Wow. Thanks for all the great reviews to this story. The chapter after this is the last one before the epilogue. I'm really excited with the responses I got out of you guys with that last chapter. I was a little iffy about it at first. Hope you enjoy this, this is the last bit of drama for the story...
R/R please!
The Wrong Kind of Wrong
Haley could see Brooke's car in the distance and knew that it wasn't Brooke. Lucas wouldn't dare let her go after them. She had been surprised to see that he followed, but Nathan hadn't. It was awkward, she briefly thought, that they had such a connection after such a short time. Nathan had almost looked like he knew that Lucas would follow them.
Nathan met Haley's eyes briefly in his rearview as Chris told some psychotic story of when they were on tour and when he first remembered falling in love with her. By the look in Haley's eyes, Nathan knew she was going to do something eventually and he just wished he could figure out a plan before she did. He hated that she was there with them in this dangerous disaster. If it were just he and Chris, he'd wreck the car and hope to make it alive. But he couldn't hurt her.
"Speed it up, Nate." Chris demanded when his story ended, nervously g lancing behind them. The police hadn't seemed to catch up yet, but Lucas sure had.
"We're already going ninety, man." He didn't like driving this fast with Haley in the car, he never had. He knew she hated it and he didn't want to put anymore stress on her than there already was.
"I didn't ask you that, Hot Shot. I said speed it up!" Chris screamed.
"Where are we going?" Nathan asked harshly, glaring at the psycho's reflection.
"I haven't figured it out yet." He seethed, the knife aimed at Haley. Then, he smiled sneakily at the blondish-haired girl. "You look beautiful, Haley." He wiped a few unruly strands of hair behind her ear.
Her skin crawled as his skin brushed against hers and she moved his hand away. "Don't touch me."
The car swerved quickly—purposely and Nathan glared heatedly when Chris eyed him in the mirror. "Oops." Nathan deadpanned. There wasn't much more of this he could take. He couldn't constantly watch that creep touch Haley and eye her as if she was naked. He struggled to keep his sanity. He had to think of something quick before he lost his mind.
Just then, they heard the sirens. Nathan and Haley's eyes met. Nathan could read her look, he shook his head but she ignored him and looked to Chris with his bloody nose. Inwardly she was smiling at her work. She'd caused him that. Maybe she could do it again, hurt him and make him drop the knife. Aha, she thought. That's what she'd do. She saw from the window that even though he still had a ways to go to catch up, Lucas was still behind them.
"What are you going to do with us? Where are we going?" Haley asked rudely, glaring like he was the plague. She was going to try to play games with him, possibly making him lose thought of the knife for a second.
For a moment, he just stared at her blankly, and then a demented grin came over his face. "Nathan, take us to the airport."
"What?! You're never going to get out of the state! They probably have alerts all over North Carolina about you right now!" Nathan gritted. Not to mention, running through the airport with a girl at knifepoint, that would be the dumbest decision ever, but Nathan left that part of for the sake of Haley. Though she was trying to hide it, she was scared as hell and he didn't need Chris getting any 'bright ideas' right now.
Haley briefly saw his eyes again and the blue loving orbs were nearly black and dangerous. If she could get the knife out of Chris' hand, Nathan would stop this car and pull him out of the back seat, proceeding to beat the living crap out of him until the cops arrested him. Her eyes darted to the knife in his hand that he was barely even holding. He kept looking out the back window, obviously becoming apprehensive of the police and less aware of his loosening grip.
"It's over." Haley announced evenly with a scathing laugh. "They're going to get you, Chris." She shook her head like she pitied his decision. "How could you be so dumb?!"
"Haley." Nathan warned, glancing back at her uneasily.
"You're done, Chris." Haley continued, hugging her bare arms. She ditched her sweater in Brooke's car and now she was wishing she hadn't. "Give up."
"Shut up!" He yelled, poking the knife to her face. "Shut the hell up, Haley!"
"Hey! Don't point that at her!" Nathan panicked, the car swerved erratically.
He then pointed the knife at the side of Nathan's neck and brought his face mere inches from Nathan's ear. "You just keep driving." He gritted those last words before Haley lifted her foot and kicked the knife from his hand.
To her dismay, it landed on the floor of the back seat and he reached down to pick it up. However, it made it difficult for him to do when she wouldn't stop kicking. She insistently banged the back of his head with her shoe, grunting with every blow. "Nathan!" She called between the blows, but he was already stopping the car, which made the vehicle spin in circles, sending their bodies swinging in complete disorder.
