Another update! Review and happy reading!

Past Or Present

Nathan sat quietly in his family room watching tv. Today he was all alone because the boys were out on the docks visiting Haley.

Just as she promised, Haley had been spending time with the boys a few times a week.

She would pull up to the Scott house and honk her horn. The boys were always ready and running for the door before Nathan could even speak. He wanted so badly for Haley to knock on the door so that he could get a small glimpse of her.

But it never happened. She would gather the boys up in her car and off they went for a few hours. At most the only view of her was a glimpse from his window when she drove away from the house. It was pure torture.

Despite a few weeks passing, she seemed no closer to forgiving Nathan.

Matty even told him one evening that he and Daniel saw her wedding gown. He was so excited about it. The little boy said how beautiful it was and that his momma was going to look like Cinderella.

It broke Nathan's heart to know that she was still planning on marrying Nigel after all they been through. How could she? Yeah what they had started as a lie, but the love and family they had were very real.

Nathan hoped that she would see that after some time. That they could reconcile the mistakes and put their family back together. Haley obviously still loved the boys. It was quite evident in her consistent need to see them and spend time with them.

Nathan knew that Haley didn't love him anymore. The sadness he felt in his heart was debilitating. He would hide what he was really feeling and try to act as normal as possible. His family saw him smiling and joking but inside he was torn apart.

The pain was like nothing he'd ever felt before. Nathan always thought that losing Daniel and Matty's mom was hard, but this was hell. He had never felt so deeply for Gia as he did with Haley.

Their marriage was filled with so many trials and tribulations throughout the first few years. But they pushed through and brought two of the most beautiful children in the world. Nathan could never forget that.

When Gia walked out on them, he thought that was it for him. He was destined to be a single father and love wasn't in the cards for him. He'd never have what his brother had, love. That was of course until that fateful day he realized how much he really did love Haley.

She was everything that Nathan didn't know he was missing. She filled in those missing pieces inside his heart that he never believed was possible. But now she was gone.

In a month or so she would be marrying that stuffy Nigel. Nathan knew in his heart that Nigel didn't deserve her. He wasn't the kind of man that could light a fire under Haley and make her feel the unbridled passion like Nathan could. She was a little spit fire in nature and no way would she be satisfied spending her life with that stuffy elitist. Not his Haley.

He found himself miserably sulking thinking about it. Here he was alone and heartbroken. He got up walking to the kitchen to fetch a beer. He really needed alcohol to dull that ache inside of his chest.

Nathan slammed the refrigerator door open angrily. He was disappointed not to see a beer in sight. After the whole Haley debacle he had been drinking too excessively and hadn't noticed his reliable beer supply was now gone.

He sighed before going over to the hook to grab his car keys. If alcohol wasn't available, then he was going to the bar. Why not sit and commiserate on something a little harder than beer. Maybe Scotch or Tequila would do the trick.

So off he went for the search of a good stiff drink. Alcohol was the only thing that seemed to dull the immense pain he was feeling these days.

"Momma, are we invited to your wedding?," Matty asked.

"Of course, baby. I even want you guys in the ceremony. How does that sound?"

"I wanna do it," Matty eagerly accepted.

"That makes me so happy," she smiled hugging the little boy tightly. "What about you, Dan? Can I count on you being included in my wedding day?"

"Sure," he unhappily replied. Haley could immediately tell something was wrong with the young boy.

As the wedding day approached Daniel seemed to become more withdrawn and he would barely speak a word when Haley and Matty were discussing her wedding.

"You ok, buddy?," she asked concerned. This was so unlike him.

"I guess. But do you have to still get married, mom?"

"I do. And it's gonna be a marvelous time...for all of us. It's such a new beginning to my life, baby. Do you understand?"

"Yeah," he sighed hearing the joy in his mother's voice. "But dad is really sad. I think he misses you," he correctly guessed.

Haley's eyes welled with tears. She was loving spending time with the boys, but there were times they would mention Nathan and it upset her. Her mind would begin to race and she would be reminded of the heartache of losing it all. Denial was her friend these days.

She wanted to forgive Nathan for his deceit but her pride and her mind wouldn't let her do so.

"I can't be with your father, guys. Too much has happened. As much as it pains me, I have to let him go. I'm so sorry."

"This sucks," Daniel pouted. "Are we still allowed to see you after you marry Nigel?"

"Of course. Nothing will stop me from loving you guys. Yeah things didn't work out with me and your dad, but it has nothing to do with you. I'll be your mother forever," she promised.

After her initial reluctance to be the boy's mother at first, Haley now realized that she was their mother. Circumstances may have changed but it was like Daniel and Matty were the children of divorced parents. Her and Nathan could just share them and equally parent them into respectful men. It wasn't ideal but it worked. She was just glad that Nathan agreed to allow her in the boys life.

Nigel came walking in the room just as Haley was reassuring the kids. He frowned unhappily seeing that Haley was still clinging to those little nuisances.

