Three things: 1) I'm sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter. That was the last major cliff hanger I had planned. I can't promise that is definitely the last cliffhanger because I'm not sure what I'll pull out of thin air while I'm writing out future chapters, haha. I'm a sucker for cliff hangers, if you couldn't tell. Some of the are intentional and some of them are not. The ones that aren't planned, I'm usually writing and then I'll find a perfect place to end the chapter and it ends up being another cliff hanger. Selfishly, I include them in hopes that people will come back and read more. 2) The progression of Haley's feelings being revealed is slow and yes, that is done on purpose. If you think about it, it's only been about a week since they've been reunited again after six years of silence. From a writer's standpoint, I didn't think it would be a good idea to have them solve all their issues right away. That didn't seem very realistic. She's hurt, she's confused (as I'm sure many of you are, as well), and she's guarded. 3) I have been very vague on ages. That part is both intentional and also kind of not intentional. They got married the summer after high school, so they were 18. It was about a year or so later when they got a house, so they were 19 then. How old they are now and how old they were when Nathan left will be revealed soon. I'm kind of keeping that under wraps on purpose.
Speaking of things being cleared up, this chapter contains a couple of flashbacks, which means that this chapter is probably the longest one I have posted thus far. Some of them I included because I know we're all desperate for some happy Naley. Trust me, whenever I read fanfics, I always want to skip passed all the drama and get to the happy parts. Again, may I remind you, I love happy endings.
Last thing, most of you have figured out what one of the biggest reveals of the story is gonna be, however, I'm still going to keep things mysterious around that subject for about one more chapter. My original plan was to have the truth come out about that in chapter ten and I'm sticking to that plan, lol.
P.S. The only reason you're getting this chapter is because I'm super sick and have been laying in bed all day, which has given me the chance to write, lololol. I just finished Chapter 12, it's lit. I just said "lit"...oh God, I really am sick.
Disclaimer: Yes, I didn't really proofread this one either. Sue me. You guy's just make so anxious to update ;)
It was like a mad house, which was the only word Haley could use to describe her current living situation. There had to be about fifty or so people jam packed in the spacious yet now considerably tiny pent house. FBI agents, detectives, police…they were everywhere and they were all frantically moving around. Some were typing away on laptops, some were on their phones and most of them were huddled in small groups anxiously chatting away to one another.
Haley noticed Clay sitting on one of the couches, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped together in front of him. One of his legs was bouncing up and down frantically but that wasn't what concerned her the most. The somber and scared look on his face caused goosebumps to rise high on her skin. Her eyes then adverted to Peyton, who wasn't standing that far off from Clay. She had her cell phone to her ear, her mouth moving so fast that Haley wasn't sure she could make out the words even if she tried. Her expression mirrored Clay's to a tee.
She glanced around in order to find Nathan but the unsettling feeling simmering inside of her turned to a boil when she came up empty handed.
No one was telling her anything. Hell, everyone seemed to forget that she was there. People zoomed by her without saying a word or without even sparing a glance in her direction. They all seemed to be on high alert, rushing around as if they only had seconds left to get to their destination. The anxiety that was surrounding everyone was palpable.
"Haley James? Is that you?" A sweet voice called out to her and she turned to the right to see Deb Scott standing there with a bewildered expression on her face.
"Mrs. Scott?" Haley asked with just as much shock. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen her mother-in-law. Deb was always traveling for her work with a non-profit charity organization and as far as she knew, Deb was away on business when Nathan decided to leave.
Tears welled up in Deb's eyes as she took a step toward Haley, her hands encasing around her daughter-in-law's. "You know, when Dan told me that he had brought you into custody, I wasn't sure that I believed him. But, by God, here you are."
Dan was in on this? Haley always knew that he had some kind of job working for the government and prosecution, but she never knew he was an FBI agent. Just like Deb, Dan was always away on business trips so she never spent much time with them. Sure, they spent respective holidays together and they did attend her and Nathan's wedding but they never spent any concrete time together. Haley could remember how bad she used to feel for Nathan. He never did spend much time with his parents but when they did spend time together, it was easy to see how much they all loved one another.