Nathan grabbed Chris by his shirt with one hand reaching to the back seat, the other hand was still holding the steering wheel. He bit down on his lip as he glanced from the back seat and out the front window, trying to calculate where the uncontrollable car would stop. The tires screeched and the car still spun, just not as fast but, when the speed got down to about forty-five, he let go of the wheel to use his both hands to try to pull Chris to the front with him. All he knew was that he had to get that creep away from Haley. Everything was happening so fast, he could hear Haley crying and then screaming something incoherent. He wanted to get to her—to get her out of this, but he couldn't do it. So he was praying that everything was going to be okay as he pulled the top half of Chris' body to the front with him.
Then, as if it was too late, he heard what she was screaming. "Nathan, he has the knife!"
But he had already felt the cold metal pierce the side of his stomach before he groaned, his foot absently letting off the brake—which caused the vehicle to flip mercilessly into a tree. The last thing he heard was Haley's agonizing scream and he promised himself he'd get her out of this before the darkness took over.
Moments later, Haley groaned and opened her eyes, instantly remembering everything. "Nathan." She called, struggling to sit up in the car that was sitting sideways against a tree. She winced and let out a low whimper at the open wound on her stomach. It was a fresh cut from Chris' blade, that's how she'd knew he had the knife. Seconds after the car started whirling out of control; she felt the hot pain and saw the clean cut. But Nathan was already going on with his attack, all she could do was warn him. "Nathan." She cried, he hadn't answered her. She finally got to sit up, deciding to ignore all the pain going through her body and that's when she saw him. His head was stuck in the windshield and all kinds of glass pierced his skull. She covered her mouth at the sight and cried softly. Of course, he wasn't breathing. His eyes were wide open as if he was even watching her in his death.
Chris was dead.
She grabbed onto the seat and lifted herself to see over it, Nathan's head was bleeding. The knife was in his side and he was out cold. Cries wracked her body then as she reached out a hand to touch his face. "Nathan, no. You have to wake up." She began shaking him, but he wouldn't move. "Nathan, get up. We have to go." She tried to bargain, but it had been no use. He still wouldn't wake. She dropped her head on the seat and cried, knowing this was all her fault. She was just trying to protect him, she hadn't meant for all this.
She lifted her head. "Nathan, please don't leave me." She begged, shaking him again. "I love you, Nathan. Please." When she saw that he wasn't waking up, she dropped her head again and refused to leave until he did.
The knock on the window didn't even scare her. "Haley?! Hales? Nate?!" Lucas ran around to the front of the car and gasped at the sight of a dead Chris. He looked in and saw Haley laying on the seat, and Nathan lying with his seatbelt on, though he was out and his head seemed to be bleeding. Then, he saw the knife just as Jake made his way towards him. "We need an ambulance now!" He yelled and Jake ran off again. "Hales? Hales? Talk to me." He knocked on the window again.
Haley finally looked up, her eyes tired and puffy. "Luke?" She called weakly.
Lucas heard her and crawled to where he could see her better, trying to avoid touching Chris' dead head as much as possible."Hales? Are you okay?" He asked worried, fighting back tears.
She looked to Nathan, more tears clouding her eyes. "He won't wake up, Lucas." She informed tearfully. "He won't…" She cried some more, ignoring Lucas and the soon-present police telling her to try to climb out. She wasn't going anywhere if Nathan didn't go.
She wouldn't change her clothes, she wouldn't go home. She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't sleep without him.
And Nathan had just come from surgery. They had to fix his punctured kidney. The knife had pierced it somewhat severely and now they kept telling her to let him rest—telling her to go home and rest. She had stitches across her stomach that should've been hurting like hell, but she was nearly numb to this all. The only thing she could feel aching was her heart as she crept into his eerily quiet room.
The beeping was annoying. What'd they have that on for? It wasn't like his heart was going to stop. Tears clouded her eyes as she slowly limped to the bedside of her husband. He looked so peaceful, like he hadn't a clue what they'd just been through. Instead of sitting in the chair beside his bed, she crawled on the bed and lay next to him, putting her head on his chest. She didn't want to cry, but she knew she was going to.
She was going to cry in relief—because it was over. Chris was dead and he wouldn't hurt them anymore. Then, she'd cry in sadness—Nathan was laying there, a victim to her stupidity, when all she was trying to do was get them out of that situation, all she wanted to do was protect him. And then there would be a few tears of happiness—that all her friends made it out unscathed. All except Nathan, and that'd lead her tears right back to the sad ones.
