Chapter 46
"Okay, let's see... You have a backpack, laptop..." Haley hummed, looking through the black backpack that was resting on the kitchen table.
"It's not fair," Nathan grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "You don't start until next week."
"Now that's not entirely true, I have meetings all week this week," She reminded him, glancing over her shoulder at him. She looked back into his backpack. "Okay, you're taking five classes, Nathan. Fifteen credits. This should finish up everything for you, and then you'll have a Bachelor's degree. Remember that, okay?"
"I got it," He grumbled. "I shouldn't have dropped out my final semester."
"No, but you had a lot going on. People drop out for much less," She said, letting out a deep breath. "I packed you three notebooks, even though you only have two classes today. You'll be done by one-thirty. I should be home by then, but don't forget that you have an online class, so you can check that."
He nodded, letting out an annoyed sigh, running his hand through his hair. "Thank you for breakfast," He mumbled, closing his eyes. "And for all this," He gestured to the backpack full of supplies.
"I know you prefer to write in pen, but I packed you some pencils just in case," She said, turning around to look at him. "Are you ready?"
"Not even a little bit," He said, rubbing his eyes again. "I'm tired."
"You're the one that wanted the 8:30 class that was two hours long so that you wouldn't have classes on Friday. You could've had one from 10:45 to 11:45," She reminded him, resting her hand on his chest. "Look, I bet you'll get out early today from both your classes."
"Then I'll have to hang around campus," He said, shaking his head.
"I have a meeting that goes from 9 to 10:30, and your next class doesn't start until 11:45, so maybe I can meet up with you," She said, resting her hand on his shoulder. "You're going to be fine, Nathan. You could probably even come home for a little while."
"How do you remember my whole schedule?" He asked, looking down at her. "I had to study it last night just to make sure I knew what I had today."
"I'm a quick learner," She said, standing on her toes, and kissing him softly. "You remember how to get to your first class, right?"
"Yeah, I know where all my classes are," He said, glancing at the backpack on the table, before looking at the clock. "I should probably go."
"Yeah," She hummed, picking up his backpack, holding it out. "Now let me take a picture."
"No."
"Come on, Nathan," She whined, holding up her phone, taking a step back. "I'll make you take it on the front step if you don't cooperate in the kitchen. Say cheese."
Nathan gave her a quick smile for the picture, before rolling his eyes. "You're lucky I love you," He grumbled.
"I know," She replied, walking him to the front door, kissing him again. "Call me if you need anything. I love you."
"Yeah, you too," He sighed, leaning down and kissing her one more time, before opening the door and heading out to his car.
Haley hummed, watching him head out the door, before sending the picture to Quinn with the message 'They grow up so fast' attached to it. She laughed to herself, because he was definitely going to be annoyed by that later, before heading off to finish getting herself ready for her meeting.
xxxx
Nathan looked at Haley, raising his eyebrows at her much less perky mood than she was in this morning. Instead of sitting at the picnic tables on campus, she'd requested they just sit in her car.
His eyes moved down to the sandwiches she'd brought. She'd hardly touched hers, and she definitely wasn't chatty at all.
"Haley, what's wrong?" He finally asked her, raising his eyebrows.
"Nothing," She replied a bit too quickly, tapping her fingers on her steering wheel. "How was class? Did I already ask you that?"
"Yes, but it was alright," He said, letting out a sigh. "Baby..."
"I'm fine, Nathan," She assured him, glancing at the clock.
"Haley..." He tried again, grabbing onto her hand. "What happened?"
She looked at him, leaning forward and kissing him quickly.
Nathan returned her kiss for a moment, before pulling back and raising his eyebrows.
She grabbed his face, kissing him and keeping a tight grip on his face.
He rested his hand on her wrist, slowly pulling her hands from his face after a few seconds. "That works too well, and I'm trying to get some answers out of you."
"Come on, Nate..." She said, letting out a deep sigh.
"You rarely call me Nate, so I know something is going on," He said, leaning over and kissing her cheek.
