Authors Note: Hey guys! It's been forever since I have been on fanfiction, over two years I do believe. I finally started feeling like writing again and I hope the inspiration continues. You can thank the lovely NovaRide for encouraging me to post this. Anyways, this is my first One Tree Hill Fanfiction and I hope I did the characters justice. They may be a little out of character but I did my best to make it seem like them. This is set during season 4 right after Nathan and Haley have renewed their vows but in this story Haley is not pregnant. I hope you like it. Please review!
Life's Curveball
Nathan woke up to the sun shining in his face. He rolled over intending to pull his beautiful wife into his arms but instead was met with empty space. He knew that she didn't have a shift at the café until later that night and Haley always slept in on Saturdays. After glancing at the clock to find that it was only 8:30 he knew something must be wrong for her to be up before 10.
Begrudgingly he threw he covers off of his body and rolled out of bed trying to figure out what would cause Haley to be up. Scenarios were running through his head like wildfire as he walked toward the bedroom door.
He was almost convinced aliens had abducted her during the night when he found Haley laying on the couch with a small trashcan clutched in her arms. She looked pale and had sweat along her hairline where her hair was pulled into a messy bun. He didn't have to look at the expression on her face to know why she had a trash can in her arms. Haley was obviously sick and had left the bedroom so as not to disturb him.
Haley eventually noticed Nathan's presence and spoke softly to him, "Hey babe" her voice sounding weak.
By now Nathan had sat down on the couch and pulled her head onto his lap so he could gently stroke her hair. "What's wrong Hales? Why are you in here so early?" He questioned already knowing the answer.
"I didn't want to wake you. I woke up a couple hours ago and have been feeling sick ever since."
"Oh, Hales. You could have gotten me up. You're obviously sick and I want to help make you feel better."
"Nathan, you do not need to see me constantly puking my guts out. You're lucky you missed it." She replied in a serious tone.
"I'm your husband Haley. In sickness and in health. Part of the job description is going through this with you. You don't have to be alone" Nathan pulled Haley into his side as she had sat up to look at him during the conversation. "Being sick is nothing to be ashamed of" he stated as he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"I know but its Saturday. The day you're supposed to sleep in and then go out and have fun. Not be sick or forced to stay home taking care of your wife. That's for old people. I know you had plans with Lucas today. And I have to work."
"You must be sicker than I thought if you are delusional enough to believe that you are going to work today. And I would rather take care of my sick wife when I know she needs me than go help Lucas with whatever it was. Even if that makes me seem like an old person. Plus you are going to spend the day in bed and I am going to take care of everything. No arguing" He added after seeing the look on her face.
She was pouting at him, but the look was quickly replaced with one of nausea as she lunged for the trash can he had placed on the floor earlier. Nathan winced as she emptied what was left in her stomach. He soothingly rubbed circles on her back until she sat back against the couch and he got up and went to the kitchen to get her some water. While in the kitchen he also found some saltine crackers in a cabinet and took them to Haley. He handed her the glass of water first to which she thanked him before he handed her the crackers. She shook her head no afraid to eat anything especially those icky crackers she had never been fond of.
"Come on Hales, they'll help ease your stomach. Trust me." Nathan had gotten the flu a couple of years ago. He had lived off of those stupid crackers for three days because they were the only thing he could keep down.
She reluctantly took the crackers from his hand and started nibbling on one.
"These things are awful" she complained
Nathan chuckled at her complaint. "I know, but it'll be worth it. Now let's get you to bed" He stood up and pulled her with him. Once she was fully upright he bent down and scooped her into his arms bridal style causing her to squeal and have a smile on her face for the first time that morning. Even after being married more than a year it pleased him that such a simple gesture would make her happy. He carried her into the bedroom and placed her on her side of the bed.
"Get some rest" Nathan told her as he leaned down and placed a light kiss on her lips. Haley pulled away quickly looking at him like he'd grown a second head.
"Nathan you're going to get yourself sick if you keep doing that" she reprimanded.
"It'll be worth it" he smirked at her.
"Oh yea, both of us sick at the same time puking our guts out. It'd be hell! If being sick didn't kill us we would probably kill each other."
Nathan couldn't help but laugh at her. "You're probably right" was his only reply as he turned to walk away and leave her to sleep.