"Please wake up." She told him, briefly glancing at his face.
Lucas had ended up helping a paramedic get Nathan out of the car. He didn't have to, she knew he didn't. But he was mostly doing it for Haley, so that she'd realize that it was time to go and that Nathan could get help. Then, he did it for himself to because he loved Nathan and Lucas was scared of losing the brother he'd barely gotten to know and appreciate.
She dropped her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Knowing that it was so steady and mellow and normal helped her drift off to sleep—but not before she lightly kissed his mouth and said "I love you, Nathan." Then, she was ready for bed with the sound of his steady beating heart in her ear.
"Dammit, Lady! Where are my sons?!"
Lucas knitted his brows as he rounded the corners, convinced he'd heard wrong.
"What are they're names?" The nurse asked nervously.
"Lucas and Nathan Scott." Dan said frantically.
"There is no Lucas admitted, but there is a Nathan." She informed.
Dan dropped his head and raked his hands through his hair. "Do you have any idea where Lucas Scott is?"
"I didn't know you cared." Lucas spoke up from behind him.
Dan turned to him and looked as if he was almost going to rush in and give him a hug, but refrained. "What did you knuckleheads get into this time?" He narrowed his eyes, but disappointment was not in his voice.
"Chris tried to kidnap Haley." Lucas' tried to hide the fact that he was going to cry.
"Is Nathan…?" Dan asked in sheer shock of what the answer might be.
"Nathan was stabbed and in a car accident." Lucas announced, staying strong.
Dan put his fist up to his mouth and looked away. "How's Haley?"
"She's uh," he sucked in a sharp breath, "she's pretty banged up. But she refuses to leave Nathan's side."
Dan and Lucas held eye contact, which felt like forever before Dan said, "And how are you? Are you okay?"
Lucas nodded, that simple question breaking the rest of him. He'd been emotionally distraught for weeks and that just did him in. Dan pulled him into a fierce hug and Lucas hugged him back, trying to contain the tears that were falling on Dan's shoulder.
Brooke sat next to the bed that Haley and Nathan slept on, light tears in her eyes. Haley was obviously in pain, but she wanted to be with Nathan. That's what was so amazing about their love to Brooke. Nothing could get in the way of it.
Nathan's eyes fluttered open and he noticed Haley lying on his chest before looking over with a sigh, seeing Brooke. "Hey." He said surprised, surely not expecting to see her.
She smiled nervously and stood up. "I just wanted to check on you guys." She explained briefly.
Nathan looked back at Haley before placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "She's out." He noted with a small smile.
"Yeah, she took a pretty nasty cut to the stomach." Brooke motioned towards her friend. "She got twelve stitches."
His face instantly crinkled in worry. "What?"
"Shhh." Brooke put her finger to her lips and smiled. "Just because you got your rest doesn't mean she got hers." She half joked. "She's been pretty exhausted waiting for you to wake up."
Nathan noticed the small cut on her forehead and winced. "He got you too, huh?"
She touched the cut lightly and shrugged with a small smile. "Yeah, but I'm fine. How do you feel?"
"Sore." He said, closing his eyes briefly before sighing. "Relieved."
Brooke's eyes welled with tears and she looked away, sniffling before giving him a tearful smile. "Nate, thank you."
"For what?" He asked slightly confused, frowning at the brunette.
"For always taking care of her." She swiped a stray tear from her cheek and met his eyes. "I thought we were going to lose her."
Nathan shook his head and looked down at his wife whose body was curled beside him. "I wouldn't let that happen."
She smiled sincerely. "I know." She pushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "If she wakes up, tell her we'll be by in the morning. I haven't got a hold of her parents yet." Then quietly, she left.
Nathan nodded and looked down at his wife's face. She looked paler than usual and she had a lot of cuts and bruises on her face—then the accident started flashing through his mind. Haley had put her life on the line for him—against his will and wishes. All he wanted was to get her out of there. But Chris had retrieved the knife and it hadn't worked when she kicked it out of his hand. He got stabbed, he remembered and put a hand to his side. He could feel the thick bandage covering it. Then his eyes scanned her face worriedly. The car had flipped over a few times—how was she?
