Thirteen: You Really Make It Hard For Us Pessimists To Be Pessimistic
"Bye Wife."
"Bye Husband." Haley laughed against Nathan's lips when he kissed her.
"Bye Baby," he continued, rubbing his hand over the little bump that was becoming more and more conspicuous. He did a quick calculation. They were a little over a week into April. In five months, that bump would be a helpless infant for which he would be responsible. Holy crap. That was very, very frightening.
"All we ever call the poor thing is 'baby' or 'it'," Haley frowned. "I want to give it a name." She groaned and said, "See? 'It'!"
"Well, we started a list," Nathan shrugged. "We have to wait to do the rest until we know whether it's a boy or a girl." He grinned. "It's."
"See?" Haley demanded again. "Can't we give it a nickname or something?"
"A nickname?" Nathan echoed.
"Yeah. Like, before my parents knew what I was, they called me Boo; and it stuck. Even now, my mom calls me Haley-Boo."
"Haley-Boo." Nathan's grin returned.
"Shut up," she giggled. "What can we call Baby here?" Reaching down, Haley patted her belly.
"What if we put 'Baby' and 'It' together?" Nathan suggested.
"Babit?" Haley furrowed her eyebrows.
A loud laugh exploded from his mouth. "Bit," he corrected her.
"Omigosh!" she squealed. "That's so sweet! And totally asexual! It'll work with a boy or a girl!"
"Do we have a winner?" Nathan chuckled.
"We have a winner," Haley nodded. She wrapped her arms around her husband and gave him a kiss. Then she caressed her abdomen again. "We hereby christen you Bit," she said to her stomach.
Nathan noticed the clock and grumbled something under his breath. "I've got to get going. Lucas is probably waiting."
"Yeah, I need to get to work. Have a good day."
"You, too," he smiled, coming close for one last kiss. "Later Bit," he added, bending to press his lips to the bump that was his baby.
"Hi."
Nathan looked up, bewildered, later that day in the school cafeteria. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Sitting at your table." Rachel blinked at him, as if that fact should have been pretty obvious.
"Why?"
"Because. Is there a problem?"
"Yes. Brooke and Lucas don't exactly… hold you in very high… esteem; and neither do Jake and Peyton, so---."
"You left yourself out," Rachel noted with a soft smile.
"Huh?"
"You mentioned Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, and Jake, but you didn't include your name."
"Oh, believe me Rachel, you're not one of my favorite people," he assured her.
"I admire your honesty," she smirked.
"Don't care." Nathan took a huge bite of his chicken burrito.
"Did you watch the game Friday night? Suns against the Lakers?" She knew he'd care about this.
His chewing turned into aggravated chomping.
"Is that a no?" she asked.
"I dough huff cooble," he said through a mouthful of partially masticated burrito.
"You what?" Rachel laughed.
Nathan glared at her and once he'd swallowed, he said, "I don't have cable. Anymore."
"Why not?"
"Too expensive," he shrugged, trying to act casual.
"Sucks for you," she said, not exactly sympathetic. "It was an awesome game."
"Who won?" He couldn't be indifferent anymore. It was playoff time and he had to know!
"Phoenix," she grinned. "Nash was on fire."
"What?" Nathan was incredulous. "Don't tell me you're a Suns fan!"
"Don't tell me you're a Lakers fan!" Rachel shot back.
"They're the best!"
"Oh yeah? Well they got their butts kicked," she grinned again.
"Phoenix won't last without Stoudemire." Nathan chugged down some of his soda.
"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Rachel smiled. She waited for a beat and then cautiously offered, "You can come over to my house and watch tomorrow's game if you want."
Nathan's eyes flashed to hers and held, narrowing in a suspicious stare.
"My dad's really into basketball," she shrugged. "He's the only reason I watch it as much as I do. We always watch it together; he's a Lakers fan, too." Here, Rachel grinned.
"No," he said slowly. "I'm going to Lucas's house to watch the game."
"Okay," she shrugged. "Well, the offer's always there."
He nodded that he understood and sank his teeth into his burrito again.
"Uh-oh." Rachel broke into another girlish grin.
"What?" Nathan's cheeks bulged as he attempted to speak and chew at the same time.
"Your posse's coming," she smiled, her tone playful. "I'd better hightail it on out of here. See you."
Before Nathan could respond, she got up and walked away.
"That was Rachel. Was that Rachel?" Brooke demanded, dropping her lunch tray to the tabletop with a "bang."
