Chapter Thirty Seven
March 10, 2009
Anger. Frustration. Loss. Sadness. More Anger. With each swing Haley felt more and more. It was all coming to the surface. She slammed her fists hard into the punching bag. Her arms were aching and she was drenched in sweat. It didn't matter. She couldn't stop. Maybe if she hit it hard enough then things would start making sense. Because so far things just weren't making any sense to her and it was frustrating.
Haley couldn't remember a time when she was more pissed at Nathan and he had done some pretty shitty things over the years. But nothing had compared to this. There had to be more going on with him. She hadn't done anything wrong. Not one thing.
Bobby was a friend. And even if there had been more going on, which there wasn't, then it shouldn't have been a problem. It's not like she and Nathan were dating. He made that clear to his friend Clay right in front of her. They weren't together so it's not like she cheated on him. She hadn't.
Still, Haley felt a small rush of guilt as she thought about it. The way Nathan had looked at her…no one had ever looked at her that way. It was like she had crushed something inside of him. Her eyes snapped shut at that thought before slamming her fist even harder into the punching bag.
She had nothing to feel guilty about.
Anger quickly replaced the guilt as her arms moved faster. If anything she was angry with him. He was the one that lied. He was the one with secrets. He was the one that wouldn't open up and let her in. He was the one that held back. He was the one that didn't trust her.
And just like that the blurry haze of being in love with him was gone and all that was left was so many questions. What was that briefcase of money for? Why did Nathan keep the fact that he had a sister to himself? Why had Nathan wanted her away from Clay? Why didn't he talk about his past? What was he hiding?
There was also the fact that Nathan was always taking off without warning. How many times had he taken off for days at a time without even a call? Where was he going? What was he doing?
Why didn't he trust her?
Haley was vaguely aware that she yelled out in frustration at that thought.
Every kiss. Every touch. Every smile. With each thought, she hit the punching bag harder.
"You looked pissed off."
Haley didn't stop swing at the sound of Bobby's voice. He came into view seconds later and stood behind the punching bag holding it in place for her. She kept swinging for minutes.
"Yep."
"You do realize it's five in the morning?"
Haley laughed for a second before wiping the sweat off of her face. "Is it?"
She took a step back before reaching for her bottle of water. Now that she stopped swinging her arms were throbbing in pain. She took deep breaths trying to calm her breathing. Her heart was racing.
"Yeah," Bobby nodded. "How long have you been here?"
"I couldn't sleep last night," Haley shrugged. "I guess I got here around three."
Bobby glanced at her with concern. "You ok?"
"I feel great," Haley smiled as she reached for her towel and started wiping her face and then arms. "What are you doing here so early?"
"I've got meetings all day with your dad and a few guys from D.C," Bobby explained.
"Sounds fun," Haley joked before taking a seat. Bobby took a seat next to her before glancing sideways at her and smiling.
"What have you got going on today? Maybe you can rescue me for lunch."
"I wish I could," Haley sighed. "Believe me. But I got something that I have to check out. I'm not sure how long it'll take. As far as stakeouts go, you just never know."
Haley knew that it would probably take more than one day. It usually always did.
"Promise you'll be careful?"
Haley nodded. "Always."
"I guess I'll see you later," Bobby muttered as he glanced at his watch. With those words they both stood up. Haley quickly gathered her things. She needed to shower and get ready for the day.
"I'll call you later."
"Sounds great," Bobby grinned. "Until then."
Then he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Haley stood there for seconds just watching him go. She didn't know what to make of what just happened. That thought was gone seconds later when Haley realized what the day would consist of. Her anger resurfaced before she took off towards the locker rooms.
This had to be the most uncomfortable stakeout Nathan had ever been on. All he could do was keep his eyes glued to the house they were watching. It was in a large subdivision outside of the city. The house was nice from the outside. The house was in an 86 year old lady's name. He was sure that the lady was either dead or far away from here.
One of Haley's informants had told them about this place. They were told that the two guys that ran the place kept large amounts of marijuana and cash inside. It wasn't enough to get a warrant to search the place though. The only chance at busting these guys was waiting outside of the house and hopefully catching the guys doing something wrong.
Ten hours into the stakeout and Nathan could hardly take sitting in the car with her. Haley was ignoring him. He was ignoring her. They hadn't said a word to each other in days. He hadn't even seen her out of work. He avoided her place and the bar at all costs. He didn't want to see her or be around her. And he didn't want her vanilla scent lingering around him like it currently was.