"Nate wait!" He heard her call out in a weak voice as he reached the door. He turned to look at her. "Will you stay here with me? At least until I fall asleep?"
He gave her a sweet smile and nodded his head and walked back to the bed. He laid down beside her and opened his arms. She crawled into them and placed her head in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Her hand was lying on his chest and her legs were pressed up against his. She could feel his heart beat against her hand. She smiled against his shoulder as his arms tightened around her and she closed her eyes in hope of sleeping.
Within minutes Nathan felt her breathing even out and he knew she was asleep and about to start her usual light snoring that indicated she was out for the count. That's when he planned to get up, but he wasn't sure he would be able to in fear of waking her up. And frankly, he didn't want to leave this bed with his wife safely in his arms.
When Haley started snoring Nathan stayed there just listening to her. He knew Haley was embarrassed by it, but he enjoyed listening to her. At times she would have a particularly loud snore that sometimes would wake her up. When that happened Nathan always struggled to keep his composure. She was so darn cute. Her soft snoring often lulled him to sleep at night and put him at ease. Now was no different, and he struggled to fight his drooping eyelids because he knew he needed to get up and do all the things Haley normally did on Saturday's so that she wouldn't worry about them or even try to do them herself.
As gently as possible Nathan lifted Haley off of him and onto the bed beside him while trying to slide his arm out from under her. Her snoring stopped but she never moved as he got off the bed. He stood there frozen afraid to move until her snoring started back a minute or so later.
Nathan had never really cleaned the apartment before. He'd watched Haley run around like someone on crack on Saturday mornings cleaning and tidying everything up. Looking back he felt bad for never helping her. Even during the time that she hadn't lived there with him his mom would often stop by to clean or he would just let it go. He had no idea where to start but it couldn't be that hard right?
He looked around the small apartment and decided to start with picking up everything that didn't belong and put it in its right place. There was old take out boxes and empty drinks from where Tim had been over playing NBA live while Haley was working late last night. Some random magazines were spread out across the coffee table. Dirty dishes could be found in the sink and random junk from the past few days could be found on the dinner table. He also knew stuff needed to be done in the bedroom but didn't bother with it while Haley was sleeping.
After cleaning up all the trash in the apartment he had the joy of taking the trash out. This was the one task he did on a regular basis not wanting Haley to overdo it trying to carry the sometimes heavy bags and throw them into the dumpster which was harder for her to do with her petite frame.
The magazines he arranged into one neat pile on the coffee table with the TV remote on top. The PlayStation controllers and games he put back into their spot of the TV stand.
The dishes were a whole different obstacle that loomed in front of him. Haley made cleaning them look so simple, but he had always watched her, not what she was doing to clean them. After some thought he decided to put them off till last.
"Now what else does that crazy girl to on Saturdays?" Nathan mumbled to himself. While looking around the room his eyes landed on the closet door where the contraption known as a vacuum was kept. He contemplated vacuuming for a moment before deciding against it since Haley was sleeping.
Glancing at the clock Nathan realized that it was already 12 and Haley had been asleep for over two hours. His stomach chose this moment to growl and he decided he should make him and Haley some lunch before he woke her up. He hoped that her stomach could handle food now that she had slept some more.
Nathan wasn't much of a cook but surely he could simply heat up a can of soup for his wife. Grabbing a can of chicken noodle soup from the cabinet he glanced at the directions on the label. You simply dumped the contents into a pot and added water. It sounded so simple. And Nathan knew Haley liked adding extra noodles to hers. He would just throw in some of the spaghetti they had and it would be fine.
Thirty minutes later Nathan realized he was wrong. When he had noticed the soup was boiling he had removed it. While trying to pour it into a bowl he found half of the noodles scorched to the bottom of the pot. And when he had tasted it he had found the noodles he had added had not cooked and everything had a hint of that awful burnt taste. He was ashamed to admit he couldn't even make soup.
Knowing Haley needed to eat something he did the only other thing he knew to do, he called Karen's café. Karen answered the phone and told Nathan she would have Lucas deliver the food to them so that Nathan wouldn't have to leave Haley there along. He graciously thanked her for the help knowing that Haley would enjoy the café's food much more than his own.
When Lucas arrived Nathan let him into the apartment and took the food from him placing it on the counter.