"Yeah." Nathan licked burrito juice from his thumb.
"Nathan." Peyton sounded as if she were scolding him.
"What?" He was becoming cross and his voice rose slightly.
"She is not to sit here. She is not to speak to you. You are not to be alone with her. Do you understand?" Brooke was fierce in outlining the rules he was to follow regarding Rachel.
Oh, that was it.
"Don't tell me what to do, Brooke!" he sneered.
"Hey," Lucas warned. He didn't like the way his brother was talking to his girlfriend.
"Well, she should mind her own business!" Nathan maintained.
"We're just trying to watch out for you, Nate," Jake said quietly.
"Why?"
"You're kidding me," Brooke scoffed. "Geez, Nathan, could you be any more oblivious? Rachel likes you."
"Oh, Brooke, 'ya know, that is so ridiculous," Nathan fumed.
"It's not, though, not if you think about it," Peyton insisted.
"Great. Thanks for ganging up on me you guys, it's been really fun." Nathan shoved up to his feet, finished with being harassed.
"Nate!" Lucas called to his brother's retreating figure.
Nathan ignored him and kept walking.
Lucas got up and chased after Nathan, catching up to him in the hallway.
"Nathan! Nathan, hey!" Lucas put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We're not trying to gang up on you."
"It really makes me angry that you guys feel like you have to tell me to watch myself around Rachel. I would never do anything to hurt Haley, especially not that, and especially not with Rachel. That's disgusting, all right?"
"You say that," Lucas nodded, "but you're just a guy. We make mistakes, mostly at the hands of pretty girls. Pretty girls can demolish even the best of our intentions."
"You have some experience there, don't you?" Nathan grinned. Lucas rolled his eyes and Nathan laughed.
"Yes, yes I do! I do have some experience there. So take it from me, it's not a fun place to be."
"I'd never do that to Haley," Nathan repeated with conviction. "Rachel… she's not a good person; it doesn't matter if she's attractive or whatever. She doesn't… like… interest me. Haley's the only girl I ever think of that way. I love her. I'd never hurt her like that."
Lucas clapped his brother affectionately on the back. "And we'll make sure you don't."
Nathan laughed again and said, "Hey, I was going to ask you, do you think it'd be okay if I came over and watched the game tomorrow night? The Lakers are going up against the Warriors."
"That'd be great, but there's something wrong with my TV."
"What?"
"It's not getting any picture. Or sound. Just static."
Nathan's face fell. He couldn't win!
Then he remembered Rachel's invitation.
"Okay, you just got a really weird look on your face. What's the matter?" Lucas pressed.
"Well, see, here's the thing…" Nathan began.
"What?" Haley quietly questioned later that afternoon. She and Nathan had just walked through the door, her from work, and him from school.
"Rachel invited everybody over to her house to watch the Lakers play the Warriors tomorrow night," Nathan explained, watching her face carefully. "It's the playoffs."
"Oh, well wow, heaven forbid you miss that," she said. Her voice was sharp.
"You're right," Nathan nodded. "It's not important. I'll call Lucas and tell him everything's off."
Haley sighed heavily and caught hold of his wrist. "No, it is important. The Lakers are your favorite team. You should go."
He couldn't hold back an ecstatic smile. "Really? You mean it?"
"I mean it," she sighed, cuddling up against him. "I trust you, Nathan. I just don't trust her."
"Well, I'm only using her for cable; and that's why everybody else is coming. We'll outnumber her. Hey, 'ya know, you should come, too."
"Yeah?" Haley brightened at this. She couldn't have cared less about the playoffs, but keeping Rachel away from her husband was definitely something she felt passionately about.
"Yeah," his smile grew. "It'd be fun. Then we'd really outnumber her."
Haley laughed and then groaned.
"What's wrong?" Nathan was puzzled.
"I'll have to come later. There's a meeting after work tomorrow."
"Oh. Well, that's fine. I'll try not to miss you too much."
She laughed all over again at how corny he sounded and kissed him. In his kiss, she found the reassurance she needed.
"Hey fellas." Rachel nearly blinded the Scott brothers with her sparkling smile the next evening.
"Hi," they replied, both sounding a little peeved.
"Where's everybody else?" Rachel stood on her tip-toes to peek over their shoulders.
"Brooke's dad has a business dinner with a really big client tonight and he dragged her and her mom to that.
"Jenny's got a bad cold, so Jake and Peyton are taking care of her," Lucas sighed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. It was like some evil force was working in Rachel's favor.
