Before the next chapter, I'd just like to thank everyone for the reviews! They completely made my day(s)! Thank you very much for the support :) And I'd also like to apologize for the late update, I'm so sorry! I tried to upload sooner but I've lots of school work right now (I'm a senior in highschool and here in Portugal we've lots of stuff to do!). I'll try my best to update sooner though. Thank you! And sorry for any verbal mistake or something like that, I do try to write everything without any flaws. Please review and tell what you think!
"Where are we going, momma?" Jamie asked, making Haley's gaze return to him. Since she'd enter her car, she hadn't been able to do anything else but stare at the wheel. She didn't want to do this. She couldn't leave him, damn! He was her husband, for better or worse, in sickness and health!
I don't need you.
But he was the one who started it. He was the one who messed everything up. He was the one who turned his back at them. He was the one who quit.
"We're going to somewhere else, sweetie." She smiled at his son, not wanting to explain him where they were really going or why they were going. She glanced at their house one last time and unconsciously she turned on the car. This was it, he definitely wasn't going to stop her. And she left the driveway. Leaving him behind.
He'd wanted to stop her. While he was watching her and his son inside the car, the curtains hiding his figure, he'd wanted to stand up, run to them and tell them how much he regretted everything he'd done to them. But he couldn't. He was such a freak now that he couldn't even stand up! He couldn't even run, damn, he couldn't even walk! He took another sip on the now familiar vodka bottle. When he noticed there was nothing in it, he threw it to the floor. He looked at the tiny little broken glass pieces and he immediately started crying. Not because there was no more vodka, but because there was no more Haley, no more Jamie. He cried, yelled and groaned at the same time and although he didn't want to he knew the neighbours were going to hear him. "NO!!!" he started breaking everything he could: glasses, lamps, remotes, frames… In an impulse, he wheeled to the kitchen and after picking up a knife, he started to cut the couch, the feathers flying through the living room. "NO!!!" One stab. "NO!!!" another. "NO!!!" One more time.
Knock. Knock.
"Haley, can I come in?" Haley grabbed a new tissue as soon as she heard Lucas' voice.
"Yeah." When he opened the door he looked at her and knew she'd been crying. Carefully, and knowing her way too well, he sat right next to her on the bed.
"Peyton's playing playstation with Jamie." He knew he had to be extra careful and take things slowly. "I… I'm sorry, Hales." And with that, she started crying again, heavily. After all, Jamie was not there to see her like this, there was nothing to worry about. It was just Luke. And he'd seen her crying more than anyone else in the world. Knowing there was nothing he could say to fix her, he just hugged her, letting her know that he was there for her. Peyton was there for her. They were all there for her.
"Thank you, Luke. For letting us stay." She mumbled still in tears. He just hugged her tightly and they remained like that for hours.
Go. I guess you don't want to stay with a loser.
He was the one not believing in himself. He was the one who always thought he was not enough. He was the one who'd always said she deserved better. He was the one who always thought he wasn't worthy of anything.
In an attempt to forget everything, Haley walked out of the bedroom Lucas had offered her to stay. Hmm, it smelt so good, something like a mixture of fried sauce with roast chicken. She was really hungry, with all this mess she'd even forgot to eat. And yeah, roast chicken was just great right now. Hoping it wasn't a hallucination, she walked to the kitchen where she saw Peyton cooking. Thank God it's real!, she thought.
"Hey. Do you need some help?" she said approaching Peyton, making her jump from the scare.
"Jeez Louise! You scared the hell out of me." Peyton was giggling, trying to push a smile from Haley's face. And she did it. Haley had a small and shy smile on her lips. Peyton knew it would take some time to see her laughing and smiling, but it was a good start.
"I'm sorry. Anyway, what're you cooking?"
"Why don't you come here and see by yourself?"
"Why don't you come here and see by yourself?" Haley approached him, resting her arms around his waist and just when she was about to see what he was cooking, he managed to give her a sweet kiss on the lips.
"Nathan!" he had already turned around and started kissing her passionately. "You know, next time you don't need to use an excuse to kiss me, you can just ask me. Then, maybe, I will make your wish come true…" she said while kissing him back.
"Maybe, huh?" he started kissing her neck. "I don't think you'd be able to resist me…" Haley moaned in response, whatever she had to say wasn't nearly as important and good as what he was doing right now.
"Nathan." He already knew what she meant with that.
"Relax. The boy's out with Lucas." He continued his ministrations on her neck and just when she was about to unbutton his jeans, he screamed. "Damn! The sausage's burning!"
