A/N: Thank you sooo much for reviewing guys, it really means a lot, they made me smile. Glad you enjoyed it! This chapter is a bit longer - tell me if it's too long! Haha, I'm new to the whole fic-writing biz so I'm not sure what's a good length for chapters to be. So read and please continue to review!

The next morning, I woke up the same way I had the previous morning, this time with Karen above me when I opened my eyes.

"Nathan, are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, taking deep breaths. I had had another nightmare where this time Carrie was not only kidnapping Jamie, but Haley too, and was about to chuck them off of her stupid little boat.

"You're obviously not fine," she said. "Andy, could you go fetch me a cold, wet facecloth?" she said to Andy as he came in the room.

"Sure," he said, turning around to obey her.

"I'm fine, seriously," I said. "It was just a dream."

"Nathan, it may have been a dream but I don't think I've ever heard anyone yell that loudly in their sleep," she said. "It must have been horrible. Do you want to talk about it?"

Karen was always so great at comforting. I remembered that day on the rivercourt, after Haley had gone on tour, and she just let me cry into her arms. She was definitely something. I knew I could talk to her.

"It was Carrie. She was kidnapping Haley and Jamie and I couldn't catch up to save them. She took them on a boat and tied them up and nearly threw them into the river," I said, having had almost the same conversation with Lucas the previous morning. Andy walked in with the damp facecloth and handed it to Karen. She started dabbing my forehead with it. "Thanks."

Lucas entered the room with Lily, looking concerned.

"You okay, Nate? Another nightmare?" he asked me.

"Yep," I said. I felt pretty foolish, having their whole family sit around me after my nightmare, as though I was Jamie's age. "I'm fine, guys seriously. Thanks for worrying, but there's no need, okay?" I said, trying to get them to let me get up.

"So, Jamie, are you sure you want to go to school?" I asked him in the car on the way there.

"Yes momma, I'm sure."

Great, I thought. When I pulled up at the drop-off point, Jamie undid his seatbelt and gave me his usual kiss and then went to open the door.

"Jamie, wait," I said.

"What, momma?" he asked.

"I love you. And I'll be here to pick you up at the end of the day, so don't go getting in anyone else's car, no matter what they say. And you just be careful, okay sweetie?" I said. I need to make sure he'd be safe. I didn't care if I sounded crazy and overprotective, I just want to make sure he would be safe.

"Yes momma, I promise," he said, before giving me another kiss and getting out of the car. He then ran out and started speaking to some of his friends, as though he didn't have a care in the world.

As I drove home, worried, I wondered what I would do with myself for the rest of the day. I kept thinking about Jamie. It was a good thing that I had taken a few days off work, because I would not have been able to concentrate on teaching. I decided to go by Lucas's, so I could talk to Karen before she left. That way, I wouldn't be alone and letting all sorts of worried thoughts about Jamie swirl through my head all day.

As I turned into Lucas's street, I saw Nathan's car. It hadn't even occurred to me that he was there. I contemplated not going in after all, but suddenly realised I was being ridiculous. He was my husband. And... I would be talking to Karen anyway, not him. Nathan would understand, as I hadn't seen Karen in quite a long time.

I knocked on the door, nervous that Nathan would answer. To my selfish relief, Karen was the one who answered.

"Haley!" she said happily. "So glad you visited. Come on in."

I followed her into the living room, and we sat on the couch.

"So, you here to see Nathan, Lucas or me?" she asked jokingly.

"You, of course. I've missed you," I said. "It's been too long."

"Yep, it has. But hey, I'm here now. We are leaving tomorrow though."

"Tomorrow? It's been a short visit, then."

"Well, we thought Lucas and Lindsey would have been on their honeymoon so we were only planning on staying for the one night, so we just extended our trip by a couple of days to stay with Lucas," she told me.

"How's he doing? I've not really had a chance to catch up lately. I've just... I've been with Jamie pretty much the whole time," I admitted.

"That's understandable, Haley. After what you've been through, it's completely understandable. And Lucas... is actually not doing too bad. He's putting on a brave face, but we can all tell he's pining for Lindsey. He is being really brave about everything though, trying not to let it get him down, especially around Lily. He's doing a lot better than Nathan, though."

