Chapter Eighteen
"Okay, Nathan... You have to go," Haley laughed, shoving on his chest lightly. "I'm serious. I need to go wake up Macey."
"I'll leave in just a second," Nathan said, nuzzling his nose into her neck, sucking in a deep breath.
"You're going to make us run late," She said softly, closing her eyes, lightly stroking her hand through his hair.
"Fine," He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his hand down his face. "Are you sure you can handle getting both of them ready? Because I can just walk to the front door and pick up Nick."
"No, no. I've got this," She said, sitting up slowly and letting out a deep breath.
Her parents had stayed until the Tuesday morning, the previous day.
And she'd just so happened to suggest to Nathan that Nick and Macey have a sleep over, even though it was a school night.
It probably wasn't the smartest parenting decision... But it was a very great decision for her own selfish reasons.
Just one night. They'd be fine with one night in the middle of the week.
Nathan had come and snuck into her room almost as soon as he said goodbye to Nick.
And the plan was that he had an early meeting and that's why Nick had to spend the night, and Haley would take both of them to school.
"We are terrible people," Nathan chuckled, shaking his head and rubbing his hand down his face. "Lying to our kids."
"They don't mind, they like spending time together," Haley excused them, shrugging her shoulders.
"Smart," He laughed, leaning forward and kissing her quickly.
Haley allowed herself to get lost in him, just for a moment, before pushing him away again.
"Come on," He laughed, nudging his nose against her cheek. "How much time does she actually need to get ready in the mornings?"
"More than you'd think. She is a night owl, not an early bird. I have to go wake her up," Haley laughed, smoothing her hand over his shoulder. "Maybe we can meet for lunch?"
"I can't today," Nathan said, running his hand through his hair. "I have a meeting. But you can stop by my office at ten o'clock and maybe we can fool around a little on the couch I have in there."
She let out a laugh, shaking her head. "You have that big giant window."
"And now I'm going to order big giant blinds on amazon," He said, reaching over and grabbing his phone off the night stand.
"No, you actually have to go," Haley said, smiling at him. "As much as I want to you to stay, because I do... I really, really do," She said, kissing him quickly. "You have to leave so that your son doesn't see your car still parked in front of my house."
"What if I just drove circles around the block, and then you came back and we can continue," He said, raising his eyebrows at her.
Haley looked at him, tilting her head to the side. "Don't you have to go to work?"
"I'm the boss, Haley. I can do whatever I want. If I want to show up at eleven, I'll show up at eleven," He informed her, smirking slightly. "What do you say?"
Haley tapped her chin, "I say how about you go home, get your clothes you'd wear today and just leave from here."
He smirked at her, falling back against the bed and pulling her down on top of him, kissing her again.
"You are going to get me in so much trouble, I can feel it," Haley said, pushing herself off of him after a moment, getting out of bed.
He laughed, rolling out of bed and stretching his back. He found his t-shirt from off the floor, pulling it over his head and letting out a deep breath.
"I'm only letting you come back because I don't know if we can get away with another sleepover this week," She said, winking at him.
"Too bad," He said, rubbing his eyes and glancing at the clock. "Can I at least brush my teeth before you kick me out this time?"
"Go right ahead. I'm waking up Macey and Nick though, I'll be back in here in ten minutes and you're probably going to need to be gone," Haley said, stepping around the bed and smiling up at him.
He nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I can do that. Let me know if you need anything. I really can 'come back' and pick up Nick," He said, shrugging.
"I'll be fine. One more," She said, grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss. "I'll see you again in... Forty-five minutes?"
"I'll bring coffee," He said, nodding at her and smiling.
Haley tapped his chest, exiting the room quickly to go wake up the kids.
xxxx
"That was so fun," Nick whispered to Macey as they entered the classroom.
"Right? I've never had a sleep over on a school night," Macey responded, grinning over her shoulder at Haley.
"Especially because your grandma and grandpa were here so we couldn't hang out," Nick said, shrugging his shoulders.
Macey whispered something to Nick that Haley couldn't hear, and they both started giggling loudly.
She rolled her eyes at them, smiling brightly. "Okay, guys. I think you're all set," She said, resting her hand on Macey's shoulder.
"Hey you two!" Brooke greeted them, smiling brightly. "Haley is dropping both of you off today, hm?"
"We had a sleepover last night!" Macey said proudly, nodding at Nick. "On a school night."