She shifted in her sleep and visibly winced, he felt so bad for her. No woman--or man for that matter-- should've had to go through that pain. Especially her. He brought his hand up that wasn't wrapped around her body and touched her face. For some reason he felt a calm, like everything was going to be okay. He didn't know why or how, but he knew that it was. Then, she did the faintest smile in her sleep and he fell in love all over again. The feeling almost overwhelmed him as he thoroughly realized that she could've died—that she spent months of alone time with a psycho—that the woman he loved had been sexually assaulted multiple times, where she was proceeded to be beaten, car chased and in an accident.
He pulled her closer subconsciously. If he could've, he would've taken her place in all the mess. The last person who deserved any of this was Haley. He was sure she'd be traumatized by this string of events, hell even he would. But, he was never going to leave her side again. He rested his chin on her forehead and it took a while before he dozed off to sleep again.
Haley could see Nathan's body lying lifeless against the window. There was blood…she was worried. She kept shaking him but he wouldn't wake up. He wouldn't blink, he wouldn't do anything. He was just laying there and he wouldn't tell her that he loved her back. He didn't look to be breathing. He wasn't opening his eyes. She shook him harder…
"Nathan!" She screamed, springing upward.
"Hales, I'm right here." He said, grasping onto her shoulders.
She covered her mouth, her eyes watering even more than from her dream. "You're awake." She whispered in what looked like shock.
He smirked sheepishly. "Do you really think I would leave after all this?" He half joked, rubbing the side of her arm. He remembered the look on his father's face when he overdosed and the look on everyone's face when everyone found out he'd be okay—no one looked as happy as she did right then. "Come here," he pulled her to him.
She cried for only a short while, but of only happiness. He was talking and moving and he wasn't lying there not responding. He was smiling and looking at her with the beautiful blue eyes. She tightened her grip around his neck. "Nathan, I love you."
"I love you, too, Hales." He kissed the side of her head and ran his hands up and down her back. "Did the police arrest him?" He asked after what seemed to be forever. His voice was a low growl.
Haley sat up slowly and looked into Nathan's eyes. "Nathan," she started, wiping at her wet face, "he's dead. Chris died in the accident."
He wasn't going to act like that saddened him, because it honestly didn't. That was why he felt so calm. "Haley," he said rubbing her cheek, "I'm really sorry you had to see that."
She shrugged softly and shook her head. "He got what he deserved." She said lowly, as if she should be ashamed for thinking that way.
"The bad guys always do." He smiled softly at her before finally taking her appearance in. This was the most distraught he'd ever seen his wife in all of his time knowing her. Her hair was a complete mess, her shirt was dirty and ripped and then he noticed the slice through it, which was covered by dried blood right above her bellybutton. He ran his thumb over it. "Hales, did he cut you?"
She nodded softly and put her hand to the wound self-consciously. "its fine, Nathan."
"How do you feel? Are you alright, Haley?" He wanted to know if she was hurting physically, mentally, emotionally. He wanted to know if her heart was aching because maybe he could kiss the pain away.
She nodded with a soft smile. "Now I am." She played with the gown he wore, averting her eyes to the fabric before saying, "For a while, I thought you were…"
"What?" He pressed softly, and then read the look on her face. "Dead?"
She nodded again, but this time, she was holding back tears. "I kept trying to wake you up and you wouldn't, Nathan. You just…laid there."
"I've told you a million times." He grabbed her hand from his hospital gown and threaded his fingers with hers. "I'm not going anywhere without you, Hales."
She smiled and leaned down until her lips were hovering over his. "And I'm not going anywhere without you, Nathan." She kissed him softly, as if not to hurt him but he carefully placed her on top of his body. "Nathan—"
"Its fine," he smiled against her lips, "does it hurt you?"
"No." She sighed softly, still not wanting to hurt him.
"Then it doesn't hurt me." He wrapped one arm around her and the other tangled in her hair as he kissed her passionately.
"Hey Tutor Girl." Brooke smiled as she, Peyton and Lucas walked into Nathan's room. They were releasing him in about an hour and Brooke had suggested bringing Haley and Nathan a change of clothes.
"Hey Brooke." Haley said tiredly, sitting up from lying with Nathan. She hadn't moved all day. She'd been there the entire time, watching old black and white movies and feeding him Jell-O and mashed potatoes. Nathan had insisted she eat the macaroni and cheese, he even fed it to her. She laughed at how easily they made such a somber situation brighten just by being around each other. Now, she discovered a few things. Nathan hated being babied more than she thought—but that was never going to stop her from doing it. He loved the movie It's a Wonderful Life and knew all the words—but he'd never admit it to his friends. And, hospital macaroni and cheese was even good—well, according to her, not Nathan.
