A/N: So this is my first OTH fanfic (though not my first fanfic, I am quite experienced in that field). The beginning takes place during Season Five, so four years after high school, and the rest takes place…well, you'll just have to read on and find out.
"Mommy, when I get older, will you marry me?"
Haley laughed as she stroked her little boy's head of black hair. "I promise I will if you promise never to sneak around with any cheerleaders."
Jamie stuck out his tongue in response. "Ehw!"
"I hope you still feel that way in ten years," Haley said, kissing her four-year-old son on the forehead. "All right, you get some rest, Jamie. You have a big party to go to tomorrow. Remember, Uncle Luke is going to come pick you up to take you and Daddy's going to pick you up."
"Really?!" Jamie asked, his eyes lighting up. "Mommy, that's so cool! I told all my friends about how Daddy played basketball and they didn't believe me but they'll believe me for sure when they see him!"
"That's right, baby," she said, running a hand down his cheek.
"Oh, stop it," he said, swatting her away.
"Now, just a minute ago, you were asking me to marry you," she teased.
He didn't respond, taking on a much more serious expression. "Is Daddy going to come tell me night?"
Haley's heart dropped a bit at the hopefulness etched on her child's face. "I think he's in the family room, Jamie, but if you want, I'll stay here with you 'til you fall asleep."
Looking disappointed, he nodded in response. Haley knew there was no use in trying to pry Nathan from his spot on the armchair to get him to come in and tell Jamie goodnight. He would insist Jamie was being a baby. She felt pain in her heart as she sat, watching her little boy loll into a slumber. Getting up, she softly closed the door behind her and retreated to the bathroom just off the hall leading into the family room. Halfway through brushing her teeth, she remembered she still hadn't yet told Nathan that he was going to have to pick up Jamie.
"Nathan!" Haley called. "I need you to pick Jamie up from that party he's going to tomorrow. I'm tutoring a few students tomorrow after class who need extra help and Luke is dropping him off but then he's guest lecturing at the university."
When no response came, Haley stuck her head out of the bathroom, toothbrush still in mouth, to look at Nathan in his usual spot in the armchair in front of the TV with a bottled beer in his hand. "Nathan! Did you hear me?"
"Whatever, Haley," he said, putting the bottle back up to his lips.
"Dammit, Nathan!" She took the toothbrush she was holding and threw it into the sink, seriously contemplating shoving something up his ass.
His expression barely changed as he quirked an eyebrow at her. He took another gulp of his drink.
"Don't you sit there and stare at me like I'm some sort of a crazy person!" Haley yelled, exiting their bathroom. "I'm asking you to do something, you're totally unresponsive and you haven't gotten off your lazy ass in three weeks to fix the sink in our bathroom so I don't have to brush my teeth in the family room!"
"What do you want from me, Haley?" he asked, finally stringing together a complete sentence.
"What do I want? What do I want from you? I want you to get off your ass, quit feeling sorry for yourself because you aren't playing your precious basketball anymore, fix my sink, and pick up our son from a party. Hell, acknowledge our son!"
"I can't do that, Hales."
She put her hand on her hip incredulously. "What do you mean you can't do that?"
"I can't pick up Jamie from that party. I have plans for tomorrow."
"Oh, yeah? What do these plans include? Is it sitting around watching highlights of old basketball games or going out to some bar and getting drunk?"
Nathan shrugged. "Either, or."
Haley's temper went over its bursting point. Her first instinct was to scream as loudly as she could but she contained herself for Jamie's sake. She already knew he had been hearing Nathan and her fight some nights and she did not want to trouble her little boy anymore than she had to. So, she calmly turned back into the bathroom, picked up her toothbrush and walked back out to where Nathan was sitting, his eyes having glazed back over.
"This is it, Nathan."
"What?" he asked, disinterestedly.
Her anger was being replaced by sadness and she slowly wiped away at her eyes. Nathan, the love of her life, the man she had promised to be with forever, her Nathan, wouldn't even look at her.
"Tomorrow I'm packing up Jamie's and my bags and we're leaving."
Nathan finally unglued his eyes from the tv. "What?"
"You heard me," she whispered, her voice choked with the tears flowing down her face.
"Haley." Nathan got up from his chair and walked over to stand in front of her. "Don't-"
"Don't what?"
"Please don't do this to me. Not on top of everything else. Don't leave me alone. I need you; I need you and Jamie more than ever."
Haley crossed her petite arms over her chest. "You say that now. But you've said it before. I've been putting up with this shit for months now. I can't take it anymore. And I sure as hell am not going to make Jamie sit by and watch us fall apart. I shudder to think of him seeing his father like this. And I just can't do it anymore. I don't know what to do anymore. I can't even get you to do one small favor. When I talk to you, Nathan-" She choked on the words she was about to say and had to look away from him- "you don't even look at me."
"Hales…" He reached his arm out and she instinctively backed away, knowing a simple touch from him could lessen her resolve. Looking into his hurt eyes as his arm fell back by his side she remembered how long ago it had been since he had even tried to touch her and her pain doubled. Nathan ran his hand through his unkempt hair, his blue eyes sparkling as though he might cry. "Where will you go?"
"Lucas'. Brooke's. Wherever; I don't know. I just know I can't be here anymore."
"Is this it, Haley? Is this our marriage? After everything we've been through together."
Haley felt so frustrated, she wanted to scream. This was the last thing she wanted in the world, but she honestly didn't know what else was left for her to do. "Through all of that you never became this hollow shell of a person I see now. If I'd have known I would have to see you like this, I think I'd preferred just to have never met you."
"Fine, you go ahead. You leave. It won't be the first time," Nathan said, raising his voice. He turned his back away from her, mainly to hide the tears welling up behind his cold facade.
Haley still stood staring at his back. "You still haven't said it."
"What?" Nathan spat, not turning to look at her.
"You haven't asked one thing about seeing Jamie. You haven't begged me not to take him. Nothing. You know, you may have forgotten how you once felt about me, but dammit, that's your son! The one with the black hair and blue eyes who wants to be just like his daddy! Who are you?!"
He turned to face her, his eyes once again completely devoid of emotion. "I'm nothing anymore, Haley. You're right; you would have been better off if you'd never met me."
Haley turned toward their bedroom as a sob left her lips and fell onto their bed, crying. More than anything, she had wanted him to tell her that she was all he wanted. That their family was all he wanted. But he hadn't said that and more importantly, he hadn't shown that. Deep down inside, where her heart was breaking in two, she wondered if maybe she would have been better off if she had never met Nathan Scott.
On the other side of the door, Nathan sat with his back to the bedroom door, knowing she was only ten feet away. His head was buried down in his hands and his heart ached as he heard the woman he loved in the other room crying. He wished he could go back and remind her of that boy he used to be. However selfish and arrogant, she never would have wished to have not met him. She loved him. "Don't leave me, Hales," he whispered. He took his beer and brought it to his lips but before he drank a sip, he took the bottle and threw it across the room.
Much later in the night, after she had heard their front door slam, she was finally falling asleep. The sound of her phone ringing jolted her back to reality before she'd even entered a full-on slumber. She reached out, eyes still closed, to answer it, hoping it didn't wake Jamie. "Hello."
"Hales?"
A/N: I know you're thinking, 'Great, you started off with a fight between everybody's favorite couple' but I promise this is not the tone of the rest of this story. This is just the setup so we can get the ball rolling. Also, I don't intend for all the chapters to be this short.