"What about you?" Rachel focused on Nathan. "Where's your better half?" she smirked.
"She had a meeting at work. She'll be here soon," he promised.
"That's cool. Well, come on in." Rachel stepped back, motioning that they should enter. "The living room's through here," she continued, leading the way. "My dad got stuck at the office, but he should be on his way home pretty quick."
"Wo-ow," Nathan and Lucas huffed in awed unison, upon entering Rachel's lavish living room.
A huge picture window stared out on the front yard, a fire blazed in a white column fireplace, built-in bookshelves lined the walls, and--- the piece de résistance--- two light brown leather sofas, angled around a coffee table spread with snacks, faced a massive big-screen TV.
Rachel grinned at their expressions. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all, huh?"
The two boys shrugged, allowing that possibility.
"So… sit." Rachel plopped down on one of the sofas with a comfortable sigh and hit the power button on the remote control with her thumb, bringing the mammoth television to life.
Lucas and Nathan sank down side-by-side on the second sofa, instantly under the trance of the gorgeous piece of technology.
In the middle of the second quarter, Lucas's cell phone vibrated in his pocket.
"Hello? Mom, what's the matter? You're kidding, right? Oh, Mom I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah I'll come get you. Okay. Yeah. Bye."
"What's wrong?" Nathan was concerned.
"Her car died." Lucas exhaled and reached up to rake his fingers through his hair. "I need to pick her up."
"Wow, I'm sorry Lucas," Rachel spoke up. "Do you want me to walk you out?"
"No, Nathan can do it," Lucas insisted, yanking his brother up by the elbow.
"All right," Rachel blinked confusedly. "Well, thanks for coming over."
"Yeah." He nodded, offering a small smile, which he hoped looked sincere. "Thanks for having me."
"Lucas, just break my arm why don't you?" Nathan griped, pulling free of his brother's grasp once they were in the entryway.
"Leave with me," Lucas suggested quietly. "We can call Haley and let her know that there's been a change in plans."
"No!" Nathan whined in a whisper. "Come on, Lucas! That's so stupid! I can handle being alone here with her! Nothing's going to hap---!"
"Listen!" Lucas hissed the word so intensely, Nathan shrank back.
"Okay," he gulped.
"You remember what I told you. I know you love Haley and you don't want to hurt her, but you be careful regardless. Understand?"
"Yeah. I got it," Nathan promised when Lucas's eyes narrowed.
"All right," Lucas sighed reluctantly. "I'll come back if I can."
"Don't worry."
Lucas's blue eyes softened. "Sometimes, it seems like you're a lot more than just three months younger than me."
"Welcome back." Rachel grinned when Nathan came back into the living room. She was lounging on her sofa, perfectly at ease.
Mutely, he reclaimed his spot on the second sofa.
"Oh, I'm out of soda." Rachel frowned at her empty glass a few minutes later. "I'm going to go get a refill. Do you want one, too?"
"Get inside! Get inside!" Nathan shouted at the TV. "Huh? Oh, oh yeah, sure. Thanks." He handed Rachel his glass, hardly taking his eyes away from the game.
"Here 'ya go," Rachel said with a smile, after her return from the kitchen. She handed him a glass that was full to the rim with Coke.
"Thanks," Nathan mumbled, accepting the soda from her while riveted on the basketball game. "Oh, come on ref! Call that!"
"I brought some more chips, too." Rachel plopped down beside Nathan and ripped open a bag of potato chips. Nathan hardly seemed to notice Rachel's presence. They lapsed into silence, absorbed in watching the game.
"Elbow! That's a foul!" they exclaimed in unison, outraged that the referee seemed to be oblivious.
Rachel nestled her head against his shoulder, scowling at the screen. "That ref is so blind," she grumbled.
Nathan squirmed a little bit. "You're… uh… you're kind of close, aren't you?" He cleared his throat when his voice came out sounding hoarse.
"Am I?" she asked innocently. She made no attempt to move at all. "Wow, number four on the Lakers is cute. What's his name?"
"That's… um… Luke Walton," he stammered. He fidgeted again, trying to create some space between them.
"Luke Walton," she repeated, watching the screen with a smile. "Yeah, he's really cute." Then she touched her lips to his ear and whispered, "But you're cuter."
"Look, Rachel, I think you should go back to where you were before," Nathan said, getting to his feet and turning his back to her.
"What if I don't want to?" she asked. She wound her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his back.
