Aftermath
An OTH Naley Short
By Alex B
3
He went back the next morning, but Peyton had gone all pit-bull on him. Haley can't see you, she told him. It was better than her telling him that his wife didn't want to see him. But he had seen her. She wasn't sleeping. Her faced showed it all. They had spent the whole day at the hospital. He'd forgotten about the appointment that they had today. He could have gone in there using his right as their baby's father, but Nathan hadn't done that. Instead, he had waited, and then went to talk to the doctor himself. When he was sure that they were gone, when he knew that they weren't in the building anymore, Nathan went in and sat with his brother.
Lucas was sitting up in his bed starting out at the rain that fell down.
"The way you love Peyton is the way I love Haley." He said.
"She didn't want to leave here." Lucas replied before looking over at his brother. "But she made a promise to you to look after Haley. You told her."
Nathan nodded. "I didn't have much choice. I'd already jeopardized our baby once. I didn't want to do it again, but I couldn't hold the words inside any longer. She…she couldn't even look at me, Luke. She told me that if I didn't leave that she would."
"Sounds like Haley. She give you that?" Lucas motioned to the beginnings of a black eye on his brother's face. Touching his bruise, Nathan winced.
"No," he replied with a small laugh. "That would be Peyton." Lucas rested his head back against his pillows and laughed. He laughed so hard he winced then rubbed his fist over the middle of his chest.
"She hit you?"
"I had to tell her everything so that she would sit with Haley for me."
"No, you didn't have to." Lucas shook his head. "You know that Peyton would have done that anyway." Nathan nodded.
"She deserved to know then." He said. "Haley said something to me. She said that what happened to her, Dante hitting her with that car, contributed to what happened to you. If it were only the game, you would have collapsed before or after making that shot. I watched you, Luke. You and Skills froze me out in the first half, and you didn't trust me all the much in the second. None of the guys knew what was going on, but I guess they followed your lead."
"I couldn't let you take that away from them, from Whitey, from me. We worked too damn hard. But if I knew what would have happened afterward…"
"But you didn't."
"How long are you going to stay away?"
Nathan rose from his seat and paced the room. "Haley says that she needs time. When I talked to her last night, she told me that she didn't want to be mad at me, but she couldn't help it. Someone tired to kill me and ended up almost killing her and the baby."
"I'm glad he's dead." Nathan looked at his brother with surprise. Lucas' gaze was steady on the wall across the room, but his eyes saw nothing. Nathan nodded his head sagely.
"I won't cry any tears over the man that nearly took my family."
"Haley told me that Dante wanted you soul." Nathan was smart to keep quiet. It was always that way when Lucas was building up to something. Dan was the same way, but the difference was that you wanted to hear what Lucas was going to say because he was never in it to put you under his foot and step down. "She meant basketball because it's such a big part of you. But, dude," Lucas shook his head again. "It's not your soul."
"She is. They are."
Lucas nodded then tapped the tips of his finger to his temple. "I knew you had some smarts in you somewhere."
"Is this your way of saying that you forgive me?" Lucas looked at Nathan, his expression both shocked and surprised.
"You telling me that you need it?" He asked almost hesitantly. "Are we…are we there?"
"Yeah," Nathan replied with a nod. "We are, and we do. You and Haley are all that I've got."
"That's not true, Nate. But you're forgiven. I forgive you, Nathan and Haley will to. Go home." Nathan nodded then stood to leave. Again, Lucas stopped him. "One more thing little brother," he said. "When you get home would you mind telling a certain sexy blonde to come back and see me?"
"Haley's married, dude." They both laughed softly.
"Man, don't make me get out of this bed." Lucas threatened.
Nathan laughed. "Yeah, okay, I'll tell her."
"It's going to be okay, Nate."
"How do you know?"
"Because he wouldn't have saved you, and he wouldn't have given me the choice if it wasn't meant to be."
"Keith?"
"He says to just breathe."
-
He was soaked to the bone as he stood out in front of their apartment building. He'd given Peyton his key so he would have to knock. But that was okay. He wanted Haley to be the one to let him back in their home, in her life, and back into her heart.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Peyton's cell. She answered on the second ring. "She's fine, Nathan. She was tired so Haley went to lie down an hour ago."
"Thank you." He paused, then, "Ah, Lucas told me to tell you to come see him."
"You be careful, Nathan, do you hear me?" She said to him. "Because I would have no problem putting the black on your other eye if you mess this with Haley."
"I'll never screw things up with her again." He promised. "Never again."
"I believe you." He listened to the dial tone but didn't put his phone away when he hung up. He stood beside Peyton's car with the rain falling on him. When she came out, she hugged him. Peyton wasn't really good at words when it came to the emotional stuff. They were okay.
"Good luck," she told him.
"I'll need it." She moved past him to slip into her car, but before she started the car, Peyton asked,
"You and Luke?"
"We're good." She nodded then backed out of the drive.
As he started up the stairs to where they lived, Nathan dialed the house number. He could hear the phone ringing inside the apartment as the passed their window to stand in front of their door. "Come on, Haley."
Her sleepy voice sounded in his ear. "Mm?"
"I love you, Haley."
Inside, Haley rubbed at her still sleepy eyes. "Nathan," She heard a knock at the door and ignored it. Outside, Nathan knocked again.
"I not staying away anymore, Haley. I can't." He knocked again. "It's too hard."
"You said-"
"No, you said." Nathan told her. "And I'm sorry, but I can't give you anymore time. I need you, Haley. And you need me, too." He was silent on the other line. Raising his fist, he knocked again.
"God, who is that?"
"Peyton has my key." When the phone clicked off in his ear, Nathan slid his phone into his pocket. When the door finally opened, he took her in. She was wearing a pair of her pajama pants with the draw string that made her stomach look really good even though she was starting to show. He told her when he had first seen the pants that she should wear them all the time. When Haley had asked him why, he told that it was cute the way they covered her feet.
"Oh, and it makes your butt look good, too." He remembered saying with a faint smile. She wore one of his Duke T-Shirts as well. The shirt looked better on her than they ever had on him.
"The door wasn't locked." Haley finally spoke. Nathan didn't reply, so she spoke again. "Why didn't you get your key back? Nathan?"
He snapped to. "What?"
"Your key."
"What about it?"
"Why didn't you get it back?"
He wanted to touch her so bad. "Because I wanted yo to let me in. Do you understand?"
She nodded jerkily trying not to cry.
When her man made up, he sure made up big, didn't he?
Not an inch of him was dry. His hair was wet black and stuck to his head. His lightweight jacket and the T-shirt he wore under it was plastered to the top half of his body. Rain dripped from his lashes and into his eyes. It fell from his ears, this nose and his fingertips. Nathan was standing in his own puddle, but just looking at him made her breath hitch. But it wasn't the way that he looked; it was the way that he was looking at her that made it hard to stand. His love didn't hide; it was right there in those eyes staring at her. "I love you, too."
His breath came out in a gust. "Can I come home?"
She nodded again shakily. "Mm, yeah. Yes, please." Her crutches fell to either side of her as Nathan picked her up and moved inside. It wasn't the warm air that made him shiver. Haley didn't seem to care one bit that he was soaked to the bone, or that the water from his close were seeping into hers.
"Forgive me?" He needed to know.
"I love you," she replied. "How can I not? But if you ever…"
"I won't."
"Damn right." Haley punched him in the chest. He felt the shiver that moved through her.
"Cold?"
"Maybe."
Nathan grinned. "How about a bath?"
"Nathan Scott, that has to be the most romantic thing you ever said to me. Loose the shirt."
"Guys like to be romantic."
He kicked the door shut behind them.