"What? What do you mean?" I asked, shocked. "What's wrong with Nathan?"

"Well, Haley, his son was kidnapped two days ago, so it's pretty obvious he's not doing too good. I can tell that you're pretty nervous about having Jamie out of your sight and at school, and that's how Nathan's felt for the past two days when he's been without Jamie."

Karen made a lot of sense. I had never thought about it. The 5 minute drive over here had been horrible enough, being alone and without Jamie. I hadn't thought about how Nathan would be feeling with hours without him.

"Wow, you're right," I admitted. "So, what do you mean he's not doing good?" I asked curiously.

We were interrupted by Nathan coming into the room, looking at the back of a photograph, saying:

"Hey Karen, where's this picture from? It doesn't say on the ba-" and then he looked up and saw I was there. "Er, hey."

"Hey," I said back. Karen looked at me.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go see what Lily's doing," she said, obviously trying to leave the awkward situation. Either that or she wanted us to talk. Something told me it was maybe a bit of both.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked me, still standing and fiddling with the photograph in his hands.

"Oh, I was just wanting to talk to Karen," I said, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Right. Well, I'll let you get back to it then," he said, turning around.

"Nathan..."

He turned back around, looking a bit more hopeful.

"You still coming around tonight? I think Jamie really wants to show you the tower he built this morning," I said, saying anything just to make the conversation, if you could call it that, a bit less awkward and dark.

"Yeah, of course I am. Around six, right?" he asked.

"Yep," I nodded. I was looking at him now. He looked so broken.

"See you then," he said, and then turned around and went back to the kitchen.

I sighed. Why did this have to be so hard?

Karen came back in the living room a little minute later.

"So, how's Lily?" I asked sarcastically.

"Oh she's good. How's Nathan?"

"Oh, um, not so good. But I don't want to talk about my problems. How's travelling the world going?"

It was 5:45pm. I was so anxious to get going, but the drive to the house took less than ten minutes. I didn't want to show up too early and interrupt dinner. Dinner that I should have been at.

I sat on the couch, staring at the clock. I decided I would leave at 5:50, so that I could get there at about exactly 6. I'm not sure if I thought that turning up on the dot would somehow really impress Haley, but hey. I needed something.

I rang the doorbell. Of my own house. Again. I hated doing that. I heard Jamie's little feet running to answer the door, making me smile. I loved that he was so happy to see me.

"Daddy!" he exclaimed as he opened the door, and held his arms out to me to be picked up.

"Hey champ!" I said, lifting him up. "How was school today?"

"It was great. I got every word right on the spelling test, and I didn't get caught AT ALL when we were playing tag and, at lunchtime, everyone was given a chocolate chip cookie since it was Madison's birthday!" he said really quickly, obviously very content with his day.

"That sounds awesome, man! So was it a good cookie then?"

"It was sooo yummy," he said, a big smile on his face.

At that moment, Haley walked into the entrance hall.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," was my oh-so-original reply.

"Listen, Peyton and Brooke asked me if I wanted to come over and hang out and maybe watch a movie at their place, and I wasn't going to, but... I think I need to learn to be away from Jamie so I don't become too much of an overprotective parent," she said, obviously having taken on board what I said yesterday. "So is it cool if I leave you guys here while I go to their place for a couple hours?"

"Yeah, of course," I said. "Go, have fun," I smiled. I managed to get a weak smile in reply. At least it was something.

"Okay buddy," she said, walking over to me and speaking to Jamie who was still in my arms. "I'm going to go to Aunt Brooke & Aunt Peyton's house for a little while, so be good with daddy, okay?" She grabbed his head and kissed the top of it, accidentally grazing my chest with her hand in the meantime. I froze. I looked down at her, and she was looking up at me. She shook it off and said "Be good," with a genuine smile on her face before putting on her jacket. "I'll be back before bedtime." She opened the door, then turned around, and ran back to us and gave Jamie a big kiss. She looked up at me. "Bye," she whispered, before eventually leaving and closing the door behind her.

"So, I hear you've got a huge tower to show me, huh?" I said to Jamie.

