A/N: Hello all! It's been a little while since my last update! I am now in full swing again trying to balance school, swim, work, and still find the time and energy to write. I am going to try my best to get updates at least once a month, but I can't make any promises. I absolutely love all the reviews and support this story is getting! I never thought it would attract so many people because I honestly am not the best writer. The fact that so many people love this story means the world to me!
On a similar note, if you all have any suggestions on this story, I will be happy to take them! I have a pretty good idea of where I want this story to go, but I am always, always open to ideas! As always, thank you for everything! Hope you enjoy chapter 11!
Chapter 11
The sound of an alarm startled Nathan and Haley as they both awoke with a fright. Nathan looked around trying to find the noise to stop it. Haley pushed herself up off Nathan, trying to remember where she was.
"What is that?" Haley groaned at the loud beeping noise.
"It's my alarm for basketball practice." Nathan responded as he reached over to his phone and shut off the disturbing noise.
Falling back down on the couch, Nathan pulled Haley back on top of him. She squealed as she snuggled back into the warm arms of her boyfriend. "Why so early?"
Nathan laughed as he pulled Haley in closer, "I don't want to, but I have to go."
"I guess that means I should go too." Haley said as she stretched her arms out in an attempt to wake herself up.
"No, don't be ridiculous. Go back to sleep, baby. I'll be back in a couple hours." The fact that it was still dark out had Nathan worried about Haley going back alone. She was safer if she just stayed put…. He also wanted to come home to her. He wanted to walk in the door with her smiling face here.
"You sure?" Haley asked, looking up at Nathan. She really didn't want to leave, but she felt it might be weird if she were here and he wasn't.
"Yes," Nathan whispered, "Go back to sleep."
"Okay," Haley sighed, "Can you get me another blanket? It's cold in here."
Nathan laughed and said, "Yes, of course."
He kissed her forehead and climbed out from under Haley and walked to his bedroom to change. He grabbed another blanket from the closet and when walking back over to Haley, he said, "Why don't you go sleep in my bed? You'll be more comfortable."
When he didn't hear and answer he tried again with her name, "Hales?"
He approached the coach and found her fast asleep. She looked as beautiful as ever as she slept in peace. As he stared at her, there was a rush of calmness that came over him. Whenever he looked at her, everything else in the world faded away. There was not a doubt in his mind that she was the most amazing person on this Earth. She was the one for him. Placing the extra blanket on her body, Nathan leaned down and kissed her head before walking out the door.
Haley woke up about an hour later looking around the room trying to remember where she was. She smiled to herself when the memories came flooding back. She had spent the night at Nathan's and it was the best night's sleep she had ever had. There was just something about the way his arms felt around her body. He made her feel safe. Feel loved. A chill went down her spin at the thought.
Wrapping the blankets around her body, Haley sat up and heard her stomach growl. She didn't want to pry and start going through his cabinets to find something to eat, but she was hungry. Keeping the blanket around to body, Haley walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Nothing seemed appealing as suddenly she felt sick. Haley moved her attention to the freezer and found frozen waffles and pancakes. Haley smiled as it was so Nathan to make things as easy as possible when it came to cooking. The thought of food made her queasy, but after a long morning practice, she knew Nathan was going to be hungry.
Pulling out the packages, Haley found a small package of hash browns that was behind the other two packages. Haley decided she was going to make or in this case, defrost, Nathan breakfast. Haley gathered all her materials and started working. She honestly did not know when Nathan was going to be back and wanted everything done before he arrived. If he let her crash as his place, the least she could do was thank him with breakfast.
Just as Haley was finishing up, she heard the front door open. Nathan gasped when he saw the set up on the counter. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The fact that she went to all this trouble to make him breakfast really touched his heart
"What's all this?" He asked coming up to the counter.
Haley beamed back at him, "I slaved all morning over the toaster making my famous frozen waffles, now eat up."
Nathan laughed as he walked around the counter to stand in front of his girlfriend. "You didn't have to make me breakfast, Hales."
Haley shrugged, "I wanted to. You let me crash here, so I thought the least I could do was make you breakfast after a hard morning practice."
Nathan simply shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders, "You didn't have to repay me for you staying here. I loved having you sleep next to me."
Haley felt her cheeks heat up. Even with the smallest comments, he was able to make her blush. "I loved it too."
Nathan leaned down to kiss her forehead before moving down to give her a quick peck on the lips. "You're amazing, you know that?"
"Mhm," Haley moaned with her eyes still closed, "So are you."
After a couple minutes of silence and the two of them just looking into each other's eyes. Haley spoke up, "Go eat your breakfast, it's getting cold."
