Chapter 3
Nathan walked into the dark apartment the next Tuesday evening with a wide awake Jay in his arms who was bouncing happily. Flicking on the light, he sat Jay down still dressed in his hat and coat and went to start unpacking the baby food and milk from his sons diaper bag. As he did this, Jay immediately took off the shoes his father had put on his feet before they left Brooke and Lucas' house and once he succeeded he toddled into the kitchen where Nathan was, and started opening the bottom cabinet.
Haley never wanted to be one of those parents that spoiled their children with the average toys and gifts like most did, but instead she found more interesting things that Jay could entertain himself with. Once she found out how much her little guy loved going into the bottom cabinet in the kitchen, she decided to trade out the pots and pans that once occupied the space, and place all of their Tupperware in the space below. It was something that wouldn't hurt him to play with, and since he'd go in there anyway, she figured they might as well save themselves a headache from the loud pans.
So that's where he sat, pulling every piece out, and banging them with his hands while his daddy worked high above him. "Dada?" Nathan heard from below. He could tell that it came out of his sons' mouth as a question.
As of two weeks ago, the young parents discovered that their son wasn't too fond of clothes anymore. One particular day, Jay had been roaming around the apartment, whining for no reason until they saw him constantly pulling at his shirt. Deciding that they should take his shirt off, figuring that it had to be possibly making him itch or something, they discovered him then pulling at his jeans. He however had no luck of getting them off, so Haley and Nathan took the pants off as well. Afterwards, Jay greeted them with all smiles as he took off crawling like nothing had been bothering him that day.
They had an exhibitionist on their hands
Nathan bent down, took the boy up and held him playfully under his arm while he carried him to the nursery. Standing him up on his changing table, he spoke softly to the child, "Okay, it's big boy time, Jay. You ready?" He then unsnapped his onesie and pulled it straight up over his head, while Jay's arms automatically lifted up. "Good job buddy, you take your shirt off just like big boys do."
To finish, they returned to the living room with Jason only in his freshly changed diaper. Nathan watched him go for his few scattered toys about the floor, then glanced over at the laundry basket that was quickly filling up. Since he decided that they could order in, he started to separate the clothes and start up a load, washing his sons' clothes first. Minutes after putting the first load in, Nathan heard the door slam louder than the water coming from the machine. He looked to see what it was and saw his wife, Haley rush into their bedroom without speaking a word.
He turned to see Jay, who was obviously startled by the slamming door, slowly crawling towards him, his bottom lip trembling in a full pout. He had to do something. "Come here buddy, you're ok." He took him into his room and sat the boy in the extremely lowered crib, knowing that his son couldn't climb out and get hurt. He placed a few random toys in there and left to go check on his wife.
As he entered their bedroom, Nathan could already feel the tension in the air. He knew that there had to be a string of emotions that his wife was feeling, and he just hoped that she would open up to him without a fight. Seeing the room's light was on, he was about to walk in when once again, Haley rushed pass him and walked out of their bedroom. Hearing pans clanking in the kitchen, Nathan followed the noise and prepared himself to break down the wall his wife had up without getting angry at her.
"Hales, what going on? What's got you so worked up?" he said, standing in the living room that was connected to the kitchen, as he watched her pull random things out of the cabinets.
"I'm making dinner Nathan, now what do you want to eat?" she said, obviously ignoring his question. She looked over at him and he had his hands up in defense.
He started to raise his voice at her. He hated that she didn't want to open up to him even a bit. It was obvious that she had a problem. "I want you to talk to me Hales! Just slow down for a minute, and tell me what happened that's got you so upset! And don't tell me it's nothing, because 'nothing' doesn't make you come home slamming doors, scaring our son, and not speaking a word to us like we're damn invisible! So I don't want to hear that it's nothing!" He was pissed and wasn't afraid to show his wife.
They weren't the type of couple that hid what they were feeling, but shared it no matter how ugly it was. When they first started their long distance relationship, Nathan's number one priority was to make sure Haley was comfortable with being completely honest with him and sharing her feelings. Times like these made him feel betrayed and often tested his patience.
Haley was about to speak when the glass that she'd been holding in her hand slipped and shattered into hundreds of pieces on the floor. She didn't expect Nathan to be that infuriated. She tried to move around it but just ended up getting a piece stuck in her let foot. "Shit!" she said on impulse.
Nathan came to the rescue as always, and lifted her against his body and into his arms. Soon after he had her sitting on the closed toilet seat as he looked through their sink drawer and got out the band aids and Neosporin, then cleaning her cut. He decided to go the subtle route. "How was class tonight?" he asked in a soft tone. He saw her lips moving, but she spoke so low that he had to ask her to repeat herself.
She put her right hand on her head, as if warding off a headache. She then shook her head. "I said I didn't do as well on my test as I needed to," she sounded worried and irritated. She really didn't want to repeat something that depressing.
He nodded his head, now understanding her attitude, and what caused her behavior.
"What did you get?" he asked, knowing that he was walking on egg shells with this question, because his wife had never gotten anything below an "A-"on any of her school work, until she had become a mom. But he knew the question had to be asked, even though her first "B-" had her in tears for days, never feeling more ashamed of herself.