Out of both of Nathan's parents, however, Deb was the one Haley felt the closest to.
Haley squeezed Deb's hands back, her own tears surfacing in her eyes. "It's so good to see you again, Mrs. Scott."
Deb shook her head. "What is with this 'Mrs. Scott' nonsense? It's Deb to you, sweetheart."
Haley smiled a gentle smile, shrugging her shoulders. "I just thought that with-"
"You're family, Haley and you always will be." Deb was quick to caught Haley off.
"That means everything to me." Haley whispered softly, choking slightly over the tears that were forming quickly in the back of her throat.
Deb pulled Haley into a tight hug, her hands rubbing her back in a soothing manner. "I can't believe that you're actually here." Deb cried into her hair. "I thought for sure that I would never see you again."
Haley pulled away from the hug, her heart clenching at Deb' heart filled words. She opened her mouth to respond when Dan's sudden appearance next to Deb made her lose all train of thought. "Dan? You're uh, you're here too?"
Dan Scott never looked happy. Out of all of the times Haley had seen him, his face was always stone cold and emotionless. It was a stark contrast to his actual personality. That was one of the many things that intimidated her about him. But the expression Dan wore on his face now was something entirely different and even more alarming...it was utter fear.
"I'm the lead director on Ian Banks' case and also the lead director of the Behavior Analysis Unit." Dan revealed.
"Oh, wow." Haley muttered. Things just kept getting freakier and freakier.
He gave her a soft small, the expression never quite meeting his eyes. "I know you must have a lot of questions and I know it's been quite some time since we've last seen each other. As much as I would love to sit down and chat, I have a more pressing issue to deal with."
"And what would that be?"
"Nathan's missing."
~x~
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The constant sound of water hitting the ground eventually lulled Nathan out of his unconscious state. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying his hardest to make the foggy film over his eyes disappear. Confusion was the first emotion to hit him full force. Where am I? The place he was in was very dimly lit, the only source of light was from a tiny square window located at the top of the wall across from him. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he glanced around. It didn't take long for him to recognize his surroundings. He was in his old house's basement.
Everything slowly started to come back to him. The house. The baseball. The bedroom. The gunshot.
It was then that he became acutely aware of the scratchy rope cutting in his wrists that were tied behind him. That same rope was wrapped around his ankles and the metal legs of the folding chair he was sitting in. The searing pain in his side came next. It started off as a dull, aching pain. But with each passing second, it grew with intensity. The dull pain quickly shifted into a sharp and stinging irritation. Nathan looked down at where the pain was coming from and swallowed hard at the sight of his shirt torn and matted with blood. There was a bandage tightly pressed against the wound, the gauze and tape soiled with blood, as well.
At least whoever shot him was nice enough to bandage him up.
Nathan gritted his teeth together in attempt to stop himself for groaning in pain. He wasn't going to give whoever shot him the satisfaction of knowing that he was hurting. He wasn't going to give them anything. Pain was nothing to him. Pain was a state of mind and as long as he kept his mind off it and as long as he kept the adrenaline flowing through his veins, he would survive this.
The keeping his mind off the pain shouldn't have been that hard of a task since all he could think about what was he saw in that bedroom upstairs. It was all too unbelievable. If someone hadn't of shot him, he probably would have passed out in shock. There was an anxiousness inside of him. An anxiousness to wiggle his way out of these ropes and run back up to that room. He had to see if his eyes had deceived him or if what he saw was reality.
A dim light clicked on above him and Nathan immediately squinted his eyes. The loud sound of heavy boots against the wooden stairs made Nathan tense up. There were two sets of footsteps descending down the stairs and Nathan clenched his fists, his jaw locking. He kept his head down as the steps got closer. A few seconds passed before a pair of feet appeared in front of him. A pair of combat boots and a pair of dark brown Tims.
"Oh, look, he's awake." A low, male voice echoed through empty basement.
"That only took about three hours." Another male voice snorted.
"Well you did shoot him in the stomach instead of his knee or his shoulder, like we originally planned."
