Thanks for all the awesome reviews last chapter. I'll warn you ahead of time, this chapter doesn't have my usual fluff. There's a lot revealed, and it's drama-filled, I'm not quite sure how I did but I'll leave you guys to decide. Anyway, I don't wanna give too much away so without furthur ado, chapter eleven.
Chapter 11: Out in the open
"…And then he admitted he was in love with her." Brooke sighed, smiling dreamily. "It was so adorable, and I so want them to get together, but I know my sister way too well and it won't happen until she divorces her sorry excuse of a husband."
Mouth chuckled, taking in her expression. "She'll realize it eventually. Haley wasn't tutor girl for nothing."
Brooke rolled her eyes, stirring her coffee in front of her. "For a smart girl, Haley's really stupid sometimes."
Mouth raised his eyebrows. "Or maybe she's just willing to give him the benefit of the doubt."
Brooke shook her head. "Like he actually deserves that. Why am I talking to you about this anyway? You're with like the queen of fake pretences."
"Hey!" Mouth exclaimed defensively, a frown enveloping his features seconds later. "She wasn't always like that. It was about 2 or 3 years ago, like something suddenly changed and she was going on all these business trips."
"She never had them before though, did she? I remember you guys used to like spend all this time together…"
Mouth nodded. "I don't know what happened. She went to some fashion institute thing, got back, and was a complete different person," he said, shrugging. "Oh well, it doesn't really bother me anymore."
Brooke looked up at him, smiling softly, feeling sorry because she knew he deserved so much better. "Do you still love her?"
He chuckled. "I'm not in love with her. Honestly, I don't think I ever was."
Brooke smiled to herself, looking down at her lap. "You deserve better, you know. None of us ever thought she was good enough for you."
Mouth looked at her, surprised. "Really? I honestly felt I never measured up to her."
Brooke shook her head. "Mouth, are you serious? You're such an awesome guy. Any girl would be lucky to have you."
He chuckled. "Except the one I'd like to be with."
Brooke looked into his eyes, feeling almost an overwhelming sense of emotion, knowing at that moment, that he was speaking about her. "You never know unless you try."
"I know, Brooke, trust me."
She raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure, Mouth? Remember in high school, when you thought you had no chance with Shelly?"
Mouth rolled his eyes. "That doesn't count."
"Yes it does!" Brooke exclaimed. "You were so intimidated by her, but then you found out she was scared to talk to you, too."
"I guess." Mouth shrugged. "But, trust me, this girl isn't interested."
Brooke shrugged, getting up from the table. "I think your wrong Mouth, you never know. Besides, we're adults here, what's the worst that could happen?"
He looked at her, almost chuckling. "I love how we talk as if I'm not even married."
Brooke shook her head. "You might as well not be," she said, then bit her lip. "Sorry, Mouth…I didn't mean…"
"It's not like I consider it one anyway." He shrugged and gave her a smile, letting her know it was okay.
"Why do you stay with her?" Brooke asked softly, looking up to meet his eyes.
"I don't know really…I guess because there's no where else to go. There's nothing else to fight for, and sometimes fear too. Fear that I'll never find anyone else."
She sighed, looking at him, unable to say anything but softly leaned in and kissed him.
Mouth jumped, slightly taken aback at first, but slowly gave in to the soft feel of her lips on his as he ran his hands through her hair.
She smiled at him as they parted, "You'll definitely find someone else, Mouth."
---
"What the hell were you thinking, Haley? I'm gone for a month, and you decide to get cozy with my brother?" Lucas demanded as he paced around the living room.
Haley sighed from her spot on the sofa, choosing to remain quiet as the silent tears kept running down her cheeks, afraid to make a single noise.
"Why don't you cut it out, man?" Nathan cut in, walking into the living room, after having tried to let them deal with their own issues, but not being able to stand Lucas talking to Haley in the way that he had been.
Lucas started at him in disbelief, almost as if he were surprised that he had the guts to backtalk him. "You stay out of this, little brother."
Nathan rolled his eyes, taking a seat next to Haley, choosing to ignore his brother at that moment. "You okay, Hales?" He asked with concern, reaching over to wipe the tears falling endlessly from her eyes.
