True to his word, Nathan's lawyer contacted Haley, and three days later the pair were in court which made Haley wonder how much he had paid to get it arranged so soon.
The judge walked into the courtroom and everyone sat down after he did. The judge nodded his head, "Let's get started."
Haley sat on one side of the room, Nathan on the other. Jamie sat further back with his Brooke and Lucas. Peyton had even showed up, but she was sitting in the far back.
They never thought, 5 years ago that they'd come to this point. A point where they'd be fighting for custody. To be honest, Haley had never thought she'd see Nathan again, yet here he was.
He was trying and she admired that, but she had been the one raising their son. He wasn't aloud to just come back and claim rights to him.
The trial didn't last for all that long, the judge listened to what they both had to say before placing a verdict. They each played dirty, bringing up as much dirt on the other as possible, but nothing hurt more than when Nathan brought up that he thought Haley was an unfit mother because of Jamie being taken away as a baby.
"Please excuse the judge, he will be back momentarily. He would like to speak with Jamie in the back room." One of the men said.
Jamie looked up, not expecting to be called. He looked at his mom for approval and she nodded at him. He made his way slowly to where the judge was standing.
It took half an hour, give or take, before Jamie walked out with the judge not far behind him.
"After hearing all I needed to hear, I've settle an agreement." He paused. "Shared custody."
Everyone looked around, confused. Technically, Haley and Nathan already had shared custody and it didn't answer much of their questions.
"As for the tour, Jamie will spend the first half, here in Tree Hill until his school finishes and then, Nathan shall bring Jamie over to where Haley is and Jamie will stay with his mother for the remainder of the tour." He slammed his gavel and got off his chair.
This was it, she's have to let her baby boy go.
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm OK
But that's not what gets me
Haley was squatted in front of Nathan's house, Jamie standing in front of her. "Now you be good."
Jamie looked at his mom and smiled, "Don't worry mom I'll be fine."
"I know, I've just never let you out of my sight for so long." She passed a hand through his hair.
"We'll be fine Hales, promise. I'll keep you updated on how we're doing." Nathan reassured her.
Haley shot Nathan a glare, this whole thing was his fault. "Alright, I have to go. But I'll see you in two weeks in Utah and you and your dad will have so much fun okay? I love you baby boy." She said quietly pulling him in for a hug.
Nathan watched the two in awe and debated for a moment before joining the hug. "Dad what are you doing?" Jamie asked, squished between his parents.
Haley thought about pulling back for a moment but then she thought that this felt nice, it almost felt like they were a family. But then she remembered it was Nathan's fault that she had to leave on tour without her boy.
"Okay I'll see you soon." She said kissing the top of Jamie's head and standing up.
"Bye momma" Jamie said looking up at her as Haley took two steps backwards. "Break a leg."
Haley smiled taking another step back before Jamie leaped into his mothers arms "I don't want you to go." He said into her hair.
"It's going to be alright, you'll have fun with your dad." She looked up at Nathan and smiled. "Now, I have to go but I'll call you every night."
Jamie smiled and Haley forced herself to walk away and waved to them when she reached her car. She blew them kisses and Jamie caught one and put it in his pocket. Haley laughed, knowing it was a joke he and Brooke had and she'd always thought it was cute.
She was about to enter her car until she felt little arms wrapped around her waist. It took her a moment to figure out it was Jamie's hands wrapped around her. "Hey Jamie, you're going to have to let me go."
He looked up with teary eyes, "But I don't want you to go." Haley looked over at Nathan, her face showing the pain she was going through and he realized that she needed help.
Jamie hugged his mom tighter and Nathan made his way to them. "The sooner you let her go, the sooner she'll be back." Nathan tried to reason.
Jamie looked up, "Be back real quick please. And get me something from every place." He whispered, holding on tighter. Nathan took a hold of his son and nudged him to let go.
"Of course I will." Haley said kissing his forehead once more before moving to where the taxi was. "I'll see you soon and have fun." She smiled before getting in the cab. Haley waved as the driver drove away and once she was out of sight Nathan started walking Jamie inside.
Haley sat in the taxi wiping at her eyes as the tears started rolling down her cheeks, she was strong long enough for Jamie but she couldn't keep it in any longer.