Nathan knew that Haley felt the same way about him. Now she looked at him the same way she had before everything happened. She looked at him with hate and distain. Before they would argue and fight. Now they didn't even want to talk to each other. That was fine with him.
Nathan sat up quickly when he noticed someone pulling up to the house. It was an old white Honda. He could hear Haley snapping pictures from the passenger's seat. Nathan couldn't help but place his hand on his gun lightly. He needed to be ready for anything.
Nothing happened though. No one got out of the car. Instead the car went back out the driveway. Both Nathan and Haley quickly glanced away from the car and the house. It was seconds later when the car drove past them. Nathan relaxed himself before glancing in Haley's direction.
"That was weird," Nathan noted.
Haley nodded without looking at him. "You think they know someone's watching them?"
Nathan thought about it for a second. They had been careful like always. They were in an old beat up van, they were parked houses away, and no one had seemed to notice them. Maybe the car went to the wrong house? He didn't know.
"Nah," Nathan muttered before looking back at the house.
It felt strange to be talking to her like everything was ok. It's not like he could ignore her completely like he wanted. As long as they were still working together then he'd have to talk to her about work. Still, it felt weird.
The side door to the van pulled open and Haley yelled loudly.
"Sorry –Sorry."
"Dammit, Luke," Haley hissed angrily as she glanced over her shoulder.
"I thought you noticed me walking up," Lucas chuckled as he sat back in his seat. Lucas took off the hardhat he was wearing and grinned. He was in a navy blue uniform with the name Liam on his nametag.
"Took you long enough," Nathan barked before reaching for the bag of food Lucas left for an hour ago. He was starving. It felt like ages ago when he had eaten breakfast. He hadn't even noticed when Lucas and Haley had switched places. He was in the middle of eating a cheeseburger when he noticed Lucas reaching in the bag for his food. He glanced at Lucas confusedly before glancing in his rear view mirror.
"She wanted to switch," Lucas shrugged before he started eating.
Nathan glanced towards the house angrily as he continued eating. Lucas ate slowly while bringing the binoculars to his eyes and glancing at the house.
"Still no activity?" Lucas questioned.
Nathan swallowed the food in his mouth before answering. "They had a car pull up but it left seconds later."
"Wrong house?"
"I guess," Nathan sighed.
"Hales, your food is getting cold," Lucas stated as he held out her food to her.
Nathan glanced in his rear view mirror once again. He watched as Haley glanced away from the notebook in her hands before looking at Lucas.
"I'm not hungry."
"Come on, you have to eat! You didn't even eat breakfast," Lucas pointed out.
"I'm not hungry, Lucas," Haley repeated before she went back to looking into the notebook in her hands.
Nathan glanced at Lucas curiously. Lucas seemed pissed. When Lucas tossed his half eaten hamburger back into the bag and cursed under his breath, Nathan chuckled.
"Shut up," Lucas warned.
Nathan glanced at Haley once again through the tiny mirror just in time to see her rolling her eyes at them. He couldn't help but grin. His eyes traveled down until he noticed her bare legs. He swallowed the lump in his throat before glancing back at the house. He needed to focus. He couldn't let her distract him. Not again. He didn't care how good she looked or how it felt to have her legs wrapped around him. His eyes snapped shut at that thought. He tried his best to push the thought of Haley lying beneath him completely naked, her legs wrapped around him out of his head.
Nathan's eyes opened as he glanced in the mirror once again. When her legs came back into view Nathan clenched his fists. How had he gotten through this before? He didn't know. Maybe it was because before all he could do was imagine what it would be like to be with her but now he didn't have to imagine. He had been with her. He had memories of her now, memories that he just wanted to forget.
"Fuck," Nathan cursed under his breath.
"What?" Lucas questioned as he glanced at him.
Nathan glared at the house. "Nothing."
"If you say so," Lucas chuckled.
Hours later it was finally getting dark. So far that day nothing had happened. Nathan waited until he noticed the night crew pull up in a van on the other side of the street. Lifting the small walkie he told the guys thanks and good luck before he pulled away.
Nathan drove to the office quickly. He was ready to get out of this van and away from her. Lucas still looked pissed off and Haley looked like she honestly didn't care. For a second Nathan wondered what they were fighting about but then pushed that thought out of his mind. He didn't care.
When he pulled into the parking lot of the office Haley starting getting her things ready.
"Finally," Haley said in frustration.
"You really don't wanna hang out with us," Lucas finally chuckled. "I'm hurt, Hales."
"I've got plans," Haley answered as she continued to get her things ready. "I'll get Marvin to run the plates off of that car and see if it leads to anything."