"You did?" Brooke said, nodding at them. "That is so cool!"
"It is so cool," Nick agreed, taking his homework folder out of his backpack, setting it on the table.
Brooke met Haley's eyes very briefly, before looking down at Nick, giving him a high-five. "Good job getting all your homework done!"
"I got all mine done too!" Macey said, nodding quickly. "Didn't even try to pretend I had less than I did."
Haley held back a laugh at that comment, shaking her head.
That girl. She was sneaky.
"Good job, Macey," Brooke praised, smiling at her.
"I better get going. I'll see you later, alright?" Haley said, waving at both of them.
Brooke was hot on her heels as she headed towards the door.
Nothing could get past Brooke Davis.
"Did Mommy have a sleep over too?" Brooke asked her very quietly, raising her eyebrows.
"Your friend Haley does not like when you call her that," Haley laughed, shaking her head. "And that is for me to know."
"Call me later," Brooke said, winking at her. "Bye, Haley. Have a nice day."
"See you," Haley said, nodding at her and hurrying out of the classroom.
Brooke could read her like a book, that was for sure. Not that she minded though. She was such a loyal best friend, and would be there at the drop of a hat for her.
Haley let out a deep breath, heading down the hall to the doors that led outside.
She was very happy to see Nathan's car in her driveway once again when she returned home, a smile forming on her face.
She pulled into her garage quickly, getting out of the car and turning around to see him exiting his car.
He had a coffee carrier in one hand, a brown paper bag in the other, and a basketball tucked underneath his arm.
"What's with the ball?" She asked him curiously, raising his eyebrows.
"I promised Macey I'd bring her one last week, and I just kind of got a little caught up in her mom and I forgot until today," He said, smiling at her.
"That's really sweet," Haley told him, stepping forward to meet him, even though he was only a few steps away from her.
"I try," He said, leaning down and kissing her softly.
"And in the bag?" She asked him, taking the ball from him.
"Bagels," He hummed, letting out a deep breath. "Gotta eat sometime. Fast and easy."
"Oh, lord," She laughed, shaking her head. "I think people are onto us," She said, kissing him again.
"By people you mean...?" He questioned, raising his eyebrows.
"Brooke," She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well, did you tell her?" He laughed, nodding at the garage door.
"I told her some," Haley admitted, pressing the button to close the garage, opening the door.
He let out another laugh, shaking his head. "Well, she seems pretty smart to me."
"I haven't exactly had the chance to fill her in because I've been busy entertaining my parents," She said, shrugging her shoulders. "She's really smart. She's very in tune with other people. It can get freaky."
He smiled at her, nodding slowly. "Here's your coffee, by the way," He said, setting the holder down on the counter and grabbing hers, holding it out to her.
"You are so awesome," She hummed, taking a drink and letting out a deep breath.
"Tired?" He asked, smirking at her.
"Very," She admitted, leaning against the counter.
"You don't look it," He informed her, shaking his head.
"I don't believe you," Haley replied, looking over at him and smiling.
"Okay, maybe you look a tad tired," He said, shrugging his shoulders. He picked up his coffee, taking a long drink of it. "But I am also very tired."
"I used to stay up all night and study, I don't know how I did that," She laughed, sighing softly.
He rolled his eyes, laughing at her comment. "I can't relate to what you just said at all," He said, taking the cup from her hand, setting it on the counter.
"I was drinking that," She said, raising her eyebrows up at him.
"No," He said, shaking his head. He leaned down and kissed her quickly.
"This is better, you're right," She mumbled against his lips, pulling him closer to her.
He smiled, resting his forehead against hers for a moment, before standing up straight once again. "Feel free to keep drinking your coffee now."
She turned around and faced the counter again, picking up her drink once again.
"That was the part where you were supposed to say that I woke you up enough and you don't need the coffee anymore," He informed her, placing his hands on either side of her, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.
"You want me to lie?" She laughed, raising her eyebrows.
"You are so hurtful to me," He said, pushing her hair to one side and placing a kiss against her neck.
"I can't help it. You're so fun to tease," She said, relaxing back into him.
"I'm not sure if teasing is the direction you want to lead me in right now, because I can be ruthless," He laughed, wrapping one arm around her waist.
"You might be right," She hummed, tilting her head to one side, her eyes fluttering shut as he continued to trail light kisses over her skin.