"Wow, you don't waste any time do you?" Nathan wriggled free and whirled to face her. "I mean, Lucas has been gone what, five minutes?"
"You don't have to get mad." Rachel cupped on side of his face in her hand.
He shied away from her touch. "Yes, I do! This is sordid, Rachel! I'm married! My wife and I are having a baby! What don't you get about that?"
"Well, right now there's nobody here but us. I won't tell if you won't." Rachel touched his cheek again and moved closer.
"Stop it," he commanded fiercely.
"You're always trying to be so grown-up," she murmured. "You've got your wife and your baby on the way and all your bills to pay, but under all that, you're still only seventeen years old. Don't you ever want to just let go? Don't you ever want to just act your age? I think you do."
"You don't know me, Rachel."
"I knew you well enough to get you here," she pointed out.
He rocked back on his heels a little bit, swallowing hard. He didn't have a response.
"I like you, Nathan," Rachel whispered, going up on tip-toe to lightly skim her lips over his throat.
"Yeah?" He took her wrists in his hands and gently moved her out to arm's length. "Haley loves me. And I'm not going to do anything to mess that up because I love her too." Nathan freed Rachel's wrists and moved past her, crossing the living room to get to the foyer.
Rachel followed him, catching him at the door. She put her hand on his arm when he reached for the doorknob, staring up at him, her eyes glistening in the dark.
Nathan felt her move forward, felt her body brush against his, and he stiffened. "Did you hear anything I just said to you?" The question didn't sound as intimidating as he'd hoped it would.
Instead of answering, Rachel closed the remaining distance between them and covered his lips with a fiery kiss.
The doorbell rang and Nathan wrenched away from Rachel. He pulled the door open and found Haley. She was staring up at him with a very strange look on her face.
"Hey Hales." His voice didn't sound right. He sounded breathless. "You're just in time. The game's really getting good."
"Yeah, I'm sure it is." Her chin started to quiver. She raised a hand and slapped him callously across the face.
Stunned, Nathan put a palm over his stinging cheek.
"I saw you through the window," she spat out venomously. "So how about you try again?"
"Haley." He said her name pleadingly.
"This is what I get," she said, unable to keep her tears at bay. "This is what I get for letting you come to her house! This is what I get for trusting you!"
"Haley!" Nathan stepped out on to the porch, grabbing her arm and twisting her around to face him when she attempted to run back to her car.
"Don't touch me!" she shrieked, pushing against him.
"Listen! Listen! Listen to me!" he commanded.
"No, I don't have to listen! I just saw everything I need to know!"
Nathan tried unsuccessfully to chase after Haley's car as she sped away. He stood in the street for a few minutes, in the eerie glow of a streetlight, after her car had disappeared from sight. Gasping for breath, he trembled with rage.
He stormed back into the house, looking for Rachel. She was propped up against the hall table, quite unconcerned about what had just occurred.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he growled.
"She totally overreacted," Rachel scoffed. "It was just a kiss."
Nathan blinked at her, utterly disgusted. "You're severely unhinged."
"Nathan," she sighed, putting her hands on her hips.
"No, there's something seriously wrong with you! I love my wife! I'm hers! Nobody else gets me! Do you understand, Rachel?"
"So, what, that's it?" She spat out a dry laugh when he went to the door to leave. "Your whole life is pledged to Haley? Or is this just about the baby?"
Nathan fixed her with an enraged glare.
"That's it, isn't it?" Rachel seemed pleased with herself. "If she wasn't pregnant, you wouldn't still be with her, would you?"
"With or without the baby, I'd be with her." Nathan's voice rolled out low and ominous, like thunder.
"Go ahead and lie to yourself, then. That's fine. I'll be around when you get sick of her."
"Have fun waiting around for something that's never going to happen," Nathan glowered. He turned and hit the front porch running.
His apartment complex wasn't very far from Rachel's house. He sprinted all the way and made it home in fifteen minutes. He cautiously let himself into the apartment, not quite sure what to expect.
Haley was braced against the kitchen counter, glaring at him.
"What you saw wasn't what it looked like," he began.
"Oh, right, of course not!" she yelled.
"I don't know what you're so upset about!" he yelled back. "You said you trusted me, I'm telling you nothing happened, and that should be enough!"
"Yeah, well, it isn't Nathan!" A trace of a quiver could be heard in her voice.
They stared at each other in silence for a few moments before she spoke again.
"What would have happened if I hadn't shown up?" she asked quietly. "Would you have slept with her?"