"Hey man, how's Hales?" Lucas asked looking concerned for his best friend.
"She's been asleep for about three hours, which is good because this morning she looked exhausted and she couldn't keep anything in her stomach."
"Ugh, that's awful. Is she going to the doctor?"
"I don't know. We'll see how she feels when she wakes up but knowing Haley she'll probably refuse either way."
"True. Well I better get going. I have to go help mom at the café. I'm guessing our plans for tonight are canceled?" Lucas questioned as he walked toward the door.
"Yea, I'm sorry man. I know we were supposed to meet the guys at the river court for a game but I need to stay here with Haley."
"No problem. You take care of my sister-in-law." Was Lucas' response as he walked out the door.
Nathan grabbed the food and walked toward the bedroom. He opened the door to find the bed empty. He placed the food down on the nightstand as he heard the sound of the toilet flushing. Haley opened the door of the bathroom looking more alive than she had that morning. The color had returned to her checks and a smile graced her features as she spotted Nathan beside the bed.
"Hey sleeping beauty" Nathan spoke quietly as she walked into his waiting arms. "Feeling better?"
"Mostly. I'm hoping it was just a small bug or maybe just something I ate." She replied looking up at him sweetly before scrunching her nose. "What's that smell?"
Nathan hadn't noticed before but there was hints of the burnt soup smell still lingering in the air on top of the smell of her soup from the café and the burger he had ordered himself. "That's probably the food" he replied pointing to the nightstand beside him.
Haley looked at the café bag sitting on the stand confused before questioning him. "No it's more of a burnt smell. It's nauseating. And I know Karen wouldn't send burnt food."
Nathan looked at her sheepishly "I may have tried to cook you soup and burnt it." Haley couldn't help but laugh at him which caused him to smile. "So instead I ordered soup from the café for you. Chicken noodle."
"With extra noodles?" she questioned happily. He nodded his head yes before she pulled his face towards hers for a quick kiss in excitement. He couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm.
They sat on the bed eating there food while watching TV when Haley decided to ask Nathan about cooking and what else he had done that morning. He looked nervous as he told her about cleaning or at least attempting to. "I cleaned all the trash up and straightened up, but I thought the vacuum would wake you." He paused a second "and I didn't know how to wash the dishes, so I left them" he stated looking embarrassed.
She smiled at him trying to ease his embarrassment. "It's ok, I'll do them. How have you never washed dishes before?" she teased playfully "I'll have to make you clean more often."
Nathan laughed at her comment before throwing his arm around her and hugging her to his side. "You're right. I need to pull my weight around here more. I never realized how much you do. I'm tired and I haven't done half of what you do."
She looked at him trying to figure out how to respond. "I love you. Thank you for taking care of things today, and me. Don't worry about helping more; I know you're busy with basketball and everything. I'm ok handling it on my own."
"Don't thank me. I'm doing it because I love you. And if you'll be patient with me and be my tutor, I'll help you around the apartment more."
"Deal." She replied. She had finished her soup a while ago and so far she felt ok. The nausea was gone and most of the fatigue. She was still a little tired but as long as she didn't overdo it she thought she would be good as new by tomorrow.
Nathan grabbed her arm to help her off the bed once he realized she intended on cleaning the dishes now. Haley found the gesture to be over protective but let it slide knowing he was only trying to help. Instead of commenting on it she smiled at him as they walked hand in hand toward the kitchen.
Upon reaching the sink Haley automatically took all the dirty dishes and arranged them neatly so that the plates were stacked together, then the bowls and cups, and lastly the dirty pots and pans. She had left all the silverware in one side of the double sink as she started to fill it with hot water and added the detergent.
Nathan couldn't help but inwardly laugh at her organizing the dirty dishes; it was such a Haley thing to do. He watched intently as she expertly used the old sponge they had to clean each piece of silverware before rinsing them of on the other side of the sink and then placed them in the drying rack.
As she neared the end of the pile of dishes her head started to pound. It was one of the worst headaches she had had in a while. During a particularly painful throb she winced without meaning to causing Nathan to instantly be at her side.
"What's wrong?" His tone one of seriousness and concern.
She knew there was no point in trying to lie to him. "My head is killing me. It just came out of nowhere!" She replied frustrated.
