All I'm seeing is what a great friend you are for helping me not get the skank that is Rachel into my squad."
"Alright, alright!" Haley said, throwing up her hands, trying not to get Brooke into another rant-fest. "And thank you, by the way, for not going through my things."
Brooke scoffed. "You'll come around, Tutor soon to be pom-pom girl. I've already said the magic word anyway."
"Magic word?" She hadn't remembered Brooke ever uttering the word 'Please'.
"Half-naked-Nathan."
Oh. That word.
"Brooke, that's not even a word!" Haley complained, trying to shake off the immediate mental image of a half-naked-Nathan popping into her head. Oh, god, hard ripping muscles, smooth skin, that oh-so-sexy (used to be dumb to her, but she had seen the light) nipple ring…
"Whatever. There's a hyphen somewhere there. Besides, I could already see you saying 'yes'. Feel free to wipe the drool off your face, by the way." Brooke said, smirking at her.
Groaning and shaking her head, trying to hide her embarrassment and consciously wiping the corner of her lips (and dammit, she had been slightly drooling!), Haley pouted up at Brooke. Who knew Brooke Davis could be intimidating like this?
"I'm not promising you anything, I mean, it's not like… I mean," She ran her hand through her hair, finally saying out loud the biggest reason why she shouldn't be in the cheering squad. One that she couldn't even write down. "Nathan loves basketball and he hates me right now and I just, I don't want to seem like I'm… intruding on it. I don't want to give him another reason to not like me."
Brooke rolled her eyes and Haley could swear she just heard Brooke mutter: Un-fucking-believable.
"Please, you in a nearly-non existent skirt, jumping around, screaming his name, trust me," Brooke leaned down to sneer at her, "he's so not going to mind a little intrusion like that. Besides, do it for yourself, not for him. No, no, wait, do it for me."
Haley arched her eyebrows, wondering how Brooke can be a totally selfless, caring friend and then be a self-centered bitch all in the span of five minutes. Lucas must have a ball trying to placate Brooke and her many, many personalities.
"And Haley, word of advice, groveling much isn't really attractive." Brooke picked up her keys, twirling it around, a thoughtful expression on her face, the small smile turning suddenly mischievous.
"I wasn't groveling." Haley protested weakly. Having to defend herself to Brooke just didn't seem right to her. Never in a million years did she imagine that she'd be having this sort of conversation with Brooke Davis. Queen Bee of Tree Hill High. She straightened up and gave Brooke her best glare. "I bet the non-exclusive thing is just helping you a lot right now, isn't?"
Brooke's smile faltered briefly and Haley let out an internal whoop of delight. Ha! There! Take that!
It took Tigger a few seconds longer than usual to place an enigmatical smile on her face. "Yes and no. Sometimes. Maybe. Most of the time. See," She grinned at her, dimples deepening, "it varies. It's fun that way. Might work for you."
"I'm married!"
"Hello, wake up call. Do you see any husband around here? No? You know why, because there's none. By the way, just so you know, this party isn't just for me to be drooled upon, from a far anyway, I'm also going to help you with Nate."
No. Please, dear Lord, whatever Brooke was planning, it could not be good. "Ugh, Brooke, I appreciate it, I do. But…"
"If Nate asks where you are," Brooke went out, ignoring her completely, "I'd say you're out tutoring some hot, jack-ass, but probably sensitive-underneath-all-the-bluster-and-bullshit guy from the football team." She beamed at her, like it was the best thing that she had ever thought of.
Haley had to stifle a groan. She was never going to tell Brooke anything that involved her and Nathan. Never. "No, Brooke. Please. Don't."
"C'mmon, tutor girl, please? It'll be fun to watch Nathan try to internally contain his angry jealous outburst. He looks really demented when he does that. Clench jaw. Nostril flair. Frown. Blank expression on the face – oh, oh, wait, frowning again. Entertaining as hell, too."
"No, Brooke. Just… just…just don't tell him anything, okay?" She knew she was practically begging and if she had to, she'd go down on her knees and do the actual begging. Getting Nathan in a fit of jealous rage was not going to help her. At all.
Brooke pouted. "You're no fun." She let out a dejected sigh, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, I guess the no-comment will have to do." She began, as though talking more to herself than to Haley. "Nathan's paranoid anyway. I'm sure his over-active imagination will think up something worth getting jealous of. He gets jealous of the Rivercourt guys talking to you, including Mouth."
"I don't want to…" Haley began but Brooke was quick to cut her off.