She buckled her seat belt once again, looking at the clock. "You have a class."
"In twenty minutes," He said, frowning.
"I'll see you later, alright?" She said, looking at him and smiling slightly. "Good luck in your next class."
"Haley, come on," He argued, turning to look at her. "I can skip it."
She raised her eyebrows at him disapprovingly, shaking her head.
"Okay, wrong thing to say to a teacher," He said, grabbing onto her hand.
She looked out the front windshield, biting her lip and sighing. "Go, Nathan. I just... I want to be alone. I have some thinking to do."
He swallowed at her response, squeezing her hand lightly. "Okay," He mumbled, resting his hand on the door handle. He leaned over, kissing her sweetly.
Haley rested her hand on his face again, much lighter this time. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, of course," He said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I love you, Haley James. Call me if you need anything."
He got out of the car slowly, waving at her as she drove away. He adjusted the straps on his backpack, letting out a deep breath.
Yeah, he definitely wasn't going to focus in his next class.
xxxx
Just as Nathan thought, he had not paid even a little bit attention. He spent the whole class writing, deleting, and rewriting text messages to Haley, and repeating the cycle.
Thankfully any assignments were going to be posted online, and the guy he was sitting next to was taking great notes, so if he needed it, he could turn to him.
When he walked through the front door, the home was far too quiet for his liking. Of course, Haley was the only person home but it still seemed eerily quiet.
"Haley?" He called out, raising his eyebrows and sighing at no response. He adjusted the straps on his shoulders, looking through the house to see if Scout was around.
He shook his head, heading up the stairs and into their bedroom.
Haley was laying in the bed, Scout curled up at her side. She looked completely opposite of how she'd looked at lunch. Her once curled hair was now up in a bun, any trace of make-up removed. The blouse she'd had on was swapped out for a t-shirt.
She usually liked to read while she was laying in bed, but instead she had the TV on. Without looking, he could tell it was 'The Office' based on the 'That's what she said' joke he'd heard.
"Hey," Nathan said, looking at her.
She shifted her gaze to him, nodding in his direction, before focusing back on the television.
He crossed in front of the TV to the closet, taking off his shoes and setting them in the correct place so he didn't further upset his girlfriend.
He leaned against the door frame of the closet, staring at her.
Haley looked over at him briefly, before moving her eyes back to the show.
"It's a little early to be in bed," He said, stepping forward. He shrugged his backpack off his shoulders, and instead of walking to his side of the bed and taking a seat, he went to hers. He fit himself in the space between her and the edge of the bed, laying on his side and gripping the headboard so that he didn't fall.
Haley let out what could only be referred to as an annoyed sigh, before scooting over a little bit so he wasn't nearly falling out of the bed.
"Thanks, babe," He chuckled, somehow maneuvering so that he was under the blankets, resting his palm on her ribcage, his fingertips tracing light patterns through her shirt.
"Hey," He finally whispered, nuzzling his nose against her ear. "Maybe we should get out of bed and take Scout for a walk."
"I just took him for one before you got home," She responded, sucking in a deep breath when she felt him slowly start to bunch her t-shirt up in his hand, looking over at him when his hand rested on her side once again.
It was very relaxing, she'd give him that.
"We could take a bath?" He suggested, raising his eyebrows.
"I took one when I got home," She mumbled, focusing her eyes on the television.
"What's wrong?" He asked her finally, gripping her side and pulling her tightly against him.
She let out a deep breath, looking in his direction again. He looked so worried about her.
Oh no... Here they come again.
Haley burst into tears, causing Scout to wake up, look at her. He stood up, walked to the corner of the bed and laid down again.
Nathan blinked in surprise, quickly taking her up into his arms and holding her tight.
Haley pushed her face into Nathan's neck, gripping his shirt tightly and crying into him.
"Haley, what's going on?" He asked her quickly, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her back.
"I..." She couldn't even talk she was crying so hard.
Nathan was freaking out. He'd never seen her crying so hard. What could have caused this?
"I quit my job!"