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin' to do
Peyton was walking on her crutches for mobility by now. Jake, her therapist had suggested she take a walk every day. It was warm morning and she had been outside by noon for her daily walk. Every day she would pass across a small park but today, something different happened. She sat down on a beach after a few kilometres because her legs get tired. She was watching children playing when she recognizes a little boy. It was Jude.
Peyton looked around and notices Brooke and Lucas walking hand in hand towards the park as Jude wobbled towards the play ground.
Lucas placed a kiss on his wife's cheek and she smiled. They looked so happy. For so long, Peyton wanted their happy ending. She wanted to be in Brooke's place but now as she looked at them, she knew they were happy and they deserved it. She was somehow thankful for that bus hitting her.
On the other side of the park, Lucas and Brooke had decided to bring Jude to the park after he had begged his mom for hours.
"Be careful Jude!" Brooke warned him. Lucas chuckled and let's go of her hand to go in the playground with his son. He was playing in the sand with him while Brooke sat on the bench watching her boys when he noticed her. He almost doesn't see her but there's no doubt it's her. And he won't lie, she looks horrible. He watches Peyton for a brief moment before looking back to his boy and smiling because as much as he had loved Peyton, this is where he'd always wanted to be. With Brooke by his side.
"Hi" Peyton said quietly approaching the bench where Brooke sat.
"Hey Peyt." Brooke smiled scooting over on the bench so Peyton could sit.
"Tell me about him, Jude." Peyton asked as Brooke's smile got bigger.
It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I'm doin' It
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still Harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin' with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken
"How are you doing Haley?" Asked Chris as he walked into her dressing room.
"Fine, a little nervous as always." She chuckled.
Chris walked further in the room and asked, "How's Jamie?"
"Oh you know, boys will be boys, last I heard Nathan and Jamie were having a NBA Live tournament." She laughed.
"Sounds like fun." He commented.
"Yah," She paused. "I miss him though, I just can't wait to see him."
Cole walked into the room, as usual, and announced, "It's your turn in 5." Haley thanked him and got up. "Just another show," She whispered to herself.
What hurts the most
Is being so close
And having so much to say (much to say)
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do, oh.
Jamie sat in Nathan's kitchen drinking some juice before Nathan walked into the room. "I've got an idea." He smiled.
Jamie looked up, "What is it?"
"How about some rock band?" He suggested. Jamie thought about it for a moment and smiled, "Sounds fun."
"Alright then, we've got a deal?" Jamie nodded.
"Great, just let me get the console ready and we can start."
Jamie jumped off the stool and followed his father into the living room where he was attempting to make the PS3 work. "Damn it!" He cursed before finally getting it to work. "There you go." He smiled, proud to have gotten it to work.
"Dad, I'm hungry." Jamie said.
"Dude, we ate less than an hour ago." Nathan laughed.
"I know but I'm still hungry." Nathan nodded, "Well let's see what we have then."
Jamie followed his dad into the kitchen and after they'd settled for chips and cookies, they made their way back to the living room.
"Mom would never let me have this much junk food in one night."
Nathan smiled, "Yeah, well your mom isn't here right now. " He laughed.
They were half way through their rock band game when the phone rang. It was Haley.
"Hi mom!" Jamie said. He smiled and continued, "Oh yeah, dad and I are playing rock band it's really fun. He doesn't want to admit it but I'm way better than him. We even dressed up so it would make it more real." He paused. "It was dad's idea."
He talked a little bit more before saying goodbye to his mother and passing the phone over to Nathan.
"Yes, I'm taking good care of him. He's still in one piece and he's enjoying himself. Yes, he's eating healthy. Yes, I know he's going to see Brooke Wednesday, I haven't forgotten. Alright, take care. Bye." He hung up and the boys continued their game.
Nathan and Jamie were having fun, neither noticed the time pass by. Jamie had missed this, having 'boy' time. Sure he loved having his mom around, but having his dad too made it all a bit better.
He'd never really had this much fun with his Uncle Lucas because Jude was always around.
Jamie was enjoying jamming to the song, he was standing up on the couch while his dad stood at the other end with his guitar.
The finale was coming and they had agreed that it would be their last game of the night.
Jamie was standing on the couch. Then, when his final note came he did a leap for it.