He took the wet sponge and pot she had been cleaning from her hand and placed them back in the sink before leading her to the couch to sit down. He could see that she was about to protest so he stopped her with his own response "I'll finish the remaining dishes. And I'm going to bring you some Tylenol and you're going to sit here and continue to rest." His tone left no room for questions, so Haley obeyed.
Nathan proceeded to finish washing the remaining dishes before the couple spent the rest of the evening watching Haley's favorite movies. Normally Nathan would protest at the chick flicks until they compromised with each other. But knowing how awful Haley had felt all day he let her have free reign of the movie choices hoping to cheer her up some.
He couldn't help but fall in love with her more when at the end of the night for their last movie she picked an action movie that she normally enjoyed just for his sake. She would never admit it, but he knew part of the reason she liked the movie so much was because the lead actor was her favorite and she found him attractive. He only knew this information because he had overheard a conversation between her, Brooke, and Peyton talking about him and giggling like typical high school girls.
During the most climatic part of the movie he glanced down at Haley who was lying with her head in his lap sound asleep. He let out a chuckle at her inability to stay awake until the end. Not wanting to completely ruin her sleep he waited until the end of the movie to wake her up so that she could get ready for bed.
He crawled into the bed in only his boxers while Haley was still in the bathroom. When they had first spent the night together before getting married he would sleep in basketball shorts and a t-shirt afraid of making her uncomfortable if he slept in his normal attire. Gradually he had started sleeping without a t-shirt, but he never slept in just his boxers around her until after they were married. Haley had appreciated him thinking of her during that time but she enjoyed him sleeping shirtless. And he enjoyed the tank top and shorts she normally sported to bed.
Nathan stopped himself before his thoughts went too far as Haley walked out of the bathroom and climbed up next to him. They took up the same position they had earlier that morning and yet again Haley was out and snoring within minutes. However, this time Nathan didn't fight sleep and allowed her soft snores to lure him to a peaceful sleep.
It was now Monday and the couple was getting ready for school. Haley had been nauseous Sunday morning but had not been sick like she had the day before. She had gotten another headache mid-day but it was just a small one that had lasted no time. The couple had spent the day catching up on homework and just relaxing. Haley had finally convinced Nathan she was ok so that he would go to the river court to meet the guys for a game. During the time he was gone she finished all the housework that had not been done the day before. She was extremely tired and had taken things slow since she was technically recovering still from being sick.
Haley was feeling even better that Monday morning and only had a hint of the nausea she'd experienced the past couple of days. Nathan thought she should skip school that day to make sure she was ok but Haley wouldn't agree since she was not running a fever and hadn't thrown up in two days. Anything else that was wrong she could work through and if she was contagious Nathan would already be sick since he had never fully refrained from kissing her and had been with her the whole time.
"Hurry up Hales! You're taking forever and we're going to be late again" Nathan yelled at the bathroom door to his wife who was taking an exceptionally long, and from the steam he could see, hot shower that morning.
She replied by throwing a bar of soap at him as he opened the door and yelled at him to shut up. He was taken aback at her response. She normally made some joke about looking pretty or him taking longer. He never expected her to get mad. And she had even thrown soap at him. She had been happy before going to take her shower. Nathan shook his head as he exited the bathroom and assumed she was pmsing again. He knew from past experiences that Haley could get a little intense during that time of the month.
Once she was done with her shower and fully dressed Nathan quietly slipped in to take a quick shower as she fixed her hair and make-up for the day. It was a system they had worked out long ago that allowed for more sleep for both of them in the mornings and they still got to school on time. He just hoped that she didn't try to drown him as he showered today.
There drive to school was a peaceful one and Haley appreciated it since the nausea she was experiencing was slowly getting stronger. Maybe she should have listened to Nathan and stayed at home that day. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind as they pulled into their usual spot and saw their friends waiting just a little ways off. Hopefully she wouldn't get the urge to throw something again like she had this morning with Nathan. She still didn't fully understand what had come over her.
As the married couple approached the group they found Mouth, Skills, and Lucas talking about some basketball game whereas Peyton and Brooke were in some odd discussion about some guy Brooke had met over the weekend. Nathan joined in with the guys as he kept his arm around Haley. She wasn't paying attention to either conversation and was instead thinking about how long the day was going to be until Brooke pulled her out of her trance.