Nathan felt anger sweep through him. He couldn't help himself. "Hot date with your boyfriend, Princess?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," Haley answered quickly. "Not that it's any of your damn business."
"Haley doesn't have a boyfriend," Lucas said in confusion.
"Right," Nathan spit out.
"Oh but didn't your buddy tell you, I do," Haley bit out. "Go to hell, Nate."
"You first," Nathan retorted.
Nathan parked the van angrily before getting out. Seconds later he heard both of them get out. Haley took off walking towards the office angrily. Nathan walked towards his bike slowly as he watched her until she was inside. He hadn't even heard Lucas walk up next to him.
"Am I missing something?" Lucas questioned.
Nathan clenched his fists. "No."
"You're both acting fucking weird and I don't mean your usual 'we hate each other kind of way'," Lucas pointed out. "What's going on between the two of you?"
"Nothing. She's just a frustrating bitch."
Lucas shook his head. "I'm not buying it. What's going on? You won't even come over to my house anymore. You don't want to hang out. There's something else…"
"You should have thought about that before you starting dating my sister."
"That's how you wanna be?"
Nathan shrugged. "It's just the truth."
"I thought we were friends," Lucas pointed out.
"We are."
"You sure about that?"
Nathan glanced at his bike angrily when Lucas laughed bitterly.
"And she doesn't have a boyfriend," Lucas insisted. "I'm her bestfriend. I would know if she did."
"Whatever. I don't care."
"Yeah, you hate her. Trust me, we all know. You only say it every five fucking minutes."
Nathan glanced over his shoulder at Lucas. "What's wrong with you?"
"I'm just worried about her," Lucas stated. "She hasn't been feeling well. She's not eating. She barely comes out of her room. She doesn't talk to me anymore. I just don't…know what to do."
"Look, maybe you should talk to someone else about this."
He didn't want to hear about this, about her.
"Who the hell am I supposed to talk to? Julian's still on his honeymoon. It's just you, man."
Nathan shook his head. "I can't deal with this right now."
"Right," Lucas spit out. "Whatever, Nate."
When Lucas stormed towards his car, Nathan cursed under his breath before following him.
"Come on, man," Nathan called out. "You know I'm not the right person to talk to about this. You know how Haley and I feel about each other."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why the hell do you hate her so much?" Lucas whipped his head around and faced Nathan.
Nathan stopped walking. "Because I do."
"That's not a reason."
"I just do," Nathan muttered tiredly. "Sorry, if that pisses you off."
"It does," Lucas stated angrily. "It never made any damn sense but I just kept it in, you know. Haley was a good sport about it. Hell, she hates you more than you hate her."
"Good."
"But it's getting a little old, Nate. And it's starting to piss me off. She's done nothing to you. Haley's a good person and she doesn't deserve to be treated this way. You could at least respect her. After all these years she at least deserves that."
"I do," Nathan admitted. "Of course I do."
"Then back the hell off," Lucas ordered.
Nathan held up his hands. "I didn't do anything."
"Whatever, Nate. But if you continue treating her this way in front of me then we'll have a problem."
Then Lucas was in his car and driving away. Nathan stood there confused for minutes before making his way over to his bike. What the hell was his problem? Nathan placed on his helmet before driving away angrily. Lucas was acting like that was the first time he talked to Haley that way in front of him. Hell, Lucas usually laughed at the two of them. Why was he all of a sudden team Haley? Nathan didn't get it.
"Yay, you're home."
Nathan rolled his eyes as he took a seat in his chair. "God, you're annoying."
Alex continued clapping her hands happily before filling another shot glass. She pushed it closer to Nathan before watching him drink it. Then she happily downed the shot that she fixed for herself.
"I'm so bored here," Alex whined.
"You know the rules," Nathan muttered. "You gotta lay low."
Alex rolled her eyes. "Let's go to Los Angeles. I have some friends there."
"We're staying here until you have to get back to Tree Hill," Nathan stated dryly as he started flipping through the channels on his TV. Since Alex had been here she had been driving him insane.
"Lame," Alex declared. "Shouldn't you be packing for Atlanta?"
Nathan glared at her before looking around. "Shut up about that. Brooke doesn't know yet."
"Poor Brooklyn," Alex giggled. "She's gonna be pissed at you."
Nathan tried to block Alex out. It wouldn't be the first time that Brooke was pissed at him. And he knew Brooke would be pissed at him. It was his choice to move to Atlanta. Brooke wasn't going to be happy about moving away but they had too. Things were too complicated here. Leaving would be for the best. For everyone.