A fire of fury swept through Nathan's entire body. She actually thought he would cheat on her? Pride kept him from answering the way he should have.
"It sucks doesn't it, having to wonder? It sucks thinking about somebody you love more than anything else kissing someone who isn't you. Now you know how it feels." That was the only response he would give her.
Her eyes grew wide and blazed with thousands of different emotions. "Wow," she whispered. "Wow!" The second one was much louder. "Here it is again! The Chris Keller complex! Was tonight some kind of payback, then? You had to get even, is that it?"
He scoffed and shook his head. "You think I would stoop to that, now, when we've got a baby on the way?"
"Well, I really don't know Nathan. Would you?" Haley crossed her arms and her eyes turned to dark brown ice.
He threw his hands up in disgust. "I'm going for a walk," he mumbled with another shake of his head.
"And I bet I know just where you'll end up," Haley sneered.
"Don't stake too much on it. You'll lose," Nathan said over his shoulder before he slammed the door.
"Nathan." Lucas was surprised when he opened his side-entry door and found his brother on the porch. "I was just leaving for Rachel's."
"I must have been crazy," Nathan ranted, shouldering his way into Lucas's bedroom. "Getting married at sixteen, having a baby at seventeen… what was I thinking?"
"Nathan, what happened? Did something happen?" Lucas was afraid to hear the answer.
Nathan sank down at the foot of Lucas's bed and put his head in his hands. The whole story came out in a rush.
"I told you not to stay there by yourself!" Lucas rebuked when all of the details had been shared.
"Yes, all right, I should have listened to you, I know," Nathan mumbled, staring down at his feet. "But now I don't know what to do. I'm really starting to feel like Haley and I made a big mistake. I mean, if she honestly thinks that I'd be unfaithful to her, then she doesn't know me at all."
Lucas walked to his bookshelf and retrieved a thick black hardback. Opening it, he rifled through the slightly yellowed pages. Returning to Nathan, he held the book out and said, "Read the last stanza."
"Lucas," Nathan sighed, "I really don't think poetry is going to help me here."
Lucas held the book out more insistently.
Sighing again, Nathan took the book and recited:
"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
"That's The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost," Lucas clarified.
"I know," Nathan nodded.
"The guy in that poem is you. The road you chose to go down with Haley isn't one guys our age usually take, and it's not always easy, but you can't look back. You have to keep going; and in the end you'll see, the journey you took and the way you took it, made all the difference. It's going to be worth it Nate."
Nathan smiled and handed the book back to his brother. "Sometimes, it seems like you're a lot more than just three months older than me."
Lucas smiled too and then asked, "So, what are you going to do?"
Nathan got to his feet. "I'm going to go home and make things right with my wife. She should be cooled off by now. I hope."
"Haley?" Nathan entered his apartment, softly closing the door behind him. The place felt empty; his voice seemed to echo off the walls. Growing anxious, he raced to the bedroom.
She wasn't there.
Panicked now, Nathan flung the closet open. Most of her clothes were missing. He stumbled into the bathroom and threw the mirrored door of the medicine cabinet open. Her toothbrush was gone. He checked the shower and discovered that her razor, her shampoo, and her conditioner were also all gone.
Almost instantly, he knew where she was. There was only one place she would go. Breaking into another sprint, he dashed for Brooke and Peyton's place.
"Haley!" he shouted, rapping against the door.
The click of the lock made his heart skip. Brooke pulled the door open, keeping the chain lock fastened so he couldn't get in. Shooting him a look that made him feel lower than scum, she slammed the door shut again.
He grumbled a curse through clenched teeth and banged on the door for a second time. "Brooke!" he roared. "Open the door! Let me talk to my wife!"
Peyton came to the door next, keeping the chain in place of course, and gave him a look that was dirtier than Brooke's had been. And, as before, the door was then promptly shut in his face.
Nathan saw red. Pounding the door with a clenched fist he yelled, "This is real cute, Haley! Would you open the door? Talk to me!"
Brooke had opened the door, shoved him back, and closed the door behind her before he even realized what hit him.
"Apparently, you're not understanding this look on my face." She stared fiercely at him, her hazel eyes spitting flames. "This is a death glare and it means 'death to you'! Death," she hissed.
"I didn't do anything!" he asserted.
"You're a disgusting pig," she snapped.
"Brooke, I didn't do anything!" he repeated desperately.