"Tomato, Tomtaho"
Their chuckles and snorts filled the room and Nathan swallowed hard. Of course his kidnappers had to be sick minded, getting off on the pain of others. He had come across many of those types of people in his years as an FBI agent. Each and every one of them made his skin crawl and these two freak shows in front of him were no exception. But their behavior did make sense- they were working for Ian Banks after all. And he was the king of sick minded people.
A calloused hand roughly gripped Nathan's jaw, forcing him to look up. Two middle aged men stood before him. One was a blonde. His hair shaggy and falling into his dark brown eyes. He had a permanent smirk plastered on his face, one that was meant for evil. The one who was gripping Nathan's jaw had darker hair, his hair buzzed. Two dark green eyes twinkling with mischief stared back at him. They were both dressed in ragged clothes, paint stains covering various parts of the fabric.
"You're a silent one, aren't ya, Scott?" The dark haired one cooed with one eyebrow raised.
Nathan remained silent. It came to no surprise that they knew exactly who he was.
"I pegged him as someone who would beg, maybe even cry a little, for his freedom." The blonde snickered.
The other man shook his head, releasing the grip he had on Nathan's jaw. "Nah, I thought he would be a feisty one. Ian did say he was always quick on his feet when it came to being a smartass."
Nathan just stared at both of them, his bottom and top set of teeth grinding against each other. Sweat was starting form on the back of his neck and on the top of his forehead- from the pain he was experiencing or from the anger surging through his veins- Nathan wasn't sure.
"How do you think we should get him to talk? Huh, Dominic?" The blonde asked, stepping closer to Nathan. They were both hovering over him but Nathan didn't dare look either of them in the eye.
"I'm not sure, Theo. What do you think are some sore subjects for our little friend here?" The man that Nathan now knew was named Dominic asked, his voice slick with torture. He backed away from Nathan and crossed his arms over his chest before he began to pace the length of the floor.
Theo backed away from Nathan too but instead of pacing the floor, he just kept staring at Nathan. His eyes watched Nathan's facial expression intensely. So far, he was holding up a pretty good poker face. "His dad? The big man in the FBI?"
Dominic shook his head. "Not sore enough."
"His brother?"
Dominic shook his head once again before pausing his pacing, a look of sudden realization appearing on his face. Nathan tensed even further. There was no realization, Dominic knew all along what he wanted to torment Nathan about. All of this was just one sick and twisted game. "What about that pretty little waitress down at Levy's?"
A smirk slowly spread across Theo's face. "Oh, you mean the one with the ass that's out of this world?"
Nathan could feel the anger start to eat away at him. The anger was so intense that it overruled every other thing he was feeling, even the pain in his stomach. He lifted his eyes up to meet Theo and Dominic, his expression hard.
"Yes, her. She sure is a pretty little thing with that tight body and those lips that looked like they were just made to give head." Dominic cooed with a lick of his lips.
Nathan could feel his self-control waning. He wanted to remain unaffected. He refused to give them any kind of satisfaction but the way they were talking about Haley…he wasn't sure if he could handle much more.
"Man, I'd give anything to fuck her." Theo declared, his gaze falling on Nathan. He chuckled when Nathan's jaw visibly clenched.
"I bet she's a freak in bed. She seems like she would be."
"Most definitely." Theo said as he stepped closer to Nathan, crouching down so that he was eye-level with him. "What was her name again?"
Dominic shrugged. "Heather?"
Theo shook his head. "Nah, that doesn't sound right." His eyes never once left Nathan's.
"Holly?"
"That seems a little closer." Theo answered. "What about you, Nate? Have any suggestions?"
Nathan narrowed his eyes, swallowing hard.
Theo just stared at Nathan, the smirk never once leaving his face. After a moment of silence, another faux expression of realization came over him. "Wait a minute, I got it…her name is Haley." A sick smile spread across his face.
Nathan couldn't take it anymore. "You touch my wife and I'll kill you." He gritted out, his voice hard and demanding. He looked up at both of them, the venom clear in his eyes.
"Oh, look he speaks." Theo chuckled, standing back up.
"Wife? Oh, Natey-boy, the last time I checked, her ring finger was bare." Dominic said with a laugh. "Because, you left her…didn't you?"
Nathan ignored their comments. "This is your only warning…you lay even a finger on Haley and I will kill you."