"And Haley, please, please, don't tell me that you're just going to study or whatever it is that you do. I already feel bad leaving you like this." Brooke said, sounding genuinely concerned. "So broody and sad and just over all pathetic."
Haley really was torn between wincing and smiling. With Brooke, when something bad happened to you, it was as though it happened to her too, she cared that much. And the best thing about her, Haley discovered, was she would always try to cheer everyone up. Even though sometimes she could be a little tactless about it. Haley sighed, blowing a stray strand of hair off her face. "I've had a long day at Karen's, I'm just going to sleep it all off."
Maybe she'd wake up and realized she had been dreaming the whole time. She'd turn and Nathan would be there, by her side, lazily smiling at her, wrapping her hair around his fist, pulling her closer. Maybe he'd be naked. Actually, make that, the two of them naked.
"Sleep. How terribly exciting." Brooke said, interrupting her most recurring daydream. "Well, I gotta go tutor girl."
"Yeah, yeah, I won't wait up for you." Haley watched mournfully as Brooke sauntered over to the door. Another Brooke Thing. The girl never, ever walked. She sauntered and bounced. Every time.
"Stay away from the cookie dough. Oh, and if you need it, the vodka is underneath the sink."
Haley made a face. She didn't trust herself to speak either. It could cause world war three and she was secretly loving it, the way she and Brooke were getting along. Who would've thought?
Brooke grinned even wider. "And good luck with dragging Nathan to Atlanta, for your big family event whatever."
Blink. Door close. Party Girl, Infuriating Roommate gone. Silence.
Oh. Holy. Crap.
She hadn't even thought of that.
Sleep her ass. There was no way she could've possibly slept after all that had happened to day. So here she was, inside Lucas' room, pacing.
There were only five places in the world that she knew like the back of her hand, every tiny, little detail etched insider her memory: her old bedroom, the café, the Rivercourt, the tutor center and Lucas' bedroom. All five her private little sanctuaries. Away from the world outside. The apartment should have been her sixth, but it had been tampered with and the angry gashing pink paint was like a gaping wound. Painful. Real. Out of place. A reminder for her of how much she had screwed up and how badly she had hurt Nathan.
But no matter how bad things get, she always had Lucas.
So here she was now. 2am. Emergency best friend meeting.
If only Lucas was cooperating.
"Enough pacing." Shirtless, squinty eyed, rumpled bed hair standing at the ends and looking essentially like ass, obviously still buzzed, Luca glared at her, which didn't do so much, considering how laughable he looked right about now. "If you don't stop that, I swear Haley, I'm going to throw up."
"It's your bed." Haley reminded him. She couldn't quite get used to Lucas acting like a… well, a high school jock. In all their years of being best friends, he never showed any inclination towards being a party animal. He always seemed so… mature and everything else the high school boys their age did, it all seemed so beneath him.
But then again, there she was, married and with a rock tour underneath her belt.
How could they both have changed so much in just one year? It seemed impossible to her to have come along to this – to now and yet it had happened. And even if she wanted to go back to how things had been before Chris, something told her that it was going to a real long way back to that and that she shouldn't even try or wish for it, because that would be hoping for the impossible. It was over and done with. Finito.
She sighed. Never underestimate Fates and their twisted sense of humor.
"Ugh. Someday, I am going to kick Nathan's ass for this." Lucas mumbled, rubbing his face.
Haley ignored the urge flick Lucas in the head. He already looked like he was suffering from a massive headache but he was quickly getting on her nerves. He obviously didn't understand the gravity of the situation.
She hadn't told anyone yet about the sad, miserable state of her married life – or rather her unmarried life. She didn't want them to worry about her. She wanted to show them that she could deal with this – with everything that was happening to her, stand by her decisions, whether good or bad. Not telling them made it less real, less painful. To her, having lived most of her life independently, if things got beyond worst, that was the only time to tell her parents. If she had told them, it would be almost like admitting that she had screwed up her marriage beyond repair. It was just unacceptable.
But now, there was no escaping that. The thought of having to relive the whole experience to her mom and dad and ultimately to rest of her family was even worst than having to face all of them this weekend all by herself. They would want to know everything. Word per word. Every little detail.
Taylor was right. She was going to be the talk of their ridiculously insane clan. Sweet, plain Haley James: Married at 17. Heading for divorce at, surprise, 17.
