The truth hurts.
Summary: Oneshot. Takes place after 509. Haley and Nathan get home and Nathan tells Haley about Carrie.
Disclaimer: I do not own one tree hill.
Haley walked into her bedroom where Nathan was sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him on the bed. She'd just got home after going out for a couple of drinks with Brooke and had checked in on James before she came to her bedroom.
"Congratulations!" she exclaimed as she sat down on the bed next to Nathan. "I'm so proud of you. I'm sorry I missed it." she muttered after a few moments. It felt like a dagger to his heart, he had to tell her what happened with Carrie, he had no choice. But he could wait a little longer and enjoy this time with his wife.
"Thanks. Where did you get to anyway?" he asked
"We got locked in the library!" she laughed
"What?"
"Yeah, we were walking past and we saw Mia, so we went in and Peyton was there, her and Lindsey insulted each other and then we tried to leave but the doors were being fixed so we couldn't open it from the inside." She explained
"Why didn't you just call?" he asked confused
"No one except Brooke had service and she called Mouth but there was no answer and then her battery died." Nathan laughed
"Wait. So how did you get out?"
"We had internet, it's how we knew what was going on in the game, any way we ordered pizza from a website and you'll ever guess who the delivery guy was!"
Nathan looked at her waiting for an answer.
"Tim."
"Wow, I haven't seen him in forever"
"Yeah, he's hardly changed. He has a kid though, just younger than Jamie. Called Nathan" she laughed and Nathan looked uncomfortable
"That's weird"
"Yeah Brooke and Peyton thought so too" she nodded "but Tim being Tim let the door slam shut so we were locked in again. Then after a fight between Peyton and Lindsey, then them working it out, Tim got us out by pulling a bit of the door out."
"So you owe your freedom to Tim" Nathan stated looking at his wife
"Yeah, I got his number so we could keep in touch" she smiled and Nathan wrapped an arm around her.
"The game must've been awesome, every time we looked Ravens were down." She continued
"It was entertaining, but God, gotta give Whitey credit for not having a heart attack"
"Yeah, but he had you on his team" she smirked and kissed his cheek and then his lips. They hadn't done that yet, they hadn't got the chance since that night at Tric, but Haley was under the influence of alcohol at this specific moment in time.
Nathan pulled away and looked her in the eyes, he couldn't hide this anymore, it would only hurt her more in the long run.
"Hales, I've got to tell you something."
"Okay... what is it?" she asked worried by his tone of voice
"It's about what I was going to tell you earlier" he paused
"Nathan, will you just get to the point." She demanded anxiously
"Carrie kissed me" he blurted out and Haley froze
"Haley?" he said but got no response
"Hales, I swear it didn't mean anything, she initiated it and I pushed her away straight away. I would never" he corrected himself "I could never do that to you, you have to know that!" he explained desperately.
"Why?" she whispered
"What?"
"Why did she kiss you?"
"I don't know."
"Were you flirting with her?" she asked, her fears from when she had seen them in the pool together coming to the surface
"I wasn't sure if she was flirting with me and I didn't want to be rude but then I caught her skinny dipping and that night at Tric she was coming on really strong. I told her to stop-"
"Wait, the night of Tric. That was a few days ago, and what do you mean you saw her skinny dipping?" she said frantically trying to make sense of all the information she was getting.
"Last week, it was night and I went out on the balcony and she was I the pool"
"Oh my God." They sat there in silence for a few minutes while Haley tried to collect her thoughts. She didn't know what to think. Whether she should be glad he told her or angry that he had kept it from her for so long. And what about Carrie? She had put her son in the care of that whore! Maybe it was her fault, if she hadn't been working so many hours and staying out late so much. She didn't know what to think.
"Hales?" Nathan prodded
"I can't be around you right now" she said trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.
She walked out of the bedroom they shared and over to her son's room. She went over to the bed and stroked his hair.
"Mama" he said, sleep evident in his voice
"I'm here baby" she said "Can I join you in bed?" she asked
"Yeah" he nodded and Haley got into bed with him and pulled him close.
"I love you, baby" she choked out
"I love you too, mama" he mumbled "Are you sad?"
"I'll be okay, but Carrie's going to be leaving"
"Is that why you're sad?"