Nathan laughed as he walked back around to his seat and frowned when he didn't see anything on Haley's side. "Not eating?"
Haley finished situating herself on the stool and shrugged, "I'm not really hungry."
This information worried Nathan and he didn't even know why. Some people just weren't big breakfast eaters, but he had a feeling this was more than that. Now that he looked at her, she did seem rather pale and more tired than normal.
"Are you okay?" He found himself asking.
"I'm fine, Nathan. Please eat your food before I have to pop it in the microwave."
The joke didn't even crack a smile from Nathan as he stood up and walked around the counter to the girl. "You sure you feel alright?"
Haley placed her hands on Nathan's forearms to emphasize herself, "Nathan, I'm fine, really."
With that, she started to cough as she pulled her elbow up to her mouth. When she was done, Nathan stated, "No, you're not."
He placed the palm of his hand against her forehead and immediately looked down at her with worry in his eyes, "Hales, you're burning up."
"Am I?" She asked placing her palm on her forehead trying to feel her skin.
"Come on, you need to lay down." Nathan started as he placed his hand on her back leading her to his room.
"Nathan, come on, I'm fine." She tried to protest.
"No, you're not. You have a fever, Haley." Nathan said as he stared at her with concerned filled eyes.
"Nathan," She stopped as she started having a cough attack.
"My point is proven. You're sick, baby. Go lay down in my bed."
"No, Nathan, take me back to my place," Haley stopped to cough again, "I don't want to get you sick."
Nathan smiled down at her, "Hales, don't worry about me."
Haley looked at him trying to look at determined as possible. "Nathan, you can't get sick. You have basketball and you're already in trouble for missing practices because of me."
Nathan couldn't believe this girl. She was sick and was worried about him. She was the most selfless person he knew he had said it a million times, but he was the luckiest person in the world to be able to call her his.
"Hales," Nathan stated. "Go lay down in my bed. I will go to your room and get you some extra clothes and anything else you want or need."
"But.." She started
"No buts about it," Nathan placed his hands on her shoulders, "If you were at your place, I would just worry about you too much and probably be at your place all the time making sure that you're okay."
Haley smiled up at him, loving the way he was so concerned about her. She had never known anyone to take care of her with such love besides her parents, but that was different. "Are you sure I'm not being a bother?"
"Haley, you are too stubborn for your own good. Just go lay down. I'll be back."
He leaned down to place another kiss on her forehead and leading her into the bedroom. He helped her in the bed and tucked her in. "Do you want me to pick you up something to eat while I'm out?"
"No, I'm okay," Haley whispered as she got comfortable in the bed. "But before you go, please eat."
Nathan shook his head, "I can eat when I come back."
Haley sat up with a smile on her face, "And you say I'm stubborn."
Nathan could only smile at her comment. Leave it to Haley to still be the dork she is even when she was sick.
"Okay I'll eat, then go get your stuff. If you think of something while I'm gone, you can text me."
Haley nodded as she laid back down. Normally, she would have been weirded out at the fact that she was in her boyfriend's bed, but she wasn't. She felt oddly comfortable. There was something about the way he could automatically make her feel so safe. She felt Nathan's lips press against her head and smiled at the gesture. She honestly was the most blessed person in the world to have Nathan Scott as her boyfriend. She couldn't believe she doubted him so much in the beginning. He would never to do anything to hurt her and she hated that it took her so long to see his real self.
In the couple months they had been together, she couldn't believe how big of a spot he had taken in her heart. She couldn't imagine life without him, she didn't know how someone could make her so happy. And today, something about seeing him instantly take care of her hit a spot in her heart. She couldn't believe how he knew something wasn't right and immediately took care of her. Yep, it was happening. Haley James was falling in love. Closing her eyes, Haley felt the exhaustion come over her, as she drifted off to sleep.
Nathan drove over to Haley and Brooke's dorm room to grab a few of her things. When explaining that Haley was sick, Brooke shot a million questions to make sure Nathan knew what he was doing. She was not about to let her best friend stay with her boyfriend. Haley was like a sister to Brooke and her health was very important to Brooke. They came to an agreement that Brooke could come over later that night to see Haley and make sure she was okay. As Nathan was driving back to his apartment, he stopped by the store to grab some medicine in case Haley sicker than she claimed. If he learned one thing about her, it was that she was stubborn as hell. She wouldn't let anyone help her with anything. She always had to do it on her own. He wished she would just let him help her. But, he couldn't blame her, only because he was the exact same way.
When he arrived back at home, he found Haley asleep in his room, so he decided to do some homework. When he heard her start coughing, he got up and grabbed some water and cough medicine. He found her sitting up in his bed having a cough attack. It broke his heart to see her so sick. Moving closer, he handed her the glass of water and waited as she drank it.