Atlanta was closer to home. And the best part about Atlanta was that he didn't know anyone there. He could stay there until it was time to go home. And unlike his last move, he wouldn't make the same mistakes. He would not form any kind of relationships with anyone. He'd keep to himself like he should've done here.
When Brooke walked into the room all dressed up, Nathan tensed. He prayed that Alex wouldn't open her big fat mouth to Brooke. He wasn't ready to tell Brooke about the move yet. He didn't want to hurt her but he needed to get away from here soon.
"You're dressed nice," Alex grinned.
"I know," Brooke beamed. "I'm in love with this dress."
Nathan ignored the fact that Alex and Brooke seemed to be getting along. The girls usually hated each other and were always fighting. It was weird to see them playing nice. He wasn't going to complain though. As long as Alex was staying with them, he'd prefer not to hear them fighting all day long.
Brooke was in some skimpy blue dress that was way too short if you asked him.
"Where are you and Luke going?" Nathan questioned.
"Girls night actually," Brooke replied before reaching for her purse. "Haley and I are going to this new club across town. It's gonna be so much fun."
Nathan's stomach knotted at the mention of Haley's name.
"Oh, please can I come?" Alex asked excitedly as she stood up. "I need to get out of the apartment before I kill myself."
"No."
"What do you mean no?" Alex shrieked as she glanced at him.
Nathan shook his head. "No you're not going."
"Nathan, it's not that big of a deal. She can come," Brooke spoke up.
"I said no," Nathan stated angrily as he stood up. Both girls were glaring at him.
"You're not the boss of me," Alex declared. "I don't care who you are."
"Never said I was but you're still not going."
"Nathan," Brooke started.
"Can I talk to my sister alone?"
Alex glared at him before cursing him out and storming off down the hall. Nathan ignored her comments before looking at Brooke. He didn't know what it was about today but everyone seemed to be pissed at him.
"What is your problem?" Brooke questioned. "She's been stuck in this apartment since she got here. It's not going to hurt anyone if she has a little fun."
"What the hell are you thinking? I don't care what she does but she's not going around Haley."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh," Nathan hissed under his breath. "You know she can't keep her mouth shut."
"I wasn't thinking."
"She's not going anywhere near Haley," Nathan repeated firmly. "You can hang out with Alex all you want but not when you're gonna be hanging out with Haley."
"Fine," Brooke agreed. "Look, maybe you can go hang out with Lucas tonight."
"Can't," Nathan muttered.
"Why not?"
"He broke up with me earlier," Nathan grinned before taking a seat.
"What?"
"Just go have fun," Nathan stated. "I'll be fine."
Brooke shook her head. "Okay. I have to go. I don't want to be late."
Nathan watched her leave before making his way down the hall looking for Alex. He glanced inside Brooke's room. He sighed when he noticed clothes all over the place and no sign of Alex. He then stuck his head inside of his room. He found her in front of his dresser. He glared at her when he noticed what she was holding.
"What the hell are you doing?" Nathan barked out.
Alex giggled. "I didn't know you were into wearing women's clothes."
Nathan snatched the silk nightgown out of her hands and placed it back in his top drawer. He then slammed it shut before glaring over his shoulder.
"Get out!"
"Should I tattoo your name on my body, too? Because you're acting a hell of a lot like your brother."
"Get out now!"
Alex continued to giggle as she walked slowly out of his room. "You should have never made me stay. Now I'm going to spend my time annoying you."
"Fucking great," Nathan shouted once she slammed his door close.
Slowly Nathan opened his top drawer and glanced inside making sure that she hadn't messed with anything else. It only held a few things that Haley had left over from the nights she had spent here. Her smell invaded his senses as he glanced at the silk nightgown painfully. Then he was pushing the drawer closed once again and closing his eyes. He didn't want to think about her.
Seconds later music was blaring from the living room. Nathan shook his head before glancing at the door angrily. Something had to give soon. He couldn't live with Alex much longer.
Nathan felt something hit his head and he sat up quickly before glancing around. Everyone seemed to be working but Owen who was laughing. Nathan shook his head before yawning tiredly. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Alex had blasted her music until someone in the building finally called the cops around three am. And then she sat in front of his room door belting out the lyrics to some chick song. Halfway in the middle of the song he had placed on his IPod and listened to his music. He hadn't even remembered falling asleep. Alex had woken him up early this morning. He hadn't wanted to get up at all but Alex had started singing once again. Once he heard her voice he had left the house. He was about ready to kill her.