But they had discussed more serious matters too, like the fact that she blamed herself. She'd finally come around to seeing—thanks to the look in her husband's eyes, that it wasn't her fault. Chris had a problem and it was no one's fault but his own what had happened. She'd simply tried to protect him, though she could sense that he was hiding some underlying emotion to that part. She knew he didn't like when she put herself in danger to help him, but she forever would. It was instinct, she couldn't help it.
"I brought your clothes." She smirked sneakily. "Obviously I should have brought condoms."
Lucas winced. "Brooke," he whined.
Nathan laughed as Haley smiled and shook her head. "Brooke," she started, staring at the girl, "it's a hospital. We were able to scrape a few up." She said in feigned seriousness, rolling her eyes like it was only obvious.
Peyton laughed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You are so Brooke Davis' clone." She declared. "Tutor Brooke." She created the name with a bright smile.
Brooke's mouth was open in shock. "I think she's even better than me. " She muttered to Peyton as if it was a secret. "Make sure you go easy on him, Hales."
Lucas covered his ears. "Can this conversation stop?"
Haley laughed and kissed Nathan on his nose before getting up to grab her clothes. "It's stopping, it's stopping." She held up one hand.
"Thank you." He sighed happily.
She took off for the bathroom and closed the door behind her, leaning against it. Everything was normal again, it was almost over. Once they went home, she'd sleep with him in their more comfortable bed and everything would be fine. She walked over to the sink and cut on the water, glancing at her self in the mirror. She looked terrible. Her eyes had fading dark circles under them, her hair was a complete and utter mess and she was all dirty from her rolling-around-in-the-dirt bouts with Chris Keller. She shuddered at the thought of him. But he was gone now. He was never going to hurt them again.
She cupped her hands under the falling water and let the makeshift cup fill before throwing it over her face. She rubbed at the ache of her forehead and cheeks before scooting her hands down until only her eyes could be seen. Then that's when she noticed it—or didn't notice it, rather. Her eyes widened in complete shock…NO! This couldn't be happening!
She put her hands up to her face, mostly trained on the left one. It was gone! Her wedding band was gone! "Okay, Haley. Calm down. Calm down." She talked to herself, pacing the short length of the bathroom. Did Chris take it? Did she take it off somewhere?Her mind was so jumbled, she probably wouldn't even remember. She covered her face with her hands and sighed deeply. Maybe she lost it somewhere in Nathan's room, she decided to try to believe that. She'd just clean up and go look for it, if not, she was going to keep her hands in her pockets and buy a look-a-like until she was able to replace what she'd lost. She would not tell Nathan at all. He'd be so hurt. She had it when they left with Chris! It didn't come off in the accident…it must've been in his room!
Or did the doctor's steal it? She wouldn't tell if they gave it back.
"That's ridiculous." She told herself. She had been careless and lost it in Nathan's hospital room, that's what happened.
Nathan watched as Brooke and Peyton walked out to go get coffee and then smirked at his brother. Lucas smirked back, his brother's grin was contagious. "What?"
Nathan glanced at the bathroom before reaching beneath him and pulling out the gold wedding band. "Look."
"What's that?" Lucas was confused.
"It's Haley's wedding ring." He handed it to Lucas who took it suspiciously. "I'm going to ask her to marry me again."
Lucas laughed in happy disbelief. "What? Nate, that's great. She let you have it back?"
"No, I took it while she was sleeping." He admitted softly.
"Nate, Haley's gonna freak out." Lucas knew his best friend. She would have a heart attack.
"I know, I'm going to ask her tomorrow. I have to marry her again, Luke." He said seriously, letting out a deep breath. "When she held up her hand and said always and forever, I just…I promised myself that I was going to marry her again if I lived through that."
"You lucked out, man." Lucas told him, taking a seat next to him and putting the ring in his pocket. "Haley's one of a kind."
"I know." Nathan breathed out. "I can't believe I almost lost her."
"Hey," Lucas encouraged, patting his brother's shoulder, "you got her out of there alive. She's still here, man."
"Yeah," Nathan bit his bottom lip and shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows. "But a part of me wants to be mad at Haley for putting herself in harms way like that. Chris could've done anything to her." He said, waving a hand to the bathroom. "He cut her, Luke!"
"You did the same thing for her." Lucas told him truthfully.
"Because I can't just stand back and watch as the world hurts her, Lucas." His voice rose a little, and he didn't want to tell Haley these things, she didn't know that he held a little resentment for the way things turned out and that he wished she wouldn't put herself out on a limb for him. "You know me, I'm not that guy."