"Earth to Tutor-girl!"
"What?" Haley looked at Brooke and realized she had completely missed what Brooke had been saying to her. "Sorry, what was it you were saying?"
"What did you do all weekend?" Brooke repeated looking annoyed.
Haley grimaced at the question before answering "Besides puking my guts out all day Saturday I just slept and did homework."
"Forget I asked" Brooke state looked grossed out by her confession before looking concerned for her friend. "Are you feeling better today?"
"Yea, I don't feel the greatest yet, but I'm definitely better" Haley said knowing it wasn't a complete lie despite the urge to throw up getting stronger again. Haley ignored it determined to make it through the school day.
The bell rang causing the group to disperse and head towards there appropriate classes. Nathan, Luke, and Skills went toward the gym while Brooke, Haley, Peyton, and Mouth went to their calculus class.
To Haley the class drug on which was odd considering math normally went by pretty fast with the way she constantly scribbled notes. She could feel the beginnings of yet another headache but chose to ignore it in hope that it would go away. However, by the time second period started it was a full blown headache.
She sat beside Lucas during this class and it just happened to be history, her most hated subject. They were watching a documentary today on the civil war that was getting on her last nerve. She wanted to throw her book at the projector so that the monotone men would stop speaking. Instead she chose to pass notes to Lucas complaining about it.
Can this movie get any more boring? She wrote and slipped it to him. He smirked as he read it and looked up at her to see her pretending to shoot herself.
Just think, only thirty more minutes of this awful video before we go to English and get to write a book report. He replied. Haley glared at him as she read his response not wanting to think about how much of the documentary was left or that awful book report she had to write.
By now the documentary had started showing photos of the blood covered battle fields. Looking at the painted pictures caused a massive wave of nausea to hit Haley. She knew that she needed to get out of that room now or it was going to get ugly. She could fill it start to rise in her throat and without asking she jumped out of her seat and ran for the door. She barely made it to a bathroom stall before the contents of her stomach decided to make their presence known.
Haley groaned as she fell to her knees and laid her head against the stall wall not daring to touch the toilet that had who knows what on it. She had already vowed to bleach her clothes from sitting on the sticky floor and leaning against the wall. The thought of all the gross things that could have been done on this floor she was now in contact with sent her into another round of puking.
When she was sure that her stomach was calm enough Haley made her way back to the classroom in time to gather her things as the bell rang. One look told Lucas what had been going on as he grimaced at her.
"You go home, I'll tell Nate what happened." He said while giving her a hug before heading towards their English class. Haley apologized to the teacher and quickly explained before getting a note to excuse her from classes the rest of the day.
Not quite feeling up to driving and knowing Nathan would need the car later she caught the city bus back to her apartment. The bus was empty besides her, but the awful smell that lingered did not help her stomach or her head during the short ride home.
Upon arriving at the apartment Haley threw her bags in the corner and immediately went to get a glass of water. Knowing that the awful saltine crackers had helped the other day she grabbed them out of a cabinet and began nibbling on one.
Meanwhile back at school, Nathan was sitting in class worried about Haley. When he had arrived to the English class that they all shared Lucas had told him about Haley running out in the middle of class. He had said she was sick again and went home after history. He hated when she took the public bus anywhere and the thought of her being sick and taking it back was really bothering him. She despised the bus on her best days. It was only half way through class and he was trying to find a way to leave now before the bell rang for lunch to go back home and check on Haley. He was drawing a blank for once, something that was uncommon for the king of skipping class.
He was still racking his brain for an idea thirty minutes later when they bell rang for lunch. He quickly darted out the door and down the hall heading towards his car. The short drive home seemed to take extra-long as he hoped Haley was ok.
When he finally arrived he walked in to find Haley nowhere in sight. Her bags were in their usual corner indicating to Nathan that she had at least arrived home safely. He walked into the bedroom thinking she might be sleeping but didn't find her there either. As he was turning to leave he heard her in the bathroom. The awful sound of her emptying her stomaching reaching his ears made him wince. In that moment he decided it was time to drag her kicking and screaming to the doctor if he had to.
He opened the door to find Haley seated on the tiled floor leaning against the toilet. He quickly stepped toward her and pulled her hair back as she started gagging again. Once the convulsions stopped she started crying and he pulled her to him to comfort her.