And he was pissed at Brooke for staying gone all night long. He was sure she crashed at Haley's apartment but a call would've been nice. He didn't need to worry about her.
He tossed the balled up paper back towards Owen before trying to focus on his computer. He noticed that Haley's desk was still empty and he sighed. Where the hell was she? They were supposed to go back on that stakeout. The night crew was waiting for them and because of her they were late.
Nathan was just ready to leave without her. It would be better without her there anyway.
Nathan hadn't even noticed Lucas yet. His desk was empty. Where the hell were they?
"Looks like you had a rough night," Owen chuckled as he sipped on a glass of coffee.
Nathan yawned once again. He couldn't remember the last peaceful night sleep he had.
"Yep. I'm currently living with the most annoying chick on the planet."
"Your sister?"
"No," Nathan muttered. "Her friend."
"Is she hot?" Owen questioned.
"Trust me, you don't want to go there," Nathan muttered. "That chick is a mess. Besides I thought you were seeing that redhead from the bar?"
Owen shrugged. "We hooked up a few times. Nothing serious."
"Cool," Nathan grinned. "She seems nice."
"Yeah, it helps that she's hot," Owen said happily. "And she's great in bed."
Nathan chuckled. "Good for you."
"So how hot is she? Sometimes the hotness outweighs the craziness," Owen pointed out.
"Not with this chick," Nathan muttered. "She's just fucking crazy. Not to mention she has a boyfriend."
"Oh."
"Yeah, like I said, she's not someone you wanna mess with."
"Gotcha," Owen said before making his way back over towards his desk.
"Agent Hargrove."
Marvin was standing in front of his desk holding out a paper.
"What's this?"
"Info on the car that Agent James wanted," Marvin explained.
"Oh, thanks," Nathan muttered. "What did you find?"
"The car was stolen about a week ago."
Nathan nodded before looking over the paper.
Nathan tried calling Lucas but there was no answer. He wasn't going to call Haley. He wasn't. If she didn't show up to work that was her problem. Not his. He wasn't going to worry about it. He was sure that Owen wouldn't mind helping him out for the day. He was just about to ask Owen when he noticed Bobby walk into the room with Solaris by his side. Solaris was holding a notebook and writing something down as she walked. Finally Bobby stopped and faced all of them.
"Can I have everyone's attention?"
Nathan rolled his eyes before sitting back in his seat and placing his hands behind his head. He didn't care what this dickhead had to say.
"Mr. James called me this morning and has informed me, sadly, that there has been a death in his family. He'll be gone for the week and has put me in charge of all operations. You'll report to me until further notice. I'd also like to ask that you keep the James family in your prayers."
Nathan felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Before he could ask who had passed away, Jake already had.
"His father-in-law."
As if his body was on autopilot, he got up and left the office without a word.
Nathan hadn't even remembered the drive home at all. All he knew was that he was there. Once he was inside of his apartment he started looking for Brooke. Alex was asleep on the sofa and he fought the urge to kick her off and wake her up. He found Brooke in her room packing frantically. His whole body felt numb.
"You didn't come home last night." It was all that would come out.
Brooke glanced at him for a second. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."
"What happened? I mean…I, uh, I heard…"
Brooke stopped what she was doing and stood still. Nathan watched a few tears fell from her eyes.
"It was awful, Nathan. We were having the best time and then all of sudden her dad calls to tell her and…" Brooke shook her head. "It was awful."
Nathan folded his arms across his chest as she went back to packing. It felt like a fire had started inside of him, burning and smothering everything in him.
"Where are you going?"
"To Austin," Brooke explained quickly.
"Why?"
Brooke glanced at him surprisingly. "Haley just lost her grandfather, Nathan. Why wouldn't I be there? Peyton and Julian are leaving their honeymoon early and meeting us in Austin."
Nathan couldn't think of anything to say.
"Are you coming?"
He felt torn once again. That tiny part of him was banging to get out. That part of him just wanted to let it all go. But like always he held back. He pushed those thoughts away and stood up straight. He couldn't.
"No…I can't."
Brooke shook her head disapprovingly. "You know, one day you're gonna have to stop hiding from her. I really hope that whenever it happens it's not too late."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Brooke gathered her bags and walked towards him. "She won't wait forever, Nathan."
"I don't want her to."
"I really wish you'd get over your crap and start living your life," Brooke muttered as she walked past him. Nathan followed her to the door. Brooke didn't say another word as she left.