She shrugged, as Lucas took in the scene, and chose that moment to throw a glass vase across the room.
"Who in the hell gave you permission to touch my fucking wife?" He asked, his voice roaring as he walked over to Nathan and pulled him up from the sofa. "And you-" He pointed at Haley. "You fucking whore. How dare you be such a tramp and fuck around with my brother when I go away for a month? You damn slut."
Haley couldn't take it anymore as she stood up pushing Lucas off of her. "What the hell, Lucas? You know what, all this time, I gave you the benefit of the doubt, thinking that maybe, just maybe, one day you would change and turn back into the sweet, caring, loyal man I fell in love with. But I'm done. I'm done with this joke of a marriage, but most of all, I'm fucking done with you. Don't you fucking dare say anything to your brother because he's much more of a man than you're ever going to be." She whirled around, turning to walk out of the room, stopping before she was completely out. "And, Lucas, I'm getting a divorce."
That word seemed to have heightened his attention as he stood up. "Hell no you're not getting a divorce. You know what, you can fuck around with my brother all you fucking want and be a fucking slut but you're not getting a fucking signature from me. I get benefits from you being my wife and I intend to keep them."
Haley scoffed. "Who the hell do you think you are? You know what, I don't even have anything to say to you anymore." With that, she turned around and ran out of the living room, not stopping until she had reached the safety of her own comfort zone, the small cozy room in the balcony.
"Did you fuck her, Nathan? Did you?" Lucas demanded back in the living room, after Haley had left.
Nathan looked at him in disbelief. "Lucas, I love you because you're my brother, but you're a damn idiotic asshole for not realizing the gem of a wife you have in front of you." He started walking away, stopping to say one more thing. "And no Lucas, I didn't fuck her. She has a conscious, and she's a good person. She would never cross the lines of infidelity like you do."
He shook his head, walking away, heading to the place he knew Haley would be. He caught sight of her small fragile figure, sobbing on the bed; her hair completely messed up and mascara streaks all around her face. He wished, just for a moment, that he could take everything away from her. Let her be free of the tears, the sorrow, and everything she had gone through. At that moment, he would've given anything to put a smile on her face, but now he knew he would have to settle with being there for her the best he could.
Haley sighed as she rolled around and found she was still in the room of the balcony, ad realized she had fallen asleep there the night before. She looked down and found that she had been changed into a comfortable nightgown, and her hair was pulled up into a bun.
She glanced around confused, as Nathan walked in carrying a hot mug of coffee.
He looked at her, surprised to see her awake. "How are you holding up?" He asked, concerned, walking over to sit next to her.
"You, you didn't-"
Nathan furrowed his eyebrows, suddenly realizing what she was talking about. "No, no of course not, I called Brooke, she took care of you."
Haley nodded, and offered him a small smile. "Thank you."
He nodded, handing her mug of coffee, which she accepted graciously. "Anytime, Hales. You know that."
"I mean it, Nathan. I don't think that-I mean, if you had never shown up, I'd probably be stuck in this marriage forever."
"You would've realized it eventually, Hales. You're smart, gorgeous, and talented. I know you would've realized you deserved better. Besides, even if you didn't, Brooke would've dragged you out of it."
Haley blushed, grinning. "Yeah, she would've, huh?"
Nathan nodded. "Yup. She's a feisty one."
Haley laughed, and looked at him, as he thankfully noticed that the laugh had reached her eyes, which still hadn't been ridded off a spark.
"Is he still here?"
Nathan looked up, having barely caught her words, which she had practically whispered.
He shook his head slowly. "He left sometime last night. He hasn't been back since then."
She rolled her eyes, shrugging, and getting off the bed. "So, what else is new, huh?"
Nathan sighed softly. "I'm sorry."
She smacked him on the arm. "Quit apologizing for him. It doesn't matter, this marriage is over anyway."
He nodded slowly, when a pillow came at his head out of nowhere. He looked over at Haley, who had a mischievous glint in her eyes. He suddenly realized what had happened as he threw the pillow back at her, taking her by surprise.
"Oh! You're going to pay for that, Nathan Scott," she stated as she flung another pillow his way.
…
Both of them sat on the floor half an hour later, panting for air, when the doorbell rang.
Haley groaned. "Who the hell could that be?"