There it was. He was stunned for a moment. Haley James loved being a teacher. She loved her students, she loved her classroom, and she loved her school.
Nathan held her tighter as she started crying harder. Something really must have set her off for her to quit a week before school started. It all made sense. She was so upset after her meeting, she was home when he got home and she'd told him some of the things that she had done and she was supposed to have meetings until around the time he got home.
"Okay," He said softly, holding her tighter against him. He kissed her head lightly, shifting them so that he was laying on his back, and her torso was on top of him.
Haley's arms wound around his neck, another cry escaping her lips.
He'd wait until she calmed down before he started asking questions.
It took a few minutes, but she did finally stop crying.
Nathan opened his mouth to speak, but he had no idea what to say. Should he ask her why? Did he need a reason? Obviously something had upset her.
"Are you okay?" He asked her softly, glancing down at her.
When she didn't answer for a few seconds, he realized that she had fallen asleep.
He could feel the dampness of his shirt pressing into his neck, which meant she had been full on sobbing and it broke his heart.
Something had to have happened. Haley James did not just quit without a good reason. He wanted to march down to that school kicking and screaming for some answers. How dare someone do whatever they did to her. His brain could only assume the worst, and he felt his blood start to boil.
Before he even knew it, he was pissed off. Pissed off at a situation he knew absolutely nothing about.
Haley's arm held onto him tightly, almost as if she was calming him down in her sleep.
How could someone hurt his girl. The one person in this world that actually gave a shit, and something had made her cry harder than he'd ever seen her cry.
He needed to go about this delicately though, which definitely wasn't his strong suit. She was obviously fragile and needed a loving hand, rather than a 'who do I need to yell at?' one.
He pressed a light kiss to her forehead, stroking his hand up and down her back again.
He felt her start to stir about two episodes later, looking down just as she lifted her head up, meeting her eyes.
"Hi," She whispered, letting out a deep breath.
"Hi," He replied, kissing her forehead.
She moved off of him, instead laying on her side, resting her head against his shoulder.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her quietly.
"I know I should've talked to you first, Nathan..." She sighed, rubbing her temples.
"What happened, Haley?" He questioned, raising his eyebrows.
"I met the new principal a couple of weeks ago- right after we got home from camping, and I knew she was going to suck!" She said, shaking her head angrily.
"You never said anything," He said, frowning slightly. "I didn't even know there was a new principal."
"That's because you were so stressed about school and I... I don't know, I didn't want to worry you," She said, biting her lip and sitting up slowly.
His frown deepened at her excuse, shaking his head. "I want you to tell me everything..."
"I know, Nathan, and I would've told you eventually but I wanted you to focus," She responded, resting her hand on his leg. "And whenever we had a meeting, she was just such a bitch, Nathan! A bitch. I could tell she didn't like me but I had no idea why."
"Okay..." He said slowly, looking at her and nodding.
"Today she asked to see me after the meeting and she told me that she thought I was going to be too relaxed and I needed to whip students into shape, not be their friend!" She sighed, shaking her head angrily. "I don't think I've tried too hard to be a friend, Nathan. I set limits, Nathan, but I think it's important for students to trust their teachers. I would never bend the rules, or change a grade or anything like that. Just because I'm not a straight up bitch to my students doesn't mean I'm not a good teacher, because I am!"
"You're the best teacher, Hales," He agreed with her. "Q is disappointed he can't have you again this year, and I know a lot of his friends are too."
"I care more about my students succeeding than any other teacher in that school. I know that because I went there," She let out a frustrated sigh, shaking her head. "And that's what I told her. I said you know what, forget this. I quit. Good luck finding an English teacher before school starts, and I just left!"
He probably shouldn't, but he felt himself fill with pride at the way she handled herself. She stood up for what she thought was right.
"And I meant it, I was pissed off. She didn't even know me but she was treating me awful. So if she wants me to come back, she's going to have to ask me herself," Haley finished, leaning against him once again. "I just, I can't believe I quit. I don't have a job. I love being a teacher, Nathan."