"No sweetie, that's not why I'm sad"
"Is it because I called her mama? It was and accident, I didn't mean it" he rambled waking up
It was like a punch to the gut. Carrie had infiltrated every part of her life and she had stood back and let her. She hugged Jamie closer to her and she felt him snuggle into her.
"She said she sometimes pretends I'm her kid" Jamie said, remembering what Carrie had told him
"What? Jamie, when did she say this?"
"After I said-"
"Okay" she interrupted, unable to hear him tell her again. "Just go back to sleep, honey" she kissed him goodnight and left the room.
She crossed the hallway back to her room where Nathan was still sitting on the bed. He looked up when she walked in and watched as she paced and waited for her to speak first.
She continued pacing but started to talk. "That Carrie bitch is crazy!" she burst out tears choking in her throat and Nathan waited for her to explain as his heart broke at the pain she feeling and angry that he had caused it and now could do nothing about it. "She told Jamie that she sometimes pretends he's her kid!" she exploded, tears falling now "God, we left our son with her Nathan. If she's saying stuff like that..." she trailed off. He stood up and walked over to her. He tentatively wrapped his arms around her and she sunk into the embrace. "I'm mad at you, Nathan. Why didn't you tell me when it started?"
"I thought I was overreacting and I didn't want to worry you. We'd been through so much recently that I didn't want to add with it with something that I could have been totally misreading"
"You're supposed to tell me everything Nathan! You promised me!" she cried desperately
"I know Hales and I'm so sorry, I was giving her the benefit of the doubt and then a second chance, which I shouldn't have done"
"She has to go, now." Haley stated
"Yeah" Nathan agreed "When did she say she pretended Jamie is her kid?" he asked concerned
"When he called her mama" she whispered
"Oh Hales, he didn't mean it. It was a complete accident, he was just showing her a picture and it slipped out, he corrected himself straight away"
Haley sobbed into Nathan's chest and he didn't know what to do. "It's my fault" she cried "If I hadn't been working so much-"
"No, do not blame yourself. From the sounds of it she's trying to do this to you. I don't know what kind of twisted person would do that, but we'll get rid of her straight away, screw the 2 weeks notice." He said
"I want her gone" she finished in a final tone.
"C'mon, we'll do it in the morning" Nathan said pulling her over to the bed.
They laid down and Nathan pulled Haley in. They curled up under the covers, Haley still in her clothes and Nathan kissed her forehead. She looked up at him and saw the love, sincerity and regret shining in his blue orbs. It was then that she knew that he didn't do this on purpose and thought he was doing what was best for her. He had told her, not to hurt her, but so they could work it out as a couple. She leant forward and kissed him on the lips, it started slow but gradually gained momentum. "Hales" Nathan stopped them.
"Shh." Haley kissed him again. Nathan saw the look in her eyes and could tell what it meant.
"Are you sure?" he asked
"Positive" she smiled shyly.
The next morning, Haley made her way downstairs where Carrie was making a pot of coffee.
"Good morning" she smiled a smile that made Haley want to slap it off of her face.
"Morning" Haley muttered
"Bad night?" Carrie asked. Before Haley would have thought she was being sympathetic, but now she just sounded condescending, even hopeful.
"No just a long one. I hope we didn't wake you, Nathan can be quite loud" Haley smirked and watched as a look of jealousy and disgust crossed Carrie's face but was quickly masked with a chuckle.
"Oh, you didn't wake me" she lied. She had heard them last night.
Carrie laid in her bed in the guest room that was slightly cut off from Nathan and Haley's room and Jamie's room but she heard the start of an argument. She heard the hushed angry tones and peaked out of her room and saw Haley crossing the hall into Jamie's room. She smirked and closed her door and lay back down. This might be easier than she though, if they were already fighting.
A couple of minutes passed and she heard Haley crossing back to her room. She could hear them talking but couldn't make out what they were saying. It went quiet and stayed that way for a little while before she heard the creak of a mattress. She then heard a moan, she turned over and tried to block it out but the moans got louder and were soon joined by a male voice. It wasn't long before she heard a scream from Haley and a groan from Nathan.
She was glad it was finally over and tried to get to sleep, but then it started again.
"Oh good" Haley smiled and on the inside she was laughing, Carrie had heard them, she wouldn't have got to sleep in the time that Haley had seen her looking out from her room.