"Yeah, it's in my room! Take me!" he said, so I took him up to his room to see a tower made of building blocks and random other objects on top of it, obviously making it as tall as possible.

"That is some tower," I said, impressed with my son's building skills. "So, what do you want to do tonight?"

"Hmm." I watched the concentration in his face, as though what we would spend the next two hours doing was in fact an extremely important decision. "I think we should watch a movie," he eventually said.

"Oh yeah? Well let's get downstairs and pick one then."

I had lasted an hour and half at Peyton and Brooke's house. But I couldn't stand to be away from Jamie any longer, so I left to go home. I felt that if being away from him was tough when he was at school, then I should make the most of my available time with him when he was home.

I opened the door to a silent house. I was pretty confused and horror gripped me for a second, making me think that something bad had happened, but I snapped out of it when I heard a faint snoring coming from the living room. I walked in to find Nathan and Jamie cuddled up on the couch, both sleeping, Jamie snoring happily away. I smiled at them. They looked so comfortable, so at peace. I decided to leave them to it. I would wake them in half an hour or so, so that Jamie would be able to get to sleep when it was his real bedtime. I went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and then sat at the breakfast bar, reading a magazine. It was good to have alone time, all the while having Jamie sleep peacefully only a few metres away from me with Nathan.

About ten minutes later, I got a fright from a shout from the couch. It was Nathan. Jamie woke up with a start. He got off the couch and was watching Nathan. I ran over to see Nathan squirming in his sleep, letting out cries of "No... no! NO!" Jamie looked scared, and I was too. I could see beads of sweat break out on Nathan's forehead. He looked like he was in pain or something. I shook him to wake him up.

"Nathan! Nathan, wake up!"

"Wha- what? No!" he said, out of breath. He then blinked and opened his eyes properly. He sat up, and he was out of breath.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Jamie asked worriedly.

"Oh, er... nothing buddy, I'm fine. Must just be having nightmares from... the... movie we watched."

Jamie looked unconvinced. "From Shrek 2?"

I smiled. Nice excuse, Nathan. But I was still worried.

"Yeah..." Nathan said, trying to defend his excuse.

"Hey, Jamie, how about you go get your dad a damp facecloth from the linen closet, okay?" I said.

"Okay!" said Jamie, running off to the kitchen.

"Nathan, what's wrong?" I asked quietly.

"Nothing, it's nothing, I'm fine," he said.

"Come on. You're shaking, Nathan. I know you. What's up?" I persisted.

"It's nothing, it was just a bad dream," he said, trying to shake off any more questions. "It's no big deal, nightmares happen to everyone."

"Yeah, Nathan, but not everyone wakes up from them shouting and sweating and shaking."

"Look, I know you're probably mad at me for falling asleep - if Jamie had woken up he could have gone anywhere, and it would have been my fault -"

"Nathan, that is so not what this is about! What made you think I'm angry? Of course I'm not."

"Oh. Okay then..."

"I've actually been in for ten minutes, I left you guys sleeping. You looked cute."

Nathan smiled.

"We did, huh?"

"Here, momma," Jamie said while running through, handing me a damp facecloth.

"Thanks, buddy," I said. I began patting Nathan's face gently with the facecloth.

We locked eyes. I stopped dabbing his face for a second. My heart race picked up.

"Um... I better go and, um... finish what I was doing..." I said, pathetically. I handed Nathan the facecloth and walked into the kitchen, trying to busy myself by cleaning the sink, leaving Nathan sitting on the couch.

"So, buddy, it's nearly your bedtime. Want me to come help you get ready and then I can read you a story?" I heard Nathan say to Jamie.

"Yeah okay! Come on, daddy!" Jamie replied.

They went upstairs, and I stopped cleaning the sink. I sighed. Nathan did something to me. Just looking in his eyes made my heart flutter. I heard rain drops begin to hit the window, which got heavier and heavier in the next few moments. I found myself just standing at the kitchen sink for a few minutes, gazing out of the window at the rain. I was startled by a knock at the door. I went to go and answer it, and Lucas was standing there.

"Hey, Luke, you're soaking!" I said to him, ushering him in, out of the pouring rain.