"And she's not that girl." Lucas countered lightly. "It's pretty obvious that she wants to protect you the same way you want to protect her. That's what true love is, little brother. It has no boundaries."
Nathan smiled a little, surprised that a little part of him had started to understand her reasons. "She just worries me, that's all. I mean, putting herself through things like that. I would've handled it."
"Think about how worried she was when you wouldn't wake up after the accident." Lucas said lowly. "I saw her, man. She wouldn't get out until we got you out."
"What?" Haley hadn't told him that.
"She just…she laid there crying. I was calling for her to get out but she wouldn't listen. It's almost like she…gave up." Lucas revealed this to his brother warily, he didn't like the look on the dark-haired boy's face. He was worried.
"I don't want that for her if anything happened to me, Luke. I don't want her to give up." He swallowed the lump forming in his throat, just picturing Haley at that moment. She must've been so scared and heartbroken.
"And again, Nate. She wouldn't want that for you." He stared at his brother intently. "She loves you like that that too. Just as much as you love her."
Nathan smiled proudly. "Then you have no idea how much love we share." He chuckled softly.
"I don't think anyone ever will." He patted his brother's leg, knowing that their love was a one of a kind.
Haley walked into the apartment behind Nathan, her hands stuck firmly in her back pockets as she watched him in his slightly oversized navy T-shirt and his black basketball shorts. Lucas, Peyton, Brooke and Jake had brought all of their things from the cabin to their house earlier when they picked up their clothes, so they really had nothing to carry. Just little stuff, like medicine for the pain and suave for their cuts, bruises, and so their stitches didn't get infected.
Nathan walked with a slight limp, one hand holding the side that was wounded. She watched him, proud to be married to such a man. He was everything she'd ever wanted and more—and she'd lost the ring he gave her. Good going, bird brain, she said to herself.
Nathan sat their things on the counter and turned to her as she stood by the door, her hands still in her pockets. She was just so cute, trying to hide her hands. Her hair was in a messy bun and strands were scrambled everywhere. She'd thrown on some cover-up, he could tell. However, he didn't care either way. She was gorgeous. She wore a pair of pink terrycloth sweats and a white spaghetti strap shirt, the matching pink sweater was zipped to the chest. "So come here. Why've you been so quiet?"
"Just tired." She lied. "I just want to go to bed." Where it's dark and you can't see my fingers, she added mentally. When he looked unconvinced, she added a fake yawn.
Nathan smiled and pulled her towards him. "I'm happy you're okay, Hales."
"So am I." She said, leaning up to kiss his cheek."For you, I mean." She clarified with a small smile, putting her left hand behind her back and only hugging him with one arm.
Nathan had to hold back his laughter—really, he did. Or she'd get suspicious. Because the way she was keeping her hand away from him at all costs was getting rather hilarious."I'm a little tired too." He decided, kissing her head."But before we go to sleep, I have to tell you something." He sighed and leaned against the counter, making himself eye-level with her. He reached out and grabbed her arms, running his hands up and down. "Lucas kind of told me what happened…with the accident and everything."
Haley met his gaze evenly. "I was scared. You weren't waking up."
"Haley, I never want you to feel like you can't go on without me." He told her seriously, ducking to meet her eyes when she looked down.
"You feel like that about me, right?" She asked timidly. "I mean, if something happened to me—"
"I'd go crazy." He finished sadly, just picturing the thought.
"So would I." She smiled softly at him.
He looked down and grabbed her hand, she snatched the left one away too quickly for him to grasp it. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that, if something ever did happen to me, I want you to know that no one or nothing else in this life ever made me happier than you do, every day." He glanced at her eyes. "I need you to always know that."
"As long as you know it too, Nathan. I've never felt this way before." She rubbed his cheek with the hand he had been holding.
"Neither have I." He whispered. His hands fell to her waist and he made circles on her body with his thumbs, staring directly into her eyes.
She smiled softly, crossing her arms over her chest (not forgetting to tuck that hand somewhere) and staring self-consciously at him. "What?" She asked shyly.
He shook his head as if in awe. "You're just beautiful. And it's just so amazing how much I love you." He leaned in and kissed her gently before standing to his feet. "Let's go to bed." He wiped a hand over her hair before tucking some behind her ear.
Haley couldn't believe she blushed and snuggled to his side as they walked to the bedroom to sleep. She kept one hand in her back pocket though, she was going to find that ring.
What'd you think?