"I know," He responded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry that you had to quit, but it sounds like you made the right choice. You're amazing, Hales. We'll figure something out, okay?"
"I should've talked to you first..."
"The way that you did it was perfect," He argued, stroking his fingers along her collarbone lightly. "I don't think you'll be out of a job for long. That place is going to fall apart without you. I'm sure as hell not going to have anything to do with it without you, so they can go ahead and find themselves a new basketball coach too."
She looked at him, kissing his jaw lightly. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Nathan..."
"I wish you would've told me sooner," He said, sighing softly. "I can always pay you to tutor me."
"That's okay," She said, letting out a deep breath.
"I can drop all my classes and we can travel?" He suggested, looking at her with raised eyebrows.
"I think you should stay in school," She said, sighing softly, shifting so her legs were laying across his lap. "This is going to be so hard. I loved my job."
"I know you did," He said softly, resting his hand on her shin. "You'll find another job, Hales. You're a great teacher. Any school would be lucky to have you."
"You have to say that," She responded, rubbing her neck.
"Yeah, but I don't have to mean it. But I do, I mean it." He whispered, leaning over and kissing her.
She let out a deep breath, looking at him. "You're being so calm about this."
"Because it's okay, Haley. We'll be okay," He said, smiling at her. "Plus, you're amazing. Any school would be lucky to have you. And I'll go anywhere you need me to go. Hell, if you need me to move to Kansas with you because they have a teaching job open, I'll go. You're my roots."
Haley smiled slightly, leaning over and kissing him briefly. "I love you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
He laughed, resting his head against her head. "I love you too," He said, rubbing his hand up her leg lightly.
"I'm going to let you finish up your semester though, Nathan," She said softly.
"It's not too late for me to withdrawal," He said quickly, looking down at her. "Really, Hales. Let's take off for a couple of months."
"You're crazy, Nathan. We can't just do that," She said, shaking her head.
"Why not?" He asked her.
"Because you need your degree. Isn't Clay counting on you to get it?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows.
"Maybe a little," He said, shrugging his shoulders. "But I don't care, Hales."
She looked at him, smiling slightly. "I love you, Nathan. But we can't."
He sighed, shaking his head. "You're probably right," He said, shrugging slightly.
She looked at him, letting out a deep breath.
"Don't start crying again," He said quickly, hugging her tightly.
"I just don't know what I'm going to do," She said quietly, shaking her head.
"We'll figure it out, Haley," He assured her, squeezing her tightly to him.
She let out another sigh, nodding slowly.
"She's going to realize what she's missing out on," He assured her, rubbing her back lightly. "How could she not?"
"She's a bitch, Nathan!" Haley said, rolling her eyes. "I just... I know that I'm a good teacher."
"You are," He said, kissing her forehead. "Do you want me to go get you some ice cream or something?"
"No, you need to check your online class," She whispered, throwing her leg over him, gripping his shirt tightly in her hand.
He smiled, kissing her head. "You're more important to me than anything in the world, Haley."
"I appreciate you," She whispered to him, kissing his shoulder lightly,
"I appreciate you too," He told her, letting out a deep breath. "She's going to regret it, Haley. I promise. Because I know you, and I know what it's like to lose you and it sucks."
She laughed, looking up at him, brushing her hand through his hair. "You're exactly what I need every day of the week."
"Of course, and you also need a little bit of puppy," He hummed, whistling for Scout to come back up and lay next to them.
Haley smiled, rubbing her hand over Scout's head, nodding. "That is very true," She whispered, resting her head against Nathan once again, feeling his grip tighten on her.
He'd given her the reaction that she needed from him. He'd been calm, and assured her that she made the right choice.
She loved him so much.
"I don't want you to lose yourself in this, Hales, okay?" He said softly, looking down at her. "Trust me, I know better than anyone how much this sucks for you. But you have me, okay?"
She smiled at him, resting her hand on his cheek, kissing him softly. "Nathan, I know that I have you."