"Yeah, well, I went for a walk but... yeah. It kind of started raining," he said, laughing.

"Okay, well you want a towel or something?" I asked him, walking through to the kitchen to get a towel from the linen closet.

"Yeah, that'd be good," he said. "I knew Nathan was here so I came so I could get a ride home."

"Oh, okay, so you're not here to see me then," I replied jokingly.

"Of course I want to see you, Hales. Especially... especially since I'm going on the boat with my mom, Lily and Andy tomorrow."

"What? For how long?"

"I'm not sure, but I want to spend more time with them, they're my family, and... I just need to get away from here for a while. I hate trying to avoid driving past the church, and sleeping in our bed alone," he said, looking down.

"Yeah, I understand Luke. Just don't be gone for too long, I'll miss you! So, um... will Nathan..."

"Yes, Hales, Nathan can still stay at my place," he replied, knowing me too well. "Unless, of course, you don't want him to?"

"No, I do," I said firmly.

"Okay, Hales, it's cool."

"Lucas... I'm kind of worried about him. Him and Jamie fell asleep on the couch and he woke up shouting and shivering from a nightmare, but he wouldn't tell me what was going on," I told him quietly, scared Nathan might come back downstairs and hear me telling Luke.

"What, again?" Lucas said.

"What do you mean, again?" I asked curiously.

"Well, for the last two mornings he's woken up on the floor, shouting, sweating and shaking," he said.

"Really? Oh my God," I replied, anxiously.

"Yep. He was having nightmares about you and Jamie getting kidnapped by Carrie, Hales."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"Yep. He didn't really like talking about it, but he just said that they were really vivid and he woke up out of breath and shouting, because he couldn't manage to save you guys from being thrown in a river."

"Wow... that's really bad. So, every time he's slept since Saturday he's had this nightmare..."

"Sounds like it," Lucas replied.

"Well... I've kind of been having bad dreams too. I haven't been able to remember what happened in them, but I just know that I wake up with a jolt and kind of scared, and I always feel so relieved to have Jamie sleeping next to me," I admitted. "Last night I actually woke up three times with that happening. But it hasn't been anywhere as bad as Nathan's reaction."

"Hmm. Hales, maybe you guys should... I don't know, talk to someone about this? Like, a sleep therapist, or someone who can help you try and get over what happened to Jamie?" Lucas suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," I said, when I heard Nathan's footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Hey man, what you doing here?" Nathan asked Lucas.

"Hey, well I was taking a walk and it started raining, so I thought I could maybe hitch a ride back?"

"Sure, man. We can go now. Haley, Jamie's sound asleep now. So, he's sleeping in our... your... bed now?" he said, struggling with trying to find the right word.

"Yep," I replied. "He doesn't want to sleep alone, and well... neither do I."

"Right."

"So, we going now or what?" Lucas said, trying to break the slight tension that had just been created.

"Yeah, let's go," Nathan said. "See you tomorrow?" he asked, looking at me.

"Yeah, see you," I said.

"Bye, Hales," Lucas said, giving me a hug. "I'll call you soon."

"Yeah you better, I'll miss you!" I said, hugging him back. As I hugged Lucas, I saw Nathan standing by the door, watching us. I could tell how much he longed for me to say I missed him too.

Then they left.

The next morning, after having woken up in the new usual way, I waved Lucas, Karen, Andy and Lily goodbye as I dropped them off at the dock. I stayed sitting on a bench for a little while, just staring at the sea and waving to them as they sailed away. Skills had told me that I didn't have to worry about going to school to coach the Ravens for as long as I wanted. I took him up on the offer, but I wasn't sure why. I had nothing else to do. After sitting at the dock for nearly twenty minutes, my phone rang. It was Haley. I couldn't help but smile at the picture that came up when she called - it was of her and Jamie.

"Hey," I said as I answered it.

"Hey," she replied. "So... about last night, your nightmare..."

"Haley, it's no big deal," I lied.

"Yes it is, Nathan. Look, don't be mad at Lucas but he told me that you'd been having them for the last few days."

I sighed, but I didn't care too much.