"Oh, my aunt Louisa would just have a field day with that." She announced, pacing around Lucas' room. "She'd just love that, Luke. She would. I'm telling you, she'd eat it all up and spit it out and she'd blame it all on my 'hippy' mom. And of course, she'd have to compare me with her perfect little twin-beauty queens, Little Misses Atlanta circa nineteen eighty two, first ever set of twin ever to be crowned. God forbid anyone forget that, even though their combined high school GPA average couldn't even get past…"
"Haley, Haley," Lucas said, trying to grab her by the wrist and failing miserably at it. "Dammit, will you just stay put!" He beseeched her with bleary blue eyes. He tried once again, but caught only air.
So much for stellar basketball reflexes, Haley thought snorting. "Lucas, what am I going to do?" She asked, sounding as though she was on the verge of hysteria and there was her supposed bestfriend looking at her like she was some sort of apparition in his dreams.
"Just relax, ok." Lucas said, peering up at her, looking less than concerned and more than ready to crawl back to his bed and sleep.
Well, that did it. "Don't. Don't tell me to relax. I know I am being ridiculous, freaking out like this. But I want to be ridiculous. I deserve to be ridiculous. I haven't been ridiculously freaked out like this in a long while Lucas. So don't sit there, looking like ass, telling me to freakin' relax."
That woke him up. Lucas groaned and threw up his hands. He would not be sleeping any time soon. Not with Haley in a state like this. "Ok. Fine. Go on, let's hear it."
Haley blinked at him, unsure of what exactly he meant. "Hear what?"
"Let's hear your ridiculous, insane, freak out rant, because I'm sure as hell that wasn't it."
She narrowed her eyes and flopped down next to Lucas, sighing heavily. "You're not being supportive."
"I'm sorry." Lucas said, suddenly sobering. He took her into his arms, letting her snuggle her head into his chest. "Look, Haley, I didn't mean to sound patronizing, ok?" He said regretfully, not wanting to hurt Haley's feeling. He was better than this and he should be. For Haley. "It's just that…" he let out a huge sigh, wondering how he could fix everything for her. "It's going to be fine." His voice was calm and gentle, slightly worried. "I've been to one of your James family reunions, remember? And nothing bad ever happens. They all just ignore you."
She scowled up at him. "Gee, thanks, for the love, Luke. And it's not just a family reunion; it's my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. Seriously, were you listening to me at all?" She asked in an accusatory voice.
Lucas had the grace to look embarrassed and apologetic. "I am now." He assured her, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze.
"They're probably going to renew their vows and anyone who's going to make a toast will make an example of my marriage. They will caution all my five year old cousins not to be like me. A failure."
"Hales," Lukas exclaimed, pulling her chin up so they were eye leveled. "You are not a failure."
She sniffed indelicately, pushing herself away from Lucas. "Yeah. Right."
"Alright, come here." He said, pulling her back into his chest, biting down the 'omph' of surprise as she practically knocked him down into the bed. "First of all, stop eating all those cookie dough." He muttered absentmindedly.
"Luke!" There was a warning note in her voice that Lucas was familiar with, thank God. Now was the time to quit with any further comment in reference with her cookie dough addiction. He looked at Haley for a full second, taking in her tired eyes and the drooping corners of her mouth. He really didn't like seeing his bestfriend this upset.
People – mainly Nathan – ought to give her some slack. She came back for fuck's sake. What more did that guy want? A blood promise to never, ever leave again? Besides, Nathan was the one who had the bright idea to let her out into the world. What did he expect anyway? A few shows and few concerts? Of course, Haley made some serious lapses in judgment, but Nathan should have known that sharing Haley with the world would have its consequences. And yeah, great job with giving Haley the knee-jerk macho-leave-me-now-leave-me-forever ultimatum.
Haley settled into Lucas' bed, arching her eyebrows as she watched him look down at her, all serious-like.
"You are a smart, beautiful…" Lucas began in all seriousness only to be cut off by Haley groaning loudly.
"Ugh. That is so not the right speech, right now." Haley muttered, extracting herself from Lucas' arms. Rolling her eyes at Lucas' confused face. Well, now that was disappointing, Haley thought. And there she was, thinking Lucas was going to offer her incredible words of wisdom.
"No?" Lucas asked, eyes brows raised, blatant ant perplexity written on all over his face.
Guys. Even Lucas could be so dense sometimes. It was unbelievable. Was it ingrained on their genes or what? "No." She shook her head, crossing her arms against her chest.
"Well, what do you want me to say?" Lucas frowned feeling miserable as well. He was used to being able to make everything ok – at least with Haley he was. And now, he couldn't even fix this. Granted it was something that his bull-headed brother should be fixing. But right now, guessing from the amount of beer and whatever alcoholic beverage Nathan had gotten his hands with tonight, Lucas couldn't count on his brother to get his head out of his ass anytime soon. The bastard.