"Good," He said, smiling at her. "I don't care about school, Haley. When you're stressed about something, I want you to tell me. Because when you don't tell me, I'm more worried about you than anything else."
"I'm guessing that means you didn't pay attention at all in class today," She said, shaking her head.
"Not even a little bit," He said, kissing her head. He reached his hand over and rubbed Scout's ears lightly, smiling.
"I love you," She said to him, kissing his cheek softly.
He nodded at her, "I love you too, Haley James. If you want me to go yell at someone, I will. I can get pretty scary."
She laughed, nuzzling her face into his neck and sighing softly. "I'll keep that in mind."
"She's going to regret ever treating you poorly, " He said, clearing his throat.
"I know she will," She said, nodding at him. "Tree Hill just lost the best basketball coach they've ever seen."
"That's exactly what I was thinking," He laughed, winking at her. "I know exactly what will make you feel better..."
"A little Netflix and chill?" She joked, casting her eyes to the TV.
He laughed, "Not exactly where I was going, but you know what? I like your idea better."
xxxx
"Tell me about your day now," Haley said, looking over at him as they ate dinner, raising her eyebrows. "We were so absorbed in me, I haven't heard anything."
"Well, one of my professors is a real jackass, I can tell you that now," Nathan said, shaking his name. "Kellerman. I heard some people call him Hellerman, which I didn't think was very clever, but y'know, I guess it could be used to describe him."
"Why's that?" She asked, tugging his sweatshirt that she'd been wearing tighter around herself, playing with the zipper lightly.
"I don't know, I guess I was the star basketball player in a school that loved basketball, so professors generally have me quite a bit of slack," He said, chuckling quietly. "I can just tell this guy is going to be a hardass. I don't know, it's not a big deal because I have the smartest person in the world here to help."
"I won't do your homework for you," She informed him, shaking her head.
"Babe, we live together. That means you have to do it," He told her, shrugging his shoulders.
"That doesn't fly with me," She laughed, leaning into him when he wrapped his arm around her chair.
"Well, you're at least going to help me," He said, humming softly.
"Of course," She said, resting her hand on his leg, letting out a deep breath and smiling at him.
"I appreciate that," He hummed, leaning over and kissing her head. "At risk of sounding completely cheesy and being made fun of, you complete me, Haley."
"You're just saying that because I've had a bad day," She said, shaking her head.
"Not even," He laughed, rubbing her shoulder. "I just want you to know how much you mean to me."
She smiled at him, kissing him briefly and nodding slowly. "Well, I quite like you as well," She informed him, patting his leg lightly.
"What can I do to keep you smiling?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows.
"Just be with me. I don't need to keep my mind off of it, I just need you," She hummed, closing her eyes. "Even if it's just sitting next to you while you figure out your way around your online class."
"Yeah, I'll need your help," He laughed, standing up slowly, clearing both of their plates.
She smiled at him, leaning against the countertop and letting out a deep breath.
He looked over at her, sticking the plates in the dishwasher, a grin forming on his face.
"I don't know how I feel about the look that appeared on your face," She laughed, raising her eyebrows at him.
"I have a great idea," He hummed, nodding at her. "You should get drunk."
"I should not get drunk," She said, shaking her head and laughing.
"Come on, babe," He said, stepping over to the counter, reaching across and grabbing her hand. "I've never seen you when you're drunk."
"Because I like to be a responsible adult so I do not get drunk often," She laughed, shrugging her shoulders.
"We're just going to stay here. I promise I won't have anything, and that way, I'll be the responsible adult," He said, kissing her knuckles lightly.
"Nathan, you should know better than anyone that getting drunk does not take away the pain," She said, shaking her head.
"But it's fun while it lasts," He chuckled, walking over to the fridge, reaching in the cabinet above it, pulling out a bottle of red wine, setting it on the counter.
"Nathan..." She said, smiling at him.
"Haley, if you really don't want to, then I won't push it anymore," He said, looking at her and raising his eyebrows. "I just think it will be fun to see you drunk."