She paused and took a deep breath. "I got a 'C', Nathan. That test stressed me out all of last week, and all I got was a 'C'. I can't afford t get 'C's' Nathan! If I want to keep my scholarships, then I need grades higher than a 'C'!" she exclaimed, uttering that dreaded letter again and again.
Nathan could tell that this had really upset her. They both knew that she could do way better than that. But he'd also known that last week was when it was only them juggling Jay, since Brooke and Luke had their hands full with Drew's ear infection. They had both been stressed and drained that whole week, but he should have been stronger than that, helping her out more than ever.
"Haley, it's just one bad grade. We'll make sure you do a lot better for the next time. This isn't the end of your career in Medicine, I promise."
He hoped that what he said was enough. They'd never have this problem before, so he wasn't sure what exactly to do. He leaned in to kiss her, when she suddenly, to his surprise, once again, left the room in a hurry.
He followed her voice into the living room, and saw her sitting on the couch holding the menu to their favorite Chinese restaurant and obviously ordering their dinner. Just minutes later, she hung up and turned to him with a diminutive smile. "Thank you, babe."
Nathan smiled back at her and grabbed her hand. "What are we having for dinner?" he asked, trying to sound that nothing was worth worrying for.
Inch by inch, she made her way into his lap, letting her fingers run through the tiny hairs on the back of his head. "Shrimp Lo Mein, Egg Rolls, Bourbon Chicken, Shrimp and Broccoli, General Taos Chicken and… extra fortune cookies," she enumerated, her mood a little bit better than before.
Because, one thing you had to know about Haley James Scott; she never ordered less than three main dishes of Chinese food. She had to have a variety. "So where'd you stash our son at?" she suddenly thought to ask.
He tilted his head towards the hall, and she excitedly walked into the nursery, and saw the small boy standing up against the rail, looking around the room.
Jay heard his mothers' voice, and his eyes instantly locked on hers as he let out the most adorable smile she'd ever seen. "A-E!" he screeched out excitedly.
Haley couldn't find it in her heart to scold him for calling her by her name, like she usually did; she was just too damn happy to see her little guy. She grabbed him out of the crib and smothered his tiny face with big kisses, making him laugh in the process. "How's mommy's big boy? I missed you today baby. I bet you had a lot of fun with Auntie Brooke and Drew! You wanna eat-eat? Huh? Eat-eat? Let's get daddy to feed you," she asked in a childish tone.
She walked back into the living room to find her husband sitting in front of the television, with a Gatorade in his hand. She plopped Jason down on Nathan's lap and he accepted him of course. Then she heard their home phone ringing, and quickly walked over to answer it.
Nathan listened to the quick conversation, and gave her a puzzled look noticing how quick the call was.
"That was the Chinese place, their car broke down, so I'm gonna go pick up the food really fast."
She was right about fast. She was so fast in getting her jacket and keys, that he didn't even have time to object to her to be the one to get the food. "Could you feed him and give him a bath, or at least feed him before I get back? That way we can eat before it gets cold. I'll be back before you know it," she quickly said and laid a quick kiss to both Nathan and Jay. She afterwards walked out the door, and Jason at once began to fuss, already missing his mommy.
That was apart of her rambling that he didn't like. It happened so fast, and hecouldnt get a word in.
Haley kept her foot on the brake while she waited for the red light to turn green, and decided to get the money for the food ready. She reached into her purse, and looked into her wallet, only to find that she had no money on her. Turning her left signal off, she merged into the right lane making her way just another block down to Bank of America's twenty-four hour ATM. Parking the car, she stepped up to the machine and waited for her money.
Geeze Hales, you couldn't have worn a warmer jacket, it's freezing out here…come on stupid machine hurry up, she thought as she waited. She finally grabbed the two twenty's that was ejected. To her dismay and horror, she then felt a hand cover her mouth from behind and another arm take a firm grasp around her waist.
While desperately trying to fight, she only managed to anger her assailant and as he dragged her towards the back of the building his hands moved to her neck, choking her in the process. After throwing her to the ground, he hit her across her cheek, slicing the soft skin there, then proceeded to rip at the thin jacket that she was wearing. All the while, Haley cried out in protest.
He moved his way up to her jaw, gripping it tightly before smashing his lips onto hers, while she pushed against him as hard as she could. Grasping both of her wrists in one of his hands, his other hand moved in between them and started to undo her pants, making Haley's breathing increase as she fought harder against him.
Using all of her strength, Haley began to kick as hard as she could and finally lodged her knee where she wanted. Feeling her foot in his groin, he bent over in pain and fell on his side while moaning out a series of profanities. Haley, disregarding how much pain she was in, managed to reach into her pocket her cell phone. She dialed 911. "Help me…someone please help me," she managed to get out before her phone was kicked out of her hand. He kicked her several times in the stomach, allowing her to slowly give into unconsciousness as the attackers footsteps moved further away.
Images of her two boys filled her mind. All she could see was Nathan carrying a naked six month old Jay around dripping wet, and looking very unsure of himself. "I know I said I'd do this alone, but you gotta help me out here Hales.. kid's pissed in this water like three times! That can't be good" She wanted to reach out and take her little boy into her arms and smother her adorable husband with kisses, but before she could take a single step, everything went black.
AN: Well? Next chapter up soon. Click that review button!
