Nathan leaned in and got close to Haley's ear. Haley sat facing forward, too afraid to move. "You know, you take a shower and you comb your hair, you rub lotion into your arms and your shoulders, and you slip into a nightgown. And I'm sitting in bed pretending to read or listen to music or whatever, but that's not what I'm doing. I'm watching you. I'm trying not to, but I am. I do. I am a man. And when you climb into bed with me, beside me never touching, I lay there awake, staring into the dark aware of everything that you're doing, of how you breathe, every rustle of the sheets. And it takes every ounce of my being to not want to reach out to you. I care about you, I desire you, I want to reach out to you."
Haley quickly stood up and walked away from him and Nathan sat back on the bed. She couldn't believe what he had just told her. What was going on? This wasn't supposed to be happening. "Ok. I hear what you're saying and I understand…I think. I don't want to shut you out."
Nathan stood up and looked at her. "Look, just don't shut down. Just try to keep an open mind about me, about our marriage, about everything, ok. And maybe in time after the marriage, after the vows things might feel different."
"Maybe."
"I know you're trying to make this work. I know that. And maybe the wedding will help. You might be surprised, Haley."
"Yea, I could."
"And in the mean time, until our wedding night, I'm not gonna sleep in our room."
"Oh." Haley said slightly surprised.
"You need space and I…well, that's what we're gonna do. So we should go. We need to get going."
"Yea, we need to get going. Why don't you go ahead and I'm just gonna grab some books that I want to take back to your house-our house." Haley smiled as she quickly corrected herself.
"Ok." Nathan said, walking past her and out the door.
When he was gone Haley let out a deep breath. The breath she had been holding the entire time. "Oh my God. What am I gonna do now?"
Lucas was standing in the James kitchen talking to Whitey. He had come over to return some of Haley's things. "If you ever want to talk, Lucas." Whitey said.
"Talk about what, Whitey?"
"Anything. I'm a pretty good listener."
"Thanks. But I just really don't have much to say anymore."
"You've been hurt."
"I've been worse."
"I don't really believe that's true." Whitey admitted. "I can see it in your eyes."
"What do you see?"
"Pain. Lucas, this marriage between Nathan and Haley is-"
"A fact." Nathan said behind them. Whitey turned and Lucas just looked at him. "Right, Whitey? It's a fact." Nathan walked toward them as Haley came down the stairs and stood next to Whitey. "Lucas."
"I didn't know you were here." Lucas said.
"In person."
"If you'll excuse me." Whitey said, walking away, leaving the three of them awkwardly standing there.
"This is no good, Lucas."
"What's no good, Nathan?"
"What is it gonna take for you to get the message?"
"There's a message?" Lucas mocked.
"Do I have to write it out in big, fat letters in the sky?"
"Go ahead, man. Knock yourself out."
"Back off. You're stalking my wife."
"I'm stalking her?"
"It's a really bad habit."
"Are you threatening me?" Lucas asked.
"I'm just telling you like it is. Haley and I are going to be happy together, whatever it takes. Right, Haley?"
"Yea, I…"
"Save it. You don't have to say anything." Lucas said.
"Ok, there's the door. We'll see you later. Hopefully never." Nathan said, pointing to the door.
Lucas looked at Haley. "For your information, I wasn't stalking you. I was dropping off something."
"I know." Haley said.
"Listen, next time you wanna drop off some of Haley's things, call me. I'd love to pick them up." Nathan said.
"Nothing left to pick up." Lucas said and then he walked out of the house.
"You ok?" Nathan asked.
"Yea, why wouldn't I be? We should get out of here before all the stores close."
"Yea."
"Can you take this to the car for me, please?" Haley asked, pointing to a box of stuff Lucas had set on the table.
"Sure." He said as he picked up the box.
The two headed for the door. Nathan walked out first. Haley stood at the door and looked back into her house. "I'll be back. I promise." She said before closing the door and catching up to Nathan.
Haley lay on the bed at the Scott Mansion. She was trying to get comfortable. She sat up and switched positions to lay on her side, her back facing the door. As she closed her eyes she heard the bedroom door open and then close. She stayed like she was.
"Hey. Are you sleeping?" Nathan whispered.
"I'm trying." Haley answered with her eyes still shut.
"Sorry."
"I can't close my eyes anyway." Haley said, rolling over and sitting up. "I can't believe our wedding is only a day away. I'm so excited."
"Yea, it's gonna be a good day."
"You know, I really want to make this work with you."
"Me too."
Haley noticed that Nathan still had the box of stuff that Lucas had brought over in his hands. "What are you still doing with that?"
"Well, I thought you might want it. It is your stuff from Lucas' place."