"I can see that…" she said, still remembering how hard he was. Nathan looked at her and started laughing.
"Not that… This one." He said, while taking the actual sausage from the frying-pan. She blushed so much that made the tomato resting on the counter look pale. After finishing his task, Nathan hugged her from behind, the trademark smirk on his face. "I love it when my girl talks dirty."
"Oh shush!" she said, giving him a smack on the shoulder. He kissed the back of her head and took a chance to smell her hair. God, she smells so , I love it when he does that.
"I love you, Hales. And nothing's ever going to change that." She smiled, it felt so good when he said things like that. He made her feel so loved and wanted.
"I love you too."
"Haley? Haley!" Peyton screamed to the hypnotized Haley in front of her. She'd told her to come and see what she was cooking and Haley had stopped on the way, completely dead on her tracks. "Haley!!" she shouted one last time and apparently, Haley reacted, completely confused.
"What?" she looked like she'd just awoken.
"You want to see what I'm cooking?" Peyton said, lifting the spoon in the air. Still a little numb, Haley approached enough to see what was going to be served at dinner.
"Roast chicken with onion sauce. It smells great, Peyton!" she said, trying to forget the flashback she had. Peyton thanked, never leaving Haley's eyes.
"You were thinking about him, weren't you?" Haley turned her head to the floor and that was the most obvious answer she could have give her. With one hand, Peyton raised her chin and after that, she grabbed her hands.
"Haley, like I told you earlier: it's okay to remember him. But I want you to know none of this is your fault. And I want you to remember that Nathan loves you and Jamie, no matter what he said, you know that, I know that and everybody knows that. But right now, we have to cheer you up!"
"And how do we do that?"
"Well, first, it might help if we start doing this…" she said, cleaning up the tears from Haley's cheeks. "And then… Well it's supposed to be a surprise and I'll beat your ass if you tell Lucas I told you but… he told me he wants us to go to the theatre tonight." Haley was actually very happy, it was something so common and simple but she'd missed that. Even these small family moments. A simple theatre. She smiled at Peyton, knowing Jamie would freak out with the news.
"That's great, Peyton. Thank you. I promise I'll act surprised when Lucas tells me!" Now it was Haley's turn to hug Peyton.
"You're welcome. Now hurry up and get ready for dinner!" the blonde said winking at the brunette.
"Haley! Hurry up!! It's almost dinner time!" he complained. It was such a sacrifice for Nathan to go shopping with his wife.
"And since when do you have hours to eat?" Haley asked, trying to tease him.
"Since now. Common'! We're in here for hours! I'm actually finding it very hard to breathe in here…" he said, while looking at his clock.
"Aww… Poor little thing…" her hand caressed his cheek, the sarcasm evident on her words. "Do you think I'd look good in this?" she asked him, showing a gorgeous low-necked red top. Oh boy, how hot would she look with that thing on?
"More than good, baby!" Haley smiled and rolled her eyes. Men… And then she left. What the hell?, thought Nathan.
"Where are you going?", he asked, grabbing her by the wrist.
"Nathan, I'm going to the cabin, try this and see if it suits me…" he was swearing right now that this was the last time he went shopping with her!
As soon as Haley entered the cabin, she felt Nathan behind her. "What… are you doing here?" she laughed, she didn't expect this, not when he was so bored…
"I want to see you in it."
"Ok." She gave him a quick peck on the lips and started to remove her shirt and bra. Oh boy, Nathan, control yourself, control yourself, control yourself. His gaze was intensely fixed on her wife's bare breasts.
"What time is it?" she asked while trying to take the top out of the peg. Looking at her jiggling breasts, his eyes narrowed.
"Get-laid-in-a-cabin o'clock!" and he attacked her, lifting her up on the wall, kissing her skin.
"Nathan!" she whispered. "You do know the consequences this might have, don't you?"
"Momma! You should have seen uncle Lucas! He was asked for an autograph!!" Jamie yelled as soon as he entered Lucas' apartment. That boy… He was the best part of her. And he was too. She opened up her arms and her son almost threw her down.
"Whooa!"
"And then the girl said he was hot!" Haley laughed while Lucas scratched his head. "Which was weird because it was a bit cold, actually…" this time, they all laughed at Jamie's innocence.
"Oh sweetie, she had no idea what she was saying…"
"Hey!" yelled Lucas but Haley just smiled at him.
"Now you, mister, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner!" she pushed Jamie to her and they shared their familiar Eskimo kiss. What she wouldn't give to share moments like these with Nathan.