Nathan sighed, getting up. "I'll go get it."
He walked over to the door, seeing a drenched Lucas on the other side. "Where the hell have you been?"
"None of your business." Lucas walked past him, tossing an overnight back onto the sofa and walking up the stairs.
Nathan raised his eyebrows, shaking his head and walking back to Haley. "Hales-"
She held her hand up. "Don't say anything. I refuse to ruin my good-" she was cut off by the ringing of the phone.
Sighing, she reached over to pick it up, realizing that Lucas had already answered it, and was about to put it down when she heard a familiar female voice.
"But Lucas-"
"Rachel! You don't call me on the house phone, no matter what, haven't I told you that?"
Haley frowned, wondering why on earth Rachel was calling Lucas, since she knew them of no more than acquaintances.
"Geez, chill. I had to because I was going to tell you that you forgot your cell phone in the hotel. Hence, the reason I couldn't call you on it."
Haley scrunched her eyebrows together, slowly trying to piece together the information.
"Fine, give it to me tonight. You know we'll see each other. Now hang up the phone, I can't afford to be heard talking to you."
"Oh, give me a break. The best part of cheating is the risk of getting caught-"
The phone dropped from Haley's hands as soon as those words were heard, confirming her worst suspicions, her world coming crashing down on her.
"He said he'd only cheated on me twice…"
"I need to save this marriage, Hales, cause it's the only stable thing I've ever had…"
"I've only cheated on you twice…"Her head whirled, as Nathan shot her a questioning look, and she held her hand up, quickly walking out of the room and up the stairs as fast as her legs would allow before she lost her courage to do what she wanted. Nathan followed her, wondering what in the world possessed her mood to change so drastically.
Reaching the door of the master bedroom, she swung the door open, taking Lucas, who was still on the phone, by surprise.
He looked at her, half confused, half surprised, as he quickly hung up the phone.
"What's wrong?"
Haley didn't say a word as she walked over to him and slapped him square on the cheek, surprising all three of the occupants in the room.
Lucas held his hand up to the sore spot, looking at her in utter confusion. "What the hell?"
Haley scoffed. "Oh, don't you dare 'what the hell' me, Luke. How dare you accuse me of being a slut when I have been faithful every single day of this marriage, when you've had a fucking tramp behind your back?"
She watched him cautiously as he realized what exactly had happened. "How dare you listen-"
She held her hand up. "Oh no, don't you say I had no right to listen in on your phone conversation. That's not even the real issue here, Lucas."
He remained silent as he waited for her to continue.
"I can't believe you had the nerve to accuse me…gosh! I can't believe I believed you when you said you'd changed. Why Lucas? Why? Why did you tell me that? Why didn't you let this go on as it was? What the hell was the point in telling me you'd changed? Why did you do it?" she demanded, willing the tears on the corners of her eyes not to fall.
"I was jealous," he said in a voice so small that she barely heard him.
"Jealous? Jealous? Are you freaking serious, Luke? Do you hear yourself right now? Jealous of what?"
"You…and Nathan," he whispered, suddenly feeling small in the way she was yelling at him.
Haley looked at him in disbelief. "Okay, so let me get this straight. You had an affair behind my back, and you were jealous just because I was talking to Nathan? Does that seriously make sense to you?"
He shook his head slowly, unable to find words to speak.
"How long Lucas? How long has this been going on?" She demanded as softly as she could.
"2 years," he said, barely above a whisper.
Her knees hit the floor as soon as the words reached her ears. The walls seemed to be hazing in around her as she pointed to the door. "Get out."
He obligingly left, as she slowly found the energy to walk over and collapse on the bed, and let out the tears she has held in until now. She cried for her marriage, her freedom, her time wasted, herself, and even for Lucas. She sobbed onto the bed, giving into a good cry as she slowly let everything go. She barely noticed being pulled into someone's arms as she sobbed harder, thrusting her face into the bend of his arm.
"Shh, Hales, it's okay." Nathan slowly rubbed his hand on the small of her back, trying to comfort her the best he could, but knowing there wasn't a thing he could do. He hated feeling so helpless, and that was the moment he knew that all he ever wanted to do was make Haley James have a smile on her face for the rest of her life.
Please review xx
Sneha