Haley stood up next to the bed. "That stuff is from another lifetime. And I don't ever want to see it again."
"Are you sure?"
"Just get rid of it."
Nathan set the box down on a table. "You know, it is ok for you to have this stuff, Haley. You are allowed to have your memories."
"If I wanted that stuff I could buy it myself, ok." Haley snapped.
"So you want me to just toss it all?"
"Toss it, burn it, whatever. Do whatever you want to with it."
"Are you ok?" Nathan asked concerned.
"Yes. Everything I need is right here with you, right?" Haley smiled.
"You know what? Why don't you keep it anyway, go through it just to be sure. I'm gonna…I'll be back." Nathan said walking toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to take care of some things."
"You gonna tell me or are you just gonna keep it a secret?"
"Let's just say that it's something that's gonna make our wedding day perfect." He smiled and then left the room.
Haley sat on the bed reading one of the books that was in the box Lucas had dropped off. A knock on the door tore Haley away from the book. "Yea, come in." She quickly put the book back in the box so that whoever was at the door didn't find her with a book from Lucas. Deb walked in the room with a wedding dress and a veil in her hands. "Is something wrong?"
"No. I wanted to show you something." Deb walked further into the room and stood in front of Haley. "I know that you went out and bought yourself a lovely new wedding dress, but…"
"But what?"
"Well, it's brand new. In my family, weddings are all about tradition."
"I do want to be a part of that and I want your family to accept me."
"I was hoping you'd say that." Deb smiled. She held up the wedding dress. "I have brought my old wedding dress and I have had it cleaned and altered just for you."
"You really want me to wear your dress?"
"Not only my dress, but it's the same dress my mother-in-law wore at her wedding. Now, it's entirely up to you, but I think it would be wonderful and it would mean a great deal to Nathan's grandmother."
Haley stood up and looked at the dress. It was a simple A-line dress with beaded straps and a beaded belt around the waist. "Well, it certainly is beautiful. I'd love to wear it. I'd be honored."
"Thank you." Deb draped the dress across the bed. "I also wore it with this veil. Would you like to try it on?" she asked, holding it up.
Haley nodded. She walked to the mirror hanging in the room. Deb came up behind her and placed the veil on her head. "It's very pretty." Haley said.
"It's stunning. You know, I never thought this wedding would actually take place. I was sure Nathan would change his mind."
Haley turned around to look at Deb. She began taking the veil off. "But he's not going to."
"Yes, he's very devoted to you. He truly loves you. Even though you are not in love with him."
"That's not true. I do love him."
"You have managed to fool my son. He thinks you care about him, but I'm not that easy. You haven't fooled me."
"I'm not trying to fool anyone, Mrs. Scott. I really do love your son."
"You love yourself. And you'd do anything to save yourself."
"You'll change your mind about me. You will. I'm gonna prove to you that I'm telling the truth. Someday you will see me as the daughter that you never had."
"We'll see about that."
Haley was about to respond, but someone knocked on the door. "Come in."
Peyton walked in and over to Haley and Deb. "Hello, Mrs. Scott."
"To which Mrs. Scott were you referring?" Deb asked.
"Both of you, I guess." Peyton smiled nervously. She noticed the dress on the bed. "Wow. That's a beautiful dress."
"Yes, that is my old wedding dress and Haley has so sweetly agreed to wear it tomorrow."
"I can't wait to try it on." Haley smiled.
"It is going to be a special day for you." Peyton said.
"I have some more preparations to take care of. I'll leave you two alone. Nice to see you, Peyton." With that, she walked out of the room.
"Thank God that you showed up. One more minute with her and I swear I was gonna lose it."
"I cannot believe you are wearing her dress, Haley. That has a very high ick factor."
"Oh yes, I know. It was another one of her plans to make sure I fit into the family."
"She still doesn't believe that you love Nathan?"
"No, she wants to get me to break down and confess."
"Well, you can't do that. You're dead if you do."
"I know that. I'm the one sleeping with an armed guard outside the door."
"What are you gonna do?"
"I'm working on it." Haley said, sitting down. "I called the FBI."
Peyton sat down too. "From here?!"
"No, not from here! I called them from my house. I went to pick up some books and stuff, but Nathan walked in on me. Anyway, I didn't get a chance to leave them that much information or my number or anything."
"I don't think the FBI needs your number to find you anyway."
"I guess that's true. Anyway, it's too late to break up the wedding."
"Which means that you are gonna have to convince a lot of people that you are head over heels for someone you don't even like."
"I'll just do it the same way I did it when I passed Pre Cana…I'll think about Lucas." Haley sighed and decided she needed to change the subject. "So what about you? What about that guy you lied to Lucas about? The phantom date."
