Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or any of the characters.
A/N: So, this is A/U and for the first time, I'm posting a story without having most of it written. In fact, I have just this chapter written so I can't promise that updates will be extremely frequent but I will do my best. I've had this idea bouncing around for a few weeks and finally got down to writing it and I'm pretty happy with this. Since I'm fairly new to this board (as a writer, not a reader) I am wondering if anyone would be interested in beta-ing this fic for me. Let me know! I actually didn't see any of tonight episode until after I'd written this chapter. I don't get the CW so I just saw a few of the naley scenes on youtube. Kind of wierd when you see the similiarites but I don't want to say to much about the fic but I hope you all enjoy it and have faith in me! Please review... I'd love to hear what you think.
-A.
She ran her fingers along his strong jaw, their eyes locked together; savouring the last minutes they would spend together before he boarded the plane that would take him to Iraq. He could see the tears forming in her eyes and watched her blink as she tried to push them back. "I'm going to love you forever, Haley James," he whispered to her, wrapping his arms tighter around her tiny frame, pulling her tighter to his chest. "Always remember that."
She nodded her head as the tears she'd been holding back since the day he'd told her he enlisted began rolling down her cheeks. "Don't be the hero, Nathan," she sobbed as she clutched onto his t-shirt and buried her face in his hard chest. "Please. I need you in my life."
He kissed the top of her head and let his fingers play with the ends of her hair. "Nothing is going to happen to me Hales. In two years, I'm going to be right back here and we're going to get married and start our family." She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears and make up streaked across her face, and smiled, dreaming of the perfect family she would have with him. He wiped the stray tears off of her face with his thumb before leaning down and taking her mouth with his. The kiss was slow, neither battling for dominance, neither wanting it to end either; a kiss that would have to last them two years.
When he finally pulled away, he saw fresh tears pooling in her eyes. "God, I love you Haley," he whispered, their eyes meeting again. She nodded, knowing that she couldn't rely on her voice right now, hoping that he would know she felt the exact same way about him as he did about her. Maybe even more. "I need you to promise me something though, Haley."
"Nathan, don't," she pleaded, turning away from him.
Ignoring her, he took her face in his hands and made her look up at him. "If something happens to me over there, promise me you'll be happy. Promise me that you'll find love again. Promise me that you'll keep going."
"Nathan..."
"Promise me, Haley. I can't concentrate on staying alive if I know that you won't be okay if something would happen to me. I need to know that you'll be happy. So, promise me," he said softly, not letting her look away from him.
"I promise," she sobbed, as her tears fell down her face again. She pulled herself into his chest once more, breathing in his familiar scent. "Don't you die, Nathan Scott. I don't want a life with anybody but you."
They held onto each other for a final moment until Nathan's flight was called. As he kissed her again, he pulled the ring out of his pocket and slowly slid it on her left hand. She pulled away from the kiss and stared at the silver band wrapped around her ring finger. "I promise that I'm coming back for you, Hales. It's going to be me and you, always and forever."
"Always and forever," she repeated, smiling as she admired the simple ring on her finger. "I love you," she whispered, looking up at him, proud of the man he'd become and of the work he was doing. As much as it killed her to know that, no matter what he promised her he could die, she knew that it was something he believed in. Something he felt he had to do.
"I love you too, baby," he replied. Leaning in, their lips brushed against each other's one last time, and then the final boarding call was announced over the loud speaker. He picked up his bags and gave her a sad smile before walking through the security gate towards the plane. His heart, body and mind were all screaming at him to turn around and go back to her, but he continued walking. He found his seat, stuffed his bag in the overhead compartment and sat down, offering a small smile to the brown haired guy next to him.
"You ready for this?" the guy asked, his knees bouncing nervously indicating that he clearly wasn't.
"I don't know," Nathan replied, watching out the window as they started to move away from the airport.
"I'm Jake. Jake Jagielski."
"Nathan Scott, nice to meet you," Nathan replied, reaching out his hand and shaking it with Jake's. Then the plane started to move and within minutes, they were air born. "Good bye, Tree Hill," he mumbled, watching the town below him disappear as the plane flew through the clouds.