"Listen, Haley, it's okay. I'm okay," I said, quite touched that she cared.

"Well he also told me what you said they were about. And the last couple of nights I haven't been sleeping too great either," she said.

"What? Really? Are you okay?" I said, worried that she'd been experiencing the same pain that I had every night.

"I'm fine, it's been no where near as bad as yours, I've just found myself waking up a bit panicky and thankful to have Jamie beside me."

There was silence for a moment.

"So," she continued, "I was thinking that maybe we could talk to someone about it. Together. A therapist."

"A therapist?" I asked unsurely.

"Yeah, someone who could help us try and come to terms with what happened to Jamie, and maybe start to get over it. We can't be sleeping like this forever," she said.

Right, I thought. We can't be sleeping in different houses.

"True," I said.

"And... they might be able to help us, too," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know, but maybe talking about stuff could... help us."

I knew what she was meaning to say, and so I didn't want to push it.

"Well, okay then," I said. "Who?"

"Well, Lindsey gave me the number of the woman that helped her and her mom after her dad died," she said. "Apparently she's really great. So are you in, then?"

"Yeah, sure," I said.

"Okay, I'll make the appointment and tell you tonight when it is. Just come around same time as last night?"

"Yeah, sounds good. See you then," I said.

"Bye," she said, before hanging up.

I sighed. Therapy reminded me of that horrible day when I was a junior, when mom and dad tried therapy and brought me along, trying to force me to choose between them.

But then I realised that Haley was actually making an effort to help us get back on track, even it was just to help us sleep better. I was actually really glad. This was a hell of a lot better than her handing me divorce papers.

That night, after I had spent a few hours with Jamie, I was about to leave when Haley called for me to stay.

"Nathan, hang on a minute," she said, coming out of the kitchen to the entrance hall. "Here," she handed me an address. "It's the counsellor's office. I made an appointment for 3 on Saturday, is that cool? It was either that or 11, and I know you have Saturday practice."

I smiled at her for thinking about me. "Yeah, Haley, it's fine. And I've actually not been at practice this week, Skills said I could have a little bit of time off, but to be honest I want to go back. I think I'm going to go in tomorrow."

"Oh, well you should then," she said, looking up at me.

"Yeah. Well, I'm going to head back to Lucas's, I'll see you tomorrow," I said, before leaving the house. I hated leaving.

The next few days were pretty much the same as the previous ones. I woke up in the same way, except now I was completely alone in the house. I didn't even have Lucas there. I tried to busy myself until 3.30 when I went to practice. It wasn't very eventful, but it kind of helped keep my mind off Jamie and Haley for an hour or so each day. Skills didn't speak to me very much about anything other than basketball, which was weird. But I had enough on my plate to worry about Skills, however selfish that may seem. Haley and Jamie were the only thing that mattered.

I went to the house every night to play with Jamie until bedtime, without any alone-time with Haley, and left to come back to Lucas's empty house. The feeling that knowing I would be at the house later that day to see Jamie and Haley was pretty much all that kept me going through the days.

I woke up on Saturday morning by the alarm. Last night's sleep hadn't actually been too bad, until Jamie started tossing and turning all the time and hogging all the blankets. I got up and realised that I hadn't decided what I was going to do with Jamie when we were at therapy this afternoon. I could leave him with Brooke or Skills... but something inside me made me not want to leave him with anyone that wasn't me, Nathan or inside the school gates.

By the time the afternoon came, I decided that I would have to take Jamie with us to therapy. I didn't want him in the room where Nathan and I would be speaking to the woman, but I knew that I only felt right about having him in the same building with us. I didn't know what they would do with him, but they would have to find someone to look after him at reception or something.

When Jamie and I were in the car on the way to the counsellor, Jamie asked me a question.

"Where are we going, momma?"

"We're going to go speak to a lady who might help me and daddy be able to sleep better at night," I said.

"Huh. So why am I coming?"

"Because, smartie-pants, I'm not going to leave you in the house on your own, am I?"

"But what about Uncle Skills? Or Aunt Brooke? You've left me with them before when you and daddy went out," he said innocently.