"If you say the magic phrase, I'll take you down the hall right now," Nathan said, smirking slightly.
"You are so strange, Nathan..." She laughed, shaking her head. "It appears that I no longer need this coffee, for you have woken me up enough," She said, setting down her drink once again.
He laughed, rolling her eyes and picking her up tossing her over his shoulder.
Haley laughed loudly at his actions, gripping onto his shirt and shaking her head. "I can walk, you know."
"This is much faster. Plus, I get to hear your laugh," He said, rushing down the hall to her bedroom.
xxxx
Nathan looked over when his phone started buzzing on the night stand, letting out a deep breath.
He picked it up quickly, reading over the message and letting out a deep breath.
"Guess what?" He said, looking down at Haley, who was lightly stroking her hand over his chest, a content smile on her face.
"What?" She asked, looking up at him and raising her eyebrows.
"My meeting just got rescheduled for tomorrow," He said, grinning down at her. "Feel like playing hooky?"
"What? You? Want to skip work?" Haley asked him, laughing quietly.
"One day won't hurt me," He informed her, clearing his throat. "I haven't skipped a day of work for no reason in a long time."
She smiled, cuddling into him and shaking her head. "I think that I can fit you into my busy schedule. You know, those jingles take up much of my time."
"I bet," He said, kissing the top of her head and letting out a deep breath.
"I do have to make time for lunch with Quinn eventually. We were going to lunch a few times a week until you swept up my whole schedule," She laughed, shaking her head.
"Well I'm pretty busy tomorrow so you can do lunch with her then. Today... You're mine," He said, grinning down at her.
"I can handle that," Haley informed him, kissing him briefly before laying her head against his chest.
"You know what would go great in your room?" He said, glancing down at her.
"What?" She asked, laying her hand against his stomach, lightly tapping her fingers against his skin.
"A television. Right there," He said, pointing to the wall across from her bed.
She laughed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "I don't want Macey to think she needs to come in here to watch TV."
"What?" He asked her, shaking his head. "That makes no sense."
"Well, I have a perfectly good TV in my living room, and one in the basement as well. Why would I need one in here too?" She questioned, lifting her head up again.
"So I can watch it," He said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's play-off season."
"You can watch that at your own house. I don't even have channels or anything, I just have Netflix and those types of streaming service," She said, shrugging. "Why would you even want to watch it here?"
"Well, it seems as though anytime I sleep over, it's going to have to be here so I can climb out the window, and since summer is only a month away, it will make more sense for us to stay over because there's no school," He informed her, laughing quietly. "So by putting a TV in here, I'll be able to keep up with basketball."
"I see," She laughed, kissing his cheek.
"And I'll just log in to my ESPN here," He said, nodding at her. "So, yeah. A TV. Right there. Would look awesome."
"You can watch on your phone. I'll even let you use my laptop if you want," She laughed, laying her head back down. "You pretty much have a TV at your fingertips at all time."
"I have an extra TV in my office at home that I'll bring here," He suggested, raising his eyebrows.
"What am I supposed to do while you watch basketball?" She asked him, laughing.
"Watch it with me," He said simply, shrugging his shoulders.
"I bet you yell at the screen when the team you want to win is losing," Haley pointed out, poking his chest.
"Well my favorite team is the Hornets and they aren't very good, so..." He laughed, smiling down at her. "So pretty much all I do is yell."
"Why do you like them if they're not good?" She asked him, shaking her head. She sent him a very confused look when his hand shot down and covered her mouth.
"You live in Charlotte, Haley. You can't go around saying shit like that," He teased her, winking at her.
"You just said they weren't good!" She defended, pulling his hand from her mouth.
"Yes, but I'm loyal to them so I can say that," He laughed, rolling his eyes.
"You can take me to a game," She said, smiling up at him.
"You know absolutely nothing about basketball, hm?" He laughed, kissing her head again. "Their season is over. They didn't make the play-offs."
"Maybe you should like a team that's still playing then," She said, shaking her head. "Don't you dare cover my mouth again."
He rolled his eyes, smiling at her. "I like a lot of teams," He said, shrugging. "If you had a TV in here, I could show you."
"Oh yes, because I am dying to know all about basketball," She said sarcastically. "I think you're better off watching with Macey in the living room."
"This way, I could show you my favorite movies and shows and you could show me yours," He said, nodding down at her.