Dominic marched up to Nathan, his expression going from teasing to cold in a matter of seconds. Before Nathan could comprehend what was going on, Dominic had kneed him hard right where he was shot. Nathan cried out in pain, his body beginning to shake with the intensity of the pain. "That's if you even make it out of here alive."
~x~
Haley wasn't sure how she ended up in Nathan's room. Everything after hearing the words "Nathan's missing" was a complete blur to her. Her stomach was in a giant knot of worry and her heart hadn't stopped pounding in her chest. She felt like crying, the tears pooling to the brim in her eyes. She could feel the sob bubbling up her throat but she choked it down.
She wasn't going to cry. There was no reason to cry. Nathan was going to be okay. He had to be okay.
Through the walls of Nathan's room, she could still hear the anxious chatter of all the agents and detectives that were trying to find any kind of clue that would lead them to Nathan. She tried her hardest to tune them out by getting lost in her surroundings. It amazed her just how much this hotel room reminded her of Nathan- the unmade bed with the bedspread haphazardly tossed to the side, a few articles of his clothing scattered across the floor, and of course, the stack of sports magazines on the bedside table. The room even smelled like him, the rich and intoxicating scent of his cologne hovered in the air.
Her eyes swept across a medium sized hole in the wall and she stepped closer to it, running her fingers across the cracked edges of the dry wall. Haley automatically assumed that the hole came from Nathan. He always did have a short temper and punching walls whenever things got too out of hand was his specialty. His anger issues had definitely improved over the years but Haley was sure he still had his breaking points. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe she was the reason for that particular hole in the wall. She felt sick at the thought.
Moving away from the wall, Haley walked over to Nathan's desk, which was by far the messiest thing out of the entire room. There were heaps of paper covering the desk, manila folder after manila folder stacked on top of one another. Various pictures of houses and buildings she didn't recognize were scattered along the length of the desk. The last thing her eyes landed on was a large white envelope. It was sticking out from underneath all of the other rubble on the desk, the words "look", "need", "you're" written in Nathan's handwriting were the only things visible to her. Furrowing her eyebrows, she carefully grabbed the envelope from underneath the piles of paper.
"Look at this when you need a reminder of why you're doing this"
Haley's fingers danced across Nathan's hand written words, her heart thudding loudly. She should have put the envelope back and walked straight out of his room. Snooping into his personal business was never something she liked to do and she prided herself on that. But, something inside of her was screaming at her to look inside this envelope. Her fingers were burning at the urge and after a few more seconds of internally debating, she flipped the envelope over and opened the flap.
Reaching in, she grabbed the first thing her fingers touched. The texture of the paper felt glossy and smooth, like it was a picture of some sort. She pulled the picture out from the envelope and flipped it over. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw the two smiling faces staring back at her. It was a picture of her and Nathan, a much younger her and Nathan, on their first date. They were standing in front a Ferris wheel, the night sky making the twinkling of the lights on the ride stand out. Nathan's arm was around Haley's waist, holding her tight against him. Haley's head was resting on his chest, a happy smile on her face.
God, she would give anything to go back to that day.
~x~
"You know, taking a girl to a carnival on a first date is kind of cliché." Haley teased, her eyes twinkling up at Nathan as they walked hand and hand up to the cluster of rides and carnival games. The music was faint, dancing in the wind, along with the smell of fried food. It was a warm April night and Tree Hill was hosting its 74th annual spring carnival right along the Cape Fear River. Haley went every year, sometimes with Lucas and sometimes with her family, but never with a boy that made her heart race with a single glance in her direction.
The corners of Nathan's lips turned up into a slight smile. "I could have taken you out to dinner or to the movies, I'm pretty sure those are even more cliché."
"Touche." Haley said with a shrug of her shoulders. "So, what shall we do first?"
Their walking had slowed and now they were standing just outside of the entrance to the fair. Nathan shrugged his shoulders, his nerves still buzzing slightly. This was the first real date that he had ever been on and not to mention, with the first girl he had ever felt this strongly about. He just wanted this night to be perfect. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me."