Nathan came down the stairs accompanied by Jamie and joined Haley and Carrie. Jamie got up on a stool and Nathan went and stood behind Haley, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed he cheek. She giggled and said quietly "I was just checking Carrie didn't hear us last night" Nathan smirked when he saw the glint in his wife's eye as she turned around to face him. Even thinking about the night before made him need a cold shower and he was glad that they were getting better but he hated that what Carrie had done had hurt her.
"Well that does surprise me, considering how loud you were" he whispered huskiliy
"Who me?" she laughed and kissed him on the lips.
"Yes you" he gave her another peck on the lips.
Behind them Carrie was busying herself with making Jamie's breakfast as he spun a ball in his hands.
"Carrie" Nathan started and Haley looked at him curiously "We have been thinking you're going to be starting this course soon and we don't really need you as much lately now that I'm back on my feet, so you can finish today. I'm sure you must need to get things sorted before you go. You know, a place to live, books to get, packing etcetera" he said with a smile
"No, it's okay" she replied
"Oh we insist, you should go out and enjoy yourself before you go back to college" Haley finished for her husband
Carrie tried to refuse and looked to Nathan, but he was looking at his wife with adoration shining in his eyes and his arms firmly secured around her like a protector.
"Okay, thanks" she smiled tightly and left the room
"You're cruel!" Nathan whispered in her ear
"No, I'm not" she laughed "Thank you, though, for being the one to tell her to leave"
"I didn't tell her to, I quietly persuaded her" he laughed and kissed her again. Jamie had gone to watch television and when Carrie re-entered the kitchen they were making out like teenagers .
She coughed interrupting them. They broke away and looked at her not excusing themselves.
"Is there anything you need me to do?" she asked trying to hide her discomfort, the whole time she'd been there she hadn't seen them this close.
"No, just you get yourself packed" Haley said in what sounded like a friendly matter and Carrie left the room again and Nathan chuckled.
"Care to join me in the pool?" he asked
"Not until we get it cleaned" she said her nose curling up in disgust and Nathan laughed and they went to join James in the living room.
An hour later after watching enough children's television for one day she got up.
"Why don't you two go play basketball for a little while, while I make lunch" she smiled giving both of them a kiss on the cheek and leaving the room. They went out into the backyard and Nathan sent Haley a wink before closing the door.
Haley went into the kitchen where Carrie was stood at the stove.
"I can make lunch if you want."
"No, I like making lunch for my family" she said in a sickly sweet tone
"Oh, okay. Is there anything you would like me to do?"
"Yeah actually, stop flirting with my husband." She said her demeanour changing dramtically
"I don't know what you mean, Haley." She lied
"Don't do that, he told me about the skinny dipping and the flirting" she purposely left out the kiss
"You know, he wasn't exactly pushing me away" Carrie said letting the pretence drop
"No, he gave you the benefit of the doubt, which you obviously didn't deserve. So you need to get the hell out of my house and stay away from my husband and son you sick bitch." Carrie looked shocked and Haley moved closer. Before she knew what had happened, Haley had slapped her.
"And if you ever kiss my husband again, you'll get more than a slap" she hissed and left the room walking right into Nathan.
"Do you know what the benefit of having sluts flirt with me? Is that you always get in a cat fight with said slut and that makes you really hot" he told her in a husky voice kissing her neck.
She laughed slightly and buried her head in Nathan's chest.
"Damn you for being so hot" she mumbled
"You love that I'm hot"
"Most of the time" she sighed clinging to him.
They heard Carrie making her way down the stairs with her suitcase and looked at her.
"Can I say goodbye to Jamie"
"No" Haley replied shortly and Nathan looked pointedly towards.
"It could be damaging emotionally if he didn't get a chance to say goodbye." She said
"You know what else could be damaging, you telling him you pretend he's your kid. Now get out of my house and stay away from my family" Haley declared determinedly.
"Fine, Bye Nathan" she said with a wink and Nathan had to hold Haley back as the door slammed shut.
"She's gone." Nathan said
"Yeah" she smiled
"I love you" he whispered
"I love you too" she said
"Always and forever." He muttered while kissing her jaw line.
Done and please review. Thank you.