"That's right, your lips did everything. You had no control over any of it," Brooke ridiculed him. Before Nathan could voice a reply, she stomped back to her apartment and slammed the door yet again.
Nathan persisted with knocking at the door and calling for his wife. He'd keep it up all night if he had to.
"Hey!" A slightly hunched, skinny old man who lived across the hall from Brooke and Peyton, poked his head out of his doorway. "It's almost eleven o'clock! If you don't quit all this racket you're making, I'm going to call the police!"
"Did you hear that?" Nathan shouted at the closed door. "This guy's going to call the police!"
Peyton came out into the hall, being sure to close the door behind her. Nathan heard Brooke flip the lock.
"Peyton, please," he begged. His voice was hoarse. He'd called for Haley until his throat was raw. "Please let me see her."
"She doesn't want to see you, Nathan." Peyton crossed her arms and examined the scuff marks on the toes of her Converse sneakers.
"This is unbelievable!" he exclaimed angrily. He pressed his hands to the top of his head, staring up at the ceiling. "Rachel kissed me! Not the other way around! I love Haley! Doesn't she know I love her?"
"Well, how did you expect her to react, Nathan? She finds you alone with one of the most beautiful girls in school, kissing that girl, and here she is four months pregnant. What is she supposed to think?"
"What are you saying? Are you saying that Haley thinks that I'm not happy with her? Does she think I find her unattractive or something?"
"This--. I shouldn't be talking to you about this." Peyton shook her head and turned for her door.
"Peyton, Peyton!" Nathan grabbed her elbow. "Please tell me what she said. If I know what she said, maybe I can fix this."
"She said that… She said that you guys are kind of strapped financially right now, and she feels like that's part of the problem, because you're both nervous about making ends meet.
"She's also upset that you hardly ever get to see each other because you're at school and she's at work. She misses you. She says you don't really get to spend any time together.
"And, yes, she's worried that the way her figure is changing is unattractive to you. So finding you sucking face with Rachel really scared her, Nathan," Peyton concluded. She eyed Nathan's flabbergasted expression and asked, "You didn't know?"
"No," he said faintly. "She never said anything to me."
"Wait here," Peyton murmured. She squeezed his shoulder before she turned and disappeared into her apartment.
After a few very long minutes, the door clicked open. Haley made her way guardedly to where he was standing in the middle of the hall.
As soon as she was close enough, Nathan pulled her into his arms, holding her as near to him as he possibly could. He felt her start to shake, felt the moisture of her tears on his shirt.
"I think you and I need to get a few things straight," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "First, I did not kiss her, Haley. I love you. Only you. I shouldn't have stayed there after Lucas left. That was stupid of me and I'm sorry. Okay?"
She nodded, wrapping her arms even more tightly around him.
"Secondly, you're the most beautiful girl in the entire universe. Even when you think you're disgusting, I think you're gorgeous. Like with the whole morning sickness thing. Every time you barfed, all I could think was, 'That is one sexy woman'."
Haley laughed and sniffled simultaneously, raising her eyes to his.
"Lastly, I motion to make every Friday night a night for just you and me; like a date night. I need to see more of you, Hales. I miss just spending time with you. Does that sound all right?"
Haley laughed again, whimpering, and nodded.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Haley," he whispered, tenderly holding her. "But, 'ya know, you scared me, too. When I walked into the apartment and saw that all your stuff was gone… I was terrified. Don't ever do that to me again. If something's bothering you, you've got to talk to me. We've got to talk to each other. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Haley smiled with another nod.
Nathan smiled, too and moved in for a kiss. Putting his hand to her stomach, he gently rubbed. "Hey Bit," he murmured. "Let's go home."
"I need to get my bag," Haley remembered. She turned to face Brooke and Peyton's door and found them standing on the threshold. Her suitcase was sitting in front of their feet and they were both bawling.
"You guys are so meant to be together!" Brooke blubbered.
"You really make it hard for us pessimists to be pessimistic," Peyton added with a loud sniffle.
Okay, so… Chapter 13. I know I said this chapter was going to be Prom, but this is such a long chapter already… Prom's going to be next chapter, and it's going to be fun, trust me: ) Hehe… And don't worry, Rachel and Justin will get what's coming to them. I hope you're not too upset. Please R&R. For me, that's the best part of this whole thing. Thank you to everyone for being so wonderful with their reviews so far! PS--- Go Suns! Woo-hoo! Did anybody watch that game Thursday night, against the Lakers? Oh. My. Heck! That was freakin' awesome! ---Sarah