"Wow, what a gentleman, leaving it up to lady's choice." Haley giggled. "How about we head over to the games? That way I can school you in that balloon and dart game."
Nathan raised his eyebrows at her in mock disbelief. "School me? Have you forgotten that I play basketball? My aiming skills are out of this world."
Haley rolled her eyes playfully as she began to walk backwards, pulling Nathan along with her. "That may be true but I've been playing this game since I was old enough to hold a dart and I always win."
"Oh, we'll see about that." Nathan said with a smirk as Haley laughed. A smile never left his face as he allowed Haley to lead him to the booth where her favorite carnival game was located. Luckily, there was no line. Nathan made quick work of digging his wallet out, shaking his head when Haley opened her mouth to protest. "I asked you out on this date, it's my treat. You can pay next time."
Haley didn't even try and conceal the blush that colored her cheeks from the wink that he sent her way. Then, with the way that her heart fluttered when he said "next time"…God, she was already in so deep. Shaking her head as an attempt to erase all of those distracting thoughts, she grabbed the darts from the game attendant and got in the perfect position to show Nathan just how good at this game she was.
Ten minutes later and Haley was standing in front of the game with her mouth hanging open. "I cannot believe that I just lost."
Nathan laughed loudly, his hand resting on his stomach to keep from doubling over. The shocked expression on Haley's face was priceless. "It looks like I just broke your life long winning streak."
She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a huff of air in annoyance. "Who's to say that I didn't let you win?"
Nathan turned to grab his selected prize from the game attendant before turning to face Haley once again, a smirk marring his features. "Whatever you need to tell yourself, Hales."
She rolled her eyes before glancing down at the prize he had picked. "Cracker Jack? Really? Out of all the things on the prize wall, you picked a box of caramelized popcorn and peanuts?"
Nathan nodded his head. "I love Cracker Jack. Plus, they always come with cool prizes inside." He tore open the box, fishing until he found the red, white, and blue striped packet. Once he grabbed a hold of it, he ripped it open and dumped the contents of it into his hand, revealing a multi colored charm bracelet. "It's for you."
Haley watched as he gently grabbed her arm and tugged it away from her body. His fingers gently brushing against the skin of her wrist as he slipped the bracelet on. Her skin tingled at the contact.
"Don't say I never gave you anything." Nathan said with a full-blown smirk on his face, serving to make Haley weak in the knees. Yup, she officially had it bad for Nathan Scott.
For the next hour or so, they played a few more carnival games before deciding to get something to eat. Once they go their food, a thing of cheese fries and an elephant ear, they took a seat on bench that was just on the outskirts of the carnival, looking over the river. They ate in silence for a few moments, a silence that was surprisingly not awkward at all. Nathan believed that first dates were supposed to be uncomfortable and full of awkward moments but that wasn't the case with Haley at all. All of his anxiety eventually melted away and he found himself feeling a hundred perfect comfortable around her, something that he hadn't ever felt in his life.
"So, the semifinals are Friday," Haley began, breaking the silence. "Are you nervous?"
Nathan shrugged, swallowing down his bite of food before responding. "Yes and no. No because we have a good team this year and we're fully capable of going to the finals. Yes because I'm not sure if we're good enough to beat Pontiac."
"How good is Pontiac?" Haley asked.
"They're undefeated. Not to mention, their captain is Ian Banks and he loves to play dirty." Nathan mumbled, the disdain clearly evident in his voice.
"Ian Banks? Is he the guy that you and Lucas always talk about?"
Nathan nodded. "Yup, he's also the one that absolutely despises me."
"I never did hear the story about why he doesn't like you." Haley pointed out.
"Because I'm a better player than he is." Nathan said with a smirk. "We attended a lot of the same basketball summer camps and it always boiled down to the two of us over who was the best player at camp. Every summer, the coaches would always pick me over Ian and he hated it."
"That seems kind of a dumb reason to hate someone so much." Haley mumbled.
Nathan chuckled. "That's because Ian's devotion to basketball is completely unhealthy. Like, imagine my love for basketball on steroids. He eat, sleeps, and breathes basketball.
Haley widened her eyes. "It's kind of hard to imagine someone loving that game more than you do."