And now I'm nothing!
But he was the one who ignored his wife. He was the one who ignored his son. He was the one who ignored himself.
He was trying to find a way. A way of climbing the stairs without getting hurt. He needed to feel her. Having a new idea, he wheeled to the living room, grabbing the only frame he hadn't broken. And he also needed the crutches Haley had bought, those that several times he'd refused to use. Returning to his previous actions, he placed the frame with the picture on the little piece of furniture near the stairs. He had to get upstairs, he had! Fixing his eyes on the picture, he tried to get up slowly. He knew he could stand up, he just preferred the wheelchair, it was so much easier and comfortable. But he could do this, the doctors said themselves.
"Come on, come on!" he was so frustrated with himself that he yelled at his legs. It hurt a little; after all he hadn't been like this in four months. "AH!" he shouted when he fall back to the wheelchair. "Damn it!" If only she was here… Not giving up and still focused on the frame, he tried one more time. First the right leg, then the left one and now he only had to put his arms on the crutches and stand up. "That's it! Come on! Easy…" and with one last glance at the frame and after all the pain, he was finally up. He was finally up! "I am up!" he laughed, not believing in what just happened "I am up!! I AM UP!!" He took the frame in his hand and a sincere smile crossed his features. What an amazing day that had been…
"Here?" asked Haley with the picnic basket.
"No, momma! I like it better here!" yelled Jamie just a few inches away from her mother.
"Jamie, it's all the same grass, son!" replied Nathan, spreading the towel so Haley could rest the basket. They all sat on the grass, Haley pulling Jamie to her lap and Nathan resting his arm around his wife.
"So, we have bacon sandwiches and… pizza!" Haley knew Jamie would love it. The boy was just like his father, even in the food department! They all started to eat, enjoying their family day.
"This place is beautiful. How did you find this?" Haley just leaned on Nathan and rested her head on his chest.
"Remember that game I was gone for the entire week, a month ago? Well, I was on the bus and we just passed on the road up there but I could see how beautiful this was. And in that moment I thought we all had to come here." He answered, putting a stray of hair behind her ear.
"I like it. It's nice when we leave Tree Hill to visit new stuff..." Jamie said, giving a little bite on his pizza. But, suddenly, the little boy got up, taking a mushroom of his pizza and approached his hand to the cage right next to his mom.
"Jamie, sweetie, rabbits don't eat mushrooms!" Haley and Nathan looked at each other, proud of their son unintentional goofiness and laughed.
"I still have to find a name for him, we already bought him a few hours ago and I still don't know how to call him..." Her boy was so sweet, their boy… With that, Haley just snuggled in Nathan's chest.
"You love my chest, don't you?"
"I love your chest.", she replied in the same tone.
"Chest… What about… Chester?!" Jamie yelled and his parents laughed as hard as they could. They were not expecting that was their son's inspiration for his rabbit's name. Nathan got up while Haley was still contemplating their son's victory dance.
"I like it!" Haley ruffled his hair and the little boy was so happy that he threw himself on his mom and the two collapsed on the grass.
"Nice!" Nathan yelled, with his camera recording everything. Haley was now tickling Jamie and he tried to tickle his mom on the neck; the giggles from both of them echoing in the park.
"Ahhh!" Haley opened her mouth in shock. "Daddy's recording us!" she said looking at Jamie and the little man just laughed, hugging his mother. Nathan took the opportunity and captured the moment. Wow, that was officially the picture of his life.
Never stopping recording, Nathan sighed. He knew one day he would have a smile on his face while looking back at those pictures and footage.
"I'm going to make it." He said looking at his wife and son hugging each other.
Gaining new strengths he started to climb the stairs. It was a hard thing to do; he'd never used crutches before. But after several minutes, he was finally upstairs, in their bedroom. Needing to feel Haley, he went to the closet and grabbed her clothes. God, he needed her, he needed her smell. So he closed the gap between his nose and her clothes and he sniffed them as hard as he could. "God!" he started to cry. "Haley!" That scent… Her scent… That amazing scent that would always drive him crazy… "Haley!" the tears were rapidly running through his cheeks. "What have I done?!"
She was looking at the ceiling of the bedroom. Her son was fast asleep; without his father throwing things away and yelling, he had no problem to fall asleep. She wished she could be like him. But she wasn't. Even without Nathan's presence, she still couldn't sleep. It was all there: the tears, the echoes and the memories.
Always and forever, Haley. I promise you that.
He was the one who loved her.