That wasn't her life. He had no idea why she was so adamant about being apart of their world. Someday they would have their own children, Dillon and Mark weren't needed.

"Kitten, may I speak with you?," he asked.

Haley smiled while nodding her head. She rubbed Daniel's back soothingly before making her way over to the corner of the room to speak with Nigel.

She knew he wasn't happy with her decision, but she was glad he was trying to deal with it.

"When are they leaving?," he asked frustratingly.

Haley looked down at her fancy watch to see the time. It was still early in the evening- besides, they were staying the entire night.

"They're spending the night here on the boat. Why?," she naively asked. After her life altering experience with Nathan, she seemed to be fairly naive to everything lately, including the snobbish behavior that Nigel was exhibiting. Haley hadn't even picked up on his clear dislike of Daniel and Matty.

"Because love, I want some time with you...alone. It just things have been so busy lately with all of the wedding stuff. I miss you, foofy."

"Of course Nigel," she placated. "Tonight after the boys are asleep, we'll spend a romantic evening alone. Dinner, dancing, maybe more," she suggestively winked.

Haley then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips. She was hopeful that would keep him satisfied until her visit with the boys was over.

The boys watched across the room as they saw Haley kiss Nigel. She giggled happily and that made the boys feel weird.

It was already disgusting seeing their mother kiss a man. But it was super weird to see her so happy kissing someone other than their father.

"Let me finish with the boys and then I'm all yours, ok?"

"Fine," he agreed. "But after bedtime, you belong to me and only me- for the rest of the night."

Haley nodded giving him one final kiss before going back over to the boys.

Nigel sighed leaving the room and letting Haley have her visitation time.

"So where were we?," she smiled.

Nathan downed his fourth drink and then he was motioning for the bartender to refill his glass.

The pain was starting to dull and the alcohol was mellowing his funky mood. His misery wasn't as prominent as it was an hour ago and he was feeling oddly great.

Nathan even let some women drag him out onto the dance floor a few times. They weren't her but it helped keep his mind occupied for a little while. His night was turning out to be not so bad.

"Hey Nate," Chris the bartender said. He had went to high school with the Scott brothers and he was very familiar with all the success they were having with Scott construction. They didn't exactly run in the same circles growing up, but the Scott brothers were always friendly to him and vice versa.

"Sup Chris," he burped. "Ugh, excuse me."

"No problem, man. Maybe you've had enough for the night. I should cut you off."

"No. No, please. I need it, Chris. I need to forget her," Nathan slurred.

"Girl trouble. Been there," Chris said pouring them both a shot. "My girl left me two months ago," he said downing the clear liquid. "Said that I needed to grow up some."

"That sucks," Nathan said. "I'm sorry man. What is it with them, huh? They make you fall head over heels in love with them and just when they have you at your most vulnerable, BAM, they're gone. It's what my girl did. It's what everyone does," he painfully said thinking about how Gia walked out on him too. He had the worst luck with women. Maybe he just wasn't good enough for them to love. It was definitely something wrong with him, it had to be. No woman would ever really love him, he was sure of it.

"Sorry," Chris sincerely sympathized.

"Yeah, me too. I really loved her. Scratch that- I love her," Nathan admitted slamming back his shot. He scrunched his face up as he felt the liquid burn down his throat. "I don't think love really exists...at least not for me. But it doesn't matter, now she's getting married. He's a complete tool. No way does he really know how amazing she really is."

"Maybe she doesn't deserve you," Chris replied. "You ever think of that?"

"It's not like that man. I lied to her, betrayed her trust in the worst way possible. I understand why she could never forgive me," Nathan sulked. "I wouldn't," he admitted drunkly.

"I'll call Lucas for you," Chris said going over to the phone behind the bar. It was clear that Nathan wouldn't argue about it considering the bad shape he was in. His body hung slumped against the bar and his hands wrapped loosely around the shot glass.

Lucas walked into the smoked filled bar twenty minutes later to see Nathan sleeping contently at the bar. His brother looked awful and Lucas could smell the alcohol from five feet away.

He waved over to Chris and nodded in thanks for looking out for Nathan.

"Oh baby bro," he sighed sadly.

Lucas then tapped lightly on his shoulder.

Nathan cracked one eye open to see his brother standing there.

"I'm a bit drunk, Luke."

"I know. It's ok," he said protectively. "I'm gonna take you home, Nate."

"She's there, bro. Everywhere I look, I see her. In the kitchen, our family room, the bedroom," he complained as Lucas walked him through the parking lot to the car.

"I can take you to my place if you'd like," he offered.

"I don't want Brooke to be mad at me. I don't want to scare Suzanna."

"Sus is asleep, Nate. And Brooke understands. It's alright."

"Ok, I'll go home with you," he slurred.

"You can sleep this off, Nate. You'll be better in the morning."

