Helloooo, everyone. I think this may just be my longest MOTH chapter ever so enjoy. I will also point out that this was a very quick chapter following the last so gold star to me. I hope this will answer a few questions… and mess with your heads for more. Oh, and to all my little readers who tend to be horn dogs, I threw in a little something for you guys, but it might not be what you expect. Here we go…
Lucas stood at the free throw line and sunk the shot just as the noticed the set of headlights turning onto the edge of the River court. He squinted as he picked up the ball trying to see who it was. A smile crossed his face as he watched his brother's car pull up. As he tucked the ball under his arm he watched Nathan kill the engine and roll the windows in the front halfway down, before getting out and walking towards him.
"Hey, man."
"Hey."
"How's single fatherhood going? Wait… You do have the baby, don't you? I'd hate to think of what Haley would do to you if you lost him." Lucas teases.
Nathan just smiles as he lets his brother laugh at his own joke.
"I'm driving around the state with him at three o'clock in the morning, what do you think?" Replies drolly.
"That bad?" Lucas cringes.
"Let's just say that he's a Mama's boy who's quickly figured out that I'm not Mama."
Lucas chuckled as he passed the ball to Nathan. Nathan fired off a perfect shot.
"So what are you doing out here so late." Nathan asks even though he already has a pretty good idea of what the answer is going to be.
Lucas collected the ball, looking down at it before sinking it and answering his brother.
"Couldn't sleep."
"Peyton?"
"Pretty much."
Lucas picked up the ball and took another shot. Neither one of them spoke for a beat. Nathan ready to listen and be there for his brother, the way Lucas had been there so many times for him. They hadn't talked a lot about the breakup in the past couple of months, and that was okay, because what Lucas had really needed was his family and he'd had them. Lucas shakes his head and passes the ball. Nathan passes it back.
"I better get going. I was just pulling in here to try to get a little sleep myself before Damian woke up."
"You mean Raine." Lucas corrects with a smile.
"Nah, I mean Damian. He barely ate yesterday, he cried for like six hours straight before he finally passed out…and I think I saw his head spin around when he woke up and saw that I still wasn't Haley."
Lucas laughed at his brother's disgruntled expression.
"Just let me know if you want me to show you how it's done."
"Show me how it's done?" Nathan asks his brother a questioning eyebrow going up. "Weren't you the guy that wanted to go to the hospital after your sister threw up in your mouth?"
Lucas covered his mouth to hide the gagging the memory triggered. Nathan just laughed and teasingly pressed his point. "I told you not to shake them after they've eaten and especially not when you're holding them above your head, but you wouldn't listen…"
Lucas holds his hand up looking away, trying to stop himself from hurling his guts out from one end of the court to the other. Just than a hiccup and wail streams out of the back seat of the car.
"I better go, my Master calls." Nathan cringes.
Lucas laughs and they share a brotherly hug and a pat on the back before Nathan heads to his car. He opens the back door and much to his relief Raine starts to settle down a little when he sees him. Nathan checks the car seat and tucks the blanket over his son. Climbing into the driver's seat and starting the engine he watches his brother play for a few seconds. Nathan drives away with Lucas still on his mind, he seems okay and hopefully he really is. Raine settles down with the motion of the car and the ride home passes quietly. Nathan manages to take him out of the car and get all the way to Raine's crib with him still asleep, yet as he moved to slip Raine is he wakes up with small mewing sounds. Nathan sighs and curls him back into the crook of his arm. He looks down at the pacifier moving rapidly in Raine's mouth and into his big tear filled blue eyes. He runs his free hand over Raine's soft dark hair and glance at the crib.
"All right, Buddy. You win."
Nathan walks out of the nursery and down the hall to his bedroom. He pulls the covers back from the bed and is about to climb in, when he gets an idea. Heading to the closet Nathan reaches into the hamper and pulls out one of Haley's shirts. He offers it to Raine and smiles as his son latches onto it and cuddles it to his chest and cheek. Nathan had guessed right that Raine would be able to smell Haley on her clothes the same way he could. Hell, at this point he wouldn't mind cuddling with one of her shirts himself, Nathan thinks with a smile. He kicks off his shoes and lays down settling Raine on his chest, Haley's top tucked in between them. He gently rubs his back, and smiles as he feels Raine's body relax into sleep, his breath catching every now and then. Nathan looks down at his baby resting on his chest. Everyone was always saying what a big baby Raine was, and after seeing Cammy, Nathan guessed they were right, but when he looked at his boy like this, it seemed to Nathan like he was the smallest thing in the world. Times like this made Nathan question his own father and his choices, in fact he questioned a lot of things about his father lately. Usually thoughts like these would keep him up all night or waking Haley to talk, but having only slept about four hours in the past few days, Nathan was for once to tired to think. His eyes closed and he to fell asleep.
The next day on the other side of the country, Haley sat alone in a small café. It was her last full day in LA and Brooke had made sure that it was packed with things for them to do together. Unfortunately Brooke's office had had other ideas. Haley cringed remembering the hissy fit her friend had thrown when they had called to tell her she had to come in. Brooke being Brooke had managed to talk them into only half a day, so after dropping Brooke off at her office she had headed to this little café she had spotted earlier. It reminded her a lot of Karen's from years ago and just like she had done when she was fifteen; Haley had picked up a book from one of the shelves and settled in with a huge cup of coffee. Now as she sat at a quiet table near a window with a view of the small shops and trees that dotted the street she flipped through an old favourite of hers, picking out the passages she loved the most. She never really got a chance to sit quietly and read or daydream anymore. There was always someone wanting her attention, someone who was hungry or just wanted to be held… And sometimes the baby wanted her too. Haley couldn't help but laugh at her own joke, and unbeknownst to her the magical sound caught someone else's attention. After watching her once again become engrossed in her book, her admirer walked over.