"It's ok Hales. Shhh. Don't cry." He whispered stroking her hair. As quickly as they had started her tears started to subside. Nathan leaned back to look at her face. "Are you finally ready to go to the doctor?"
Haley solemnly nodded her head yes. She was at her wits end and just wanted to feel better. Nathan gave her a soft smile "good because I was taking you anyways." The statement caused Haley to laugh while also stirring her anger. She pushed the anger aside as she went to stand up.
Nathan watched as she brushed her teeth and tried to make herself more presentable. She always looked beautiful to him, even now after he had held her as she threw up. But not matter how much he told her that she always thought she needed to do something to look better when leaving the apartment.
Haley leaned against the car door during the drive to the doctor. They always made her nervous and the smell was awful. The smell seemed even worse today as they entered the building and walked to the front to sign in. The couple sat in the waiting room holding hands. Nathan rubbed soothing circles across her knuckles. It had been decided that Nathan could go in the room with her to see the doctor. Haley appreciated his kindness not wanting to be there alone.
As her name was called they both stood up and walked towards the nurse waiting at an open door. Nathan held her things as they measured her height and weight. Next she went to take a urine test while he stood at the door and waited on her. They were finally ushered into an exam room where they once again were left alone to wait.
"How are you feeling Hales?" Nathan asked hoping that the doctor would fix her up.
"Like a test subject." She grumbled causing Nathan to laugh. She sighed "tired, but thankfully not nauseous" was her serious answer. Nathan gently put his arm around her and pulled her to his side as she gave a big yawn.
There moment was interrupted by the doctor walking into the room.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Scott, what brings you in today?" he questioned while looking at her chart.
"I've been sick the past few days and haven't seemed to be getting better. I've been nauseous and even throwing up some, I've had headaches, been extra tired and a little moody" she told him honestly trying to tell him everything.
"I see. I'm going to ask you a few questions. Have you been feeling nauseous all day? Or is it isolated to certain times of the day?"
"For the most part it's been worse in the mornings but I've felt nauseous some in the afternoon as well" she replied trying to recall how the days have went.
"Ok. Any fever? Or questionable food that you've eaten lately?"
"No and no." Haley answered shaking her head intently.
"Ok. When was your last menstrual cycle?"
Haley looked at him puzzled as she counted back the days to her last period. She couldn't quite recall but she knew it had been over a month ago. "Um over a month ago I think" she replied nervously. Nathan was looking more confused than Haley. Why was he asking her this? And was it really over a month ago since Haley had tried to kill him last during that awful time of the month?
The doctor looked at another piece of paper in her file and smiled. "Well Mrs. Scott I have some good news. You aren't sick. In fact you are pregnant. I would like to run some more tests to determine how far along you are."
Nathan and Haley both looked at each other mouths agape. Haley snapped out of the shock first and turned back to the doctor. "But that can't be, I'm on birth control!" Haley claimed.
"Well it's hard to explain. Birth control isn't 100% effective and sometimes it fails. If you have taken any antibiotics lately that would cause it to stop working as well." He looked at the shocked young couple. "A nurse will be in here in a minute to take you to have blood work done and then I'll need you back in a few days to discuss the results. I'll give you a minute alone."
As the doctor left Haley turned to Nathan afraid of his reaction. She was terrified but happy that they were going to have a baby. But she didn't have everything career wise to loose like Nathan did. Did Nathan even want kids? She didn't know, it wasn't something they had discussed yet. Nor did she know what to expect to see when she turned to look at him, probably a frown or anger of some sort. She didn't expect to see the big smile spread across his face.
She smiled back at him as he stood from his chair to embrace her in a bear hug. "Hales we're going to have a baby!" he nearly shouted. His excitement made her laugh as tears came to her eyes.
Pulling back Nathan saw the tears and his face fell "Haley what's wrong? Don't you want this baby?"
"No no, it's not that!" She said wiping at the stupid tears. "I'm just so happy. I mean yea, its awful timing and I'm scared shitless, but Nathan we're going to be parents." She smiled at him hugging him closer again.
"I've never been happier Hales. Everything's going to be ok. I love you" he said softly into her hair as he placed a kiss to her forehead.
"I love you too" she whispered into his chest. She had never felt so happy in her life.