"I'm never going to be better, Luke. I'm never going to have what you have with Brooke. Gia left me, Haley left me. I'm a pathetic loser who no one loves. I'm not worth it. How could anyone ever love me? Why doesn't she love me, man?," he cried drunkenly to his brother. "Because I love her so damn much. My heart hurts," he pounded on his chest. "My own children don't even want to be with me for crying out loud. They'd rather be off living with Haley somewhere."

"You're not a loser, Nathan. And you have plenty of people who love you, bro. We'll help you get passed this, I promise you. C'mon," Lucas said strapping him into the passenger seat before hopping in himself and driving off. He hated hearing his brother sound so hopeless.

The ride home was silent because Nathan had dozed back off into his drunken sleep.

They arrived to Lucas's house fairly quickly because late night traffic was scarce and not many drivers were on the road.

Lucas practically dragged him to the door and was surprised to see Brooke open the door. She was standing with her furry robe on and a pair of slippers.

Lucas could see the worry on her face and he hated knowing how upset she was. Brooke tended to blame herself for all that went on. Lucas repeatedly talked her out of it, but Brooke still put the blame on herself. She thought maybe if she pushed harder for Nathan to tell the truth, then none of this would've happened. But she loved Haley too and after having her in their life, she started to ignore the big burden of the lie hanging over all of their heads. The situation was very tough to be in.

"What are you doing up, baby?," Lucas asked shuffling Nathan body against him.

"Couldn't sleep. Is he ok?," Brooke asked.

"He got a little too carried away at the bar. He's gonna stay here the night. Can you get me some blankets for the guest room?," he asked.

Brooke went to the closet and collected some extra sheets, a clean blanket, and a extra pillow.

When she walked into the guest room she saw Lucas undressing Nathan and throwing his clothes on the chair next to the bed.

Brooke went to work untying his sneakers and placing them down on the floor.

"Thanks babe," Lucas said. He then peeled Nathan's jeans off and tossed them across the room. The item of clothing missed hitting the floor and Brooke proceeded to pick them up as Lucas tucked Nathan in tightly.

She lifted the jeans upright and was shocked to see something small fall out of the pocket. Brooke then bent over to retrieve what she initially thought was his wallet. She didn't want to misplace that.

Her eyes grew as wide as saucers when she picked up the item. It was a small velvet box and it was clearly from Brooke's favorite store, Tiffany's. She knew that blue box design anywhere.

"Lucas," she whispered trying to grab his attention.

He turned to her and was shocked to see her holding the box out to him.

"You think that's it?," she asked curiously. Nathan had told them about the ring so it wasn't like it was some huge secret.

"Yeah," he sighed. He felt wrong snooping but his curiosity got the best of him and Lucas flipped the lid open.

Brooke gasped seeing the ring. Tears sprang to her eyes as she watched Lucas lift the diamond out.

It was a emerald-cut diamond set in a classically elegant band. There were diamonds lined around the ring perfectly and Brooke knew it would look flawless on Haley's hand.

"It's gorgeous, Luke. It's perfect. It's so Haley." And it was. The ring was understated and beautiful much like her.

"Maybe. He did a really great job. It matches her to a T. But she'll never wear it," he realized.

"This is not right. They should be together," Brooke said. "They love each other, I know it."

"Sometimes it's not enough," he sadly admitted. "Do you know what he said to me tonight?"

She shook her head.

"He said that no one loved him, Brooke. He called himself a loser too, said that he wasn't worthy. And I know he was drunk but it was a very hard thing to hear. I'm afraid he's given up, babe."

"My god," Brooke teared up looking at a sleeping Nathan.

"I wish they could work it out, honey. But how can two people get passed something that big. Nathan betrayed her. I just never imagined my brother falling in love again after the whole Gia situation. That girl really hurt him, she broke his heart. He was so devastated for such a long time. She left the boys and Nathan behind without even a second glance. And now he's going through this hell all over again. I know it's not the same but... it just breaks my heart, Brooke. He doesn't deserve this pain, not after everything he's been through."

"It was a mistake. A dumb very stupid mistake. She has to know that."

"I think she does. She may not want to admit it, but she knows. At the end of the day, what does it really change, hon? She's in the boys life. I think that's all Nathan could really hope for now- at least Daniel and Matty didn't lose her."

"We have to do something, Lucas. We have to before it's too late. She can't marry that Nigel guy. She belongs with Nathan. I'm gonna go speak with her tomorrow."

"You think that's a good idea? She's not exactly thrilled with us either. I mean- we lied too," Lucas reminded his wife.

"I don't know. But I can try. I can explain. Get her to understand that we all love her. She has to listen."

He sighed defeated. Brooke was on a mission and Lucas knew there was no way to stop her.

"If that's what you want. But be prepared Brooke. This may not go how you expect," Lucas advised.

"I know. But thank you for not stopping me," she kissed his lips.

Come tomorrow she was going to the docks to see Haley.

Brooke only hoped that when she returned to her family, Haley was with her.