Nathan gave her a small smile. "See, there's a difference though- I love the game, he's obsessed with it. He lets it control his life. Nothing, and I mean nothing, means more to him than basketball does."
"He sounds like a lunatic."
"Oh he is, trust me." Nathan asserted with a snort. "Speaking of the game, I have a question to ask you." His tone turned serious with a hint of apprehension. What he was about to ask her was something that he had been thinking about for the last week and a half. He just hoped that she wouldn't take it the wrong way or think it was too soon.
Haley shifted nervously in her seat. His blue eyes were staring intently at her and he was chewing on his bottom lip, something that he never did. "Okay, what is it?"
He took a deep breath, clasping his hands together on the wooden table. "So, I guess Whitey has this tradition that when we host any of the playoff games that each player has to give their away jersey to someone to wear on the day of the game. It's some school pride-symbolism-metaphor shit. I kind of zoned out when Whitey went off on a tirade about his reasoning for the whole ordeal." That earned a giggle out of Haley and Nathan felt his nerves die down a little bit. "I was wondering if you would wear my jersey?"
Haley's stomach erupted into a fit of butterflies as she felt her cheeks heat up. "Nathan…"
"You can say no, if you want. I know that this is only our first date but we've been friends for a while now and there's no other person that I could imagine giving my jersey to but…" Nathan rambled on and on before trailing off when Haley put her hand on top of his.
"I would be honored to wear it." She said sincerely, smiling back at him.
"Really?" He asked, immediately perking up. The relief he felt was almost refreshing.
She nodded. "Of course."
Nathan let out a breath of air that he wasn't aware he was holding. "Oh, thank God."
Haley giggled. "Did you think I was going to say no?"
"Honestly, I wasn't sure what you were going to say." Nathan admitted.
Haley just shook her head, the smile still playing on her lips. It was then that she realized her hand was still laying across Nathan's. She quickly pulled it away, the blush on her cheeks only deepening. Nathan looked at her with an amused expression on his face before standing up and collecting their food scraps. After he was down tossing them into the garbage, he walked over to Haley and extended his hand.
"Come on, there's one more thing we need to do before we leave." Nathan announced, squeezing her hand once she grabbed his. He led her across the carnival until he stopped right in front of the Ferris wheel. Looking over at her, he felt his heart constrict at the sight of the lights to the ride dancing across her doe-like brown eyes. She was so beautiful, it made his heart ache.
"Do you want go on?"
Adverting her eyes from the ride and back to Nathan, Haley nodded. Once he had paid the ride attendant, Nathan helped Haley climb into one of the cars on the ride before sliding up next to her, draping his arm behind her to rest on the outer parts of the ride. They talked aimlessly as the ride moved along its course. At one point, they reached the top of the Ferris wheel. The view from the top was absolutely incredible. It was like you could see every part of Tree Hill-houses, trees, businesses, traffic lights, and, of course, the River court.
Nathan leaned in closer to Haley, his lips hoovering right over the outer shell of her ear. "Do you know what they say about being stuck at the top of a Ferris wheel with a date?"
Haley couldn't stop the shiver from running down her spine as Nathan's hot breath fanned down her neck. She turned her head a little face him, inaudibly gasping at how close his face was to hers. His eyes were a much darker shade of blue now and it caused goosebumps to rise high on her skin. "No, what?" She squeaked out.
Nathan leaned in closer to her to the point where his lips were a breath away from hers. He smirked when he clearly heard Haley take a sharp intake of breath. "It's bad luck if you don't kiss them." With that being said, he closed the very small gap and seized Haley's lip in a soft and gentle kiss.
A small moan slipped from Haley's lips as she responded to Nathan's actions, one of her hands reaching up to tangle in his hair. This wasn't their first kiss. Nathan had kissed her about a week prior, completely out of the blue while she was helping him with his math homework. But with the feelings that he was evoking inside of her, it might as well have been their first kiss. Her whole body was tingling and the warmth was spreading quickly within in her.
When the need to breath arose, Haley pulled away. She was panting slightly, her chest heaving up and down. Nathan's eyes seemed even a shade darker and that caused her to swallow hard. "Did you really hear something like that or was that just a ploy to get me to kiss you?"