When she settled down, Nathan placed his hand on her back and softly said, "You feeling okay, baby?"
Haley just shook her head and stared crying.
"Hey, hey, hey," Nathan soothed as he climbed onto the bed and pulled her into his lap, "Don't cry, Hales."
"I don't know what's wrong with me," She sobbed from his chest. "I'm never like this, I swear."
Nathan laughed as he rubbed her back some more, "Hales, it's okay. You're sick, you're overly tired, stressed about school, and I know you're still worried about your dad."
Haley's head shot up from his chest to look into his eyes, "How do you know I'm worried about my dad?"
Nathan gazed into her beautiful brown eyes as he said, "Oh, Haley, I see it in your every day. I see that worry in your eyes each morning and night. I know when you claim you're "just zoning out", you're thinking about your father."
"You see that?" Haley questioned.
"Of course, I do. I think I know you a little better than you give me credit for, Haley James."
Haley couldn't believe he saw right through her. She was constantly finding new things that she loved about Nathan, but this one was the most special. He cared for her that much to the point where he was learning to read her inside and out. It was amazing to see how quickly she was falling for him. His blue eyes were full of compassion and love. It only made it harder for her to resist the urge to kiss him in that moment.
Haley thought about her father's health more than she should, but how could she not? The fact that she could get a call any minute of any day to say her father was dead, scared her to death. There was nothing she feared more than losing one of her parents. They were the only two people in the world that full understood her, that knew her inside and out. The thought of one of them not being here anymore was too much to comprehend. And the knowledge that Nathan saw that fear brought a whole new flow of emotions.
Beginning to cry again, Haley felt an overwhelming desire to tell Nathan everything she had been keeping in her heart for so long. She felt as though she could trust him with anything, and he would protect it.
As her sobs grew louder, Nathan pulled Haley into his lap and rocked her back and forth as a mother would do for a hurt child. It was breaking his heart to see her so hurt. He knew that she had fears of her father's health held in the back of her mind but would never bring them up as he knew it was a sensitive topic for her. He would never talk about her father unless she brought it up. Now that she was sick, it killed him to see her so weak. He always saw Haley as being the strong one, but he liked that she was not afraid to be vulnerable around him. The way she was not afraid to cry in front of him. It was just another way of proving her strength. Even if she didn't see it that way, he did. She was stronger than she knew.
Upon hearing her whipper, he pulled her closer and whispered, "I'm proud of you, ya know that?"
Haley lifted her head with furrowed brows, "What? Why?"
"I know how stressed you've been with school and you never let it get in the way of your family. I know you talk to your mom every day to make sure your dad's okay." It's not like he was lying. He was honestly so proud of her for keeping the most important things first in life. She never lost sight of that and it was amazing since most lose sight of family.
Haley didn't know what came over her as she felt the urge to tell him everything she had been thinking and feeling. All of a sudden, the words just started falling out of her mouth, "I'm so afraid of losing him. He's always been the strong one in my family. He's the one that holds us together…What are we going to do without him?" Haley began to sob again as she fell into his chest.
"Oh, Haley," Nathan whispered, as he rubbed her back, "It's going to be okay."
The girl shook her head buried in his chest as she cried, "I'm so worried about him."
"I know you are, baby. But, you need to get yourself healthy first. Once you're back on your feet, we will go back and visit him again."
Haley lifted her head at his words, she was incredibly touched at his gesture, but there was no way they were going to be able to do it. "We can't do that, Nathan."
"Why not?" He fought back.
"Because, you have basketball and we have classes. There is no way we are going to have time." Haley loved him for trying to make her feel better, but she knew there was no way they were going to be able to get away. It was just the hard truth about college. She would just have to keep praying that he was okay and keep talking to her mom.
Nathan knew she wasn't going to back down from this one. She was stubborn as hell and honestly, she didn't need this extra information on her sleeves. She needed to focus on getting better before anything else. "Let's take one step at a time. You need to get better and that means you need to sleep."
Haley sniffed as she suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. She nodded as she laid back into the pillows and pulled the sheets up to her chest. Turning herself to look at Nathan, she didn't want to be alone. She wanted to feel his comforting arms around her. "Can you stay with me?"
Nathan could hear the pleading in her voice as he felt his heart break for the millionth time that day. He never knew himself as the comforting type, but with her, it was easy. It was like everything he did came with ease. Without a hesitation, he replied, "Of course."
As he laid his head down next to hers and wrapped his arm around her waist. In that moment, he felt himself fall deeper in love with her. He didn't know why, but he felt himself come to a conclusion. If she needed him, he was going to be there now and forever.