Drown
Title:Drown.
Author: Cherie Dennis.
Summary: He's been part of her - always will be part of her - and she doesn't want to let that go.
Rating: PG.
Pairings: Nathan/Haley.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. At all.
Author's Note: I own nothing. The quotes in italics belong to the creators of OTH and all them other folks - I'm just borrowing. Written for the 100moods theme "crushed".
Haley hands Nathan her rings (the first wedding ring which turned into the engagement ring and the second wedding band, diamond sparkling back at her) and the Cracker Jack bracelet (Don't say I never gave you anything) and she feels her heart break. She offers him a watery smile and she gently closes his fingers around the jewelry, each a piece of their broken always-and-forever, their hopes, their dreams. She gathers her bags off the floor, straps sliding onto shoulders and fingers wrapping around handles as she fights the urge to stay, to turn around and tell Nathan to forget it ever happened. He's been part of her - always will be part of her - and she doesn't want to let that go. But things changed (I shouldn't have tried to change you or us and now, now I'm done trying), they've changed and she can't live in the past anymore.
"Hales," he says softly, placing a hand on her shoulder and she pauses - gives him one last chance to say what he needs to say - before she walks out of his life. He stands still, eyebrows knit in confusion, ignoring the silence as it builds and threatens to destroy what's left of their sanity. "Please," he whispers finally, silently begging her to turn around, to take this all back. "Please don't leave me."
Her head is bowed and she looks at the floor, fighting as hard as she can against the tears. She notices for the first time that she's wearing those jeans (These jeans, you wore them the day we fell asleep in the park together ) and she has to look away, has to look at something that won't make this harder. "This has been a long time coming," she says gently, not turning around to face him because that would be too hard. "A part of me will always love you Nathan, but I can't do this anymore." (It was my fault, the accident, my father being sent to prison, everything that happened that night was my fault.) She puts her hand on his for a split second and they both relish in the feel of the other's skin before she pushes it away, starts to walk out the door.
"Hales," he calls out, praying against all hope that she turns around, runs back into his arms. (At this point there is nothing that you can say or do that's gonna surprise me.) The only answer she gives is the gentle shutting of the front door and the silence that follows threatens to swallow Nathan whole, that feels so thick that he can barely breathe. He feels like he's underwater again, searching for Rachel and Cooper's hands (I love you) but there's nothing - no Haley to come back to, to survive for - so he lets himself drown.