"What would you do if was just a ploy?" He whispered back at her, his voice husky with desire.
"This." She breathed before capturing his lips again.
~x~
Haley could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks as the memory replayed in her head. That night was the beginning of something so beautiful and the hopeless romantic side of her believed that, that was the night she had fell in love with him. They had been friends for a few months prior to that and every moment she spent with him made her want to spend even more time with him.
No one had ever looked at her the way he did, even on their first date. He looked at her like she put the stars in the sky which was such a heady feeling because she was sure she looked at him the same way. She still saw that look in his eyes whenever he looked at her in present day and she could physically feel her heart ache.
Forcing her eyes off of that picture, she reached into the envelope again. Her fingers connected with something cool and metal-like. Wrapping her fingers around the object, she dragged it out of the envelope and a gasp emitted from her lips when she realized it was his wedding ring. The small gold band seemed heavy in the palm of her hand. A sob tore from her throat as she sunk to the floor. Seeing that ring again hit her hard. Haley had thought for sure he would have gotten rid of it or something along those lines. The last thing she expected was for him to keep it in some memory seal. It reminded her of every promise that he ever made and all the plans they made for each other. It reminded her of how much love they had for one another.
It reminded her of the night that was the start of their supposed forever.
~x~
It was Memorial Day. The day that meant summer was just in reach. It also meant that graduation was fast approaching. Although, that wasn't really concerning for either Nathan or Haley. A few months back, Nathan had received a full ride to play basketball at Duke University. After some consideration, Haley decided to join him. Some people called her foolish for following her boyfriend to college, especially when it wasn't certain their relationship was going to last. They had only been together a little over a year and in the big scheme of things, that wasn't much time. But, Haley didn't care.
She was in love for the first time and being with Nathan just felt right.
They were both sitting on a blanket, which was laid out across a patch of grass next to the River court. Haley was laying in between his propped up legs, her back pressed against his chest. His arms were secured around her waist, his chin resting gently on the top of her head. It was only minutes before the firework display over the Cape Fear River began, arguably Haley's favorite thing about Memorial Day.
A surprising breeze of cold air blew past them just as the fireworks began. Haley snuggled more into Nathan's chest, tightening his hoodie that he had given her a few hours ago around her small body. Nathan seemed to get the hint that she was cold and pulled her tighter against his chest, hoping to block out some of the wind.
Instead of watching the fireworks, Nathan found himself watching Haley. He was so entranced by her. The way the fireworks reflected in her eyes, the way her facial expressions changed with each different design that illuminated the sky…it was all so mesmerizing. In Nathan's opinion, she was, by far, more enticing to watch than the fireworks.
God, he loved this girl. He loved her more than he thought was humanly possible. She completed him. Made him feel as if his only purpose in life was to hold her hand or to make her happy. She made him a better person, made him want to do everything in his power to prove that he was worthy enough to be hers. It's funny how over a year ago, he barely knew her but now, he couldn't imagine his life without her.
He was certain that no other girl would ever compare to her and that he didn't want or need any other girl. Haley was the one for him- the love of his life, the girl that he could see himself waking up to every morning for the rest of his life. And that's why he didn't feel an ounce of nervousness or fear as he muttered a very heady phrase into her ear as she was entranced by the firework show before her.
"Marry me." He whispered into her ear, his lips brushing against her skin. His voice was thick with emotion.
Haley tensed, her eyes widening as the weight of Nathan's words settled in. Slowly, she shifted in his arms to face him. As soon as she saw the look on his face and the love in his eyes, she knew he was serious and that only served to make her heart pound even harder. "Are…are you serious?"
Nathan smiled softly at her, his hands reaching up to brush a blonde curl out of her face before resting the palm of his hand against her cheek. "I could love you forever." He declared. "So, yes, I'm serious."
His words were so heavy, the intense look swirling around in his eyes made her weak in the knees. She could feel the tears of happiness welling up in her eyes but she held them back. "Nathan, we're so young. I mean, we're graduating high school in a few days. Couples don't get married this young. It's not normal." If she were being honest with herself that was the only problem she saw with his proposal. Nathan made her feel things that she thought only existed in movies or in books. He was the one for her, she was certain of that.