Nathan stood there speechless as he glanced at the door. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. He just stood there as the raging fire inside of him continued to burn.
"Come on, man. You were wide open!"
Nathan glared at the TV screen as his team missed another shot. They had been winning the whole game and somehow the other team was coming back. He sipped on his beer when a timeout was called. The Nets had hit ten straight points. Nathan rolled his eyes when they started replaying the Nets highlights from that quarter.
With Alex finally gone there was peace and quiet.
It had been a good day when Clay came and picked her up. He had spent the whole day inside of his apartment enjoying the silence. Now three days later and the silence was starting to get to him. Brooke had been gone for six days. He hadn't heard from her. She hadn't called him. He guessed she was still pissed at him.
When the game started up again, Nathan sat up straight as he watched. Luckily the Bobcats were playing at home and the crowd was getting to the Nets. The Nets started turning the ball over and the Bobcats had converted that into points. The lead was back up and Nathan couldn't help but grin. They were winning this game.
"Hey."
Nathan stood up quickly at the sound of Brooke's voice. She smiled at him before placing her bags on the ground.
"You're back," Nathan muttered.
"Yeah, we just got in an hour ago," Brooke said tiredly.
"Does that…I mean, is everyone back?"
Brooke shook her head before biting her lip nervously. "She didn't come back if that's what you're asking."
"I wasn't," Nathan dismissed as he shook his head.
"She's the only one that stayed."
"And they just left her?"
"She said she wasn't coming back," Brooke muttered softly. "She wouldn't talk to anyone. She…I've never seen anyone like that. It was horrible. She refused to let anyone stay with her. Lucas is so broken up about it. I'm actually gonna go stay with him for a few days."
"Oh, okay."
"I just don't want him to be alone right now."
"Yeah, okay. Well, Alex went back to Tree Hill," Nathan stated numbly. "I actually have to head to Charlotte today. My flight leaves in a few hours."
"Why?"
"Nothing you need to worry about right now."
Brooke nodded. "You know he left her the farm…all of his property actually."
Brooke took a seat on the sofa before glancing at him.
"She's really hurting, Nathan. I was thinking that maybe…"
Nathan shook his head. "No. No way. I can't."
"You should at least make sure that she's ok," Brooke insisted.
"No," Nathan refused. "It's none of my business."
"She's devastated, Nathan," Brooke pressed.
"It's not my problem," Nathan said softly. He continued shaking his head. He hadn't even realized that Brooke was standing in front of him. He felt her hand on his cheek as she made him look at her.
"I know you," Brooke murmured. "You'll do the right thing."
He felt her kiss his cheek before she walked away from him. He continued shaking his head as he stood there. He couldn't go. It was for the best. Plus, he had to be in Charlotte later that day. He couldn't skip that. Not for anything.
Nathan got out of the cab and watched as the guy drove away. It took minutes for the cab to disappear from view. Nathan sighed as heat surrounded him. He glanced to the side and noticed the huge house come into view. He started walking slowly and made his way up the steps. Then he was knocking for minutes. The door was locked. No one answered.
Nathan cursed under his breath before dropping his bag and taking a seat on the steps.
What the hell was he doing?
He didn't know. It felt like he had been waiting forever when he finally noticed her come into view. He noticed the horse that she was sitting on first. Glancing up at her he noticed the bright halo that seemed to surround her. She was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt that was unbuttoned with a white tank top underneath. Her hair was pulled up in a messy pony tail. Her face was red and he knew that she had been crying recently.
Nathan stood up hesitantly as she moved closer towards him. When she finally noticed him she stopped the horse.
"What are you doing here?"
Nathan swallowed the lump in his throat. "I…really don't know."
"I…" Nathan watched as she shook her head furiously, tears started falling once again.
"Hales."
"I don't want you here," Haley choked out. "Just go."
"I'm here to bring you back," Nathan explained carefully.
Haley glared at him. "I'm not going back."
"Yes you are."
"Just leave me alone," Haley muttered. "Leave. I want you to go. I don't want you here. I hate you. Go home, Nathan."
Before Nathan could say anything she had turned the horse around and took off fast. He watched as she rode the horse into the stables on the side of the house. Nathan took a seat back on the steps. Fifteen minutes later he heard a truck start. Then the dark blue Dodge truck took off down the long gravel driveway, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
Nathan watched her disappear before removing his leather jacket. It was hot. He ignored his phone ringing. He ignored everything. He'd deal with the consequences later. Right now all that mattered was convincing Haley to go home. She needed to be with her family right now. All he could do was wait until she returned.