She stood up, walking over and looking up at the cabinet, shaking her head. "Might as well get the vodka out too then."
He smirked at her, grabbing it quickly. "This is going to be fun."
She laughed, kissing him softly. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret it tomorrow."
"Oh, you absolutely will," He laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "Grab a glass, Haley James. This... This is going to be good."
xxxx
It didn't take long for Nathan to cut her off, which she didn't particularly love, but he was the only one that could reach the bottles, so she had no chance.
"Nathannnnnn..." Haley hummed out, tugging on his t-shirt while he messed around with his computer, attempting to navigate the online site.
"Yes, my dear?" He asked, looking over at her and grinning.
"You're so good looking," She hummed, placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek and laughing.
"Thank you," He said, laughing and nodding at her.
"Hey! That's your name!" She laughed, pressing her finger to the screen, pointing at his name.
"Don't touch the screen, babe," He said, urging her hand away and smiling at her.
"I have a big, big question for you," She told him, stroking her hand over his face.
"You do?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows curiously.
"I do!" She said, closing his laptop, setting it on the floor, placing her legs across his lap.
"Well then what is it?" He asked, resting his hand on her shin.
"It's, uh..." She thought for a moment, before laughing. "I forgot what it was."
He laughed, kissing her nose lightly. "You're cute, Haley James."
"Cute enough to do right here on the couch?" She asked him, tugging on his shirt again.
Nathan choked at her words, laughing and shrugging his shoulders. "Under regular circumstances, yes. I'm worried you might throw up on me though."
She pouted, rubbing her hand over his face.
Not in the normally soothing way she rubs his cheek. Nope. Up the center of his face and through his hair.
He laughed, grabbing her hand and kissing her palm lightly.
"What's so funny?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows.
"You are," He said, squeezing her leg lightly.
"Well, do you want to know a secret?" She asked him, pinching his cheek lightly.
"I really do," He said, grinning at her.
"I think you're great," She hummed out, patting his head. "Best I've ever had. I don't want to have sex with a man that's not you ever again."
"Well that's good," He said, kissing her cheek.
"Want to know another secret?" She asked him, touching her finger to his lips and shushing him.
"Tell me," He hummed, nodding at her.
"I would marry you tomorrow if you asked me," She informed him, nipping at his cheek.
He froze slightly, looking down at her, before pinning a grin to his face to not make her feel any discouragement at all. "That's nice to know," He said, kissing her forehead.
"Want to know another secret?" She hummed out, looking up at him.
"I think that I've heard enough of your secrets for the night," He said, holding his finger to her lips as she had just done to him.
"This one I need to tell you!" She said, nodding at him and smiling brightly.
"Okay, okay," He laughed, wrapping her in a hug. "Tell me."
"I love you," She said, pressing her face into his neck.
"That's not a secret," He chuckled, holding her tight.
"I know, I just wanted to tell you," She said, poking his side lightly. "Please say it back."
"I love you too, Haley James," He said, standing up slowly, picking her up and letting out a deep breath. "Why don't we call it a night?"
"Okay..." She hummed, letting out an annoyingly loud yawn.
He smiled down at her, kissing her head and walking up the stairs slowly.
He helped her get ready for bed, laughing quietly at her slight struggle.
After awhile, they got situated in bed, Haley still randomly laughing at something she thought of, but Nathan could tell she was getting tired.
"Nathan," She whispered, rolling over so that she was facing him, poking his face lightly.
"What?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows and smiling at her.
"I still feel sad," She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Come here," He whispered, pulling her into a tight hug, stroking his hand up her back lightly.
"But I had fun," She hummed out, kissing his neck once.
"I'm glad," He told her, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's going to hurt for awhile, Haley. But I'll help you get through it."
"I know," She mumbled, tucking her fingers until the collar of his t-shirt.
"I love you, baby. Try to sleep, alright?"
"Goodnight, Nathan."
After a few minutes, she was asleep.
But he couldn't stop thinking about what she'd said earlier.
Would she really marry him tomorrow?