Be prepared for some rough waters ahead. I'm really excited for what's to come, but I know some will not like it. I have a plan, do not fear! Just a warning. I love this story, and this is how I'm making it a bit longer ;)

Chapter 21

Nathan let out an annoyed sigh as Haley stood in front of various chips along the aisle, her arms crossed, a look of contemplation spread on her face.

There were two days until the end of the current school year, and Nathan and Haley (mostly Haley) had decided to throw a little party for the two kids, just to celebrate them successfully completing the year.

"Just pick one," Nathan said softly, looking over at Haley and shaking his head.

She raised her eyebrows at him, a grin forming on her face. "What's your problem?"

"I just- I don't know, can't we do this a different day?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

She let out a laugh, shrugging her shoulders. "We're already here though."

He leaned against the cart, shaking his head and looking away.

"You've been in such a bad mood today," She commented, grabbing a couple different bags of chips, tossing them in the cart.

"No I haven't," He said, letting out a sigh.

"You're right," She said, gesturing for them to continue down the aisle, shrugging her shoulders.

"I just..." He shook his head, pushing the cart along slowly. "I just don't want to do this right now. Can you do this later?"

"Can I do this later?" She asked, looking over at him and raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah. Can you?" He grumbled, leaning against. "I don't know what you want me to say. May you do this later? Is that better?"

She let out a laugh at his response, shaking her head. "Nathan, what's going on? Why don't you want to do this?"

"It's stupid," He said, looking down. He pulled his phone out of his pocket when it started ringing, letting out an annoyed sigh and ignoring the call quickly.

"Who was that?" She asked him curiously, clearing her throat.

"It doesn't matter," He mumbled, pushing the cart forward again. "Let's just go get whatever else you want to get for them."

"I thought this was kind of funny at first, the whole grumpy mood thing, but seriously, Nathan... What's going on?" She asked him, resting her hand on his arm to stop him from walking.

"Look, Haley..." He sighed, shaking his head and looking down. "It's stupid, okay? Just leave it alone."

"I'm not going to do that. You know I can't," She said, hooking her arm around his. "Just tell me what's going on."

"It makes me sound like a bad person," He mumbled, leaning more of his weight against the cart. "We've both been really busy this week... And any time we've spent together, there are kids around. This is the first free day we have and you want to grocery shop?"

She smiled slightly, squeezing his arm lightly and turning his head to her. She leaned forward and kissing him, before pulling back and letting out a deep breath. "You know? You're right. I can do this later," She said, picking up the bags out of the cart, placing them back on the aisles. "Let's get out of here."

He raised his eyebrows at her, a small smile forming on his face. "Yeah?" He said, nodding at her.

"Yeah," She confirmed, gesturing for him to follow her, to which he did eagerly, a new pep in his step.

xxxx

"Okay, you were right... Way better than grocery shopping," Haley laughed, looking over at Nathan and smiling.

Nathan pressed a kiss to her shoulder, and then her neck, and then her lips. "You are incredible."

"Stop," She laughed, shaking her head.

"You are," He argued, kissing her again. "That is good stuff."

Haley rolled her eyes, brushing her fingers through his hair. "You're one to talk."

"You haven't even seen my A-game," He said, winking at her.

"And ever so humble," She said, pulling him into another kiss, stroking her fingers along his cheek.

He smiled at her, letting out a deep breath. "Who knew that was all it took to out me in a better mood?" He hummed, tracing his fingers over her hip bone.

"Trust me, if I'd know that I would have skipped the store all together," She teased him, picking up her phone off the night stand and checking the time.

"Sorry," He said, lifting his head up and smiling slightly. "What time is it?"

"It's just after one," She mumbled, letting out a deep breath.

"No," He whined, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly to him. "I don't want you to go."

"I wasn't going to leave," She laughed, looking at him.

"Yes you were," He mumbled, kissing her head. "You can leave at 2:40. Deal?"

"Deal," She replied, brushing her fingers down his chest.

He looked over when his phone started vibrating, shaking his head and sighing softly.

"Is something going on, Nathan?" She asked him curiously, raising her eyebrows.

"No," He mumbled, pulling her tighter against him. "I just want to be here, in this moment."

She smiled at his response, but he could tell that she didn't buy it.

Luckily, it would hold her over for awhile.

"I have an idea," She said, placing a light kiss against his chest.

"I think I like where this is going..." He said, smiling down at her as she continued to pepper kisses along his skin.

"What if we pick up the kids from school... Together?" She said, raising her eyebrows at him.

Together?

He felt his heart start to pound in his chest.

Like they arrive together and pick up the kids in the same car? Not her picking up both the kids, or him picking them up. Or them arriving at the same time and picking them up in separate vehicles.

"Your heart is beating really fast," She commented, sitting up slightly.

"Yeah... Um..." Nathan ran his hand through his hair, staring up at the ceiling.

The panic was quickly setting in. As much as he wished it wasn't there... It was.

"Um?" She questioned, frowning slightly.

He didn't want her to frown. He didn't want to be the cause of the expression she had at that moment.