"Well, that's going pretty terrible right now because of my big mouth. Now this guy who doesn't exist has a name. And his name is Brad. Like I would date anyone named Brad!"
"Brad?" Haley chuckled.
"Yea."
"Well, he's your guy. I guess you can do whatever you want to with him."
"I could, but Lucas wants to meet him."
"So what are you gonna do?"
"I know this guy who's trying to be an actor so I may just hire him."
"I'm sorry. You're gonna hire someone to play the part of your boyfriend Brad?"
"Yes, I am. Do you have a better idea? I mean, I don't want Lucas to know that I lied. I don't want him to think I'm some desperate loser."
"Well you are, aren't you?" Haley smiled.
"Hey! Desperate is you running away from your husband on your wedding night." Haley's smile faltered and she looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."
"No, you're right. I mean, I have avoided him for this long."
"But he's gonna want a real wedding night. How are you gonna do that?"
"Well, I guess I'll just do what you're doing and hire an actor to play my part." Haley sadly joked.
Lucas sat on his bed, starring at a picture of Haley. He couldn't believe she was gone for good. When he heard a knock at his door, he put the picture down. "I'm coming." He said, walking to the door. He opened it to find Nathan standing there. "What the hell do you want?"
"I want to talk to you."
"Yea, well I don't want to talk to you." Lucas said, shutting the door. But Nathan stopped him and walked in.
"Well, I'm not going anywhere."
"Sure, invite yourself in, why don't you?"
"This won't take long, believe me." Lucas walked over and stood in front of him.
"What, are you personally inviting me to your bachelor party?" Lucas taunted.
"I want you to back off."
"Excuse me?"
"You say that you're through with Haley, but you just keep popping up wherever we are making little surprise appearances."
"You got a point to this?" Lucas asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yea, that little box of old memories today upset my wife. I don't want to see any more stunts like that, you hear me? So if you have anymore plans or anymore surprise visits, drop them."
"I think I get what all of this is about. You're scared I may show up to your little wedding, Haley's gonna look at me and leave you standing at the alter like an idiot with your whole family looking at you, right? It's all over your face. You're scared that I'm gonna go to your wedding an ruin everything for you."
Nathan smirked. "I'm not afraid of you."
"Well you're afraid of Haley's feelings for me and that she'll never feel like that for you."
"There's nothing left for you. Stay away from us. She's not in love with you anymore. When are you gonna get that?"
"When are you gonna get that she's in love with me and you're gonna have to live with that for the rest of your life?"
"Ok, consider yourself warned." Nathan said, walking to the door. "Oh, I almost forgot." Nathan turned and looked at Lucas. "You come anywhere near our wedding tomorrow…you're a dead man." Nathan walked out of the house and Lucas just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Haley stood in front of the mirror, holding up the wedding dress Deb had left in the room. She sighed. It was a beautiful dress. She turned back to Peyton and set the dress on the bed. "Have you talked to Lucas today?"
"Yea. This whole wedding is killing him. He tries to pretend he doesn't care, but he's in love with you, so…"
"Is this supposed to make me feel better, Peyton?"
"I'm just telling you. You asked."
Haley let out a deep breath. "This was supposed to be our wedding. Lucas's and mine."
"Hey, you are doing what you have to do to save your life."
"No. I was pretending this whole time. Pretending is fine, that's one thing. But sleeping with Nathan…that's a different story."
"Listen, you have to go through with this, ok. At least he's not ugly. He could be ugly." Peyton said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Peyton, it's not as easy for me as it is for you. I've only been with one guy."
"You don't think I knew that? Look, I'm not telling you what to do, but don't blow this for morals. Come on."
"I think it's more than that now." Haley said, looking down at the floor.
"Does Nathan like you?"
Haley looked up and at Peyton. "I think he's actually starting to have feelings for me, yea."
"Great! That's good! You can use that. Listen, you have to destroy this family, right? And the only way you can do that is by getting close. Earn their trust."
Haley nodded. "You don't think Lucas is gonna do anything like show up at the wedding and try to stop it, do you?"
"Actually he has a meeting with a possible publisher so he won't be anywhere near here."
Haley wiped the tear that had fallen. "Ok."
Nathan headed toward his bedroom after he had gotten back from his chat with Lucas. "Nathan, where have you been? I want to speak with you." he heard his mother say. He wasn't in the mood. But he stopped anyway and sighed as he turned around to talk.
"I'm getting married tomorrow, mom. I have a lot of things to do."
"You can still back out of this. You can still stop this before you throw your life away."
"I'm not throwing my life away."
"Why can't you see Haley for who she really is?"
"That's enough, mom. One more word from you and I will leave this family forever. Now is that really what you want?" Nathan said before walking into the room and shutting the door.