"Yeah I know Jamie, but I think it would just be best if you came today. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find something fun to do!" I said, actually pretty unsure whether or not there would be anything to keep Jamie amused at a therapy reception. As we drew up beside the building, I saw Nathan's car already parked there.

We walked inside, and saw Nathan sitting on a chair in the waiting area.

"Daddy!" Jamie yelled and ran and jumped onto his lap.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Nathan said mockingly.

"It's me daddy, James Lucas Scott!"

"Oh, yeah, you're that little kid that always hangs around me, right?"

"You're not funny, daddy," Jamie said, not amused but still smiling.

Nathan looked up at me. "So, what do we do with Jamie?"

"Um, I don't know, I was kind of hoping we could leave him with the receptionist or something." I looked across at the receptionist, and she looked warm and friendly. "I just didn't really feel comfortable leaving him with someone else," I told him.

"No, I understand, I'm the same actually. I was wondering where he'd be," Nathan replied.

The receptionist was happy to take Jamie for the duration of the session, and so Nathan and I walked slowly upstairs, not sure what to expect. The woman was waiting for us at her door. She had red hair and was quite tall and slim.

"Hello, you two must be Nathan and Haley," she said. She spoke with a British accent.

"Yep," said Nathan.

"Well come on in here," she said, ushering us into her room, where there was a couch. Nathan sat down on it first, and I sat down at the opposite end. We weren't very far away from eachother, but still a lot further than was usually comfortable for us. But I didn't want to move closer.

Nathan was darting his eyes all over the room and was shifting in his seat, looking very uncomfortable. The therapist came and sat down in a chair opposite us after closing the door and obviously noticed it too.

"Are you alright, Nathan?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine."

Typical Nathan, I thought. Pretending he's fine when he's not.

"Really? Well, I'm going to make a rule. Neither of you is allowed to use the word 'fine' in reply to my questions, okay?" she said with a smile. "My name is Miranda, by the way. Right, so, I'll ask you again, Nathan. Are you alright? You seem awfully uncomfortable."

"Well..." he looked at me, and then Miranda.

"Yes?" she persisted.

"It's just, being in here reminds me of a counselling session I went to with my parents when I was sixteen, and... it just didn't turn out so good," he said.

I felt so stupid. How could I forget about that? I should have thought about that before asking Nathan to come here and remember about his parents' awful treatment of him when I first got to know him.

"I'm sorry, Nathan," I said. "I never thought..."

"Haley, don't be sorry, it's not your fault," he said, preventing me from going any further. "Don't think that."

"So, Nathan, tell me about that counselling session, with your parents," the therapist said.

Nathan looked uncomfortable, like he really did not want to re-live that moment.

"Well, my mom had kicked my dad out of the house and it was pretty clear things weren't going to get better, but my mom suggested therapy. He wasn't too happy about it, but they went and brought me along for the first session. My mom and dad kept trying to put me in the middle and choose between them and it was horrible. And, when the therapist asked me if I still wanted to play basketball, I said I didn't know and my dad got mad at me. It was just... it wasn't a good day," he said, looking at the floor. I remembered him telling me about the awful time he was having with his parents when we first started dating.

"I see, so your parents are divorced, then," she said.

"Yeah."

"Right, and I understand the pair of you are in different houses at the moment, is that correct?" she asked us.

It was such a horrible question.

"Yes," I replied.

"Well, I want to get to know your personalities a bit better, and talk to you about that later on, but before I do, I want to know about the day your son went missing. Haley, tell me about it."

"Well, it was my best friend's wedding, but it didn't turn out so good - his fiance left him at the alter. Anyway, everyone was just kind of hanging around outside the church for a few minutes and our friend Skills, who was watching Jamie at the ceremony, told me he had gone to the bathroom more than five minutes ago and hadn't come back. He had checked the bathrooms and he wasn't there. I got really worried and started asking everyone there if they had seen them and none of them had, but a lot of my friends went to look for him around the back and asked people if they'd seen him. Nobody had, and so..." I glanced at Nathan. "I thought that it was possibly Nathan's father who had taken him, because I had seen him in his car outside the church that day."

"Why did you think it would have been Nathan's father that had abducted him?" she asked.