"What's next? You want a TV in my bathroom so you can watch it while you're taking a shower?" She asked him, shaking her head.
"That is a really good idea," He said, grinning down at her.
She laughed, holding his chin and kissing him quickly before laying her head against his chest again. "I'll think about it."
He smiled at her, tightening his arm around her, letting out a deep breath. "Just think, if you wouldn't have spent all those weeks hating me, we could've started a long time ago."
"I'm pretty sure you were rude to me first," She laughed, shaking her head. "Plus, we still haven't known each other that long. I'm sure even if we'd been best friends right off the bat this is about the time something would have happened."
"Rude to your first?" He laughed, shaking his head. "I apologized! I was in a hurry. You were mad at me for not wanting to do the party thing for the kids."
"Well, it sure seems to me that you don't regret it anymore, do you?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows.
"A little," He joked, laughing when she smacked his chest softly. "Kidding, kidding. I wonder what would have happened if I'd been partnered with Danielle instead of you."
"You would have moved," Haley said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
He laughed, smiling at her. "That bad, huh?"
"She's just annoying," Haley confirmed, letting out a sigh. "To be fair, she thinks I'm annoying too. We just don't get along that well."
"You're not using me to one-up her, are you?" He joked, raising his eyebrows.
"That's exactly what I'm doing," She teased him, shaking her head.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted," He replied, starting to sit up.
"Don't you go anywhere," Haley said, pulling him back down and hugging herself tighter into his side.
"So I want to hear a little more about Brooke," He said, clearing his throat and raising his eyebrows. "She's married to a director, correct?"
"Julian. Yeah, and he's pretty big, actually," Haley said, smiling slightly. "He's from LA and he was visiting a friend that lived in the same building as us. They did the whole distance thing, and Brooke was going to move there, but then she got a job offer in Charlotte and Julian is incredible, he decided that they would live here and he would just leave when he needed to. It's hard, but they manage," Haley said, smiling and shrugging her shoulders.
"Does she have any kids?" He asked, stroking his hand over her arm.
Sadness flashed across Haley's face and she shook her head slowly. "No," She said, letting out a sigh. "She'd be the most incredible mother too. They've tried and tried for years with no luck," She informed him.
"Oh, wow," Nathan said, frowning. "She seems like a great person. Nick loves her a lot."
"She has a heart made out of gold. She is one of the best people I've ever met, if not the best," Haley said, letting out a sigh. "I'd do anything for her."
He smiled, kissing Haley's head lightly. "Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead," She said, nodding slowly.
"Why keep things from her then?" He asked softly, stroking his hand over her arm and holding her close to him. "Why don't you tell her about your book? Or Peter?"
Haley sat up slightly, letting out a sigh. "Because... I don't know, Nathan. I'm just worried."
"But if she's so incredible, why worry?" He asked, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry if these questions make you uncomfortable, I'm just trying to understand you better."
"It's okay," Haley said, clearing her throat. "I just... He's gone now. There's no use in harming people's memory of him."
"But-"
"Let's leave it, Nathan. Okay?" She said, playing with a loose thread on the top sheet, sighing softly.
"Okay," He responded, pulling her back into his arms, kissing the top of her head. "You're incredible too, Haley," He whispered quietly.
"You're just saying that because I'm sleeping with you," She attempted to joke.
But he wasn't having it.
He shook his head, frowning at her. "I'm serious. You're a great mother to Macey. You're patient with her, and she can be a little stubborn. You're a perfect example of a person that I want my son to look up to. You teach him that it's okay to feel sad, and pain. It's okay to be scared. Just the one day he spent with you helped him so much. You have the most beautiful smile I've ever seen in my life, and I never want anyone to hurt you ever again. You deserve to be treated with respect."
She smiled at him, looking at him quickly and kissing him softly, her hand moving to rest on his cheek.
He smiled back at her when she pulled away, letting out a deep breath and staring up at the ceiling in her bedroom.
"I'm glad you chose to move here, Nathan. Instead of Los Angeles, or New York, or somewhere bigger and better," She said softly, resting her head on his chest once again.
"Me too," He mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut and letting out a deep breath. "You could move mountains, Haley. I truly believe that."
Haley tapped his stomach lightly in response to his words, biting down on her bottom lip.
Who knew that Nathan Scott, the man that had totally brushed her off a first meeting would actually be the sweetest man she'd ever met?