He jumped off the couch.
With his guitar in the air.
Nathan laughed pretending to break his guitar.
They were having so much fun.
Until Jamie fell to the ground clutching his leg in pain.
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say (to say)
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
They'd spent a few hours in the hospital until Jamie was able to finally see a doctor. They sent him to take X-Rays and he waited for another couple of hours until they called him into a room to cast up his leg. "It'll take about 6 to 8 weeks for it to heal. Luckily, it's a simple fracture that will heal with time. We just need to cast it up and off you go."
They were home by the middle of the night and Jamie was exhausted. "How about we wait until tomorrow to call your mom?"
Jamie yawned, "Good idea."
Nathan tucked Jamie in, before going to bed himself, although he barely slept. He was up almost every hour to check on Jamie and felt horrible that he let this happen.
Haley would be furious with him. She'd left Jamie in his responsibility and he'd managed to mess it up. Well actually, the judge had left Jamie with him and he somehow felt like an incompetent parent. How would he had let Jamie fall off like that?
Sometime during his deep thoughts he fell asleep. But it wasn't for long. He woke up again and pulled himself out of bed, realizing he wouldn't be getting any more sleep for the night. He opened his phone to check the time and noticed he had a text message from Haley.
Hope you and Jamie had fun xx He read.
When morning came, Jamie wobbled down to the living room and Nathan frowned, "What happened to your crutches?"
Jamie shrugged, "They hurt me. I don't like them."
Nathan thought for a moment, "I think we can fix that." He went up to get Jamie's crutches and attached some cloths to the edges. "There, now it shouldn't hurt you as much." He smiled, proud to have come up with a solution. "Wanna facetime your mom? She said she would be available all morning."
Jamie smiled, "Sure!"
Nathan went to get his laptop and set FaceTime up. He called Haley and they waiting a little until the video connected.
"Hey bud- woah, what's on your face?" With all that had happened yesterday, they had forgotten to wash off their disguise after their rock band tournament.
"Dad and I wanted the game to be more real," He explained.
Haley laughed, "Ah, alright kid."
"So I have something to tell you." Nathan said nervously rubbing his forehead, only to see the white paint cover his fingers. "First off he is fine."
Jamie nodded next to him, "It's not his fault mama."
Haley waited for them to explain themselves.
"Well, while we were playing. Jamie kind of had an accident and" he paused, "Sort of broke his leg…"
"What?!" Haley said quickly nearly falling out of her seat. "Did you go to the hospital."
Nathan quickly moved the camera to show her his cast.
"Yes, and he's fine. The doctor said something about a simple fracture and that it would heal with time."
Jamie pointed his cast and thought for a moment, "Mama, remember when you told me you broke your leg and your friend Peyton drew on your cast. Well, do you think she would want to draw on mine?"
"I'm sure she would." Haley said biting her lip. She wanted to scream at Nathan, she was pissed, she wanted to have her baby back in her arms safe and sound but then she remembered that Nathan loved Jamie almost as much as she did and would do anything to protect him. Accidents happened sometimes. Nathan couldn't have prevented this. "Well, as long as you are okay baby, did it hurt?"
"At first but now I don't feel it anymore." He smiled.
"Good. What are you two going to do today?"
The boys looked at each other, "We haven't thought about that yet."
"Well why don't you get uncle Lucas to bring over some sandwiches from Karen's and he can bring Jude and maybe you guys can play NBA Live together. Your dad can see about Aunt Peyton stopping by to draw on your cast but maybe if you're good he will make you blueberry pancakes."
"I like that idea," Jamie turned to his day, "Can we do that?"
Nathan smiled, "Of course."
"And then in two days you two will be in Utah with me."
"Do I get special privileges now that I have a cast?" Jamie asked.
"Of course, what kind of mom would I be if I didn't." Haley laughed
"YES!" He exclaimed.
"Alright I have to get going to sound check but I love you."
"I love you too mama." Nathan watched the two and was about to pitch in and say I love you as a joke but then figured it would be best not too. He knew that if he said it, it would mean something to him and it would cause some awkwardness in-between them and he didn't want that.
"See you soon Hales." Nathan smiled.
"Bye Nate." She said before ending the call.
Not seeing that loving you
That's what I was trying to do