"Because my father is a murderer," Nathan said, looking down at his hands, that were fiddling with his wedding ring, on his lap.

"Oh, I see," she said. "That wouldn't happen to be Dan Scott, would it?"

"Yes, yes it is," I replied. "Anyway, he had been at the church that day so I thought it might have been him who had taken Jamie. So Nathan stopped a police car and told them about the situation, and they asked us for a description of him. It was horrible, it made the situation so much more real."

"And then what happened?" she asked.

"Well," I continued, "Our friends came back to our house after the wedding, and everyone was just talking about Jamie and I couldn't handle it, so I just went up to Jamie's room."

"Did you feel that being in his room would make you feel closer to him?"

"I'm not sure, but I was just so devastated at the fact that he was gone, and I needed to get away from all the conversation about it downstairs, so I just ended up in his bedroom. Nathan did ask me to come downstairs, but I just stayed up there. I started... blaming myself for not letting Nathan come home because he could have been protecting Jamie."

"Did you really feel that way?" she asked.

"Well I just needed somebody to blame, and the person I found easiest to blame was myself," I admitted.

"Haley, come on, it was in no way your fault," Nathan interrupted. I looked at him.

"I know that now, but..." I looked down. "I don't know."

"Haley, listen to me. It was in no way your fault. Not at all, okay? If it was anybody's fault, it was mine," he said, surprising me.

"What?"

"Well Haley, it's kind of obvious, isn't it? If I had fired Carrie before all of it, if I had of just put a stop to it before it got out of hand..."

"Carrie?" interrupted the therapist.

"Yeah, she was our nanny," I told her. "And then... she started flirting with Nathan, and then she kissed him and got in the shower with him and swam naked for him... and she was the one who kidnapped Jamie," I said, tears beginning to well up in my eyes at the memories being brought back of hearing of all the stuff she had done to try to destroy our family. I heard Nathan sigh.

"Ah, I see. Hense the living arrangements. Well, I really want to talk to the two of you about that, but first of all I want to help you with Jamie's abduction. Nathan, how did you feel that day?" the therapist asked.

"It was one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced. I was devastated at the fact my son was gone, and I felt guilty because I thought it was my father who had taken him. I also felt guilty because I was making Haley doubt herself, and that I couldn't really comfort her," he said.

"I see. Now, Nathan, how have you been since last, Saturday was it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, so I understand you've had trouble sleeping?" she asked him.

"Well, for the past few weeks it's been taking me a while to eventually get to sleep, yeah, but that's mostly because... well just because I hate sleeping on my own."

I looked at him.

"Anyway, the bigger problem this week has been... from nightmares," he said, looking kind of embarrassed.

"And what happened in those nightmares, Nathan?"

He sighed, obviously not wanting to explain it all again. "They're pretty much all the same. Carrie has Jamie and Haley all tied up and is running away with them, and as fast as I run I can't catch up to save them." He sighed. "Then, I turn a corner, and she's taking them onto this boat in the river and picks them up and is about to throw them over the edge, and that's when I wake up."

"How do you feel when you've woken up, Nathan? Scared? Relieved it was a dream?" she asked.

"Well... confused, at first."

I decided to chime in. "Yeah, when he fell asleep on the couch one night when he was with Jamie this week he woke up shouting, shaking and sweating, and seemed pretty confused when he woke up," I told her. Nathan looked embarrassed, but I knew I had to tell her, so she could help him. I avoided his gaze.

"Ah, I see. Well Nathan, do something for me. From now on, before you go to bed, I want you to picture Jamie sleeping. It doesn't matter where he is - he could be in his bed, in Haley's bed, with you, or even in his crib as a baby. Just picture him, safe and sleeping. I want only this image in your head, and any other image that comes to mind I want you to block it out. Be happy that he is sleeping safe and sound. Be at peace before you try to go to sleep. If that doesn't work, we will work something out next week, if that's alright?" the therapist said.

"Okay, sure," Nathan said without much certainty.

"And Haley, how have you been sleeping since last week?" she asked, looking at me now.