But his hesitation was.

No.

Say something, Nathan. Say anything.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she was quicker.

"Forget I said anything," She said quickly, resting her head on his chest again.

He stayed quiet, deciding that it would probably be better to say nothing than to mess up further.

There was an awkward silence. It was extremely awkward for both of them.

Like so awkward, Nathan had almost wished he hadn't stopped her from going.

Almost. But not quite. Selfishly, he was still glad she was there.

She pressed another kiss to his chest, before closing her eyes. "Will you wake me in an hour?" She asked him, draping her arm across his stomach.

"Yeah," He answered, clearing his throat, brushing his fingertips along her shoulder lightly.

It wasn't long before she had fallen asleep like she had many times before.

Throughout the month they'd been together, this was not an unfamiliar position.

But the weird feeling in his chest... That was unfamiliar.

xxxx

Nathan jumped when he felt Haley's hand rest on his back, looking over his shoulder at her quickly.

"What are you making?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows and resting her head against his shoulder.

"Mac and cheese," He informed her, letting out a deep breath. "Nick requested it when he heard you'd be staying for dinner."

"What a nice kid," Haley hummed, kissing his shoulder lightly. "Smells great. You're a natural."

He laughed, glancing over at her. "I do what I can," He said, turning around and kissing her softly.

"Are we good?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows and resting her hand on his arm.

"We're great," He said, kissing her again. "Aren't we?"

"I'm fine. Are you fine?" She asked him, squeezing his arm lightly.

"Yes," He answered quickly, kissing her one more time.

Why didn't they feel fine, though?

Something had all of the sudden... Shifted.

"Good," She said softly, glancing over her shoulder when Nick and Macey came barreling down the stairs, both of them laughing.

Nathan all of the sudden noticed how she didn't let go of his arm, even when the kids came down the stairs.

He noticed how close she was to him, even while the kids were right there.

Things were different now.

After his confession to Macey the week before, he'd noticed different things.

"Nathan... What's wrong?" Haley asked him quietly, shaking her head.

He must have been making a weird face.

"Nothing," He answered, smiling at her. "Kids, dinner is almost ready. Macey, Nick, will you set the table?"

"Yep!" Nick said, grinning over at Macey, hurrying to grab some silverware.

Nathan watched the two kids, a small smile on his face. Somewhere... He'd begun to care very deeply for Macey.

He'd begun the kind of love that he'd only felt for one other person, and that was Nick.

Spending time with her was easy. Watching her and Nick together was easy.

This had been one of the last things he'd expected to come out of moving to Charlotte.

His eyes shifted over to Haley, who was watching him very carefully as he studied the two kids.

She didn't believe him. She knew him too well to believe him.

In their short time together... They'd come to know each other very well.

He offered her a smile, one that she hesitantly returned.

"Hey Dad?" Nick said, bringing him from his thoughts and smiling up at him.

"Yeah?" Nathan replied, looking over at him quickly.

"Can we swim tonight?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Probably not tonight," Nathan said quickly, shaking his head and smiling slightly. "Summer is in two days. And after that, you can swim as much as you'd like."

"I want to swim every day," Macey said, raising her hand and grinning at him.

"You can too," Nathan said, smiling at her. "Now, how does dinner sound?"

After eating a very quiet dinner, the majority of the talking being done by the two kids.

But after dinner, Haley just couldn't take the awkwardness anymore.

So she told Macey it was time to go, making up some excuse to Nathan about homework, which he knew was a lie because no teacher was still giving second graders homework at this time of year.

He didn't want her to go. Not even a little bit. He wanted her to stay forever.

But it happened.

She was gone.

He sat in his office, Nick long gone to bed. He didn't even know what time it was but he couldn't sleep.

He'd been having trouble sleeping when she wasn't around, he'd noticed that. But tonight... He physically could not sleep.

Their sleepovers had become more of a frequent thing.

The kids were thrilled about it, because somehow after spending all day together, they still wanted to spend the evenings together as well.

Not that he blamed them, because he felt the same about Haley.

Over the past few weeks of their relationship, he'd taken more time off. He was taking a full day off during the week, and most lunches off to spend time with her.

And it wasn't even just physical. He was getting emotionally attached. Of course, he really liked her in the beginning, but that seemed like nothing compared to now.

Now he wasn't sure he could handle being away from her. Saying goodbye each day was harder and harder.

Not holding her hand when the kids were around was getting more difficult.

They were getting a little careless too.

Things had been great. Not perfect, but pretty damn close. Until today. When she asked if they could pick up the kids together, insinuating that they'd been together before the kids.

He wasn't ashamed, or embarrassed of her. He was scared.

Terrified of her. Shaken by the way she made him feel, how quickly he felt it, and by how much he actually enjoyed the feeling.

She'd been treated poorly for years. And he didn't want her to feel that way, not ever, but especially not because of his doing.

Watching her leave earlier that night, before eight o'clock set off something inside of him that felt different.

He felt like he was going insane all of the sudden, squeezing the small rubber stress ball tightly in his hand, before throwing it at the wall.

This feeling... This was not good.