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She sat at the kitchen table, her hands wrapped around the warm cup of coffee in front of her as she slowly read through the morning newspaper. She used to hate reading the paper; every article about the war in Iraq was a constant reminder that his life was in danger. But now that things were different, she realized just how much she missed and loved waking up and reading the morning paper before heading out to work.
"Morning babe," the familiar deep voice said from behind her, as he wrapped his strong arms around her and nuzzled into her neck, getting a sniff of her freshly washed hair. "What's going on in the world today?"
"The economy sucks," she offered half heartedly, as she turned around in her seat, pulling him close enough that she could kiss him. After pulling away she turned back to her paper and leaned back into his chest, loving the feeling of being wrapped in his arms. "I'm falling more in love with you every day," she said softly as he started to plant a trail of kisses from her collar bone up to the sensitive spot behind her ear.
"The paper says that?" he quipped, tickling her sides gently.
"No, I say that," she replied pointedly, turning around, a brilliant smile stretched across her face, to kiss him again.
Within seconds, they were lost in each other. Neither heard the knocking at the front door or the sound of it opening and closing as the person who was waiting let them self in. The sound of that person clearing their voice from behind the love struck couple did finally separate them.
"Oh, my gosh, Luke I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to keep you waiting," she exclaimed, pulling away from his embrace and quickly jumping up to gather her things.
"No worries," he said, reaching around to scratch the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the situation he'd just witnessed. "I'll just wait for you out in the car," he added, motioning towards the front door. "Good to see you, Jake," he said, nodding in Jake's direction as he left the kitchen and soon after the house.
"He's never going to like me, is he?" Jake questioned as he took a seat at the kitchen table, watching as Haley scrambled to throw some last minute things in her bag.
"Jake, come on! He does like you, it's just hard for him because he's Nathan's brother," Haley said, giving Jake a sad smile as she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned down and kissed him quickly before grabbing her cell phone from off the kitchen table and tossing it in her bag. "I'll see you tonight, sweetheart. I love you."
"Love you too, babe."
A moment later she was out the door, hoping into the front seat of Lucas' Jeep. "Sorry about that," she said softly, knowing that he wasn't impressed with the scene he'd witnessed upon walking into her kitchen. "I know you're not a huge fan of Jake but..."
"I'm not exactly a little fan either," Luke interrupted without looking away from the road. She looked down at her hands, finding the hangnail on her thumb particularly interesting, and remained quiet. She hated when he got like this. He was one of her best friends and usually was so supportive of her, except, apparently, when it came to her relationship with Jake. As he slowed down for the red light ahead of them he could tell she was upset by his comment. He reached over and took her hand. "I'm an ass and I'm sorry. It's just... hard."
"I know," she said softly.
"Because he was my brother."
"I know."
"And he really love you, Haley."
"I know, Luke. I loved him too."
Taking his hand away from hers, he ran it through his short blonde hair and sighed. "I miss him," he said, finally looking away from the road and the red light and glancing over at the passenger's seat.
"I miss him too."
They drove silently the rest of the way and when they reached the parking lot and got out of Luke's vehicle, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they walked together towards the front doors of the gym. Once inside, away from the crisp fall air, the both paused, looking at the wall ahead of them.
'Nathan Scott Field House: In memory of Tree Hill's Hero who died honourably in the line of duty in Iraq'
"Have a good day, Hales," Luke whispered, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze before walking towards his office.
She stood in front of the wall, looking at his photo for a moment longer, as she did each morning she walked into that school. She'd always said he was the most beautiful man she'd ever met but in his photo, his eyes, which had always been so full of life, her favourite physical feature of his, seemed lifeless and dead. The army had killed him long before the bombing.
"Always and forever," she whispered before turning away and walking through the school to her own classroom.
It had been five years since she'd said goodbye to him in the airport but she knew that he still had her heart, just as much as he had the day he promised he'd come back for her.