"That you'll go with me and pretend that you're my husband?" Haley said, even though inside her head, she knew how incredibly stupid and not to mention disturbing that was. But what choice did she have? At least she would have Lucas by her side all weekend. It would definitely make things slightly better for her. Plus, she wouldn't disappoint her grandmother who absolutely adored Lucas.
Lucas shuddered. "Ok, now that was just seriously disturbing and forget cookie dough, are you on crack?"
"I think I should be." She mumbled sadly.
"I know what this is about Haley." Lucas said, finally giving up on trying to be gentle with her. A stubborn Haley was nothing compared to a stubborn Nathan. No wonder they both hadn't been able to fix their problems. Haley was doing her best to be all doe-eyed and submissive with Nathan and Nathan was probably loving every minute of it.
Or he could be just as disheartened to see Haley like this, who knew what was going on inside his brother's head. But this just had to stop. "This isn't about you being the hot topic of discussion. You never really cared about what anyone thinks, especially your Aunt Louisa. You know that you're practically the least insane person that's going to be there, you're the closest normal James..."
"Scott." Haley automatically corrected. "And I don't think I'm liking what you're saying, Luke."
Lucas took her hands and peered into her eyes. "You could deal with them talking behind your back. You've done it all these years. You can stand on your own there, no problem. You don't need me to be there."
"But I do." She insisted.
"Do you, really? Because I have a feeling that you'd rather be asking Nathan instead of me." Haley pouted up at him. And the look in her eyes was all the answer that he needed. "So ask him, Hales."
"I can't." She grounded out, her jaws stubbornly jutting out.
"Why the hell not? He's your husband."
"Because he wouldn't even talk to me! He'd been ignoring me ever since I got back home. And the only time he'd talk to me is to discuss the possibility of a divorce, the k-kiss that apparently didn't mean anything to him and… and… working with Chris again and not kiss him and run away and… and… and…" at this she had burst into tears.
Ok, for this, Nathan's definitely going to get a fist in the jaw, Lucas thought, gritting his teeth. Trying to calm his anger, he sighed and let Haley cry for a few minutes. When she started hiccupping, not a great sign, he rubbed gentle, soothing circles against her back. "Haley, c'mmon, don't cry. You know I hate it when you cry. I don't know how to make it all better for you." Lucas admitted, "And I don't like it. Help me out here, ok?"
She sniffled, looking up at him, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I want to be brave again Lucas. Why can't I be brave again? I want to tell him that the kiss meant the freaking world to me. I want to tell me how upset and angry I am that it was just a nice little moment for him that he could walk away from. It was like being given hope and having him snatch it back again. I want to tell him that I don't care about my music if he wouldn't be there to listen to it at the end of the day. I want to tell him how much I'd love it if he could come with me to my grandparent's wedding anniversary so I could show him off to everyone and tell them that here's the man I married, here's the man that I love. Here's the man that makes me unbelievably happy, but I can't Luke. I can't because I screwed up!"
"Haley," Lucas began, not knowing what else he could possibly say to that.
"And I can't stand the thought of asking him only to hear him say no."
"He wouldn't." He assured her, hoping he sounded as convinced as he felt. Nathan wouldn't do that to her. He might be a total jack-ass right now, but Lucas was sure that Nathan would never let Haley do something like this alone, especially when it's obvious that she's really scared about it. He knew how much Nathan loved Haley's family. More than that, he knew how much Nathan loved Haley.
"You don't know that." Haley answered, her voice small and pained. "I just… I can't, Luke. I just can't."
"Yes, you can. I know you're a lot of things Haley James-Scott," Lucas said, smiling down at her and pinching her nose. She tried to wriggle away, slapping his hands, sputtering curses. "But I know one thing for sure…" he said, finally letting go.
Haley rubbed her nose and glared at Lucas. "Oh, yeah, what is that?"
Lucas handed her a box of Kleenex. "You're the bravest girl I've ever met."
"Oh, Luke." Her sigh was watery and tremulous. "I'm sorry to be such a mess."
"I know. Speaking of, you really need to blow your nose, it's all snotty."
Haley let out a half-smile, punching him on the shoulder. "I hate you." She mumbled before blowing her nose, just as she was told.
"Doesn't matter, I still love you. And so does Nathan. He'll come around, you'll see."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. And if he doesn't, I'll kick his ass."