"Excuse me, but aren't you Haley James?"
Startled Haley looked up the sun catching in her eyes as her standard answer spilt from her lips. "Haley James Scott, actually—"
Her answer cut off abruptly as she realized she was looking up at Zach Braff.
"Sorry." He smiled. "I saw you open for the Wreckers a few years back. You were amazing."
Haley became painstakingly aware that her mouth was hanging open and quickly slammed it shut in a manner she was sure had loosened a few molars.
"Oh! Thanks!" She nervously stammered out.
Zach softly chuckles, his eyes never leaving her face. A heartbeat later he slid into the seat across from her and picked up her book, leafing through it.
"Call Of The Wild…" He muses. "So, how many pages were you in before you realized the narrator was a dog? Be honest."
Haley looks at him for a minute guarded but then laughingly has to admit. "Eight, but in my defense I was only nine when I first read it."
"Fair enough." He smiles, refreshed by the trait that is so rare to find in Hollywood. Honesty. "Are you in town working on your next album? I ask for purely selfish reasons, because I would love to go to bed listening to your voice…"
Haley smiles, and then a light bulb suddenly goes off in her head as she clues into what he said and the double meaning behind it. Zach Braff was flirting with her. Oh, my god! The young carefree girl she was pretending to be here in this Californian café was doing cartwheels and squealing at this knowledge, but she's not the real Haley. The woman sitting across from Zach Braff, is completely flattered, but already knows she's found what everyone else is looking for.
"No…" She smiles confidently. "I'm just in town visiting a good friend, and then it's back to my husband and son."
Her smile broadens as she sees her words click in his mind, and a shadow of disappointment wash over his face, before his carefree smile is back. He stands up, handing her back her book.
"I'll let you get back to your book, but can I make one LA recommendation?"
"Sure."
"There's a small club just a couple of blocks from here. It's not big and is kind of a local secret. It's pretty much an open environment and everyone is welcome to get up and practice their stuff. At night people fight for stage time, but weekday afternoons it's pretty mellow. You should check it out."
Haley returns his smile and nods. "Maybe I will."
With that Zach Braff walks out of the café and out of her life. Haley looks around to see if anyone else had seen him, but there was not reaction around her and Haley sits back with a sigh.
"No one is ever going to believe that just happened. I'm gonna have to apologize to Peyton."
Haley flips open her phone and smiles down at the picture she uses as her wallscreen. It's her guys in a bath full of bubbles, laughing as Nathan piles them on Raine's head. Haley has never been able to decide who was having more fun. She loves her family and a huge part of her was desperate to get home to them, but she needed some time for herself and to do her own thing, so she sits there for a few minutes longer, before going with her instincts. Grabbing her purse she walks up to the cash and the girl gives her instructions on how to get to the club. Ten minutes later she's at a table near the back of the club, a drink on the way, with a clear view of the stage. Given the early afternoon time there are just a few people filling up the other tables and booths. The stage is busy as they are setting up for the next act, and the waitress is just bringing Haley her drink as he takes the stage.
"Oh, my god? Is that Jake?"
The waitress smiled as she placed Haley's drink in front of her. "Uh huh. He plays here a now and then. Do you know him?"
A smile spread across Haley's face, her eyes still fixed on Jake as he started to sing. "Yeah, we went to High School together… But I haven't seen him in years."
The waitress' eyes lit up and she gushes. "Oh! So you must know his wife?"
Haley's eyes rocketed to the waitress.
"His wife?"
"You must know her. All of the waitress' think it's just the cutest story ever. They were High School sweethearts, and it didn't work out back then, but now here they are both in LA and back together. Isn't that adorable! Now they're a little family, just them and the baby."
Haley's mind goes into over drive as she puts the pieces of the waitress' rant together. Jake had gotten married? She hadn't been around for most of it but from what Haley had heard, things had gotten pretty nasty between Jake and Nikki. It seemed an impossible thing to fix let alone re-build into a functioning relationship, but if they had managed to do it, Haley was happy for them.
"Do you know when his set finishes? I'd love to say hello, and catch up on Jenny."
The waitress gave her a funny look for a second, and then seemed to shrug it off.
"You don't have to wait. His wife never misses a show. She's sitting in that booth by the wall."
Haley looked in the direction of the waitress' point and her stomach suddenly rolled over. That couldn't be right. All that was visible of the girl in the booth was a head full of very un-Nikki like curls. Haley's eyes were fixed on the mop of blonde in the booth. Her gaze intensified as if willing the head to turn… And then it did. Haley's body shook as she realized that Peyton was Jake's wife. As if on autopilot Haley paid the waitress, stood, lifted her drink and shot it down her throat in one continuous stream. Her one thought was that she had to get out of there.
"Wait! Don't you want to say hello?"
Haley didn't stop, she needed answers, and for that she had to go to the girl who always seemed to have them all. A half hour later Haley was waiting in the reception area, when Brooke came out to greet her.
"Did you miss me that much?" Brooke teases.
Without missing a beat Haley coolly launches in on Brooke.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
Brooke is instantly on edge at Haley's tone.
"If I knew what we were talking about I might…" Brooke hedges.
"Mrs. Jake Jagielski." Haley states deadpan.
"Oh, crap."
"So, you knew?"
"I was Maid of Honour." Brooke admits sheepishly.
The world seemed like it was spinning and all Haley could think about was getting away and breathing some fresh air. She turned on her heel and ignored Brooke calling out to her, as she pulled into herself and away from these people she thought were her friends.
TahDAH!!! So, what did you guys think? Sorry to all the Leyton fans, but I had to do it. Oh, and by the way… I'm just getting warmed up, and yes you should be afraid.