"Um, not too bad actually, although I have sometimes found myself waking up in the middle of the night or the morning with a jolt, and feeling so glad that Jamie's lying there beside me," I said. "I can never remember what the dream is about though, and it's only happened this week, since Jamie's abduction."

"I see, so Jamie's sleeping in your bed with you then?" she asked.

"Yeah, he is. It comforts him, and, to be honest, it comforts me too."

"Okay, well I want you to do pretty much the same as I asked Nathan to do, Haley. Just look at Jamie sleeping beside you and be aware that he's safe, and be happy about it. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I think I can."

"Good. Now, there's one other thing I want you pair to do before we discuss the two of you any further," she said. Nathan and I just kept looking at her, waiting for her to tell us. "I want you to stop blaming yourselves. You say that if it wasn't for something you'd done, then this Carrie person wouldn't have taken Jamie. I want you to stop thinking like that. What the two of you did, or didn't do beforehand, is just life. But Carrie chose to take Jamie away. Neither of you made it happen. It's her fault, and it's her to blame, and no one else. Okay?"

"Okay," Nathan and I said at the same time.

"Right, now tell me about your relationship, from the beginning," she asked.

The next twenty minutes were filled with me telling her about the fact we had married in high school, separated because of the tour, gotten back together, renewed our vows, had a baby, went through college and dealt with my father's death, gone through Nathan's accident, and by the time I had got to Carrie, time was almost up. Nathan had hardly taken part in telling the counsellor about us. I think it was mostly to do with the fact he felt really uncomfortable talking in a room like this, due to the memories of his mom and dad.

"Well, I didn't think that would have taken that long," Miranda said with a smile. "A six-year marriage doesn't usually have so much drama within that time!"

Nathan and I looked at her nervously.

"But," she added, "I doubt most couples would have made it through so much drama to where the two of you are now. Half of them wouldn't have even made it through what you went through just in high school. You two really are unique, and I can already see in the two of you that you are going to go the distance. You may be having troubles right now, but you two are going to be okay. Hearing what you two have done for eachother is enough for me to know that." She smiled. "Right... would you like to schedule another appointment for next week?"

"Um..." I was still quite startled at her speech about us. "Yeah, that would be good," I said, looking at Nathan for approval.

"Yeah," he nodded. I could tell he was trying to hide a smile from what the therapist had just said.

"Okay, how about same time next Saturday?" she asked.

"Sounds good," I said, taking the appointment card she'd just scribbled down from her.

"Right, since it's the end of the session, Nathan - tell me something you love about Haley."

Nathan looked startled at her command, but then he smiled. "Only one?"

I felt myself blush, and I smiled.

"Yes, any one thing," she said.

"I love, that even though I've made so many mistakes, she's been able to see me for myself, for so many years, and still not give up on me," he said, looking at the therapist and then at me.

"Now, Haley, tell me something you love about Nathan."

"Um... I love that he's such an amazing father to Jamie. When I was pregnant I knew he was scared at the prospect of being a dad, but he truly has been amazing at it. And he still is," I said, looking at him while I spoke.

As soon as I'd said that, a beeping noise sounded, indicating the end of the session.

"Ah, well. That's time up until next week. See you then!" she said.

As Nathan and I walked through the corridor to the reception, neither of us said a word. I'm pretty sure we just didn't know what to say in our current situation, having just being told what a unique couple we are.

"Momma, daddy!" Jamie called from the reception, and ran over to us. I picked him up.

"Hey, Jimjam!" I said. You have fun?

"It was okay, but playing with the hole-puncher got a bit boring after a while," he said, making Nathan and I both chuckle. "So, we going home now?"

"Yes, yes we are." I set him down, and took his hand so we could walk out. Nathan came too, but as we left the building we went our separate ways to our own cars.

"Um, Haley," he said. "Will I come by tonight?"

"Yeah, sounds good. You know what, Brooke is wanting to drag me and Peyton out tonight, and I know both Peyton and I won't really be in the mood for dancing and partying, but I said I'd go, at least for a little while, so if you could stay until around 12, that would be good?" I asked him.

"Yeah, sure. See you at six?"

"Yep, see you," I said, before taking Jamie to the car.

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