"So? I'm not normal and what I'm feeling is definitely not normal. And to be honest with you Haley, I don't ever want to be normal, not with you." Nathan replied, his thumb stroking her cheek. "I know we're young but you're the one that I want to be with. When I think of the future, all I can see is you. We're already going to the same college and I know that we're going to be together forever, so then why can't forever start today?"
She loved him. She loved him more than she thought was humanly possible. That was all the convincing that she needed. Placing her hand over his that was resting on her cheek, she nodded her head. "Yes, I'll marry you."
There was no stopping the smile from spreading across his face. "Really?"
She nodded. "Yes. I love you, Nathan, so much. There is no one else on this planet that I could picture myself being with."
He immediately cupped her cheeks, leaning in to kiss her passionately. He had never felt a happiness like this before. His decision to propose to her wasn't planned, at all. He knew one day that he would but something inside of him just clicked. That moment just felt right.
~x~
Haley clenched his ring in her hand, holding her fist against her chest as the tears continued to fall. There life was supposed to be a dream come true, not this nightmare that she was currently living. They were supposed to grow old together with a huge and dysfunctional yet loving and caring family.
Nathan had to be okay. He just had to be. She couldn't lose him, not again.
She finally mustered up enough strength to place his wedding ring back into the envelope before grabbing other item out of it. This time, it was another picture. As soon as she turned the picture over, she wished she hadn't. All of the air felt like it had been sucked out of her lungs and her sobs shook her entire body.
This picture was of a little boy. His blue eyes that matched Nathan's stared back at her. He was smiling so big that Haley could practically feel the happiness emanating from the picture. The little boy was dressed in a pair of jeans with a black baseball tee, the word "Brave" written across his chest. In his small little hand was a blue plastic ball.
Haley had only looked at the picture for a mere five seconds but that was all she could handle. She couldn't take it. It was proving to be too painful. So, she dropped it. She dropped the picture and the envelope to the floor, not really caring where it landed. With a shaky body, she hoisted herself up from the floor and ran back to her own room, completely forgetting about the group of agents that were out in the living room. They were probably too busy with their work to notice her anyhow.
She bolted into her room, making sure to close the door behind her. She fell to her knees on the side of her bed and with frantic movements, pulled her suitcase out from underneath it. After fumbling a few times from her shaky hands, she finally got it unzipped. She felt around until her hand closed around a velvet black box. Pulling it out from underneath some of her clothes, she quickly opened it.
Inside that black velvet box was her own wedding ring.
Her movements slowed as the ring was revealed to her, a fresh batch of tears forming in her eyes. It had been months, maybe even a year, since she had last looked at the beautiful diamond in front of her. Carefully, she removed it from the box, her fingers toying with it. She watched as it sparkled when the sunlight hit it in just the right way. She lifted up her left hand, the hand that her ring wasn't in. Her ring finger suddenly looked way too bare.
Before she had the chance to do anything, her bedroom door swung open to reveal a very frazzled looking Lucas. As soon as she saw him, she dropped the ring, hiding it from him. She didn't know why she felt the need to do that but it just felt wrong for him to catch her looking at something so personal. Quickly, she wiped away her tears but Lucas looked too wound up to have noticed. She was thankful for that. Talking about what she was doing was the last thing on the list of things she wanted to do in that moment.
Lucas looked like he was out of breath, like he had just ran up ten flights of stairs. "Brooke and I came over here as soon as we heard." He huffed out. "And by the look on your face, you haven't heard the new development, have you?"
She furrowed her eyebrows together. Her heart was in her throat. "What new developments?"
"They think they know where Nathan is." He revealed before waving for her to follow him. "Come on!" Just as soon as he had entered the room, he was gone.
Haley quickly picked up her discarded ring before jumping to her feet. She was about to put the ring back in its respective box before she paused. Holding the ring between her teeth, she unhooked her cross necklace before stringing the ring on to the gold chain. Once it was secure, she hooked the necklace back around her neck and headed out to the room full of FBI agents.
Please, God, let Nathan be okay.
